Keepless Castle

by Im a B O X

Rating: teen
Tags: Drama, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Thriller, Profanity, Violence, Princess Celestia, Death, Alternate Universe, Main 6
Length: 11448

Designed with purpose in mind, Canterlot once started as a castle, through time, expanded into a city with a palace as its centerpiece, a design flaw with consequences for it bear.

A castle and a palace are far from the same thing. One is a symbol of absolute wealth and comfort while the other is that of a technical marvel in medieval warfare, but both are testament in their own fields.

Yet for all the integrability that the two would often find and be used for, Canterlot, a city forged with a “castle” as its centerpiece, a symbol of highlife, is nothing more than an amalgamation in its grand-design, a design flawed ever since its first conception.

But take it all away, everything, the civilian, the princesses, the guards, everyone. And you could see, in the city's grand design or centerpiece, it is neither a proper castle nor a full palace in the nature of its design.

Canterlot is a city, yes, what started as castle walls grew into something different, Canterlot, a city that lies in the middle of what it tries and fails to be and achieves, a split between being a safe haven from danger and a symbol of wealth and highlife, only ever leaning towards wealth that it could bear.

A Keepless Castle in its grand design.

Hi! :yay:

I made another story and I admittedly winged for the first part and didn't know where to stop, so the first chapter may seem a bit jumbled up or something, all that said I'll probably make an anticlimactic ending to this or something, throwing ideas here and there, we'll see...

As always, I ask that you guys tell me your thoughts and tell me any grammatical mistakes, constructive criticism, and if the story tags are incorrect, plus this was just for fun and nothing more,probably.
Thanks and till next time.

Published 2021-10-29 08:50:00 UTC
Last updated 2021-10-29 08:50:00 UTC

Incomplete ties

A dark greyish smoke muffled the great blue above the Canterlot skyline, one of Equestria’s most infamous events is about to unfold.

‘It all happened so quickly, a moment of joy and prosperity at one point as I looked down and waived at the crowd that cheered my name, then, a large sudden and powerful blast erupted at the bottom of the palace square that stuck one of the main pillars, every pony was, hundreds of ponies were probably severely injured just from the debris alone, some might have died from the blast radiuses, not to mention the following chaos that ensued, a set of cries and screams. Immediately after the first blast, a second one was followed suit, but we, no, she, caught sight of it the energy of magical flying directly towards the balcony that we, the princesses, myself, and my friends were on top of, but before we could say anything else, the guards that stood guard beside us saw it and immediately enveloped us in a shield of magic to protect us all from the incoming blast, it wasn’t enough and the last thing I remember was being hit by a powerful shockwave, it was, really painful, to say the least. As for the princesses and my friends… my friends, MY FRIENDS!’

Gaining some focus up from my position, I could see shattered windows, red stains everywhere, it had painted the mostly marble white room we were in, ‘oh no, i-is this b-bloo-,’ then, before I could finish my train of thoughts, I heard some pony suddenly (I assumed) called my name amidst all of the sudden events that I was picking up.

“-IGHT!” an orange mare shouted at me, I suddenly felt myself being carried on top of this mare as she herself seemed to gallop towards my direction and back from where she came, with others right behind her, “Come ‘ere Twilight! Don’t worry, just... Stay still sugar cube, I’ll take care of the rest.” Then, she pointed her hoof to another pony and said something, “I need to get the others out of ‘ere. Go! G-” I then suddenly fell unconscious once more, brought into a world of seemingly timeless darkness, all the while I was being taken to, somewhere...

“EVERYPONY! EVACUATE THE PALACE PROPER, NOW!!” Celestia shouted in her royal Canterlot voice, trying to keep some semblance of order amidst the sudden chaos that they had found themselves in, using her hooves and wings to guide her little ponies to safety, wherever that may be. Suddenly, amidst her moment of trying to preserve whatever order and safety that is left, she heard the voice of a young pegasus mare.

“PRENCESS CELESTIA!” A cyan-colored (rainbow mane) pegasus came up to her, looking as frantic and pale in a manner of which Celestia never would expect to bear witness to. Landing to a complete stop, Rainbow Dash began to speak in a frantic tone, “It’s Twilight! She’s knocked out cold, w-where do we take her? W-where are Royal Guards? We need them!” She asked, and in the panic of the situation, it was made clear that there are certain things that flung over their heads.

Immediately, upon hearing the words of her prized pupil’s state, she simply gave a glare to Rainbow’s way that said all that was needed. Rainbow for her part immediately dashed away in order to lead her, while Celestia instructed one of her guards to keep in charge of the evacuation. Although Celestia was by Twilight’s side before the unexpected strike, she had to leave her side and was expected to return on short notice, but while she was attending her personal business and was about to return after that, the first blast occurred which made her sprang into action, taking charge of the evacuation and keeping her ponies calm and safe to the best of her abilities, at least up until that point.

Following the trail close behind Rainbow Dash’s tail, Celestia soon found the group that she was glad and overjoyed to see alright, “Oh, Thank god!” Celestia said, receiving shocked stares which she blatantly ignored, just in the heat of the moment, the sight of her prized pupil being at least in safe hooves made her drop her facade of being a deity and just being thankful for the fact that she hadn’t lost someone dear to her heart, to many she had lost over a thousand (if not additional hundreds and the untold) of years as a ruler, and the simple fact that her someone she loved was as safe made her thank whatever gave her the luck, blessing, miracle, or whatever it may be for this mere fact that she didn’t notice the other ponies that was already dear, she was just focused on wrapping her wings and keeping the one’s she held dear safe.

“Sorry to interrupt your moment, princess,” Applejack began, the situation taking its toll on the mane 6 and every pony around them, “but I think we need to find somewhere safe to hide for the time bein’, with how much chaos is currently happenin’, who knows what else might be out there, and we could really use your help with twilight ‘ere knocked out cold.”

Celestia thought for a moment, observing the ponies before her, with every pony in the Mane 6 there, along with her sister, Princess Luna, comforting poor Fluttershy, who must have been shell-shocked after the first and second blasts, Princess Cadence was probably trying to keep the situation under control outside the palace main square while her husband is probably already trying to find the perpetrator for this heinous crime against the masses and was probably against the diarchy itself. Still thinking about its implications, Celestia made a quick plan, untold hundreds of years (if not in the thousands) worth of near-constant isolation within the confines of Canterlot as a whole would not go un-wasted, she knew every back door and corner along with secret hallways that the entire city had to offer, especially the palace proper.

“Follow me,” She said, “I know somewhere we could hide, your roles as close friends of Twilight are of the utmost importance once she reawakes again.”

