Where the moon becomes brighter

Chapter 14: Lies divide, truth unites.

"Give me a reason not to kill you..." Charon asked in a deep voice filled with anger, holding Executor high with both hands by his shirt in front of the castle, several ponies surrounded them and Concord watched the show from a considerable distance, sitting on a bench.

"So this day has finally arrived, the day I die by your hand like the rest of my comrades..." He said with great effort.

"You started it!" He shook the weakened man he held high. "You killed everyone I knew! You spared no one!!"

"I did what I had to do, wether I liked it or not."

"Liked it or not?! You enjoyed it, you even insulted them when we met!!"

"The dead... Must be respected..." He gathered breath, he was already being asphyxiated. "No matter who the person is or what he or she did..."

"You're lying!! You're lying, and I've had enough of lies already!!" He yelled as he threw him to the ground. Executor gave a yell of pain but was ignored as Charon took out his rapier and tried to stab him, but Executor was saved by Concord who used his magic to force the rapier to stop a few centimetres away from his eyes. Charon stared at Concord with confusion, as if asking for the reason behind such action.

Concord walked up from the bench he was sitting to both Terrans and crouched next to Executor, who stared at him with confusion and a little bit of fear. "I remember Discord saying he didn't read his mind, I wonder..." He meditated.

"Curiousity killed the cat." Charon said.

"Thus, saving the rats." Concord stated, moving his hand to Executor's forehead who just kept on staring with his pale blue eyes. Suddenly, Concord desperately ran backwards, only to trip on his feet and fall on his back, his face was that of fear, confusion, and shock. Confusion filled everypony around as they saw how Concord breathed deeply and fast, as if he had just seen a ghost or demon.

"Concord, what's going on?" Charon asked, sheathing Luna's rapier once again.

"D-...Don't kill Executor... He...Is..."

"He is what?"

"I-- I can't say, he should tell you... It's about your past, Charon, it's everything..."

"Fine, give me the knowledge."

"You'd not be able to cope with so much at once...Your mind would break...Charon, I'm telling you, let Executor explain everything."

Executor had already passed out by this point.

"Uhhhhgg..." Executor slowly woke up, his head aching. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a white room with ponies dressed in white walking around him and discussing, but as he kept looking around he saw a Terran standing just in front of a light, rendering him unable to see anything but a silhouette. The Terran walked forwards to the bed Executor rested on, making the lightning reveal his figure who was none other than Charon himself, with his now characteristic red eyes.

"You're awake, that's good." Charon greeted.

"Why am I still alive... I thought you were going to kill me back then..."

"Concord had told me not to kill you after reading your mind, and judging by his reaction this must be serious. Can you stand up?"

Executor slowly moved towards the side of the bed and sat up, his head still aching. He pushed himself forwards to stand up and managed to keep balance, swinging one way a bit but recovering nonetheless. "I'm good...Where am I?"

"In a hospital. I wonder how you ended up in that cell Concord found you in, I'd not be surprised if your subjects got fed up with you and decided to sell you to the changelings... Anyways, follow me." He ordered as he walked to the door. Executor followed as best as he could, walking through the hallway until they reached the main door of the hospital. "Your fedora and jacket are in that cloth rack." He pointed at the corner. Executor walked up to it and put his fedora and jacket on, then returned to Charon. The red-eyed Terran grabbed the door knob and pulled it, opening the door and revealing outside snow falling, lightning striking and the dark of the night. "Follow, it'll be a long walk." Just as they got out of the building Charon stopped and started talking in a lower tone, the sound almost drowned by the thunder. "Don't even think about running away, you're a Terran in a world of ponies, it'll be painfully easy to find you again."

Executor swallowed nervously and kept on following, he could hear the warning clearly.

They walked down the street through the snow for a few minutes, the lights of the buildings illuminating the streets of Stallinox in the night. "Right now you have no choice but to tell the truth, remember that my buddy can read minds, and if I find out you lied...You know what'll happen."

"...Of course."

"Let's start with the beginning, why did you kill my friends?"

"...They attacked me first."

"Lying from the start? I expected more of you. My friends were as pacifist as they could get, they'd even run away from a rat. Now give me the true reason behind the bloodshed."

"They lied to you, they just pretended being-- ...I'd have to start with the beginning of all if I want to make sense out of this..."

"Let's say I believe you, what then?"

"There's an organization, since before you or me were born, maybe from centuries ago, I don't know the exact day of origin. They wanted to create a man of perfect mindset, a sadistic project you, me, your friends and pretty much everyone you know took part of. Your--"

"You're insane if you expect me to believe that."

"I heard your 'buddy' can read minds, ask him if you don't believe me."

"Fine, go on."

"Your life was being controlled without you knowing. Remember how your mother didn't even care for you? The organization paid her a generous amount of money in exchange of following their orders. She was slowly but surely breaking your mind for money. Remember your two depressions? And how the third one had sent you into a suicide campaign against my group?"

"I'm surprised you know about that, I thought only I knew about my depressions."

