... some 700 years before present, the races of the world must choose sides, including the bat-ponies. Their loyalties torn and their sacred homeland of Thestralslovakia potentially in the path of the invasion, with whom should they side? The answer is in the latest chapter of Into the Storm: The Flight of Firefly.

Excerpt follows:

Council of War

Lunar Council Chambers
Hollow Shades
Thestralslovakia
September 2^nd, 1139 AL (Anno Lunae)

There were times during these oft-boring meetings of the Lunar Council that issues of great import were discussed. There were also instances of raised voices and demands to duel. Rarely, however, were the matters discussed so potentially dire as the news that night, and ‘twas all my pen could do to keep up with their debate, lowly scribe and aide to our head of state as I was.

Word had reached us at dusk from our outlying trading posts of the Gryphon Empire’s invasion of Equestria, and with their initial apparent success and our nearest borders only a few hundred miles away from theirs, we had to decide—quickly—what we were going to do about it.

Unfortunately, consensus amongst the councilbats proved as elusive as ever, at a time ‘twas certain we would need a united front should either side come calling.

“For now, methinks we should do nothing!” insisted Primrose Plum, the Minister of Agriculture, whose duties included managing both our oft-meager crops—we did our best, but earth ponies we simply were not—and the cattle trade. “Nothing except see which side gains the upper wing—methinks to commit to either side now would be foalish! We must wait to see who is winning! Then and only then should we consider who to cast our lot with so we may dine at the victor’s table!”

“That may not be possible, Primrose,” countered Minister of the Treasury Lord Shiraz, whose grape-growing and winemaking family had amassed a considerable fortune. “’Tis certain that before long, both sides will wish to enlist our aid! Perchance you wouldst explain what we should do when both Celestia and the gryphons send emissaries to us, seeking alliance and soldiers?”

“We tell them no! The gryphons are not our enemies, but we owe them nothing! And Celestia can rot in Tartarus for what she did to us after Luna’s fall!” the Interior Minister in charge of land and wild game management all but snarled, baring her pointed teeth.

Viceroy Chardonnay then offered up a more calmly-delivered point, as he so oft did. “The Nightmare. Not Luna,” he corrected softly in the very dim firegem lit-chamber, slitted eyes glowing with their reflected light around the table. “Luna fell to the Nightmare. And then we fell into her thrall, losing everything for it.”

Primrose Plum gave a scoffing sound at that. “Believe what you wish, Viceroy, but it changes nothing! We are under no obligation to join either side! We pay tribute to stay out of Celestia’s conflicts! Methinks she can manage without us!”

“And suppose they do not take no for an answer?” the Viceroy pointed out patiently. “You presume they would allow us to sit out the war. What if they do not? What if Celestia demands our service? Our agreement keeps us out of offensive wars, but there are provisions in our treaty for calling us to arms if Equestria is being attacked!” he reminded us all, then held up a hoof at the shouts of protest that erupted to indicate he wasn’t done yet.

“Nor is Celestia the only concern here. Treaty or no, the question must be asked if ‘tis even possible for us to remain neutral with the war so close to our borders. What if the gryphons decide we are just another pony with odd wings and thus an enemy to be fought? These questions must be considered this night, fellow Nightborne,” he reminded us, causing the chamber to fall silent until a new figure finally spoke.

“I agree with you, Viceroy,” called out Small Talk, our mare Minister of State, who managed our trading outposts and was one of the few thestrals who would go abroad to visit Canterlot when Celestia called, as she typically did once a year. “Your low opinion of the Sun Princess is unfair, Primrose. She has treated me—and us—nothing but honorably. Our weather is managed deftly by their pegasus weather teams and I find their diplomatic liaison very respectful, to say nothing of Celestia herself.

“'Tis certain we owe Equestria our continued existence, not just as a race but as a nation! Or perchance you have forgotten that instead of exiling us entirely after the Nightmare's defeat, she ceded us these lands and granted us autonomy within them?”

“For a yearly ransom in taxes, yes!” Shiraz brought her hoof down hard upon the table. “We pay her tribute and she deigns to leave us some lakewater and a few other scraps to fight with the Lightborne over!” she said with a sneer, speaking in reference to Lake Luna, the large northern lake which Cloudsdale filled every fall, and our less numerous light-furred cousins, the Lightborne thestrals, or ‘Highborne’ as they called themselves.

