Verve

By ‘morning’, there was still no word from Rainbow Dash. She was fast; but breezies were anything but. In fact, she probably had to cart them around by the hundreds on her back, and while amusing to imagine - it was bad news for the party and deer.

Tempest eventually gathered her team and fifteen deer - including Arin’s father and King Aster, eying them all from beneath her helmet. They had stolen the Throne Room to speak, a roughshod map of the castle - compliments of Arin and Celestia - laying on the floor in detailed flicks of the quill. Every entrance, every doorway, every window; all was marked, secret passages included.

With a flash, the winter iron helm was settled by her side, calming her nerves to speak.

“If we had more time, we could attempt to take a less direct route - but it’s likely we’ll have to be straight forward. We are a team, and everypony has a job to do. Our first mission is to breech Canterlot Airspace - the darkness and snow gives us cover from all eyes excluding Nightmare Moon’s, and with her sight most likely settling on the western horizon - we’ll have to keep low, cut through the train pass of the Smoky Mountains, and approach from the North West.

“We’ll be exposed within the last few minutes of ascension, at which point Arin, Vee, Celestia, and Pumpkin will abandon the ship to fly in and try to storm the castle from the Guard Barracks. It would be the easiest point of entry; anypony inside would be resting, unarmed, and in short supply, as she’s likely keeping the majority of Celestia’s elite guards on high alert across the castle. Additionally, the stairway leading up is built in the reverse of a usual defender’s passage; instead of ascending in a clockwise spiral, it moves counter clockwise - this is due to the fact that if guards were needed in the upper halls, they should be able to fight there way past intruders looking to barge down into the barracks. This is the only stairway built in this manner, the lowest point in the castle directly beneath Nightmare Moon, and the one point where our backline could sneak inside. This means that our balloon can reach it first, over the points guarded by eyes and the mountain’s walls.

“The sturdy construction of the barracks means it is also fortified against Nightmare Moon herself; and with it being situated so low in the castle, it may damage the supports if she attempts to blast away sections of the wall to target you. Oarkin, Umbra, and I will bring the balloon around, and catch her eyes - leading her away towards the front gates. We’re going to make a lot of noise, Princess - because we’re going to crash Bringer of Dawn right into your Entry Hall.”

“You can’t be serious?” Celestia pointed an armored hoof, “That… you wouldn’t even shatter the bridge, if it was drawn shut; and even if it did, you’d have to crack the iron grate, and the heavy oak doors behind. The previous flaws that King Leotoln exploited were likely amended by modern architects in the reconstruction, as well! You would simply sink your ship, Tempest.”

“I didn’t say I was going to ram the gate - I’m going over it. But the engine is not. I’m going to disengage the engine’s safety locks, and drop it like an explosive battering ram against the drawbridge - the detonation will likely shatter not just the bridge, but that gate as well, leaving nothing but the sturdy oak doors left. Then, Oarkin and Umbra will cut the balloon, and we’ll let the hull of the ship crash in full force into the throne room. Oarkin, your job will be to grab us both with your magic, and bring us to ground level inside of the castle. From there, you’ll use your immense strength to keep those doors shut, when the battering rams come. Umbra and I will guard you when this happens. Understood?”

The giant Seraph scratched his beard, thinking quietly; “Are the ponies going to try and break the door?”

“They’ll have a rough time crossing the moat, but it’ll likely take minutes for a siege engineer to drop a replacement. I know my enemies; Nightmare Moon is expecting us to not give up without a fight. In fact, she’s probably at war with the Crystal Empire, if the Crystal Heart is still strong enough to ward off her Lunar Magic. They would be the last bastion of resistance in the coming dark, but with hope fading fast - they may fall soon, too. Tia, send Princess Cadence a letter. Give them something to hold on to. Hope. Anything. Just don’t let their light fade; the Umbrum will escape if that happens, and they’ll wreak havoc on the world if they do.”