"It's because my men and I've been watching you since your birth, just like the other thousands of boys who were under the organization's influence. The reason they were unknown for so long is because they don't capture their test subjects, they controll them through deception and bribery."

"You said they controlled me since my birth, my father wouldn't have allowed that."

"He wouldn't, of course, but he had no choice in the matter. Either he agreed, or the organization killed him and you to avoid being discovered, just like they did with a few of my relatives. They make sure it appears as an accident. Continuing, they'd influence their subjects into the kind of things they want them to, that's why you hold so much knowledge about diplomacy, politics, economy, military...Things that'd be needed to control a nation, and you've put them to good use with the Terran Empire, and later the Imperium of Patria. You've even read 'The Prince' and 'The Art of War', right?"

"...That's true, and scary at the same time. How did my friends deceive me then?"

"Because they weren't your friends to begin with, they were subjects sent to develop your mind even further. The organization would subtly and efficiently introduce them to you without you knowing, as if it all happened by coincidence. They were all interested in the same thing, you're not going to tell me that was just coincidence, right? Not a single one of them was interested in something else that didn't have to do with nations."

"Right... It all starts to make sense... But why did they attack you first? Attacking a mafia would serve of no purpose, even less if they want to look like innocent people who wouldn't harm a dog."

"Because my group wasn't exactly a mafia, it just looked and gained money like one."

"Do explain."

"I said earlier that I was one of their subjects. Well I managed to find that out early enough and ran away with a few of my close friends who also knew about it. I formed this group to find and rescue the subjects, but since we had no way to generate money and needed a way to hide ourselves we decided to operate like a mafia. We could get money like that, and the corruption engulfing our country back then allowed us just to pay a small sum of money to the authorities to leave us to our bussiness. My group consisted mostly of volunteers and rescued subjects, the subjects realized their lives were a lie, and having nothing else to look forward to they decided to help me rescue those who were controlled. We were rather succesful, losing a few every now and then when we were attacked, but it all went downhill when we tried rescuing you."

"I think I know why..."

"I'd not be surprised. We tried to get to you, the organization found out, they sent your 'friends' to stop us, we had to kill them, but with that action your third depression kicked in, and you decided to hunt my group down to the last man."

"You just killed them to get rid of them?"

"Yes and no, I tried rescuing them too, they were subjects anyways, but I failed. Having them killed was the last and only option I had. Time passed, I had to send the order to kill you, you were far too dangerous for my group and trying to make you see the light had failed with disastrous results. That third depression, as I sadly found out, was actually the organization's failsafe against me and my men. You were decided to end our lives, but at the same time you hunted down every other mafias around, reaching Chaser's family. I assume you confused the mafia Chaser's family had worked for with mine, since he too was hunting me down for your whereabouts. Chaser was controlled by the organization too, no one would be safe, not even the wealthiest mafias, greed is a great weakness nowadays. It kept going downhill, most mafias were killed off and my group almost extinct, until that fateful day when the three of us were struck with that blinding light that brought us into this world. But, the great amount of deaths and bloodshed was far too much for the organization to cover up; their existance was revealed and an entire civil war sparked in our country in Terra, one side those who wished to end the organization, and the other those who were blinded by the organization's wealth and bribery."

"A civil war? Why haven't I heard of this?"

"Because you were too busy killing my men."

"Right...I'm..." He sighed. "Saying that I'm sorry in this situation would be pretty much an insult..."

"I know how you feel, you were blinded by many, you couldn't trust anyone, maybe not even yourself, you didn't have control of your actions. Don't worry, I know it wasn't your fault not knowing the truth."

"If what you say is the truth...Then my entire life was a lie..."

"All our lives are lies, whether we like it or not, what we must strive for in life is to cope with it and seek the truth."

Charon took a deep breath as they continued walking. "So, you killing my 'friends' was justified, but that renders the way you acted back then in the castle when we met illogical."

"Illogical? I acted as anyone would have, you were the one who got uppity and threatened me, I was left with no option but to declare war to defend myself."

"Don't lie, I remember just fine how you smiled at me from your throne and said 'Your friends must be full of life'. As if you were insulting them."

"As I said back then, the dead must be respected, no matter who the person is. I'd never insult a dead man, it's pretty much a capital sin for my ideology."

Charon suddenly stopped in his place, his eyes staring into the void as a revelation hit his mind. Executor stood watching him think, confused on what might be going through his mind.

"The changelings..." He whispered to himself.

"Sorry?" Asked Executor, not being able to hear.

"The changelings!! Executor, before you were thrown into that cell in the cave, have you ever seen a black pony with blue eyes and insectoid wings?"

"Yes, I shrugged it off since... Well... We're in a world of talking coloured ponies, unicorns and pegasi, so why would that be strange? I don't know how I got captured though, I just appeared in that cell. I think I was knocked out then carried there."

"Those things, Executor, can change shapes and personify anything and anyone."

"Wait, so you think those things might've personified us?"

"That's the only logical explanation. Tell me, what did 'I' do when we were in the castle in your continent?"

