Everfree awoke that morning to the sound of drums. Drums marching out from the castle. Drums filling the streets with their sharp percussion. Drums echoing off of stone and brick and mortar, stirring a city that had been holding its breath for this day into motion.

The drums were a Cirran military style used for marching and formations, but instead of the harsh and intimidating stomp of an occupying force’s hooves, these drums were accompanied by fanfare. Trumpets, horns, clarions; all blared their brassy voices into the sky, providing something that sounded strangely like music.

Ponies stuck their heads out of windows or looked up from where they were standing. A few muttered to each other in disquieted voices. Many simply stopped whatever they were doing and began to move down the streets. As the sounds of drums and horns drew closer, a sizeable crowd had gathered up and down Mane Street, eyes fixated on the procession marching out of the Everfree castle.

It wasn’t a military parade for some triumph or the heavy march of thousands of legionary hooves as a show of strength, and that was what surprised the ponies of Everfree the most. Instead, they were greeted by the sight of a proud cohort of Cirran legionaries marching down the street, armor polished to a blinding shine and in a perfectly synchronized high step gait, surrounded by performers and acrobats. Mares and stallions of all races twirled and danced around one another, encouraging the ponies on the sidelines to join them and smile. Unicorns in formal military garb followed the armored Cirran legionaries, holding all sorts of instruments to their lips with their magic as they marched along. Their music filled the air, imbuing the city with the mirth that it’d been lacking for so long.

The bystanders gawked at the parade as it marched past them. To them, this display of joviality was… different. Alien. For many, the riots and bitterness of the past six months—of the past five years even—had become so deeply ingrained in Equestrian society that the thought of something contrary was impossible to comprehend. That Equestria could be this happy seemed like something out of a dream. Despite the Chancellor spreading the word that there would be a parade to welcome a new dawn for Equestria, many Equestrians simply couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

Until, that is, a pegasus mare in a glittering golden dress broke off from the parade, grabbed an earth pony by the hoof, and led the stallion into the middle of the dance without missing a beat.

And the city began to smile.

Within minutes, the ponies of Everfree had dropped whatever they were doing to be one with the music and the happiness. Storefronts closed, their owners hastily shutting their doors behind them as they wandered into the streets, took one another by the shoulders, and trotted into Mane Street side by side. Foals scampered out of shuttered houses at the behest of their parents, meeting their neighbors and galloping down the streets in merry troupes of youth. Their squealing filled the city with a childish warmth, raw and happy and pure.

A series of loud cracks and bangs overhead sent a few ponies ducking for cover. In seconds, however, the giggling of foals and their outstretched hooves showed the explosions for what they really were; beautiful fireworks of every kind and color streaking through the skies, detonating in a shimmer of sparkles and streaming colors. From the rooftops, dozens of unicorns coordinated in using their magic to fill the sky with explosions of color and noise. Showers of color filled the sky, but their significance was lost on almost everypony, engrossed by the splendor and frivolity surrounding them. Black, gold, purple, red, green, white and blue.

While the significance of the chromatic display might have escaped the notice of most ponies, the results surely did not. As the the final two bursts of color and sound filled the heavens, gasps of wonder and delight rose from the crowd. Above them, massive, incredibly detailed busts of two alicorns blossomed to life.

However impressive as the display was, though, it paled in comparison to the two ponies at the heart of the parade currently underway. As the Sisters passed among the throng, many bowed low, their noses brushing the ground. Many more stood completely still, staring at the Sisters in a mixture of shock and awe. Still others whispered to each other, their faces anything from frightened to confused to stern as they watched the two alicorns make their way down the street.

Indeed, the Sisters looked absolutely stunning. Celestia’s mane hung in at her side, the ends bound in gold circlets which jostled in the flowing ethereal breeze that followed her no matter where she went. Her pristine white coat was covered in a robe of white silk and gold trim, and golden horseshoes protected her hooves from the grime of the city streets. Every feather along each of her magnificent wings was preened to perfection, with not a single barb out of line. Golden thread tied the base of her tail together, but the end billowed freely as she walked, and everywhere ponies were trying to get just a touch of the soft hairs. Celestia didn’t seem to mind at all, and while she spared a few gentle words with everypony she could, only the necessity and momentum of the parade kept her moving forward.

At her side, Luna stood with a wildly fierce, almost intimidating beauty of her own, equal in magnitude but wholly hers. She wore a black dress with blue trim to match her coat, but unlike Celestia’s gentle outfit, Luna’s projected power. The collar was high backed and flared, and her mane was braided and bound into something resembling a warrior’s hairstyle. Her horseshoes were both midnight blue and onyx black in the light, with the toe caliper extending up the leg to form a combat bracer protecting the fetlock and shin. Her black dress was lined with black metal ringlets that glittered in the morning light. The flowing blues and purples of her starry tail were tightly bound with a silver cord, keeping it stiff and arched—again, like a warrior mare. Ponies did not try to touch her tail or her wings like they did her sister, but it was clear that Luna commanded their respect. They bowed to her far more than they did the white alicorn as she passed.

As the two alicorns walked side by side towards the city center, ponies couldn’t help but notice the duality the Sisters were projecting. Celestia was kind, loving, and supportive; Luna demanded respect, cooperation, and civility. Together, the alicorns simultaneously drew love from, and instilled obedience in, the ponies surrounding them.

Behind the pair marched Equestria’s triumvirate, Commander Hurricane with his onyx armor sucking up more light than should be possible, Queen Platinum with her ivory coat whiter and purer than ever, and Chancellor Puddinghead with the biggest, most towering hat he had in his collection. Compared to the alicorns in front, however, they drew no attention or fanfare from the crowd.

A few minutes turned into fifteen just for the two alicorns to push through the crowd trying to get closer, to bow at the hooves of their goddesses, or maybe even touch them. Eventually, it was Luna who urged her older sister onwards, pressing a fan of midnight blue feathers against Celestia’s shoulders. Celestia reluctantly separated from the crowd and ascended the steps in front of the fountain depicting the Equestrian triumvirate. A perimeter of legionaries kept the crowd off of the fountain, square shields planted firmly in the dust. As Hurricane and his peers safely climbed up the steps and behind the wall of shields, the Cirran commander breathed a sigh of relief.

The music from the parade hit one final crescendo and then died off, but the quiet roar of the crowd didn’t. Even as Commander Hurricane raised his wings for silence in a crisp military display, it still took several seconds for the prayers, proclamations of love, and cries of fealty to die down. When it did, however, Platinum stepped forward.

“Equestrians!” Platinum cried, waiting for the last murmurs to dwindle to silence. The volume the slender mare could muster was rather impressive. “Today is a special day, dare I say a holy day, for our goddesses have graced us with their presence! They have come down from their heavenly perch to be with us in our time of greatest need, as our nation stands on the brink of tearing itself apart. They have promised me that they will save Equestria from ruin, and I have no reason to doubt that they will!” She began turning to the side, gesturing at Celestia and Luna as she continued, “Now, join me in welcoming them to Equestria, home of the Ever-Free!”

Thunderous applause answered her, and together, Celestia and Luna snapped their wings and looked over the assembled ponies with chins held high. Platinum angled herself towards the crowd after a second, quickly flicking her mane back into position with a shake of her head. Her voice took on a weary tone as she resumed her speech. “I know it’s been a rough five years. These past six months have been especially hard on all of us. I’m not going to lie, there were times where I didn’t think there was anything Hurricane, Puddinghead, and I could do.” Here, the snowy mare paused again, taking a short breath before she continued, this time with renewed vigor and a note of clear joy and hope. “But we pulled through, and now the Sisters have come to guide us with their wisdom and glory. Today, a new day for Equestria dawns!”

The crowd roared their agreement, and Platinum turned to smile at the alicorns. “But it does them no service for me to speak for them. So, ponies of Equestria, join me in welcoming Celestis and Lunis, Celeste and Lūn, Celestia and Luna, to Everfree!”

Platinum stepped aside, beckoning for Celestia to advance. The white alicorn took a few lengthy strides forward, applause rising to meet her from the ponies gathered around. Again, Hurricane raised his wings to signal for silence, and again, it took several seconds before it was quiet enough for Celestia to speak.

“Ponies of Equestria!” she proclaimed, her voice somehow both loud enough for everypony assembled to hear her yet quiet enough that they didn’t dare speak amongst themselves for fear of missing what she had to say. “It is a great honor, and I truly mean a great honor, that my sister and I are standing here in front of you after watching you from afar for so long. Long have we awaited this day; a day when earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi would stand together as one, promising themselves and one another that they would give their all to build a nation as great and mighty as this. And what a joy that it is finally upon us, upon you!

