Operation Sombraby dragon191917ChaptersPreparationsTrainingCrystalThe Emerald CampaignRememberingProloguePreparationsLord Captain Gilda sat on her chair in the bridge, gazing silently at the tactical readouts on the holographic display in front of her chair. After several minutes of checking the strike force's status, she looked over at the stallion at the helm. Fury Comet, her first mate and newly wed husband, was grinning slightly. It was hard to tell. He always wore cloaks or uniforms that obscured most of his body. Only Gilda and Drake, a Pegasus rear admiral of the Solar Empire, had ever seen his cutie mark, which is his most valuable secret. He was grim and loved explosives. Gilda was wearing a fancy suit and hat showing her status. She preffered her shotgun in combat, and had had the thing since she joined. After the incident, oh, what, nine, maybe ten years ago? Anyway, she shaped up, realizing Dash had been her only friend, and she had thrown her away. The space program was her best bet. Then, in walked the two ponies Gilda loved being around, if only for their unique company. The first was Twilight Sparkle. Once a tender, loving librarian and the Element of Magic, Twilight has emotionally changed over the war. Being kidnapped by Gilda and the New Lunar Republic, she saw the horrors of the war up close and personal. She was still her good old self, but not quite as funny or emotional. She wore a light vest with the Republic's insignia stamped on its shoulders. The second was Rainbow Dash. Thought dead during almost the entire war, she came back, alive and well, and part of the Moonjumpers, a mysterious and militaristic group that served under Princess Io, Luna and Celestia's older sister, who had also miraculously returned after being banished by Discord for one thousand some odd years. While still being her wise-cracking, dare devil self, Dash wore her armor a lot, so she towered several feet above most ponies in the menacing black suit. She also was very grim at times, and can be quite the opposite of the old, optimistic Rainbow Dash. War changes ponies. They were all no different. Twilight started talking first. "Gilda, I heard a report that there is one squad still not here, but when I look on the list, everypony is here and accounted for. Would you mind telling me what's going on?" Gilda chuckled. "Of course." she said sarcastically. "Well, we have, oh, four more passengers to take on, then we're off." "Hey, you got a lot more than four!" came an indignant voice over the comm, to which everypony in the room smiled. Fury turned to the comm. "Hello, Admiral! How are you doing!" A laugh came from the other end. "Good to see you too, Fury." came Rear Admiral Drake's voice. "Anyway, is it possible that you could squeeze in, oh, a battleship, a pair of cruisers, four frigates, and an Interdictor Crusier?" An Interdictor Cruiser had a special generator that caused any Teleportation Drives in its area to malfunction when used. Gilda nodded. "Sure Drake. We'll send you the coordinates for the Crystal System here in a minute. We're waiting for one last shuttle before we take our leave." "That's us, right?" came another voice, one Twilight knew too well. "Rarity?" she said, a smile starting to spread across her face. "Yea, Sugercube, it's us." came Applejack's voice. "Guys!?" stuttered Twilight, astonished. "Darling, please, don't tire yourself out. I believe Captain Gilda has promised us some training. You included. So dear, save it for the simulator." Twilight smiled. Apparently she wasn't the only one changed, and Rarity's gun-ho-ness pleased her greatly. "Alright, come on aboard. Training starts tommorow, so you best get on board." Twilight grinned into the comlink. Then, Gilda took over. She turned to the comm and began giving orders in her normal fashion. "Alright, dweebs. All ships, we jump for the coordinates on my mark. All units and ships, report in." "Sixth Republic Fleet, reporting." "Second Imperial Fleet, reporting." "Crystal Empire Prism, reporting." "Fourteenth Republic Infantry Division, reporting." "Eighth Imperial Infantry Division, reporting." "Fifth Imperial Mechanized Division, Reporting." Gilda nodded as several more reports came in. When all the reports finished, she turned to an officer hovering over a peers console. "Soldier, is the shuttle aboard?" "Aye, ma'am." Gilda nodded. "All ships, Mark!" From the windows of all the ships, ponies could see the stars replaced by the colors of teleportation travel. By the distance and speed of teleport spells, they had 3600 hours before they arrived. TrainingThe first order of business the next day was weapons. The six friends had no clue what weapons they liked, nor how to use most of them. So, before hitting the simulator, all of them went down to the armory, which also had a small shooting range. Twilight was the first to test. She eyed all the weapons, particularly those made for magic-users. Finally, she chose a long, elegant staff tipped with an emerald green energy crystal. It wasn't too fancy, being for military use, but it suited Twilight's persona perfectly. She also took a bandolier of "Support Crystals", or energy crystals that simply store energy for a spell a unicorn just can't quite cast. Then, she headed off to the firing range. Her magically prowess was amazing, as always. Magic missiles, lightning bolts, fireballs, shards of ice, and stones the size of an apple, all took down targets with determined efficiency. She also showed that she could cast illusion spells and others with equal ease, an important asset on the battlefield. Next to stand up was Pinkie Pie. She walked up and down the aisles of weapons, before picking a trio of knives and a pair of pistols. Pinkie decided she would be close combat-ish. She picked nothing to wear except for her "Twitchy hat", which she kept on her body at all times in case of random falling objects, She was, by far, the craziest on the range. While seemingly playing around, she shot with unerring deadliness, usually in places to cause the most pain, ranging from the liver to the groin. Her most common trick was to dance around and, using her speed from the dancing, launch her knives at good speed. Next was Rarity. She, of course, picked the most beautiful weapon she could find, a gilded sniper rifle with the word "Merciful" etched across the barrel. She also grabbed a scope and a elegant hat. As it was, Rarity's trained eye allowed her to take down targets with accuracy in the extreme, although slowly, due to her time it took her to aim. Applejack went after her. She didn't care much for her weapons, and she grabbed a simple, robust assault rifle. Along with it, she grabbed a vest with ammo pockets and a grenade. She went about firing with precise bursts, simply aiming and shooting. In truth, Applejack wasn't very spectacular. Next came Rainbow Dash. She was the only one with large amounts of battlefield experience, and chose an assault rifle with laser pointer and built in grenade launcher. She also grabbed an old-fashioned magnum. On the range, she shot a mix of burst fire, full auto, the occasional grenade, and precise shots with her laser pointer. Last to go was Fluttershy. She grabbed a small pistol, along with only a little ammo, and a medical pack. Fluttershy, living into her reputation, couldn't hit squat on the range. Everypony agreed that she would be a medic. Once that was over, Gilda nodded at them. It had been a mostly silent time, and she broke that silence. "Alright, you all seem to have figured this out. I think we should head over to the simulator." So, as they walked off in that direction, Gilda began to explain what was going to happen. "The simulator is completely holographic. However, hits will still hurt and knock you down. They are not lethal, but be careful. You will get holographic representations of your weapons to shoot. Thanks to the wonderful technology of the system, everything will feel normal. Dash and I will watch. You five get to go in." After a few minutes, they all arrived at the simulator. It was a huge room, taking up a large space in the ship. The five friends walked into the room, while Dash and Gilda stayed outside in an observation area with controls. "Alright!" came Gilda's voice when the door shut. "Starting simulator in five!" Suddenly, Twilight