“I’ll come with you sister!” Luna said, but she was immediately countered by Celestia.

“No, sister,” she said, “I need you to check up on Shining Armour and Princess Cadence on their progress and help them... No, wait, scratch that, I need you sister to go and find the young six and every pony important, make sure they’re all safe, if this was an orchestrated plan, I fear that those young ones would be in danger as well.”

Luna was about to reply but realized that her sister had a point and she immediately turned and teleported away to who knows where.

Now, only the Mane 6 and Celestia remained, “Ok, I need you to follow me, I know an underground passage somewhere here in the palace we could use as our safe escape.” And she turned and started a byway towards the throne room, she was of course promptly followed, although now that she had a good look at the ponies behind and under her care as of the moment, she could see that Twilight was probably fine and was probably unconscious because of the shockwave of the blast, the same could not be said for the others, Fluttershy was probably shell-shocked after the second blast which she would undoubtedly have nightmares about with the amount of screaming, Applejack and Rarity had several cuts surrounding their bodies with varying lengths and depth, Pinkie pie (from Celestia’s angle) seemed to be mostly fine but her usually puffy hair was deflated and her coat had somehow lost some of its colors, and finally Rainbow Dash seemed to be in the best condition, but by the burn marks on her mane, she somehow not only survived the close proximity of the blast but she might also suffer from hearing losses. Although it was still too early (maybe even late) to say, but Celestia felt a shiver down her that she was being watched, but she had to shake that feeling, ponies depended on her now and she needed to be the beacon in this sudden darkness, unbeknownst to her mostly rational thought, reason would be the last thing she would have when she needed it the most.

Arriving at the throne room, it was still as grand as ever, although by the looks of the glass-stained windows, the blast wave must have been hard enough to damage the glass stains to the point of breaking. But Celestia ignored that, right now, she had to access a certain part of the Palace that she had rarely, if ever, in the last thousand years entered to, her study chamber. The chamber was hidden out of view and the corridor leading up to it was only lit with magical lamps that were rarely used publicly, the last time Celestia remembered entering this room was when she had to banish her sister to the moon, but she wasn’t sure if she visited it on a much more recent date.

“Fluttershy, if you may, could you move aside for a moment, I need to access an old room of mine.” She asked politely.

“Oh, ok.” The yellow Pegasus replied.

Celestia, upon reaching the first steps of stairs that lead directly towards her throne, with her magic, lifted the carpet and a portion of stairs away from the staircase, revealing an underground passage underneath that the mane 6 had yet to see or any pony for that manner had heard of. But something was off, Celestia could hear hoof steps, a gallop, approach from the entrance of the throne room, and it was increasing in its volume until it stopped.

“Into the room,” Celestia stated to the mane 6.

“But princess!” Rainbow Dash started.

“Now. Don’t look behind, I will join you shortly, I just need to attend to an old friend.” She replied.

The mane 6 for their part, completely disregarding Celestia’s advice to just enter the corridor, looked to their backs towards the entrance of the throne room. There, they saw a stallion, a unicorn by the looks over his mane, just standing there, a weird looking hat adorns atop his head paired with a coat that seemed to cover most of his coat and over his cutie mark, with a strange-looking object being suspended by presumably his magic, his fur seemed to be a darker shade of beige while his mane was mostly black with a lighter shade grey to match and distinguish it. One of the mane 6 was about to speak up to the intruder, but Celestia gestured with her hoof and a simple glare for them to enter the new corridor that she had given them the opportunity to.

“So, what brings an exiled Ludacris back to the place where his life is sure to be hanged?” Celestia asked.

Receiving no response, Celestia prepared to cast a spell, sure teleporting herself and the mane 6 somewhere out of the palace was an option, but until she could be sure about the situation, she wanted the pony, or whoever it may be, responsible for this attack to be apprehended before she would deem it safe to return into public view, less she wants a repeat of what happened earlier. Then again, she knew exactly who would be behind it, she was staring that the pony responsible for it all if only she had hopped it had happened later rather than sooner.

“I’ll ask again,” Celestia said again, a hint of venom in her voice as she said this “What brings an exiled Ludacris back to the place that exiled him?”

“Hardy anything important,” the stallion finally replied, “being sent to do odd jobs and not questioning them is usually part of the job, but I guess you already knew that’s not why I’m here.”

“And what reason do I have to spare you? From what I could gather, you’re only ever sent here to kill some pony and I can’t let that happen, so what is stopping me from just turning you to stone and ending it all?” Celestia asked, spreading her wings to block the view of the mane 6 with what she was about to do, hoping that they had followed her advice to enter the corridor.

“About that..” the pony said, suddenly deep in thought on being careful with his next words, “the Union’s has decided to give you a choice, allow certain reforms to be passed and the outlaws and exiled to return, you’ll know which ones they are asking, or the latter option, an economic collapse, or worse, a political coup.”

“You know full well that an economic collapse as this stage would never work, and a coup would hardly work with what your kind has at their disposal,” Celestia said, charging a spell to cast in order to turn this stallion into stone and get the whole situation under control.

“Unfortunately, Celestia, I don’t take orders from them anymore, I only came here to give you the option that they would have given you. Equestria won’t be their problem since I, well, already disposed of what problems they might face early on. Think of it as early retirement, if you will, but they’re still won’t be an easy way out for you, Celestia.”

Celestia had just about finished preparing for the spell she planned, and in one motion, jumped up to the ceiling and cast her spell against the stallion.

“Oh. Reall-” the stallion was cut off as the blast made an impact and a cloud of dust erupted, breaking both windows and the floor that the stallion was on top of as a result.

One powerful flap of the wing by Celestia gave the wind current and the cloud dust went into the other direction, Celestia expected a stone solid stallion or something similar that immobilized him, but instead, what she got as a completely unscathed stallion shielded by his own magic.

“You know full well, Celestia, that I have some unfinished business to fulfill, and I really don’t like that kind of play, you may see my motives being personal, and believe me, I sometimes wish it was purely that case only.” And with that, the stallion retreated back to the entrance of the room, but not far enough for it to seem like he was making a run for it. Instead, it seemed as though he was casting a spell of his own, but before Celestia could react, several ponies entered the room adorning a different uniform, it was then that Celestia cast another spell, an energy beam, to their direction to buy time, and buy the time needed it did, because, by the time that they manage to reorganize themselves after that blast, Celestia and the mane 6 were nowhere to be found.

“What now, sir?” A pony asked.

“Search the whole palace, lockdown the entire city, make sure all the gates are closed and the entire city is secured, I don’t want Equestrian reinforcements to mingle in, prepare the cannons and come to me if you need anything more, got it?”

