Chapter the First: What Came Before
It was the middle of the day, and so the sun ought to have been shining over the castle Krak de la Lune. As Eclipse shoved another bolt into his crossbow in the moonlight, he reflected that a number of things that ought to be happening were not, and a good deal of things that ought not to be happening were.
The soldiers assaulting the Krak—he brought another down as it tried to break through in a group—ought to be diamond dogs, or griffons, or something. They ought not to be the Canterlot Royal Guard. His platoon ought to be parading through the streets alongside them, united to protect everypony. They ought not to be shooting crossbows at them and engaging in hoof-to-hoof combat. Most importantly, his commander, Princess Luna ought to be lowering the moon to make way for the sun. She ought not to be leaving it in the sky and refusing to lower it.
He leaned over the upper ward even as he loaded his crossbow once more with his magic. The Royal Guard were making another push, and the Lunar Guard were being pushed back once more. He looked around to spot whoever looked the most like they were in charge. Finding a particularly loud-looking pegasus marshalling a group towards the postern, he raised his crossbow, and shot him. The bolt launched out with a loud crack, but he had no time to watch for results. He ducked down behind the crenellations, and breathed in as a rattle of metal resounded against the battlements. Their damned counter-snipers were too bloody good. The battle would not last much longer. He could see that, even without his magic.
“Night Blitz!”
“Sir?”
“Get this message to Red Company. Enemy attacking postern. Requesting reinforcements. Message end. Repeat.”
“Enemy attacking postern, requesting reinforcements. Got it.”
“Go. We don’t have much time.”
* * *
Things had to be pretty bad if the Looie wanting reinforcements from the medicos, but Night Blitz knew better than to answer back to an officer like that. ‘Sides, Eclipse had never led the platoon wrong. He galloped across the upper ward. His wings twitched as he did, but the bastards had pretty much grounded the loyalists over the last week. None of the darkbolts here could take flight without risking serious injury or—more likely—death. Even their few pegasus ponies had to be careful. What it meant for him is that he had to stick to his crossbow rather than his much-preferred hoof claws.
Blitz did not bother with knocking on the door to the hall, merely slamming the doors open. The smell of death flooded his nose, and he had to fight the desire to slake his thirst there. He could not control his fangs, though, and as he walked through the room, stepping over bodies in various states of health, he kept his mouth closed. No point scaring the casualties to death.
It was not too long before one of the Red Company accosted him. “Sir”—she was a young private, it looked like—“are you in need of medical attention?”
“Not me. Take me to your leader.” It was the cheesiest line ever, but he loved to use it on these new bucks. She nodded timidly enough, and buzzed through the lines of wounded quickly enough to impress him. She could not have been that new if she was that agile around the wounded. Part of it was no doubt due to the tentacle on her head, though. Those things were one heck of a lot better than the unicorn horns, even if the Princess had kept hers.
They made their way through the hall until eventually they bumped into somepony wearing scrubs with an impressive amount of rank insignia on them. It had been a long time since Night Blitz had seen a colonel wandering around, and even longer since he had seen a fellow darkbolt at that exalted rank. He saluted as the colonel turned, and had to force himself to keep steady when he saw the colonel’s eyes. They were bloodshot, and had an amazing collection of bags underneath. It looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks.
“Yes, corporal?” Night Blitz shook himself to focus again.
“Message from the Lieutenant, sir.” He scratched his head absent-mindedly. “Enemy attacking postern, requesting reinforcements. Sir.”
“Which Lieutenant, damn your eyes?” The colonel’s uniform was covered in dried blood and other things—Night Blitz tried not to think about what they might be.
“Lieutenant Eclipse, sir, of the Second Company.”
The colonel turned away at that. “Tell the Lieutenant that it is already over. My only job now is to preserve the wounded. And get out of my sight.”
* * *
As the darkbolt corporal turned to leave, Private Midnight Shimmer felt lost for what felt like the first time since she had been mobilised to the medical company. The Colonel had just turned aside, not even trying to help. She bit her lip, and then jumped up and followed the corporal, skipping across the sick and wounded.
“Hi!” she called, and he stopped and turned. “I’ll help, even if nopony else will.”
“You will?” She thought that she could see him bite back a laugh, but smiled anyway.
“Yes, I will. What can I do?”
“Do you know how to shoot a crossbow? Never mind, we don’t have time to discuss it. Follow me.”
