Where the sun doesn't shine.

Chapter 10: Where one creates its own destiny.

The Terran laid over a surgical table in a white room, several doctors stood around him discussing while his thorax rested open. After a few minutes the opening closed on its own after being sewn shut, his wound on his arms and legs being cured and the eye he lost in the siege of Stallinox being created anew. Several hours after that the Terran’s eyes started opening.

“Sir, the subject is regaining consciousness.”

“Let him breathe…” Said a voice that echoed through the room.

The Terran, after regaining part of his consciousness, looked around the room with his grey eyes and noticed that he wasn’t in Stallinox anymore.

“Where…Am I…?” He asked with a weak voice.

“You are in Zemlja Konja, this being the best hospital in the region.”  Said the voice that spoke before. “My general found you when you fell unconscious and brought you here. The doctors say that your wounds will heal completely in a few minutes, after that a guard will arrive with your clothes and that…instrument you had and guide you to where I’ll be located. Then I’ll answer any questions you have.”

The Terran waited as his wounds closed and skin regenerated until they were completely healed. He slowly stood up with the help of the doctors around, and once on his feet a soldier arrived with his clothes as the voice said before; the Terran put on his clothes, arranged his scarf and hat, put the sunglasses over his eyes and strapped his rifle on his back. He left the room with the guard as they walked through the long hallway until they got out of the Hospital. He saw a city with Nordic architecture in medieval times back in Terra, they both kept walking as he stared in awe until they reached the castle doors. When they opened he saw what appeared to be Valhalla in Nordic legends; the guard pointed the Terran to where the voice was located and left the castle.

“…Are you the one who talked back then?” Asked the Terran to a stallion who sat in his throne.

“Indeed I was, Terran. I was quite surprised to find out that you are immortal…I thought only the Equestrian sisters and Discord shared that trait. Before you ask, Atticus had told me everything about you; he found it required to tell the coalition members about this if cooperation was the objective.”

“Atticus? Is he alive?”

“Yes, Terran. He returned to Stallinox to temporarily take over as the Emperor for you; we need you with us, after all.”

“How so?”

“You’ve been unconscious for a week. Most of the coalition’s forces were sent to Stallinox as you requested, the rest were kept as garrisons; now that the enemy’s forces are depleted from such an attack those garrisons are being used for a counter-attack. Of course, we’re leaving ourselves exposed to an attack, but they can’t attack us while they are defending, right? Anyways, Zemlja Konja is in charge of the campaign against Kunatanah, the region directly to the east of us and north of Equestria. This is where you come in; you’ll help the general of one of the two armies in this campaign by becoming his lieutenant, which means you’ll command a few companies while receiving orders from a general you might already know. Now that my part’s over, do you have any questions?”

“A few. What was Stallinox like after I fell unconscious?”

Silence engulfed the room for a few seconds before the King finally answered.

“According to the reports…Not even the deepest pits Hell itself compared to the nightmare in that city…Everything up to the inner ring was utterly destroyed, and in the sector you defended nothing was left standing, just the throne. Blood ran in rivers…”

“I think that’s enough…What about the evacuation group? Did they get away safely?”

“Indeed they did. They were supposed to reach one of the states in our coalition far behind the frontline, but as they rested in a minor city in your Empire they heard the good news about the defence. Once Stallinox’s reparations are complete they’ll return…but to repair such damage…It’d take a year at least.”

“Thank god…Those are enough answers for me, where is this army I’ll be part of located?”

“There is a transport already waiting you outside the gates. Great Ones be with you, Terran.”

3 days passed as the Terran was transported to the military force he’d be taking part in until he arrived. The world was still engulfed in perpetual night and storm.

“Ah, Terran! I was waiting for you!” Said the general that fought with him in the siege of Stallinox.

“We meet once again, friend.”

“I can’t say how happy I am to fight with you again, this time in the same army! Anyways, you’ll be in command of 1st and 2nd infantry companies; a rather small army, considering that most of the fighting took place in Stallinox…We’ll be taking the cities in Kunatanah’s north side while the second army takes care of the south. Prepare your men, we’ll move in half an hour.”

“Immediately.”

The army marched towards the first city they’d be assaulting in the counter-attack campaign. Once they arrived they started put together the battering ram that they carried disassembled and positioned it pointing at the gate.

