Though many ponies in Trixie’s band wanted to, they did not set fire to the camp as they left at first Low Light, the time of day when the sun was just rising over the horizon, the darker head of the moon hot on its heels. It did not give them much to see by, but no stable had lights in them, and ponies had long since grown used to the darkness. Trixie frowned deeply as she stood at the forefront of the caravan, scanning behind her. The stronger stallions, draft horse breeds from southern Equestria, volunteered to pull the captured battlewagons, two at the head of each. The weaker members of the bands, the pregnant and sickly mares mostly, rode inside, Caribou breech-loaders poking out of the firing slits. On the tops of the battlewagons sat Caribou Ferse-hoof guns, manned by those among the band that had once served in the Equestrian military. More Ferse-hooves, taken from the guard towers, were settled on the rear of the wagons, to provide two fields of overwhelming defensive fire. They settled Trixie’s mind, but only a little.

Just over three thousand ponies. That was all that remained of her once prosperous people. By the time they reached the embattled walls of the Crystal Empire, how many would remain? A thousand? Fewer? Could Trixie work so hard, just to see her people die out over a generation? The young alicorn scowled, banishing the dark thoughts. Her people would not die out. If the Crystal Ponies still lived, then a survivable gene stock would be open to them. She just had to reach it.

“Lady Trixie?”

The speaker was an older batpony mare, her shimmering green mane trimmed down into a pagecolt cut, body wrapped in a makeshift leather barding. Just judging the look of her eyes, and the set of her jaw, Trixie could put her back in the old Night Guard. With a spread of her wings, the batpony bowed.

“Knight Errant Moonshimmer, at your service,” she told her softly, eyes on the ground, “The caravan is ready to move, at your word.”

A sky-blue hoof gently lifted the surprised mare’s chin, and Trixie smiled faintly.

“Just Trixie is fine,” she replied warmly, “And thank you, Knight. We had best be moving on, before the Caribou find out what happened.”

Trixie was about to turn back towards the front, but blinked when Moonshimmer stayed bowed, biting her lip thoughtfully.

“Yes?”

“My la- Trixie… um… w-what… what did happen? How did you do all that magic? W-were you channelling an Element?”

The showmare’s eyes closed for a moment, a sigh building and releasing like a steam engine.

“To… some extent. Perhaps… a new element. Freedom, I believe.”

And Vengeance.
************************************

“You’re nothing but monsters!”

Rage ripped through Twilight’s mind for the faintest of instants- a mad, burning hatred- but cold logic crushed it before it could take flame. She had expected this. Soon after the last of the Blood Forest had been resurrected, Applebloom and Scootaloo had returned to the colony of living ponies they had protected and fought for over the years. Over a thousand ponies, refugees of the war who had managed to escape the bombs and the Caribou long enough to entomb themselves in the depths of Canterlotian mountains, eking out the best living they could among the cold stones. Standing before Twilight and her friends in the Canterlot throne room was a delegation of these survivors: mostly Earth Ponies and unicorns, dressed in noble bardings and robes, preserved through the years for such an occasion as this.

Their spokesmare was a well-groomed unicorn of light green hue, her mane a long, shimmering veil of silver, named Purity. Her noble barding held the badges of the Office of Bloodline Purity, an old bureaucratic office that had checked all noble houses for pure noble blood. It was not an office that any of the Princesses had enjoyed having, but law had kept it safe from disbandment. The second Twilight saw the badge, she knew the meeting would not go well. And it wasn’t. All the Earth Ponies, Purity, and two of the ten unicorns, had taken out large medallions of a shining sun, the symbol of the Church Of Celestial Light. Two had been whispering prayers against undeath since they had walked into the throne room, just loud enough to make the crowd around them bristle.

“How could you do this, Princess Sparkle?” Purity snapped with the tone of one who had seldom encountered authority above them, “You used forbidden magic! Necromancy is forbidden!”

“Hey, she brought us back from… nothing!” Rainbow Dash snapped angrily, raising up out of her chair.

There hadn’t been time to get them proper thrones, but Twilight would not sit on the throne without her best friends around her. Rarity and Fluttershy occupied Luna’s and Twilight’s old thrones respectively; both had hard gazes focused on Purity. Indeed, most of Twilight’s friends seemed… colder now, when angry. Not that their passion was gone, by any means. Twilight’s magical sight was on at all times now, and she could easily see the anger boiling underneath their calm exteriors.

“Suffer not the undead to continue,” Purity smugly replied, quoting from the Book of Celestia, the holy book of that faith.

“For they have not the mind of their bearer, and their souls suffer in their imprisonment.”

Twilight spread her red-tinged feathers wide, gazing down at Purity with something akin to contempt.

“If you’re going to quote passages, quote all of it, in context,” she snapped back before Purity could reply, “Love Necromancy was never forbidden, because it was an unproven theory until I perfected it. As you can see, all those ponies have brought back retain their minds, and their souls are uncorrupted.”

Ears flattening, Purity scowled a bit as she gazed around at the hostile gazes of the crowd. Slowly, she stepped back among her group, dismayed as a few moved to stand away from her. Banishing the smugness before it could gain any ground in her voice, Twilight let her eyes swing up, peering over the crowd.

“I called this Court together today to discuss the state of affairs in Equestria,” she intoned, letting her magic rise just enough to amplify her voice, “For they must change.”

