Silver Spoon lay curled up around the much battered pillow atop her cot, sleeping peacefully.It was almost domestic. Peaceful. It was a scene from another lifetime, a place she could almost no longer remember. Almost.

Scootaloo ran the oilstone with the greatest of care down the length of her blade three times, then did the same for the other edge another three times. Her limbs ached and her head was as sore as Berry Punch’s was after a bender, but she neither could dent the pride she felt in herself and all of those around her.

Outside her tent, the camp was getting ready. Four months of relentless snow, four months of often bitter cold and biting winds, four months of time bought against the Shadow. But everyone knew Cloudsdale couldn’t keep up the sound and fury forever, not without the greatest of risk. Food stores had been pushed to the utmost, and only the good fortune of outside supply had ensured that there would even be a campaign season this spring.

Where and how Zecora had managed that feat, she would probably never know. The sleek birds she called ‘snow swallows’ had been flitting in and out of the camp for the entire winter. Then again, their opponents were gaining similar aid from the conquered griffon territories, so she supposed Zecora had been calling in favors from afar. Or perhaps it had been Crescent Blade, calling for aid from her own ponies. She didn’t know, and that was a problem.

Or rather, it was a new kind of problem that she could realistically do nothing about. She had made no promises for those supplies, and had signed no treaties. The Crusade was still independant, even if some of its members were garnering help from outside sources. Starswirl had called this ‘necessary delegation’, but Scipio had been much more blunt about it. He’d called it ‘dealing under the table’ and said it was pretty much something every leader did.

Scootaloo didn’t know about that, but she did trust Scipio, Crescent and Zecora, so she supposed she ought to let them do their jobs. It wasn’t like she hadn’t had plenty of other stuff to do while they’d been arranging for trail rations and whatever that black goo Zecora had been stockpiling was.

She’d called it ‘earth tar’ and said that she and Berry were devising a way to put it to good use. That Berry had spent the last few months distilling alcohol from wild potatoes was probably supposed to be a clue, but Scootaloo couldn’t put two and two together this time. It wasn’t a comfortable thought not knowing what they were up to, so she should probably stop beating around the bush and just ask them.

Later though. Peaceful days weren’t going to be plentiful in the months to come, and she wanted to enjoy this one. It would be time to move soon, and she wanted to make just a few more memories. She put her sword away, and crawled next to Silver, curling up alongside to help keep her warm. When she woke up, they could get lunch and enjoy Winter Wrap-up together. It might be the last chance they would have.

Then her ears perked. Someone was chanting, loud enough to be heard through the whole camp. Silver lifted her head sleepily and Scootaloo slowly eased up beside her. What was going on?

Scipio Grifficanus sighed heavily, raking his talons lightly across his shoulder where a heavy white bandage was currently soaking up more of his blood than he was comfortable with. “I hate when they itch,” He muttered, glaring at his sister across the table. “Did you really have to carry through with that swing, Gilda?”

She looked right down her beak at him with disdain before going back to her work, patching up an undersuit of hide armor. Cragadile, by the look of it, though Scipio would love to have known where she’d gotten the hide from.

Of course, maybe she hadn’t heard him over the raucous sound of the armorers that were scurrying all around them. Or maybe it had been the pegasus on the platform with his clipboard, shouting out numbers and scratching names onto the big piece of slate that served as his chalkboard. Or maybe she was just being a bitch, and he was overthinking things.

Whatever it was, she wasn’t in any kind of talking mood, so he focused on not scratching his wounds by taking in the activity going on around him. By the end of the week, every pony who could fight would be armed and armored respectably enough to be called Legionnaires. Granted, there wasn’t nearly enough proper gilt to go around, but burnished steel still shone in the mid-day light and that was good enough for him.

