Amidst dim candlelight, a single alicorn sat with his head bent down, eyes shut. He sat alone at the edge of a still pond, his reflection dancing in the water. The pond was nestled deep within the Everfree Forest, where the darkened trees with their gnarled branches surrounded all sides like shadow closing.

While most of the land had just shifted into spring, the Everfree was still gripped by clinging bits of winter. Snow covered the ground, and there was a lingering chill in the air. The alicorn hot breath left puffs of steam to curl and rise for a few seconds before disappearing into the night.

For a long while, the alicorn had sat in utter silence on the edge of the pond with only a few nearby candles for company. The light from the tiny, flickering flames fell upon his coat and mane, which were as black as the night sky. His cutie mark had been covered by scars, his flank appearing utterly blank except for small stars over the scars.

Only the quiet sounds of the forest were audible. There was the creaking of the trees, the shifting of the pond water, and the occasional buzz of insects. In all, it was a scene of tranquility, and it was just what the alicorn needed to prepare for the task of the evening. Yet, as he took in another deep breath, hoofsteps began to echo across the trees.

“General Constellation, we’re ready when you are to march.”

The black alicorn, Constellations, took in another breath, and his silver eyes opened as he turned to look at the pony who had approached him from behind. “I will be along shortly.”

The pony who had interrupted gave a nod before disappearing back into the forest. Constellations waited for the hoofsteps to fade into silence before lighting his horn. His magic flowed freely, and he used the mystic energy to reach to his side and levitate an ax into the air. He then looked skyward, fixing his gaze on the moon.

“My queen, guide me this night, for it is beneath this moon I fear for tomorrow."

Constellation spoke the words slowly with a voice that carried the tone of a pony well practiced in preaching, whose words could inspire loyalty and devotion in his soldiers. It was a voice that had drawn great minds and strong bodies to the cause, though at the moment Constleattion spoke only to himself as he lowered his head and touched a hoof to his chest.

“Let me be the hands for your will and strength until this hate ends.”

The levitating ax drew close to him and began to spin. The ax was a bright orange and yellow like the sun itself, with white stars all across its surface that shift as it moved through the ax like a comet. Along with stars, the ax blade was divided, to make it look like the horns of a minotaur. Finally in the center of the ax, was a gem that pulsed with magic similar to the sky.

“Let me bear your name,” Constellation spoke as he point the ax to the sky. “both powerful and wise, like the endless stars of the sky. Let me stand in your army,” he then picked up his armor and began to secure itself to his body, “in this armor may my prays reach you so that I may win this battle. Let me be your agent of order, for it is you I serve above all others.”

The final piece of armor levitated towards Constellation: a helmet made of the same metal as the ax golden steel. The alicorn guided the helm carefully, bringing it down his horn until it fit snugly onto his head. “May your power be with me, for, tonight, you shall see victory and feel relief for yourself. You shall look upon the world free of discord, and no longer will you be forced to watch the devastation it brings. Tonight, you shall see Draconequus push back again, ending their threat to this land with their Elements of Disharmony.”

Constellation rose to his hooves and looked at his reflection in the pond. He now appeared the ultimate doppelganger of his queen, and, like any loyal soldier, he was ready to do his duty for her. Through the efforts of him and his unit, they would see their queen win this war. Yet it was only he that was allowed to look so much like the queen, to lead the troops to the nest and destroy it and, nobody would steal that from him.

“Tonight, Queen Galaxia, your soldiers shall grant you another victory in this war, and end the tyrant of chaos shall fall.”

Mentally prepared, Constellation turned from the pond and began to walk into the forest. He followed a trail that connected to a nearby clearing, which came into view quickly. The clearing was occupied by an alicorn who was moving back and forth across the space as they constantly checked their weapons.

The ground had been cleared of snow, though a few piles were left dotted about the space. On both the exposed ground and on the piles of snow, there were wooden bowls filled with oil-soaked powders. All the ponies Constellation saw wore the black cloak of the order, except for two who stood giving orders: a trio of red, black, and sliver alicorns. They, like Constellation, wore the honored armor, though he alone wore the flowing, starfield cape and the helmet. Only he had the honor of wearing those as general.

