The Awesome Pony Rp : Equestria Divided (IC)

[Nocturniica]

[spoiler]PONYVILLE, Equestria
Rainbow Dash zoomed onto one of Twilight’s balconies, ready to tell her the news. Holding still, Rainbow Dash took a few moments to catch her breath before looking around for Twilight. She charged through the halls until she found Twilight.
She had a feeling Twilight wasn’t going to like the fact that Equestria’s military was on the move, but if Twi had been there at that military debate SURELY she would understand. Dash figured that if Twi was mad she would just apologize profusely. Right now there wasn’t time for diplomacy; it was clear that Lethe was on the move and they were NOT friendly.
Suddenly, she heard something from a radio in another room.
It was the All-Maker’s transmission. Rainbow Dash sat down after she heard it. Within moments she was angry and leaped to her hooves. Rainbow Dash began pacing back and forth, trying to figure out what to do.
They clearly stated they wanted PEACE! Now what? War? Well, all the heads of military were expecting war. Lethe constantly skirmished them, insulted them, and spread negative propaganda about them. Not just Equestria, but about Celestia and Luna and sometimes even about Twilight. Then again, she didn’t want war. Then again, she couldn’t help it. Now what, though? Now what?
Again Rainbow Dash began pacing back and forth, trying not to panic or get too furious.

Finally, she rushed through the halls until she found Twilight.
She stood by and listened to what Twilight said and scoffed.
“Twi, I don’t know if you know this, but Lethe just sent out a transmission—it was a speech King Letum gave,” Rainbow Dash cut in sadly, “King Letum wants to butcher us all because we ‘sympathize with the abominations’ and he calls Princess Celestia a snake and all sorts of other horrid things. You’re gonna have to do some serious persuading if you want this to end up in peace. Believe me, I want peace, but I don’t know how we are going to have that now.”

With that, Rainbow Dash approached Twilight and Rover and added, “Twi, the summit isn’t for a few days or so, right? In the meantime, Lethe wants to eradicate the Diamond Dogs. We can’t just let them get annihilated, can we? The Military wants to support them, and we are already preparing troops by the borders. I am not sure what Princess Celestia wants to do now, but we gotta do something about Diamondgrad. If we sit back and wait for the summit, Lethe is going to kill them all, and it will be our fault for not intervening. Did you get any letters from Princess Celestia? What does she want to do? And don’t tell me she wants to wait, because the Military is fed up with Lethe and they all wanna DO something.”

Before Rover could respond, Rainbow Dash interrupted. Twilight sighed. Rainbow Dash had always been the most belligerent of the Mane Six, as well as the one least attuned to the possible consequences of her actions and inactions--not a particularly good combination. Her promotions in the military encouraged the first, but apparently didn't help with the second. She brought out the new letter from Celestia and gave it to Rainbow Dash. "Princess Celestia is already trying to stop the campaigns. With absolute power and his cult of personality the All-Maker could mobilize all of Lethe in a matter of days and any victory against them would not be easy if not nearly impossible. Moving against them is too big of a risk for Equestria to take. Besides," said Twilight, taking out a big leather-bound book from her pocket dimension and flipping through the pages, "there's nothing in international law that allows you to use force against a country for purely equestitarian reasons. We are clearly in the wrong here. You need to convince the military that it's important to follow Princess Celestia's orders. We will try to solve Diamondgrad's status peacefully before we risk falling to the All-Maker."

[/spoiler]


Rainbow Dash sighed, remembering those laws.

"You are right... I'll get in contact with them. Most likely Celestia has already contacted them, but I'll see what I can do. Mind you, this wasn't purely my decision--it was theirs. I just oversaw the meeting. Still, the truth is that one day we will have war again. Lethe HATES us, and our heads of military are fed up with them too. I just hope that we don't have war too soon. Thanks for listening, Twi. Guess I have to go now."

With that said, Rainbow Dash trotted out of the room, wondering what exactly she was going to tell all the military leaders.

She contacted them by phone and telegram, and they certainly weren't happy to hear the news. First, they were all angry about the transmission, and secondly they were all upset that the decision had been made to pull back the troops. Nevertheless, they obeyed Celestia's wishes and pulled back. Thankfully they hadn't really had time to mobilize much anyway.



After that, Rainbow Dash paced around in her office, pondering what to do. Would this really calm down Lethe? She had no idea. Thinking of all the skirmishes, Rainbow Dash knew that Lethe was just going to attack sooner or later....

If only they had a power to stop that cursed Letum of Lethe.
He was just as powerful as Discord and a hundred times full of himself.

wait.

Would Discord help? Rainbow Dash knew he didn't participate in the last war for various reasons... but maybe she could convince him to... do... SOMETHING.

Maybe he could help the Diamond Dogs. He wasn't affiliated with Equestria directly, so if he got involved, Equestria would not be under political fire.

Hoping Discord would help, Rainbow Dash flew to Fluttershy's house.

It would be a little while before she arrived, so on the way she started thinking of what to say to Discord.

[Frenequesta]

Ponyville

Princess Twilight was not optimistic that Rainbow Dash and Princess Celestia could stop the impending catastrophe alone. Almost as soon as Rainbow left Twilight, and after breaking a sweat, she addressed Rover, still standing and somewhat horrified at the news. "Wait here for thirty minutes; I have something urgent to attend to." With that, she disappeared in a pinkish-purple ball of light.

She eventually arrived right in the middle of the Canterlot Archives, right in the Starswirl the Bearded Wing. A nearby guard waved hello to her as she frantically searched through the shelves. A little scroll was somewhat difficult to find--after all, it was Pinkie Pie who first found it--so she flew around worrying that it might have been lost in the Grand Galloping Gala Attack. She then found a vault at one corner labelled "Limited Access--Security Clearance Required." Perhaps it was in there--time travel was a powerful spell that could be abused in the wrong hooves, so it would be especially guarded information. She pressed the nearby button that triggered a scanner from above that inspected her cutie mark. A bell rang, and the door opened.

She flew inside to inspect the somewhat more foreboding shelves filled with what was known to magic experts like herself as "gray magic"--those spells in between white and dark magic only reserved for a select few. After another five minutes she found what looked like Starswirl's time travel spell, as it was also on a single scroll, but actually something perhaps even more important--Cloud Nebula's Future Projection spell. She realized how useful such a spell could be: since Starswirl's spell only allowed one to go back in time for a few minutes, trying to explain everything personally would be too difficult. This particular spell, however, could give someone a storable glimpse of the future based on some verbal input--a picture more persuasive and permanent than just somepony talking. The method itself was advanced and the spell had an orange mark to indicate that special precautions had to be taken to execute it, but Twilight learned how to handle those particular precautions at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, so it would be relatively easy for her to perform safely. As it turned out, the shelf right below this spell contained Starswirl's time travel spell, still intact with just a slight burn mark on the top edge. She smiled--now all she needed was that input and a green gem for storage. She, of course, always kept a few gems on hoof in case Spike needed a snack on the road, and she knew immediately what input would work best.

She left the vault and flew to the front desk receptionist. "Excuse me," she said to her. "Have the Archives gotten a copy of the All-Maker's recent radio broadcast yet?"

The receptionist smiled. "Yes, your highness, it just came in. Keystone might still be sorting it. Try the Audiovisual Wing, Section B4a."

Twilight nodded and flew to the Audiovisual Wing. Right at Section B4a she saw a young adult earth pony, probably a student at the University of Canterlot with a summer job, pushing a cart with several cassette tapes and film reels, and then stopping it, picking up one of the cassettes with his teeth. Twilight caught him a little off guard. "Excuse me, sir," she said, "do you have the All-Maker's recent radio broadcast in that pile?"

The earth pony unconsciously dropped the tape and took a few seconds to reorient himself. "Uh, uh, yes, yes, your highness, I was just about to put it up..." he said, as he hoofed his way through the pile. After about twenty seconds searching the whole pile, he noticed a cassette on the ground. "Ah, there it is," he said. He picked it back up with his teeth and gave it to Twilight. "The player's to your left, Room 330. I tell ya, the generals at Canterlot Castle are going crazy over this."