Across the field he could see many more of their troops picking up unit emblems and banners. Only the Praetorian Guard had remained a solvent unit, all of the other griffons that had come to the camp had been spit up and mixed in amongst the ponies and remaining deerfolk. The rest of those who had come to fight were peppered in amongst the newly formed Legions as specialists and officers where applicable.

As an example, the 3rd Crusade Legion was being commanded by a young buffalo girl of all things, who went by the name Little Strongheart. She’d come bearing promises that her Tribe were waiting for the snow to break before they would stampede north to aid them under the leadership of her father, Chief Thunderhooves. Given what Scipio knew about Buffalo stampedes, he actually felt a pang of pity for whatever forces Winterlight had left to strike south.

But even with that modestly positive news, the entire situation was still too grim for Scipio to become truly upbeat. Umbra’s force numbers were still unknown to them, and he had no idea what sort of devilry she’d spent the last few months cooking up. Fighting a war without proper reconnaissance was more than merely annoying, it was dangerous in the extreme. The Crusader had insisted their purpose was to wait for the critical battle, but Scipio knew better. The Legion would need to intervene long before the war came to Canterlot.

He stood up, not willing to spend another twenty minutes doting on his grumpy sister when the faint sound of chanting came from the center of the camp. The hammers of the forges clanked on for a few more moments, then went still. Scipio could feel something surging through him, as it had during the Battle of the Gorge. Was… was someone singing? And why did it feel as though his chest was afire?

His hindpaws started to carry him quickly towards the source of the sound, Gilda not far behind.

Princess Cadence quietly took the scroll from the messenger, breaking the wax seal with her teeth and unfurling the message. “Winter no longer sustainable. Troop movements possible within seven days. Will maintain favorable weather patterns for as long as possible, but make no promises. Weather stores heavily depleted. Derecho.” She echoed to the room, before laying the paper scroll down on the desk beside her.

Her husband nodded once. “Well, we had a lot longer than we hoped for.” He tried to keep his voice upbeat, but he was straining for it. “We’ve got most of the outer defenses fortified, and we’ve laid in everything we need for a protracted siege. We should have no problem holding out for the Princess to return.”

General Clausewitz snorted softly. “Still not all the time we need, boy. We’re going to be pressed to the utmost.” He leaned over the tactical table, shaking his head. “They’ll hit Cloudsdale first before they come for us. We’re going to need more than siege supplies and good tactics to survive this one.”

At that, Cadence could only nod her agreement. Guard Captain Lancelot arched an eyebrow at him. “What about news from the Crusader camp? That’s not an insignificant force they’ve built there.” He leaned over the map, rubbing his chin. “Should we order them to reinforce Canterlot? The Praetorian Guard has a fearsome reputation for defensive maneuvers.”

Clausewitz shook his head. “They’re our ace in the hole. We’ll want them outside the walls to flank Umbra’s forces should things get dicey.” He swept his hoof to the north. “Commander Hardscrabble has united enough of our northern Guard units to make an excellent hammer to their anvil. We want them able to maneuver with one another, not be stuck behind walls waiting for Umbra to creep in through the cracks in the floor.”

Cadence bit at her lip, then sighed. “If I remember my weather classes right, we’ll have about two weeks after the melt before any ships could possibly reach Equestrian shores from the Ki-Lin kingdoms, and that’s if Celestia decides to push the limits of safety in the crossing. Figure more like three to four weeks before we can see significant reinforcements.”

“That’s going to feel like a lifetime,” Clausewitz noted, leaning on the table. “Even if they go after Cloudsdale first, they’ll be on our doorstep for two weeks before we can even hope for the Princess to relieve us. What about the Southern guard?” He glanced at Shining Armor, and not for the first time Cadence wondered how he possibly kept up his generally cheerful demeanour even in tough times. Maybe it was an old-soldier thing.

