The first thing Celestia did, was request dozens of parchments from her knight. He gingerly obliged, stepping down the long stairway somberly. He returned with a clipboard full of them. The second thing she did, was write to Princess Twilight.

No one spoke as the Captain brought the ship around the bend, looking around to see if the other towers needed to be torn to shreds. None of them survived releasing their magic, it seemed – the crystals at their center exploding when bursting their stored energy. Only red hot metal remained in the dim light of the dying storm.

Celestia sent the letter away in a puff of smoke. Then, she addressed the next parchment to Princess Cadence.

Star Chart sighed in the quiet, and Luna draped her wing over Arin as he slumped to the floor. Letting the defeat wash over them all. Vapor Cloud moved to Luna’s free side, sitting next to her. She embraced him as well.

Finally, Celestia reached into her own personal bag. The two Princesses had promised to turn this seal over to Arin. But if there was one pony in the world who could track down the crystal heart, it would be her.

She addressed this next letter, to Queen Umbra. Requesting to meet her in Canterlot, as soon as she was able. That the fate of Equestria depended on it.

Not to sound desperate, but… there might be truth to those words.

Arin stood up. Without a word, he made his way down the stairs. No one questioned him. No one tried to stop him. Celestia began her fourth letter, to reach them ahead of time.

To her advisor, Swift Feather. To take out a preemptive loan from the Dragons for War, cancel the Gala and all events, essential or not, and to clear her schedule for the next week.

When he returned, Arin was carrying the two training swords. He approached Vapor’s side, silent as the wooden blade tapped his shoulder. The Pegasus looked up, before nodding. They made their way to the deck, Luna left to watch alone.

A new parchment. To Velvet Clue, Mayor of Canterlot… to ready the police force and rally the guard for a battle. To inform Iron Hoof to be ready to enact Martial Law at the slightest hint of trouble. For Ember Ridge to triple recruitment of volunteer fire fighters. And, to shut her mouth about this until Celestia deems it safe, or she will have her job. Only give the press what they need to keep quiet.

Luna watched as her Knight battled with Vapor Cloud on the deck. There was no mirth in their swings. They were merciless with each other, throwing themselves into the duel as if it were real.

Celestia wrote her next letter to the Equestrian Military. To rally at the Castle in full colors, every troop and soldier, reserve or not, stationed at Canterlot proper. That their enemy, the nation of the Far Ridges, had acquired not just the Crystal Heart, but a super charged variant. One capable of leveling a city, or whatever else they had in mind.

Arin won the first bout, growling in frustration as he handed Vapor’s sword back to him. He took it up, and they went at it again.

And finally, the last letter. One she thought she would never write in all of her days. A Will and Testament. She approached Luna’s side, sitting next to her as she offered one of her wing’s feathers as a quill. She didn’t speak, only grant her sister her own parchment, and access to the Inkwell.

Luna saw what Celestia was writing, and froze. Her head simply fell in fear, giving a quiet sob as she traced the feather across the page. She left all of her possessions to Arin, save her abacus, which would go to Twilight. She doubted he would survive what she was expecting – and in that case, her possessions would instead go to Twilight. The two Princesses finished their documents without so much as a word, Luna placing hers in Celestia’s magic.

She folded them together, and sent them both to Swift Feather.

Several minutes passed, before she received a reply. It was from her advisor.

“I am sorry. It’s been a pleasure to work with you, my Princess.” Is all it said.

Needless to say, Celestia didn’t reply. There was hardly any reason. She had no hope. Her enemies held all the cards. It was the first time she’s been so bested by an enemy. It was almost as bad as when Chrysalis took over Canterlot. But they had a trump card. They always had a trump card.

It seemed her deck ran short. She would have to fight not just for her life, but for the lives of everyone she knew and loved.

Celestia ignored every letter that fell in reply. It wasn’t just one or two; literal dozens had pooled behind her in a pile, and she ignored every last one of them. She didn’t even bother to move the sun to the horizon. Whenever night came, she would just dip it below the edge and let Luna throw the moon into the sky.

