A Princedom Divided - Book 1 of The Princess and Her Guard Duology

Chapters

Prologue: Introductions
Chapter One: The Party that changed my life
Chapter Two: The Power of a Name
Chapter Three: Overstepping Boundaries
Chapter Four: The Throes of Passion are Just as Dangerous
Chapter Five: Arguments Ahead; Lovestruck and Fearful
Chapter Six: Changes in fate, a War on The Horizon
Chapter Seven: War is Inevitable; The Sundering of the Elements, and of Families
Chapter Eight: The Line is drawn; War is Nigh
Chapter Nine: Of War and Shadows
Chapter Ten: The Time of Old is Over
Chapter Eleven: The Multi-facet of War
Chapter Twelve: The End of a Short War

Prologue: Introductions

Author's Note

Yes I know short, but this is just the Prologue, it isn't supposed to take up too much time, the next chapters will be up as soon as I am finished with them, All chapters are subject to minor changes as the story progresses, as this is a work in progress and is FAR from complete. Any previous chapter changes will be noted as what chapters were changed at the top of each chapter.

Prologue: Introductions

Series: The Princess and Her Guard

Title: A Princedom Divided - Book One of The Princess and the Guard Duology

Rating: T

Genre: Romance-Drama

Writer: Moonlit Novel

Pairing: Moonlit Novel(OC)/Princess Luna

Fanfic of: MLP

Summary: The Princess of the night falls for her personal guard, and their relationship grows. It grows to the point it could no longer be ignored by the princess's sister, nor by the aristocracy of Equestria.

Author's Notes: A Very cliché story idea, but one I believe I can flesh out, at least in a small way; Princess falls in love with her personal guard, and he in return. Ironically it came to me while looking at clop >.> Yeah yeah say what you will about it. I see nothing wrong with it myself, and I am not sharing it with anyone underage, at least knowingly. So in addition to not seeing anything morally wrong with it—which is something that varies from person to person—I am doing nothing illegal so no comments about the origin of the fic, and just enjoy it. I will try my best to keep this from becoming a flat out clop fic, but rather a romance story in which sex is a part thereof which is a normal and natural step to a romantic relationship. Also this story will be an Anthromorph story, sorry...

Prologue: Introductions

I am Moonlit Novel, I am a writer, at least that is what my cutie mark says, I am a Unicorn, and I am the personal guard, and head strategist to Princess Luna, a position that I still to this day believe that others would be more qualified for, but now, wouldn't give this position up for anything, even though right now, everything couldn't be any worse, I am facing the ruins of Canterlot and of several other cities and Princess Luna? She has gone from just the Night Princess, to those of the New Lunar Republic, to that of a leader of no equal as she led us to victory after a near defeat. And her sister, a benevolent ruler, turned tyrant, now benevolent once more, and an Ally to the NLR, as we have become known as by the populous.

“Sister! Look out!” said Luna as she shoved Celestia out of the way of a magical blast, nearly getting hit herself only for my magic to grab her suddenly and yank her out of the way amidst her surprise... Ah you want to know how all this happened? I guess I could tell you, it's quite the story, one that one would not expect to happen in real life, and not something I expected to see in my lifetime, let alone be a key figure in it's happening...

Chapter One: The Party that changed my life

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Chapter Two: The Power of a Name

I was about ready to fillet some Solar Guard and for once Shining Armor was right beside me on this, as it turned out the whole thing was a prank by a few of the Solar Guard, it was the first time in several years that I had did anything with the Solar Guard, and apparently with my new position, I was ALMOST equal to that of a Guard Captain, something in this case I used to the fullest extent of my ability, two of the Solar Guard were in the dungeon. They tried to say I wouldn't get away with it, that the captain would get them out, all I did at the time was stepped to the side and Shining Armor torn into them. I didn't stay to see nor to hear what he said to them. I couldn't, one of my fellow Lunar Guard walked up to me and handed me a missive from Princess Luna summoning me to the Royal Library.

“Thank you” I said to him and he just grumbled before heading off, I just shook my head and headed towards the royal library. Several times I pasted a Lunar or Solar Guard and each time they grew quiet as I drew closer to them as if they were afraid of... Something, I just ignored it. There was much more important things to worry about and their strange attitudes were not on that list. As I arrived at the door of the library I removed my helmet and entered.

“Ah, there you are, sir Novel” Princess Luna said a she looked up at me, I gave a small smile and a bow of my head, she laughed lightly, “Please, there is no need for that, some formalities yes, but that is an unfortunate fact of my station, but you are here as my friend as much as my guard, sir Novel” she remarked and my breath caught in my throat, Friend? I thought I was her guard? But she also said I was also her guard. Oh this was not going to be an easy transition

“If we are friends as you put it” I ventured, unsure of how she would take it, which caused me to paused before I continued on, “If we are friends, then please call me Moonlit, your highness” the princess glanced at me and she gave a small smile

“If in return, at least when it is just us and maybe my sister, you call me Luna” she countered and I nodded my agreement to her conditions. How could I not? She just gave me permission to call her by name rather than by her title, albeit conditionally.

“Fair enough, Luna” I said, tasting the name upon my lips, it felt awkward to actually call her by her name, even though I always wanted to...

“Now as for why I called you here,” Luna said as she turned to the scroll in front of her, “I have been searching through the archives-” I groaned at that because of the sheer size of the archives, it spanned the entire size of Canterlot, and a half a mile in into the mountain it sat upon. Hearing my groan Luna laughed, “Worry not, Moonlit, for we are not searching the whole of the archives, just the laws, history of the Nobles, and the state of affairs leading up to today” I groaned again, it may not be as large a place to search, as the archives were very well kept, but it was still a significant amount of work

“Luna, why, may I ask, are you looking through the Archives?” Luna glanced up from the scroll in front of her

“As you very well know, Moonlit, I was trapped on the moon for a thousand years and in that time so much has changed, laws I once knew are obsolete, after all before I was imprisoned it was against the law for any male to hold a military position, even that of a guardspony. Now I get back and the majority of the guards in Canterlot are male, albeit very good looking ones, but male never-the-less” she said without even pausing for a breath that entire time, she then took a breath and continued, “It was also illegal to work on certain days, that are now ignored, and while I have only reached two hundred and fifty years after my imprisonment in the archive records, the law has not changed.”

“I could just save you time, as could any of your guardsponies, and inform you of the current laws and state of affairs in multiple countries” I responded and she shook her head

“While I hold no doubt that you could, there is a difference in knowing the current laws, and knowing why they were changed” Luna replied before looking down at her scroll again for a moment before growling in frustration which made my ears twitch in surprise.

“Luna-?” I started and her head shot up and her now fiery eyes bore into mine, even though it only lasted a moment, I realized at that moment the fury of a goddess was not something I wished to tempt.

“I am sorry Moonlit, I know I should not get upset at records that far predate the lives of any alive barring of course the lives of my sister, the dragons, and I should not hold any anger toward the country of the Minotaurs, so far as I know we could be on peaceful terms with them-” she stopped as soon as she saw my jaw clenched, “Talk Moonlit, you can tell me what is on your mind”

“The current relations with the Minotaurs is a very strained peace treaty, on both sides, all it would take is one international incident for everything to break down into a state of war” I responded, the glasses in her hand fell and clattered against the table.

“What?” she asked the shock and discomfort obvious on her face, “How could things grow so tense?” she asked, I couldn't answer her, or rather I wouldn't, how could I tell her that it was because she effectively got a slap on the wrist for nearly bringing eternal night? How things settled down after it was clear she was in fact imprisoned on the moon, and how relations then withered again after she escaped and was, at least in the eyes of the minotaurs, given a place on the throne of Equestria for escaping her prison? I couldn't, but I wouldn't lie to her, that would be far worse...

“I will not be the one to tell you Luna” I said and I held firm even when her gaze locked with mine, but I knew if she asked me again, she wouldn't have to order me to tell her, I would fold and tell her.

“I see you are resolute about this, fine, Moonlit” she said after several seconds of silence before she turned back to her scroll, “I will have to ask my sister, but not right now, right now we need to get more scrolls and books. Could you help me carry these?” she asked me and I nodded, relieved she didn't ask me again, “Is something wrong, Moonlit? You seem... As if you were afraid of something”

“To be honest, L-Princess,” I said catching myself in time as we walked past seven Solar Guardsponies, carrying... My eyes narrowed, “Princess did you ask any of the Solar Guard to help you with your studies?”

“Of course not, there would have been a large amount of issues formed if I did that” she said, and I gentle slipped the scrolls and books I was carrying into her telekinetic field and excused myself... Moments later I caught up with them, still carrying the scrolls.

“Halt” I said, throwing a wall of telekinetic energy up for good measure they whipped around and glared at me

“Ah if it isn't one of the traitor follower” said one of the Earth Pony guards, I groaned, it was a small group of ponies that held the belief that Luna wasn't cured, but was rather faking it, and hated her. I thought that maybe Shining Armor had gotten rid of them, it was one of the other things he and I agreed upon, it was a guardspony's duty, regardless of which guard it was, to protect the princesses.

“Stand down, all of you” I said with finality in my voice, it was a group of three Earth ponies—known for their stubbornness I bet—two pegasus, and two unicorn, I doubted I could handle these odds on my own. Throwing caution to the winds I sent a “Guards Ping” as it was called amongst the Guardsponies. Oh just to give a small explanation, regardless of their 'allegiance' so to speak, if a Guardspony sent a ping the on duty guards would pick it up and converge on the said location, as it normally meant that the one that sent it was out numbered, another benefit of the ping was that all of them held an identifier of sorts, so there was no way any of these ponies would be able to say they sent it. But there in lay the problem, they could tell I sent it too, and with by telekinetic field active, they couldn't get away as racing towards me would bring them closer to Luna, whom just a second later yelled, as she had found out what I noticed a head of her, not that I blame her, as it was in the main library when we past them. That aside, with Luna obviously upset, and probably figuring out what had happened in the first place their only logical means of escape would be to incapacitate me in some manner, I guess I never mentioned that I did study tactics and Strategy? It was either that or study for command, my father was very serious about that. Anyway, these ponies had only one logical means of escape, and I was no slouch when it came to the sword and shield I carried, never-the-less I would still lose if it I ended up having to cross blade with them.

“No, you will stand down, traitor” said one of the Unicorn and my eyes zeroed in on him, my hand slowly heading for my sword, “Don't even think about it, you're out numbered, and out matched, you'll just die” the same unicorn commented and I smirked

“Maybe, but I will have died doing my duty, and my father knows me far too well, and none of you will get away with it. Just think what will happen if you do kill me, do you think that Shining Armor will protect you? Or Princess Celestia?” I countered abandoning what little caution was left and quite obviously shifted my stance to a more combat ready one.

“I think that it will not matter, because after we kill you we'll make it look like the traitor princess did it” said one of the pegasus and my gaze shifted to him, these were truly unfavorable odds and damn my honor and duty for requiring me to enter regardless...

“Like I did what?” said a very angry voice, I did not turn around, even with Luna there I would probably die if I turned around right now, “You think I would promote him, and then kill him within the same week? Even if I were a traitor princess as you call me, I would have to be the most unintelligent mare in existence to do that, and to make it obviously lead back to me? That would be far too sloppy!” she said and I gulped, this was not the kind princess I had come to know in what little time I had with her. This was the Princess of the Night, the harsh one, the one that shows itself on a night were there is no comforts to be found.

“Halt, in the name of the Solar Guard” came the call from the other side of the wall, at which I transferred the telekinetic field that made the artificial wall to envelope the traitors that had just threatened Luna.

“Hello again, Novel” said Shining, the look on his face was not one you would want leveled at you, but in this case it was not truly leveled at me, as he was greeting me, before his own gaze shot to the ponies I had enveloped, “Now why are 7 of my guardsponies being held here?” he asked me, “And speak quickly, because I heard the guards ping”

“These ponies are traitors to the crown, unlike the ones that pulled the prank last night, these ones actively threatened my life, and to frame Princess Luna for murder. They also stole from the Library Archives in an attempt to sabotage Princess Luna's attempts to return to a true active member in ruling Equestria, claiming her to be a traitor princess” that did it, the look on his face, went from pissed, to dangerous, never in my life had I dropped my telekinetic field so fast, as his enveloped them right after, and one could see he was doing his best to not strangle the traitors.

“Princess Luna, your highness, I apologize that I had not caught these ponies faster, I will make sure they are dealt with, severely” said Shining Armor before turning his head to the guard ponies that had gathered around him, “bind the unicorns and pegasus”

“Shining Armor, is it?” asked Luna before she looked again at the traitors, “Be sure to bring them to my sister, she will ensure a fair trial, but also that they are given just punishments” with that she turned to me, “Come, Novel, gather those scrolls and follow me, I need to get back to studying” I nodded and gathered the scrolls and books from the ground and followed after her not knowing what fate befell those traitors after we left, until much later.

Entering the library Luna whipped around and started to yell at me for heading off into what could have been, had she not gotten there in time, my death and I took it, I took it, because it meant in some way she cared about me, however when she stopped yelling to take a breath I spoke, my voice not steady, but I continued none-the-less

“I did my duty as a Guard, regardless of the dangers-” she stopped me right there with a glare and spoke up once more

“You are not a 'guard' anymore, you are my personal guard, which means yes, you can inform myself, or another guard when you see something like that, but it is your duty to stand watch over myself, or any I order you to guard” she countered harshly and I actually stumbled back, all those years as a guardspony were now wasted experience for the most part, now I understand why very few ponies ever wanted to reach a position of command, you could lose the ability to do things for yourself... Wait...

“You're lying, partly anyway” I said calling her out

“Am I?” she said whipping around as she had turned around after handing me my figurative ass her eyes boring into me once more

“As your personal guard, it is my duty to protect you, however you are wrong about the 'any you order me to guard' part” she clenched her teeth in annoyance

“Where is that loyalty you had last night?” she asked me almost accusingly, however, I was dug in I wasn't going anywhere in the conversation, except forwards.