found herself in a forest, full of oak trees. Around her were her friends, dressed in armor and with their weapons. A speaker came on, and Gilda started informing them. "Alright your objective is to find the enemy commander and kill him. Round one, begin!" Applejack took point. They were silent as they walked in the brush. Suddenly, they heard voices. They went down crouched, and silently approached the voices. They found a pair of griffon soldiers in a metal armor plate, and another soldier about a dozen feet away, relieving himself. While their armor was simple, their weapons were still modern assault rifles. Twilight, using her telepathy, began giving orders. "Alright, Pinkie, use your knives, one on each soldier. If any live, Applejack, Rarity, take them down. Fluttershy, if that fails, standby to provide medical support. I'll cover you if that happens." Then, several seconds later, Pinkie threw her knives, going though the weak spots in the first twos' armor. The third fell, a dagger sprouting out of his left hind leg. Following that, Rarity immediately silenced the third with a clean shot. Twilight began telepathically giving orders again. "Wait! Don't do anything. I'm sure some of the other griffons heard Rarity's shot. We'll wait here for more!" True enough, six more griffons, similarly armed and armored, ran up, and, upon finding their dead comrades, their guns went up. One of them called out in griffon for help. Suddenly, Twilights plan was turned upside down. That call for help was answered by another dozen griffons, led by a griffon with a long red feathered plume. Twilight immediately determined him to be the commander. But they were now severely outnumbered, and they wouldn't stand a chance, if the leader had not made a critical mistake. He split his troops up. After a minute, only five, including the commander, stayed in the clearing, while the rest fanned out, searching for the killers. It was by pure luck that they didn't find the five friends. Twilight continued plotting as fast as her mind could, and began giving orders. "Take out the enemy, one by one. Kill them or knock them out. Rarity, Pinkie, you go do that. We'll wait for the panic to start before striking." Rarity, following orders, climbed a relatively tall tree, and began sniping. It was cruel work, but she performed it admirably. Pinkie, meanwhile, well, was Pinkie. She took out several enemy soldiers, all in crazy ways. Finally, the commander sent two of his griffons to find out what was going on. Twilight chose this time to strike. She started it out with a fireball aimed to kill. One of the griffons was incinerated, and the other two were caught off guard just as Applejack fired, killing the second, leaving the commander. Before any nearby troops could respond, Twilight was on top of him, pounding magic missile after magic missile into his body, until she knocked off his helmet. She froze. In front of her was a female. The griffon, in fact a mare, was crying, shaking her head, horrified as death was so close. "Please!" she gasped in accented Equestrian. "Please, don't kill me!" Twilight couldn't do it. She knew it was an illusion, but she couldn't do it. She couldn't kill this griffon. Bang! A hole appeared in the griffons skull. Twilight flipped around, only to see Applejack. "Sorry, sugercube." she said. "It's for the best." The simulated environment dissappeared, as did the griffons, replaced by the bland, black room. Twilight's tears, however, did not. Something about that griffon scared her. It was too real. She could fight cultists and demons, but to simply end another pony's life... She couldn't do it. Gilda shook her head. "Alright, Twilight needs some help. No more simulated enemies for now. Begin new set of rounds, computer. Dash, you up for some fighting." Dash nodded. "Of course." Suddenly, Dash walked onto the court, surpirsing the five friends. At the same time, their guns and armor were replaced with long shock poles. A mechanical voice said: "Beginning round. Team 1 vs. Major Rainbow Dash. Shock poles. Start." The five friends were surprised, to say the least. They had to fight Dash! Applejack's eyes widened. "Woe, what in tarnashion...!" she never finished, a shock pole sending her flying backward. Twilight struck next against Dash, missing completely. Dash, in response, whacked her back, causing her to fall to the ground. Rarity, seeing reason, took a defensive stance. A minute later, she laid on the ground, clutching her nose. Pinkie lasted the longest. She did crazy, random things that allowed her to survive. Finally, Dash got her, tripping her and slamming her into the ground. Fluttershy was last. "Um, guys, are you ok?" Dash was right behind her. "Shy, in this type of combat, it isn't them you want to worry about." CRACK!!! The computer continued. "Round one complete. Point Dash. Beginning round two. Shock Poles." The five friends got back up, pains gone from the assault. Twilight took charge. "Alright, we need to work together, or we'll... ooph!" she fell backwards, hit squarely in the chest. Fluttershy got hit hard, spiralling back. Rarity came up on a block, countered with a skimming blow, and hit the ground as Dash's shock stick hit her back. Pinkie scratched Dash using her pole, and got knocked clean down. Applejack dodged and parried to the best of her ability. Suddenly, she was knocked in the stomach, slapped in the back, and, while keeling over, was knocked in the face, Dash's pole breaking clean in half. "Round two complete. Point Dash. Beginning round three. Blank pistol rounds." Thirty minutes later... "Round 10 complete. Point Dash. Final Results: Team 1: Zero. Dash: Ten. Major Rainbow Dash wins." Gilda's beak hung loosely open at the absolute massacre Dash made of the five friends. She knew Dash was good, but damn. She was good. The six fighters walked in silently. Twilight spoke first. "Dash, why did you do that?" Dash shrugged. "If you have to hesitate to kill, you won't live long. I showed you that. I had no hesitation to hurt you. You, meanwhile, did have hesitation to hurt me, which was your problem. If you had been quicker, you probably would have won." Twilight's nodded, understanding. She realized that, but it would be hard to enforce, especially with Fluttershy. "Well," said Gilda, shaky after such a fight. "We've got briefing after lunch. I hope your there." ... The briefing room was quite. The six friends, Gilda, Fury, Princess Cadance herself, and the holograms of various generals and admirals leading the force were in the room, all around a hologram of the system. Gilda started the lecture. "All right. This is the Crystal System, the new home of the Crystal Empire. We will come out of jump here." she pointed to a place on the outer edge of the system. "From their, we will make our way to Emerald, the last planet in the system. It is a lush planet, with two main biomes: Jungle, and mountain. We will make our first landings their. The enemy have a presence of several ships in orbit. They shouldn't stand to much a chance. Once we land, we will hit the enemy bases." When she says this, the hologram zooms in to show only Emerald, which was indeed covered in jungle and mountain. Several dots popped up to indicate the enemy bases. "Once we capture these bases, we will have a forward base to mount attacks into the rest of the system. The fighting will be torturous. The jungles will prove an adversary to our troops. My suggestion is for arial landings nearby enemy bases, then the troops make their way there on hoof. The main problem is the enemy field command base." The hologram continued to zoom in, showing now a large, walled outpost and the surrounding area. "This command has coverage from nearby anti-air cannons. Any of our ships smaller than cruiser will be torn apart by these guns, allowing only a few bases to be hit without getting in their range. Me and a squad of my choosing will take out these guns. Using a teleport spell by our friend Twilight Sparkle, we will enter the turrets and take out their power source, a nuclear fission generator four hundred feet beneath the surface. The destruction of this will not only deny power to the cannons, but also cause a power shortage across the planet as the enemies power systems adapt to the sudden lack of power. It will