Just A Slice

Luna looked out her window at the massing army in the courtyard under her iridescent moon. Hundreds of cooking fires provided warmth and meal to the hungry masses of soldiers below. She hadn't the slightest clue how they would be able to fill the bellies of fifteen thousand stallions on the long march to Dragonheim. She wasn't even sure if she was the right choice of command of the army. She hadn't commanded so much as a small force since long before Celestia banished her and Nightmare Moon.Yet Celestia had put her in command of the army, "A chance to redeem yourself Luna. Perhaps Aeroga's hatred for you will have lessened if you help him bring down the Dark Lord." Her thoughts turned to Aeroga and she winced. She still had a headache every time she did something active. His crushing mind attack had scarred her mind, making it muddled and slow at the best of times. The memories of the attack after she had been caught spying on him in the gardens made her head throb and she winced again. After he let her go, She had barely been able to form thoughts, she had just laid in her bed crying her heart out. She couldn't believe that he really hated her, but after his display of enormous power coupled with the threats and mind attack, she had been crushed. Both Aeroslash and Flare had bonded very well with her, and the deaths of both was like having Celestia torn away from her under Nightmare Moon.

To her, Aeroslash was dead. She had only seen Aeroslash as an amnesiac after she sent him on her foolish mission, and then he only knew himself to be Aeroga, harbinger of the Dark Lord. The pony, Aeroslash had gone on his mission and never returned. She hated herself for sending him. If she hadn't, the Dark Lord may never have come to Canterlot, and both he and Flare would be alive, he with no reason to hate her. She wished with all her power and heart that she hadn't thrown him away like she had, but that wish didn't work. Aeroslash was still dead, and Aeroga still hated her.

She turned away from the window and fell on her bed, continuing to brood solemnly. After a while, a knock came at her door and she told whoever it was to come in, her face buried in her pillow. She didn't see who walked in, just lay there with her face shoved into her bed hoping they would go away after they saw that she was in no condition for company. She felt the bed cave under the weight of somepony, and a hoof began stroking her hair. She felt violated by such a tender display of affection, but her offended attitude drained like dirty water through a sieve, leaving only her hurt lying bare. Tears began to flow freely but she fought them, determined not to show emotion in the presence of somepony. "Luna?" Celestia's voice startled her and she squeaked, before letting go of the tears. She bawled like a new-born filly, her tears soaking the pillow under her head, she couldn't control the waterfalls tumbling from her eyes as Celestia just continued to stroke her mane slowly, soothing her. Luna rose up and hugged her sister holding on to her for dear life as the tears continued to drip off her chin. Tia held her like Mother used to so many years ago when Luna couldn't raise the moon like her sister could the sun. She hadn't hurt this much in so long, hadn't cried for more years than she could count. Tia pushed Luna off her and held her face in her hooves, placing her forehead against hers. Her violet eyes bored into Luna's tear soaked ones. She looked so worried, so caring. Luna remembered the Celestia before Nightmare Moon, never like this. "Are you OK?" Luna nodded with a sniffle, their foreheads rubbing together. "Aeroga again?"

This time she shook her head, no, "Aeroslash." she mumbled. Tia gave her a confused look. "Aeroga?" Again, Luna shook her head. "I shouldn't have sent Aeroslash with the parcel that gave the Dark Lord the information he needed. That was the last one and held the information he needed to make an attack. Without it, he may never have tried to take the throne. He captured me spying on him in the garden after you left, and told me that it was my fault. All the ponies that had lost their lives, Flare, everything else was my fault. And he was right. I don't-" Tia shushed her quietly. "Luna don't beat yourself up. Aeroga was distraught. He let his emotions direct his actions, and you know what happens with that." She said referring to Luna's grudge against her until Nightmare Moon took control of her. "Luna, I promise you, Aeroga will forgive you in time, give him that. Emotions don't last forever, they fade after a while. He will forgive you, you just have to let him think. That is why he lashed out at you, he hadn't had time to think about it, only had his emotions. Do you understand me? He will forgive you." Luna sniffled, nodding her head slowly. "I-I don't know if I can lead the army. What if I mess up? It's been so long since I have led a force of any size besides my guard, a-and they don't do much, just-" Celestia put a hoof over her mouth, silencing her, "Luna, you are rambling, you will do fine, I know you can handle it. I wouldn't have chosen you if I didn't think you could hold the army together. Someone has to stay behind, and in war I really can't leave my adviser in my place for so long. Your generals will assist you, you need not worry. Just raise the moon as you normally do, and be my representative. You are the only pony who knows me well enough to know what I would do and act on that."