“It is still there, and granted I may still do exactly what you say, but as your personal guard, it is my duty to ensure your protection, even if that means disobeying your orders” Okay so sue me, I read up on the duties I had, there was no way I was going to go in blind, “and even if that costs me my life” I finished, next thing I knew I was against the door, my feet a foot off the ground her magic holding me there as her eyes glowed white in anger

“Don't you ever sacrifice yourself for me, there are things that will kill you that I can survive! And I will NOT have you sacrifice yourself for me, I've said before, I do not deserve such loyalty!” she said, yes that is right, she said it, she didn't yell it, and for me that made it all the more terrifying? No... All the more real...

“Isn't it for me to decide where to place my loyalty, Princess?” I asked her not daring to call her by her name at the moment, the next thing I knew the magic holding me up dissipated and I fell to the ground her eyes back to normal, her whole body shaking.

“Do you not wish to call me by my name anymore?” she asked me in a small voice, a broken voice almost as if...

“Luna, please... I am sorry, I... I didn't think you would want me to call you by your name right now” I said and regardless of station I walked up and hugged her, was I her first friend? No I knew I wasn't, the Elements were definitely her friends as was most of the foals in Ponyville, at least from the letters she always got that from them that always brought a smile to her face gave that impression. So why?

“I would never take that away, you are my friend, as much as my guard” she said though it was a little broken with the occasional sniffle, was she crying? No it didn't matter whether she was or wasn't, “Even if we are arguing, even if the argument gets heated, please, don't stop calling me by my name” I nodded, I knew this conversation wasn't over but I also knew I was not going to bring- “Also, it may be up to you to decide where to place your loyalty, but that does not mean that I have to agree that I am worthy of it” damn it... She HAD to go back to it, ahh well better to get it over with now, instead of it creeping back up on us at a later date, releasing her from her hug I took a step back. We were lucky no one had come by during that incident, ignoring that for the moment however I took a deep breath to clear my head to figure out what best to say next.

“Then, Luna, I will have to respectfully disagree”

Author's Note

OK I wish to head this off at the pass so to speak, so far the only one who has ANY romantic feelings in this pairing is Moonlit, so Luna's reaction?

How would you feel if, like her you had so little friends and someone you just named a friend stopped calling you by your name? and I do not mean they start calling you by a nickname, you would probably feel devastated regardless of the situation, remember, "The most lonely, are the kindest" but that also means that they can be the most damaged by something like this, I know this from personal experience, as I used to be a very lonely person. BUT this is not a story about my life, please enjoy the chapter XD Also feel free to let me know of any grammar mistakes either in the story or here in the Author's Note

Chapter Three: Overstepping Boundaries

Author's Note

Well this didn't turn out EXACTLY like I had hoped, but never-the-less, please enjoy :twilightsmile:

Chapter Three: Overstepping Boundaries

Day 42... Yeah I skipped several days because not much happened then, just well, her doing more studying, and me and her conversing some more, not saying that it is a bad thing, I enjoy conversing with Luna, it just isn't something that is very noteworthy, though between the first day and now she finished another fifty years of history. How she did so I had no idea, nor did I care, to be honest, in my opinion, the sooner she returned to being an active member in ruling Equestria, the sooner most of these rumors would stop.

“Moonlit,” started Luna and I had a small smile upon my face

“Yes, Milady?” I asked and she glanced at me at my response but said nothing of it.

“Do you know why there was tension between us and the Zebras? I can understand the Minotaurs, as you cannot please everyone, but, to have two separate countries have such tension with us, a very peaceful Kingdom” she said, and I groaned, while I did know why that had happened, mostly because of an issue with a particular bit of land which we eventually just gave to them to end the squabbles, there was a small faction within the Zebra community that was the same as the Minotaurs, believing that Luna was truly evil, thankfully that was far from the official stance of the Zebra Empire. Even now after her return from her thousand year exile.

“There are several reasons for that, one of which is personal, but not the official stance, nor the belief of the ruling class of the Zebra Empire, and the other, was a land dispute” I said as I pretended to be reading the scroll in front of myself once more. However unlike before, when I was actually sneaking glances at Luna—yes I know a very stalker-ish behavior, but it wasn't solely for my benefit, whatever you may think, after the fight I had with her on my first day as her personal guard, I became privy to her mental state, or at least partly. And I was going to keep an eye on her so when she did finally find out about the reasons for the tension with the Minotaurs, and to be honest, with some of the dragon community, I know what to do—I was actually attempting to avoid talking about the “personal reason” of the tension.

“You're hiding something” she said point blank I sighed but shook my head

“I won't be the one to tell you, I-” I paused unsure on how to continue

“Go on” she prompted and there was an awkward silence as I figured how best to continue.

“I... I care too much to be the one to tell you, while yes I should tell you,” I said holding a hand up as I held off her interruption, “But I cannot, every time I thing about it, every time I open my mouth, I lose my voice, I fear the repercussions of telling you, and the repercussion of not telling you weigh as equally in my mind...”

“Then why even open your mouth about it?” she asked me, I closed my eyes trying to think of a clear answer

“Because, of that same loyalty you keep telling me you are not worthy of” I said finally after a few seconds of silence, not to figure a lie, no I could never do that to her, no.. To do some soul-searching to find an answer that was the truth that would not make the moment uncomfortable.

“You're hiding something again” she said and I smiled

“Not really, just, not reiterating something I had said before, not saying something that'll make this moment uncomfortable” I said attempting to not let myself get too comfortable, that is always how it starts, a guard gets too comfortable and soon after disaster strikes, Discord, and while in the end we benefited, the escape of Nightmare Moon, but in this case, it was about my feelings... Everyone loves to READ about a guard and a royalty, or nobility, falling for one another, accepting it in reality was another thing entirely, and I was not going to put Luna on the spot by reiterating my feelings for her.

“Ah...” she said shifting uncomfortably, “Your feelings for me?” DAMN IT! Can she read minds? Well whatever...

“Yes, Luna” I answer truthfully as, as per norm, I could not lie to her, our friendship, if not my loyalty to her kept me from lying to her, not knowingly at least.

“Is that why you are so loyal to me?” She knows just what questions to ask to make this uncomfortable doesn't she? But never the less I still responded

“I-... I don't know, Luna, I really do not know” she held my gaze for a few seconds, the longest few seconds of my life to that point, before returning to the scroll...

WHAT?!” she shouted waking me after I had dozed off, the sky was getting darker, that meant that soon she'd be taking her place in the watch tower

“What is wrong, Luna?” I asked suddenly alert and she whipped around and glared at me and started towards me her magic running a little wild.

“You knew! You knew the reason for the tense relations with the Minotaurs is because of me!” she yelled, but I said nothing, “You kept me in the dark! You say you have feelings for me, and yet you kept this hidden!” she continued and beat on my armor, I still said nothing. On and on she went yelling at me again and again, but still I said nothing, because I knew that I deserved it, that I should have told her, but I couldn't, I told her why I couldn't earlier that day, and now she was yelling at me only 51 years past where she started with me as her Personal guard. Still I said nothing even as she started to break down and beat on my armor tears of anguish rolling down her face, “Why!? Why won't you say anything!? Why are you making it so hard to be upset with you!?” she cried, oh how she just wanted to be upset with someone, and I was happy to be that someone, because it meant she could trust me with her feelings.

“Because,” I said breaking my silence, “I deserve this, why should I be defending myself? I should have told you, but I couldn't because I thought your momentary happiness was much more important than that of your knowledge”

“No, I should have” said a regal voice and we both turned around to see Princess Celestia standing there a sad look upon her face, “I am sorry sister, I should have told you a long time ago about how our relations were going with the other countries, and why” I wanted to interrupt, I wanted to say that it didn't excuse my silence, but with a small, gesture from Luna, I fell silent once more as she and her sister talked, or rather argued.

Now I probably shouldn't say this but when I saw Luna's wings flare during that argument I was ready to leap to her side, even against Celestia herself. Against her sister. However the argument soon subsided and with a wave of her hand as she was leaving the Library, I followed Luna out.

“Lu-”

“Not right now, Novel, she's still watching us” she said and I quieted down. As we reached the tower Luna twirled around to face me, the hem of her dress affected by the sudden movement lifted a few centimeters, not that it mattered the dress was a long one and covered her legs all the way to her feet. “Tell me, Moonlit, what do you think about tonight's sky?” she asked, confused I looked up and saw no stars and was about to comment before one by one at first, and then handful by handful, until it was droves and droves of stars started to appear. Never once had I seen the night sky like this before, as a blank canvas just before it was used, and I said as much, earning myself a small, yet beautiful smile. “That is how I always see it, a blank canvas to be used, to show my love, for my ponies” she said, almost as an afterthought. I smiled at her and removed my helmet, it would do me no good up here anyway, after all, while she was up here, I was naught more than company. “Moonlit, tell me what do you think of my sister?” Whoa... Awkward question considering how Luna knows how I feel about her, never-the-less I answered with the truth,

“I feel as if she is hiding more than she is willing to admit, perhaps about her own strength as well, as before your return, she was able to keep rising and setting the celestial bodies without fail, now it seems...” I drifted off, this was heading towards very dangerous territory...

“It seems as if her strength is waning perhaps?” finished Luna a frown on her face, “I do so hope you do not plan on ever using that against her” and with that I frowned back my gaze firm and absolute

“I will do whatever you order mine princess” I said and she gave another small smile and shook her head before enveloping me in a hug causing me to stiffen in surprise.

“I still say I am not worthy of your loyalty, but I'll take it”

“And what of my adoration, and love?” I teased lightly stepping away from her

“I'll take that too, every last bit of it, and I will use it to shape the stars” she responded leaving me speechless. Then she started to laugh and I glared at her playfully

“That wasn't nice” I told her and she looked affront

“Who said I was lying Moonlit, I will take your love and adoration and use it to shape the night sky, perhaps a small rendition of your love for me? Or how about-” she drifted off obviously in her work molding and shaping the night sky to her will, it was, as different from the times before, as before she had me wait at the bottom until she was finished, this was the first time I ever seen her do her job in person. “Of course you can't go there, shoo shoo, move along little star” she said oblivious to my existence as she worked, something I was happy for, as it truly meant that she really did trust me, so I leaned back and watched the artist at work summoning a quill and a scroll I started to write.

Star after star she guided to it's place
Shapes she grew at her own pace

My heart yearns evermore
To hold her close once more

My heart she claims once more anew
If only, if only, if only she truly knew

What power she holds over me
Shall always be, shall always be

Short, if to the point still it was more to add to my now growing collection of works that I had been writing since I was but a foal, but not since I was a foal had I added so much to it, for the last several days I wrote more and more. Glancing up at the sky I saw more and more shapes take place, and once or twice I glanced back at Luna a smile on my face, only to catch her looking at me and for her to look away a blush on her cheeks. Though I did not know it then this was the day she started to have, in her words, inappropriate feelings for me, her personal guard.

Being awake all day was taking its toll on me, even with the small nap I had gotten in the library that day. Normally I'd have taken the evening off by now, but recently I have found that I couldn't.

“You may rest, Moonlit, I did disturb your nap, and you have been awake for several days” Luna said almost as if she sensed that I was tired, but I shook my head.

“No, Luna, not tonight, but I may need to take tomorrow off” I said before adding, “I did not mean to fall asleep then either though, I do not have the stamina that an Alicorn has to stay awake for several days in a row” she laughed good naturedly.

“You did a fine job, and you kept your temper in check too, something not many can say the same. Yes... Tomorrow you and I will both take a break from our usual routine, I believe I will need to speak with my sister,” she almost spat out the word surprising me, and I knew my oath to Equestria demanded me to try to placate her, but yet my oath to her, as a Lunar Guard, and as someone who cares for her, demanded I let her get her feelings out, so complicated, matters of the heart... “You must think I am starting to lose myself once more...” she said, I answered right after, not even thinking.

“I do not think that, and even if you were, unlike before, you have your Lunar Guard. However I do not suggest that route” I said clearly stating that the Lunar Guard would be obey her orders, but also stating that at least from my perspective, things have not reached a point of aggression yet.

“Would you obey me if I ordered that?” she said spinning around to face me her face unreadable, the perfect poker face as it is called.

“I told you before, I will obey any order you give me. You once asked me to jump off of the balcony off the ballroom, and I did so, without reservation, it could have cost me my life, and I would do so again, without a second thought” I said

“And if I told you to... Never mind, just... Tell me this, Moonlit, is there a limit to what orders that I could give that you wouldn't follow?” she asked and I froze and had to think about it. As a member of her Lunar Guard I was duty-bound to obey her orders, on the same token, as her personal guard I am, again, duty-bound to protect her, regardless of her orders... “Well?” she asked growing impatient, “Is there a limit to what orders you would follow?” she said agitated

“Yes, there is, I will not obey any order that will put you in danger” I said finally

“And what if I gave you an order that required you to kill?” she asked me and again I froze, but only at the question, before answering just as strongly

“I would obey, I would question you after, but I would trust your judgment”

“And if my sister ordered you to do something, and I ordered the opposite?” she asked and I frowned, what was this? Twenty Questions?

“What your sister orders is of no consequence to me, nor to any of your Lunar Guard, we are required only to obey you” I said

“And is that why you obey me? Because you are required to?” she asked me her voice growing agitated once more.

“No, Luna, I obey you because I choose to. To do otherwise would involve me to lie to myself, or if I have to keep you from harm”

“I DO NOT NEED YOUR PROTECTION! I DO NOT NEED YOURS OR MY SISTER'S DAMNED PROTECTION!” she yelled, her anger surprising me as I took a step back out of reflex something that caught her attention, “I-I-I... J-just go” she said but I stood my ground this time

“No, Luna, right now, albeit not physically, you are a danger to yourself, if left alone” I said biting my lip and she glared at me.