With that, he headed back out, and opened the door to the brisk night. Midnight shivered a little and kept following, only pausing to close the doors behind her. The implications of her disobedience only now began to be clear to her. Maybe she sho-
Her introspection was cut short when the corporal tackled her to the ground. “Stay low!”
She looked up to see several pegasus ponies flying over the castle at high speed, in the golden armour of the Royal Guard. They dropped several objects, which began to make a whining noise as they fell through the sky. When they hit the ground, they exploded, sending dirt and dust and metal everywhere. The wounds of those ponies last night and before became horrifyingly clear to her. How could somepony do that?
The corporal was up, and looking around, he dragged her across the ward. She had seen it when she first came here, and it was flat and perfect. Now it was cratered and blasted, the architect’s work being put to a destructive test. “Grab a crossbow, and point it at the bad guys!”
Midnight took the proffered object, and remembering her basic training, she slowly lifted it up to point down the wall. The eyes of Luna made the night clear to see, and she spotted the Guards approaching the walls below in shining gold armour. She gingerly aimed the crossbow at one of them, and pulled the trigger.
The bolt cracked off, and she almost dropped the crossbow in shock. Eventually, she lifted it up again, and pulled the trigger. This time, though, nothing happened.
“Not that way, young ‘un.”
She turned to see a heavily built earth pony. Keshi, she reminded herself, noting the darker coat. It was not impossible to distinguish them, but to do so meant you had to look close. Particularly at the teeth.
“Sorry, sir.”
He laughed. “I’m no sir, I work for a living. But you have to reload your crossbow before you can shoot it again.” He shot his crossbow at another pegasus in gold armour, and as it fell, he guided Midnight along the delicate process of reloading the crossbow.
* * *
How long it had been since the fighting started, Cloudshadow could not really remember. It had been too long, and the little Red Company private fumbling her way through loading a crossbow was proof enough. The sergeant looked down at her, and with a fatherly touch corrected her errors.
“That’s the way. Now keep doing that. And stick close to the corporal. He’ll see you through it.” She nodded, and Cloudshadow shook his head. He had almost forgotten that some ponies were still unused to war at this point. Ambling off towards the postern, he looked over the wall to see what was happening on the lower ward.
The Royalists had pushed through the outer wall two days ago, but Command had refused to let them hold the lower ward without a fight. The sergeant spat, shaking his head in disbelief. Their will had been done, and now the front lines were filled with exhausted troopers. He looked at the defenders below, and he could see the signs of deprivation—sleep and otherwise—upon them. There was no way they could hold much longer.
He did not really care for watching for the enemy trying to shoot him down from the wall. Even if he had been out of his armour, accepting Luna’s blessing had made his coat almost invulnerable. Not the fancy tentacle of the former unicorns or the bat wings and fangs of the former pegasus ponies. No, the keshi merely received protection. That was sufficient for his profession anyway.
Another group was assaulting the postern again, and he sighed as he leaned down over the battlements. Another crossbow bolt cracked off, and he loaded again. Another shot, and he made to reload only to find that he had run out of bolts. “Blast it.”
He dropped the crossbow, and looked down again. The group had been repelled, and the postern was clear but for a few of the Lunar Guard that had been deployed to hold it. It would be the only opportunity that they would get for some time, so without much time to come to the decision, he made his way down the postern to the lower ward.
Even as the metal portcullis opened before him, he could see the officer in charge—the darkbolt looked like he had only just got his cutie mark—tense, and he could almost taste the fear in the air. That was not good. He had got there just in time.
“Sir!”
“Yes, yes?” His voice was rushed and almost did not hold without breaking. His head kept moving, and Cloudshadow could almost imagine his eyes flickering from one place to the other.
“Orders from up top.” That in itself was not a lie. He had come down from the higher ward. “You need to withdraw, as best as you can, sir.”
The officer turned at that, and Cloudshadow almost felt shaken—almost—at the sheer hope that was in his gaze. “We can go? Really?”
“I would say so, sir.”
He wasted no time at that, but turned to his soldiers, panting with relief. “You heard the sergeant. Withdraw to the upper ward and assemble as you can.”
Cloudshadow had to stand aside at the almost mad rush that followed the order, but had to concede how timely it was. Those ponies could not have stood another hour in that state. Even as they did pull back, he could see the Royals getting ready for another charge. Thank whatever gods there were that they could not see in the dark like the Lunar Guard could. Another blessing from the Princess.
