Minds and bodies twisted by the radiation. Memories of a land long forgotten destroyed in a single day. They hope that in the future it can get better, but they know it’s a lie. They must reach the nuclear throne.
“Welcome to your last day, Lieutenant! We decided since it was a slow week we’d throw you a retirement party,” the young police pony said.
“Sweet Celestia Bars, you guys scared me half to death. Didn’t expect anything like this with the hell I put you all in throughout the years.”
“You may have put us through hell, but you’ve done it for our own good, at least that’s what we hope.”
“Well, thanks anyway. Hey, before we do this, I gotta speak with Celestia. She seemed out of it for some reason, but orders are orders, ya know?”
“Fine, but this doesn’t excuse you from the party, good sir.” The Lieutenant walked away, heading towards the castle at a snail’s pace.
“I wonder what I'm gonna do after tomorrow? I mean, yeah, it’s gonna be great to not have to work, but in a way I'm gonna miss it.” These thoughts ravaged the elder colt’s mind until he reached the door to the throne room.
“Well, let’s hope this is something good. Maybe a reward for managing to stay alive so long.”
The colt heard a loud yell coming from the throne room. He stuck his ear to the door hearing the two princesses in a fierce argument. He slowly opened the door, not wanting to interrupt the argument in question between Celestia and Luna.
“Do you have any idea what they even are, Luna?! They’re more technologically advanced than the Griffons. We have no idea what they're capable of!”
“That may be true, sister, but they may not be here to harm us!”
“Luna, how could you even say that! I’m all for peace, but we’ve never even seen these creatures. They’re not mentioned in any books we have. They’re… something new. Something we haven’t seen,”
They both realized they were being watched by the elder colt as he slowly grew closer, more interested in their argument.
“We will finish this later, sister,” Luna said before walking out of the room, slamming the door with a loud thud in frustration.
“You’re the Lieutenant I asked for, correct?”
“Yes. Please tell me you brought me here for good news.” Celestia stared at him, her face cringing slightly. “Right?”
“I wish you were here on better terms. The truth is, I need you to go around the palace and make sure no one… different is wandering. A creature came to us and said that our kingdom would be no more, then vanished without a trace. We haven’t seen him since, but we’re worried. If you see anything I need you to tell me right away.”
“Very well, Princess, but just one question: why me instead of one of your personal guards?”
“Many of my guards are on leave at the moment to assist Shining Armor at the Crystal Empire. The rest are already where I need them, and you're here because we were understaffed. We needed someone of equal quality as our regular detail to be a temporary guard.” The Lieutenant looked at her, surprised and honored that she trusted him.
“Very well, Celestia. I will begin right away.”
“If you need me, I’ll be speaking to my sister in here about our current matters.”
With those words, the Lieutenant walked off and began to scour the castle, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
“Damn this is boring. I’m honored to help the princess and all, but on my last day she couldn’t have made me search someone or do anything exciting? She could’ve at least made me arrest someone so it could be an interesting last day.” Shear stopped mid-thought when he heard glass shatter in the distance.
“What the hell was that? Well, at least it’s something interesting.” He bolted down the hallway, nearly slamming his hooves into the shards of glass from a broken window.
“Well, nothing’s here it seems like, other than a broken window. The hell happened here though?” He began to turn around to tell Celestia about the incident when he felt a great pain and a sudden darkness clouded his vision.
He opened his eyes, only to see an enraged Celestia staring at him. Her eyes were bloodshot and her mouth was in a nasty snarl. He was unwilling to move, terrified of what may happen to him. Celestia began to float, encased in a golden aura.
“YOU HAVE FAILED ME!” she roared in the royal voice. “I LEAVE YOU WITH ONE SIMPLE TASK AND YOU FAILED ME! THE REPERCUSSIONS YOU HAVE CAUSED HAVE KILLED US!”
“Pri- Princess, listen, I don’t know what I’ve done but I'm sure we can-”
“No, it is too late for you… Guards, kill him.”
“Wait what? WAIT WHAT?!”
The guards came into the room and flooded him. He was terrified, yet confused by how many guards there were. The guards that were once subduing him began to melt, filling the room with a white and gold liquid. The Lieutenant tried to get out but it was no use. He tried to hold out and leave, holding his breath as long as he could. The room filled to the brim with no escape in sight. He couldn’t hold his mouth shut and began to drown, filling his lungs with the remains of the royal guards. His vision began to slowly fade as he reached his breaking point, nearly collapsing his lungs.
Then it all stopped. The world around him began to change into something pleasant. Princess Luna appeared before him.
“Listen closely. We have not much time, Lieutenant. You need to wake up and head to the throne room. My sister was right… those creatures did return, but with more nefarious ideas then I had hoped.”
“What can I do? If these creatures are dangerous enough to oppose you and Celestia, then what can I do?”
