The Red Sun Rises: The Final Dawnby The AtlanteanChaptersPrologue1. Myths and Legends2. Reagan's ReturnPrologueA massive hulk drifted through the dead of space above a lifeless world, the fires of entire civilizations burning bright by night and squelched in the sun by day. Three continents of forests were ablaze around the planet’s former major powers, while a hundred thousand island nations were transformed into a hundred thousand piles of radiation with the explosion of a hundred thousand antimatter bombs. In the orbiting ship, a creature stood at a large viewport, overlooking the devastation with a cruel smile. It had four legs, like those of an Equestrian pony, but the lower body of a serpent, upper body of a human, and hands built for seven digits each. The back of its upper body was covered in scaly, greenish skin that brushed itself like fingernails on a chalkboard whenever it moved, and it stank of molting and death. Its head--if it could be called that--took the shape of a bird’s, with a beaky mouth, sensitive ears, and hunter’s eyes, with feathery scales that smoothly transitioned down its back. It raised its right hand to inspect it. Two digits were missing, one on each end, and its opposable thumb still had visible stitches to sew it back on, but the creature looked over each imperfection like it was normal. Satisfied that no new problems had arisen, it lowered its hand and continued to watch the worldwide flames. For a few minutes, other similar creatures crawled behind it to keep the ship’s essential systems running. Then one of decent age slithered to its side. “Lord Xialk,” it began, “the planet has been cleansed of all inhabitants, and resource extraction has begun.” Lord Xialk turned around. His eyes glistened with the heart of a dying star as he replied, “Most excellent. Now, let us turn our attention to the world of Gurank, where our satellite has relayed evidence of radio broadcasts. They first appeared there two hundred years ago, but it a small, concentrated area. In any event, those specific broadcasts were encrypted beyond the world’s technological advancement, were deemed irrelevant, and they promptly disappeared some time later. “Now, the entire world is covered in radio broadcasts, and we can no longer ignore it. Gurank has had its first chance, and its second. This time, by the words of the ancient law, we must eliminate all possibilities of Gurank’s resurgence as a potential power and protect the knowledge our species is honor-bound to defend. Commence the Cleansing, General Rikahk. Leave no civilization spared, no rock unturned. Gurank will be stripped of its resources, devoid of life, doomed to drift around its dying star for all of eternity.” General Rikahk bowed and left. Meanwhile, Xialk watched as thousands of kilometer-long craft angled away from the surface and fired their engines. Given the distances involved, the battle fleet would arrive in just under a year’s time, with the mothership following six months later. But that was irrelevant; any resistance the puny ponies of Gurank could muster even if they detected the Flotilla of Cleansing would be crushed in a matter of minutes. If they defeated the Flotilla, however small of a chance that was, they would then deal with the Guardian, a mothership with twice the capability of three Flotillas. If they defeated that, a hundred motherships would arrive from all corners of the universe within hours, making use of their emergency jump-beacon wormhole generator drives. No matter what a primitive species had ever conceived, that final force was more than enough to destroy them. For those worlds that accomplished the legendarily rare feat of destroying a mothership, a special Cleansing was in order. Not only was it stripped of resources and potential for life, it was annihilated by gravity drives that tore it apart piece by piece and flung the remains into its star, which was then injected with a special plasma. This plasma would start the star on its dying stages right then, triggering a hypernova explosion so large that it sent ripples though all of spacetime, erasing the solar system and its inhabitants from all existence in all universes. Nobody would know they existed, nor would they ever. Only the Protectors of Knowledge had records of these systems and their locations, to be forever remembered as worthy enemies and honored with tradition. Species like that deserved to be immortalized in records and tradition, even if they were Erased. At Lord Xialk’s slightest nod, the first ship of the Flotilla jumped in a flash of red-shifted Doppler light, immediately fading from the real world and entering hyperspatial reality. Author's Note This story is intended to be the last The Red Sun Rises. It's really saddening for me to realize how much I've put into this world, its story, and its characters. How much I've put Crimson through, made hopeless situations end positively, developed and honed my writing through experience. In the last two and a half years, so many characters have come and gone: Crimson Dawn, Platinum Starlight, Bats Nightmane, Queen Atlanta, Twilight Sparkle, Dazzleflash, King Flawless Ice, King Jagged Edge, Lost Legacy, Admiral James Robinson, Commander Amber Hamilton, Super Hornet Pilots Railgun and Artemis, Captain Ross, Harbormaster Nightmane, Captain Middle Road, Tye Die, General Moonshine Silvercrest, Princess Mirage, Queen Duplicate, Captain Pseudonym, Princess Blossom, Queen Echo, Princess Cadence, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Nurse Lieutenant Rose Thorn, and all those whose names were lost to memory and time. I only hope that this final chapter is worthy of their sacrifice to their story. 