They both watched as their knights fought on the deck. Arin had begun to sink in to the motions of battle, his steps coming with determination as he swung – and feinted – into a heavy jab. Vapor deflected it nimbly, jumping into the air with a beat of his wings. The knight visibly glared, crouching low to defend himself.

Eventually, weighing his options – Vapor made a wild dive, before swinging last moment to touch down on the floor, spinning to give Arin a hard kick. He was too slow to dodge – and the blow hit him solidly in the chest, sending him flying. With a soft thud, he rolled to the edge of the ship. The momentum carried him over the ledge, the wooden blade falling to the ground far, far below.

Luna almost called out to him, but Celestia rested a hoof on her shoulder, her keen eyes having noticed something in the dim light of the clearing clouds.

Arin easily pulled himself back on deck, nearly unphased. Somehow, he also managed to keep a hold of his sword. Didn’t it tumble down?

Taking a firm grip once more, he charged back at the cocky pegasus. The duel hadn’t been won – not yet.

“We see…” Luna said, curious. In this grim moment, she managed to pull her mind to more mundane matters. “He’s becoming quite competent. Do you think Arin realizes he just cast a telekinesis spell, Sister?”

Celestia shook her head. “The most simple of magics are often overlooked. It’s like watching a unicorn foal grab at their bottle with their first spell. The foal did it out of instinct, and doesn’t realize the importance of it, nor recognize that they’ve achieved anything – but it’s an endearing step, especially for both of us. He’s come so far…

“But what surprises me is his strength. I think he’s grown stronger, as well. Or his magic is supplementing it. Oh, I wish Twilight were here to analyze this more in-depth. It appears similar to when Tirek absorbs excess energy; he’s growing empowered physically through magic.” Celestia pressed her gold-clad hoof to the glass, eyeing her friend.

“Let’s not dawdle on the moment, Sister. For now, we need a plan.” Luna slid Twilight’s book free from Celestia’s satchel, turning the roughly scrawled pages over until she could find a relatively blank one to work with.

“First, let’s pretend We are the Seraphs. We’ll start from Canterlot. An attempt on your life, a successful one – what would be the point? What would they gain?” Luna started the conversation up, trying not the let the world weigh them down. Losing hearts lose the battle, and they needed a clear head to fight this.

“Well, the first result would be an immediate collapse of our rule. Even with your Co-Rulership, many nobles would try to seize control in both an effort to maintain order, and to ascend in power. Likely speaking, my death would lead to an exceptional amount of chaos.”

“Chaos.” Luna frowned, “What would follow, excluding chaos?”

“Well, you would need to lead the ponies. But, most likely, Cadence, Shining, Twilight and her friends would need to travel immediately to Canterlot to help seize control. This would leave the Crystal Empire without leadership, and it would also make every important figure appear in one place.”

“A bold move. What could this mean, realistically?” Luna began to add even more notes to the already ink-heavy book, chewing the quill.

“What’s going on?” Vapor Cloud interrupted, followed in tow by Arin – sporting a nasty welt on his arm.

“We are thinking of the plot behind the terror. What reasons they could have for attacking in such blunt fashions, and how long they’ve been working beneath our withers.” Luna spat out the quill, dipping it in the inkpot. The feather bit was mostly ruined, but it hardly mattered now.

“Well, me and Vapor both know that one Seraph has been here at least three months.” Arin added. The duo before him blinked, glaring.

“Are thy wits as scattered as thy brain? Arin, We needed this information.” Luna growled, stomping a hoof on the floor in anger. “But… thank you, for coming forward now. We are sorry for the outburst.”

Arin rolled his eyes. He was used to it by now. “So. Three months. Does that even help you?”

“Indeed it does, Arin. It tells us a minimum timescale for how long they’ve been at it – if the Seraph was truthful.” Celestia tilted the notes to her side, taking the quill from Luna to jot it down.

“I’m likely to think he was. Seemed like a total ass.” Vapor offered, flapping a frazzled wing free of his armor, giving it a calming preen. “Three months is a lot of time for sabotage.”

“But their current plan couldn’t have come together before… what, a month and a half ago? A week before Arin arrived, the Storm King basically threw a tornado down in Canterlot.” Celestia took her turn to nibble the quill, spitting out ruined feathers with a blush.

