Where the moon becomes brighter

Chapter 2: Old grievances.

"Move the supplies to the back of the ship, leave a space open for the expeditionary forces!" Yelled Charon as the preparations to sail to the uncharted lands were taking place in the port next to the open ocean. A fleet of four ships, designed like the medieval 'Holk', waited docked as supplies were being loaded. After an hour, several hundred military soldiers have arrived. "About time, board the ships, we'll sail once everything's complete." The soldiers complied and one by one they embarked on the different ships.

"Fancy fleet you got there, brother." Said Concord as he stepped out of a cloud of smoke.

"All ready?"

"Always ready. Hold up a second, let's try something." Concord took out Luna's rapier, which he handed it to Charon. "If we're handling weapons, might as well be one we handle best." Charon, upon understanding what Concord wanted to say, took out Celestia's rapier out of its sheath and compared them both. He swung each rapier several times in the air until deciding to hand the white rapier to Concord, keeping the dark one with him. "Luna's rapier, I see."

"I'm not very skilled with swords, let alone rapiers. I don't need agility if I don't know how to take advantage of it, so I take this one since it's heavier and carries greater force. It's more like a thin longsword than a rapier...It weights double as Celestia's, I can't use it as rapiers are intended to be used..."

"Might be because Luna has been more...Uhhh...Focused on brute force than Celestia; she was Nightmare Moon for millenia, and let's not forget that the Corrupted Terranized Nightmare Moon utterly defeated you without effort in the battle of the moon, even though you uncorrupted Celestia without the Elements of Harmony."

"That's more logical than I had previously thought." He said as he arranged Luna's sheath in his belt, then sheathing the rapier. "The preparations are finished, it seems. Let's go, 3rd ship of the right is our place." Both Concord and Charon walked over to the designed ship reaching the wooden planks it was docked next to, they walked over the plank and once inside they met with the military forces, the supply crates organized at the back. The captain gave an order, two soldiers cut the rope letting the ship go from the dock, another three raised the sail, and once done the ship started sailing towards the ocean, the other 3 ships following suit after a few seconds.

"Got the map, Charon?" Asked Concord as he sat on top of a crate, arranging Celestia's rapier's sheath on his belt.

Charon took out the modified map and stared at it for a few seconds. "The point of corruption you specified...The distance between us and it would be the same as this continent from one coast to the opposite."

"Might as well make the journey enjoyable." Said the Draconequus as he opened the crate and took out a bottle of rum, he then grabbed a bottle of water and a bottle of lemon juice; he took out a cup, mixed the three ingredients and started drinking. Charon soon sat next to him and mixed another drink for himself.

"So then I said, 'First we meet a random thing named ‘Discord’ who can turn people grey and make them complete jerks, then after rescuing the Mane 6 Celestia declares war on me and World War breaks out, after that, that...THING turns Celestia into a Terran, and now that black four-legged oversized swan goes to the MOON?!!'" Every soldier in the ship started laughing at Charon's story, they had sat in a circle sharing their stories as they happily drank in the journey during the night. "And so I went to the moon thinking 'Hey, what's the worst that could happen? Corrupted Nightmare Moon being Terranized?', Well I'll be damned, she WAS Terranized! And she had a god damn army that could cover the entire moon! Imagine my surprise when I arrived with Concord..." The ponies kept laughing.

"Hey Charon, you didn't tell them how Nightmare Moon utterly defeated you without any effort!"

"God dammit Concord! At least I defeated Discord!"

The ponies kept laughing and laughing. A soldier walked into the group and called Charon, the captain wanted to meet him. Charon stood up and left the group as Concord kept talking for him, he walked over the stairs to the front of the ship where the captain stood holding a telescope.

"What is it, Captain?"

"You might want to take a look at this." The pony handed him the telescope and told him to aim it towards the land in the distance.

"Land...Is this what I needed to look at?"

"No, look to the left."

Upon inspecting the horizon he noticed that in the uncharted land there was a port and several ponies carrying on their duties outside. Whatever this uncharted land was, it was inhabited, and after further inspection several flags were seen in the buildings of the port, a white 'X' with a black background.

