A/N: After this chapter, the story rating has hereby been upgraded to mature because of the content that is soon to come.I have to ask for some understanding on the part of the brutality of some scenes. You have been warned.

Luna

Loneliness, darkness, cold, miserable…she had had nothing to do on the moon after her initial banishment. Plotting, scheming, imagining different scenarios for her revenge on her sister, the many outcomes, the possible defeats as well as the victories. Nightmare moon had a complete hold on her mind, her tendrils of hate and resentment burrowed deep within her soul, never ceasing their flood of negative emotions, constantly feeding the overwhelming anger that was directed at her sister...but, amidst the hate and the loathing, she was still Luna.

No matter how powerful the Nightmare became, she could never truly conquer the hidden light within her. The look of sadness and hurt on her sister’s face when she used the elements to carry out her banishment…she understood the reasoning, she still had hope…no matter how deeply it was buried by the Nightmare.

She was alone on the moon…none but the Nightmare and the small voice of what remained of Luna, forced to listen and see the plans, to take joy in the images of the planned suffering and revenge. She was herself and yet not…a being of her own making, a product of the recluse. Nothing could change what had happened, but maybe…just maybe, some kindling could be added to the flame…even as it diminished with age…

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Luna stared out of her window or rather, the window in her commandeered room. It was a simple room with only a single person bed, a small dresser, a mirror, and a desk. While her sister had gone for the fancy room, Luna had elected to stay nearby their main operations center…so she was bunking in one of the spare bedrooms in the library. While Twilight did not mind her staying in the guest room she did seem to mind the guards who had elected to sleep in the main area of the library, but was too nervous to mention her misgivings to her house guests.

Luna could read Twilight’s body language well enough to tell that she was still uncomfortable interacting with the princess of the night. The few clashes she had with her sister revealed more to their subjects then either of them would have liked. Those were sides of them which had not been seen since the Nightmare’s initial banishment.

Luna sat before her desk and opened the left hand drawer, pulling out a small black journal which she had kept with her since her liberation by the Elements. It was in this journal that she had poured her thoughts into, trying to catch up with the times, as well as puzzle out occurrences which had passed her by. One of the most recent being a well known musician who introduced a new form of music to Equestria before the war, but it was not just the music that caught her attention, but rather the name she had chosen for herself.

In her time, musicians chose name that included the words ‘Great, magnificent, astounding.’ This rebel musician however had chosen a name that included numbers…DJ PON3…it was an odd name but had drawn Luna’s interest almost immediately. But as fortune would have it, the beginning of the disputes between two groups of citizens and the destruction of the trust between the two sisters had not allowed her to investigate the music other than to hear rumors of it, its composer, and her manager…one of the most recent rumors being that she was touring Equestria with a group of volunteers to help loosen up some of the still present tensions. The threat of the Ursa Primors had rallied most Equestria together, but there were still some who held on like rabid dogs.

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Luna sighed and replaced her journal after looking through several of her most recent entries. The Primors and their apparent master were nowhere to be seen and had made no threatening moves as of late. That did not mean that she could let her guard down, but maybe a short break wouldn’t hurt so much.

Slowly getting up from her seat, Luna contemplated going to the spa that her sister had recommended on a whim. Maybe she would, maybe she wouldn’t…why did it feel as if she had done this before?

Luna shook her head and massaged her temples. Her physical appearance said that she was very young, late teens to early twenties. The fact that she was over a thousand years old didn’t seem to change what her subjects saw in her…then again, maybe it was her inexperience and newfound curiosity of the world that spoke of youth and not her literal age.

I think recent events and the stresses of attempting to gather information on the ever elusive enemy is starting to take its toll on me.

Standing up, she moved over to the bed and retrieved the few possessions that she had on her. A short sword, a leather vest, a small satchel, along with a magically reinforced light shirt of chain-mail was all that she constantly had with her. Her instructors had taught her to be efficient when carrying items. Too much and she would get bogged down under the weight, even with magic to support her, she would only exhaust herself faster.