“How close are we, flare?” Nexus asked as he approached the duo.

“ Song Swans said it is almost complete, and the troops only need a few minutes to get the spell ready,” the bright red alicorn answered, staring back at Consultation with her blazing eyes. Such eyes were a sign of honor and strength, a blessing that was granted by her majesty’s sun eye color, but its also a sign of her majesty's trust.

“Good,” Constellations said before turning to the black alicorn. “Zander, do you have the location of the base?”

“The coordination has not left my sight since our departure from the capital, General,” the shadow alicorn pony replied, motioning to the paper that was currently resting on his back.

“And, Song swans, how is our guest?”

“Oh yeah, he just woke up,” the sliver answered, “And boy is he scared!”

“That’s because you told him Zander would snap off his horns if he tried to escape,” Flare snipped.

Song swans shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. “Hey, it kept him from trying anything.”

“He couldn’t try anything even if he wanted to. He’s in order cuffs, he can't use magic from chaos even if he wants", Flare said sarcastically.

"After all our magic is poison to one of them, if he did try it be like tearing his own head off", said Zander.

“You have all done well,” Constellation spoke, stopping the argument before it could go any further. “But now we must all take our places. Zander, take the coordination to the center of the ritual. Flare, Sawn song, prepare your weapons, and head to the sky.”

The three nodded, moving to their assigned tasks while Constellation turned his attention to one side of the clearing. There, lying on the ground, was a draconequus who had had arms and legs chained with cuffs and had a bag over his head.

Treading carefully, Constellation moved between the spell seal and approached the constellation. His brown coat was dirty from lying on the ground, and his dark yellow mane was a rough mess. The sight of him like that made Constellation frown a little, and, once he was close enough, he used his magic to remove the bag on his head and reveal his terrified eyes.

“I’m so happy you were able to join this evening, commander abyss.”

“General Constellation why are doing this? What are you going to do to me?” Abyss asked in a panicked squeak, just barely managing to find his voice. He struggled at the chains around his legs and tried to use his magic to escape. However, not only had he been physically bound, but the metal cuff secured around his limbs kept her from making use of her magic.

Nexus laughed a little to himself and got right in his face. “Inquisitive, though I should expect less from one the king star commanders,” he said with a frown. He then turned and began walking towards the center of the clearing lifting abyss in his behind him. Ahead of him, the shadow alicorn Zander had set up a metal pedestal, upon which he had placed paper from his back.

“What we have planned for you, Abyss is very simple. As to what we are doing… well, consider us simply opening a doorway, to enter your capital.”

“Are you crazy!” Abyss asked while he laugh in his magic and blew a raspberry at the general. There are millions of us in the capital and you have what two hundred here it's a suicide mission", Abyss said with smug superiority.

“It is much easier than you think, Commander. I will, however, give you a sneak peek. For the moment, all you need to know is that your… contribution is appreciated, in getting to the cave.” At that Abyss looked with pure terror.

You are INSANE if you enter through there you will release HIM", Abyss said with a face of pure terror and fear of death.

Not wanting to hear anymore Constellation replaced the bag on Abyss's head. He secured it tightly before placing a sound dampening spell across the fabric which muffled his continued protests

Leaving Abyss floating and thrashing in the air, Constellation walked over to the metal pedestal. He examined the contents of the paper set upon the tall, narrow metal table, and his eyes gleamed in anticipation.

Constellation then turned his attention to a dagger resting beside the paper, picking it up with his magic. The blade was fine, sharp, and clean. It had never been used, although Constellation intended to change that. He turned back towards Abyss, who was still twisting, flailing, and shouting out muffled protests. He drew close, and, after lowering a little closer to the ground.

" I am sorry but the killing has to stop ", Constellation said with a hint of pity, and then proceeded to give the commander a swift cut across the stomach.