“The Equestria we know… is dead. It died the day the bombs fell, and the Caribou invaded. It died the day our cities burned, the day our Princesses were… were locked away.”

Twilight gulped thickly, swallowing her emotions. She knew this would be difficult, but dammit, she had to see it through. Horn glowing brightly, a large scroll floated up in front of her eyes, dust trailing away during its flight. On the edge of her vision, Twilight watched several of her new scholars brighten and watch it wide-eyed. Crinkling with age, the paper slowly flowed down, Twilight’s magic protecting the aged parchment from the damaging air.

“It is for that reason,” she went on, determined to keep her voice firm, “That I must abolish the late Equestrian Senate, and the Articles of Binding against the Princesses.”

Rarity and Sweetie Belle’s horn were glowing before Purity could rise to her full outrage, silencing her scream with twin spells. The sisters exchanged acknowledging smiles, while Twilight inwardly sighed in relief. This was already hard enough, without that opening her big mouth. Dozens of ponies in the crowd were murmuring, some in puzzlement, others in slight fear. A cream hoof slowly raised into the air, and Twilight acknowledged it with a tilt of her head.

“What… what is happening then, Princess?” the two-toned mare asked slowly, red eyes wide, “Is Equestria… gone?”

Twilight smiled at that. Perfect question.

“No, my little pony,” she replied firmly, standing taller on her dais, “Equestria is not gone. It died… but then, so did most of you, right?”

She grinned softly at the faint chuckles and nods the remark brought, and pressed on quickly, “I am raising forth the Equestria of our forefathers. In the old days of the formation, Equestria was a grand empire. The princesses led our armies into battle, bringing Sombra to heel, defending our borders from minotaurs and griffons, and bringing the rebel pony lords back into the fold. We were united, in purpose and common belief. The utopia they brought about was our reward… and unfortunately, that has been stolen from us. So we must-”

A snarl rose up among a pop of magic, and Rarity and Sweetie Belle both winced at the backlash, hooves raising to their horns. Purity was obviously crafty, and it made Twilight pause, scowling faintly.

“Are you insane?!” Purity roared, stamping a hoof on the cracked marble floors, “The Equestrian Empire? Ponies died to end that! Nightmare Moon-”

“Is gone,” Twilight replied coldly, “And is not coming back. We must stand united-”

“Kowtowing to you?”

“Alright, that’s enough!”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash moved as one, leaping down from their places on the dais, red eyes glaring balefully at the loudmouthed unicorn as they stalked towards her. Blades sang through air as guards turned to follow them, and the atmosphere crackled with tension and magic.

“Ya’ll best give Twilight here the respect she deserves,” Applejack spat, a new stetson pulled down over her eyes, “After all she went through…”

“She’s talking about bringing Equestria back, you dolt!” Rainbow added roughly, wings spreading threateningly, “How can we even have the stupid Senate, with most of Equestria still dead? We have a couple thousand undead ponies, about two hundred living, just trying to hold on right now! Let our Princess do what she has to do, in peace!”

As her best friends in the world confronted the fuming mare, Twilight quickly turned back to her subjects. She wasn’t yet finished.

“In this time of reformation, the boundaries of Equestria must be reformed as well, and it is in that purpose that I hereby resume the practice of demesne-splitting along the ancient lines of power, as were the old days. Aristocratic land ownership will be held, as will all House statuses. Does the House of Scratch have a representative here today?”

Of course, Twilight already knew the answer. She had done her research in the old House sections of the Royal Library, and made sure to get a list, and talk to, each family and individual that she would announce during this Court. Some had been stunned, others frightened, and others… elated.

“They do, Princess.”

The unicorn mare was taller than most, with graceful proportions like those of the charcoal Earth pony mare that followed close beside her. Her electric blue mane was brushed down and slicked behind her head, and her tail slowly waved with nervous energy. To the shock of some, where her front legs normally would be, only red Love Necromantic energy remained, gleaming in the torchlight of the Court. Both mares bowed low to Twilight, with the charcoal-coated mare staying bowed as Twilight bid the white mare to rise. Vinyl Scratch had been a major musical sensation in her time, as had her wife, Octavia Philharmonica, now Scratch. Amongst the crowd, stunned whispers had begun to break out.

“Vinyl Scratch, Octavia Scratch,” Twilight went on, smiling softly down at the determined mares, “You stand before me, representing the House of Scratch. It is therefore that I return to you the demesne of Trotsylvania, and your land claim by marriage of Manehatten. This demesne includes the city of Bitrun, and the villages of Gallop, Mine-run, and the batpony colony of Screech. Your claim of Manehatten gives you ownership of the city, and all its suburbs and cloud facilities. As your Princess… no, as your Empress, I charge you, upon their retaking, will you watch over your demesne with respect and responsibility?”

With a fanged smile that made many in the crowd shiver despite themselves, Vinyl Scratch bowed her head once more.

“We do, Empress Twilight Sparkle.”

And here we go.

With a slow breath, Twilight lowered the scroll from her eyes, gazing out at the wide eyes of her ponies.

“Then rise, Vinyl Scratch, Countess of Trotsylvania. Rise, Octavia Scratch, Countess of Manehatten.”

Author's Notes:

I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but it needed to be put out for... reasons. :D