"Close in on the port, we'll ask for permission to dock." Said Charon as he lowered the telescope.

"HEY! CAN WE DOCK HERE?!" Yelled Charon as he leaned over the front of the ship that was close enough to let the screams be heard, not knowing how to handle such situation; his entire force shook the boat when their hooves made contact with their foreheads.

The ponies of the port scrambled as they saw a 2-legged, tall creature and gave the approbation to land, to which Charon shared the news with the captain and the three other ships. Once the ropes were tied, the ships secured and the plank laid, everypony in the dock swarmed the position in which they were supposed to come out, the only things understandable from the commotion were the words "Emperor", "Another one", and "There are more?".

"What's going on..." Said Charon as he held Luna's Rapier, prepared to unsheath it at any moment as he stood in front of the hordes on the narrow, wooden platform.

"What if this is related to the corruption I sensed?" Asked Concord as he stood next to Charon.

The horde clumsily divided in two as a white-haired pony in a suit walked forward and stopped in front of Charon and Concord. "How in the...Who are you both?!"

"My name is Charon, Emperor of the Terran Empire to the north-east. This is Concord, my soul brother."

"So there are more like him..." Said the pony as he scratched his chin with his hoof. "I am the governor of the city controlling this port, follow me and we'll talk."

The pony walked through the multitude, Charon and Concord followed suit as they still held their rapiers and looked everywhere, not knowing what was going on; the military forces started organizing as they came out of the four different ships. Both men and the stallion walked through the port and the wooden planks until they arrived to a small, yet the biggest building in sight. The governor opened the door and the three of them got inside, two chairs arranged in front of a desk with yet another one behind it; they all sat down before the governor spoke.

"You both look like our Emperor, where do you come from?"

"Wait, what? Your Emperor looks like us?" Asked Charon, surprised by the possibility of another Terran in this world.

"I asked first, you'll answer and then I'll answer."

"Fine...I come from a world called 'Terra'. If my suspicions are correct, your Emperor comes from my world too."

"There, was it that hard? Now, for your question... Our Emperor looks like both of you, that's a fact, the only things that differ are the clothes; I don't know if he said something about this 'Terra' you spoke of since I haven't talked to him personally; you might have more chances of meeting him face to face, he was the only 'Terran' in two decades, only now we get to see more of his kind."

"I see...Where is he currently located?"

The pony opened his desk, took out a map and with a pen encircled a city on it, he then drew a succession of lines from the port to the encircled city. He rolled back the map with his hooves and handed it to Charon. "I marked everything you need to know here."

Charon grabbed the roll and looked at it for a few seconds without unrolling it. "Much appreciated."

"It is hard to believe I just talked with an Emperor."

Charon and Concord stood up and left the building as the governor resumed his duties inside. Outside, the captain had finished rallying the forces and waited for the Terran and the Draconequus to return. Both of them walked over to the captain as the ponies in the port stared at them with curiosity; Charon unrolled the map and showed it him.

"The encircled city is our destination for now, whoever this 'Emperor' is will surely help us locate this corruption and deal with it. We'll follow the marked path, following the scale of this map it'll take about two weeks on foot. Unload the supplies and prepare for this journey."

"Immediately. You heard him! Unload everything!" Yelled the captain as the ponies scrambled towards the four docked ships.

Concord stood next to Charon, seeing the ponies perform their orders from the elevation of the port that gave them a rather splendid sight. "You arrived in this world around two decades ago...And so did their Emperor, the governor even said we're like him."

"Another Terran...huh? If that's true, then I'm not alone in this world. Considering most of the people I've met...Most of the people I've killed...Were greedy bastards who stopped at nothing and wanted everything they could lay their hands on...Maybe this isn't a good thing at all."

"Have hope, Charon...This Terran is the Emperor of this place, after all. The fact that it isn't in ruins might show something."

