Para bellum

Eclipse

Prologue

"Si vis pacem, para bellum."

Gilded hooves rang with sharp click-clacks on marbled stone, echoing in the vaulted spaces of the colonnade.  The warm breeze flowing up from the valley rolled up over the gardens, bringing into the colonnade the sweet fragrance of lavender.  Taking a deep breath of morning air, Celestia continued, her mane and tail of many colors streaming out behind her as she walked.  The princess stole a glance across the terrace as the long shadows in the valley below began to disappear with the morning mist.

The tranquility of the Canterlot morning with its warm breeze and soft sunrise belied the tumultuous evening before.  If you desire peace, prepare for war.  The mantra continued to echo in Celestia's mind as she walked.  War, war, war.  The Griffon nationalists clamored for it, the Equestrian populace quailed at it, the media sensationalized it.  Though no shots had yet been fired, tensions ran high and the world seemed fit to explode.  In the midst of it all was Princess Celestia, quiet, collected, calm, reasonable.

While the princess handled business as usual, news reports were flying left and right about the most recent round of joint policy talks.  Every day it seemed that Celestia needed to quash another tabloid rumor or set straight another excited reporter who couldn't be bothered to fact check before sending her notes to the press.  Princess in a huff?  Griffons on the rise?  War on the horizon?  Economic downturn imminent?  The pace was exhausting and the themes were exasperating.

It was complete and utter chaos.  Celestia was still fielding questions about the Razorcalw funeral a month prior, the solemn starting point of the entire political crisis.  The princess recounted her last meeting with the late Aiden Razorclaw, prime minister of Aquellia before his untimely death.  Razorclaw was something of a celebrity on both sides of the border.  A kind soul, whip-smart, and with a firm desire to make peace despite disputes in ages past, Razorclaw was a true advocate of Harmony — regardless of species.

But it was not to last.  A horrible airship crash had taken the lives of Razorclaw and several members of his cabinet, including his vice minister, Ezra Steelfeather.  All species mourned their passing; even Celestia and Luna had been in attendence of the funeral.  With the cabinet decimated, the lines of Aquellian succession quickly shortened.

Celestia had only met Member of Parliament Valerian Titanclaw once prior to the funeral.  Razorclaw's successor was young, ambitious, and brilliant, but strongly nationalist.  But succession was succession, and Equestria did not interfere with other nations' political processes.  Still, Celestia could not say with any amount of honesty she was happy with the sudden paradigm shift in Aquellian politics.  As much as she admired Valerian's zeal, Celestia's gut feeling was one of dis-ease.

The media had made quite a show of the last meeting between them.  To say that the discussion was unproductive would have been an understatement.  While not unfriendly, Valerian's fiery oration and penchant for driving a hard bargain were both immediately apparent.  This was a griff who knew what he wanted and would stop at nothing to get it.  Though her reserve of patience was vast, it was not infinite.  Celestia would have to carefully consider how to deal with him.

The princess sighed as she finally arrived in her boardroom.  The paperwork would be a welcome distraction from the bureaucratic skulldruggery and media maelstrom of the past few weeks.  The princess chuckled as she seated herself on the low cushion before the great mahogany desk.  Had it really come to this?  Had paperwork finally become her solace?  Celestia gently set her folio down at the desk and began unpacking it.  Dossiers for a few Royal Equestrian Army officers up for promotion, bills that needed assessment, an invitation to Fancy Pants' dinner party — all standard fare for a morning's desk work.

"Good morning, your majesty!" A spritely voice chirped.

Celestia looked up and met eyes with the dainty ice-blue unicorn at the door.  "Good morning, Sapphire!" she smiled in response.

"I do hope I'm not too late," Sapphire said, bowing a little bow.  "I've brought your breakfast!"

Sapphire trotted into the boardroom with her horn alight, a little wheeled cart trailing behind her glowing purple in her magic.  The unicorn hummed to herself as she served Celestia, a tea set gracefully dismounting from the top deck of the serving cart and arranging itself in parade formation before the princess.  A salt and pepper shaker rocketed up from the bottom of the cart, settling into a slow orbit around Sapphire's head as she delivered the silver platter to the princess.  With a flick of her horn, Sapphire removed the cover, placing it back on the cart, finally setting the salt and pepper shakers just within reach.

Celestia smiled.  Sometimes it was the simplest things that were the best.  The breakfast was meager, a few pieces of triangular-cut toast and scrambled eggs, a little dish of jelly, and a steaming hot cup of tea with more piping in the kettle.  A single purple crysanthemum garnished the tray from a little vase in its corner.  "This looks marvelous."