Once she had dressed, over her usual garments, she moved once again to the small window this time looking at the town instead of to a random particle in the air. The bustling of the citizens, and the small groups of soldiers who were either on patrol or off duty, but there was an underlying tension that permeated the air. It was the lack of information that they had about their enemy that had so many on edge. The fact that an attack could happen spontaneously at anytime and anywhere was a daunting prospect for many.

Luna leaned against the wall next to the window, allowing for her cheek to rest against the cool glass. Winter was upon them and the effects were already beginning to show, falling temperatures, a rise in humidity, cloud buildup…the perfect recipe for snow. She smiled as her breath lightly fogged up the glass, obscuring the shapes that moved across the roads and causing Luna to furrow her brow in thought…something didn’t seem right…

She found her gaze drawn over to the distant shape of a large building that looked like an assortment of sweets and pastries. The famous Sugarcube Corner was ever busy, and there was a crowd gathering by the entrance.

‘They must be about to open for breakfast,’ she thought lightly, ‘Maybe I should stop by and see if I can get a mug of hot chocolate before I have to return to my duties…I don’t believe that Ms. Sparkle appreciates my subordinates and I drinking all of her coffee stores…’

With a grin on her face she turned away to leave when she saw a shape flash past the corner of her eye. Whipping her head around she glanced out of the window furtively for any sign of what had moved. Her attention was once more drawn to the crowd at the pastry shop, only this time, they seemed in a hurry to leave.

Just what could…

Luna watched as the shop and the crowd before it seemed to disappear in a blast of light. Her eyes wide she barely registered the unmistakable sound.

BOOM!!

A moment later the window before her seemed to warp inward and shatter into many glittering fragments.

Her arms coming up instinctively she felt the glass shards cut into her forearms which were unprotected by the short-sleeved mail shirt. The remainder of the blast pressure that shattered the glass threw her against the opposite wall, which also happened to be the door. She sat there dazed as she tried to contemplate what had happened. Ears ringing she attempted to stand, only to be bowled over as someone burst through the door behind her.

“Princess, are you alright!?”

Luna tried to roll over as she gagged, the wind knocked out of her from the force of the door. She could feel the hand grab her shoulder and pull her to her feet.

“Ma’am, you’re bleeding!”

Luna barely registered the fact that she had blood trickling down her arms, and shook her head shaking off the daze and concentrated on giving orders.

“They are just superficial wounds Captain, nothing to be worried about.”

“But…”

Luna shook her head and used his arm to support herself as she moved towards the door, adrenaline already dulling the pain and bringing her senses to alert.

“No buts, we are under attack and the townsfolk must be protected!”

Releasing his arm she quickly made her way down the stairs almost losing her balance halfway down. She could hear his footsteps behind her as well as those of the other occupants of the building as everyone rushed to the front door.

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Luna was among one of the first out and stood watching a dark plume rose into the sky from what was once Sugarcube Corner. The smoke obscured any sight they might have had of the area and the damage, as well as hid the reasons for the screaming which rang out through the streets.

Darting around, Luna attempted to rally as many soldiers and civilians as she could, the soldiers to battle any hostile forces, and the volunteers to help the wounded and shocked. The training and surprise wake ups by her mentors adding a level of clarity to the situation.

Glancing towards the smoke and dust again, she could just make out the shapes of other ponies helping each other away from the blast area. Turning her attention back to the library Luna watched as a group of soldiers jogged off to get to their assigned posts and revealed Celestia standing behind them, staring blankly at the roiling smoke.

Luna jogged up to her and shook her shoulder, trying to break her out her daze.

Is she in shock over what just happened? Shouldn’t she be out giving orders to her soldiers?

“Celestia!”

No response…

“Celestia! Tia!”

Nothing…

SLAP!

Celestia flinched and held her hand up to her cheek where a deep red mark was already forming.

“What in Tartarus is wrong with you sister?”