open a hour window of weakness in enemy automated weapon systems. Hit then, and we will only have to deal with enemy ground troops and magic-powered weaponry. The fleet, while this is going on, will pound enemy positions from orbit. After we secure the planet, we will need to construct a base. Once we capture Emerald, we will move on to Ruby. After Ruby, we have Diamond, the capital of the system. After that, the final two planets of the system, Topaz and Garnet. This is an important mission, and I expect for you all to do your best. Princess Cadance is here, and will greatly appreciate our assistance in liberating her worlds. Alright, we have twelve hours! Move out!" CrystalFive minutes before the jump ended, the alarms sounded, calling all crews to general stations. The ships were full of activity as marines scrambled for weapons, pilots prepared their fighters, and gunners charged their cannons. Gilda was in the main left hanger of the L.S.S. Crescent, her own ship, flying a few feet above a holographic table with Fluttershy and Dash. Fury and the other four friends stood below, also eyeing the table for when the jump ended. With a jerk, all the ships came out of jump. The holographic table lit up, showing the positions of friendly and enemy ships, along with the flashes of traded long-range shots. The groups eyes widened at the large number of red ships. The Discordiants had seen them coming! Gilda gave orders like she always did; at the top of her lungs. "All ships, you have full permission to engage the enemy! Priority targets include space stations, orbital defense satellites, and enemy capital ships. Protect those troop transports! You have full confirmation on heavy weapons! That includes nukes and SMACs! Move!" Fury started giving status checks. "Enemy units being diverted from Ruby. Gilda, they knew we were coming here! Around Emerald I read eighteen capital ships with numerous escorts. From Ruby their sending another six. They'll be all over us in ninety seconds. We need to establish a perimeter, or we're going to be sitting ducks." Gilda nodded. "All fighter squadrons, enemy warships just jumped from Ruby, coming here. I've fed you estimated exit spots. Move to intercept. Dark Sun and Radiant Gold, assist them." Two of the cruisers moved to follow the leaving fighters. Meanwhile, the eighteen enemy capital ships already there moved in range. "All remaining ships, aim for power centers! I want those enemy ships disabled for us to blow them out of the sky!" As she finished that, a blast rocked the Crescent. Applejack spoke all their thoughts. "What in the hay was that!" Fury, using his magic, checked the dashboard. "Damn, it's those anti-air cannons. They must be more powerful than we thought! They're slugging ground-to-space rounds at us!" Gilda shook her head. "All ships, fall back behind Emeralds moon. That way, we'll be out of sight from those guns." Then, she grabbed her shotgun, and started walking out of the hanger. Twilight asked first. "What are you doing?" Fury nodded. "Yeah, Gil, where are you going?" Gilda stopped, but didn't turn. "I know Twilights limitations. She can't teleport us to the surface from the far side of the moon." Fluttershy spoke then. "Well, what are we, um, going to do?" Gilda chuckled faintly. "Ever heard of a boarding torpedo?" ... They all sat in that cramped, cylindrical space of the torpedo. It was a missile, literally, made to carry troops into the heart of an enemy warship or space installation quickly and with much devastation. They were going to use it for a new purpose. Long-range drop pod. Of course, Fluttershy had her doubts, and was shivering in her seat, sweating uncontrollably. "So," said Twilight, seeing Fluttershy's fear, whispered to Gilda, who was next to her, "Um, is a boarding torpedo safe when re-entering the atmosphere?" Gilda just looked at her, smiling weakly, and said, "Well, hold on." Twilight blinked, proccessing those words. She never answered her question. *Clink* *BANG* Twilight was thrown into her seat as the rocket ignited, sending them at extreme speeds. Fluttershy fainted. Rarity closed her eyes. Applejack tried to hold her stomach (unsuccessfully might I add.). Rainbow Dash simply sat there like it was nothing but a child's ride at an amusement park. Then, they hit the atmosphere. If it was rough before, there was no describing the atmosphere entry. Fury was the last one to loose his contents of breakfast, causing the compartment to smell so bad it rivaled the stench of death itself. Then came the landing. It was like hitting a boulder going seventy miles per hour on the freeway. It hit under the canopy of a thick jungle. After a moment, the front hatch opened, spilling out the bodily fluids that had built up on the floor of the torpedo. The first out was Dash, gun up, ready to go. Everypony else came out slowly, sick to the stomach. No pony said anything. They were too shaken to do so. Finally, Pinkie, who had eaten an extremely large amount of food on the Crescent before, decided she couldn't hold her stomach anymore than the others. That broke the silence. Rainbow spoke first, smiling comically. "Alright, who wants to go again?" The Emerald CampaignDear diary Journal, We landed yesterday on Emerald, one of the Planets in the Crystal System. It's a lush world mostly made up of jungles. And, truthfully, living hell. The boarding torpedo was maddeningly crazy. Not long after that, we lost Sarge to Bill, who turned traitor. I killed him. I'll miss Sarge. He was always an interesting guy to be around. We've been moving toward the objective, and enemy base. Its hot and humid in these jungles. We continually come under fire. Somethings been bothering me. As Billy died, he said why he had turned. 'Discord is fighter FOR you, to renew an old soul, to help somepony. I simply want to help him.' Words to take into consideration. Sincerely, Pvt. Trek, 421st Infantry Battalion ... "Incoming!" Corporal Dodge lived up to his name, rolling out of the way of enemy fire. Another one of the troopers, another Solar Empire trooper, wasn't so lucky. The corporal looked around. Maybe half his squad was left, and they couldn't even see the enemy through the dense jungle. He looked up and let loose a short burst in the direction the enemy fire came from, but his assault rifle didn't hit its mark. Sergeant Umber looked at him. "How many do you think there are?" she said. "At least a dozen, but I can't really tell." Dodge replied. "Alright, I'm getting tired of this. Take this!" With that, he chucks his only grenade. Apparently, the enemy weren't expecting it. The gunfire was silenced. Dodge sighed. And they still had to get to enemy base. ... Drake grimaced as another shot hit the Sol, absorbed by the shields. "All units, take those enemy ships down! I don't have the time for this!" As he said it, another round impacted the Sol, taking her shields down. Nearby, an escort destroyer was hit, exploding into flaming debris. Drake groaned. "Evasive maneuvers. I need somepony to bring those battleships down!" "I could solve this." Drake looked at the comm, mystified. "Wait, what? Who is this?" "This is Princess Cadance aboard the Prism. Thought you might need some help." The Prism, a glorious silver vessel, seemed completely unarmed. Princess Cadance personally thought that was the funniest thing in her life. The Crystal Empire, having ridiculous amounts of energy crystals, was NOT hurting on weapons. The Prism was almost twice the length of the Sol, a Solar Class Battleship. Do the math. In dozens of bright flashes, the Prism brought her weapons to bear, bolstered by the magical aura excluded by the Princess her self. The first Discordiant ship to feel her wrath, a behemoth of a dreadnought, was torn apart, it's shields failing to the sheer hundreds of rounds put into it. The Prism then proceded to dismantle the entire enemy fleet. Drake simply stared at the sleek silver colossus in awe. He had never seen so much firepower on one ship in his entire life. Suddenly, a round flew out of nowhere, smacking into the Prism's starboard. Drake looked around, then realized why had caused it. Drake swore to himself as the Prism fled back to farther areas, farther from the combat. "Come on Gilda, we need those guns down NOW." ... Data report: Casuaties, enemy remaining. Friendly: Spacebound: Battleships: 1 damaged. Cruisers: 2 destroyed, 5 damaged. Destroyers: 7 destroyed, 13 damaged. Transports: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged. Fighters/Shuttles: 52 destroyed, 39 damaged. Groundside: Aircraft: N/A Vehicles: N/A Soldiers: 400+ dead, 800+ injured. Enemy: Spacebound: Battleships: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged, 5 untouched. Cruisers: 8 destroyed, 4 damaged, 8 untouched. Destroyers: 12 destroyed, 9 damaged. 