“If you stay, you may be in-” she responded

“It is my life to wager” I said before she could finish her full thought and she gave me a worried look, however there was a look in her eye, almost as-... She clung to me, tightly, and she started to sob into my chest. More than anything I was unsure about what to do, I've never been in this position before and she sobbed all the more.

“I am the cause of such strife, the Minotaurs have threatened war, and there is nothing I can do but leave, but still even that won't save Equestria... Th-the Minotaurs want my life!” she cried, and I stood there frozen, what all had Celestia told her? What information did she keep from her own subjects? “Moonlit, if I told you to kill me, would you do it?” she asked between sobs, and I pushed her away, though it was gentle

“There is no way in Tartarus I would kill you-” I started and she grabbed at me once more, pulling me against her, as if she were afraid that she were alone in the universe, but how could she feel like that she has her sister, and she has me if no one else

“Please, I do not want Equestria to go to war” she begged and placing my hands on either side of her face, I lifted it and lower mine to meet hers, in a gentle kiss. If she wanted to die, I would show her what she would be losing, and what she would be leaving behind...

Chapter Four: The Throes of Passion are Just as Dangerous

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter Five: Arguments Ahead; Lovestruck and Fearful

Author's Note

OK figured I'd give a forewarning, soon the chapters will have explicit content, (chapters will have a * by the name as well as a warning before and after the scene so you can still read the chapter without having to read the explicit content).

Chapter Five: Arguments Ahead; Lovestruck and Fearful

Chapter Five: Arguments Ahead; Love-struck and Fearful

“So you won't kill me?” asked Luna and I nodded and she turned to her sister a look of triumph on her face. “See dear sister? I am safe with Moonlit, I ordered him to do the same last night, in a fit of fear for the ponies of our lands, and he refused then too” said Luna tartly Celestia looked at her sister confused.

“What do you mean? You asked him to kill you last night!?” she exclaimed and Luna nodded, “Over what happened!?” Luna sighed

“Regardless over what it was about, he didn't do it, he also convinced me to stay, something I owe him my life for” she said firmly and Celestia nodded stiffly

“I suppose I do owe you my sister's life then” said Celestia turning to me, and I still glared at her, my anger not gone, but managed, “I suppose your anger is justified, but know this guardspony you step one toe out of line and I will end you, I will not have an upstart convince my sister that she needs to be the only princess in Equestria.” I snorted at the threat.

“I am the one that told her that it would be a bad decision, should she choose to follow that route however...” I said leaving the rest unsaid and Celestia glared at me and I glared back. Celestia didn't try anything since her sister was there, and she gave me one last glare before flying off to do Goddesses know what.

“You shouldn't test my sister's patience, nor mine, Moonlit” said Luna and I glanced at her my gaze soft as soon as my eyes touched her blue fur.

“I'm sorry, Luna, I should have tried harder to control myself, I am not worthy to be your guard, I couldn't even keep my cool as you ordered last night” I said and she laughed, surprising me

“I told you to keep your cool for when we talk to her at Dawn tomorrow, not sunset, I did not expect us to actually talk at this hour however” she said and I just gave a sad smile regardless of what she said, I still disobeyed her, and that was not something I was going to forgive myself for anytime soon. Noticing the look on my face Luna sighed and walked the few steps towards me and kissed my cheek, “Stop worrying about it, you stood up to my sister, not many ponies can say the same”

“I still-”

“Enough. Do I need to order you to forget it Moonlit?” Luna asked giving me a hard look and I stared at her a little surprised at her response, “Well, do I?” she asked again. Feeling a little cheeky I smirked

“No, but you could kiss me again” she gave me a look, you know the one I am talking about, the one between exasperation and something else, never-the-less she kissed me once more.

“Now, no more moping, or that is the last kiss you'll ever get from me,” she said and I went wide eyed at her comment but she wasn't done, “If you keep from moping however... Well we'll see” she added with a wink. I don't think she truthfully understood what it was like to be near a mare who was in heat, let alone a mare you have feelings for, and has feelings for you. Granted I did ask for it, by asking for that kiss, but still...

Things calmed down really quickly after the kiss, and she seemed content to torture-I mean snuggle with me even though she was in heat... Yeah... This was going to be a long few weeks...

“I haven't been watching the foals' dreams...” she said suddenly shaking me out of my thoughts.

“Excuse me?” I asked confused and Luna back at me, we were both sitting on the floor with me against the wall and her against me, my arms around her stomach as she sat there.

“I visit the dreams of foals while they sleep, to protect them from bad dreams, and to keep them safe from those that would harm them in the dream realm” I nodded, not really understanding but hopefully at least getting the gist of it.

“And why don't you?” I asked unsure of where this was going

“Can I trust you not to do anything with my sleeping body, Moonlit?” she asked a teasing light in her eyes and I blushed heavily at her comment.

“You need only command it, Luna, and I will obey” I said biting my lip in an attempt to clear my head of unwanted thoughts.

“Perhaps, or perhaps I want to test you, to see if maybe you can control yourself without me ordering you around” she said and I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, the pheromones drifting off of her started to cloud my mind once more, I cleared my mind. “Can I trust you with my body, Moonlit, can I trust you won't have your nasty way with me while I am drifting through the dream realm?” she asked

“Could you not take me with you?” I asked and she blushed heavily, and her breath hitched

“That would be far to intimate, Moonlit, it would be less intimate to just mate with you” she said and I looked at her blushing, and confused.

“Our minds would be touching, not unlike when our telekinetic magic touches one another, but still far more inclusive” she said and I blushed just as heavily and stuttered.

“I-I-I-I'm sor-” I started and she silenced me with a gentle kiss

“Don't be sorry, you didn't know and you were grasping at straws” she said before placing another kiss on my lips this one a little more needy before she forcefully turned herself away, “Sorry, Moonlit, my heat cycle is affecting me worse than usual, now that I have a male with me that I have some romantic feelings for” she said looking away from me, not that it mattered, I was surprised as hell by her comment, and my grip on her tightened, not painfully so, but enough to know she was still there.

“I will do my utmost best to not do anything with your body” I said swallowing as I cleared my mind of any dirty thoughts.

“See that you don't, and maybe you'll get something good” she said and I gave her a flat look, one that said, 'Seriously? You are trying to bribe me?' she just giggled though and stood up to fully turn around and kiss my cheek. “Be good, my dear Moonlit” she said before she laid herself against the wall beside me and drifted off. I didn't know what she was so worried about, I mean it wasn't as if she looked... So... Beautiful... Tha-NO! I was not going to fail her. Her eyes moved constantly under her eyelids as she slept, while I was still planning on respecting her wishes, I did want to touch her, to hold her... Why was this so hard!? Soon however she stirred slightly and I stepped away from her, something about her stirring reinforcing my will and I stood on guard, though it truly wouldn't matter as I am a unicorn, not a pegasus, if we were to be attacked it would be by pegasus and I would out maneuvered regardless of how prepared I was...

Again she stirred hours later this time though her eyes fluttered beautifully as they opened a small smile on her face as she looked at me, an unreadable expression on her face.

“You look like you have been through the ringer a few time Moonlit” she said in a happy voice and I all but glared at her.

“Goddess or not, you have no right being so damned beautiful” I responded and she giggled before standing up, walking over and pressing her lips to mine, not even caring about the fact of her pheromone spewing body was causing me to slowly lose my mind, add that to the fact she was already beautiful, and I was lucky I could keep a reign over my own raging hormones.

“I believe I owe you something... Now what should I give you?” she said as she now teased her hands across my armored breastplate, stopping only to loosen the straps and start to remove it before I grabbed her hands and kissed her, hard, I was desperate to taste her on my lips right now, the needs of mating be damned, I wanted to taste her kiss more than I wanted anything else right now pulling back only long enough to say;

“I want your lips, Luna, I want your lips on mine, consequences be damned” she outright laughed at the last part of my sentence since she obviously was going to ignore the consequences herself, but for something far more serious, not that either of us cared right now, well I did in the fact I wanted to taste her lips far more than I wanted a taste of her.

“Well then my unicorn stallion, come then, come and get your reward” she whispered wrapping her arms around my neck and I pulled her into another kiss, this one a desperate kiss, from me to her, but a desperate need she was all too willing to fulfill. Soon though my armor was on the floor as I remained in only my under armor clothing, she however was only in a bra and corset combo, as well as her panties, pink, something I was surprised to see but at the time I was more focused on holding her close. After a while we settled down in to just holding one another. Soon however as if she knew the time of day at a drop of a hat she shoved me away enough to grab her clothing and dress quickly, and she tossed my armor at me, with me only just catching it. Looking at her confused she stopped and looked at me before, “What are you waiting for? Get dressed! It is almost morning! And my sister will be here soon, I do not think after last night's argument, she needs to catch us in that position” she said urgently and I started to slip my armor on, barely managing to get the last wrist guard into place before Celestia alighted on the balcony outside the tower.

“Sister? Did the night go well? Are you well and decent?” the last part was said in a teasing manner, but never-the-less both me and Luna began to sweat for a second before Luna spoke up in a level voice

“Very funny sister, after your reaction last night, if there was any planned coitus, it would have been canceled” she said in a flat voice and I nearly fell onto my face, Celestia on the other hand did, and entered the tower looking scandalized.

“SISTER!” said Celestia and Luna tried to keep a straight face, me on the other hand had a shocked look on my face, but soon Luna started to laugh, first it was a stifled giggle, but it quickly grew into a full body laugh as she actually fell against the wall holding her stomach, neither Celestia, nor myself were amused, but for two very different reasons. “Sister! Cease this at once! Even if you love him, you can't live your life with him, oh he can life his with you, but we are immortal dear sister! Please remember that!” that killed Luna's laughter as if someone has just killed either of us in front of her, yes at this point I was sure she loved me.

“So, I am to live my life as you have? Only making friends and out living them and making more, to outlive them? Am I not allowed to find my own love? Am I not allowed to find my own happiness dear sister?” I started to open my mouth, “Moonlit, you keep your mouth closed, that is an order!” my mouth snapped closed so fast my teeth hurt, but I ignored the pain and nodded to her. “Sister I wanted to talk to you about several things later, but I see that it would be a waste of yours and my time, now let us do our job so that I can be away from you, and calm down” she said as she went right into the movements and the moon lowered Celestia moving quickly to replace it with the Sun before rounding on me.

“This is your fault isn't it!? You're poisoning her against me!?” she said frantically, oh how I wanted to say that it was in no way my fault that it was all her own doing. Her sister was no foal anymore, nor was I just some Stallion looking for a quick lay, for if I was, I have a feeling I could have asked her of that last night and it would have happened, but I'm not so I didn't. Never-the-less, I could not as Luna had ordered me to keep my mouth shut, and I would do exactly that. “What? Am I right? Is that why you don't defend yourself?” I kept I straight face, I was not going to let her get to me this time. However soon Celestia had a blue sheen around her and she was flung away from me, she didn't hit anything, as the magic put her down safely, but it was obvious to anyone watching that Luna would not have me attacked like that.

“SISTER!” said Luna angrily her wings fanned out aggressively but not wanting to see this escalate any farther I walked up to Luna and put my hand on her shoulder catching her attention and when she looked at my worried face I shook my head hoping to tell her to stop. It worked as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “Sister, do not accost my Lunar Guard ever again, or the Nightmare incident will look like child's play in comparison, and if you ever threaten Moonlit like you were again, there will only be one princess in Equestria” she said it in such a cold voice even I had shivers running down my back, she just threatened her sister! This was not good, I was coming between the two Celestial sisters and it could very well end with my death and the return of Nightmare Moon. “Come on Moonlit we are going” Luna said as she headed for the balcony and the blue sheen covered me and I flew after her, propelled by her magic...

Landing safely at the door to her room, as she had just flew through the entire castle, she grabbed me by the breastplate and dragged me in to the room before shutting the door. This was not a sultry dragging, or any other form of happy dragging, this was she was still pissed, and I most likely was her next target. However as soon as we were safe in her room her lips crashed onto mine, hard, actually harder than my first desperate kiss I gave her, and I was sure my lips were now going to be bruised. She was aggressive, hands searching for the straps to my armor as she kissed me, but this right now wasn't love, and I was going to have no part in it, pushing her away, only for her to latch herself onto me once more. I pushed her away this time using my magic to hold her, bad choice, because the next moment I felt her magic shine across her body and our minds rubbed against one another. OK maybe good choice, because now I could tell it was heat, and stress, induced so I reacted the best way I knew how, I forced my magic to start massaging her, focusing on areas of high stress. Damn I wanted to just give in, so badly, but I knew if I did, neither herself, nor myself, would be able to forgive me. The magic that she was using soon sputtered out as I hit an area of high stress tension in her muscles.

“Oh! Right there” she managed to moan out as the stress was eased out of her, I soon had her laying in her bed as I continued to use my magic to massage her, and was very careful around her wings as they were, at least for pegasus, erogenous zones, and around her horn as for us unicorn it could result in a very embarrassing arousal and magic orgasm, something, while VERY pleasurable, was actually frowned upon when not with your mate. I also stayed away from her breasts, as for Earth ponies... Well that was the erogenous zone for them. Soon though I had to stop, or risk all that work I put into calming her failing because I got too worked up, though from the look she was giving me, it would not be unwelcome. Though I knew it was probably a bad idea, I walked over and pressed my lips to hers gently and she sighed into the kiss, licking my lips begging entrance, which I denied, all I wanted was a small kiss, not another make-out session. “You are torturing me, Moonlit, and I bet you are torturing yourself” she whispered with a small smile on her lips as she punctuated each word with a kiss. Increasing any torture I may have felt by two fold, perhaps more. “Stay, you can sleep here if you want, but stay with me” she suddenly said the sudden change in demeanor confusing, as well as the change of mood, no longer was it a sensuous one, but one you would cuddle with a loved one in.

