Harmony fall, is it so bad?

There is not much to say

It only took us forty minutes to organize everything for our departure and we got into the carriage where we took off.

Of course I didn't have to go, but it was easy to excuse myself, partly because my excuse wasn't a total lie.

I hadn't gotten as close to Cadance as I did with Luna or Hawthorn, but she was definitely more than just an acquaintance, and I was going to help her if I could... especially since her situation was my fault.

During the trip, I asked Luna for a more concrete explanation. She gave me a summary of the situation, and I understood that the charges were an exaggeration, a way for the noble families to vent their anger.

It all started with protests from the family of one of the survivors, a certain Iron Blade.

That family declared Iron Blade to be a devoted soldier who was injured in the line of duty but failed due solely to Shining's interference and incompetence.

The rest of the noble families did not need more than that. Many of these families had lost not only relatives but their direct heirs.

Needless to say, they were eager to find someone to blame and didn't care if someone was really guilty or not.

One would think that such things would be easy to discredit when you have the support of the three ruling princesses, and that would be the case if it weren't, because apparently Shining had already made enough enemies in high places who encouraged this repudiation of him.

But what is truly burying it is that, surprisingly, the story told by Iron Blade's family was not completely false.

I wanted to hear more, but we had already landed

Between my questions and Aspen's, I barely noticed it.

“Welcome, your majesties.” Raven welcomed us all with a bow, but she didn't look well. In addition to her disheveled appearance, she seemed quite uneasy.

Luna let Aspen out of the carriage first, I guess because of some ethical protocol or something, Luna was the next to get off and bow back. “Thank you for having us. Tell me Raven, has anything happened during my absence?” Obviously, Luna also noticed how agitated the mare seemed.

“Princess Celestia needs assistance.”

Luna couldn't help but wince. “Does she need help with… that?” I don't know what they're talking about, but it seems that with Aspen here, they had decided to be cautious

Raven just nodded, afraid to say more than she should.

“Understood, I will go immediately to assist you.”

“No, she doesn't need it.” Luna seemed ready to fly until Raven's response came, which she seemed to confuse. “And that's just the problem, Celestia is-”

“Hello sister, how was your trip?” We all froze at the interruption “King Aspen, I apologize for not noticing you, and the same to you, Spirit Flame” Celestia bowed to me and Aspen.

Celestia looked good... and that was exactly what was most disturbing

Celestia was perfect and at the same time she was a mess… she had injuries, she could see more than one bandaged leg, even some blood fogging the bandages and yet she didn't limp despite her graceful gait.

Most of her face was covered by a thick bandage and she still managed to smile warmly.

Her torso was covered in slightly red bandages, and one of her wings was firmly splinted and tightened, something like that had to hurt or at least cause difficulty breathing, but her voice was so soft and her breathing was calm and controlled.

It was everything one expected to see from an immortal and unsurpassed ruler, divinity, but such a display of perfection in that state was not comforting, but rather alarming to mere mortals.

“Princess Celestia, although our relationships have not been the best in recent times, we deeply regret your loss.” Aspen, as expected, did not allow herself to be intimidated.

“I appreciate her support, and I hope she can help us”

"With what? If I can ask"

Celestia did not respond immediately, instead she used her good wing to invite Aspen in. “The details are somewhat delicate, but we hope that she can help in the precarious situation in which our dear captain finds himself.” ”

“I understand” Aspen accepted the invitation and entered the castle followed by Celestia.

I was about to follow them too, but a dark wing blocked my path. “I think it would be best to separate here, dear Spirit, the topics we will discuss are not something that anyone can participate in.”

I looked at her with concern. “I understand Luna, but you can't tell me that seeing that doesn't worry you too.”

Luna nodded "You're right, I'm worried, but it doesn't look like I'll have the chance to talk to my sister until later, and something tells me it's going to be a long and... very delicate conversation for the two of us."

"Yeah! You're right, we have to concentrate” Twilight quickly broke the hug and pointed to a bookshelf that already seemed to have been ransacked, but she still had some books “There you will find everything you need to get started in Equestrian laws. If you have questions or need more information, do not hesitate to ask me”

“I understand.” I thanked him and followed the direction he had pointed me in.

