Baptism of Fire
Chapter 3
Innocence Lost
Shortly after the sun rose in the once-frozen north, Princess Cadance was still going through her morning routine inside the crystal palace. She sat in front of a vanity as she repeatedly pulled a brush through her mane. It was quite a pain to get in order in the morning, but it gave her a few minutes of quiet reflection before all of her time and effort were relegated to her royal duties. Suddenly, her horn glowed causing her to drop the brush. The magic shot out in front of her face as a scroll materialized.
"Everything okay, Cadance?" Shining Armor asked as he noticed the commotion.
"It's a letter from Princess Celestia," Cadance explained as she set the brush back on the vanity and unfurled the letter.
Shining Armor watched Cadance's reflection in the mirror as she read the letter. Her expression went from curious, to confused, to concerned, and finally to horror. "Cadance? Cadance what's wrong?" Shining asked as he stepped to his wife's side, ready to defend her from whatever unknown threat troubled her. Reflexively, Cadance rolled up the scroll and pulled it away from her husband's prying eyes. "Cadance?"
Cadance relaxed a bit as she set the scroll aside and nuzzled her husband. "It's bad news," she said as reassuringly as she could. "Princess Celestia has tasked me with her responsibilities. She left Equestria first thing this morning."
The unicorn was startled by the news. Celestia left Equestria without any notice? Such a circumstance was unheard-of. And for her to depart while Twilight and Luna were away in the Griffon Kingdom leaving Cadance as the only princess left in all of Equestria… What could possibly be so important?
"What, d-did something happen?" he stammered.
Cadance put a hoof on Shining's cheek as she looked her husband in the eyes. "The letter said there was a dire emergency that required her immediate attention. She even took her captain of the Royal Guard and an elite squad of unicorns with her," she explained as gently as she could before she moved her hoof to the stallion's shoulder. "Shining, the Princess left for the Griffon Kingdom."
Shining Armor's jaw dropped as he realized the implications. "B-but that's where... Is Twily all right!?" he panicked.
"I don't know," Cadance admitted as she wrapped her hooves around her husband in a hug. "I don't know."
Over on the vanity, the scroll's lower half rolled a bit revealing the line right before Celestia's signature.
…prepare for war.
In the predawn hour in the Griffon Kingdom, two griffon guards took note of the pair of sleeping alicorns in the same cell. They were huddled together with the larger alicorn having a wing draped over the smaller one.
"I thought they were supposed to be in separate cells?" the first one said in little over a whisper.
"They were in separate cells," the second one claimed.
"But... What?"
"They're magic, stupid. The bars ain't what's keeping them in. It's us."
"Y-you're saying they can come through the bars at us!?"
"Yeah, probably. No sense in trying to separate them, either. I'm not gonna get on King Vincent's bad side by messing with them."
"What're we supposed to do?"
"Wrangle them if they decide to leave their cells...well, cell. Anything short of lethal force."
"Mmm, that is good to hear," the larger alicorn cooed as she looked up at the two guards. Both griffons tensed up at Princess Luna stirring. "Art thou ready?" she nuzzled the smaller alicorn.
Twilight nodded as she opened her eyes. "I am."
"H-hey!" the first guard barked. He was trying to sound intimidating, but he come off as more than a little frightened. "Wh-whatever you're planning, you'd do well to just forget it! You hear!?"
"Don't interact with them!" the second guard scolded. He would have continued to scold his partner, but a tugging at his side drew his gaze to the belt on his armor. He looked down just in time to see his keys levitate away from him in a blue aura. His partner's keys were in a purple aura. "S-stop that!" he ordered as he tried in vain to snatch the keys, but all he managed to do was slam into the bars as his talon uselessly groped thin air.
Twilight and Luna confidently stood up and approached the bars, being careful to stay out of reach of the guards. They held the keys in their front hooves.
"S-so what!?" the second guard snapped. "Even if you have the key, we won't let you through!" he threatened as he brandished his spear.
Luna and Twilight looked to each other. "He's got a point," Twilight mused in way too chipper a tone.
"Should we give them back?" Luna asked.
"Well, they aren't going to us any good," Twilight replied.
In a synchronized motion, Twilight and Luna tossed the keys out of the cell. The thin metal skidded across the stone floor coming to a stop when they met the far wall. The guards growled as they spun around and bent over to retrieve their keys. However, a flash of purple light made their keys disappear. Blinking, the two guards looked up to find the bars and the two alicorns behind them. At first they thought that they had gotten turned around, but upon closer inspection the keys they had been reaching for were behind Twilight and Luna. They looked around to discover that they weren't outside the cell looking in; they were inside the cell looking out!
"What sorcery is this!?" the second guard yelled as he gripped the bars in his talons. The two alicorns didn't bother to stick around and cater to the two trapped guards. Luna led Twilight away leaving the two unfortunate guards locked inside the cell.
"King Vincent is gonna kill us," the first guard lamented as he flopped down on his rear in defeat.
The second guard grunted in frustration. Gulping down as much air as his lungs would bear, he screeched out a warning, "Jailbreak! The Equestrian Princesses have escaped!" Little did he know, as his voice resonated down the corridors, it fell into silence as a blue magic field dampened the sound.
