Chapter 68: Missing Threads

Commander Auraria halted her exhausted troops after just over seventeen hours of hard marching through deep snow. They’d stopped only once to take a brief meal and rest for about half an hour. Changelings, ponies, and gryphons, all looked like they were about to fall over from fatigue. She could hardly blame them. Her own legs felt like they had lead weights attached to them. She prided herself on her physical fitness and endurance, but by hour fourteen, merely putting one hoof in front of the other had required almost all of her focus, and it had taken all of her willpower not to call a halt and take a good seven or eight hours of rest. Now that they’d arrived, though, a sense of pride and accomplishment both in herself and in her soldiers helped to alleviate some of the soreness in her legs. She’d done what she’d set out to do. She’d gotten them to the point where they would make their stand against the invasion force heading for Hoofington. And she’d gotten them there a full three days before that force would arrive. But there was still one thing left to do before they could take their much needed rest.

“Make camp!” she called out loudly. “Space out the tents behind the treeline to make them less visible from the air.”

She listened as her command was repeated throughout the ranks, and all of the soldiers got to work setting up the camp. Even though all of them were no doubt as tired as she was, none of them complained. The wind had picked up again, biting them with cold, arctic blasts of air, and none of them wanted to rest outside. They would be glad to get the cook fires built, and then take a well deserved eight hours of rest inside the tents and out of the wind.

If the invasion force was smart, they’d send scouts ahead of them to make sure there was no ambush waiting like the one she had planned. She was confident her soldiers could intercept the scouts if they had to. Of course, when the scouts didn’t return, that would be almost as bad as allowing the scouts to report back what they’d found. There was no danger of scouts yet, though. Even scouts couldn’t have covered enough ground to be here yet. But two days from now, she would order all of her soldiers to stay inside of their tents, with the exception of a few lookouts to watch for scouts. Her hope was that the scouts would pass right by them and report back to their commanders that they had seen nothing.

While her soldiers worked to set up the camp, she surveyed the area. It was one thing to study an area on a map, but another thing entirely to actually scout it. As she walked, she noted that there was very little undergrowth here, and the trees were spaced close together. That suggested a dense canopy of foliage overhead that prevented sunlight from reaching the ground. She looked up, but the tops of the trees were lost in the darkness. The closely packed trees were good for concealing them, but the tradeoff was that it made maneuvering difficult, even on the ground. Maneuvering from the air would be even more difficult. Her changelings could probably manage it. They trained extensively in close quarters aerial combat in order to protect the Hive. But it was out of the question for the pegasi or the gryphons to take to the air from behind the trees. They were setting up close enough to the treeline, though, that it would only be a short sprint into the open field where they would have all the room they needed to launch into the sky.

She stepped out of the forest now, into the open field. The wind whipped across the plain, slamming into her and causing her tail to blow like the strands of some shredded flag. She ignored the cold, turning her attention to the northeast and straining her eyes in an attempt to see the cliffs that would force the invaders to funnel into a narrow line as they approached her ambush point. But try a she might, they were too far away, and all she could see was the inky black void of night. Is that what the entire universe would look like if the Beyond won? She turned, walking back into the forest again, making her way among the working soldiers. As she had ordered, they were once again interspersing their tents so that changeling, gryphon, and pony all had to live among each other. This time, though, the tents had to be spaced further apart, taking advantage of whatever room could be found between the densely packed trees. She walked a little further, looking for, and spotting Sergeant Rasahus.

“A word with you, Sergeant.”

“Ma’am,” he acknowledged, stopping what he was doing, walking to her and saluting with a forehoof to his chest. She returned the salute before continuing.

“Give them all eight good hours of rest. Then organize twenty hunting parties. Scour the woods and bring back whatever game you can find. We’re going to be running very short of rations because of this detour.”

“Will, the ponies eat meat, Ma’am?”

“I don’t know. I hope they’ll decide that saving Hoofington is worth breaking their taboo of not eating meat. We don’t have time, and they can’t afford to expend the energy to dig for plants or grasses.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Peregrine and Prepona are our two fastest fliers, right?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Auraria nodded. “Find them and tell them to meet me at my tent in half an hour.”

“Ma’am.”

The two of them exchanged salutes, and the Sergeant turned, trotting off to find the two changelings she’d asked for.

Auraria continued making her way through the forest, stepping around trees and listening to the idle banter as her soldiers continued setting up camp. She stopped when she came to a group of Pegasus Guards, looking at one of them.

“A word with you, Private,” she said.

The pegasus looked at her and blinked, but then stopped what he was doing and walked over to her. He stopped a few feet from her, saluting by raising his forehoof to his head, different from the way her changeling soldiers did it.

“Ma’am?” he questioned.

