Late Afternoon/Early Evening
April 2nd, 71 BNM
Baltimare, Trumane Residence
Main Hall

The party had ended, a mixed bag of celebration/commiseration to appropriately mark the one-day siege of Tartarus the day before.
“A shame by what is heard, but it was foolish to dismiss the Royalists as unskilled rabble. They clearly have a great many secrets and new weapons, ones our own are quickly working to counter, or co-opt for Nationalist use.”
“And I expect no less than absolute commitment to these new developments, especially from you Lord Gauntfell.”
At Lady Trumane’s compliment, the tall light green Unicorn gave a wry smile before he admitted: “Well, my family’s forges didn’t make its wealth off not competing after all.”
The pale yellow Alicorn mare looked deeply into the male Unicorn’s deep blue eyes, as she gave a small, almost dreamy smile before admitting to him:
“Well, it is always a pleasure to see you Gauntfell. There are few ponies who have such manners and charm I’ve seen from you.”
“Thank you my lady. And give your husband my regards.”
As Gauntfell’s deep blue eyes seemed to twinkle, Lady Trumane’s own twinkled a similar blue before she flat out lied casually: “I shall.”

From a balcony further back, the marble white figure of Lord Trumane stared at his wife bidding the Unicorn, Lord Gauntfell, off for the night from the departing arty guests.
And as she let Gauntfell politely kiss her forehoof, she was rather ‘allowing’ in hos far up her hoof he repeatedly pecked her. He only stopped as he got within a foot of her torso, before politely waving and setting off.
The glass in Lord Trumane’s magical grip cracked apart, as he turned to head to his chambers.
Passing a servant, he said warningly:
“Tell my wife I had a matter suddenly come up regarding the Baltimare garrison’s leadership, and I won’t be back until tomorrow.”

Unseen by all of them, as Lord ‘Gauntfell’ turned to leave, he flicked his form when out of sight to morph into a light green Pegasus mare, dark blue magic hued over her body as she did so.
The real Lord Gauntfell, whenever he visited the Trumanes, was kidnapped and mind erased of his visit. He remembered his trip as uneventful, when his guise was used to drive a wedge between the Trumanes’ marriage form one side.
And as she shifted her Pegasus form to her original pegasi form, its lithe, attractive figure for a Pegasus shaping itself, she set to work on a long standing piece of work that was Lord Trumane.
As she masqueraded as a charming stallion, and a sensual mare to each appropriately, her whisperings and magic seeded more doubt, stress, anxiety about the war and each other and their allies.
As she seduced them, she destroyed them.

Late Night
April 2nd, 71 BNM
Baltimare, Trumane Residence
Seperate bedrooms

Wrestling beneath the covers, the marble white Alicorn’s blue mane was dishevelled as he lay beside the light green Pegasus mare in bed with him, both somewhat tired after their evening in and outside this room.
“Must you leave tomorrow?”
“Family business. But do not worry my lord, I will undoubtedly miss you and your more untamed side while I am gone.”
Iena, under the guise of a court maiden mare known as Emeralda Brume, stroked the Lord Trumane’s blue mane with her hoof and wing, humouring him.
“You are a welcome pleasure to be with, certainly after the stumble in the war recently.”
“Shush, remember, there is no war when I am around my Lord.”
As her hoof rested on Lord Trumane’s lips, Teal’s wing tucked the covers further over themselves.
As she nestled closer to him under the bed however, her eyes glowed a dark blue like sapphires, as Trumane’s own eyes glinted the same colour also.
“Forget all those, pretenders, panderers, all those loyal only for their gain, or not loyal enough… just heed me and naught else…”
As she whispered pleasurable words beyond those into his ears, Teal’s voice hissed and echoed slightly in his almost drunken hearing. Her magic worked in his mind and soul, as she weakened his resolve with that most sacred of bonds to be had.
Not even his wife was in his thoughts that night, his somewhat too friendly wife…
All the while, the Being of Lust twisted him with wiles and her sensuality like putty in her hooves, or what she had as her true form.