As the two alicorns cautiously navigated the labyrinth of cells, Luna did her best to assuage both of their trepidation by going over the plan. "Princess Sophia should be in this general direction," she whispered as she led Twilight. "We are underneath the castle. When we find the Princess thou can use thy teleportation spell to bring us up into the castle."
"Right," Twilight affirmed.
"If we art overwhelmed or if we cannot find her, we must go up to the castle without her," Luna warned. "We shall escape under Celestia's noontime sun, with or without Princess Sophia."
A ruckus caused the two ponies to stop in their tracks. The sounds of metal and shouts echoed down the seemingly endless corridors. "That was fast!" Twilight fretted.
No...this is not right, Luna's mind raced. She was certain they couldn't have amassed a response that quickly. Even if the guards they locked up were heard right away it simply wasn't possible to summon enough guards to make that kind of din in so little time.
"Something is ahoof," Luna whispered. "Be ready. If we art surrounded thou must teleport us to safety."
Instead of leading Twilight away from the cacophony, she headed straight for it. A few dizzying turns later Luna peeked around a corner before quickly withdrawing her head. There were at least twenty guards amassed down that corridor, but they weren't marching. From what Luna could tell from that glance, the guards were clamoring around a dungeon cell. It had to have been a high-value prisoner. With herself and Twilight here, the prisoner almost certainly had to be a member of the royal family.
The jeers quieted down as a shout drowned out the rest. "Sun's up, and so is your time, Princess!"
"It's Princess Sophia!" Twilight hissed. She was tempted to peek around the corner, but Luna held her back with a wing.
"So, what will it be?" the same voice as before taunted. "Will you swear fealty to King Vincent?"
A feminine voice bit back, strong and true, "I would rather die than to abide a traitor!"
"Your funeral, Princess!"
"They're going to kill her!" Twilight panicked.
Luna wasn't about to let it stand either. "She is our last hope of averting war," she stated as her horn began to glow. "We must rescue her! No matter what happens, Twilight Sparkle, thou must get her to safety!"
Twilight nodded in understanding as Luna grew back to the size of Nightmare Moon. As she approached her intimidating size, a black mist began to gather about her. The mist overflowed down the passageway to where the griffon princess was. Prepped for a skirmish, Luna leapt out.
"I shall not let thou harm the princess!" she announced her presence as the mist swept into the group of griffon guards. The soldiers were caught off-guard as the mist reached up, becoming formless maws and claws that dragged them down the passage and away from the cell they had been crowded around. After the initial surprise, the guards began to struggle against the mist and made back some ground towards the cell.
"Hurry, Twilight Sparkle! I cannot keep them at bay for long!" Luna roared as she struggled to keep the guards from getting to the cell.
Twilight rushed past Luna and managed to slip into the open cell. There was not one, but two griffons in the cell. The first was a male griffon dressed in armor more ornate than most. He sported a scar that ran just inside his left eye and was armed with a sword and shield. The other was a clearly female griffon. She was larger than most, though she looked much like Twilight and Luna; bruised, dirty, and weary. It had to have been the princess. She was backed into a corner by the armored griffon. The only thing keeping her from being skewered by the guard were two shadowy maws each holding back one of the soldier's forelegs.
Fiercely struggling against Luna's spell, the commander broke one talon free. Twilight had to come up with an idea. As the other talon came free, he drew his sword up to split the princess's skull. Using her telekinesis, Twilight ripped the shield from his arm and managed to slip it under his sword just in time to spare the princess. The sword crashed into the shield with a resounding "Clang!" Startled, the guard turned just in time to get kissed by two back hooves. The buck sent him reeling as he fell away from the princesses.
"Princess Sophia?" Twilight asked as she turned to the oversized griffon.
She nodded, "Yes."
"Come on, we need to get you out of here!" Twilight insisted, but as she turned she found a couple of guards coming into the cell. As the commander began to recover, Twilight found herself backing into the griffon princess. "Luna!"
"Go!" Luna's voice shouted over the din. "Thou must see her to safety! It is the only way to prevent a war!"
"But, what about you!?" Twilight pleaded as she put up a purple barrier around herself and Sophia just in time to keep the guards from reaching them.
"I shall persevere! Go!"
The mighty blows of the griffon guards made short work of Twilight's magic shield. Only once it collapsed did she finally bring herself to leave Luna behind. Encasing herself and Sophia in a bubble of magic, she blindly teleported straight up.
The familiar burst of purple light told Luna that Twilight had made it to safety—probably. Already she had shrunk back down to her normal form as she backed away from the couple of dozen angry guards. A sound from behind her elicited the Lunar Princess to glance back in time to see a half-dozen guards approaching from behind.
"You... How dare you interfere!" the guard that Twilight kicked roared as he stepped out of the cell. "I don't care what King Vincent's orders are. I will have your head!"
"Fools!" Luna retorted as she reared up and her horn glowed. "Do you not realize? Darkness is my element!" Her words ushered in a sweeping gale, extinguishing all the torches in the corridors and plunging the dungeon into inky blackness.
A great din followed as the griffon guards stumbled and struggled in the pitch dark. "Form a shield wall! Do not give her room to pass!" the commander barked. "She has nowhere to go!"
"Light a torch!" another voice shouted.
