April 19th

C-Day plus Thirty

Outskirts of Ponyville, Equestria

23:39:02
‘The only easy day...’

Altair quietly looked to the night sky as the distant sound of artillery and gunfire echoed over the landscape, the rumble of distant tanks and machine gun fire paired well with the cacophony of war. His jacket blew quietly in the wind while he rested his hand on his revolver, the distant lights of Ponyville were completely blacked out save for search lights that cut through the dark night sky in search of Onorussian bombers or paratroopers. This was usually the time that Altair and his squad would go out and cause mischief, but they had been signalled to stand down, much to their surprise.

He had a radio in his pocket, picking up the signal being broadcast by the Onorussian’s. They played music and spoke to the Equestrians about surrendering, but it also made a good way of signalling the Lunar Wraiths to stand down, or to give them a specific order or target. At the moment it was playing a slow dancing song called ‘The Road to Berlin’, which did little to calm Altair’s nervous squad. For all they knew, their base of operations had been discovered and an enemy battalion was on its way. They’d had to move four times since they had struck the Apple Orchard, but they would hold their position as long as it took. Eventually the song came to an end, and that was when the announcer began to speak.

”What lovely tones.” He said, Altair raised an eyebrow, that was the code word that a message was about to be broadcast. ”This next song goes out to all the boys fighting in Ponyville Center, we all wish we could visit to help.” That was all Altair was going to get, and that was enough for him.

“Alright, we got new orders!” Altair shouted as he turned off the radio, he ran a hand along his chin. A beard had been growing in, as they had used their last razor blade a week ago. Finn and the others stepped out of the trees and looked at Altair, all of them had a mash up of Onorussian uniforms and clothes that they had borrowed from the populace over the past month. “Our boys are pinned down at Ponyville Center, command wants us to move in and kick ass.”

“Ponyville Center… That’s the sport center, right?” Finn asked, Altair nodded. “Alright, I’m game! I been meaning to pick up a baseball bat anyhow!” The others chuckled slighlty, save for Altair who was looking a bit off. “What’s wrong, Sarge?”

“It seems to me they were urgent, so taking the stealth approach isn’t an option here.” Altair said as he looked at the four others. “This could get messy, very messy. Anyone wants to back out here, I’d understand.” None of the others spoke up. “Alright then… Finn, remember that farmer we ripped off a couple days ago?”

“Yeah, why?” Finn asked.

“Didn’t he have a nice new truck in his barn?” Altair asked, Finn nodded, then paused and looked at the Sergeant with a rather uncertain expression.

“Oh, Sarge… You can’t seriously be saying…” Altair only nodded. “Man, sometimes I wonder if maybe we’re the baddies.”

“Well wonder on your own time, we’ve got a truck to steal. Move out.”

[♠]

Hard Harvest quietly sighed as he sat at his dinner table, listening to the distant sound of gunfire and air raid sirens. At least the fighting seemed to be staying far away from his farm and his new truck, that truck meant the world to him, he’d saved and saved to get that truck. It had custom tires that would run even if he accidentally ran over a nail, an armored body to protect him if the Onorussians decided to strafe him, and to top it all off a kick ass sound system. All of it was wrapped up in a beautiful matte black paint job. And the engine, oh the engine, it purred so beautifully… Come to think of it, he could hear it purring at that very moment.

“Son of a bitch!” He shouted before rushing to his front door and throwing it open, the five humans that had stolen his food days before were piled in the truck and peeling out, kicking up dirt and gravel as they tore down the road. “Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” The stallion was hit in the face by a sheet of paper, which he pulled off and looked at with annoyance. It was some sort of paperwork in Onorussian, as well as a note in Equestrian instructing him to take the paper to an Onorussian outpost to pick out a truck of his choosing. It was signed, of course, the Lunar Wraiths.

“Think he’ll take us up on our IOU?” Finn asked from the passenger seat as Altair floored the gas, Altair shrugged before he pushed the power button on the radio. The speakers began blaring the Onorussian channel again, this time they were playing some Black Sabbath, Iron Man to be exact. “Oh, fuck! I love this song!”

“Me too.” Altair replied, turning up the song even more. The others were riding in the back of the truck, and they could still hear the music blasting as their commanding officers nodded their heads along. The rural farms began to be replaced by suburban homes and cul de sacs, the cars were more upscale, and Altair even saw a couple beige mini vans and picket fences. “God damn, I hate the suburbs!” Finn pointed ahead of them to a road block of red and blue flashing lights.

