The Seventh Element

First Contact

Her hooves made an echoing thud when she landed on the wall. She looked behind her as the two pegasus ponies she had just seen tossed in to each other crashed on the roof in a crumpled pile of wings and armor. Luna watched the gryphons use the surprise attack to their full advantage; swooping down on top of the pegasi, tearing off armor and crippling wings, sending the Solar Empire forces plummeting to the ground below.

It hurt Luna to see them fall, since they would surely meet an early end when they hit the ground.

'I didn't start this war, she did. I'm fighting these ponies so I can save others. Ends justify the means... Right?'

She shook her head violently to try and focus on the battle.

Mustang had lived up to his boasting; nearly all of the troops on the roof were either defeated, or close to it. Even as she scanned the rooftop she saw Colonel Mustang fighting off two unicorns and an earth pony by himself, only to have the earth pony receive a swift kick to the head by one of Mustangs stallions who had managed to blind side him, while the unicorns were both knocked off their hooves by a fireball from the Colonel.

Luna galloped to Mustang as the fighting subsided and all but ten or so gryphons landed on the roof next to Mustang.

The Gryphon Captain saluted Princess Luna as she approached and spoke with a female voice that caught Luna off guard. It was hard to tell in that armor they wore. "Enemy air combatants eliminated, no casualties! I have ordered two squads to patrol the wall to make sure nopony escapes and warns the Solar empire, the rest are awaiting instruction, Princess."

"Very well, standby."

"Princess Luna!"Mustang was approaching, followed by his remaining forces. "A few injured, but nothing major Princess. I'm glad you could join us, those pegasi were giving us a lot of trouble." He nodded towards the Gryphon's captain who bowed in earnest. "The rest of my stallions are inside the wall Princess, we need to get in there as quickly as possible; the Solar Empire arrived with more troops than expected, they can't hold out alone for long."

"Understood Colonel, I'm giving you full command over this, you have the home field advantage. Impressive magic by the way." The Colonel simply nodded.

They heard the screaming of a pony in pain and the muffled clang of metal on metal coming from inside the gigantic metal wall they stood on.

"Time is of the essence! Captain, I need you to take your Gryphons down to the main gate and take out any guards, wait there until we open it. Once inside you will fight your way to the control room."

"Yes, sir!" She led her group with a jump off the wall, the last Gryphon doing a somersault in the air before diving straight for the gate below. It didn't take long before the sound of fighting made its way up to the ponies on the roof.

"I will lead the group to open the gate, everypony else will go with Luna, to the control room!"

The soldiers let out a collective "Sir, yes sir!"

"Excellent, now let's move!"

There was only one entrance to the wall from the roof. They burst through the door and began their descent down the stairwell, the sound of fighting getting louder as they got closer to the bottom.

At the foot of the stairs they were met with the backs of the Northern Wall's defenders engaged with Solar Empire troops that were barricaded in a room at the end of the hallway. The ponies led by Mustang immediately sprang in to action! They formed a spearhead of ponies from wall to wall and charged the barricaded door. Magic shots bounced off their armor before they burst through the barricade and eliminated the Solar Empire's forces in an intimidating display of guts and brute force that was over in seconds. It made Luna glad they were on her side.

She walked in behind Mustang's forces and inspected the astonishing damage that had been created in such a short time; Solar Empire troops were lying all across the floor, almost all of them unconscious or in the case of one poor pony, stomped to death. A helmet lay completely flattened by the hoof of one of the wall's defenders.

"Princess Luna, this is where we split up. My stallions know where to go, have one of them lead you to the control room. Make sure that on your way you go through the the galley, if there is anywhere that you would find survivors on your way, it will be there. I'll take my group to the barracks after I let in the Gryphons. Good luck Princess and stay safe." He saluted his leader.

"The same to you Colonel."

She returned the salute as the Colonel led his stallions down the opposite corridor.

"Volunteers?"

"I can lead us Princess, Lieutenant Havoc at your service!" A well built pony with blonde messy hair, a pack of cigarettes sticking out of his saddlebag and a small, broken heart on his flank stepped forward.

"Lead the way."

He nodded and led them down the second corridor, Luna following directly behind him with the rest of the squad behind her. Fighting could be heard throughout the structure, echoing off the metal walls bringing them the sound of battles going on in every corner of the enormous wall. It was impossible to tell which side the ponies screaming in agony were on.

"Let's pick up the pace, remember galley first."

"Yes, ma'am." He broke in to a steady gallop leading them down one hall after another, left, right, left, left, down stairs, right, down more stairs, getting them closer and closer to their destination. They passed carnage in every open door they could look through; some rooms were full of bodies of the fallen from both sides, the battle having clearly moved elsewhere. Sometimes they only saw smashed armor or holes blasted in walls, entire vault-like doors blasted of their hinges and other disgusting sights, the likes of which you only see after a fierce battle. The most ominous being a trail of smeared blood on the floor as if somepony was dragged against their will down the hallway to the door at the end, the same door they were heading straight for.