"Thank you," Twilight quickly nodded. She almost forgot that she didn't know where the generals made their decision, so the young stallion's comment was a lucky break. She took the cassette with her magic and flew back to the vault to get the two spell scrolls. She took them to Room 330, a small, soundproofed room with a gray and brown playback device. First she inserted the cassette into the player and hit the play button. Then, she took the scroll with the Future Projection spell, aimed her horn to the playback device, and followed the directions.

The All-Maker's message was a fairly long one, and Twilight almost collapsed from holding a spell that long. She opened her eyes to see a circle of light alternating between pure white and the full visible spectrum, which then grew a rectangular screen with fuzzy but clearing images, nearly touching the walls and the ceiling. The scenes it depicted stunned her: First it showed Lethean armies advancing on Ponyville, with its magic weapons and more conventional lead bullets mowing down legions of Equestrian troops wisely at post, and then the city skyline in flames. Twilight even saw herself doing her best to protect Ponyville and her castle, narrowly avoiding a fatal shot by deft use of teleportation. Next it showed San Flankcisco with a similar progression, but this time with Equestria apparently winning. Then a Lethean-induced earthquake leveled nearly all of the city's buildings, turning the tide in Lethe's favor, ending in the Equestrian leading commander's surrender and his subsequent execution. Finally came Canterlot, with Equestrian troops fighting harder but still overwhelmed by Lethean forces. Parliament Hall's clock tower, hit by a magic energy cannonball, even came crashing down on a whole Equestrian company. This time, the All-Maker himself personally led the charge, climaxing in a face-to-face battle between him and Princess Celestia. It took only thirty seconds of magic volleys before the All-Maker threw a straight beam of violent energy to Celestia, exploding in a flash of white light throughout the whole screen, concealing Celestia's fate.

Then the screen looped back to the beginning of the vignettes. There was no sound throughout the moving images except for some excerpts of the All-Maker's speech, but its effect would surely be powerful enough. She then tuned down the screen, absorbed the pulsating circle of light into an emerald green gem, and put it into her pocket dimension. She then took Starswirl's time travel spell and performed it, disappearing in a flash of white light with a pinkish-purple aura and lighting bolts flying from it.

---

A few hours earlier, Canterlot Castle

Twilight soon found herself in the halls of Canterlot Castle, feeling the precious seconds of her trip tick by. She forgot to inquire which room the generals were in, and she paced around fearing that the spell would return her back at any moment before she could find them. Fortunately, she saw Rainbow Dash trotting down the halls from a restroom break, and she teleported over to her.

"Rainbow Dash! It's me from just a few hours from now! I don't have much time to talk, but this is extremely important!" As Rainbow stood confused Twilight took out the emerald green gem. "This gem has a glimpse of the future to if Equestria moves against Lethe. It's not a happy future. Find Cloud Nebula's Future Projection spell at the Canterlot Archives to access--" and with that, Twilight disappeared, with the emerald green gem snapping out from the flash of light and landing on the floor in front of Rainbow.

---

Present

Twilight returned to the Canterlot Archives, and then her castle, feeling quite dizzy, only becoming truly conscious when she returned back to her castle. She only had a vague recollection of why she used Starswirl's time travel spell--something about the All-Maker, a radio broadcast, and that the outcome would be bad. She then smiled. If she could only remember vague details, then it must have meant that the future had been changed! Whether it was for the better was yet to be seen.

She returned down the staircase to see Rover impatiently waiting and Silver Shield standing by him. "It's been almost an hour, your highness," said Silver. "I had to keep him here and assure him that she hadn't abandoned you."

"I'm sorry," said Twilight. It certainly felt like only thirty minutes. "I didn't keep track of time. Okay, so Rover, you've had time to think about my proposal, how does it sound?"

[Nocturniica]

A few hours earlier, Canterlot Castle

Twilight soon found herself in the halls of Canterlot Castle, feeling the precious seconds of her trip tick by. She forgot to inquire which room the generals were in, and she paced around fearing that the spell would return her back at any moment before she could find them. Fortunately, she saw Rainbow Dash trotting down the halls from a restroom break, and she teleported over to her.

"Rainbow Dash! It's me from just a few hours from now! I don't have much time to talk, but this is extremely important!" As Rainbow stood confused Twilight took out the emerald green gem. "This gem has a glimpse of the future to if Equestria moves against Lethe. It's not a happy future. Find Cloud Nebula's Future Projection spell at the Canterlot Archives to access--" and with that, Twilight disappeared, with the emerald green gem snapping out from the flash of light and landing on the floor in front of Rainbow.

Realizing the situation was dire, Rainbow Dash grabbed the gem, and zoomed over to the archives. Since she was so fast, she arrived there with still ten minutes to spare before the recess of the meeting was over. Of course, she had to ask a very talented unicorn for help in viewing it. Watching what the gem showed, she was horrified.

When she returned to the meeting, the unicorn showed what happened in the gem.

After five minutes of silence, all the generals decided to simply wait to see what Lethe would do.


PRESENT TIME: FLUTTERSHY'S HOUSE


Meanwhile, Discord, Spot and Fluttershy were enjoying their tea.

Discord looked around at Fluttershy's house, noting the pictures of animal friends that had passed away, as well as pony friends that had died in the war. Once again, Discord blamed himself for not intervening.

No, war was not his thing... but from what he heard, Letum was quite the dictator.

Only Discord could really stand up to him, and Discord knew it. Then again, from what he heard, even Discord wasn't sure if he could beat him. Maybe he and Letum could still be friends... maybe not.

What about Equestria? It was clear that Letum and his army despised Equestria. At least, that's what Rainbow Dash kept telling Discord whenever he visited her and Soarin.

In his mind, Discord made a vow: if Letum's army did try to invade, he WOULD do something.

He already had a plan: he could erect shields around the nation, just like Letum did around his favorite cities. Yes, shields that would make any enemies lose the will to fight by being utterly confused. Yes, Discord could do that.

If Equestria ever really needed saving again, Discord would help. He wouldn't sit by, but he probably wouldn't fight either, unless totally necessary.

This time, Discord would help.





TWILIGHT'S CASTLE, PRESENT

Rainbow Dash flew over to Twilight's castle, to see if she heard about the potential conflict between the Diamond Dogs and Lethe. The military decided not to move, but Rainbow Dash felt guilty about doing nothing. Perhaps Twilight had a solution.

She landed on a balcony, and trotted through Twilight's castle until she found her. Unfortunately, Twilight was busy talking to the Diamond Dog messenger. Standing straight, Rainbow Dash did her best to not look like she was incredibly guilty for not being able to help the Dogs.
In truth, she believed that if Equestria did not intervene, the Dogs would be exterminated by Lethe. She had seen what Letum could do in battle, and it was h o r r i f y i n g. She didn't want that to happen to anypony, anydog, anyTHING. Sadly, she couldn't do anything. The military couldn't do anything.

Maybe Twi could help. She always had a solution.

From what Twi was saying, though, it sounded like she couldn't help either. Maybe she had SOMETHING for Rainbow Dash to do to help, though.

[Fascist Russian Empire]

The Kingdom of Lethe,
Salt-Lick City

"Something is not as it should be..." the All-Maker contemplated from his throne, sensing a magical anomaly. He had just finished sending his final warning to the diamond dog insurrectionists, and had suddenly detected a disruption of some sort.

"What is it?" Iron Rose asked.

"A matter outside of your expertise. You are dismissed, Field Marshal; I must speak with Deep Insight right away." the All-Maker answered, Iron Rose responding with a salute before leaving to continue overseeing the Kingdom's military affairs.

