At first Twilight had no idea what Luna made of the two glaives that she'd been presented with. She stared at them like she had no idea what they were, and Twilight felt a stab of disappointment that she might have offended Luna by daring to imitate her previous weapons. Then Luna had picked them up and cradled the blades in her magic like a pair of new-borns, her lips trembling with an emotion filled smile.

"They're beautiful."

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, glad that her gift hadn't offended Luna, or been rejected outright. She felt her own smile growing as Luna hefted the weapons, testing their weight and balance.

"Almost perfectly balanced," Luna said in wonderment, causing Twilight to fall into a frown.

"What do you mean by almost? I worked them out perfectly."

Luna winked at Twilight, "Gotcha. So it is you that designed these then?"

Twilight rolled her eyes, "Yeah, you got me. You always seem so lost without Artemis and Apollo, so I thought I'd design a new pair for you, and get them made. I know they aren't your old glaives, but I hope they're okay?"

"No, they aren't my old glaives. Artemis and Apollo will always have a special place in my heart because I had a hoof in making them myself, and enchanted them with my sister."

"Oh," Twilight said, going back to feeling like Luna was disappointed.

"These are special in a different way, designed especially for me by a very good friend, to bear into the battle to free Equestria. I'm already having some ideas on what I can do to improve the enchanting process, and I'll need yours, Cadence's, and Nightmare's help. Faust won't be breaking these."

Twilight brightened up again, but remained wary of her feelings flopping back and forth this time. "I'd be happy to help, and I'm sure the others will too. Do you have any ideas on what you'll call them?"

Luna held the blades by her sides, again testing their weight in her magic. They were completely identical, so she gave the left one a nick on the back of the blade to identify it as the left weapon. She knew it made no difference really, but she felt better that way, and it was easier to remember which was which for naming purposes.

"I think I do. Selene, and Nocturne. May they be as feared by our enemies as Artemis and Apollo were."

"Eh, I wouldn't go that far," Twilight laughed. "But you do like them?"

"Very much so, Twilight, thank you. I dare say these are already superior to my previous weapons for not having been made or enchanted by an amateurish yet enthusiastic young alicorn. The balancing of these says that much alone."

"Well, good, I'm glad you like them. I did originally have some romantic plan of finding the shards of your old weapons and reforging them, but quickly abandoned it due to how impossible it was."

"I doubt they would've turned out anywhere near as well as these did, so worry not." Luna spun the blades around her, giving them one last grin before returning them to the crate. "I almost feel like cancelling this whole event just so I can enchant them."

Twilight laughed once, "Probably not a good idea. I'm glad that I at least got to give them to you now. I was worried they wouldn't be ready in time for Amira to deliver them."

"Amira brought these? So they're made from Saddle Arabian steel, hmm?" Luna nodded with approval, "Very nice. When we're done enchanting them, these blades could survive within the heart of the sun."

"Hyperbole, but it's nice you think they'll be strong enough to survive at least survive a fight with Faust. Anyway, uh, if you want ours, and specifically Cadence's help to do that, we're going to need to find her."

"You haven't seen her?"

Twilight shook her head, "Not since last night, when she went to talk to... oh dear. Chrysalis wouldn't have, would she?"

"Hers will be the first blood these blades taste if she has," Luna promised, brushing past Twilight as she marched towards Chrysalis' tent. She threw open the flap with a dramatic flair, and stormed inside ready to yell when what she saw made her stop. Changelings were spread about sleeping on the floor, surrounding a bed upon which a fat bellied Chrysalis was spooning an uncomfortable looking Cadence, who was wide awake, and had been all night.

"This isn't what it looks like," Cadence said quickly. "Unless, of course, I do look like a walking, talking, snack buffet, in which case this is exactly what it looks like."

"Good grief."

Twilight pushed past Luna, her eyes wide with shock, and some betrayal. "Cadence! Did you- Did you... you know..."
"What? No!" Cadence said quickly, figuring out what Twilight was getting at. "I would never cheat on Shining! Especially not with Chrysalis, and especially not with mine and Shining's daughter in the room! And again I reiterate, not with Chrysalis!"

Twilight turned her head to see Flurry's crib in the corner, the foal herself still sleeping peacefully within. "Then what are you doing here?"

"Paying the price for Chrysalis to use her skill as an empath to see if our allies are being honest about their intentions. I wasn't having sex with her! I mean, ew!"

"Aww, but Cady, you and I could have such wonderful babies together after I lay a few dozen eggs inside you."

Cadence closed her eyes and shuddered as Chrysalis grinned at her. "My name is Cadence, and I already know that's not how you reproduce."

"You think that, but I have quite a variety of ways to reproduce. The problem is usually with finding a willing host that won't kill themself or try to cut the eggs out the moment they find out what's inside them."

