Prince Grover gazed over the edge of his stone balcony. From where he leaned he could see across all of Griffonstone, from the pristine grounds of the royal palace to the cramped wooden alleys of the lowest districts. The sun was slipping towards the horizon, casting everywhere but the uppermost levels of the palace in the chilling shadow of the mountains around them. In the distance pairs of watchgriffs circled the peaks, and on the other side of the palace his little brother was likely writing a letter to some small town in the south if his informants in Glade‘s staff were reliable. He knew and saw all of those things, yet none of them were truly crossing his mind.

A missive had just been received stating that Equestria’s ruler, Princess Celestia, sought audience with the emperor.

It was, he knew, a shrewd game Celestia was playing. Her sword was the quill, and with it she had long ago begun the process of cutting away every tie the Griffonians had to other nations. She had waited for his father to shrivel up and grow weak with the malaise of time. And now she was coming to put the final nail in the empire’s coffin.

Grover wasn’t entirely sure of what the pony princess had planned for the discussions, but it was most certainly nothing they would benefit from as a whole. She would almost certainly dangle the fish of renewed trade with the continent — a great new age of prosperity for all! — and in exchange all they would have to make was a few minor concessions.

And wouldn’t that be something? he bitterly thought. The empire disassembled, broader availability of amenities, and some puppet would succeed the current emperor. And it might even work. For a while anyways. Then reality would set in and the nobles would sort themselves out. The weak and the competition would be killed, and the empire would be reestablished with some new griffin on the throne. Then the cycle would repeat again and again until there was no nation left to save or sunder.

He could only admire how well she played the great game of nations, but he would not let her successes blind him. Her schemes could fail. Would fail, if he had any say about it.

He was already the power behind the throne, his dear father’s most trusted advisor, but he could not force the emperor into making good decisions, especially when there were others in the room. No, if the right paths were to be taken he had to be the power on the throne, not behind it. He would have to secure the support of the gentry soon and disperse anyone who might disrupt his rule.

Grover pushed himself off of the railing and back onto all fours, the sun having long set below the horizon. Walking into his chambers and over to his writing desk he pulled out several scrolls. After laying them carefully on the small but ornate elm desk he stepped over to the door.

“Would one of you two find Gatekeeper and inform him that his presence is requested by myself?” he said, leaning his head out the door.

“As you wish, your highness,” the pair said. They saluted and he closed the door again to wait. In the meantime he would write his response to the princess. He would present it to his father privately later to get it signed.

About a half hour later Grover could hear the clanking of plate armor coming down the hallway from the stairwell. The noise stopped just outside his door and soon after somegriff knocked on the heavily warded door. Gatekeeper stepped in past the guards, the purple tinge of his facial plumage contrasting well with his brown staff uniform and showing his relation to the rest of the ruling family.

“My presence was requested?”

“Indeed, please deliver these letters to the parties we discussed,” he said as he passed the two scrolls over.

“Preparations are to begin then?”

“Yes”.

“How soon will we act? I was under the impression that the second scroll was not the original plan”.

“There will be a banquet in three months to celebrate the safe arrival of foreign dignitaries in Griffonstone. I suspect that all of the noble houses will wish to be there to celebrate that momentous occasion…

“You are correct on your second question as well, Gate. We’re now going to be moving ahead with Plan A. I’ve suddenly come to the realization that the emperor is capable of leading our nation to greatness no further,” Grover replied.

“Your sister will not be there for that event”.

“I don’t see why she should be”.

“And the dignitaries? Are they to be invited?”

“No, they are to be kept away from the proceedings that night”.

“You’ll be burning bridges”.

“What bridges do we have left to burn? No, we will be building bridges. We will start the most ambitious modernization of the nation since the Unification War in times long past. We will have to, if we are to be a part of the coming world order”.

***

The bar was always light on company these days. It used to be situated within the old weather factory and still bore the marks of that place. The ceiling was a perpetual thunderhead, the flash of lightning illuminated the places where the natural light from the segmented windows just didn’t reach. Along the walls plush booths in sky blue and ice white offered a comfortable place to lounge with friends while breaking for lunch. Up at the bar there were only a few drinks on tap that mostly consisted of the favored drink of middle class workers everywhere: cheap swill. Most interestingly, the place had no doors whatsoever.

But the old factory had long been recycled, and now The Cloudhopper Bar floated between houses and a school in some residential neighborhood in a more well-to-do part of town. It was sad, really, that such a historic place would be going out of business. The new laws were constricting the few bars that still existed out of the younger audience - shunting them off into juice bars and other non-alcoholic stores. Now it was just old bats like him, and the Bats, that still drank openly.

Tin Hat suspected that at this point his patronage was the only reason the place was still in business. He looked down the shining bartop to the mare behind the counter and gestured for another hard cider. She barely paused in her polishing of his first glass to pour his third. One of her wings swiped the empty mug out of his hooves and pressed the new one into the void it left.

Tin stared into the clear amber liquid in front of him and wondered why the barmare continued to humor him. They both knew that they wouldn’t get anything out of this little routine they’d started a while ago, but they both still clung to it. He looked back over to the mare at the end of the bar and sighed. He would probably never see her again after the place closed, and neither of them knew the other’s names.