We were not on good terms with the latter and hadn’t been for centuries; there was little love lost between us, methinks, as even going back to Luna’s time we had vied for her favor and had been perfectly willing to undermine the other to get it.

“And for it, we are masters of our own affairs,” Small Talk replied as evenly and diplomatically as ever. “It may behoof us to consider what should happen to her favor if we decline to aid her despite our treaty commitments, and then she wins the war anyway. She may see that as a betrayal to be punished and order our lands seized for it. And methinks I would be hard pressed to explain why she would not be justified in doing so.”

That only brought about another scoffing sound. “You say that as if we would make that easy for her, or the Equestrian military would be in any shape to fight us after the gryphons,” pointed out General Starry Skies, the leader of the Nightborne Army, also referred to as the Army of the Night in remembrance of its long-ago service to Luna. “If they elect to invade us, they will sorely regret it!”

“Oh? And what of the gryphons themselves?” Small Talk challenged. “What if they come south into our lands?”

“Why would they?” came the dismissive response from the General. “Look at a map, Minister—their most direct route to Canterlot is between the Lunar Sea and the Foal Mountains, safely away from us! And from a purely military point of view, methinks they would not want to antagonize a neutral nation on the flank of their advance. Particularly not one with such a prime defensive position, protected by mountain ranges as we are.”

“And suppose they worry that we might not stay neutral? Suppose they decide a potential threat on the flank of their advance cannot be tolerated, prime defensive position or no? Suppose they treat us as just another race of ponies to conquer, Starry Skies?” Viceroy Chardonnay mused aloud. “What then?”

“Then let them come!” Starry Skies stated with surety, baring his teeth in a predatory grin. “If they are so foalish as to choose a war with us, then so much the better! They know nothing of us or how we fight; only the Equestrians! They know not the terror they face should they challenge us! We will then defeat their invasion on our own, at which point, we can dictate terms to not only them, but to all Equestria!” He flared his large wings proudly in what some ponies found an intimidating display.

“Hear me out, fellow thestrals! Think of what we might gain! Having saved her precious ponies, Celestia will have no choice but to give us whatever we want! We can then gain true independence and dominion over all our lands! The Lunar Republic of our former and future queen will be reborn! At long last, we will no longer be tied to a nation and princess whose subjects despise us! Our destiny will be ours and ours alone!” he claimed, causing an eruption of approving calls and wingclaps from the assembled representatives.

Far from being reassured, Small Talk stared at him in disbelief before rubbing her eyes with a hoof. “Really. Then tell me, oh overconfident General—what will we do when they send even a third of their reported hundred thousand-strong invasion force at us? What will we do when your sixteen thousand soldiers suddenly find themselves facing six or more gryphon legions backed by mages and heavy weapons? How will we defeat such overwhelming numbers, particularly when they quickly learn that they can neutralize almost all our advantages by fighting us during the day, if they do not already know?”

Starry Skies gave her a sneer of utter contempt. “Perchance you should stick to your tea parties with the ponies, as you clearly know nothing of military affairs! Do you really think we have not considered the question of daytime fighting, Madam Minister of State? That we have not made great strides in addressing such weaknesses in the past three hundred years?” he asked haughtily. “Do you truly think we do not have contingencies and battle plans to deal with an invasion? Or that my sixteen thousand regulars is all we have at our disposal?”

“An invasion from Celestia, yes! Not from the Gryphon Empire, who can dwarf our numbers and fight at night almost as well as us!” For one of the few times since I had known her, Small Talk raised her voice. “I say we cannot stay neutral in this conflict! I say we throw our lot in with Celestia here and now!”

What will they decide? And are they the only thestral faction in existence? And what of other races like the Changelings? Who would they decide to assist? The answers are in the growing war epic Into the Storm: The Rise of Firefly, describing the story of Rainbow Dash's ancestor, her founding of the Wonderbolts, and their role in the bloodiest conflict of Equestrian history.

TInto the Storm: The Flight of Firefly

• MLP: FiM
• Dark
• Adventure
• Thriller

Before the Wonderbolts, there were the Bolt Knights. And before Rainbow Dash, there was Firefly. The story of Rainbow Dash's ancestor, the founding of the Wonderbolts, and the outbreak of the Great Pony/Gryphon War.

• Gore
• Violence
• Alt. Universe
• Celestia
• OC
• Other

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