Luna was more than a little worried about Celestia.

She watched every stiff movement of her sister’s body as golden magic retrieved their armor, piece by piece out of their special saddlebags. Celestia had only twice before so completely lost control of her emotions in front of Luna as she had today, and the last time she had done so… well, the last time she had done so, she hadn’t reined in control of those emotions until long after it had been relevant. What had followed had been the total and utter defeat of her army of nightmares and the near desertification of the far southern lands.

It had been a sobering moment realizing exactly what Celestia could do if she truly lost control of the power she wielded… which might have ultimately lead to her banishment to the Moon, as Celestia finally realized the lengths she had been forced to. Even now, a thousand years later, the southern lands were still sand and hills and scrublands, and Celestia refused to speak about that day in more than the barest, starkest terms.

Worse still, Luna was certain that the grim look in Celestia’s bearing was only getting worse as time went on. Of the two of them, it had always been Celestia that had most disdained the trappings of royalty. She’d hated the term ‘Princess’ for centuries before finally getting used to it - and she discarded it at every possible opportunity. Being worshipped? That was even worse. Celestia had been known to get positively angry when she’d discovered various cults dedicated to her worship over the years. The thought of anypony treating her as a goddess had, once upon a time, given her poor sister terrible dreams.

And now, more the fool Star Swirl, she was forced to adopt that role to save Equestria. Within hours of arriving, she’d already erected no less than three different public masks in a vain effort to keep her emotions from becoming clear… and Luna was very, very certain they were all beginning to fail on her. She thanked her blessed stars that they had been given a few minutes alone as the Empress prepared a room for them to begin rallying the ponies of this land to their cause.

Luna did not need to speak - she simply laid her hoof upon Celestia’s shoulder, and a piece of bright golden armor crashed to the floor with quite a noise. Celestia nearly wheeled upon her with intent to harm, but upon seeing it was but her sister and none else, her rage collapsed into nothingness on the spot. “Oh. Lulu, I…” Luna shut her sister up with a single well placed hoof against her lips and embraced her tightly. Even now, her coat and skin were still warmed as though they had just spent all day under the hot Sun.

“Hush, sister,” Luna said quietly, her voice soft with scorn, “and hug thy sister, afore she decides to spank thee.” The words came out a little harsher than she’d intended, but they were necessary. Celestia stiffened for only a moment before her hooves came up to wrap back around Luna and hold there tightly. Her sister’s head came down to rest in the nook of Luna’s shoulder and a half-formed sob escaped from her lips.

Luna simply stroked her hoof down Celestia’s back, doing her best to keep the pressure of her hug even. “Tis alright, sister dearest. I know this cannot be easy for thee.” And Faust wasn’t that an understatement? “But you must not allow thy fears to run away with thy reason.” Gently - infinitely so - Luna turned Celestia’s head so she could face her. “We shall save Twilight and all of her friends, Tia. And soon enough thereafter, we shall find much to laugh at the days when we all ran about in fear of a mere shadow.”

Tia actually smiled a little at that one, the crystal shine of tears in the corner of her eyes glittering for a moment before falling away. Lies - especially comforting lies - were sometimes necessary. Honesty was a wonderful virtue, but there were times when it was less than desired… and now was one of those times. “Are you certain, Lulu?” Celestia asked in a quiet, desperate voice, and Luna nodded firmly with a decisive confidence that put a much warmer smile on her sister’s face.

Of course, she did not believe for one second that doing so would be at all easy or that it was even possible. She knew the seductive power of the darkness that now infected her poor friend too well to think that anything short of a true miracle would free her from it now. That left only a few options… options she knew Celestia was utterly unwilling to consider. Which meant it was up to Luna to consider them and realize the grim work that may yet lay before her. Hope was not dead for the world or Equestria, but Twilight would undoubtedly bear the cost to save them both.

Still, no sane creature discounted just what Celestia could accomplish when her back was to the wall, and with one of the most brilliant wizards in all of history at her right hoof that ability would only become more dangerous. But Luna was practical enough to realize that provisions needed to be made… and that nopony else had the guts or the willingness to make them.

So she would smile and comfort Celestia, and hope that somewhere within her sister there lay the power to affect another miracle and save Twilight Sparkle as she herself had been saved. For now though, she needed help to keep her emotions firmly in check. “Now, I expect you to stop this foalish behavior,” Luna scolded, waggling her hoof in Tia’s face. “We are not to terrify the locals unless it is the difference between life and death. I shall not have any further ponies screaming.” And at this she flared her wings and affected a terrified voice in a trottingham accent, “Nightmare Moon is coming to gobble up our bottoms!”