Luna hugged Tia hard again, "Thank you so much sissy. I just- just thought that he would always be at my side, nothing romantic, just... faithful. I had so many wonderful conversations with him, like having another sibling, like having the little brother we always wanted. But I ruined it, and when he hated me, I-I just couldn't take it."

Celestia smiled. "Go to sleep Luna, it is almost morning and I have to raise the sun. The army leaves at noon so get as much sleep as you can. I will come and wake you when it's time." Luna looked back at her sister, "Thank you sissy, just like when we were little, you always had a penchant for comforting me." Tia smiled and brushed off the compliment. She kissed her forehead and bade her good morning before closing the door behind her. Luna resettled her sheets and pillows before slowly drifting off with the sunrise shining into her room, the golden beams shining on the small dust motes drifting through the air. She could hear the songbirds singing of the morning out her window, a slow drifting tune pushing her to the edges of unconsciousness. Her eyelids grew heavy as the lilting cadence egged her drowsy body into sleep.

Luna felt herself falling. She spread her wings, frantically trying to stop her descent, but her fluttering wings did nothing to slow her fall. She landed roughly in the gardens outside the palace, animals and songbirds surrounding her in blissful ignorance. The songbirds were singing a happy tune, and the animals meandered about, not noticing Luna's presence. Suddenly, they all scattered with the exception of the birds who continued to sing as their happy tune slowed to a sad song that made Luna feel like sitting down and crying. A deep green peacock landed in front of her, his tail feathers splayed in emerald splendor. He looked right at her, gold irises shining like the sun. He stood watching her before closing his eyes solemnly. She stood transfixed by him, he was so beautiful.

The songbirds continued to sing as the peacock stood as still as a statue, motionless. His head drooped and his tail seemed to sag as if tired or worn out. He spread his wings, head still down. He stood like that for almost a second before exploding into flame. Luna jumped back in surprise and astonishment and watched as the peacock transformed before her eyes. The peacock grew and reshaped until Aeroga stood before her. He sighed and opened his eyes, the color of honey. His reptilian eyes flitted to her and he rose from all fours onto his hind legs. His voice rang in her mind like a crashing cymbal, paralyzing her. "I will never forgive you." he whispered. The green dragon rushed at her and drove his paw into her chest. She didn't feel it, just gasped as he wrenched her still-beating heart out of her body. He held it before his face, eying the pulsating muscle, blood seeping out of arteries with each pump. He glared at it for what seemed an eternity before he inhaled sharply and unleashed a torrent of fire on her heart as her entire body exploded in pain, the fire burning her from within.

She awoke screaming with Celestia trying to hold her flailing legs down. Luna broke into panicked sobs as she collapsed under Tia's weight on top of her. Tia picked her up and held her close trying to soothe her panicked sister. Luna eventually calmed down and stumbled from the bed, breaking their embrace. Her legs shook violently and felt like rubber beneath her, threatening to buckle as she walked to her door. She looked at her sister and saw a black eye slowly forming on Tia, blood welling from a cut on the side of her face. "I-I'm s-sorry Tia." she spluttered as she hastily left her sister in her room.

Luna walked through the labyrinth, barely paying attention to where she was going. She just took random turns through the hedges, as she continued to brood over her dream. It was so true. The dragon had burned her heart, scorched it with his hatred. She wasn't sure if she had had romantic feelings for him like she had told Tia, but he did feel like a little brother.

She delved into the memories of her and Tia laying on their beds talking and gossiping about which colts they thought were cute, and other things that fillies talk about. She could remember them reminiscing about having a little brother. They knew several others in their class who had little brothers and sisters, and all they ever talked about was how annoying they were, but they could not imagine how those cute little foals could be annoying. The sisters wanted to hold a little foal in their hooves, feel him grab them and hold onto them with his little fetlocks. They imagined playing with him and teaching him how to do fun stuff, feeding him and taking care of him. Mother and Father always smiled at them and told them two sisters were enough for them whenever they asked their parents if they could have a little brother. She understood now as an adult why they had. She smiled, relishing the image of her parents faces, clear as crystal in her memory.