He was about to loose the heavy portcullis when he spotted a straggler. A darkbolt was crawling through the dirt to the postern, and a quick look told the sergeant that the wounded pony would not make it in time. Well, that meant there was only one thing to do. He hurried out across the bloody earth, and grabbed the crawler and tossed him over his back. A quick look at the charging Royals left him no doubts as to the speed he would need to get back in time.
He galloped across, feeling the darkbolt wince and flinch at the pace, and made it through the portcullis just as it came tumbling down behind him. He looked to see who had done it.
“Sir.” He saluted the pony, Lieutenant Eclipse. “Good timing, if I may say so, sir.”
“You may. Though we’re not out of this yet, sergeant. Get this lad to the Red Company, and get back on the walls. They’ll find out what we’ve done soon enough.”
“Yes, sir.” With another salute, the sergeant hurried off up the postern stairs.
* * *
Eclipse sighed, and walked slowly back to the upper ward. The postern would not hold for too long, but better they wasted their strength against the gates than against the soldiers. There were not enough of them to waste like that, despite what the Princess might be thinking. As he walked into the ward and saw the survivors, his mood did not significantly lift. Princess Luna was too proud for war, and the number of soldiers was far too little. The Royals outnumbered them too much for the outcome to be in doubt.
Even so, orders were orders, and nothing on Equestria or above it would stop him from obeying those orders. He wandered around the exhausted soldiers. They appeared to be a mix of the Seventh and Tenth hoof companies. That in itself was bad. The Eighth had been wiped out at Altloona, but Ninth had joined them at the Krak. His was the only platoon surviving from the Princess’ Own Crossbows. If you added the Reds to that, you might be able to make one full company. Even then, there were no officers except him, the colonel of the Red (who had refused to even consider fighting), and whoever had survived the slaughter down there.
The tactical situation was in the toilet and the strategic situation was already lost. Well, there was not much else to do but keep going. There was shouting from below, and his stomach sunk even more. They must have found out what the defenders had done. That was sooner than they had hoped.
He made his way over to the wall, and crouching down besides Night Blitz, he looked below. They had unicorns blasting at the gate, but that would not help them much. It was guarded by better spells than they could muster. Another group was showering light over the battlefield, and dragging the bodies away. What they were doing with them, he had no idea. What they did with the dead was obvious—burial—but what about the wounded?
“Report, corporal. What have I missed?”
“They’ve pulled back the heavy soldiers. Only those mages now.”
“Flyers?”
“They haven’t sent any over just yet.”
“So something special is happening. Anything else you’ve spotted?”
“Look over there.” Eclipse looked where the corporal was pointing. “You see it?”
“I think I do.” It was a light in the darkness. That was the strange part. It was not the light. Luna’s blessing took care of that at night. No, the strange part was the darkness. That should not be present at all.
“What do you think it is?”
“I don’t think I want to know, corporal. Keep those mages ducking, if you please. If those gates open before that gets here, we’re goners. Once it does, something might change.”
“Sir.”
* * *
Night Blitz lifted his crossbow over, and sent a bolt downrange. It did not require much thought now. That was something that had changed. He remembered before the civil war started. This would have been unthinkable. Now it just came naturally.
“Keep shooting, you idiots. They haven’t pulled back just to throw you a tea party.” He matched his actions to his words, loading another bolt and discharging it at the Royalist unicorns. One went down, but the others just flattened to the ground and kept doing whatever they were trying to do. It did not seem to slow their magic, and part of the postern gate fell in.
Blitz frowned at that, but kept up the barrage of crossbow bolts. Another one fell, and with it, another part of the gate. There were four more unicorns left. At the fall of the second part of the gate, though, Blitz stopped shooting.
“Hold,” he said, looking down at the mages. One pony did not hear in time, and a bolt found its mark in one of the unicorns’ head. As the Royal crumpled, another part of the gate fell. “Damn it, don’t shoot! Listen to your bloody orders. They’re linked to that gate.”
It was too bloody little too bloody late, though. The gate was already half gone, and he could see the unicorns trying to pull it open. Dammit, there was nothing they could do except wait.
It did not take too long for the news to get back to the Royals, and another wave of the besiegers launched itself at the walls. Blitz potted one before they made their way past the lower walls, and another before they breached the postern. “They’re coming up! Stand by to repel!”