Right after she left, a stallion in black robes emerged from the shadows and knelt in front of the All-Maker. It was Deep Insight, the second most feared member of the Lethean government behind the All-Maker himself, and for good reason. Deep Insight was the head of the Lethean Ministry of Information and Security, commonly known as the Lethean Inquisition; LMIS was the state's instrument of espionage and counter-espionage, secret operations, and, most famously, violent persecution of undesirable elements within Lethe. LMIS was, perhaps, the largest and most intrusive state-security organ in the world; they constantly monitored the population, with the government having invested many hundreds of millions of bits into setting up universal security surveillance. Deep Insight and his secret police were always watching anyone anywhere in the Kingdom, and they were always ready to deliver harsher than harsh punishments for unacceptable political and religious activities. Over twenty thousand ponies had been tortured and executed by LMIS on charges of treason and or abomination sympathy during the All-Maker's decade-long reign, with extensive operations constantly being carried out to find and eliminate opponents of the state's policy of changeling-eradication as well as adherents of outlawed religions (Peacekeepers being the primary victims).

The All-Maker was a very transparent figure, who typically made no secret about his plans; he wanted his enemies to know he was coming for them. Blunt, direct confrontation was largely a propaganda move; it helped further reinforce the All-Maker's reputation as a strong and fearless warrior, and strike fear into the hearts of his enemies. Deep Insight was very different; he was completely clandestine with all of his activities. He was a stallion of complete mystery; when he undertook an operation, it would be done in the utmost secrecy. For this reason, he was trusted with all of the few operations which the All-Maker wished to be done silently. Most of Lethe's plans were intentionally transparent; when they wanted something to be hidden, though, they made absolutely certain that nobody would fine out about it.

"All-Maker, you called for me?" Deep Insight asked.

"We must not speak here." the All-Maker said, magically teleporting the two of them to his personal dimension with a snap of his fingers.

The All-Maker made frequent use of his own dimension; it was the primary location where he would have clandestine meetings. It was completely out of reach for prying eyes and ears, and only accessible by the All-Maker himself and those whom he took with him. His dimension appeared as a massive ancient city, stretching as far as the eye could see, covered with massive monuments, with an immense and grandiose palace right in the center of it all. From on top of an ivory throne in his palace, the All-Maker spoke to Deep Insight.

"I have sensed a disturbance in our timeline, Deep Insight. While I know not what has been changed, I suspect that the abomination-sympathizers have begun utilizing time travel as a means of sabotaging my plans for Equus." the All-Maker revealed.

"Time travel isn't unheard of, though it is a quite rare power; I believe Starswirl the Bearded was one of the only ponies to successfully discover it. If Celestia has begun using this power, it most likely means she has found a scroll copying Starswirl's spell." Deep Insight responded.

"This is a completely unacceptable revelation; we can not sit by and allow the abomination-sympathizers to deny Equestria the future it deserves, free from their crimes. I want every step to be taken to either secure this power for myself, or to destroy it and prevent the Celestial snakes from using it." the All-Maker said.

"If they are indeed in possession of a time-travel scroll, I suspect that it will most likely be under heavy guard; perhaps in Ponyville, safeguarded by the supposed intellectual, Twilight Sparkle. Or, perhaps in Canterlot; the capital would be a likely location, right outside of Celestia's castle. I shall instruct the Temple's operatives in those areas to begin searching for it; if it is within our power, we shall stage a heist and return it to Salt-Lick City. Failing that, we shall burn it to ashes and ensure it shall never again be used to disrupt our activities." Deep Insight said.

"If you are unable to take it, I want its destruction to be a public spectacle. Whatever building is being used to house the scroll, blow it to smithereens; an act of terror against the Celestial regime will send a clear message that the gloves are off, while simultaneously neutralizing the time-travel threat." the All-Maker instructed.

"Of course, All-Maker." Deep Insight agreed with a bow.

"There is one more thing; perhaps of even greater urgency. If Celestia has begun looking at the past, I fear it may mean she has discovered the existence of the Staff of Insidiæ, which poses an astronomical threat to our operations. If she discovers the whereabouts of that staff, it could ruin thousands of years of planning and destroy any hope of thwarting the abominations. I'm going to authorize you to use any and all means necessary to find it before the Celestial snakes can; I don't care how much it costs, or how many need to die to secure it. Finding the Staff is going to be your first and foremost priority." the All-Maker commanded.

The Staff of Insidiæ...It was an ancient artifact, one which had been lost to the ages many thousands of years ago. Almost no mortals had even heard of it, and the number who knew its purpose was nearly zero. It was a weapon of the ancient changelings, from their original homeland, before they migrated to Equestria; a very powerful magical staff, capable of defeating even gods in battle. Through the use of the Staff, the ancient changeling King Insidiæ (the namesake of the weapon) was able to triumph in battle against the All-Maker (who had ruled all of ancient Equestria at that point), the one and only mortal to ever accomplish such a feat, though he failed to permanently destroy the All-Maker. It was, in all likelihood, the only weapon in existence which could truly defeat the All-Maker; as such, he had dedicated immense effort to finding it and preventing it from being used against him, though he had done so to no success.

"It shall be as you desire, All-Maker. We don't have many leads to follow, as you know; after ten years of searching, we've only found the one lead." Deep Insight commented.

Even after extensive efforts to locate the Staff, Deep Insight and the other Temple researchers on the topic had found one and only one single clue. A very old biography (over three hundred years old, set during the reign of King Grover) of a noble in the Griffin Kingdom, part of a minor house, had described him as possessing a staff matching the physical description of the Staff of Insidiæ, though his dynasty had been extinct for a long time and there was no mention of what happened to the staff. It wasn't very much to go on, but it did indicate the possibility that the staff may be located in the Griffin Kingdom.

"We'll just have to use what we have. Send your agents to the Griffin Kingdom to search for it; preferably, send your few griffin operatives to begin the search. The current King of the Griffins has made no secret of his disdain for outlanders, especially ponies, and with the recent events in Cloudsdale I suspect anti-pony violence will be undertaken by the local government. Buffalo would be too conspicuous, and would draw suspicion; if Celestia has spies in the Griffin Kingdom, they'd immediately know something is up if a sudden influx of buffalo traveled across the sea." the All-Maker said.

"Of course, All-Maker; I'll see to it on the double. We have an unfortunately limited supply of griffins here, but I'll make do." Deep Insight replied.

"Leave no witnesses; kill everyone who knows about the Staff as soon as they exhaust their usefulness. It is of the utmost importance that we leave no trails for the abomination-sympathizers to follow. Begin your mission now; time is of the essence, and we mustn't squander it." the All-Maker said before transporting the two back to Equus.

Appaloosan Mountains

It had been a matter of mere hours since the All-Maker's final warning to the insurrectionists; they had still not begun compliance with his ultimatum. Always a deity of his word, the All-Maker personally came to the area to lead his soldiers in massacring the dogs for their defiance of his will. There were thousands of pony and buffalo soldiers surrounding the rebel stronghold; defensive lines had been set up all around the perimeter, serving the purposes of both preventing aid from reaching the dogs and blocking any route of escape from the settlement. The All-Maker always sought to ensure no survivors whenever his army started an extermination mission; maximizing civilian casualties was a main goal of his in battle, and he was normally able to do so to great effect.

Dozens of miners had arrived in the vicinity, bringing heavy-duty drills and mining equipment with them. The primary defensive advantage that the diamond dogs had was the restricted points of attack; mining additional tunnels into the settlement would gradually whittle away that advantage, and hasten the siege. In truth, it didn't matter much, from a practical standpoint, how long the siege took, but a swift and overwhelming victory against his enemies would serve as a great propaganda source for the All-Maker and serve to instill fear into anyone else who might contemplate the prospect of armed uprising against his government.

"God-King, the insurrectionists have still refused to comply with your demands. We are ready to assault the stronghold at any moment." Lieutenant-General Armored Arrow reported with a salute as the All-Maker teleported into the area.

"Then let the massacre begin, commander. Every last inhabitant of this settlement is hereby sentenced to death; begin the assault and leave no survivors." the All-Maker ordered.