“I would love to Luna, very much so” I whispered and I kissed her gently on the lips once more before she got off of her bed and pulled back the covers and started to climb in before snapping her fingers and suddenly the room had a temporary blue sheen about it as she focused some magic about the room before it disappeared.

“That should keep out any unwanted guests while we are trying to sleep” she said and I nodded as she scooted back into her bed before beckoning me over, “Well get in, Moonlit, we don't have all day” she said and I chuckled at that. Never-the-less I did exactly as she asked, and removed my armor and climbed in the bed with her. As soon as I was in with her, she wrapped me in a hug and pressed her lips against mine once more before closing her eyes as we both slipped gently off to sleep...

Hours later I woke up feeling cold, and noticed that Luna wasn't in bed, however I did hear her shuffling around in some drawers of her dresser, feeling as if looking would violate her privacy I simply rolled over and started to fall asleep again before I felt clothes being thrown in my face.

“Get up, Moonlit, we are both needed the throne room, apparently there is something that requires both my sister's and my attention” said Luna and I groaned as I sat up and stretched, “You really are not a morning person” she joked and I laughed lightly.

“No, Luna, I told you, I prefer the night” that brought a small smile to her face.

“I suppose you do” she said with a wink before sighing, “Now you need to get dressed, as do I” at that I frowned, didn't I just have to slip on my armor. “And don't think about slipping on your armor, you are wearing the formal wear of the Lunar Guard, not the armor” I rolled my eyes, seriously it was like she could read my mind.

Slipping on the formal wear she had tossed in my face—it was sort of like the formal wear of the Solar Guard except it favored darker colors over that of the bright red and white coloring of their formal attire—and I sighed, this was not an outfit I liked, I preferred my armor due to the fact I felt exposed without it, however, she did request it, hm... She requested it, she didn't order it... I guess I was a lot more lenient about that than I thought.

“You look very handsome, Moonlit” said Luna and I blushed and gave her a bow.

“Shall I escort you to the throne room, your highness” I said with a regal voice and she chuckled before shaking her head.

“No, I do believe that would be a bad idea, as it would give the aristocracy too much to think about, I certainly do not want them to hurt their heads trying to understand why I was being escorted by a member of my guard, regardless of his stature” I chuckled at that, knowing that I did have a chance with her, if I was to acknowledge myself as my father's heir... A Knight's son courting a princess while not all that common was definitely less frowned upon than some common guard courting her. “What is so funny?” I smiled but shook my head.

“I'll tell you later” I said and she nodded slowly before she reached for the door before turning to me.

“Can you hid your armor somewhere, whilst I don't believe there is any issue with you changing in here, as far as I am concerned, I do not believe the rest of the castle will share that sentiment” I nodded at her comment and banished my armor after strapping my sword to my belt, formal attire or not, I was not going anywhere unarmed. Come then, Novel, we best be off, it would not do to keep my sister waiting.” she said with a secretive smile, one that I only just caught before it left her face.

“As you command, your highness” I said as I stepped out into the hall, noting that there was no one about as the halls were clear of any indication of people being around for the past several hours, “How do you know that your sister, Princess Celestia, needs you in the throne room?” I asked and Luna glanced at me before giggling

“Because she mentioned it a while ago before her and I got into that argument with you in the middle...” Luna said, before drifting off mid-sentence.

“I am sorry that I am causing a rift between you and your sister, Luna” I said honestly, I may not exactly like Princess Celestia, but I did not wish ill on her, still...

“No, I am sorry you are stuck in the middle, my sister needs to learn that I can think for myself, and I have the right to choose whom I am with, regardless of what she says” I shook my head at her words, such were the words I would have expected from a child, but still they did boost me with confidence. A confidence I shouldn't have held quite so tightly...

Chapter Six: Changes in fate, a War on The Horizon

Upon entering the throne room I saw several things wrong with the scene; one, Princess Celestia was glaring at us; two, several of the Lunar Guard were in-

“SISTER! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?” asked Luna as I got into a more ready stance, my sword hand resting on my blade. Celestia sneered at Luna as several Solar Guard converged on Luna. As her personal guard I leaped between her and them my gaze hard as I preformed a spell I had only successfully preformed once before, and my formal wear was replaced with my armor, the green brown leeching out of my fur at an exponential rate.

“You will stand down, or I will be forced to defend mine Princess” I said my blade at the ready

“Tell the traitor guard to stand down, sister it is time for you to accept the punishment for questioning me, dear Lulu” said Celestia and Luna gritted her teeth a hard glint in her eye.

“I take it if I ordered you to stand down, you wouldn't listen?” Luna asked me and I nodded not taking my eyes off of the Solar Guard that were slowly inching towards us, spreading out as to minimize my maximum effectiveness. “Good, ‘cause I wasn't going to, hold tight” she said and suddenly we were smoke. Not just her, and I, but all the captured Lunar Guard as well.

“LUNA! I WILL GET YOU FOR THIS! TRAITOR!!” yelled Celestia as we disappeared through the cracks in the wall...

As the cloud that was the Lunar Guard and Luna flew over Canterlot, several ponies also changed to smoke and joined the now growing cloud as we flew swiftly away. Soon though we ended at an abandoned castle, one that if my hunch was correct, was the former castle of the two sisters before Luna's decent into Nightmare Moon. The could that was all of us soon started to separate into individuals as they spilled onto the ground, the Lunar Pegasus having better luck at landing on their feet, Luna placed me down safely however as she separated from me last.

“Greetings my Lunar Guard” Luna said uncomfortably as the large number of ponies turned to her many of them bowing imminently after seeing whom it was, some however frowned at her. “I am sorry that I snatched you up from your normal lives, but a threat has come about, and we are the only ones that can set it right, and I fear my sister may have to be imprisoned to accomplish this...” said Luna and I frowned, if that were the case, why didn't she take us to the Elements? Wait... the Elements of Magic and Loyalty... They would be trouble...

“As some of you are undoubtedly aware what I am suggesting, if we fail, will be counted as treason, however if we succeed, than we will have saved the world from something worse than Nightmare Moon” I spoke up and several looked at me only for me to redirect their gaze to the Lunar Guard that had been captured not an hour before. “These Lunar Guardsponies were being arrested, for what reason, I do not know, however, Celestia then went on to threaten her sister, our princess Luna, and proceeded to call me a traitor” I said keeping a level voice.

“Why would Princess Celestia do that?” asked a member of the Lunar Guard, I had never gotten his name.

“I fear, that perhaps my sister has grown drunk with power over the years I was imprisoned.” said Luna and one of the Lunar Guard spoke up, this one different than the last

“How is that possible? Celestia welcomed you home happily, she also gave you a lot of time to get used to being back”

“I cannot say for certain, but perhaps for a time she was happy to have her sister back, at least until I started questioning her in private, recently she has been far more confrontational than I remember from my time as a foal, or even before I became Nightmare Moon” said Luna sadly as she looked at her guardsponies.

“What do you command Princess?” asked one of the guard that had been arrested by Luna's sister.

“Tell me, why you were being arrested?” asked Luna and the Guard shrugged at the question.

“With all due respect Princess, you tell me, I was only coming in to get ready for the evening shift”

“Provided you are telling the truth, then your sister, Princess, wants to remove the other sources of power before she solidifies her hold on Equestria, but with us free...” I said thinking hard.

“With us free, civil war is inevitable...” interrupted Luna in an uncomfortable voice as she realized the seriousness of the situation I swallowed hard knowing that the road before us would be a long hard battle, just to stay alive, let alone overthrow a tyrant.

“Yes, Princess” I said and she swallowed and spoke up again this time with authority befitting one of her station

“I need the fastest of the fliers and the earth ponies to report to me. Immediately.” at the command several pegasus and Earth ponies trotted up to her and bowed

“What do you ask of us, your highness?” said one of the pegasus, wait was that...

“Blue Star! What are you-?”

“Sir Novel! Be quiet!” came the harsh order from Luna, and my mouth snapped shut.

“I need you to decide amongst yourselves as to where each of you will go, but bear in mind the you should all be weary of my sister's Solar Guard, they have already branded themselves enemies to us, just as we did to them.” knowing that this, while a good plan, would be foolhardy if they led them back to the castle, I took a deep breath and spoke up directly to Luna.

“Princess, orders aside, I don't believe that this would be a very wise course of action, the Everfree may protect us from the casual passerby, but what if sending out these troops,” Luna looked as if she was about to speak up, and I pressed on, not giving her a chance, “what if by sending these troops, we invite more trouble than we can handle, such as trouble from the Solar Guard? I do know at the moment our numbers are the same, but we do not have the armors we normally would have. Granted given enough time, the other unicorns and myself can summon enough armors for the Lunar Guard, but at the moment only myself and 4 other Lunar Guard have their armors, and that is by luck rather than design” I said and Luna looked at me furious that I had interrupted her, but she did take a breath before saying anything.

“Thank you, Novel, for enlightening me to our situation, even though it is plainly obvious about those facts you mentioned” she said, albeit a lot nicer than I thought it would be.

“Be that as it may, it is my duty as a strategist, to inform you of all the available information I can” I said standing firm and Luna smiled softly

“So from my personal guard to my primary strategist is it?” she asked me in a kind voice and I nodded, knowing that I was one of the few within the Lunar Guard that took strategy during my training, “Than tell me what should I do? Nov-... No, What should I do, Moonlit?” she asked and I sighed

“I cannot tell you what to do, only give my suggestions and it is up to you to follow them or dismiss them, however, even though I did mention all those flaws, I have to agree with your original course of action, if it is to find out who will be loyal to us or loyal to Celestia. However, I would also implore you to personally go to Ponyville and talk to the Elements themselves. They hold a large amount of sway over the populous of Equestria, Also, we can NOT allow this war to wreak havoc on the celestial bodies, there must be a Pact formed with your sister, that neither side will hold the day nor night from progressing as normal” I said more so thinking aloud, but Luna was listening intently as were several of the other Lunar Guard.

“I agree, and I do believe, that even if I cannot convince the Elements to join us, that they will grant me safe passage to and from Canterlot to confer with Celestia...”

“You will NOT be going alone, Blue Star!” I hollered and Blue Star flew over, her wings slowly beating against her side as she hovered in place in front of me, “Blue Star, you will accompany Luna and myself to Ponyville, I rather have a Pegasus on hand than not”

“Sir” Blue Star said giving me a crisp salute, knowing that right now was not the time for jokes and games

“Moonlit, I understand not letting me go alone, but why must you go? Surely with you as our primary strategist, you are far too valuable to lose as well?” asked Luna and I smiled

“Even if I were so valuable, Princess, it is still my duty as your personal guard to go with you and protect you, Blue Star is honor bound to obey your orders, but I am honor bound to protect you, regardless of your orders” Luna just nodded before cupping my cheek with one hand before remembering where we were and with all the grace one could only have with over a millennium of experience of poise and, well grace, as she pulled it away smoothly as if she had meant to do that the entire time. “Princess, what do we call ourselves? After all, we cannot keep calling ourselves the Lunar Guard, not with a potential dramatic increase in members coming” and Luna shook her head in agreement

“No, we cannot, can we? No only my personal guards will carry that title, and you Moonlit shall be in charge of them, AND in charge of strategy for this possible upcoming war” said Luna, “To that end I leave the recruitment into the Lunar Guard to your discretion, You, Former Captain of the Guard! Step forward!” said Luna and an golden furred Earth pony stallion stepped forwards, “You are now the General of our ground forces, you will confer with myself and Moonlit before devoting any of our earth ponies or unicorns to an attack we have not already authorized. You will also pick a pegasus to be in charge of our air forces and an unicorn to be in charge of the unicorns, all Earth ponies final decisions fall to you, while all of the Unicorns' fall to the Unicorn of your choosing, however, the unicorn will be your second in command as you will be his or hers in the chain of command of the Unicorn”

“If it all the same, your highness, I would rather have Moonlit take that position, if you place enough trust in him to replace me as the Captain of the Guard, than he surely is good enough to stand as my equal” said the newly named General of the Earth ponies. I did not

“I cannot accept, I will have too much to focus on with-” I started to say before Luna laughed merrily

“Yes give Moonlit that position, he certainly could use the authority, but know that means you will have to confer with your second in command about any of your troop movements” Luna said laughter in her voice, I frowned, I was a strategist, may a tactician if the situation truly called for it, I was no general, nor did I want to be. Tartarus, I didn't even want to be the captain of the Guard, but Luna asked and so I shall. “Oh Moonlit, worry not, it wouldn't truly increase your work load any significant amount, after all, all that would change is that you would have direct control over the unicorns in my army” I sighed in defeat, it seemed I would be getting this position whether I wanted it or not.

“If I may, I would suggest either Regal Star or Blue Star for the general of the Pegasus” I said and my fellow general nodded before speaking up.

“We have never been formally introduced, I am Golden Sword” I nodded to him

“You already know me as Moonlit Novel” he nodded back and he and I attempted to keep from laughing at the absurdity of the situation.

“Well now that you have gotten yourselves introduced, you still need to pick the third general” said Luna annoyed at us for taking so long. I nodded as did Golden Sword—now you may be wondering why I didn't know my captain's name, the simple fact was I had been around for 3 captains to retire, for various reason, and Golden Sword being the most recent never bothered to introduce himself to the Lunar Guard, or rather never got the chance.

“I stand by my suggestions, but whomever you don't pick will be part of the Lunar Guard, I would trust those ponies with my life, and with the life of Princess Luna” I said calmly and Golden nodded before turning to the crowd of former Lunar Guard, now turned army.