“Belay that order.” Night Blitz turned to see the Princess herself behind him. He prostrated himself. “My sister is coming. Let us see what honour she has left.” The armoured alicorn walked unhurriedly to the upper gate to the postern, and as the first group of Royalists came up, they slowed to a halt around her.
“Princess Luna. Your sister commands that you lower the mo-“ The Royal did not get any further, for a strand of mist emanating from the Princess’ mane had taken hold of his neck and lifted him into the air.
“You dare speak to the Night Mare without showing obeisance?” Night Blitz watched in a kind of horrified fascination as she crushed the Royal’s throat, and threw him over the wall. The rest of the Royals began to draw back, and Night Blitz felt his throat catch as he saw one ready a crossbow in what she must have felt was a surreptitious manner. Nopony would seriously attack the Princess, surely.
The Princess walked through them, up to the mare who had loaded the crossbow. “So it is treason, then.” She lifted up the mare’s face to look at hers, and Blitz thanked whatever forces guided the universe that he did not see the Princess’ face. What looked like a glass dome appeared and surrounded the Princess and the Royals, and the Princess began to summon her magic. He could not look away, transfixed as he was by his imaginings. What would happen?
One of the Royals, the mare, began to smoulder. First her mane, and though she tried to put it out, it did not work. It spread through her coat, and her pained expression left no doubt as to its reality. Before long it was covering her. That was when the real torture started, for what had previously been merely smouldering burst into total flame. Before the smoke filled the dome, Blitz could see her beat a burning limb at the wall. Rather than going out, or merely not working, her leg was held in a green glow. The fire on the limb disappeared, but the skin and flesh underneath disappeared in strips, leaving the bone. That too collapsed into dust, and there was nothing left.
Blitz let out the breath he had not realised he was holding in. Whatever was happening in that dome was—was unthinkable. He turned away, to look over the walls, and the light was there. It was Princess Celestia, who flew up to the upper ward. The darkbolt collapsed before her.
“Do not be afraid, little one. Where is my sister? This little tantrum has gone far out of hoof now.” Blitz could only point at the dome, at which the Princess frowned. “What magic could that be?”
The dome shattered and fell away, leaving only Princess Luna and a burst of smoke. “Welcome, sister. Your minions have already shown your plan.”
“What plan? What are you talking about, Luna? I merely came to ask you to lower the moon. It is time for the sun.”
Luna laughed, and Blitz almost winced at it. It no longer sounded like the Princess. What in Tartarus had happened to her?
“There will be no sun in my Equestria, sister.”
“What have you done, Luna? This is not you!”
“I have done nothing, sister. I only realised that the throne of Canterlot only has room for one ruler.”
“So this… this was not a mere misunderstanding, then? It was deliberate.”
“Correct.”
“Then you are guilty of murder, of mass destruction. I cannot grant you any clemency now, sister.”
The Princesses stared at each other, and then suddenly Princess Luna sent a blast of magic flying at Princess Celestia. “Clemency? I do not want your pathetic mercy!”
* * *
The Princess was sent flying back, and it was all Midnight could do to stop herself from moving. Everything had just gone horribly wrong, and now there was no way out. She dropped the crossbow she had been holding as if it was burning hot, even though it was held in her magic. She could not bring herself to touch it.
Princess Celestia forced herself up to her hooves. “Then so be it. Oh, my dear sister, I am sorry. But you have given me no choice than to use these.” With her magic, she lifted up several gems, plucked from her armour and Luna’s. Midnight watched in terrified awe as the gems spun around Celestia, creating a rainbow blur.
Luna did not pause in her combat, sending several further blasts at her sister. They washed over the rainbow blur, almost like a water balloon bursting, and then were sucked in. At last, with a terrible silence almost like a still breeze, a rainbow beam shot out from the blur, and wrapped around Princess Luna. When it faded, the Princess had disappeared with it.
In the few seconds that followed, there was only silence. Then one of the other soldiers, one who had held the postern, yelled something incomprehensible and ran at the Princess. He had taken three steps when another pony, the one who seemed to have been the closest to a commander they had had, stood up and clotheslined him.
After that, silence reigned again. Nopony seemed to know what was going to happen. The Princess looked at the commander, and the commander looked at her. It felt like a lifetime passed before either moved.
“Soldiers. Drop your weapons. The battle, the war, is over. By all that is holy, it is over.” The commander matched his words to actions by dropping his crossbow to the ground, and prostrating.
There was a pause for a second, and then one by one and gradually spreading, the other Lunar Guards followed suit.