Luna stared at her sister, the kind ruler who had ruled for a thousand years without her aid. The only one of the sisters who had managed to pass Mother’s tests of mental strength and emotional neutrality with flying colors, almost literally.

Celestia stared back at her sister, her eyes were empty and almost glazed, her lip was quivering and her shoulders were shaking slightly. She opened her mouth to speak but instead came a groan of pure sadness.

“Twi…Twilight had just gone to get some breakfast for us…”

Luna’s mouth gaped at the explanation and she felt a spike of pain drive itself into her heart. Twilight was the only one who had stayed with her on her first Nightmare Night and helped her to get back in touch with her subjects, as well as being someone that she could correspond for advice through letters.

“S…She waved at m…me right before she w…went in…”

Tears began to trickle down Celestia’s face, the barrier that the shock provided crumbled away and allowed the torrent of her emotions to break free. The floodgates had opened and nothing was going to stop her…

“I AM GOING TO SEND WHOEVER DID THIS TO THE DEPTHS OF THE SUN!!”

Luna could feel rage building within her, and hot anger began to cloud her mind. It was only when the smoke had cleared somewhat revealing the crumpled and half-standing remains of the once proud shop that she clamped down on her feelings. She knew that it was easier for her as she had only met the poor mare a few months past and on a few occasions. She could not imagine the pain that Celestia was feeling, it almost made her want to…

“Well hello there!”

That voice!

Luna spun around, followed a split second later by Celestia and her guards to stare down the figure who had caused them so much grief in such a short time. He stood there haughtily with his arms crossed, slowly rolling a bit between his fingers.

“Enjoying my handiwork?” He gloated before tossing the bit up and catching it once more.

Luna could almost feel his smirk beneath the pitch black hood that he wore. He radiated evil and seemed to suck the light out of the very air around him. The amount of hatred she felt for this singular figure was overwhelming, but that was incomparable to the surge of heat she felt as Celestia’s armor came into full existence. She raised a flaming almost transparent sword and made to advance on him, when he raised his hand and waggled his finger.

“Uh..uh..uhhh, “ he taunted, “You see, I’m not that nice…” he continued waving his hand at the destruction. “I know that there were two very special…ponies was it? In there, so I made sure to have the explosive rigged so that most of its force was directed out of the building. I made it so that many of the occupants would survive…at least until the building comes crashing down on them, crushing their poor little...pony bodies.”

He pointed at Celestia and then jerked his thumb to the destroyed shop, the still standing area seemed to teeter precariously on the edge of collapse.

“You, have a pass to go look for your oh so precious student,” he continued before settling his gaze on Luna, “The only one I personally want…is you.”

Luna was shaking in rage, this p…no MONSTER , had not only killed so many innocent civilians, but just as well orchestrated the slow deaths of many of the residents of the targeted building.

Celestia took several steps forward raising her sword and creating a shield as well. Her eyes were filled with hate; all of her once regal features had faded to the point where she even seemed to embody her hatred for this singular figure.

“I will see you burn for this monster!” she cried as she charged him, followed in a moment by her guards. He simply threw his head back in laughter and materialized a sword that looked like it was made of obsidian.

“Wait sister!” Luna couldn’t bear to see her sister in so much pain, the war and their ideals be damned, they were still siblings. She watched as her sister began to engage the being in a six on one fight, terrified, and yet amazed, at his ability to block, counter, and dodge most, if not all, of their attacks.

“Ma’am what are your orders?” one of Luna’s guards had emerged from the confusion that filled the town.

Luna glanced at her troop before returning her gaze to the battle. In the split second since she had looked away, two guards had already fallen and a third was being impaled on the monster’s sword. Thinking quickly she created a simple plan and had the troop go to find her commanders and then gather several units for rescue from the wreckage and the defense of the wounded.

“Make sure that all our sentries are at their posts and ready to repel any attack that might come. I do not believe that he came alone!”

“Understood Ma’am, I send some more troops to aid you as soon as I can find them,” he saluted before sprinting off to find his superiors and relay the orders. Luna drew her sword and summoned her armor before sprinting forward to join her sister who now only had one guard still standing.