A murmur formed in the crowd, as deer and pony both chattered over the coming battle. Celestia bowed her head, sighing in agreement. “She’s right. Nightmare Moon has learned from her mistakes. If she has a military, she’s going to use every soldier she can to secure her rule. Once the moonlight fully eclipses the far horizon, she’ll have no need for them - but it wouldn’t matter anyway. By then, with no solar light left to counter the Entity’s whims, it will break into the Prime, and claim every soul gathered there.”

“This is why our support - Tia, Arin, Vee, and Pumpkin, are going to not raise the alarm. Nightmare Moon will likely fly to the front of the castle, and with the hole in the courtroom and soldiers rushing to the sound - she’ll take her throne once more to defend it. By the time she’s settling in her seat, every interior force will be facing us three down. Arin, Vee, and Pumpkin - flank them. Princess, it’s all on you to challenge Nightmare Moon alone. If the Elements of Harmony are in the castle, once we clear up the guards - Oarkin will hold the door alone, as the five of us will split up to find them, if they don’t converge en masse on us from the attack.

“From there, it’s a waiting game. We’ll have likely thousands of zealous acolyte soldiers looking to take us down from outside the walls - and without proper leadership due to the effects of dream magic dimming their minds, they’ll be dead set on attempting to crack the final door inside. We’ll still be at high risk of stray pegasi and reinforcements from airships landing on balconies and platforms, but the majority of her ground troops will be trying their hardest to take the Castle’s entryway, instead of breaching unguarded windows and wailing on the walls with full siege gear.

“The deer are key in this. Those doors will break. And if thousands of blood lusted ponies surge inside, all is lost. It doesn’t matter how many we take down - we need a full fighting force to keep these forces out of our manes. General Falon - any news at all?”

The General shook his head with a sigh, “None yet. But our bucks are fitted for war, and Vee has been kind enough to write down this… Familiar Binding process for us, which we’ve translated to deer.”

“D’ohoho~ It’s nothing, Arin’s-father-fry! By the way, that’s definitely weird on the feathers, calling you that. So I won’t! You’ll just be General-fry instead.” Vee waved an expertly preened wing at the tall buck, who smiled and rolled his eyes - despite the many glares of the confused deer all around. ‘When did General Falon adopt this… creature?’ Was the thought that definitely plagued their minds.

“Falon, there’s two routes you could take - the front entrance, which will be a bloodbath as you’ll be outnumbered and surrounded, or at the base of the mountain - I’ll let Tia explain.” Tempest nodded to the Princess, who turned the massive map over. With a strike of the quill, she quickly doodled the shape of Mount Celeste, marking a point where a river formed.

“This is Canterlot Falls; behind it is the old entrance to the Manastone Mines beneath the mountain. Great power used to radiate from beneath here, until Starswirl the Bearded formed a single crystal seed from all of the gathered magic within. This seed would later grow to be the Tree of Harmony - but this is irrelevant. When I set Mount Celeste as the throne of Canterlot, these mines had fallen out of use - and as such, I instead had architects reform it as a secret escape route in case of siege.

“I know I told Luna and Cadence of this entrance - but it’s right at the edge of White Tail Wood. With deer skills and stealth tactics, and brush thick and plentiful - it’s a simple task of subduing the defenders, and taking the side path behind the frozen falls. It would be hard to navigate without guidance, Falon - but I have a simple formula to rely on in case of emergency. At each turn through the winding tunnels, ignore the signs and posts that give false guidance - they will instead turn you around, and bring you back to the front. When escaping, it would be easy to recall ‘right right left’ - two rights make a left. Going in reverse is just that, reverse - ‘left left right’, two lefts make a right. If at each split in the road, you follow left, left, right - you’ll arrive beneath the throne room in an hour, especially if you take the second elevator.”

“Left, left, right - second elevator. Impossible to fail; how large is this elevator?” Falon prodded, wanting every detail he could gather.