“Of course, anything else we need to worry about… sir?”

“Moss, Moss Tops, but just refer to me as ‘sir’, at least until I can make something out of this mess.”

“What about the prisoners or the civilians?”

“We’ll figure something out once the situation calms down a bit, I’ll follow you up later, but for now, I want to make sure that all of this looks like a coup and nothing more, now go, I still have some business to deal with, if anyone goes out of line, send them to the dungeons with the other prisoners.”

The hallway leading up to Celestia’s old study chamber was a simple yet creepy corridor, one that Celestia and the mane 6 found a sense of worry in, although the feeling would be lifted when one of the mane 6 spoke amidst the silent environment.

“So… um, princess, what do we do now?” Fluttershy asked while walking with the group, the silence of the hallway echo’s in a deathly state of thingness compared to the loud and excruciating screams that they heard not even an hour ago.

Looking at the yellow pegasus only now did Celestia realize the true extent of what had just happened, once was there a shy yellow pegasus, now she saw a distraught mare who seemed to have lost something deep down in its place, it affected nearly every pony under her, practically everyone would suffer with her in one way or another, a morbid thought, but one she knew was done intentionally by whoever planned this.

“We would first need to attend to Twilight, after that we could find a safer route that would lead outside the city or to a safer location… wherever that may be.” She responded.

The lamps that lit the hallway were getting fewer and far in-between as they made each step. They knew they were approaching Celestia’s old room, and it was weird to look back, a sea of lamps was all that they could see, both front and back, and yet, like the old days, Celestia knew she only needed to look forward to the better times to come.

Approaching what seems to be a dead-end, the group slowed their pass down to seemingly discuss the next course of action. Celestia for her part lead right past them onto the dead-end, there, she cast a spell with her magic, akin personally to her liking and needs, one of the most magically secured places in the whole of Equestria, even challenging the chaotic capabilities of Discord himself. Proving time and time again to be a safe haven, one that Celestia could trust, and with everything in her power, she will make sure that everything will turn out ok, for herself and every pony.

“Um... Sir? I hope I’m not interrupting, but I think we have a problem.” A lieutenant approached Moss.

“What is it? I doubt it’s something I would have to worry about,” He replied while he seems to be writing diagrams for plans and some letters or something of the like. “Go on, spill it.”

“As of recent events, I’m sure your aware sir of the threat of the Equestrian Armed forces mobilizing to recapture Canterlot, no doubt we would be seen as a terrorist group, and I fear that intervention by beings and nations the likes of Discord and the Crystal Empire would be involved anytime soon.”

As he stopped whatever he was doing for dramatic effects, he dropped the pen that he held with his magic, Moss simply looked at the pony before him, and replied, “That, no… Those are matters are long past our need of worry, the creatures, well, more of my personal colleagues, had taken care of those inquires, the Commission of Three had made these arrangements already, I am merely a part of said group.” Raising what appears to be a weird-looking miniature cannon onto the table where he wrote, he continued on, “We as a group are merely here to negotiate some terms with the Diarchy-soon-turned-Monarchy, beings such as Discord are at one point or another, bound to contracts that we have sent out while nations like the Crystal Empire, although a threat, yes, we could easily push to another form of warfare, be it on the negotiation table or the battlefield, one where we could win in one way or another, of course.”

Finally, Moss stood up and began doing a trot towards the exit of the room, having placed everything on top of the table into drawers and safes, only bringing a small dagger and the assumed miniature cannon he brought up, “The Diarchy, specifically Celestia, has a history of… repercussions with our group, with Luna, Discord, and other undisclosed individuals you have probably known having been involved but had already paid their part in one form or another.

“What?”

An audible sigh is exhaled and Moss’s face shifted in their expression, “Canterlot, and by extension, Equestria, was formed from the unification of the three pony tribes, correct?

“Yes sir.”

“The ‘Commission of Three’ was the group responsible for helping instate the current diarchy, we were also responsible for keeping order during the early days of Equestria, but unfortunately, Celestia and Luna got into a heated argument with Discord concerning our involvement with Equus since we decided to… expand, a bit. What followed after that was the first reign of Discord which our group had promptly refused to be involved with, the rest went according to history, with every major and minor ‘villain’ or nation having some sort of connection or involvement with us, and slowly, Celestia and Luna had replied in kind to these erm… acquaintances.”

Formosa stood from his place and began to pace around, “Unfortunately, as the two other members of the Commission of Three were either exiled or turned to stone for crimes of treason or fuck all, cost us plenty of resources and other assets, we made sure that our origins became near untraceable for what we would plan, and Celestia’s sister, Princess Luna, was perceptive enough to realize that their actions would bring consequences should we returned, she understood that her involvement would come back to haunt her and had a heated argument with Celestia, coupled with the fact that at the time, she felt as though she was cast aside in favor of her sister, well, you could see what it lead to.

Raising what appeared to be a piece of paper, he unfolded as he seemed to read its contents, “Sadly, the way we saw it, her worries about us were spot on, if only off by around a millennium or so. But those things aside, we only to take what is owed, nothing more from anyone we involve ourselves with, questions about how we came about are undisclosed for you. Now come, I want to show you something important, I think it is best we are able to meet and greet some of the prisoners, they should be rounded up and arrive at the city center by midday or so, if not, maybe tomorrow.”

After having made a lengthy trip, done short through cutting some corners to save time, the Princess helped in keeping the mane 6 from having a mental breakdown whilst leading them to a deeper part of her secret chambers. The tunnel system itself was as complex as Equestrian engineering marvels could get, seemingly normal hallways with plenty of secret passages, rooms full of dead ends that could confuse and get some pony lost, but it all came back naturally to Celestia, approaching the final and biggest room in the complex maze, the wall lifted revealing a hidden room, full of books and stands, glass bottles and vials filled with suspicious contents laid on tables and cabinets, the room was packed to the brim, truly a sight that a scholar would work to who knows what just to inspect the contents of this room, but Celestia had other matters to attend to rather than reminiscing the times she had entered and learned in this very room.

“Applejack, could you place Twilight on that bench to the side of the room?” She politely asked, “While you do that, I need to prepare something to help her.”

“Uh-course, princess” She replied as she approached the said bench, making sure that she was careful not to knock anything over as she laid Twilight onto it. After she said that, she made her way to where most of the mane 6 had opted to wait, they were nervous, yes, but they were able to hold their emotions together for enough time, but the air that hung around them seemed to tense up as they still didn’t know if Twilight was alright.

“Please, make yourselves comfortable, we need to stay here for a little while, at least until we are able to gather ourselves,” she then proceeded to walk towards Twilight as she cast a spell, with her golden aura surrounding the purple alicorn, seemingly having a plan of action after this, “but I advise that you keep your voices down, as we want to be found in these troubling times.”

