Chapters The New Lunar Republic- Rebellion of The Solars
The gravity of Skywriter's ship blasting upwards and cutting through the atmosphere pushed her into her seat, almost making her forget her mission for a few moments. Deeper out in space the Solar-Lunar war wasn't that big of a factor but it still had it's effects. Unfortunately one of the effects was rebellion on an isolated mining planet. She had been sent out to help the small mercenary company govern the unruly planet and get the mining operation back into order. She groaned and took control once she could one again relax, "I don't see why I couldn't teleport, Luna...." she stressed the last word, letting it sink in as just plain annoyance at her friend. Once out into Luna's beautiful space, the gravity crushing her into the seat subsided and she was free to move about the small cabin. There was a small viewing panel on either side and sort of kitchen to the left and a cryobed in the back. Though the prototype she was flying in was fast enough that she wouldn't really need to use the bed, it would only take her a week to reach the planet.
Sky unbuckled her seat and proceeded to explore. They had been in a rush to get her there, as Luna was facing other pressing matters and the TARDIS was not in contact, they had no choice but to send the second-in-command to sort out a colonies' rebellion. She looked out the viewing panel on the left to the controls and sighed as the stars flew by. She was the co-ruler of The New Lunar Republic. Her colors were mostly based on blue, as her coat seemed to be icy cold, her mane only a few shades darker. Streaks of even darker blue went through her hair, and together no color over-ruled the other. Her shoes, chest piece, and crown all consisted of a dark shady black, and blue dark-shaded crystals were on the crown and and chest piece, the same colors of her eyes.
For the next few days, the princess spent her time listening to music and playing with stars she had summoned to her hooves. She did use the bed, as she would dream walk just as Luna would. It wasn't really sleep, but it did fill a hole in energy. Upon climbing out of her cryobed on the seventh day, the princess could see dark blue rocky planet out of the right view port. Her ship was slowly circling towards the planet, it's acceleration slowing. She held her breath as it touched the ground for the first time, and sighed in relief she had not crashed. That was the hardest part about air and space crafts, the landing. She opened the door and peeked outside. She could tell the terraforming was working well as a cool blast of air flowed past her and into the ship. Outside the ship it was a cold 50 degrees. A short walk away she could see the lights from a town.
The goddess nodded in approval and spread her wings. She took off leaving the small ship to be taken care of by the crews that worked there and headed for the town. As soon as she reached the town, she could see there was something wrong. The town was very fortified, though it looked like a ghost town, the only visible life was an occasional pony walking the streets and two bat-pony guards standing at the nearest entrance.
Skywriter landed and walked to the guards, her ears pinned against her head as she looked around with a worried look, "What has happened here?" she asked. The guard on the right steps forward, he had Luna's crest on his chest piece. "We heard that a rebel army is heading this way... who might you be...?" He asks, eyeing her curiously. She stands up and fans her wings up in a regal manner she's practiced hundreds of times, "I am Princess Skywriter, co-ruler of The New Lunar Republic."
"Mhm..." He looks her up and down. "We don't see many Alicorns here but we still need more proof than your word."
The second guard trots up, looking at his partner. "You idiot, do you really wanna piss her off? Even if she's lying, she's an alicorn!" He turns to her. "We're sorry for slowing you, your highness, you may pass but I would suggest hurrying through, this town won't be on the map for much longer..." She looked at them with a questioning look, "What does thou mean? I'm sorry, I was not told much of this mission...."
The second guard speaks up. "Basically, your highness, a small cell of solar supporters came here and before we could hunt them down, they had riled up the populace against Princess Luna and started a rebellion... only a couple towns still hold allegiance to Princess Luna now"
"What?! The solars have rebelled?! I thought this was to be just a small uprising.."
"Not here your highness, the Solar's have almost amassed a army large enough to threaten Commander Moon's mercenary forces"
Her ears tightened on her head in anger, "Why was I not informed of this?!"
"The major landing port on this planet has been captured by the rebels, we haven't been able to send out any messengers for weeks, your highness" Both guards back away slightly, an angry Alicorn wasn't something anypony wanted to be near. She calmed down and her head sunk low to the ground, "Oh..."
"Erm well... if we may know, your highness, what is your mission on this planet?" Asks the first guard. She slightly lifted her head, "I was sent here to help clear up the rebellion...but they where in a rush to get me here so I was never really given a full explanation....that's all they told me."
"If you are truly here to help, you'll want to make your way to the capital, it's only a couple miles north-east of here" She lifted her head up and with a frown looked in such direction, "Thank you," she gave a slight head nod and took off. The guards go back to their posts. Miles away she could see a rather large city in the distance, a bit west of the city was a huge mountain range. Other than that though it was just rocky plains surrounding the city.
She landed at the far end of the city and looked around.
The New Lunar Republic- Rebellion of The Solars
She landed at the far end of the city and looked around.
Quickly she's surrounded by four armed guards. The one mare of the group steps forward slightly. "Who are you and what is your business here?"
She glares at her angrily, "I do not understand how I am of no importance here..." she looked around, "Princess Skywriter."
"Princess!" He eyes go wide in shock, suddenly all four of them were bowing. "My humblest apologies, your highness, we had no idea"
"You may rise," the princess silently cursed herself for such petty acts of anger. They slowly rise. "Please come with us, your highness, Commander Moon will want to see you immediately"
"As you wish," she came closer.