By the time light again fell through the corridor, Luna was long gone. The soldiers that made up the small group that had flanked her were lying dazed on the floor. "What...hit us?" one of the injured soldiers muttered as she struggled to get up.
"We have to spread out and find her!" another of the injured claimed as he managed to get back on his feet.
"No!" the commander denied. "There is but one exit. We will prevent their escape and head off the princesses. All forces gather at the stairwell! Now!"
Little did they know, Twilight and Sophia were no longer in the dungeon. Instead they appeared to be in a much better lit, more ornate, and larger corridor. They were in the castle itself.
Twilight shook her head to get the dizzying effects of the teleportation to subside. Once she had reoriented herself, Twilight looked at the floor below her hooves. Luna was still down there somewhere, surrounded by fierce guards. She couldn't just abandon Luna, her conscience and loyalty wouldn't have it. Not to mention Luna was the one with the escape plan. Twilight didn't have a clue where to go or what to do.
"You saved me, Princess of Equestria," Sophia thanked Twilight. "I owe you a debt of gratitude."
For the first time, Twilight took measure of the Griffon Princess. She was easily as large as Luna. Her beak was petite and curved slightly to form a menacing point. Unlike most griffons, her eyes were not a golden yellow. Instead, they were a shimmering green. Her headfeathers were longer than most other griffons' as well. They swept back over her head and ended in green-tinted tips.
"Princess, my friend is still down there!" Twilight fretted. "We have to do something!"
"Not so loud!" Sophia hissed as she grabbed Twilight and pulled her near a wall. "The palace is filled with traitors! I don't know what's going on!"
Twilight looked longingly to the floor again. Luna had tasked her with keeping the Princess safe. To teleport back down there would put the Princess in great danger, so that wasn't an option. What was she supposed to do?
"Please, do you know why my guards and uncle have betrayed me?" Sophia pleaded as she tentatively started walking down the hallway.
Twilight hesitantly followed. "I don't know all the details, but I do know that Prince Vincent means to—"
"Do not call him that!" the griffon hissed. "He has betrayed me and my mother! He is a traitor, not a prince!"
Sighing, the purple pony continued. "Vincent means to start a war," she whispered. "He believes that inciting a war with Equestria will somehow benefit the citizens of the Griffon Kingdom. He aims to conquer part of Equestria."
Sophia failed to suppress a growl as the hallway intersected another. The green-eyed griffon peeked around the corners to make sure they were clear before leading Twilight down the passage on the right. "He is a fool," she spat.
Twilight couldn't argue with that statement. "His plans seem to have been...he wanted to blame the royal family's deaths on Princess Luna and myself."
Sophia stopped in her tracks as her beak fell open. "My parents... Do you know their fate?" she asked as she whirled around to look Twilight in the eye.
The studious alicorn hesitated before shaking her head. "I...we knew you were alive and approximately where you were because Luna was able to sense your dreams," Twilight explained. "Luna couldn't find the King or the Queen's dreams. They could've been awake, or-or not dreaming, or..."
"Perished," Sophia muttered with a grimace as she hung her head. "My uncle will not get away with this!" she yelled as she slammed a talon onto the floor.
"Look out!" Twilight warned as she noticed a pair of guards approaching from behind Sophia.
The green-eyed griffon took a glance behind her before taking off. "Come on, this way!" she urged Twilight to follow.
They quickly made their way back to the last intersection. Once there, they were denied going back the way they came by another pair of guards. There were guards ahead of them, too. With only one option, the pair of princesses retreated down the hallway on their right.
"What is your plan!?" Sophia asked as they ran.
"Luna is the one with a plan!" Twilight admitted her ignorance. "All I know is that I have to keep you safe! You're the only one the citizens of the Griffon Kingdom will listen to. Only you can convince them that we didn't have anything to do with this coup!"
A couple of turns later, they were cut off again by another pair of patrolling soldiers. They turned around to find at least four guards not far behind them. They kept up pretty well in that heavy armor. "You can teleport, right?" Sophia asked as the duo shrank away from the approaching danger and into each other.
"To a limited degree, yes," Twilight qualified.
Sophia pointed to a wall. "There!"
Twilight didn't need to be asked twice. Firing up her horn, the duo disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the wall. It appeared to be a relatively small storage room for storing weaponry and armor. Unfortunately, their predicament didn't change much. Nearly as soon as they appeared, they each had a spear tip touching their neck. Two half-dressed guards did not take kindly to being interrupted. A female guard was only sporting body armor while the male only had a helmet.
"It's the Princess!" the one holding a spear to Sophia exclaimed.
"These two are supposed to be in the dungeon," the helmeted one said.
"What do we do? It's...the Princess."
"Release us!" Sophia ordered. "I command you to release us!"
"We just got orders this morning...execute the princess," the one with a spear to Twilight claimed.
The other one hesitated as she shook her head. "I-I can't kill the Princess!"
"Fine, you take this one back to the dungeon," the first guard claimed. "King Vincent will make me a general for this!" he claimed as he set his eyes on Sophia.
In a synchronized motion, the two guards pulled their weapons towards the other princess. Twilight saw her opportunity and seized it. As soon as the spears were no longer pointed at their necks, her horn glowed with a black aura. Bluish-purple spheres appeared on her horn as well as on the guard's spears right at the point where the two shafts crossed. A jet-black crysal formed there, fusing their weapons together and throwing the soldiers off-balance as they pulled against each other.