“Days ago, my sister and I were visited by a pegasus willing to do whatever it took to save Equestria. To stop this dream of his, and of so many others, from falling to pieces. My sister and I took him in, gave him food and shelter, and listened to what he had to say. He convinced us that your nation, all of you were worth saving. Equestria, a dream of peace and unity for all of ponykind, should not be one that is condemned to fall by the wayside, especially in the City of the Ever-Free.”

Something seemed to click inside of the ponies present, especially at the name of their city. The triumvirate could feel it growing in the crowd. A sense of determination. A glimmer of hope. A feeling of pride. A pride that the ponies of Equestria had once held close to their hearts but had crumbled apart years ago. And here it was again; with Celestia pulling it to the surface of each pony present with mere words.

“I have been told of the unrest in this city; within Equestria as a whole. I have been told of the riots and the anger, of death and grief, and it pains me. It hurts my heart to know that the ponies I cherish so dearly are suffering through this kind of turmoil.” Her expression turned to one of anguish, like a mother watching her child suffer and being powerless to help soothe the pain. “You see me as your goddess, but I demand nothing of you. Instead I only ask you, I beg you, to put aside your needless hatred. Love one another, and find the harmony that this nation was built on.”

Celestia looked out over the crowd, her eyes seeming to rest on everypony present. With a solemn nod, she added, “Do better. That is all I ask of you. I know you can. Let us stand together as one and fashion this glorious dream into a reality.”

Nodding to Luna, the white alicorn gracefully folded her outstretched wings to her sides and took a step back. With a toss of her mane, Luna took her sister’s spot and surveyed the crowd. Her piercing teal eyes swept once across the ponies assembled, quieting the murmurs Celestia’s speech had stirred up. For several seconds, the plaza was dead quiet; not even a foal cried for its mother’s attention. Then, with a voice of clear authority, Luna began to speak. As impressive as Platinum’s volume had been, Luna’s tone made it sound like a mere whisper. Her voice projected power, might, and majesty.

“My sister is right. You must do better.” She took a step forward, eliciting a small flinch from the ponies closest to the fountain. “We must do better. There can be no doubt that what has happened these past six months has been tragic. Incredibly tragic, and incredibly inadmissible. Equestria, you have forgotten what this dream you were founded on represents. Now you only tear yourself to pieces, trudging closer and closer to the abyss with each day. Shame on you for letting it get this way.” Here she stopped, letting her gaze slide slowly over the assembled ponies. Her words flowed through the crowd, leaving ponies recoiling subtly in a silent admission of their own guilt. They cringed and hid their faces in shame under her glare. They knew she was right.

She continued, and while her tone still commanded respect, it was noticeably softer. “But shame on us as well,” she said, earning a few surprised mutterings from the ponies around her. “Shame on us for staying away for so long. Shame on us for thinking that you would be better off without us. We watched from a distance, yes, but all that led to was centuries of conflict, oppression, and hate. Had we acted sooner, perhaps your old land could have been saved.”

Luna paused, gauging the crowd’s response, then took a breath and continued. “But despite our negligence, you have endured. Look at what you have accomplished on your own. This city, Everfree, is a testament to what happens when you all work together. Never have I seen a more glamorous city, a stronger city, than this. The cooperation and collaboration it took to build this city is breathtaking. And you did it. Not I nor my sister. You, ponies of Everfree. Ponies of Equestria. Do not forget what you’ve accomplished in five years. Think of all you can accomplish in five centuries.

“Stand tall. Stand proud. And most importantly of all, stand together.”

The midnight alicorn bowed her head and stepped back, brushing wings with her sister. The two alicorns watched the crowd, wingtips trembling ever so slightly in anxiety. The ponies present murmured to one another, looked from each other to the Sisters, and didn’t move.

Then hooves clopped against the ground, a single pair of hooves echoing against the cobblestone road, the noise reverberating off of the stone buildings surrounding the plaza. A second later, another pair joined in. Then two more, Twenty. A hundred. Within moments, the square was overtaken by applause and cheering so thunderous it was impossible to think. The ground trembled. Flags swayed in the breeze, and so too did the alicorns’ manes as they exchanged relieved glances with each other. Behind them, Queen Platinum visibly wobbled and fanned her face, leaning against the stoic Hurricane for support. Chancellor Puddinghead looked like he was ready to burst out of his skin, and it was a miracle he didn’t do exactly that.

He did rush forward to take Luna’s place, however. Raising his hooves, he enthusiastically clapped along with the crowd, reviving the applause for another round. When it finally petered out, he straightened his hat and promptly began bouncing at the edge of the fountain. “As Chancellor of the Kingdom of Equestria, I hereby declare today an official Equestrian holiday! From now on, the twenty-first of June will be Unity Day!” He grinned as he looked over all the ponies present. “Now, there’s food and games and music all throughout the city today! Go out and enjoy yourselves! Be happy! Be proud to be an Equestrian! You deserve to be!”

Excited cheering answered him, and immediately the ponies gathered began to disperse throughout the city. The band grabbed their instruments and began to play again; vendor stalls appeared seemingly out of nowhere along the streets, open and ready for business, and another round of fireworks punctuated the magical moment. Finally stepping back from the fountain, Puddinghead and the other Equestrian leaders withdrew with satisfied smiles on their faces. Celestia and Luna remained, catering to the ponies who were trying to reach them and talk to them.

And the city continued to smile.

Diadem bit her lip as she leaned against a marble balustrade on the balcony of Twister’s house, right off of Mane Street. The parade was breaking down into organized chaos as ponies went every which way, wandering to the myriad of events and entertainment scattered throughout the city blocks. The alicorn Sisters and Equestria’s triumvirate made room for a gaggle of servants to haul high-backed wooden seats onto the dais surrounding the fountain. Each of the three smaller chairs was trimmed in platinum, copper, or hard iron, while the two larger chairs placed between them were decorated with gold and silver leaf and ornate, intricate patterns. Once placed, Equestria’s leaders and its special guests took their seats, while another band of ponies cleared a space in the crowd and dragged out a large rolling stage to fill it.

The aqua filly looked around her, hoping for any sign of her mentors. She’d been with Star Swirl earlier in the parade, shooting off fireworks with him to add the necessary pomp and flair to the parade. After all, two of Equestria’s goddesses descending from high to bestow Everfree with the gift of their presence left no expenses spared. Commander Hurricane’s sister had lent her house to the archmages to shoot their fireworks and left them alone, saying that she had to ‘entertain political flankstains’ and couldn’t stop to enjoy the holiday. She’d asked Star Swirl to look after Tempest for her while she was gone, and the stallion had readily agreed, letting the foal play with the end of his long, white beard while he cast his magic. At least it let Diadem focus on her magic and the types of fireworks Star Swirl had taught her.

But then the stallion had said he needed to take care of a few things with Clover, and had promptly left after the speeches were concluded, leaving Diadem alone with Tempest. Diadem had promised her mentor that she’d look after the foal, more from a desire to please than any actual interest on her part. Now, she stood on the balcony twiddling her hooves together while she waited for Star Swirl to return.

Tempest stared at his hooves, his ears flattened against his head and his wings drooping at his sides. He’d already shed most of his pin feathers last year, but here or there a waxy barb poked through fledging primaries. Despite the obvious care that Twister had used in preening his wings, the barbs were already disheveled and frayed along the edges. Diadem didn’t need to look twice to know that the four year-old was under a lot of distress.

Diadem bit her lip again, wincing as she nearly drew blood. She’d promised Star Swirl that she’d look after the foal; it wouldn’t do if the archmage came back to find Tempest like this. Stepping away from the railing, the unicorn approached Tempest and squatted by his side. Other than a quick glance from downcast eyes, the foal didn’t even react.

“Hey... Tempest,” Diadem began, placing a half-comforting, half-awkward foreleg around the colt’s shoulders and pressing him against her side. “How’re you feeling?”

“Fine,” Tempest mumbled, still staring at his hooves.

Diadem winced and looked around once it was clear she wasn’t getting anything more out of him. “Fine? That’s... that’s good,” she said in all the awkwardness of a fifteen year-old. “Uh... are you sure?”

Tempest gave a little nod. “Yes.”

“Okay. Cool.” Searching for something to focus on, Diadem’s eyes eventually settled on the festival below. “You want to go downstairs and play some games? There’s lots of fun games at the carnival!”

The little colt gave a small shake of his head. “Don’t wanna.” His head shifted, and he brought his magenta eyes towards Diadem’s. “When’s mommy coming home? I miss mommy.” His eyes searched Diadem’s for any sort of answer to the question he’d been asking for days now.