Slowly, the Princess walked up to the commander, and lifted him up. “Rise, Lieutenant. It was not your will that pitted you against your comrades this day. That one has already been punished. You and your fellows will be fairly treated, I swear this to you. Now come, follow me.”
With that, the Princess began to walk from the Krak, and Midnight Shimmer watched in fear and trembling as her commander followed.
Chapter the Second: What Happened Next
In the palace of Canterlot, the new habitation of Princess Celestia of Equestria, stood Lieutenant Eclipse, formerly of the Lunar Guard. He felt awkward in the polished waiting room, for it was unlike any palace or home he had seen. Rather than banners, statues or paintings, the room was decorated with different shapes arranged into patterns. It was pretty, he supposed, but it did not quite appeal to him.
The door opened, and he came to attention as the Princess’ secretary entered the room. “Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, will see you now.” He moved abruptly to the side, and waited as the Lieutenant entered in, before shutting the door behind them. The room they entered into was a dark one, lit only by the dim light of a pair of candles placed at a desk. Behind the desk was the Princess, her hooves steepled and resting on the desk.
“Lieutenant Eclipse. We’ve been expecting you.” The tentacle pony waited as the secretary moved around the table, and passed a piece of paper to the Princess, who waved him away. “Yes, Quill Pusher, I know this pony well enough, thank you.” She sighed. “Well, let us put this mystique aside, then?”
The room suddenly burst into bright light as with her magic she lit a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. She then blew out the candles on the desk rather than extinguishing them with more magic. “I prefer to do things by hoof if I can. Magic can sometimes be a crutch, if you let it.” She stood up. “Will you walk with me?”
She led him down the room. In the light, Eclipse could see that this was a long hall, and as they began to walk down it, he looked around. There were different images in stained glass in the windows, and though he could not see them fully in the nighttime, what the lights revealed assured him that they must be masterpieces. That is, those that existed. Only a few windows were made of this stained glass.
“This is what I wanted you to see, my little pony. These pictures are all of the good works that my sister and I have done in Equestria. In a thousand years, all this will be mere legend. Ponies do not have a long memory, you see, as a race.” Eclipse remained silent as the Princess spoke. It was the prerogative of rulers to pontificate on such matters, he presumed. It was the role of an officer to listen to this verbiage and nod and smile and then to keep doing as they had always done. “That is why I called you here. I have not been blind to the way you and your fellow soldiers have been treated, despite what you may think. I have seen it, and now I have here a choice for you.”
“A choice, your highness?”
“That is correct.” The Princess looked closely at the Lieutenant, and he nodded.
“And what is this choice?”
Without speaking, the Princess led him towards one of the empty windows. “One last mission. Succeed, and you will have redemption for those of you who need it. And in the mean-time, privacy and solitude.”
Eclipse did not answer straightaway. He had learned from bitter experience that such promises were rarely exactly what they seemed. “What is this mission?”
She nodded, as if that was what she expected. “The mission is a simple one on the surface, though in truth I do not think it will be as simple underneath. Come with me.” She led him onwards to another painted window. From what he could see, it depicted Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and a third pony, a unicorn.
“This is in remembrance of our first—and only—trip to the Crystal Empire. Sombra, the unicorn, had taken over the Empire, and was ruling it with an iron hoof. When we confronted him in the capital, we banished him, but he cursed the city to disappear as well. With it went its occupants, and more importantly every map of the Empire. It also caused a great winter to befall the area, and so far nopony sent to map it has returned.”
“This is a mission of mercy, then?”
“It is far more than that.” Celestia indicated a heart painted in detail on the window. “That is the Crystal Heart, a magical artefact only dwarfed by the Elements of Harmony. Even then, I am not sure that is the case. It disappeared, but my sister and I knew that Sombra had hidden it. If you can find it, who knows what it might be able to do? It might even be enough to restore to you your own form.”
He shook his head at that. “No thank you, Princess. I like how I am.”
“Do your comrades feel the same way? Even if so, it must be kept safe. That is what I am asking you to do. The rest is up to you.” She looked him in the eyes as she spoke, and he struggled to hold the gaze, just as he had done with Luna.
“Let me be sure I understand this, Your Highness. You are sending us on an impossible mission—a mission that everypony before has failed in—and you expect us to do…what? This is solely because we are expendable. Am I correct?”
