Everfree

Princess Celestia, her pink-white coat tarnished with dust, strode amongst the aisles of the Everfree library. Today she was looking for a map, a map of Equestria from before Discord had risen. She had been at it for hours. and it was proving a surprisingly hard task: it seemed almost that the library had been purposely purged of anything that could paint a picture of how the world really was before Discord came.

Her sister, Luna, five years younger and far more impatient, paced the halls outside. Celestia could hear her armour clanking as she did so, and hastened in her search.

Celestia pulled one of the ancient volumes off a shelf, and blew a sizeable amount of dust off the cover. She smiled as she beheld the title; it was exactly what she had been looking for.

"Equestria: The Great Equine Nation: Maps and Reference."

She levitated it before herself and strode over to a book covered table. On the other side sat Starswirl, always reading, and neck deep in a pile of cosmological textbooks reading about the stars. He peered over a star chart, and looked at Celestia with his wise and ancient eyes.

"You finally found your map, does that mean you'll be leaving soon?"

Celestia dropped the book on the table loudly, shocking the aged stallion. Starswirl was her mentor, her adoptive father, and one of her best friends. He kept his beard long and well trimmed, and always wore a blue cloak, studded with stars. On his head was a pointed hat, which Celestia always found comical. He might as well embroider “Wizard” on it.

Not that she didn't respect him, he was after all the closest thing to parent she ever knew. Her mother she barely remembered, and her father she had never known. Luna had no memory of either, having been born only a short few months before their mother passed away, taken by the forces of chaos in a valiant attempt to overthrow Discord. Starswirl had been regent since then, until the reins of power fell to the sisters.

"So eager to be left alone again? You should really get out more." she teased, and opened to the first page.

"Outside. Why would I go outside when I have you to do that for me?" Starswirl retorted

Celestia ignored him, and turned to the first page. As she had hoped, she found a map of Equestria from long before Discord has began his terrible reign. It was the image of a nation long since destroyed, but one that might rise again under her. The settlements on the map probably still existed, and if they did, they were assumedly in dire need of help. Celestia and Luna would venture forth, contact them, and bid them join a new Equestrian Nation.

She flipped through the book, and to her chagrin found that it had long since been ruined. Entire chapters were missing, and the only map of Equestria as a whole appeared to be the vague one the first page. It would suffice, barely, but it was all she had found thus far.

Celestia found that the nearest mapped settlement was White Tail. She had been there recently: only a few months ago when Discord had chosen it as his last "Capital of Chaos." She was certain he had chosen a location so close entirely out of spite, and that had cost him his freedom. He had remained there since his defeat, entombed in stone. Perhaps she would find a more fitting location for his ugly stone form, but for now that's where he rested.

Started out of her nostalgic reminiscing, Celestia heard hoofsteps in the hall, and shut the book. She turned just in time to see her sister in the doorway. Her dark blue mane matched quite well with her grey steel armour, and her mane flowed out from her helmet. A helmet that had a sword on it, just ahead of Luna's horn.

"Sister, have you finally found a map? I grow weary of waiting, I should soon send a scouting party out." Luna said, rolling her eyes dramatically.

Celestia suppressed a sigh. "I have,” she said, and gestured back to the book. “We'll head to White Tail first, and later we'll..."

Luna rolled her eyes again. "Spare me the specifics. So long as we have some destination for now. I'll have my Captain make a copy of your map later." she said.

"Hurricane, right? You two are getting rather close..." Celestia teased.

Caught in a moment of weakness, Luna looked away to cover her blushing. "We are both professionals, Sister." She said."Now, are you ready to go? All of this revelry has been entertaining, but I wish for some adventure now. Perhaps we'll find some brigands."Luna grinned widely at the thought, "I've been waiting for a good fight."

"Meet me outside in half an hour, I have some things to collect. We go alone, Luna- no force." Celestia said.

Luna seemed shocked, and cocked her head. "No force? I thought we were setting out to unify Equestria."

Celestia looked her in the eye. "No force. They will follow us willingly, I promise you that. When they realize the powers we have, they will choose to. Life will be better for them under us, after all. We will accomplish this peacefully. "

"Very well, you are the eldest- we will do it your way first." Luna said, with a respectful nod of her head.

“Half an hour.”

Luna departed down the hall, probably to arm herself to the teeth, while Celestia went to her quarters. There she filled saddlebags with everything they could possibly need- perhaps too much for a half days travelling. Food, tents, some gold pieces for barter, and plenty of water.

She also took a good book, and some parchment- just in case.

Celestia strode out of the stone building that housed the library and her quarters, into the courtyard of the Everfree Fortress. Surrounded on all sides by tall stone buildings, it was forever in a soft shade. Luna paced in the centre impatiently.

As expected, she was heavily armed. She had taken both a longsword, and a crossbow. One would be quite a fool to pick a fight with the Princess of the Night.

Celestia had her own power, but she had never been a match for her sister martially. Then again, Luna could barely concoct the simplest of potions, or budget the Everfree's resources. Celestia ran the Everfree, while Luna protected it. It had been this way for decades.

They juxtaposed each other perfectly- like night and day.

"Did you remember the kitchen sink?" Luna commented sarcastically.

"Sure, I'm the silly one. This is a mission of peace, Luna." Celestia returned, eyeing the arms decorating her sisters armour.

"Perhaps, but it is good to be prepared." Luna said, and trotted to the gateway beyond.

"Now, let us delay no longer. Time waits for no mare."

The gatekeeper saw her coming, and with a hurried salute drew the gate up. He smiled at Celestia, and gave a bow at the two.

“Safe travels.” he said.

Celestia followed her sister out, and glanced back at the fortress as it receded into the trees behind them. She had been born there, long ago, and she had spent most of her life there. To her, this was almost an alien world. Nopony from the Everfree had spent much time outside, since it was the only place free of Discord's chaos. They had stayed inside, but now all that was set to change. They knew freedom, and they knew how to manage themselves. Equestria needed them, so the ponies of the Everfree would venture forth and offer their aid.

Discord’s long reign had left a heavy mark of the world, to the point where nature itself had been bent to his will. The forests of the continent lay dead and ruined, arable land was sparse, and the animal herds had long since vanished into the southern reaches. The North was nearly a wasteland, and it would take a long time of management to heal it. Celestia and Luna had been gifted power over the forces of nature to do this, and by establishing a firm Equestrian nation under them, the magic of ponies could set things right again. Earth ponies could mend the soil, and grow new forests where Discord had ruined the Earth; pegasi could manage the weather, and ease the transition back into a natural order; unicorns could manage it all, and control magic directly. The three races, under them, could save the world.

Otherwise, the sudden return to a natural order could send a dying continent to its final end. The next winter would be brutal, the first real winter in centuries. Managing it would be important.

Luna trotted ahead of her sister, scanning the horizon for threats. Celestia noted the chips in her armour, twenty markings representing those Luna had fought. She never lost a fight.

"I still say we should have brought force. They should kneel to us, none of this 'diplomacy' business," Luna complained.

Celestia sighed. "What if they refuse, would you make war with the whole world?" she asked.

Luna rolled her eyes and glanced back. "Please, they would bow to us as saviours. If they refuse, then they are no better than Discord," she said.

"Perhaps, but we're going to be diplomatic first. It can't hurt now, can it?" Celestia returned.

Luna shook her head and continued staring forward. "You are the eldest," she said.

Celestia smiled. Luna was headstrong, but as long as she was there to keep her sister on the ground they made a perfect pair. Celestia the Velvet Glove, Luna the Iron Fist- an accurate moniker considering how much armour she wore. Luna always wore her armour, which had a stunning black chest piece representing her moon. Celestia preferred to only wear a crown and small bit of jewellery, just enough for that 'regal' look. Luna had built their army, while Celestia had studied and learned the secrets of the Tree of Harmony. It was she who learned how to contact them, and she who made their pact. Luna had led her army against Discord, winning them enough time to put their powers to use. Now they were free, and the people of the Everfree had declared them princeses of Equestria. There was to be no Queen- they ruled together, neither of them superior to the other.

Luna's hoof shot up, and Celestia stopped in her tracks at the universal danger signal.

"Hold!" Luna shouted, and unsheathed her sword.

Celestia knew better than to question her sister's judgement of danger, and waited behind, her horn charging with magic.

"We're not alone out here," Luna said, glancing from side to side.

Before Celestia could speak, a figure jumped out of the brush and leapt at Luna. She was too fast for it though, and the bandit's sword clashed against her own.

Celestia took a quick look at the situation, and decided to classify the whole thing a suicide as she stepped back and surrounded herself in a magical field. A single bandit decided to try and take Luna on, the fool and his life would soon be parted if he didn't give up.

Luna grinned manically as she toyed with him, her sword clanking against his own as they danced in the path.

"Give it up, dusty old mare!" He shouted, and thrust forward with all his might.

Luna easily parried the blow, and he stumbled back. "You have no idea the power you contend with, throw down your weapon!" Luna commanded, standing her ground.

Unwisely, the stallion instead screamed and charged, and put all his effort into a sideways blow.

Once again, Luna easily avoided his clumsy attack, she simply stepped to the side and his sword flew past her harmlessly. Her sword, in a silver blur, found itself embedded in his chest.

For a brief moment his eyes flashed with terror, and then he fell to the ground, never to open them again.

"What a fool," she commented, and rolled his body over. "Nothing more than some leather and a rusty blade, how did he think he had a chance?" She wondered.

"Ponies like him don't expect a fight. I imagine this was his first," Celestia said.

"And his last," Luna added.

Luna sheathed her sword- after wiping it clean.

After taking a few minutes to bury him under a pile of rocks a ways to the side of the path- part of the dirty work of adventuring- they continued on their way. Not long after they left the forest, and passed into a wide clearing. White Tail woods was barely visible on the opposite horizon.

Celestia looked around, just to the North was a mountain range, followed by a much larger range, and to the South was a desert. For the moment she thought on that, and decided they should focus on the North after today.

"Securing these roads is going to take time, we need to find out where that brigand made his home," Luna noted, trotting ahead.

Celestia was about to speak, but saw something- or rather something saw her- and she watched it back.

Luna spotted it too. "Hold, we're being watched!" She shouted, and unholstered her crossbow.

Whatever it was, it was smarter than that, and immediately darted off over the trees.

"Probably just a pegasus curious to explore their new freedom, don't worry," Celestia guessed.

Luna looked back at her, with the fierce eyes of a warrior. "Perhaps, but we should make haste to White Tail regardless- it will be night soon," she said, mindful of the receding sun, a third of the way from the horizon.

Celestia and Luna both knew full well that they could extend, or delay, day and night if they pleased. They both knew too, that attempting that would have consequence. Powers greater than they watched over everything.

"We could fly," Celestia suggested.

"We would be seen for miles around, I won't allow it," Luna retorted, and turned to a gallop forward.

Celestia sighed and followed.

"You've been eating too much cake, sister, keep up!" Luna shouted back at her as they sped along the trodden grass path.

"We could... teleport!" Celestia shouted back, panting as she tried to keep up. Luna was... in better shape, admittedly.

"You need the exercise!"

Celestia had no argument for that, and followed her sister as they dashed across the plain before the White Tail forest. Once her sister's gaze was firmly ahead, Celestia 'lightened the load' with a little magic.

I'm a Princess, I can cheat if I want to.

Even so, she had some difficulty keeping up with her sister. Her role had been that of the mage, studying with Star Swirl in the ancient library of the Everfree. He found the potion that allowed her to commune with the tree, and its elements, to go beyond and become an Alicorn. Together, she and her sister had communed with them, and were given their gifts- and their responsibility. Just what exactly they were, and what their origins were, remained a mystery- one that Star Swirl obsessed over.

Celestia knew better than to poke at anything more powerful than herself, so she left it be. Some mysteries were better left unsolved. So she let it be, and since Discord's fall they hadn't called on her anyway- it was quite obvious when they did. It was like having a voice in the back of your mind, buried in your own thoughts, calling you. Speaking with them was even stranger; they didn't speak so much as think in your head, and you thought back at them.

With Celestia nearing exhaustion, Luna finally cleared the forest into the clearing that housed the town, with Celestia close at her tail. Luna halted, and glanced back at her sister with a wide grin.

"You need to get out more," she said, not even winded, to her panting sister.

"If I... did... we would still be fighting Discord," Celestia breathed.

Luna nodded. "We both had our place, I mean no disrespect," She said, and turned towards the village ahead.

White Tail was a small village, nothing more than thatch huts in a clearing within the centre of the White Tail forest. Only a few dozen ponies made it their home, and they maintained a small set of fields for food, most of which went to trade. Besides the local inn, which served as a rest stop before the much further settlements of Oatsville or Hayvenbrooke, there was one other notable landmark.

Discord, trapped in stone, lay in the town square. Luna and Celestia hadn't bothered moving him- they certainly didn't want to wake up seeing that ugly grin every morning. It was visible from outside the town proper, and apparently the locals had taken to decorating it- rather haphazardly. Half was painted red, the other blue, and pieces of paper were stuck all over it. If she had to guess, it was being used as a bulletin board.

Celestia noticed as well, as they approached the town, that a few buildings lay burned and abandoned. This town really did need help, and she was happy to give it to them.

Luna trotted towards the town with her chest stuck out, and her chin held high in what her sister jokingly called "the princess strut" (Formerly the "I have an army" strut). Celestia was at her tail, more relaxed in composure. One of the villagers was walking back to the village with a bag of apple on his back, and on seeing the two halted in shock. Celestia bemusedly stood back while her sister approached.

"Greetings, fine citizen of White Tail! Where might I find the mayor?" Luna asked, her sword quietly clanking against her armour as she strode forth.

The pony, a rather short earth pony with the cutie mark of a single apple, seemed to shrink into himself. He swallowed and cowered at the armoured mare of war towering over him.

"H... He's in the inn.." he stammered.

Luna turned back from him, and as soon as her glance was off he scrambled, into the town trailing apples.

"Luna," Celestia smirked, as Luna trotted back over, full of pride.

"You scared the poor stallion," Celestia said, looking past at the terrified pony darting into a building.

Luna smiled back. "' 'Tis only a healthy respect for one's lord," she returned.

"These ponies aren't our subjects yet," Celestia reminded her sister.

Luna rolled her eyes, and started towards the town. "Please sister, we don't need their agreement. They need leadership, and we are the obvious choice. They are our subjects, even if they don't yet realize it," she said, and glancing back impatiently.

Celestia suppressed a sigh and followed her, passing into the thatch buildings. A few ponies loitered here and there, but offered no conversation as they watched the two stride towards the inn at the far side. Celestia smiled at them, but her sister seemed to be having an effect on them, and not even her disarming smile could shake their awed looks.

At least having her company meant they were safe on the roads. Discords chaotic reign was anything but peaceful, and there was no telling who was on the roads now, free to venture forth from their settlements. There were bound to be more bandits out there, and Celestia's regalia would fetch a fine price.

Granted she could handle herself, but deterrence was best. Luna was one hell of a deterrent.

"Here we are sister, a fine establishment," Luna said, as they halted in their walk at the town inn.

The Ruffled Pegasus. Built recently, by the looks of it, with fine wood instead of the thatch of the rest of the town. Leave it to ponies to build a cider-hole as the first thing in their new freedom.

"A fine establishment indeed," Celestia said with a nod, and noticed a board near the door.

Luna followed her gaze, and smiled gleefully. She quickly strode towards it, and took a look at the assorted notes.

"A quest board! Perhaps I can have a few soldiers follow up on some of these bounties. That would be a fine way to prove our capabilities, would it not?"

Celestia nodded her agreement. "It would, and any crimes against White Tail are crimes against us now. Is there anything that sticks out?" She asked.

"I think this one is a fine start." Luna said, and tore off one of the papers.

"Slickhoof. Male earth pony. Wanted for..." Luna trailed off.

Celestia tried to read over her shoulder, but couldn't before Luna crumpled it up angrily.

"Such barbarity cannot go unpunished," She growled.

Celestia deftly plucked the paper from Luna, and unfolded it. What she read filled her with an intense sadness.

Celestia sighed, and let the bounty drop the ground. Such an atrocity proved why Equestria needed them. Her sadness turned into fuel for her inner fire, and she turned to her sister. She would set this right, nobody yet had crossed Luna and lived.

"We'll get him, and the rest of this "Whitehorse Gang." If anypony can do it, it's you." she said.

Luna stared down at the paper, and lit it with a green flame. "I can indeed, and I will. White Tail will know justice for these heinous crimes."

"Now then, shall we go inside?" Luna asked, and gestured at the doors. "After you, dear sister."

Celestia led her inside through the swinging doors, and took a quick glance around at the establishment. It was remarkably well kept. A few dozen townsfolk talked amongst themselves, but stopped as soon as they noticed the two enter.

"Greetings, subj-... citizens!" Luna addressed.

Celestia trotted past her, quickly whispering "my turn" in her ear.

"I was told I could speak to the mayor here?" Celestia asked the room.

A pony who had been sitting with a mug of cider at a table with his compatriots stood, and noticing the pair- Celestia specfically in her golden regalia- quickly slid out of his seat.

He cleared his throat, and began to speak while he bowed his head. "Queen Celestia of the Everfree, I am q-"

"Princess Celestia," Luna interrupted angrily.

The mayor looked up, confused. Celestia had to cover up her laughter with a cough.

"I.. I apologize, I assumed rashly. I am Mayor Goodsteed, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Yes. Have your townspeople meet in the square tomorrow morning an hour before sunrise. For tonight, if you could please spare a room we would be grateful," Celestia requested.

He bowed again, while Luna stepped past towards the bar. "We would be honored to extend to you the finest suite," he said, and looking towards the inn keep, added "right, Speakeasy?"

The gruff looking pony, a pony that had seen many a week long winter, grumbled and put a a set of keys before Luna.

"Good," Goodsteed said, and turned back to Celestia with the most charming smile he could manage.

"Is there anything more we can do for you?" he asked.

Celestia began to speak, but was overshot by her sister.

"A round, my good stallion," she said, and added, thumping the counter, "on us."