Upon closing the distance between her and her sister, Luna cast off a bolt of black fire at the being, watching with satisfaction as it impacted solidly on his back, causing him to stumble and be hit by the attack of Celestia’s guard causing him to lose his accursed sword.

“Good shot Runner,” Celestia congratulated the guard as she fired a bolt of white light at point blank range into the now defenseless monster.

He was pushed back several feet and was knocked balance, so Runner decided to take a shot a quickly drew and threw his dagger underhand while swinging his sword high. His mouth was wide in a smile as the dagger buried itself into the belly of the beast and his sword touched the side of its neck. Then…it was gone!

Runner did not have time to react as a blade flashed before him and a mist of blood spurted from his now open neck. His last thought was how beautiful his Princess of the Sun looked in her full armor, before the abyss swallowed him whole.

Luna

Luna had seen but could not believe that which her eyes told her was true. One moment the monster was going to decapitated by a well place attack from Celestia’s guard, the next he was behind said guard using his own dagger to slash the poor man’s throat.

Celestia's mouth was wide open in a silent scream as she tried to bash him with her shield. He evade, but narrowly missed being cut in two by a reverse cut.

“I call that a Second Smile! Wouldn’t you say that he looks much happier with his new mouth?” he cackled as he jumped away from Celestia’s increasingly more erratic slashes dangling the bloodstained dagger before her, acting in an even more insane manner than before.

Luna lunged at him with her sword, which he knocked away, but used a hastily constructed spell to channel energy into her hand and create a shockwave that blasted him back, or rather, it was supposed to.

He nimbly moved out of the way of her hand, and, using her momentum, tossed her over his shoulder and slammed her into the ground. Luna could taste the dirt and blood from her bleeding nose. She lay on the ground expecting to be run through at any second by his captured dagger, but instead was surprised as she felt a rough hand yank her to her feet.

Glancing sideway Luna could see Celestia breathing heavily, her sword up but quivering, and her shield a mangled mess.

“Tia?”

Celestia gave a small smile and handed Luna her dagger from its sheathe in her boot.

“Together this time…dear sister, help is almost here.”

Luna looked up to see several groups of intermixed SE and NLR guards round the corner of an intersection and begin sprinting towards them, oddly though, she could not see and pegasi with them…

The figure raised the dagger and used it as a mirror to glance behind him.

*Sigh* “Looks like the fun’s over,” he chuckled maniacally, “Oh well…TAKE THEM!”

Luna heard a sound that she recognized very quickly and stared at the approaching reinforcements as several streaks or blue sailed into their ranks. Those who were at the initial engagement with the this being’s forces knew what they were and called warnings for the rest to scatter. Some were too slow and were disintegrated as the devices exploded in blue fire, those immediately after them went down screaming as their flesh was scorched and limbs were blown off.

Luna tore her gaze away from the carnage and looked back at the figure who pointed at Celestia and made a pointing gesture with his thumb and forefinger.

SHWICK! AAAGH!!

Luna’s eyes darted to her sister and were immediately fixed on the foot-long black object that was protruding from Celestia’s thigh.

“Luna!”

Hearing Celestia’s cry Luna brought her attention back to the figure, only to see that he was crouched right in front of her.

“You…not yet,” he exclaimed as he drove his fist into her chest.

Luna flew backwards from the force of the blow. She had felt her summoned breastplate shatter, and watched as the mail shirt she was wearing fell apart into separate links. All the energy that had been poured into it had been drained by the single blow, and then the mail shattered.

Luna crashed into a wall and slumped to the ground. The darkness was already closing in on the edge of her vision, she could feel the pull of unconsciousness on her body, and put everything she had into staying awake. She could hear the dull echoes of crashing blades, explosions, screams, and a pinging sound, like a hammer on plate-mail. She could hear heavy footsteps approaching and struggled to turn herself over. She gasped in pain, for the blow had not only destroyed her armor, but as well had broken a couple of ribs and dislocated her shoulder.