Late Morning
Baltimare markets

The crowds were angry, and rightly so. Prices for food across the markets were going up in wake of these mysterious degrading of food stuffs.
No amount of salt or magical preservative, not even vaults, was keeping food supplies from vanishing across the city. Bakeries had half their supplies robbed overnight with no sign of break in, and entire grain silos had been drained in a single night over the past few weeks.
But unrest was rife, as what food there was got distributed across the garrison and nobility as priority.
And yet, behind these food shortages was a single culprit, one whose task, compared to others in his ‘ranks’, was both simple and something he could enjoy enough to tolerate the suffering he was causing.

Meanwhile
Baltimare outskirts

The outline of the city and its main castle fortifications was a mile from her on the hill, as Iena waited for Satio to catch up.
The pale green Pegasus stood on the road, waiting patiently as the second figure behind her slumped up after her.
An Orange Earth Pony, and a very fat one at that, slumped up the hill, while she walked over with a helpful smile on her face.
“Tired?”
“I have half a market’s worth of food in me still, I feel bloated.”
As the disguised Satio’s words left his wheezing mouth, Iena laughed lightly as Satio took his time.
“Look, we’ll find a clearing, you can properly absorb it all, and we’ll be on our way.”
“Any idea why Siral called us?”
“No, all I know is Gaudium’s changed, and Tartarus didn’t go exactly to plan.” Iena shrugged, while Satio’s disguised Earth pony body began to glow a slight orange as their section of road entered a more hidden part of the paths, nopony nearby to spot him.
His gelatinous form began to take shape, bloating outwards as Iena grimaced at the sight of the half-digested market and bread stockpiles inside him. She looked at Satio’s translucent, blobl like form now, remarking with a sardonic tone:
“I don’t think eating that many eggs from the bakery, raw eggs, was a smart choice.”
“They’ll be gone soon, and I can manage some queasiness.”
As Satio’s bloblike form ‘slithered’ next to Iena, as he saw her dark blue magic forming a shared teleport spell, Satio asked quietly:
“So, how were the Trumanes last night?”
“…She was a bore, and he has no stamina. Otherwise, they’re doing badly as Siral wants.”
Without another word, as her form also began to shift into a serpentine and two armed form, both Iena and Satio vanished, making the journey north west to the Citadel.

April 3rd, 71 BNM
Late Evening
Nokotaford, Royal Palace

2 days since the Battle of Tartarus, and all it entailed. 2 days of fretting over the future of Equestria. But it was not a loss as feared.
Tartarus still stood, and the Nationalist army and a dozen Stone Giants had been pushed back and beaten, at a high cost. For 4000 dead nationalists and 8 wrecked giants, 3000 army ponies, and a majority of the non-sub level garrisons at Tartarus has been lost. Across both sides, nearly 8,000 died in a single night.
But mourning aside, disregarding the loss of life, what transpired showed that options remained for the Royalists, as the Natioanlists too were on the verge of changing their approach.

Throne room

“Immediately. I want every Alicorn aligned with the Royalist cause to be in contact with me, and trained to use this new spellwork.”
“It will be time consuming to train them all, they also have their own commitments with their often high roles in-.”
“I am enacting a draft all Alicorns, their status be damned. That spell turned the tide at Tartarus, I see no reason to not use it to turn the tide as fast as possible, before the Nationalists find a way to use it themselves.”
“Surely they’d not know how your majesty, after all they were on the receiving end...”
“History shows catching up to new weapons takes much less effort than leading. Which is why I want every Alicorn aligned with me to know how to use this spellwork, no exceptions. If the Natioanlists have these new, creatures, then we must respond in greater kind with powerful individuals of our own. Now go, that will be all.”
The pony servant bowed his head low as he exited the throne room, while Queen Aurora merely looked at the last few letters she had to send. But as her eyes wandered, she saw the stain glass window that held the image of her late husband, King Nova.
In a rare bid of open sadness, Aurora remarked to his image:
“Our daughters are safe. I insisted they move to the Crystal Empire, out of the way of much of the war thus far and foreseeably. They did well, more then I wished them to risk themselves in doing so. But, they almost died to those, creatures, of whom were your killers, the destroyers of Canterlot’s grand castle. Please, Nova, any sign that I am doing the right thing would suffice.”
The stain glass image was silent, leaving Aurora to quietly stare at it, the pale queen in her black dress stood alone in the throne room.