When the guards fumbled, Sophia grabbed the shaft of the nearest spear as she placed her paws against the wall behind her. Pushing forward, she managed to bowl both of the guards over. The herculean effort successfully knocked the assailants down, but the force shattered the crystal, freeing their weapons.
Sophia quickly scanned the weaponry lying about the small room before finding her weapon of choice. Grabbing a spatha in each claw she turned to find the female guard back on her feet and brandishing her spear. The room being too narrow for a sweeping attack from the spear the guard was forced to thrust at the griffon princess. Sophia dodged the first two strikes, then parried the third by crossing her blades and forcing the razor-sharp tip up and away from her. Continuing to control her opponent's weapon with her swords, she stepped forward so that her opponent was within reach. Only then did she pull the swords away from the spear shaft. The soldier scrambled to draw back her spear, but before she could Sophia ended the duel.
Sophia's straight thrust with both blades impacted the guard's breastplate. Her left sword failed to find a flaw in the solid armor and slid off harmlessly. The stronger strike from her right blade pierced the armor and sank deep into the guard's chest. The guard's eyes were wide open as they lost their focus and blood trickled out of her beak as she let out her final breath. Crimson fluid immediately began to trickle down Sophia's talon as she stood there, stunned.
The sound of the spear clattering to the ground tore Sophia's attention away from her half-buried weapon for but a moment before gravity torqued the sword from her right talon. In none of her sparring matches was she ever trained to remove her weapon from a foe before they collapsed. Sparring never ended in a corpse.
Twilight was busy trying to keep her skin intact. The guard was having a tug-of-war with the alicorn. Her purple aura was trying to pry the spear from his talons, and he was giving it all he had to keep hold of it. But after a few seconds of struggling he gave up. They were in a weapons closet! He didn't need that weapon. The griffon reached above Twilight and pulled a sword from the wall there. Twilight flinched as he drew back, she reflexively put up a wall of magic, but it was too late. She felt a warm, wet sensation across her face.
Peeking an eye open, she found a crimson-coated gleam of steel. Just as quickly, it vanished, leaving behind a gaping wound as the griffon in front of her fell away. There stood Princess Sophia, bloody sword in talon. Looking down, Twilight found the form of the griffon that had just tried to kill her. He was lying in a red pool. Just about the only thing that didn't have blood on it was his pristine blade. In the polished metal, Twilight found her reflection. Red spatter marred her face and hair. She didn't kill this griffon, but she still felt responsible.
She tried to wipe the blood from her face with one of her forelegs, but managed to do little more than to smear it into her fur. As she withdrew her leg, she found blood dripping from the bottom of her hoof. Looking down, she discovered the pool of blood slowly flowing outward from the guard's corpse. Twilight took a couple of steps away as she realized she had been partially standing there in his blood.
Twilight swallowed as she found it harder and harder to breathe. It was all starting to sink in and the horror made her own blood run cold. In desperation, she tried to use the healing spell on the motionless griffon. Even though she put enough effort into it to make her horn glow like a roaring campfire, it didn't have any effect. As she reached her limit, she nearly collapsed. The only thing keeping her on her hooves was the overwhelming desire not to fall down into a puddle of blood.
The sound of metal scraping against metal drew Twilight's attention back to Sophia as she pried her second sword from the corpse of the female soldier. The griffon just stood there on her hind legs, swords held limply in talon, as she gazed at the guard she had slain. "I...killed them," she muttered in disbelief. "My own subjects..."
"They're... Dead," Twilight said in a whisper. She wasn't talking to Sophia. It was simply the acceptance of reality uttered aloud. It was hard to believe. Even if it was to preserve their own lives, two lives had been extinguished, forever. Tears finally spilled from Twilight's eyes as she desperately wished that she could undo what she had done.
Had she lost the innocence Luna spoke of? She didn't use the forbidden magics. She didn't actually kill either of the guards. But it was undeniably her fault. Her magic brought them here. There had to have been something she could have done to prevent this outcome, right? Even if there wasn't...this was wrong. She had taken part in a horrible act that she could never, ever undo.
"Wh-what have we done?" Twilight cried as she struggled to stop her tears and looked to the other princess.
Sophia still stood over the corpse. She didn't seem to regard Twilight as she suddenly spread her wings wide. Ceremoniously, she brought the base of each blade to the apex of her wings and slowly dragged them down. The motions left a streak of blood across the inside of both of her wings. She spun the blades around and repeated the motions on the outside of her wings. Once the blood had been cleaned from the blades, she grabbed two scabbards and donned them so that they made an "X" across her back. She then sheathed the swords as she stood there on her hind legs staring at the corpse.
"My uncle will pay dearly for this," Sophia vowed as her voice cracked.
"Wh-what was that?" Twilight stammered as she started to stem her tears. "With your wings?"
Sophia gave Twilight a long look. Seeing that Twilight really seemed to want to know, Sophia sighed. "It is a griffon custom to paint one's wings with the blood of those whom you have felled in battle. It is...a badge of honor. It also serves to intimidate one's foes." To drive home the point, she flared out her bloodstained wings. It was intimidating—and not just the sudden motion and noise. There was something deeply disturbing about the stains of blood on the griffon's feathers.