“Evening Starbolt, front and center” said Golden and the pegasus in question walked up seldomly obviously unsure as to what was going on in the Earth Pony general's head, “Moonlit, I would like to ask that Evening Starbolt join the Lunar Guard as well, I have yet to meet a more loyal pegasus, with the exception of Rainbow Dash, but I do not believe he would do well in the front lines, he prefers to jump in head first more often than not.”

“I will think about it, but we need to choose a-”

“Regal Star” said Luna happily, interrupting us

“Your highness?” asked Golden Sword and Luna giggled into her hand, Goddesses I hate it when a mare is in heat...

“Regal Star will be the Air General” Golden Sword and I nodded knowing better than to disagree with her, albeit for different reasons.

“Yes, your highness” said Golden Sword and he turned to the rest of the room, “Regal Star, front and center, you are now in charge of the pegasus of our movement”

“Sir!” she said as she flew to and landed between us, “Greetings, Moonlit, Sir-”

“I am no longer, 'sir' to you now Regal. Moonlit, you, and I are all equals” said Golden Sword before turning to Luna, “Princess, I have a feeling that we should still follow your original course of action and spread out to see which towns would be loyal to us, and which towns are loyal to your sister”

“She is not my sister, Tia would not have done this, made an enemy of us all...” said Luna before she started to trail off...

Hours and many plans later, we had sent several Lunar Pegasus out to the many towns, villages, and cities, while Luna, my fellow generals, the few Lunar Guard that had been selected, and I, all headed to Ponyville, not one creature inside the Everfree attacked us as if they feared something about our group. The path we took winded left and right, through the trees, and over a few rivers and streams that we safely crossed. However we never said a word as if everyone thought that stealth was needed. Suddenly Blue Star spoke up.

“Your Highness, what are your orders in case the Elements decide to attack us?” she asked and I looked at her quietly knowing that very question had been racing around in my head for the last hour during the trek through the forest.

“Then we defend ourselves, but, do not attack first, that is an order, Moonlit” said Luna firmly and I nodded but knew that if there was an immediate threat I would deal with it as quickly as I could...

As we reached the edge of the forest/Ponyville, Luna decided that we would first visit the element of Kindness, Fluttershy...

“Fluttershy, it is I, Princess Luna, I request an audience, with you and your friends” said Luna as she knocked on the door.

“Princess I do not agree with this course of action, we should be going to the Town Hall and talking to the whole of the town, not just-” I started and Luna just gave me a look that quieted me down

“We will work our way in, and not sneak around like some thief in the night. That means we need to talk to the ponies on our way in, especially since this town knows me quite well.” said Luna and I bite back any retort, she was right of course, if the ponies here knew her personally, than it would be detrimental to 'sneak in' as she put it...

Chapter Seven: War is Inevitable; The Sundering of the Elements, and of Families

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter Eight: The Line is drawn; War is Nigh

“Princess Luna, I formally request to join you, to save Equestria, all I ask in return is that you help me save Cadence” said Shining and my jaw dropped, I mean sure I expected him to ask for help with Princess Cadence, or even to aid us, but this...

“Are you sure you want to do this? If you do my sister is sure to brand you a traitor, and if Cadence does not agree with your decision, you may be fighting to protect her, but without reward” said Luna and Shining clenched his jaw for a second.

“I would rather fight to protect her and have her hate me for it for the rest of my life, than to worry about her being killed” replied Shining Armor, all the while I remained quiet, I had my own princess to protect, and she was standing in the same room.

“Moonlit, what is your opinion?” asked Luna and I silently cursed the fact I stood up to become the main strategist.

“I think that it is highly likely that he did tell us the truth, but there is also the chance he is lying” I said before closing my eyes, “I am warning you now Shining Armor, if you ever, willingly, harm Princess Luna, or her cause, I. Will. End. You.” I said with absolute conviction, so much so Luna took a step back from me as well apparently I had worried her so I threw her a caring smile, the one you would give if you loved someone, and truly cared about their welfare.

“I understand, Moonlit, and I expect nothing less. I am not sure if you know this already or not, Princess Luna, but Moonlit here does love you.” said Shining a light smile on his lips, the kind you get when you know that you are sharing good news.

“I already know, Shining, and you fall under his command, he is in charge of the Unicorn forces of my Evening Armada, as well as my Lunar Guard” said Luna and Shining nodded not even arguing, it seemed he was truly intended to do whatever it took to save Princess Cadence.

It was harder to convince the rest of, the “Evening Armada” as Luna had come to call us, that Shining Armor was one of us now. Not that we thought it would be easy, though eventually Luna had enough and in her “Royal Canterlot Voice” commanded that Shining was one of her soldiers and would be treated as such.

The small town of Ponyville was a boon, it had enough food to feed itself and our forces all without draining its own resources, all thanks to the Apple Family Apple Orchid. Add that to the fact the town joined us so willingly we had one of the best positions in entirety of Equestria, especially since word had came in about several other cities, and towns, joining us some so willingly it was gratifying, Manehattan was one such city, apparently one Babs Seed was a very convincing filly in the city, when she heard about Luna needing the support of her city to defend them against something that apparently overtook her sister, she rounded up the young and youth of the city and convinced the adults to support her.

Unfortunately however for every city that joined us there was a city or town that didn't or a city or town that attempted to kill the scout. War was so close that tensions were already mounting from it...

Soon the dragon Spike came running up to me, holding in his hand a scroll that apparently came from Celestia.

“I got a reply!” said the young dragon and I nodded before motioning towards the town hall in which Luna had taken up for a temporary residence as she and the other generals attempted to deal with Formalities.

“This way Spike” I said and both he and I walked into the building...

“... And I say we can't do that! It would be suicide! Even if we had the troops, attacking Canterlot would-” Golden Sword quieted down as soon as he saw me, Luna glanced at me and smiled and motioned for me to come closer, “Princess I thought you didn't want him in here and that is why he was outside.”

“I was outside Golden Sword because I assumed you were dealing with formalities, not strategy” I said curtly and Luna chuckled lightly.

“I warned you, Golden Sword, that trying to form a plan without our main strategist would be a bad idea” said Regal Star and I gave her a slight bow of the head which made Golden Sword huff slightly but otherwise no response in the negative.

“I apologize, Moonlit, we had gotten so caught up in the discussion that we forgot to send someone out to get you” said Luna and I smiled shaking my head.

“It is alright, Princess, however I do have to agree with Golden Sword about attack Canterlot, while we have a lot of support, we lack the forces as of this moment to even attempt such an attack, not even the surprise factor would give us even a glimmer of a chance in victory” I said and Luna nodded sadly.

“Even with all of these Pegasus on our side?” asked Regal Star and I nodded grimly.

“We lack the armor to fight them, and only one small Pegasus village joined us, and although the majority of all the pegasus towns and cities have a large number of supporters for Luna, the majority in those settlements still hold loyalty to Celestia. Now as to why I am here, Spike, the response from Celestia” I called and the young dragon walked into the room and with a bow handed the letter to Luna who took it and started to read it. She then crumpled it up and threw it in the fire disgusted not even giving us a chance to read it for ourselves.

“My sister has declared us traitors to her new Solar Empire and now we most likely will lose a large amount of supporters for our cause” she said angrily and I sighed which caught her attention, “And she also declared that if we attempt to destroy the harmony of day and night that there will be no safe haven for us” I sighed once more, but this time in relief, she had just granted us a boon and had not realize it.

“Princess-”

“Moonlit, they already know that we are on a first name basis, as I am with most of this town, so do not feel obligated to call me by my title” she interrupted and I nodded with a small smile.

“Luna, if she has seen fit to call us traitors and to rename the Princedom of Equestria into the Solar Empire, then perhaps we should come up with a name for our movement ourselves.” I said and she looked at me with sad eyes.

“I know, Moonlit, but I fear what would happen if we did that” she said, “I fear that if we do that than we are admitting that we are traitors” I smiled sadly

“The damage is done already thanks to your sister. The only thing we can do is to embrace her title for us, as traitors, knowing that Rainbow Dash the element of Loyalty is on our side, and point this out to the naysayers” I said, Golden Sword and Regal Star nodded in agreement...

“And you want me to tell off the guys who call you a bunch of traitors?” asked Rainbow Dash, Luna nodded, “And I thought just getting ready for a fight was bad, is this going to be a fight, or just a bunch of words being thrown around, `cause Twilight is so much better at that than I am and she's on the other side” Luna smiled at that.

“Twilight may have more experience than you, but I am years more than her.” said Luna and Dash looked at her biting her lip obviously conflicted, the falling out was one thing, and it was possible that given time they could repair the rift that had formed between them. However if she did this then it was possible that she would never heal that rift, that their friendship will truly be over...

“SIR!” said a unicorn in freshly made armor, as he ran up to me, “Sir! There are SE troops heading towards the town, from the north east, about 10 hours away at full speed!” he told me and my gaze hardened, so the Solar Empire decided to attack us first, that was a bad choice as now we had a legitimate reason to fight; self-defense.

“Go gather the other generals and Princess Luna, NOW” I ordered and he gave me a quick salute before rushing off, 'So tolls the bell of war...' I thought sadly however my face remained stony as Golden Sword, Regal Star, and Luna all rushed to me, “Did the soldier inform you of what is happening?” I asked and Luna nodded as did my fellow generals. “Then I must ask you to gather the troops, it is time we had a name, and time we fought under a flag that is our own.” I said before turning to Luna and described to her the flag I was thinking of, the flag that was soon conjured into existence by the Night Princess...

Within minutes the entirety of our fighting force was rounded up and I took the stage, holding my head up high I announced Princess Luna and allowed her to take the stage. Oh no while the speech was my idea, I was in no way going to deliver it myself. Not through cowardice, no, rather due to the fact it would be so much more powerful coming from Luna's lips rather than my own.

“My sister has decided to throw the first salvo at us, by sending troops here, to Ponyville. I do not doubt she is sending more elsewhere, planning on rooting out our influence before we have too many supporters for her to quell. What she does not understand is that we are now an idea, and an idea cannot be destroyed. The Darkness comforts us, the shadows protects us. We strike from the darkened cloak of night, but think not we lack the courage to stand in the light. We are the New Lunar Republic, Pride of the Evening Armada! And we will not be destroyed! FOR THE REPUBLIC!” she shouted and the response was instant, every single soldier there cheered, and shouted back

“For the Republic! For the NLR!” And so began the terrible march, the march that led us to a war that nearly destroyed us all... 'The March of The Dark Flags...'

Author's Note

OK so a short chapter, but this is because I am hitting a point where I have trouble describing things, I have never done well in combat scenes, with the exception of a few. Also I would like to give a shout out to Arkane on youtube for giving me permission to use part of his video in this

Chapter Nine: Of War and Shadows

I know I should tell you of the blow by blow of the first battle between Luna's NLR and the Solar Empire, but suffice it to say, it was a blood bath, and they did throw the first volley, we had sent in a parley, but they didn't return to us, alive. So with our new flag raised and a grim battle ahead our forces marched forwards.

“Swords and Shields at the ready ponies! These traitors have no respect for the rules of war! Archers towards the back!” shouted Golden Sword as he drew his sword, a hard glint in his eyes, apparently the Solar Empire forces had committed a horrible taboo in his eyes.

“Pegasus! To the air! To the air! Protect Luna's ground forces from the enemy fliers!” shouted Regal Star as she and her pegasus took off and soon met a Solar Empire Pegasus in midair and the battle was joined.

“FORWARDS! These dishonorable cretins have sullied the name in which they fight!” said Luna her gaze as hard as diamonds, but at the moment nowhere near as beautiful. Oh don't get me wrong they were still beautiful, but I have never seen fury to ever be beautiful, even righteous fury.

“Unicorns at the ready! Healers do your duty! Spellswords watch their backs! Let none get to the healers!” I said a sword in my hand, and sad look in my eyes. The once peaceful princedom of Equestria was now torn in two...

300 dead, 222 critically wounded, 15 walking wounded, and 463 strong. Our enemy? 700 dead, 200 critically wounded and 100 walking wounded, all survivors now prisoners of the NLR... Statistically speaking it was a clear victory, but for the lives lost it did not matter, not anymore. Luna had been attacked quite often, and according to my fellow officers gave me a title, one I would have wished never to have, “Moonlit Massacre” Any pony that rose their blade to Luna, if she didn't get to them first, was cut down relentlessly, and from what one of them said, the look in my eyes was one of methodical precision. And looking at the bodies of the ones I had killed, I swallowed hard knowing that I was a killer. Oh I knew that I was doing my duty, that I was protecting the pony I love, that if I hadn't there was a chance that Luna would have died in this the first battle of the NLR...

Soon we were receiving reports from the other NLR loyal cities and towns, they had been attacked as well, but all had managed to scrape through with minimal losses, the exception was Fillydelphia which had only declared itself loyal to the NLR not a scant 2 hours before the attack and had no opportunity to build up a defense. They did however win the day but they needed aid, aid that several of the other towns were more than willing to send, in the form of food, medical, and soldiers. All of this news, while grim in the fact that we were attacked on all fronts, was uplifting, the NLR had won the day, and had secured it's place in history, the first successful secession movement to actually work, if one were to look at a map of Equestria one would see that the line between NLR and what was now the Solar Empire, was a clear 50/50 split down the middle.

“Seriously dude, you need to stop looking at those bodies, you're giving me the creeps” said Rainbow Dash causing me to look up harshly

“I killed these ponies! All I wanted to do was protect Luna, and it cost these ponies their lives, and yet, I don't care! Tell me, is that right? That I should place the life of one pony over the life of another?” I exclaimed and Rainbow Dash went wide eyed and took a look at the bodies for herself before whistling

“Short quick deliberate strokes, not one wasted, not bad” she said and I cringed, she noticed, “Oh come on, Luna said you are supposed to be her main strategist, and you haven't even looked at the wounds? Not very analytical of you. Look, each stroke killed them fast and without much pain. Man, if you were able to do this in the heat of battle, I shudder to think what you could do one on one”

“We aren't trying to make killers out of our ponies though...” I said halfheartedly, knowing that that was exactly what we were trying to do, not because we wanted to, but because we needed to. This was not going to be the last battle we fight. “Come to think of it, how would you know how to judge these?” I asked her looking a little skeptic and she chuckled.

