The World Shall Rise From Ashes

"Enough."

The word was spoken in a calm, soft voice, and yet it seemed to fill the entire room. Blueblood froze in place, and Azel tried to get his legs moving enough to stand, as giant wings opened to send Daybreaker gliding down toward them. Twilight Sparkle was left standing on the balcony, and her horrified face hadn't changed, at least in the moments before Azel couldn't see anything past the sunlight.

He had seen Nightmare Moon once, at a distance. She'd been named something else at the time, when she first arrived in Chiropterra with her loyalists, and his mother had made sure he would remember the alicorn's true name of Luna.

Even as a colt, her presence had radiated the peace and calm of the night, to the point that his first instinct, despite his having been such a withdrawn foal, had been to try to get closer and shelter under her wings. Even with said wings being feathered, her overall form so different from the thestrals he'd spent that whole part of his life surrounded by, part of him had known right to his core that she was safe.

Right now, with Daybreaker landing next to him, his instincts were screaming the opposite, that death was coming for him on pale wings, and there was nothing he could do as her horn blazed and the heat washed over him. It was searing, agony on top of agony, and Azel found himself wishing that, if she was going to incinerate him, that she would have the mercy to do so more quickly.

Instead, the blinding light slowly faded.

"Rise, my little pony."

Azel almost stayed on the ground just to spite her, but eventually, he moved. Everything stung, as if he'd made the mistake of going out in the sun and gained the full-body burn that brief exposure always resulted in, but as he carefully arranged his legs and pulled himself up, he realized he was no longer bleeding. She'd cauterized his wounds, from the smallest cuts to...

He painfully stretched his remaining wing, and could find no sign of the severed one. Perhaps she'd burned that to ash instead of him. Not that he really wanted to look, and when he spotted Blueblood standing behind Daybreaker, he nearly leapt at him again, until the massive white wing blocked him.

"I said enough, Azel Moonstrider. There is to be no more violence today." She glanced back over her shoulder. "Leave us, nephew."

The immediate response was a foalish whine, as if the so-called prince were suddenly half Azel's age. "But Auntie--"

"No buts. This young gentlecolt and I have much to discuss. You and I will speak afterward."

Azel could hear him leaving, alongside his armoured guards. Shod hooves made a lot of noise against stone steps. With his sight blocked, listening was all he could do, and when he dared a glance up, he saw a purple tail vanishing from sight on the balcony. All other ponies were retreating, and he was being left alone. With Daybreaker.

The next words left his mouth without hesitation, even knowing they could be his last. "Where is my sister?"

Daybreaker looked at him with the calm look again. "All in due time, little pony. Now--"

"No." Azel pawed at the stone. He didn't know what would happen if he charged her, but she hadn't killed him yet, which meant he'd survived longer than many ponies had in her presence. "Where. Is. Amyra?"

Daybreaker stared at him. There were no words, but her mane burned a bit brighter, and Azel felt sweat mixing with the flash-dried blood in his coat as the temperature in the room climbed. His already-burned skin throbbed with pain in response to the heat, but he kept his gaze locked on her face, his single wing open and hoof scraping against the floor.

She was the sun. She was death. But he would burn to ash before he bowed to her.

Just when the sweltering heat in the room reached a peak, Daybreaker spoke, her words oddly soft. "You love your sister dearly, don't you?" She didn't seem to be interested in an answer, as before he could do more than bare his teeth, her mane dimmed, and the air around him started to cool again. "Then perhaps you would be interested in an exchange. Her, for a task done."

His ears flattened and his tail gave a lash. "What do you want?"

Daybreaker took a deep breath, and her legs bent as she lowered herself to the stone. She opened one of her wings, in an invitation to sit beneath it, then slowly tucked it against her side again when he continued to stand. "What do you know of changelings, young Moonstrider?"

He snorted. "They shapeshift, they eat love, and you hate them."

Daybreaker slowly shook her head. "I do not hate any creature, little pony." Her horn glowed, and a transparent image formed between them, of something that almost looked a bit like an alicorn. If an alicorn had had their horn warped, were punched through with several holes, had swapped their feathered wings for insect ones, and...

He hadn't known changelings had fangs.