"What was the plan, again?" Sophia asked spitefully as she finally got back down on all fours and stepped away from the corpse. "Run away with our tails tucked between our legs?"
"We-we have to get you somewhere where you can reveal the truth to the citizens," Twilight reminded her. "It's the only way to prevent war... To...prevent this."
"No." Sophia denied as she closed her eyes and grimaced as an image of her uncle flashed in her mind. "We stop this madness when my uncle dies."
"Only if you live!" Twilight reasoned. "If you die or get captured, then there is no way we can stop a war. Even if Prince Vincent dies the citizens will think Luna and I are to blame! You are the only one that can vindicate us!"
Sophia audibly growled as she seemed to contemplate Twilight's words. "Fine," she relented. "I clear your name, then we kill him."
"Do you know where we can go without getting caught?" Twilight asked as Sophia started for the door.
"There is a passage that leads to the outer wall. It overlooks the square," Sophia claimed. "From there we should be able to inform my subjects of my uncle's treachery."
"Wait," Twilight halted Sophia as she reached for the door.
Sophia stopped as she turned her green eyes back to the alicorn. "You have a plan?"
Twilight hesitated. She took in the sight of the corpses before setting her mind to it. "I-um...I want you to promise me that...no matter what happens, you will stop this looming war."
Sophia nodded. "You have my word."
"I-I don't want anypony to get hurt," Twilight claimed. "But-but already..." The Equestrian Princess closed her eyes and sighed as she tried to force the disturbing thoughts from her mind. "I don't want to hurt anypony, but if it means protecting you—stopping the events Vincent has set in motion—I know some magic I probably shouldn't. I definitely shouldn't."
Twilight looked up to find Sophia gazing intently at her. "I-it's selfish. Already I-I left it to you to...to...this!" she rambled as she pointed a hoof towards the corpses. "I don't want to use that magic. So I'm asking you...begging you to be strong enough that I don't have to."
Sophia closed her eyes before turning back to the door in front of her. After contemplating Twilight's words a few moments, she sighed. "My strength alone isn't what got us this far," she spoke truthfully. "Your magic is the only reason I yet breathe. Cowardice will not prevent war."
Twilight hung her head as she grimaced. Those were not the words she wanted to hear. She promised Luna that she would protect Sophia by whatever means necessary. She had to do whatever she could to prevent a catastrophic war. She just...didn't want to. Not if it meant more death. For a moment, she wished that she and Luna had just fled.
That's when Twilight realized the truth in Sophia's words. If she had run away and hid in her library in Ponyville then thousands would have died in an inevitable conflict. But she wouldn't have been responsible for any of it. It was a sinister plot by a corrupt griffon prince. She was just a pawn. It wouldn't have been her fault at all. Had she done that, she would have never had to experience death firsthand...at the cost of countless lives.
It was selfish, too selfish to bear. Allowing a war and thousands to die because she didn't want to taint her own hooves. No, cowardice would not prevent war. The only option she had was to stand and fight. To cast off her reservations and risk doing the one thing she dreaded most: killing somepony. It was the only way she could hold her head high and say that she did everything she could to prevent the suffering of countless innocents.
"I'll do...whatever I have to," Twilight spoke up after a long silence. "I'll hold back as much as I can, but I won't risk your life or mine."
"Good," Sophia affirmed as she finally opened the door. She peeked out to make sure the coast was clear before leading Twilight back into the castle's corridors.
Meanwhile, Luna was not faring much better in the castle's dungeon. It was easy enough for her to outmaneuver the guards searching for her, but her main goal was to get back to Twilight. She needed to find the exit to the dungeon and she needed to find it before Twilight got into a situation she couldn't get herself out of. It didn't help that the entire dungeon was designed like a labyrinth.
As Luna turned another blind corner she came to a skidding stop. She had run headlong right into a squad of guards! In an instant they they had her subdued as a spike pointed at her face. Looking up, she found the weapon to be a very ornate halberd. The griffon holding the fierce weapon was by far the largest she had seen. She might've even been bigger than Celestia! Unlike most griffons, her eyes were a verdant green.
"Princess Luna!" the enormous griffon barked. "My brother has betrayed me! My husband and daughter are dead! And now I find you in my dungeon!"
"Qu-Queen Maria!" Luna stammered. She would have bowed had she not been already pinned to the ground.
"Answer carefully," Maria warned in a threatening tone. "Why are you here!? What do you have to do with my brother's treachery!?"
Luna paused as she gathered her thoughts. "To thy brother I am a bargaining chip and a scape goat," she honestly informed the Queen. "He means to blame your family's deaths on Princess Twilight Sparkle and myself in order to incite a war."
"He slaughtered my husband and daughter to provoke more bloodshed!?" Maria screeched as she slowly pulled back the halberd.
"I know not the fate of King Cyrus, but thy daughter yet lives!" Luna asserted.
"Let her up!" Maria ordered as she yanked Luna to her hooves. "What do you know about Sophia!?"
Luna looked up to the enormous griffon Queen. "Princess Twilight Sparkle and I managed to get to Princess Sophia before the guards," she explained as she looked warily to the half dozen guards around them. Apparently they remained loyal to their Queen. "I held them back long enough for Twilight Sparkle to teleport Princess Sophia and herself into the castle. I know not where they are, but they are not free from peril."