And with that, the group waited patiently, doing different activities to pass the time, although the room was pretty isolated and bland for their liking, the complex maze system led to this singular room had, at least in their minds, guaranteed their safety and so did not complain if it meant they could survive, not to mention the traps that came with the complex twists of the tunnel systems. This would last for several hours, but sooner or later, Twilight would come back from her little sleep and they would be forced to venture out to who knows what happened to Canterlot for help or food, but until then, they waited, time was on their side, for the most part. They had to think, emotions could follow later, but right now, they faced a situation that they had experienced more than once, Equestria was under attack once again, and it was their job to bring Harmony.

“So, you got the prisoners ready?” Moss asked a young stallion, one of the many ponies he had scoured and paid for the time being.

The usual “Yes sir!” was what he received, but that didn’t concern him, none of this did, he had the entirety of Canterlot locked down, he held his imaginary chips high, he held both the cards and chips for the next few hours, all in the form of prisoners, some of the most important and impressive catches one could make. As they approach the station, the stallion beside Moss waved at another officer, who then interned made a gesture towards the platform. There waiting in broad daylight, where some of Equestria’s highest political figures, all chained up and guarded, ready for whatever fate they will meet.

“Showtime,” he murmured to himself as he approached the group, “Well, well, well, if it isn’t my favorite ponies, and I see we have a dragon here in Equestria. Oh! So what do we have here?” He said as he approached a pony he personally knew, “What is this? The 4th time you got screwed over Shining Armor?” He asked sarcastically, clearly adding salt to injury for the shortcomings of some of Equus’s “best” leaders.

“BUCK OFF! You’re a selfish snake who has no pride for his own words.” Shining shouted, but with that tone of his voice, he seemed to be trying to gather whatever was left of the honor that the ponies he had led.

‘That’s unexpected expected,’ Moss thought, but not fully as he rebutted the pony that had spoken up, “I’ve seen foals do better at hide n seek and drawing up formations compared to how your troops perform.” But before he could elaborate further, someone spoke up.

“Where are the element bearers!?” A voice amongst spoke up.

‘Now, that’s unexpected.’ He thought as he redirected his efforts to search for the one who had spoken up, “WHO SAID THAT!?” He shouted at them, and when none went forward to answer him, he took that personally.

Gathering his thoughts, he knew more of these kinds of questions where to come, with him being in charge of this whole operation, he had to keep an eye on nearly all of the most important figures who could sway the situation in some way with his current predicament in the grand scheme, which had him send his “diplomats” to a mission to “persuade” or “seize” some foreign figures for “safekeeping”. The need to keep the situation under control was one of the top priorities he had, less he wants a repeat of Discord’s first reign over Equestria. Speaking of which, a whistle echoed from the distance, presumably from the base of the mountain, his job was about to be stacked with another.

“I WILL NOT ASK AGAIN!” Taking a deep breath, he eyed the current ponies before him, still remembering loud and clear the question he was asked, although he expected it to either be clarified or changed,

‘Let’s see, so there was a small drake, a pony with a monocle, the crystal couple, the apparent best princess, and the others are still coming from the uphill train, some guard officers, aaannnd... Ah! Yes, that old bearded unicorn, best have a kept eye on these pain in the ass, don’t want them to break their restrains when the high cunts arrive.’ He thought.

“Ok, Let me be clear, I will give you all the opportunity to ask now, I might not be so generous later on with these kinds of things, I still have a job to do, so please, raise your voice and ask away while you still can.” He said, but it gave the opposite effect to what he had hoped for, instead of encouraging them, they seemed to have increased their hesitation. Fortunately for him, someone did take up his offer, or should I say, clarified his question.

“W-where’s Twilight?” The purple dragon asked, clearly still a child to some extent, but he would probably grow.

“Ah, I see we have a taker,” he said as he approached the young dragon, in steps that were too light for a stallion with the ability to do whatever he wants, especially with the situation, it brought sweat to the young drake, “before I answer your question, may I ask, what is your name, um, young dragon?”

“Spike...” He flatly said, gaining a raised brow from the stallion who asked him.

Moss for his part had his interest peaked, it’s not every day one assumes that another has all the answers, and this dragon stood out from all the other dragons (quite literally) that he had met throughout his career in Equus. “So… Spike, you want to what happened to Twilight Sparkle?”

Receiving a nod, he continued, “As much as I would have loved to say that I have her under my current supervision or even their current whereabouts, I don’t have her or even the Elements under me, although a different surprise is awaiting you in a few minutes.” And with his magic, he lifted the drake from his chains, which was met with the expected resistance of a child, which Moss expected with the size of the drake, although he expected this drake to live a long life with how he seemed to look.

Trotting towards the platform with the dragon held in his magic, he looked back to the group of subdued ponies, “Anyone else?” he asked, and receiving none, he replied with a simple, “no? Best stay put, I have more than enough peo-err… ponies and resources at my disposal, and I really don’t want to use more than what is needed for now, later.”

As he approached the platform edge, a very distinct whistle blew and pierced through the once quiet station, the whistle was unlike the usual whistle of the usual train, and every pony who heard it knew it was different. Just as the whistle died down, the rails began to rumble, slowly at first, but then the pebbles and other debris started to scatter around it, the sound of an engine, a different kind, was approaching.

A few moments later, the same whistle blew with growing vigor, this time it was accompanied by a monster of an engine, a streamlined engine unlike the usual ‘Friendship Express’ or even the rare sight of the Crystal Empires own personal ‘crystal engine’, it was huge compared to those two, yet it not only felt right but also better in one way or another, it blew its final whistle as steam was let out and the engine seemed to rest at Canterlot station.

“Ah, I see they decided to use my design, hopefully, they managed to do something right with it rather than mingle with its components like the others I lent them,” Moss said as he approached the engine itself instead of the coaches. The train was comprised of three rolling stocks and the engine itself, with a brake coach, and two coaches that seemed to match with the livery and size of the engine, but the passengers were an unexpected bunch.

While Moss walked towards the engine with spike held in his magic, the passengers of the train started to pour out of their respective coaches, all of them either in chains, cuffed, or restrained in one way or another, and were being flanked by some guards with similar uniforms to the ones that had already taken control over Canterlot. No one knew each other, at least until they were able to realize who they were with simple eye contact. Familiar faces were seen left and right, Dragon Lord Ember, the young 6, Thorax, amongst others were there, yet they all seemed fine and well, except for a few bruises, but they would worry later when they have the time to speak.