Cadence pushed Chrysalis' leg off her and stood up to release a full body shudder. "Now you're just being absurd. And disgusting."

Chrysalis rolled onto her back and scratched her protruding belly. "Keep telling yourself that. Besides, reproducing with an alicorn is probably a terrible idea."

"So is reproducing with anyone, according to what Primus said about you," said Twilight. The hiss that name drew out of Chrysalis was more than worth it.

"I just had a wonderful night, so I would be most grateful if you could not ruin today so soon." Chrysalis rolled back onto her front and stood up into a stretch that lasted several seconds. "I take it that we're due to start this silly little meeting then?" she asked, smacking her lips with satisfaction.

"We'll be heading into the city soon," Luna said evenly. "Hopefully the importance of it won't pass you by without being noticed."

"Yes, yes, very important," Chrysalis scoffed, rolling her eyes before stepping down off the bed, her belly swinging disconcertingly. "Oof, clearly I need to lay off the late night snacks."

"I need a drink," Cadence muttered as she picked up Flurry, crib and all, departing without a second look.

"Do not make a habit of doing that," Luna said coldly once Cadence was gone. "We did not agree to anything just for you to use Cadence as a smorgasbord."

"Oh Luna, always so serious. I love that about you." She walked out of the tent, playfully flicking her tail at the two alicorns as she went.

Both Luna and Twilight watched Chrysalis leave, her changelings following after her a few seconds later. Neither of them knew what to make of what they'd just seen, and were tempted to forget it all if they could. They were fairly certain Cadence probably wanted to. That said, this bizarre situation did allow Twilight to make an observation.

"She didn't use our titles, and seemed nicer than usual. I wonder if that's due to being packed full of love? Maybe Cadence was onto something doing this."

"Whether she was or not doesn't matter, Cadence is not here as changeling food. If Chrysalis does that again, words will be had, and I doubt she will care for my method of delivering them."

Twilight stopped Luna as the blue alicorn went to leave, "Look, I'm no fan of Chrysalis myself, but we can't go around threatening her all the time. We need her, or at least her army, if we're going to pull this off. Unless she does something really terrible, I think we're going to have to give her a little breathing room to be herself."

"At the expense of Cadence?"

"If Cadence had refused, or tried to put up a fight, I'm sure we would have noticed. Last night was clearly willing, even if it wasn't something she really wanted to do."

Luna made a face after Chrysalis, then followed Cadence with her eyes as she entered the Equestrian tent to presumably get Flurry ready for the day. She knew Twilight was right, and damn it annoyed her.

"Fine, but you should know that Chrysalis is going to try and toe the line, no matter where you put it. We still need to be careful."

Twilight agreed, and nodded at Luna, but reserved her eye roll for when she was alone. Of course they needed to be careful with Chrysalis, but unfortunately that didn't really get to be a priority until Equestria was out of Faust's hooves.

"Good morning everyone," Twilight said politely to the various beings that had gathered in the middle of the compound. The Emperor, Grand Vizier, and Changeling Queen were all waiting both patiently and impatiently, for something to happen. They stood in little clusters with their guards stood to attention around them. Twilight wanted to call it a step back from the previous night, but wisely kept it to herself.

"Good morning," Amira said, while the Emperor gave her a nod. Chrysalis merely rolled her eyes, uninterested in exchanging pleasantries with any of them. "Are we almost ready to go?"

"Almost," Twilight replied. "Cadence is taking care of her foal, and Luna is fetching the Council. Once we're all here we can get moving."

"I still don't see why we couldn't hold the meeting here?" said Chrysalis. "What's so important about having it where you want to?"

"Because we feel you all need to see what Faust did here."

"I've already seen it." Chrysalis snorted dismissively, "An impressive piece of destruction, but I don't see it as anything more than that."

"So if that happened to your hive you wouldn't be bothered?"

"I'd either repair it, or make a new one. I'd hardly lament its loss too much. In fact there are some parts I'd happily be rid of."

"I am curious how Faust did it," the Emperor said, interrupting the both of them before it could turn nasty. "I saw the damage from the air, but I don't think I could comprehend half of what I was seeing."

"We'll explain what we can along the way, but the truth is that we have little more than conjecture to explain it with. We think we know how it works, and we think that it has limits, but where it can work..." Twilight shrugged, "you'll see for yourself. Bear in mind that what happened here wasn't able to explode at full power. If it had, there wouldn't be any city left."

Amira stared at Twilight with shocked disbelief, "And that's supposed to make us feel better?"

Twilight shrugged, "As I said, there might be limits, and I was able to reduce the power of the explosion by a significant degree on my own. If I'd had help we might've been able to stop it altogether. Now please, keep hold of your questions until we're under way."

It was a few more minutes until the rest arrived, with Cadence looking more than a little tired after her sleepless night. She eyed Chrysalis for a moment, then stood next to Twilight and remained silent for the time being. Luna arrived shortly afterwards with the three members of the Council chosen to participate in this event.