11 untouched. Transports: N/A Fighters/shuttles: 302 destroyed, 90 damaged, 400+ untouched. Groundside: Aircraft: Unknown. Vehicles: Unknown Soldiers: Unknown. End Report ... "To all Equestrian Troops! This is Discord! You know me well. If your listening to your radio, then know this well: You have two options. Lay down your arms and help me. I know you won't choose that one. The alternitive is lay down not oly your arms, but your lives as you try to aid a corrupt cause! This is all to similar of what the Republic did to the Empire, am I correct? Fight for a worthy cause when none others would see it? So know now that of you think you can defeat me, you will loose. I will not loose this war. I'm all ready in the final stages of my coup. This system is so useful to me, but I will not let it go. Surrender, or continue to blindly pursue a false cause. Corruption is once again ripe in the Equestrian Government, yet you do not see it. Unfortunate." ... Io shook her head. "This is too odd, sisters. As Operation Sombra goes on, Discord continues to broadcast messages. He seems convinced of good. I tell you, I have been pursuing him ever since I founded the Moonjumpers. He has no such good intentions. Celestia, do you agree?" Celestia nodded. "Indeed. He wishes something he claims is good. Knowing Discord, he's lying. Do you have an opinion on this Luna?" Luna was silent for a moment, her face sad. Then, she quietly spoke. "It depends. Yes, he's hiding something he has in his agenda, but something is bothering me." Io eyed her strangely. "What do you speak of?" Luna licked her lips. "Well, Discord has never been this direct before. He has always acted behind riddles and mystery. If he wants us to see him doing this, he must be doing it so that we notice something we haven't already seen." Io nodded. "A good idea, Luna. However, one that is badly founded. Discord is a lord of chaos, know for complete randomness. Add that to the fact he made a pact with demons, and it seems unreasonable that he would actually help us. So Luna, please stop this nonsense." Luna retreated to her side of the table. Maybe her sisters were right. But then again, they've been wrong before. RememberingThe group walked through the dense jungle. It had been four hours since the battle had started. Even Rarity had stopped complaining about the conditions. If not for the (unfashionable) helmet on her head, her hair would have resembled an giant purple tumbleweed. She was hardly pleased. Fluttershy, on the other hoof, was enjoying the new creatures and plants she was seeing. She was constantly looking around, awing at the variety of animals that inhabited the dense rainforest. Despite the weather and terrain, the group was cheery. Pinkie talked constantly about stuff like "Wow, did you see that? That flower was HUGE!!!" or "WOW! Look at the lizard thing! I wonder if it likes cupcakes. I bet Gummy and him would be best friends!" or "Hey, we're getting shot at! Yay!" ... Wait a minute, what?! ... As soon as the bolts started flying, Twilight ducked down. There was no need. Dash literally just continued walking, and opened up with her assault rifle, tearing the brush ahead of them apart, revealing a small group of cultists. Like the plants, the cultist also met Dash's assault rifle. Twilight stood up. The rest of the group followed suit. Dash simply continued walking on. Twilight shook her head, but decided it. She ran up to Dash. "Hey Dash, could I ask you some questions?" Dash turned towards her, her visor lifting up. "Shoot, egghead." Twilight, ignoring the insult, continued. "Whats with Gilda and Comet getting married. Did I miss that or something? I thought Comet had a wife!" Dash nodded. "Yeah, well, HAD is the operative word there. The wife was pissed at him for not going to save her when you guys hit Canterlot. And, even after the battle, he left with you guys, without so much as saying hello. So she left him. Gilda went up to him, and took advantage of the fact he was once again single. She proposed. Bang. Right there and then. She didn't date him, nothing. She just asked his hoof. The official marriage hasn't happened yet, but they filled out some paperwork, so in the books, there married. You were away when it happened. Anything else you wanted to ask?" Twilight nodded. "Yeah. Princess Io. You know far more about her then I do." Rainbow Dash chuckled. "I doubt that, but OK. Io is the second oldest Royal Pony Sister. She is the goddess of orbit of planets and small celestial objects. Comets, meteors, etc., there hers. There's a rumor in the Moonjumpers she has control of Black Holes! Anyway, she was one of the first elements of harmony. I think she was Honesty. The other ponies were Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, the oldest pony sister, her lover, and somepony else. I think. I may be completely wrong. As for her personality, shes very kind, serious, and speaks her mind. However, she suffers from extreme temper swings, especially when Discord's involved. Ever since I joined the Moonjumpers, she's been determined to kill him. And she's honest about it too. She withholds very little information. One thing she is not, however, is merciful. You wrong her, and she will pursue you to the end of the universe. I don't know much else." Twilight nodded. Not much compared to her own knowledge, but an improvement. Especially if Dash was right about the Elements of Harmony. That was new. "Thanks Dash." With that, Twilight looked around. They were getting close to the power plant. They'll be encountering more patrols... Suddenly, Gilda rang out a shout. "Hostiles! Get down!" Twilight looked up, and sighed. A trio of fire demons. Of course they send a trio of demons on patrol. The group opened up, but suddenly, the demons disappeared. Only Dash recognized the move. She flew around, opening fire at Gilda. Gilda managed a crazed squawk before ducking down. The bolts flew over Gilda, nailing the demons directly behind her. All three disintegrated. Dash smiled, and Gilda looked at her amazed. It was unanimous. Dash was by far the best combatant in the group. Fluttershy interrupted the silence. "Um, shouldn't we be, um, moving towards the power plant?" Applejack snapped out of it. "Yeah. Come on, everypony. Aye don't like just standin' around anyway." So the small force moved on, hoping desperately to end this battle before it gets out of hand. PrologueMy name is Discord, and I have done terrible things. Once, I was a great pony, with a hidden personality. I was a friend to five others, each with a special trait. Then, I fell in love with one of them. I created a life with her. Then, my love ordered the annilation of my race. My lovely Io... I had no choice. I banished her for a millennium. I betrayed my lover and friends. I took over, I gained control. I ruled the entire world. Then, the remaining two of my friends, the others lost to dissappearence and insanity, turned me to stone. A one thousand years later, I came back, to learn all but the two last friends were dead. I attacked. My love, in her thousand year banishment, never came out. I was stopped by six who weilded the same things my friends had had so long ago. I was turned to stone again. However, this time, I was reawakened, and I made friends with those six. Fluttershy... Then, bound by an ancient pact, I betrayed them. One by one, I left them. I led an insurrection on a distant planet. I lost. I found myself thought dead. So, I took over one of my old friends minds. I started a war, which almost killed my friends, new and old. Then, I was discovered, and I left. I betrayed them again. I fight now at the head of the renewed Insurrection and a demonic legion. I crush system after system. My name is Discord, Lord of Chaos, Twister of Demons, and I have done terrible things. And I fight only for one reason. To restore an old friend.