She found herself in the very center of the labyrinth, it was empty except for a small stone bench sitting next to a small fountain with statues of her and Celestia, water sprinkling out of their horns into the small basin below. The trickling sound of the water soothed her somewhat, took her mind off the horrible happenings of the recent past and it allowed her to focus on the blissful memories of the sisters' childhood. She laid down gently on the grass, ignoring the bench. The grass bowed under her flank, soft as silk as her wings sprawled out under her body. The grass itched the flesh under her feathers and she waved them absentmindedly. It calmed her tired body to lay under the sun and just close her eyes. She felt as if she could stay there like that forever, napping gently, away from raising the moon, away from Aeroga, away from everything. She sighed deeply, the sun shining through her eyelids. She could tell why everypony loved Tia so much, the sun felt amazing to spend time in.

She lost herself to thoughts of random things, brushing away thoughts of Aeroga and the march, untill she could hear Tia calling for her. She was loathe to forsake her nap but rose to her hooves all the same. Responsibility and duty called and that was a call she could not ignore. She stretched her wings before flying out of the labyrinth to the entrance where her sister stood, waiting for her. Luna could still see the bruises on Tia's face, even though her sister had tried to cover it up with some makeup, the cut however was black from the clotted blood and her eye was puffed out just the slightest bit. Luna landed in front of her and folded her wings to her side. Nodding to Celestia's face she apologized for the black eye. "Don't worry about it sister. I have had much worse in my lifetime. But now is not the time for that, the army awaits you, they are ready to march at your command." Luna nodded and followed Celestia to the top of the gatehouse. As she stepped onto the stone walkway between the two guard towers, she could hear the masons working on the hole in the wall and see the army shifting into formation before the gates. The columns and rows of fifteen thousand soldiers were impressive to behold as they formed together into rectangles, resembling a brick wall. Celestia raised her hoof for silence, and the shouting officers ceased barking orders and the soldiers stopped in position. Casting a quick spell, Celestia amplified her voice, it the only sound other than the sounds of the construction crews. "Today we march south, for the cities outside the realm of Equestria. The attack they have made against Canterlot is a clear message, a message of war.

This declaration, will not be ignored. You are the army of Equestria, and as such we will show that we have ot forgotten how to win a war. Victory is our goal, to show those not of this land that we are not foals to be preyed on in the night. I give you Luna, supreme commander of the army, and my representative on this march." The masses stood and watched silently as Luna performed the voice amplification spell and stepped forward to address the ponies she would be leading to war. "We march south along the railroad that goes through Ponyville to Dodge City. From Dodge we will march through the badlands to Dragonheim. As far as we know, this attack was based from the city of Dragonheim and we will retaliate against the city unless that information changes. We will make camp at sundown and we will be ready to march by the time the sun breaks over the horizon. Fifteen thousand of you make this army whole. Fifteen thousand of you compose the greatest army Equestria has ever raised and our victory is assured. But remember this, our victory is not assured by our strength in numbers, but by our strength of will. Courage will decide the fate of this army, fight not only for Equestria, fight not only for Princess Celestia and myself, but fight for your wives, your children. Those are the ponies that you fight for, those are the ponies that the cities against us seek to harm. If you throw down your arms, your families will suffer under the armies of those against us. With that in mind, fight for glory, honor, and most of all for love!" The army roared and the soldiers stomped their hooves yelling a great war cry. "Forward March!" She called. The units shifted into marching formation, filing out under the portcullis onto the road.

Luna ended the amplification spell and turned to Celestia, a dry smile on her face. "An excellent speech. See? You will do fine my sister, you were always the more war-like one of us." Luna nodded and hugged her sister hard, "I love you sissy, I will miss you being there for me whenever I need help. But I promise I won't fail you. We will win this war." Tia smiled and kissed her on her forehead, "Go then Luna, make Mother and Father proud." Luna nodded eagerly and leaped from the battlements to the officers column, landing gracefully on her wings and falling into step with the many ponies that made up her retinue.

Banners bearing her and Celestia holding their heads high over a half-moon, half-sun orb flapped in the wind all around her as the long column marched through the city. A bright yellow unicorn wheedled his way through the marching soldiers and walked at her side, “Princess Luna, I am Bright Star your main battle adviser. It is my job to give you council on unit formations and functions during a battle. battle is like a game of chess, each unit has specific purposes and uses in battle to assure our victory. The correctly placed unit can spell victory or defeat on the field, so it is of vital importance that you make the right dec-” Luna cut him off sharply, “Bright Star I am well over two thousand years old and I have commanded armies before. I am well aware of the importance of the right decisions in warfare, I am not a new-born foal to be spoon-fed information as you see fit. I wish to know all happenings on the field and in the war as they occur, I will not have you sugar coat information because it may make me angry or less than happy. I will listen to your council, but do not coddle me. Do I make myself clear?” “Yes your Majesty, I understand.” “Luna nodded, “Good, now go prepare a table for us to discuss strategy so we may attain a better feel for each others reactions to certain stimuli and get to know each others methods better.” “Yes my Lady,” he said, trotting off to get her table from the wagon.