Diadem did her best to not wither under the little colt’s pleading expression. “She’s uh... she’ll be back soon, don’t worry!” she harped, trying to put as much confidence into the lie as possible. Twister had told her and Star Swirl what to say if Tempest asked about Typhoon, and Diadem was doing her best to not let the words slip away from her. “She’s on a super-secret mission for the Legion! She’ll be back when she’s done, and she’ll tell you all about it! Sound good?” Her cheeks felt like they were going to implode with how much effort it took to force a smile to her face.

Tempest’s young eyes studied her for a moment longer, then dropped back to his hooves. “Okay,” he mumbled, pushing a little mote of dust across the marble balcony. “Auntie Twister says mommy needs me strong. Gotta be strong... for mommy.”

Diadem visibly winced, and she turned away so Tempest wouldn’t see her expression. “So what do you want to do then?” she asked, rubbing Tempest’s shoulders and massaging a spot between his tiny wings. “Surely you want to do something?”

“No,” Tempest mumbled, looking away.

Diadem wracked her brain, trying to find an answer. An idea came to her, and she poked Tempest in the shoulder. “You want to see more fireworks?” she asked, trying to impart some enthusiasm on the colt. While Tempest didn’t directly respond, he did look at Diadem with a tiny spark of interest.

“Right,” Diadem said, standing up and moving a safe distance away. Her horn began to glow, and she tried to remember what Star Swirl taught her. Focus on a point in the sky, and try to hit it with a burst of mana. The teal glow around her horn flickered as Diadem realized that it would be just her casting fireworks now; the other unicorns Star Swirl and Clover had enlisted to cast fireworks had all left the rooftops to enjoy the holiday. Everypony’s eyes would be on her once she fired the first one.

Not only that, but she didn’t have the comforting presence of her mentors that she relied on so often to focus her spells. She was powerful, she knew, and not just because Star Swirl and Clover told her so, but because she herself could feel it in her blood. But for all that power, she still felt like she lacked the control and precision to be a great mage. As soon as that doubt entered her mind, it clawed at her focus and nearly paralyzed her. It was times like those that Diadem would turn to Clover or Star Swirl for encouragement and somehow find the strength and determination to perform like they believed she could, and like how she expected herself to.

But the two archmages weren’t here now; it was just her and Tempest, and soon enough, the eyes of Everfree. Diadem’s horn flickered and fizzled out, and she sighed and sat down. Sun and stars, why couldn’t she do this? She hadn’t hesitated in Onyx Ridge five years ago, and she hadn’t hesitated when that strange pony had stolen Electrum’s Orb from the castle. She was even just casting these same spells fifteen minutes ago. So why stop now?

Diadem looked at Tempest, only to see that the colt’s eyes had fallen back to his hooves. The pitiful sight moved something in her. Yes, she could do this. Even without Star Swirl or Clover there to guide her, she could do this. Taking a deep breath, Diadem reset her focus, and her horn came to life once more.

“Okay,” she whispered to herself. “Something easy to start with.” Her horn flared into a ball of teal Arcana, and after a second’s hesitation, it shot into the air with a thin screech. The ball of energy arced for the briefest of moments at its apex before exploding in a loud pop above Mane Street. Diadem immediately sent two more after it, which exploded in rapid succession. The filly let out a breath, and her shoulders relaxed slightly. She could do this.

She looked over her shoulder again, and this time she saw Tempest’s eyes watching her. Swallowing hard, Diadem went back to her show. Easy. This was easy. She just had to convince herself of it. Closing her eyes, she focused on her next selection of fireworks. Two corkscrews, a screamer, and a zig-zagging ball of light. One after the other, Diadem cast the spells without fail, and with each subsequent cast, she began to feel a little more comfortable, a little more relaxed. Opening her eyes, she saw the streets of Everfree filled with ponies watching her display, clapping their hooves after each volley of magic.

“Alright, let’s do something fun now,” Diadem murmured. Her horn pulsed seven different times, and arranged in a ring around her body were seven different balls of Arcana, each a different color. Turning to Tempest, she gently sent the floating spheres around the colt’s head, letting the spiral just out of hoof’s reach. The colt eagerly watched them, and tried to touch one with a hoof. Diadem kept them dancing away from his hoof, providing Tempest with some entertainment while also preventing the colt from hurting himself; they were pure mana after all, and they would still burn.

While Tempest was still enthralled by the orbs, Diadem fired the first one into the sky. “Divination,” she muttered to herself as the black sphere twirled through the air. “The manipulation of information.”

The ball of pure energy reached its apex and detonated with a loud bang! that seemed to shake the entire city. Diadem winced and turned down the power a little; she’d put a bit too much mana into the fireworks. Lining the remaining six colors in front of her, she bounced each ball along the balustrade once and fired off the two outermost in the line.

Gold and purple spun through the sky, shrieking as they rose. “Transmutation,” Diadem said, watching the gold orb. “The manipulation of matter.” Her eyes switched from the gold orb to the purple one. “And thaumaturgy, the manipulation of mana.”

The two colored spheres arced towards each other and met in the middle. With a smaller pop than the black orb, they exploded into alternating streaks of gold and purple which fizzled out as they approached the ground. Faint applause reached Diadem’s ears in the background, but the mare was more focused on the significance behind the colors only she and other studied mages would truly appreciate.

Red and green were next. The two spheres of Arcana twisted one around the other as they rose before ultimately hovering a few dozen feet apart in the sky. “Evocation and translocation,” Diadem said, looking from red to green. “Energy and position. Two of the most important schools.”

As she spoke, the two orbs seemed to diffuse their colors into the air. Waving bands of red and green met in the middle, weaving around one another in a twisting, twirling display of light. The ponies of Everfree applauded once again, but Diadem had already launched blue and white straight into the red and green orbs, dissipating them to make space.

“And lastly, Illusions and necromancy. Manipulation of the mind... and the soul.” She frowned to herself, suddenly realizing that neither Star Swirl nor Clover had really taught her any necromancy spells. At least, nothing more than the seance cantrip. Well, it was something to ask them about later when she was done. Right now, the two balls of color needed her undivided attention for what she was going to do next.

Diadem squeezed her eyes shut, trying to imagine Celestia’s and Luna’s faces. Her horn flared several times as she tried to twist the orbs into different shapes, like a sculptor carving a block of marble. Sweat formed along the base of her horn, and her head began to ache. The mana that made the blue and white orbs was unruly and fickle, and no matter how Diadem poked and prodded with her Arcana, she simply couldn’t get the shapes she wanted. Above the streets, the blue and white orbs wavered and warped, until suddenly with a loud blast of thunder they exploded, the trails of blue and white fizzling out above the crowd.

Wiping away the sweat from her brow and around her still glowing horn, Diadem nervously stepped forward to see if the ponies of Everfree had realized what she’d failed in doing. Her appearance over the edge of the balcony was greeted with cheering and waving ponies of all colors and races, oblivious to the real intent behind Diadem’s final two fireworks. The applause and support summoned a sheepish smile to her face, and she jerkingly bowed to praise she didn’t felt like she’d earned. A glance through her bangs nearly doubled her over in embarrasment, however, when she saw that Equestria’s triumvirate were applauding her, along with both Celestia and Luna.

The filly sheepishly smiled and bowed once again, then hastily withdrew from the balcony. Sitting down hard on the marble floor, Diadem let her shoulders sag. Sure, the ponies of Everfree seemed to enjoy her show, but Diadem knew that she’d failed the grand finale. She swallowed hard, hoping that Star Swirl or Clover didn’t happen to see any of that.

Her ears perked at a new noise. Behind her, tiny, excited clops of hooves against the marble caught her attention over the sounds of the celebration below. Turning around, Diadem saw Tempest enthusiastically bouncing off of his front legs, hooves echoing against the stone with each excited hop. He was smiling and his wings were outstretched, and Diadem couldn’t help but smile back at his foalish delight. “Again!” the foal shouted, bouncing up to Diadem. “Again, again!”

“Again?” Diadem asked, a little caught off guard. However, seeing the little colt bounce up and down, up and down, made her smile again. She wiped her brow with a hoof and exaggerated the rolling of her neck. “I don’t know if I can do it again. That took a lot out of me...”

Tempest frowned and stomped his hooves against the ground. “Again!” he cried, trying to will Diadem to create more bursts of light and sound. “Please?”

“Well, how can I say no to a face like that?” she asked, stepping closer and nuzzling Tempest’s forehead. She cast one last look over the balcony to the stage below and pursed her lips, noting that whatever event Puddinghead had set up was just about ready to begin. Turning back to Tempest, she nudged the foal to his hooves. “How about we go to the park? It’ll be quieter there and we won’t be bothering anypony. Grandpa needs it quiet right now.”

“Okie!” Tempest yelled, bounding to his hooves. “C’mon! I wanna see more fireworks! C’mon, Dye-Dem!”