Maria nodded as she brushed past Luna. "We must make our way back into the castle," she ordered as she led the way. "Princess Luna, should your words ring untrue..."
"I speak the truth!" Luna asserted as she followed. "Twilight Sparkle shall be attempting to get Princess Sophia somewhere that she may reveal the truth to the civilians and prevent war. Alternatively, she may attempt simply to get Princess Sophia out of the castle safely. We must find them!"
"No!" Maria angrily denied. "If Sophia could be anywhere in the castle the fastest way to ensure her safety is to kill Vincent. With him dead none would dare to raise their blade to my daughter. I will save my daughter and avenge my husband with a single blow."
"Thou and thy daughter hast escaped the coup thus far. King Cyrus may yet-"
"My husband is dead," Maria curtly cut Luna off. "I have seen his body with my own eyes."
Luna stumbled a bit at the blunt news. "M-my sincerest condolences, Queen Maria."
"I don't need your sympathy," Maria spat. "Right now I would rather have your righteous fury."
"We should still try to find them," Luna urged. "My sister will arrive at the midday sun to secure our escape. Thou art in hostile territory, Queen Maria! Thou can undo this treachery safely if we can escape the capital."
Maria considered it a moment. "Cowardly pony," she hissed. "If I were to challenge my brother from another city it would prevent a war for you and your precious ponies, but it would doom my Kingdom to a bitter civil war as those loyal to me and those loyal to my traitorous brother begin a conflict. The only way to stop a war is to kill that traitor before he can vindicate himself as a ruler!"
Luna's ears folded back as she considered Maria's words. They were true. Even if Maria stopped a war between the Griffon Kingdom and Equestria, Vincent will still have seized the throne. The only to restore order from outside the capital would be full-blown war. "My apologies, Queen Maria," Luna admitted her fault.
"Princess Luna," Maria gravely spoke as she stopped and turned to the alicorn. "It is my duty as a ruler to do whatever it takes to see to my subjects' best interests, but it is also my duty as a mother to protect my daughter. If at any point I should fall, I want to you to spirit my daughter away from this danger. Take her to Equestria if you must, just...keep her safe."
Luna nodded. "Thou hast my word."
"Do not fail me, Princess of Equestria," Maria spoke as she turned again to lead the group.
As they neared the stairwell that led back to the castle, they came across a patrol of six soldiers at an intersection of corridors. Luckily, the patrol failed to notice them as Luna manipulated the shadows cast by the torches to hide them. Queen Maria silently exchanged her halberd for one of her loyal guard's swords. She then motioned for another guard to follow her while urging the rest of the group to hold back.
She and the guard snuck up behind the patrol each brandishing a sword. As they got close the rear of the patrol, they moved in a synchronized manner. They each jumped the one of the two rear guards, sliding their blades under the breastplate as they grabbed them. The razor-sharp steel pierced into their chest cavities, ripping their pleural cavities open and denying them the ability to cry out as their lungs filled with blood. Maria and her loyal guard carefully removed their swords from their victims before cutting their throats and quietly lowering their corpses to the floor.
As they turned to repeat their actions, one of the patrolling guards just happened to look back. Her eyes grew wide as she saw her fallen comrades and the group of loyalist soldiers. "Ambush!" she shouted as she brandished her spear.
The rest of Maria's guards charged as Luna's horn glowed. Before Maria could skirmish with the four remaining soldiers, a blue aura enveloped them. The aura threw them up into the ceiling before dropping them and letting them fall haphazardly to the floor. Before they could recover and get up, Maria and her guards fell upon them. In an instant the patrol was perished and Maria and the rest of her loyalists didn't bear so much as a scratch.
Luna watched in disgust as the griffons cleaned their blades by sliding them across their wings. "Thou art unhurt?"
"We are well," Maria claimed as she exchanged for her halberd again. "It seems as though your magic will prove an invaluable asset."
"The exit is near, yes?"
"It is," Maria claimed as she looked up and around. "I doubt that we were unheard."
The group quickly stepped over the corpses as they darted down the prison corridors. If they'd been heard, then they would have no choice but to rush whatever forces awaited them at the stairwell. As they rounded the last corner, however, they found themselves as mice caught in a trap. There were no fewer than a dozen guards standing at the ready in front of the stairwell and, by the look of it, a few dozen more troops in the stairwell itself.
At the front of them all was the commander with a scar across his face. He smirked as he sarcastically clapped his talons together. "Congratulations," he mockingly praised. "You made it out of your cells. You must be so proud."
"We art far too outnumbered," Luna whispered a warning to Maria.
Maria snorted derisively. "My own subjects and guards have betrayed me. It is a truly sad day when I can honestly say that the only ones I'm proud of are the ponies that have shown loyalty to our alliance," she admonished. "Vincent has betrayed me, betrayed Equestria, and is guiding you all to destruction! Why do you stand with that traitorous coward!?"
"King Vincent shall guide our weak and sick kingdom back to its former glory! We will shine again as we show our strength and bravery on the battlefield!" the commander fanatically retorted. "We will see a new golden age, and King Vincent will lead us there!"