1. Myths and LegendsThe Princess of the Night was dreaming. In her dream, there was a menace that had never come, but had never truly left. They almost never walked upon the earth, but had circled above. They never existed, yet they stood before her to place their demands. They spoke a strange language with strange expressions and walked a strange walk with strange movements. Their gestures meant something entirely different from the Equestrian equivalent. They reminded her of Lord Tirek mixed with a mutant snake. “Pony of Gurank,” the closest hissed, “you and your comrades have breached the technological barrier that is carefully guarded by the Protectors of Knowledge for the third and final time. Consider this your final warning. Should you renounce your path, destroy your technology, and submit to Protectorate status, the Cleansing will be swift and painless. Some of your comrades may even survive as honored subjects of the Protectors, allowed to live with their families in utopian splendor for the rest of their days. “Should you resist, Pony of Gurank, the Cleansing will be thorough and complete. Not a single piece of your planet shall remain intact, and your species will be eliminated from the universe. The Protectors have come for the final Cleansing of your world. Resistance is futile.” Before Luna even had time to contemplate her reply, she already knew what her allies would say. She would stand by them, even if it meant death, and so would her sister. In memory of Queen Atlanta and King Flawless Ice, in honor of Crimson Dawn, Platinum Starlight, and all those whose lives were cut tragically short two centuries before on the fields around the Crystal Empire. To uphold the tradition begun by Admiral Robinson and his American battle fleet, to defend the freedom of her people from the tyrannies of destruction, she would fight. “You may instill fear in the hearts of your enemies,” she coldly uttered, “but you will never defeat us. Even if Equestria falls, Atlantis crushed, Griffonstone set ablaze, the Crystal Empire annihilated, and the Dominion razed to the ground, our spirits will live on in the lives of others throughout this universe of yours, and we will spark the flame that will burn your order to ashes. Do your worst, enemies of Equestria.” “So be it.” Celestia burst into the room just as Luna opened her eyes to the mid-afternoon sun. Her white coat dazzled reflectively across the walls, and her flowing rainbow mane and tail brushed against her sister’s nightstand. Her yellowish magic still fizzed off her horn and the door, signaling her rushed arrival, and her wings were tiredly stretched. Luna took a moment to address her own coat. Climbing out of her comfortable blankets, she smoothed her ruffled coat and brushed her mane and tail, although hers was similar to Celestia’s. Her midnight-blue color had not faded to gray, as it sometimes did when she dreamt lucid, which was definitely a good sign. Gray fur meant stress, and stress meant an extra five cups of coffee would be in order. But she was sweaty like never before. It had to be the blankets. “Luna,” Celestia panted, “I came to tell you as soon as I heard. King Jade’s astronomers sighted a significant number of extremely large objects that will arrive in less than a year.” Luna suddenly didn’t need the coffee that she’d habitually materialized seconds before. “How long? A few months?” “By their best assumptions, ten months at the most. It’s likely closer to eight.” “If only we still had the Elements of Harmony or their Bearers, we would be more prepared to deal with a threat such as this.” “No, Luna, we would not. This can only be explained as a technological threat, and a highly advanced one at that. As the World War proved, the best way to defeat a technological enemy is with technology. Magic may help, but only to a degree. We must fight this battle without the Elements of Harmony." “Sister, we must prepare in any way that we can. They will come, and we will fight them, because our duty to our ponies demands it. If we succeed--that is up for debate. But preparation and acknowledgement of the threat is the first step, and one we would be wise to take. Begin mobilization of our military. It may have not needed to fight a war in two hundred years, but it has taken the mistakes and lessons learned then well. Queen Andromeda of Atlantis will likely do the same, as will King Jade and his Dominion.” “Then we have work to do.” Celestia stood straight, a regal look returning to her pant-reddened face. Massaging her forehead with her hoof, she absent-mindedly adjusted her crown and smoothed her mane. Little things like that were virtually unacceptable to her before the World War, but small panic attacks had since changed her mind. “I will work the day, and you the night. That way, one of us is always available.” “Sister, we have been doing that for the last two centuries. And you are messing with your crown again.” Celestia snapped her hoof to the floor with a clang. “This is not the time, Luna…” “No, this is the perfect time. It’s Robinson, isn’t it? He was diagnosed with cancer not long after the War and retired. Sister, wake up! It has been two hundred years since his death. You must move on.” “You didn’t know him as I did.” Celestia’s head hung low, her mane covering her tearing eyes. “Sister.” Luna’s no-nonsense tone was unmistakable. “We have lived for thousands of years, whereas everypony else is lucky to reach ninety. We are the exception to life and death. No amount of wishing can change the past, nor can it alleviate the pain. You of all ponies know that you must not dwell on the past.” “I can’t, Luna. No matter how hard I try, I cannot stop thinking about him. About what he did for us--what he sacrificed when he didn't have to.” “Then perhaps you need something to occupy your mind. The coming conflict will do that well enough.” Andromeda Star, Queen of Atlantis and Guardian of the Celestial Isles, scanned the hastily written letter from her communications department. She unconsciously twirled her violet mane around her hooves while her sparkling blue-star eyes skipped the pleasantries that someone thought had to head every official document and found the main point: King Jade’s astronomers had seen a flotilla of objects hurtling unabated through space. These ships were calculated to be traveling faster than light itself. And the only reason they’d been seen in the first place was the insanely compressed photonic energy shoved ahead at many times its normal speed--507,469-point-25 times, to be exact. She wasn’t about to second guess Jade’s astronomers, but that number still seemed like pulling numbers from a hat. Her late-evening coat puffed as the great oaken double doors to her throne hall banged open. As a pair of guards rushed to her dias, she magically smoothed it and repacked her wings, glaring at the surprise. Just because she was Queen didn’t mean she had to like sudden news. In fact, she learned to dread it. The two guards stopped and bowed simply before speaking. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna of Equestria and King Jade of the Dominion request an audience.” “When would they prefer to conduct it?” “Right now, if isn’t too much to ask,” came a soft, melodic voice, strained from stress. Andromeda looked up. Celestia stood in the banged-open entrance. Luna was on her left and Jade on her right. All three appeared harried, as if their arrival was rushed, and Jade was still combing his glossy green hair. Luna’s coat was ruffled from sleeping, and bags hung from her eyes. Celestia’s coat was stained gray in some places. “Is this about the objects from space?” the Queen of Atlantis asked. “I only heard the news myself thirty seconds ago.” “An alien force has directly threatened us,” Luna replied. “Somehow, they were able to speak into my dreams.” “What was the threat?” “Destruction.” “Did they offer any way to avoid it?” “No, only that it would be faster if we destroyed our technology.” “That’s not going to happen,” Jade asserted. “It’s the only thing uniting our world in the first place. Instant communications, a connection to the human world, even the basics make up the core of all of us. Even you will admit it: our alliances are fraying and have been over the past fifty years.” The three matriarchs nodded, shameful faced. “There’s no question about it. We must act now. Permission to launch the carrier, Princess Celestia?” Celestia was dumbfounded. “Uh, sure?" Author's Note I'm definitely not listening to rock music as I write this story. Some of it may be rock or metal, but I don't even know the genres anymore. Whatever this track is, there really isn't an update schedule to this story since it's the actual last of the series, both chronologically and literally. I'll work on this when I'm not doing others, but anyone who has read my previous stories know exactly where I'm going. Big booms, big battles, and this time, I get to play with spaceships. Oh, this is going to be fun. And probably a lot like The Atlantean-Dominion War in how I portray it. 2. Reagan's Return“The carrier” was inside a massive artificial cavern deep under the northernmost mountains in the Dominion, far behind the Dominion’s densest defenses. Through the cavern flowed a river dredged to a carefully calculated size that eventually opened into the similarly-maintained Great Bay. No Equestrian warship even came close to filling the space dug from the mountain, which had been flawlessly transformed into the surrounding landscape. At the cavern mouth, a truly enormous set of solid-granite twin blast doors, each measuring 50 meters wide, 75 tall, and 5 deep, weighing in over 50,000 metric tons, and costing nearly three billion bits apiece, guarded its ancient treasure: an ancient flat-topped ship, over two hundred years old, rusting but operable. Its hull was raised above the water, showing a quadruple lift engine on each corner. The stern had been widened considerably. Covered in flak cannons and main-battery turrets, the ship was no longer just a carrier. It was a battleship. To Celestia, it was nearly unrecognizable until she saw the faded white number “76” displayed on its side. “Is that… Reagan?” she asked. “The one and only,” Jade replied. “Onyx bought her from the Americans about fifteen years after the War. We’ve made a few modifications over the years, taking some of humanity’s old popular culture and making it reality. There was an overhaul of the power system a while back…” He trailed off, searching his memory for other things done to the ancient aircraft carrier. “But why do you have her?” “We thought we might need her? I don’t know. What’s important is that Onyx knew what he was doing when he purchased her.” “So what can she do now that you’ve made all these modifications?” Andromeda asked. “She can fly.” Jade scratched his head. “Her hangar and flight decks are strong enough to handle the space-atmosphere prototype fighters Atlantis has been working on. Her crew’s down to three thousand thanks to automation, but human conflicts have prevented us from taking full advantage of the technology. But seeing as Onyx made the deal with the United States, not whatever’s there now, we couldn’t return Reagan even if we wanted to. Not that they care that we have her.” The cave echoed with an announcement: “Attention all personnel: the gate is scheduled to open in T minus five minutes. Secure all loose items and equipment. Lock all aircraft to the deck. Carrier launch will occur in T minus fifteen minutes.” The group made its way to the ancient ship’s renovated command deck. Its small, cramped passageways had been changed to fit a pony’s height rather than a human’s, allowing for plenty of extra space to fill with electronics and pipes. As a result, the corridors were less crowded. A similar change had taken the bridge as well, but on a smaller scale. Very little space remained for navigating the room once all the necessary instrumentation was in place. Celestia was pleased to see that the aircraft control was still a floor above, and that the bridgewings stayed accessible. She walked out on the one overlooking the flight deck and sighed. Her brief reverie was interrupted by the screech of rusted metal. She searched for its source: the massive gate that blocked the outside world had begun to open. A seven-lock system clicked one by one as the cavern shipyard’s command center relayed the correct codes. Then, after all of the locks released, the two field-size blast doors were synchronously cracked by a thin beam of light. They creaked farther, revealing the midmorning sun, artificial river, and terraformed countryside surrounding the underground base. Announcements and alerts blared over loudspeakers and radios. The ponies on the bridge responded to those calls referred to them. With a hum, Reagan’s reactors came online and disconnected from shore power. Her quad-engines roared to life in hover mode, providing just enough lift to stay aloft. Another screech, this time below the ship, told Celestia that the docking clamps holding Reagan above the water were retracting. She listened to the bridge chatter. “Engine one is green.” “I need a report on aircraft fuel.” “Status report: arms and ammunition.” “Engine two is green.” “Status report: supply check.” “Engine three is green.” “Can somepony check the secondary reactors?” “Engine four is green.” “Supplies are loaded. We have provisions for three months.” “Forward propulsion is online.” “Secondary power is online. All reactors are operating within acceptable limits.” “Braking propulsion and maneuvering thrusters are online.” “Aircraft fuel tanks are full.” “Arms and ammunition are secure. Storage facilities have been locked down in preparation for takeoff.” “Docking adapters have retracted successfully. We are airborne.” Jade stood tall and regal. “Take us out.” A different roar filled the cave. It wasn’t as intense as the hover engines, but it was much louder. Reagan crept forward, towards the outside world. A dozen engines pushed against the