“OK, everyone please stay calm, you are not here to stop a coup and be hero’s, you are here as bargaining chips, and its best for all of you to follow my directions, it will all be over after I receive what I came for, you will all be lead to a more-than-sufficient suite in the dungeons for the time.” As he said this, everyone was taken aback by both his calmness and “Straight to the point” demeanor, but they followed his instructions nonetheless, figuring out that resisting would lead to a much more complicated time, the chains and restraints (which includes rings or other devices and artifacts that seem to negate magic).

Spike, still being held by magic, suddenly found himself being set down and carried on the back of the pony that had taken him.

“What are you doing this and why?” He asked, he seriously considered making a run for it, but he had the feeling that he could get some more information out of this mysterious figure, sure, he would have some things to worry about, like Rarity, but right now, he had to act oblivious if he wanted to help in any real degree, which is why he asked for Twilight, she still owed him plenty of favors, but the fate of Equestria... Wow, deja-vu, he thought for a moment.

“Oh it’s nothing you should be concerned off, but I will share with you once we get to my office.” He said this as he waved his troops to lead the others to a different part of Canterlot, one that Spike obviously didn’t know about.

“I have a question,” Spike began once more, they were already starting to approach the palace, one that spike knew within heart, “what’s stopping me from running?”

Moss stopped for a moment, then lifted Spike off his back and onto the ground with his magic, “ Nothing,” he replied, “An impulsive child would have run or done something drastic the moment I levitated him in my magic field, but your intuition told you there was more to be learned.” Giving a hoof wave for Spike to follow, he continued on.

“Well, I assume you are not here for the bits, right?”

“Hardly,” Moss replied, “Although it is part of the contracts I do, it is far from the reasons as to why I am after right now.”

“And what would that be?” Spike asked, still following the stallions lead around and inside the palace.

“Direct now, are we,” he said, looking around the windows of the palace, some cracked while others are unscathed, “but that’s something you could ask when Twilight is around, I’m sure she would love to know.”

As Spike followed, a thought had occurred to him, “Where is Discord?” He asked, fearing the possibility that they might have overpowered if even killed, a god.

“Smart one, the god of chaos won’t be an issue, at least for now, contracts have been made, and let us just say... It is been a long road.” He replied with a hint of hesitation in his voice.

Reaching a sudden hallway that leads to a dead-end, Spike slowed his pace, but then he noticed that the stallion still hadn’t introduced himself and where they were specifically headed.

“So, what is your name? You haven’t really introduced yourself and where we’re headed.” He said.

“My numerous contractors and other entities’ have called me Formosa Tops, but please, call me Sir or just Moss if you may. And while we’re here… Ah, here we are, my trusty office, or at least, it used to be the place that I conduct most of my work for the most part of my past life, you see, I used to be a consultant and Designer here in Canterlot and beyond, but I branched out with designs and layouts, eventually I began making and receiving contracts left and right becoming a powerful figure at least for a time but after a... Shall we say disagreement with the Diarchy, I had been exiled, stripped from what I had rightfully worked and earned, but not all was not lost,” he paused.

As they approached the end of the hallway, Moss turned to his right, and with his magic, entered a room that was seemed to have been locked, “I saved some of my works in the offices, plus I received a shit-ton of opportunities just from her decision alone, one of which was creating the Commission of Three, which you will learn more once Discord or another member arrives, for now, I need you to take down notes, a Grand-Architect like I would have great plans, and a plan and note would be great for such future event.” He said as he materialized a notepad and pen with his magic onto Spike’s claws.

Taken aback by the willingness of the stallion to enter an assuming unknown room, Spike followed him in with renewed confidence at the fact that this stallion was only an architect, and hell-bent on learning more information to maybe save his fellow friends and solve mystery’s in the process, the memories of the massive explosion still fresh in his mind, he witnessed and heard it, and he knew only a unicorn with the capabilities of those of an Alicorn or someone with similar stature could do such a large one, and following and interviewing Formosa/Moss would be a great way for finding answers, answers that he hoped won’t be obvious but still recognizable, especially since he could write them down and maybe send them to Celestia later, although he felt as though he would miss something he would realize only in hindsight.

After what felt like hours of waiting, Twilight Sparkle had finally regained consciousness, slowly at first, but it brought a wave of relief for the other members of the mane 6 and Celestia herself, with all of their worries being subdued with her being alright.

“W-where am I?” She slowly asked, “Where’s Spike!?” She suddenly jumped up in a trance, but her sudden awakening gave a new wave of hope for those that witnessed her regain consciousness, yet dispute her position, she still had the heart of a mother ever so evident in her protective nature, especially towards her no.1 assistant.

“OH TWILIGHT!” Pinkie shouted as she somehow made her way to where Twilight was and gave her a tight hug like no other, “OhwereallymissedyouTwilight, Imeanreally, onemomentyouwerewavingatthecrowd, thenthenext, BOOM!, long story short, we were worried.” Pinkie said at a speed that was fast, even for her.

“Sorry for Pinkie’s intrusion, darling, but she’s right when she said we were worried about you, dearly evermore with what might have happened to you, being so close to the blast and all.” Rarity followed up.

As each member of the mane 6 started to say their greetings and acknowledgments to one another, Celestia gave them time, but after a short while, when everything seemed to simmer out, she made her move.

“Twilight Sparkle.” She said in her Royal Canterlot Voice but keeping it at a minimum volume.

Twilight for her part was suddenly taken aback by the sudden shift in tone, to which she responded on her own accord, having known who the voice belonged to.

“Princess Celestia!” She responded, giving her former mentor a bow of acknowledgment, even though she wasn’t required to anymore.

Celestia, slowly walking towards Twilight, head held up high like the regal royal that she is. As she approached the group, the air around all of them suddenly tightened, the tension was rising and it was an unpleasant feeling, even if they all knew they did nothing wrong, the aura of Celestia was enough to keep them all on edge.

As Celestia finally made it in front of Twilight, her head still held up looking down at her little ponies, suddenly in a swift motion, she dropped to her forelegs to hug her prized student tightly. Much to the group’s surprise, no words were spoken, a singular tear escaped Celestia’s grasp, but right now, every pony knew that the tension had now boiled down.

“What now? Asked Rainbow Dash, “I mean, no offense Princess, but I think we’re in a pretty tight spot.”

“Hmm...” Thinking for a moment, Celestia was suddenly interrupted by the shy pegasus herself.

“Um, Princess, if I may ask, may I... No, we, know who had just attacked us?”