The assembled patrons cheered their approval, and Celestia took a pillow with a low table in the corner of the room while they were served, ordering hot tea for herself. She drank, now and then, but it wouldn't look proper for their new monarch to be drinking in an inn. The idea was to be accessible by the common people, but not entirely one of them. All ponies were equal... but two of them were more equal.

Luna didn't share these principles, and she had herself one, and then quickly two, mugs of cider. Celestia watched as her gaze went around the room, looking for any stallion brave enough to approach. While Luna waited, and had a discussion with the barkeep about something, Celestia kept an ear to the room as she sipped at her tea, her bags finally off her back, and to the side.

A few things became apparent. The first was some sort of bandits had been shadowing the village for a while, which would be an easy enough problem for them to solve. The second was mentions of mysterious figures in the sky shadowing the villagers- matching the description of what she had seen earlier.

About a half hour later, Celestia was approached by a unicorn filly, who happily trotted towards her with an innocent smile on her face. Her mane was perfectly groomed, and it flowed from her head to each side of her purple coat elegantly.

"Good evening little one, can I help you?" Celestia asked.

The pony looked unsure, looking up at her from below. Celestia was well aware of her stature, and hoped she wasn't intimidating the poor thing. Even laying down she still loomed over the filly.

"Princess Celestia... how do you have wings, and a horn?" she asked.

Celestia looked down at her. "I'm an alicorn dear. Maybe if you become a wise unicorn, and study magic, you can become one too," she said.

It was a half truth. It was certainly possible this unicorn could one day become an alicorn, but not without decades of study- certainly more than this little village could offer.

"What's your name, little one, and where are your parents?" Celestia asked.

The filly stuck out her chest with pride. "I'm Skyshine, and my dad's the mayor, my mom sells apples!" she said proudly.

Celestia smiled, and patted her head. "Well, Skyshine, perhaps when the roads are safe you can come to the Everfree." she offered.

Skyshine instantly lit up with delight, "Thank you Princess!" she exclaimed, and happily trotted away.

Celestia smiled to herself, and sipped at her tea. This was the way you earn subjects' trust- from the bottom up. Equestria needed to be founded on friendship, as it was in the ancient past.

Her sister apparently had her own ideas on friendship, and Celestia watched bemusedly as she drank with a stallion, a strong looking mass of a pony with unshorn fetlocks- the universal statement of 'virility'.

This was apparently not enough for her sister, who angrily departed from her stool, leaving her would-be courtier slamming his head against the bar.

Never try and out-drink Luna.

Celestia, having finished her tea, left her spot and gathered their bags up to follow her sister up the stairs to their room.

"Not good enough?" Celestia asked, in good natured sympathy.

Luna sighed, and unlocked their door. "Hunting for sharks, and I all I ever catch is trout," she said, and led her sister inside.

It was a rather dingy and cramped room, but considering where they were, neither complained. Celestia lay her bags against the wall, and opened the window.

"How do you do it, how does the Princess of the Sun play 'the game'"? Luna asked, as she carefully laid her weaponry against the wall.

Celestia smiled. "I don't, or at least I haven't since we were still in school," she replied.

Luna's eyes widened in bewilderment. "You're joking, you don't even... get out?"

Her sister laughed. "No, I'm just not as... driven as you are I guess," she said, and looked back out the window.

"It's time," she said, and her sister came to her side as- with a magical push- the sun finished its journey.

The sun would, of course, rise and set on its own accord. It was the job of them not to ensure it did, but to manage the rising and the setting to help repair the world. From then on the world would know perfect 365 day years, with perfectly managed 3 month seasons.

Luna rose her moon without delay, as she laid on the bed looking outside. She kept her armour on, with her weapons leaning against the wall. She yawned, and laid her head down.

"It has been a long day sister, I'll see you in the morning," she said, and quickly drifted off.

Celestia took her side, thankful it was a rather large bed- just a large hay filled pillow on the floor. She too quickly drifted off, only realizing how exhausting the day had been when she laid her head down and it all caught up with her.

While Celestia dreamed like any regular pony would, Luna continued the work she always had. She had discovered, long ago, a way to enter the world of dreams, dreams other than her own. She made it her mission to seek out those who needed help in this world, feeling that it was her logical prerogative. That was how she earned her cutie mark.

The dreamscape was a strange place, almost an ethereal setting. Dreams, millions of dreams, and not just those of ponies, dotted a black and blue sky. The dreams themselves, Luna learned over time, could be categorized based on how they looked from a distance. Celestia spoke of a similar place when she had spoken with the elements. What the connect was, Luna did not know.

Good dreams, the dreams of the content and unafraid, were a light blue viewed from beyond, and floated through the dreamscape at a leisurely pace.

Exciting dreams, the dreams of the adventurous youth, flew around with a glowing green. Often, when there was nothing else to do, Luna would drop in on some of these and- totally unknown to the other- enhance them. They would never know that their adversary was actually Princess of the Night. Besting them was always fun.

Nightmares, the dreams of the afraid- those with deep problems that perhaps not even they realized- were a dark presence. These shot around on precarious paths, leading trails of deep red. If one was venturing out, it was quite easy to actually get sucked into one of these without knowing it- a terrifying experience. Luna made it her mission to seek these out, and try to save the dreamer's psyche. Little did the populace know that she was their greatest hero, and many a filly or colt had their fears assuaged by her. It was a thankless job, but that was the nature of dreams- forgotten except by the subconscious.

There was another type of dream, those that formed pink clouds here and there, but those Luna pointedly avoided. There are some parts of a person's psyche that should remain private.

She was, however, slightly amused to note how many more there were whenever she visited one of the towns. Stallions were all the same in the end. As Luna flew amongst the dreams, gliding not by her wings but by thought alone, she was pleased to note nothing serious in the world's minds. No nightmares tonight, only dreams.

Luna created a dream of her own, one she often went to. Equestria, her Equestria, with herself as Queen. It was a blind power fantasy- but what were dreams for if not to explore the impossible?

As the pair slept, so did the village, more soundly than ever before. They slept as those that had seen the worst slept, all their future held was good. In the morning when they awoke, their mayor went door to door and bid they assemble in the courtyard, collected in the brisk dawn's twilight. As he did that, Celestia and Luna worked out their plan for the morning.

Celestia emerged from the inn, her sister at her side, and stood before them. The town had grown, she noted- there were as many foals as adults. It was an encouraging sign for the future.

The mayor noticed them, and bowed as they approached. "Citizens of White Tail, may I present Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!" he addressed, and stepped aside from his position, just in front of the ugly statue in the town centre.

Celestia strode up, and looked over all the admiring faces of the towns citizens.

This'll be easy.

"Citizens of White Tail," Celestia spoke, her sister- once again armed- at her side.

"I come to you to ask that you follow me, and my sister, to a greater future. Under our leadership we will bring you safety, and harmony in a new Equestrian nation. The chaos of Discord is over, now it is up to us to rebuild the world he brought to its knees. I can't promise it will be easy, but under our leadership we will build a better world for our children," Celestia boomed across them, and then paused with a slight nod to her sister, who silently lowered the moon over the horizon.

"White Tail..." Celestia said, and lifted herself into the air. "... will you follow me?"

Her horn shimmered, and the sun lifted over horizon behind her, silhouetting her figure in its light.

"Into a brighter day?" She boomed, enhancing her voice magically.

The impact was just as she hoped, and she lowered back the ground they looked on her with awe, a few of them had their jaws dropped. Celestia glanced sideways at her sister, and noticed she was staring straight ahead.

"They can control the cosmos!" One of the ponies eventually exclaimed.

"You saved us from Discord, we'll do whatever you ask!" Another followed.

"Then kneel!" Luna commanded.

Celestia grimaced at her command, and felt awkward as the few dozen assembled ponies buried their muzzles in the dirt.

Luna was happy though, and that counted for something. Allowing a few moments of silence, Celestia spoke again.

"Do you then, citizens of White Tail, swear an oath of fealty to us- to whatever end, as our subjects?"

As one, they replied in the affirmative.

"Good," Celestia said, and pointed towards the mayor. "A century of our guard will arrive by the end of the week, you will be under their protection from now on. It will be your duty to feed and house them, and to maintain their weapons."

"I understand," the Mayor said, and Celestia caught a flash of recognition as he realized he had effectively given up his town's freedom.

Celestia knew it was for the better. Only united could Equestria repair the Earth, and defeat the lingering chaos.

"Good, as soon as we have cleared the road I expect to see you in the Everfree to make this official," Celestia finished, and gestured to her sister.

"Who leads your defense?" Luna asked the crowd.

A pony stood, and Celestia recognized him as the stallion from last night.

"I-"

Luna immediately shut him down. "Not anymore you don't, You'll be under the jurisdiction of Captain Hurricane now. His word is ours, understand?"

The pony nodded, and cowered under Luna's speech.

"Right, well..." Celestia started, "I suppose that does it, we'll get on our way now. Once the road is clear you may travel to the Everfree as you please, but for now I warn you to sit tight," Celestia said, and the ponies started off to begin their day.

After a few minutes, only the mayor remained. He seemed to have something on his mind, but couldn't work up the nerve to speak.

Celestia forced his hand. "Is there something you want, mayor?"

He approached, and pawed at the ground before speaking down to it. "I uh... will there be... taxes?"

Celestia put a hoof to his chin, and brought it up towards her. "Of course, but not yet. Enjoy your new safety mayor, and know that you're under our protection now. We'll work out the details later," Celestia said.

"Indeed, no more worrying about these 'bandits' I've heard about," Luna added.

The mayor sighed. "I suppose it's worth it, I just feel... inferior all of a sudden," he lamented.

Luna snorted. "That's because you are, dear subject," she said, and started off towards the edge of town, her chin held high.

"Come sister, it's a half day's journey before home," she said, beckoning Celestia follow.

Celestia glanced at the mayor, but couldn't find anything to say.

She picked up her saddlebags, which had been leaning against the Lord of Chaos, and quickly cantered to her sister's side.

"Was that really necessary?" she asked.

"Was it not?" Luna returned. "He is nothing more than a manager now, he needs to know that. It's best he knows his place now, so that he doesn't end up finding it later."

Celestia admitted there was some wisdom to that- Captain Hurricane was easily angered, specifically by breaches in the chain of command. He was a good commander, however , and his theory on airborne force was exceptionally promising. Too bad they didn't have enough pegasi at the moment to carry it through. Plus, having a guard captain that was easily angered was a good thing, so long as their leadership knew how to direct it. Luna certainly did- Hurricane was her blunt instrument when her own sword wasn't enough.

For a few minutes they trotted along in peaceful silence, Luna assuming the stance of a bodyguard, aware of everything. When they were about to exit the White Tail woods Luna suddenly burst forward, while her sister was deep in her thoughts.

In a flash, startling Celestia almost out of her skin, she drew her crossbow and fired into the air.

"Come back here!" She yelled, galloping forward while she notched another bolt.

Celestia held, confused, and stared ahead into the sky. "What did you see!?" she shouted at her sister.

"It was..." Luna slid to a halt, swinging her crossbow around before her. "... I swear I saw it again," she said.

Celestia started out of the woods. "Did you really need to shoot it? What if it just wanted..."

"To talk?"

Celestia, startled once again out of her skin, jumped backwards and instinctively surrounded herself in a golden field of energy.

"Sister?!" Luna shouted, dashing back.

She saw as her sister did, but held her fire. In the trees, apparently right overtop them as they left the forest, was a pony.

Or at least, it seemed like a pony. The eyes were different, with a slit down the centre, and they almost seemed to glow. The creatures mane was a dark grey, as was its coat. Its wings looked like flaps of skin- not a feather to be seen. Its ears had a strange triple tuft of fur that stuck out from them.

It was grinning at her as it crouched on a branch.

"Vile fiend!" Luna shouted. "What is your purpose here!?" she demanded.

It laughed, while Celestia silently observed it.

"Vile fiend? We've just met and already you're calling me such dark things," It said, and swooped down over Celestia, apparently preferring to speak to Luna.

"I have a message for you, from the North, that is my purpose."

Luna glared at it. "What would that message be?" she asked.

"It's the message we give to all travellers," it said, and suddenly turned its gaze to Celestia.

"We're watching," it said, and with a flash took to the sky. In only a moment it was gone, flying low over the trees.

"Who are you?!" Luna shouted, but received no reply.

"Forget it for now," Celestia said, and lowered her magic field. "We'll find out eventually, for now let's get home," She said.

Luna nodded her agreement, and once again they set off. She kept that crossbow floating ahead of her though, and Celestia couldn't blame her- they were both quite creeped out. As they continued on their journey, they theorized about what their visitor was.

A different species, like the Griffons, or Zebras? If so, why had it not been seen before?

A magical mutation of some sort? This was a frightening option, the power required for that was not a fun thing to have running wild.

A creation of Discord's? This seemed the most probable theory he had, after all, created chimeras of all sorts.

So then, who were "they" and where did "they" live? Why would a group secretly watching them announce itself?

Celestia was going to spend a long time in the archives when they got home, and they sped up on their trot home, coming into the forest across the river from the Everfree.

Ahead, Luna head the tell-tale sound of hoof steps, and her hoof shot into the air.

"Hold," she commanded quietly.

Celestia did, her horn radiating energy as it charged with power, just in case.

"So I said, I said 'White Tail? When we're done with it they won't have a tail!"" A gruff stallion voice joked, and then came onto the path before them, flanked by a pair of stallions just as armoured- and ugly- as he was.

Celestia recognized the pair, and gasped in surprise. Slickhoof, the same pony as on the wanted poster. She opened her mouth to tell Luna, but found she was already ahead.

"Surrender fiends!" Luna demanded, drawing her sword.

The leader looked to his companions, and laughed. "Oh what's this, a pretty little mare like you out here in the big dangerous forest?"

Luna didn't take kindly to this, and a moment later he was hovering in the air along with his partners, grasping at his neck.

There was a sword at it as well.

"Now you've done it," Celestia said, smirking and approaching the terrified trio with her sister. "Mr Slickhoof, you've got quite a record. I believe the penalty for what you have done is capital, but I'll leave that to my sister." She said, staring into his eyes.

"What are you, some kind of giant? Let me go!" He demanded.

Luna increased her grip on him, and gently pushed Celestia back.

"Let you go? No, I think not. Tell me where this "White Horse" gang makes their camp, and I may let you live. " Luna demanded.

"I don't know of any gang, I'm a simple traveller!" The leader gasped.

Luna increased her hold, and brought him lower so she could stare into his eyes.

"Lie to me again, and it will be the last breath you take. I know full well who you are, vile criminal. These lands are under our protection now, and I won't hesitate to pass my judgement on you if you lie again. I will ask you once more: Where is your camp?"

The pony hesitated for a moment. "We're just... travellers..." he repeated.

Snap

Celestia grimaced and looked away, as Luna turned to the second pony, who glanced around looking for any escape, terrified out of his mind.

"We were going to scout it out, for the attack tomorrow!"

"Bandits, then?" Luna asked. The pony nodded reluctantly.

"Very well, where is your camp?" She prodded.

"An hour North, along the river!"

"Very good," Luna said, and released her hold on the pair's necks, although still holding them magically.

"You may be a brigand, and a coward, but you aren't as stupid as this one. Go back to your camp, and inform your leader that I will be coming tomorrow. If you don't surrender, you will all meet his fate," she threatened.

"I will not give you a second chance. If we arrive and you do not immediately surrender, your lives are forfeit. Understand?" She said, and prodded him in the chest.

The pony, his forehead thick with sweat now, nodded. "Y...Yes! Just don't kill me!"

Luna smirked. "I won't, not yet," she said, and released him from her hold- keeping her sword held aloft.

"Now take this filth with you and depart."

For a moment they just stared at her in shock.

"Hastily," she hissed.

They did as asked, and collected their 'superior' before darting back down the path, out of sight.

"An ignoble end for an ignoble stallion. Still, I wish there was some less violent way of dealing with these sorts." Celestia asked.

Luna shrugged. "Those that live by the sword, only understand it. In any case, it's one less brigand I will have to deal with tomorrow. Now come, let's get home," she said, and continued down the path.

Celestia followed her, and buried her worry. Luna had always had a heart of fire, but it was always directed by those who were evil. The world had one less bandit to worry about now, was that really a bad thing?

The Everfree Stronghold wasn't much further away, and they relaxed once they crossed the river. They were firmly in their own territory at that point. Pegasi in the sky saw them approaching, and as soon as they crossed, Captain Hurricane met them.

He bowed, flanked by lieutenants, from the other side of the stone bridge as they approached. Captain Hurricane had a fiery heart, just like his ancestor, and wore similar shining black armour. Buried beneath, his coat was blue, to match the sky he called home. . His helmet, black metal marked with bronze, harkened back to the tradition of his pegasi forefathers. Its face was open, but covered his cheeks, and its striking plume, comprised of his own mane fur, stood from his head like fire.

Captain Hurricane had once taken down a dragon with nothing more than a spear, after three days of stalking the thing. He was not a stallion to be trifled with, and Celestia felt somewhat sorry for those bandits.

Then she realized she was feeling sorry for bandits and thought better of it.

"Princess Luna, Princess Celestia," he addressed as they stopped before him, kissing their hooves as was customary.

Celestia had tried to repeal that custom, but tradition was a hard thing to stop.

"I trust you were successful?" He asked.

Luna nodded, and strode forward at his side, Celestia trailing behind.

"Oh yes Captain, White Tail is in our hooves now. I have put the town under your fief. Protect them, and let this be a gift for your service."

Celestia silently cursed. She never agreed to giving anybody land holdings, but that cat was out of the bag now.

"But first, Captain, we must plan for tomorrow. I have discovered the location of a bandit camp, and we are going to crush them," Luna added, and...

Well, she cackled.

"This is our Equestria now, and we're going to make sure they know it! Come, Captain, let us plan!" Luna said, and led the captain off into the Stronghold, leaving her sister behind.