“Check point!” He announced.

“I see it. Let’s see what this baby can do…” Altair said with a grin spreading across his face. “Hang on back there.” He slammed his foot down on the gas as the music began to pick up, flicking on the spotlights mounted to the top of the truck to blind the cops ahead. He aimed the truck for the space between the two police cars. The police officers soon noticed that the truck was not slowing down and got out of their vehicles with their handguns drawn. Bullets pinged off the armored body of the truck as the cops tried to stop the vehicle, it careened past them and smashed through their two cars. It shoved both of them aside and continued roaring down the road.

“Holy fuck! I want one of these!” Finn shouted.

“Me too! This thing kicks fucking ass!” Altair said in an excited voice as they roared down the road, blasting metal from the speakers and psyching themselves up for the biggest fight of their lives. They were soon out of the suburbs and had gotten on the highway, the road was empty save for a couple more police cars with their lights on. An Iron Maiden song came on the radio as the two cars began chasing the truck, it sounded like ‘Run to the Hills’ by the sound of the intro. “You guys okay back there?”

“We’re fine, but there’s two cops that want a word with you, sarge!” Rook shouted back.

“Send them my regards!” Altair shouted as he swerved to avoid yet another police car. “Can’t believe the cops are worried about a stolen car while their city is under siege! Talk about dedication!” Rook, Reese, and Patterson turned back towards the three cars that were now chasing the truck.

“Aim for the ground just ahead of them! The bullets will ricochet up into the floor, it won’t kill them but it’ll give ‘em one hell of a scare!” Reese shouted before he began firing, his bullets sparked against the asphalt before they ricocheted up and punched through the floor. As predicted, the police car began to swerve in a panic before it turned and began flipping through the air like something out of an old movie.

“Where’s our exit?!” Altair shouted over the gunshots and music, Finn reached into the glove box and pulled out a map. “Fuck, you think that farmer would’ve sprung for a god damn GPS!” A bullet struck the side mirror, shattering it. Rook held his sniper rifle as steady as he could, firing off occasional rounds to try and disable the enemy’s engines. Reese meanwhile had pulled a molotov cocktail from his backpack, with a grin he lit the rag and chucked it back at one of the cars that was moving in to perform a PIT maneuver. Of course, the cop aborted this attempt as his vehicle was suddenly set on fire.

By now Slayer’s ‘Angel of Death’ had come over the air, and there was only one cop car left in the chase. The highway was leading them closer and closer to the fighting, bullets kept flying in both directions.

“I don’t know! I can’t read fucking Equestrian! It’s hard enough reading a map when you’re NOT getting shot at!” Finn shouted at Altair. “You think you can do better, you do it!”

“I’m fucking driving!” Altair shouted back as the cop car pulled up alongside the truck, it seemed they were going to try and shoot the drivers to stop the chase. Altair rolled down the window and pulled his revolver, holding the truck steady with one hand as he leveled the weapon at the enemy police car. “Sorry about this, buddy! Sure you’re just doing your job! Nothing personal!” With that Altair pulled the trigger two times, the car went spinning out of control and careened into a concrete freeway divider. “Now, where’s the exit?!”

“We should have two miles, wait! There!” Finn pointed to the exit they were just about to miss, so Altair turned the wheel hard. The tires screeched and smoked as the truck drifted, they went down the ramp at blistering speed, but thankfully the bombing had put traffic at an all time low so they didn’t hit anyone. The radio changed songs again, this time playing a japanese song called PONPONPON, much to the surprise of Everyone in the truck… Except Altair. He actually kinda liked it… Not that he would ever admit it. Finn reached towards the radio, but Altair slapped his hand away.

“What if we get new orders?” Altair said, perfectly covering the fact that this was one of his favorite songs. Finn scowled and crossed his arms as they continued driving along through the empty streets, eventually they saw signs of combat. Burning cars in the distance, ruined buildings, and a pair of burning out power armor suits that seemed to be locked in a fist fight… That was rare, very rare… Altair turned down a street that had a sign for Ponyville Center, ahead of him he saw a platoon of Onorussians with Power Armor support fighting a platoon of Equestrians… With Power Armor support…

“What the fuck?” Finn and Altair said in unison as they pulled up behind the platoon, Altair killed the engine and hopped out. He grabbed his rifle from the seat beside him and adjusted the sword strapped across his back, with that ready he and the others moved forward to what appeared to be the unit commander, who was crouched behind a burnt out sedan. He was an older man, Altair had seen him at dozens of government parties and events.