Meanwhile
Late Evening
Nokotaford royal palace
Starswirl’s office

The Necromantium lay on the table between them, as Starswirl had the page opened to a very specific section, one which yielded a secret Chack had some uncertainty about.
“Stooping to Siral’s means?”
“There is no choice, for he made it necessary.”
“It is cowardly, even evil. The mind alone is sacred to the self, but the soul?”
Seeing Chack’s doubts, Starswirl angrily jabbed a hoof onto the table, drawn to the Necromantium book between them as he spoke:
“Siral means to control them all, using that strange 7th you fought as a catalyst, their leash holder so to speak. Once he begins, I will be ready.”
“I will turn the very soul of his latest abomination against him. His most loyal, brainwashed servant will be his undoing if I have any say in it.”
“If you succeed, you’ll kill that 7th.” Chack’s brief reply was far from enough to dissuade Starswirl.
“He is better off dead than a slave of Siral, as are the rest of them. Speaking to one of them that risked herself to inform me is enough to know that this ‘evil’ you decry me for considering is a mercy to them, and to Equestria.”
Chack looked away in deep thought, fondling the green sword he carried in its hilt, gifted of the ancient forest being, once the first ever Alicorn, Everfree.
As they had already discussed their own endeavours when separated, Stasrwirl pointed to the sword:
“But I thought you wouldn’t object to targeted killing of one of them, given your mission from, the forest.”
Chack stared at Starswirl for a moment, before replying bluntly:
“I never said I opposed it, just that it is cowardly and evil. But, War favours cowards and ruthless behaviour.”
Looking down, Starswirl mumbled to himself: “Cruel, just like you Chack.”
“Now, I have a question for you…”
Starswirl opened the page of the Necromantium to a new page, one that detailed spells to simply boost the spellbook’s own magical ‘reserves’ to make advanced magic easier on the user.
“How many have died by your old blade? There is a spell here, to draw power from those it has slain in battle.”
Chack stared at Starswirl, as the Salamander remarked with some of his usual blunt tone to it:
“You really have changed since we met, you would never have considered such methods before. But as you ask, my sword has felled at least a hundred in the civil war, and more before I even met you.”
“That’s all I needed to hear.”
At that instant, Chack’s old katana blade hovered slowly from his holster, glowing blue as it hovered in place over the Necromantium’s pages.
The katana’s blade began to glow a blood red colour, its ethereal light dripping off like a heavy fog as the Necromantium also began to glow a blood red.
Before him, Starswirl’s eyes turned a blood red, and then disturbingly they rolled into the top of his head to reveal only the whites of his eyes. A strange incantation began to emerge from his lips, as he spoke in a tone of voice that carried around the room like a dozen whispers at once, many of them not like Starswirl at all.
But on Chack’s person, Everfree’s weapon began to vibrate, and even shake, as the forest Alicorn spirit’s voice warned Chack:
This is not the way, there are alternatives.
Chack ignored it, as he reasoned that any help to kill at least one of the seven was welcomed. The news that one of them had come to warn Stasrwirl himself simply meant that ending it was a mercy to them all, despite the crimes some of them committed willingly in Siral’s will.

Author's Notes:

Starswirl’s delving into Necromancy will have some degree of influence in the initial events. Not as much as he’d like, but enough.