"Well...You arrived, saw me, insulted me as if you were furious with me, and then left with a threat saying you'd declare war as soon as you return to Stallinox. So I had to declare war first and try to capture you before you managed to get out of the continent. Obviously I failed."

"...Then that explains why I was attacked without previous warning by your forces..."

"What did 'I' do in the castle then? A changeling must've personified me."

"I arrived, you insulted my friends, I decided to return to Stallinox to prepare for anything that may happen, and got attacked while returning to the ships. At that point I thought you were a sadistic bastard, so I truly was afraid of you declaring war out of nowhere."

"Makes sense, those changelings can change into anything, right? They could be anywhere here right now then?"

"No, I've got an inquisition working on finding them out. Shining Armor, a white unicorn with blue mane, maybe you've seen him, discovered a spell to reveal them. This continent is clean. They are not to be underestimated, though, when they are not disguised they swarm by the millions."

"By the millions? How do you even know that?"

Charon looked around him to check that nopony was nearby, so as not to allow anypony else to listen. "There is an alternate timeline...Listen, Me and Chaser managed to defeat and kill you, then Chaser and I waged war to see who'd be the best leader for this world, but before it could end 'Chrysalis', the Queen of the changelings appeared and unleashed her endless hordes against the world. A hundred billion ponies were killed in a few hours, the entire pony race exctinct, the only reason we could avoid it was by going back through time to the past to the point after I escaped from your forces who attacked me at the port of your continent. To sum up, she planned everything from the start, just ask Concord when we return, he'll explain everything."

"...Damn."

"I think we should return now, there's nothing else to explain it seems." He started walking forwards, it looked like the way they originaly took leaded to Stallinox's castle. But, after much walking, Charon stopped and looked at the sky. Black clouds, lightning and snow were all that could be seen. "Say..."

"Hmm?"

"Do you... Do you know about my father?"

"A great man, there weren't many like him. It is a shame a heart attack took his life so early... But I guess he'd not have wanted to see what Terra would have devolved into."

"You've been watching me since my birth. Is he my biological father?"

"...No."

"Knew it... Guess that's the only truth I managed to find out on my own... But still, he'll always be my true father in my mind. Tell me, do you know who my biological father is?"

Executor kept silent, only the wind could be heard.

"So, you don't know either...Sorry for asking..." He lowered his sight and kept on walking.

"Charon..." Executor stopped him. Charon turned around and stared at him with eyes full of sorrow. Executor slowly took off his fedora and revealed his face at him, the similarity was uncanny. At this, Charon's eyes widened.

"No... You're not... Are you...!?"

"I wish this fact wasn't revealed in such a way...But yes. I'm not proud of how it happened either. And I still remember how I shed a tear when I gave he order to kill you..."

"How...?"

"Your mother, unsurprisingly. She somehow managed to make me fall in love with her when she was married to your father, I didn't know anything of course. A few years later she got pregnant, then I found out she only deceived me to get money out of that kid, out of you. I apologized to your father and I offered most of the money I gained to support you, I even offered to take you with me and forget this ever happened, but he refused, he decided to raise the kid as his own. Then, everything went downhill when the organization had locked their eyes on you. After he died I swore to rescue you through any means necessary, but it all backfired horribly and I was left with no more options... If it makes you feel better, though, I found your mother dead in one of the city's garbage dumps, I believe the mafia that she owed money to had decided to take matters into their own hands."

Charon silently stared at the floor, the shock of everything being revealed in such a short time span had left him speechless, his eyes were empty and unfocused, just like those of a soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Trust me... It does..." He spoke, regaining his energy to keep walking to the castle, Executor following his steps.

At the castle's entrace, the next day, Shining Armor, Celestia, Chaser, Concord and Executor were reunited.

"Charon's still locked up in his room?" Asked Chaser.

"I'm not surprised." Answered Concord. "When you spend your entire life believing something and it all breaks apart in a second, it leaves the mind broken, and it happened to Charon several times already. I'm actually surprised he didn't break before."

"I still can't believe Executor is Charon's father, though." Said Celestia. "Executor was a good guy after all then, Chrysalis is unbelievable good at deception."

"Or we all fell for a simple trick." Interrupted Shining Armor. "We never even knew about the existance of something that could change forms, without that knowledge she could deceive us without even trying."

"Still," began speaking Chaser. "Every lie is being revealed, most of what we know now is the truth one way or the other, what's left now is fighting against Chrysalis herself and put an end to all of this."

A pony arrived with a letter at that moment, reaching Concord and handing it to him. "Letter for Charon, though I'm guessing now it's for you."

"Appreciated." Concord began opening the letter as the pony walked away.

'Scout reporting, there have been sights of Executor still being in his capital even though he is also in the Imperium. I'd like to suggest a permanent vacation and therapy for myself.'

"So... The Executor from Executor's Empire is an impostor...Executor, did you really name your Empire 'Executor's Empire'?"