Luna felt powerful again, having these ponies obey her every command felt strangely alluring and addictive, but she knew better than to get caught up in her power over them, especially since she was representing Tia. SHe hadn’t really commanded anypony since she sent Praetorian to oversee the defense of the walls. With a sudden epiphany, she realized she had not seen hide nor hair of Praetorian since the battle. Asking for him, she was presented with a bright pink stallion with a blood-red mane close cropped over his head introducing himself as Rose Crimson. “Praetorian was killed by a rogue ballista bolt when the walls fell in the battle at the palace. I am your new captain of the guard my Lady.” Luna could hardly believe her ears, Praetorian had served under her for more than a decade before being promoted to captain about three years ago. The silent yet extremely intelligent pegasus had stood at her side for a very long time and losing him made the world seem backwards and upside-down all at once.

When asked about his name, Rose Crimson answered proudly, holding his head high, “I was named for my very rare coat my Lady, the gene I have is even more rare than the albino gene, especially when combined with the color of my mane, considering my mother was black as coal and my father a shade grayer than white.” Luna sent him away when Bright Star came back with her table levitating before him and delved into strategy with him over maps, graphs, and charts of various battlefields.

The war adviser disagreed with her at almost every turn, and it was apparent that war truly was merely a game of chess rather than the command of the actual lives of the ponies in the army. He did not shirk nor felt any remorse at wasting a peasant or levy unit on a much stronger unit to reduce casualty rates in their juggernauts. After objecting to his proposal to throw an archer unit into the melee before the knights, he attempted to lecture Luna on battle yet again, “Princess, they are peasants and commonponies. It is their function in battle to die so that our knights survive. The peasants are easily replaced and therefore are expendable. Our knights however, are fewer and more expensive, so it is more important to preserve their lives instead of useless peasants. If-” Luna interrupted again and lit into him, She would not have this silly elitist bias throw lives away for personal entertainment. “They are ponies just as well as the knights, and I will not waste their lives where another unit would do much better in the task. I will hear no more of knights and pawns to be thrown away in battle. Am I clear?” He mumbled a yes ma’am and they resumed their discussion, Bright Star speaking up less and less until Luna tired of his sulking and sent him away with the table. He shuffled away, practically dragging the table behind him.

It was late afternoon and the sun was just beginning to kiss the horizon, throwing strikes of gold and orange across the armour of the ponies in the army, creating a line of marching column across the grass like a river of molten magma. Luna told her officers to set up camp and led her entourage onto a grassy hillock that overlooked the valley below. Her servants milled about like frenzied ants setting up her pavilion and the officers camp as Luna walked to a small bluff next to it and watched the sunset.

As the shadows lengthened, She began the process of raising the moon, bringing forth the glorious resplendence that was her ward. The crickets began chirping their harmony as the wildlife below snuggled into nests and burrows under the ghostly shafts of her moonlight. She overlooked the world descending into restful bliss and looked on the forests and fields before her watchful gaze for a long while. She eventually yawned loudly and returned to camp finding the numerous pavilions and tents erected over the grass. She entered her tent to find a steaming bath in a massive brass tub awaiting her. Her servants helped her into the scalding water and she began to relax as they scrubbed her and cleaned her tired body. Her muscles relaxed and she felt at peace in the wonderful bath. She got out and the servants groomed her coat and mane as Rose announced the arrival of guests from outside and asked their admission from Luna. She allowed them in as the servants continued to brush her mane as almost twenty officers filed in and stood before her.

A dark red unicorn adorned in numerous medals all over his officers uniform stepped forward and introduced himself and his companions. “I am Daemon Duriean, your second in command.” Luna sat upright, her back rigid as a board. Duriean was Aeroslash’s last name as well. “Are you perhaps related to a pegasus by the name of Aeroslash? I recall his name was also Duriean.” Daemon’s expression darkened quickly and Luna could swear he was about to strike her. “He is an abomination to our family and my son. But no more does his name spurn and tarnish our great family. Forgive me Princess, but we will not speak of him or I shall leave this instant.” The other generals shuffled their hooves and fidgeted anxiously as Luna barely reeled in her horror. Aero had told her he had been disowned, but never had she truly believed him, but the general’s declaration forced her out of her denial. “Forgive me for bringing up the subject, but I do believe since you are his father, you have the right to know that he is dead.” His reaction made her want to vomit: he smiled cruelly and he thanked her graciously, “I can only hope his death was slow and painful, never again will his name mar our families honor. I can only hope that stray pigeon that was with him met the same fate?”