Shining Armor shook his head though, a mournful look on his face. “We think they had corruptors amongst them. We haven’t heard anything except from the Baltimare Institute of Magic.” he nudged a little paper Equestrian flag onto the Baltimare territory. “They insist they’re under siege, but are holding their own against the aggressors. The Magical Containment squad is apparently on premises, but the port itself is possibly in enemy hooves. We can’t make any promises if any of them are still with us.”

That was… well, it was news that could’ve been worse, but it wasn’t good either. Guard Lancelot spoke up quietly. “The good news is we’ve gotten every single unit of the Royal Guard back into Canterlot, and they’re all verifiably clean.” He held his head high, smiling faintly. “We will hold this city to the last pony, your highness.”

Cadence smiled back. It was hard not to, his courage was infectious. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, Lance.” She turned her eyes back to the map and tried to focus. There had to be some way they could buy more time and-

It tremored through her, like a faint earthquake. A pulse of power centered on the Everfree Forest, equal parts terrifying and glorious. Then it came again, an answering pulse from White Tail Wood that rippled across the land so strongly she was sure anyone with half an ounce of magic could’ve felt it. “What was that?” She exclaimed, casting her head from side to side. But there was no burst of magic, no sign of attack. What was going on? Why was she so frightened, and yet why did she feel no fear?

“The beginning of the end,” Growled a raspy voice from the door, and Chrysalis slowly paced into the room. “Time is about to run out, Princess.” She mock bowed, and smiled bitterly. “They are coming for us. Your Harmony help us all.”

Captain Winterlight jolted up out of a sound sleep, panting as though she’d just fought a ten round gladiatorial tournament in weighted armor. Her heart was thudding in her chest with unnatural force, and that absurd little knot of power in her chest was crawling around inside of her. If she’d been anypony else, she’d have sworn it was some kind of panic attack. But that didn’t fit, and she knew it.

Her heart kept hammering until a minute later, when Rainbow Dash slammed open the door to her private bedroom. “On your hooves, Captain.” She said quietly, those fierce eyes of hers darting to and fro. “Mistress is getting ready to move. We need to start preparations immediately.”

Winterlight opened her mouth to protest that, and instantly it felt like something had grabbed a hold of her heart and squeezed. The pain ripped through her like little else had before, and sent her doubling over to the side of the bed. She clutched at her chest, trying to silently insist that she wasn’t going to fight the orders for several agonizing moments before the pain stopped. Clearly, this wasn’t a request.

Dash nodded from where she stood in the door. “Yeah, me too.” She kept her voice pitched low, but Winterlight didn’t need to be a genius to get what she was dealing. Umbra wanted to make this happen, so it was gonna happen if they liked it or not. “I’ve got a pot of coffee going in the kitchen. I’ve got a feeling we’ll need it.” And then Dash was gone, trotting at top speed down the hallway.

Winterlight blearily hauled herself out of bed and grabbed blindly for the pitcher of water on the windowsill. With zero hesitation, she dumped the ice-cold liquid over her head to shock her senses awake, little shards of ice catching in her mane and her body instantly shivering in reaction to it. She’d take a real shower later, once her heart had calmed down a little.

She grabbed her armor off of its stand and shoved her door aside. Outside, every denizen of Twilight Town was dashing to and fro, stacking crates on Pegasi carts, sharpening weapons and generally acting like a well oiled military machine.

It was hard not to feel a swell of pride in this lunkheads, greenhorns that they’d all been mere months ago. Training couldn’t get rid of all of that, they’d need to be given a good bloody battle before she knew which ones were worth a damn. But it was a hell of a good start, oh yes it was. And the best of all, she had even made a few choice allies along the way.

Allies like Rainbow Dash, her living and breathing contingency plan. This time, this time around she would leave absolutely nothing to chance. Not the loyalty of her commander or the righteousness of her cause would be left to question. Somewhere out there, The Nightmare awaited her return and she was not about to disappoint her queen by dying before she could do so. That she was one wrong move away from having her heart crushed for disloyalty to the Shadow was of no consequence. That had always been the case before, and it was nothing new to her now.