"You're right, I shouldn't be so cynical. Looks like the supplies have been unloaded and the forces organized, let's move on and meet the Emperor if we can. Let's just hope...That this Emperor..." Charon paused as he breathed deeply. "Let's hope he or she's not the source of the corruption."

In front of them was a stone road between a forest, wide enough for the expeditionary forces to travel without problems.

The soldiers and both men kept walking until they arrived to the marked place, they stood in front of the gates with guards on top of the wall; as they got closer the gates opened as if they were already expected to arrive, considering a single messenger would travel faster than 400 ponies this wasn't completely illogical. Out of the gates a single armored pony came out and walked over to Charon.

"You and your friend may pass but the forces must wait outside, the Emperor's waiting."

Charon, with a gesture of his head, signaled the captain to do as the pony said. They both walked in through the gates as they followed the pony, and once inside the gates closed. The city wasn't very different from any other settlement in Cabalderio before the Great Pony War, it was filled with ponies, each with their own duties; Charon and Concord looked around as they walked, admiring that such a place was uncharted days ago, it was hard to believe that such a place wasn't discovered in the thousand years of Celestia's rule. They kept on walking until they arrived to yet another gate, behind it could be seen a giant castle, comparable only to Stallinox's or Canterlot's castle; they passed through the gates into the frontal garden, but as they were halfway through Concord held his head with his left hand.

"What is it?" Asked Charon with worry.

"The corruption is getting closer..."

Charon narrowed his eyes as they walked through the garden, he was already expecting the Emperor, the Terran that arrived in this world to be the corruption, he was rather surprised that the guards let the both pass with their rapiers. The giant doors that led inside the castle slowly opened as they revealed a long hallway with the flags seen at the port being hung through the hallway, a white 'X' in a black background; both Charon and Concord walked through the hallway, the guard leaving as his duty was finished, until at the end of the hallway they saw the Emperor sitting on his throne, his left hand on his head and his left foot resting over his right knee; it was a fact now, the Emperor was a Terran. As they got closer Charon suddenly gripped Luna's rapier with all his might as his eyes narrowed even further than before behind his sunglasses, his teeth grinding in anger behind his scarf, Concord narrowed his eyes towards the Terran Emperor too but for a slightly different reason.

"Hello, Charon. Long time no see." Said the Terran Emperor smiling towards Charon as if he knew him already, his eyes hidden behind the fedora he was using, he also had a dark blue jacket, a white shirt and blue jeans, a gold watch also showed as he raised his fedora, revealing his blue eyes.

"Charon..." Started whispering Concord. "He...He is the source of corruption I've been sensing..."

"I'd be surprised if he wasn't..." Charon whispered back as he desperately tried not to take out his rapier and start a massacre in this place.

"So, Charon, how goes your family? I heard your friends are...'Full of life'." Joked the Terran Emperor, still sitting in his throne.

"Charon...What's going on? Do you know anything about this?" Tried asking Concord but was ignored as Charon's fury forced him to focus on the man in front of them.

"They sure are, Executor...You even met them personally once...I've come to talk about a few things, but they were answered as soon as I saw you in that throne...I'll take my leave, then..."

"Leaving so soon? You haven't even introduced me to your friend over there, I'm pretty sure we'd get along just fine..."

"What's going on?!" Asked Concord.

"I'll answer that later, let's go." Said Charon as he still held Luna's rapier's hilt with all his might.

Both men walked outside the castle, the Terran Emperor, Executor, giggled as they left.

"Charon, it's time you tell me what happened in the castle." Concord asked as they walked through the stone road that led from the port to the castle. the sound of the expeditionary force's hooves impacting against the ground echoed in the night.

"Concord...Remember when I fought against the Corrupted Terranized Celestia back in Canterlot? Remember how I said that an organization killed each and everyone of the people I knew until I was left completely alone in Terra?"

"Wait, then that means..."

"Executor was the head of the organization responsible for everything. He gave the order to kill everyone I knew, he was my target in the suicide campaign..."

"And he's the source of corruption...It's not surprising considering he's the head of that 'mafia' you spoke of. So, what happens now?"