The guards lead her through the maze of streets and to the steps of the elaborate town hall. She hesitates, then follows the guards to the steps. The three stallions stop, but the mare continues up the stairs, expecting the princess to follow her. Skywriter sees this and trots to catch up, walking beside the mare. Under her armor, Sky could see the mare was rather muscular, a bit more so than most stallions. She leads the princess to the large metal double doors and push one open. "So, where are we going exactly...? She asked as they walked into the worn down hall. "To the commander's office, your highness" She explains, leading Sky off to the side of the main room and to a smaller doorway.
"Ah," Skywriter looks around at the room. It was once dedicated to the Republic as far as she could tell. There where many torn tapestries and the dark blue carpet was worn down, but you could tell lots of effort was put into it to keep it looking the least bit presentable. She opens the door to reveal a rather well furnished office, and a grey stallion with a jet black mane asleep at a maple wood desk.
"Um...." the princess had a rather confused look on her face. "Erm... one second please" She trots in and shuts the door. A few seconds later the princess could hear a loud smack, then the door opens. The stallion was now sitting up, his right cheek having a bright red mark on it. Sky stifled a giggle and attempted to conceal a smile, knowing what had happened. The mare smiles at Sky from her position at the side of the desk. "Please come in, your highness, the commander will see you now"
She clears her throat and walks in, stopping at the desk. "Are all princesses so pretty?" He asks the mare at his side playfully, earning himself a smack to the back of his head. The mare smiles again at the princess, this time a more apologetic smile. "My apologizes, your highness, his mind is frazzled from his lack of sleep-" She turns slightly to the stallions. "-This is Princess Skywriter, she has been sent here to help end this little rebellion, sir."
The stallion smiles. "Excellent, how many troops did our dear Luna send with you?" The conversation finally coming back to the princess. "I was sent alone, the were in quite a rush, as Luna was in Canterlot."
He smiles over at his assistant. "One alicorn! Haha! The rebellion is over, drinks are on me!" He exclaims, smiling though his voice oozed with sarcasm. "Erm, I should check on the guards" The mare replies and trots out of the room, whispering to Sky as she passes. "Don't hurt him too bad, okay?"
She smirks at that and whispers back, "No promises." She watched the mare leave, then faced back to the desk, "I'm perfectly capable of fighting myself," she explains. He laughs a bit, smiling still. "That is an impressive skill! I never knew anypony that could fight themselves!" The princess pounds a hoof on the desk, shattering any glass items on the edge by falling to the ground. She looks him straight in the eye, "Don't you ever say something like that to me. Ever. Again. " she spat the last words, as if to conclude a point.
His smile still doesn't fade as he returns the eye contact. "Of course, your highness, I'll try to keep my comments to myself"
She stares at him still. She leans back, "I'd expect so."
"Now then, I'll arrange housing for you, it should be done by tonight... but for now we should get to work"
"Alright, do you have a map?" she asked. "Indeed" He taps a few buttons on his desk and a hologram map appears. The princess scans it over, "show me where the rebellion started, and where you think it might lead." He nods and presses another button. A couple red dots appear. He points towards a dot near the north of the planet. "It started there, all the other dots are places they have captured"
"Seems rather small. I believe it can be stopped before it gets too out of hoof..." she goes into deep thought, once again scanning the map, "Do you see any patterns?"
He shrugs. "They must have a leader with some military skill, they've struck at vital spots and left everything else untouched."
"Hm. How many are on guard here? Certainly you must protect all your battle plans and what-not." she frowned as she glanced around the room. "Most of our troops are out on patrol, the rebels have been spotted nearby... honestly what we need is reinforcements... hmm, your an Alicorn, how powerful of a Alicorn though?"
"I'm able to control the stars, I'm capable of harnessing the energy and using it against them. Or I could write a message in the sky to them. OH! And I can dream walk, make them afraid to go asleep and then your troops can strike when they are weakened. I have many other powers as well, those are just the ones that come to mind." she explained.
He smiles again and nods. "We don't have time to weaken them, if you don't mind, I'll send you and what ever troops I can muster off to the space port... we'll need that back if we are to turn this around"
"I can send a message to Luna right away, no need to make the trip back. Do you have ink and a quill?" She picked up a piece of paper. He nods again and moves the inkwell and quill over to her. "They will still need a place to land." Skywriter takes the quill in her magic and dips it into the ink. As she's writing, she answers him, "then just move them for now. Or at least move them when you know they are to come."
"Hmm, alright, I think we could clear some land to the south"
"Alright then...." she sends the letter off in blue sparks, "I've asked Luna for backup."
"Excellent... welp... we've got a few hours to wait, you could take a tour of the city" He shrugs.
"I guess so," the goddess walks to the door. "See yah" He waves and leans back in his chair. She heads out the door and walks down the stairs to the building, looking around.
The New Lunar Republic- Rebellion of The Solars
There was plenty of things to do in the city. There seemed to be a small library off to the west, a whole street with restaurants and bars, was to the east, there was also a park down the street. The alicorn trotted to the library and picked up a few old books they no longer needed. Most where on history, in which she read while sitting on a park bench. A light breeze made the trees sway slightly in the wind.
When Sky had finished her reading, she head back to the town hall. It had been a few hours since she started reading, the sky was already darkening. She head back into the large building, being greeted by the few guards that remained there. The mare from before sees her and trots over. "Hello Princess"
"Hello!" Skywriter greets her happily, then her face slowly transitions into confusion, "I never caught your name..."
"Ah right, my apologies, your highness, I'm Silver Spear, Moony's Captain of the Guard and assistant" She answers with a smile. She was a blue mare with a white mane and tail. Her body almost matched the color of the landscape outside.
"Alright then, Silver Spear, do you know if we've gotten word from Luna? I sent a message asking for reinforcements."