So instead, she focused on making certain that everything would go according to plan. One way or another, her name would soon go down in history. As the victor or the defeated, she did not know. But it would be certainly fun to find out.

It was funny. She could almost hear the war chant starting to pick up amongst the troops, even though no one was doing much beyond talking about the fight to come. She ought to teach them The Endless Night’s an Endless Party before they moved out, it would be good for morale and thoroughly amusing to watch.

Twilight Shadow held her head in one hoof, steadied only by Mother’s gentle touch. “Hush, love.” Mother whispered softly, holding her with infinite gentleness. “It will not hurt for long. Calling to all of the Shadows of the world was a great strain upon us both.”

Twilight smiled in spite of herself, nuzzling up into the soft fur of her lover’s neck. “I’m fine. I’ve had worse headaches from overindulging on Applejack’s cider.” Which was a bold faced lie, but you told lies sometimes to protect the ponies you loves. “I will be fine. How is Fluttershy holding up?” That was the one somepony Twilight most feared for, given her delicate and… unusual state right at this moment.

Umbra merely shook her head and smiled. “She is fine. She was slightly shocked by the force of your call, but her flock absorbed much of the stress for her. They dote upon her.” She giggled faintly, a hoof touching her muzzle delicately. “She is far stronger than they yet know. I fear she shall be quite the terror upon anyone who threatens her new children.”

Twilight laughed at that. “Fluttershy? A terror? Unlikely.” She giggled faintly, kissing Mother’s cheek softly and settling down in her hooves to wait for the pain to recede. It was a good distraction from the knowledge of what she had just ordered. “We need to end this quickly, Mother. No games, no taking our time.”

Umbra twitched a little at that, and Twilight braced herself. “No, Umbra. We will act so that we harm as few ponies as possible to achieve our objectives. I will not destroy the land I have sacrificed so much to save.” Umbra’s tension settled down a moment later, and Twilight could feel her faint shock through the link that bound them together.

She was also feeling very perplexed as to how Twilight intended to do that, so she turned her head to give Mother a very severe look. “I am not suggesting we be hesitant or use pillow hooves on them, Mother. I am merely saying that we will decisively defeat the forces that oppose us, seize the capitol and use our superior position to negotiate a swift peace.” She pressed her hoof into Mother’s chest, barely raising her voice. “We will not raze Cloudsdale, and we will not harm anypony who does not resist us. Every care shall be taken to prevent what happened to Mister Cake, are we clear?”

Mother… nodded. Once, and with a glint of pride in her eye. “This is your quest, my love. I shall ensure you can see it through.” She cooed softly and pressed her lips to Twilight’s, liquid lightning flowing between them and sending arcs of pleasure up her spine. Mother always had a way with her nopony else could possibly have.

Now all she could do was hope and pray her friends would not be caught in the crossfire that was sure to come. Even as the power deep within her body sang a song without words or meaning, speaking of the pleasures to come in the new world she and mother would build together. For everyone, but especially the ponies she loved.

Princess Celestia Solaris stood at the end of the stone dock, gazing far out to the raging seas that lay before her. They raged, but they did not rage as they did yesterday nor the day before. The weather had calmed significantly, and she could feel the tightly woven magic that maintained the force of winter over Equestria beginning to completely unravel. It was a ragged feeling from this far away, but she knew what it meant.

All along the coast that stretched in both directions, ships of strange design were tethered to the beaches and packed into the docks of the small city she had chosen for her staging ground. They called it Shōri, which was supposedly an ancient word for ‘victory’. A fitting name for the beginning of what would surely be her most difficult and most important military campaign in her entire thousand year lifespan.