"Is everything in order?" she asked Twilight, who confirmed that it more or less was, although she didn't really know to be honest. Was there an order to this procession? Was she supposed to make one? Someone should have told her if she was.
Thankfully it seemed as though the order of things had already been decided as the princesses, the Emperor, Amira, Chrysalis, and the Council grouped up in the front, while their guards lined up behind them. The idea might've been that they walked as equals, but Twilight suspected that more than one individual there didn't agree with that.

They soon left the compound and made their way to the city boundary where Mistress' Tazama and Mjuzi were waiting. They led the way, with tactfully placed soldiers clearing the streets, and blocking side entrances to ensure a smooth journey through the city.

"I'm seeing a lot of blast marks on the buildings," Chrysalis observed as they went deeper into the city. "Their Adepts must have some terrible aim."

"They're better in open spaces," said Luna. "In fact, I'd say they're deadly in open spaces. In narrow streets fighting zebras wearing the same stuff you are, they're far less effective."

"But what about the rest of the burns?" Amira asked. "It seems as though parts of the city were on fire."

"That's because they were."

"The Mareitanians set the city on fire?"

Luna shook her head. "That was the work of Celestia," she said slowly, like she didn't want to say it at all. "Whatever Faust did to her to make her loyal has made her... unwell."

Chrysalis chortled happily, and for a moment it seemed like Luna was going to retaliate. "So you're telling me that poor, soft, Celestia has cracked and become a raging murderess? That is simply delicious."

"Don't write her off so soon," Luna warned. "I have a plan that I hope will bring her back."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then I will make a new plan," Luna said plainly. "And if that fails, I'll make another plan, and another, and another, until I find one that works."

"Oh please, you're just saying that because you can't put her out of her misery like the sad old dog she is."

"You may wish to watch your tongue," Luna said coldly. "It would be unfortunate if something were to-"

Twilight sharply elbowed Luna, making her stop. Not that she disagreed that Chrysalis was going too far, but there couldn't be any threats here, not in front of others still questioning what they were getting into if they signed up. Chrysalis wasn't helping in that regard either, but such things should be expected from her.

"Please behave yourself," Cadence said as Chrysalis chortled to herself over a victory that lay entirely inside her own head. "Antagonise us a little if you want, but at least put some thought into it."

Chrysalis quickly stopped laughing as she saw the insult in that, and was about to give her retort when the look in Cadence's eye made her stop. The promise of free food was a terrible thing to have to give up over a few oversensitive ponies with easily hurt feelings. The cold realisation that she was being manipulated through her appetite was even worse, but the full feeling in her belly nullified it a bit.

After a while they passed the edge of where the portal had destroyed, with the buildings getting more and more ruined the further they went in, until they were little more than lopsided heaps of rubble.

Hergest whistled through his beak, showing more through that sound than anything he could have said. The Council were quiet as they walked, their heads bowed, while Amira looked around with horror. To the surprise of none of them there, Chrysalis was grinning.

"Enough dancing around the issue," Hergest said as he tried to take it all in, "what caused this?"

"A portal bomb. It's..." Twilight went quiet as she tried to work out the best way to explain it. "It's a highly unstable and uncontrolled portal that when left to its own devices draws in every scrap of magic it can before eventually collapsing and expelling all that magic into a violent explosion capable of destroying cities."

"That's- Oh."

"That's all we can say for certain though. Faust, being as old as she is, and absent for a long time, uses some very old forms of magic that we don't even recognise, and has a tendency to overcompensate on weak spells by using her immense power to force them to work."

"So only she could conjure a portal like that?"

Twilight nodded, "As far as we can tell."

"That's a relief."

Twilight didn't know why that was such a relief to the Emperor, but suspected that it might be because he didn't like the idea of the princesses, and Equestria, having access to spells capable of such destruction. Armies meant little against that kind of power, and for the country with the biggest army that had to be concerning.

"To add to your relief," Twilight continued, "we currently think that there are limitations to where Faust can create these portals. Firstly we think she needs a unicorn to create an anchor point to create the portal, so if there's no pony that can do that, no portal. We also think that to feed the portal enough magic to even function, let alone feed, the portal has to be conjured on or near a ley line."

"And there's a ley line here?" Amira asked.

"It runs just past the city. As far as we've been able to work out, Ammare and the Eyrie are safe since there aren't any ley lines close enough. Unfortunately for you, Chrysalis, your hive is built right on one."

"I'm aware," Chrysalis said dismissively. "It powers the Font of Queens, which I'm sure you're aware I can happily live without. Besides, good luck to any pony getting in to create that anchor point."

Luna shook her head at Chrysalis, "What makes you think they'd need to be inside to destroy your hive? One of those portals outside it would be enough."