"Yes, she'll be sending fifty stallions to help us take back the port, after that she'll send more."
"Ah. Good." Sky walks past her and looks around. "Your apartment is ready, your highness if you want me to bring you there, unless you still have things to do."
She looks at her, "But of course! I have nothing else to do, really."
She nods, smiling still. "Shall I lead you there then?"
"Sure!"
"Of course, your highness, it's just down the street, my apologizes ahead of time for not having anything better prepared" She begins trotting out of the town hall. "It's fine, I don't really care for quality over just a shelter." she explained as they made their way down the street. "Of course, of course, your highness" She replies with a giggle. They reach the apartment, and Silver opens the door then gives Sky the key. "I stocked your fridge with the best stuff I could fine, your highness" She explains as she leads Sky inside. "There is a fully working bathroom and kitchen, there is also a roomy living room and the bed is very comfy... " She giggles. "I tested it immensely"
"The best of jobs, I presume." she giggled.
"Well, if there isn't anything else, I'll be going, I'll try to find you a better apartment when I can"
"This is fine, do not fret." she glanced around the room. It was more like a house rather than an apartment. She smiles and nods. "Of course, your highness, if you need anything... welp, you can tell anypony to help you!"
"Alright." she giggled.
"See you later, princess" She trots out. Skywriter looks around, and trots into the living room, plopping down on the couch with a book marked book. She looks outside at the fading light, and falls asleep for the night to come. The princess was nocturnal, and a few hours of sleep would help her strength when night fell.
A sudden knock awoke her from her slumber a couple hours later. The sun had set completely and it was nearly pitch black outside except for the small pockets the streetlights lit up. She straitened up, walked to the door, and opened it, "Yes?" A mare wearing almost all black stood in the door smiling. "Hello your majesty."
"Hello," she replied.
"Come with me, Moony wants to see you!~" She says, her voice didn't sound like anypony Sky had met yet.
"Um..alright." she walks out and gently closes the door behind her. The mare nods and almost skips along ahead of her. She follows at a steady pace behind, jogging through the long street. Soon enough they had reached the townhall, the mare bounces slightly at the main door, Silver was standing in the open doorway, waiting.
"Hi Silver!" Sky says, recalling the mare's name.
"Hello, your highness" She replies, smiling and trotting to meet up with Sky. "So where am I going?" she asks in reply.
"Luna sent reinforcements a lot earlier than we expected, you, me and our little bunny over there" She teases the bouncing mare. "Are going to meet up with them then take back the port"
"Oh! That's wonderful news! she exclaims, smiling.
"Perfect, is there anything else you need before we head out?"
"Nah," she replies casually.
"Lets go then, oh and Aerith, please try to be quiet" She says to the black dressed mare. The mare giggles and skips down the street. "Your name is Aerith?" Skywriter trots after her, ears pricked forward. "Indeed it is, your majesty! Hehe" The mare answers, skipping backwards somehow. Silver rolls her eyes and trots next to Sky.
"How....?" she begins to ask. "How what, your majesty?" She asks, tilting her head.
"How is she skipping backwards...?" she questions, leaning towards Silver while lowering her voice. Silver shrugs, lowering her voice as well. "Your guess is as good as mine." She straitens up without a word and looks straight ahead.
Silver giggles and continues trotting. Aerith slows down so she was closer to the group, and leads the small group towards the east of the city, leading them out onto the cold surface. "How far is it from here? I was kind of in a rush to get here, never really kept track of time..." Sky asked the two other mares. Silver speaks up. "Only about twenty minutes away, then a half hour jog to the port."
"Alright," she once again looked straight ahead, as if the port was right there. They arrive in the rocky plains, she could see the small group of ten stallions Luna had sent were already ready and waiting. Sky trots up to them, the two mares trailing behind. The stallions see her and bow, the nearest one greeting her. "Your highness." She smiles, "You may rise," they rise to their hooves in professional stances. Silver and Aerith stand on either side of her. The stallion that greeted her steps forward slightly. "Your highness, we were rushed off without an explanation, what is going on?"
She straitens herself up, "An uprising against the Republic is upon us, tis the Solar Empire we are dealing with." The stallions smile, eager to spill solar blood. "What is our mission?"
"First we need to find their next target," she explained, "and meet them there before they have the change to attack, as they have been taking cities and towns down one by one."
Silver interjects. "Sorry your majesty, but, we need to go take back the port."
She nods, looking at Silver, "And take back what they have stolen." She nods and smiles. "Well then, shall we get going?" Sky says casually. Silver nods and begins leading the way.
The New Lunar Republic- Rebellion of The Solars
They are silent as they go on, the only sound being hoof steps against the ground. Once they could see the port Silver lead them behind a huge boulder. "So how do we approach them?" Sky whispered.
"Hmm" She peeks out, looking for any openings. After a little bit she gets back behind the boulder. "Aerith will distract the back door guards, then we rush in."
"Alright," she agreed to this, looking over at Aerith, "want any guards to accompany you?" Aerith grins at Sky, then zooms off towards the port's back door, dodging spotlights on her way. Sky just stares, confused by her ability to accomplish such things. Silver motions for Sky and the stallions to follow her as she begins making her way towards the landing port. Aerith had already led the two guards away from the metal back door. Sky brings her head low to the ground, watching her surroundings. Silver slowly leads them through a hallway, dodging guards as they went. They soon come to pass an open room, and it seemed empty.