As they got closer they could hear the muffled sounds of clashing metal and small explosions. Luna ran up to the door and bucked it wide open, the sounds of the fighting hit them like a freight train!

"-oofstrong family for generations!"

*SMACK*

It was a sound like hooves stomping on a melon and a subsequent crash as Major Hoofstrong sent a poor soldier flying in to the wall next to the door Luna had just kicked open. Luna watched as the soldier hit the wall next to her, seemed to stick there for a second and slid to the ground in a bloody pile. He wasn't getting up anytime soon.

'That was because of me. How ca- Not now, later!'

She ducked as a Solar Empire unicorn launched a chunk of metal at her like a spear. It glanced off the breastplate of the pony behind her, cutting deeply in to his right front leg. He collapsed with a scream of pain and a splash of blood across those nearest him.

'THAT was my fault! Time to be a leader Luna.'

She wasn't used to combat, let alone leading it, but it was a role she stepped in to easily.

"Get him back in the hallway and patch him up! The rest of you, reinforce our defenses!"

Two ponies dragged their fallen comrade out of the room as the rest ran to the barricades set up by their fellows, taking fire on their way to the positions. Luna herself went to Major Hoofstrong who was taking cover behind an overturned dining table on the front lines, leading the attempt to push back the Solar troops.

The battle raged around them. Unicorns were throwing heavy objects across the room as the earth ponies fought each other in violent hoof to hoof combat, denting armor and landing vicious blows to any area unprotected; Luna heard a horrific crack as a Solar troop snapped the leg of one of the defenders. She looked for him and watched as the Solar troop stood on his hind legs, about to deal the final blow to the pony now crippled on the ground.

'I will not watch him die!'

Luna used her magic to lift both ponies; she pushed the injured pony behind their defensive line and smashed the other against the ceiling, knocking him out cold and then throwing him at his allies, causing them to scatter. One earth pony was forced out of cover by the unconscious flying pony, where he was struck by debris tossed by one of his own unicorns and hit in the back of the head hard enough to make Luna sure he was dead, despite his helmet.

"Glad you could make it your highness! Where is the colonel?"

Magic bolts and debris whizzed overhead as the enemy focused on her and the major.

"He's inviting some friends to the party. We're here to collect any survivors and make our way to the control room!"

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" He looked passed Luna at his Sergeant, on the far side of the room, and nodded.

The Sergeant hesitated, before nodding back.

"Final Push!" The Sergeant yelled."Let's make it count stallions, covering fire!"

The unicorns began lobbing huge pieces of debris at the Solar Empire and focusing on the enemy unicorns keeping them behind cover, effectively making them useless.

At the same time, Luna, the Major, Lieutenant Havoc and all the other earth ponies ran out from behind their cover as they charged the enemy. The Solar troops didn't know what was happening until Luna and her forces broke through their defenses, jumped over their barricades and began fighting them in close quarters!

The Major dispatched three ponies with a single kick each, sending them tumbling across the ground until they rolled to a stop, spread-eagle and out cold in a pile on the floor. Luna herself used her magic to smash the heads of two soldiers together, before they could attack the Sergeant from behind.

The enemy was caught off guard by the sudden charge and some were beginning to retreat, Luna watched as one who was running was struck down by a small table thrown by a unicorn. Luna charged her horn to stop another from fleeing, when she was knocked to the ground by a pony who had managed to get close enough to buck her with both of his rear hooves.

She was on the ground, slightly disoriented from the attack, when she felt a strong kick to her side as the attacking pony flipped her over. She looked up in time to see her attacker, a large earth pony with dried blood in his black mane, on his hind hooves, about to bring a sharp piece of metal down on top of her. She threw her hooves up and grabbed his as he brought the knife down on her. They struggled for what seemed like an eternity, the knife moving from directly in front of her face to either side and back again, doing everything she could to keep the blade away from her skin before she finally felt as if she couldn't hold his weight up any longer.

She was so focused on keeping the knife from her throat that she saw nothing of the battle around her, except this pony above her. Out of seemingly nowhere, the Lieutenant rammed the earth pony with his shoulder, sending him flying out of view, taking the knife with him and saving her life!

She was going to make a point of becoming friends with this Lieutenant after this was all over.

He held out his hoof to her.

"Come on Princess, it's not much of a rebellion without a leader!"

She grabbed his hoof.

She couldn't be more grateful.

"I can't thank you enough Havo- HAVOC!"