Celestia thought quietly to herself, before rolling her hoof in a circle; “A third of the size of this throne room, capable of carrying thousands of heaps of weight. It was built originally to move dozens of minecarts full of heavy gems upwards towards the growing Canterlot, so the weight limit is rather absurd. It’s safe to assume that over one hundred bucks at a time, armed and laden for battle, could both fit and ride upwards - and the ride is rather short, too. How large are your forces?”

“Each Senator is in charge of a Noble house; and each house holds a battalion of seventy two soldiers. We would have at least one thousand battle ready warriors fit for battle; at who’s order should we charge in?” Falon awaited her answer, but surprisingly - Arin interrupted.

“At mine. Shining showed me the secret lever used to release the latches, and raise the podium - while Celestia is fighting Nightmare Moon, I’ll pop the hatch; if you see the light of the moon and hear the clatter of steel on steel, charge in and fight to the last. We’ll need all of you to form the line that keeps the Equestrian armies at bay, and help defend the Castle.”

“W-Wait, if the deer are going in through t-the um… back, why do we want to weaken the front gate?... Shouldn’t we um… close it? And stuff?” Pumpkin spoke up quietly; she was the ambassador, after all! Her words had weight. Right?

“Two reasons; if we don’t give the army in front a clear and easy way to funnel in, they’re going to besiege the castle - possibly killing hundreds of deer, and us in the process. On top of this, we need to limit the amount of active bodies on the ground - the more ponies turned incorporeal, the less chance of the Entity showing itself early. Using the castle as a focus point chokes their forces, and makes Equestrian numbers worthless. If the deer came from outside the castle walls, they would be flanked on all sides, and slaughtered. This is a bid for time. Defeating Nightmare Moon will clear the dream immediately; ending the war in a second.” Tempest gave her lover a gentle smile, before nodding toward Arin.

Arin flipped the map back over, pointing out several of the side passages of the castle with his well educated eyes. “I went over this with you before, Falon, but if we can hold the castle, every hallway becomes a chokepoint and funnel; you can fall backwards to any position in few numbers, and still prevent even a full battalion from seizing the halls.”

Tempest took the lead once more, motioning towards the throne room. “Tia, once we’ve restored Twilight and her friends to sanity, I’m going to signal you with a burst from my horn. Your duty is to lure Nightmare Moon back inside the castle, and keep her preoccupied once again. With Harmony, we can banish her once more to the moon - and free your sister, as well.”

“Understood.” She bowed her head, as the last few details were ironed out; places where deer could gather, rally points, Nightmare Moon’s tactics - but one last question came to mind.

“If Nightmare Moon could knock a pony unconscious with a single wave of her horn, couldn’t she simply… render our entire fighting force asleep with a single, mass spell?” Falon pressed, a few murmurs of agreement following. At that, Vee gave her familiar ‘d’ohoho.~’

“Ten snoots ahead of you, General-fry! I went ahead and ordered five massive barrels of coffee in advance from one of the local cafes and all that jazz. A couple spells and a bit of magical tampering, and you’ll be snapped awake for days to come. Like me! Always awake. Unless I’m pretending I’m not. Which I do when I don’t want ponies to bother me.”

“I knew it!” King Aster called; the first time he spoke since the meeting began. He may be a leader, but just like Celestia - battle strategy was not his forte. “I questioned how one could drink so much coffee in such a short period of time! You had this planned from the start, am I correct?”

“Hmhmhm!~ Always a snoot ahead of you, Golden-fry~ But yes! It’s not for me. Well, maybe some of it. I have a special brew in mind for the seven of us charging in first, to keep the chill away and make the preening good. D’ohoho~” She nosed into her satchel, withdrawing a familiar bag of the good stuff - marked by Celestia’s cutiemark, Vee restrained herself from drinking the five thousand bit bag of Royal Coffee Beans all in one day, just to share with her friends.