“General Hinkman!?” Altair asked as he approached with his rifle ready, the older man looked up with a raised eyebrow. “Sergeant Altair Occisor! We’re here to help!” Hinkman smiled as he saw the team of famed ‘Lunar Wraiths’.

“You hear that you Queasy bastards! The Lunar Wraiths are here!” The General shouted over the sedan, for a couple seconds the gunfire seemed to taper off before it went back to its full speed. “Damn fine to see you, Sergeant! We need your brand of chaos here!”

“Did they capture power armor, Sir?” Altair asked, the general shook his head.

“The damn Crystal Empire gave them the specs!” Hinkman replied with a grunt as a bullet pinged off the body of the car. “We were supposed to move in to the center and make it a forward observation post, it was supposed to be undefended, but that tin can out there is making that a little difficult.”

“Don’t worry, General. I’ve got a can opener.” Altair said as he slipped his rifle off and set it on the ground, then reached up behind his back and grabbed his sword. “Unless that thing is made of Lunar Steel, this shouldn’t take too long.” The General appeared skeptical, but the crescent moon that was pinned to Altair’s jacket told him to trust the young man. “Give me covering fire and I can deal with the power armored fellow.”

“Alright boys! On my mark provide covering fire!” Hinkman ordered his men, the soldiers all slipped fresh magazines into their weapons as the enemy continued to fire away. The enemy trooper in the Power Armor began stomping towards the line of men. “You sure you’re up for this, Sergeant?”

“I was born for this, sir.” Altair replied as he drew his blade from its sheath, the Lunar Steel ringing out how eager it was to taste blood. HInkman nodded quietly before he popped up with his side arm and began firing, this was the signal for the others to start firing at the enemy. Altair ran out from behind cover, straight at the power armored soldier. He bobbed and weaved between wrecked cards, using them as cover to protect against the fire from the power armored stallion’s machine gun. Altair ran out and up onto the hood of a car, then to the roof, before he leapt off. The Power Armor was in capable of tracking him from above so close and so fast, the man angled his blade downwards and put all his weight into the hilt.

Power Armor was very much like a tank, there were some parts that were weaker than others. Among them were the joints, the back, and in the case of Crystal Empire models, the top of the head. They had put the main cooling vents there, to make it easier to spot their troops using thermal imaging… Of course, since this suit was based off of Crystal Empire designs, Altair’s sword punched through the weaker steel and plunged down through the skull of the armor’s operator.

The suit let out a groan and slumped forwards, Altair was standing on its shoulders. The man pulled the blade from the helmet and jumped backwards, landing on his feet with a slight grunt. Altair noticed that the gunfire from both sides had stopped, he turned and looked around to see the Equestrian stallions staring at him with shock and horror. The man leveled his blade at the closest one, who promptly tossed his weapon to the ground and put his hands in the air. To the Equestrians and Onorussians alike, it looked like Altair had just slain the second strongest man on the field with a single blow, but in actuality intelligence and planning had played just as big a part in the victory as strength and agility.

“Kneel…” Altair ordered the stallion that had put his hands up. The entire field remained silent as Altair glared. He felt every instinct in his body telling him to do this, every ancestor bearing down on him to assert his dominance once and for all. The stallion looked a little surprised. “Kneel!” The stallion quickly got down on his knees, mumbling and begging. Altair walked towards him and stood over him. “Your comrade has given you two choices!” He pointed to the surrendered soldier, then to the sagging metal hulk of the power armored stallion. “Join or die!” Gradually the Equestrians tossed their weapons down and knelt on the ground, allowing Hinkman and his soldiers to walk forwards. Hinkman stopped next to Altair while his soldiers secure the twenty prisoners.

“You are certainly your father’s son.” Hinkman said in a respectful tone. “We’ll take it from here, Sergeant. I was told to give you your new orders. Report to the Staging Area to the south for debriefing, from what I hear, the brass are going to give you a medal.”

“Sir, I have operations in the works, I can’t just-” Altair began.

“I’m not the one giving the orders, I’m the one relaying them. General Barker is the one you should be getting upset at, and the only way you can do that is to head south.” Hinkman said as he took a cigar from his pocket. “Look, kid. Take some time off once in awhile or you’ll end up like an Elmo from back during the Plague.”

“Yes, sir…” Altair said reluctantly, he gave the man a salute. “Just wish I could watch when they finally raise an Onorussian flag over this city.”