The bookshelf was a little far away, in fact it was in another section of the library, why was Twilight so far away, no idea, I only cared about the book in front of me.

A simple law book and, as expected, as thick as my hoof

Until reading so much manga and science fiction novels helped me, reading a law book was boring as expected, but since I was already used to reading it it wasn't a big problem.

Before arriving at Equus, I enjoyed reading books of 400 pages or more that I could finish in a week, as long as I had no other things to do.

I must highlight that the laws were better defined than I expected for a society that never went beyond the medieval era, or at least in matters of health, education and health, but there were others...

'Norms of the Common Good'

That's what they were called, and these included, but were not limited to, being a good neighbor, a good son, saying please and thank you, obeying the golden rule, etc.

What does someone have to do to fall into the category of a good neighbor? Does the Golden Rule even mean the same thing here as it does on earth? How did these things get into a law book? They leave too much to personal interpretation, with meanings that are too open or vague.

The worst thing is that the differences between laws and norms are never specified, they are supposed to be different, it is explained briefly, but in a very imprecise way, mostly it seems to expect the reader to intuit that they are a kind of pseudo-law not reprehensible unless is considered appropriate… there is, I don't know, it's a bit confusing in that area, I can only give my own conclusions

Ridiculous!

I'm no lawyer, but I have no doubt that anyone, even a law student, would have a field day if they somehow ended up in Equestria too.

This is just what I was looking for, if I continue… Brrrr… it's possible… Brrrrr… I just need… Brrrr

Okay, I'll kill that fly first.

I looked around and found nothing, but I still heard the constant hissing

It took me another second to realize that the sound was not coming from outside but from inside my head, right in my hive mind.

I got scared and looked for a connection with some drone, I no longer had drones in Canterlot due to the sudden increase in security that followed after Blueblood's death and I preferred that they continue to believe that I lived totally ignorant of the outside, but Canterlot could be seen from almost all of Equestria and I could assure that there was no shield surrounding her

However, the hiss was still there, but now that I focused better I realized that it was not the same as the feel of the Everfree

Shining's shield made my connection harder, weaker, but this feeling... it's more like interference, instead of something trying to cut my signal, it feels like something trying to override it.

It reminds me of the static of a television with no signal

Bttrrrrtt

A somewhat diffuse signal came to me

It was one of my most recent creations.

Minilestia

… I forgot that I left it lying there along with other things that I didn't put away because I was distracted by my talk with Twilight

I know it wasn't the most ethical thing to do to take advantage of the situation to try to give one of the princesses what was basically a hidden camera, but the idea was too tempting to pass up.

Especially with what he's showing me now.

It's Twilight talking to a unicorn guard, and while another unicorn guard did so, he positioned himself on the opposite side of his partner. Twilight did not give importance to the presence of the guard who left her field of vision while she chatted with the guard who claimed to be an acquaintance of Shining. Until he felt something brush the tip of his horn

Instinctively, Twilight looked up to see what caused the disturbance, finding a ring wrapped in a greenish aura… for a second, she was confused about its purpose until the guard she was chatting with a few moments ago pounced on her, making sure to surround his neck with his paw, cutting off his air

Twilight began to struggle trying to free herself, but that was a trained soldier and Twilight was a book geek, the difference in strength was evident, so she tried to use her magic, but a light blow on the horn from the guard was enough. He was holding her to interrupt whatever spell Twilight was trying to form.

At that moment, the guard holding her angrily demanded that his partner take action, as he had frozen after failing to put what I assume to be a magic-inhibiting ring on the lavender unicorn's horn.

He quickly moved, taking the fallen ring and placing it on Twilight's horn, who was already turning blue from lack of air.

At this point, you would expect me to run from her and save her, but no, I had noticed something else while watching the kidnapping.

There was a third guard, one who was further away than the rest and was watching me

It was fortunate that I never let go of the book I had been reading, thanks to that, I was able to avoid suspicion by simply putting the book on my face.

I would like to say that I managed to stay calm because of my training and impeccable discipline, but I knew that it was mostly due to the effect of the current of silence.