cold, humid air, sucking in copious amounts of water vapor and atomically separating it, then blasting it out the back with enough reactor exhaust heat to change the elements back into water. It was a self-feeding rocket engine, the result of years of work by Equestrian, Griffon, Atlantean, and Dominion scientists. Unbeknownst to the princesses, every nation on Equus was represented aboard the ship: the main defense batteries were Griffonstone technology, the aircraft complement Atlantean design, and the power systems Equestrian. The hull was modified from its American origins by the Dominion. Dragons provided the propulsion systems, while the various Changeling hives made the hover engines. Minotaur electromagnetic lifts ferried aircraft between the Hangar and Flight Deck. Crystal ponies built the electrical network to match the Equestrian reactors. Yaks laid out the internal communications. Ammunition was manufactured and shipped by the Dominion. Slowly, gracefully, the great carrier flew through the gaping hole in the mountain. Sunshine and solar heat bathed Reagan in a heart-warming welcome not felt in two hundred years. Celestia felt the wind blowing through her mane on the bridgewing once more and smiled. She could almost feel Robinson next to her, hear his voice in the breeze. The smell of jet exhaust filled the forefront of her memory, as did the sound of running engines, the sight of vapor from the catapults, and the excited shivering she felt from watching the Americans go about their business with such professionalism and expertise. High above her on the mast flapped the united banner of the Equestrian World Congress. It flew side-by-side with the individual colors of its founding nations, and behind a flag not seen since the mess of the 2050s: the stars and stripes of the United States, flowing proudly over America’s last loyal ship. With a gradual turn, USS Ronald Reagan started on a course to Amyfalone, the capital of the Dominion--and Lady Liberty’s refuge. Several days later, Princess Luna felt the wind in her mane from her position on the Equestrian destroyer ENS Dazzleflash, the third ship to bear the name, as the world ahead swirled into a violet-blue mesh. The last week had been dizzying: Celestia practically took command of the resurrected Reagan while Jade and Andromeda geared their industries for war. Flurry Heart, daughter of the late Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, began to bring the extremely conservative Crystal Empire back up to speed on modern technology. She looked to her right. A few hundred yards off the starboard beam, the Atlantean frigate ANS Silvercrest and Dominion cruiser DNV Blossom steamed together, one of the few times the two allied but rival navies didn’t conduct war games. All three ships bore the diplomatically immune banner of the Equestrian World Congress as well as their own naval jacks. Griffonstone, although being a founding member, had few resource-rich lands and therefore primarily relied on Atlantis’s naval power and Equestria’s peacekeeping history for maritime defense--they did have a “navy,” but it consisted of a half-dozen coastal patrol ships--focusing instead on land-based artillery and missile technology. Because of this, their most powerful patrol craft, HMNV Soaring Skies, labored to follow in the three ships’ wakes, but was more than a match by herself. A brief tingling sensation, a blinding light, and a magical portal later, Luna morphed into her human form. The American coast constituted a haze in the distance from here, usually full of post-industrial smog and environmental control. The green that once blanketed the marshy deltas and forested beaches no longer existed. Humanity had nearly destroyed itself to support a population of nearly fourteen billion people through the construction of massive self-sustaining space stations and colonies on the Moon on top of a war-wracked world that threatened to snap at any minute. The United States of America had changed quite a lot over the past two centuries from its divided, politicized culture to a united nation with a purpose. After much conflict, the States annexed its neighbors Canada, Mexico, and Cuba, instated the island of Puerto Rico as a state, and ran its entire electrical network on nuclear fusion. The fossil fuels of the twenty-first century were too depleted to provide a reliable source of power. Following World War Three, the North American continent was no longer separate nations, but one Federal Union of Free North American States. And as resources continued to dwindle, space conquering was given an unlimited budget. Currently, three Moon colonies and four orbital stations were owned by FUFNAS with dozens of capital ships to defend them. As a sacrifice to controlling nearly all spaceflight, FUFNAS abdicated its blue-water supremacy to the Eurasian International Trade Coalition, the successor to the European Union. The EITC had developed some serious surface warfare technology and was even capable of destroying FUFNAS’s satellite network at a moment’s notice. However, the Europeans were still at risk from orbital bombardment via FUFNAS’s extensive lunar base network, which could fire huge lunar boulders from their maglev cannons. Luna watched as the coast creeped closer. Having witnessed the crapfan that resulted in the reindustrialization of much of what was formerly America, she had a nostalgic feel for the beauty the land once boasted. It had felt untamed at the time. Now, the Earth was a wasteland. The radio crackled. “Unknown fleet, you have entered sovereign Federal Union territory. Identify yourself or be destroyed. You have thirty seconds to comply.” “Federal Union of Free North American States, this is the Equestrian Naval Ship Dazzleflash and her consort, the Atlantean Naval Ship Silvercrest, the Dominion Naval Vessel Blossom, and the Griffon Majesty’s Naval Vessel Soaring Skies. We are on a diplomatic, bipartisan mission to dock at the Foreign Relations Embassy in Jacksonville.” There was a few seconds of static. Then, “Dazzleflash, send your computerized identification code.” Luna nodded to her communications officer. “Aye, Dazzleflash, you and your consort are cleared for port entry. Proceed to Pier 97.” Author's Note Man, this particular chapter was quite hard for me to put together. I wrote an initial version, edited it, made an entirely new version, edited that, then published it. Normally, the first version is good enough for me. So yeah, 200 years from now, the world is a different place. It's actually kind of depressing what I've put humanity through to make this background work.