“Oh, you just might be able to, they’re putting up one hell of a fight.” Hinkman said with a nod. “You’re dismissed, Sergeant.” Hinkman returned the salute before he started moving forward with the rest of his men, Altair sighed and looked at his four squad mates.

“Back to the truck, we’re going on a road trip!” Altair ordered as he began walking towards the truck, his soldiers all stared at him as he walked past, surprised at just how intimidating the man could be when he wanted to be. Compared to what they had seen used on the Equestrians, he was downright cuddly the rest of the time. The four eventually followed along, but each seemed to be having their own thoughts about what they would’ve done if they had been on the receiving end of Altair’s glare. The piled into the truck once again and started driving south, this time the radio was turned off.

[♠]

April 20th

C-Day plus Thirty One

Somewhere North of Appleloosa, Equestria

02:37:11

‘...Was Yesterday.’

Altair quietly looked out over the road ahead of them, it was devoid of any real life save for the occasional military checkpoint that they would pass through. Farms and houses were dark, some on purpose and some because power lines had been cut. That left the five members of the squad in a state of cautious relaxation, the occasional flash of artillery shells behind them was still something that kept them on edge. Altair thought back to what he had done over the last month, he had killed no less than twenty enemy combatants, but only two civilians that had been classified as enemy combatants. He was proud of that figure.

The man had picked up a pair of Night Vision Goggles off of a dead Equestrian soldier at a checkpoint a few miles back, which Altair was now using to see the road without his headlights on. The last thing he needed was for someone to take him out because he was driving with his headlights on in the middle of nowhere. Finn meanwhile had his head leaned against the window with his eyes closed The three in the back were all huddled together but otherwise fine, they enjoyed getting a look at the night sky. The stars in this world were so dim, as if its Princess Luna didn’t have the same passion that the Onorussian version had. Patterson could’ve sworn she’d seen something fly past when the stars seemed to flicker, but it didn’t happen again, so she thought it was just her tired eyes playing tricks on her.

That was until the truck suddenly lurched to a stop, the tires screeching loudly and leaving black skid marks on the pavement. All three members of the squad in the back of the truck stood up and took aim over the cab of the truck, though at what they had no idea. A soft blue glow had appeared down the road, a cloud of energy. Altair removed his NVGs and rubbed his eyes until they had adjusted to the darkness, when they had adjusted he too saw the glow much clearer…

“Finn… Take the wheel, no matter what happens… Get back to the FOB.” Altair ordered in a quiet voice, Finn looked at him with a raised eyebrow as the Sergeant opened the door and slid out of the cab. “That’s a direct order, Corporal.” Finn nodded quickly and slid into the driver’s seat, watching as Altair walked down the road towards the glowing cloud. His boots echoed down the road, his breath hitched in his throat. He had left his rifle in the truck, prompting him to reach over his shoulder and draw his sword.

Altair stopped ten feet in front of the glowing cloud, something he knew very well. A soft glow enveloped a horn and soon an orb of light was glowing, floating between Altair and a hooded figure. Taller than him by a head, the cloud seemed to be the figure’s mane. The figure’s hands were navy blue, three fingers like all the other ponies, and clutching a large sword in her right hand.

“You... ” Altair said quietly, his grip tightening on his own sword. “I had a feeling we would eventually meet…” The figure quietly reached up and pushed her hood back, revealing his Mother’s face. Altair knew it wasn’t really her, but seeing such an angry look on that mare’s face still reminded him of the times he had made his parents cross with him.

“My sister wants you dead… I don’t.” Luna said as she walked a couple feet closer to Altair. “She doesn’t wonder what her other self is like… But I do.” Altair adjusted his grip on his sword. “Come with me, and I promise no harm will come to your friends.”

“I know how powerful you are, so… Your threat is valid… But if you are anything like my mother, you know I cannot simply give you my sword.” Altair replied, Luna seemed stunned by that statement, but she nodded quietly. “I’ve ordered my troops to continue on without me.” Altair signalled Finn to go, and like a good soldier Finn drove down the road, leaving his sergeant behind. Only once the truck was out of sight did Altair say something else… “Now… Shall we begin?”