She returned his salute, deciding to follow the Royal Guard custom and raise her hoof to her forehead instead of her chest.

“Find the two fastest fliers in your unit and tell them to meet me at my tent in half an hour.”

“May I ask what for, Ma’am?”

Auraria narrowed her eyes slightly, annoyance rising inside her that a private would question the orders of an officer as high ranking as she. She opened her mouth, about to chew him out for it, but then softened her expression and thought better of it. It’s not that the pony soldiers were undisciplined, she decided. It’s just that they didn’t fully trust her yet. If they could win the upcoming battle and save Hoofington, she hoped she would earn their complete trust. But for now, lenience was the best policy.

“I’m going to send messengers to Hoofington to warn them of what’s coming. In case some of our enemies slip through our lines.” A toned-down way of saying ‘in case we lose this battle and fall’, she thought to herself. But she didn’t say that to him. Some of the ponies, and probably even some of the changelings already doubted whether they could win this battle or not. It wouldn’t be good for morale if she were to show them that even she had her doubts. They would give all they could to protect Hoofington. There would be no surrender. They would fight to the death if they had to. But in the end, she knew that may not be enough. The fact remained that they were still outnumbered by two and a half to one.

“Of course, Ma’am,” the Pegasus Guard responded and gave another salute, which she returned. Then he turned and made his way towards another group of pegasi. Auraria continued to the center of camp. Her tent would probably be up by now.

She had thought of only sending Pegasus Guards to Hoofington to give the warning. However, she also wanted them to bring back any news they could gather. She realized that just as the ponies didn’t fully trust her yet, she didn’t fully trust them either. She couldn’t shake the nagging concern that the ponies might conveniently censor any news they didn’t want her to hear, and so she’d decided to send two changelings with them to keep them honest. Of course, the ponies in Hoofington were probably even more likely to censor the news they gave if they knew there were changelings listening. That meant the changelings would have to go in disguise. That was unfortunate, as it meant they’d have to dip even further into their magic reserves, which she still hadn’t figured out how she was going to replenish. But there was nothing she could do about it.

She reached her tent, stepping inside and pulling the flap shut. Immediately, the warmth of the glowing brazier started to take the chill from her. She enjoyed the warmth while she could, and hoped all her soldiers would do the same. Starting tomorrow at this time, she would not allow any braziers to be lit, nor would she allow any cook fires or even lanterns. She couldn’t risk the enemy scouts smelling the smoke and coming in for a closer look.

She walked to her map table now. Two lanterns had already been lit, causing shadows to flicker on the walls of the tent. Her breath rose like steam in front of her, glowing eerily in the light of the lanterns. She took her maps and several books of notes out of her saddlebags, spreading the maps on the table and using her dog-eared books of battle notes to hold the edges down. Before she could start working on her plans, a changeling voice called from outside her tent.

“Permission to enter, Ma’am?”

“Come,” she said, looking up from her table.

Two changelings and two pegasi entered the tent, one of the changelings turning to pull the flap shut again. Then, all four stood in perfect formation and saluted according to their own custom. Auraria returned the salute, first looking at the pegasi and raising her forehoof to her head, then to the changelings and raising her forehoof to her chest. She recognized Peregrine and Prepona, the two changeling fliers she had requested, and she returned her attention to the two pegasi.

“You two are the fliers I requested?”

“The fastest ones in the entire fourth division, Ma’am,” one of the pegasi responded with a note of pride in his voice. “Or so they say,” he added a bit more humbly.

“What are your names?”

“I’m Private Sky Strike and this is Private Jet Stream, Ma’am.”

Auraria nodded. She made a point of trying to learn and memorize the names of every soldier that served under her. It showed that she cared about them as individuals. That they weren’t just numbers to her. Not just expendable machines to be sent into battle. It was another one of her weaknesses, some of her critics claimed. A changeling commander wasn’t supposed to become attached to her soldiers. To do so meant they would hesitate to take the risks necessary to ensure the glory of the changeling empire. But her critics could attack her all they want. None of them could argue with her record, her results, or her skill. And none of them could argue with the fact that she had fewer disciplinary problems than any other division in the entire Changeling Army. The reason, she was certain, was because her soldiers wanted to follow her, instead of following her based on fear and intimidation. Her soldiers respected her because she earned it. Not just because she outranked them. All of the books she’d written on military science emphasized those points. Ironically, though, her books were more popular with pony commanders than with other changeling commanders. Most changeling commanders still considered her ideas to be radical.

“Take seven hours rest, then fly to Hoofington as fast as you can. Warn them of what’s going on here. Tell the city guard to get as many civilians as possible to safety. It’s likely that some of the invasion force will slip through our lines and make it to the town. But my goal is to keep that to a minimum and hold the vast majority of the force here.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” all four of them responded in unison. Private Sky Strike shifted his eyes downward slightly, then looked at her again and spoke is a hesitating tone.

