Equestria At War - In the Shadow of the Sun

The white, dark-maned unicorn gulped as she shuffled the papers before her. A cold sweat ran down her forehead. She couldn't stop walking down the hallways - not for a second. She had to get to her destination, for being late wasn't acceptable. But it was hard to walk on weak, shaky hooves...

The hallways were once gorgeous - shining in brilliance and grace. Now, they were like a dark corridor illuminated by sunset's sunlight - dark, with the only light source being the insidious orange.

Raven Inkwell put a hoof to her mouth. All the reports, all the statistics...They were adding up into a number she did not want to fathom. How was this possible? There was no way these reports weren't falsified...And yet, they were vetted through all the right ponies. This information was real, and actual...

She put the paper aside for a moment, and looked at the door. The ornate, red door - with inscriptions of the sun, and a pair of guards standing by at the ready.

The unicorn was glad that this wasn't the throne room. No - at this time, she would come here. Daybreaker's personal room. Not her sleeping chambers, precisely - but a room where Daybreaker enjoyed some off time. Somewhy, she noticed that Daybreaker spent more time in this room than she did as Celestia.

Was evil lazy? No. It's just that once you removed democracy, free will, and bureaucracy out of the equation, you suddenly found yourself with much, much more free time.

"... Princess Cel--..." Raven was happy that her low voice had produced almost little to no sound with her meekness. Her inability to speak firmly was her saving grace, and she had the opening to correct herself swiftly. "Your Majesty." She said, able to put on her analytical, precise voice. "We...Collected the report of the Ascended's operation in Fillydelphia."

For a figure that represented fire and the sun, Daybreaker's form was coated in a shawl of shadow. The tall alicorn had been standing beside a painting, gazing at it...A painting of a purple alicorn. Twilight Sparkle's visage - Raven knew that Daybreaker could spend maybe up to an hour gazing at it. It was a wonder how Daybreaker hadn't burnt down all of Canterlot hearing the news Twilight made it overseas.

After all, even if Daybreaker considered all ponies to be her children - this feeling was a hundred times more intense with her faithful student.

"...Thank you, Raven." Daybreaker sighed. "Go ahead, please."

"It was a success...The...ELF was encircled, and the fire surrounding Fillydelphia was put out immediately after the ELF's forces were considered no-factor. Their vehicles were destroyed or captured - some planes however fell and landed on civilians. C-Civilian casualties are about 106 and counting, m-most of it caused by the garrison that was stationed there. The garrison itself suffered about 600 in casualties..."

"Please send an order to execute all officers of the Fillydelphia garrison. Do specify it's due to civilian casualties - and of their subordinates - the surrender itself isn't what bothers me." She simply said. "...And the ELF? What of their casualties?"

Daybreaker's ear twitched. She heard...A soft gagging noise.

"They...The ELF...lost approximately one thousand..." She took a moment. "Eight hundred and sixty four..."

"...Raven." She softly spoke. "Am I sensing that you feel...unsettled by these numbers?"

Raven felt herself freeze. What could she say in this case? She blinked with a stopped heart at Daybreaker, mind in freefall attempting to think of the best response that could save her skin.

And yet, Daybreaker believed silence to be an answer. She turned to her - looking down at the unicorn with her tall, imposing stature...And softly smiled down at her. "Raven..." She said with a less stern, softer voice. "I'm sorry for this. After the Great War, I really should have stopped assigning you to work with this sort of information. I can't imagine how you felt this whole time to be surrounded with numbers of destruction and death..."

Raven was able to recover, invisibly using magic to wipe cold sweat off her forehead. "N-...No, ma'am. It's...I'm fine. Just...it's a little...well..."

Daybreaker took steps towards the small unicorn - each hoofstep feeling as if its sound was on a different plane of existence; an ethereal noise that delivered the sound straight to Raven's eardrums.

"It's okay for you to feel saddened, and shocked at death." Daybreaker stated. "What happened in Fillydelphia was utterly horrible. A horrible loss of life. Albeit this is all because some ponies are misguided, it does not make their lives less worthy. This was a tragedy. A tragedy which is neither their fault, nor ours. All we can do is hope to educate our subjects, and pray they learn from their mistakes. To help them understand what a better world should be."

Raven wanted to say something. To blame Daybreaker for sending in the Ascended. For knowingly opening Fillydelphia to be bait for the ELF despite the potential casualties. She wanted to even spit at this...monster.

However, Raven wasn't Daybreaker's secretary for no reason. There was a lot of brain behind those reading glasses. The unicorn could only pretend to sigh in sad understanding.

"Next on the agenda..." Daybreaker shifted the topic. "We're going to discuss a little...maneuver. I'm going to meet with Aurora to discuss it, but I need you to take a few things into account, send out the appropriate inquiries and check on some preparations. Ready your quill, please."