Diadem shook her head as she followed the excited foal into the house. While Tempest scrambled down the staircase, she left a note for Star Swirl, saying that she went to the park shoot off more fireworks with Tempest. She grabbed a saddlebag and began shoveling snacks and drinks into it, but before long, Tempest’s impatience was catching up with him. “C’mon, Dye-Dem!” he shouted again. “Let’s go!”

‘Dye-Dem’. The aqua filly’s mouth curved in a smile. She didn’t even think the little colt knew her name. Granted, it wasn’t really her name, but he was only four. Diadem shook her head, still smiling. Whatever, she’d take it. She made one last check, before Tempest called out again. Happily rolling her eyes, Diadem started down the stairs. “Alright, Tempest, I’m coming! Don’t worry!”

As she opened the door and the foal scampered out into the street, Diadem rolled her shoulders, flicked her tail, and wondered if she could talk Twister into letting her foalsit some time.

Pan Sea trotted down Everfree’s Mane Street. All around him, the ponies of Everfree wore smiles on their faces and happily chatted with one another about anything except the riots that’d terrorized the city in the past months. Everywhere the smell of food permeated the air and music echoed off of the brick walls. The crowds and the noise were simply inescapable; then again, Pan Sea had no reason to want to escape it.

At his side, Soft Feather happily cantered along, grasping something fried on a stick between her pinions. Pan Sea wasn’t sure if it was hay or seaweed, but the mare was enjoying it, and he couldn’t help but smile along with his fiancée. The white feathers on her free wing brushed against Pan Sea’s yellow primaries, and the mare’s emerald eyes sparkled at the festivities all around her.

“This is so much fun!” Feather practically squealed, suddenly throwing her weight against Pan Sea’s side and playfully nuzzling his neck. She separated just as quickly and began bouncing on the tips of her hooves, spinning in circles in a vain attempt to see everything. Between the banners, flags, streamers, confetti, and colorful outfits, it looked like a rainbow had fallen out of the sky and splashed across town. Soft Feather whirled back to Pan Sea, her snack nearly flying out of the grasp of her feathers. “Why can’t we have these more often? They’re wonderful!”

Pan Sea felt his smile somehow get wider. He wrapped a wing around Feather’s shoulders and pulled her closer until their sides were touching. “If I were to take a guess it’d be because Hurricane didn’t think it’d be worth the time. The codger’s drowning in his own discipline. I don’t think he’d know what fun was if it bit him.”

“Then I guess they finally let the Chancellor do his thing for once,” Feather said. “If this is what happens when he throws one of his legendary Amber Field parties, then I’d visit the surface more.”

“I know. Normally I’d never even consider coming down here without my armor on. It’s more dangerous than fighting barbarians.”

Soft Feather poked him in the ribs, earning a tiny squeak as the stallion jumped back. She giggled and then fell against his side once more. “I don’t normally get to tickle you, you’re in your armor so much.”

“That’s what I meant,” Pan Sea said, rubbing his fiancee’s back with a wing. “I wasn’t talking about the rebels, you know.”

This time when Soft Feather tried to jab him in the ribs, Pan Sea simply smothered her in a bear hug. “Ack! Can’t breathe!” She wheezed, her wings flailing uselessly behind her. Pan Sea released her with a chuckle, letting the mare catch her breath. When the snowy mare finally recovered, her eyes wandered to the snack she’d dropped on the ground. Frowning, she muttered, “I wasn’t done with that yet…”

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you another one,” Pan Sea said, shepherding her along. “There’s tons of these food places open throughout the city. It’s like they all popped up overnight.”

“They probably did. Nopony really knows how Puddinghead does what he does, but he does…” She furrowed her brow. “That make sense?”

“Not in the slightest,” Pan Sea teased. He swallowed and tasted his dry mouth. “I could use a lemonade or something, though.”

The two lovers continued on, navigating the dense crowds of ponies around them with more than a few pardons and apologies. It didn’t take them long to find a lemonade stand run by two enterprising fillies under the ‘supervision’ of their dad, who was contentedly watching the two from a stool against a nearby wall. Pan Sea dropped two bits for two paper cups of lemonade in their jar, plus a third for them ‘looking cute’, and passed one of the drinks to Soft Feather. The lemonade tasted sweet and refreshing, and Pan Sea sighed as he felt the cool liquid run down his throat.

Overhead, a small flock of pegasi fluttered from rooftop to rooftop, whooping and hollering with excitement despite the lazy protests of the few legionaries posted on the roofs that they needed to walk like everypony else. Pan Sea spotted a few faces he recognized, and he waved a hoof. “Hey! Spring Breeze! Where’s everypony going?”

A sage green pegasus spun in place on the crest of a rooftop and shielded her eyes with a wing. “Pan Sea? Hey, it is you!” She grinned and jumped down, landing in front of the couple with a solid clop of her hooves. “I haven’t seen you in weeks! What’s up?”

“Same old, same old,” the centurion answered, chuckling. “Paperwork for Commander Hurricane, sticking my nose into trouble, the usual.” He glanced at Soft Feather and nudged her forward. “This is my fiancée, Soft Feather. Feather, this is Spring Breeze, although she likes to be called Breezy.”

Spring Breeze rolled her eyes. “I swear to the gods if you call me that I’ll break your neck. Anyway, nice to meet you, Feather.” She stuck out a hoof, which Feather readily shook. “So, what, you didn’t hear that Comona’s totally singing today?”

Pan Sea’s ears perked up. “Wait, really? She’s here? Why didn’t anypony tell me?”

Breeze grinned at him. “Sucks to suck, doesn’t it? Better hurry or all the good cloud seats’ll be taken. You’ll have to sit with the ground ponies then. They don’t even know how good Comona is.”

A pair of stallions shouted Spring Breeze’s name from the rooftop, and she glanced over her shoulder to see them emphatically beckoning her. She flashed one last grin at Pan Sea and began backtrotting. “Uh, yeah, gotta go and get a seat! Zip!” And with that, she spread her wings and powered into the sky.

Pan Sea watched her go, jerking back to reality when Soft Feather gave him a little nudge in the ribs. “So… you know her?” she asked.

The stallion shrugged. “She and I were real close in basic during the war. We’d go sparring every once in a while.” He noticed Soft Feather giving him a funny look. “What?”

“Sparring?” she teased, raising one eyebrow. Pan Sea stammered out an attempt at a response before she shook her head with a slight smile and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re so cute when you’re flustered.” She began to walk ahead, leading the stallion on with a wingtip under his chin.

“…It was a one night thing,” the stallion murmured, still somewhat lost in a daze.

The couple took to the air, sailing over the crowds of earth ponies and unicorns below them. Once above the rooftops, it didn’t take long for them to see where Comona was supposed to be performing. Pegasi sat on stone arches and marble columns surrounding a plaza so wide and deep it resembled an amphitheater. Others hauled platforms of cumulus down from the skies, and the legionaries on duty kept directing pushy pegasi back to the edges of the plaza so they weren’t obscuring anypony’s view. On a makeshift wooden stage, a silver pegasus mare sang a few chord progressions to herself, warming up her voice.

Pan Sea and Soft Feather hovered near the edge of the plaza, trying but failing to find an open seat somewhere in the air. “Seriously, how did you not know this was going to happen?” Feather chastised her fiancé. “You spend way more time in Everfree than I do. You’d think Comona singing in the Plaza of Legends would’ve at least crossed your desk at some point.”

“I think I passed it somewhere between two and three in the morning,” Pan Sea grumbled. “I was up to my ears in paperwork. I wish I had half the efficiency that Twister does. It would’ve been foal’s play to her.” His eyes scanned the skies one more time, but eventually he sighed and began to flutter down towards the steps. “When Breeze said seats were going fast, I didn’t think she meant that fast.”

“At least there’s plenty of spaces to sit.”

“But they’re not cloud seats,” the stallion mumbled. He ignored the playful punch Soft Feather delivered to his shoulder.

Despite the skies being filled to the brim, the two pegasi were able to find seats on the ground that were fairly close to the edge of the stage. Smatterings of earth ponies and unicorns wandered into the plaza, curious about the commotion, and began to fill in the seats around them. While Comona warmed her voice with progressions and small jingles, Pan Sea took the time to appreciate the Cirrans’ contribution to the four plazas of Everfree.

Whereas the speeches had been held in the Plaza of the Founders, the rest of the parade seemed centered around the three other squares that made up the central hubs of Everfree. While the unicorns had the Plaza of Kings and the earth ponies their Plaza of Tradition, the pegasi had copied a slice of old Cirra in the Plaza of Legends. Columns of marble and arches of cloudstone made up the majority of the architecture, and statues of Cirran legends stood watch all along the edges of the square. On the central arch right above the makeshift stage stood a statue of Commander Hurricane himself, placed right next to Roamulus. Pan Sea remembered how much Hurricane resented it, and how he’d complained and protested for weeks how he didn’t deserve to be next to Roamulus. Of course, that didn’t stop Queen Platinum from having his statue put there anyway. Sometimes Pan Sea wondered if she’d done that just to irritate him.