Constellation is not interested in harming the commander further. He instead focused on the wound he had created. It had begun to weep blood, and Constellation set the dagger against it. He gathered several drops of blood on the blade and then placed it in the center.

“Now, I call on the gods of space we give the life from the blood of chaos so you open the door to the other side. Let our offering give you strength, so that you may hear, ” yelled to the spell seal, as if it was a prayer. He then levitated Abyss back to the edge of the clearing and dropped him unceremoniously at the base of a tree before he approached the metal pedestal. At the same time, the other ponies, as well as Zander, Sawn, and flare turned their attention to their general. They watched him, and they fell silent as he began to speak to them.

“Brothers and Sisters, for nearly two thousands year we have toiled in this war. We have fought chaos numerous times and defeated their tyrant king and their princesses, and we put our own safety at risk. Personal fortunes and countless hours have been spent to bring us to this point. But now we are ready; the spell is prepared. Tonight we, the Children of order, shall see the end of chaos and take their royal family heads!”

The rest of the soldier's ponies cheered and stamped their hooves against the ground in applause. Constellation smiled, and he took in their joy for just a moment before he continued to speak. “Once, our queen and king Tartarus were one and shared this land, but now we must kill him for his crime against the holy balance. No, it more that tonight we end this conflict so no more blood has to be shed because of that mad king's lust for power. This world has endured a horrible fate, because of the Elements of disharmony's devastating effect to kill our queen, but that end as we stand here tonight.

“For it is tonight we give this victory to of our queen so life can begin again. It is tonight our queen’s shackles shall be broken forever. And it is tonight that our campaign to retake Equestria begins!”

Constellation reared back and raised his voice to a triumphant shout. “Now lend your magic to the spell my brothers and sisters, for tonight, our victory is at hoof! For tonight, we will begin the new era!”

The alicorns cheered, sharing in Constellation jubilation before quickly going about their work. The alicorns formed a circle around the clearing, and their horns glowed as the lines of paint they had drawn on the forest floor came to life with blue incandescence. At the same time, Zander, using his earth magic liting the torch around the circle, causing them to flare with an eerie brown flame.

A similar scene was occurring in the air above the ritual. There, the sawn and flare-held bowls of star powder, the two armored commanders lit each bowl with practiced efficiency, using their wings to blow the powder all over the seals, before joining Zander on the edge of the spell, where the trio would watch as it unfolded.

Constellation himself watched all this, and, once all the bowls were lit, he waited until the air became sufficiently saturated with magic. He then used a spell of his own to take the fire from one of the bowls. He held the fire gingerly and carried it over to the ritual’s center slowly so that it wouldn’t die. Then, with a final pleased smile, he tossed the fire on the paper and smiled as the fire turned eerie green.

The paper burst into flame almost instantly, Constellation, and quickly retreated to the edge of the circle to join his fellow alicorns. There, they all began to twist and form the magic in the air, working it like potters with clay. They shaped the free magic, molded it, and began to force it down into the bowl.

And, after a few anxious moments, Constellation saw what he had hoped for. The blood-soaked dagger started to float above the fire, cradled by the energies of the spell. The blood was drawn up from the blade and formed into a single crimson sphere. The dagger itself then launched clear of the spell with such force that its polished blade dug deep into one of the trees surrounding the ritual.

Then, with the dagger gone and the blood remaining, black smoke began to billow from the central bowl. The papers were starting to burn, and the smoke they released formed around the large drop of blood. The fires, smoke, and magic from the wooden bowls set around the spell were drawn in as well. Everything was swirling and orbiting the spell’s focal point, being drawn in like water in a whirlpool.

The drop of blood became encased in a black sphere, and that black sphere began to slowly grow. It drew in the fire and smoke and everything else, growing larger with each passing moment.

“Yes… it is working my brothers and sisters,” Constellation called out. “The portal is beginning to take shape. the way is opening soon—”

KRAC--OOOM!