"I didn't, I didn't even give it a name at all, I'm guessing the ponies liked me so much they decided to name it like that. I was not aware of its name up until now, to be honest."

"I'm starting to think the ponies treat us like Gods, Concord." Spoke Chaser. "When something not ever seen before pops out of nowhere and brings a nation from medieval technology to what it was in Terra's World War 1... And even then, three of us appeared."

"And two of the three Terrans that arrived are immortal. Guess we should have seen this coming ages ago." Said Concord.

"Wait, what about the corruption Concord sensed? It wasn't the true Executor." Asked Celestia.

"Must've been the changeling. I haven't seen a changeling in Terran form yet, I'm guessing it takes a great deal of power since the only Terran changeling was Chrysalis herself. Let's remember I sensed something and thought it was corruption, I didn't know what it was exactly back then." Explained Concord.

"I've got a idea on what to do now to avoid losing ponies, since we need all we can get against Chrysalis." Started suggesting Shining Armor. "The Executor over there is an impostor, yet nopony knows yet. What if we show them the Executor here is the real one? They may change their minds and the worst that could happen is just being ignored."

"Executor should consider being turned immortal before doing anything." Spoke Celestia. "If he were to die for any reason..."

"I'd rather stay mortal, thanks for the offer. I'd like to... Meet my old friends once the time comes..."

Everyone kept silent at Executor's response, they agreed with him to an extent.

"It's not about living forever." Walked forwards Chaser as he spoke. "It's about keeping the small advantage we have. There are only three true Terrans in this world, and only two are immortal. If you were to die, we'd lose one third of the advantage Terrans could give us, and against Chrysalis every single bit helps, however small it is. Also, immortality would let you fight without fear of death and you'd keep on fighting longer, while also avoiding any accidental deaths that'd harm us all in the long run."

"I guess that's right then..." Executor sorrowfully said, staring into the void. "At least I can start all over again in this world... So... How exactly do I turn myself immortal?"

"There is someone who can turn Terrans immortal," explained Concord, "I don't know about ponies though. His name is Discord, you might've heard from him being Charon's enemy in the first great pony war, but now helps us when we ask him since he also was deceived into fighting us by Chrysalis. Just watch out for flying fountains."

"Flying fountains...?" He asked, following Concord to Canterlot.

"Do explain your plan." Asked Chaser to Shining Armor.

"Alright, now that Executor is immortal we can take him with us without fear of losing him, but instead of fighting he should just show himself. He should explain how he is the real one, how the other Executor is an impostor and how he was imprisoned. Since ponies are far more loyal than Terrans, as I heard, they should realize their mistake and help us instead. If that's not enough the impostor would get far more nervous once Executor shows up and would mess something up sooner or later."

"Plausible, but still without many chances of working. We should find another plan."

"I accept suggestions..."

Chaser kept silence for a minute, unable to come up with anything. "...Touché."

Three weeks later, Concord, Charon, Executor and Chaser stood on top of a cliff overlooking the port in Kunatanah. The ships, using technology and designs from Terra's WW1 were docked in the port by the dozens; soldiers and sailors swarmed everywhere preparing for the naval trip, carrying boxes of supplies and everything that'd be needed for such a voyage.

"Deja vu..." Charon quietly said to himself. "It's like the first time we invaded Executor's Empire..."

"The alternate timeline?" Asked Executor.

"Yes, but 18th century ships were used, not this kind..."

"...When Concord shared his knowledge with me through that... Transer of knowledge you call it, I saw a dark-blue haired woman, she was rather close to you yet I don't see her anywhere now, nor have I ever seen her in my life."

"That's Luna, one of the two Terranized Alicorns. The other would be Celestia, and Luna's her sister. She was kidnapped by Chrysalis before she revealed herself. I'd want to believe she was kidnapped and is imprisoned, since I don't know what happened to her after that and I fear what Chrysalis might've done..."

"Is she...?" Executor tried asking, purposefully not finishing the question, but Charon remained silent, not answering it. Only his breathing could be heard. "...What happened when you killed my impostor in the alternate timeline?" He decided to change topics.

Concord decided to answer that question, seeing as Charon was now staring into the void, spacing out. He got near Executor and whispered to his ear. "He turned berserk. Remember what I explained back when Discord turned you immortal? The problem is, he didn't really turn berserk, if he really turned berserk there'd have been no life left in this world."

"That's impossible."

"I'm not lying. Have you seen his red eyes? He's halfway there, but since there's the possibility of rescuing Luna, the one he loves, I believe he still manages not to turn berserk."

"Anger turns them berserk?"

"Yes, there is some sort of 'Berserker button' in each Discordian Immortal, them being you, Chaser and Charon himself. That berserker button consists of what angers them the most, I'd believe Charon cares the most for Luna, so if something... Bad enough happened to her, Charon would become berserk. Chaser and you may have better control since you've lost so many things you don't really risk anything anymore. However, Chaser was lied as much as Charon, so the possibility of still having a berserk button consisting of lies still exists, his gasmask prevents me from checking if his eyes are red or another symptom of berserk state. Chrysalis is the embodiment of deception right now, the possibility of Chaser turning berserk when the fight against Chrysalis arrives is plausible."

