Where the moon becomes brighter

Chapter 3: Terran war.

"This world isn't a war world like Terra, it's peaceful here so it doesn't have any advanced tactics or technology in warfare. When I came to this world the military strength of Cabalderio increased to unspoken levels, we could survive the focused attack of an entire coalition. For Executor it wasn't too different but the map the governor gave us back at the port showed us how the entire continent was under his banner, there wasn't a single nation left standing. He has the resources of a continent the combined size of Eurasia and Africa at his disposal, yet the Terran Empire is just the size of the Soviet Union before it dissolved..." He paused as he took a sip of his wooden tankard before continuing. "Is is depressing how a single Terran can change everything in this world... If it wasn't for me, Discord would have won...If it wasn't for Executor, we wouldn't be expecting something worse than Discord's chaos...Anyways, once we get back we must warn Celestia and the other nation leaders, we must create a pact to share everyone's resources and military power, act as a single entity--" His talk with Concord in the ship's main room was cut short as a desperate pony ran downstairs.

"The captain requests you presence immediately!" The panting pony said. Charon and Concord looked at each other for a second before deciding to run upstairs to the front of the ship where the captain waited.

"What is it, cap'?"

"Things are already going to hell, look at the port." The captain said as he gave the telescope to Charon.

Upon looking through it, he saw a large scale battle developing in the port; the forces clashing in the land engagement were the Imperial Army and another army which sported banners exactly like the ones used by Executor's Empire.

"Executor..." Said Charon as he lowered the telescope with his eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses. "Concord, start sniping."

"You got it, brother." Concord took aim with his AK-54r and started firing towards the opposing army as the ship got closer and closer. Charon walked downstairs to where the remnants of the expeditionary force were drinking.

"Everypony, looks like my old friend Executor has paid a visit to our lands, who are we not to give him a rather warm welcome?! Our brothers are engaging his forces at the port, we're going to help them as much as we can! Who's with me?!"

Everypony raised their tankards in unison and gave a loud yell, after drinking the remaining grog they had in their tankards they scrambled towards the armory, gathered their swords and shields and ran upstairs to the front of the ship where Concord was still sniping. Charon stared at the port with the telescope for a few minutes before lowering it and giving an order to the captain.

"The port is under their control, docking is impossible...But then again, this isn't our ship to begin with! Ram it!" He said as he took out Luna's rapier and pointed to the port with his other hand.

"You heard him! Full speed towards the port!" Yelled the captain.

The sound of wood breaking was heard as the ship rammed at the port, it was incapable of sinking at this point for it was clinging with its broken nose. Charon climbed to the highest point in the front and stood facing at his troops.

"Concord, I need you to snipe the enemy officers! Everypony else, we'll fight here and stand our ground! This is a strategical point the general in charge of the Imperial Army will sure take advantage of! Everypony go, let's go!" He said as he jumped off the ship nose towards the enemy forces, his troops soon following suit. The fighting intensified below while Concord sniped above, Charon tearing apart the enemy forces as Luna's rapier carried greater force than Celestia's, the one he had been using before. After a while the enemy army started retreating, the Imperial Army deciding not to chase them by order of the general.

"Wasn't this...A bit too fast?" Asked Charon as he sheathed his rapier, surprised that the confrontation lasted far less than expected.

"Well considering that their general was my first target and then I took care of several officers..." Explained Concord as he jumped down the ship, landing next to Charon.

"Well that was a God-send...If you both hadn't arrived we'd surely be dead meat..." Said the General as he ran to Charon, breathing heavily.

"What's going on, General?" Asked Charon as he turned towards him.

"It's a continental invasion, we're being pushed back all over the south-western coast! Reports were arriving back at Stallinox of sudden attacks caused by unknown armies carrying a white X in a black background as their banners. I was dispatched to reinforce this sector but turns out they outnumbered us."

"Executor..." Charon once again spoke through his teeth.

"Incoming! Another army!" A soldier desperately screamed in the distance causing everypony too turn their heads to the incoming horde with their eyes wide open.

"Dammit! Charon, I'll stay here and hold them off! You go and meet Celestia and Luna in Canterlot!"

"You got it, brother!"

Charon ran off, Concord ran towards the Imperial forces and the General screamed orders as the Imperial Army started reorganizing.

