“Ah, Canterlot, summer of One-Thousand. Good times, good times,” I cheerfully said when I realized what Sweetie Drops was dreaming of.
Around Luna and I, the capital of Equestria was burning.
“Your macabre sense of humor will be the talk of the town, Phasma. You should show it off to the nobles. They would love it,” Luna replied drolly. “Before I forget: Cadence needs to speak with us again.”
“Alright well let’s find this earth pony, shatter her world view, then quickly move onto Cadence’s dream.”
Luna pointed ahead, where a cream colored pony was lying on her side in the rubble-strewn avenue. She was looking up at a six story office building, whose burning inferno gave the entire block a red and orange color palette. Even a hundred hooves lengths away, I could feel the fire’s heat.
We approached as Inquisitor Sweetie Drops was scooting away from the fire, casting a fearful glance around the street. When her eyes picked up our approach, a look of confusion fell onto her face, before her expression turned to a neutral one.
‘Well, not quite neutral. Even without my empath senses, I can tell she’s not exactly happy with me. Now the smart thing to do would be to be apologetic and diplomatic about this.’
“I see you’re a fan of my work,” I said with a smile as we stopped before her.
“Yes, dig yourself further,” Luna muttered too quietly for Sweetie Drops to hear.
Sweetie Drops’ eyes narrowed as she picked herself up off the ground. Briefly dusting herself off, she strode towards me.
“I wasn’t even in Canterlot that day. Not until you had left and there was nothing left but fires to put out and retreating changelings to fight. You caused such havoc that… nevermind,” she said suddenly, as if remembering something.
“Hello, my little pony,” Luna said, stepping forward.
“Princess Luna,” Sweetie Drops bowed but did not take her eyes off the Princess.
“You are skeptical of my authenticity. A healthy and smart worry. Discard your fears and suspicions, for we have come to you in the Dreamscape, as part of my duties to shepherd the kingdom beneath the moon. I am Princess Luna, protector of dreams.”
“... I need something more than appearances and a confusing speech to ‘authenticate’ your person, Princess Luna.”
Luna gestured to herself, “There are none others alive who can move between dreams like I. My mere presence alone is testament to my credentials.”
At that, Sweetie just glanced at me before returning her stare to Luna.
“He’s here. Further, I could be under powerful hallucinogens. I’m sorry Princess, if you’re the Princess, but I need something more.”
“Very well. What do you suggest, Inquisitor Sweetie Drops?”
The small pony’s muzzle scrunched up as she thought hard.
“A question,” Sweetie said slowly. “Yes. A question. You have to answer something that… something that only someone close to Princess Celestia would know, Your Highness.”
Luna stiffened, “... It has been an entire era since I last spent time with my sister.”
“Princess Celestia has a scar,” Sweetie nodded to herself and pointed to her right foreleg’s shoulder, “Right here. Describe it.”
Luna snorted softly, “Shallow. Shaped like a corner, with one long side. Near invisible under her fur. You’re going to have to ask something more personal than that if you wish to confirm my identity.”
Sweetie leaned forward, “Ah, but how did she get it?”
Luna laughed, “Ha! Celestia says that she got it from wrestling an elder drake that scorched the Grain Coast, that she got it in the battle of Four Summers itself. In truth, we were thirteen winters old when she received the wound that scarred up; she spilled tea on herself one afternoon, and in a fit of panic, ran into a bookcase.”
Sweetie Drops bowed, deeper and more reverent this time, “It is an honor to meet you, Princess Luna.”
“Arise, Sweetie Drops. Though I am curious, that is not a tale she parts with easily. What happenstance led to you discovering the truth?”
“Five years ago, Princess Celestia decided to pass that year’s Grand Galloping Gala by switching her usual drink of choice of black tea mixed with rum to a Long Island Iced Tea. She had just heard of the new drink from Manehattan, and made the switch without informing anyone. So no one had the chance to tell her that her new drink wasn’t quite tea and was instead more closer to pure ethanol. By the time the Gala was over, Princess Celestia was not her usual graceful self. Loose lips sink ships, and more interestingly spill secrets that no one knew for hundreds of years. Afterwards, all the staff who were around her and attending her had to be sworn to secrecy...”