She sighed. “If you want to take it that way, then yes. I am choosing you who will not be worried after if you go missing. If you fail to return, I will not receive grieving letters asking where dearly departed was, or why the mission was so important. That you can believe, if you want to think the worst of me. Or, on the contrary, you could believe that I believe you have a chance to succeed where so many have failed, and that your success will give you the redemption I think even you seek.”
She shrugged. “That is your choice. Now, do you want to refuse or accept this mission?”
“I accept, of course.” It stung a little that she had thought that he might decline. “But why have you chosen me?” She looked down at him again, a frowning open mouth.
“Did you seriously think that there was anypony else left among you who could have done it?” She shook her head. “No, my dear lieutenant, you were the only one. The Colonel of the—I believe you called it the Red Company?—has disappeared. I fear that he has seen fit to drown his despair in drink, or the apparently more satisfactory diversion of suicide. The rest of the Medical Corps seems mostly to want to forget they were ever soldiers. Of the remainder, you are the only competent leader left. Many, or perhaps most, of the others are not fit to lead. No, it must be you.”
It did make a modicum of sense. It was not as if there was anypony else he could recommend instead, even knowing them better than the Princess did. That left only two questions unasked. “Who do I have?”
“As many as you need. Take the whole of the survivors if you want to. Only do this for me: turn nopony away who wants to go with you. Despite what their injuries might be, despite everything. They deserve this chance at redemption as well as you.”
He nodded at that. “When do we leave?”
“Leave as soon as you can, without being overly hasty.” She crouched down to look at him face to face. “I want all of you to return. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
She smiled at him. “Good. Do you have any further questions?”
“Not for now,” he said, shaking his head. “We will leave as soon as we are ready.”
“Keep me updated, captain.” With those, her final words to him, her secretary appeared again and gently but firmly led the ex-lieutenant out, back through the antechamber and through the palace.
* * *
As the new Captain walked through the entrance hall of the palace, he fumbled with his new gold flanchards. He could see the Royal Guards—the other Royal Guards, now—watching him from their positions at the doors. They did not even salute.
It had not mattered before. It was only two weeks since the last battle had concluded, and the two groups of the Guards had stayed clear of each other. He had stuck with his own kind, and the old routines had kept going. The uniform had changed, but nothing else. Now it did matter, and so he approached them.
“What happened to officers receiving a salute, troopers?” he said, as calmly as he could manage. It was not very. The snigger of one of the guards just about raised his temperature to boiling point.
“I can’t see any officers here, can you, Aegis?” said the one who had not sniggered to his other. “All I can see is a dirty murdering trait-“ He had no time to react as Eclipse wrapped his tentacle around his neck and lifted him fully from the ground.
“No officer, hmm? Then the little restriction against striking enlisted ponies is out the window.” He dropped the Guardspony to the ground, and turned aside. “That will be sir next time.”
Even as he walked away, the anger that had filled him drained quickly. Those guards had been in the wrong, but his violence had solved nothing in the long run. It would be impossible to physically intimidate every single one of the other guards. The Princess’ plan made sense. The only way to deal with this for good would be to do something big enough that they would be unable to forget.
With these thoughts in mind, he made his way out of the palace, and headed down towards the barracks.
* * *
Eclipse wandered in through the barracks. The rooms for the former Lunar Guard had been hastily constructed, and many of them still had simple mats on the floor rather than proper cots. He walked past the enlisted quarters, frowning as he looked. No less than thirty or forty were sitting around, staring into the distance in silence. It was not natural for a soldier to waste his leave like that.
He reached his quarters, and walking in through the door, he found Sergeant Cloudshadow standing. He came to attention when Eclipse walked in, and gave a crisp salute. “Sir.”
“Sergeant. To what do I owe this visit?” The keshi pointed to a new barding hanging from a post by the door. Eclipse looked at it, noting the heightened rank markers. “They’re quicker than usual.” It took a second for him to notice the other difference. “Wait. That can’t be right.”
“Looks to be, sir.” The sergeant was wearing the same uniform—barring the rank markers, of course. It was the silver-grey of the Lunar Guard again. “That’s why I came to speak to you, sir. Did you know anything about this?”
He shook his head, turning back to the hanging armour. “No, I did not. All I knew is that we had received a new mission. From the Princess, Celestia, herself.” He dragged himself back to facing the sergeant. “Does everypony know?”
“Only the sergeants and officers, so far, sir. The others still have their gold on.” The sergeant looked carefully down at Eclipse. “You’ve been promoted, sir?”