The empty room was the control room, odd that it would be so unguarded. Silver quickly sits down at the main computer's chair and begins tapping away, the stallions take positions by the doors encase anypony came in. Sky does the same, scanning several security cameras and such. She points one out with her hoof, "Silver, look, I found where the guards are..." the screen showed small rows of the Solar Empire's own army. One stallion slowly walked up and down the isle, looking them over. "Ah perfect, thank you, your highness" She taps a button, locking the door to the room the guards were in.
They don't seem to notice, and what seemed to be their leader continued to walk up and down the isle of soldiers. She giggles softly. "Now to round up the few guards that weren't in there." Sky scanned the other screens. Few guards where around, save for few guarding a giant steel door. She swiped her hoof over it, "There they are. What do you think is in there?"
She shrugs. "I have no idea, nopony's allowed in there except Moon and well, I'd suppose the Princesses" A mischievous grin appears on her face. "Let's go find out."
She frowns, "No, I mean, couldn't they use the room for something else? Like a weapon? Hopefully whatever was in there before isn't of any use to them..."
"Hmm, alright Princess, but we still need to go round up the guards." She nods, "Should I send a few of our own?"
"Do as you wish, princess, I'll send-" She points at four stallions. "-you four to go round up the remainder, use lethal force if needed." The stallions nod and dash off, heading to scour the facility for any left over guards. At that moment, though, a cheer rises from the large crowd of soldiers on the screen. No sound of course, but they all had their weapons raised high in the air, "Uh-oh...." Sky glanced at Silver.
Silver watches the screen intently, her mind spinning. "Damn, damn damn..." She points at the remaining stallions. "You go get the boys I just sent out, we'll need them back here."
"I can help hold them back," Sky stated, her eyes burning with fury as she stared up at the screen, her head to her chest and ears pinned tightly to her skull. Silver grins and nods in approval. "Good good, but don't try any heroics, your more important than the mission." She stiffly walks to the door, "alright, then," she glances back at Silver, "Stay here and keep watch." The alicorn then walks out the door, a small army of stallions trailing behind. Silver keeps a close eye on the cameras as Sky walks out the door, the stallions that had been in the room following her out.
Sky dashed behind a corner, and all of them stood close to the wall. She glanced around the corner to see a large steel door, guarded by two soldiers dressed in bright colored garments. Sky motioned for one of the bat pony stallions to come forward. The princess flew high into the air and charged her horn, and the bat pony held a knife in his mouth. She cast an anti-gravity spell, and they where now standing on the ceiling, crawling with chests close to the 'ground' to not be seen. The two stallions guarding the door luckily didn't see the princess or her troops slowly crawling their way towards them due to them being lost in an argument about a bet they had made on something.
Sky charged her horn, and a small aura formed around them, yet they never noticed. In a second, though, they where both knocked out. The alicorn brought the Lunar ponies and herself to the ground and slowly began to examine the lock. She put her ear to it. Since the colonies were still in their early development stage, the lock was nothing difficult, a couple twists here and there inside it and it would open, not a problem for a magic user.
The princess creaked open the door slowly.
From the small crack that the Princess had opened between the door and the door frame, she could see a neon green light flooding the otherwise dark room. She opened it fully and began to slowly walk into the room, her ears alert. A few steps inside the room and suddenly spotlights flash on, blinding her momentarily. Once her eyesight returned, she could the room was lined with computers, Lines of data racing across their monitors. In the middle of the room was a large green cylinder.
The group of stallions followed her in. Once inside, they began to scan the computers. None of the stallions could figure out what the strings of numbers running across the screens meant. Sky lit her horn in a translation spell, and cast it at one of the computers. The numbers on the screen slowly turned to letters, it was a jumbled mess but Sky could make something out about something vitals.
"What does it say?" one of the stallions asked.
"It's...a heart beat?" she looked at the screen, it was pulsing in a rhythmic beat. One of the stallions taps on the green glass with his sword. The screen gave a visible wave of electric shock across it's surface in defense of the attack. Sky pulled his sword back before it could reach the cold metal. The stallion mumbles and an apology and moves away. The princess walks around and looks at the other computers. They seemed to be measuring the body functions of an unknown life. The stallions roam about, securing the room.
She glances up at the glowing light in the middle of the room, "What do you think that is?" One of the stallions walks over, the medic of the group. "Your highness, I believe it is a holding cell of some sort"
"Hm...." the princess walked over to what looked like the control panel at the head of the room. See flicked some switches, and the light turned transparent so they could see what was inside. Inside the tube a large creature could be seen, it had spikes running down it's spine and along the back's of it's arms. The rest of it's body looked to be made of blue greyish scales. Sky walked over to the tube, examining it.
Moonsteel The Paragon of is online.
It seemed to be a good four inches taller than Sky, though it was hard to tell from just looking at it in it's tube. "What...is it?" she questioned. The stallions all shrug, looking at one another. It twitched. Skywriter backed up slowly. The creature begins to twitch more, seeming to wake up, computer screens start flashing red. The alicorn ran to the controls. They had seemed to be disabled, and the flashing was to surely attract the solars. Her loyal stallions drew their swords, unknowing what was to happen. Suddenly the door bursts open, a small squad of Solars rushing into the room.
The New Lunar Republic- Rebellion of The Solars
Sky charged her horn and held them all under a force field, all while the Lunars took position around it, ready to attack at any moment. One of them bucked the door closed, trapping them all inside. The second the door closed, Sky heard a loud crash of glass being smashed then roar come form behind her, right where the tube was. She stood there, stunned. She slowly turned around to face the threat.