"When you transfered your knowledge, I saw how it all turned black for a second when my impostor was killed by him, is that supposed to happen?"

"Now that I think of it... I don't think so... When a changeling is killed or incapacitated it reverts to its original form, maybe being killed in the berserk state caused it to be stuck in the transformation, it must have something to do with that..."

"Hey, everything's done!!" Yelled a pony from below the cliff. "Shining Armor's waiting for you!!"

"About time." Charon said before sliding down the cliff. Concord, Chaser and Executor, after seeing him go first, decided to follow suit.

As they walked through the port, they could see destroyers, cruisers, battleships, everything a navy would have but slighty more numbers than a normal Terran fleet, almost double in size. Soldiers and sailors swarmed the port, the three Terrrans and the Draconequus sometimes having to push their way forwards or else they'd be stuck in place, until they finally boarded the greatest battleship in the fleet, which was also the pride of the navy, the flagship Shining Armor waited on. They walked past the deck and into the main structure, arriving to the bridge of the ship after a few corridors and stairs, seeing Shining Armor greeting them.

"Here we are, then." He greeted.

"Why so many ships? Aren't we supposed to convince, not fight?" Asked Chaser, looking at the entire fleet getting out of the port and getting into formation, the flagship had not yet left the port, though.

"I can't take risks, anything may go wrong. Even worse, we're in the ocean and there isn't any single type of ship that could dive to the bottom of the ocean without being crushed by the pressure, we can assume one of our enemies' strategy would be sinking our ships with us inside." He explained. Executor, Charon and Concord realized this could happen by mere accident too.

"Makes sense. So, why is the commanding general of the entire army in a fleet instead of, you know, commanding the entire army?"

"This is one of the most important missions there are, and maybe our only chance to restore Executor to his throne without leaving his Empire as a barren wasteland due to fighting and bombing. This requires my complete supervision." Shining Armor turned to the bridge controls and pushed a button, turns out it was a radio. "Anything else needs to be done, over?" He asked.

"No sir, we're all set and ready, over." A voice answered.

"Good, begin at once, over."

"Understood, out."

The flagship began moving, sailing to the ocean and joining formation at the center of the imperial fleet, dozens of ships sailed towards Executor's Empire, prepared for the worst and hoping for the best.

"Enemy fleet spotted, all hooves to battle stations immediately, you're not cleared to engage until said otherwise." An alarm was heard by the crew of the flagship, needless to say the rest of the fleet also heard it through their radios too. Concord, Chaser and Charon, who were drinking and talking in the quarters, stood up and ran out of the room upon hearing the alarm, heading to the bridge with a red light being the only thing illuminating the dark corridors. Once they arrived to the bridge, they found out it was night already, they had lost track of time and didn't know how long they were sailing for.

"What's the situation?" Asked Chaser.

Executor was looking outside the bridge window to the horizon trying to spot the fleet in the distance, but unable to do so. Shining Armor was looking at the radar, and began explaining. "It's an enemy fleet almost equal in size, their formation is designed to stop our advance, we have no options but to engage it seems." Shining Armor ran to the radio, while the rest ran to the radar and saw the opposing fleet and its formation. "This is the commanding general of the Imperial army, Shining armor, in charge of the 12th Imperial fleet of the navy." Shining Armor hailed the enemy fleet. "We seek no conflict, we have proof that Executor, your Emperor, is an impostor and is manipulating your side into open conflict with ours."

There was silence on both sides of the radio, anxiety filled the terrans, the draconequus and the blue-maned pony as they desperately waited for an answer.

"Go, say something to convince them." Ordered Chaser, patting Executor's shoulder. He walked over to the radio and began talking.

"...This is Executor speaking. Just before war against Charon had broken out I was captured by strange dark beings with insectoid wings. Those things can change form and appearance, and they used that advantage to impersonate me and declare war on the Terran Empire to weaken us both. Stand down, I seek to bring peace to our nations, not suffering."

There was still no response.

"Shouldn't they have answered by now?" Asked Executor.

"They should." Shining Armor answered, heading to the radio. "Find out their frequency."

The radio flickered with static and silence, frequencies were changed by the second, until they finally found one with ponies talking.

"...But still, that could be the real Executor!!" An officer exclaimed through the radio, it appeared as if he was discussing with another officer, the admiral himself.

"Our Emperor is strong enough to avoid being captured by anypony or anything, he had given our nation glory and prosperity and we shall follow his orders no matter what."

"That's the problem! We follow him with so much dedication we cannot stop to think!! He has changed a lot before the war broke out, we are following an impostor!!"

"Hey Shining, one of the ships is changing direction." Concord stated, looking at the radar.

"Please sir, stand down!!" Begged the same officer from before. "We don't know what we're fighting for anymore!! Let's consider this possibility!!" That officer was the commander of the ship that changed course, advancing ahead from the fleet and blocking their path by turning sideways.