“A pot of this will make you smell colors! Oho, yes, it’s good. Mm. Strong, expensive, delicious, and life saving against angry moon horses who wiggle the stars in all the wrong ways.” Her wing wrapped around it protectively, as Celestia caught sight of her special stash. The other wing being nibbled and preened on, the Purple turned towards the Princess with her distant gaze.

“Neigh.” Vee spat a feather hard enough to bop Celestia’s nose, the Princess rolling her eyes in frustration as the pinion tumbled to the Purple’s hoof.

“So, we’re just going to all… drink from barrels of coffee before we leave the Fey, or?...” Falon prodded, Vee brushing away the feather with her other wing.

“Exactly, General-fry! You’ve got a good brain beneath the mane, I see. Don’t worry; the Purple has your back! Not really. I can’t hold your back, and nopony gives me special princess rides for free.” She hmhm’d in her insanity, making no sense, as per usual.

“...Right.” Falon shared a look with his son, who simply shrugged; it’s best not to question her madness.

The war council broke as the ponies and seraphs readied their spirits for battle, General Falon leading them through Silversun’s front gate himself. The buck stepped in line with the young Seraph, as the crunch of intruding snow fell much too quickly underhoof in the dark.

“Our time together has been short, Arin - I know. But you’ll always have a home here, among my boughs. Please, be safe. Your skill will guide you. Stay confident in your abilities even when doubt claws at your mind. Understood?” the buck said; he really did treat him like family, and it showed.

“I will. And with my friends by my side, my team - I know they’ll be there to help me should I fail.”

Falon smiled, stopping at the edge of a clearing; fireflies buzzing once more around them, signifying their approach to the far corners of the feywild. “I have one last thing to give you, Arin. Something only a buck of your skill is worthy of.”

His antlers glowed green, turning to a small satchel at his side. In his aura he bore a medal; a mark. It was a simple cloven hoof print, with a bow and heart resting across its surface.

“In the battalions, bucks and doe's who have mastered sets of skills are given specific titles regarding their proficiencies. There are Darkrunners, warriors proficient in close range combat. Spelldaggers, magi who bear powerful magics to disrupt and control the field. And Primevals; the roots of our armies, they are the potent archers that make up the majority of our forces. Confessors, who are the rare healers among our ranks. But there is still one class that is beyond extraordinary, and incredibly difficult to come across. Rangers. Healers who have mastered the bow, and move with such grace that they are single hoofedly the figurehead of an army. You, Arin. And do you know why I believe you’re fit for this title?”

In the Seraph’s stunned silence, the buck pulled a chain from around his neck; the exact same medallion now resting against his own Feyglass armor. The only difference between the two badges was that Falon’s had two golden antlers, signifying his ties to leadership. “Because you’re just like me. Like father, like son.”

Falon drew the small chain of the badge tight, draping it over his son’s head with pride. It fit just above his heart locket, sized perfectly for the new soldier. “Rangers, as rare as they are, are often battalion leaders. As they have mastered the most difficult skill of any creature; bringing light to the dark. Turning despair into hope. And you’ve proven that you’re ready for this title.”

“I…” Arin held the badge of honor up, the seal shining dimly in the moonlight. “You… I thought… you’re… you’re a ranger? I… you think I’m ready?”

“We keep our marks beneath our armor, so that if we perish, we can be identified by the tag by those who find us. But yes, to both of your questions. I am a Ranger. And you are ready. As I’ve said before… have confidence in yourself. And your skill will shine. The potential has always been inside of you.”

By now, the rest of the party had stopped at the edge of the clearing; turning to watch the duo as their faded bodies flash in and out of existence; between the Prime, and wilds. Like twinkling stars, they watched as Falon and Arin hugged one last time.

“I will be there, as quick as my hooves will carry me - once the breezies arrive. Understood?”

The Seraph nodded, wiping away a tear. This buck had really touched his heart, in the scant few days they’ve shared. “Understood.”

“Goodbye, son.”

“Goodbye, dad.”