The creature stood before her, growling and looking about, unsure of what to do. She crouched under it's gaze, but still held her magic aura. She did not want to attack it, as that would only anger the creature. Unfortunately one of her stallions, probably a new recruit felt differently, in his scared state he charged the creature, causing it to roar and strike out at him, killing him instantly and tossing him across the room. She gasped and reeled back into her own force field. "Stay back!" she cried. The creature turned to them.
The creature attacks her guards, easily smacking them aside, it's sharp spikes ripping and tearing. This angers the princess. She disregards the force field and instead charges an attack spell, shattering the dome behind her. The alicorn then flies high to the ceiling and shoots the creature with her powerful magic. It reels back and falls to the ground, unconscious. The solars, seeing the Princess's might quickly scatter. She lands on the ground and sets a force field over it. The creature doesn't move. The few stallions that survived picked themselves back up and look at the creature with mixtures of awe and hate.
Sky looks around. Many of the stallions that had accompanied her were on the ground, unconscious. Some were dead, and few were standing. The few that were standing and weren't too badly hurt began checking the others for pulses, the ones that were still alive they did what they could to bandage their wounds, and for the dead, they simply said goodbye.
The solars, on the other hand, were disoriented. They were throughout the room, standing in shock. Some of the Lunars pointed their weapons at them and brought them to the ground. Silver suddenly trots into the room, staring at the creature in amazement. "Silver!" Skywriter cries. She ran over to her, "Thank Luna your here, we have wounded!" Without giving her a chance to answer, though, the princess ran to check some the pulses of the unconscious ponies. After staring at the creature she trots up to Sky, frowning. "We still have Solars to deal with"
She glanced around the room at all the captive solars, "Wellll, I think we have a few for questioning."
She nods. "And what of the others?"
Sky puts a hoof to her chin, then looks up again, "We can have a few guard the door where they are, I think it will hold." she recalled the bomb-proof door they had locked from the outside earlier. She nods once again. "Okay Princess, but we'll have to take over this port soon, should be use lethal force or try to take prisoners?" Sky frowns, "Don't take them by force, that will only cause an uproar. Talk to them through the transmission if you can. Tell them that we can come to an agreement if they let their leader come and have a little chat with me, as well as Moon."
"Hmm... alright Princess, but I still say we should just kill them, it's simple and there wouldn't be too many problems" She shrugs and trots back to the computer room. She facehoofs as Silver leaves. Why would anypony resort to such a gruesome end for the ponies they possibly knew and loved?
One of the Lunars trots up. "Ma'am, what should we do now?"
"Bring all of the injured ponies back to the control room, and make sure nopony has any major injuries." she replied. He nods and trots away, getting a few others to help him then begins doing the Princess' orders. Skywriter looked around and sighed. She was then startled by a thump. She looked at the creature under her force field, waking up. The thing shook it's head, quickly becoming aware of it's situation. It punches the field. The goddess flinches. She thickens the field as Lunar guards brought their captives and wounded to the door. The creature roars angrily but doesn't strike out again.
When they finally made it out, Skywriter brought the force field to match that of the prison it was first held in, and ran out the door. Her guards quickly shut the door and lock it, trapping it inside. Sky slung the two unconscious solars at the door on her back, "Alright, let's get back to the control room." Her guards nod and lead her back to the control room.
Once they made it there, Sky set the solars on the ground, perching them against a wall, and set a force field around them. They wake up a few minutes later. At first they are dazed, but then realize where they are. They look around, obviously a bit scared at their predicament. "Tis alright," Skywriter assured them.
"Wh-Who are you...?" One of them asks. She smirks, "Now why would I give my name away?" They couldn't think of any reasons so they shut up, looking at her quietly. "We are going to ask you some questions, and don't try to lie." she chuckles, "I have a nice little truth spell," the princess cast said spell on them. They move back, startled at the light suddenly surrounding them. "Now,"
she laid down in front of the force field, crossing her two forelegs, "Who is your commander?"
"C-Captain Deleth" One stutters out, trying to fight against the spell. "Deleth?" she asked, writing it down. "Y-Yes" The one that answered nods. She plastered a frown on her face, "Why are you here?"
"To... to ke-keep mor-more Lun-Lunars from lan-landing." There was a look of displeasure on her face now, "Well then, I guess we are going to have to change that."
"We'll kill all you dirty Lunars!" He barks out. She stands up and spreads her wings wide. The princess now looked twice her size, "That is not my content goal, you fool! Nor should it be yours!" One cowers and the other tries to stand in the small force field. "You'll never win!" Skywriter closes her eyes, taking a deep breath, and calms her voice, "I wish to only live in peace, I do not want to be responsible for the slaughter of innocent ponies." She then jerks her head forward, slight anger once again arising, "and words shall not stop me from reaching this goal!"
"You old cow! You will never win! We'll burn and slaughter any who would support you!" He growls. She once again closed her eyes and calmed her voice, "Do you not see the beauty of both sides? Light and dark, day and night. One cannot exist without the other."
"Light can always exist without darkness, it always WINS over darkness!"
"Without darkness," she shouts, "the plants would wither and die! Without darkness, many creatures of the night would have no chance of survival! Without darkness, order will be forever lost!"
"You hideous creatures of the night don't deserve any chance of survival!"
She chuckles, "They control the pests. Without the night, I'm sorry to say, many of them could die, and the food chain could be broken. That would result in even your animals to die." The princess sits down and leans her head on the force field, her back facing the solars, "It's all about balance. I'm not sure you know this, but Luna and Celestia were the best of friends before their parents ascended and passed Equestria's duties onto them. Luna would tell me stories of how much fun they had together, but the weight of the crown separated them. This war is in between them, I even have a dear friend of mine who helps Celestia...she tells me, every night Celestia locks herself in her room, and sometimes cries herself to sleep. Luna does the same every once in a while." The two solars sit there in silence, angrily letting her rant away. She falls silent, "We don't have to fight. Fighting is what ponies do when they are scared. Luna and Celestia are scared."