Without hesitation, the soldiers of Lethe officially fired the first shots of the Battle of Diamondgrad, striking at the entrance to the settlement. Under the All-Maker's magical guidance, the contracted miners swiftly began drilling new avenues of attack, the All-Maker personally revealing the most efficient locations to drill. Facing a large, professional, battle-hardened army, and having the terrain advantage chipped away, it wast most certainly only a matter of time before the separatists faced defeat and genocide at the hands of the All-Maker; it would take fast and decisive action on their part to save the city's population from extermination, and a miracle to actually win their war of independence.

[Nocturniica]

COLTSTANTINOPLE

"Minster Katarszes, send a message to Las Pegasus... inform them that, should they decide to take any action regarding the situation of Diamondgrad, we will support said action... I think I need to break it to the world, that from this moment, the Empire recognizes in Diamondgrad a fellow sorvereign nation.."

The foreign minster just nodded before heading off to his office, sure that this would cause him a good number of headaches... meanwhile, the Emperor headed to the press room

"By the way.... " He added before they were both out of the council room "contact Canterlot as well... we should step-up our containment"

The minster nodded at that, sighing.

"It is, as per Lethe itself alongside the rest of the nations in the region established as a precedent during the breakup of Equestria, the sorvereign right of any intelligent people, to establish a national home if so they wish. The Diamond Dogs have chosen to make good use of that right, and on the lands that they have inhabited for generations, they have chosen to establish a free and sorvereign nation.

Under such circumstances, the least of the actions that the Empire of the Ippeians can take, is to offer the Diamond Dog Nation our recognition, and offer our help towards a peaceful resolution of this crisis, or to keep their independence, if no peaceful solution can be reached."

It was soon being transmitted on radio and *television (or its equivalent) across the world

LAS PEGASUS

"Sir... the Diamond Dog representative was already gone"

"Oh... shame... I'll have to make a few calls then" Replied the president, slightly dissapointed. Soon enough he started up the secured-connection computer, hopefully the representative sent there would still be there...

PONYVILLE

Fluttershy smiled at that and served another cup of tea for Spot, bringing more snacks in the process
"Oh, Angel is getting better from a cold, he is a stubborn little bunny" She said, he was one of the few animals that had somehow remained here while she was going off as a nurse during the war.

BLACHERNAE BRIDGE, COLTSTANTINOPLE

"Yeah... but enough of that" He said as they reached the other side of the bridge, and a building along it "an old friend of mine owns this place, good food, good mead" he shrugged "shall we?"

BLACHERNAE BRIDGE


"Certainly! Sounds like my kind of place," Chilling Wind declared with a stretch of one ebony wing. Chilling walked and talked as they entered the building, "Do they serve any Nocturnii delicacies here? I'm really looking forward to something made with insects, if you don't mind."

The building was lit by wall lights with a few chandeliers, giving the place a warm, cozy feeling by how bright it was and yet how dim. It smelled of various foods and was filled with the noise of chatter. As they entered, Chilling noted that several different species were gathered there--all types of ponies, including Nocturnii, as well as Hippogriffs, Griffons, and even some donkeys. Well, the food and drinks had to be good with this many species packing the house.

[Ippeia]

COLTSTANTINOPLE

"I'm sure they do" replied Sigvard with a large smile, rumors were, they would be deployed soon anyway...

As they walked in towards the bar, Sigvard noticed that they were being followed... For now, he decided to not think much about it, somewhat thankful that he had his sidearm with him if it was needed...
"Watch your back Chill, I think we're being followed..." He whispered, soon enough a hippogriff barmaid came to see what did they want

[Turmenista]

Ponyville, Equestria

"Oh, sure, your highness, I'm pretty sure that I've had all the time in the world thinking about this offer," Rover said sarcastically, shaking his head. At this point, what use was there in trying to get any help? Rover knew that Rex was the type of dog who wouldn't take "no" as an answer, especially from Lethe. Likely he'd already sent the Lethean attachés back to their country (hopefully not in bodybags), but in all honesty had probably just killed somepony by now. He was dangerous like this, and that's what he disliked - and feared - about Rex. How he was so adamant on having the Dogs have their own independent place to live was one thing on the positive spectrum, but if it meant life or death in a situation like this, maybe he needed to lay it off just a little.

"I appreciate us having that seat at that meeting, your highness, I really do, but I'm going to be perfectly honest here," Rover continued. "If we don't do something exactly right now, I don't think there's gonna be a Diamondgrad for me to come home to. Rex - our leader - has already made it clear to Lethe and everyone else that he's not going to accept any of their ultimatums or offers - nothin'. I don't think Lethe's going to wait a bit longer just to let him live on like this, and they're probably already moving their military in right now as we speak. We need to do this thing quickly or at least try to find a way to organize a cease fire with those Lethean ponies, or me coming all the way here was just useless.."

__________________

Appleoosan Mountains, Near Lethe/Diamondgrad

Useless was more of an understatement, as already after speaking to the two ponies on prospecting duty, the ground had begun to rumble. Initially the dogs had thought this minor disturbance to be just a landslide or an earthquake, but when the rumbles became more uniform after a while, the realization had dawned upon them. Rex's trained ears picked up one rumble - then two, then three, all within five seconds of each other. If he was correct, somepony - or something - had triggered the explosives.

If he was trusting his gut, those had to have been Lethean scouts, or, if the worst came to shove, the Lethean army itself. Rex slowly lowered his rifle as the other dogs did the same - Jojo initially seemed surprised and scuffled over to his friend. "But Rex.. these ponies are trespassing on our grounds, and we're just going to let them lea-"

Rex held up a paw, silencing the dog as he stepped down from the ledge. "If I'm correct, the flagged area of yours -" Rex paused, lightly brushing a palm over a random area of the ground - a silver plate had been spotted over the dirt, allowing Rex to find the wire and, subsequently, the rest of the device, disarming the simple contraption with just as much care as he had armed it with. "Is now clear of any explosives." He held up the bundled mass of mining charges in his paw, placing them to the side for possible use later. "Let me correct myself and just apologize for the events that just happened: You all are allowed here to mine, you're just following your orders and doing what you ponies do, that's fine. What I'm not fine with is you going beyond the hills over there -" Rex pointed over in the general direction of Diamondgrad, an area commonly known for its Diamond Dog settlements and mines. "For one, it's about to be a warzone over there, and two, there's way too many mines there for me to disarm."

Even the Diamond dogs looked surprised at this point. "Warzone?" They murmured among themselves, to which another replied, "Didn't you hear those explosions earlier? Those have to be Lethe moving their military and hitting those mines.."

Regardless, Rex continued, shouldering his rifle. "I, again, apologize for the events that have happened and are happening now, but I'm afraid they're out of my control. I don't want this to turn sour so we'll be leaving you for now."

Just as he turned around, however, Rex's ears picked up a sound from the ledge. The group of Dogs up on the ledge all parted ways to reveal another Diamond dog - this time, one Rex remembered he'd assigned on guard duty back at Diamondgrad. What a guard was doing here and not guarding the settlement was beyond him, but judging by how quickly he entered the area and how he was panting, things weren't looking too good on the Diamond Dogs' side. "You," Rex asked the newcomer. "Didn't I assign you to the first line of defense to the settlement? Why have you come here?"

"Sir.." The Dog managed to pant. "There is no more first line of defense! All that's left is me and a couple others - we've since fled to the gates but Lethe's army moves near! They've started to drill into the earth itself to get in but we're not going to be able to fend them off with just a couple dozen of us at the gates! We need help!"

Rex turned to the Dog. "Alert the other patrols - you know where they are. Tell them to return to Diamondgrad immediately. Go at once." He ordered. Watching the dog retreat back over to the hills, Rex turned to his own contingent of Dogs. "The rest of you, with me. It's time I put these mining explosives of mine to good use rather than landmines. Le'ts go."

With that, the Dogs were off, leaving Copperfield and Prospect alone once more as it quickly became evident that the uniform boom noises off in the distance weren't just coincidental rockslides but, rather, the sounds of a full on battle.

[Nocturniica]

by Ippeia » Mon Aug 07, 2017 10:19 am
COLTSTANTINOPLE

"I'm sure they do" replied Sigvard with a large smile, rumors were, they would be deployed soon anyway...