Captain Eclipse nodded. “That’s correct. I’ll need a rollcall, sergeant. Consider yourself appointed company sergeant major until you hear otherwise.”
“Sir.” With a salute, Cloudshadow left the Captain to the solitude of his own quarters. He was still for a time, just looking at the new uniform he had received. Then, with a burst of savage energy, he tore off the golden armour from his body, dropping it to the floor piece by piece. No more would he wear it. Reverently, he lifted up the champron, complete with a hole for his tentacle, in his magic and slid it on over his head.
The next piece was the peytral, and the criniere with it. They clicked into place with the champron, and with the flanchards that came next. At last was the croupier, which completed the barding. As he lowered it into place, he noticed a piece of paper that lay hidden under the armour, on the stand.
It read: Captain Eclipse,
I have seen fit to restore the old colours of the Lunar Guard for this mission. Stained as they have been under my sister’s deception, I ask you to return them cleansed by honest obedience. These particular sets of armour have been enchanted to protect the wearer from cold, as well as the usual blessings.
Your colonel is still missing. As far as we know he is alive, but his conscience is not at all aright. I fear he will never recover from that injury.
On the reverse of this, you will find a map showing where the closest outpost of the Crystal Empire was. Should you find it, with any luck behind you, you may find a better map as well.
Send a report via the usual method when you are able.
Princess Celestia
Taking the paper down, and turning it over, he found a hoof-drawn map of the northern borders of Equestria, and a single star to mark the outpost’s approximate location. The map had nothing else. No hills, no landmarks; even the scale was only a rough one. At the bottom was another note, but not in the Princess’ writing.
I apologise for the lack of detail, Your Highness, but something seems to have gone through our records to destroy every piece of information about the Crystal Empire. I have copied this only from memory. Yours, T.
That explained the lack of detail on the map, but it left far more unanswered questions in its wake. The Princess had clearly wanted him to see it, though, which meant that it must have been important. He rolled it up and slipped in into his saddlebags, which hung over his flanchards. Then, to complete his ready uniform, he slipped his crossbow into its holster across his back and a dozen bolts into his side pouch.
There was a knock at the door. “Come in,” he said, the door opening before he turned around. “You’re faster than I thought, ser-.” It was not the sergeant. A rather bedraggled-looking darkbolt stood before him, his eyes bloodshot and his black mane a complete mess. It took him a couple of seconds to recognise Colonel Martini, the Red Company commander.
“Colonel,” he said with a small nod in greeting. “May I ask the purpose of your visit, sir?” The darkbolt nodded, seeming a little dazed.
“I… I came to ask you,” he said, slowly. Eclipse nodded. “To ask you to allow me. To allow me to come with you.”
Eclipse frowned at that. “Come with me where, sir? Are you feeling okay?”
He shook his head. “No, no I am not feeling okay. I do not know where you are going, but I cannot survive here. Whatever you need me to do, whatever it is, I need to go with you.”
“How do you know we are going anywhere?” The colonel snorted at that, the first sign of his old self.
“Your sergeant is hurrying about organising things, and yelling in a loud voice. If you were going no-where, he would be doing only one of those things.” He looked Eclipse straight in the eyes. “Please, captain, I am not blind.”
Eclipse could only nod at that. “Very well, sir. You may accompany us, though I warn it may be far from what you have expected.”
Martini slumped his shoulders. “Thank you, captain, and… I am no sir. Not to you. You are a far better officer than I ever could be.” Captain Eclipse blinked at that unexpected compliment.
“Thank you, colonel.”
“Please, just Martini.”
“Martini, then. Thank you.”
“Not at all,” he began to say, when the new Company Sergeant Major reappeared with a knock.
“Sir,” he said, saluting the two, “rollcall is completed. All guards accounted for. What now, sir?”
“It is time,” Captain Eclipse began, rolling the words round in his mouth, “for a council of war. Send my regards to the officers, and have them meet me in the map room. Along with the quartermaster sergeant.” Cloudshadow saluted, and left.
“What shall I do?” asked Martini. Eclipse turned, a little surprised that he had even asked.
“Come to council, of course.”
* * *
The map room of Canterlot Barracks was made of white stone, and the roof depicted a stylized sun, with a chandelier hanging down to provide light. The centre of the room was its key feature, a large map showing all of Equestria. Traditionally this was where the high command would meet to decide on troop deployment, but as the Royals refused to share a room with the Lunars, Captain Eclipse saw no reason not to use it.