PreparationsLord Captain Gilda sat on her chair in the bridge, gazing silently at the tactical readouts on the holographic display in front of her chair. After several minutes of checking the strike force's status, she looked over at the stallion at the helm. Fury Comet, her first mate and newly wed husband, was grinning slightly. It was hard to tell. He always wore cloaks or uniforms that obscured most of his body. Only Gilda and Drake, a Pegasus rear admiral of the Solar Empire, had ever seen his cutie mark, which is his most valuable secret. He was grim and loved explosives. Gilda was wearing a fancy suit and hat showing her status. She preffered her shotgun in combat, and had had the thing since she joined. After the incident, oh, what, nine, maybe ten years ago? Anyway, she shaped up, realizing Dash had been her only friend, and she had thrown her away. The space program was her best bet. Then, in walked the two ponies Gilda loved being around, if only for their unique company. The first was Twilight Sparkle. Once a tender, loving librarian and the Element of Magic, Twilight has emotionally changed over the war. Being kidnapped by Gilda and the New Lunar Republic, she saw the horrors of the war up close and personal. She was still her good old self, but not quite as funny or emotional. She wore a light vest with the Republic's insignia stamped on its shoulders. The second was Rainbow Dash. Thought dead during almost the entire war, she came back, alive and well, and part of the Moonjumpers, a mysterious and militaristic group that served under Princess Io, Luna and Celestia's older sister, who had also miraculously returned after being banished by Discord for one thousand some odd years. While still being her wise-cracking, dare devil self, Dash wore her armor a lot, so she towered several feet above most ponies in the menacing black suit. She also was very grim at times, and can be quite the opposite of the old, optimistic Rainbow Dash. War changes ponies. They were all no different. Twilight started talking first. "Gilda, I heard a report that there is one squad still not here, but when I look on the list, everypony is here and accounted for. Would you mind telling me what's going on?" Gilda chuckled. "Of course." she said sarcastically. "Well, we have, oh, four more passengers to take on, then we're off." "Hey, you got a lot more than four!" came an indignant voice over the comm, to which everypony in the room smiled. Fury turned to the comm. "Hello, Admiral! How are you doing!" A laugh came from the other end. "Good to see you too, Fury." came Rear Admiral Drake's voice. "Anyway, is it possible that you could squeeze in, oh, a battleship, a pair of cruisers, four frigates, and an Interdictor Crusier?" An Interdictor Cruiser had a special generator that caused any Teleportation Drives in its area to malfunction when used. Gilda nodded. "Sure Drake. We'll send you the coordinates for the Crystal System here in a minute. We're waiting for one last shuttle before we take our leave." "That's us, right?" came another voice, one Twilight knew too well. "Rarity?" she said, a smile starting to spread across her face. "Yea, Sugercube, it's us." came Applejack's voice. "Guys!?" stuttered Twilight, astonished. "Darling, please, don't tire yourself out. I believe Captain Gilda has promised us some training. You included. So dear, save it for the simulator." Twilight smiled. Apparently she wasn't the only one changed, and Rarity's gun-ho-ness pleased her greatly. "Alright, come on aboard. Training starts tommorow, so you best get on board." Twilight grinned into the comlink. Then, Gilda took over. She turned to the comm and began giving orders in her normal fashion. "Alright, dweebs. All ships, we jump for the coordinates on my mark. All units and ships, report in." "Sixth Republic Fleet, reporting." "Second Imperial Fleet, reporting." "Crystal Empire Prism, reporting." "Fourteenth Republic Infantry Division, reporting." "Eighth Imperial Infantry Division, reporting." "Fifth Imperial Mechanized Division, Reporting." Gilda nodded as several more reports came in. When all the reports finished, she turned to an officer hovering over a peers console. "Soldier, is the shuttle aboard?" "Aye, ma'am." Gilda nodded. "All ships, Mark!" From the windows of all the ships, ponies could see the stars replaced by the colors of teleportation travel. By the distance and speed of teleport spells, they had 3600 hours before they arrived.
TrainingThe first order of business the next day was weapons. The six friends had no clue what weapons they liked, nor how to use most of them. So, before hitting the simulator, all of them went down to the armory, which also had a small shooting range. Twilight was the first to test. She eyed all the weapons, particularly those made for magic-users. Finally, she chose a long, elegant staff tipped with an emerald green energy crystal. It wasn't too fancy, being for military use, but it suited Twilight's persona perfectly. She also took a bandolier of "Support Crystals", or energy crystals that simply store energy for a spell a unicorn just can't quite cast. Then, she headed off to the firing range. Her magically prowess was amazing, as always. Magic missiles, lightning bolts, fireballs, shards of ice, and stones the size of an apple, all took down targets with determined efficiency. She also showed that she could cast illusion spells and others with equal ease, an important asset on the battlefield. Next to stand up was Pinkie Pie. She walked up and down the aisles of weapons, before picking a trio of knives and a pair of pistols. Pinkie decided she would be close combat-ish. She picked nothing to wear except for her "Twitchy hat", which she kept on her body at all times in case of random falling objects, She was, by far, the craziest on the range. While seemingly playing around, she shot with unerring deadliness, usually in places to cause the most pain, ranging from the liver to the groin. Her most common trick was to dance around and, using her speed from the dancing, launch her knives at good speed. Next was Rarity. She, of course, picked the most beautiful weapon she could find, a gilded sniper rifle with the word "Merciful" etched across the barrel. She also grabbed a scope and a elegant hat. As it was, Rarity's trained eye allowed her to take down targets with accuracy in the extreme, although slowly, due to her time it took her to aim. Applejack went after her. She didn't care much for her weapons, and she grabbed a simple, robust assault rifle. Along with it, she grabbed a vest with ammo pockets and a grenade. She went about firing with precise bursts, simply aiming and shooting. In truth, Applejack wasn't very spectacular. Next came Rainbow Dash. She was the only one with large amounts of battlefield experience, and chose an assault rifle with laser pointer and built in grenade launcher. She also grabbed an old-fashioned magnum. On the range, she shot a mix of burst fire, full auto, the occasional grenade, and precise shots with her laser pointer. Last to go was Fluttershy. She grabbed a small pistol, along with only a little ammo, and a medical pack. Fluttershy, living into her reputation, couldn't hit squat on the range. Everypony agreed that she would be a medic. Once that was over, Gilda nodded at them. It had been a mostly silent time, and she broke that silence. "Alright, you all seem to have figured this out. I think we should head over to the simulator." So, as they walked off in that direction, Gilda began to explain what was going to happen. "The simulator is completely holographic. However, hits will still hurt and knock you down. They are not lethal, but be careful. You will get holographic representations of your weapons to shoot. Thanks to the wonderful technology of the system, everything will feel normal. Dash and I will watch. You five get to go in." After a few minutes, they all arrived at the simulator. It was a huge room, taking up a large space in the ship. The five friends walked into the room, while Dash and Gilda stayed outside in an observation area with controls. "Alright!" came Gilda's voice when the door shut. "Starting simulator in five!" Suddenly, Twilight found herself in a forest, full of oak