“So a month and a half to pop up, scope out the kingdom, make some allies, and throw together an idea to overthrow you? That doesn’t seem likely. This could have been going on a lot longer.” Arin sat on the floor, in front of the book. “Let’s go back farther. How did they find out about Equestria to begin with?”

Celestia thought quietly to herself, remembering the letter she received six weeks ago. “It’s possible that a long forgotten Alicorn gave them the essential link to here, but I find that doubtful. They wouldn’t give information like that away, freely. If anything, they learned of her from any history book here – and used that as a way to wiggle you in, Arin.”

“Okay. Then if this mysterious Alicorn didn’t show them the way, what did?”

Celestia leaned back on her forehooves, thinking. A thought popped in her mind, something that made her stop and entertain it. “Anonymous.”

“…What?” Luna said, shooting daggers at her Sister. “Thy can’t be serious.”

“Twilight accidentally summoned him through a summoning spell, around three years ago. She overdid it, and blew a beam of light high into the sky – don’t you recall? It snapped you awake, and nearly knocked half the Unicorn population unconscious within a thousand leagues. She essentially snipped the magical fabric of reality, and pulled him free. Magic of that potency would travel far. The reason it effected only half the world, and not the whole globe – is that it didn’t penetrate the crust of Equis. But any mage among the stars might have sensed it, and could have decided to investigate.”

“That’s nonsense, Sister.” Luna flatlined, crossing her hooves.

“Well, hold on. Let’s entertain the idea, Luna.” Arin asked, scooching over to her. “Because she is absolutely right. In my world, it was called the Green Flash, and it happened… three years ago. I didn’t feel it, but it was noted in the stars – and dozens of Seraphs suffered mass headaches until… I’m assuming, the fabric mended itself?”

Celestia nodded. “It took three minutes for it to seal on its own. It’s why we can not send Anonymous back. He’s essentially marooned here, and the phenomenon was quickly abandoned to protect our reality from collapse. It’s not likely to ever happen again – only a pony of Twilight’s magical ability could ever hope to pry the jaws of reality open once more.”

“So. That means the longest they could have known of Equis, was three years.” Vapor slapped his hoof on the ground. “This makes total sense. You know what happened around three years ago, a couple months after Anon appeared? Nightmare Moon returned.”

“...Indeed, she did.” Luna nodded. “The stars aided in her escape. The prophecy was correct, but the stars… could they have been related to the Seraphs?” Luna asked Arin, who nodded.

“The Arcanis Ring isn’t just symbolic. Few Seraphs have the ability to manipulate the night sky, as you do, Luna. And the powers beyond. But doing so alone is a death sentence, without the aid of other strong Seraphs.”

“And after Nightmare Moon, was Discord. And after Discord, was Chrysalis, then Umbra…” Vapor waved his hoof around. “Three years to cause as much suffering as possible. You said yourself, the coffers are low from all the destructive maintenance. And in the end, they’re probably shooting to kill every living pony on Equis. So it doesn’t matter where the gold is; they’re going to pillage it anyway, and settle.”

“Then let’s assume, for now, this is all right. They’ve been at it for three years. Weakening wards, breaking barriers, awakening horrors… causing disharmony in general. Even with strong leadership, there’s a few angry voices in the crowds from lack of peace.” Celestia said, “And with lack of peace, comes defectors.”

“The populace will gladly betray their own kind if it means an end to chaos. It happened well over a thousand years ago, when Discord reigned – ponies would aid him if it meant leaving their village at some form of peace. Digging pitfalls, poisoning food, causing pain for armies that would stand against him… because they thought none could challenge his throne. It was fear. That was the main tool at play. They were willing to die for a creature who wanted them to die.” Luna continued. “Which is why it took so long to defeat him. My Sister and I had to do it alone.”

“Which is why Seraphs, who aren’t public enemies yet – are able to work undercover. And this…” Celestia withdrew a photo from Twilight’s book, slamming it on the table “must be their sign.”