Celestia stared at her for a moment and then burst into helpless, genuine laughter. She collapsed against Luna’s side and Luna raised her hoof to hug Celestia’s shoulder firmly. Deep in her heart, she truly hoped that little Pipsqueak had been somehow made safe from the depredations of the Shadow… but his last letter to her had been news that his father was moving their business to Twilight Town; thus she had no illusions of the fate suffered by all of those who had been living there.

Celestia wiped away a tear or two from her eye as she convulsed again in laughter for a few long moments. “So, behave thyself,” Luna said with a little titter of annoyance and gave the pile of dark blue metal, moonstone, and leather straps a baleful eye. She would never admit it in front of Celestia, but she very much enjoyed any excuse to wear her armor. It made her feel more powerful - as powerful as she had been in the olden days - and quite sexy, too. The conquering warrior queen, come to ravish the lucky stallions of the land.

The thought made Luna give off a girlish little giggle as she lifted the primary piece - the chestplate - into place and snapped on the tight straps. Celestia was giving her a distinctly odd look as she did a gleeful little hop into the soft interiors of the armored hoof boots and wiggled her plot at her sister. “Thou mustn’t stare at thy sister’s behind, Celestia. Our guests might decide that all of those lewd legends about us are true.” That set Celestia’s cheeks a burning bright red, and she hurriedly turned around, noisily pulling out the rest of her own armor.

The decision to wear the armor for this meeting was a simple matter of appearances. If they looked like stern goddesses preparing to do battle, it was hoped that neither of them would have to get very unpleasant with any of the local muckity-mucks. Luna fully expected a need to at least threaten one of them with something nasty before they fell into line, but hope did spring eternal.

Which for some reason brought to mind… “Do either of you need assistance, great ones?” The quiet voice of Gentle Blade resonated through the room, and Luna had to admit it startled her a bit. The Ki-Lin warrioress was damn quiet when she wanted to be - almost ghostlike in her ability to sneak up on them. Privately, Luna very much liked the little warrior. Ah, would that I could get her back to Canterlot. I am certain I could… convince her to join the Lunar Guard. She would undoubtedly leap at the chance to serve one of us directly. Just the thought made Luna very privately lick her chops in anticipation of that possibility.

Piece by piece, Luna settled each plate of the armor into place. Like all Equestrian style armor, the whole thing was designed in interlocking plates. Each plate locked into four others, overlapping with one another to provide both superb protection and maximum flexibility. “Yes, Gentle Blade. Come and ensure my straps are well fastened,” Luna said with a brisk tone, shaking her shoulders to check the torso armor for security. It was as good a time as any to see if the Ki-Lin was as capable a warrior as Luna presumed.

Celestia arched an eyebrow at her, and Luna grinned as Gentle Blade - without another word - trotted over and began to give the armor already upon Luna’s body a thorough examination. “Peace, sister. If Gentle Blade is to be our guide amongst the Ki-Lin, we must live with her being a part of our private councils,” Luna tried to soothe Celestia, who was adopting a look of thorough annoyance anyway. So she sighed and turned her gaze to Gentle Blade who… well, she looked awfully cute with that studious look on her face. “Gentle Blade, would you be so kind as to pledge to keep anything you learn amongst us to thyself, and swear not to speak of any matter we speak of amongst each other with those outside our trust; save when we give you leave to do so?”

Gentle Blade looked startled, but nodded slowly - bit at her lip for a moment - then nodded much more vigorously. “Aye, Goddess. I do so swear.” There was a soft something to her voice… a defiance, almost. Against what, Luna did not know, but it was gladdening to her heart to know there was a potent spirit in her.

Luna beamed at Celestia, who sighed and rolled her eyes. “I suppose I don’t have much choice in the matter.” She gave the Ki-Lin mare a somewhat softer look, then nodded. “Very well. Listen carefully, Gentle Blade. The fate of far more souls than you know may hinge upon our success today.” Celestia drew in a deep breath and exhaled as she began to speak again.

Luna half smiled, as Celestia laid out their plans to their newest compatriot. Celestia was always more centered when there was somepony else who directly needed her, and Gentle Blade would certainly fit that bill. Now, if she could just figure out what Master Star Swirl was up to…

Celestia was the first to enter the room.

Luna had insisted she needed a few private moments with Gentle Blade and wanted to try to buttonhole Star Swirl before he strode in with his grandiose plans and upset everything they were trying to accomplish. So she came in first, and alone. The room itself was compact and smelled strongly of some kind of spicy incense... and after nearly braining herself on a crossbeam, she realized it was clearly NOT built to accommodate Alicorns

Having wisely avoided a head injury mere minutes before the meeting, Celestia took a moment to orient herself with the room: a large wooden table, draped with a surprisingly superb map of Equestria and the Ki-Lin Kingdoms’ shared border and a few small boxes full of odd looking flags, some of which had already been planted on the map. The barest glance told Celestia what it had to be - troop positions.