PrologueA massive hulk drifted through the dead of space above a lifeless world, the fires of entire civilizations burning bright by night and squelched in the sun by day. Three continents of forests were ablaze around the planet’s former major powers, while a hundred thousand island nations were transformed into a hundred thousand piles of radiation with the explosion of a hundred thousand antimatter bombs. In the orbiting ship, a creature stood at a large viewport, overlooking the devastation with a cruel smile. It had four legs, like those of an Equestrian pony, but the lower body of a serpent, upper body of a human, and hands built for seven digits each. The back of its upper body was covered in scaly, greenish skin that brushed itself like fingernails on a chalkboard whenever it moved, and it stank of molting and death. Its head--if it could be called that--took the shape of a bird’s, with a beaky mouth, sensitive ears, and hunter’s eyes, with feathery scales that smoothly transitioned down its back. It raised its right hand to inspect it. Two digits were missing, one on each end, and its opposable thumb still had visible stitches to sew it back on, but the creature looked over each imperfection like it was normal. Satisfied that no new problems had arisen, it lowered its hand and continued to watch the worldwide flames. For a few minutes, other similar creatures crawled behind it to keep the ship’s essential systems running. Then one of decent age slithered to its side. “Lord Xialk,” it began, “the planet has been cleansed of all inhabitants, and resource extraction has begun.” Lord Xialk turned around. His eyes glistened with the heart of a dying star as he replied, “Most excellent. Now, let us turn our attention to the world of Gurank, where our satellite has relayed evidence of radio broadcasts. They first appeared there two hundred years ago, but it a small, concentrated area. In any event, those specific broadcasts were encrypted beyond the world’s technological advancement, were deemed irrelevant, and they promptly disappeared some time later. “Now, the entire world is covered in radio broadcasts, and we can no longer ignore it. Gurank has had its first chance, and its second. This time, by the words of the ancient law, we must eliminate all possibilities of Gurank’s resurgence as a potential power and protect the knowledge our species is honor-bound to defend. Commence the Cleansing, General Rikahk. Leave no civilization spared, no rock unturned. Gurank will be stripped of its resources, devoid of life, doomed to drift around its dying star for all of eternity.” General Rikahk bowed and left. Meanwhile, Xialk watched as thousands of kilometer-long craft angled away from the surface and fired their engines. Given the distances involved, the battle fleet would arrive in just under a year’s time, with the mothership following six months later. But that was irrelevant; any resistance the puny ponies of Gurank could muster even if they detected the Flotilla of Cleansing would be crushed in a matter of minutes. If they defeated the Flotilla, however small of a chance that was, they would then deal with the Guardian, a mothership with twice the capability of three Flotillas. If they defeated that, a hundred motherships would arrive from all corners of the universe within hours, making use of their emergency jump-beacon wormhole generator drives. No matter what a primitive species had ever conceived, that final force was more than enough to destroy them. For those worlds that accomplished the legendarily rare feat of destroying a mothership, a special Cleansing was in order. Not only was it stripped of resources and potential for life, it was annihilated by gravity drives that tore it apart piece by piece and flung the remains into its star, which was then injected with a special plasma. This plasma would start the star on its dying stages right then, triggering a hypernova explosion so large that it sent ripples though all of spacetime, erasing the solar system and its inhabitants from all existence in all universes. Nobody would know they existed, nor would they ever. Only the Protectors of Knowledge had records of these systems and their locations, to be forever remembered as worthy enemies and honored with tradition. Species like that deserved to be immortalized in records and tradition, even if they were Erased. At Lord Xialk’s slightest nod, the first ship of the Flotilla jumped in a flash of red-shifted Doppler light, immediately fading from the real world and entering hyperspatial reality. Author's Note This story is intended to be the last The Red Sun Rises. It's really saddening for me to realize how much I've put into this world, its story, and its characters. How much I've put Crimson through, made hopeless situations end positively, developed and honed my writing through experience. In the last two and a half years, so many characters have come and gone: Crimson Dawn, Platinum Starlight, Bats Nightmane, Queen Atlanta, Twilight Sparkle, Dazzleflash, King Flawless Ice, King Jagged Edge, Lost Legacy, Admiral James Robinson, Commander Amber Hamilton, Super Hornet Pilots Railgun and Artemis, Captain Ross, Harbormaster Nightmane, Captain Middle Road, Tye Die, General Moonshine Silvercrest, Princess Mirage, Queen Duplicate, Captain Pseudonym, Princess Blossom, Queen Echo, Princess Cadence, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Nurse Lieutenant Rose Thorn, and all those whose names were lost to memory and time. I only hope that this final chapter is worthy of their sacrifice to their story.