"This," Daybreaker said calmly, "Is Queen Chrysalis, of the changelings. You would have been very young when she made her move against Canterlot. She captured my niece, took her place at her wedding, and used mind-manipulation magics to compromise the then-captain of my Royal Guard." The image vanished again. "My faithful student was able to see through the deception and eject her army, but that wasn't the last we saw of her."

Another illusion appeared, this time of a stone structure that resembled an insect hive. Looking closely had tiny pony-like creatures flying in and out of different holes. "She decided to take a different route. If she couldn't take Equestria with infiltration and magical tricks, she would raise a more conventional army, and rely on technology." The structure expanded, with metal and concrete, and the little flying creatures were harder to see through the smoke. "With the efficiency of a hive species, they industrialized more quickly than we could have imagined, and took everypony by surprise."

The miniature hive vanished. "After... several harrowing events, we were able to push back their advancement, and dethroned their queen. The peaceful King Thorax rules in her place, who has chosen harmony over bloodshed."

Azel gave another snort. As far as he saw it, the choice had really had been of slow death over quick. That's what the surrender of Chiropterra had been. "What does this have to do with Amyra?"

Daybreaker gave him a silent stare. He stared back, and eventually she spoke again. "Chrysalis is alive. Thorax wasn't able to reach the hearts of every changeling, and so she is biding her time and gathering her strength with her remaining loyalists. She can not be allowed to become a threat to Equestria again."

This time, when her horn lit, there were no images. Instead, the air between them shimmered, and something solid appeared with a flash. It reminded Azel of images of crossbows in books his mother used to have, but also a bit of the guns the guards often carried. "This weapon has a specialized ammunition. Changelings are extremely resilient, but this will strike with enough force to penetrate their chitin, and become a potent poison upon contact with their ichor."

She gestured to it with her wing, and Azel slowly reached out his own to take it. "So her life for my sister's?"

Daybreaker's mane glowed brighter once more. "Your redemption, and her here to greet you on your return." Then it dimmed, and she sighed, as if in exasperation with a misbehaving foal. "Your people need a hero, to show the rest of Equestria that you've truly forsaken the Nightmare. Remove the threat of changeling invasion once and for all, and you will become that hero."

Redemption. Hero. He'd have liked to take those words, sharpen them, and stab her in the eyes with them. Or possibly shoot her and see if poison that could kill a changeling could also kill an alicorn.

But revenge could come once Amyra was safe.

Azel nodded. "Deal."

"But why?"

Once Blueblood had left the theatre and reentered the palace, he'd dismissed his guards and retreated into his study. While most ponies would have gone right to sleep, to spend the night in their beds as it should be, and begin their work again with the rising sun, he had no such luxury. Paperwork did not vanish at sunset, and even if it did, he'd wanted to be awake when his aunt returned.

Few ponies would be so bold as to stand there and question their empress, but Blueblood knew his Aunt Celestia still had a soft spot for him. She had given him plenty of opportunities to prove himself throughout the war, and when he'd passed--

nearly

--every test with flying colours, she'd continued to heap her favour upon him. He'd become a hero, and he'd been able to use the resulting clout to sway the ponies of Equestria in exactly the right directions. He had been instrumental in purging the nation of changelings, and he would ensure that all other enemies followed, one by one.

He'd thought that that was what his aunt had wanted of him, and yet, here she was, telling him that the Moonstrider colt was still alive, when he'd done more than enough to justify execution. She'd made him promise not to kill Azel himself, and while it would have brought him joy to crush the life from the vampony's throat, he'd obeyed, because he would sacrifice that joy for her to have it herself.

He knew she took joy in it, even if she claimed otherwise. He had been with her that day in Chiropterra, and heard her laughing when she'd unleashed her full power upon upon the rebels.

She was standing there, far too large for a room made for a non-alicorn, and as she spoke, her voice was calm and patient, forever gentle with him as if he were still small and crying because she wouldn't allow him more sweets. "Because all creatures deserve a chance at redemption, nephew."

"He is a--"

"And that is why I need you."

Blueblood stopped, and his indignant expression morphed into shock, and then slowly into a smile. "And how may I help in the Moonstrider colt's... redemption, dear Auntie?"

