The mare turned, and her horn sparked. Her voice was low, and sharp. "It's a... birth defect. I was born as two different people." Her horn sparked it's original blue, and with a flash, and a shriek, she turned back into the young mare named Brisk. "Sorry about that. Flitter likes to be in control." she said sheepishly.
"Interesting... well, welcome the Crystal Empire, both of you." In his long life, Silver Crescent had seen many strange things. A mare with a magical case of multiple personality disorder was barely odd enough to warrant a second thought. "You have a very noticeable Vanhoover accent. What made you decide to leave Equestria?"
"Lunar Empire." she said, shrugging. "Wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I knew what was wrong, and what was right. Plus, Flitter is fairy military like."
"Well, we're happy to have whatever help we can get. Have you enlisted yet?" Silver wondered briefly if the Unicorn's condition would make her an asset or liability in battle.
Venquis held his necklace with his hoof and stared into it, then sighed deeply. He kept getting reports about Ardelan and the Ryborian resistance that was being encountered there. This made him more anxious to take his homeland back. If everything was prepared accordingly, then the earliest that the Covenant could be mobilized and on their way is within two hours. He wanted to leave tomorrow, so he could have official assistance that way in the form of the regular military and the Republic’s allies. However 500,000 highly trained superpony killers were more than enough to retake Ardelan. The Eriborian then continued back towards his quarters and watched over his soldiers in a nearby courtyard. He and almost over half of his kind were ready to retake the occupied kingdom. He was going to not only break the legs permanently of Equestria for the remainder of the war, but was going to ensure that Equestria would never take Ardelan again. Much later, well into the night, Venquis decided to catch some much needed shut eye before leaving tomorrow.
Tricorna stood, looking down the long lane of targets set up for ranged training. She came early each day so noone would see her practicing. She had no intention of using a ranged weapon. Each target was a large metal board with a hay-bale on it painted like a target. She closed her eyes and focused, standing still at the closest end of the field. She put her helmet on, and charged at the first target. "CRASH" She ran straight through the hay and metal, sending pieces flying. One. "CRASH" Two. She sped down the line, clearing each of the targets with mild ease. "CRASH" Twelve. "CRASH" Thirteen. She slid to a stop, nearly slamming into the wall at the end of the range. "10 seconds. New record." She smiled as she walked back to the front of the range.
With all major campaigns on the other remaining lands being successful, Crimson and Ocean sat in the park gardens watching over the city. On such a rare occasion during war time that they could be peaceful, they were dressed in an casual atrire. However, despite being older then the majority of ponies they fought alongside, their fashion taste was slightly outdated. Ocean, wearing a beautiful pink dress while Crimson only wore blue jeans alongside a white t-shirt. They were impressed that the republic, despite only being a year old, had the same level of growth in all areas that Equestria had achieved in almost 1,200 years. They knew about the upcoming assault that was going to be waged upon Equestria, and the Eriborian's assault to retake Ardelan. Despite both of them most likely going to assist Silver for the Equestrian conquest, they wished Venquis luck. Once Silver gave the word, they will fight alongside him and Midnight for the conquest.
After saying goodbye to Flitter and Brisk, Silver walked over to his old friends, Crimson and Ocean. "Looks like we're getting the old team back together. I can think of no ponies I'd rather have with me when we finally face Celestia." He sighed. "We have all suffered so much at the hooves of the Phoenix Queen. It's hard to believe it will soon be over."
"It will never be over, old friend. Anywhere you go you will find loyalists. Ready to serve Celestia even after her death." Robin approached the three ponies. Dressed in his uniform. consisting of a steel and leather breastplate, steel gauntlets and a black and dark purple hooded cloak.
"If they are foolish enough to follow a dead pony, than they will join her. We have worked too long and lost too much to allow a few zealots to threaten our new republic. When Celestia falls, her followers will either bow down to the Night Princess or be destroyed." Silver suddenly laughed. "Why all this grim talk? We do not attack until tomorrow morning! Let us have some fun before we march off to battle!'
"Her loyalists will either surrender and conform to the Night Princess or be wiped from existence, simple as that. But I agree with Silver, we should not talk about the future. We should be spending our last 'free' day until we all go to war the next day. I cant believe it either Silver, it's all going to end soon. Everything is coming down to this. Let's hope that nothing disastrous occurs to us, and we'll get along in this war just fine." Crimson told the group. Ocean nodded. "Let's celebrate. I'll get the wine."
Silver shook his head. "No more talk of disaster, Crimson. We have spent a year preparing for this. Our troops are strong and brave. They have the best equipment and training the Republic has to offer. This will not be like the first battle for the Crystal Empire. This time, we are ready."
"We certainly will be ready. I have a feeling that Midnight would want to take down his mother personally, and i guess that i cant blame him. Celestia was responsible for the Alicorn purges now over 1,000 years ago. I mean, he has the power to match her even in his calm state, and lets not forget what he is capable of when at full power. It's almost frighting, he's practically a god. He forgave his mother for the massacre during the Eve of the Final Eclipse, but her betrayal to him, almost 200 years of imprisonment and countless purges and atrocities committed in her name. She had been lying to him for his entire life, so he's got more then a grudge against her." Ocean told the small group. "Yet again. Who doesn't have scores to settle with her? The Phoenix Queen has to face against her sister, Silver wants to see Celestia end, me and my wife plus Robin want to stop her tyranny, alongside the rest of the world. And to make matters worse, she has the Changelings, Buffalo, Deer, Zebra, her own ponies, even the Ryborians. It seems that the world really is against her. So if we stand up towards her, we should stand together." Crimson responded.
"Midnight will have to lay aside his personal desire for revenge. We need him leading our the bulk of our forces against Celestia's army. Besides, we won't need him. We fought the Ardak Luvanis during the Final Eclipse incident. We fought the rogue Alicorn, Monarch. We have the skill and experience necessary to stop Celestia, and that is why we will be leading the strike teams that will infiltrate Canterlot Palace." Silver sighed. "Let us discuss this tonight. For now, have some wine."
(Patience, young Padawan. We need to let [MENTION=3157]Eluuna[/MENTION] and [MENTION=5915]Dreamer[/MENTION] write themselves into the group. Besides, Silver Crescent still needs to explain the attack plan, and I need to bring Holly in.)
(For the sake of introducing my character.) As the sun set over the Crystal Empire, a large, golden star appeared on the ground just outside of an outlying camp. A few changelings stepped forward to investigate as the star glowed and shimmered. A few seconds later, a lone, hooded figure rose from the middle of the star, bathed in golden light. The guards drew closer and snarled. In the common language of the Equestrians, the leader demanded, "Who are you? Friend or Foe?" The cloaked pony snickered under her hood and replied, "Do with me what you will." ----- The pony, still cloaked, was brought before Princess Cadence. "Who is this?" She asked. The changeling guard bowed and replied, "She refuses to answer any of our questions. If you would like, we could interrogate her..." Cadence narrowed her eyes and stepped toward the pony. "I don't think that'll be necessary..." She used her magic to draw back the hood of the violet crystal pony. "Welcome back, Star Shimmer." Star Shimmer nodded and replied, "How did you know?" The princess turned and took a few steps back. "The Crystal Heart keeps watch over her own." "Of course..."