The stallions decide to just not answer her, to see where it goes. A few minutes go by, and finally Skywriter turns around and asks, "What are your names?" The one that was mostly staying quiet speaks up first. "I'm Snow Hex..." The other more loud one speaks up next. "I'm Dominic."
"Good to know," she nodded, "So tell me, why do you think the night is so bad?"
"It is Luna's domain! Why would we side with such a hideous creature!?" Dominic explodes. "Hm. So Luna is hideous now?" she brought up a hologram picture of the alicorn for them to see, "Then I guess I won't understand your concept of beauty. Of course, personality wise? She can be a bit grumpy sometimes, but we all have our bad days. And," she added, "I meant the night itself, not it's ruler."
"Are all creatures of the night as dumb as yourself?" He asks simply, a smirk playing on his lips. She laughed, "I may not be the smartest of ponies, but if your smart yourself, you wouldn't have taken that question seriously." He shakes his head and sits down. "Getten' tired of my rambling, eh?" She smirked.
They both nod. "Heh," The princess got up, "Well then, Snow Hex. Why is the night so bad in your eyes?"
"It's... it's not actually... my shop was failing and I needed work... Celestia's recruiter just showed up first I guess."
"Oh," she looked at him, saddened. "Yeah..." He responds, not sure what else to say to the night princess. "Well then," The princess stood up, "I have some more questioning to do." Dominic grumbles, Snow just kinda sits there, awaiting his fate. "What is Celestia planning?" She asked. They both answer honestly. "We don't know."
"Hm..."
They sit there, looking at her. She stood up and looked them in the eyes, "But, do you know anything? Surely you have something you'd have to know." They both shake their heads, Snow speaks up. "We don't have any contact with her from here..." She pauses before continuing, and stands up, "You two are stuck with the burden of the truth spell for now, so be careful what you say," she glances at Dominic, then walks to the controls.
The New Lunar Republic- Rebellion of The Solars
She walked to Silver, "What are the other solars up to?" she glanced at the computer screens. "They're trying to regroup" She says, pointing to a few screens which showed small groups of Solars. Sky growled and sighed, "We need to find a way to reason with them."
"Beg your pardon, your majesty, but why? Why not just slaughter them and be done with it?"
She sighed, "That would only make it worse. We already have injured."
"Not because of the Solars, your majesty, and even with our wounded, we could crush the remaining stallions." Skywriter looked at her in the eye, "I'd like to speak and negotiate first. These ponies have families and lives of their own. It's not just us that have ponies that care about us. Think about it, what it was like before war? Another civil war, but no one had to die. We made peace, Silver. We could do that again." She shakes her head and sighs. "I don't agree, but your the commander, your majesty, it's your call."
"Alright, try to get the speaker?" She nods and begins tapping. The speaker turns on, and Skywriter taps the microphone with her hoof. Solars' ears perk up at the static. She could see that everypony was paying close attention to the speakers. "Solars," she spoke, "May we come to agree on peace. I'd advise you to let your leaders speak."
They all look at one another in confusion.
She sighed, "I mean, I am here to put this to an end."
One stallion steps out of a group and stares at the camera, he must be the leader. "You," she noticed this, and teleported him into the room, placing a force field around him. She faced the microphone again, "He'll be back," and with that, shut the mic off. The leader stares at her, silently looking her up and down. "What is your name?" the princess asked plainly. "Drest, ma'am" He replies. He was a blonde stallion.
"Hm," she looks him over, and cast the truth spell, "Now," she starts, "What brought you to work with Celestia?"
"Freedom, ma'am" He replies simply.
"Freedom from..what?"
"Luna's moronic reign."
"Ha," she chuckled, "Now what makes you think that?"
"Princess Celestia promised we would be given freedom from Equestria so long as defeated Luna in her name."
"Freedom from Equestria?"
"Yes, we'd be our own nation."
"Well then," she said, "If you would have stopped and listened you would have known."
"Known what, hmm?"
She paused for a second, "I am simply here to take our own colonies back."
"None of these colonies are yours! This is a free planet"
"Not your colonies, do you not see the cities that were destroyed?"
"Yes we see the destroyed cities, that isn't our doing, it's the doing of a more radical group, and these are our colonies!"
Skywriter put a hoof to her forelock, "This is what I'm talking about..."
The stallion glares at her. "You can't keep us from our freedom, we'll kill all of you if we have to."
"I came to put this war to an end!" Sky stands up, "And I will not resort to violence."
"Then pull your troops from this planet and there will be no more violence!"
"Can we not share it?" She asked, "Why do we have to fight over it, just because we sleep in night, over day, or day, over night?"
"We have no issue with whether or not you sleep during the day or not. We want to be free of Equestria's war."
The princess sighed, "As do I. Perhaps we can come to an agreement?"
"What kind of agreement?"
"Simply sharing the land." She grins, excited, "I've always loved the idea of sharing a world, where towns are separated by shared farm land, with no laws as boundaries in between them."
He shakes his head. "Those two moronic alicorns already have all the land they need, this is our land dammit!"
Princess Skywriter is online.
"What do you mean?" she looked slightly confused.
"They have Equestria and plenty of other planets, this planet is ours" He spits on the ground. "Your the most uninformed princess I've ever met"
"Hm," she sat down and thought about this, "Why don't you bring colonies to live with us? It's doable." He shakes his head. "We want to be independent."