“We just need someone to fight back. Now hurry, our time is running short.”
“Very well, Luna.”
With these last words, Luna faded out of existence along with the dream.
The Lieutenant bolted awake, terrified as he tried to move his now restrained hooves. He stopped as his head throbbed from the blow struck to him earlier. When it eased to a mere headache he looked around, trying to find out where he was. He was in a throne room devoid of any direct light from the moon or the sun, which left it in a dark orange hue. As he looked towards the sky he noticed the moon had nearly eclipsed the sun.
“How could this be? Wasn’t Nightmare Moon destroyed?” The Lieutenant pondered these questions before averting his gaze to three figures, one of whom was heading straight for him.
The figure slammed through the wall, leaving a gaping hole in its wake. When he opened his eyes, he saw Luna. She was lying there, unmoving and covered in deep gashes. She struggled, but managed to get up, only to be knocked down again by a strange bipedal creature. Luna was staring at him, silently asking for help as tears ran along her face. The creature put a foot on her neck, slowly applying pressure until a loud snap was heard. Her eyes filled with horror and shock for a brief moment, then nothing. The beast turned to the Lieutenant.
“How does it feel to watch as your goddesses are killed before you? I find it rather enjoyable.”
“What have you done?!” he yelled, eyes filled with hate. Before the creature could respond, the beast was slammed into the ground with a loud thud, throwing debris in every direction.
When the smoke cleared, Celestia stood up and walked to her sister. Celestia was covered in the orange hue from the skies above, shadowing her fearful expression. She looked at the lifeless body before her. Celestia cried out before a gold aura appeared around her.
“YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!” she roared in the royal Canterlot voice.
“Peace is not an option anymore, I tried to reason and it-”
“It what? Failed? Celestia, you never had a chance to reason either way, I had no hopes of peace. Now you finally understand the inevitable, and it only took me having to kill your sister and destroying most of your royal guard.” Celestia screamed and flew at blinding speeds towards the creature, slamming him into the wall. She was trying to hit him but he was moving too fast, avoiding every hoof thrown his way. He quickly moved behind Celestia, grabbing her by the neck and choking her.
The Lieutenant swallowed the fear of death the mortified him moments ago and finally got the will to get up and fight. He grabbed the nearest object he could, a spear used by Luna, and ran towards his opponent. The creature moved just enough to avoid a fatal blow, but not enough to avoid a large gash in his face. He threw Celestia to the floor in a crumpled heap.
“You little bastard!” He grabbed the Lieutenant by the head, slowly applying pressure to it. “What makes you think you can kill me? I have destroyed your armies, beaten and killed your goddesses, yet you still fight?! You have great determination. How about putting that to use and helping me?”
“No. I don’t care what you offer, I just want you to burn for your crimes.”
“Why do you care for these people so much? You have the option to gain limitless power, yet you want to help your people.”
“Why? I’m a protector of my people. Have been for all my life. Yet you want to hurt those I protect. I won’t let that happen, it’s not in my own nature to let people suffer.”
“You’re either a lot braver than I thought, or more idiotic than anyone I’ve ever met. Very well, little one, you will be destroyed by the cleansing radiation with the rest of your pitiful people.” He dropped him and walked to Celestia’s throne.
“Wait, RADIATION?!”
“Yes, I will cleanse the land and birth it anew with radiation. Your kind has ruled long enough over this land, now it’s my turn.” He slowly sat into the seat, taking in its comfort and basking in the power he now controlled.
“I’ll give you a 10 second head start to leave before I begin, since I respect your determination for your people.” The Lieutenant was quickly out of the throne room and running down the halls, past the now mutilated corpses of other guards. He could feel the air thicken and began to hear words throughout the palace.
“Lux sit radiositas, disperdat mihi, et strengh, birth renascor in hoc mundo dei facie glow.” The air began to radiate heat around the Lieutenant, causing him searing pain and dropping him to the floor. A strange green glow erupted from the end of the hallway, growing closer to him. He was grabbed by the wave of green, drowning in the fiery hot liquid as it dragged him out the door and into the streets. He felt his lungs fill with the toxins, his body nearing the edge. He was thrown into a window of a nearby house. The waste began to drain from the house and the streets as it spread its influence farther across the land.
“Dear… Celestia, how could this happen?” He tried to steady his breathing as the thought of what it might do to the land came to mind.
“Mere seconds and the waste felt as if it was beginning to melt me…” Covering his hands with his hooves he noticed something out of place. He felt something smooth all around his hooves. “Wha- WHERE’S MY FUR?!” His fur was now gone, leaving a sickly green skin beneath.
“What in Tartarus did that do to me?! Radiation… it can manipulate cells to its own will, it can…” That’s when it hit him. He began to gallop home in a rush to make sure his family was fine.