The white alicorn visibly flinched at the question asked, “Let’s just say he was part of a bigger picture than what I last remembered, his name was Formosa Tops, used to be a good friend and a very talented associate of mine back then, ran one of the most complex systems of business you could ever conceive, his entire story is something I could discuss with you more on a later date, but for now, he could simply be described as a pony of success in his own right, now let’s find a way out for safely.” She said.

The room fell silent as each pony took their time seriously in coming up with a way to help with their situation, even Pinkie, the usually chatty and happy pony in these times, was thinking hard, a weird sight no doubt for the group, but a welcomed one.

As Spike followed Formosa into the room, said unicorn conjugated two lamps for them to use for navigation, and by the time Spike realized, they were in way deeper than what the room dimensions should be, yet he listened to anything the unicorn had to say, everything that he had seen and been explained to by the unicorn was a marvel of physics, no magic involved, an ironic field of study for someone with the ability to conjugate literal objects out of thin air, yet he was told not to write anything down, yet.

“This is just the front portion of the pocket dimension, had Discord help me with the locks and spell, a bitch to set up, but well worth the time and effort, amongst other things, and the good stuff are just right up ahead, this is when you would want to write,” Formosa said, clearly a reply to Spike’s bewilderedness and a smirk forming as he said this.

“There’s more?” He asked, “How deep does this go then?”

“Deeper than what I care to remember.” He replied.

Approaching what first seemed to be the edge of the room in the form of a wall, upon closer inspection, turned out to be a doorway leading to another section, with the wall itself being littered with accent runes that Spike had some back-knowledge of thanks to Twilights constant study nights, leaving him with excess knowledge anything remotely related to magic. While waiting for anything to happen, he observed Formosa’s subtle movements as he cast another spell, the ancient runes started to glow a faint light grey, a glow which was odd since ancient runes like these usually only emitted shades of the Primary and secondary colors (and maybe Black and White, but those are rare instances that even Spike thought was only ever seen in places that have considerable magic strength coupled with ancient technics used just to preserve such a spell was nothing short of impressive and breathtaking for the growing dragon). And as the finishing parts of the spell were cast, the wall started to shift and open in a circular pattern which revealed an empty void, but the moment Formosa entered it, lights started to appear overhead, on non-existent ceilings.

“Come now, I still have to search for something important here,” Formosa said as he entered the room, the lamps they used vanished to thin air, but the notepad and pen that Spike was given were still there, “and I’ll assure you again, I am not after money or something of the like, I am simply here to talk, and if push comes to shove, I’ll take appropriate actions.”

“Then, I guess it is alright to ask some, personal, questions?” he asked.

“After I find what I’ve been looking for, I might try to answer some, but it won’t do you any good in knowing, after all, some of us aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

“And I could see clearly see it’s not about money,” Spike said, “so I assume it’s about sending a message?”

“Your right there, and if contracts aren’t met, Celestia will see everything she had tried so hard to preserve and built-up burnt to the ground.”

“So you’ll just burn Canterlot? Seems too straightforward if you ask me.”

“Believe me, Spike, there are something’s that are much more complicated than what someone might let on.”

A good 30 or so minutes had passed since they were all engulfed in the silence of thinking, but eventually, the silence of the room, and the clear need to do something, anything really, had reached a boiling point for the group stuck in the room, their patience being tested, even Celestia admitted to herself that something needed to be done if she wanted anything to change for the better.

“Um… your Highness,” Applejack spoke up, approaching Celestia in a hesitant way that was clear as day, “if ah may ask, What happened?” Her words were worded carefully spoken to keep an ambiguous discussion, but Celestia knew what she, and by extension, they, wanted to ask.

A deep sigh later and Celestia asked, “Do you really want to know?” Receiving a unanimous nod from all six ponies, she closed her eyes, a distant memory she had tried to bury resurfacing, one that she didn’t expect to return so soon.

“I think its best we start in the beginning,” She said as her horn lit up, casting an illusion spell for the ponies before her to better visualize what she is about to say, “It started more than a millennium ago, after the unification of the three pony tribes, I and my sister lead Equestria to a golden age like no other, we lead Equestria to a new era, and we secured the safety and its prosperity, with the help of the Crystal Empire and Discord himself, we managed to create a system where all that nation were in no position to start a war that would benefit them or ourselves, we created peace for our time.”

“And what does this have to do with… whoever is responsible for what’s happening right now?” Twilight asked, “I mean, I just don’t see what Equestria’s early history has to do with what’s happening.”

A sight later and Celestia continued, “It is not as simple as the history books might tell you, Twilight,” then, an image, a symbol perhaps, of a three-pointed symbol similar to a trident but beefier, “This is the symbol of the group that refers to themselves as the ‘Commission of Three’, Three figureheads responsible for three different paths lead to, or I thought at least, one direction or objectives, who had built up strong relationships with any and all nations, from well-known to the unknown, I believe they are behind the attacks, as for the reason as to why, I am still unsure of the full reason, but I believe they are after some old artifacts that I had kept away from them.” She lied, but she won’t tell which part to the mane 6, they were too valuable were they to have doubt instilled in their motivation.

“Wait, wait,” Rainbow Dash interrupted, “then how did they come to be? I mean, surely Equestria has all the resources to find, capture and trial all of them, right?”

“As much as I’d love that to be the case,” Celestia said as she showed another figure, a bipedal creature, “they are smarter and much more diligent than what meets the eye,” and slowly, the bipedal creature started to shift its form in a natural or unnatural way that turned it into different creatures, from Yaks, Gryphons, Changelings and even any of all the pony tribes, expect the alicorns which brought a sigh of relief knowing that they aren’t as powerful as Celestia, “so they somehow figured out the plans that I and my sister had planned out for them and decided to commit to their initiative to the fullest, transforming themselves from time to time and hiding in plain sight, and the only reason to why we even know if this was the case was the revelation that was made by one of my most trusted agents, with foreign cooperation to some extent.”

“I’m sorry princesses...” The cyan pegasus said, a hint of worry in her voice, “but could you maybe, I dunno, give a simple answer to my question.” The cyan pegasus said sheepishly.

“They managed to become powerful with their wit and unprecedented intelligence and ability to work for what they want, no matter the cost and challenge they face.”

“Soooo, they work hard an honestly for what they want?” Applejack asked.

“They don’t necessarily work harder and minus the honest part,” Celestia said, “it really depends on how you are able to see them, they present themselves in a shroud of grey that they designed specifically to cause doubt in someone’s belief, but for me and my sister, we simply saw them as a threat if left unattended, and saw it necessary to take action.”

“Well then, I do believe the best course of action would be to find whatever they’re trying to find before they even managed to get their hooves on it, won’t you agree?” Rarity spoke up, and she received several nods, including from the princess herself.