“Oh, it’s been so long since I’ve been to one of Comona’s concerts!” Soft Feather squeed, her wings twitching in excitement. “I must’ve been in my twenties. It’s been a long ten years since then.” She smiled and admired the mare on the stage. “I can’t believe she’s still singing. She’s been going at it for twenty years now.”

“And yet she still has her silver voice,” Pan Sea murmured, watching the singer take a sip from a glass of water and canter to the center of stage. Comona shook her head, tossing her long white and sky blue mane over a shoulder, and simply leaned on a hip, waiting. Within seconds, all the pegasi suddenly fell silent, leaving the earth ponies and unicorns to awkwardly break off their conversations and confusedly look around. Pan Sea suppressed a chuckle at their confusion; every pegasus knew this was how Comona started a concert.

When all was quiet, the silvery mare stepped forward and smiled under fluttering sapphire eyes. “My my, what a crowd we’ve got here today!” she exclaimed, her perfectly white teeth practically glimmering in the sunlight. “I’m telling you, it feels good to expand my venues a bit. I usually keep my acts to Cloudsdale itself, but when Commander Hurricane himself sent me a message that I should perform today of all days, I was truly flattered. I figured it’s a sin that only Cirrans got to hear my voice; I’ve been told by a few that I’m a decent vocalist.”

She smiled at the good-natured laughs and praise the pegasi around the Plaza practically dumped on her. “Alright, alright, no need to flatter me now. Anyway!” She shook her mane and hopped a few steps forward. “How are you all feeling today?!”

No single reply could be heard in the tumult as the crowd answered her.

Comona looked down at one of her hooves, holding it in front of her and watching the light dance off of its hard, silvery exterior. After a few seconds, she blinked and her ears perked. “Sorry? I must’ve missed that.” She smiled and stomped her hoof down. “Come on, let me hear it! How’re you ponies doing today?!”

“Good!” they shouted back, louder this time.

“Awesome!” Comona hollered. Walking right up to the edge of her stage, she began to pace back and forth, holding a wingtip just within reach of the ponies sitting closest to her. “Now, like I said, I’ve never really performed in front of a crowd such as this. Pretty funny considering I’ve been doing this for twenty years now, huh?” She smirked as a unicorn colt pawed at her wingtip and she leaned over to tickle his nose. Hopping and fluttering a few paces back, she once again took center stage. “Now how about we start with something you know by heart, hmm? You guys know the Equestrian anthem?”

A medley of cheers and ayes answered her.

“Awesome! Now, who knows it in old Cirran?”

A much smaller group of individuals cheered; most of them were in the sky.

Comona made a pouty face and shook her head. “Tut tut! That’s a shame, really. Now, I may speak with just an itty bitty bit of bias, but it sounds much nicer in Cirran. Don’t believe me?” She waved a wing off to the side, and orchestral music began to drift into the air. “Join in if you know the words!”

The music built up for several seconds, gradually increasing in volume and intensity. Comona stood with her head down and eyes closed, breathing in time with the beat. Pan Sea found himself leaning a little bit closer on the edge of his seat. The pegasi in the skies did the same, dangling their forelimbs off of their cloud platforms, while on the ground, the rest of the ponies unfamiliar with Comona’s reputation watched and waited. As the orchestra finally built into a climaxing chorus, Comona took a deep breath and stepped forward.

The anthem relapsed into an instrumental segment, giving the ponies attending plenty of time to cheer and applause. Pan Sea clopped his hooves together emphatically, and Soft Feather leaned back with the largest grin on her face. “She’s just as good as she was back then! I love it!”

“You’re telling me!” Pan Sea exclaimed.

On stage, Comona twirled in midair, moving from one side of the platform to the other with a lively energy. She leaned over the edge and smacked hooves with everypony she could reach, sharing smiles and laughs along the way. As the second verse approached, she hopped back to the center of the stage and raised her wings. “Everypony! Come on!”

This time, when she began again, the crowd joined in with her, the pegasi singing the words by heart and the other races trying their best to sing along. Their voices rose high above the rooftops and the statues of the Plaza, carrying with it the spirit of a united Equestria.

The Plaza immediately filled with applause and wild cheering as Comona hit the song’s climaxing note. Smiling wide, she held her wings open to accept the praise and bowed a few times. “Oh please, please, thank you! You ponies are amazing, you know that?” Prancing back and forth across the stage, the mare touched her wingtips to her lips and blew kisses into the audience. “Good! Great! You guys really made the song, you know that? Really, it’s not the same without you!”

Another wave of cheering greeted her, and taking a deep breath, Comona finally seemed to settle down in the middle of the stage. “Alright! Okay, awesome! Now, this next song is something really special to me, and to a lot of us who grew up in old Cirra, far, far across the ocean. It was my first song waaaaaaay back in 405 After Empire—that’s 763 Age of Tribes for you unicorns and earth ponies out there. Like I said, twenty years ago.”

Her face suddenly became solemn, and she stood with her wings crossed in front of her chest, tips touching the floor. “I was ten when the war began. I know there are more than a few of you out here today who remember Dioda just as well as I do.” She paused, then raised a wing. “Who here was born in Dioda?”

Both Pan Sea and Soft Feather quietly raised their wings, as did most of the pegasi filling the skies and the Plaza. Comona nodded a few times, her eyes sweeping over every raised wing. “Right. Now… keep your wings raised if you knew somepony who died in the war.”

Hardly a wing lowered. Pan Sea and Soft Feather exchanged quiet glances as they both kept their wings raised. On stage, Comona finally lowered her own after a few seconds. “My mother was a good mare. She died at Feathertop with so many others. There’s not a day that I don’t miss her.”

Her eyes fell on an elderly stallion sitting at the front of the crowd, and she smiled. “I have my dad to thank for letting me go into singing; or rather, pushing me to pursue anything that wasn’t the Legion after the Exodus. I… I don’t know where I’d be without him.”

She smiled through teary eyes and recomposed herself. “I know you Cirrans know the words. So please, sing it with me.”

Strings opened the piece, and Comona began to hum a melody. Throughout the Plaza, it was swiftly taken up by the pegasi present. Even Pan Sea and Soft Feather hummed the melody together, right until Comona began to sing.

As the music relapsed into an instrumental section, a familiar green unicorn sat down by Pan Sea’s side. Mayor Greenleaf sighed and rolled his shoulders, watching Comona launch into the next verse. After a moment, he said aloud, “She’s quite the singer, isn’t she?”

“Mayor Greenleaf?” Pan Sea asked, blinking in surprise. Soft Feather glanced over at the mayor, but almost immediately found Comona’s performance more entertaining and looked away. “What are you doing here?”

“Enjoying the show, obviously,” Greenleaf replied. “It’s stressing to go through thousands of reports, pieces of legislature, and orders from the triumvirate and pass them along day in and day out. I’m sure you can relate, mister…?”

“Pan Sea,” the yellow pegasus replied. He coughed awkwardly into his hoof and tried to flatten down his rising neck hairs.

“Ah. I remember now. Commander Hurricane’s secretary.” The mayor nodded, looking around. “You’ve been out of the office a lot as of late. Spending time with your fiancée?”

Pan Sea could feel his heartbeat quickening. Did he know? “Yes, as you can see. When we heard there was going to be a parade today, we had to make sure that we’d be down here to see it.” He nodded towards Greenleaf. “I assume you’re capitalizing on the impromptu holiday as well?”

Greenleaf chuckled faintly. “Ah, yes, of course. I did help pen it into existence, after all. It’s been too long since I’ve had a day off.”

“I know that feeling,” Pan Sea replied. The two stallions once more redirected their attention to Comona, who was singing with her wings outstretched and gently swaying back and forth with the music.

A beat. “How’s Clover doing?” Pan Sea asked, hoping to change the subject.

Greenleaf blinked. “Clover? Oh, yes, we haven’t been able to get together as much as I would’ve liked lately. I’ve been busy with trying to keep this city from imploding and she’s too busy with teaching her apprentice to spend time with her old stallion.” He looked away. “I mean, I try to see her when I can. We actually have plans to go down to the river in a few days’ time. I’m just happy that she still loves me, despite how little we see one another.”

Pan Sea nodded. “That’s good. I’m sure she’ll enjoy it. I hope you two have a good time.”

“Mmmm.”

