Chapter Fourteen
Making the Plans

The rain was heavy. The rain was always heavy. It felt unnatural, unreal, like it didn't belong there. Like it had come from another planet. She felt it tainted her world; diluted it like adding water to a glass of orange juice. She understood it was a necessary part of nature's cycle but never appreciated what it did or the pegasi that made it. She felt like the pegasi, creatures lesser than her, were intentionally blocking out the sun and the moon for as long as they felt necessary before making the clouds dissipate. At least the Unicorns and earth ponies knew their places; they never felt like they were more important than the Goddesses and tried to blot out their respective skies.

Princess Celestia hated the rain.

The sound of iron-clad hooves striking marble caught Celestia’s attention and she turned away from the closed glass door to see her sister approaching her, the night-time Princess looking as stoic as she always did.

“Things are going as they should be, sister. Despite our loss at the Canine capital we have retaken Howloon. However, both agent Nightshade and Red Dragon have failed to eliminate the leader of the Peace Fighters. They made contact and were forced to retreat when an unknown aircraft attacked them. It seems that this aircraft possesses the ability to cut other aircraft in half, a trait that only belongs to the Changelings. Personally, I'm very suspicious” Princess Luna reported.

“No, that ability belongs to another species, remember? ‘Them’” Celestia responded, the word ‘them’ rolling off her tongue like venom.

“Ah yes, ‘them’” Luna commented, showing similar disdain for the beings that ‘them’ referred to.

“There’s one other thing, too. MY HEAVEN is ready for use. Despite being well over a thousand years old it is fully functional and awaiting our command. I was amazed myself when I saw it again for the first time in over a thousand years.”

Smiling and looking back out the glass door Princess Celestia thought about the majestic MY HEAVEN and how she and her sister had procured it over 1,000 years ago.

~~~~

“MOVE IT, LUNA!” Celestia screamed at her younger sister, the bombs dropping all around them as they raced across the red ground. The sky was a violent orange as the sun cast its evening light over that half of the planet. Their opponents were right behind them as they chased them all the way to MY HEAVEN. It stood tall and proud, its glorious frame silhouetted by the sun.

~~~~

Returning to the present the Princess of the Day turned back to face her sister and smiled, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “Very good, dear heart. Now, where is MY HEAVEN currently resting?” Celestia asked.

“Above the mountain our city is built on, Tia. I have been pouring considerable amounts of magic into keeping it invisible and would like to request your help” Princess Luna responded.

“Oh do stop being so formal around me, sister. If you need to ask me for my help never hesitate to just ask” Celestia told her, channelling her own magic into keeping the device invisible.

“That is what I did, is it not?” the Princess of the Night asked, cocking her head to the side.

“I suppose it is” Celestia declared, removing her hoof from the younger alicorn’s shoulder and motioning for her to follow her as she walked deeper into the castle.

“Now, back to more serious topics. With MY HEAVEN fully ready to go I would like to make use of it as soon as possible, but I would also like to finish my fight with Lieutenant Strong Spear as well. Things seem to be turning in our favor, dear sister, and I suspect that this war will be finished in just a few months” Princess Celestia said.

“What about our special projects? METAL LANCE? The IMRT-96 the Peace Fighters stole? There are also rumors that the Leviathan of the Haro is being spotted more and more in the Everfree Forest” Luna exclaimed, her last sentence immediately causing Celestia to turn around and face her.

“The Leviathan?! Mother help us, if that’s true and it’s trying to come back then I suspect things could very easily turn for the worst for us” the Sun Goddess stated.

“Fear not, sister. We defeated it once before, I’m confident we could do it again.”

“Yes. Yes I’m sure we could. I do hope that it will never come to that, however” Celestia replied, internally fearing the worst. The Leviathan returning would be a very bad for not only the Empire but all of ponykind. It single-handedly represented the greatest organic threat to the entire world of Equestria.

Worst comes to worst we could turn MY HEAVEN on the Leviathan, since not much else would harm it. For the sake of all that is good I do hope it stays deep within the Everfree and doesn’t leave.

“As for our other projects like METAL LANCE the Changelings did get their special gift, did they not?” Princess Celestia asked, masking her still-present fear of the Leviathan.

“They did indeed. Queen Chrysalis herself has been field-testing it since she got it and seems to like it very much. I know it’s been several years but I still find it strange that we allied with them” Luna answered.

“These are trying times, for all of the world. We must seek for friends where we had previously sought enemies” Celestia said, the two reaching the observatory at the top of the castle and the Sun Goddess looking up through the open roof, not bothering with the massive telescope to see a red star far up in the night sky. One of the largest stars that could be seen on this night.

Seeing her sister stare up at the red star Luna stepped in front of her, forcing Celestia to focus her attention on her younger and smaller sibling. “Will things ever be normal again for us, sister? Will things ever go back to the way they were? Do we really have to use MY HEAVEN to end this conflict?” Princess Luna inquired.

Sighing, Celestia hung her head low and said “I wish we didn’t have to, Lulu. I truly wish that we didn’t have to unleash it, but you and I both know that there is no choice. There is no other option but to use MY HEAVEN if we are to see our species continued. Continuity of pony life and government under our rule are the biggest priorities, as they always have been.... We will fight as normal for now, but you and I both know that the time is coming, and it is coming fast. I know you don’t want it to be, but there will soon be no choice.”

“I’m afraid, dear sister. I’m afraid of MY HEAVEN. Perhaps, if you had used it while I was away in the moon then--”

“You know I would have never done such a thing without you by my side. Maybe if I had used it sooner Cadence would still be alive and we would not have this war, but there are a lot of maybes in life. Maybe, if I had used it, things would have been worse. Powerful as we are, dear sister, we cannot change the past. And we cannot see the future” Princess Celestia declared.

The very truth was that MY HEAVEN terrified Celestia herself, too. There had been many times and nights during the thousand years Luna was away that the Goddess of the Sun had thought of decommissioning MY HEAVEN in whatever way she could. There were nights when she had horrible nightmares about the destructive power of MY HEAVEN, a device that held the power to completely destroy all of Equestria. A device that so powerful Celestia had to wonder if even she could safely control it. A device with untold destructive power that no species native to Equestria could ever hope to rival it.

It also held the power to save all life on the planet.

“I understand, Tia” Luna replied, turning to leave the observatory. Her iron-clad hooves striking the marble and the sound echoing throughout the massive chamber.

“Oh, there’s one more thing, Tia” Luna started, stopping in her tracks and turning back around to face her sister. “Queen Chrysalis would like to know when you want them to transfer Shining Armor into our custody.”

Author's Note

Author's note: personally I am mixed about this chapter. I feel it reveals too much, but at the same time it's still all very vague. I don't know, maybe it's 'cause I already know everything about this story. Either way it's still an important chapter for the story itself.

Legal note: Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. Lieutenant Strong Spear and all related characters belong to me. Nightshade belongs to Kirlia481.