trees. Around her were her friends, dressed in armor and with their weapons. A speaker came on, and Gilda started informing them. "Alright your objective is to find the enemy commander and kill him. Round one, begin!" Applejack took point. They were silent as they walked in the brush. Suddenly, they heard voices. They went down crouched, and silently approached the voices. They found a pair of griffon soldiers in a metal armor plate, and another soldier about a dozen feet away, relieving himself. While their armor was simple, their weapons were still modern assault rifles. Twilight, using her telepathy, began giving orders. "Alright, Pinkie, use your knives, one on each soldier. If any live, Applejack, Rarity, take them down. Fluttershy, if that fails, standby to provide medical support. I'll cover you if that happens." Then, several seconds later, Pinkie threw her knives, going though the weak spots in the first twos' armor. The third fell, a dagger sprouting out of his left hind leg. Following that, Rarity immediately silenced the third with a clean shot. Twilight began telepathically giving orders again. "Wait! Don't do anything. I'm sure some of the other griffons heard Rarity's shot. We'll wait here for more!" True enough, six more griffons, similarly armed and armored, ran up, and, upon finding their dead comrades, their guns went up. One of them called out in griffon for help. Suddenly, Twilights plan was turned upside down. That call for help was answered by another dozen griffons, led by a griffon with a long red feathered plume. Twilight immediately determined him to be the commander. But they were now severely outnumbered, and they wouldn't stand a chance, if the leader had not made a critical mistake. He split his troops up. After a minute, only five, including the commander, stayed in the clearing, while the rest fanned out, searching for the killers. It was by pure luck that they didn't find the five friends. Twilight continued plotting as fast as her mind could, and began giving orders. "Take out the enemy, one by one. Kill them or knock them out. Rarity, Pinkie, you go do that. We'll wait for the panic to start before striking." Rarity, following orders, climbed a relatively tall tree, and began sniping. It was cruel work, but she performed it admirably. Pinkie, meanwhile, well, was Pinkie. She took out several enemy soldiers, all in crazy ways. Finally, the commander sent two of his griffons to find out what was going on. Twilight chose this time to strike. She started it out with a fireball aimed to kill. One of the griffons was incinerated, and the other two were caught off guard just as Applejack fired, killing the second, leaving the commander. Before any nearby troops could respond, Twilight was on top of him, pounding magic missile after magic missile into his body, until she knocked off his helmet. She froze. In front of her was a female. The griffon, in fact a mare, was crying, shaking her head, horrified as death was so close. "Please!" she gasped in accented Equestrian. "Please, don't kill me!" Twilight couldn't do it. She knew it was an illusion, but she couldn't do it. She couldn't kill this griffon. Bang! A hole appeared in the griffons skull. Twilight flipped around, only to see Applejack. "Sorry, sugercube." she said. "It's for the best." The simulated environment dissappeared, as did the griffons, replaced by the bland, black room. Twilight's tears, however, did not. Something about that griffon scared her. It was too real. She could fight cultists and demons, but to simply end another pony's life... She couldn't do it. Gilda shook her head. "Alright, Twilight needs some help. No more simulated enemies for now. Begin new set of rounds, computer. Dash, you up for some fighting." Dash nodded. "Of course." Suddenly, Dash walked onto the court, surpirsing the five friends. At the same time, their guns and armor were replaced with long shock poles. A mechanical voice said: "Beginning round. Team 1 vs. Major Rainbow Dash. Shock poles. Start." The five friends were surprised, to say the least. They had to fight Dash! Applejack's eyes widened. "Woe, what in tarnashion...!" she never finished, a shock pole sending her flying backward. Twilight struck next against Dash, missing completely. Dash, in response, whacked her back, causing her to fall to the ground. Rarity, seeing reason, took a defensive stance. A minute later, she laid on the ground, clutching her nose. Pinkie lasted the longest. She did crazy, random things that allowed her to survive. Finally, Dash got her, tripping her and slamming her into the ground. Fluttershy was last. "Um, guys, are you ok?" Dash was right behind her. "Shy, in this type of combat, it isn't them you want to worry about." CRACK!!! The computer continued. "Round one complete. Point Dash. Beginning round two. Shock Poles." The five friends got back up, pains gone from the assault. Twilight took charge. "Alright, we need to work together, or we'll... ooph!" she fell backwards, hit squarely in the chest. Fluttershy got hit hard, spiralling back. Rarity came up on a block, countered with a skimming blow, and hit the ground as Dash's shock stick hit her back. Pinkie scratched Dash using her pole, and got knocked clean down. Applejack dodged and parried to the best of her ability. Suddenly, she was knocked in the stomach, slapped in the back, and, while keeling over, was knocked in the face, Dash's pole breaking clean in half. "Round two complete. Point Dash. Beginning round three. Blank pistol rounds." Thirty minutes later... "Round 10 complete. Point Dash. Final Results: Team 1: Zero. Dash: Ten. Major Rainbow Dash wins." Gilda's beak hung loosely open at the absolute massacre Dash made of the five friends. She knew Dash was good, but damn. She was good. The six fighters walked in silently. Twilight spoke first. "Dash, why did you do that?" Dash shrugged. "If you have to hesitate to kill, you won't live long. I showed you that. I had no hesitation to hurt you. You, meanwhile, did have hesitation to hurt me, which was your problem. If you had been quicker, you probably would have won." Twilight's nodded, understanding. She realized that, but it would be hard to enforce, especially with Fluttershy. "Well," said Gilda, shaky after such a fight. "We've got briefing after lunch. I hope your there." ... The briefing room was quite. The six friends, Gilda, Fury, Princess Cadance herself, and the holograms of various generals and admirals leading the force were in the room, all around a hologram of the system. Gilda started the lecture. "All right. This is the Crystal System, the new home of the Crystal Empire. We will come out of jump here." she pointed to a place on the outer edge of the system. "From their, we will make our way to Emerald, the last planet in the system. It is a lush planet, with two main biomes: Jungle, and mountain. We will make our first landings their. The enemy have a presence of several ships in orbit. They shouldn't stand to much a chance. Once we land, we will hit the enemy bases." When she says this, the hologram zooms in to show only Emerald, which was indeed covered in jungle and mountain. Several dots popped up to indicate the enemy bases. "Once we capture these bases, we will have a forward base to mount attacks into the rest of the system. The fighting will be torturous. The jungles will prove an adversary to our troops. My suggestion is for arial landings nearby enemy bases, then the troops make their way there on hoof. The main problem is the enemy field command base." The hologram continued to zoom in, showing now a large, walled outpost and the surrounding area. "This command has coverage from nearby anti-air cannons. Any of our ships smaller than cruiser will be torn apart by these guns, allowing only a few bases to be hit without getting in their range. Me and a squad of my choosing will take out these guns. Using a teleport spell by our friend Twilight Sparkle, we will enter the turrets and take out their power source, a nuclear fission generator four hundred feet beneath the surface. The destruction of this will not only deny power to the cannons, but also cause a power shortage across the planet as the enemies power systems adapt to the sudden lack of power. It will open a hour window of weakness in enemy automated weapon systems. Hit then, and we will only have to deal with enemy ground troops and magic-powered weaponry. The fleet, while this is going on, will pound enemy positions from orbit. After we secure the planet, we will need to construct a base. Once we capture Emerald, we will move on to Ruby. After Ruby, we have Diamond, the capital of the system. After that, the final two planets of the system, Topaz and Garnet. This is an important mission, and I expect for you all to do your best. Princess Cadance is here, and will greatly appreciate our assistance in liberating her worlds. Alright, we have twelve hours! Move out!"