"Then may I help you find new homes? Or..." she hesitated, "Half of this planet, we won't bother you. I'll make sure of it."
"Half the planet!? Never! The most we'd be willing to give up is one town and a small bit of land surrounding it."
She thought about this, "Quarter of land on this planet, then. The rest is yours." He growls, then sighs. "Fine, it's a deal."
"I promise you, I shall not let my subjects disturb the peace of your colonies, as long as you are able to do the same." she said, pleased.
"Yes yes, we are in agreement, I will tell my men to cease with their attacks." She nodded, "So will I." she walks to the controls.
"Good, now, release me"
"Very well," she turned to him and her horn glowed. There was a flash of light, and the commander disappeared, only to reappear on the screen with his troops. Sky turned on the mic to hear them. He looks around confused, then hear the mic turn on, he and his troops look up at the cameras. "Go on," Skywriter urged to the captain like a mother would to a child. "You do realize I have more troops than just these boys here right? There is an entire army." He calls up to the mic on the camera. "Ha. Same here." she chuckled in response, "Do not challenge me." The look on the commander's face was that of dealing with a child. "I was not challenging you, I was simply explaining that I will need more time to communicate with all the officers."
"Hm," she nodded, even though he could not see her, "Alright then."
"Thank you, I will inform them of the ceasefire as soon as I can" With that he gives a few orders to the stallions around him and they begin to leave.
The New Lunar Republic- Rebellion of The Solars
She turns off the microphone and trots to the two solars, and takes down the force field around them, ceasing the truth spell, "You are free to go. We have made a deal, three quarters of this planet belong to your kind, one quarter to us. Your captain will explain if you weren't listening."
Snow nods and smiles before trotting out of the room, the other huffs and storms away. She rolls her eyes and giggles at the differing personalities of the two stallions. Silver watches them go and frowns. Sky glances over at her, "What?"
"You should have denied his request, your majesty."
"How come? I'm simply doing what's fair, there are plenty of other planets out there. I've even been colonizing a few." She stated, looking back to the cameras.
She sees on all the cameras Solar retreating from the spaceport, she had won with minimal casualties. Silver shakes her head. "Those slime didn't deserve a peaceful end."
"Heh. They think the same of us," she got close to Silver's face, tapping the mare's forelock, "Think outside your own perspective."
Silver rolls her eyes slightly. "I don't agree with you... but, you are effective."
"Now," she smiled and turned back to the cameras, "I don't exactly want to be too sure that he was honest, so I'd like to keep some troops here for a bit."
Silver nods approvingly. "That's good, your majesty, and soon Luna will be supply us with reinforcements now that we can get shuttles in and out."
"Alright," and with that, walked to the door. Silver follows after her. "Your majesty, where are you going?"
"Just to explore the port." She shrugs and follows after her. "So, should we call the others here?" Skywriter asks as they trot from room to room. "Comms are already being established with the nearest friendly planet, your majesty" She informs her. The princess nods in approval. She trots along beside her. "Luna should get news of your work here within a few days."
"Heh," Sky chuckles, "Hope she's okay with it."
"I'm sure she'll be happy to hear of your success, your majesty."
"In claiming the port?"
"That and in ending the rebellion here for the most part, that stallion led a good chunk of the solars troops here, the only opposition left will be a smaller force of fanatics led by Deleth"
"Ah," she smiled.
She nods. "So, what shall we do about the remaining solars, your majesty? I suggest annihilation." Skywriter sighed, "I am not killing anypony. If you have such a thirst for blood, Silver, I'd suggest hunting or something else to occupy those thoughts." She frowns. "It's not a thirst for blood, your majesty, it's a simple and permanent way to get rid of these solars."
"Heh. Permanent. Maybe in the short lifetime of a foal dying early." she scoffed, "That's not a permanent solution. There is no permanent solution, one way or another."
"Better solution then letting them run wild" She mutters under her breath. "Hm." She stopped in her tracks in seeing solars go by idly. They notice the victorious Lunar princess and hurry along. Sky glanced at Silver, "Now I'm not going to get too cocky," she said, "but why else would they do that?"
Silver rolls her eyes and replies. "Insignificant rats fear the cat even if that cat makes ill thought out decisions at times." Sky sighed, "I'm sorry, Silver, that you are not satisfied with this resolve...of sorts. But new planets can be established. Far from here, and any solar to penetrate their borders would be considered an invader, I promise you that." She replies simply, staring hard at the leaving Solars. "This planet will still be plagued by their diseased hides though, your majesty." The princess stopped and draped a wing over the mare, "I am sorry if you feel this is not right. Perhaps we can work something else out with them, but I do not want conflict."
She sighs softly. "Perhaps you are right, your majesty, conflict may not be best... but it will happen, these fools driven on by their tyrant will never stop."
"Who says they do not think the same of us? I'm trying to end this once and for all. If we are capable of finding new settlements, then we mind as well give them what they want and guard the new ones," The princess concluded, "We have enough money and power. The Republic is strong, and there are plenty of young mares and stallions that would be willing to help search out what could possibly be our own lunar system."
"Celestia doesn't want us to guard anything! She wants you, Luna and ever last one of us Lunars dead!" Silver corrects her, frowning up at the princess. "Not her sister, never her sister." She replied, "If Celestia is to interfere, I will reason with her." Silver stares at the princess for a few moments then shakes her head. "Anyway... we should return to the city, Your Majesty."
"I thought we were staying here for a bit?"
"No need, the boys will take are of things here and engineers will be sent when we return and give Commander Moon the good news."
"Alright."