Celestia shook her head, and looked at the Everfree Stronghold outside its gate. She looked upon it from a perspective she hadn't often, that of the outsider. The huge stone structures that made up the stronghold made a great defence, but would seem incredibly intimidating to a newcomer. Perhaps this had it's uses, for now, but in time it might begin to pain the wrong picture. It had been her home since she had been born, and had sustained it's two thousand person population for generations, but perhaps it was time to move on.

Too isolated, too old, too small. We need to move... where?

Pondering that, she breezed past dozens of bowing subjects before even getting there, and dropped her bags within her quarters. From there she headed to the library, stopping quickly by the kitchen. A quick meal of pie there sated her, and then she set off for the Great Library. The sum total of remaining pony knowledge was in that library, technologies and sciences that they could re-discover now that they were free. It would take several lifetimes to go through it all, the dozens of room filled with millions of books seemed to go on forever.

Star Swirl was, as always, reading.

"You're back," he said, not looking up from the arcane tome he was perusing. He was sitting amongst a few towers of other works on a pillow, almost shadowed by them.

An earth pony, yet one with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. He hadn't done manual labour in his life: which was at this point quite long, almost as long as his beard.

"Of course I am, Swirl, and it looks like you're the same place I left you," Celestia said, and skimmed the shelves, looking for another book. Something to give her some inspiration of where they should move to, perhaps a geographical atlas, or maybe an essay on architecture The best bet seemed to be to create a new city, instead of usurping an already existing settlement. Finding a place, designing the city, and then building it, would be a great challenge.

It would be the perfect thing for a young nation to focus on through it's growing pains, something for the people to look forward to. A shining example of their unity. Celestia became convinced of it now, they would build a gleaming capital, a testament to their triumph over Discord.

He snorted, and flipped the page. "I told you not to call me that, there are two words in my name, two,"

"I could order your name changed to Swirl, I'm a Princess now you know," Celestia joked, pulling down one of the volumes.

The City on the Hill: Canterlot.

"I don't think I've heard of that before," she mumbled.

She opened it up, hovering it before herself in a golden magic field. The authors name, oddly, had been erased.

"Don't think you've heard of what?" Star Swirl asked, suddenly at her side.

"Canterlot," Celestia said, quickly skimming the first page.

It described a beautiful, gleaming city, one that all the world looked up to. It's golden buildings shone radiantly in the day sun, and sparkled elegantly at night. Built on the side of a mountain, it would have been visible for miles around.

"It's just a myth, the city never really existed," Star Swirl said, and shook his head at the idea.

Celestia smiled, and shut the book.

"What if we make it a reality?"

Parhelion

Celestia looked at her chalkboard outline of Equestria, pondering what her sister had said. She had a point; it seemed wisest to secure the coast first. Perhaps they would even find a trading partner over the seas. So she circled Vanhoover on her map, and made her decision. To the coast they would go, to whatever end that might be.

"It's a two-day journey by my reckoning. You would be wise to take a guard; Harmony knows what's out there." Starswirl noted, slouched in a chair some way behind Celestia.

"You're right. Normally I would take my sister, but she's busy enough," Celestia said, turning back to him.

Starswirl shifted in his seat, to look her in the eye. "You place too much responsibility with your sister, Celestia. You're a ruler now, you can't let your love for her cloud your judgement. "

Celestia twitched. "I trust Luna with my own life, and I trust her with defending Equestria as well. This is how it should be, and this is how it will be."

"Of course, you both rule as equals. You've given her complete control of the military however; she has a monopoly on force. Celestia, she is the state. What happens when you two argue?"

"We'll work it out. We're family Starswirl, that's a bond that can't be broken by any political dispute. I assure you, Luna will never use her power against me, for any reason."

"I hope you're right."

"I am. Now drop this before I consider adding you to my stone garden," Celestia said, and winked at the startled greybeard.

Starswirl sighed; and left into the aisles as Celestia turned her attention back to the chalkboard outline. She stared vacantly at it, focusing on stopping herself from snapping at her mentor. Luna was her sister, and imperfect as she may be, Celestia trusted her completely. She took his insinuation that she might be anything less than 100% trustworthy quite personally. It was odd, she thought, that Starswirl would suddenly be thrusting himself between them. The only reason she didn't suspect him of anything dark was how long she had known him. Still, if given the choice...

The day Luna turns against me, is the day the sun rises no more.

Taking a deep breath to clear her mind, she turned back to the board. She noticed something, looking at it now.

Hoofsterdamn on the east coast, Havenbrook and Damford near each other to the south, and Oatsville further south, on the edge of a long desert marking the edge of Equestria. Vanhoover, Highbreeze, and Southrop, all lay on the same latitude, running west-east. It was possible that more settlements existed, or that these had long since vanished, but they served as a good outline of their charter.

Looking closely, she noticed that there were zero settlements to the north of an imaginary line, just north of a central mountain range: The Unicorn Range. Celestia picked up the chalk, and marked out this line. It lay on the 49th latitude line: the 49th Parallel. It was a huge area, almost half the size of the Equestria mapped out. A huge area of... nothing.

She found this quite odd, and looked at it perplexed. The area was temperate, even if it would be a little cold in the winter, so why was there a lack of documented settlements? Perhaps the map had neglected them for a reason. It was certainly an old map, and seemed only concerned with Equestria itself- anything outside the borders was totally neglected. Starswirl had often noted, in the past, how odd it was that they seemed to have books that delved into every possible science, and yet forming some coherent idea of the political world before Discord was nearly impossible. Perhaps, again, that was for a reason.

No matter, we'll answer this in time.

Sparing a final moments glance at the map, she circled Vanhoover; and departed the library. To her quarters she went, to await the rising of the morning sun. Luna depended on that sun; it's blinding light would give her force a tactical advantage on the field. So Celestia grabbed herself some breakfast, some coffee, and sat herself before her short desk; on a comfortable purple pillow.

The desk, made from the same fine wood her sisters bed had been, was the highlight of the room, and sat before a large window that opened to the east. Today, like most days, it was covered in assorted notes or letters that came with building a state.

Unlike her sister, she slept not on a bed- but on a simple pillow, which lay next to a fireplace. The room otherwise had a rack for her regalia, and a standing mirror, as well as bookshelves; many of them. Celestia had a great collection of fictional works that she read in her spare time. She dabbled in writing herself, from time to time, but hadn't the spare time to do so recently.

Celestia pawed through the notes on her desk. Luna had requested more armament, as always, and a merchant had come by while they were out yesterday. Starswirl had bought a significant amount of tea from him, and left a note that she should try some of the more exotic samples. He had written that the merchant had come from Highbreeze, which confirmed the existence of that settlement, so it wasn't a total loss.

Celestia sighed, and brought forward the tally of the Everfree's finances. They had a significant amount of wealth, but without any subjects to tax, it was depleting worryingly. The Everfree had been self-sufficient, but with Discord gone the door was open to trade. Apparently both Luna and Starswirl thought that the (admittedly impressive) amount of gold they had would last forever. Luna also seemed to imagine that steel came from trees, and Starswirl had apparently attempted to barter the poor merchant with grain. He didn't seem to realize that the only value in grain came in bulk, and the Everfree barely ran a surplus at all.

Celestia sighed again, and rubbed her forehead. Dealing with the mess of those two always gave her a headache.

White Tail would- indeed- be taxed.

Celestia glanced up past her desk, and saw the hue in the sky that marked the end of the night. She quickly lit her horn, and raised the sun as simultaneously her sister did the opposite to her morn. Celestia raised it a little higher today, and slowed its arc, to better help her sister in the field. Once she had done so, she dabbed her quill in some ink, and wrote a quick letter for her sister, in case she didn't see her before leaving for Vanhoover. In it, she simply explained where she was going, and after a few minutes pondering, found some wise words to leave:

The letter hovered in the air, and vanished with a wisp of green lightning. Simple magic, but reliable. It was in Luna's quarters now, and she would find it when she returned. With that accomplished, she spent a few hours going through the letters on her desk. Most of it was trivial matters, the vast majority dealing with simple requests for resources. Everything went past her, down to pots of ink, and rolls of parchment.

First, she denied Luna the extra steel she had requested for more swords, by simply telling her that without more soldiers, what were they going to do with more swords? Celestia was, frankly, perplexed by the request. Would they arm the animals?

Second, she wrote a notice for the guard to prevent Starswirl from trying to trade again, and specified that only she or her sister had authority in trading. IT was something that seemed obvious, but apparently needed to be spelled out.

Next, she took a look through the letters, and tallied up the gold that had been spent. A little less than half of their original stockpile remained, most of it traded away recently during the long celebrations. Celestia had no problem with this, since there was value in the enjoyment of life itself; but it did mean she had to plan for the future. Taking this, and a look at the Everfree's economic output, she concluded that White Tail would need to be taxed at around 25% of it's output in order to balance the books. More, if they wanted to expand.

Which they did, so with another dab of her quill she made her first proclamation.

Once finished with her writing, she dribbled some hot wax over the paper- and stamped it with the backside of her horseshoe. Her cutie mark was imprinted on the paper, and it was now worth its weight in gold; a true Royal Proclamation.

Celestia looked it over, and nodded her head; it was a good-enough start. As much as she wanted to write down an entire constitution, right then and there, she would need more input before doing aso. This document set out the basics, and importantly specified Luna's authority. She magically duplicated it- three copies- and left one on her desk. The other two she took with her, and left her room with them pocketed in her breastplate.

She opened the door to the sound of a yelp of surprise; as a short guard was tossed backward by it.

"Careful!" Celestia giggled, and extended a hoof to help the poor pony.

The guard, a young stallion with a fetching brown coat, was named Excavo. He didn't exactly have the most glorious of careers, and that his magic was very specifically aligned to the art of moving dirt, meant he was more often than not assigned to menial labour. He had been assigned to the fortress guard a year ago, and had remained stuck in that position ever since. Sometimes, Celestia felt sorry for him, but she saw Luna's wisdom well: a pony this short would quickly become a foot shorter in battle. Perhaps, when he grew older, there would be a place for him in the ranks, but for now he was stuck at the bottom.

He had a good heart though, and was one of the kindest ponies Celestia had known. Naturally, she repaid this by hitting him in the face with a door.

Excavo grabbed her hoof, and pulled himself up.

"T-thank you, Princess," he said, and gave an awkward bow.

Celestia snorted, "No need for that here, we're both friends, and we're alone as well." Celestia said.

She gently tilted his head up, and smiled warmly to him as she made sure he wasn't injured. He was bruised, but apparently fine.

Nonetheless, Celestia spared a little of her magic to heal his bruises, asking him his business while she did.

"Starswirl told me I was to escort you to Vanhoover," he replied, and stuck his chest out with pride.

Celestia looked him over again, and stifled a laugh. He was certainly less than an intimidating figure, and probably some sort of bizarre joke of Starswirl's.

Still, she could more than handle herself, even if she hated violence. Perhaps he could provide a fresh perspective.He was holding Equestria: The Great Equine Nation: Maps and Reference, so at least he came prepared.

"Good, then your first task is to gather supplies. It will take us two days to reach Vanhoover, and we will need food, water, and camping gear, as well as that map. I will await you at the gateway."

Excavo saluted. "By your command." he said, and marched back down the hallway.

Celestia smiled, and watched as he departed, with his ill-fitted armour clanking as he did. Once he had disappeared down a side corner, she continued on her way towards the courtyard. There, she found a wall that had long been used for a bulletin board, and stuck a copy of her proclamation to it.

She glanced at it again, and furrowed her brow as a thought struck her. Her realization was that, as it was written, it seemed to make herself the true sovereign power in the land. Luna's authority would seem to come from her, and she had signed it by herself.

Celestia shrugged; Luna was surely better than to bicker over such a minor detail. She left it as is, and brought the second copy to the barracks. Outside, she took a quick look at Captain Hurricane's posted patrol schedule. The next patrol heading for White Tail was due out in twenty minutes, and would be staging inside.

Celestia gently opened the door, so as not to disturb the patrol leader briefing the dozen or so ponies sitting before him in the room. Ironhoof, one of the more veteran of Luna's soldiers. He had injured his leg long ago, and had been her go-to for less important command assignments.

"We should have it easy today, we just have to patrol the road while the veterans clear out that camp. Don't be stupid however! There could still be stragglers out there, or other bandit camps around. Our orders are quite clear: leave no bandit found alive. We're defining that as anybody on the road with a weapon, and no clear reason for possessing one. The residents of White Tail were told to stay home, so we can be fairly certain we won't make any mistakes. If in doubt, for heavens sakes ask me before doing anything rash."

"We'll be moving in pairs, spaced twenty minutes apart. Simply walk to White Tail, check in with me, and march right back. A full two-way journey should take you around twelve hours, so pack yourselves some food and drink."

Ironhoof looked up from his speech, and noticed Celestia standing by the doorway.

"Your highness, what can we do for you?" he said, and gave a polite bow.

Celestia smiled, and slowly walked around the gathered soldiers.

"I hate to be a bother, but I have an important errand for you," Celestia said, and pulled the scroll from her breastplate.

She handed it off to the patrol leader, as his troop watched.

"Deliver this proclamation, and ensure our new subjects understand it."

He quickly skimmed it, and then pocketed it within his bags.

"What if I encounter pushback?" he asked.

"Do nothing, but inform Luna if there's serious concern. I will be out for the next few days, so I'll leave the matter with my sister. Just don't anything without informing her," Celestia replied.

"As you command," Ironhoof said, and gave a sharp salute.

"I will also be taking Excavo with me to Vanhoover, so please make a note of it."

Ironhoof did a take, while a few snickers of laughter went through the room.

"Excavo? Not much of a soldier. You would be better off taking one of this group," Ironhoof suggested.

A few of his troop stood to get Celestia's attention, but Celestia paid them no mind.

Celestia scowled at him. "A soldier is more than just muscle, Ironhoof. You know that very well." She said, and pointedly prodded his injured foreleg.

Ironhoof gritted his teeth in pain. "Point taken."

Grinning to herself, Celestia strode back out of the room.

What is power, if not to help those that deserve it?

She trotted back outside, and waited near the gateway for Excavo. Sitting on the grass, she watched the clouds go by and thought on her position in the world. She had power now, and a great deal of it. The people of the Everfree had sworn absolute loyalty after the downfall of Discord, but more than that they had always been her family; and she was the head of that family now. Like her mother before her, they looked to her for guidance into the future. Unlike her mother, however, that meant more than just keeping Discord out of the gate. It meant building an entire nation, which was certainly a heavy task.

With her sister at her side, and the people of the Everfree behind her, she would make it happen. The elements had chosen her for a reason. They had given her this power.

Power.

Power was good, it was a means to an end. Those of evil intent sought power for its own sake, but not Celestia, She had been given power. She could use the power given to her to make life better for every pony, so long as they followed along. There would be disputes in the future, of course, but Celestia had always been talented at diplomacy. Starswirl had once said her smile could win wars, and Celestia had taken the idea to heart.

Always smile, even at your enemy.

"Princess?"

Celestia was brought back out of her introspection by Excavo, who stood behind her with a set of slim saddlebags.

"I think we're ready to go, I brought enough supplies for both of us," Excavo said.

"Sleeping gear?" Celestia asked.

Excavo shrugged. "The pegasi say the weather will be good all week. Why not sleep under the stars?"

"A fair point, but it's better to be prepared than to be in want, and we'll be far past the lands we know. What about rations, you say you brought enough for two?" Celestia asked.

Excavo nodded. "Of course, I..."

He paused, and looked over Celestia.

"I brought enough for two... uhh"

He coughed, and realized his error. Celestia was easily twice the mass of most ponies, so his supplies were suddenly less than ideal.

"... regulars," he finished.

Celestia blushed. "An easy mistake, and one I often make myself," she said, and leaned in closer.

"I have a problem with doors." she whispered.

Excavo laughed. "I'll go..."

Celestia heard the flutter of wings, and turned to see her sister.

"Good morning Luna, back so soon?" she asked.

Luna landed before her, and took off her helmet. It was stained deep red, as was most of her armour.

"It was merely a camp of brigands, not serious work. I have some other news, however," she said.

"Oh?" Celestia queried, and with a nod dismissed Excavo.

"Indeed. It appears there are more of those creatures we saw last night. They are called Thestrals, and I spoke to their commander. They are a force to be reckoned with, sister."

Celestia scratched her chin, thinking on this. Thestrals, she had read a book about them long ago. They were described as a bat-pony hybrid, skilled in the arts of stealth, and masters of the night. The myth was that Discord had made them extinct, as punishment for their stubborn refusal to bow to him. Even throughout his chaos, they preferred to starve instead of bow to Discord. Honourable to the end, their last, when asked why, said to have simply replied this:

"Better to die by my own choice, then to serve as a slave."

Celestia imparted her knowledge to Luna: "Thestrals, I believe I read of them once. A nocturnal pony sub-species, but Discord was said to have driven them extinct. If they yet live, then I wonder what else persists."

"Indeed. I shall order increased scouting towards the north, since that seems to be where they are coming from."

Celestia nodded. "Good, I'll do my part and ask around on my own. I'm heading to Vanhoover, and I won't be back for a few days. I'm bringing a guard with me, so don't worry about my safety- you've got your hooves tied securing the roads."

Luna shrugged. "It's true. You know how to find me if you encounter difficulty."

"Of course. I'll see you soon, sister," Celestia said, and embraced her sister tightly- being careful not to stain her own coat.

Excavo returned, with his pack significantly larger.

"Safe travels," Luna said, and stepped aside for them to pass.

Celestia trotted past with a nod; Excavo close at heel. He wore a delighted smile on his face, seemingly not even noticing the heavy weight on his back.

"First time out of the Everfree?" Celestia asked as they trotted down the road.

"No, I've been out for training... but I've never gone as far as we'll be going," he replied.

"Nopony has, we're trailblazing." Celestia returned.

The first leg of their journey, to White Tail, took four hours. The roads were busy with the soldiers Luna had on patrol, and dozens of joyous fighters returning from the morning's battle. It was a delightful sign that they were meeting success early on, and would provide a great foundation for further expansion. With White Tail safe, and the roads between there and the Everfree clear, word would begin to spread that a power was rising in the region. She was sure that, soon enough, the settlements would start contacting them.