She looked incredibly sombre, but he knew, he just knew, that there was a hidden smile underneath. "We need him to become a hero. We also need to ensure that his story ends with his remaining a hero." The colours of the sunrise whirled through her mane. "And to that end, I entrust you with sending the right pony after him to do so."

Blueblood's smile widened. "I'm certain that I can find just the pony."

Just a day ago, Azel had been scraping together what bits he could to try to smuggle himself and his sister out of the city. Now he was watching Canterlot disappear behind him as the carriage he was in flew higher and higher.

Air carriages had been archaic even when he was a foal, airships having been rapidly replacing them. Now even airships were becoming obsolete as technology marched on. To be sitting in here in a flying chariot, pulled by silent pegasi, it was the kind of thing usually reserved for royalty, for when they were seeking to make an entrance.

Luna had had one, pulled by thestrals. That'd been when he'd seen her. His mother had taken him to see her make her landing, right before a feast had been thrown to celebrate her arrival.

The carriage did have one other advantage, in that it was small. Those on the lookout for aircraft would be unlikely to notice it. And while he supposedly had the blessing of the changelings' current king to go on his hunt, a certain degree of stealth would be necessary to keep the former queen from fleeing before he even got there. And while the stealthiest option would be personal flight...

Azel stretched his left wing. He was still trying to stretch the other, and it took time, each time, for his mind to catch up to the fact that it wasn't there anymore. Maybe when next he saw Blueblood, he'd return the favour and break his horn.

He'd never been up this high before. Just the risk of being seen had always limited his altitude, but there was also the barrier. There had been a shield around the city for years, and nothing that hadn't been given the approval of the guards could pass through. Not even animals, and so urban wildlife was nearly nonexistent. When Azel had lurked in the streets at night, they were always so stark and still, without so much as the scurrying of rats.

Now, he could look down and see the wilds rolling beneath him, teeming with plants and animals that lived without ponies trying to eliminate or tame them. If he could still fly, and he didn't have Amyra counting on him, it would be tempting to just leap out of the carriage right now, and fly through the night air without barriers in the way.

As it was, he had a destination. Vesapolis. The underground tunnel networks that made up the ancient hive were supposedly massive, and finding Chrysalis would be most of the challenge.

Azel glanced at the mechanized crossbow at his side. This would be his first time truly aiming to kill, rather than wound and incapacitate. They said that the first kill a pony made haunted them from then on. Then again, by many creature's standards, thestrals weren't ponies at all.

If his father had ever been haunted by the lives he'd taken, he certainly had never showed it.

In the end, it didn't matter. This was just another job, like the odd ones he'd done for bits to pay the smugglers. Just this time, instead of delivering a package, he had to deliver somepony's head.

The pegasi kept flying, and high above Azel, the moon seemed to watch.

"Of course I know how to kill a vampony, Your Highness."

It had taken some time for the stallion to arrive upon his summons, and while he didn't take up as much room in the study that his aunt had previously, Groningen was still the largest pegasus that Blueblood had ever met. Big and broad, he had a deep chest meant for an endurance flier and a level of muscle typically only seen on earth ponies. Were sky carriages still regularly used for couriers, he would have easily been able to pull one through the air without a partner.

Blueblood had always found the great pegasus distasteful, but... necessary. His coat was the red-brown of dried blood, his eyes the crimson of the fresh variety, and his mane and tail an unkempt, greasy black. His wings never fully relaxed at his sides, and he always looked a little bit wild, like he was going to suddenly kick, bite, or take wing at the wrong provocation.

"Good." There was a quill in Blueblood's horn glow, and it idly scrawled at paperwork as he spoke. "As always, the Crown will pay handsomely for your services in protecting Equestria from its enemies."

The big stallion was repulsive, and yet, he had a talent for killing the difficult to kill, and so Blueblood had found himself calling on him more than once already. The ammunition that was to be used to kill Queen Chrysalis had been his invention, and so who better to also strike down the queen's assassin and ensure he remained a hero?