The footsteps reached her and she felt a large hand grab onto her roughly by her dislocated shoulder. The combination of her wounds and the sudden movement made her cry out in a silent scream of pain. She was lifted by something much taller than her, and caught glimpses of fur and strange red and black plate armor. The stench followed closely with her observations, the stench of sweat, dirt, blood, and iron. When Luna had reached the apex of her rise, she stared into the eyes of the beast which had found a new home in the nightmares of her people.

“Primorrr…” she rasped, blinking to keep a trickle of blood out of her eye.

It smiled at her, its lips pulling back revealing a fearsome array of sharp teeth which were a darker yellow than corn. Suddenly, it set her down with her back resting against the wall…it was almost gentle in its action. It wasn’t until it sidled out of her line of view that Luna saw what the beast had wanted her to see.

“Tia…”

Luna watched as her sister fought in vain against the being who had declared war on them, who sided with monsters that could not even be imagined in the darkest of Equestrian nightmares. He blocked a lunge and cockily looked over to Luna in her helpless position, easily deflecting Celestia’s attacks without even paying her so much as a mind. He waved at her and held up a dagger before tossing it high into the air.

He dodged Celestia’s latest attack and rapped her on the breastplate with the flat of his newly captured sword, dancing away and moving the sword in an ever more complex fashion.

The dagger slows as it reaches its apex…

He parries Celestia’s thrust and leaps back his arms wide open, inviting her to strike.

The dagger begins its return trip down 35 feet to the ground…

Celestia is dazed from fatigue and blood loss, and is fueled only by adrenaline and her rage. She takes the bait and lunges forward, her full effort behind the sword. He sidesteps the blade easily and traps her arm between his free arm and his side pulling sharply upward, eliciting a sharp cry of pain as her shoulder is pulled from its socket.

He tosses his sword behind him and has it replaced by the hilt of the dagger, pulls Celestia close to his chest, and drives it into her stomach.

Luna can only watch in horror as Celestia is slightly lifted as he wrenches the dagger upwards cutting through her armor as if it wasn’t even there. Celestia’s mouth is open as she hacks up blood, her eyes wide and quickly glazing over before she slumps, limp, into his arms.

Luna can feel the tears running down her face as she tries in vain to call out to her sister. She watches as he pushes the limp body of her sister off of him, allowing her to fall to the ground in a bloody heap, her summoned armor gone revealing her light yellow tunic that was quickly turning dark red.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, Luna watches as a multi-colored streak roared overhead before diving at the ground at high speed.

No…not her too…please no!

(---------------------------------)

“Bastard!” Rainbow yelled as she dived on him from behind, lashing out with a kick aimed at his head. He simply leaned away from her and grabbed onto her boot, before using her speed to slam her into the ground. He leaned down to grab onto her when a guard, who was feigning death after being knocked unconscious, lunged up from the ground and ran the man through with his knife. He didn’t even flinch before yanking the knife out and driving it into the guard’s head, letting the body fall at his feet.

By now Dash had gotten to her feet and had pulled two knives from her hips. Lunging at the man, she tried to use a combination of slashes and feints to gain a hit on him. Instead, he easily avoided every strike and even replied with a few punches of his own, striking the knives out of her hands and knocking the wind out of her.

As Dash was hunched over, staggering away and trying to get her breath back, he walked over to her and gripped her wrist like a vise when she lashed out at him. Using her uncontrolled momentum, he twisted her arm behind her back and kicked her legs out from under her. Now with Dash prone on the ground, he placed one foot on her upper back next to her wing joint and, at the same time, pulled her arm upward and stomped down on the wing.

Luna watched as Dash screamed, wailed, and bucked in an attempt to loosen his hold. He simply let out a chilling laugh and gave a sharp yank on her arm as well as twisting the forearm. The shoulder popped out and the force of the twist allowed those still conscious to hear a sickening double crack as both her radius and ulna were broken.