Arin leaned over the picture. Among the graffiti, was an emblem he recognized all to well. Two wings, engrossing a gnarled staff – a pointed jewel resting in the hilt. “That’s Leotoln’s Seal. Where did you find this?”

“It was on the dozens of walls marked by those simple miscreants. I thought I had recognized it before, as well. It was literally given to me, by none other than Leotoln himself – on the letter explaining your situation. I broke it without a second thought, otherwise I might have spotted it again when Shining Armor covered the table in these photos the first time we went over this.” Celestia showed the symbol around. “Originally I thought it had something to do with Storm King, which I brushed off entirely. And why was that?”

Celestia pointed at the staff in the middle. “It’s his staff. The Storm King’s staff. The air ships – Arin, do you have Air Ships in your world?”

He nodded.

“The Air Ship designs were gifted to him. Along with this staff. And he used it to great effect, to sap our magical powers. Leotoln must have known a fool like the Storm King, who had no discipline, would have been defeated in the end. But Leotoln’s goal wasn’t to have us defeated and imprisoned by him, it was to simply have a public enemy wreak havoc on the public, and give his spies time to act on furthering their plans. To also weaken our hold of our subjects, to show as incapable. The Seraphs have been there, every single step of the way.

“And we foiled their last attempt, partially. Everything they’ve done so far has gone off without a hitch. Sure, we triumphed over every enemy – but it’s no coincidence that it’s all come to a head, within three years time. This was a coordinated effort.”

Celestia stood up, pacing the room. It wasn’t a conspiracy theory any longer. Everything led to this.

“We thwarted their plans. So their plan changed. They wanted to release the Umbrum army to leave us at the brink of oblivion. And if we won – Leotoln would simply walk in, and take the throne. Perhaps even stave off the remaining vestiges of the Umbrum, to portray themselves as heroes. The ponies would celebrate them, cherish them. Then, he would simply strike them down when the time was right, and he could no longer use their labor.”

The White Alicorn approached the window, as Canterlot loomed ahead. “Where this all leads… every piece of the puzzle, it’s all falling into place. Arin. I know of your role, now. I know what you were to represent to ponies of Equestria. They never meant to fight us. We were meant to fight each other, and the glory would be Leotoln’s to take. This isn’t a battle over our lands. It’s a battle over our hearts.

“And with each step you’ve taken, you’ve fallen right into their initial trap. We weren’t supposed to save the Crystal Empire, nor fight the Seraphs as they come. They don’t want what’s happened with their world again. They don’t want another war. They want peace, and they’ll do it by stripping it from us, and restoring the order when we fall.”

She turned to the Seraph, who now held softly onto Luna. “And you would be their mascot. A weakling from their world, who stood by the pony’s side and fought to the bitter end. A true Equestrian at heart. And when your people would come, our ponies would all see your history as the hero they needed, and cheer for them. You did every single thing they wanted, and more. Your relationship with Luna, if ponies learned of it… you would become Royalty. And have rights to the throne, in a distant manner. It’s why you weren’t supposed to be on the train. It’s why I was supposed to die, that day in Canterlot.”

Celestia sat down in front of the Inert, her eyes locked to his with burning intensity. “You didn’t plan for any of this to happen. They did. Arin. When I scanned you with magic, the very first day, I felt nothing but a small spark inside of you. Nothing crucial I could place. But I did, and I didn’t know it. It was there the whole time, staring me in the face.”

“Arin. You’re not a spy, or a soldier put up to this task. You’ve been a pawn since before you could remember. And I see that now. There was no Cataclysm. There was no Eclipse. What you saw that day – it was all just a simple memory charm – a curse, that gives a low magical aura. Erenorn was never destroyed – you wouldn’t have survived. A bit of magic, and everything you saw – a nightmare come to life.”

“But…” Arin began, blinking away her words in shock. “I saw it. All of it. I remember it so clearly…”

Celestia’s horn began to glow, and she touched his forehead with the tip. It was like a bolt of lightning pierced his skull, and with a grunt, he jolted onto his back. Fading, the world around him turning to shadows as a dream overtook him. Luna staring in shock, a faint scream filling his senses as blue wings sought to hold him.