"Of course, of course, payment as is due." Groningen nodded repeatedly, and his disheveled-looking wings flapped several times, leaving a few feathers on the floor. His tendency to molt everywhere was yet another charming feature. "Now this one... how much has he fed?"

"Judging by his condition, he's a fruit bat," Blueblood commented, as a number with several zeroes was added to the piece of paper by his diligent quill. "But we can't assume he won't hunt between now and his death..." He paused in thought. "Are vamponies able to feed on changelings?"

Groningen shook his head, his overly-large ears flapping with the motion. The tufts at their tips had, more than once, made Blueblood suspicious of his ancestry. "Their blood isn't like ours. Even if he had the willpower to not immediately vomit it, it would do nothing to enhance his abilities."

"Fortunate. Still, one never knows. Be prepared for anything."

"Of course." Groningen bowed his head low. "I will gather my best weapons and leave post haste."

"Excellent." Blueblood smiled his best smile, despite it being wasted on such a peasant. "You'll be hailed as a hero for such loyal service."

"You're too kind, Your Highness."

Yes, a hero... As Blueblood looked at the bowing stallion, he considered whether there would need to be steps taken to ensure he remained one as well. After all, ponies had proven time and time again to have a penchant for betrayal, when it came to his aunt.

But the slaying of monsters came first.

The filly on the bed had been crying for a long time.

To call it a bed would have been generous. Even for a filly who'd been sleeping on a discarded couch for nearly as long as she could remember, the mattress was far too hard, and there were no blankets to be found. It was also the only furniture at all in the tiny room, and was attached to one of the stone walls, facing opposite the metal bars.

She'd found out the hard way that those bars were enchanted; they'd looked small enough to wriggle through, but experimentally poking a wing between two of them had given her a zap, and that area still had a painful numbness that no amount of blowing on it or rubbing it with her hooves had been able to soothe. Nopony had come in, either, since she'd been brought here, save for a single unicorn who'd made the magic stop for long enough to shove some greens on a plate through the bars and leave without a word.

She'd tried to eat the greens, but it didn't help. She was hungry for something else, and the craving for blood had her tummy twisting painfully around the solid food, making her feel like she may throw it all up. She tried not to, since she didn't know when she'd next get to eat, and she couldn't waste food.

Azel had made her run those drills, over and over. He had made sure she'd memorized the places to hide. But when the guardponies had broken the door down, she'd been asleep, and hadn't been able to move fast enough to get away from them. And even though she'd screamed and screamed for help... nopony had come. Wherever her big brother had been, it'd been too far away to hear her. Or maybe the guardponies had found him too.

Amyra wondered if Azel would be mad at her, for not being good enough at hiding. He'd always said it was important that she was, that he wasn't always going to be close enough to come to her rescue, so she needed to know how to be safe. She hadn't liked it very much. After all, how was she going to make friends with anypony if she had to hide all the time? He got to go out and meet other ponies.

Azel had always said that they'd leave Canterlot, and then they'd find somewhere where she could make friends with the other little fillies and colts. She hadn't liked that idea very much either. If they left the city, how would their mother find them again when she finally came back from where the guardponies took her to?

Maybe... their mother was here, somewhere? They could go home together.

The thought occurred to her at the same time as she heard hoofsteps, and the combination had Amyra lifting her head hopefully. She sniffled as more tears rolled down her face, her sharp eyes searching for a glimpse of who was coming.

What she saw wasn't her mother, or a thestral at all, but it wasn't a guard either. The unicorn mare was a little smaller than Azel, and very slim, and she walked with cautious steps. She looked like a filly trying to sneak an extra cookie--she wouldn't know that from the experience of being that pony, not at all--always glancing around and rotating her ears in search of somepony who might catch her being somewhere she wasn't supposed to be.

As the strange mare came up to the bars, her horn lit, and the bars sparked threateningly for a few moments before everything calmed again. She then placed one of her hooves against the cell door, and it slowly opened with a long creak, that made the mare wince.

As the mare stepped in, she asked in a soft voice, "Are you Amyra?"

She nodded, giving one last sniffle, and slowly slid off the bed, onto her hooves. "Who're you?"

"My name is Twilight Sparkle." The mare gave a gentle smile. "And don't worry, I'm a friend."