For now though, making it to Vanhoover was important. Celestia could have sent a scouting team, but preferred to do this much on her own. She was certainly excited to explore beyond the slim area she knew, as any pony would be. A whole new city, full of new people. New experiences, new sights and sounds. That she had a companion to share it with made it all the better, although she admitted she missed her sister.

On the edge of White Tail, she paused, and had a thought.

Northstar had only just been "assigned" his dominion over this area, and as much as Celestia hated to admit, it seemed wise enough for Luna to have done so. They couldn't run everything themselves, so delegation was key. Celestia would have preferred to give the mayor some autonomy, but on more thought that seemed like an unwise idea. For the short term, it was critical that the ruling sisters not only prove to their new subjects why they were needed, but make sure they know that they were in charge. Leaving the mayors alone would send the message that it was business as usual. Their rule needed to be seen, clearly.

Northstar would fulfill that requirement elegantly, and he was certainly an honourable pegasus. So, Celestia thought, if she came to White Tail so quickly after him and her proclamation, she would no doubt be beset by demands, requests, and whatever else. Not only would she immediately set the precedent that they could go over Northstar's head, but she would be delayed immeasurably. Such audiences had a place and time, but it was not now. Northstar needed to be left alone with his new domain.

Politics was a funny game.

"Uh, Highness?" Excavo asked, patiently waiting through her pondering.

"We will go past the town. Give me the map please."

Excavo quickly rummaged through the pack, and hovered the map before Celestia. At this point she really wished they had something better, all she could really get out of it was there was a forest, and beyond that a wide plain. At the far end of the plain Vanhoover lay, according to the map.

Celestia sighed.

"Excavo, can you do me a favour and grow a pair of wings?"

Excavo folded the map up, and put in back in his pack; all the while looking at Celestia, and trying to figure out if she was serious.

"That forest is much too thick, " Celestia said, "We're going to have to fly."

Excavo awkwardly pawed at the ground. "I uh... I don't.."

"I know."

Excavo looked up at her, and cocked his head. "You don't... really mean."

Celestia shrugged. "It's no problem. Even if you weren't a third my size I can just use magic to make you lighter." she said, and ran her hoof through the colts mane, smiling at the young stallion.

Excavo found himself at ease, almost in a state of hazy of euphoria, as she did so. Celestia then lowered herself, and allowed him to clamber atop her back. Before he could think on how odd his current situation was, he was taken by a golden field, and Celestia flapped her wings; gently rising into the air.

Excavo caught up with himself, and flung his forearms around Celestia's neck. He grasped them together in a panic, and watched the ground give way below.

"Don't worry, Excavo. There's nothing to fear, I won't let you fall," Celestia said, gently flapping her wings against the air.

Excavo swallowed "You won't?"

"I would fall myself before I let you fall, dear." Celestia replied, and increased her speed upwards.

Dear? My, am I getting old?

Celestia chuckled to herself, unbeknownst to Excavo who continued to watch the ground disappear below. Soon enough the pair was over the treetops, and Celestia flew over the tops of the trees, ever mindful of her burden. The magic made him light, but she was careful to leave enough mass to feel his body against hers, so as not to unknowingly drop him. The day was bright, and the flying was made easy by a warm wind at their tail. In less than half a minute she moved at a comfortable cruising speed over the trees. A few minutes later, breezing over the treetops, she felt Excavo's grip loosen.

"Your highness, c-"

Celestia laughed.

"I told you, Excavo, it's just Celestia when we're alone."

Excavo cleared his throat. "C... Celestia," he said quietly. "Can we... go higher?"

Celestia grinned. "Of course, hold on."

Celestia pitched toward the sky, and boosted her speed as Excavo gripped her mane. Towards the thin clouds she soared, and quickly cleared the sky between. Excavo closed his eyes at first, feeling the unfamiliar forces against him as he shot upwards. Soon, though, he opened them and looked back.

He would forever remember that moment, a moment that seemed to last forever. He could see further than he had ever seen before. The mountains of the north-east, the ocean to the far west, he could even see bits of smoke drifting off from a point near the winding Everfree River. The fortress itself was like a black spec far behind them, and the town of White Tail no more than a barely visible clearing. He turned his head back forward, and saw the clouds approaching while the world receded in his periphery. The wind on his face, the taste of the cool air, and the thrill of the forces on his body all combined into one euphoric release. He could sum it up in one word.

Free

His feeling was so powerful that Celestia could feel it herself, and she was renewed in purpose. All ponies deserved to know this, in their own way. The freedom of flight was not something truly unique to the pegasi, not at it's core. Earth ponies and unicorns knew their own freedom, and under her, in a common nation, they would know that freedom. A strong, stable, government could protect them all, and they would be free to explore their world, and their talents, without fear. There was a certain truth to the fact that they were, logically, more free right now, without her government; but that was an animalistic kind of freedom. To be truly free, was to be able to explore ones places in the universe. To do so, one needed to be freed from the shackles of worrying about bandits, or putting food on the table, or petty local politics. A united Equestria would be a free Equestria.

Onward she flew, thinking on these ideas and simply enjoying the journey, while Excavo did the same. After a half-hour of flight, he had an idea, and pondered how he might make it work.

"Celestia, I could make a map from up here. It might help your journeys a little."

Celestia placed to the side, and felt he had a point.

"Perhaps, but I doubt you could draw anything legible from your current position. Maybe on the way back we can work something out." she said.

Excavo nodded, and relaxed himself back into the flight. After another hour or so of flight, Celestia felt his hooves release from her neck, and felt him shift his weight back. Excavo stuck out his arms, and closed his eyes. He felt the air over his body, and didn't notice that Celestia had levitated him slightly above herself, allowed him the full experience of flight. It was a beautiful thing, she thought, to be able to so easily impart such an immeasurable gift on one so young. Flight was something that she took for granted, and had since her first flight as a filly. It came naturally to her and all her winged kin, but to this pony it was an alien experience.

Her first use of magic, only months ago, was a similar feeling. The elements had basically foisted it on her, and her sister, and forced them to quickly adapt to using it. It was a painful process, but one that ultimately allowed them to overthrow Discord. The elements had forced the knowledge into their mind in an entirely unnatural way, but in the end they were both better for it. She had always understood magical theory, but to suddenly be forced to carry that theory out; had been a huge shock.

A few hours later, the sun began to set. Celestia looked around for a place to set down, as Excavo buried his head in her mane, and fell into a peaceful nap. She found a suitable clearing, and slowly circled down as the sun set over the far ocean. She picked an area close enough to hear the waves in the distance, and set down. Once on the ground, she gently removed Excavo's pack, and cradled him in her wing. She softly set him down on the, and opened his pack. It was warm enough tonight that they wouldn't need any cover, but all that flying had made her thirsty. She was hungry as well, but she was no princess. The apple and oatmeal Excavo had brought would be left for another time; tonight she simply took her fill of grass (which was quite good, if a little dry), and slept. The flight had made her tired, and she sleepily lowered her sun when it came time. For a while she watched the moon rise, and the starry void became visible.

Luna's night was certainly beautiful, but Celestia was too tired to enjoy it. She quickly fell into a peaceful sleep, with Excavo under her wing.

In her sleep, Celestia dreamed. At first it was a hazy collection of images, herself flying through a seemingly infinite sky of clouds, but eventually the sky began to turn dark, and the winds became a buffeting force against her. She realized she was in a dream, and tried to wake up.

She found she couldn't.

A dark fear overtook her, and she was forced to continue through the clouds, with nowhere else to turn. Thunder cracked around her in all directions, and no matter which way she travelled, the darkness only increased.

"Luna!"

Celestia's cry seemed to be sucked away by the air itself, and she frantically looked for some escape. Her heart thudded in her chest, and her fear amplified itself. It wasn't like her to become so emotional. Princess Celestia was supposed to be calm and collected; at the moment, she was anything but.

The sky faded to nearly pitch black, only the brilliant flash and noise of lightning providing thundering throughout. Her fear turned to desperation, and Celestia dove downward to find some respite.

"Luna!"

Again her cry seemed to go unheeded, and tears began to bead on the edges of her eyes as lightning crashed all around. She began to hear a humming, eerily like a voice, growing in the background.

Power

The voice both terrified her, and calmed her somewhat. Knowing she wasn't alone, even if she was with an enemy, was something.

You think you have power.

Celestia stopped, and hovered in the air. The lightning halted, leaving her in a pitch black void.

"Who are you? What are you?" Celestia demanded

You have nothing, you are weak. I will brush you aside like an insect. The shadows are my domain, and my reach goes beyond your comprehension. Kneel, or die.

Celestia spun around, looking for the source. She tried to light her horn, but found it to be useless. Even so, she had a clear threat now, and regained her will.

"I will kneel to no one! Now show yourself, so I may know my enemy!"

Celestia's only reply was a deep laughter that seemed to resonate all around.

Without warning, a brilliantly bright hole blew open in the dark, and a dark figure jumped through it.

"Sister!" Luna yelled, and surrounded both in a blue field of magical energy.

"Luna, you came. I..."

Luna put a hoof to her sisters mouth. "Do not thank me, I... hesitated," she said, and turned away without further explanation.

"You have threatened the wrong pony! Whatever you are, understand this: I will allow no harm to come to my sister, not from you, and not from any weapon you may have! Leave her mind in peace!" Luna shouted.

The laughter changed to a sort of animalistic cry of pain, and the darkness reversed itself. Celestia's felt her vision fade, and the last thing she saw was Luna, standing before her, wings spread wide defensively.

In that moment, she felt that bond that could never be broken. The love she had for her sister, and her sister for her. No army, no power on this earth, and no force in the universe could possibly break that bond.

She awoke with a start, instinctually shooting into the air, pulling a supremely startled Excavo up with her by his mane, and sending a bag of oats flying.

"Princess? What's wrong?!" Excavo exclaimed.

Celestia's mind caught up with her body, and she slowly descended from the air.

"Nothing, I just had a bad dream," Celestia said, and realized how literally that was true.

Excavo released her mane, and dropped a few feet to the ground.

"Must have been some dream! You were shaking, and screaming for your sister," he said.

Celestia sat, and took a deep breath to calm herself. The sky had the telltale colours of pre-dawn twilight, so at least she had slept through the night.

"Don't worry about me, Excavo," Celestia said, "Toss me some oats, please. It'll be dawn soon, and we'll continue north."

Excavo nodded, and dug through his pack for another bag of oats. A few minutes later, having had her fill of oats and water, as well as some grass to balance the rations; the sky changed to that deep blue that heralded the rising of the sun. For a moment however, the moon stayed in it's place, just on the edge of the horizon. Celestia squinted at it, as it seemed to stay in place. For a moment she became concerned, but the moon lowered only a few seconds later than it should have.

Perhaps Luna was occupied, Celestia thought, and rose her sun a few seconds quicker to match. In any case, a few seconds off the day was certainly no major problem.

"What a beautiful sunrise," Excavo said.

"I'm sure it looks better from the air," Celestia returned, and smiled as she knelt down to allow her passenger aboard.

Excavo excitedly took his place, nearly dropping his pack in his haste. Celestia smiled, and opened her wings.

"Hold on, I'm going at a faster pace today. Keep a sharp eye out for any signs of the city." Celestia said, and launched into the air.

Once again she flew high over the forest, but this time the scenery changed from the lush temperate forest of the south, to a pattern of death. There was nothing but the jagged leftovers of a dead forest for miles around, and craters marred the ground in a few places. It was undoubtedly the work of Discord. His madness had destroyed an entire ecosystem. After a while, Excavo pointed towards something on the ground, and bid her lower.

"What do you see?" Celestia asked.

"I see... buildings. Dozens of them, it looks like a whole town," Excavo replied.

Celestia took a deep breath, fearful of what she might find, and looked to the ground herself. He was right, it looked like a large town was down there, or had been. So Celestia set herself towards it, and swooped down to take a slow circle around it.

"It looks... dead," Excavo said.

It did indeed. Dozens of wooden buildings, tarnished by decades of dust and disuse. A few of them had collapsed, and in the street the detritus of a population in a hurry to leave were apparent. Dozens of overturned carts, and more than one skeleton. Something terrible had happened here, long ago.

"Is this... was this... Vanhoover?" Excavo asked.

Celestia thought for a moment, "No, it's too far south. This must have been a more recent settlement, perhaps they expanded."

She saw something gleam in the dirt, and flew down further to investigate. As she lowered, the sun came up to an angle that highlighted dozens of shining objects on the ground, and the fields around sparkled as well.

"What are those?" Excavo wondered.

Celestia landed, and Excavo dismounted to investigate. He dug one of the objects out of the ground, and stared at it curiously.

"It's an apple," he said, and tossed it to Celestia.

"An apple made of gold..." she added.

Celestia sighed and tossed it aside. That must have been his great "prank" on these people. He turned their food into gold, and they starved. That explained the dead forest as well, he probably turned the leaves and grass golden as well.

"This place is creepy, let's keep going." Excavo said.

Celestia certainly had no complaint, and soon enough they were off again. Equestria would certainly never be wanting for gold, although the task of cleaning that area would be a grim one. A great many bodies lay where they had died in the streets, and would have to be buried properly. A short ways to the north, on a road leading out of the town, they found a sign.

"Hayvenbrooke. Population: 2,352."

2352 lives snuffed out by Discord, like they were nothing. Never again would Celestia allow such horror to come to Equestria. Under her protection, together, the three pony races would become an impenetrable nation. With Luna watching the night, and Celestia watching the day, never again would an evil like Discord be allowed to threaten the lives of ponies. Never again.

Onward they flew, and thankfully they soon cleared the golden wasteland. Throughout it they discovered dozens of other buildings, and Celestia discovered that the dust over everything was a heavy golden dust. At the end was a long prairie, so long that it seemed to stretch on forever. At this height the curvature of the Earth was clearly visible, and Excavo once more delighted in the ecstasy of flight. To the west he could see the ocean, slowly approaching as they flew towards the area on the map. It was beautiful, an endless horizon of water that neither pony had ever seen before. Each couldn't help but feel a weight on their minds though, and both their thoughts kept going back to that town. If Discord had brought such destruction there, what else might lay waiting for them to discover?

Celestia and Excavo noticed that the plain below started to develop a pattern, and Celestia sighed with relief when she realized what it was.

Farms.

As far as their eyes could see, it was farmland. Somepony had been very busy, and there seemed to be enough farmland out here to supply an entire nation. Why anybody would construct such a huge network seemed to have an obvious answer: trade. This farm network meant that, somewhere, there was a large population being fed by it. That was definitely a good sign.

Celestia adjusted her path to follow a dirt road below, and found it led towards the coast. An hour or so of following it, and a few buildings became visible on the horizon. Finally, they had found Vanhoover.

Somebody else had apparently seen them, and Celestia saw a figure in the distance approach them. Wanting to take extreme care not to look threatening, she landed on the ground and allowed Excavo off.

"I doubt I need to tell you, but let me do the talking," Celestia said to him.

Excavo nodded, and backed up a pace to stand behind her. Celestia found that their greeting party had apparently increased, and watched as a trio of pegasi approached.

Celestia bowed as the trio, two armoured and one cloaked, came upon them. Excavo followed her lead, as the cloaked one descended with his guardians in tow. His cloak was of a deep red, and it covered his entire body. His head was shadowed within, while his guards' own bodies were covered in armour. They both had large spears on their sides, attached to the armour. If Celestia was judging right, they could be detached, or used to charge with.

"You need not bow to me, honourable horse. I only came to ask why you are so far inland," the cloaked one said, standing before Celestia.

Celestia rose, and looking at him quizzingly. "Horse?"

The cloaked one seemed startled, and the two guards suddenly seemed to tense up.

"I meant no disrespect! Honourable Saddalian, I beg your forgiveness!" He pleaded, and bowed his head low to the ground.

"Hon..." Celestia mumbled in confusion, and tried to put the pieces together.

Horse... He thinks I'm a horse... Granted I am that tall, but why his fear? Saddalian?

Celestia stuck out her chest, and spoke again.

"Worry not, I will excuse you; this time. My companion and I's business out here is of no concern to you, and we will be returning to the city proper now," she said, her voice full of authority.

The cloaked one rose, and his guards sighed with relief. Celestia noticed, interestingly, that their hooves had been at their spears.

"I thank you kindly, and will lead you into town," he said, and turned to lead Celestia down the road.

Celestia followed him, keeping her head high. It was perhaps best to start from a position of authority, however strange it was, until she could find the leader of the town. Their walk was not long, and after a few dozen minutes they came upon a gate, set into a long stone wall, and guarded by two more. Celestia nearly fell over in shock when she looked at them, and noticed what they were.

Gryphons.

So they too had survived.

One of them saluted, while the other drove a crank to open the gate. Celestia strode inwards with her guide, and the two guards that had gone with him melted into the crowd that she saw parting before them. A vast, and noisy, collection of ponies and gryphons. Their guide parted it almost like magic, and they all watched the group walk through them.

Excavo found it rather eerie, and shuddered. Celestia was just happy to be amongst the living again, and took note of the crowd as she went by. Dozens of ponies, of all shapes and sizes, in what appeared to be an open-air marketplace. Gryphons hawked wares at dozens of small stands, and the odor of fresh fish rose from some of them. Tall wooden buildings flanked the wide street, a few people looking down from balconies at them. The ponies seemed to have grouped their stands near the far end, before a large building marked with, what she guessed, was the city's flag: a unicorn, surrounded by stars, on a blue background. Their guide seemed to be taking them towards a gated compound at the end of the street, with a huge mansion towering over the immediate area within. When they approached, Celestia noticed that it was guarded by ponies equal in stature to herself.

Horses.

One of them saw them approach, and bowed as he opened the gate with a blue magical field. Their guide stopped before the gateway, and turned back to them.

"Here we are, Saddalian embassy. I trust your ventures into the wilderness have been fruitful? Not much out there." He said.

Celestia pointedly said nothing, and trotted forward with Exacvo at her heel. The gate shut noisily behind them, and they found themselves in a grassy clearing before the mansion, from which another flag hung before two great doors. The flag was a purple rectangle, outlined in gold, with an upside-down chevron in yellow at the bottom. Above it was some text in a script Celestia didn't recognize.

