Princess Celestia hadn't heard from their northern sister country since she saw a prince at the Grand Galloping Gala last year. With many daily things on her mind, this noncommunication had only inkled her slightly, in the back of her mind. She had the sun, her subjects and the welfare of the entirety of Equestria to think about constantly. While it was important to keep in touch with the Northernlands, the original home of earth, unicorn and Pegasus ponies, it was just not as pressing as most of her other duties.
Alicorns had come from across the sea, ages ago. Celestia remembered it dimly, and Luna and Cadence not at all. The three sisters were just fillies and baby ponies then. They'd grown up slowly, interspersed with Equestrian ponies. There had been many families. Celestia remembered being best friends with another young Alicorn, and two Pegasus ponies. Discord had done his best to wipe all Alicorns off the face of the earth… only Celestia and her sisters were strong enough to survive. By then, unicorn magic had dimmed, and the unicorns were no longer able to raise the sun and the moon. Celestia and Luna took the responsibility upon themselves. They were the last Alicorns, and the strongest magic-users in the land. They were elevated to royalty by fellow Equestrians. Since then, they'd been reserved. Celestia and Luna had their infamous disagreement. Ponies had come and gone. Immortality was hard on the sweet-natured sisters. Just recently, their youngest sister Cadance had been married. Celestia knew that someday she'd step down from leadership…someday she'd just be too tired to continue. It had been over a thousand years, after all. She knew exactly who her heir would be, and knew Cadence would continue the royal line. Everything was taken care of. She only had to keep her kingdom running until that day…
Luna, during their brief exchanges over breakfast, had commented that she felt it sort of sinister that the Northernlands hadn't contacted them in an age.
"You're overreacting," Celestia said dismissively. She was reading a morning report from one of her advisors.
"I don't know," Luna said. "They've kept in constant contact for over a thousand years and now suddenly we haven't heard a peep out of them?"
"I trust them, Luna." Celestia looked her sister in the eye. "They're probably just busy."
"Maybe there's a problem," Luna said quickly. "We could send ponies to help out. After all, isn't that our duty as a sister country?"
Celestia sighed. "Yes, of course. But as you know, we've been having problems with sea monsters in the west and-"
"Princess! Princess!" an advisor shouted, galloping through the wide-open dining hall doors. He came to a screeching stop, his hooves rough against the tile floor. He was sweating and his eyes and mane were wild.
"Yes?" Celestia asked kindly.
The advisor blinked and shook his head. "We've been attacked! I repeat- Equestria is being attacked!"
Celestia was taken aback, and Luna's expression was unreadable. "What?" was all the older Princess could manage.
"The Northernlands! There are thousands of warriors…our Pegasus border-keepers flew day and night…they've taken Las Pegasus…three villages are under their control."
Celestia got to her hooves. "Tough Quill, open the war room."
Luna was dead tired. After all, she'd been up all night. However, she followed inquisitively after her stern sister and the advisor, wondering how Celestia was going to handle this. It had been thousands of years since the two of them had been warriors. Their magic was still as powerful as ever, but nowadays everything was just so darn peaceful. Luna sadly shook her head. I've lost my edge. Instincts honed and trained back in the wild first age of Equestria was dulled and dimmed by time spent in the freaking moon (she tried her best not to be bitter about that) and passively watching the night pass by.
Well. I'll have to do something about that. Luna swept away from the precession to the war room and down a smaller corridor. Her own impressive chambers stood at the end of the darkened passage. There were no windows. Sleeping can come later.
Celestia had never been inside the war room. Her castle had been rebuilt over the remains of the old council hall that had been destroyed during Discord's reign of terror. It was the place where Equestria had always been lead by its leaders. But since she and her sister had been rulers, nothing had ever prompted a visit to the room.
Tough Quill took one of the gold tassel door handles in his mouth and pried the doors open. The ancient construction scraped a little against the bright stone floor, but it still came open easily. Celestia walked in ahead of her advisor. Morning sunlight streamed in through large stained-glass windows. The room was sparsely furnished, fitted only with a round table and a few cabinets and bookshelves. It had been recently dusted, as the air was clear and the table shiny. It smelled faintly like oranges.
"I'll retrieve the other councilors, your Majesty," Tough Quill said, quickly rushing from the room. Celestia smiled slightly at the title. She wondered if the ponies had really known what they were getting into putting Alicorns on the throne. Ah, well, stability was good for them, in any case.
Stability. What would the ponies think of an invading army? These ponies had lived for the last two ages in peace and harmony. Celestia remembered back when Pegasi were fierce, when unicorns were ruthless, and when earth ponies were steely and strong. These days, ponies were a mere shadow of what they had been. They were also happier. They didn't have to be wizened warriors anymore, or heartless spell-casters. They could be themselves and live in harmony. Celestia smiled as she thought of her young charge, Twilight Sparkle, and her friends. They were the sweetest ponies anypony could know, and yet they'd risen to a challenge time and time again, and proven themselves wise warriors in more ways than one.
There's hope yet, Celestia thought.
Luna clanked into the open doorway. The sunlight in the hall outside cast shadows against her silvery armor.
"Luna…" Celestia began, but stopped when the dark mare shook her head and mane.
"Celestia, it may come to battle. It may come to all-out war. I want us to be ready."
Celestia was about to brush off her sister's advice once again, but couldn't find the heart to. Celestia had always hated the fighting, the violence, though she'd done what was necessary without looking back. She knew Luna didn't like it any more than she did…though she was pretty cruel and merciless when she got into a battle rage.
"Alright, Luna," Celestia conceded. "I'll have Golden Rain come and help us practice later. Now you need to get some rest."
Luna nodded and walked away, and the two sisters both knew she would not be resting. She'd most likely be practicing her sword-play. Celestia shook her head. They didn't even know the whole situation and were jumping to conclusions already. Ah well. Best to be prepared. She'd shrugged Luna off once too often. She was right. The Northernland's extended silence had been ominous. Celestia smiled wistfully. Her sister was grown up. It was time Celestia took her seriously.
Tough Quill reentered the war room with several of the other advisors. Some looked like they had just barely risen. Celestia glanced at a convenient wall-clock. It was barely 7:30.
"Our reports," Tough Quill began, "say that two days ago, an army emerged from the northern forests and took Las Pegasus. The ground troops swarmed villages and took many before anyone even knew what was happening. The leaders took all Las Pegasans prisoner, but most of the villagers managed to escape southward. There were casualties…we have not heard any demands as of yet."
Celestia bowed her head over the table. Casualties. There was a word she hadn't heard in an age or two.
"Send three squadrons of Pegasi north," Celestia said. "Have them keep an eye on the city and troop movements, but do not engage. At the same time, send half of our army up there, and increase our watch on the eastern shores and western borders. I suggest we evacuate other nearby northern cities and bring them to Canterlot and Ponyville. We're the only places that could accommodate that many misplaced ponies."
The advisors nodded their heads in agreement. Some seemed to be in shock, while other's expressions seemed to imply that they had found this inevitable. Tough Quill was trying to appear competent, but he had never done much more than act as a messenger. This was out of his area of expertise.
We're all going to have to adjust, Celestia thought. This is war.