“Oh ho hooo!” Luna laughed, “You must tell me more! I desire to hear all of these secrets she has spilled! I am certain she has accumulated more in my absence!”
“Another time, perhaps,” I interrupted the two mares. “We’re here on business and on a tight schedule. You aren’t the only pony we’re visiting tonight.”
“Who else are you visiting?” Sweetie asked, curious.
“Princess Cadence,” I answered. “Now, Luna here testifies that everything I said was true. Princess Daybreaker is not Princess Celestia, and is instead her counterpart to Nightmare Moon. No, I will not explain further, that takes time. The important thing is that you can split Division-P in half. That will save lives, Sweetie Drops. Lives. Can you do it for us?”
Sweetie grimaced, “That may or may not have been me just trying to not get mind controlled. There’s a chance, but I don’t know. I’m just one pony. And all of this, this Daybreaker or Celestia stuff… I’m still struggling a bit to come to terms with the fact that you aren’t, you know, soul-sucking evil. Perhaps I should have listened to that changeling after all…”
“That one changeling?” I asked.
“There was a changeling in Locksdale Prison, where we keep the changelings in Canterlot Castle, who was adamant that you had to have survived your supposed death. Princess Daybreaker must’ve decided to believe her, as she began her search for you after reading the interrogation report. The changeling was also insistent that you were… good.”
I rolled my eyes, “I’ll have to give my thanks to this good samaritan in person, then. It was very nice of them to sic Division-P and a possessed alicorn after me.”
“Possessed? Princess Dayb– Celestia is possessed?”
“Yes, yes, not important. You’ll all learn about that later. We’ve gone off topic; I am in desperate need of any way to sabotage Division-P, since Cadence has taken herself off of the field and Luna is busy with other tasks.”
Sweetie nodded, “I’ll do what I can, King Phasma and Princess Luna.”
I got a feeling that her acceptance towards the developing situation and readiness to help was more directed to Princess Luna than myself. Call it… common sense.
“That is all we can ask, Sweetie Drops. Thank you for believing in us, and for believing in a better Equestria,” Luna said, drawing a smile from Sweetie.
“Though I have to ask, Your Highness, what about the whole burning Equestria thing?” Sweetie asked, pointing to the burning building behind her.
Luna looked at me while she spoke, “Phasma is trying his best to right his wrongs and help us all out. Just as well, he was not quite as free to walk his own path as you might think. He might have plotted the invasion of Equestria, organized the changeling army, trained it in new, effective tactics, plotted for the end of Equestrian civilization–” I cleared my throat loudly, “–but the decision was made for him. Nothing less than absolute loyalty was demanded from him, and still he tried to find alternative methods, however suspect and tenuous they may be. And now he seeks to bring light back to Equestria. You know, just like myself.”
“So he– so you just get away with doing all of this?” Sweetie asked, glaring at me.
Luna stepped in before I could argue, “ If you judge Phasma, then you must judge me equally, for I have even more blood on my hooves. There will be a thorough account for all of his actions once we can safely worry about such things. For now, accept his help and let us save Equestria together. For my sister, if nothing else.”
Sweetie thought about this for a few moments before answering, “Okay, Princess. I won’t let you down.”
“We must leave now. Step close to me, Phasma. I shall take us to see Cadence. Farewell Sweetie Drops, may our paths cross again soon.”
Sweetie bowed once more, but her final words were directed towards myself, not her princess.
“You know, King Phasma, I just remembered something from that changeling’s interrogation report.”
“Which is?”
“She claimed to know you personally.”
I blinked, “What was her name?”
“Her name is Lacewing.”
Luna took my stunned silence as the conversation being over, and took us away from Inquisitor Sweetie Drop’s dream.
“No!” I yelled at a hedge. Spinning on my hooves, I grabbed and shook Luna, “Take us back! Right now!”
Luna pushed me away, and I fell on my flanks. We had arrived in Cadence’s dream, the same garden that she had dreamt of a while back.
“Calm yourself, Phasma. You can speak with her in the waking world, correct? We must see Cadence now.”