Looking forward again he took a long pull from the pint glass and sighed. He got up from his stool and started walking to the barmare. Before he could strike up a conversation, bright multicolored light flew through the windows from the school. Less than a second later, a deep rumbling BOOM broke through the silence in the room.

The aftershocks from the explosion shook the bar wildly, throwing both the barmare and him to the ground along with quite a bit of glassware and liquid. “What was that?” The mare asked, pushing herself off of the now discolored clouds making up the floor.

“I’m not sure,” he replied, “I’m not sure…”

His friends would want to know about this. One of the featherless freaks must’ve caused that explosion. Nopony else would so brazenly launch an attack on foals.

He left enough bits on the counter to pay for his drinks and flew off. His initial reason for getting up was left behind, still polishing glasses in the same silence she’d started the day in.

***

The situation had rapidly deteriorated when Princess Luna started living in the dungeon of the Everfree Castle. She had kept up the barest illusion of normalcy around herself whenever anypony cared to look, but there were precious few who showed up to Night Court these nights, and much fewer who knew her personally. Silver was pretty sure she was the only pony in existence that even saw her almost every cycle anymore, including her own sister.

That made sense, given the situation, but it still saddened Silver to no end that her friend was withdrawing so far into herself.

She stood on the wall of the city facing the distant Dragon’s Teeth mountains and shivered. The whistling wind of the coming storms had brought with them the first frost of winter; its icy tendrils bit through her metal hoof coverings and hammers of air blasted through her close-shorn coat. But she endured. She wouldn’t let Luna’s return home pass without somepony being there to greet her, or worse, somepony ‘Tia sent.

She could feel Luna getting closer through their souls' intangible connection. Peering into the night from the high walls she could just barely make out a small silhouette in the distance. Soon, the shape resolved into that of a large pony barded in a heavy traveling cloak with worn saddlebags at their sides. “Luna? Is that you?” She yelled down.

The pony below pulled their hood back enough to reveal their navy blue fur, a mane flowing independent of the biting wind, and a horn ending in a sharpened point. It was clearly her Lulu, but she hadn’t even tried to give a verbal response. Maybe she didn’t hear me over the wind? Climbing down from the top of the wall down to the gatehouse courtyard, Silver got a much better view of her friend’s condition.

Lulu had always been the thinner of the sisters, lacking much of the mass that came from eating more desserts than proper meals. Now though, instead of sculpted muscles and a beautiful severity, Luna’s ribs were showing through her musculature so prominently that she looked like a backwater peasant that had barely eaten anything in weeks. The bags under her eyes that naturally looked almost like eyeshadow had become lakes of darkness, and even her usually energetic mane was flagging low onto her face.

From where she was Silver could hear the heated exchange of words between the guardspony and Princess Luna. “As a Princess of Equestria We request entry, armspony. There is urgent business for us to attend to at the castle”.

“Your request is denied, beast!

“Your claims are blatantly false. You are not the princess, and the Duke passed down instructions to turn away creatures like you. You have no shadow, and there have been reports of attacks in several villages along the Rind by villains matching your description”.

“I care not for the Duke of Prance’s illegal actions and misdirection. You will open the gate before me immediately or you will find yourself the target of my ire”.

Silver wouldn’t let the argument escalate any further. She couldn’t, really, if she wanted the poor pony in the noble’s retinue to finish his shift. It was unlike Luna to be so aggressive with her negotiations, but nobody was acting as the intermediary she usually had. Her policy success and knowledge of the grievances of the common pony, as well as her tactical proficiency, had come at the expense of the extreme atrophy of her interpersonal skills.

She glanced across the distance to the still distracted earth pony guard and the glowing runes for a quick sleeping spell lit around her horn. He turned around at the light and started when he saw her galloping at him. He opened his mouth to call for help, so she cut out the accumulation node and just blasted power through the array. Racing past the now singed — but definitely asleep — guard, Silver burst into the gatehouse with her horn lit again and lifted the iron reinforced portcullis. She would sort out the damages later.

“Luna! I’m so sorry you had to deal with that. They should’ve been informed about you. What happened out there? I haven’t heard from you in months! Did your scrying bowl break?”

“I’m going to my chambers. Save your questions for when we arrive,”. She icily replied.

Sweat started to mat Silver’s chest from the exertion of holding the gate crank, cooling her further than the wind had already that night. Truth be told, the cold barely bothered her anymore. Ever since she’d gained enough power to manifest her own body, she’d been able to control everything about it. She could never figure out how to totally block out her nerves though. “At least she’s safe,” she mumbled to herself as Luna strode past.

After lowering the gate back into place and adjusting the position of the sleeping guard so he wouldn’t cramp too badly, she fell into step just behind her princess. Luna used to let Silver walk by her side in public, but that was a time long past. Now she had to project the air of nobility to fend off the nigh-constant attacks on her character by the power bloc calling themselves the Solar Shield.

She hoped that maybe some of the organizers on patrol might recognize her from her position at the castle, but that was very unlikely to be the case. It was a rare sight these days to see a member of the royal guard patrolling in a major city outside of the most important government buildings.