Chrysalis grunted, and said nothing more. None of them did for a moment as they let it all sink in. Twilight started to count down from ten in her head as she waited for the next question she thought might come, and only got to four before Amira asked it.

"What about Equestria? Surely there must be ley lines there?"

"Dozens," said Twilight. "Equestria is literally riddled with them. Canterlot alone sits on a point where several ley lines converge, while almost every major town and city is near one, if not directly over one."

"Surely Faust wouldn't destroy her own cities though, would she?"

"We don't know what Faust will or won't do," Luna answered before Twilight could. "We didn't think she'd do something like this, yet here we are, surrounded by so much rubble. We can't assume she wouldn't do it again."

"But we can't plan like she will," said Hergest. "She can hold the entirety of Equestria hostage with this power, so the only way we can win is to ignore that."

"Good grief," Chrysalis muttered. "I really get the feeling you're not thinking about this. The only reason Faust would create one of these bombs is if she was forced to the point of losing everything. and decided to burn it all rather than let Equestria slip out of her grasp. If she were to raze an entire city and its inhabitants before then, all she would really achieve is either turning the whole of Equestria against her, or make her rule impossible as every little pony panicked."

Luna smirked at Chrysalis, "Speaking from experience are we?"

"I don't know," Chrysalis said pointedly. "Are we?"

Luna had to laugh at that, "Touché."

The large, open sided tent was ready and waiting for them as they reached their destination a few dozen meters away from the epicentre of the destruction around them, the large crater having been untouched, save from being cordoned off. Chrysalis hummed with interest and trotted off to have a look, followed shortly by the other two delegates, while the Council members remained with the princesses in the tent.

"I do not see how you can possible place any trust in the Changeling Queen," Mareed said as he warily watched Chrysalis in the distance.

Luna glanced at him to see what his face was saying, and found him seeming more disgusted than anything. "We don't," she replied, her answer unchanged by what she saw. "What I do trust is that she currently needs us, and we get an army of changelings out of that."

"And what happens when she betrays you?"

"Then at least she isn't Faust."

"That seems extremely short sighted."

"Perhaps," Luna admitted with a shrug, "but my ability to make long term plans involving her is somewhat non-existent right now. Besides, with Cadence to feed her, I doubt Chrysalis would try anything too extreme until she was confident of surviving without her."

"I'm not a buffet!"

"I didn't say you were."

"Because I'm not!" Cadence seethed for a moment until Twilight nuzzled her into calming down. "I'll keep her and her hive fed as long as I need to, but there'll be no repeats of last night."

"Glad to hear it. Now where is Ember? I wanted her here for this."

"And I am," Ember said as she walked up covered in grey dust, and equally dusty Trixie held under her arm. "Someone decided to practice their teleporting, and got herself trapped in a basement, so I had to dig her out."

"Really?" Twilight said to Trixie, who was grinning sheepishly. "You couldn't teleport yourself back out?"

"It was kind of, maybe, just a little bit totally pitch black, and I was trapped in a small room, and I might have panicked a little bit."

"I found her by following the screams."

"I wasn't screaming!"

Ember rolled her eyes, "Fine, you were 'loudly protesting at the lack of light, now please get me out, I'm begging you, please don't leave me here.'"

"You didn't have to tell them that last bit!"

Twilight covered her embarrassment for Trixie with a hoof. "You have a horn for light, can teleport, and I've seen you lift some pretty big boulders with your magic. Why were you panicking? And why is Ember carrying you?"

"Because her legs were too shaky to walk."

Trixie glared up at Ember, which was hard to do when being held like that. "Will you stop? Please?" Trixie growled as Ember sniggered at her, then looked back to Twilight. "Yeah, I got nothing. I just panicked. I could've gotten myself out eventually."

Twilight hid her laugh, mostly being glad Trixie was okay. A quick spell cleaned the two of them, and Ember dropped Trixie, who only just managed to land without falling over.

"It's days like this that remind me why I hate everyone," Trixie grumbled. "Anyway, I see you all made it here, so I'm assuming that means things are almost ready to go?"

"Not without me you don't," Rainbow said as she came in to land. "Somepony has to tell you what the Mareitanians are up to right now."

"Right now, yet almost three days ago," Trixie said sweetly. "Very up to date."

"You're up to date!"

"What?"

"S-shut up." Rainbow took what she hoped was her place at the round table in the middle of the tent, and banged a hoof on it. "So we doing this thing or what?"

"Patience," Luna chided. "Let them see here what they need to. The meeting can begin when they're ready."

"Assuming they don't run a mile," said Trixie. "I feel like letting them see this isn't going to help."

"We'll see."

All of them took their places at the table while they waited for the others to finish looking around. Amira seemed shaken, while Hergest was more grim in his demeanour. Chrysalis, while not usually receiving high expectations on how she might feel about it, seemed more thoughtful than anything.