"Saddalian Embassy? What's a Saddalian?" Excavo wondered.

"If I had to guess..." Celestia said, taking a glance back at the town, "... this is a trading town, and the Saddalians are either a nation on the continent elsewhere, or across the ocean. A nation of horses."

"Horses, I always thought that just meant a really tall pony," Excavo said.

"Half right," Celestia said, and started forward. "A pony is a small horse. For a long time the races have been apart, although we remain the same people at heart. If my ancient history is correct- which is debatable- the ponies originally came to Equestria nearly a thousand years ago, seeking a place for themselves after a long time of persecution at home. Why the races originally split, or if any of this is true, I'm not sure."

Celestia's short history lesson ended as they reached the door, and Celestia paused to consider her next action. The truth, she decided, would be best. So she opened the door, and found herself in an empty lobby.

It was extravagantly furnished, with elegant-looking couches of golden silk lining the dark wooden walls, and a soft red carpet covering the floor. When she closed the door, the noise of the outside fell to an almost deafening silence.

"Well, now what?" Excavo asked.

Celestia looked around. Two hallways, both without any marking, led from the lobby.

"Now, isn't that question?"

Celestia instinctively pulled Excavo under her wing, and looked for the source of the question.

"A horse in the wilderness, and an aileron no less! Either you are a long lost sister of ours, or something more strange. What are you, stranger, friend or foe?"

"The best friend you'll ever have," Celestia replied.

The voice laughed, and the air before them shimmered. A figure appeared, draped in the same red cloak their guide had been. A horse stallion, as tall as Celestia herself.

"A good response. There is much we can learn from eachother, I am sure. I would ask that you take lunch with me, I'm sure the wilderness has made you hungry," he said.

A rumble from her stomach betrayed Celestia, and their host smiled. "It would appear I am correct."

Celestia smiled back. "You are; my companion and I would be delighted to be your guest. I assume, anyway, that we are your guests?" she asked.

Their host nodded. "Of course, you can leave if you wish. I would advise you to stay however, I believe we are both looking for the same thing."

Seemingly out of nowhere, a servant appeared and slipped Excavo's pack off before he even noticed. When he did, he instinctively darted to Celestia's side. Their host noticed this, and snorted.

"It takes a long time to train one to be so quiet, and believe me it's well worth it. Now, if you'll follow my colleague, he will lead you to the dining hall. I will meet you there," he said.

Celestia did as asked, and followed him down one of the halls. Along its walls were a great many doors, and dozens of paintings labelled in that unknown script. It didn't take a master detective to figure out that this was an ancient place, and the aristocrats that owned it were quite wealthy. The place dripped of wealth, but the exact source seemed unclear. Trade was the obvious answer, but what did Equestria have that they would want?

The gold...

Celestia nodded to herself as the pieces came together. The gold in the wasteland could be brought across the ocean. That answer raised a new question however: why weren't the ponies the rich ones?

Their host led them around a corner, and two pony servants opened a pair of doors to allow them entry into a large dining hall. The walls were set with windows that opened to the ocean, and the sounds of the ocean echoed faintly inside. The central item of the room was a gigantic table, with an interesting design. Each spot had a significantly lower spot set into the table beside it, which seemed to be so that both ponies and horses could comfortably use it. Their host bid the pair sit at one of these dual seats, from his own place across. Celestia noted, on sitting, that the pillows were incredibly comfortable.

"The food will arrive shortly. In the meantime I believe some introductions are in order. I am Ambassador Riovelli, and I represent Saddle Arabian interests in the region," the host said, and gave a polite bow.

"I am Princess Celestia, and I represent the region." Celestia returned, giving her own bow. " And this is my companion, Excavo."

Excavo bowed awkwardly, feeling massively out of place.

"You say you represent the region, interesting. Am I to assume then that you have something to back this claim?" Riovelli asked.

"I do. I overthrew Discord, and it is my mission to unite the ponies of this continent into one unified state. I have considerable power to see this through, although I would rather not use it," Celestia said.

Riovelli paused and considered. "I see, we had been wondering why the "Lord of Chaos" had been so quiet lately. You see, we're immune to his influence. We offered these ponies our protection, and in return they have provided us with food and gold. It has been an incredibly beneficial deal to us both, but with him gone..."

Celestia smirked. "With him gone, your protection is suddenly useless. As soon as these ponies realize they no longer need you, you're going to have some problems."

Riovelli sighed. "We have considerable resources invested here, Princess. If push comes to shove, we're going to shove very hard."

"Is that a threat?" Celestia asked, cocking an eyebrow at the stallion.

He shook his head. "No, it's the truth. I am only the representative, I don't make the decisions. I can, however, make the case that we're not needed here. Perhaps, if a deal were made, we could simply leave."

He leaned forward, and looked Celestia in the eye.

"Allow the Republic to keep importing food and gold, without any tax, and the Republic will be happy."

Celestia leaned forward as well, and met his gaze.

"You want something for nothing? I don't think so, dear ambassador. I can run you off this continent before your Republic will even know I'm coming. So make me an offer, a real one," Celestia countered.

Riovelli blinked.

"I think we should break for lunch," he said, and sat back.

Mere moments later, as if waiting for his cue, a half dozen horse servants, all cloaked, set out their lunch before the trio. It was a delightful rice dish, with some spice that Celestia had never tasted before, broccoli, and bits of fish mixed in. Celestia made a note to, along with some of those pillows, bargain for some of that dish. Once they had finished, tea was served, and politics started anew.

"That was delightful," Celestia said, while she sipped at her tea.

A delightful blend of black tea, not too bitter, and not to sweat. It had a hint of citrus, and it was absolutely divine.

"I thought you would like it, the spices are imported from home. I can arrange to send you some, if you like." Riovelli offered.

"I would love that." Celestia replied.

"Now, I have a question. Do you administrate the city?" She asked.

"No... we leave that in the hands of ponies., He replied.

"Good, the transition will be easy then. I will allow you to operate without tax for five years, if you sign a treaty that recognizes our dominion of this continent, and binds us together in friendship, in one week."

Riovelli sat back to consider, and Celestia leaned forward after him to press her advantage.

"If not, my sister will return here, and drive you off the continent. I would rather it not come to that, but I won't see these ponies living under your hoof for any longer than needed."

Reveille sighed, and waved his hooves about.

"Fine, fine. You're a clever diplomat, Princess Celestia, I'll grant you that. I imagine you'll want me to sign this "treaty" at your capital?" he asked.

"That would be excellent, yes. Allow me a week to prepare- do you have a map?" Celestia returned.

Riovelli nodded, and gestured to a servant standing at the end of the table. A few minutes later, a map was laid out on the table, and Celestia laid hers beside it to compare. The Saddle Arabian map was significantly more detailed along the coast, although to her disappointment she found there were no other known coastal cities. Towards the interior, both maps were little more than crude outlines of the landscape. Celestia quickly outlined the route she had taken on Riovelli's map, and turned back to him.

"Excellent. I shall meet you in the "Everfree" in a week's time." Riovelli said, and folded up the map.

"One more thing," Celestia said, while she handed her own back to Excavo.

"Yes?"

"Bring some of those spices, and another of these maps. I think we'll be able to learn a lot from each other."

Riovelli smirked. "I'll do you one better, Princess." He said, and handed it off to his servant.

"Now, please follow my colleague out, I have to tend to some things. It's been an honour to meet you, Princess Celestia," he said, and departed after giving a quick bow.

Celestia and Excavo followed the horse out of the dining hall and back into the lobby. There, Excavo once again slung his bags over his back, and Celestia followed him out into the afternoon sun. Riovelli had apparently decided to put on a show, and they found a line of armoured horses lined up along the cobblestone path leading out into the town. This line continued all the way down the road and to the city gate, a rather impressive show of force. Celestia made a note to prepare something similar for their meeting in a week. Martial power was best seen, not used. The threat of force is far more important than force itself, especially when one desires peace. Riovelli apparently knew this well.

Celestia held her head high, and Excavo close, as she trotted down the aisle of soldiers. At the end he turned back, and with them all watching pulled him under her wing.

With a spark from her horn, that quickly grew into a field that covered both their bodies, the two disappeared from sight with a golden flash. The onlookers were left startled, and in no small amount impressed. Celestia herself appeared a few kilometres away, where the patrol had met them that morning. Excavo quickly darted out from under her, and glanced around in confusion.

"What was that?!" he exclaimed, and started in wonder at Celestia.

Celestia ruffled his mane, "Just a show; I teleported us. That should leave them talking for a bit," she explained.

Excavo pressed his hoof to his chest, and then pointed it back forward with a deep breath. Celestia watched him amusedly.

"I see. I wasn't expecting that, it felt like I was being pulled into straw, and then I snapped back," he said, and looked himself over; as if expecting to be missing.

"Why didn't you teleport us all the way home?" he asked, once he was certain that he was, indeed, all in one place.

Celestia started forward, and beckoned he follow. "It takes exponentially more energy for the distance. Getting us here was easy, but another meter and I would have fainted. If you want to know the physics, ask Starswirl sometime. He'll go on for hours about it," she explained, while they started down the road.

The road led into the golden wasteland, and Celestia explained to Excavo that today they would not be flying, as her wings were far too sore at this point for that. Rest was what they needed, so they relied on their hooves to continue on their way. She was somewhat embarrassed to have to slow down on account of her sore wings, but it was a fact. She had taken too many liberties while flying, and now was paying for both that; and her lack of exercise.

In far less time than either had hoped, they soon found the cereal crops of the farms begin to thin, and the grasses begin to die off. They had entered the wasteland once again, and the cool ocean breeze was replaced by a stifling heat. It was as if the air of the golden wasteland had remained stagnant for centuries. Regardless, it was a hot, and dusty, mess they had to get through. No wonder, Celestia thought, that the ponies here had never gone very far inland. If this sort of wasteland was outside the Everfree, she wouldn't have gone far either. After a few hours, Celestia extended a magic field above them to keep out the harsh glare and heat of the sun. Her sun, somewhat ironically, was her antagonist for the present. It knew no friend or foe, only heat.

Celestia though about this place, and was thankful for her gift of a long life. She would be able to see it brought back into its naturally beautiful state. It would probably take dozens, if not hundreds, of years, but it could be done. Most leaders only thought in scales of years, or decades at the most, but Celestia was blessed with the ability to create plans that could stretch through the centuries, and see them through. Some might say that it was a sad fate to see those that you love perish, but Celestia saw it differently. On her walk, she shared a smile with Excavo, who trotted beside her. She would see his children, and their children, and so on through the ages. She would see Excavo not how he currently was, but Excavo as he would be down the generations. She'd be able to tell his tenth generation offspring of their father, and their trek through the wilderness. It was true that she would eventually see him die, but she would also see him live.

After a few more hours, their travels began to make them hungry, and they ate while they walked. Neither wanted to stay in this desolate place they had found themselves any longer than needed, so they didn't pause for lunch. Celestia, despite trying her best not to, found herself eating three times what Excavo did. After their supper a few hours later, they were quickly down to a third the food they had started with, and a quarter the water. The wasteland would take them if they didn't leave it soon.

In the late evening they found themselves still in the wasteland, seemingly no closer to the end. By Excavo's reckoning they were still at least fifty kilometres from the edge, which was still a long trot. A few abandoned buildings were nearby however, and Celestia was forced to make a decision.

Sleep here, or continue through the night?

Each had its own problems. There was no telling what was out here in the night, and she was definitely exhausted after such a long day. Sleeping in such a place was it's own horror however.

Celestia sighed, and looked to Excavo for an answer. He too seemed exhausted, and had definitely slowed in his pace. So Celestia made her decision, and gestured towards the building.

"Sunset soon, we should stay the night here. I'll fly us out tomorrow; we should be able to make it home," she said.

Excavo shuddered. "Sleep here? Can't you just extend the day a few more hours?" he asked.

Celestia frowned, and put a hoof to his chin to look in his eyes.

"Excavo, I can never abuse my powers for my own benefit, not even to save my life. This entire world depends on that sun. It would be evil to delay it for even a moment. Do you understand?"

Excavo nodded weakly, and yawned. Her point made, Celestia led him over to the building. They found it to be a barn, and were thankful to find a few bales of hay, probably decades old, inside. Celestia used her magic to create a makeshift bed, and plopped her tired body down on it. Excavo fell beside her, and the last thing she did was put a wing over him. Sleep took them both quickly, despite the creepy surroundings. Companionship eased the feeling, and the melody of each other's breathing filled the silent void.

Celestia dreamed, but was not bothered on this night. She dreamt of her youth, and of frolicking in the fields with her sister. It was a simple dream, and a happy dream. Her sister was there, although only an image from Celestia's own memory. Often they had shared dreams on nights such as this, but not tonight.

When Celestia awoke, she did so with the faint hope she might open her eyes and find Luna standing beside her, and find herself in her own quarters. Opening her eyes, she found that was not the case, and sighed. A cold wind was blowing in from the coast, and the scene outside the barn door was a thick cloud of golden dust that swirled around. She was thankful for her wings, and gently prodded Excavo to wake him up.

"Mom?" He mumbled, and rolled over sleepily.

Celestia giggled. "Not exactly, sleepy," she said, and pulled sat him up.

Excavo rubbed his eyes, yawned, and hugged her in a half-awake daze. When he opened them, he found Celestia smiling down at him, with her mane shimmering in the dim twilight. It was a fairly good image to awaken to.

"You're not my mom," he said.

Celestia giggled again, and booped him on the nose.

"No, I'm not. I imagine she's worried about you though. Pack your bags, we're leaving," Celestia said.

Excavo did as asked, at a feverish pace, and after cramming the remains of their rations down their throats, the pair was ready to depart. Excavo blew the dust away with a powerful magic wave, and Celestia took off with him on her back. She soared up into the sky, and was lucky enough to catch the moon just as it lowered. She raised the sun, and its light shone down on them. The morning sun highlighted the true size of the dust storm that had come during the night, and the entire landscape up to all horizons was filled with a glittering golden fog. It was beautiful, in a strange way. Excavo didn't seem to share the sentiment, and buried his head in the book that contained their map. There wasn't much left in there, but he read every word as if it was scripture.

"Celestia, what if you weren't able to raise the sun, what then?" Excavo asked.

"It would raise itself. Luna and I don't dominate the cosmos, we only guide it. The world will know much smoother seasons now, with us managing the sun and the moon," she replied.

Excavo nodded, and buried his face back in the book.

Two hours later they finally breached the other end of the wasteland, and entered back into the Equestria that both knew. It didn't take long before Celestia shot past White Tail, and by noon they had made it back to the Everfree. Celestia landed a ways down the road towards her home, and trotted up with Excavo at her side. Finally, after three days, they were back home. Celestia, exhausted, sweaty, and covered in dust, saw the gate guard, and smiled.

"Princess Celestia?!" The gate guard exclaimed, and fumbled at his neck where a horn hung.

Celestia snorted. "Of course, who e-"

The guard blew the horn, and immediately a bright red flare flew into the sky from inside the Fortress walls.

The gate flew open, and a phalanx of soldiers stormed out, rapidly surrounding the pair with weapons drawn. They all looked to the sky, as if expecting an attack.

Celestia was nearly knocked over by them, and was taken aback by the rude greeting.

"What's the meaning of this?" she demanded.

Luna, in her thick armour, limped through the gateway. She frowned at her sister, who noted a bandage on Luna's leg.

"Sister, we have to talk."

Paraselene

Shortly after raising her moon, and while Celestia retired to her quarters to consider the map she had found; Luna considered the same map- from an altogether different perspective.

Luna admired the copy her captain had made, slowly pacing around it, as it lay on the large wooden table before her.

"You have very stable hooves captain: this is a nearly perfect copy, impressive."

Captain Hurricane grinned across the table, appreciating the compliment.

"I use my wings, actually. I'm very... talented with them."

Luna smirked. "I know."

She pointed to a spot on the map, and levitated a small clay model of a swords-pony there.

"That brigand told us his camp was here, what do you know of the area?"

Hurricane scratched his chin.

"Well, there's the river, which will make attacking from the ground difficult. I suggest we take the long way around and attack from the forest in force, while a group of pegasi attack with the sun at their backs. A one-two punch."

He gestured out his plan using his wings, deftly grasping a few more clay models. At the end of his plan, he knocked over the bandit.

"Yes, the sun..." Luna mumbled.

"I know your realm is the night, but this is how it has to be. Until ponies learn to see in the dark, there isn't much we can do after sundown." Hurricane said.

"Of course, if you really want, we could attack at night. It would really put the fear of... you, into them."

Luna shook her head, and sighed at the obvious.

"No, it would deny us the tactical value of the sun, you're right. We'll attack after sunrise tomorrow. Be prepared, and bring your best." she ordered.

Hurricane saluted in reply.

"I'll see that it's done. I've got a few tricks to try in the field. Ever heard of a Wonderbolt?"

"No."

Hurricane smirked, which became a wide grin.

"You will, tomorrow." he said coyly.

"I await it eagerly, now get a good night's sleep- dismissed." Luna said.

Hurricane nodded, and departed through the door behind him. Luna watched him, pretending to gaze at the map. Her gaze, however, was on him. He had a rather nice flank, and his cutie mark- a flaming bolt streaking through a cloud- added to it.

She had felt his gaze the same way dozens of times, it was a simple physical attraction- nothing more. She was, after all, locked in a state of perpetual youth. She took pride in her image, her visage, as did her sister. She was older, however...

When he left, she turned her gaze back to the map.

The area they had known was only a sliver of the total. Everfree was marked, although only as a forest. White Tail lay nearby, and from there roads branched off to a dozen more settlements. Luna made a note to send a few scouting parties out. Celestia was probably already thinking about their long term plans, and Luna knew best to leave that to her. She was older, and admittedly wiser at those sort of things.

The rest of the settlements would come under their control in time, it was enough for her to have a goal in the present. That goal: destroy those bandits. Following that, extend their zone of control to White Tail, and establish a garrison.