“Very well, it is decided that we take what is important with us, which would be somethings that I might have an idea on what they are after,” Celestia said, but still, as much as Celestia had grown somewhat dependent on the Elements of Harmony, she had just remembered they were no more, an inconvenience for sure, but one that they could deal with. And so, they all huddled up to create a plan, one that would help them win in this sudden change of the world.

The halls were silent, it had been around 12 or so hours after the explosions, Canterlot was still in lockdown, but the palace always had a thing for keeping a secret or two, and Celestia and the Mane 6 were in for a treat tonight.

Approaching vault sealed with magic enchantments and several more others of the sort, it looked as though it was safe for something important, it used to house the Elements of Harmony, but now, even the Mane 6 weren’t sure, all of them except Celestia of course. Casting one of many spells that unlocked vaults, doors, safes, and anything of the like, the giant door swung slowly, but surprisingly for its size, it never produced that horrid sound of an unlubricated door hinge or something similar, signifying it’s been used often and had been lubricated with something recently. Just the thought would drive plenty of reason and assumptions, but when that very same vault door opened to give a seemingly empty room with a singular stool where the box that the Elements of Harmony used to be housed in, one that Celestia immediately dissipated the illusion spell that came with the room to reveal a complex armory, full of bows, crossbows, Sabers, Spears, Halberds, and nearly anything and everything of the sort, with the centerpiece being the complete battle set of Princess Celestia and her sister, still as gleaming under nonexistent light.

Approaching the armor, Celestia gave a heavy sigh of reluctance, it had been a long time coming since she had adorned suck armor, ever since she found out about the Elements of Harmony, it had become near obsolete with the power that those artifacts held, now, she had to come back, back to a time of strife, one that brought memories of regret and a disoriented view of a disorienting time.

Suddenly, a green flame went into the room and suddenly change into a parchment, everyone knew who sent it just from the flame, and the collective voices of everyone murmured one name, “Spike…”

The room suddenly went cold, silence dominated the cold vicinity. Only to be broken by a distant whistle, a 3 tone whistle that didn’t belong to any of Equus’s locomotives, a distinct whistle that only meant one thing to Celestia, time was ticking.

Suddenly, the sound of steps could be heard, quiet, but not quite enough for them to go unnoticed, looking back at the entrance of the vault, they saw the very dragon whose name they had just spoken.

“S-Spike...?” Twilight said as she started to approach her no.1 assistant, tears of relief forming as with every step she took.

“Twilight, stop and stay where you are.” Spike began in a calm voice.

It felt unusual for sure, but Twilight trusted her guts when they said it was the very same dragon that she had hatched on that fateful day, she ignored Spike’s warning and continued on.

“Twilight, please stop.” He said once again, raising his voice a bit to get the point across, which Twilight heeded this time around. “Twilight, please, I want you to be sensible, don’t worry about me.”

“W-what are you talking about?” Twilight asked, just sprinting across the room and hugging her no.1 assistant was already tempting enough, coupled with her holding back a breakdown, she really wanted to just make a break for it, “Don’t be silly Spike, y-you know I can’t just do that.” She then began to ignite her horn.

“Twilight please, listen, whatever you’re planning now, don’t do it, please, it’s for your own safety.” He then revealed that he had hidden something behind his back, he threw it into the vault. “The second half of the paper, please Twilight, don’t screw this up.” He then started to walk away, slowly, knowing what would happen should they try to follow.

“S-Spike... D-don’t play jokes now please,” She then suddenly started to cast a teleportation spell, making her way directly to Spike, just to hold him again, but before she could make it to the exit of the vault or even cast the spell, she was stopped by her friends and Princess Celestia, who promptly gave her the paper that Spike threw and the paper that he likely sent through a flame. The first simple said,

“Prepare, I will be waiting.”

While the second one that Spike threw seemed to be a follow-up,

“Please, I trust that you read it, follow the advice.”

Then all of a sudden, sobs were heard, and when the group directed their attention to Twilight, she was crying, just standing and crying, mourning what could be the last time she saw her assistant, deep down she knew it was untrue, but in her blur of emotions, it was what she could only think of.

“We better get some rest,” Celestia said, she received reluctant nodes of agreement, “I’ll keep watch while you ponies sleep, it’s the least I could do.”

This time, she did not receive a response from any of the mane 6, they were all too busy helping Twilight, but once they were deeper in the vault, and when Celestia was sure they were safe and out of reach to hear her, she took the first note, and cast a spell, it was a note that had more than what met the eye, she silently read it.

‘Prepare, I will be waiting. For what is owed, you owe us time, time that was wrongfully taken from us, I will be waiting, I came back for vengeance because of what was wrongfully done to me. The Royal Centurion Guards are most likely on their way to help you, I know it, and so do you, so I ask, prepare, Canterlot is a Keepless Castle, a Palace with walls, you can’t keep up this game forever, after all, I was the grand architect for how things are now and you merely provided the tools...’

Looking at the armor stand, the battle armor that she had once adorned, Celestia made her choice, this was a battle that she was willing to fight and win.

“So, why are we here?” Spike asked as he approached the ledge with Formosa, he had never expected this stallion, contrary to the operation he ran, to be so understanding for what was about to happen, he had seen the room that they had entered and inspected earlier, full of designs and works that Equestria, heck, the entirety of Equus could benefit from, right before him was a stallion who was in the brink of having a complete understanding of theoretical magic, yet he preferred and had to harness the power of combustion and energy, as he called it. Theories and unfished works were filled to the brink with what could have been years of research, rivaling the works that he had seen Twilight make, but he had learned that Formosa had reasons, those of business and usually nothing personal, and his work made it all the more apparent.

“Oh nothing, just brought you here to enjoy the view,” he then conjured up a telescope, one that he used to scour the land from the high vantage point that we’re on, “Wanted to treat you to a nice view before what is about to happen...”

“What?” Spike asked, tilting his head at that remark, “what do you mean?”

Looking at the dragon, Formosa simply eyed him before resuming his little sightseeing. “Oh, it’s just that, tomorrow won’t exactly be a good day for any of us, not after today at least.”

“Did you plan this?”

“I had planned on doing so for a long time, but then I realized that some changes had to be made to accommodate the battle tomorrow.”

“Of course you did, and how’s that going to work?” Spike asked again, raising a claw for motion or point towards something, “I don’t see you, with the number of resources you have at least, winning a battle against Celestia’s and Luna’s best guards, let alone the Elements of Harmony, even if you tried to get a cheap kill Twilight earlier.”