Luna tried to make some sound, something to distract the monster, something to take his attention away from the poor girl. Dash’s mouth was open in a silent scream, tears running freely down her face. She tried to roll and land a kick on his back, but he just caught her foot and pulled hard enough for the *pop* of the dislocation of her leg to be heard. Before releasing the limb, he pulled Dash closer to him, brought his boot up and slammed it down right above her hip with a sickening *crunch*. Dash’s head jerked upward and her still functioning arm and wing flailed for a moment before she succumbed to unconsciousness.

“And that make a third Element of Harmony eliminated…I wonder who will be next?” he glanced over at Luna and disappeared, before reappearing with a light *pop* at her side. Luna would have flinched if not for the fact that she could no longer move either by fatigue or her injuries she did not know, she only knew that her magic was not responding and there was a pounding in her head that would have had her screaming in pain…instead, she was forced to silently endure it.

“Oh…this will do nicely!” he cackled as he raised a half-filled flask filled with golden fluid. “Your fear and anger, the pain you feel…are you not distraught? Are you not losing hope?” he put his hand on her ribs and applied light pressure.

Luna gasped from the spike of white hot pain that was driven into her chest, she could feel her broken ribs grinding against each other, and a pressure building within her chest…it was getting harder to breathe.

“Or is the pain too much for you? Do you wish for the darkness to claim you? To give you relief from this suffering!?” he pulled his hand away from her and sat back on his feet. “No, there is still much that I must show you,” he lunged forward and gripped her hair in his fist pulling her face close to his.

“I will BREAK YOU FOR WHAT HE DID TO ME!” he screamed at her, his cold joking manner gone, replaced by red hot fury. “You will watch as your world burns, and those you love are taken from you again and again! I will take your suffering to levels that you can not even begin to fathom, and then…you will be just like me…” he released his grip on Luna’s hair and allowed her to fall back against the wall. He gestured to the Primor that hovered over her.

“Take her away, there is much essence to gather and too little time to gather much…the crack we made within the defenses will not last…”

SPLAT!

Luna’s chin was resting on her chest so she could not see the source of the sound. What she could see, was the legs of the Primor as it crumpled to the ground, followed a split-second later by a splash of purple and another ground shaking sound. This sound echoed throughout the town, bouncing off walls and seeming as if there were many of them.

CRACK!

Luna raised her head slightly to see the chest and shoulders of the Primor reach the ground…but the head was missing, replaced by a piece of mangled flesh and a spurting stump. Looking past the stump, she could see the monster running towards her, arm outstretched a dagger in his hand. Luna tried to move, anything, to defend herself as the sharp point drew closer…in the end, she didn’t need to.

In a flash of light and shattering metal, the dagger was blown apart along with the being’s hand. In instant later, a pitch black mass flew into his side and tossed him away. Luna could hear his howls of fury, but they were soon drowned out by a loud series of BANG!’s; akin to many fireworks going off in quick succession. She lifted her head in time to see two metallic boots settle into the ground in front of her. Straining her sore muscles and fighting against the pain, she forced herself to look up to her savior, to see who had the power to force the demon away.

Luna stared in shock at the towering figure before her, the grayish-black armor that seemed to be segmented over certain parts of its legs, in its hands, it held a shimmering long sword of white and blue, electricity crackling over its roiling surface. Its chest was covered by molded plate armor, one shoulder had a pauldron that seemed as if it had folded in on itself several time, the other had one that looked like several curved plates that were stacked upon one another. The body seemed to be made of metal and yet flowed like water, and when her eyes were drawn to its face Luna was struck speechless, for she saw…herself, the same scared expression, the blood running down her face, her hair in shambles, a lock half hanging over her face.

At first she saw herself, but soon realized that it was just a reflection, a reflection off of the solid metal helmet of her savior, a cold gleaming black visor staring back at her. She started to speak, but noticed a flash of movement over his shoulder, and tried to call out a warning. Luna caught a glimpse of her widening eyes and opening mouth which signaled to the being that something was amiss. It spun around and raised its sword to face a Primor who had jumped off of a nearby building in an attempt to surprise it.