“Lacewing is alive, Luna! Alive! She’s alive!” I shook my hooves at her.
“Is this important?”
“Yes! Yes, Luna, yes! She was a member of the First Fang– is a member. I held a fucking funeral for her, Luna! We have to go back!” I begged.
“You need to stay here and listen to what I have to say,” Cadence said, standing behind us.
“Whatever you have can wait–”
“No, it can’t. Phasma, I’ve finished reading the last of the material I stole.”
I rose to all fours, “I just got word that someone I care about as a close friend is no longer dead, Cadence. I need to–”
“Stay here,” she ordered in a tone that brooked no argument.
Still, I argued, “I’m sorry Cadence, but–”
“Your changelings’ lives are in extreme risk right now. If the plan at the Gala goes ahead, hundreds will die.”
“Wh…” I panted.
‘It’s just bombshell after bombshell today.’
“The last file,” Cadence began, “is on a protocol titled The Dead Hoof Protocol.”
“Oh no,” I gasped.
“Do you know of it?” Luna asked.
“The Dead Hand Protocol. I know what it means. What are they going to do, Cadence?”
“Locksdale Prison will be purged. The file I read was a report on the methods of doing so. All failed or rejected methods, with the final decision being to... to execute all the changelings held in the prison via unicorn squads,” Cadence said, her voice shaky and threatening to break. “But it never listed when, only that it had something to do with Princess Daybreaker.”
“The Dead Hand Protocol,” I explained, “was the final fallback contingency to destroy the world, should the protocol’s government fall. Division-P could be planning in case of Equestria’s fall, but with our luck and its mention of Daybreaker…”
“They plan on killing all the changelings if Daybreaker is killed,” Cadence finished. “But how did you know already? And what's this about hands?”
I ignored her, “We can’t let that happen. Lacewing is alive, and so is everyling else they’re holding in there. We can’t let them execute that protocol.”
Luna asked, “The Grand Galloping Gala is in six days, Phasma. What are we going to do?”
“I need… I need to think! Give me a moment!” I said, going from trotting in place to pacing back and forth.
“Six days,” Luna repeated. “All of our plans are set in stone. We cannot dedicate any thestrals to going up against Division-P.”
“Locksdale Prison is in Canterlot Castle’s dungeon, right?” I asked. Cadence nodded so I continued, “so then… so then… that’s the same place that the Gala is being held, right? Okay… okay. A direct attack to engage the enemy, and an indirect attack to win,” I whispered to myself. “Cadence! Luna! I need God-Splitter, my Adamantium hammer, to be present at the Grand Galloping Gala!”
“It already is,” Luna said, “since Daybreaker loves her trophies being displayed and admired. What are you going to do?”
I explained as I paced, “The only thing I can do. My changelings will attack Locksdale Prison in the greatest jailbreak in history. But they wouldn’t win in a full frontal assault. Nor do we have enough time for an infiltration operation. They will need a distraction to pull away most of Division-P’s attention. That is where I come in.”
I spun on my hooves, and faced the two alicorns, “I will attend the Grand Galloping Gala undisguised.”
“What?!” Cadence yelled.
“Phasma, we have one shot at taking down Daybreaker,” Luna said. “One shot. Your presence would threaten the entirety of the whole operation. As much as I would love to see you again as soon as possible, I do not wish everything we have worked for to be thrown away in fear.”
“We don’t have a choice, Luna. I am not letting my people die. I’m coming to the Gala. There is no other option to distract Division-P. Unless I am there at Canterlot Castle, they will only dispatch a token force to try to take me down. I need to be there, present at the Castle, threatening Daybreaker herself in order to get their full attention.”
Luna facehooved, “And just how do you expect to take on Daybreaker, the best trained squads the Royal Guard has to offer, and the entirety of Division-P on by yourself? Because need I remind you, we have to focus on taking down Daybreaker, which means the thestrals and I need to either stay on the sidelines, or Harmony forbid, fight you.”
“I’ll figure it out. You meanwhile need to adjust your plans to take down Daybreaker while she’s distracted with me.”