It appears they only know the location of our Guardsponies - or they do not consider the pegasi militias to be proper military forces. Celestia thought, ranging her eyes over the flags. Still, there seemed to be quite a lot of specialization amidst the Ki-Lin… or there were more politics at stake here than she’d realized. Luckily, there was a large pot of tea already steeping - and it smelled wonderful at that. Had this been any other day, Celestia might have looked forward to this enlightening conversation to be had with her mysterious neighbors. As it was…

The sound of the door swinging open caught her attention, and she turned her head to regard Jade Empress Whisper. She wore a silken red dress of a style Celestia had never seen before - sleek and tailored perfectly to her shoulders and body, hugging her close and showing off her curves in quite the sensual manner. Almost without thinking, Celestia lifted the teapot from where it sat and carefully poured two cups of the stuff. It smelled divine and after replacing the pot on the rather elegant little cast iron stand, she lifted her own cup and presented the second to the Empress… only belatedly realizing that the Empress was alone, and staring in shocked astonishment at the teacup.

Celestia nearly bit off her tongue in frustration. The last thing she needed was to offend this mare, and for all she knew she had just violated some kind of sacred protocol. But after the moment of shock, the Empress took the cup of tea in her own silvery magic and strode across the room to stand next to Celestia. “You are not what I expected, Amaterasu.” Her voice was soft, like silk across steel in its strength and delicacy.

Sharp green eyes glanced up into Celestia’s, half filled with wonder and half with a faint awe. “Standing near you, I can sense the deep fires that boil within your soul - the very flame of the Sun aching to get out.” Her voice was still soft, still awed - and though that awe deeply disturbed Celestia in some ways, it was… well, an honest sort of awe. Like she’d seen in some of her more devoted ponies or….

Or in Twilight Sparkle, when they’d talked about magic.

Whisper swallowed a little sip of the tea and continued to speak - her voice much stronger now. “But there is so much more there than just the Sun. You have a love that aches for another - somepony who has been consumed by the darkness.” Celestia nearly jumped in astonishment, feeling her eyes widen as she bent her full gaze upon the mare. How could she possibly know… Whisper’s hoof came up and hesitantly touched her shoulder. “The signs are there, Amaterasu - for one who has had eyes trained to see and ears to hear.”

Then she stepped in closer - much closer - and a soft and spicy scent, not unlike that of ginger and clove mixed together with honey wafted around her. The hoof pressed a bit more firmly into her shoulder, the Empress’ voice growing stronger by the moment. “There is such a Love in you,” she said in the softest of tones, her eyes gentle and sad. “A heart so big, that tries so hard to hold all of the world within it. And such a despair that for all of your power, you cannot stop the weight of time and mortal choice.” That hesitant hoof came up to her cheek then and softly trailed down it.

Whisper’s voice came into her ears, like a gentle wave upon the sea. “You need not hold that weight alone, Amaterasu.” There was just the barest hint of heat and suggestion that for a moment, Celestia could not believe what she was hearing. But the next words seemed to confirm that guess, and the Empress shifted her stance a little - her horn lighting up faintly, and her eyes practically sparkling with… desire.

The top button of the dress Whisper was wearing came undone, and the silk of the dress on her shoulder fetchingly slipped off of it. “Standing near you now, I can say that I feel no more fear of you. There is too much kindness, too much gentle love in your heart to harm any but those who must be harmed.” The words struck like hammer blows into Celestia’s heart, both greatly relieving a weight on her soul and also sending a thrill of worry and panic through her. Somehow, the Empress had interpreted her kindness and gentle nature as affection.

But she was frozen in place, and she could not say why - perhaps there was something so like Twilight Sparkle in this Empress. That same look of unquestioning love and trust, that soft awe in her presence. Perhaps it was simply a natural reaction to all of the stress she had been inflicting on her body for these past weeks… or perhaps she was simply feeling very lonely. Whatever it was, she did not stop the Empress Whisper from leaning up and brushing her lips over Celestia’s cheek - only belatedly realizing that tears were falling from her eyes again.

The Empress smiled softly, filling Celestia’s gaze for a brief moment. “All will be well, Amaterasu.” A gentle hoof brushed away her tears, and a second kiss - this one brushing her lips in a way nopony had done for a very, very long time - sent a surge of warmth through her body. Then she stepped away, her teacup coming up and her cheeks blushing a very fetching soft red.

Celestia shook her head slowly, struggling to find the words to speak. “How is it… how can you know so much about me simply by being near me? I have never even heard of that kind of Magic before…” The past few moments had shocked her deeply, but not so much that her curiosity was not greatly aroused. Somehow, this single pony had seen past all of her masks and deceptions, straight into the heart of her fears.