“Do you really think we can win, Ma’am?”

She nodded once. “Yes, I think we can. According to Skydart, the vast majority of forces they had stationed at the Northern Fortress have come on this raid. They’ll retreat back to the fortress when they start taking heavy losses. Capturing Hoofington wouldn’t be worth losing the Northern Fortress over.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Sky Strike responded. She didn’t think he looked entirely convinced.

“Go get some food, and rest well tonight. The four of you have a long flight ahead of you in seven hours.”

“Ma’am,” they all acknowledged and exchanged salutes with her. Then, they turned and left the tent. As they walked away, she heard Sky Strike speaking quietly.

“She’s over-confident.”

“No she’s not,” one of the changelings responded. “You haven’t seen her in action yet. We’ll win.”

She smiled slightly at the confidence her soldiers had in her. But more so, she smiled at the fact that her soldiers were reassuring their pony comrades. She herself didn’t think she was being over-confident. If the invading force had truly been intent on taking Hoofington at all costs, then no, she didn’t think they could win. But she was convinced that what she’d told the Private was true. The invaders wouldn’t consider Hoofington to be worth losing the Northern Fortress over. They’d retreat once they started to take heavy losses, especially once they realized they were fighting a defending force that did consider Hoofington worth fighting to the death over.

She walked behind her table again, starting to formulate her battle plans And again, she was interrupted. This time, by loud commotion outside. Some of it sounded like cheering. Some it sounded confused. A voice begin to sing the Equestrian anthem, and soon dozens of ponies had joined in.

She stepped around the table, pulling open the flap to her tent and stepping outside. There, she saw all of the ponies, gryphons, and changelings starring towards the east, eyes wide, and some with jaws open. She turned in that direction and felt her heart leap. In the distance stretching to the left and right as far as she could see, the clouds shown with a pink light. Pink became orange, and blue sky began to appear above them. Then, like a giant, golden phoenix rising from the ashes, the sun flared brightly out of the ground, rising slowly into the sky. Auraria had to shield her eyes against its brilliance. It was like stepping out of a dark cave that she’d been in for the last several weeks. The anthem ended, and now ponies, changelings, and gryphons all just cheered, stomping hooves and talons into the snow. She looked around at her gathered soldiers. Some of them spontaneously hugged the one standing next to them, even if they weren’t the same species. She watched with satisfaction as a changeling soldier and pegasus guard hugged. Birds began to chirp in the trees above her, coming out of their hiding places as if a long storm had just passed and the sun were starting to peek out of the dark clouds. The trees sparkled and glittered with white and silver as the glorious light reflected off snow and icicles that hung from their branches. New hope sprang within her, birthed from the light of the sun itself, just as the sun itself appeared to have been birthed from the depths of the ground.

“Then they have one of their Princesses back,” Sergeant Rasahus said, standing next to her. Both of them had had to divert their eyes away from the sky now. Away from the brilliant, blinding light as the sun rose fully above the horizon and higher into the sky, like a giant, golden flag rising to declare victory after a great battle.

“It must be Luna,” Auraria responded. “Our spies in Canterlot say Celestia is trapped in another world and can’t be brought back for three weeks yet.”

“Would that she had waited four more days,” Rasahus said, “Even with the heavy forest, the scouts will probably see our camp now, Ma’am.”

“It will demoralize the enemy,” Auraria countered. “Especially the gryphons, knowing that they lost their prize prisoner, and thus lost their main negotiating chip with Equestria. But more importantly, it will give our own soldiers a badly needed morale boost. Now they know they aren’t fighting in vain. Now they know we actually have hope.”

o.O.o

James listened as the Royal Council members and Guard Captains finished giving their reports. Across the table from him, Luna listened intently, stopping them every once in awhile to ask questions. If any of them were aware of the confrontation he’d had with Luna in the last hour, none of them gave any sign of it. James had decided he wouldn’t tell anyone about it. Not even Celestia. If had been a moment of weakness for Luna. A moment of fear. But she’d overcome it and triumphed. The whole thing was between him and her. There was no reason he needed to tell anyone else. If Luna wanted to tell others, he had no problem with it. But he would not tell anyone.

“Have you thought about what we should do with the Sun?” Luna asked, turning her attention to Councilor Storm Runner.

“We have, Your Majesty. We had considered suggesting that you leave the Sun up for several days straight to quickly warm things back up to normal temperatures. But after we started looking at snowfall totals, we decided that would probably cause serious flooding issues. So our suggestion now is that you just resume a normal sunrise and sunset cycle, and allow a more gradual warming and thawing.”

“Very well. That is what I will do, then.”