“You think she won’t see through that ploy immediately? The moment anypony so much as sneezes strangely while she’s staring you down, it is over.”
I snarled, “Figure it out, Luna! Leave the Guards and the Division to me, and you figure out your Element bullshit.”
“This is our one chance, Phasma!”
“Do you have any other plans?!”
Luna hesitated.
“No, you don’t. No plan survives contact with the enemy. You know this, Luna.”
“There’s so many problems with this scheme of yours, though. Just how do you plan on getting the entirety of your Hive into Canterlot?”
“Easy. We are already in Canterlot.”
“What?” The Princesses said in stereo.
“I’m in Manehattan at the moment, but I ordered Coxa to begin bringing the Fifth Hive out of Manehattan and into its designated fallback point. In the short time we’ve had, we’ve only managed to find one spot in all of Equestria that is defensible, reclusive, unoccupied, and cheap to acquire.”
“The Crystal Caves,” Cadence gasped.
“The top layers and entrances were mapped, sealed off, and patrolled where needed, however there are miles upon miles of the cave left untouched. Couple that with the fact that a few changelings in the Fifth Hive were from the Underhive Scarabs Legion, and suddenly we have prime real estate in Canterlot. No scrying spell can penetrate the crystals and avoiding your patrols is far easier than you might think. The Underhive Scarabs were chosen for their expertise, and are at home in the tunnels beneath our hooves.”
“Your fallback point was to hide right underneath Division-P’s noses…” Cadence said in awe.
“The last place they would think, after they checked it several times. The Royal Guard might be able to spot a swarm of changelings approaching from any angle outside of Canterlot, and with many of the exits sealed they might think that they are safe, but we can both unseal the tunnels and scale the mountain itself, right below their line of sight. There’s no guarantee that it would work, but we’re well past guarantees. I’ll set my changelings to digging into Locksdale Prison as soon as possible. Meanwhile, I’ll think of ways to deal with the ponies who will dog-pile me the moment I show my face.”
“Is there no other way of saving your people?” Luna asked, desperate to not lose her one chance at seeing her sister again.
I shook my head, “No. A Dead Hand Protocol would mean their deaths the moment Daybreaker is gone, I’m sure of it. We have to throw everything we have at her at the Gala. One way or the other, we won’t be getting a second chance. It’s all or nothing. We can’t even afford a prolonged battle with her, for the Nightmares are rising. A conflict with Daybreaker would mean losing valuable time, lives, and resources needed to fight them, whenever they are coming. By dawn the next day, Equus’s fate will be decided. Either Daybreaker is purged and we have a chance, or… you both understand what’s at stake. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find some Panar damn miracles.”
Nice
A character isn't dead until you see the body. Phasma should have known that from his own example.
What ever plan they make it needs to have others in the plan as well to make sure it works.
10953203
When emotions and tensions are high people -in this case changelings- can't think straight or logically
Damn
Ah, I was wondering when the gala plan would go tits up
You used dead hand several times, when I think you meant
Dead Hoof.
10953207
By the time of the funeral, tempers had died down and there was time to realize that with Oest having committed suicide-by-cop Lacewing was the highest-ranking member of the Rebellion still present when the shooting died down, not counting the one who'd already turned traitor before the shooting started. We were calling her survival even back then.
The final battle against Daybreaker is coming to a close, things are about to get spicy!
10953211
Nah he meant dead hand. At that point, Phasma is referring to (I believe) the dead hand protocol the Soviets had in place to launch their nukes should their government fall and a nuke gets launched on them. That is, if I remember correctly. Basically the doctrain of M.A.D. but for if the government can't order it itself.
Did things just escalate? It seems Phasma has decided to face a high-tier nightmare currently processing a practical god, head-on...
Did I miss anything, oh right, a prison break of what I assume is the most secure prison in Equestria and a charged harmony rainbow-shot of which may be easily avoidable has to go off without a hitch, at the same time... Cool? Cool.
I look forward to seeing how that will happen, without a hitch, or blowing up in spectacular fashion.
Time draws closer yet it streched like a persisting gum... Divison P. Sure can need some flank kicking...