The Empress Whisper smiled mysteriously behind her teacup, her rather remarkable eyes and glittering mane providing a singularly beautiful - and mysterious - picture. “Perhaps once we take to the road, I shall show you some of our secrets.” There was something about that suggestion that told Celestia she might not be talking about Magical secrets… but about the sorts of secrets one only shared in the deep darkness of the night, as Luna watched over all ponies.

Celestia coughed around a sip of her tea, then laughed softly as she felt her own cheeks blush a bit. “Oh goodness, look at me,” she said in her wryest and most honest voice yet spoken around one of the Ki-Lin. “I am acting like the veriest filly on her first estrus!” She shook her head firmly, trying to banish some of the confusion from her mind… and found that all of the tension, all of the fear had seemingly vanished into the ether. Did she… Then she stopped. She would discuss this matter with the Empress later. Right now, there were bigger fish to land.

So she turned resolutely back to the table - and fortunately so, for just at that moment Luna chose to walk in, followed by Star Swirl, who was leaning on a very familiar piece of wood. “Your staff!” Celestia exclaimed, and Star Swirl grinned unrepentantly. The twisted and much carved bit of black tree wood was being perfectly leaned upon by the ancient sage, and the glittering ruby set into the top fairly glowed with power. The puzzle pieces were instantly put together, and Celestia had to stare at the Empress with frank admiration. “For two thousand years, treasure hunters have searched for the lost staff of Star Swirl the Bearded, and it was here the whole time, unmolested? Truly astonishing!”

The Empress blushed an even brighter red, and Star Swirl nodded solemnly. “I am deeply in debt, your Mightiness. With my stave fully intact, there is much I shall be able to do to aid our cause.” Then he turned and with a breath, spoke in firm tones to Celestia. “The first thing that ought to be done is myself and your sister ought to return to Equestria with an elite force to see what we can do while you lead the larger army personally.” He steeled himself visibly, obviously figuring that Celestia would very much oppose this plan.

When in fact, it appeared that Luna was far more opposed to it than Celestia was. In truth, she was ecstatic that such a possibility now existed. With Star Swirl, Luna, and the finest the Ki-Lin could offer on hoof, Cadence and Shining Armor could bring the fight to the Shadow. With good fortune and sound tactics, they could stymie it from bringing chaos and destruction upon any more innocents. Truly, Celestia would miss her sister and worry terribly for her safety… but Star Swirl would ensure she did not do anything too rash. “Yes, that is a superb idea, Teacher,” Celestia proclaimed with a bright smile, much to Star Swirl’s shock. She smiled impishly at the worried Luna, whose worry transformed to sudden confusion. “And do not worry so, Lulu. I shall be fine once I have many tasks to keep my hooves and mind busy until we reach Equestria. Besides, if the griffon Legions elect to come to Equestria, we shall need one of us on hoof to ensure they are treated fairly. ”

Luna’s mouth opened but snapped shut, shooting a hard glance at the Empress before nodding slowly. “Very well, Celestia.” She eyeballed the Empress. “But before I leave, I would have words with the Empress.” Whisper blinked visibly at that, and swallowed what looked like a lump in her throat before nodding fearfully. Celestia gave off a rueful chuckle - leave it to her sister to wish to protect her against that which she needed no protection from.

“My friends, we shall have to have words with one another regardless,” Celestia reminded them all, tapping her hoof on the table. “Your grace,” she turned, bowing her head to the Empress formally. “Call forward your nobles and merchants, and bring someone to explain your method of markings upon the map. There is a war to be waged, and an enemy to be routed in the name of the Light.” The declarative words lit a fire of courage in Celestia’s heart, as the Empress smiled warmly at her and quickly swung open the door and spoke quickly to some unseen servant.

Celestia turned back to the map and pressed her hooves into the table. Hang on, Twilight. Cadence. Shining Armor. Help is coming.

A white furred head whipped around to stare into the far distance - the wind picking up and blasting a wave of crisp autumn leaves all around the slim form of the White Doe. She stared into the distance, as Fate itself creaked and moaned - the balance of the world shifting just ever so slightly. But even the slightest changes could effect massive results if done at the right time.

The Doe's nose lifted into the air and she drew in a deep lungful of the air. And what she smelled upon it lit a fire of fierce happiness in her eye. The smell was of sun-baked fields and the deep fresh smell of rainfall. Of whipping breezes and bright blue skies and endless fields of grass. It was a good smell - a clean smell in a land that was rank with the smell of the Shadow and Darkness.

A smell that was blowing fiercely out of the east, and answered in turn by another smell - that of clean sweat and freshly spilled blood that poured out of the west. Of forged steel and iron hearts, and a grim purpose. The smell of the blood and bone of ancient warriors awakening again upon the earth. The White Doe felt the first true smile in many a day cross her face, and she turned and bound up the trail towards the Shining City of Canterlot.

The Light had been roused to action at last. She only hoped they were not yet too late.