“You also need to resume a normal cycle for the Moon, Your Majesty. The gryphon fishing industry has been devastated by the lack of tides and they are facing starvation.”

Luna raised an eyebrow at that. “And yet King Aetos had the power all along to do something about that. He could have released me and I could have made things right for his subjects.”

“King Aetos is being deceived by aislings, Twilight added. “They promised him power and rule over the entire world if he would stay the course. They promised unparalleled glory for the Gryphon Kingdom.”

“I know. Albinus told me. The King must be out of his mind,” Luna said with a shake of her head.

“The gryphon defectors that are fighting with us have the same sentiments, Your Majesty,” James said. “Some of them have even directly said they believe their King is mad.”

“And yet, the percentage of the Gryphon Army that has defected to our side is small. The majority still follows him,” Luna responded, swishing her tail and pacing the length of the room, pausing as if in thought. She stopped again when she reached her spot at the round table, looking at all gathered with a resolute expression.

“We cannot continue to fight a war on two fronts. We cannot continue to defend against aisling incursions as well as fight the gryphons. We must act quickly and decisively to end the war with the Gryphon Kingdom.”

“Perhaps, Your Majesty, we won’t have to worry about the aislings much longer?” Councilor River Rock asked. “Now that you have returned, your magic will strengthen the magical barriers again, won’t it? And won’t that stop the aislings from getting through?”

Luna shook her head. “The Beyond has become so powerful during the absence of my sister and I that I am no longer capable of stopping the barrier from weakening, or the Beyond from growing more powerful. Even when my sister returns, the two of us together will not be able to stop it.. Eventually, the barrier will shatter like glass. and the Beyond will be set loose into the Universe. The task of stopping it still must fall to James and Twilight. For I no longer any doubt in my mind. James and Twilight are the Two Who Are One. The very same Two Who are One spoken of in Star Swirl’s prophecy.”

A jolt shot through James and his mind reeled as if he’d been struck by a bolt of lightning. He glanced at Twilight and she looked as shocked as he was. The expression on her muzzle was one of fear, dismay, and a jumble of other emotions James couldn’t even identify. The Two Who are One, he thought to himself in terror. The Two Who are One who will set the heavens on fire. Will destroy the horizon. Will cause the Sun to swallow itself, and the Moon to swallow itself. The ones who cause the end of the third age. He looked around at the rest of the room, which had descended into a silence like that of death. Every face in the room looked pale, and all had expressions of fear on their muzzles. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Councilor Moon Song spoke, nervousness lacing his voice.

“There might be … one other thing we can consider. Our latest probes into the Beyond show that it is weakening, and we can’t explain why. We had worried that a massive force of aislings may have entered Equestria, but we can’t find any rupture in the barrier large enough where they could have come through. Perhaps … perhaps if the Beyond continue to weaken, you and your sister will be able to contain it again?”

Luna closed her eyes, appearing to be lost in meditation. James knew she was probably looking at the Pattern. No one in the room dared disturb her, but tension hung in the air like a thick fog. Luna began to speak in a voice that sounded distant, although whether she was speaking for their benefit or talking to herself, he wasn’t sure.

“There is a large invasion force assembling to enter Equestria, but I already knew about that. They can’t enter until the barrier fully ruptures, and they aren’t large enough to explain the massive energy drop in the Beyond’s signature … I don’t understand it … There’s an enormous number of threads missing from the Pattern. Tens of millions of them … Something’s wrong,” she said with a strong note of concern and confusion in her voice. “Something’s very wrong … Threads can’t just disappear from the Pattern. They must have gone somewhere. There has to be another assembly of aislings somewhere. An enormous one. But where? Where are they?”

She was silent for a minute, and James presumed she must be searching the Pattern for the missing threads. The only sound he could hear now was his own blood rushing through his eardrums. Everyone in the room had expressions of unease on their muzzles, which did nothing to sooth his own worries.

Suddenly, Luna gasped loudly, her eyes popping open. “Impossible,” she gasped. “This is beyond the worst fears of me or my sister.”

“Your Majesty, what did you see?” Councilor Moon Song asked, the fear evident in his voice now.

“The Beyond is going to the human world. It’s planning massive invasions of both Equestria and the human world at the same time. That’s where the missing energy is. On its way to the human world.”

James felt as if his heart had stopped. “You said that couldn’t happen,” he said in almost a whisper, the words struggling to come out. “Celestia said that couldn’t happen. You said the Beyond couldn’t harm Earth until after it had already destroyed Equestria.”

“We didn’t think it could. We were wrong.”

Again, there was silence for several moments. Finally, James spoke again.

“How … how strong is the invasion force?”

“It stretches in all directions for further than I can see. But based on the amount of missing energy … Over thirty million aislings are on their way to your world …”