“That’s why I planned ahead, and trust me, as much as I’d love to use prisoners as bargaining tools or cheap tricks like using you as bait, I’m too tired to plan anything to do with them, I’m sending them somewhere far, probably…”

Spike visibly flinched at the idea of using prisoners, although he knew nothing would happen to him or the other royals and ponies he was chained up with earlier, he wasn’t too sure with the mane 6 and Celestia. He was about to ask another question, but Formosa simply saw something that made him raise a hoof.

“Now that… Is an unexpected sight to behold.” He said.

“What is it?” Spike asked curiously as he approached Formosa.

“Hehe, a midnight express that I never expected to bear witness to.” He said as he allowed Spike to peer through the telescope.

There, as Spike peered through the tube, he saw something that bewildered him, it was pointed towards a constellation, a constellation that, as Twilight would say, was known to Equestria as the “Draken Constellation”, and beside it was another constellation, and this time, it was known by a different name, known as the “Tellus Constellation.”

“Wow,” Spike murmured, he didn’t expect he would actually get to use Twilights lectures on constellations to spot these kinds of things, but looking back and now, it really did have some perks.

Formosa lets a heavy sigh go, one that Spike picked up on, “What’s the matter?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Formosa as he looked up onto the night sky, “It’s been a while, a while since Luna allowed the skies to be as they are.”

“What do you mean?” Spike asked, still looking through the telescope and being amazed by what is able to spot.

“Before I answer that question, do you know what does constellations mean or anything of the sort?” He asked as he seemingly teleported a book with his magic and so, he began to read, still listening to the dragon.

“Yyyeess...?” He answered, unsure if he was even qualified for that sort of thing.

“Then please, do pray tell, what do you think of them?” Formosa said as he continued on reading, seemingly trying to find a specific page.

“Well... I already spotted two constellations, might as well start there, right?” Receiving a nod, he continued, “Well, I’m sure you already saw them, but the first constellation was known as the ‘Draken Constellation” Said to have been named after the dragon species of ‘Drake’s,’ like what I used to be, for them creating their first constellation a long time ago.”

“And what about the second one? What do you think about it?” Formosa inquired once more.

Shifting visible at that one, not many knew of the ‘Tellus Constellation’ mostly because it was widely believed to be just the formation of stars the overlapped by accident or something, Spike wasn’t so sure.

“The second one is... A bit more complicated. You sure you want to know?”

“I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t curious, now would I?” Formosa retorted.

“Very well, let’s see... I don’t know much about that constellation,” he said, looking at Formosa to tell him his honest point, “but I did learn from Twilight that it was named after some ancient lore books and runes.”

Formosa approached Spike to his side, still looking at the constellations with book tightly held close with magic. “Well, I had researched these things for more than a century’s worth of materials, do you want to me indulge you in a little storytelling?” he asked.

“Sure, would be neat to figure that out and have bragging rights to forbid knowledge or something.”

“Not exactly forbidden,” Formosa said, lowering the book and opening it to a page that he had already read and checked for Spike to read, a book that had knowledge that he had personally written just for these kinds of curious beings, “It’s more of … public omission by the princesses and how they ran things in this part of Equus.” He said as he allowed Spike to read his book, countless hours of research, he never thought it would be put too much use, but he was proven wrong when he thought that everything that he had worked for would just be burned, but at least he was able to answer the curiosity of the dragon.

Spike for his part, read the book eagerly, never had he seen so much detail in one page alone, but time and time again, he was proven wrong as he saw potential answers to questions both asked and left unsaid by Equestria. And so, he continued to read, he read until he wandered off into the dream realm.

All the while, Formosa simply stood there, keeping an eye out for the dragon and resuming his little sight-seeing, “Looks like ponies will have a ton of nightmares tonight, unfortunate.” He said until he too decided to take a nap. Soon, the morning will come, and the confrontation that was long due was about to begin.

The mane 6 woke up to a bewildering sight, the first thing that they saw was armored guards flanking nearly every corner of the vault that they had stayed in, while Celestia was simple by their side simply taking a nap. By some miracle, when Applejack was about to ask the others for something, Celestia began to wake up herself. A long discussion was overdue, and the next thing they knew, they would be facing an enemy who would set himself apart from the traditional villains of Equestria.

“So… today is the day,” Formosa said as he looked out the window, from his little safe haven he could see his soldiers, personally loyal to him, always at the ready, a standard that he expected them to uphold, “Now, let’s see here…” he said as he scoured his room for his small notepad, nothing of note ironically, just what he presumed his final words would be and his plans. He then heard a knock on the door.

Giving no response for a moment, he was in deep thought that he didn’t notice the one that entered his room, although once he noticed and recognized the dragon, he simply gave a blank face, “Hey Spike, didn’t see you there,” He said as he continued his search for the notepad.

The dragon, for his part, stayed silent as he watched the pony do what he did before he began to speak, “Um… Hey, I just came by to tell you that some pony said that you had visitors coming, and that, you should go and meet them or something.” He said as he motioned a claw for Formosa to follow.

Hesitant at first, Formosa soon realized who they might actually meet, “Alright, I’ll follow, but need you to follow some directions carefully though.”

“Alright,” Spike replied.

“Well, it was… breathtaking, to be able to work with you, Spike, really has been,” Formosa said out of the blue, this perplexed Spike when he extended his own hoof for him to shake, but he took it anyway, a show of respect of course. “Now let’s get going, we don’t have all day,” Formosa said as he led the way, the dragon following suit.

As Celestia and her guards made their way through the palace, going through room by room, they searched for clues or direction for what they were about to do, Celestia just telling them to find anything of note that could probably help them. But of course, they ended up empty hoofed.

“Your Highness, if I may…” said one of the guards.

Replying in kind, Celestia said, “Go on.”

“We have recently received Intel that the enemy forces are currently pulling back to the train stations as we speak,”

“And?”

“It would also seem as though they are transporting prisoners out of Canterlot, we don’t know where to, but none of the prisoners seem to be civilians in nature.” The guard concluded.

Thinking for a brief moment, Celestia thought of what else it could mean, but she already knew it could only be two things, either a genuine retreat is being made in order for them to go to a much more “familiar” grounds from where they would likely win, or on the really off chance, a distraction, which is a gamble of course, for something even more important, she just can’t figure out what that would be.

After some deep thought, she decided to play the game, she decided to gamble, she wasn’t used to gambling, especially when lives are probably on the line, but if she had to, years of political experience might not necessarily help, but the few instances of conflicts she had to deal with would probably kick in later.

Author's Note

HOLLY MOLLY,
Didn't expect to actually finish it this far, overdid it again.
Then again, it is probably very mediocre, for fun or something...
I'm supposed to say something here, but I forgot what to write, I'll probably just edit it in future times or something.

Till next time folks!