1. Myths and LegendsThe Princess of the Night was dreaming. In her dream, there was a menace that had never come, but had never truly left. They almost never walked upon the earth, but had circled above. They never existed, yet they stood before her to place their demands. They spoke a strange language with strange expressions and walked a strange walk with strange movements. Their gestures meant something entirely different from the Equestrian equivalent. They reminded her of Lord Tirek mixed with a mutant snake. “Pony of Gurank,” the closest hissed, “you and your comrades have breached the technological barrier that is carefully guarded by the Protectors of Knowledge for the third and final time. Consider this your final warning. Should you renounce your path, destroy your technology, and submit to Protectorate status, the Cleansing will be swift and painless. Some of your comrades may even survive as honored subjects of the Protectors, allowed to live with their families in utopian splendor for the rest of their days. “Should you resist, Pony of Gurank, the Cleansing will be thorough and complete. Not a single piece of your planet shall remain intact, and your species will be eliminated from the universe. The Protectors have come for the final Cleansing of your world. Resistance is futile.” Before Luna even had time to contemplate her reply, she already knew what her allies would say. She would stand by them, even if it meant death, and so would her sister. In memory of Queen Atlanta and King Flawless Ice, in honor of Crimson Dawn, Platinum Starlight, and all those whose lives were cut tragically short two centuries before on the fields around the Crystal Empire. To uphold the tradition begun by Admiral Robinson and his American battle fleet, to defend the freedom of her people from the tyrannies of destruction, she would fight. “You may instill fear in the hearts of your enemies,” she coldly uttered, “but you will never defeat us. Even if Equestria falls, Atlantis crushed, Griffonstone set ablaze, the Crystal Empire annihilated, and the Dominion razed to the ground, our spirits will live on in the lives of others throughout this universe of yours, and we will spark the flame that will burn your order to ashes. Do your worst, enemies of Equestria.” “So be it.” Celestia burst into the room just as Luna opened her eyes to the mid-afternoon sun. Her white coat dazzled reflectively across the walls, and her flowing rainbow mane and tail brushed against her sister’s nightstand. Her yellowish magic still fizzed off her horn and the door, signaling her rushed arrival, and her wings were tiredly stretched. Luna took a moment to address her own coat. Climbing out of her comfortable blankets, she smoothed her ruffled coat and brushed her mane and tail, although hers was similar to Celestia’s. Her midnight-blue color had not faded to gray, as it sometimes did when she dreamt lucid, which was definitely a good sign. Gray fur meant stress, and stress meant an extra five cups of coffee would be in order. But she was sweaty like never before. It had to be the blankets. “Luna,” Celestia panted, “I came to tell you as soon as I heard. King Jade’s astronomers sighted a significant number of extremely large objects that will arrive in less than a year.” Luna suddenly didn’t need the coffee that she’d habitually materialized seconds before. “How long? A few months?” “By their best assumptions, ten months at the most. It’s likely closer to eight.” “If only we still had the Elements of Harmony or their Bearers, we would be more prepared to deal with a threat such as this.” “No, Luna, we would not. This can only be explained as a technological threat, and a highly advanced one at that. As the World War proved, the best way to defeat a technological enemy is with technology. Magic may help, but only to a degree. We must fight this battle without the Elements of Harmony." “Sister, we must prepare in any way that we can. They will come, and we will fight them, because our duty to our ponies demands it. If we succeed--that is up for debate. But preparation and acknowledgement of the threat is the first step, and one we would be wise to take. Begin mobilization of our military. It may have not needed to fight a war in two hundred years, but it has taken the mistakes and lessons learned then well. Queen Andromeda of Atlantis will likely do the same, as will King Jade and his Dominion.” “Then we have work to do.” Celestia stood straight, a regal look returning to her pant-reddened face. Massaging her forehead with her hoof, she absent-mindedly adjusted her crown and smoothed her mane. Little things like that were virtually unacceptable to her before the World War, but small panic attacks had since changed her mind. “I will work the day, and you the night. That way, one of us is always available.” “Sister, we have been doing that for the last two centuries. And you are messing with your crown again.” Celestia snapped her hoof to the floor with a clang. “This is not the time, Luna…” “No, this is the perfect time. It’s Robinson, isn’t it? He was diagnosed with cancer not long after the War and retired. Sister, wake up! It has been two hundred years since his death. You must move on.” “You didn’t know him as I did.” Celestia’s head hung low, her mane covering her tearing eyes. “Sister.” Luna’s no-nonsense tone was unmistakable. “We have lived for thousands of years, whereas everypony else is lucky to reach ninety. We are the exception to life and death. No amount of wishing can change the past, nor can it alleviate the pain. You of all ponies know that you must not dwell on the past.” “I can’t, Luna. No matter how hard I try, I cannot stop thinking about him. About what he did for us--what he sacrificed when he didn't have to.” “Then perhaps you need something to occupy your mind. The coming conflict will do that well enough.” Andromeda Star, Queen of Atlantis and Guardian of the Celestial Isles, scanned the hastily written letter from her communications department. She unconsciously twirled her violet mane around her hooves while her sparkling blue-star eyes skipped the pleasantries that someone thought had to head every official document and found the main point: King Jade’s astronomers had seen a flotilla of objects hurtling unabated through space. These ships were calculated to be traveling faster than light itself. And the only reason they’d been seen in the first place was the insanely compressed photonic energy shoved ahead at many times its normal speed--507,469-point-25 times, to be exact. She wasn’t about to second guess Jade’s astronomers, but that number still seemed like pulling numbers from a hat. Her late-evening coat puffed as the great oaken double doors to her throne hall banged open. As a pair of guards rushed to her dias, she magically smoothed it and repacked her wings, glaring at the surprise. Just because she was Queen didn’t mean she had to like sudden news. In fact, she learned to dread it. The two guards stopped and bowed simply before speaking. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna of Equestria and King Jade of the Dominion request an audience.” “When would they prefer to conduct it?” “Right now, if isn’t too much to ask,” came a soft, melodic voice, strained from stress. Andromeda looked up. Celestia stood in the banged-open entrance. Luna was on her left and Jade on her right. All three appeared harried, as if their arrival was rushed, and Jade was still combing his glossy green hair. Luna’s coat was ruffled from sleeping, and bags hung from her eyes. Celestia’s coat was stained gray in some places. “Is this about the objects from space?” the Queen of Atlantis asked. “I only heard the news myself thirty seconds ago.” “An alien force has directly threatened us,” Luna replied. “Somehow, they were able to speak into my dreams.” “What was the threat?” “Destruction.” “Did they offer any way to avoid it?” “No, only that it would be faster if we destroyed our technology.” “That’s not going to happen,” Jade asserted. “It’s the only thing uniting our world in the first place. Instant communications, a connection to the human world, even the basics make up the core of all of us. Even you will admit it: our alliances are fraying and have been over the past fifty years.” The three matriarchs nodded, shameful faced. “There’s no question about it. We must act now. Permission to launch the carrier, Princess Celestia?” Celestia was dumbfounded. “Uh, sure?" Author's Note I'm definitely not listening to rock music as I write this story. Some of it may be rock or metal, but I don't even know the genres anymore. Whatever this track is, there really isn't an update schedule to this story since it's the actual last of the series, both chronologically and literally. I'll work on this when I'm not doing others, but anyone who has read my previous stories know exactly where I'm going. Big booms, big battles, and this time, I get to play with spaceships. Oh, this is going to be fun. And probably a lot like The Atlantean-Dominion War in how I portray it.
2. Reagan's Return“The carrier” was inside a massive artificial cavern deep under the northernmost mountains in the Dominion, far behind the Dominion’s densest defenses. Through the cavern flowed a river dredged to a carefully calculated size that eventually opened into the similarly-maintained Great Bay. No Equestrian warship even came close to filling the space dug from the mountain, which had been flawlessly transformed into the surrounding landscape. At the cavern mouth, a truly enormous set of solid-granite twin blast doors, each measuring 50 meters wide, 75 tall, and 5 deep, weighing in over 50,000 metric tons, and costing nearly three billion bits apiece, guarded its ancient treasure: an ancient flat-topped ship, over two hundred years old, rusting but operable. Its hull was raised above the water, showing a quadruple lift engine on each corner. The stern had been widened considerably. Covered in flak cannons and main-battery turrets, the ship was no longer just a carrier. It was a battleship. To Celestia, it was nearly unrecognizable until she saw the faded white number “76” displayed on its side. “Is that… Reagan?” she asked. “The one and only,” Jade replied. “Onyx bought her from the Americans about fifteen years after the War. We’ve made a few modifications over the years, taking some of humanity’s old popular culture and making it reality. There was an overhaul of the power system a while back…” He trailed off, searching his memory for other things done to the ancient aircraft carrier. “But why do you have her?” “We thought we might need her? I don’t know. What’s important is that Onyx knew what he was doing when he purchased her.” “So what can she do now that you’ve made all these modifications?” Andromeda asked. “She can fly.” Jade scratched his head. “Her hangar and flight decks are strong enough to handle the space-atmosphere prototype fighters Atlantis has been working on. Her crew’s down to three thousand thanks to automation, but human conflicts have prevented us from taking full advantage of the technology. But seeing as Onyx made the deal with the United States, not whatever’s there now, we couldn’t return Reagan even if we wanted to. Not that they care that we have her.” The cave echoed with an announcement: “Attention all personnel: the gate is scheduled to open in T minus five minutes. Secure all loose items and equipment. Lock all aircraft to the deck. Carrier launch will occur in T minus fifteen minutes.” The group made its way to the ancient ship’s renovated command deck. Its small, cramped passageways had been changed to fit a pony’s height rather than a human’s, allowing for plenty of extra space to fill with electronics and pipes. As a result, the corridors were less crowded. A similar change had taken the bridge as well, but on a smaller scale. Very little space remained for navigating the room once all the necessary instrumentation was in place. Celestia was pleased to see that the aircraft control was still a floor above, and that the bridgewings stayed accessible. She walked out on the one overlooking the flight deck and sighed. Her brief reverie was interrupted by the screech of rusted metal. She searched for its source: the massive gate that blocked the outside world had begun to open. A seven-lock system clicked one by one as the cavern shipyard’s command center relayed the correct codes. Then, after all of the locks released, the two field-size blast doors were synchronously cracked by a thin beam of light. They creaked farther, revealing the midmorning sun, artificial river, and terraformed countryside surrounding the underground base. Announcements and alerts blared over loudspeakers and radios. The ponies on the bridge responded to those calls referred to them. With a hum, Reagan’s reactors came online and disconnected from shore power. Her quad-engines roared to life in hover mode, providing just enough lift to stay aloft. Another screech, this time below the ship, told Celestia that the docking clamps holding Reagan above the water were retracting. She listened to the bridge chatter. “Engine one is green.” “I need a report on aircraft fuel.” “Status report: arms and ammunition.” “Engine two is green.” “Status report: supply check.” “Engine three is green.” “Can somepony check the secondary reactors?” “Engine four is green.” “Supplies are loaded. We have provisions for three months.” “Forward propulsion is online.” “Secondary power is online. All reactors are operating within acceptable limits.” “Braking propulsion and maneuvering thrusters are online.” “Aircraft fuel tanks are full.” “Arms and ammunition are secure. Storage facilities have been locked down in preparation for takeoff.” “Docking adapters have retracted successfully. We are airborne.” Jade stood tall and regal. “Take us out.” A different roar filled the cave. It wasn’t as intense as the hover engines, but it was much louder. Reagan crept forward, towards the outside world. A dozen engines pushed against the cold, humid air, sucking in copious amounts of water