"Traitorous swine will not be tolerated in the navy of our Emperor!! Ships, there is a traitor in front of us blocking our way and not allowing us to carry on with our orders!! Shoot the traitor at once!!"

"What..--" Executor asked, dumbfounded by the dialogue, but interrupted by Concord exclaiming a rather disturbing event.

"One of their ships in the radar is blinking!! Dammit, it's gone!!"

"Did they shoot one of their own ships?! Wait, look!! There's smoke in the horizon!!" Charon exclaimed, pointing at the sky where the dark red smoke mixed with the fire contrasted with the dark blue and starry sky of the night.

Everyone kept silent at this event, they could do nothing but stare in shock at what their enemies had done, the radar showing the carcass of a ship and an 'Opposing fleet has lost a ship' mark.

"This is heavy cruiser Kraken-1 of the glorious navy of our Emperor Executor." An officer from the enemy fleet was heard through the radio after the disturbing and unnerving silence. "We cannot follow an admiral that is willing to sink one of his own ships, we shall protect the imperial fleet, Executor would never allow such thing to happen! All ships who are with us, change course and follow us!!"

The Terrans, Draconequus and Shining Armor were still shocked at the sudden turn of events, but cracked a small smile afterwards.

"One opposing ship is changing course!! No wait, two-- four-- SEVEN of them!!" Executor exclaimed.

"Protect those brave defectors!! ID them as friendly and sink all who still oppose!!" Yelled Shining Armor to his sailors. "Executor, you should go now."

"But...--"

"Go to our loudspeaker and give us all a great speech, this will cheer our side up and help us now. You Terrans have been deceived far too many times, are you going to let this deception spread to the ponies? Go, show them the truth."

Executor cracked a smile as he slowly walked backwards, then turning around and sprinting to the loudspeaker system located a few floors below.

"Chaser, check the radar and tell me the situation." He ordered, placing his arms on the bridge board and staring at the scenery.

"We now have the numerical advantage and outgun them. The position of the defectors give us a good flanking engagement, if this keeps up we'll... Wait..."

"What?"

"A few of our ships are changing colour..."

"What do you mean--" Shining Armor was interrupted by a violent and brutal explosion near the bridge, sending Charon, Chaser, Concord and him falling to the ground. "What was that?!" He demanded to know.

"You decide to aid the same ponies who decided to invade our homes without reason whatsoever!! We will not stand for this, you are all traitors to our homeland and families!!" An officer yelled through the radio. Charon stood up while the others gathered stength, still on the floor, and pushed the button of the radio.

"You're suicidal, no side will aid you in this treachery!!" He retorted.

"We'll seek aid from Kaiserreich, they still hold their sanity unlike both of you!!"

Upon hearing this, Chaser crawled to the board and stood up with considerable effort, then began speaking. "Stand down, dammit!! Or you'll be shot down for insubordination!!"

"Damn you!! Damn you all to Hell!!" Screamed the officer, knowing that he'd not get out alive.

Outside, one of the rogue ships directly next to the flagship was readying its cannon, aiming at the bridge where the Terrans, Draconequus and unicorn stood, but just before it fired a bomber plane from the aircraft carrier managed to make its run and hit the ship with a well-placed shell. Unfortunately, the ship had managed to fire its gun and hit the side of the flagship, damaging its hull and letting water flood in, it was just a matter of time before it sank and there was nothing that could be done about it.

"We're sinking..." Shining Armor sighed, standing up with a rather bad cut in the head, his face was drenched in blood. "What's going on now?!"

"As if I'd know, the radar's destroyed." Answered Chaser. "Get a medic over here already!" He yelled through the radio.

"We should abandon the ship before we sink, Discordian Immortals have a higher mass density due to... I'll explain another day, we'll sink like a rock if we don't get out now." Concord suggested.

"There's still time, the ship isn't sinking as fast as I expected, are the guns still operational?" Chaser asked. Concord had left the room without anyone knowing.

"Four gun batteries in front, two in the back, 5 AA turrets... Yeah, those are what remains..." He managed to say. He was sitting on a corner with a handkerchief over his wound, he was exhausted and on the verge of passing out. "Chaser, you take command now, I can't even see straight..."

"Why? What happened to your lieutenant?"

"Gone with the blastwave..."

"Dammit. Alright everypony!!" He spoke through the radio. "Focus fire on the enemy flagship then on the heavy cruisers! Destroyers take both sides and start flanking while cruisers cover them!!" He shut down the radio, who sparked with elecricity until it was burnt out, and turned to those around him. "I hope I'm doing a good job now..."

"I don't know anything about naval engagements, anything you do you're currently the best now. Let's hope that 'best' actually means somewhat good, though." Answered Charon.

"Uhhh I've got bad news, guys..." Mentioned Concord who just arrived into the room. No one had noticed he was gone due to the stress of battle.

"What is it?" Asked Charon.

"The escape boats are destroyed. To get out we must first win this battle then get another ship and evacuate. Doing this in the middle of battle is far too risky."