“I am the Wonderbolt's biggest fan, well I guess I can give up my dream of joining them, but still I always knew that they were a part of the Equestrian Pegasus Fighting Force, So it would make sense for me to study a bit on the combat aspect of my idols” said Rainbow Dash surprising me with her in depth thought and a smile bloomed onto my face.

“Maybe, but you probably could still be a `bolt, excuse me, I need to go talk with Luna” I said as I walked away from the battlefield, this time with higher spirits than when I walked onto it. This would be a long war, and many ponies may lose their way, but so long as I kept my eyes locked on my goal, I will never be swayed from my duty to protect Luna, and maybe I will someday be in a real relationship with her. However right now, I had to talk to Regal Star and Luna about forming an elite fighting force, one directly under the command of Princess Luna, one that played off the fear of her time as Nightmare Moon, The Shadowbolts, and if I had my way, Rainbow Dash was going to be the officer in command...

“Why?” asked Regal Star looking at me sternly, “Why should I give up command of some of my best Pegasus, just to please some celebrity” I frowned, this wasn't about her celebrity status, and she knew it.

“Are you serious, Regal Star? I mean really? Rainbow Dash has always been called one of the best fliers long before she became a celebrity, She also was one of the Wonderbolt's biggest fans, which means that she would know at least a little about their flying style” I said and Regal Star frowned back at me either not buying it, or didn't like it.

“What is wrong Regal Star? Already drunk on command?” asked Luna harshly and Regal Star went wide-eyed as she shook her head surprised at the accusation

“Luna, I am sure that is not reason” I said a frown on my face.

“Then she can explain to me why, when you did, from a logical standpoint, gave a reasonable suggestion”

“Because it isn't reasonable, all she has done is say she supports us, that doesn't mean that she will fight the Wonderbolts” said Regal Star Luna frowned

“You doubt my loyalty?” asked Rainbow Dash as she stalked up hanging her head, but if the rush of fear I got from looking at her was right, she was far from ashamed, no... She was pissed. “If Luna asks me too, I will fight, I don't want to, but damn it, I will!” she said surprising me and Luna with her choice of words.

“You say that now, but what about when you are faced with fighting your idols in open combat? Would you be able to meet them blow for blow?” asked Regal Star snidely and Rainbow snorted

“I will do better, I will make them pay for every inch they lose, and double for whatever they gain” said Rainbow fiercely and I swallowed, knowing that she may very well have to prove that soon enough.

“It is decided, Regal Star, between you and Rainbow Dash you will choose the best of your pegasus and have them begin training with her in command, or I will have you stripped of command. During war there is no diplomacy in the military, there is a dictatorship, and failure to obey will cost you dearly” said Luna her gaze hard and unforgiving, like the blackness of space. I swallowed hard at her declaration towards my fellow general but said nothing. Even as she and Rainbow Dash headed off towards the Pegasus encampment...

Soon after night fall, which I got to watch Luna preform once more, much to my delight, I watched our quickly replenishing troops... Yes troops... No longer were they just simple guards that were mostly ceremonial, but battle hardened soldiers. I noticed a shock of white fur in the middle of the encampment, it was Rarity, she was taking measurements of several of the officers. Frowning, I walked up to her only for her to put her hoof up and tell me to wait my turn, I narrowed my eyes.

“Excuse me, Ms. Rarity, but what exactly are you doing?” I asked her and she looked up, not really seeing me at first

“Are you blind I am taking measurements for the new formal uniforms for the... Oh my! I'm sorry General Novel. I did not see you there! Princess Luna asked me to make some formal wear for her forces, and I figured that while I did have just the thing for the common soldier, not that there is any lack in quality between the two, I did not think that an officer should be wearing the same dress uniform as say an enlisted pony” said Rarity I nodded slowly, not really understanding the thought process going on in the fashionista's head, but never-the-less, if Luna already approved it, I could say nothing against it.

“Just please be a little more forgiving, Ms. Rarity, a lot of these soldiers, both enlisted and officer alike have seen war today, and it is not a pretty site, as I am sure you have not been to the battlefield, I would suggest not going there, leave that for the families of the fallen and for the combat engineers” I said, as I looked towards the said battlefield, even from here you could still see the red stained ground, though that was thankfully quickly disappearing. The bodies however, remained and missives were sent to Canterlot granting safe passage to all family members of the fallen, they would be allowed to collect the bodies, unmolested, provided they went directly from the train station to the battlefield...

Weeks had passed since The March of The Dark Flags, Rainbow Dash had actually improved the fliers whom flew with her, even if they were not a part of her Shadowbolts and Regal Star had also warmed up to her, though it had come to blows before that. Surprisingly a letter show up on Luna's door, there was no addresser on it, nor was it signed, but it held information that we soon confirmed to be truthful, the Solar Empire was moving on Skyville, the one Pegasus town that had joined us. It was time for Rainbow to prove her worth.

“Yes, Princess?” said Rainbow as she entered the newly rebuilt war room of the Castle of the two Pony sisters.

“Rainbow, I want you to take your Shadowbolts and fly hard and fast to Skyville, we have just confirmed that the Wonderbolts as well as several wings of Solar Empire pegasus are enroute to attack it.” said Regal Star before continuing, “I will be sending twelve wings of our own to accompany you to aid in the town's defense, with Morning Dew in command of those wings, following your leadership” Rainbow looked confused.

“Rainbow Dash, you are in command of the forces we are sending to aid Skyville, but after defending her we want you to try and capture Dewdrop, if you do not think that you will be able to, let us know now and we will just worry about protecting Skyville” said Luna, I kept quiet as I attempted to formulate a plan that may aid the Shadowbolts in taking Dewdrop. There was no question that they would succeed in defending Skyville, the small town had grown with Pegasus that fled the Solar Empire that was beginning to grow tyrannical, as proven by the poster that was laying on my desk in the back of the war room.

“Who is in command of the troops there in Skyville?” asked Rainbow, she had gotten a crash course in military practice over the last few weeks, and she learned that she didn't want to step on anypony’s toes.

“They do not have an actual military, however they have a militia that is under the command of one Argent Wind, a former Lunar Guardspony before all this began” I replied speaking up for the first time.

“How many strong?”

“About 20 wings worth, but not trained in combat, even though they already had face it already so they have proven themselves” said Luna and Rainbow nodded before bowing to Luna.

“By your leave princess?” she asked and Luna chuckled and waved her off

“Go and be save, may the night keep you safe” said Luna

“And may the shadows watch over you” replied Rainbow. It was strange but a new dialect was already forming for the NLR different from the Solar Empire which still claimed to be fighting for Harmony... Yeah Harmony, there had been an uneasy harmony for the last several weeks, not one report of an attack, and now this...

“Hold Rainbow” I said walking up to her

“Yeah, Moonlit?” she asked and I chuckled, before my face grew serious.

“If you want I can send a regiment of healers and Spellswords to watch your backs, they may not be able to do much, in a fight over a Pegasus city, but at least they can help keep casualties down to a minimum” I said and Rainbow nodded

“I would like that, I think I can keep a wing of my Shadowbolts guarding them too so that there are no surprises from the Wonderbolts” I nodded

“Be safe, and try to keep as many of your troops alive as you can”

“Well duh!” she said before heading out of the tent, me following after her at least until we were out of the tent than I turned towards the Mage tower of the castle, and rounded up the regiment I just promised...

Did I mention I hate being on the sidelines? There was nothing to do in this case, no more news from any source suggested an attack elsewhere except Skyville. I felt as if this was going to be the most stressful wait ever, until that night, Luna and I were having our usual talk when I suddenly felt an oppressive atmosphere and a gut feeling that made me push her out of the way of a crossbow bolt, one that nearly hit me as well.

“Stupid move unicorn, now I have to kill you both slowly” said a voice I couldn't identify but there was something sinister about it, I drew my sword. “Ah! Now I recognize you! You are this Moonlit Massacre I've heard about, I love the work you did on those ponies”

“Perhaps you'd like a firsthand demonstration!” I said as I kept listening for anything that would give away its position

“Come you fiend, have you no honor? Attacking without a formal declaration?” said Luna and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes

“Ah yes, Princess Luna, you should have never came back here, this is our forest and our castle, you should have just left well enough alone”

“You speak from the shadows, forgetting that I am a Lunar Guard!” I exclaimed before I extended my senses into the shadows via the shadow tendrils I had just then summoned.

“Foolish colt, do you really think that you can find us so easily? We have kept ourselves hidden from your own sister, Princess Luna, well, until it was far too late for her to stop us, now I give you this little warning, surrender, if you do I will make the deaths of you and all of your little ponies so much more painless, or don't, either way, you and your sister will fall and we will rule once more”

“The New Lunar Republic will never fall, demon!” said Luna angrily and there was a sharp cruel laugh.

“Foolish Princess, who do you think started this war?” and with that the oppressive atmosphere was gone.

“This does not bode well” said Luna I shook my head in agreement, no it did not...

Author's Note

Well we get our first 'look' persay at the true villains of the tale :)

No the story is not nearing completion, but sometimes you do get a glimmer of your true enemy before you have to actually fight them

Chapter Ten: The Time of Old is Over

The next few hours were hectic as my unicorns searched for anything out of the ordinary and the Earth Pony soldiers stood ready to fight as did the Pegasus. Meanwhile Golden Sword, Regal Star, Luna, and I talked in private.

“Are you sure that is what it meant? Perhaps it was just trying to make you doubt yourself” said Golden Sword Regal Star nodding in agreement

“No, I had a feeling my sister was not well just before this whole thing started, and I ignored it.” Luna said sadly shaking her head, “This creature was the cause of all of this, and now we are at war, when we could be working together...”

“Are you suggesting we surrender?” asked Regal Star bluntly and the look of disgust obvious on Luna's face answered the question for her

“NO! For everything to have happened to easily, this was bound to have happened eventually. No we will remain independent from the Solar Empire, but we must try to get my sister to see reason” said Luna her voice firm as always when she made a decision

“And if we cannot?” I asked calmly which made Luna look at me in surprise, but seeing that I only wanted to know what the plan was in case we failed, she just sighed.

“Then we continue fighting, but we will make my sister see reason” she said before she motioned for us to leave her, but stopped me from leaving. “Moonlit, stay... I... I need someone near tonight, after what happened, and this news we received I do not wish to be alone” I smiled at her kindly.

“As you wish, Luna” I replied...

The next morning saw me and Luna laying in bed, this time however it was more romantic than the last time we had attempted this, we did both awaken, but neither of us wished to leave the bed just yet, preferring to snuggle up with each other. Kisses were exchanged between the two of us as we held each other close. Last night was still just us holding each other until we fell asleep, but neither of us cared. All we wanted was in the bed with us, the other person, and then she said something...

“Moonlit, why do you always care for me? I would have thought by now you would have moved on” I stiffened at the comment and she noticed, “I am not complaining, it is just that normally by now a pony would have realized all they felt for me was a crush, I do not think anypony can love someone who is immortal, not like that, despite how much I wish otherwise” With that I pressed my lips to hers silencing any further comment, and her lips molded to mine, as her hands ran themselves through my short red hair. I couldn't listen to anymore negativity, not from her, I was going to give her a reason to smile, come Tartarus or High waters. Though like all good things, even that kiss came to an end, when the need to breath became more and more prevalent, breaking the kiss, I gasped before saying something, something that made her stiffen.

“I love you, I know I love you, this is no crush, because I know, no crush could last as long as this feeling I have for you has, this need to be beside you through the darkest moments of your life, and to laugh with you during the brightest of your moments. I know you can never spend your life with me, but I want to spend my life with you, to give you a bright point to look back upon and know that you are forever loved. I will never forsake you, and nothing will ever make me do so” she stiffened in my arms, her eyes pinpricks for a moment. Moments past and I was worried that I said something wrong, and started to pull away in sadness, when her hands grabbed me tightly and held me there.

“Tell me that you are joking, tell me that you are lying, Moonlit, please, I do not think I can take another heartbreak when you die if we do grow any closer together, just tell me that you are lying, I beg you” she said her voice shaking and breaking every few word, and tears welled up in her eyes, this whole time we laid there and I finally answered her, with the only answer I could, the only answer my heart would let me answer with, despite her misgivings, however legitimate.

“No” I said in a tone of finality, “I can't lie to you like that... Neither of us would be able to forgive each other if I did that” Luna started to cry into my chest, which surprised me.

“Wh-what am I-I doing? F-falling in love while the world begins to fall apart?” she cried her body shaking with sobs, “All these l-lives lost... An-and for what? Someone's entertainment?!” she cried louder and I just laid there holding her, not letting her go. Even as she started to push away weakly.

“There is nothing wrong with falling in love” I whispered still holding her, knowing that she needed to hear it. “If there was, than why would anyone fall in love?” I asked rhetorically before kissing her the top of her head, her horn laying above my neck. We continued to lay there for about an hour with her sobbing every now and then. Soon though she gently pushed me away and this time I let her as she climbed out of bed and grabbing a change of clothes went behind the partition. She got dressed and left the room without speaking to me, even going so far as to not even look at me. What did I do? I mean, yes, I told her I loved her, and that I always will... So why was she upset?

'Why? I could have sworn that all he had for me was a crush! How could he love me? How can anyone love me like that? I tried to kill the world! All out of jealousy over my sister's day!' I thought as I left Moonlit in the room I refused to look at him, or even speak to him. Knowing that if I did I would climb back into that bed with him and hold him, and kiss him and not want to leave until this war was over. He didn't know but there had been several attacks, small skirmishes along the borders but each death hit me like a sledgehammer, and each death was my fault. I lead them to this war, and I would be the one to lead them out of it, one way or another.