A Solar Empire unicorn had thrown a large chunk of metal, apparently torn off of the wall, that had flown straight for the Lieutenant. Luna pulled him down on top of her in time to save him from being cut in half, but the chunk of metal still made contact, cutting straight through the top of the Lieutenant's back accompanied by the disturbing sound of tearing flesh and shattering bones. His rear legs buckled immediately as blood began pouring from the open wound, soaking him and Luna. She set him down next to her as she stood up.

"Don't move Havoc! Stay there- I'll get you to safety- Just don't move!

"I don't think I could if I wanted to Princess." He coughed up a small amount of blood and simply lay there for a moment, terror on his face. "I uh- I can't quite feel my legs..." He lay his head down and let the shock push him in to unconsciousness.

Luna's heart sank as she used her magic to close the wound. The metal must have severed his spine, she couldn't heal an injury like that. The best doctors in Equestria couldn't even do that! Nopony could.

Her sorrow was brief as it turned itself into nearly uncontrollable rage! She could barely contain it as she healed what she could of her new friend's injuries.

She turned from his unconscious body and looked for a target. Luckily, the battle in this room was not quite over...

Luna's eyes turned white and began to glow as she used her anger to summon immense amounts of magical energy! Tables, vending machines, ovens and anything else that wasn't bolted down rose in to the air and began to collapse in on themselves as the magic Luna was using unintentionally affected everything in the room. She lifted every Solar Empire soldier in the room and violently tore off their armor. She brought the metal in to a single mass and circled the soldiers around it in mid air. She compressed and heated the armor until it was a solid, near-molten object. She simultaneously tore it in to chunks and launched the still white hot metal at incredible speeds at the ponies she had captured.

She let them go and fell to her front knees as her outburst subsided and the Solar soldiers dropped to the ground, in lifeless heaps.

As she calmed down, she looked at the soldiers she had just killed.

'I didn't need to kill them all, dammit!' She looked at the ponies on the ground, each one was dead because of her. Luna sighed. 'Ponies die in war, if I cried for every lost soul I would never stop...'

The thought did little to lift the weight from her shoulders.

"Medics, tend to the wounded. You there!" He pointed to a group of ponies who were staring at Luna. "Guard the door!, the rest of you be ready to push to the control room!" He turned to Luna. "That was amazing Princess! Why didn't you do that earlier?"

"It is not something I like to do Major. It's a power I don't have full control over and it is something I can use only in times of extreme emotional... Distress... You can see the results." She didn't take her eyes off of those she had killed.

He seemed to know what she was thinking.

"The first ones are always the hardest to accept. It never gets easier, but this is war Princess. If there is a peaceful way, we would all prefer it, but remember that she struck first." He put his hoof on her shoulder in a comforting gesture.

He was right. She knew what would happen when she started this rebellion, but more importantly she knew what would happen if she didn't...

After her transformation in to Nightmare Moon and subsequent terrorizing of Equestria, she felt guilty leading these ponies in some sort of righteous rebellion against her sister. It just didn't seem right fighting against the sort of thing that she and almost caused herself.

Major Hoofstrong knew she was mourning the loss of fellow Equestrians and for Lieutenant Havoc's crippling injury, but this battle wasn't over yet.

"Princess, we must keep moving..."

Silence.

"Princess-"

The walls began to tremble and they heard the gears of the main gate opening. Shortly after they heard the earsplitting eagle-like screech of a gryphon as they began fighting the ponies within. This seemed to remind Luna of the other ponies still fighting for their lives inside the wall. She got to her hooves.

"I see you brought friends." The Major smiled at her.

"Friends that are going to be pushing my sister's troops towards us, Major. Lead the way."

"Yes, ma'am!" He spoke to the room at large. "All able-bodied ponies, form up on me! Mustang and the Gryphons are pushing the enemy towards us! We're going to meet at the control room! Ready yourself for a tough fight and steel yourself against what you are about to do to your fellow Equestrians..."

The Major led the way through the door and down more stairs. They were one level above the ground floor at this point, the same level as their objective. The hall was lined with doors that led to more hallways, stairwells and rooms, and at the end of the hall was the control room. It was filled with Solar Empire troops, at least thirty of them were in there trying to use the radio to call in reinforcements. Luckily the wall was so thick that no signal could get in or out unless the antenna on the roof was extended and the gryphons guarding the roof, were not about to let that happen.

"I don't see the others, looks like we're on our own."

The major whispered to Luna, "Do not worry Princess, all my stallions need is a little bit of encouragement to prepare them for this battle!"

"Encouragement? Like wh- What are you doing?!"

Major Hoofstrong turned to his stallions and ripped off his shirt, flexing, displaying his perfectly muscular physique.