“3rd company, man the battering ram towards the gate!” Commanded the general.

3rd company advanced without any problems, the wheels of the ram being adapted to the mud caused by the storm; there were no archers in the walls to fire at them. The ram reached the gates and started battering them down until they finally collapsed.

“3rd company, advance!”

They advanced through the empty streets, then the main army followed. A soldier, which turned out to be 3rd company’s lieutenant, walked towards the general. “Sir, the governor has surrendered.”

“Is that so…?”

The war progressed well thanks to the counter attack, most cities were completely undefended, taking the term ‘Throw everything and the kitchen sink to Stallinox’ to its ridiculous extreme. More and more cities kept falling under the coalition’s armies with ease, and in the next month both armies laid siege to Kunatanah’s capital city.

After several days of preparation and construction, there were battering rams and siege towers positioned facing the walls of the city. Behind the main lines, the general and his lieutenants, the Terran included, discussed the plan.

“1st and 2nd companies will take the siege towers to the wall left of the gates, 5th and 6th to the right and 3rd and 4th will be in charge of the rams. Both rams will be sent in a line, should one be destroyed the next one will take its place. Once we are inside the army will be divided in three, 1st and 2nd company will take the left side, 3rd and 4th the centre and 5th and 6th the right. Once everyone’s taken care of, we’ll meet in front of the castle.” Ordered the general before giving the order to mobilize the forces.

The towers and battering rams advanced towards the walls while being showered in arrows; 1st and 2nd company were put in charge of pushing forward two of the towers at the left side. Fire rained in the dark and rainy skies as the assaulting forces pushed through the mud.

The first battering ram caught fire, but the second one manoeuvred around it and kept advancing towards the gate. The siege towers reached the walls and everyone started piling up at the top, waiting for the ramp to open; once opened, the walls were stormed by four entire companies of soldiers. The fighting became fiercer as soldiers fell from the walls, but the assaulting forces gained ground every second. The Terran saw that the second battering ram caught fire too and was destroyed, and seeing that his forces were pushing farther than the other 2 companies in charge of storming the walls, decided to take actions.

“2nd company, push forward and open the gates! 1st company, into the city! Move!” He said while taking out his rifle and joining the fight.

They pushed forward into the gate control room and took care of the rest of the soldiers there. The gates opened once 2nd company took care of it, 3rd and 4th companies pushed inside fighting the forces stationed behind the gate.

After an hour, the enemy was pushed back into the city; the assaulting forces began the second part of the plan by dividing in three groups, the Terran taking care of the left side. The army advanced, defeating all opposition in their way until they arrived in front of the castle.

“This is it, we’ll storm the castle and then—“ Started planning the general before being interrupted by his lieutenant.

“Sir.”

“Yes?”

“I saw someone at the top of the castle waving his arms for us to get inside, I believe he wishes to talk instead of fight.”

“I see…3rd company, with me inside! Better safe than sorry.” Said the general while walking towards the castle.

An hour of silence in the dark and stormy day passed while everypony waited outside, until the general walked out of the castle with a big smile on his face.

“Kunatanah has surrendered!”

The echo of the army celebrating was heard through the city, a state had fallen to the coalition this day.

A day had passed since that fateful day, the soldiers were still in the city since they had to rest and organize before being mobilized again. The Terran walked through the streets in the rain, having nothing to do, until a voice came from an alley with a dead end that light didn’t even reach.

“Hey Terran…I haven’t expected you to come this far…”

The Terran quickly took out his rifle and aimed at where the sound came from, the lightning revealed his figure for a split-second. The Terran’s eyes widened as he saw what appeared to be another Terran, sitting down in the corner with a hood over his eyes, the only thing that could be seen was his grin; the only thing that proved that he wasn’t a Terran was his long lizard tail.

“Surprised to see someone looking like your people?” He said. “Don’t make any assumptions, our origins are different.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is not important, partner. I am the Emperor of Kunatanah, the real Emperor, not the one who surrendered in the castle…”

“Real Emperor? Then…why weren’t you back in the castle?”

“Tsk…Terran, haven’t you created a world war already? What if this world finds out that there is another like you? I can’t take the risk…”

“Fine…” The Terran said as he lowered his gun. “You’re the first thing I’ve ever seen in this world resembling a Terran, Discord being the next closest, and he’s a damn ugly thing…I’ve got some questions for you.”