“Princess! More reports for you” said a Pegasus messenger and I smiled sadly as I took them and thanked the messenger, “For the New Lunar Republic” he said with a genuine smile as if he didn't know about the deaths that were happening because of this movement, this war, this ideology...

I got out of the bed even more confused than usual at Luna's reactions to me this morning than ever before, but never-the-less I got dressed and headed out and saw Luna in the corridor, absorbed in what looked like combat reports, frowning I walked up to her and turned her to face me.

“Luna, talk to me” I kept my voice soft and reassuring, “What's wrong?” I asked her noticing that she seemed to be in another world until I shocked her out of it.

“This war... Moonlit... I... I'm sorry but I had been hiding the battle reports from you, there...” I silenced her with a peck on the lips, oh yes I was upset that she hid this from me, how can I do my job if I don't know what happens around me? But how could I not forgive her? “How can you love someone like me? I'm broken goods at best...” It was at this point I realized how deeply her betrayal of her sister cut her, and instead of correcting her, instead of fighting her, I simply kissed her again, pouring all my love for her into it, pulling away I pulled her into a hug and whispered into her ear

“I love everything about you, I love how you are willing to try to protect us even though you don't have to. I love how you are putting your subjects ahead of that of your own family, even though it is killing you on the inside. I love how you are there for the wounded when they take their last breaths, I love how you don't let any of this harden your heart, when any lesser pony would have become heartless by now. I love how you are watching yourself, so that you do not make the same mistakes you did all those centuries ago, the mistakes you are fighting to keep our sister from making even at the cost of the Princedom that was once all of our homes. I love that you let this get to you, instead of becoming callus and unfeeling. So no you are not broken, you are a pony, and no one ever said we are perfect, so why beat yourself up for not being such?” I asked punctuating each sentence with a kiss to her neck while I stood there holding her, there in the middle of the corridor, where anyone could walk in and see us, but neither of us cared. All that mattered was each other...

We walked down the corridor, this time together, Luna wasn't all better, she still looked like someone just beat her puppy, but now she was stronger as we walked into the war room she took her place, her face the picture of grim confidence.

“We are at war, we already know this, but now is the time to stop defending, it is time to take the war to the Solar Empire. General Golden Sword, I know our troops here are spread thin, but I need you to send runners to every loyal city far behind the front lines, and inform them we need troops” said Luna Golden Sword nodded, “Regal Star, I want you and your forces to start harassing Solar Empire troop camps and garrisons” Regal Star nodded as well a little put off by the comment, this was far more aggressive than they had been. “Moonlit, I need you to gather any and all scientists, it is time for this stagnation that began under my sister's rule to end, it is time to charge forwards in the sciences” I nodded not understanding where all of this was going, “I know that for the past few months I have been increasingly quiet when I should have been voicing my opinions and giving orders, but I am now, so it is time to show my sister that the New Lunar Republic is here to stay, and if she truly wants to fight us, we shall give as good as we get! Regal Star, when you have a moment, send your fastest Pegasus to Skyville and tell Rainbow she is to abort the attack on Dewdrop, if it is not already in progress, and return here as fast as she can get her forces, the 12 wings are to remain, but the Shadowbolts are needed here” Regal Star nodded.

“Yes your highness”

“Now all of you go, you too Moonlit, I want this war done, I want to look my sister in the face and tell her that she fell, that it was my turn to pick her up off the ground, as she never did with me” said Luna and we all nodded and went our separate ways...

I stood there at the head of the war room's table, trying to keep from shaking, unbidden memories of my brief attempt at taking over Equestria via the celestial bodies flooded into my head, as I remembered the unbridled hatred that I had felt for the ponies that slept through my beautiful night, and how Celestia could have stopped it oh so long ago, not just ignored it and let that hatred fester and grow, and how I would NOT let that happen to my sister, she may have failed me, but I would not fail her, even if I had to put her on her flank to save her from herself, but no more would there be a United Equestria princedom, no, she chose her title, and I chose mine, I would from now on be known as Consul Luna, leader of the New Lunar Republic, nothing else, 'well maybe something else' I thought as my mind turned to Moonlit, 'An Alicorn is born when a pony does something that had never been done before... So that means perhaps we spend our lives together forever' I shook those thoughts out my head, right now I needed to focus on this war and I would make sure that it would be one for the history books, one where the underdog came out on top, and extended the hand of mercy, not the poison of hatred.

I got up and went into the cabinets in the room and pulled out a scroll and some ink, it was time I showed that me being royalty was not just for show, it was time for me to write my last royal decree, it was time to formally recognize the Republic as just that, a Republic, not a monarchy.

I was surprised by Luna's orders that day, but I obeyed them willingly, if she wanted to have the learned men researching technology than research technology they would. And research they did, I had never seen so much in the way of science during the peaceful reign of the diarchy, but now it seemed new technology was always just a step or two away from being discovered, no longer was it outside the realm of reason for a pegasus to carry a melee weapon and a long range weapon, the new metals discovered were stronger and lighter than before. No longer did our ground forces have to carry everything themselves, there were now carriages that could move themselves, the machine that moved them however where huge and would be useless in the battlefield, but it meant that now our forces would be fresher than before and ready for combat sooner. There was now hand held cannons as well, they did have the same tendency to misfire but they also had a better chance to cause damage to our enemy. Our medical field also benefited, we now had machines that could do the separation process in far less time which meant that we would have to wait for results, and so much more in all fields of science.

“I read your report Moonlit, please tell the researchers I am proud of them” said Luna and I nodded smiling. Ever since she gave her last royal decree, naming herself Consul of the New Lunar Republic, and completely renouncing the old government that had long since been abolished, a senate was formed, but for the most part the power still resided in Luna's position, the reasoning the senate gave was that we were at war, that this was not the time for political squabbles, that now was the time to band together and rid ourselves of an enemy. No one could tell you how proud we, that is the Generals and Luna and I, all were to hear that, we had no time to worry about the political mess that was sure to follow after this war, but as sure as I was alive, we would make it through and we would be all the stronger for it, it was time that the New Lunar Republic made it's stand. Rainbow Dash received the message before she ordered the attack on Dewdrop and managed to return to Ponyville with her Shadowbolts without much issue not a few days ago. Now was the time to show the world, now was the time to them we could stand for ourselves. That the New Lunar Republic was a nation all its own...

Author's Note

So we see something that we haven't seen in this story before, Luna's POV. I plan to do this more often as the story progresses, and maybe a look into the larger enemy later on. leave your thoughts; on the chapter and the story so far below. Remember; Keep calm, and Brony on!

Chapter Eleven: The Multi-facet of War

“PREPARE THE SECOND VOLLEY!” yelled the tactician as they assaulted Cloudsdale the hand cannons coming in handy for the assault on the city made of clouds. Rainbow Dash watched in sadness and the city that was once her home when she was young was now being assaulted, they foolishly thought that The NLR was just going to sit there and take every attack launched at them. The foolishly believed that because they lived in the clouds they were safe...

“HOW DARE YOU!?” shouted a Wonderbolt as he flew at the pegasus that were attacking Cloudsdale only to be tackled by another pegasus that was wearing a uniform similar to his own, only it wasn't blue and yellow, it was purple and black, it was a Shadowbolt, and the two traded blows as another Shadowbolt flew right over them, a rainbow trailing behind her, showing it to be Rainbow Dash, the “Loyal Traitor” as she was called, as her own Element seemed to still claim her as its own, glowing brightly in the vault of Canterlot. Rainbow flew straight into Spitfire engaging her before the yellow mare could finish off one of the enlisted pegasus under Regal Star's command...

“Not on my watch Spitfire!” she had said as the two continued their fight from Skyville...

“FORWARD MARCH!” shouted Golden Sword, his Earth pony forces, supplemented with Unicorn forces from Moonlit's Command marched towards Appleloosa, cannons being wheeled into position and swords being drawn and armors clanking against itself and the troops all sharing the same glare, the Appleloosains attacked not a fortnight ago and now it was time they paid...

“Come my little ponies, quiet now, quiet now. We must get into Canterlot without a noise.” said Luna as we climbed through the sewers our armors dry and packed away in our packs as we climbed through the sludge. The smell was most foul, the combination of all the waste in Canterlot converging at this one point...

“Perhaps they did not get the message, my brother?” said a voice that caused the room to grow cold where the voice had taken up residence, the lights in the room pulsed in time with what could be called a heartbeat.

“Or perhaps, they do not care, dear brother” said another the shadows of the room swirling around and around, the same with the light in the room.

“Should we correct them, brother?” asked the first voice and the second laughed, it laughed a terrible laugh...

“Yes, let's, dear brother, let us show them exactly what they have done, damning themselves to us and our rule, pity we cannot release Discord on them though” said the second the first voice “hmm’ed

“And why can we not?” asked the first voice, and the second chuckled

“Even divided as they are, they would unite under one banner to destroy Discord, but against us? They have no clue who we are, my dear brother” said the second voice, and then a unicorn had the unfortunate fate of walking into the room as the two voices were talking.

“H-he-hello?” the unicorn stuttered and the two voices regarded the unicorn for a moment, “I-I her-heard v-voices in h-here. I-is th-there an-anyp-pony th-there?” the two voices chuckled darkly

“Why, no, there isn't anypony in here, but you are welcome to meet your end, you nosy little vermin” said the second voice and then shadows wrapped around the unicorn's body and then forced it's mouth open, and the unicorn started to scream only for the light to force its way down it's throat, silencing it and burn its way through the poor pony's body and kill it, but only after causing the most pain it could cause.

“Good riddance, to pathetic garbage” said the first voice and then they both laughed darkly before the room darkened the light disappearing out the door, but it was nowhere near as dark as the shadows had been when the light had been there

Dark... Just as the night should be... My forces always trained in the dark, feeling that it was where they belonged, as members of the Evening Armada, I am sure they are right. However here in this darkness, I feel uneasy, me, the Princess of-No the Consul of the New Lunar Republic, it would be hard to get over calling myself a princess, and I knew that something was wrong especially when I saw two pony shaped lights in the sewer. Lights that moved just like they were alive, and just as soon as I saw them move I felt a burning pain on my side and I looked down and saw I now had a cauterized wound on my side I looked back at the shapes and noticed something that escaped my sights the first time around, where eyes would be I saw two pits of eternal darkness, and their hands were claws not hands.

“To arms!” said Moonlit, his armor appearing on him in a flash before he attacked the first light creature yes it had to be alive as it moved with a life of its own dodging Moonlit's strikes with little effort, the other unicorns that came with us quickly equipping their armor and drew their blades and attacked the creature of light...

Meanwhile in the Castle of Canterlot two pony shaped shadows, with eyes that burned brighter than the sun crept through the corridors and soon found their way into what was Celestia's room and before they could attack the shape in the bed a blast of light hit them square in the chest making them disappear.

“If my sister wants to send assassins to attack me in my own bed, then she will pay the price” said Celestia as Twilight climbed out of Celestia's bed, both of them missing something glaringly obvious.

“Did I do alright Princess?” she asked Celestia and the alicorn just gave Twilight a small smile and nuzzled the young unicorn gently, at least she hadn't betrayed her...

“It's Empress, my dear student. I am a princess no longer, if my sister wishes to tear our kingdom apart than I will reform it under a new banner” said Celestia and Twilight nodded.

“Yes Empress” said Twilight before bowing which caused Celestia's heart to clench, but this was the price of war, everything changes, and not always in a way you prefer...

Applejack paced around the room, she was placed in charge of the castle while Luna and the generals were away and she did not like it one bit, she would have preferred that Mayor Mare had been given that authority, but Princ-Consul Luna stated quite plainly that the mayor would be too busy with other tasks to see to the castle, which was now under the complete ownership of Consul Luna, stating in her final Royal decree that as she alone in the Republic knew all of its traps, twists and turns, she alone could live there safely...

“Pinkie! Your hair looks simply dreadful! What happened to it? What happened to its curls?” said Rarity as she visited the young mare, gone was her bright fur and bouncy hair, she looked as if someone had sapped the life out of her and her eyes they looked distant and crazed at the same time.

“Oh I'm fine” said Pinkie with a slight twitch as she finished the sentence, “I just have been a little... BUSY!” she continued

“If you're sure, Pinkie...” said Rarity as she backed out of the Sugercube Corner living quarters

“Fluttershy, we need your help getting some of the local animals to go deeper into the Everfree, there is-”

“No! I won't help you kill anypony! I don't care under what flag you fly” said a very angry voice

“Stand back, Moonlit, they only surprised me, I will remove them from existence” I said as I shot a blast of shadow magic into their chests

“Luna, are you alright?” I asked her and she nodded a frown on her face, “What is wrong?” I asked and she motioned to the spot where those creatures once stood.

“I have not seen their ilk for a long time, the last time I saw them was during Discord's reign, but even he did not like them, so I know that they were not allied with him, at least not willingly” she said and I went wide-eyed, perhaps were these creatures of the same ilk as the voice that tried to kill us a several days ago? I shook my head clear of those thoughts.

“Luna-Consul, we need to continue on” I said before sighing hard remembering our mission, we needed to get in and talk with Celestia, hopefully this would go off without a hitch, something I knew would not happen. We were sneaking our way to the leader of an enemy nation and expected to be able to walk right out the front gates right after? How stupid could we be? But Luna ordered this plan drawn up and so I did it and now it was up to me and the fates to somehow see us through this and somehow even more miraculously not get Luna captured...