Luna scowled the whole way into her chambers. She marched the whole way there without stopping for anything: for direction, for doors, or for the various guards patrolling the city that Silver ended up having to talk out of detaining them more often than not. She didn’t make jest or even a sound as they passed through the empty streets and darkened homes of Radiance.

The heavy presence of wards pushed down on them when they entered the palace, and a layer further as soon as she locked Luna’s door behind them. She’d done her best to keep the room tidy while Luna was away, but her work for Celestia had kept her from seeing to the room for many weeks at a time. Dust had started to settle on the sheets of Luna’s too-small bed and across the many paintings depicting ages past. More importantly though, the roughly made ebony writing desk and the terribly drawn family portrait were untouched.

The smell of the room was overwhelming every time she came in. She would just stand there and experience her life over again for a moment. Laughing over a game of chess while drinking cheap moonshine - stargazing on the balcony under the harvest moon - mixing the paint that now hung along the walls. The memories were different every time, but it was always them in the room. Only them.

Silver turned around and faced Luna’s still standing form. She still had the cloak on, but she could see that Luna was shivering. Silver moved to drape a small quilt from the bed over Luna’s exposed withers. “Alright Lulu. What happened during your visit to the thestrals? Why didn’t you scry me while you were there or on your way back? Why are you so… so… why?”

Luna rounded on her in an instant, blue eyes bloodshot and glaring with the weight of hundreds of years. A hoof pressed into Silver’s chest and she slid back without resistance, terrified by the hate she saw within her friend. “You want the answers I never promised! You want to know what happened!” She screamed, tears beading in her eyes. The hoof kept coming down again, and again, and again. “They died! All of them! Over a thousand years of civilization, gone!

“All my friends! Irreversibly changed! They’re now all thinking! Feeling! Flesh puppets! In an instant I brought them all back! Since the founding of this nation I’ve tried to fix our world through steel and stylus and gotten nowhere! I realized what I’ve been ignoring my entire life!” Luna continued, picking up speed as she went.

“No power of friendship helped them! No elements of harmony saved them! An entire civilization was wiped out by plague because ‘sister dearest’ threw their letter in a fire! The nobility obstructs every measure to help the common pony! They have poisoned my sister against me with words I cannot cure! They have bound and blinded this country into a pathetic mockery of what it should be! They killed my daughter and faced no repercussions!

“I will not stand for this system any longer if none of it stands for me! I will not stand for this nation that ignores its citizens when they need help! I will not stand for this world because there was never anything to stand for! It’s time for it all to stop! Forever!”

Her chest ached where Luna had kept pounding it. Sharp shards of the stone walls were digging into her back from her repeated impacts. Looking dazedly upwards, Silver spotted Luna opening the door and stepping away. The only thought running through her head at that instant was so alien to her she almost thought she was dreaming. I have to stop her. I have to stop Luna over and over again. She had to stop Luna before she burned what shambles were left of the bridges binding her to everypony.

She pivoted towards the door, her physical form fading to a distorted black reflection of Luna before she reached forward. The shift in the magical currents had alerted her to Silver’s approach.

In her true form Moonie couldn’t tell much about her surroundings, but even just seeing the world through mana concentration she could tell Luna was staring at her. What was usually a reservoir that shined like a star had been taxed and drained so low it barely registered to her predatory senses, but it was still more than enough to stop her in such a vulnerable state.

Instantly she realized that she was moving too slow, but instead of striking, Luna hesitated. The time for her to act was gone, and when she reached Luna she hauled her shadows up Luna’s legs with the fervor of a drowning mare. her body sunk deep into the flesh and took control from the struggling alicorn. “Not you too,” Luna gasped, “Not again”. But Silver had already wrapped up to her barrel, trapping her in place. Moonie could feel her heartbeat racing even as she puppeteered their body back through the door and into the room.

By the time the door closed, her shadows had reached up to their neck, darkening the fur to an almost black color. Maintaining the possession would be doable, but if she was forced to keep it going over the long term she’d be running the distinct risk of contracting whatever madness had claimed Luna.

Drawing in the last gasps of her mana Luna tried to stop the advancing tide of darkness, but she couldn't concentrate past the feeling of numbness crawling up her spine. Nonetheless, her work was partially successful, and the pace of her subsumption slowed to a crawl. She tried screaming for help, but the door was already closed.

Silver saw the moment Lulu realized nobody would hear her. The real tragedy of the situation was that even if they did hear her, would they even care? She screamed until she couldn't scream any longer, and it was no longer her looking out of her once more crying eyes.

“I’m sorry Lulu,” she rasped through Luna’s raw throat, “I’ll fix this. I’ll fix all of this. No matter what happens, know that”.

Traitor! What happened to you? What did the Princess offer?

“Nothing Lulu. She offered me nothing. She didn’t have to. She’ll get a second chance, they all will”.

You will see the truth of them soon enough.

Author's Note

Sorry for only having one chapter this month. I'm having some difficulty with organizing the next chapter's sequence of events. Suffice to say chase scenes are hard to write for me (or at least this one was). If you have questions or suggestions (for improvements/corrections) please let me know.