"Well, damn. How's the battle going?"

"Well according to the smoke, I'd say we're winning. I can see the destroyers already flanking and firing." Chaser answered. The rogue ships had already been taken care of by this point. "The bad news is we've taken so many casualties it'd be better just to count the surviving ships and do the math."

Charon took out a pair of binoculars from a cabinet below the bridge board, as if no one had noticed there was one there, and looked at the horizon. "I can see... Nine- no, twelve enemy ships. Scratch that, one exploded, eleven ships. They're retreating now."

"Should we pursue?" Asked Concord.

"Nah, they'll spread the rumours themselves."

"The ships are pursuing, though."

"What? Dammit!! And the radio's gone... Hey is Executor still giving his speech?"

"Yeah, he is. Seems we can't hear him from this room."

"Go and tell him to give the order not to pursue to the ships."

"Alright." He answered, turning into smoke thus teleporting to Executor's place.

'What are the casualties...?' Charon wondered. He looked with his binoculars at the remaining ships of the imperial fleet, but noticed only five destroyers and two cruisers remained. After seeing the fighters and bombers flying around he also remembered they had an aircraft carrier, leaving a total of eight ships remaining. He noticed there was water around his feet, the ship had almost totally sunk and saw the aircraft carrier right next to the flagship, already evacuating the survivors, he didn't even notice. "Guess it's time to leave." He said, carrying Shining Armor over his shoulders, who had already passed out far long ago. Chaser followed him outside to get aboard the aricraft carrier, which was from now on the flagship of the remaining fleet.

The cold and unnerving fog of the lifeless and abandoned city embraced Charon as he aimlessly walked through the street with his hands inside his longcoat's pockets, his breath could be seen due to the extreme cold that was almost the same as Kaiserreich during the ice age that prevailed. The fog was so thick only a half a block could be seen ahead before it was completely white. The streets were like those of Stallinox, asphalt, trees and houses, much like Terra without real difference, but no living or dead soul walked there. There were no ponies, no birds, no dogs, nothing, not even the wind blowed, and the trees had no leaves, as if they were dead.

Contrasting with the scenery, he saw a dark-blue silhouette ahead of him, too tall for a pony. He tried narrowing his eyes but the thick fog prevented him from seeing anything else than a blur of the silhouette. He tried walking towards it but as he got closer the silhouette walked away, disappearing out of sight. Seeing as it was the only different thing in this gray and dead world he decided to chase it, not to lose it. He ran as fast a he could, once again seeing the silhoutte walking but turning a corner instead. He ran forwards and turned the same corner the silhouette did but lost sight of it, but he was sure it took this way. He began to walk through the street the silhouette took, looking around trying to find something that'd help him, but as he walked through the fog he heard he voice of a woman calling for him.

'Charon...' it said in a sorrowful and painful voice, almost as if it was desperately crying for help. He was startled for a second, looking at the source of the sound only to see the same silhoutte walking away. He chased it until he arrived to a park, a park not unlike the one in Stallinox in front of what was called 'Zero's House' in the war against Kaiserreich, with shellholes and all kinds of destroyed enviroment that war brought. He walked through the craters that the bombing had left, sure that the silhouette took this way. The snow almost reaching his ankle, he kept on walking with effort, this being as tiring as running full speed through a straight street with no obstacle.

Disturbingly enough, he began seeing corpses; corpses of the soldiers that fought the different wars he encountered: The battles for the mane 6, the war against the corrupted princesses, the war against Discord, they were characteristic for the Imperial medieval uniform worn by the corpses. He kept walking through the bodies, until more kept appearing but this time with the uniforms used in the war against Executor: Red and blue uniforms worn by the corpses, the only way to differentiate them were by the colours, ponies that had no reason to fight other than being ordered to. Walking further he began seeing the corpses of the ponies who fought in the war against Kaiserreich: Red and gray uniforms, tank carcasses and abandoned artillery, all completely rusted.

He walked and walked through the seemingly endless plaza, until something far more disturbing caught his eye: The plaza was no more, instead the floor was literally covered by changelings, sometimes a few red or gray uniformed ponies appearing, but most of the corpses were changelings. The floor of the plaza could not be seen, Charon had to walk over the corpses instead of around them like he did before. The bodies and carcasses were endless, he walked maybe two more kilometres before they became less and less frequent, until the floor of the plaza could be seen, but this time it wasn't just grass and dirt, it was a volcanic floor, and the scenery had changed to what appeared to be a red sky, with volcanoes and mountains scattered around the land, this could be compared to what Terrans would call Hell. He could see the silhouette in front of him next to a small object driven to the ground, so he walked towards it like he did through the interminable dead bodies from before, but the silhouette vanished in plain sight before he could see what exactly it was.