"Are we ready to begin?" Luna asked as the three sat down, their guards spreading out around the area, mostly to keep an eye on each other.

Amira glanced nervously between the others at the table, "Are you sure you can really stop Faust? If she can do this, and you lose, how long before she's wiping all of our countries off the map?"

"I believe you were briefed on what we believe Faust's long term plan to be? The devolution of all beings to a beast-like state?" Luna waited until she had some kind of confirmation from all of them before continuing. "I know I'm not one to speak, but I'd rather fight and maybe die than accept losing myself to mindlessness."

"But an immortal's view is always going to be a bit skewed in that regard," said Chrysalis. "I'm not saying you're completely wrong, but fear of dying isn't exactly something you have to live with."

"I realise that, but there are plenty here today willing to fight who aren't immortal. Rainbow, Trixie, Ember, all of our companions are willing to do what it takes. Some of them already have."

Chrysalis rolled a hoof, "That's great and all, but you still haven't answered the question. Can you stop Faust?"

"Yes, we're confident that we can, but we can't do it alone." Luna watched, waiting to see what the empath thought of her honesty. It was gratifying to see that Chrysalis wasn't going to dispute it. "With the strength of the griffons and changelings, the alchemy of the zebras, the opportunity for sabotage the Saddle Arabians give us, and our plan to stop Faust once and for all, I am confident she will be beaten."

"But what is this plan?" Hergest asked. "You've spoken plenty on it, but I don't think you've once told us what it is. It seems like something we should know."

"And you will." Luna clasped her hooves in front of herself as she silently observed the three representatives. "First though, I want to be sure that all of you really are on board. Emperor Hergest, does Griffonia truly stand with us?"

"We do. We will see this done, or we will fight to the last griffon to stop it."

Luna nodded in thanks, seeing the little eye roll Chrysalis made. Clearly he had meant it. "What about you, Grand Vizier Amira? Is Saddle Arabia with us? Are you?"

Amira took a moment to reply, swallowing hard a few times before she could say a single word. "The Sultan and I agree that Faust needs to be stopped. We don't have much to offer that could help you, but what soldiers we have in Equestria will aid you when the time comes."

"Thank you." Luna gave Chrysalis a questioning look, and got a nod out of her. Unless Amira was a good enough liar to fool an empath, Saddle Arabia was on their side. "What about you, Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings?"

Chrysalis shrugged, "As if I need to reiterate our deal. You scratch my back, I send you an army to scratch yours. At the very least we can agree that Faust needs to go bye-bye."

"And does that make her part of the pact?" Hergest asked Luna.

"It does. Our agreement involves the changelings becoming part of Equestria, so they will be subject to the security pact as well."

Hergest made a crawing sound, clearly not happy about that, but said nothing about it. Instead he waved a claw at the three zebras. "What about them? They're not in the pact, so why are they here? I know we have their anti magic stuff, but that doesn't put them as equals with us in our union. Especially when they're contributing nothing else."

"We have nothing more to contribute," said Fumbo. "Faust's invasion has done more than ravage this city. Our warriors have been depleted as well, meaning that all we can do is give you the means to strengthen yours."

"But if you could send soldiers, would you?"

Fumbo, Kifuniko, and Mareed all looked to each other. None of them did nothing more as without the opinion of the entire council there was little they could say other than their own opinions.

"So once again the zebras will bury their heads," Hergest sighed. "So typical. Princess Luna, if this is to continue, I really feel that they should be removed."

Luna knew it would probably come to this. That didn't mean she had planned for it, or even could make a plan, but it was what it was. They weren't part of the pact, so they were out.

"And what if we became part of the pact?" Mareed asked. "We still wouldn't have anything more to give, because we'd already have given it."

Hergest hesitated. He'd already inadvertently dismissed the lives given to defend Zebrica, and he wouldn't do so again. There was only one way out that he could see. "No, but we could extend our thanks to those that gave their lives in defence of our union."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Fumbo said, turning to Mareed. "Are you saying you want to join the pact?"

"If none of us stood together now, Faust would defeat us all piecemeal. I'm not too proud to admit that I was wrong, and that joining the pact would make us both stronger and safer. Kifuniko was in favour of joining, as were Tiflou and Kanka, so with myself that's four against three if we held a vote."

Fumbo seemed surprised, and had to stare at Mareed for a moment. Given the presence of Changelings he felt it best to be careful. Kifuniko was clearly thinking the same thing as she spread a line of Kuua down Mareed's face. It did nothing.

"I hate to say it, but as you can see, this is the genuine Mareed, real as can be."

"Uh-huh," Mareed rubbed the Kuua with a hoof, only smudging it further across his face, "thanks for that. So what do you think, Fumbo. Does that pass for a provisional vote to join the pact?"

"Well, since I too would vote in favour of joining, yes. We'll have to hold a formal vote with the full council, but if things go the way we think," Fumbo turned to Luna, "we would be honoured to join the pact."