"CELESTIA!!" Screamed Charon as he kicked Canterlot's giant doors open and rushed inside, only to be stopped by two royal guards pointing their spears at him.

"Charon?! Let him pass!" Ordered Celestia as she saw the exhausted Terran storm into the room. The two spears held at Charon's neck were lowered, allowing him to continue running towards her and grab her shoulders.

"Celestia! Things will turn into a nightmare worse than Discord's, we must unite this entire continent under a single banner if we want to have the slightest chance of survival!!"

"What are you talking about?" She said, utterly confused.

"Right...You haven't heard anything of it yet..."

"Of what?"

"Remember when we fought back then? When you were corrupted and I told you my story? Executor, the Terran who killed everyone I knew, has returned. Remember the corruption Concord sensed? It's him. He is in charge of an Empire that spreads through an entire continent...And he is invading us; we're losing ground, the Great Pony War has crippled us all and if we don't share our resources and military power as a single nation we'll all die...Concord, Luna, you and me are immortal, if we're defeated I'm sure we'll get something far worse than death..."

"Can't we defeat him if we form another coalition?" She suggested, oblivious of the most important factor.

"Heh...Celestia, how you forget past events...Cabalderio, under my rule, survived the focused attacks of a coalition of 6 different nations, right?"

"Yes...?"

"Executor has an Empire three times the size of Cabalderio...He is a Terran, just like me. Tell me, what if I controlled an Empire three times as big and declared war to every nation you knew? You'd not seek a Coalition, you'd seek to unite every nation as a single entity, for anything else would present far less chances of survival. Celestia, this isn't just a simple war, it's about fighting against someone far worse than Discord himself!!"

Charon let go of Celestia and slowly backed off a few steps, Celestia stared at the void as everything Charon told her sank in, even Luna who sat in the giant table behind her was mortified. After a few seconds Celestia took a deep breath and looked up to Charon.

"An union...I'll do as you say then, Equestria will be under your command from now on. You hold the greatest military knowledge in this world, go and command your armies in the defence, I'll tell the other nations of this."

Charon smiled behind his scarf and ran outside as Celestia and Luna watched. Celestia turned back towards the main table where a guard had already placed several blank papers and a quill, but noticed that Luna sat in another chair with a sorrowful look in her face.

"What is it, Luna?"

"If it wasn't for Charon, I'd still be Corrupted Nightmare Moon in this Terran body...right?"

"Most certainly..."

"And he was the one who carried me from the moon back here, the one who held me as I woke up...Shouldn't I help him in this war at least?"

"Are you sure about this? Even if Charon lets you, you won't be fighting against the hordes of evil, you'd be fighting against ponies just like ours, it's Executor who gives orders and they have no option but to carry them out."

"I know...But I can't just wait here while Charon fights against him...I want to help him; he saved me, this is the least I can do for him!"

Celestia held Luna's hand and looked at her with a smile. "Go and meet Concord, I'm sure he'll be able to help you with this."

Luna smiled back as she stood up and ran outside, Celestia followed her out with her eyes before deciding to start writing the letters to the other nation leaders.

Concord sat in a bench near the entrance of Stallinox's castle cleaning his AK-54r with a piece of cloth. A shadow soon darkened him as a tall figure stood in front, it was Luna herself.

"Good to see you again, Princess." Said Concord as he kept cleaning his rifle.

"Concord...I want to help in the war."

Luna's request made Concord accidentally push the trigger with the cloth, making his rifle fire and strike at an unfortunate bird that was resting in a tree nearby.

"...What?" Asked Concord, still dumbfounded.

"Charon helped me once, I want to help him back!"

"...I don't think you're ready for this, even though you're more than a thousand years old."

"I know what you're going to say, the ponies that I'd be fighting against would be the same as those that fight with us, they haven't done anything wrong to deserve such a fate...But I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help Charon in this war."

"Yes, I was going to say that too..." Concord sighed at Luna's innocence. "...But there are far more things in the art of war. It's not just giving orders and expect the best, it's knowing that you'll be the one that commands the fate of your forces, that a single mistake may cause needless deaths, war knows no mercy, and that's only in the command structure. You're a Goddess without power, the Terranization has removed them from you but you're still immortal and hold incredible strength, in battle you're a strategical unit that should always be used. You'll be in the frontline, you'll see all kinds of nightmares as ponies kill each other without mercy, using every advantage they have such as throwing dust in the enemy's eyes and stab him in the heart while he's distracted, and that's just one of the million ways to die out there. Not every Terran that goes to war and comes back alive keeps his mind intact, I don't want to know what would happen to you."