"Vincent only leads you to destruction! He has no honor! Such a King could never see a golden age!" Maria countered. "He has betrayed his allies, his own kingdom, the crown, his people, and even his own sister and niece! Cyrus was a kind and generous king and Vincent has killed him! How can you possibly swear fealty to such a monster!? It is not too late to atone for your mistakes and follow an honorable path. Stop this madness and help me to reclaim my throne from my traitorous brother!"
"Enough of this nonsense!" The commander barked as the murmurings of discontent echoed through the ranks. "Kill them! All but the alicorn!"
The guards hesitated.
"Stand aside! Let us pass so I may take care of my brother!" Maria ordered.
A few of the soldiers began to step aside. Upon seeing this, the commander drew his sword and split the skull of the nearest griffon. "Do not kowtow to her! She would have us die a slow death in the shadow of Equestria!"
The first drop of blood being spilled compelled action from the rest of the soldiers. They began fighting each other and their captain. Several of them charged towards Maria and the loyalists and clashed blades with them. In an instant, the stairwell roared with the sound of crashing metal as in-fighting consumed the group.
Back up in the castle, Twilight and Sophia were creeping around the elegant corridors. The griffon Princess was trying to outmaneuver patrols and sentries as she led Twilight ever closer to the outer walls where they could get the word out about Vincent's treachery. The problem was that apparently the guards had learned of their presence in the castle and it was now swarming with armed patrols.
"How could so many of them follow Vincent like this?" Twilight whispered as she cast a nervous glance behind her for the hundredth time.
"It is likely that only a few high-ranking guards are aware of my uncle's betrayal," Sophia surmised. "The rest must have been lied to. Were my mother here, they would not dare raise their weapons against us."
"What kind of lie could make them want to kill their own princess?" Twilight wondered.
Sophia growled as she came to a full stop. A heavy wooden door down the hallway opened as several soldiers marched out. She jumped back to Twilight as her horn glowed. In an instant, they were in what appeared to be some sort of meditation room. It might have had some sort of religious significance, but Twilight wasn't about to offend Sophia by asking.
"Did they see us?" Twilight worried as she pressed the side of her head against the door.
"I don't think-"
WHAM!
The door burst open, sending Twilight rolling head over hoof away from the door. "There she is! The pony Princess!" the lead guard shouted as he pointed a sword at the dazed Twilight.
"It's Princess Sophia!" another guard announced as he leveled his spear at her.
"Seize them!" the leader barked as a half-dozen guards stormed in, separating Twilight from Sophia.
"I demand you to lower your weapons!" Sophia ordered as she reared up onto her hind legs and reached for the blades on her back. "My uncle has lead you astray! He is a traitor!" Although the guards hesitated, they did not throw down their weapons. They had made up their minds. Regretfully, Sophia drew her swords as she flared out her wings.
The guards actually recoiled a few steps back at the sight of her bloodied wings. "You see!?" the lead guard shouted. "Her wings are proof that she has betrayed our Queen!"
Sophia was prepared to leap at the guards in a suicidal attempt to persevere, but hesitated as she noticed the rug beneath the guards glow a magenta hue. In a comedic yet effective move, Twilight used her magic to pull the carpet out from under the guards. Thrown violently off-balance, they all fell to the ground. Sophia seized her chance. Flapping her wings, she tried to fly over the fallen guards to regroup with Twilight.
She didn't make it far. Halfway through the group a talon reached up and grabbed one of her paws, pulling her down into the fray. A quick reaction is all that prevented a sword from plunging into her torso. She had her sword crossed with the leader's, and her other talon was firmly being held up and away by the feisty lead guard. Normally this sort of stalemate would end with Sophia victorious, but this wasn't a one-on-one fight. The other six guards were getting on their feet and all of them intended to skewer the deadlocked Princess at the first opportunity.
Luckily, the guard leader wasn't the only one with backup. The first guard to get to her feet was met with a ray of purple magic, knocking her off her paws and clear across the room, smashing into the wall. The next two headed straight for Twilight, intent on stopping her magic. They didn't make it too far. The carpet that had tripped them magically wrapped around them. A banner from a wall then wrapped around the carpet, tying a neat little bow around it and the two guards.
With them out of the way, Twilight looked back to the princess to find her locked in combat with a spear-wielding guard. The captain was still on the ground, his head very nearly severed. Behind the Princess was another guard with his spear at the ready. With Sophia in the way, Twilight couldn't hit her with a kinetic blast. Desperate for a way to intervene, she grabbed a spear from the ground in her aura and pointed it towards the guard. In an instant, the threat was neutralized. Just as Sophia plunged her left sword into the gut of the guard in front of her, a spear pierced all the way through the armor of the guard behind her.
A slack-jawed Twilight had to do a double-take. The guard that was about to ambush Sophia was dead on the ground, the spear she was going to use to stop him was still floating there in her aura. Looking back over, she found an empty handed guard staring down at the spear sticking out of his comrade's back. As Sophia turned to him, he held up his talons.
"You surrender?" she dangerously asked.
He nodded emphatically. "I-I have sworn to protect the royal family with my very life," he asserted. "I will not break that vow. I won't abdicate my duty...it doesn't matter if you are a traitor or not. You are my Princess and I have vowed to protect you."