vapor and atomically separating it, then blasting it out the back with enough reactor exhaust heat to change the elements back into water. It was a self-feeding rocket engine, the result of years of work by Equestrian, Griffon, Atlantean, and Dominion scientists. Unbeknownst to the princesses, every nation on Equus was represented aboard the ship: the main defense batteries were Griffonstone technology, the aircraft complement Atlantean design, and the power systems Equestrian. The hull was modified from its American origins by the Dominion. Dragons provided the propulsion systems, while the various Changeling hives made the hover engines. Minotaur electromagnetic lifts ferried aircraft between the Hangar and Flight Deck. Crystal ponies built the electrical network to match the Equestrian reactors. Yaks laid out the internal communications. Ammunition was manufactured and shipped by the Dominion. Slowly, gracefully, the great carrier flew through the gaping hole in the mountain. Sunshine and solar heat bathed Reagan in a heart-warming welcome not felt in two hundred years. Celestia felt the wind blowing through her mane on the bridgewing once more and smiled. She could almost feel Robinson next to her, hear his voice in the breeze. The smell of jet exhaust filled the forefront of her memory, as did the sound of running engines, the sight of vapor from the catapults, and the excited shivering she felt from watching the Americans go about their business with such professionalism and expertise. High above her on the mast flapped the united banner of the Equestrian World Congress. It flew side-by-side with the individual colors of its founding nations, and behind a flag not seen since the mess of the 2050s: the stars and stripes of the United States, flowing proudly over America’s last loyal ship. With a gradual turn, USS Ronald Reagan started on a course to Amyfalone, the capital of the Dominion--and Lady Liberty’s refuge. Several days later, Princess Luna felt the wind in her mane from her position on the Equestrian destroyer ENS Dazzleflash, the third ship to bear the name, as the world ahead swirled into a violet-blue mesh. The last week had been dizzying: Celestia practically took command of the resurrected Reagan while Jade and Andromeda geared their industries for war. Flurry Heart, daughter of the late Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, began to bring the extremely conservative Crystal Empire back up to speed on modern technology. She looked to her right. A few hundred yards off the starboard beam, the Atlantean frigate ANS Silvercrest and Dominion cruiser DNV Blossom steamed together, one of the few times the two allied but rival navies didn’t conduct war games. All three ships bore the diplomatically immune banner of the Equestrian World Congress as well as their own naval jacks. Griffonstone, although being a founding member, had few resource-rich lands and therefore primarily relied on Atlantis’s naval power and Equestria’s peacekeeping history for maritime defense--they did have a “navy,” but it consisted of a half-dozen coastal patrol ships--focusing instead on land-based artillery and missile technology. Because of this, their most powerful patrol craft, HMNV Soaring Skies, labored to follow in the three ships’ wakes, but was more than a match by herself. A brief tingling sensation, a blinding light, and a magical portal later, Luna morphed into her human form. The American coast constituted a haze in the distance from here, usually full of post-industrial smog and environmental control. The green that once blanketed the marshy deltas and forested beaches no longer existed. Humanity had nearly destroyed itself to support a population of nearly fourteen billion people through the construction of massive self-sustaining space stations and colonies on the Moon on top of a war-wracked world that threatened to snap at any minute. The United States of America had changed quite a lot over the past two centuries from its divided, politicized culture to a united nation with a purpose. After much conflict, the States annexed its neighbors Canada, Mexico, and Cuba, instated the island of Puerto Rico as a state, and ran its entire electrical network on nuclear fusion. The fossil fuels of the twenty-first century were too depleted to provide a reliable source of power. Following World War Three, the North American continent was no longer separate nations, but one Federal Union of Free North American States. And as resources continued to dwindle, space conquering was given an unlimited budget. Currently, three Moon colonies and four orbital stations were owned by FUFNAS with dozens of capital ships to defend them. As a sacrifice to controlling nearly all spaceflight, FUFNAS abdicated its blue-water supremacy to the Eurasian International Trade Coalition, the successor to the European Union. The EITC had developed some serious surface warfare technology and was even capable of destroying FUFNAS’s satellite network at a moment’s notice. However, the Europeans were still at risk from orbital bombardment via FUFNAS’s extensive lunar base network, which could fire huge lunar boulders from their maglev cannons. Luna watched as the coast creeped closer. Having witnessed the crapfan that resulted in the reindustrialization of much of what was formerly America, she had a nostalgic feel for the beauty the land once boasted. It had felt untamed at the time. Now, the Earth was a wasteland. The radio crackled. “Unknown fleet, you have entered sovereign Federal Union territory. Identify yourself or be destroyed. You have thirty seconds to comply.” “Federal Union of Free North American States, this is the Equestrian Naval Ship Dazzleflash and her consort, the Atlantean Naval Ship Silvercrest, the Dominion Naval Vessel Blossom, and the Griffon Majesty’s Naval Vessel Soaring Skies. We are on a diplomatic, bipartisan mission to dock at the Foreign Relations Embassy in Jacksonville.” There was a few seconds of static. Then, “Dazzleflash, send your computerized identification code.” Luna nodded to her communications officer. “Aye, Dazzleflash, you and your consort are cleared for port entry. Proceed to Pier 97.” Author's Note Man, this particular chapter was quite hard for me to put together. I wrote an initial version, edited it, made an entirely new version, edited that, then published it. Normally, the first version is good enough for me. So yeah, 200 years from now, the world is a different place. It's actually kind of depressing what I've put humanity through to make this background work.