"A complete and utter nightmare will arrive soon if my suspicions are correct. He was the head of the mafia, and now he's the one who manages an entire Empire, that's enough bad news to scare everyone. It gets worse, just like I hold a grudge, he does too. He killed everyone I knew so I decided to kill each and everyone that was related to that organization, I was almost killed in one of my efforts but the blinding light struck, saving me from imminent death. Bad enough, right? Consider this, we both are Emperors, we both manage an Empire...We both hate each other...I wouldn't declare war out of anger, the dead cannot return, but him? He just smiled at me when we were in the castle even though I pretty much killed his entire family, that alone shows that he doesn't care that much for what happens to those around him...And don't get me started on his story back in Terra..."

"And we both gave too much information to the governor back at the port..."

"Exactly, for now we must return to...I don't even know if our continent has a name...We must return and inform everyone of this, war might be imminent."

They arrived to where the ships were located, this time being six instead of four, two belonging to Executor's Empire. They walked over to the wooden planks of the port, closing in on the ships, but before they were prepared to board Charon saw a group of dark-clothed unicorns running away, as if their clothes were supposed to camouflage them in the night. Charon, paranoid, gave the order to stop; everypony stood in front of the docks until four explosions in rapid succession broke the silence, the four ships behind them were soon engulfed in fire. Arrows started flying from the forest nearby, striking the expeditionary force without mercy.

"AMBUSH! Testudo formation, dammit!" Screamed Charon as he grabbed Concord and threw him to the ground behind three soldiers with their shields raised. "They'll cover us while we take care of the archers, get shooting!" Charon fired his shotgun at the trees in a rapid succession towards the forest, he didn't care much about accuracy since he knew that at least a single pellet would hit at this range and disable the unfortunate archer for a while; Concord, however, took his time aiming the assault rifle he carried.

"Infantry coming from the road, sir!" Said a soldier that protected Charon from the hail of arrows, the entire force deflected the arrows with their shields as they were trapped in the port without way out.

"There aren't as many archers now...Captain, prepare to engage the incoming forces; Concord, help me take care of those damn archers!"

Charon stood up and helped Concord up by grabbing his jacket's neck and pulling it up, they both ran towards the archers in the forest while taking cover behind the different sheds scattered on the port; the military forces got out of their Testudo formation and quickly formed into a line ready to meet the forces closing in from the road. Gunshots were heard in the dark forest, the muzzle flash brightening up the darkness; the bullets started flying outside the forest towards the soldiers that were engaging the expeditionary force as the archers were taken care of, flanking the enemy force and utterly defeating it.

"More are coming! Fall back to the port! Concord, help me slow them down!" Charon and Concord stood their ground on the road as the force backed off; both Charon and the Draconequus opened fire, striking the enemy frontline as they advanced; a volley of arrows came flying from the sky, striking both of them but not slowing them in the slightest in their task.

"They seem to forget we're immortal...We're done here, let's meet up with the rest." Said Charon as he took out the arrows lodged in his heart. The forces were already positioned for a stand in the docks, the only thing left was fighting to the bitter end. Charon and Concord ran back to the port, passing through every shed and reaching the wooden planks; as soon as he met with his soldiers he realized that at first there were six ships, but only the Imperial ships exploded leaving two left standing. "That's it! Units, hijack that damned ship!" He commanded as he pointed towards the closest ship, time ran against them since the enemy forces kept on coming without end.

They raised a plank with whatever they could find and everypony boarded the ship while a storm of arrows kept raining on them; Charon boarded the ship carrying a wounded pony and Concord cut the rope that held the ship in place with Celestia's rapier, he built up speed and jumped towards the ship who was sailing towards the open ocean, managing to grab the side and forcing himself upwards.

"This is a declaration of war already..." Said Charon exhausted as he treated the wound of the pony he was carrying. "Executor...The fact that he's alive is bad enough...But that he's in this world and manages an entire Empire makes this a living nightmare...I'd be happier with Discord escaping once again, to be honest..."