I was grateful for that, a cool mind and logical reasoning were what had kept me alive until now and I wasn't going to abandon them no matter how desperate the situation.

So I analyzed the situation and saw it from the most logical point of view.

Disadvantages

I don't know how many guards are actually on this, for all I know, there could be a group waiting for us at the entrance of the library or more hidden among the many hallways of the library

One of the guards has me in his sights so I was able to say goodbye to the element of surprise

Twilight is already completely subdued so I can't count on her support.

My shapeshifting spell has been steadily improved, but it still takes a couple of good hits or a spell to make it disappear, which I can't allow.

Thanks to the castle defenses, none of my summons are available, not even my drones

And if all that wasn't enough, I'm still hurt. It's not that I'm totally helpless, but I'm not in my best condition yet.

In short, I would have to fight these three guards head-on in a weakened state while freeing Twilight from being used as a hostage without taking a single hit in the process and without help, only to then face an unknown number of enemies.

…

It was a pleasure meeting you Twilight, maybe a little more time and we would be friends, but for now you are alone... I'm sorry

I went back to see how Twilight was doing, and as expected, she was unconscious while a castle maid arrived with a food cart covered with a large white tablecloth.

I couldn't help but let out a sigh. I suspected it before, but now I was sure there was more, it's a good thing I didn't interfere.

They stuffed Twilight's unconscious body inside in a way that made it impossible for her to see from the outside, then acted as if they didn't know each other, and the maid left the way she came while the soldiers patrolled the hallways of the library as if nothing had happened.

As the minutes passed, one by one, they left at intervals of five to twenty minutes, probably trying not to appear suspicious.

They were professionals, or at least most of them were, the same one who failed to put the inhibitor ring on Twilight and subsequently froze while being subdued turned out to have some kind of taste for cute things or something, because I can't think of any other reason why he decided to take minilestia with him

I cut my connection, and I collapsed, no one was there to see me anymore.

I managed to stay calm, but that does not mean that the fear and panic had vanished, they were simply suppressed, but they were still there and had exhausted me.

My body was sweaty, my heart was beating like crazy, causing a lot of pain in my chest, and my mind was already starting to slow down due to fatigue.

Demanding so much on a body that has just woken up from a coma may not be the best idea.

I decided to take the book to continue tomorrow, but for now I'm going to sleep

I was so tired that I didn't even think about where I was going, I just walked on autopilot, so it was no surprise when I ended up arriving at Luna's room.

The guards were kind enough to open the doors for me and I wasn't in the mood to look for a guest room, so I walked in and collapsed on that soft bed.

But there was something wrong… BRRRRR

The buzzing had returned, and with great force

What the hell could be causing-?

“Spirit, I thought you wouldn't make it.”

“HIP” I jumped at the sudden appearance of Luna. “Where did you come from?”

“This is my room, is it so strange that I'm here?” Luna pointed out as she laughed.

“Yes, that's true, but I thought you said you would come find me when you were done.”

“Oh… I think I forgot, you know how things are, and with all that chaos” Luna quickly dismissed my complaint without giving it much importance.

That disconcerted me a little, although with everything that's going on it doesn't surprise me that I'm secondary.

I didn't have time to think about that when, faster than I could notice, Luna appeared in front of my face.

“But we're not going to let something so simple ruin our time, are we? ~”Luna spoke in a flirtatious voice as she reduced the distance between us to zero.

Luna basically tried to knock me down when she kissed me too intensely.

I had to get up and move back as far as the back of the bed would allow me to prevent Luna from climbing on top of me.

“WOW! “Luna, relax for a moment, okay?” I had no idea what kind of bug bit her that made her act so impulsively. Luna is usually more shy

"Haha, why? I've waited long enough for this and I know well that you have too." At that moment, Luna bit my tail and pulled hard enough so that the distance between us was minimal.

I felt quite exposed, and alarm bells were ringing in my head. I levitated the cushions on Luna's bed, both to cover myself and to smash one into Luna's face.

“POOF”

“Luna, calm down now.” I tried to sound as authoritative as I could, but the truth is that not even I believed my painful performance, while, once freed from her grip, I stepped back again.

Luna moved the pillow away from her face and I was surprised by the way she looked at me.