CrystalFive minutes before the jump ended, the alarms sounded, calling all crews to general stations. The ships were full of activity as marines scrambled for weapons, pilots prepared their fighters, and gunners charged their cannons. Gilda was in the main left hanger of the L.S.S. Crescent, her own ship, flying a few feet above a holographic table with Fluttershy and Dash. Fury and the other four friends stood below, also eyeing the table for when the jump ended. With a jerk, all the ships came out of jump. The holographic table lit up, showing the positions of friendly and enemy ships, along with the flashes of traded long-range shots. The groups eyes widened at the large number of red ships. The Discordiants had seen them coming! Gilda gave orders like she always did; at the top of her lungs. "All ships, you have full permission to engage the enemy! Priority targets include space stations, orbital defense satellites, and enemy capital ships. Protect those troop transports! You have full confirmation on heavy weapons! That includes nukes and SMACs! Move!" Fury started giving status checks. "Enemy units being diverted from Ruby. Gilda, they knew we were coming here! Around Emerald I read eighteen capital ships with numerous escorts. From Ruby their sending another six. They'll be all over us in ninety seconds. We need to establish a perimeter, or we're going to be sitting ducks." Gilda nodded. "All fighter squadrons, enemy warships just jumped from Ruby, coming here. I've fed you estimated exit spots. Move to intercept. Dark Sun and Radiant Gold, assist them." Two of the cruisers moved to follow the leaving fighters. Meanwhile, the eighteen enemy capital ships already there moved in range. "All remaining ships, aim for power centers! I want those enemy ships disabled for us to blow them out of the sky!" As she finished that, a blast rocked the Crescent. Applejack spoke all their thoughts. "What in the hay was that!" Fury, using his magic, checked the dashboard. "Damn, it's those anti-air cannons. They must be more powerful than we thought! They're slugging ground-to-space rounds at us!" Gilda shook her head. "All ships, fall back behind Emeralds moon. That way, we'll be out of sight from those guns." Then, she grabbed her shotgun, and started walking out of the hanger. Twilight asked first. "What are you doing?" Fury nodded. "Yeah, Gil, where are you going?" Gilda stopped, but didn't turn. "I know Twilights limitations. She can't teleport us to the surface from the far side of the moon." Fluttershy spoke then. "Well, what are we, um, going to do?" Gilda chuckled faintly. "Ever heard of a boarding torpedo?" ... They all sat in that cramped, cylindrical space of the torpedo. It was a missile, literally, made to carry troops into the heart of an enemy warship or space installation quickly and with much devastation. They were going to use it for a new purpose. Long-range drop pod. Of course, Fluttershy had her doubts, and was shivering in her seat, sweating uncontrollably. "So," said Twilight, seeing Fluttershy's fear, whispered to Gilda, who was next to her, "Um, is a boarding torpedo safe when re-entering the atmosphere?" Gilda just looked at her, smiling weakly, and said, "Well, hold on." Twilight blinked, proccessing those words. She never answered her question. *Clink* *BANG* Twilight was thrown into her seat as the rocket ignited, sending them at extreme speeds. Fluttershy fainted. Rarity closed her eyes. Applejack tried to hold her stomach (unsuccessfully might I add.). Rainbow Dash simply sat there like it was nothing but a child's ride at an amusement park. Then, they hit the atmosphere. If it was rough before, there was no describing the atmosphere entry. Fury was the last one to loose his contents of breakfast, causing the compartment to smell so bad it rivaled the stench of death itself. Then came the landing. It was like hitting a boulder going seventy miles per hour on the freeway. It hit under the canopy of a thick jungle. After a moment, the front hatch opened, spilling out the bodily fluids that had built up on the floor of the torpedo. The first out was Dash, gun up, ready to go. Everypony else came out slowly, sick to the stomach. No pony said anything. They were too shaken to do so. Finally, Pinkie, who had eaten an extremely large amount of food on the Crescent before, decided she couldn't hold her stomach anymore than the others. That broke the silence. Rainbow spoke first, smiling comically. "Alright, who wants to go again?"
The Emerald CampaignDear diary Journal, We landed yesterday on Emerald, one of the Planets in the Crystal System. It's a lush world mostly made up of jungles. And, truthfully, living hell. The boarding torpedo was maddeningly crazy. Not long after that, we lost Sarge to Bill, who turned traitor. I killed him. I'll miss Sarge. He was always an interesting guy to be around. We've been moving toward the objective, and enemy base. Its hot and humid in these jungles. We continually come under fire. Somethings been bothering me. As Billy died, he said why he had turned. 'Discord is fighter FOR you, to renew an old soul, to help somepony. I simply want to help him.' Words to take into consideration. Sincerely, Pvt. Trek, 421st Infantry Battalion ... "Incoming!" Corporal Dodge lived up to his name, rolling out of the way of enemy fire. Another one of the troopers, another Solar Empire trooper, wasn't so lucky. The corporal looked around. Maybe half his squad was left, and they couldn't even see the enemy through the dense jungle. He looked up and let loose a short burst in the direction the enemy fire came from, but his assault rifle didn't hit its mark. Sergeant Umber looked at him. "How many do you think there are?" she said. "At least a dozen, but I can't really tell." Dodge replied. "Alright, I'm getting tired of this. Take this!" With that, he chucks his only grenade. Apparently, the enemy weren't expecting it. The gunfire was silenced. Dodge sighed. And they still had to get to enemy base. ... Drake grimaced as another shot hit the Sol, absorbed by the shields. "All units, take those enemy ships down! I don't have the time for this!" As he said it, another round impacted the Sol, taking her shields down. Nearby, an escort destroyer was hit, exploding into flaming debris. Drake groaned. "Evasive maneuvers. I need somepony to bring those battleships down!" "I could solve this." Drake looked at the comm, mystified. "Wait, what? Who is this?" "This is Princess Cadance aboard the Prism. Thought you might need some help." The Prism, a glorious silver vessel, seemed completely unarmed. Princess Cadance personally thought that was the funniest thing in her life. The Crystal Empire, having ridiculous amounts of energy crystals, was NOT hurting on weapons. The Prism was almost twice the length of the Sol, a Solar Class Battleship. Do the math. In dozens of bright flashes, the Prism brought her weapons to bear, bolstered by the magical aura excluded by the Princess her self. The first Discordiant ship to feel her wrath, a behemoth of a dreadnought, was torn apart, it's shields failing to the sheer hundreds of rounds put into it. The Prism then proceded to dismantle the entire enemy fleet. Drake simply stared at the sleek silver colossus in awe. He had never seen so much firepower on one ship in his entire life. Suddenly, a round flew out of nowhere, smacking into the Prism's starboard. Drake looked around, then realized why had caused it. Drake swore to himself as the Prism fled back to farther areas, farther from the combat. "Come on Gilda, we need those guns down NOW." ... Data report: Casuaties, enemy remaining. Friendly: Spacebound: Battleships: 1 damaged. Cruisers: 2 destroyed, 5 damaged. Destroyers: 7 destroyed, 13 damaged. Transports: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged. Fighters/Shuttles: 52 destroyed, 39 damaged. Groundside: Aircraft: N/A Vehicles: N/A Soldiers: 400+ dead, 800+ injured. Enemy: Spacebound: Battleships: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged, 5 untouched. Cruisers: 8 destroyed, 4 damaged, 8 untouched. Destroyers: 12 destroyed, 9 damaged. 