A huge occur explosive, knocking all the alicorns back only Constellation stood his ground, he was dazy but after his vision focused he could a swirling dark blue Vortex, had appeared.

" Everyone the portal is opening all troops to the capital", Constellation shouted with authority.

At once all the soldiers stood up on command and start marching through the portal to the den of their enemy.

Sawn songs swallowed nervously, stepping slowly through the darkness as she kept her head down, following the light of her blinking horn. The threatening rocks of the cave surrounded her, their jagged and twisted stalactite reaching down from the ceiling like razor-sharp teeth. The silence of the cave was also strangely unnerving. Sawn songs ears swiveled constantly to pick up any trace of sound as shivers ran up her spine from both the tension and the chill in the air.

"BOO", a voice shouted scaring Swan song to latch on to one of the stalactites like a cat in a tree.

"You're too easy sometimes Sawn," A voice called from the darkness revealing itself to be Flare with her lit up.

"Of course, it's you Flare, sometimes I wonder why the queen gave you the solar eyes", Sawn song said as used her wings to glide back down onto the floor near Flare.

"That easy big sis I am a warrior, you are scared of the dark", Flare said with smug superiority, Sawn song gave her an annoyed look then pick her abre briquet she dropped and sheath it.

" Says the gorilla that has a club for a weapon, my abre is more elegant for my style". Sawn Song said with smug superiority toward her sister, Flare turned toward her with a look of pure rage.

" While yeah my club can wreck you any time of the week ice queen!"

"berserker"

"stuck up"

" daddy girl"

"loner"

"forehead"

"ears"

The sister looked at each for a long time, before bursting out laughing like there was no tomorrow. After a while then both took seconds to catch their breath and lit their horns so bright it was like a torch in the darkness.

"How long has been since we talk like that It feels like centuries Flare", Sawn Song said with a giggle still in their throat as Flare spoke with the same tone.

" I think the last time we acted like this was before the academy, good to know my sister is still my sister and not like Zander"

I know right I like Zander but that guy does not have a funny bone at all", Sawn song said with a look annoyed.

"Speaking of Zander we try to find the rest of the units so we claim that tyrant head, and get out this cave it gives me the creep", Flare said with a look of determination and fear.

Sawn and flare started walking through the cave, However, as they rounded a bend in the path, they try using their, locator spell to locate Zander and the spell led them to a boulder blocking their path.

"That's strange the general said there would be a clear path through this cave to the capital?", Sawn song said with a confused looked that she shared with Flare.

"Funny you should say that big sis, I've been meaning to ask about my concerns with this mission to the capital", Flare said with a look of worry on her face as she turned to face her sister.

"I been having doubts, this mission just doesn’t feel right. For one we just happened to have one of the enemy's top leaders in our prison, and the queen sends us here with a force this small to fight the enemy's entire army. Lastly, with what Abyss said about something being down, and how scared he look, I mean what could scare a draconequus like that", Flare said with shaken limbs as stared at her sister waiting for a reply.

"I don't know Flare, but I hear your doubts but I must say this I what this war to end. I am tired of all this hate. I don't care anymore about the balance, hear about how the mission reek of unknowns. Though we have gone off more than this before If the general is right we can end the war by tomorrow. Well, I say and let everything be chaotic if it mean the bloodshed can end", Sawn song said with a look of determination and wariness. Flare look at her sister with a hint of sadness and understanding.

"I understand Sawn, I will keep my doubts to myself, for now, so let's move this rock out of the way and hook up with Zander", Flare said as they both nodded and lit their horn with powerful magic, the rock start to move until then felt a huge gust of magic wash over them and halt their process.

The sisters looked confused and dazed for a few seconds before resuming their magic until the boulder was completely out of the way. What was inside took their breath away it was like a paradise inside. A forest of magic with a strange bird flying across the sky and flowers floating across the field. Waterfalls pour water into the lakes and various strange creatures drink from the water.
(think of the forests from the avatar)

"Flare is this dream because it's so beautiful it can’t be real ", Sawn said with pure joy and wonder.