“And I’m going to answer them. Let me guess, the first one will be ‘What are you?’?”

The Terran nodded.

“You were suddenly transported from your world into this one—“

“How did you—“

“I’ll get to that eventually. You come from another world, but I don’t; I was created in this world millennia ago by none other than Discord.” He paused as he saw the Terran raising his gun again, but then continued. “Lower that gun…I’m not your enemy. Answering your question, Discord can read minds, and so can those who are connected to him, such as the corrupted mane 6, who could foresee your attempts to rescue them and plan accordingly; Celestia, who prepared for war as soon as you rescued Pinkie Pie with your forces; and most importantly, me, who has been watching these events closely. This kind of mind-reading goes any way: what Celestia sees I can see too, and so can any other corrupted member of this web. You were already corrupted by a tiny fraction when you arrived, the kind of lifestyle in Terra is hard, to say the least; Discord could listen to you, and when he talked to you for the first time your eyes turned grey to show it. From the moment you drank from the fountain of immortality, however, your mind was blocked; not even I could read it.”

“If anyone can read anyone’s mind…Does it mean everyone’s hearing us right now?”

“That’s the exception, I can see and hear what everyone sees and hears but not the other way around.”

“Why did Discord create you?”

“That, I do not know. Maybe his self-esteem was too high when he ruled Equestria or I’m the back-up plan for when things get ugly.”

“You said Discord ruled Equestria?”

“To summarize, yes. Take the chaos in Ponyville, multiply it by 10,000, and you’ll get a fraction of what it was. Then the Equestrian sisters took care of him.”

“Tell me more about your story…”

“Discord wanted to play God; he created a creature under his image and twisted it until it looked pretty much like one of yours, except for the tail. I grew up seeing ponies being…tortured, but that word is an understatement; he thought I’d grow up to be just like him, he was wrong, but I never had the chance to show my true colours. After Discord was defeated by the Equestrian sisters, I ran to the north and started a village, it grew until it became a town, and then a city; I sent settlers around the region to start new towns, my Empire then began. I took care of not growing too much too fast, gaining the attention of the sisters would mean I’d end up like my father. Time passed, Princess Luna was banished to the moon and then returned only to be defeated by the mane 6; but after a while Discord broke free once again and everything went downhill until the Great Pony war you are fighting now.”

“What were you saying about your ‘true colours’?”

“I’m not like my father, I’d say I’m the contrary; I don’t wish for eternal chaos, I wish for eternal order. Ever since I began the Kunatanah Empire, my objective was to remove any other banner in this world and replace it with mine; whenever there are 2 or more sides in existence, war is imminent. Discord broke free and I was forced to choose a side, I had chosen Celestia’s side because I thought your Empire and your allies would be too weak to win against her coalition, even if I helped you. But then the impossible happened, you and your allies successfully defended Stallinox, the battle that made me lose almost my entire military force and leave me defenceless. Here we are now, your coalition has captured my capital and I asked my replacement to surrender. It’ll be time before I can rebuild…”

“I’ve…Destroyed your efforts…”

“Don’t be such a baby…” He said while smiling. “I’ll grow back. We’re immortal; we have 5 billion years to spend before the sun explodes. We immortals can recover from any wound, given time.”

“Back in Stallinox, there were these artefacts that destroyed the walls…”

“Pretty, weren’t they? I created them. Here, take this.” He gave the Terran a rolled paper inside a bag to protect it against the rain.

“What is this?”

“Those are the blueprints to create those artefacts you saw, but in a small scale. You might know them better as ‘Grenades’.”

“I’d certainly find this useful…”

“One more thing,” he said, he then stood up and walked towards the Terran, his smile disappeared completely. “Listen to me well, because what I’m about to tell you will decide the fate of this entire world. Twilight Sparkle’s memory spell will not work on Celestia, the Elements of Harmony must be used on her. I haven’t heard anything about Luna, but you must be careful if she appears; Nightmare Moon was enough trouble, but a corrupted Nightmare Moon would be strong enough to be a match even against an immortal.” He backed off into the hallway and turned his back to the Terran, he then looked at the rainy and stormy skies. “But if Discord, Celestia and Nightmare moon were to combine their power…” He whispered to himself before snapping his fingers and turning into smoke. The Terran couldn’t hear his last words.