With one last glance over it, Luna yawned, and left the map room. The needs of her body, often forgotten, caught up with her as she felt a pang of hunger. As such, she went to the kitchens, and met her sister there as well.

Life in the Everfree had meant everypony pulled their weight, and even as princesses they took care of their own meals, as they always had. A few chefs kept the pantry stocked, and served dinner, but they had no servants- yet.

Luna came in, and started laughing.

Celestia looked to be baking a cake.

At ten in the evening.

"The sun expands!" Luna joked.

Celestia frowned. "We overthrew Discord, I think that warrants a vice or two." She said, and turned away from the oven to her sister.

"Luna, we have to speak more seriously- and soon. I never wanted to start handing out domains, Luna. This isn't going work unless we're on the same page- work with me."

Luna gave her reply as she looked through the pantry, eyeing the collection of pies.

"Are we not? I thought our mission was to unite the Equestrian ponies under our banner. How will we do without vassals? Captain Hurricane is a good stallion, and he'll see his domain is well taken care of."

Celestia sighed. "I suppose you may be right, but I would rather you be less... quick in the future. Ask me next time."

Luna selected the finest pie, and turned to her sister with it hovering before her.

"I apologize, I will be more... open, in the future."

"Good, that's all I ask. Now, about your captain..." Celestia said, with a sly grin.

"It's only professional!"

Celestia laughed. "Does it have to be? You two seem perfect for each other, I only want what's best for you, you know."

"Sister, I will live for millennia, and I do not plan on settling down any time soon. The world needs me, and I certainly don't want to spend those thousands of years anchored down. No, I think it can wait."

"We might live for thousands of years, Luna, but he won't. Remember that."

Luna opened her mouth to reply, but found she had nothing to respond with. Instead, she quickly departed with her pie.

"Perhaps.. I'll think on this." she mumbled, as she strode out.

Celestia watched her with a bit of concern, but figured she had said all she could. Her thoughts on immortality could wait- they certainly had enough time.

In her quarters, at the top of the tallest tower of the Everfree Fortress, Luna set down her pie on a bedside table, and undressed. Her horseshoes she simply left on the red carpet, and her armour she hung up beside her bed. Other than the bed- an ornate multi-pillared structure with thick curtains to keep out the daytime sun. She was, and always had been, a creature of the night. Her love of the night was, indeed, part of her very being- the moon marked her flank, after all.

Elsewhere, there was a stand for her armour, and a dresser. At the far end of the room, beside a window, a doorway led to a balcony that opened with a view to the sky.

When she had disrobed, she took her pie outside and beheld the splendour of the night sky as she ate. The stars -her stars- shone beautifully in the sky above. Thin wisps of cloud drifted by, their spectral form contrasting with the deep black of the abyss. It was astonishing, even to this day. She had always found an everlasting beauty in the night sky, and to know that she would live long enough to actually see it change gave her a great sense of pride.

She considered that void, infinite in depth and scope, and thought on what Celestia had said. Perhaps she was right: as a near immortal, Luna couldn't afford to think in ways the average person did. She would live to see the next few millennia: she would see empires rise and fall, and the stars themselves change. It was her gift, and she knew it as such -she never lamented her fate. Some might say that sort of "gift" was a curse in disguise, but Luna did not. She had much to offer the world, and the longer she was around, the better for all.

Perhaps a prince...

Out of the corner of her eye, Luna noticed an unfamiliar form perched atop the opposing tower. It seemed to be staring up at the sky as well, seemingly entranced by its beauty. Before she could react, it glanced back at her with its glowing eyes- and disappeared into the night.

A nocturnal race? Perhaps we share something in common.

Luna buried the thought for another day, and went back inside.

The creature hadn't seemed to mean them any harm, and if it did- she could certainly take it on. Luna closed the door behind her, placed the empty tin on the stand beside her bed, and flopped herself on her mattress. With a final yawn of exhaustion, she drew the curtains and quickly fell asleep. Normally she would be up much later, but it had been a long day- and tomorrow started early.

While her body slept, her mind almost never did. She could sleep dreamlessly if she wanted, or conjure up her own dream, but tonight she decided to again watch over the minds of the mortal. She took flight through the deep blue abyss of the dreamscape, searching for anything that might be amiss.

The mayor of White Tail was dreaming, he was taken by the idea of peace, and dreamt of a peaceful future in which his daughter seceded him as mayor, it was rather touching.

His daughter was dreaming of flying with Celestia, through fields of flowers. It was rather adorable, but Luna sensed something dark, elsewhere, and flew away from that dream. She searched the dreamscape, looking for the disturbance.

Like a flame in the sky, a nightmare bloomed away from the others Luna dashed towards it, determined to help with the matter. On approach she could see what looked to be towers of crystal, bathed in an eerie green/purple light. She swooped into the dream proper, and gasped.

Such beauty- and such horror. Towers of crystal shaped into a sort of fortress-city, with thousands of inhabitants scurrying on the ground. Fires drew up from the base of many of those towers, melting their bases and toppling them. If such a place really existed, it would be quite a prize.

Before Luna could learn more she was thrown awake, laying in a cold sweat. Such was often the case when a nightmare overtook the dreamer. Somewhere out there, a pony had awoken screaming.

An image remained in her head however, disconnected from the dream itself. A red cloak, and a red horn. What these meant, Luna did not know. She spent the next seven hours in a restless sleep, unable to return to the dreamscape. Her mind ran with wonder, and questions.

Who had dreamed that? Did such a place really exist? If it did, where?

An entire city made of crystal...

When Luna awoke again, to the sound of a whistle outside, she dragged her groggy body out of bed with a deep yawn. She was certainly not used to rising at such an early time, and the lack of real sleep added to it. Nonetheless, she was a princess now...

So naturally she gave herself an extra half hour before rising- this time for good. After rubbing the sleep (mostly) out of her eyes, she slunk out of bed and strode to the armour stand. She quickly fitted her armour, with an expert pace honed by years of practice. The helmet, as always, fit on her head like a second skin, and allowed her blue mane to flow out behind it. Armoured and ready to go, she departed, and soon came across Captain Hurricane, who leaning against a rooftop parapet, and staring blankly at the sky.

Luna cleared her throat to get his attention. "Are the soldiers assembled?"

Hurricane yawned, and turned around to face her. Luna yawned as well, contagious as yawns were.

"They are, and I've given out coffee rations. I don't drink it myself, but it should help."

Coffee

"Good, We'll head out in an hour, and strike as the sun rises."

Hurricane saluted. "I'll await you in the courtyard." He said, and fell backwards off the roof.

Pegasi, always showing off...

Still, it was a good exit, and Luna had to appreciate it. She continued down the hallway, and down a few flights of stairs, to the library. there, she hoped to find her sister.

"So what is better: access to the sea, or a stronger inland hoofhold?"

Luna walked in to find her sister standing before a great blackboard, and a chalk outline of Equestria on it. The continent was filled in with a basic version of the map Celestia had found: with two locations circled.

Vanhoover, on the coast. Beside it arrows pointed outwards, with the words "potential trade?" underlined over top them.

Towards the centre, Highbreeze. This town had a dotted line around it, with the words "inland expansion" over top.

"I think you need to ask your sister, I am just a scholar." Star Swirl said, sitting nearby on a stack of books.

"Control the sea, guard the coast. I doubt we'll have any serious competition within the continent, but what of without?" Luna said.

Celestia stepped back from the board, and glanced back at Luna as she entered.

"Good morning to you too, get enough sleep?" She asked, clearly more awake than her little sister.

Luna did her best, but could not stifle a poorly timed yawn.

"Yes, I shall set forth to destroy these brigands within the hour. I assume you will be raising the sun at the proper time?"

"Of course, so long as you lower the moon."

"Of course."

Luna yawned again, and her sister chuckled.

"Try some coffee, it'll help." She suggested.

"It'll rot your brain!" Starswirl retorted.

Celestia laughed. "So you're the one using all our supplies!"

Luna shook her head, mostly to hide her smile, and left back into the hallway.

Her next stop was the kitchen, where she took a quick breakfast of oatmeal- and a good deal of coffee. She saw to the rest of her physical needs as well before meeting her troop in the courtyard. Seventy ponies, all armoured, and well-armed. chattered amongst themselves. Overtop, a dozen pegasi with crossbows did the same. Enough power to conquer any force.

Never start a fight unless you've already won.

Luna looked at them, and noticed a difference between them and the grounded ponies.

"Those uniforms are new."

Hurricane looked up with pride.

"They are, I think the black helps with the intimidation factor. I was originally going to call them 'Shadowbolts', but it seemed... villainous."

"I think I might go with a blue design, actually. Might look better," he added.

Luna chuckled at the thought, and had a thought of her own. An epiphany even, which blazed into her mind.

Intimidation factor...

"I'll return shortly," she said and darted back into the doorway.

She sped to the library, and slid inside. Her sister had left, which was quite good. Luna wouldn't reveal her new idea until she perfected it.

"Starswirl!" She shouted, glancing around for the ancient scholar.

"What?!" he shouted back from somewhere deep within the aisles.

"Where are the shape-shifting spells kept?"

"Aisle seven! You should know that!"

Luna groaned, and made her way to that aisle. Aisle seven, indeed, seemed to be the place where transformation magic texts were kept, and after only a few moments searching she found what she wanted.

"Body Modification: Reveal the Beast Within."

It seemed perfect, so Luna took it off the shelf and quickly scanned the first few pages. Most of it looked to be an essay, and instructions on how to specifically maximize the effects of this magic, but that could wait. She found the spell, and an important warning.

"Overuse can lead to dependency, or possibly feature permanence."

So be it. Luna closed the book, noted its location, and tried the magic. She tried something simple first, giving herself fangs.

It was at this point she realized she didn't have a mirror, and glanced around for something suitable. What she found was a

painting, covered in glass. It would do, so she strode towards it and excitedly looked at herself.

"Oh, oh my. This will do wonderfully!" She exclaimed, and gave herself a big toothy grin, baring those new fangs.

"It's not enough though, it needs something... more."

Luna glanced back at herself, and noted her dark blue coat. She grinned even wider, and with a bit of magical exertion shifted it to black. Then she looked at herself again.

"Yes, this is perfect!" She exclaimed, and cackled madly.

Realizing how much of a fool she must look, she glanced around, and cleared her throat. The new form dissolved back into normality, and she walked off with her head held high- and a great smile on her face.

Those bandits were in for a treat.

Outside, she came before her troop again. This time, she halted before them and spoke loudly to get their attention.

"Attention, now!"

They all snapped to attention, almost as if she had flipped a switch on their brains. She had trained each of them, at some point or another, and they knew full well to never disobey or question her.

"The pegasi will cover us from the sky, and will attack with the morning sun at their back. The rest of you are with me, and we will attack in force together This should be an easy mission, but don't underestimate the enemy.They may be ill-mannered brigands, but even a sword held by an idiot can kill." She boomed, and about-faced to the gateway.

"Column forward!"

Hurricane took her side, and fitted his helmet. Behind them, their force marched obediently. Soon they were out of gate, and on their way to the enemy camp.

"I assume you did some early recon?" Luna asked him.

"I did it myself an hour ago, and briefed our force. Looks like around fifty, they were already in defensive position though- do they have reason to expect us?"

Luna sighed.

That damn brigand...

"No matter, we'll cut through them like a hot knife through butter anyway. It'll just take longer." Hurricane continued.

Luna grinned. "That's the spirit, captain! We'll run roughshod over these fools, and this first victory will be known far and wide! We take no prisoners today, captain, we're going to send these evildoers to their makers. It will be a statement heard far and wide."

"Equestria is not to be trifled with."

It took an hour for the force to reach their destination, slowed by the heavily armoured earth ponies that made up the brute force contingent of their battalion. They would crash into the enemy like a force of nature- somewhat literally considering how earth pony magic worked- while the unicorns lay onto the enemy with magic. The pegasi were armed with arrows, and Hurricane explained his idea.

A dedicated flying unit, ten to a squadron. They would fly towards the enemy as quickly as possible, and rain arrows down on them in attack runs. Once they had depleted their quivers, they would dive with swords drawn. Less efficient than the arrows, but they would slash so quickly out of the air that the enemy wouldn't be able to counter it.

Wonderbolts, he called them: they would strike like a bolt out of the blue.

"I think I prefer "Shadowbolts", but as this is your force I will defer to you. I may use the name for myself, eventually." Luna said.

Hurricane, trotting beside her, glanced up from the map he was holding. They had just crossed the river, and took a wide route around the camp to it's rear. Any defences would be positioned that way, but attacking from the water instead would bog them down. A frontal assault was the plan.

"I am grateful. Now, this waypoint is just over this hill, we'll break for the others to catch up."

"Good, sun rises in a few minutes." Luna said, and looked up beyond the treetops at the dawn sky.

The irony of relying on the tactical value of the rising sun was not lost on her, but she buried that deep. Her sister seemed to constantly overshadow her, but she was the eldest... so was it not proper? Luna loved her, but couldn't help but feel eclipsed.

She shook her head, and removed the dark thoughts that seemed to be welling up. Over the next hill, she halted.

"Column halt!" She shouted, and about-faced to her force.

"Earth ponies up front, unicorns in the rear. Standard attack formation. I don't want to see any of you messing around, we get this done quickly, and we get it done thoroughly! I will remind you all that these are brigands, they are all guilty of heinous crimes by virtue of being here. Take no prisoners, and give no quarter- for they give none."

Finishing her declaration, she saluted her troop, and they saluted her in return.

"Stand by!" She ordered, and turned back to the line of trees, beyond which lay their objective.

Behind her, the force shifted into position. Earth ponies took their large shields from their backs, and the unicorns formed up behind them. This wasn't the first time they had launched such an assault, and they were all professional soldiers. Hurricane bolted from the ground into the air- presumably to lead his own charge.

"Weapons ready!"

Luna waited, impatiently, for the correct time to lower the moon. She wanted more than anything to lower it early, but she had been warned about the consequences of that. She was forced to wait for a very specific hue in the sky. While she waited, she used her magic and transformed herself- to a few audible gasps behind her.

She merely grinned, fear was the greatest tool of war.

Finally seeing the sign in the sky, Luna quickly ducked the moon under the horizon.

In response, the sun rose behind them, and Luna bolted forward

"Charge!"

Out of the forest, with Luna at their head, fifty ponies of war came screaming out. The sentries at the edge of the camp were quickly torn down by a barrage of arrows loosed by the Wonderbolts as they flew over, blinded by the sun behind the aerial force. The camp gate was a thick wooden construct, but it was no match for Luna's magic as she blew a ten meter hole into it. Into the camp her force, and herself, streamed. The bandits inside were panicked and scattered, Luna looked for a suitable match while her force ran in around her.

At the forefront she saw the gleam of a sword, and a large stallion charging her from some distance away. He held his sword high, and ran at her with a murderous hate in his eyes.

"Give up brigand, and die with dignity!"

The bandit, an earth pony with a half-decent looking sword, charged at Luna, with his sword roped to one arm. He swung hard, but Luna was able to effortlessly dodge the attack, and butted him in the stomach with her helmet. The force tossed him aside like a ragdoll, with a deep gash in his midsection.

"What the hell are you?" He gasped, lying on the ground.

Luna approached the stallion, as he was coughing up the remains of his life. She spun her sword, clutched in her wing, and came upon him.

"Your nightmare!" Luna yelled, and plunged her sword into his chest. One less bandit in Equestria.

With that accomplished, she turned from his body and found three more bandits, staring at her in horror as her force did their duty all around.

They dropped their weapons, and shook with fear.

"There is no surrender for the likes of you, only a quick passage." Luna growled at them, and picked all three up in a blue field, just as they turned to run.

"I know what you did, all of you. I pronounce my sentence on you, and may whatever lay beyond have mercy on you."

A moment later, their lifeless corpses dropped out of the air. Luna picked up her sword, and trotted past into the tents. Her force was doing quite well, and already the sounds of battle were becoming quieter. The bandits were thrown into total confusion, running to and fro before her, before being brought down from the air or her soldiers on the ground. It was quite pathetic, really. An ignoble end to their evil reign of terror in the area.

"You!"

Luna turned, and grinned to see what she assumed was the bandit leader. He was dressed in thick armour, stained with blood. A scar covered one eye, as the other glared at her with an animalistic hate. A unicorn, the first of the day. He pawed at the ground and lowered his horn into charging position.

"Do you think you can take me, brigand?" Luna said, and tossed aside her sword.

He bellowed a laugh, and then pointed a hoof to Luna. "So say you, who looks like an inbred mare? You think you can take me?"

"Yes." Luna said simply.

Her opponent bared his teeth, and scratched the ground. Luna whinnied, and did the same. Her legs tensed up like springs, and she waited for his charge.

He charged forward, letting loose a war cry as he lit his horn. Luna followed instantly, baring her fangs and charging directly at the stallion. Staring right into her eyes, he was quickly overcome by fear- these were not the eyes of a pony. He blinked, and made a critical error at a critical point, as he hesitated to swing his hornsword at the right time. Luna took advantage of his split-second hesitation, and collided into him, sinking her hornsword deep into his flank, cutting a wide gouge straight through his armour.

Luna slid to a stop, and turned back to watch the life fade from the stallion, his eyes full of the last thing he would know- absolute terror. Luna herself was only bruised, as his head had harmlessly rebounded off her armour.

Luna snorted, and left his body where it lay. She strode off, bringing her sword back before her. A short walk later, she came upon two of her soldiers, with bandits kneeling before them, shaking with fear.

"They uh, surrendered." One of the soldiers said.

Luna scowled at them, and then stared down at the two cowardly bandits, who refused to even look her in the eye.

"We take no prisoners of bandits. I pronounce my judgement on them both."

Her soldiers cringed, and looked away. The yelp of argument from the bandits was cut short.

The job done, Luna wiped her sword clean and holstered it. The two headless bandits remained behind, while the soldiers followed Luna off. She dropped her "disguise", and saw Hurricane approaching in the sky.

"I told you, like a hot knife through butter!" He exclaimed, and landed at her side.