10953235
Yes, the Soviets who don't exist in that world, to ponies who aren't human. Though I don't remember if he told Cadence that fact he is from another world.
Division-P and Daybreaker get worse by the second.
Honestly I'm not even certain if the ponies doing the execution would be willing to go through with it, would they really be willing to execute prisoners?
I don't know, but Phasma won't take that kind of risk, but maybe Sweetie Drops could take advantage of them being on the fence about it?
Would you like to know more?
The R-7 Semyorka (Russian: Р-7 Семёрка), officially the GRAU index 8K71, was a Soviet missile developed during the Cold War, and the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile.[1] The R-7 made 28 launches between 1957 and 1961, but was never deployed operationally. A derivative, the R-7A, was deployed from 1959 to 1968. To the West it was unknown until its launch (later it would get the NATO reporting name SS-6 Sapwood). In modified form, it launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit, and became the basis for the R-7 family which includes Sputnik, Luna, Molniya, Vostok, and Voskhod space launchers, as well as later Soyuz variants.
I also love Phasma's sense of humor.
And his backup plan is so audacious, nopony would expect it.
10953249
Well yes, because princess Celestia says it's fine.
When has she ever led them astray?
And while you might say that some of them won't obey, many more will not even fully register the order before firing.
Lacewing better not die.
Its like Derpy getting shot. You just... Dont!
What was Lacewings guess for Phasmatodea bet with whom he get together i wonder...
I think this is the appropriate time to say, ah hell. Lets go light the fuse and see how this bomb of a firework goes off, and who dies in the shower of shrapnel because there is. no. Way. That everything goes right, smoothly, or do every character get out alive.
Oh, now this is interesting. So, what are the bets? Lacewing inexplicably dies after reuniting with Phas? No? Phasma goes into a murderous rage anyway? Maybe? The Elements can't 'preform'? Too much? Someone punches Daybreaker in her smug face? Eh, probably. A noblemare faints, and Coxa slips on gay thoughts? Definitely.
Oh yeah. It's all coming together.
10953288
Also what an excellent chapter. Thanks for writing it
No plan survives first contact with the enemy, that's why you strategize; as a strategy is fluid that curves with the chaos, where as a plan is solidly stuck to order.
The final eclipse has begun.
That might just be what Daybreaker wants. What exactly does she gain by killing all the changeling prisoners after she herself has died? Nothing. Would she do it just out of spite? Probably, but I think there's more to it.
Best case, Daybreaker is clueless and the Dead Hoof Protocol is just a last-ditch trump card. If Phasma somehow manages to bring her low she can use their lives as bargaining chips to save her own.
Worst case, she already knows about Luna's plan to use the elements at the gala, and is using the Dead Hoof Protocol to force Phasma to act before that happens. Maybe she even knows about The Fifth Hive relocating to Canterlot, and is letting them come closer? If this is all a trap for Phasma, there's a risk Daybreaker could succeed in getting him possessed, in which case Luna and the main six would have to cleanse both of them.
I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT. I held hope in my heart and kept track of the First Fang since May. Coxa alive, Thorax alive and gay (or bi idk), Oest dead, Tarsus the traitor, Pharynx the honorary member (loyalist too unfortunately), and finally the MIA Lacewing.
I knew the moment Phas told Thorax that Lace's body was never found that she could be alive. Now, that hope is in full bloom.
KK I swear if Lace sacrifices herself to safe Phas in the GGG I will FLIP MY SHIT.
10953267
Additionally Daybreaker put ponies in charge who shared her sadistic mindset
10953245
Not yet
Did anyone actually think Lacewing was really dead? At least anyone who's familiar with Chekhov's gun
It would be hilarious if Phasma just walked through the main door by saying "SUP PONIES!"
Oh so this can't wait but talking about plans against division P can? You get to be a bitch and talk about love and not saving the world but phas can't?
Phasma makes the assumption that the Harmony Gambit is going to work. That all the Element Bearers are aligned with it. We have no proof of this. He also assumes the Dead Hoof Protocol is what he thinks it is from his previous life. It may not be. All their plans, all their hopes are based on assumptions at this point. And what happens when you assume? You make an ass of u and me.