"My pleasure, your majesty," Sapphire bowed and spun around, hooking the cart with her magic and beginning to trot away.

"Sapphire?"

The unicorn jumped in shock, but quickly regained her composure, spinning around to face the princess.  "Yes, your majesty?"

"Could you please bring me some cream and sugar?"

The color drained from Sapphire's face.  Celestia fought hard to keep from giggling out loud at the little unicorn's antics.  Was it really so terrifying to be in the presence of royalty?

"I... I'm sorry!  My apologies.  I'd simply forgotten.  I'll fix this right away," Sapphire rattled off, quickly trotting away to fetch her majesty's request.

Celestia put a hoof to her lips, half in amusement and half in embarrassment.  Try as she might, it was difficult to convince some ponies that she was a very down to earth pony.  A million radio addresses and working with Mi Amore Cadenza and her Canterlot Royal Public Relations with a million open houses and a million meet and greets couldn't change the ingrained belief that royalty had to be capricious and intolerant.

The Sun Princess sighed and went back to her paperwork, gingerly nibbling at her breakfast as she browsed.  One cadet Diomedes Ironwing to be commissioned as a lieutenant for the Royal Equestrian Army?  Signed.  Public works project for renovation of the Violet Square Library?  Nixed.  They hadn't changed the proposal one bit from their last meeting with the princess and her advisory board and until they did, she would continue to shoot them down.

A sip of her tea made Celestia scrunch up her face.  Sapphire had most definitely oversteeped this.  There was an odd bitterness about it that lingered on her tongue and refused to wash away with subsequent bites of toast or even a nibble of the chrysanthemum.  Oh well, Sapphire would be coming back soon enough and it wouldn't kill her to ask for another kettle.  A stray bit of toast made Celestia cough, which in turn made her gulp down a bit more of the awful tea.  Celestia put the teacup down and pushed it away.  Twice was enough.  She would not be having any more of this.

Despite her best efforts, however, the princess could not seem to refocus on her task.  Her stomach began churning and that bitter taste in her mouth intensified.  Was the tea really that bad?  Had Sapphire spilled a bit of spoiled milk in the eggs?  Perhaps the jelly was past due?  Whatever it was, she was not feeling well at all.  Celestia picked up the quill again to sign one of the bills, but could not for the life of her remember which it was.

Suddenly, the golden glow of her magic around the quill began to flicker, stuttering for a moment before it ceased altogether.  The inked quill fell from Celestia's grasp, landing point first on the document.  The quill wobbled on its tip for an instant before skidding out from under the feathering, drawing a jagged line across the page as it fell flat.  Celestia looked down in shock.  She hadn't let go.  How did...

Before she could gather her thoughts, her mane fell into her eyes.  As she parted it with her front hooves, the sickening realization dawned on her.  Her mane was not magical and flowing in the aether.  Instead, it was normal hair, lacking in luster and completely, utterly devoid of magic.  This was no mere spoiled food, this was something far more insidious.

Celestia's body went numb, her hooves growing cold and her breath seizing in her throat.  Her chest burned with hellish heat, her head spinning with vertigo.  She wanted to cry out, to scream for help, but no sound broke her lips.  To Celestia, dread was an ancient foe long thought vanquished.  But as she slowly faded, Celestia was wrought with it.

Luna needed her.  Twilight needed her.  Equestria needed her.  What would become of them were she to fall?  In one last act of defiance, Celestia threw every ounce of her will into building a stronghold within her mind; the last bastion of herself in a rapidly blackening world.  The sun fought.  The sun struggled.

The sun set.

************

Humming quietly to herself, Sapphire gently rapped on the boardroom door.

No answer.  The princess was likely absorbed in her work.  Perhaps she should come back later?  The unicorn shook her head.  Nonsense!  Princess Celestia appreciated initiative!  With complete confidence, Sapphire closed her eyes, took a deep breath and nosed the door open, trotting onto the familiar marbled floors with serving cart in tow.  Happily ambling along to the princess' desk, Sapphire levitated the tea set in front of her as she trotted over to Celestia's side.

"Good morning, your majesty!  I do hope I'm not too — " Sapphire stopped in midsentence, her jaw opening and closing like a fish out of water, her throat paralyzed and her lungs choking for breath.

She tried to scream, but her voice caught in her throat.  In shock her magic ceased to function, the suspended teaset clattering to the ground; saucer, teapot, and teacup all shattering into thousands of porcelain shards.  Sapphire backpedaled in panic, her hooves skidding on the marbeled stone, scooting back on her haunches before scrambling to her feet.  The little mare finally screamed as she galloped away hoping upon hope that she could find somepony to help.

So Sapphire fled, leaving only the fallen princess behind.