As they walked in towards the bar, Sigvard noticed that they were being followed... For now, he decided to not think much about it, somewhat thankful that he had his sidearm with him if it was needed...
"Watch your back Chill, I think we're being followed..." He whispered, soon enough a hippogriff barmaid came to see what did they want

COLTSTANTINOPLE:


After browsing the menu for a moment, Chilling ordered himself a bowl of scorpion stew. While he ordered his food and winked at the waitress, he focused his ears onto the noises around him, drawing a picture in his mind of the room and the street outside. Indeed, there were footsteps outside from a Gryphon.
After the barmaid left, Chilling whispered so only Sigvard could hear, “There’s a Gryphon out there, all alone on the street, trying not to be noticed. The noise from in here is interfering but I am pretty sure it’s a Gryphon out there.”


PONYVILLE, TWILIGHT’S CASTLE
Hearing Twi’s words and the Diamond Dog’s reply, Rainbow Dash knew that there was nothing she could do to help. Nevertheless, she felt she had to do SOMETHING… but what?

Suddenly, she had an idea. Discord could help. Maybe he could buy the Diamond Dogs enough time to get to the summit!

Then again, war was not his type of chaos… but since they were good friends, maybe he would do it for her, and if not for her, surely for Fluttershy!

Rainbow Dash galloped out of the room and leapt off another balcony, zooming over to Fluttershy’s house ASAP. She wasn’t just loyal to Equestria, but loyal to her beliefs, and her beliefs said that she couldn’t stand by and watch somebeasts get murdered by Lethe. No. There had been enough of that already.



FLUTTERSHY’S HOUSE, a short time later


Rainbow Dash arrived at Fluttershy’s house, and after catching her breath, knocked on the door. Part of her wanted to barge into the house, but she knew Fluttershy was having tea with Discord about now, and who knows what would happen if she frightened Discord… wait, could Discord even be frightened? Well, Fluttershy could and that might make Discord do something crazy in reaction. Just to be safe, she politely knocked on the door.


Hearing a knock at the door, Discord looked outside the window and saw Rainbow Dash standing there anxiously.
“Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash is outside, and she seems nervous for some reason,” Discord announced, wondering what was making her seem upset.
As he pondered, something tingled all over him… something magical… as if… something should have happened that did not. Usually a tingle like that meant time travel was involved—was somepony threatening Equestria with time travel? Was that what Rainbow Dash was worried about? No… it didn’t feel like that. Discord shrugged it off and decided to wait for FLuttershy to get the door.

[The Flutterlands]

Spot

Spot smiled as he helped himself to some tea and food. He was happy to hear that Angel was doing alright. The poor rabbit has gotten quite old these past years. It was obvious that he was nearing his sunset months. Spot could only imagine Fluttershy's sadness of when that time comes. Throwing those thoughts away, however, the young earth pony relaxed and sipped his warm beverage, glancing oddly at Discord's tail.

His attention was then brought by Discord's announcement of Rainbow Dash's arrival at the cottage. Spot smiled broadly and got up from his seat. "Can I welcome her, Ms Fluttershy?" he asked, "I'd like to help greet Mrs. Rainbow Dash."

---

Zelenka

After several hours of work, Zelenka was going through each or her many College applications. Using The University of Canterlot for reference, the young Zebra had no problem going through the other forms. Putting her pen and paper down, Zelenka thought about what to do next when she began feeling hungry. Heading downstairs for lunch, she found her step-mother, Twilight Sparkle eating a meal. After gathering a meal for herself, Zelenka sat down with her mother. "Good afternoon, Mom." she greeted, thinking about something to ask, "I have finished my college applications. ...And I've also been thinking about... going through the transition sometime. I am old enough for that right?"

---

Crystalopolis, Crystal Empire

The new economic supercomputer whirred and crunched throughout the day, generating reams of predictions and recommendations for every possible commodity and service for the next month, the next year, and the next decade. The theory and input was almost arcane for many Cataract engineers on the project, but they did their best to double check the algorithms they programmed against the range of results the economists at the Economic Bureau predicted. It was a hard day for one of them, who had to work double for a sick co-worker, and he was glad to be done for the day. At least meeting President Topaz made the extra work seem worth it.

The amber-grey, brown-maned, bespectacled earth pony left the Economy Office to return to his hotel for the night. He didn't exactly notice the guard that was standing just underneath the security camera outside of the building, much less the suspicious look that he gave him. Just as the engineer came down the last step of the entrance, he felt a great deal of magic entrap him. He tried to scream but this magic also seemed to paralyze his vocal chords as well as his legs and head. He then disappeared in a flash of light, as did the guard behind him.
---
The engineer soon found himself in a dark underground room with only the dim light of shaded candles giving him some sense of the dimensions of the room. They then brightened a little to reveal the silhouettes of about five or six unicorns clad in dark robes walking towards him, looking at him with a serious, but hungry demeanor.

"Pl-please don't hurt me!" pleaded the engineer. "I have a wife and two young foals--"

"Sure you do, Poindexter," snarled one of the unicorns.

"How'd you know my name?" the engineer queried.

"It's on your company's roster sheet," said another unicorn with a lavender coat and an ice blue mane. She took out a stack of papers from her pocket dimension and read off one of the pages. "Gizmo Poindexter, Junior Programmer, Age 33, Permanent Residence 8912 Foalwick Road, Apartment 1290, Vanhoofer, Cataract, Education M.S. in Information Technology from the University of Canterlot, etc. etc." She then put the papers back in her pocket dimension and eyed Gizmo more closely. "We're not going to hurt you unless we have to. So if you want to go back to your wife and kids as quickly as possible, just tell us how that big machine your company just installed calculates resource distribution for the Empire."

"Uh, uh, I can't tell you that, ma'am, th-that's proprietary information. B-besides, I usually just work on about ten of the codes at a time so I don't know--"

"Shut up!" the lavender unicorn interrupted. "I knew you earth pony fools would refuse, thinking your technology will give you an advantage over us unicorns. So you leave me no choice..." At that she started a magic spell with a visible, ominous aura that slowly engulfed. Gizmo.

At first the engineer tried to resist it as it felt painful, but it soon felt soothing, and he gave a weak, innocent smile as the lavender unicorn finished. "Madam...?"

The lavender pony grinned. "Excellent." she said, "Now listen closely. This shall be your next task when you get to work tomorrow..."

*Special thanks to Fren for helping me with the above addition...

[Ippeia]

COLTSTANTINOPLE

"That's worrying... we will have to hurry with our meals, this gives me a bad feeling" Said Sigvard, pretty sure that this was the Usurper's doing. Soon enough their food arrived, a Scorpion Stew, and a Fish one.
"Better keep your sidearm ready, let's hope we don't need it" he whispered.

PONYVILLE

Almost startled by Rainbow's sudden arrival, Fluttershy nodded at Spot, surprised but rather happy, as she and Rainbow did not have too many chances to meet up lately...
"Sure, Let's go greet Rainbow Dash" She replied softly, walking up and heading to the door, motioning Spot to follow her with her head.

IMPERIAL PALACE, COLSTSANTINOPLE

"Is the camera ready?"

"Yes sir, we're about to begin transmitting, several reporters are in the room wondering why were they summoned so urgently".

"Good let's do this Basilios"

Walking into the Throne Room, the old Emperor chose not to sit to do this proclamation, he would stand in front of the throne, at the same height as the reporters. As he was given the signal that the cameras were on, he began.

"The ruler of Lethe has chosen to attack a peaceful nation that, in following the very example of Lethe, chose to establish a sorvereign nation in their traditional homeland. Under such circumstances, I can only announce that the Empire of the Ippeians acknowledges the legitimacy of the Diamond Dog Nation, and if we fail to aid in their defense, we shall not fail in ensuring that they will eventually be able to return home.

Thank you all for coming, I will not answer questions at this time, a more formal conference will be held for that tomorrow"

[Nocturniica]

COLTSTANTINOPLE

"That's worrying... we will have to hurry with our meals, this gives me a bad feeling" Said Sigvard, pretty sure that this was the Usurper's doing. Soon enough their food arrived, a Scorpion Stew, and a Fish one.
"Better keep your sidearm ready, let's hope we don't need it" he whispered.