The white unicorn did as instructed - but her eyes were curiously trained on Daybreaker the whole time. "W-What is it, your highness?"

The alicorn smirked as she looked at the window that faced East. "Aurora's counterintelligence efforts have been fruitful. Analysis on the Clover Island bait, Yucoltan's abduction of Rarity, and the killing of our agents in Jagged Hope has presented us with a good lead on who's taking the most active role in sabotaging us." She smiled. "I sent some of our best to take a look...And after a short while, they were able to persuade one of its members to spill a decent amount of information." She grinned, as she pulled up a folder.

Raven's blood froze. How did she get to this point so quickly, to discover this much?

"A-And what did you find out, m-ma'am--I mean, your highness?"

"Odds and ends." Daybreaker mused. "But we made some discoveries that will...delay our enemy. I want you to speak with the VOPS leadership and ask about a trip to a certain hospital in New Mareland; its neurodegenerative department, to be precise."

Raven wasn't sure what this information meant - but she would begin to write it down. Everything Daybreaker said was recorded with a spell that was designed to make a quill automatically transcribe the said words.

"And, in regards to the recent developments with Vividvale..." She then began to speak...And the words she said had become white noise to Raven - because of how much horror - sheer horror she felt hearing all that she talked about.

She wished she could cut her ears off at that moment. To become deaf. To become deaf to the wicked, disgusting things she was hearing.

Raven whimpered softly - thoughts running through her head as she had no choice but to listen all the facts presented to her. It was for the sake of the world. She wrote it all down - words written at the same rate as Daybreaker spoke them - the quill become warm from the friction as it ran across the paper...And thankfully, after ten minutes, Daybreaker finished.

"That will be all." Daybreaker simply said. Raven felt these words take off several tonnes off of her shoulders - and with weak hooves, the unicorn limped over to the door, glad that Daybreaker had currently been making eye contact with the portrait instead.

"...Oh, Raven?"

Squeak.

"Yes...your highness?"

"Take a day off tomorrow. You've earned the rest."

"Thank you, your highness..." Raven softly sighed in relief, and stepped out.

The door finally closed. Daybreaker gazed into the portrait longer - the portrait which she ever so subtly modified to make it appear as a Twilight who accepted the reign of the Solar Empire.

When Daybreaker's eyes went for the large mirror in the room, she saw another figure. Another alicorn.

...

A dark blue alicorn who stood there with a wicked, wicked - taunting smile.

"What a pathetic little thing. I mean you, not Twilight Sparkle. That one at-least shows competence. And look at you. Poor Daybreaker - so lost without her little pet project. So lost without her little toy - sulking as she stares at her image like some strange pervert. Tut - tut..."

"Disappear. Whore."

"You kiss that portrait with that mouth, sister?"

"Do not...ever...call yourself my sister, Nigthmare Moon. That title does not go to you, of all beings."

"Mhm. Because Princess Luna is your real sister, is what you're getting at? That's rich - cute. Grand, even. Except, you seem to forget that Princess Luna is the sister of Princess Celestia - not Daybreaker."

"..."

"Not to mention, you're an awful example of a sister. How long've you been trying to find Luna to steal her body, hm? It's so cute. You really thought consuming me alone would give you my power? No, stupid little filly. You need the vessel. Without the vessel, I am just a soul in your head - free to keep mocking you and reminding you of your pathetic state. Hmhmhm~..."

"..."

"Such a stupid mutt you are. You really think you can harness the power of the sun and moon both? Ambitious. And lacking brains entirely. Can't even find Luna for starters. Hahah~..."

"..."

"You almost had it all. Had me begging for mercy. Yet, Twilight Sparkle ejected her out of me to save her. Your trump card - poof. Gone. And Twilight Sparkle herself? Even when you tried to kill her out of reflex you failed. Your magic even failed to kill the very mortal stallion that came to help her. How pathetic is that? All you did was burn his hooves and her face. Your power's no better than some dumb gas stove accident."

"..."

"Oh, and your little idea isn't bringing your faithful student back. She'll just hate you more. But that's fine - Twilight Sparkle, as much as I hate her, doesn't deserve having to follow such a failure of a mentor-"

The mirror was smashed with a blast of magic - shattering into not merely pieces, but dust that scattered like broken diamonds all over the floor.

"DIE, DAMN YOU. BE DEAD. BE GONE. YOU DON'T COMPARE TO ME. YOU'RE BENEATH ME. YOU'RE A FAILURE - AND YOU HAVE NOTHING OF VALUE. YOU'RE...YOU'RE MUD. SHUT UP - AND KEEP QUIET, YOU PIECE OF SHIT. DIE!"

A torrent of magic had thrown almost everything in the room over to its side - a flurry of fire-addled levitation that rearranged almost every molecule - leaving Daybreaker standing in a heap of debris, shards - and fire.

...

...

...

...

"This is just rich~. Priiiiime entertainment. Bravo~."