Luna clapped her hooves together, pleased with this development. It did mean another night of writing up a load of paperwork, but she could have help with that to make it quicker. "Good news indeed. Obviously we'll hold off on the formalities until we're sure, but until then you're welcome to join us at the table. Emperor?"

"Fine by me," he said with a shrug.

"I'm offended," Chrysalis said, only to be ignored. "I didn't even try to replace him with a changeling," she added in a mutter, then nudged Amira. "Do you think there are any actual spies here we need to worry about?"

"What? Why are you asking me? You're the changeling."

"Hmm, I suppose you're clean for now."

Amira blinked a few times, "What?"

"Never you mind."

Hergest cleared his throat, hoping to get everyone back on track, and away from looking pleased with themselves. "While you are now welcome to stay at the table on a provisional basis, pending the outcome of your formal vote, we are still here to plan the invasion of Equestria. I really feel like we should be getting on with that."

"Yes, indeed," said Luna. "Perhaps we should start with informing you that there will have to be two attacks at different times. There are things we need to do first if our attack at Canterlot is going to be successful. Prime among these is the retrieval of the Bearers of Harmony from Ponyville."

"I thought the Elements of Harmony wouldn't work against Faust," Chrysalis pointed out. "Was this your plan all along? Because that is a terrible plan if it is."

"We won't be using them directly against Faust," Twilight told her. "We need them to finish what we are going to be using against her, which is why we need to retrieve the Bearers before our attack on Faust. As for the Elements' effectiveness against Faust, we have another plan that we hope can fix that as well."

"I get the feeling going after the Bearers isn't the only part of your plan though, is it?" Hergest asked. "That doesn't sound like something you need an invasion for."

"The liberation of the other prisoners in Ponyville is also important," said Luna. "They are too easy a hostage to leave. We also have a plan to take care of Celestia, and eradicate Faust's intelligence network before our main attack on Canterlot. Then there's also the investigation of the Everfree castle, which we hope to do alongside taking care of Celestia."

"What's so important there?" Amira enquired politely, mostly just so she could feel like part of events.

"Before I... killed General Snowbright," Twilight said, fighting down a small hitch in her voice, "he told me there have been rumours coming out of the Everfree castle that have to do with Faust's long term plans. Even if that isn't true, we still feel that we should know what is going on there to have it be such a secret."

"Apart from the logistics of moving all those ponies from Ponyville, none of this sounds particularly difficult," said Hergest.

"Not until you find out what about it is difficult," Luna replied with a faint smile. "Rainbow, you're up."

"Right." Rainbow stood and picked up a pointer in her wing, using it to trace a circle around Canterlot. "Right now there are roughly ten to twelve thousand soldiers camped out around the Canterhorn, including the remaining yaks. Unfortunately this doesn't put them a huge distance away from Ponyville. Not close enough to stop us if we're quick, but definitely a problem if we aren't."

Rainbow moved her pointer towards Manehattan, then moved it down towards Baltimare. "The majority of Faust's army are stationed around these two cities, ten thousand each, possibly because they haven't moved after their ships were sunk, or because they're building more to attack here again. We honestly don't know, but there was loads of civilian activity around the Manehattan dry docks, so building new ships is definitely a thing they could be doing. We think there might be something similar going on in Baltimare. At the very least, that's a lot of soldiers available to move to defend Canterlot if they need it."

"That surely can't be all Faust's soldiers," said Chrysalis. "Thirty thousand? Even with her losses here, there's still a large number unaccounted for."

"Eh," Rainbow shrugged, "we couldn't get close enough to Canterlot to see what was going on in the city, but there should be some there, and some at Ponyville as well as others spread out keeping an eye on things, like the refugees, your changelings, and any other secret projects they might be working on. Then there's probably a bunch of wounded from the attack here. They're around, but we're just not a hundred percent on where."

Chrysalis snorted a laugh, "I'm sure that assumption won't lead to anything going wrong."

"Thank you, Rainbow Dash." Luna placed her hooves on the table and stood, "Obviously we can't allow those soldiers to move around and reinforce Ponyville, or anywhere. We will need to distract them, and keep them where they can't stop what we intend to do. If we can keep them in the east, then that's what we shall do."

"Are you talking about a diversionary attack?" Hergest asked. "I'm not sure we can do that as well. Not without serious losses."

"You can't, but-" Luna pointed at Chrysalis, "-she can. Changelings can blend in and hide with ease. Orchestrate a few larger attacks on soldiers, try to occupy parts of the city, and basically make it seem like you're attacking with a force larger than you actually have, and those soldiers will stay in the east. Maybe you can even attack in Fillydelphia as well, and maybe you can draw in reinforcements from around Canterlot."