"BEHOLD PONIES! THE PERFECT SPECIMEN OF A SOLDIER! HAVE NO FEAR, I AM-"

"Major, be quiet they'll hear-"

She was interrupted by shouting from the control room. They had indeed heard Major Hoofstrong and were now rushing down the hallway towards them.

The Major lead the charge before anypony else had time to follow, leaving a large gap between the Major and his soldiers. This left him fighting no less than six ponies by himself until the others could catch up.

"Major you're going to get killed!" Luna tore off after the Major, firing at the ponies charging towards them, only managing to do any significant damage to one of them.

As the distance closed the Major was still by himself against five other ponies, there was no way he was going to survive the encounter. Just as they were about to collide with the enemy, they heard the eagle-screech again as a door between the two groups was slammed open and a gryphon lunged at the Solar ponies as they passed, knocking them over and sinking his talons in one as more gryphons burst through. One gryphon came in through the door so fast that she landed on all fours against the opposite wall forcing her to push off with her wings, diving in to the fray where she began slashing at ponies behind the front lines. All Luna could see were the occasional pony fly through the air as the vicious gryphon tore through their ranks in to the control room by herself. Shortly afterwords a burst of fire came out of the room.

'Looks like everypony is here!'

Facing the forces of Colonel Mustang, plus the ponies he rescued from the barracks, Luna and her forces from the galley and the gryphons, the Solar Empire forces didn't stand a chance and quickly surrendered.

Two hours later

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Princess Luna was standing outside the main gate watching as the soldiers placed a black tarp on top of the last body.

After they had met up in the control room, Mustang had sent search and clear teams throughout the wall to make sure there were no Solar Empire soldiers left: there were none. The cleanup was quick, but respectful. Luna had told them to treat bodies from both sides the same, and they were laid out here side by side. They may have been fighting each other, but they were only soldiers caught up in a war between two sisters. Looking at the number of graves being dug made this war seem pointless... What exactly were they fighting for anyway? She, Luna, wanted control of the moon again and her opinion heard on important decisions. Saying it like that sure made it sound like a pitiful and selfish reason for killing these ponies, because even though she may not have been the one to do it, every one of these ponies deaths were on her hooves. Had she simply let her sister rule, then these ponies would still be alive...

'No- What about the Solar Empire? Remember what the Colonel said about it. She has turned this Kingdom completely militaristic. There is no way she did that overnight with no planning, this must have been in the works for a long time, way before I even came back. It's not like this was entirely in response to the rebellion, I probably just sped up her plans... Right?'

"Princess Luna?"

Luna looked at Mustang, but did not answer, she went back to watching the earth ponies dig the graves.

"Princess Luna, Major Hoofstrong told me of what happened in the galley." After waiting for a response that wasn't coming, he continued. "That is a terrible power you hold." He paused again, then continued. "You know Princess, sometimes in a fight, a pony will have to watch his best friends die in front of him. It's hard to control emotions like that... You know what most ponies do?" He didn't wait for a reply this time. "They do one of two things; they either break down and stop in the middle of a fight, or they lose control and aim their anger towards their enemy, trying to cause as much damage as possible. If they lose control like that, they often try to make their enemy feel the pain that they do, so they don't aim to kill, they aim to cripple their opponent... Would you say that's what you did Luna?

She swallowed hard and nodded.

"I completely lost control."

"I examined the bodies. Each one that you killed had a small hole in their forehead. That's a clean kill Luna, they felt nothing when they died. That doesn't sound like losing control to me, Princess."

"Then why did I kill them?" She looked down at the blood that wasn't hers still caked on her legs.

"You had just seen somepony that saved your life crippled in front of you, you were drenched in his blood, you were in the heat of battle and that doesn't leave a lot of room for thinking about mercy, especially when you remember that they had just been killing your allies. War is always the same Princess, war never changes, killing is a part of war, and given the circumstances... You did it with a mercy that none of us would have given them."

She wasn't entirely convinced, but she could see what he was trying to do for her.

"Thank you Colonel, but how can I expect these ponies to die for me after what I've done? After Nightmare Moon Colonel... How can I ask that of them?"

Mustang let out a long sigh.

"Princess, had you not killed those ponies yourself, then my stallions would have. They would have killed them in a way that made sure they paid for our dead allies. The Solar Empire soldiers would have slowly bled to death, or had broken bones all over their body, or spent hours in pain as their brains swelled due to blunt force trauma. The point is anypony, and I mean anypony, in your position would have killed those ponies in ways that would have been far worse than you did. Anypony but you..." He gave another pause.

"Especially Nightmare Moon-"

'-Loyalty-'

"-and especially your sister."

He walked off back towards the wall. She was grateful to have made a friend like him...

It was twilight without a cloud in the sky and she could see her beautiful moon high above her.

'Too bad it's raining'

A tear rolled down her cheek.