Luna squared up her stance as she raised her sword, a move that Altair copied almost exactly. Each narrowed their eyes at one another, then in one instant they charged at each other. Altair and Luna’s swords clashed with a shower of sparks, the man grunted as the larger mare was much stronger than his usual opponents, but he knew had to handle stronger opponents. He would use her strength to his advantage, make her tire herself out by exerting so much force. Altair blocked or parried each blow that Luna sent his way, the sparks would light the area for a brief second before vanishing into the darkness. It was like an unstoppable force had met an immovable object. Each of them was fighting at their limits, and perhaps even a little beyond. Altair saw Luna’s horn begin to glow, he had only a second to deflect a blast of magic. While magic wouldn’t do any real harm to him, it would still hurt like a bitch.

The bolt of energy flashed off the blade of the sword and back at Luna, she grunted as it hit her gut, searing her robe slightly. That was the first real grimace of pain he had seen on her face, on his mother’s face… And he had been the reason for it. It shook him to his core, that he was fighting the mare that could’ve just as easily been his mother. Luna picked up that something was different about her opponent, his attacks were less aggressive, his blocks less effective, it was like he was just going through the motions.

“What is wrong with you?! What happened to your fighting spirit!?” Luna shouted at him as she delivered another hard blow, Altair barely managed to block it this time. “Tell me, damn it! Did my other self really raise someone who gives up!? Your Mother must be a cheap knock off of me!”

“Don’t you dare!” Altair roared, and suddenly Luna wished she hadn’t kicked the hornets nest. He was enraged, and what was more, he was fast. His eyes followed every move Luna made before she could even make it, her arms began to feel drained. “My Mother taught me never to turn against the night, but you have forced me to fight the very thing I swore to protect!”

“Oh? What? Your country!?” Luna asked as she parried one of his blows.

“You!” Altair shouted, he grunted and brought his sword around. Luna felt the wind against her neck, the feeling of cold steel just barely stopped from cutting her throat. Her sword was held away from her, but Altair’s was right near her jugular. He was panting, his eyes bloodshot and watering. “She made me swear to protect the night! You ARE the night! Even if you aren’t my Mother…” The man glared at her. “Don’t make me destroy you. Don’t make me deprive your people of your beautiful stars… I could not live with that on my soul.” Altair quietly lowered his sword from her neck and slipped it over his back into its scabbard, Luna stared at him in astonishment.

“I was wrong…” Luna said quietly as she slipped her own sword into its sheath. “Your mother raised a wonderful son…” The mare looked at the ground, the only light coming from the orb she had created at the start. Altair felt the overwhelming urge to step forward and comfort this mare, she could’ve just as easily been his mother. He took a step forward and put a tentative hand on her shoulder. “I wish I could tell her I’m sorry…”

“Tell her? Why?” Altair asked.

“For what I’m about to do to her son…” Luna said quietly, before Altair could react her horn glowed brightly. Pure energy shot into his chest, the pain was incredible, Luna clenched her eyes shut as she heard the man start screaming in pain, she felt his hand tighten on her shoulder. She kept shooting him full of energy until she felt his hand let go, when she opened her eyes she was shocked to see him on the ground. He ripped open his jacket as he gasped for breath, Luna could see glowing beneath his fatigue shirt… When he ripped that open she saw why he was having such a hard time breathing. Arcane Cysts were uncommon in Equestria, but Luna knew they were more prevelant in humans from Onorus… Especially those that had had one before. Altair’s chest was covered with them, and judging by his ragged breathing, they were inside his body as well.

“I-I… I feel… Cold…” Altair said weakly before he closed his eyes, Luna snapped out of her shock as she scooped him up in her arms and began flying back towards Canterlot as fast as she could.

“Oh… Mother, Father, wherever you are… Forgive me!” Luna said as her eyes started to water. She had only meant to knock the man out, not disfigure him with scars and cysts. She was sure Celestia and Steven would tell her she wasn’t at fault, but she could’ve just walked away, she could’ve done something differently… She hated killing, she’d made a vow never to take another life after the first Onorussian attack, she wasn’t about to break it now. She had to get the man to Canterlot, even if he was the enemy she couldn’t let him die.

Author's Note

Here's another one for you lovelies, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. SA little heads up, my next chapters may take longer to come out, was some very serious life stuff has come up. Put simply, I'm looking for a new place to live. I'll still try to get them out as soon as possible. Also, if you didn't see my blog post I've started doing commissions. Check my profile page near my link to my patron and my PayPal donation link. I'm sorry to keep asking you all for money, but this is my only source of income at the moment, meager as it may be.

Anyway, here's your clip of the day. It's helped me get through the stress of the past couple days.