Luna watched, terrified and then dumbfounded, as the Primor was tackled out of the air by another black shape. Another being crashed into the ground, still holding onto the Ursa Primor, and used it as a cushion for the impact. It immediately adjusted its legs and its hold so that it gripped the beast’s head firmly and planted its boots into the chest and shoulder of the beast, before wrenching sideways and tearing the beast’s head clean off, releasing a gout of purple blood that sprayed in an arc.

Luna’s savior lowered its sword, and she watched as it seemed to dissipate back into its arm, like a liquid being absorbed by a sponge. The other one had stood up, still holding its captured trophy and stared into the beast’s lifeless, but still rage-filled eyes before tossing is casually over its shoulder. As it walked towards them, Luna had a better chance to examine the new being.

It was not as armored as the first, and even seemed to have most of its clothing made up of a flowing, and yet rigid, material. What really stood out to her was that, unlike its counterpart, this one had a semi-distinguishable face. It had a light blue glowing left eye and a bump on its otherwise smooth face that betrayed the possible presence of a nose.

“Sir! We’re holding them back but barely. That damn bastard made a shield around this area and we had to break down a section of it in order to reach the rest of the town. “

The helmeted being before her crouched down and tilted its head, Luna could feel a bout of dizziness sweep over her.

“Any casualties?”

“So far at least four confirmed on our side, but three have gone missing…sir, we can’t hold ‘em off much longer they’re pressing hard…will she be alright?”

Luna’s sight was slowly growing darker as the pressure within her chest increased. She could barely keep her eyes on the reflective visor, she could see her own eyes drooping closed along with her head slowly falling.

“She should be fine…might even come out all the better for it…”

Luna felt a soft material touch her cheek and raise her head. She wanted to sleep, to dream that all this had never happened. She opened her eyes, fully expecting to be looking at a reflection of herself again, but instead found herself staring into a pair of deep gray eyes. Frozen by how cold they were, Luna could not help but feel that they were staring into her very soul, dissecting her very existence and laying it out for all to see. Terrified, she tried to look away, to somehow break eye contact with this being who made her feel as if she was standing naked before a crowd.

Then, her hysteria began to disappear and a strange sense of calm swept over her. She stared with fascination as the cold gray irises slowly seemed to swirl and grow darker, becoming a sort of light hazel that filled her with a sense of warmth. She could see the small crinkle at the corners of his eyes that signaled a smile.

“Sir! Whatever you’re going to do, do it now!”

The sounds of firecrackers and yells faded to a seemingly faraway place as Luna found solace within her savior’s eyes, and his arms as he cradled her against the harsh environment. Luna fought to keep her eyes open as they began to shut like the inevitable hand of her mother on the candle that she used for late night reading. A soft hand rested on her hair as she finally succumbed to the embrace of the void and began to fall through it…

(----------------------------)

BAM!

Luna’s eyes shot open as her head impacted the floor, the sharp stinging pain tearing away the remnants of sleep and bringing tears to her eyes. Her eyes darted around her room, yet unscathed, and settled on the window. As quickly as she could, while trying to shake of the disorientation of waking so quickly, she rushed to the window, desperate to peer out into the town and still find it whole. The raging fires were gone; there was no crater in front of Sugarcube Corner, the bodies of the villagers were not strewn along the dirt…

It was a dream…but what…

Luna wracked her memories, desperately trying to not forget the vivid images and feelings of the dream. Slowly the sights and sounds returned to her and solidified themselves within her mind’s eye, splayed out before her like a terrible art gallery.

The explosion, the bodies, HIM, Celestia, her guards, Ms. Dash, the…the what?

Luna clutched her head, trying with every ounce of her will to latch onto the fading images at the end of her dream. The blurred shapes, the unknown voices…a pair of soft eyes and comforting arms…Luna blushed deeply at the last part. The last image and residual feeling sent a wave of warmth through her body, which was starting to feel the nip of a chilled room. Looking outside she watched as the first flakes of snow began to fall in the predawn light.