This could be exactly what Daybreaker wants.
We orchestrate our own miracles Phasma, ain't no other way around it.
All of this means I just can't WAIT to see what Phasma does to Tarsus when they meet up again. Because yeah, Phasma doesn't strike me as the type to let bygones be bygones in a situation like that.
Her? Wait is it ......
Yesss ,I was right !
Yep NOW GO BURN!
10953303
Me too
This this right here made me laugh. God I love his sense of humor
10953203
Yep kind of disappointing that Phasma ignores some obvious tropes.
10953211
Phasma used to be human and is talking about the real life dead hand protocol
10953307
Everyone in-universe, and pretty much nobody outside of it. As I said, Phasma already knows there are ways to fake anything short of a dead body because he half-accidentally used one in the same damn incident!
Oh no I just realized this might be all a trap by Daybreaker.
Okay here is my thinking
Daybreaker wants Phasma. But she cannot attack Phasma directly and any attack may end up with Phasma just disappearing again. Daybreaker however knows that Phasma was seen with the bat ponies, who work and report directly to Princess Luna meaning that she knows Luna is working directly with Phasma. Luna has been seen talking to Cadance who can easily get some reports about how the Changelings that Daybreaker has are going to be killed. Daybreaker also knows that Phasma also cares for his Changelings from his attacks and rescues of Changelings caught by Division-P.
Daybreaker is smart and may be planning on this to draw not only Phasma but Luna and anypony who may be traitors to her so she can end them solidifying her rule completely.
Just a thought.
10953394
I believe he acknowledged the fact that her body wasn't found, and therefore acknowledged the trope, but Lace's MIA status happened in the middle of a rebellion that began with him murdering his own father, and ended with the almost-certain (again, from his POV, no body) death of a very close friend and near-death of himself. From his point of view, anyone can die.
Y'all are forgetting that he never saw Oestridae's body, only the fact that other changelings entered from where Oestridae was holding the line.
Fuck this cliff man just look at how far you can hang off it
10953267
We don't know for certain what the state of affairs within Division-P are, any doubts they have will be amplified upon an order to literally execute their own prisoners.
They aren't gassing them, merely flicking a lever as they die.
They'll be directly killing them with their own spells as a firing squad.
Yo, is that Lacewing?
Edit:
Wow, I kept reading and it actually is Lacewing. yes.
I haven’t experienced this level of hype since the invasion of Canterlot, I cant wait!
oh my god melt these horse words down and inject them into my veins THIS IS SO EXCITING
10953421
Not relayed to your comment, but i just had a question pop into my mind. The Nightmare's personality is a blending of theirs and that of it's host, you've said this before. What I'm wondering about is their names. Do the named nightmares prefer their nightmare name, or the name they take for themselves upon possessing a host? Or rather do the names Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker mean more to the nightmares who chose them than just a way to better blend in with ponies?
10953252
Normally chapter titles are mythological in nature, having the nickname of the worlds first true ICBM being used along with a 'dead hand/hoof' protocol cropping up points to some fun times happening soon.
Plasma "so I'd like to phone a friend...hi mom so how do you feel about crashing a party...for old times sake?"
10953307
petition for Lacewing to be have died since talking to Bon Bon so we can collectively dab on Chekov. Horrible guy, zero weapon etiquette. keeps leaving his firearm everywhere - someone could get seriously hurt with that thing!
ᵖˡᶻ ᵈᵒⁿ'ᵗ ᵏᶦˡˡ ˡᵃᶜᵉʷᶦⁿᵍ ᶦᵗ ʷᵃˢ ᵃ ʲᵒᵏᵉ ᶦ ˢʷᵉᵃʳ
Seems like Phasma isn't the only one whose death was exaggerated.... 😇
You have six days to save the world. Mark!
10953296
If you are referencing the song, then Brohoof.
Gonna go listen to it again.
Also, my money is on tragic last minute rescue, where the rescuee in question (I know the name has been spoilered already, but it's the principle of it) dies in Phasma's forelegs, with "I love you" on her lips, and Phasma going into a Nuclear Rage and becoming everything the Ponies Fear.