11 untouched. Transports: N/A Fighters/shuttles: 302 destroyed, 90 damaged, 400+ untouched. Groundside: Aircraft: Unknown. Vehicles: Unknown Soldiers: Unknown. End Report ... "To all Equestrian Troops! This is Discord! You know me well. If your listening to your radio, then know this well: You have two options. Lay down your arms and help me. I know you won't choose that one. The alternitive is lay down not oly your arms, but your lives as you try to aid a corrupt cause! This is all to similar of what the Republic did to the Empire, am I correct? Fight for a worthy cause when none others would see it? So know now that of you think you can defeat me, you will loose. I will not loose this war. I'm all ready in the final stages of my coup. This system is so useful to me, but I will not let it go. Surrender, or continue to blindly pursue a false cause. Corruption is once again ripe in the Equestrian Government, yet you do not see it. Unfortunate." ... Io shook her head. "This is too odd, sisters. As Operation Sombra goes on, Discord continues to broadcast messages. He seems convinced of good. I tell you, I have been pursuing him ever since I founded the Moonjumpers. He has no such good intentions. Celestia, do you agree?" Celestia nodded. "Indeed. He wishes something he claims is good. Knowing Discord, he's lying. Do you have an opinion on this Luna?" Luna was silent for a moment, her face sad. Then, she quietly spoke. "It depends. Yes, he's hiding something he has in his agenda, but something is bothering me." Io eyed her strangely. "What do you speak of?" Luna licked her lips. "Well, Discord has never been this direct before. He has always acted behind riddles and mystery. If he wants us to see him doing this, he must be doing it so that we notice something we haven't already seen." Io nodded. "A good idea, Luna. However, one that is badly founded. Discord is a lord of chaos, know for complete randomness. Add that to the fact he made a pact with demons, and it seems unreasonable that he would actually help us. So Luna, please stop this nonsense." Luna retreated to her side of the table. Maybe her sisters were right. But then again, they've been wrong before.
RememberingThe group walked through the dense jungle. It had been four hours since the battle had started. Even Rarity had stopped complaining about the conditions. If not for the (unfashionable) helmet on her head, her hair would have resembled an giant purple tumbleweed. She was hardly pleased. Fluttershy, on the other hoof, was enjoying the new creatures and plants she was seeing. She was constantly looking around, awing at the variety of animals that inhabited the dense rainforest. Despite the weather and terrain, the group was cheery. Pinkie talked constantly about stuff like "Wow, did you see that? That flower was HUGE!!!" or "WOW! Look at the lizard thing! I wonder if it likes cupcakes. I bet Gummy and him would be best friends!" or "Hey, we're getting shot at! Yay!" ... Wait a minute, what?! ... As soon as the bolts started flying, Twilight ducked down. There was no need. Dash literally just continued walking, and opened up with her assault rifle, tearing the brush ahead of them apart, revealing a small group of cultists. Like the plants, the cultist also met Dash's assault rifle. Twilight stood up. The rest of the group followed suit. Dash simply continued walking on. Twilight shook her head, but decided it. She ran up to Dash. "Hey Dash, could I ask you some questions?" Dash turned towards her, her visor lifting up. "Shoot, egghead." Twilight, ignoring the insult, continued. "Whats with Gilda and Comet getting married. Did I miss that or something? I thought Comet had a wife!" Dash nodded. "Yeah, well, HAD is the operative word there. The wife was pissed at him for not going to save her when you guys hit Canterlot. And, even after the battle, he left with you guys, without so much as saying hello. So she left him. Gilda went up to him, and took advantage of the fact he was once again single. She proposed. Bang. Right there and then. She didn't date him, nothing. She just asked his hoof. The official marriage hasn't happened yet, but they filled out some paperwork, so in the books, there married. You were away when it happened. Anything else you wanted to ask?" Twilight nodded. "Yeah. Princess Io. You know far more about her then I do." Rainbow Dash chuckled. "I doubt that, but OK. Io is the second oldest Royal Pony Sister. She is the goddess of orbit of planets and small celestial objects. Comets, meteors, etc., there hers. There's a rumor in the Moonjumpers she has control of Black Holes! Anyway, she was one of the first elements of harmony. I think she was Honesty. The other ponies were Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, the oldest pony sister, her lover, and somepony else. I think. I may be completely wrong. As for her personality, shes very kind, serious, and speaks her mind. However, she suffers from extreme temper swings, especially when Discord's involved. Ever since I joined the Moonjumpers, she's been determined to kill him. And she's honest about it too. She withholds very little information. One thing she is not, however, is merciful. You wrong her, and she will pursue you to the end of the universe. I don't know much else." Twilight nodded. Not much compared to her own knowledge, but an improvement. Especially if Dash was right about the Elements of Harmony. That was new. "Thanks Dash." With that, Twilight looked around. They were getting close to the power plant. They'll be encountering more patrols... Suddenly, Gilda rang out a shout. "Hostiles! Get down!" Twilight looked up, and sighed. A trio of fire demons. Of course they send a trio of demons on patrol. The group opened up, but suddenly, the demons disappeared. Only Dash recognized the move. She flew around, opening fire at Gilda. Gilda managed a crazed squawk before ducking down. The bolts flew over Gilda, nailing the demons directly behind her. All three disintegrated. Dash smiled, and Gilda looked at her amazed. It was unanimous. Dash was by far the best combatant in the group. Fluttershy interrupted the silence. "Um, shouldn't we be, um, moving towards the power plant?" Applejack snapped out of it. "Yeah. Come on, everypony. Aye don't like just standin' around anyway." So the small force moved on, hoping desperately to end this battle before it gets out of hand.
PrologueMy name is Discord, and I have done terrible things. Once, I was a great pony, with a hidden personality. I was a friend to five others, each with a special trait. Then, I fell in love with one of them. I created a life with her. Then, my love ordered the annilation of my race. My lovely Io... I had no choice. I banished her for a millennium. I betrayed my lover and friends. I took over, I gained control. I ruled the entire world. Then, the remaining two of my friends, the others lost to dissappearence and insanity, turned me to stone. A one thousand years later, I came back, to learn all but the two last friends were dead. I attacked. My love, in her thousand year banishment, never came out. I was stopped by six who weilded the same things my friends had had so long ago. I was turned to stone again. However, this time, I was reawakened, and I made friends with those six. Fluttershy... Then, bound by an ancient pact, I betrayed them. One by one, I left them. I led an insurrection on a distant planet. I lost. I found myself thought dead. So, I took over one of my old friends minds. I started a war, which almost killed my friends, new and old. Then, I was discovered, and I left. I betrayed them again. I fight now at the head of the renewed Insurrection and a demonic legion. I crush system after system. My name is Discord, Lord of Chaos, Twister of Demons, and I have done terrible things. And I fight only for one reason. To restore an old friend.