Luna holstered her sword, and listened to his report.

"We count fifty dead, and not a single injury in our own number. An easy victory, almost too easy. They seemed exhausted, as if they hadn't gotten any sleep in days."

"Good, Equestria can breathe easier with this filth cleaned up. I will return to the Everfree, take your force to White Tail later, and garrison it."

"What of this camp?" Hurricane asked.

"Burn it."

Luna opened her wings to take flight, but was halted by the sound of Hurricane unsheathing his sword.

"Your highness!" He shouted, and gestured up in the air with it.

Luna did not know how they had gotten there so quickly, or so quietly, but when she turned she found a dozen of those odd ponies she had seen the day before- with a hundred more circling in the sky.

She recognized their leader, who was looking down on her, quite well.

"We meet again!" Luna shouted upwards.

The pony whispered something in the ear of one of its followers, and swooped down towards Luna. Hurricane rushed forward, but Luna held him back.

"I should congratulate you on your victory today, saves us the effort. We have been harassing these vile excuses for ponies for weeks, and today we were going to deal the killing blow." The pony said.

"I suppose it's time for a proper introduction," she added, and landed before Luna.

"I am Penumbra, Commander of the... well let's just say Commander. I recognize your dominion over these lands, and as such I am at your service, Princess Luna."

She bowed, and kissed Luna's hoof.

"I am pleased to meet such a well-mannered person. Be you pony or... something else?" Luna asked.

"We prefer to be called thestrals, but there are those that simply call us "bat ponies". Myself, I do not care."

Luna smiled. "Well met, honourable thestral. Perhaps in the future, our peoples will be partners."

Penumbra smiled as well, and shook Luna's hoof. "Perhaps, but it is not mine to decide. We will meet again, Princess of the Night. I have matters to attend to, now that this camp is destroyed." she said, and took wing.

"Can they be trusted?" Hurricane asked, watching as the swarm silently flew into the distance.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. They seemed nice enough, and we certainly have the same enemies. You know what to do, I'll be heading home." Luna said, and took wing herself.

She flew high into the sky, in order to get a view of the receding force that had so effortlessly surprised them. To her chagrin, they had already vanished into the forest. While she flew back to the Everfree, she considered just how skilled they must have been to pull that off. Not only did they seem incredibly skilled at stealth, but their numbers were more than double their own- and every single one of them flew. Whoever commanded this force was a power to be reckoned with, and this would require adjusting their plans.

If what she thought last night was right, they were nocturnal too...

A short bit of flying later, Luna arrived at the gates of the Everfree. Celestia stood there, apparently caught as she was about to leave. She turned from the guard she was talking to, and smiled warmly at her sister.

"Good morning Luna, back so soon?" she asked.

Luna landed before her, and took off her helmet.

"It was merely a camp of brigands, not serious work. I have some other news, however." she said.

"Oh?" Celestia queried, and with a nod dismissed the guard.

"Indeed. It appears there are more of those creatures we saw last night. They are called Thestrals, and I spoke to their commander. They are a force to be reckoned with, sister."

Celestia scratched her chin, thinking on this.

"Thestrals, I believe I read of them once. A nocturnal pony sub-species, but Discord was said to have made them extinct. If they yet live, then I wonder what else persists."

"Indeed. I shall order increased scouting towards the north, since that seems to be where they are coming from."

Celestia nodded. "Good, I'll do my part and ask around on my own. I'm heading to Vanhoover, and I won't be back for a few days. I'm bringing a guard along with me, so don't worry. You've got your hooves tied securing the roads."

Luna shrugged. "It's true. You know how to find me if you encounter difficulty."

"Of course. I'll see you soon, sister," Celestia said, and embraced her sister tightly.

The guard she had been talking to returned, his back heavy with the weight of whatever assortment Celestia had ordered be brought along.

"Safe travels." Luna said, and stepped aside for them to pass.

Celestia trotted off down the road, while Luna trotted into the Everfree fortress. Quite a few of the inhabitants were out now, either scouting the roads or as part of the hunting party earlier; so it was mostly quiet except for a few youths. Luna saw an unfamiliar form- at least outside- watching her from under the library doorway.

"Starswirl, finally getting some sunshine?" Luna smirked.

"Actually, it's the moon I was after," he said, and stepped into the light- grimacing as it hit his face.

"I saw what you did earlier, be careful with that sort of magic."

Luna snorted. "Or what, it will corrupt me? I assure you, Starswirl, I can handle any kind of magic."

Starswirl sighed, and shook his head. "No you... don't und-"

"No, you don't understand. You may have been my teacher once, but you hold no power over me now. I am the princess, and you are still but a scholar." Luna growled, and prodded him with an armoured hoof.

"This will all end in tears." He grumbled, and ducked back into the library, slamming the door behind himself.

"Foolish old stallion, what would he know about real power?" Luna mumbled to herself.

She strode off into the barracks, and into the map room. She took a long hard look at it, and pondered where their rival might be, while she also outlined the days patrol. There were many roads to secure, and she would be hard at work for the next few days.

Luna grinned, baring her fangs, and let her mind run wild with the thrill of knowing that she had a real fight to look forward to.

She then realized she still had fangs, and sheepishly adjusted her form before leaving the room for her quarters. Her armour needed a new set of paint, and she herself was in dire need of a shower. When she arrived there she hung up her armour, and pulled a string beside it that extended from the wall. Her squire had been summoned, a pony she rarely ever saw.

Frankly, she wasn't even sure of his name. He did his duty well though, and kept her armour and weaponry in good shape.

She stepped into her washroom, and conjured a magical cloud of water to wash herself. Such a thing had only been invented years ago, and it was an exceptionally relaxing experience for those with the magical expertise to do it. She spent the better part of an hour basking in the warm water, and cleaned the dirt and grim of the days battle off herself. When she dried herself off, and strode out, she found to her delight that her armour had been cleaned and repaired.

One day she would thank that pony, one day.

She put her armour back on, applied the eyeshadow that had become part of her visage, and prepared to leave again. Before she could do so, she found a letter on her bed. She read it quickly, and frowned at the last line.

I do not need your patronizing, sister.

Luna crumpled it up and tossed it aside before leaving her quarters. The Everfree Fortress was quite quiet at this time of day, especially considering how many were out on patrol. It was quiet, which Luna found quite pleasing. After a quick trip to the kitchens to make herself a pie, blueberry as always, she found herself relaxing in the courtyard. Today was a fine day, just warm enough, but not too hot. A pleasant breeze blew in from the North, and the fluffy clouds in the sky shaded her now and then. A fine day indeed.

She was also in charge of the Everfree for the time being, and that improved her mood as well. Repect, power, Luna greatly enjoyed these things. She shared power willingly with her sister, and enjoyed her company, but the days she was left alone were quite enjoyable.

Luna finished her lunch, and noticed a paper fluttering in the breeze. It was on the notice-board, and bore her sisters cutie mark. Intrigued, Luna strode forward and read it.

She then lit it on fire.

"I, Princess Celestia? I?!"

"She knows full well we are both equal! How could she be so foolish! By this document, my power comes from her!"

Luna strode off angrily, as the few others in the courtyard tried to make themselves hidden. She made her way into Celestia's quarters, where she knew her sisters parchment and pens lie. Luna sat herself down, and amended her sisters document.

Luna was quite pleased with her edits, and stamped her cutie mark on it. Like her sister, she triplicated it... after burning the copy Celestia had left in her desk. That she replaced, and then strode out with the two others.

She stuck one of those to the notice board, and took the time to clear out any other notices. Months of requests for leave, passive aggressive notes on who ate who's lunch, and a few items for trade. Luna swept these aside, and stuck her proclamation in the very centre.

"There, sister. They will know that we run Equestria, not you or I."

With that accomplished, she about-faced and marched right out of the Everfree. She would deliver the other copy to White Tail herself, and amend this regrettable mistake her sister had made.

She took wing, and quickly cleared the treeline. The weather was starting to turn sour, and she saw a storm building to the North. No matter, she had a place to be, and no mere rain would stop her. Onward she flew, powering forward by her wings. She had always been an accomplished flyer, but rarely did she really stretch her wings. Today she did, and it only took three hours of flight-sprinting to clear the distance to White Tail. She flew over the town high in a circle, and looked down on it from above.

The gleaming metal of Everfree troops were visible here and there, and an encampment was being constructed on the outskirts. Towards that camp she soared down, and gently landed before a pair of startled guards.

"Princess Luna!" They exclaimed, and dropped to the dirt immediately before her.

"We have arrived, where is your commanding officer?" Luna asked.

"I-" they started at once, before awkwardly stopping.

The second, whom Luna noted was taking the lead, cleared her throat. Luna took a second to look her over. She was quite well built, and much older than her partner. Her armour was cleaner as well.

"Iron Hoof is in the town inn, talking with the mayor. I hear they are getting on quite well." She said.

"Good, it is time we spoke with him. I will leave you to your duties, but first I require your name." Luna returned.

"Far Flung, your Highness. My partner is Blue Star."

Luna nodded respectfully at the two.

"You have done well, continue to do so," she said, and then departed towards the town.

Delightfully, the townspeople now showed her proper respect. They bowed low as she passed them towards the inn, and she held her head high. They knew their place, and she knew hers. The natural order.

She thrust open the doors to the inn, and strode inside. Something brushed against her, and she almost lost her footing.

It was a guard, swaying on his hooves, and clearly drunk. Luna stepped aside, and gripped his shoulders tightly to steady him.

"What is your name, guard?" She demanded.

The stallion hiccuped, and then looked to her through barely-open eyes.

"Shtiff."

"Very well, Stiff. You are relieved of your duty, I expect to see you in the Everfree tomorrow for discipline."

Stiff apparently didn't quite get the message, and nodded lazily before slinking back out of the door.

Luna sighed, and took a deep breath.

"Ironhoof!" she shouted to the room in general, startling the rest of it's patrons. Somewhere in the middle of them a pony scrambled off his chair, nosily sending it against the ground. The contrast with the sudden silence caught the rooms attention.

"I am here, your Highness!" Ironhoof shouted back, and scrambled to Luna's front.

"Explain why you are allowing your subordinates to get drunk while on duty. Furthermore, explain to me what you are doing here."

Ironhoof quickly dove against the ground, knocking his forehead against the wood floor.

"I.. he was one of the patrols, I never saw him come in."

"You are the ranking officer, and his actions look poorly on yourself. I will not look kindly on any further errors in judgement, do I make myself clear?"

Ironhoof rose slightly to look up at her.

"Yes, your Highness."

"Good, now stand and tell me why you are in this inn, and not out there setting up the garrison."

Ironhoof rose, shakily, and brought himself to look Luna in the eye.

"I was... making contact with the local populace. I felt that I should win their hearts before getting settled in."

Luna stared back at him, and squinted her eyes.

"You felt the best place to do this was an inn? Ironhoof you are not their friend, you are their protector and the enforcer of law. As the ranking officer, it is highly improper for you to be found in a place such as this. I imagine Hurricane will not look kindly on this."

Ironhoof shivered, and Luna grinned.

"Now get out."

He was out the door before her mouth shut, and Luna turned her attention back to the crowd. She recognized the mayor amongst them, who stood and bowed upon catching her eye.

"Your highness!"

The others in the room took his lead, and after seeing the scene that had just transpired, bowed themselves.

"Your highness!" they repeated.

Luna took in the respect, and almost felt as if it physically flowed into her. It was good to be worshipped like this.

"Mayor, I must speak to you- outside." Luna said, and backed out of the inn.

Mere moments later Mayor Goodsteed emerged, and found Luna standing in the street waiting for him.

"Your Highness. How can I be of service?" he asked.

"I understand a proclamation has been made, I assume Ironhoof has delivered it?" Luna asked.

Goodsteed nodded.

"He arrived a few hours ago, and left a copy up on the board," he said, and gestured towards the stone form of Discord.

Luna saw he was right, and a copy of Celestia's proclamation hung on it.

"Good, thank you. You may depart now, we require nothing more from you."

Goodsteed was clearly relieved, and vanished back into the Inn. Luna strode forward to the board, and quickly tore off her sisters proclamation. Her own she stuck in it's place, and then turned on her heel to face the few ponies watching.

"Study this new proclamation well subjects! We have made certain... amendments."

With that said, she quickly took flight and left them in awe.

She took her time returning to the Everfree, and took a low path as the rain began to fall. It was quite a storm, so she surrounded herself in a protective magical field just in case lightning struck. So it was that a blue sphere flew over the treetops, towards the Everfree. It was not along however, and after a while Luna noticed a dark figure behind her. Thinking it to be Hurricane, she slowed and glanced back at it.

"Hurricane, I..."

It was not Hurricane, it was a thestral. Noticing it had been spotted, it quickly caught up with her.

"You have a keen eye, Princess Luna, but not keen enough!" It shouted to her over the rain.

Luna paused, and turned in the air to face it. There she hovered, looking at her pursuer.

"Perhaps, but I see well enough. What is your business here?" She asked.

The thestral smiled, and looked at her with it's glowing eyes. Luna examined them, and made a note of how interesting they looked.

"My business is simple, I bring a message. Do not approach Highbreeze, do not speak to any delegation from there. Doing so will have.. consequences."

Luna was surprised, but managed to hide it.

"Is that a threat?"

"No, it is a promise. We recognize your dominion over these lands, and will respect it so long as you respect ours. Highbreeze, is ours."

Luna glared at him, and her voice raised an octave or two.

"Nobody, pony or thestral, tells us what we can, and cannot, do. We are the only just rulers in Equestria, and we will expand as we see fit." Luna growled, thumping her chest with a hoof.

"As expected."

The thestral dropped from the air, and before Luna could adjust her position to follow it, vanished into the rainy mist below. Luna was quite disturbed by all this, and redoubled her pace to the Everfree. It was quite easy to spot, as an orange half-sphere covered it. Starswirl was apparently scared of something, and it that was not a good sign. Luna quickly soared into, and through, the field. Starswirl was pacing in the courtyard, and quickly saw her.

"Luna, you're here, finally!" He shouted, and halted his pacing to watch her land.

"Where did you even go?" he added.

"That is no matter, We have arrived now. Explain why you have a shield up." Luna asked quickly.

"Using the royal we now? No matter, much more important business at the moment. A group of ponies has arrived, and they are asking for... asylum." Starswirl replied.

"Asylum? Where are they from, what do they fear?"

Starswirl hurriedly led her inside while he tried to explain.

"They say there are from Highbreeze, and they refuse to tell me what it is they fear. Whatever it is, they fear it greatly. I have never seen ponies so nervous, it's like they expect to be attacked at any moment."

Luna listened to him silently as she considered. Highbreeze.

If the thestrals want peace, I will invite them to tea. If they want war, I will crush them.

Starswirl stopped ahead of door, which Luna knew led to a large meeting room that had been rarely used.

"Since we are yet to have a proper throne room, I led them to our meeting room. They're inside, and will be happy to meet you. I think I have worn out my own welcome..." Starswirl said, and meekly stepped aside.

"Very well, you may depart. Inform the guard to double their patrols on the Everfree, and drop your shield."

Starswirl sighed with relief, and his horn ceased to glow.

"Gladly."

He departed, and Luna strode into the room. The only furniture was a long table, with light provided by torches on the walls. The room had been used on the few times Luna and Celestia had needed to talk in absolute private. Thick walls, no windows, and a deep position in the fortress made it impossible to spy on. She found three ponies, with their fur nearly on edge, huddled at the opposite end of the table. A pegasus, an earth-pony, and a unicorn. They all shared the same orange coat and yellow, flowing, mane. Luna guessed that they must be a family, with the pegasus mare the eldest.

"Princess Luna, Princess of the night!" The pegasus said, and seemed greatly relieved to see her.

"Our saviour!"

Luna put her hooves on the table, and looked on the odd trio from across the room.

"I have done nothing yet, and I may not do anything at all. I need to know more. Who are you, and what are you running from?"

"Them, we're running from them!" The unicorn exclaimed, and then ducked under the table when Luna shifted her gaze.

"Who is them? Be more clear or I'll throw you back out there!"

That got them, and after a flash of what can only be described as absolute terror, the pegasus stood.

"The thestrals."

Luna sat, and listened to their story. They were a family known as the Silver Moons, and had been run out of their home-city of Highbreeze for opposing some sort of political union between the city leaders and an, as of yet unknown, force in the North. They were irritatingly short of details, and apparently no more than peasants. That they managed to make it this far was simply luck, they had heard rumour of a force in the Everfree that could save them.

Luna gave them quarters, and decided to wait for her sister before going further. They were definitely exhausted from their journey, and perhaps a good rest could clear their minds. Her mind needed some clearing as well, he had a long day too, and was rather tired. After dinner, she waited only long enough to raise the moon, before slumping into her bed and quickly falling asleep.

She once again returned to the dreamscape, and immediately felt a disturbance. Someone else was out there, which was unprecedented. She could feel them searching, hunting, for something. What it was, she did not know. That seemed less important than who it was that was doing the searching. Nobody else had ever intruded on her domain, so it was rather distressing to find this.

Luna flew amongst the dreams, and found that they were nearly all nightmares. They had something in common, and that thing was a figure in red. It seemed like all of Equestria was fearing the same thing, as if it had passed through the dreamscape spreading terror in its wake. Terror of itself.

She followed the path of terror, and found it led to a central zone of darkness. Luna knew no fear, and dove into it with her horn glimmering alight. She heard a faint voice as she entered, and recognized it instantly.

"Luna!"

It was her sister.

Luna paused in her flight, and adjusted herself towards the direction of the scream. She started forward towards it, but paused again as her mind returned to that morning, and Celestia's proclamation.

"If she thinks she is all powerful, perhaps she should try fighting this herself!"

Unbeknownst to her, a green haze emanated from her eyes as her thoughts darkened.

"Luna!"

"Fight your own battles, if you're so high and mighty!" Luna yelled, and turned her flank to her sister.

Then she shook her head, and realized what exactly she was doing. Without any further reservation she spun back around, and dove towards the source of her sisters screams. She broke through the darkness and found Celestia cowering in the darkness.