'Charon...' The voice of a woman was heard again in the same tone as before, but this time with more fear. He walked to the object in front of him, thinking it'd be important. He grabbed the object and pulled it up, revealing Luna's rapier that had been dug into the ground almost completely. He took a look at it, remembering how he held Luna in his arms in the end of the First Great Pony War, not noticing a tear was falling down his cheek, but before he could do anything else he felt how someone hugged him from behind, the kind of hug a person in fear would do to feel safe in the arms of someone else. 'Help me... You're my only hope... Please...' The woman who hugged him said, he could feel something liquid over his shoulder, it was the woman's tears, and it wasn't any woman either, it was the Terranized Luna that Chrysalis had kidnapped.

"Enemy fleet spotted, all hooves to battle stations immediately." Charon barely heard as he woke up from his bizarre dream, his eyes being glued shut by the exhaustion and a red light showering him.

"What is... Uhhh..." He grunted, holding his head in confusion and headache. He struggled to stand up from his bed, but he finally did so with his eyes half open. Irritated by the alarm and sailors running from one side to the other, he decided to head to the aircraft carrier's bridge and find out what was going on. He travelled through corridors, up and downstairs, until he was near the bridge room and heard a few voices ranting.

"We were so close dammit!! Why did they have to find us so fast!?" A voice was heard. That voice was characteristic of Concord.

"Maybe we can beat them, who knows." The voice of Executor gave a light of hope.

"Who knows what!? They outnumber us 40 to 1! The least we can pray for is that they'll kill us without pain!! If they can even grant us that mercy, that is!! We'll sink and be trapped at the bottom of the ocean for eternity!!" Concord kept ranting.

"This is an aricraft carrier." Stated the voice of Chaser. "We can send the planes with us on a suicide run to Executor's Empire. Not that we have any other chance of survival, anyways."

"Do they even have enough fuel for that? We're barely halfway to that continent." Asked Shining Armor. "And even if they do, we'd have to be lucky enough to meet someone who'd listen, chances are the impostor already knows of this plan."

"Hey, what's going on?" Asked Charon, still half asleep as he entered the room.

"We lost. Game over." Concord ranted as he stormed out of the room.

"What's his problem?"

"There's a fleet out there that outnumbers us 40 to 1. We cannot win this with a direct engagement so we're searching for a solution. Seeing as Concord reacted that way... I don't think there even is a solution." Explained Chaser.

"Can't he use his... Magic to make us win?"

"Even if he does, the only thing our opponent needs is sink our 6 ships. They outnumber us 40 to 1, remember?"

"...Right..."

"This is Admiral Thom Kieg of the 4th royal fleet of our Emperor Executor's Navy." A voice talked through the radio.

"Well, we tried..." Shining Armor sighed. "We managed to get this far against someone who caused the entire pony race to go exctinct in a few hours... We should have expected this..."

Thom Kieg, the admiral of the other fleet continued through the radio. "Do not be alarmed for I do not seek conflict. All the contrary, I wish to defect to your side."

The ridiculously lucky event that happened struck those in the room without previous warning, petrifying them in their places not being able to react. Only an equally ridiculously loud scream of joy made by Concord in the deck outside managed to strike them back into reality.

"Do explain, over..." Shining Armor asked.

"After you defeated that fleet a few days ago the rumour of our Emperor being an impostor started to spread. Using my common sense, which sometimes is so rare it's pretty much considered a super power nowadays... I managed to conclude that our Emperor is truly an impostor. The quick change of personality before the war against Charon, the propaganda he had spread with lies when he would tell the truth no matter the consequences... Many more factors helped in my decision, this entire fleet also feels the same way. To add more wood to the fire, a civil war sparked in the Empire recently, one side the loyalists and the other side those who support the Executor you have on board, it is sad that some ponies followed Executor as a God and refused to see sense, if it wasn't like that the entire Empire would have kicked out the impostor already. "

"Treating Executor as a God...?" Charon asked, then he turned to Executor.

"Don't look at me like that, buddy, I did nothing." Executor exclaimed with his hands up.

"I'm not surprised." Chaser stated. "When some random thing that looks like nothing you've ever seen pops out of nowhere, takes over a nation and pushes it past the technological and social limits imposed by medieval standards to these times in such a short time span... I'd be far more worried if they didn't think we were Gods. The Immortality factor didn't help much either in this topic."

"True..." Said Charon.

Executor took the radio and started talking to the fleet he now owned. "You magnificent bastards! I taught you all well!! Listen, there's a civil war now right? We'll head to my lands and help our side any way we can, then reclaim my throne. Got it?"

"Gotcha."

"This keeps getting better and better, we still hold a chance."

"We should get back to our respective homes and prepare further for Chrysalis." Suggested Chaser.

"You're not going to help me?" Asked Executor.

"Buddy, you have half an empire on your side and the entire fleet in this place alone is yours to command. I think you'll be fine by yourself." He explained.

"He's right." Charon said as he rested over the bridge board and looked at the fleet outside through the window. "As we are now, Chrysalis can win without any effort at all. Even with three immortals and a God, we still stand no chance." The God he refered to, Concord, was dancing around in the deck with dozens of other sailors, celebrating that they'd survive to see another day.