The two stallions shifted their attention back to Comona, listening intently as she began bringing her song to a close. Patting Pan Sea on the shoulder, Greenleaf stood up and bowed his head. “I’ll leave you two in peace now. Enjoy the rest of your day.”

Pan Sea watched the mayor walk away until his green coat disappeared into the shuffling colors of the crowd outside the Plaza. Soft Feather tugged on his foreleg, and he turned to see the mare watching him, baffled. “What was that all about? The mayor?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Pan Sea said, shrugging. “He just… wandered over to me and asked me a few questions, then left.” He looked back to the stage as the song came to a close and the ponies in the crowd began cheering. “And I missed the song, too. Damn.”

Soft Feather smiled and wrapped her forelegs around him. “Oh, it’s okay, we still have the rest of the concert to listen to!”

Pan Sea’s lips curved and he hugged her back. “True enough. I’m just looking to sit back, relax, and enjoy myself now.”

The two pegasi settled against one another as Comona began wandering the stage again, talking to the ponies assembled and thanking them once again for coming out to listen to her. But Pan Sea couldn’t fully pay attention. His mind was elsewhere, and he continually scratched his neck, trying to get his rising mane to lie flat.

Commander Hurricane sat stock-still in his high-backed wooden chair. His onyx armor was chafing his shoulders and neck, and with the sun at its peak, he was beginning to sweat under the metal. What bothered him the most, however, was the fiery void that seemed to be tearing at his gut as he stared disinterestedly ahead.

At his right sat the towering Celestia, a soft and amused smile on her face as she watched a group of performers reenact the story of Hearth’s Warming and Equestria’s founding. Queen Platinum sat to her right, between Celestia and her sister, and Chancellor Puddinghead occupied the rightmost seat, giggling at an actor’s zealous reenactment of Hurricane during the Amber Field conference. Hurricane himself, however, was not amused, and his mind was imagining all the ways he could exact vengeance on Clover the Clever for coming up with this mockery of a fairy tale.

Hurricane doubted he could’ve enjoyed the show even if it hadn’t been a blatant satire of what had actually happened five years ago. His mind was elsewhere, caught between anger and dismay. Pathfinder and Iron Rain had returned from their scouting missions two days ago and had immediately sought the Commander out. Hurricane had immediately dropped a meeting with Platinum and Puddinghead so that he could hear what the couple had to say. When they finally told him what they’d uncovered, however, Hurricane promptly dismissed them and had spent the last two days keeping to himself, not seeing anypony apart from Twister until the parade today.

He was pretty sure he didn’t have any tears left to shed.

As the show began to break out into a grating musical number, Hurricane stood from his seat and left. The actors on stage faltered briefly, but to their credit kept the show going. The last thing Hurricane heard was the actor playing him hit some ridiculous note in the song before it melted away into the noise of the rest of the parade.

Hurricane ducked into the nearest alley he could find, trying to get away from all the joviality and merriment that filled the air of Everfree. While he couldn’t fault the ponies of Equestria for enjoying it, to him it felt like the suffocating stench of too much cheap perfume. For now, he just wanted to be alone.

The alley came to a dead end around the corner. Refuse, bottles, and other waste littered the ground, the legacy of teenage colts gathering late at night. Graffiti largely consisting of names and slurs decorated locked doors and barred windows. Now, it was just Hurricane and three towering stone walls, with only a sliver of the sky above to illuminate the alley.

Drawing his sword, Hurricane swung Procellarum with a scream of frustration. The legendary skysteel blade bit straight through the stone, melting and freezing it again with a thunderous boom that sent shards flying everywhere. Several dinged off of Hurricane’s Praetorian armor, but the pegasus didn’t notice. He only tore Procellarum out of the wall and struck again, showering himself with even more debris. Again and again the sword swung as Hurricane abused the buildings with his fury, until one brick exploded outwards and sent an inch-long shard into his cheek. Gasping, Hurricane let go of the sword, leaving it embedded in the wall, and clutched at the tiny spear buried in his skin. The dark pegasus worked it out with a growl and crushed the bloody clay aggregate under a hoof.

“Commander?”

Hurricane jolted at the voice. His wings angled in warning, the pegasus turned around, glaring, only to stop when he saw the mare standing across from him. Somehow Celestia had separated herself from the crowd and the festivities, and she stood with concern on her face. The dress trailing around her hooves already had its fringes stained with dirt. “Hurricane? What’s the matter?”

It took all of Hurricane’s effort to bite back sharp words and bury the scowl that threatened to overtake his features. Dabbing at the blood dribbling down his cheek, he turned away and reached for his sword. “It’s none of your concern, my Lady.”

Drawing the sword from the stone, Hurricane took a step back and flicked his ear. Instead of hearing Celestia’s withdrawing hoofsteps as he’d vainly hoped, the mare stepped closer to him. “Maybe I can help?”

Hurricane refused to turn and face her. “It’s a personal matter. Nothing more.”

Behind him, Celestia frowned. “Hurricane. Look at me.”

The stallion’s shoulders trembled and the muscles in his jaw bulged as he clenched his teeth around the handle of the sword. With a firm yank, he pulled the weapon out of the wall and angrily sheathed it before turning to Celestia. To Celestia’s credit, she didn’t back down from the fuming stare Hurricane sent her way. Instead, her motherly features hardened to match the battle-worn Cirran’s.

“There’s nothing worse than bottling up your emotions,” she scolded him. “If you need an ear, I’m here to talk to, but don’t do this to yourself. It’s harmful.”

“It’s good to save emotions for a powerful burst of Empatha,” Hurricane bitterly remarked. His gaze faltered, and with a deep sigh the Cirran collapsed onto his haunches, his head hung low. “Forgive me.”

“Only on the condition that you tell me what’s going on,” Celestia said, not flinching back. A few lengthy strides brought her by Hurricane’s side. “I did not see you at all the two days prior to the parade, even though I’d tried calling on you. Furthermore, Luna said your dreams were troubled, although she was unable to discern any details because they were blurry and distorted with sorrow.” She cast a look at a dusty bottle lying in the corner of the alley. “What scar could run so deep that the legendary Commander Hurricane can’t handle himself?”

Seconds hung in the air, heavy and uncomfortable, before Hurricane answered. “They’ve stolen my daughter, Celestia. My... my baby girl. Typhoon.” Here, the legendary stallion began to shudder, and his bladed wings began to rattle against his armored sides. “I-I don’t know what they did to her, but Finder and Rain told me that she’s not the same mare anymore.”

Celestia blinked. “Stolen her? You can’t possibly mean—”

“I mean what I m-mean,” the pegasus stammered. “They didn’t just steal her body. They s-stole her mind, too. Body and soul, they took my Typhoon from me.”

The alicorn’s eyes shone with sorrow as Hurricane continued. “She tried to kill Pathfinder and Iron Rain when they discovered her underneath the city. She kept... kept screaming that she’d been betrayed, and she was protecting the leader of the rebels with her life.”

The stallion shook his head and stared into a dusty corner. “I sent a cohort as soon as I heard to try and take apart the rebels and bring my daughter back, but by the time they’d navigated the tunnels, the rebels were all gone... and Typhoon with them.”

Celestia stood deep in thought. “And she would never willingly join these rebels?”

This time, Hurricane didn’t restrain the scowl he leveled at Celestia. “After what happened five years ago, she wouldn’t even think of it. My children both lost too much not to learn from that.”

Celestia’ raised an eyebrow at the word ‘children’, but didn’t say anything on it. “And the ponies you sent to find your daughter… Typhoon?” At Hurricane’s terse nod, she continued. “The ponies you sent to find Typhoon; do you trust them completely?”

“Completely,” Hurricane echoed. “If they told me they saw it happen, then it happened.”

Anguish washed over his face, and Hurricane had to struggle to at least keep his forehooves under him and not collapse entirely on the ground. “Typhoon… my daughter… I… I don’t know what I would do if I lost her forever.”

The white alicorn towering over his side started. As Hurricane’s shoulders shook and trembled, Celestia’s wing inched out, hesitated, then gently wrapped around Hurricane’s body, trying to still his quaking.

Hurricane’s shakes suddenly stopped and his whole body went rigid as he felt Celestia drape her perfectly white feathers across his back. He didn’t look at her, but her embrace somehow seemed to calm him. Soon enough, with a deep sigh, he let his anguish leave his body in the form of ice around his hooves, but even that soon melted under Celestia’s warm presence.

“We’ll find your daughter,” Celestia said, slowly pulling her wing from Hurricane’s shoulders. Hurricane looked up at her, and Celestia gave him a comforting smile. “Your enemies are doubtless trying to use her as leverage or to turn her against you to get what they want. If they’ve manipulated Typhoon into siding with themselves, then I’m certain that we’ll see her soon.”