PONYVILLE

Almost startled by Rainbow's sudden arrival, Fluttershy nodded at Spot, surprised but rather happy, as she and Rainbow did not have too many chances to meet up lately...
"Sure, Let's go greet Rainbow Dash" She replied softly, walking up and heading to the door, motioning Spot to follow her with her head.

[/quote]


PONYVILLE:

"Hey, Fluttershy, is Discord there?" Rainbow Dash questioned, but seeing Discord in the background, she said, "Oh nevermind--excuse me please."

Rainbow Dash gently pushed past Fluttershy, and seeing spot she smiled and added, "Hey Spot--sorry I can't talk right now,"

Over the last ten years she had gotten to know Twilight's adopted foals pretty well, and considered them her unofficial nieces and nephews. To be honest, she was hoping that one day she and Soarin could have foals of their own... but now with Lethe on the move again, it seemed they might have to wait a few more years... *sigh* It seemed like every time things relaxed enough for her to consider motherhood something else got in the way. Pushing aside those thoughts for another day, Rainbow Dash approached Discord with a serious look in her magenta eyes.

"Discord, listen--a settlement of Diamond Dogs has declared independence, but they are inside Lethe's borders. Of course, Lethe wants to wipe them off the map before they get a chance to be free. I... I know that you know what King Letum is capable of... and I'm sure neither of us want that to happen to anypony else... if we can stop carnage, I firmly believe we should. Problem is, apparently, if the Equestrian military moves, it'll lead to a war that could wipe us all out. Discord, since you aren't allied with anypony politically, I know that what you do you can do all yourself and not worry about bringing Equestria into war.... I know war isn't your type of chaos, but please... just... do something, okay? Just... I dunno calm them all down! At least until the summit! I... please?"

At that, Rainbow Dash really wasn't sure what else to say. Part of her wanted to just ignore the whole thing and let Lethe do whatever they like, but the other part refused to stand by and do absolutely nothing. Sadly, there wasn't much she could do, other than beg Discord for help. He had learned a lot about friendship over the past ten years... so maybe he would.


Indeed, he would.

"Well... I see how much this upsets you, Rainbow Dash," Discord began slowly, unsure of how to answer, "I want to help you... but I really don't want to do any... icky jobs. Like you know, war isn't my kind of chaos... but I suppose... if I can prevent another war, things will be better for you, Fluttershy, Twilight and the others," At this, Discord turned and smiled at Spot and Fluttershy before turning back to Rainbow Dash grimly, "I... I am not really sure how to help, though."

"Well you are Discord! You can do mostly anything.... maybe.. teleport them all?" Rainbow Dash offered, then took it back with, "No, that might freak out all the Dogs, and who knows how big their settlement is underground... that may not be a good idea."

"And if they declared independence out there, wouldn't they want to stay there?" Discord pointed out.

"Well.. turn all the enemies into cotton candy?" Rainbow Dash added, "Or at least clog their weapons with honey?"

"Actually... that's not a bad idea... that and coupled with another idea I had at an earlier post in this RP... maybe that will work!" Discord declared.

"Fluttershy, Spot, this tea has been lovely, but I shall have to leave you all for a wee bit," Discord excused himself as he hovered in the air, allowing his foot to finish drinking the tea, "I'll be back soon... I hope."

With that, he blinked out of the room to the Diamond Dog's territory.


Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, sighed in relief and collapsed on the couch.

"I hope he can help... *sigh*" Dash sighed.

"Sorry about ruining your tea, Spot, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash apologized, "But... I was... I didn't know what else to do, and I can't just sit by and watch Lethe massacre some other creatures! It's bad enough they are so anti-CHangeling, but now the Diamond Dogs? I am not a huge fan of Diamond Dogs but I've had enough of Lethe! They deserve whatever Discord's gonna give em for all... oh nevermind... *sigh* I know, I shouldn't be so mean..."

She anticipated some kind of lecture from Fluttershy about how angry she was towards Lethe... or perhaps comforting words. It could go either way with Fluttershy.


Thinking about what Discord said, Rainbow Dash pondered what an "rp" was... meh, who knows, it was probably nothing.



APPLELOOSAN MOUNTAINS

Hovering high above the mountains, Discord used his hands to get a binocular view of the area. Indeed, Lethe's forces were everywhere. He quickly snapped his fingers and clogged all the enemy weapons with honey and turned their ammunition into jelly beans. Any large amunition turned into ridiculously large jelly beans that had teeth, ready to bite any Lethean soldier trying to use it.

With a chuckle, Discord decided to talk to the leader of the dogs before he did his next part of the plan. After all, he didn't want any dogs fainting from what he was about to do. Nope, he had to get them all safely in one area before he did his real plan.


Instantly he blinked to wherever Rex was, and poked him on the back gently.

"Excuse me, are you the leader of the Diamond Dogs? I'm here to help. I know this is really sudden, but I need you all to move. Actually on second thought, I'll just teleport you all home. I don't think we have much time to chat before the monster jellybeans get loose and try to bite you," With that, Discord snapped his tail, teleporting Rex, the nearby Diamond Dogs, and the two ponies into the heart of the Diamond Dog underground settlement. Any Dogs on the surface were teleported near the entrance of the settlement, but were still aboveground.

"All right, now, Mr. Diamond Dog Leader," Discord began, turning to Rex, who he assumed was the leader, "Now that we are safe I would like to announce my plan. I typically just do whatever and let everyone else be confused, but since this is technically an act of war, I suppose I should talk to you about it since you are the leader in this army... uhm... right? Or is it him over there?" With that, he pointed to another dog, "or perhaps you?" At those words, Discord cloned himself and appeared behind the other dog in order to point directly at him, "No really, who is the leader?" Discord #2 asked confusedly.


Discord #1 replied, "Well I suppose we should wait for a reply, so shoo!"

"Oh fine, you are no fun," Discord #2 sighed as he poofed and disappeared.

[Frenequesta]

Ponyville

Twilight nodded at Rover's suggestion. "Silver Shield and I have been thinking of that exact thing," she said. "It seems that your nation has not gone on the right footing with Lethe. I'll write a telegram to the Lethean government demanding them to stop any attacks on Diamondgrad at least until the talks conclude." She took out some stationery from her pocket dimension and penned her missive, which eventually became this upon a few revisions by Silver:

Official Royal Correspondence of Princess Twilight Sparkle
100 Friendship Circle, Ponyville, Equestria 30224

Retainer of Communications
ATTN: His Heavenly Majesty, God-King Letum of Lethe, Shield of Righteousness and Sword of Justice; Minister of Foreign Affairs Chief Thunderhooves; Minister of Defense Field-Marshal Iron Rose
Salt Lick City, Lethe

Dear Sirs and Madams:

As you are aware, your country's representatives will be attending the Diplomatic Summit in Buckmark, Equestria, and I, as the host of the Summit, look forward to their presence.

I must inform you that an envoy from the currently unrecognized state of Diamondgrad has contacted me about its situation. In our communications, the envoy agreed that Diamondgrad also attend the Summit and send representatives there. I understand that Diamondgrad is located in Lethean territory, and that no country, especially yours, takes challenges to its sovereignty and territorial integrity lightly. However, in the interest in preserving the rights of those species, such as the Diamond Dogs, that your regime is not inherently opposed to, we hope that your response is not disproportionate to anything Diamondgrad has done so far to harm your interests. To the best of my knowledge, Diamondgrad has not caused or threatened physical harm to any being in their pursuit of independence. Therefore, I urge that the Kingdom of Lethe cease any and all military advances or preparations against Diamondgrad, and begin no such activities, until the conclusion of the Diplomatic Summit in Buckmark, Equestria. If you do not cease or refrain from beginning these activities as soon as reasonably possible, I will take appropriate sanctions against the Kingdom of Lethe within my power, including exclusion from the Summit or denial of the ability to participate in any discussions or vote in any treaty that may arise out of the Summit.