"Oh sure," Chrysalis said sarcastically, "or maybe you could just give us a load of cyanide pills since you apparently want us to go and kill ourselves."

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not asking you to launch a full frontal assault. I'm asking you to be the nuisance to them I know you can be. Minimise your losses, keep them occupied, run, hide, attack, and hide again. I know you can do that."

Chrysalis stared at Luna for a while, then sighed and gave in. "Very well, I suppose I can do that. Can I-"

"No, you cannot abduct any ponies. Not permanently at least. Taking a few and leaving them cocooned where they can be found would be quite distracting, and definitely make it seem like a changeling invasion. Such a thing would be a priority to stop."

"Then at least I can have some fun. I assume we'll also be pulling out once you've done what you need to?"

"You assume correctly. No point staying any longer past that point."

Chrysalis hummed for a while, but she wasn't really going to argue. Simultaneously attacking three cities sounded quite entertaining, and she doubted much would be said if a few Mareitanians went missing. "Very well, I look forward to it."

"I'm glad you do. So," Luna sighed as she put her thoughts back in order, "after we give you some time to really get their attention, our agents in Equestria will attack the Shades headquarters in Canterlot, while Myself, Cadence, and Dragon Lord Ember will head to the Everfree to deal with Celestia and the castle there. Once we've started there, Twilight, Trixie, and the Wonderbolts will lead the attack on Ponyville to free the prisoners, if you're willing to give Twilight command of some of your griffons, Your Majesty?"

Hergest waved a claw, "Of course, but that's not the problem we need to worry about. How do you intend to transport that many ponies out of there? It can't be done."

"The pegasi can fly themselves out," said Twilight, "so long as we give them a little time to sort their wings out. Unfortunately that accounts for barely a tenth of those we need to move. Emperor Hergest, how many more airships do you have in production?"

Hergest spluttered at the question, "Are you insinuating that I'm building some kind of fleet? What purpose would I have for such a thing?"

"We're not saying you do have a purpose, but that doesn't mean you're not building them."

A short laugh escaped Hergest's beak, "You're not wrong there. Very well, if it means the safety of all those prisoners, I'll admit to having another three already finished, and another three in the late stages of production. We might have to acquire some air carriages to ferry the rest, but we should manage between them. There is one small problem though."

Luna barely avoided rolling her eyes. Of course there was a problem. There was always a problem. "And what might that be?"

"There's no way I can stage this attack from Griffonia. We'll need to stage it from somewhere nearer. Much nearer."

Luna could already tell where this was going, and while it did make a lot of sense tactically, she couldn't help but feel that Hergest was a little too keen for other reasons.

"I suspect you're going to say Griffonstone."

"You suspect correctly. You know I'm right though, as it's closer, and more importantly, easily defendable from the ground. The native griffons aren't likely to dispute us being there either, so there's literally nowhere better I can think of."

"Neither can I," Luna admitted. "I suppose we did also agree on it as well, so long as you remember what else we agreed concerning Griffonstone?"

"You have my word that the griffons there shall still have the full rights of Equestrian citizens."

Luna nodded, satisfied that he meant it. "Then we're agreed. While Chrysalis harasses the eastern seaboard, we shall take Griffonstone to use as a staging ground for this attack, and the next."

Amira held up a hoof, "This is all well and good, but what of my people in Equestria? What are they to do?"

"That depends," said Luna. "Can you get messages to them?"

"We can."

"Then tell them to sabotage what they safely can. Disrupt communications, burn supplies, and do whatever else they can. Tell them that if they get sent to repel the changeling attack that they shouldn't try to kill the changelings."

Amira made a face, a little disappointed at the vagueness of those plans, but she supposed that without knowing where the soldiers were themselves, or their situation, there wasn't anything definitive that they could do.

"As you wish, but I do have another question."

Luna smiled at the Saddle Arabian, "Ask then, Amira. You're welcome to contribute what you can to this, be that questions, or even tactical solutions."

"Okay, where's Faust in all this? I very much doubt you've left her out of the plan, but I find that you haven't mentioned her to be a bit suspicious."

"We have a distraction arranged for her and her alone."

"Oh?" Hergest said, his own interest piqued. "And what might that be?"

"We need to do something to the Tree of Harmony to make it effective against Faust," Luna said, carefully trimming down the facts to what she thought they needed to know. "We're confident that she won't be able to ignore that."

Hergest's eyes went half lidded. "Really? That's all you're going to tell us? I'm pretty sure there should be nothing kept secret about the planning of this rather audacious attack."

Luna closed her eyes, debating on what to tell them. She eventually decided on being honest, but found that Twilight beat her to it.

"The Tree of Harmony was created by Faust as a fusion of order and chaos to create harmony. Being the avatar of Order, the order part was easy, but without genuine chaos to infuse into the Tree, she had to synthesize her own. This is why the Tree can't do anything to her, but we hope that by introducing genuine chaos to the Tree, that immunity will end."