"If it means helping Charon and giving him a bigger chance to win this war then I'll endure anything that's thrown at me!"

"Sorry Luna, but I can't let you take such a risk..." He said as he placed his rifle in the bench and stood up, he then raised his hand and placed it over Luna's forehead.

"Wait! At least let me--" Luna's desperate tries to stop Concord were cut short as the Draconequus turned her into smoke, teleporting her back to Canterlot.

"Charon cares for you...Far more than you'd think..." Concord whispered to himself.

"Did something happen, Concord?" Asked Charon as he passed through the castle doors.

"Nope, need something?"

"Actually, yes. Follow me."

They both entered the castle and walked through the hallway, passing through the throne and arriving to a door that led towards the castle garden; once opened it revealed a group of ponies already waiting for them.

"Even with total continental unification, we'll need a miracle to win the war...And I'm the one to bring forth that miracle we're in need of." Charon said as they both walked towards the group of ponies. He stood next to the one waiting in the garden crossroad in front of several wooden crates on top of pillars and gave him the shotgun he had strapped on his back.

"Charon...You realize that ponies don't have fingers, right?"

"I know. Bring the gauntlet!"

"...Gauntlet?" Concord asked, only to see a wheeled table with a metallic gauntlet on top of it being pushed by two ponies from the door they came from. As it got closer he realized that the tips of the fingers were shaped like a claw.

Charon grabbed the gauntlet and gave it to the pony that held his shotgun, the pony placed it on his hoof and began to move the fingers freely as if the gauntlet was already a part of his body.

"How did you manage to create that thing?!" Asked Concord, utterly surprised.

"Magic, my friend...The most powerful unicorns enchanted that gauntlet, Twilight Sparkle herself took part in this project... Fire the shotgun when ready." He commanded to the pony in front of him.

The soldier took aim towards one of the crates with the shotgun and fired, the crate was destroyed but the pony was blown back as a result. Charon scratched his chin while another two ponies helped the poor soldier up.

"Too much power, then...Concord, turn the shotgun into a Mosin Nagant 1890."

Concord grabbed the shotgun that was lying on the floor, turned it into a shadow and transformed it into the desired gun; he then handed it to the pony that held the gauntlet. The pony fired once again, the bullet striking the crate and the soldier barely keeping balance, at this sight Charon smiled.

"Guess this will do."

"Are you sure, Charon? He almost fell back..."

"He managed to endure the recoil, that's what matters. The other soldiers will cover him while he recovers and operates the bolt of the gun and so on. We aren't done yet, though...Bring the PM M1910!"

"PM M1910...Wait, that's a..." Concord tried to decipher what thing carried that name, he realized what it was once he saw a large machine on wheels being carried by several ponies.

The artifact was set in place where the pony with the gauntlet was previously located, it was then aimed towards the place where no less than 10 crates were located; everypony covered their ears as the machine created a rapid succession of noise and destroyed the 10 crates.

"You sure like Russian technology, Charon. First the Mosin Nagant, and now this machine-gun?"

"I've been utterly fascinated by the Russians enough to study their weaponry. I know how they are made, so I decided rebuild them and test them out...Turns out they work just fine...

"And so, we're stuck with WW1 Russian technology..." Remarked Concord before being startled by an explosion in the distance, then followed a whistle and an even louder explosion. "What the hell was that?! Are we under attack?!"

Charon smiled at Concord's desperation. "9 cm Mortar Type GR. Guess who created it? That's right, the Russians..." After saying this he took out a radio and turned it on. "Artillery crew, report."

"Target destroyed, weapon fully operational, no unexpected events occurred."

"Understood, take a rest, no more testing for now..." Charon told them through the radio before turning it off and looking at Concord. "Several things have been invented now, Concord...Rifles, machine guns, grenades, radios...Tactics and strategies...Factories, new economical methods, Industry...The medieval era has finished, we're now in a new age..."