There was quite a bit of anger

“Oh, come on, don't tell me you haven't thought about doing it, why not now?” As if Luna were trying to tempt me by walking sideways, showing me the entire length of her body, and tensing her muscles as if it were a modeling session.

It was quite... tempting, technically, I was still a teenager, or at least I had the mind of one, so my imagination ran at full speed, giving me ideas and thoughts that were not at all holy.

Maybe if I had started with something like that, I wouldn't be so reluctant, but as it was, I didn't feel comfortable, in fact I was panicking.

“Because I believe there is a time and a place for these things, and this is definitely not the time.” The situation went from zero to one hundred in less than a second. The country she leads is in mourning, one of our friends was moments away from losing her lover, and her sister seems to have gone crazy.

How did Luna expect me to react?!

My complaint fell on deaf ears when Luna also climbed onto the bed.

I tried to move further away, but I collided with the back of the bed again.

A compassionate and innocent smile appeared on her lips, but for some reason it seemed closer to a predator stalking her prey. “Do you trust my Spirit? You love me as I love you?"

“Of course, but-”

“Then prove it” Luna didn't let me finish answering when she kissed me again with even more force than before. I tried to move away from her, but Luna didn't let me.

Luna hugged me tightly, making sure she couldn't escape, to which I immediately shivered.

That hurt a lot, it hadn't healed yet, and it seemed like Luna wasn't holding back her strength, and the fatigue accumulated from this entire day was already starting to catch up with me.

In fact, I felt even more tired than before, I barely had any strength, and even my magic felt weak.

But a flash of burning in my mouth made me react by instinctively exhaling my flames.

Luna finally broke away from her shaking her burnt tongue.

"What the hell?!" I screamed in confusion as she clutched her sore chest. “Did you just bite me?”

“And you burned me!” Luna responded with even more anger and strength, “Now be quiet and stay still!”

“No.” Ignoring the pain, I stood up again and looked directly into her eyes with defiance.

"What did you just say?"

“Luna, you almost broke my ribs again!”

For the first time, Luna stopped looking irritated by my complaints and stepped back to look at me, immediately noticing the bandages as if she barely noticed they were there.

“What's your problem Luna?”

Luna did not respond, she just stayed thoughtful and looking at me expressionlessly, which made me very worried. “Forgive me.”

"What?"

“It's been a very difficult few days, and I figured she could count on you for some relief.”

We stared at each other for a few seconds. I knew Luna, and I could tell that this apology was insincere.

“What do you think I am, Luna? I asked you if what you wanted from me was just fun, and you said no, you wanted something serious, and now you come and treat me like I'm your property, what the fuck, Luna?!” I couldn't help but raise her voice as she expelled faint flecks of flame from my mouth, showing how irritated she really was.

“Like I said, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, and if you want privacy, I'll give it to you” Luna started to back up, which immediately alarmed me.

"I did not say that! Just… just talk to me next time you feel like this, and then we’ll see what to do, okay?” Please try to be understanding. I have no idea what difficulties must come with your position, all I knew was that I didn't want this mistake to ruin things between us.

Luna rolled her eyes. “If you say so.” With her vague response, Luna simply lay on her side of the bed while she again forced me into an unauthorized hug, although more carefully this time.

I felt frustrated by the way she ignored me. I wanted to continue arguing, but again, the fatigue accumulated during the day hit me.

She was barely able to keep me conscious as my eyelids became heavier and heavier.

The last thing I noticed was that, for some reason, the freshness always present in the body of my favorite alicorn and to which I had become accustomed to enveloping me to the point of missing him whenever he was not around, was no longer there... Why?

Meanwhile, in a meeting room at Canterlot Castle

“So, you want me to lie, is that what you mean?” Aspen declared indignantly.

Cadance flinched slightly at the severity of the stag king's tone, but Celestia did not hesitate to respond.

“Of course not, honesty is important to us and an essential part of coexistence, all I ask is that you avoid commenting on certain topics as much as possible.”

“Like the disaster caused by the incompetence his captain showed in containing a threat or the multiple treaty stipulations he violated with his small operation on my lands.”