In writing this missive neither I nor Equestria intend to endorse Diamondgrad's claim to independence. Personally, I have serious doubts on the legitimacy of Diamondgrad's declaration, even accepting the principle of the self-determination of peoples. In any case I have no legal capacity to recognize states or provide material aid to any state. I only wish to ensure that Diamondgrad's grievances be heard, and that a peaceful resolution, whatever it may be, is possible and effective. The Summit is an appropriate forum for that resolution.

Until Princess Celestia or the Equestrian Parliament decide otherwise by official declaration, Equestria remains neutral in this dispute. I, as the host of the Summit, will do everything in my power to ensure that Equestria does not unduly influence the resolution of the dispute, including prohibiting any ex parte communications (that is, any communications on diplomatic matters outside the officially scheduled meetings) between Equestria and Lethe or Diamondgrad. I will also write to Princess Celestia and Parliament, requesting that they refrain from any public statement or other action either supporting or condemning Lethe or Diamondgrad in your dispute until the conclusion of the Summit.

I await your response and action, and, again, look forward to seeing your representatives at the Summit.

Sincerely,

Princess Twilight Sparkle

She sent the telegram to her mail room, which promptly translated it into wire code and sent it to Salt Lick City. She then turned back to Rover. "Hopefully that will stop them. I know that the All-Maker prefers might over reason, but I still have hope for you. I look forward to seeing Diamondgrad at the Buckmark Summit." After the two exchanged goodbyes, she turned to one of the nearby rooms to hear a friendship dispute, but then remembered something. "Oh, Spike, take a letter..."

Zelenka

After several hours of work, Zelenka was going through each or her many College applications. Using The University of Canterlot for reference, the young Zebra had no problem going through the other forms. Putting her pen and paper down, Zelenka thought about what to do next when she began feeling hungry. Heading downstairs for lunch, she found her step-mother, Twilight Sparkle eating a meal. After gathering a meal for herself, Zelenka sat down with her mother. "Good afternoon, Mom." she greeted, thinking about something to ask, "I have finished my college applications. ...And I've also been thinking about... going through the transition sometime. I am old enough for that right?"

After sending out the missive and letter, and attending to one very brief friendship dispute, Princess Twilight sat down for lunch. The mushroom Parmesan served by the cooks today was as well-made as it has always been, but especially ever since French Pastry became head chef after returning to the castle, the previous one having been killed when the Temple of Vision took over Ponyville. The dish was the last meal the old head chef prepared for Princess Twilight. It seemed especially appropriate today, having prevented an almost certain takeover of Ponyville by the zealots in Lethe, but, having been reminded of the first major event to set off the Great Equestrian Split, French Pastry's spices didn't quite have the zing that they used to.

From musing on the zing she turned her thoughts to Zelenka. Twilight had learned much about transgenderism over the years in raising Zelenka, and she understood how important it was for many transgenders to harmonize their bodies with their minds. She nodded when Zelenka asked about sex change. "If you mean sex change, then yes, now that you are the age of consent. Of course, that means having to go through surgery, since sex change by magic is impossible under Sparkling Joy's First, Third, and Sixth Laws of Transformation Dynamics." After reminding herself that she was speaking to Zelenka rather than Bounty Hunt or Pitch Black, she sheepishly took another bite of the mushroom Parmesan and continued. "There aren't that many surgeons that know how to do it, as it's still an uncommon procedure; I only know of one in Canterlot and a couple in San Flankcisco... tell you what. The better ones are in San Flankcisco. I can help arrange a campus visit of Lunar Bay University, and then schedule the surgery with one of the sex change surgeons there as well. How does that sound?"

Appleloosan Mountains

The Dogs' reaction was both exactly as Long Prospect expected and not quite what he expected. His announcement was standard company procedure, created to deal with potential mining disputes before they even came to court, so in one sense he expected the situation to diffuse easily. But at the same time, the Dogs were serious about their independence--and their mines. Given how many times his company and its competitors have quarreled with the Dogs and won against them over and over again, the claim to independence looked like a tipping point, a signal that they were fed up with being trounced by ponies. It was almost a destiny seen in retrospect, yet never to be actuated.

Before he could thank the Dogs for their cooperation, he heard the rumblings and gunfire in the distance. Too soon the Dogs were off. He determined that the area was far too dangerous for prospecting right now. "Copperfield?" he called back to the trailer. "Get your things over at Section 16. We're heading out early." Copperfield nodded and started his flight back. When he was halfway there, however, he and Mr. Prospect were suddenly caught by a swift wisp of magical energy, and disappeared from the surface. They soon found themselves deep in a cave, with pueblo-style housing covering the walls.

Mr. Prospect was baffled, spying his surroundings. "I didn't know Diamond Dogs figured out how to use mag--oh." He said, finally noticing two draconequuses talking to each other, and seeing one disappear. He was immediately reminded of the time his company's drills began to fill in holes instead of making them.

[Fascist Russian Empire]

The Kingdom of Lethe,
Salt-Lick City

"Why're we even botherin' ta show up ta this worthless summit, anyhow? Everypony knows that dialog with the abomination-sympathizers ain't gonna achieve anythin'." The apostle Braeburn asked. He was sitting on a bench in the extensive garden complex of the Great Salt-Lick Temple, seated directly next to Visionary.

"Ah don't expect anythin' productive ta come out of it either, Brae. T'aint exactly a secret that the changeling puppet Celestia ain't particularly fond of reason an' compromise; that gud fer nothin' snake will stop at nothin' ta advance the agenda of her changeling masters. She's got no morality, no sense of reason; she'll joyfully let all of Equestria be killed or enslaved by the abominations. No gud will ever come from diplomacy with these savages; they'll fight us, an' strive ta bring 'bout the destruction of civilized society, no matter what we say or do. No sense in tryin' ta appease the wicked, 'specially when we got the power ta beat 'em in a war." Visionary said to Braeburn, speaking in his rarely-heard native Appaloosan accent.

"Well, least it'll give us some time ta be together, jus' the two of us." Braeburn said, placing his hoof around Visionary's.

"Ya know Ah love nothin' more than spendin' time with you, Brae." Visionary said, the two stallions proceeding to embrace one another in a hug.

It was well known that Visionary and Braeburn had become more than friends in the years following the success of the rebellion. The two had always been quite close, having been friends in Appaloosa for years, long before Visionary's ascent to the role of Prophet; following their victory in the war against Celestia and Chrysalis, their bond had risen to the next level. Braeburn had officially proposed to Visionary earlier that year, and the two had been planning a wedding for several months; the preparations were almost complete, and the two intended to announce their impending marriage to the public soon (their engagement had been kept low-key, though there was significant public speculation about their relationship). Their wedding was planned to be a grandiose public spectacle (generously financed by several wealthy patrons of the Temple, as Visionary and Braeburn did not accept salaries for their jobs in the clergy and, thus, had no wealth to spend), open to be attended by almost anyone in Equestria; it was likely to be an even bigger event than the wedding of Princess Cadenza and Shining Armor.

"Ah love you, Viz'." Braeburn said to Visionary.

"Ah love you, too, Brae." Visionary replied to Braeburn.

Before the two could get any deeper into their intimate moment, they were abruptly interrupted by the arrival of Chief Thunderhooves, carrying a copy of the latest message from the Celestial government.

"Visionary, I have important news. We have received a threat from the Celestial snakes; the so-called Princess Twilight has demanded that we relinquish our right to defend our borders, and allow the unlawful occupation of our territory by the diamond dogs to continue unhindered. As the All-Maker is currently busy leading our campaign, the matter of how to respond to this provocation falls upon you, the representative and Prophet of the All-Maker." Chief Thunderhooves reported.