The Empress was several miles behind the city, organizing the vast supply chain she would need to ensure her march was unhindered by the need for food or camp supplies. The plan was to land at the shipyards in Manehatten, and use the superior rail system there to quickly assume control of Hollow Shades and Fillydelphia. With the forces stationed there, she would be able to guard her flanks and march to reassume control of her armies at Canterlot. And then…

And… then…

Then she would re-take Ponyville, and shortly thereafter would burn the heart of the Shadow out of the Everfree forest by whatever means was necessary. If need demanded that she burn the entire forest to the ground to do so, so be it. She desperately, deeply hoped such would not be the case, but Celestia only held on to one sliver of hope. That somewhere in the depths of her student’s soul, the Twilight Sparkle she knew and loved still lived and could be called forth to end this once and for all.

There would be repercussions for sparing Twilight the punishment many others would undoubtedly wish to wreak upon her. No less than three sovereign nations had good reason to demand her head on a silver platter, but she had restored her Sister to sense and sanity, and Celestia would do whatever it took to do the same for her beloved student. She would deal with the politics of the other nations after she had secured Twilight’s health and safety.

But if she could not be saved, Celestia knew that it was her responsibility alone to do the terrible deed. She could not ask anypony else, and would not allow anypony else to clean up her mess this time. It would shatter her heart to do so, but she had repaired that heart countless times before. She would find the means to do so again, if necessity demanded it.

Her task then would be to repair her poor nation, to heal her ponies and begin the task of restoring her peaceful land back to prosperity. “Amaterasu?” A soft voice from behind her spoke, but she did not turn. “I beg your indulgence, but the soothsayers tell me the storm shall abate enough for us to leave in three days time.”

Celestia exhaled softly. Three days was not as bad as she’d feared it would be. “Thank you. And extend my thanks to the seers for their tireless efforts.” She paused significantly, then spoke again. “Send me General Rising immediately, and have word sent to the Empress. I want our forces prepared to set sail by the dawn of the fourth day.” Then she glanced to one side. “And have my battle armor brought to me.”

There was no answer, and she expected none. The Ki-Lin took their duties very seriously, and the one thing she could be grateful for was that if she gave a command it would be seen through, no matter how great a trouble it might be. She was reasonably certain that if she commanded these ponies to slay their own Empress they would do so, and that was a power that terrified her. Yet such power was also a great burden on her soul, and that burden would ensure she never misused it, nor failed to appreciate the gravity of her commands.

There we good ponies here, none the less. General Rising was amongst them, who did not treat her as a Goddess so much as he regarded her with deep respect. He had studied the legends of her campaigns and deemed her worthy to serve as his superior officer by virtue of ability, not divine right. Even so, he never failed to execute any command she gave him.

The wind rushed into her face, and she could swear she could smell the green fields of her home upon the wind. An ancient rhyme sprung to mind, and she smiled. She would hold hope in her heart until the utmost, but she would not hesitate. Twilight would have wanted it that way. Twilight would have trusted in her to make certain the right thing was done, no matter how difficult.

But the last line of that rhyme kindled a flame in her heart. She spoke it silently onto the wind, and could feel a little ripple of power brush her cheek from across the sea in response. Let Umbra know what is coming. Let all of this Shadow tremble at my hoofstep. She strode to the end of the pier, and hurled her head backwards to catch the wind in her mane. On the far horizon, she could see a gathering darkness slowly inking the sky over what surely was her beloved kingdom.

Well, if it wished to challenge her, she would accept. Behind her, attendants strode up with the glittering gold of her enchanted steel armor but she paid them no heed. “I am Celestia Solaris, Princess of Equestria.” She roared into the winds of the sea, and they roared wordlessly in response. “And let it be known to every land from here unto the ends of the earth!” She continued, imbuing her voice with the power of the Light that suffused the land with life and hope. "You shall not take my ponies! You shall not destroy that which I have built! For I swear upon the blazing Sun I command," He words echoed across the waves, lashing out with her power to carry her words across that ocean to her home. To Canterlot. To Luna. To Twilight.

To Umbra.

“The Dawn Will Come!”