"Genuine chaos?" Chrysalis mused, having a better handle on what had just been explained than the other two did. "Do you mean Discord? Are you really planning on letting that clown meddle with the Tree of Harmony? You must either be braver or stupider than I thought."

"He brought the idea to us," said Luna. "Faust hates him with a passion, so he has as much of a reason to help us stop her as any of us here-"

"Then why hasn't he done anything until now?"

"Because he fears his entropic influence will damage our ability to make a plan and stop Faust," Twilight explained. "That's more or less what he said at least."

Chrysalis laughed nastily, "So basically he's hiding."

Twilight shrugged, "Eh..."

"So he introduces real chaos to the Tree of Harmony, and then what? Faust isn't in control of it any more? It can hurt her?"

"More or less," said Twilight, not wanting to go into the intricacies of how the Tree doesn't really hurt anything. At least not intentionally. "Discord has also agreed to keep Faust busy until we're done, so we don't need to worry about her."

Chrysalis leaned in closer, her expression curious. "Now why keep that a secret? What aren't you telling us? Is it that since you princesses are all bound to the Tree, you're worried it might do something to affect you?"

"It might, but if it does, we don't know what."

"Hmm, interesting."

"Don't bother," Luna said warily. "Any advantage you get from that is going to be limited, if you get any at all. The change it gives us might be a positive one. Besides, neither Cadence or Flurry Heart are bound to the Tree, so you'll still have her around."

Chrysalis sat back with a huff, "Fine, don't look at me to capitalise on any misfortune that might befall you."

"Is this really wise?" Hergest asked.

"We don't have a choice," Luna said back. "Whatever happens, happens. The important thing is that we can stop Faust. Now are we agreed on this plan?"

"I suppose so," Hergest said slowly, looking at the others for anything they had to say. "Are we not going to plan what happens after?"

Luna shrugged, "The attack after won't be so complex. Once we have the Bearers, and the Tree has been altered, we finish the arcane oubliette in which we intend to permanently trap Faust. Then we attack Canterlot with everything we have, so that while her army is distracted with all of yours, we can put an end to Faust."

"Huh, that is simpler."

"Sounds desperate if you ask me," said Chrysalis. "What if you fail?"

An awkward silence filled the tent, informing all of them there that there was no back-up plan. They either put their all into the plan they had, or they lost.

"You have got to be kidding."

"If there's nothing else to add," Luna continued, "I suppose it's meeting adjourned. Thank you all for coming."

"I have the results of the Council's vote," Cadence said as she poked her head into the tent they were sharing. "After a lengthy debate, and the assurances that we wouldn't demand military aid off them any time soon, it came down to six against one in favour of joining the pact. It seems you were right about having the summit here. As a bonus, they've offered the Night Maidens services to us, if we want them."

Luna nodded, but stayed silent as she kept on writing the documents finalising the zebras inclusion into the union. Not even when Cadence sat beside her with Flurry between her hooves did she stop.

"Are you alright?"

"Today left me feeling foolish, and I can't explain why. Besides me thinking this whole event would take longer, rather than a thirty minute meeting. They all listened to us, agreed with our plan, and that was it. They trust us to stop Faust."

"Then why don't you sound happy about that?"

Luna put down her quill and turned to Cadence, "Should they trust us? We put our all into this plan, including the creation of a union of nations, some of which have despised each other for some time, but not once did we think that we might fail, and that we should have a plan in case it does."

"You know there was no plan we could create as a back-up. We put our all into this plan, because it was the only plan."

"Was it though?"

Cadence couldn't answer that, so didn't try to. Instead she tried to reassure Luna. "I know it's risky, but our plan is a good one. We have almost everything we need to stop Faust, and we will. They believe we can, and so do I, and so does Twilight, Trixie, Nightmare, and all of them."

"I know. Maybe I'm doubting myself because we're so close." Luna shook her head, putting her worries aside. "Is Twilight and Trixie away with the Emperor?"

"They are. They'll meet us at the retreat once they're done planning the details of the attack on Ponyville, and before our invasion of Griffonstone. Chrysalis has gone too, but not before ordering one of her drones to shadow the Saddle Arabians, just to be sure. If they betray us, we'll hopefully know in plenty of time."

"That was surprisingly thoughtful of her."

"I get the feeling she's rather enjoying this," Cadence laughed. "I just hope she's still feeling this helpful once she's officially part of Equestria."

"Wouldn't that be a thing." Luna fell into a thoughtful silence, then picked up her quill to resume writing, but paused before she could put it to the paper. "This really is it then. In less than a week we'll be going on the offensive." The corner of her mouth quirked up into a smile, "About time."

Author's Notes:

Also known as the chapter where I have a massive build up, then run out of ideas halfway through writing, so it ends sooner than I thought it would. Ho-hum.