"Then I shall see to it that appropriate retaliations are arranged, on the double. The All-Maker has been looking for a justification for a certain plan for a while now; I believe this is just the opportunity he's been waiting for. Deliver a message to the Temple militia forces, right away; instruct them to begin arresting all Celestial citizens within our borders, excluding Temple members, and to begin seizing all property and assets owned by them and all Celestial businesses operating in the Kingdom. We are going to begin the process of forcibly nationalizing all the industries owned by Celestial companies; this will deal a major blow to their economic interests, secure the economic independence of the Kingdom, and provide many billions of bits worth of assets to our government. Arresting Celestial citizens will make the message even clearer that we will not yield to abomination-sympathizers under any circumstances. Instruct the militias to try and keep the arrests low-key; it will be preferable to prevent the detainments from being discovered until after we have finished the process, as the Celestial citizens will likely begin fleeing the country when they find out what we're doing. The fewer that escape, the better; a larger number of captives will be far more lucrative for us, as we will be able to use them as hostages to extort the abomination-sympathizers with." Visionary instructed, returning to using his formal voice.

"Are we going to deliver a formal reply to the Celestial demands?" Chief Thunderhooves asked.

"Actions speak louder than words, Chief; our actions will be the clearest and strongest response we could possibly send. There is no need for an exchange of worthless words; our retaliation will get the message sent very clearly." Visionary answered.

"Of course, Prophet. I will relay your instructions to the militias right away." Chief Thunderhooves responded before leaving to carry out Visionary's orders.

Appaloosan Mountains

"Discord..." the All-Maker stated simply as he watched the abrupt sabotage of his army. It was an unexpected hindrance, but it was certainly not going to stop him; the All-Maker was determined to eradicate the mortal insurrectionists who had seen fit to take up arms against his rule, and nothing was going to stand in his way. If his followers were to be prevented from accomplishing that goal, then he would do it himself; failure was never an acceptable option as far as he was concerned. Without delay or hesitation, the All-Maker magically teleported inside the depths of the enemy settlement, manifesting directly in front of Discord, sitting on a floating throne which he had conjured. His face displaying no emotion whatsoever, staring down at his fellow draconequus, he began speaking to him.

"It is a task of the utmost ease for those of our caliber to hinder mortals, and build obstacles preventing them from achieving their objectives. Sabotaging a mortal army is child's play for an experienced wizard; so much so that our very presence on the battlefield can dramatically change the course of a war within mere seconds. Completely crippling a mortal's capacity to fight takes so little effort for us." the All-Maker said before snapping his fingers, magically super-heating all the guns in the city, melting and destroying them, sabotaging the diamond dog fighters just as Discord had sabotaged the Lethean fighters.

"It is within my power to destroy this den of inequity and massacre every last one of its inhabitants in a matter of moments by conjuring an earthquake to raze everything. I choose not to, because it would set a dangerous precedent with the mortals; it would lead them to laziness and decadence, believing higher powers will win every battle for them, which would be a fatal weakness when the time comes for them to stand alone. If you insist on preventing my followers from fighting, I shall have no qualms with reversing my decision and personally putting these savages to the sword. You may be able to stand in the way of simple mortals; you will find me to be infinitely more difficult to counter. I'll give you one and only one opportunity to leave, and allow the mortals to resume fighting unhindered; otherwise, these mongrel friends of yours will receive the rare privilege of beholding the full extent of my power during the last waking seconds of their worthless lives." the All-Maker said to Discord.

[Nocturniica]

"It is within my power to destroy this den of inequity and massacre every last one of its inhabitants in a matter of moments by conjuring an earthquake to raze everything. I choose not to, because it would set a dangerous precedent with the mortals; it would lead them to laziness and decadence, believing higher powers will win every battle for them, which would be a fatal weakness when the time comes for them to stand alone. If you insist on preventing my followers from fighting, I shall have no qualms with reversing my decision and personally putting these savages to the sword. You may be able to stand in the way of simple mortals; you will find me to be infinitely more difficult to counter. I'll give you one and only one opportunity to leave, and allow the mortals to resume fighting unhindered; otherwise, these mongrel friends of yours will receive the rare privilege of beholding the full extent of my power during the last waking seconds of their worthless lives." the All-Maker said to Discord.

APPLELOOSAN MOUNTAINS

Ah, so the KING HIMSELF finally decided to show up. Part of Discord knew this was going to happen.

Floating on air and sitting on his own chaotic throne, Discord replied smoothly, "Interesting words coming from the creature who has completely outnumbered these dogs in huge numbers. You say you want to play fair, and then you completely give the dogs much too many enemies. You want these dogs to fight? Then only give them a fair chance--prove you mean what you say and pull back some troops so the dogs and the ponies have the same number of fighters, as well as the same weapons. Surely if your troops are worthy, they will win, won't they? Oh and don't even try to make any earthquakes or anything--I won't let you. I must say, it's a pity we have to be on opposing sides--I would have liked to get to know you better, you know."

With that, Discord tapped the ground lightly with his tail, enchanting it so it could never be enchanted by any magic again.

"I must say, though I did hope on being your friend, I think having an opponent actually worth playing with would be so much more fun right now," Discord sighed, "And before you leave, do give the Diamond Dogs proper equipment... and I promise I'll give your forces their equipment back as well. Remember: even numbers--no outnumbering them; play nice, won't you? After all, if you want to be fair... be fair."


It had been ages since Discord felt this way, and he wasn't sure what had triggered his older, strategic, playful... tough side. He had been so used to tea parties and relaxation that he almost forgot his other nature. Chaos wasn't simply random fun, but rather a fierce opponent who refused to back down. Discord made up his mind to stand up for the Dogs instead of sitting back and watching them all die, and that was what he was going to do. Not just for the dogs, but for Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Twilight, and everypony else who wanted the Dogs to live.



Now, here he was, staring down King Letum himself, and the closest thing he had to this feeling was back when Celestia and Luna stared HIM down all those centuries ago. He knew their power, even before they zapped him with the Elements of Harmony, but he also knew he could beat them. With Twilight and her friends, he highly doubted they could solve his riddle and beat him, and once they were turned against each other he got a bit too cocky. With Tirek, he had no idea Tirek would betray him. Now, however, this was not an unequal meeting but an equal match. It was quite a different chess game all together, and my... it was quite fun.

[Nocturniica]

COLTSTANTINOPLE

"That's worrying... we will have to hurry with our meals, this gives me a bad feeling" Said Sigvard, pretty sure that this was the Usurper's doing. Soon enough their food arrived, a Scorpion Stew, and a Fish one.
"Better keep your sidearm ready, let's hope we don't need it" he whispered.

"pfft, who needs sidearms when you got tough hooves like mine?" Chilling snorted as he ate his food casually.

He heard the Griffon come into the building. The Griffon calmly sat at a nearby table, and looked at a menu.

So far... nothing. For quite some time, nothing happened. The Griffon ate his meal while Chilling and Sigvard finished theirs.

"He's not doing anything," Chilling noted quietly, so only Sigvard could hear.

[Ippeia]

Sigvard chuckled and ate quietly, upon finishing he looked at Chilling
"Maybe we should head back... just in case" he told him, calling a waitress to get the bill.

Said Griffin ate his meal, walking out slowly. looking around he kept following... Yeah, he needed the bounty on this captain, the noble was willing to pay a lot, and he figured that the Griffin King might be willing to pay some more for certainty that a major claimant was dead...

[Nocturniica]

Sigvard chuckled and ate quietly, upon finishing he looked at Chilling
"Maybe we should head back... just in case" he told him, calling a waitress to get the bill.

Said Griffin ate his meal, walking out slowly. looking around he kept following... Yeah, he needed the bounty on this captain, the noble was willing to pay a lot, and he figured that the Griffin King might be willing to pay some more for certainty that a major claimant was dead...

COLTSTANTINOPLE

Chilling nodded. After he finished, he strutted towards the door casually, winking at some nearby mares. The mares shyly looked away while Chilling walked outside and stretched his wings for a moment.

Oh yeah, that Griffin was nearby, waiting. Listening carefully, Chilling surveyed the area, making a mental sound image of the place. He waited for Sigvard to get out here so they could either keep moving or fight that annoying Griffin. Clearly, that Griffin wasn't out for an autograph.