Author's Note

OK So this is a SHORT chapter and I apologize for that, but it could not be helped in this case, there was nothing more I could do in this chapter without ruining the next. So with that in mind please tell me what you think

Chapter Twelve: The End of a Short War

Author's Note

Chapter Eleven has been changed slightly, but also here you are the final Chapter, a lot sooner than I thought it. However, I hope you enjoyed the ride :twilightsmile:

Because it ain't over yet! :twilightsheepish:

Chapter Twelve: The End of a Short War

“Do not kill them” I whispered to the two unicorn that we brought with us, “Just make them sleep, the less death we create on our way to the target, the more likely we will make it out of here alive” I said and they nodded silently as I turned to Luna and sighed quietly, “Consul, this is going to be far from an easy mission, I still think we should have worked our way to Canterlot through the battlefield, it would have taken longer, but at least then we wouldn't be sneaking around and tempting fate”

“If you wish to stop tempting fate, then quiet yourself, Moonlit, we cannot afford to alert the Solar Guard to our presence” said Luna annoyed at me for my comment...

“So the 'Loyal Traitor' shows herself! Come then traitor! You call yourself the best, let us see you prove it!” said Spitfire trying to goad Rainbow Dash into attacking her, but all she succeeded in doing was making the blue mare smirk

“I was good enough to fly circles around you and the rest of the Wonderbolt in the battle for Skyville, slowpoke” Rainbow shot back before drawing a Calvary sword and centered herself so she would not lose control of her flight in the middle of the fight. Spitfire sneered at her as she drew a short straight blade and readied herself as well...

“Steady! Steady! FIRE!!” shouted Golden Sword and the cannons let loose a roar of thunder as they rained down fire and death upon the small desert town, alerting them to the presence of the NLR troops whom were attacking under the cover of night, their eyes far more accustom to the lesser light than their Solar Empire cousins. After the first cannon volley, Golden Sword stood straighter and with a yell sounded the charge into the suddenly alert town, sweeping in and cutting down any meager resistance the town offered in their shock. “I demand your immediate surrender” said Golden Sword as he stood in front of the Solar Empire troop commander in charge of the forces in Appleloosa.

“Never! You traitors have no honor! You betrayed the rightful ruler and sent us into this war” said the commander and Golden Sword shook his head but turned to his troops

“Capture any, and all, Solar Empire troops and lock them up in the stockade, and troops that surrender are to be given full quarter, is that understood soldiers?” asked Golden Sword, and his troops grumbled but nodded knowing better than to outright voice their discontent with the General's orders, or to disobey them, the last one to disobey his orders had been locked in Solitary for a week, and was only released because the Consul ordered it.

Their blades crossed several times. However Spitfire was the one with more cuts than Rainbow Dash, as it was soon revealed, as she was wearing a lightweight mail armor under her uniform.

“Did'ya really think we were going to stay technologically frozen, Spitfire?” asked Rainbow as she saw the shocked look on Spitfire's face which served to change that look of shock into one of anger as she launched herself into another bout with the lead Shadowbolt

We were getting closer to my sister's bedchambers when two more of those creatures showed up and attacked us, and from the sounds coming from my sister's room we were not the only ones fighting.

“Get in there you two, defend my sister, these creatures are a danger to both sides!” I ordered Moonlit not move away but the two unicorns we had brought with us burs through the door only for tendrils of shadow to wrap around their necks and pull them in so sharply we all heard the necks snap and I found myself wishing that they had died as there was no cure for a broken spinal cord, even if we were already working on it.

“Consul, I need you to take care of these two, and we can worry about our fallen afterwards, we still need to talk to your sister” said Moonlit, how could he be so callus I thought but when I looked at him I saw that he was at that moment fighting for his life his shadow magicks barely holding these creatures of light back...

“Empress! Those were two of Luna's soldiers!” said Twilight as she shot a spell of light at the two shadow creatures that were advancing towards them, “Why would these creatures attack their allies?” she asked

“I do not-wait...” said Celestia as she forced the sun to rise and the moon to set in a large burst of magic, in which the shadow creatures seemed to scream in pain as they smoked in the sunlight. “Im-impossible! Twilight! See to those soldiers! We need to find out what had happened” said Celestia and just as she said that Luna came bursting into the room ready to fight, but it seemed she did not see her target and relaxed visibly.

“Hello Sister”

Blades crossed again and again and Spitfire growled angrily again, as Rainbow continued to fly circles around her.

“Just give up, after all you are the ranking officer here, all it would take for this to stop is for you to surrender” said Rainbow Spitfire just a glob of blood filled saliva at Rainbow Dash.

“I will never surrender, not to a traitor!” said Spitfire angrily, and all at once Rainbow's expression changed, gone was the smirk, gone was the mercy, all that remained was absolute hatred.

“I am sorry to hear that, I hope you find your way to Elysium” said the despondent Rainbow Dash as she was about to swing her sword and remove the head from Spitfire when the call for retreat was heard, and Rainbow looked around and saw that while she had been fighting Spitfire the NLR had pushed the rest of the SE pegasus out of Cloudsdale. This was all it took for Dash to center herself and look at Spitfire, “Go, you lost this fight, but if you attempt to keep fighting you will lose more than the city”

“Hello Sister” said Luna greeting her sister, the fact I did not hear combat going on inside the room was a boon to my spirits, but never-the-less, I was still out here fighting these creatures made of light, and now two creatures made of shadow have appeared behind me, however they do seem very cautious around my shadow magic as much as the light creatures. I was soon against a wall, my eyes shifting between the four creatures, a small smile on my face.

“So this is how I go? Well then, let's go, I am not going quietly” I said quietly and they jumped at me and my blade swung hard and cut through one, my shield bashed another back and I ducked under the third, but did not escape unscathed from the fourth as it slashed its claws at me cutting into the heavily enchanted armor I wore and my flesh screamed in pain as I struggled to catch my breath, I was by no means out of shape, and I did keep up my endurance, but... I ducked as the creature I had cut in half slashed above me, my eyes wide. This was a fight I could not win no matter what strategy I employed, I may be able to defeat the two light creatures but I would never survive the two shadow ones. Just then two beams of light tore into the shadow creatures the source of such light being Celestia and her student, Twilight Sparkle whose glare would have killed all that looked upon it, if looks could kill.

“Sister, I take it that these are not your doing then?” asked my sister and I gave her a reproachful look

“How dare you imply that I want you dead sister! You have endangered our ponies! I did exactly what you would have done in my place!” I argued and Celestia Scoffed, undeterred I continued, “Tia, we have been played against one another, can't you see it? I was nearly killed a fortnight ago, and not by any of your forces! Please Tia, all I want is peace between you and I, can we not live in peace once again?” emotions pouring out into my voice unbidden and Celestia's face softened.

“Why are we fighting? You say you are fighting to protect our ponies, and I say the same, so why exactly are we fighting?” my sister asked and I smiled softly, “Perhaps you are right and we are being played against one another, come sit-” there was a loud bang as if someone just smashed against a shield, and a groan as if someone had just been-

“MOONLIT!” I shouted and I ran out followed closely by my sister and her student who as soon as they saw my... What was he to me? My friend? Well that goes without saying, but he is so much more...

“MOONLIT!” my sister shouted and ran out of the room and I followed with my student close at my heels and I saw something that cemented what Luna had been saying, here was the one I blamed for causing the rift between my sister and I and he was fighting the creatures by himself, four of them and two of them were made of LIGHT! Oh no... Not them! Not again! A rage bubbled up in my chest as I saw this lone unicorn take on creatures that had caused so much destruction during Discord's reign, more so then Discord himself. Discord though seemed to hate them as much as they did as well so it was not likely that they were allied. So with that rage I fired a beam of pure light into the back of one of the shadow creatures another beam of light originating from my student Twilight flew into the back of the other one completely obliterating the creatures. After a moment I saw Luna's face twist into one of pure fury as she sent shadow magic into one of the light creatures causing it to scream in agony and Luna seemed to forcing just enough light into it to keep it alive while she tortured it

Seeing Luna occupy one of the remaining creatures I focused on the last one my shadow tendrils wrapping around it and slowly killing it as I had no magic powerful enough to kill it in one blow but soon I heard the screams from the one Luna had taken, it was that of a creature in pure agony...

'NOT HIM! NOT HIM!!!' I thought as I forced more and more magic into the creature intent on making it pay for every death that these creatures had caused, and for nearly costing me Moonlit, I would not lose him, not to these creatures. I love him! That thought struck me hard, I love him, I would move mountains for him, I would do anything for him, just as he swore he would for me, and he proved it, he held off these creatures as I talked to my sister, he could have died! For me, just as he told me he would! And these creatures dared to think I would let him die because of them!? They would pay for their folly!

“DIE YOU CREATURES!” I screamed with rage and soon the creature I had in my magic soon burst apart and my glare quickly turned to the remaining one and I tore into it with the same magic but then I stopped, my magic touched Moonlit's and I felt his love for me―stronger than ever―and his fear, he feared that I was losing myself. My eyes widened and I shoved pure shadow magic into the creature causing it to explode as the ones before it. “Moonlit” I said taking a more scared tone as I walked over to him, he didn't move away, nor did he even cringe as I cupped his face, the look on it was one of pure love, “I'm sorry”

“I'm sorry” said my sister, something had changed in those few moments when their magic had touched, was I wrong? Had I been mistaken about this unicorn? Did he truly care for my sister? I thought that maybe he just wanted to bed her, I mean what stallion wouldn't want the chance to sleep with one of us, I have heard many of my own guard that say as much.

“It's alright, Luna, no harm done” said the unicorn as he pulled her into an embrace and a gentle kiss. Twilight tugged at my nightgown

“Empress, wha-I mean, what is going on?” she asked me and I smiled gently

“I think that maybe soon there will be more Alicorn than before” I replied quietly before walking up to the unicorn and cleared my throat...

I heard Celestia clear her throat which made Luna and I separate, and we turned to her and received an unexpected smile.

“It is I, who must apologize, I feared that you were trying to bed my sister, that all you wanted was to, how is it? Get into her pants-”

“But Sister, I do not wear pants except when I wear armor, and I doubt they would fit him even if he tried” said Luna and I nearly facehoofed until I saw the joking smile on her face.

“Anyway, I owe both of you an apology, an apology that I never had to give before. I am sorry that I tried to come between you and my sister and I hope that you always do your best to make her happy” finished Celestia and I stood there shocked as did Luna, “Though I do not believe this is why you came here, come, let us go to the dining hall, it isn't right that we stand here uncomfortably when we could sit and talk over a meal”

“It would be a pleasure but first I need to check on our-” I started but I soon saw Twilight shake her head sadly

“They are dead, I checked on them already, they died instantly, so there was no pain” said the purple unicorn and I bit my lip and hung my head, I had served with those two for several weeks in this short war, and they proved themselves to be very resourceful, and very loyal, they would be missed.

“I am so sorry, Luna, if there was a way to save them, I-”

“Worry not, Twilight Sparkle, truly I had hoped that if their necks were truly broken that they themselves had died so that they would not have to live disabled for the rest of their lives, but I will see to it that they are remembered for their bravery” said Luna her voice firm even if everypony could tell she was breaking down on the inside.

Soon we found ourselves in a very familiar dining hall, my sister calling for the guards to wake the chef and to inform them that we were guests of honor, and would be treated as such. It seemed peace was well within our grasp.

So tell me, Luna, why did you come sneaking into the castle? If not to attack me, as it seems unlikely with how you reacted earlier.” she asked me and I sighed, straight to the politics of it then.

“The New Lunar Republic wishes to offer a cease fire, and to extend the hand of friendship, we have declared ourselves a separate entity from your rule, but do not wish to hold a grudge against our neighbor” I said with a tone of finality, this would either bring this war to a close or escalate it to a whole new level, “I would also like to offer the return of Appleloosa and Cloudsdale to the Solar Empire as an addition to this offer”

“The return of? Sister are you saying they fell to your forces?” asked Celestia and I shrugged

“It is far too early for me to know such, but before we had left plans were already drawn up, and being enacted, to take them over, and if I know my forces well enough, they have succeeded, especially with the new weapons and tactics we now use”

She comes talking of peace, and while she talks her forces are taking my cities? I start to get angry, but then I remembered the creatures, she needed leverage to call for peace if I did not listen to reason, I realized and I took a calming breath.

“Do you not wish to be one nation anymore?” I asked hoping beyond hope that maybe we could go back to a peaceful co-existence as one people.

“Do you not wish to be one nation anymore” my sister asked and a sad look encompassed my face as I realized what I was about to do, that I was about to forever make it known that I would never live in the same castle ever again, that I had to sever the bond that we had...

“That is not possible sister, we saw what happens when we are one nation, first it was I who because jealous of your rule and popularity, and then you started to show signs of the same. No, we cannot rule together. However we can be allies, from now until the end of time” I said and my heart broke when Tai broke down and cried but in short order I saw her get control of herself once more and when she spoke with me, it was no longer with the tone of one sister talking to another, but with one dignitary talking to another...

“Do you truly wish for peace?” Celestia asked, tears still running down her face as she faced her sister, and Luna took a deep breath and nodded all the while Moonlit and Twilight kept quiet as they sat there as pillars of strength for their respective leaders. “Than from this point on, there will be no more conflict between the Solar Empire and th-the N-New Lun-Lunar Republic” said Celestia her voice breaking near the end and Luna smiled sadly.

“I love you Tai, don't forget that” said Luna and she stood up about to leave when her sister spoke up

“Where are you going? Can we at least have one last meal together in the castle that was once your home?” Luna smiled and nodded and they dined together as if there was nothing had ever changed between them, one last meal together as they finalized the Peace Treaty and defense pact with one another.

And so ends this part of the tale, but there is so much more to know and to learn about the New Lunar Republic and so much to know about the Solar Empire. What about this mysterious enemy that attempted to force them to fight each other? Could there truly be peace between them? What will happen to Luna and Moonlit? And what was Twilight doing inside Celestia's bedchambers? All these questions and more will be answered in Book two of the Princess and her Guard: The Yin and Yang Syndrome(name subject to change)