Hurricane shook his head. “I won’t fight my daughter. I can’t fight her. I’d rather die than... than kill her.”

The alicorn pursed her lips. “There’s another option. Luna can walk through dreams; I can ask her to look for Typhoon tonight when she sleeps. If we can find Typhoon on our own terms, then we should be able to get her out and have Star Swirl help her before the rebels can respond.”

“Star Swirl?” Hurricane asked. “Why him?”

“Because if Typhoon would never betray you, then there must be some reason why she’s siding with the rebels,” Celestia said. “The only suitable explanation is that the rebels have unicorns that have manipulated her mind into believing what they want her to believe. You can see why Star Swirl will be useful here.”

Hurricane nodded. Then, looking to the sky, he murmured a prayer. “I’ll save her. I promise.”

Grunting, the forty-six year old stallion rose to his hooves, staring ahead with a grim determination. After a moment, he turned to Celestia and extended a wing as an invitation. “We should return to our duties. While I don’t think it causes as much of a stir if I disappear for a few minutes, I think the ponies of Everfree would be more than a bit uneasy if their descended goddess disappeared for a second.”

Celestia diplomatically accepted Hurricane’s outstretched wing with her own. “I suppose you’re right. Although I think you had the right idea; it’s nice to get away from ponies every once in a while.”

The tiniest curve of Hurricane’s lips was the only indication of his smirk. “You’ve been here for three days and you’re already missing isolation?”

“I’d gotten used to it over the years,” Celestia answered. “It’s a little overwhelming at the moment.”

Hurricane shook his head. “Get used to it fast, because it’s never going to stop.” A few moments of silence as they rounded the corner, then: “Do you think the play’s done with? I don’t think I’ll be able to get through any more of it without stabbing something.”

“I think they’d only finished the first act when I left,” Celestia said. Noting the almost inaudible groan from Hurricane, she giggled. “Maybe the Chancellor and I should switch seats.”

Hurricane raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t hurt you, my Lady.”

“No; but I think you’d get some enjoyment out of abusing Puddinghead if you could.”

That earned a genuine smile from Hurricane. “Oh, you have no idea.”

Shadows began creeping along the streets as the sun began to set. It was approaching six in the evening, but there was still one last event that the Unity Day parade had in store for the ponies of Everfree. At some command that spread like wildfire throughout the city, the colorful equines moved at once towards the center of town, joking and laughing with neighbors and strangers alike.

Pan Sea and Soft Feather observed the procession from a bench as the streets gradually began to clear around them. Soft Feather hummed one of Comona’s songs to herself, watching families meander along with an unhurried purpose, their attention flitting from object to object as they walked. Pan Sea himself stared at the dirt between his hooves, forelegs crossed and seeming otherwise put out.

Eventually, Soft Feather stopped humming mid-verse and turned to Pan Sea. With a smile, she shook her head and flicked Pan Sea’s nose with the tip of her tail. “It’ll be alright, darling. It’s not the end of the world.”

Pan Sea only further crossed his forelegs. “I spent an hour trying to get her autograph,” he pouted. “And then she closes shop and goes backstage to head back to Cloudsdale. Who knows when I’ll find the time to see her again?”

Soft Feather giggled and leaned against Pan Sea’s shoulder. “Awww, it’ll be okay, Pansy. Another day.”

“Hmph. If there is another day…”

“Hey, you’ve got me still!”

“You’re right,” Pan Sea said, suddenly smiling and holding the mare against his side. “And that’s all that really matters.”

His fiancée giggled more and shut her eyes, letting Pan Sea wrap her in a wing and hold her close to his heart. The two ponies sat on the bench, quite content in each other’s embrace, until the crowds in the streets had thinned out to all but nothing.

Soft Feather raised an ear at the noticeable lack of noise. Her head followed soon after, and she looked up and down the streets to see only a few stragglers here and there. “Where’d everypony go?” she asked, stifling a yawn.

Pan Sea blinked and looked around. “I heard that Celeste was going to lower the sun in front of everypony tonight, and Lūn was going to raise the moon. I’d assume that’s where everypony’s at.”

The mare in his embrace sat up a little straighter, stretching her milky white forelimbs. “That sounds like fun! Do you want to see it?”

Pan Sea shrugged. “Do you want to see it?”

“A little,” Soft Feather admitted with a flash of her teeth.

“Then let’s go!” Pan Sea said, clambering off of the bench. Soft Feather grinned at him, and at his outstretched wing, pressed herself against his side. The comforting yellow feathers draped across her shoulders, pulling the two of them even closer together as they made their way down the streets.

It was impossible to not know where the final event was being held; all Pan Sea had to do was follow his ears. Every step the couple took towards the center of town only filled the air with more and more noise. Soon enough, they intermingled with another train of ponies heading for the Plaza of the Founders, the one quarter of the city that was shrouded in shade from the thousands of pegasi hovering overhead or resting on cloud platforms. Flaring their wings, the Cirran couple cleared enough space to take off and rest on one of the nearby rooftops, which Puddinghead had seen fit to supply with collapsible seating for the pegasi that would invariably watch the final proceedings from above.

Pan Sea and Soft Feather managed to find two open seats in the middle of the crowd, and with a myriad of excuses and pardons they seized them. The proceedings began almost immediately after the two pegasi sat down.

“Fillies, mares, and gentlecolts; ponies young and old!” Queen Platinum proclaimed, stepping forward on the same platform that she’d used earlier in the day. “Bow your heads, for we are about to witness a miracle! Long have the unicorns shouldered the burden of manipulating the sun and the moon for the ponies of the world; but today, we pass on this torch to those who rightfully own those celestial bodies. Lady Celestia and Lady Luna will lower the sun and raise the moon, as it is the heavenly duty which they uphold so that this world may continue to live!”

Turning around, Platinum struck her finest curtsey to the two advancing alicorns and left the platform with her head bowed in reverence. While she joined Commander Hurricane and Chancellor Puddinghead at their three seats in the back, the alicorn sisters stepped forward and fixed their eyes skywards. A deafening hush had fallen over the ponies assembled; Pan Sea found himself holding his breath, as if even that would be as loud as a scream. After a few seconds of quiet contemplation and focus, Celestia took a half-step forward, closed her eyes, and spread her wings.

Her horn lit with a majestic golden light the color of the dawn, and she gracefully threw her head skywards. Almost immediately the shadows of the buildings began to elongate as the sun visibly sank lower and lower along the horizon. The ponies gathered around the alicorns whispered in amazement to each other, staring, if not in reverence at Celestia, then in disbelief as the sun finally sank along the horizon. As the fresh seconds of twilight gripped the land, Celestia lowered her head and stepped back, finally opening her eyes.

Then she nodded to her sister. Luna dipped her head in acknowledgement and took her place at the front of the platform, mimicking Celestia’s earlier movements. From the east rose the moon in all its pallid glory, and the indigo hues of night clung to its cratered surface like a pool of midnight. The evening which Luna summoned ushered away the lazy colors of the twilight until they were but a mere glow along the western horizon. Pinpricks of light and splashes of silver soon joined the moon far, far above Equestria as stars and galaxies seemed to materialize from nothingness. Their gentle twinkling cast a soft hush over the land, and the birds sang their final songs to each other before settling in their nests and falling silent for the night.

It was over. Luna rejoined Celestia by her side, and the white alicorn straightened her neck. “Ponies of Equestria, I thank you for welcoming my sister and I into your nation and into your hearts this beautiful day. I pray that the fires of friendship you’ve kindled here grow brighter with each passing hour, and that years from now you’ll look back on today as the day when you learned to love and live instead of hate and destroy. I have my confidence in you and your leaders,” she said, looking over her shoulder at the triumvirate sitting behind her, “and my sincerest belief that no matter what happens, Equestria will not fall. Equestria will live, and my sister and I will do our best to keep it so.

“So once more I thank you, and I hope you’ve had a wonderful time today. May you cherish it always.”

Around the plaza, ponies began to stomp their hooves in applause. Celestia and Luna stood in silence, majestic wings outstretched and two very different smiles on their faces. While Celestia’s was one of tenderness and care, Luna’s was born of satisfaction and pleasure. Together, the two alicorns presented a duality of support and succession, prosperity and power.

The pegasi around Pan Sea and Soft Feather stood up so they could stomp their hooves on the stucco tiles of the rooftop, and the couple found themselves dragged to their hooves as well. Soft Feather applauded with a small smile of wonder on her face, marveling at what she’d just seen. Pan Sea smiled too, though he couldn’t help but glance behind the alicorns to Hurricane. The Cirran commander’s face was as stoic as ever, but Pan Sea thought he could see a looseness to his shoulders, as if a great weight had been removed from them with the day’s events.