"This is no dream Sawn, this is real life", Flare said with the same look as Sawn.

As they were looking at the forest of magic, a cloud of shadow was behind them looking at them with joy and curiosity. The cloud formed into what appeared to humanoid with a dark cloak on with a dragon mask on its face. Finally, attached to its back were wings but it had no flesh between the membrane, just shadow-like energy between them giving the impression the wings were bitch black.

The shadow finally spoke with an eerie voice and bone-cracking joy.

"Thank you my garden is something is it, it has been a while since I have had visitors in my home", said the shadow the sister looked behind them in alarm and drew their weapons and struck the creature with the force of an earthquake but then hit nothing but air.

"Where did he go!", said Flare with anger looking around rapidly for the shadow that appear.

"Now that no need treat your saver ladies, after all this my home that just plain rude twice over", The shadow behind them again the sisters look at with anger and confuse and then Sawn said.

"What do you mean, you reek of chaos energy, creatures of chaos can't make something like this, and your blackhole of the stuff", Flare screamed, and the shadow, shadow simply stared and said.

"Where did you that idea, hmmm, or right from those chaotic clowns, sorry ms but I am god compare to them, I can do things you would not believe", The shadow said with smug superiority to the sisters, the sisters look at him confused. Then put their weapons down and let the shadow continue.

"Let's start with start introduce, Hi my name is Meteor sunrise what are your names", Meteor said with a voice joy and couristy.

" I am Swan song that Flare my little sister", Sawn said with a look of distrust but confusion toward this creature, all her life every chaotic creature she comes across has never acted like this.

"oooosisterthatniceIhaveasisterofmyownbutsheoutfortheyearmoresheawayonherjobs", said a Meteor said in a ramble before Flare said in an annoyed tone.

"Hey METEOR let's focus I got some questions for you", Flare said breaking Meteor out of his ramble and looking at them with his pitch-black eyes.

"Sure what is Flare, I mean we are friends now you can ask me anything", Meteor said with a look of joy, Flare took back his enthusiasm as he held her hoofs in his armor hands that were covered in stars. The armor was a mix of the color of the rainbow-like each stripe of the armor was a different color.

" Okay boundaries dude, ok let's start where are we and have seen anyone else here," Flare said as took her hoofs back from him and he answer in a preacher-like way.

" That easy you are in the garden of balance a place where chaos and order are one and as for other there at my place".

" That nice dude but hey can talk to my sister for a second", Sawn said

" Knock yourself I have to look at something for a few minutes anyway," said Meteor

The sisters look at each and spoke privately so as not to be heard by Meteor the sisters put on a serious look and Flare
spoke

" Okay so what do you think, he is obviously not like the other but he has such a strong chaos aura it might be even greater than the king himself, I for one say we book it", Flare says with a look worried and stared at the shadow as look at the lakes below in the canyons.

"I have to say it is tempting, but something feels different here it's like chaos and order are both here in harmony. Besides he knows where the unit is so I say let's play along for now. Besides, he does not seem dangerous anyway", said Swan as she at look at Meteor as he scan the lake below looking for something.

"Okay, I follow your lead beside I am curious as well this place reminders of what life used to be like before the war", said Flare looking at the land with a small smile on her face. " Yes I agree we will return to this after we take the king's head and the war is over," said Swan with a look of Joy and fondness, and then she turn her head to Meteor and said.

"Okay Meteor can you take us to our group, "Meteor put a finger to his chin think for a second, and then snap his fingers.

" Okay but you must stick with me okay no falling behind, this place can be dangerous if you touch the flow", said Meteor with a serious tone the sister look confused and asked together.

"What is this flow you speak off"

"The flow is the magic in this place think of it like a rain cloud that hangs above us as long you stay low we should be fine now then, "Meteor unfold his wings and took to the sky and hovers. "let's get move on to my home".

Flare and Sawn song both joined him in the air and took off over the horizon to their destination

Next Chapter: The meeting Estimated time remaining: 43 Minutes