Sophia breathed heavily as she looked to the carnage around her. Finally setting her gaze on the guard with a spear sticking out of his back, she looked back to the last standing guard. "You swear fealty to me?" she asked.
He knelt down. "I hereby swear to serve you, my Princess, to my dying breath," he formally swore.
Had he not just skewered his fellow soldier, she probably wouldn't have trusted him. "If you follow me, that breath may not be long away."
"Such is the burden of my duty," he said as he rose.
"I'm relieved to see my subjects have not all abandoned loyalty for my traitorous uncle's lies," Sophia sighed as she swiped her blades across her wings. Then she sheathed them before turning to find Twilight doting on the guard she had slammed into the wall. "What is your name?"
"Galadhur," he responded as he removed the spear from his fellow soldier. He ceremoniously wiped the spear tip clean using the insides of his wings before discarding it. "With your permission, I would like to use a weapon beyond my rank," he requested as he retrieved the sword and shield from the fallen leader.
Sophia shook her head as she stepped clear of the carnage. "Consider yourself promoted," she announced half-heartedly as she approached Twilight. "How is she?"
"She's still breathing," Twilight announced. "I think she'll make it."
A claw hovered over the hilt of her sword as Sophia contemplated executing her. This guard was a traitor. She had raised her weapon against her own Princess. The punishment for such a crime was crystal clear, but Sophia struggled to find the resolve to carry it out. Executing an unarmed, unconscious girl...Sophia just couldn't do it. She finally tore her talon back down to the ground.
"Time is of the essence," Sophia announced as she turned to find Galadhur familiarizing himself with the sword and shield. She glanced back to Twilight. "It is safe to assume those two won't be able to sound the alarm anytime soon?"
Twilight looked over to the two guards still writhing in the rolled-up carpet. "I-I think so," she muttered, trying her best to ignore the three corpses in the middle of the entryway. More death was far from what she wanted, but at least she and Sophia were unharmed. "Please...l-let's just get out of here."
"Agreed."
The trio quickly stepped over the bodies as they headed back into the hallway. Galadhur spoke up as soon as they were clear of the room, "Princess, if you do not mind my insolence..."
"Out with it," Sophia spat. "This is not the time for formalities."
Galadhur nodded his understanding. "Where are we going? What is our aim?"
"We have to get word to the people of Vincent's coup," Twilight answered him.
"W-wait, you mean to say that Vincent is truly the villain here?!"
"You thought I was the traitor?" Sophia accused as she sent a glare at the guard.
"F-forgive me, Princess," he pleaded as he fell a couple of steps behind. "King Vincent claimed that you tried to usurp your mother's throne with the help of the pony Princesses."
Sophia snarled. "Don't you dare call him that!" she raged as she stopped marching to stare down the guard. "My uncle has betrayed my family! I know not if my parents yet live! That bastard is a traitor, not a king!"
"Vincent captured Luna and I as soon as we arrived," Twilight revealed in an attempt to remove pressure from Galadhur. "I've never even met the King or Queen."
Sophia took a calming breath before leading the way once more. "If not for Princess Twilight I would have perished. I owe her my life," she praised. "In fact, I owe her yet again. I would not have survived that ambush without you, Princess Twilight Sparkle."
Sophia's praise made Twilight's ears burn. She could even hear her heartbeat in them. Wait... They weren't burning at all. There was just that rushing sound of blood coursing through them. No. There was shouting, too. Out of a blackness, came a few fuzzy shapes.
"Ugh..." she grunted as she struggled just to lift her head. A few blinks revealed Rainbow Dash and Gilda struggling against each other. It looked like Rainbow Dash was losing. The griffon was on top of her and had her talons wrapped violently around her throat. Getting her front hooves under her, Twilight managed to sit up as she took in the situation.
Rarity was off to the side. She was lying on her side and not moving. Fluttershy was standing over her, trying her best to aid the unicorn. Gilda was... Gilda was strangling Rainbow Dash!
Twilight had to stop her. She had to stop Gilda now before she hurt her friends any more. Her horn crackled with energy. Instead of a gentle glow enveloping her horn, magenta electricity arced across her horn. In the span of a couple of seconds the entire room was buzzing with electricity. Lowering her head towards the griffon, Twilight released the energy.
CRACK!
A flash of purple blinded the entire room as the deafening sound drowned out all other noise. Once more, the sound of her heart was the only thing in Twilight's world. After several moments, her vision cleared and she again had trouble seeing through the room, but this time her problem wasn't her eyes. Through the haze she saw Rainbow Dash squirming out from underneath an unmoving Gilda. The limp griffon had a smoldering, circular black mark in her side. Further back through the haze it was clear that the entire bookshelf behind Gilda and Rainbow Dash was on fire!
Twilight coughed as she struggled to get up, but in her weakened state it was no use. She collapsed back to the ground as she found it harder and harder to breathe. Maybe it was the smoke, or maybe it was her eyes, but all Twilight knew was that all she could see was black. A few more gasping coughs and her consciousness slipped away again.
Author's notes - Apologies for the long wait. I've been focusing most of my attention on a different story. This chapter ran a little long, but hopefully it's length helps offset the wait.
I tried using a different technique, so the formatting might be a little different. Hopefully there aren't many errors, either. Let me know if you noticed anything and if you think this is better or worse than the usual.