She nods and begins leading the princess out of the port.
Once they get outside, Skywriter looks around. Solars wander, talking to each other and ignoring the two lunars. Seeing the Princess they hurry along, led away by their captain. "I wish this not our fate," Skywriter remarked, "It seems as though we will have some getting used to together."
"There would be no need of that if the Solars were dead." The princess groaned, "I'm not killing anypony. End of story." She brought her muzzle close to her chest, an impatient look on her face. "Well, let's get going back to the city, your majesty."
"Alright. Why don't we trot?"
"Hmm, as you wish." She picked up a brisk trot, and they made their way back to the city without speaking.
The New Lunar Republic- Rebellion of The Solars
Silver takes her leave once they reach the city hall, telling Skywritter that Moon will see her anytime. "Thank you," Sky replied with a smile. She nods and trots away, off to do... Whatever. Skywriter walks through the halls, and finds Moon's office. She knocks on the door. Instantly a voice calls from inside the room. "Hold on hold on!" A few moments pass and the voice calls again. "Okay, come in!" Sky opened the door. Moon looked a bit flustered as he sat at his desk awkwardly smiling at her. "Ah, hello your majesty." She gave him a dull look, "What were you doing...?" He chuckles. "Nothing nothing."
She rolls her eyes in response, "Anyway, commander," she sighed, "No one died, but I have a feeling your not going to be very happy. That is, if you refuse to listen to me."
"I would have preferred an extinction of the Solar here but" He shrugs. "So long as the job is done and we have the port back."
"We have, indeed, the port back, but only a quarter of this planet." She smiled, "but...." He frowns, looking at her with an unamused expression. "You gave them a part of the planet...?"
"Yes," she replied, "But," the princess repeated, "I've been doing some research with Luna and The Doctor, and we have found a lunar constellation with far more wealth than there is here."
"Well good for them, doesn't help me" He snaps. She stomped her hoof, "Will anypony just listen?"
"I am listening, your majesty" He responds simply. "I have found new planets, besides..." she walked forward, "A quarter of a planet makes for plenty of room."
"And that helps me how? Hmm?" He asks. She rolled her eyes, "Look, for now, we only have a quarter of the planet. Give it time, and we can even end this war without bloodshed, but reason. You are just like them, not listening to reason, but your instinct to fight."
"Your majesty, your wrong there" He replies, adjusting his position on his seat to be more comfortable. "I care not how this war ends, I just want to see me come out richer and with more land."
"Ha! Yet you do not consider others in the matter." She spat, "And these new planets are very well full of wealth, with vast expanses of riches. They are also perfect to colonize. Any solar to enter with the intention of claiming land will be considered an intruder."
"Mhm, and that matters to me why? Each planet has it's own governor."
"And would you mind taking on a new planet?"
"I wouldn't mind at all, but Luna would never give me another planet to rule."
"I have just as much power as she does, as I'm usually the one to watch over the Republic. She goes to Canterlot a lot, and it would be too much of a hassle to go back and forth asking her permission for things."
"Hmmm..." He smiles, looking up at her, her being a bit taller than him. "Yes yes, I see... okay."
"And while the other planets are colonized, we can work on bringing peace to this planet." She smiles.
"Yes yes, that would be very good..." He grins, lost in thought now.
The princess rolls her eyes, "You're not even listening anymore, are you?"
"Hmm, wha?" He looks over at her, slightly surprised, he had forgotten she was there.
"Ugh. So it's a deal?"
"Indeed it is, pleasure working with you."
"Alright," she proceeded to walk to the door. She stopped and looked back at him, "Oh and, one more thing. May you not think of your own selfish intentions, but for the good of the republic," with that she left the room. She hears laughter come from the room as she leaves. "Ugh," she rolls her eyes once more, and found Silver in the main corridor, "Keep an eye on Moon, okay?"
She salutes. "Um, yes, your majesty!" The princess smiles and walks to her room. She finds a orange mare in her room cleaning. "Hi," Skywriter smiles.
"Eep!" She jumps in surprise, then blushes in embarrassment. "Oh oh my, hello your majesty!" She giggles and steps into the room, "And who might you be?"
"I-I'm Flower" She stammers out. "Your personal servant while your here."
"Wonderful name," Skywriter walks in and lays on the carpet. Flower giggles softly. "Your lucky, I just cleaned that." Sky stretches out and rubs her head against the soft carpet, "Good thing I'm clean." She giggles some more and goes back to cleaning. She shuts her eyes, and playfully paws at the carpet. She hums as she cleans.
"So how are you?" Skywriter asks, breaking the silence.
"Oh, I me? I'm well, your majesty, thank you for asking. You?"
"Hard to say," she replied, "I just had to sort something out with Moon."
"Oh..." She giggles knowingly. "That must have been fun."
"Yeup," she said simply.
"Hehe" She giggles.
She closes her eyes once more, and Flower joins her on the carpet. "Hai," Sky nipped at the carpet, then spit it out in disgust, "The things I do when I'm tired."
The mare looks at her weirdly. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, just the effects of exhaustion. For me it's like being drunk, though I don't drink much." She giggled. The mare nods and giggles with her. She sighs, "I feel like I'm a filly again."
The mare giggles and pets her. "You need rest, your majesty."
Sky got up and sighed, "How I wish to do so." She walks to her bed and jumps onto the bed, her face on her pillow. The mare giggles softly. "Need anything, your majesty?"
"Naw, just sleep," She turned over on her pillow to face Flower. She stands up and smiles. "I'll let you sleep then, your majesty."
"Thank you," she nodded happily at her, and soon fell asleep.