"Sister!" Luna yelled, and surrounded both in a blue field of magical energy.

"Luna, you came. I..."

Luna put a hoof to her sisters mouth. "Do not thank me, I... hesitated," she said, and turned away without further explanation.

"You have threatened the wrong pony! Whatever you are, understand this: I will allow no harm to come to my sister, not from you, and not from any weapon you may have! Leave her mind in peace!" Luna shouted.

Luna's horn blazed to action, and shot out towards the abyss that surrounded them. Whatever force was here clearly hadn't expected any opposition, and cried out in pain. Luna redoubled her efforts, and watched as Celestia faded away, back out of the dreamscape. She would sleep dreamlessly until waking.

"What are you!" Luna yelled, as the darkness began to fade all around here.

"I am a power that cannot be stopped!"

The darkness abruptly vanished, and was replaced with a blinding white light. Luna cried out in shock, and sprung up from her bed.

"What..." she mumbled, as half of her body was still asleep. It took her mind a moment to catch up, and she realized she was now in the waking world. Quickly glancing out the window, she found it almost morning. It was odd how time worked when one was asleep.

She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and slipped out of bed. While she dressed herself, her mind focused on what had happened. Events were moving incredibly fast, and now she had a practical threat in the north, as well as a more elusive threat that had targeted her sister. Nothing was more important to Luna than Celestia, and she gritted her teeth with anger.

"Whatever "power" you may have will be no match for my own. I will hunt you down, whoever you are- whatever you are."

As Luna strode out of her quarters, something jabbed out beyond the door-sil, and sent her sprawling. She quickly rolled on her back, and barely dodged a dagger that had been stabbing down at her. The intruder was skilled, and quickly backed off into a proper fighting position.

It was a thestral, and it was staring her down with a bloody dagger clutched in its wing.

"Intruder, there is an intruder in the castle!" Luna shouted, and dodged another swing of the dagger.

"Scream all you want, your guards are dead!"

Another swing clashed against her armour. This thestral was skilled with his weapon indeed.

"You'll soon join them!" Luna shouted, and butted her head forward.

The thestral deftly leaped back, and swung at her from below, nearly cutting her throat open.

"No, but you will!"

He flipped over her, and switched wings with his dagger, following with a stabbing motion that connected with Luna's right-rear leg. Luna yelped in pain, and spun around with the gash spewing blood on the carpet. The situation had become desperate, and she lit her horn.

"Hah, magic. A pathetic crutch for a pathetic race!" The thestral yelled.

Luna shot off a beam from her horn, which he managed to dodge. She put her weight on her forehooves and swung her body using them as a pivot as well, and that managed to connect with him. She hit him hard, and flung him against the wall. The force sent the dagger flying, although in a rather unlucky arc that cut the tip of Luna's right shoulder off.

The thestral pushed off from the wall and tried to steady himself again, but Luna was quicker, and spun around to deliver a kick with her rear legs to his midsection. The crack of his ribs was audible, and he was sent to the floor, he coughed up blood, and yelled in pain.

"You are a talented fighter, but more will come. I doubt you will fare as well against a hundred of my kind." he coughed.

Luna leapt on his legs to keep him against the floor. "What is the meaning of this? Why have you attacked me?" she demanded.

"You have... made an enemy of the North. None of our enemies have lasted long, as you will soon see!"

The dagger was already bloody...

"The Highbreezers? What did you do to them?" Luna pressed.

He laughed, which led to a coughing fit that loosed blood onto the floor.

"What do you think?"

Luna growled with anger and pain.

"They were civilians; peasants, what sort of heinous villain would order such a thing?"

He laughed again, and Luna noticed his breaths began to slow.

"He would."

With that, the thestral drew his last breath. Luna left his body were it lay, and dragged her bloody leg down the corridor back to her room. She made a quick dressing from her bedsheet for her leg, and soothed most of her pain with magic. Once she was bandaged, she departed from her quarters back down the hallway. She passed two of her guards, dead, on her way downstairs. When she got to the Highbreezers quarters, she found it to be just as she feared.

They were dead.

Luna limped into the courtyard, and was spotted by a guard. He wisely raised the alarm, and a few minutes later the Everfree garrison, or what remained after all the deployments of the previous day, stood before her. She addressed them while one of them more properly dressed her wounds.

Luna felt that she had played the fool. She should have expected treachery, and should have ordered increased guard after the first thestral, perhaps even the same that had come tonight, had breached the perimeter. She had been so eager to find a friend in the night that she had become blind to reality. There were no friends in the night.

Only darkness.

First Centurion I

Author's Notes:

First thing published in.. half a year? Expect it to be rough and change from feedback. I was gonna push this back but really- I just gotta get publishing again.

A week had passed since Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had begun their foray out of the relative security of the Everfree, and it had not passed quickly. It was a week filled with anxiety as Celestia and Luna discussed what would be done to prevent the tragedy that had happened on that night. The guards were anxious and on alert constantly, and none had much sleep in that week. On the day that the mayors were due to arrive, Princess Luna had all the guards that had been on duty that night assembled in the Everfree Fortress. Fifty of them in all, looking exhausted with sunken eyes and ruffled fur. Their punishment in the interim had been simple- knowing they had failed.

Princess Celestia sat behind Luna, with her ethereal mane swirling ever so slightly. Her height meant she was able to see over her scowling sister over her towards the line of soldiers standing before them. Celestia had been silent, allowing her sister leeway in her realm- martial affairs. Despite her silence, she couldn't help but cringe now and then. She dearly wished she hadn't had to be here- but it was important that she bare witness, and back her sister as she could.

"You all have failed," Luna sneered, pivoting at the middle and staring down the group. She wore no armour right now, just her regal breastplate and a stare that could wither a forest.

"A week ago today, one of your own and several guests were killed. They were killed on /your/ watch," she continued, her voice hissing with anger. "Those ponies came here seeking refuge and protection- and instead," she fumed, her chest heaving to draw air for her booming declarations, "they found their own death! How are we supposed to unite Equestria under our guidance if our own soldiers cannot keep a simple group of refugees safe? How?! How am I supposed to convince others to follow us if we can't even protect them!"

Luna left her accusations in the air for several tense, awkward, seconds. None dared to reply, and they all stared up at her, measuring their breaths and blinks to avoid even the tiniest probability of calling attention to themselves. Celestia watched them, keeping a firm glare on her face even though what she wanted to do- more than anything- was just give them each a hug. She knew she couldn't however, their soldiers had indeed failed them- badly.

"This bloody failure is why I have brought you here today, and it is why you have been marching for the entire last seven days. I have chosen to give you a chance to redeem your lost souls. Your failure will drive you, and I will remind you of it daily until you reclaim your honor. You will drill with me, day in, and day out. You will practice, you will train. You will be the first century of a new system," she proclaimed, and her eyes glimmered for a moment as she grinned widely.

"A system under me. You will serve us both, but I will give your orders, and you will report to me directly. You will be as my sword, and I will use you just as readily- and cast you aside if you prove to be dull just as easily. Now leave us, and collect only your uniforms. You are to march to the old bandit camp, and I will meet you there."

Luna pivoted, giving them her back, and they all quickly saluted before departing- rather hastily. Celestia kept her pokerface on until the group had left, and then exhaled a breath as she relaxed into a slouch.

"Did you..." she gasped, and wished she had paid more attention to her abdominals "... have to be so hard on them?"

Luna nodded. "I require nothing less than to crush their souls into dust, so that I might make a stronger whole. These will cease to be ponies, sister- they will be soldiers. We have coddled our armed forces for too long, we need true warriors now if we are to unite Equestria again."

Celestia herself frowned, and looked down at her sister disconcertingly. "I... I understand, Luna- it just seems so... dark. I thought we were above this sort of thing, but..."

An image shot through her mind, of the horrible scene from a few weeks previous. Those... innocent ponies, dead...

Luna was quick with her thrust. "Remember those that died, Celestia- under our care. This is the only way to prevent it from happening again,"

Celestia was beaten, and sighed. "Very well, but what of Excavo?" she asked.

It had been Excavo's father that had departed that night- and while he had been on watch as well- he had been seperate from punishment for obvious reasons.

"I leave him to you, sister. He is more broken than it is within my strength to repair," Luna replied, and pivoted again, glancing back as she strode off.

"I believe Starswirl will know where he is. For now, I have business to attend to," Luna stated, and then flapped into the air, setting off for parts unknown.

Celestia found herself alone in the room now, and the dark shadow Luna had cast over the tall windows etched into the stone walls of it slowly dissipated, letting in the natural sunlight of an early-afternoon. It did nothing for her mood though, and she frowned when the doors closed.

Silence.

Celestia stood, and slowly glanced around the room. Tapestries hung from the wall behind her and along the walls, displaying both her and her sisters cutie marks. This was her new throne room, complete with throne itself... and yet it seemed so hollow at the moment. Ponies had died and they had only been trying to rebuild Equestria for less than a month- how much more blood would it take? She had expected the world to greet her with open arms, and instead an evil force thrust daggers at her.

The alicorn trotted to her throne, and ran her hooves along it. It was larger than most would suspect, and that was mostly due to how large Celestia herself was. Beside it was Luna's, a smaller throne- but given an equal position in the room itself. Celestia took her seat, feeling oddly small as she sat in that enlarged seat. She felt as if all the eyes of the world- even if she was alone- were peering at her, judging her for even the smallest of actions.

Today too was supposed to be a good day- the meeting of the mayors had finally arrived, and they were expected shortly before sundown. Instead the bolstered guard and security measures were a constant reminder that somepony was out to get them, and it was not a feeling that put her at ease.

Celestia took a deep breath, and forced herself to smile. She decided to take it one day at a time, and for now- she had an important meeting to plan for. The doors at the far end of the hall opened magically, and a guard peeked his head in.

"Find Starswirl, bring him here."

It did not take Princess Luna long to arrive at the abandoned camp that the bandits had used. Captain Hurricane had been converting it into an outpost for further scouting north, but recent events had put that project on hold. So for now it was abandoned, and only a few crates left over from the workers were any evidence of life here. Indeed, there was still blood on the ground in places.

It was a hellish place, with crumpled and half-burned buildings, tents, and a fair amount of corpses. Surrounded by withered and burned trees long since dead, it almost reminded her of Discord's time. The corpses that littered the place Luna would be putting to good use- and she became very thankful that her sister would not be watching. Her warriors would be able to train like none others had before...

For now she set up her own tent, her horn glowing brightly as she unfurled the sack she had brought with her. It was a large tent, with dark purple cloth that seemed to absorb the sunlight, and left the insides as dark as midnight even in the middle of the day. Which was perfect, since she would be taking a short nap until the troop arrived.

Luna set a few basic alarm spells around the tent, and then stepped back, smirking slightly. This was perhaps exactly what those who feared her thought of her- here she was, surrounded by the dead, and so unfazed by it she was going to take a nap.

Indeed, she sparked her horn and shot two bandit corpses within sight with bolts of blue magic, watching with a dark glee as they stumbled to their hooves, blessed with purity of mind and a will not of their own. They marched to the entrance of her tent, and stood at attention there.

Luna passed by them and entered, leaving her 'guard' to their duty. She then hung her armour up on the rack, and flopped upon her bed. Her tent was surprisingly large inside, and as a matter of fact contained an exact replica of her room in the Everfree, magically contained. Starswirl had explained it with some long diatribe involving dimensions.

Luna hadn't cared, and had fallen asleep without a single thought towards how this was- only that it was, and that it was warm and comfortable.

Celestia's decree, as easy as it may have sounded, required considerable effort on behalf of that guard to undertake. He was busy with some "breathrough" and it was only through the guards repeated insistance that refusal was treason- and that treason meant arrest, and that arrest meant no more books- did he come. He came grumpily, and frowned at Celestia as he was more or less pushed into the throne room.

"Your Highness!" he declared, bowing absurdly low to the grounnd. "What do I owe this... magnificently well timed interruption to?"

Celestia blinked, and for a moment she fumed. Starswirl was no fool however, and realised he was playing with fire- partially thanks to the wisp of flame that fluttered off Celestia's mane as she scowled at him from her high throne.

"I... er..." he stammered, trying to backpeddle without actually apologizing. "I... have made a breathrough!" he exclaimed, and looked up at her hopefully.

Celestia tilted a brow. "Is that why it took a full hour for you to walk the short distance here? What under my sun could be so important?"

Starswirl blinked this time, her wording was not lost on him. "I... have, ah... discovered the secret to friendship."

"Friendship?"

"Yes, exactly!" Starswirl repeated, and his voice slid into the almost-manic ranting of an academic with a thesis. "I believe it's the key to... well, almost everything. There's a magic to it when ponies, err... are friendly. That is what Discord broke."

"Discord broke the world, Starswirl- he did a lot more than make a few ponies sour with eachother."

"But that's where your wrong! It didn't matter until they were... 'soured', as you put it. it was repairable, any terror was defeatable with the three tribes together! He knew that, which is why he ignored the unicorns for so long- leaving the other tribes to envy their peace. Apart we were broken, and the world follows."

Celestia was silent, and he continued. "Together we are... powerful? That doesn't seem the right word... regardless, I need more research!"

He then blinked, and pointed at Celestia. "You! You're the key, you and Luna!"

Celestia couldn't peak her brow more if she tried.

"Alicorns! They are... you are... all three races. If... if we could all be alicorns..."

Celestia glared at him. "This was an honor bestowed on us- and /only/ us- for a reason, Starswirl. I don't know the reason, but you had best not meddle in magicks beyond your power."

Starswirl nodded- but Celestia could see he was beyond stopping now. She sighed, "Two things, before I let you leave." she said, and lifted him up in a golden field.

"First, do not complete any magic before I see it. You may be older, but you are like a filly in a candy store with magic- and I won't have you destroy the world just to see what happens."

Starswirl nodded, his aged face darting up and down like said filly.

"Secondly, where is Excavo?"

That question he didn't expect, and he tilted his head. "He is... uh, in his quarters... probably."

"Probably?"

Starswirl shrugged. "He demanded everything I had on the martial arts, and after I err... tried to explain how he was ehh... a little short..."

"You... you what?"

Celestia squinted at him, and he swallowed. "I didn't want him to get hurt, he's no warrior!"

Celestia's squinting increased in intensity and that little sphere got a little warmer.

"I gave him the books and he left, rambling about how... uhh... "every army needs a general"

Celestia dropped him- from around five feet, with the stallion getting the breath knocked out of him when he landed. He recovered surprisingly quick, and teleported himself straight into the hall. The guard, surprised by this, peaked in. Celestia shook her head, and he sheathed his sword.

"Every army needs a general..." Celestia repeated to herself, musing on what it might mean.

Celestia was quickly distracted from this by Captain Hurricane, who had come into the hall with two soldiers at his side- Horses, in fact.

"The first representative is here, your Highness," Hurricane said, and bowed. The horses did as well, and Celestia noted their respect.

"Thank you, has he been led to the state room?" Celestia asked.

"He has, and he has brought a gift- although he insists he give it to you in person."

Celestia smiled, "Good. I will arrive once the mayor of White Tail has come. Have any others followed our invitation?"

Hurricane nodded. "Two ponies, claiming to represent Damford and Oatsville. They are named.. Speakeasy and Vlaanderen."

Celestia tilted her head slightly as she nodded again. "Good, I had hoped somepony would care to come. You are dismissed, Hurricane."

Hurricane bowed again, and about-faced smartly as he marched off. Celestia couldn't help but eye his rear...

Luna was awoken by the gentle physical proding of her own magic, as her spell outside the tent was breached. She yawned, and found herself quite well rested by her quick nap- for now, anyway- as she reached for her armour and began to dress herself again. The gentle chatter of a few dozen ponies could be heard outside, and as of yet none had been brave enough to stick their heads into the tent.

When she strode out of it, so boldly and so quickly, they drew back almost in fear. She drew her sword and held it out, leveling it at the neck of the soldier nearest to her.

"Did you know this was my tent?" Luna asked.

He swallowed- which caused a small cut on his neck- and then grimaced as he answered. "Y-yes."

"Then why did you not attack these undead outside?"

He blinked. "I... I thought they were yours."

Luna sheathed her sword and laughed. "Thought they were mine? You thought I would require these... necrotic abominations to protect myself?"

His poker face was exceptional, Luna noted, as he stood there stone still. She drew her sword again, and this time pivoted around as she drew it out in a long arc that ended with it buried in the undead bandit to the left of her tent. With the weak magics holding it together pierced, it collapsed like a rag doll.

"Then you are both mistaken of how powerful I am, and to doubting of yourselves," she continued, and flicked the sword around as it slid out of that corpse, burying it in the other and allowing it to lay there for now as she pivoted back to the troop.

"When I am done with you, you will obey me even more than these creatures. My sister and I will be your will, and you will ensure that we may sleep peacefully under your watch."

She pulled her sword back out magically, and cleaned it against the grass.

"Or you will die."

"..you wouldn't," one of them- Luna wasn't sure who, piped up.

"I wouldn't?" Luna fumed, glancing over the group for the source. "You failed us, you have proven yourselves less worthy of my respect than these... things. These things did as I commanded them, they fulfilled their duty! You slept during your shifts, and allowed innocent lives to be ended under your watch. Each and all of your lives are forfeit, but I want more from your bodies than a simple execution. You are dead, all of you- you died two weeks ago!" she continued, and enjoyed the way their faced were downcast, staring towards the dirt. She did not allow this, and her magic gripped them all one by one and forced them to look up into her eyes.

"Yet I give you this chance to redeem yourselves! Follow me, do as I say, and push yourselves. Do not allow the pain of a dead body to slow you, and allow no thoughts of a death that has already come to scare you. Your sole purpose in this world, for as long as I will- is to kill for me."

She then released them, and grinned as their eyes continued to lay upon her.

"Am I clear?"

They opened their mouths as one being, and spoke quietly, a hushed sigh almost. "Yes, Luna," they stated simply.

Luna grinned. This, this was true power. These ponies very beings were putty for her to meld, and she would create an army of unquestionable loyalty. Equestria would be theirs, and any that got in the way... would meet her sword.