Around him were seven ponies. Lieutenants, as he had been so recently. They were two darkbolts, a keshi and four tentacles. On top of that, Cloudshadow and the quartermaster sergeant, a keshi, as well as Martini joined him. He stood up, and waited until the quiet talking died down.
“Fillies and gentlecolts, thank you for joining me here. I don’t think I need to inform you of our present situation. It is fairly clear that we are suffering for our loyalty and obedience to Princess Luna, and that we will not be able to merely wait until we are accepted by the Royal Guard, and by Equestria.” Many of his listeners nodded at that.
“Princess Celestia, now the sole sovereign of the fair realm of Equestria, has noticed our situation.” There were a few derisory comments at the mention of the Princess. “Quiet there. She has treated us very well. She is not the enemy, not any more. No, she has suggested a solution to our problem.”
One of the lieutenants, the keshi, mimed a pony being hanged. “No, lieutenant Ferrous, the solution is not our execution. She has instead given us a mission, one that will clear our name and perhaps more. That is why I have called you here. We have all taken vows to the Princess of the Night and to her throne. That throne is empty now, and the Princess no longer has authority over us. It is your choice now. Do you pledge yourself to your new Princess? To her throne? Or will you slink away and hide in the shadows, and dream of past days? This is the choice before you. What say you?”
One by one, and then at last all of them nodded. “We will pledge ourselves,” said the keshi, who seemed to have elected himself spokespony. “But what is this mission?”
Eclipse nodded. “The mission is outside of Equestria, to retrieve a powerful magical artefact: the Crystal Heart, apparently even more powerful than the Elements of Harmony. It was lost after the fall of the Crystal Empire, hidden by the unicorn King Sombra. If we retrieve it, the Princess will reward us, and the Royal Guard will have no choice but to accept us. Our names—all of them—will be cleared.”
One of the darkbolt lieutenants lifted a hoof. “How is retrieving a lost magical artefact any mission for a company of Guardsponies? It seems like a thing to get a young impressionable unicorn to do.” After a bit of laughter at that, the captain raised his hooves for silence.
“There are two reasons. Firstly, we have the only remaining map of the Crystal Empire in Equestrian hooves, and it is unhelpful, to say the least. Secondly, and most importantly, we are not the first ponies sent to do this. Nopony sent so far has returned.” Silence reigned for a moment, before that temporary tyrant toppled to talking.
“What makes you think we can do it, then?”
“Three reasons. We are professional soldiers while the others sent were not. We have an entire company while the other sent were alone. Lastly, we have a bigger incentive.” They nodded to that last reason most of all, and another lieutenant raised his tentacle.
“You say we have the only map. Where is it?”
Lifting up his saddlebag, he took the scroll out and unfurled it on the table. A couple of ponies muttered at it, and he nodded. “I know it is not much, but it is all that we have. More than that, something thinks that this piece of knowledge is a threat to them. Otherwise, it would not have tried to erase it. Gentlecolts, fillies; this is all we need to succeed.”
The quartermaster sergeant lifted a hoof next. “Sir, when are we leaving? How long are we intending to stay?”
“The sooner, the better, but not until we have everything we need. We’ll be staying at least one month, maybe as much as three. Anything longer and we’ll have to pull back and resupply.” The sergeant nodded at that, and wrote something down on a pad. “Any other questions?”
“Do we have any expected opposition?” asked the other darkbolt lieutenant.
“Most probably medium opposition, but composition is completely unknown. Loyalist supporters of King Sombra.” That was a sobering thought for Eclipse. It had not been so long ago that they had been in that same position. “Other than that, the normal beasts and monsters.”
“How many corpsponies and medics do you have?” asked Martini. “If you’re going into combat, you will need at least a few.”
“Sergeant?” Eclipse turned to Cloudshadow with a nod.
“Maybe five? We don’t have many, sir.”
“Can you deal with that, Martini?”
“Of course. Lieutenants, if you can send me three or four ponies from your platoon? I’ll give them a basic training in first aid.”
Captain Eclipse took a deep breath. “Well, if that is everything? Then let’s be ready by… quartermaster?”
He scratched his head. "I'd reckon perhaps a week?”
“A week it is, then.” He nodded. “Gentlemen, let’s not mess this one up.”
As the other ponies went to their various duties, Eclipse was alone in the map room. He looked down at the map again. “Please, let’s not mess this one up.”