A pony bumped into Pan Sea’s flank, and the centurion turned in time to see a hooded figure sliding past his tail. The figure muttered an apology and quickly disappeared back into the crowd of pegasi on the roof. Frowning, Pan Sea reached to his flank, only to find that his coin purse was still there. He relaxed a bit; that last thing he needed was to get pickpocketed at the end of the parade. Still, he chewed on his lip and tried to focus back on the alicorns in the Plaza. His hoof idly scratched an itch on his right flank.

Soft Feather noticed Pan Sea’s change in demeanor. “Something wrong, honey?” she asked, bumping her shoulder into his.

Pan Sea shrugged. “Nothing,” he lied. “Just thinking about… things.” He did his best to literally wave away the train of thought. “That was some twilight, wasn’t it?”

His fiancée vigorously nodded. “It was spectacular! This whole day has just been… wow! I can’t even begin to describe it!” She shook her head and fluffed her wings. “I mean, first Celeste and Lūn make an appearance as actual ponies?! I don’t think it’s even possible to describe meeting two of your goddesses! And then the concert with Comona, the food and the games… are you feeling alright?”

“Huh?” The centurion blinked several times, trying to bring his sluggish thoughts back to the present. His flank no longer felt itchy; now it felt like it was burning. “Yeah, I’m… I’m fine…” he slurred. The colors of the world were all beginning to bleed together, and his head swam with dizziness. He stumbled, trying to find his balance, and accidentally slumped against Soft Feather’s side.

“Pan Sea?!” she screamed, although to the stallion it sounded like she was underwater. He felt a hoof tug on his jaw, and he didn’t have the strength to resist as it turned his head. Frightened green eyes bored directly into his, just inches away. “Pan Sea, what’s wrong?! Talk to me! Please!”

Pan Sea tried to move his lips, but his tongue felt hot and bloated, and he felt himself wheezing for breath. He reached out a shaking hoof to try and support himself on Soft Feather’s shoulder, but it slipped and sent him tumbling to the rooftop, despite his fiancée’s attempts to keep him standing.

“Help! Help!” Soft Feather screeched, cradling Pan Sea’s neck in her forelegs. “Somepony get a doctor! Somepony! Anypony! Please….!”

Then Pan Sea’s world went black and he heard no more.

As screams and cries of distress echoed across the Plaza, two figures watched the commotion from afar. Hidden safely in a belfry a few blocks away, the two ponies stood shoulder to shoulder, shrouded in shadow. They were not alone. Behind them stood a half dozen more ponies, all wearing long, gray cloaks, with mismatched swords and armor gleaming in the moonlight.

“What a truly remarkable sight,” Abaddon muttered, watching the two alicorns with a surprisingly fiery hatred. “A beautiful, peaceful day full of joy and happiness and love. I can practically taste it in the air.” He shook his head. “Too bad it won’t last. It’s just flowers on a rotting grave. You can’t fix the problems with a distraction. Soon enough their hatred will consume them, and Equestria will fall.”

He spared a glance at Typhoon, whose eyes were fixated on Commander Hurricane. The emerald color of her irises flickered magenta several times, and she placed a hoof to her temple. Frowning, Abaddon’s horn lit up with green Arcana, and immediately Typhoon let out a sigh of relief. Her emerald eyes remained emerald as the unicorn pointed to Hurricane with a hoof.

“Do you think that’s your father?” Abaddon asked her. His horn never stopped glowing, and Typhoon’s ears twitched at the ambient mana drifting around them.

“Yes,” she answered, her voice flat and without emotion, like a golem answering its creator.

“That’s not your father,” Abaddon corrected her. “Your father’s dead. That’s just his body.”

Typhoon furrowed her brow. “Just his… body?”

“Yes. Just his body.” Nudging Typhoon’s cheek, he redirected her attention to one of the nearby rooftops. “Who do you see there?”

The mare’s mane immediately bristled and she bared her teeth. Her wings snapped out, ready to launch her body into the air, but Abaddon stopped her with the slightest touch of her shoulder. Folding her wings back against her sides, Typhoon hissed, “The traitor. Star Swirl.”

Abaddon nodded. “That’s right. Tell me, Typhoon, how much do you know about necromancy?”

Typhoon blinked. “Little.”

“But surely you know that it can be used to raise the dead?” Typhoon gave a terse nod in response, and Abaddon continued. “That pony you see down there is no more your father than a corpse is a person. Apparently, Star Swirl didn’t decide to get rid of something he could use. Nobody will question his orders if they’re coming from the mouth of your father—the mouth he now controls.”

The pegasus at his side was visibly shaking in rage. “How dare he?” she spat. “He kills my dad… and then this?!”

“That’s not all,” Abaddon said. Once more he redirected Typhoon’s gaze to where a trio of legionaries were trying to resuscitate a butter yellow stallion. “Star Swirl continues to remove those that could oppose him. Your father’s friend is just the latest. Not only that, but he summons demons pretending to be your gods to control the population. You saw how the ponies of Everfree behaved today. Once the news gets out to the rest of Equestria, who knows what will happen then?”

Typhoon faltered, but her gaze remained locked on Star Swirl. “He can’t do this. We can’t let this happen.”

Abaddon nodded. “We’re running out of time. We have to remove Star Swirl before it’s too late and he cements his position with the use of all the puppets he’s created.”

“So what are we going to do?” Typhoon asked, her eyes breaking off of the archmage to look at Abaddon for instruction.

Abaddon thought it over for a moment. “We have to strike soon. Within the week. Without a useful base of operations, it’s only a matter of time before we’re rooted out and destroyed. What we need to do is catch Star Swirl off guard. Attack them on their own turf.” His eyes locked on the castle. “We need a way inside that.”

Typhoon followed his gaze to the castle. “Didn’t you say that you broke me out of its dungeons when you rescued me? Can’t we just use that entrance?”

Abaddon shook his head. “Star Swirl likely discovered it and had it sealed in the days since then. We need another way. Maybe you can help us?”

The autumn mare took a few steps closer to the side of the belfry facing the castle. Tapping a hoof against her chin, she hummed to herself. “There’s a river entrance at the northern side of the castle. The moat is fed by the river, and that means that small barges can get down it to deliver supplies. There’s a small barred gate leading up from the water’s edge that goes straight into the storage section of the castle. We can try getting in from there.”

“I see,” Abaddon said, coming to stand next to Typhoon. “Will we meet resistance?”

“Eight legionaries. A contubernium. They have high ground on the stairwell and strong defensive positions. We’d need twenty or thirty ponies to drive them out, and that’d make too much noise.”

“So we need to sneak past them.”

Typhoon nodded. “It would be the only way. Do you think we can do it?”

Abaddon only smiled at her. “Child, my Founders are exceptionally skilled at the art of disguise and deception. Getting past those guards will be easy.”

“Good. Then what?”

“Once we’re inside, we have to take down Star Swirl,” Abaddon said. “He’s likely going to have your father’s body and his devils in between us and them. Destroy them all without mercy.”

Typhoon blinked. “But my father…”

“Is dead,” Abaddon insisted. “You’ll be giving him his peace. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t Cirran tradition state that a pegasus must be buried with their wings open if they’re to go to the afterlife?”

The mare nodded slowly. “Yes…”

“Then until you can bury your father’s body, his soul is stuck in this world. Give him his rest and let him go to join his family… and your mother.”

Typhoon jolted at the mention of Swift, and her eyes flashed magenta once, but then the emerald set in again, and stronger this time. “My father deserves his rest. I’ll give it to him and make Star Swirl pay for what he’s done.”

Abaddon nodded. “Good. Good. And then, once Star Swirl is no more… then you can see Tempest again.”

The mention of her son’s name made Typhoon paw the ground and blow air out of her nose. “Tempest…” She turned and looked around her, then in a loud voice, yelled, “Well, what are we waiting for? We’ve got jobs to do; preparations to make! Come on, move it!”

Every pony present nodded and began to descend the bell tower. Typhoon glanced once over her shoulder, and seeing Abaddon nod, took off into the night skies, making her way to the river. Only when she was out of the unicorn’s sight did the green glow around his horn finally stop.

Abaddon turned once more to the Plaza. The two alicorns were nowhere to be seen, and neither was Hurricane’s little pet. The triumvirate themselves were making their way back to the castle in an elegant carriage as the ponies of Everfree dispersed around them. The black unicorn frowned as he watched them go.

“So, you finally decided to show your face, did you, Celestia? You’re just in time to see your dreams crumble to dust. You’ll pay for what you did to me, and you’ll see just how powerful I’ve become. Mark my words, even if it takes years, I’ll show you.”

Author's Notes:

Blame Ruirik for making this take so long.

"For a United Equestria" by CarbonMaestro

"Like a Phoenix Rising" by Project Aces and sung by Noel