At the mention of her lover's name Cadance did not take long to speak in her defense "That is not true, our treaties clearly stipulate that if any danger is detected that threatens the safety of a member of any of our species we are free to act as we consider." appropriate regardless of the territory in which we are located and without the need to inform the authority that governs a certain territory."

Aspen looked at Cadance with an intensity that the young princess was not used to, but thanks to Celestia's classes, she was able to avoid showing her unease… or for the most part, at least.

“That only applies in a situation that requires immediate action or there is no time to inform said authorities. You had weeks to inform me what you planned to do, and if only you had done it, we would not be in this situation”

Surprisingly, the forest king's response provoked the first reaction on Celestia's face. “Are you implying that the presence of your forces would have changed anything?”

Aspen almost responded immediately, but stopped at the last moment. Celestia was a skilled politician, much more skilled than him, so he knew that if he claimed that they could deal with the threat without telling the whole truth, it would certainly raise Celestia's suspicions.

So, gritting her teeth, Aspen just shook her head. Hopefully, Celestia will interpret that her irritation is caused by her helplessness.

“In any case, that does not free them from responsibility, both for the act and for the failure, a failure that will take generations for my people to repair.”

At that, Celestia could not object, a huge area of the Everfree was incinerated, and with its magic contaminating the land, it will be extremely difficult for life to emerge again.

So Celestia chose to counterattack “And what were you doing? The threat was still there, your people were even more exposed than my ponies and yet you preferred to ignore it."

“That's because nothing else had happened for over a month, and if you had stayed away, I would have left you alone too.”

“Yes, but until when, or do you think that that army she defended herself with was created for fun? It was only a matter of time before he attacked again, what we did is called a preemptive strike” Celestia almost said in mockery.

“Did you even consider the idea that peace was an option?

The sun princess narrowed her eyes at her. “She invaded my castle and killed my nephew in cold blood.”

"You started! “You attacked the forest and it responded in the same way.”

The screams had already arrived, and in the experience of the youngest of those present, from here everything could only get worse, something that could not be allowed.

“ENOUGH, YOU TWO!” Cadance screamed desperately. Shining Armor was in trouble, and to save him, she needed all the allies she could get, she couldn't allow herself to have King Aspen against her "I beg you, your majesty, I understand that we have wronged you and your authority, but Shining is innocent, I ask for your help” Going against all the teachings given by Celestia, Cadance rose from her seat to kneel before the king of all forests, both out of respect and supplication.

Even Aspen could not hide his surprise at such an act and its symbolism.

A ruler who bends the knee in his own castle before a foreign king, this is even more serious if this ruler was an alicorn.

In the end, Aspen was forced to back down. “I will consider it.” These were not the kind of acts that could be easily ignored.

Cadance was satisfied as she returned to her seat, she felt some fear at Celestia's reaction, but to her surprise there was no reaction.

Celestia continued to look smiling and complacent.

In fact, she barely glanced at Cadance before turning to the room's last occupant.

“And what do you think about this? “You have been very quiet sister.”

With that, Aspen and Cadance's gazes fell on the lunar princess.

Luna didn't say anything for a few seconds until she realized they were talking about her.

“I-I'm sorry, I got distracted for a moment,” Luna admitted with some embarrassment.

“If you don't mind me asking, what could possibly distract you at this vitally important moment?” Celestia didn't mean it maliciously, but Luna still felt a little offended.

“It's just that I felt... anger. Sorry if it's confusing, it's just that-”

“You don't need to explain, Aunt Luna, I understand perfectly, I went through something similar too.” Cadance, always understanding, comforted her.

"You do?"

“Of course,” Cadance nodded effusively. “As soon as I found out that the nobles preferred to waste time chasing my Shining before focusing on the real enemy, I felt just as irritated.”

“Oh…yeah, sorry about that.”

“As Cadance already said, there is no need to apologize for that, sister, but I advise you to learn to ignore those emotions in moments as crucial as this.”

“Yes, I'll do that.” Luna understood perfectly, in fact, she was almost as good as her sister at controlling her emotions when it came to exercising politics.

And that's exactly why she couldn't understand... Why was she suddenly overcome by a wave of murderous rage?… Strange