Tia’ must already be up…and why can I remember nothing but those two images?!

Luna shifted uncomfortably as the chill began to set in, and moved to put on some warmer clothing. Rummaging through her borrowed dresser and wondering if she should test the patience of the resident librarian by brewing more of her already dwindling supply of coffee.

It was going to be a long day…

{------------------------}

Ghost

My eyes shot open as I felt myself be shaken awake by Alex. My eyes were wide behind my helmet as I tried to piece together the strangely real dream that I had experienced. I had relived a memory of one of the many ground engagements that I had taken part in to protect a planet’s space ports, only…I don’t remember anything about a young family that was being executed by a patrol of ‘Van. The way that the dark blue haired girl had looked at me was far too real for a dream. Shaking my head, I propped myself up and began to strap on my gear for my shift on watch.

“Dan says that the ‘Van are on the move, they should reach the town within the next 3 hours, they have the hostages with them, plus one.”

Looking up at Alex, I only nodded as I picked up my rifle and slung it over my shoulder, my back protesting from the sudden movement. Sleeping in the armor was always uncomfortable, but in a hostile environment, I would take uncomfortable over dead.

‘No shift on watch for me then’, I wondered before starting through a brief series of stretches. My legs and lower back were sore, so I would have to loosen up the knots before attempting anything strenuous. I could felt my back pop in several places as I forced myself to place my palms flat on the ground while my legs were straight but slightly spread. When I began to stand up, I noticed something drift down through the canopy of the forest we were in and settle on my hand.

Snow huh? Well this just made blending in a heck of a lot harder…

Alex took a look at what I was holding and began to fidget with the setting on his suit. I waited slightly before the color of his once pitch black armor shifted to become a blend of white and gray with a silver visor.

Reaching up to the side of my helmet, I applied pressure to a certain point and used my eyes to navigate through several menus that appeared on my HUD, before I settled on my desired color scheme, just a little darker than Alex’s. Once receiving the command, several hundred of the thousands of nano-machines that resided within the suits, began to send a series of pulses through the outer layer of the armor displaying an odd side effect of the armor’s energy ablative coating.

“Go wake up Char’, and let Dan know to keep his drone on the ‘Van as long as possible…things are going to get bloody around here…”

{----------------------------}

Hmmm…I wonder if it was the right choice choosing to meddle within the minds of the two of them? Maybe, maybe…but it is best that she had experienced that kind of carnage before it actually takes place.

Modifying the memories of that young soldier though? That took some doing; it’s not every day that you can just go and interlock the dreams of two powerful individuals, let alone modify the way they view them so that it seems as if the setting is that of their own worlds…

But…it is probably best that they attain some sort of acquaintance before what is to come…though it may have worked a bit too well in the case of the young woman…

Oh well!

Author's Note

I'm BACK!

I am finally glad to be able to get an action chapter out, cause its been nagging at me ever since I started writing this story.
I sent the next chapter to be reviewed by my companion, for editing so I'll post it when he gets back to me on that.\

I apologize for the punishment and torture that I put the characters through, but I had to do something cruel to offset the minds of the main characters. It was painful for me to have to imagine every scene in gruesome detail and then write down as much as I was comfortable with. Plus! keep in mind that this was a nightmare, in fact one of the many nightmares that Luna has and will experience.

The antagonist of this story likes physcological warfare in the palce of brute force so I had to go watch some tragic movies and listen to some sad music in order to free my mind from the socially acceptable boudaries that have been erected by society. Went and played the last couple missions for Halo 3 for inspiration of sorts. Also got some parts from movies but simply switched the baddy with the good guy.

Anyway, provided the first bit of major action and a cliffhanger for the next chapter where there will be even more violence!

I'd like some feedback on how I wrote the fight scenes. I know that they are not very intricate, but a base on where and what I have to adjust would be nice. Don't worry for this will be one of the few times that the main characters are ever on the recieving end. Even if it is just a dream.