Luna could barely comprehend what he was asking, “Y-yes she was killed in the battle at the palace.” He looked astonished and asked her what she was doing at the palace. “At the time of the attack she had lived there for almost a year. Aeroslash served under me as a bodyguard and I gave he and Flare a room in the palace. He died in my service, drowned in the ocean during a mission for me.” The smile slowly dried from his face as he took in her words. “So, the cur sought to redeem his honor. It matters not. He is dead, a blessing unrivaled by anything else in my lifetime.” “Why do you hate him so General?” The unicorn turned deadly serious obviously not pleased with Luna for carrying on the concept of Aeroslash. “That is of no consequence. Let us resume the reason for our coming, to introduce ourselves. We are the generals and captains under your command, appointed to assist you in the leading of your army. You already know Bright Star...” He introduced the numerous officers to her, naming more positions than she though possible in the command of the army, infantry, archery, cavalry she knew, but he introduced a violet camp officer, a pale green siege master, and several other offices that didn’t even make sense to have in an army. In her day, the battlefield was where wars were fought, but warfare had evolved significantly since her banishment, wars centering more on cities than standing armies.

After what seemed a very long time, the officers excused themselves from her presence to their own tents. She laid down heavily on her bed, her tired body sinking into the sheets, sighing softly. Her mind was bogged down with everything that had gone on through the day, and it felt slow like honey. She pitied Aero then, knowing full well what he had gone through with his father. She couldn’t believe any father would do that to his own flesh and blood, nor could she fathom the reason for his malice. Aeroslash had never spoken on it and Daemon had outright refused her request to tell her what had happened. She pondered it until she drifted into vicious dreams of war and bloodshed, the face of both Aeroslash and Aeroga haunted the visions of her subconscious, they fought each other endlessly, wingblade clashing against scaled claw and talon, quick wings dodging blasts of fire. She could only know that there was some significance in their endless fight, even as they endured injury after injury from each other, but she couldn’t for the life of her figure out what it was.

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On the third day of the march, the scouts came to Luna to report that Ponyville was a short march ahead of the army. Luna dismissed them and they rushed off into the trees as she continued the boring march with a new spring in her step. She hadn’t seen any of twilights friends for a long time and she was anxious to spend time with them. She developed a few ideas to include each of them in the army as they would make excellent additions. She was unsure of Rarity and Fluttershy and what they could do, but Rainbow Dash and Twilight sparkle, she had high hopes for. Twilight would make a great addition to the small unit of mages they had, only about twelve of them. And Rainbow Dash, she could use in her bodyguard, she was fast and strong, excellent traits for a fight.

Pinkie Pie she had plans more developed on a hope or feeling. If she could convince Pinkie to teach the siege master how her “Party Cannon” worked, they could perhaps put something a bit more dangerous in the strange object, the way it fired party favors was intriguing and it made her hopeful that it could be used for other purposes besides parties. Luna remained hopeful for the six friends as Ponyville appeared down the road through the trees. She led her unit to the head of the marching column and gave the command to set up camp as they arrived at the small town. She brought along Rose and Daemon and set out into Ponyville towards the town hall, leaving the rest of her entourage to set up camp. Mayor Mare ran out of the doors, running into Luna as she walked up the steps to the door. The mayor looked like she would have a heart attack when she saw Luna and bowed before her blabbering out gibberish about respects and honors until Luna silenced her, raising a hoof. “Madame Mayor, I ask permission for the army to make camp outside the boundaries of Ponyville. I assure you they will not disturb the town overly much and will find their own food.” The mayor spluttered her acceptance, still bowing before Luna as she left the town hall and headed for the library where her sister’s student resided.

She asked Rose and Daemon to wait outside and entered the rather large tree. All around her on shelves carved into the tree itself books sat in rows and columns much like the army that she commanded. The leather-bound spines stood boasting their titles in gold and silver lettering, thousands of pages surrounded her and reminded her a little of the royal library which dwarfed this one by far, but still held the same air of untold knowledge bound onto parchment. A voice came from a set of stairs on the far side of the room informing the unknown visitor that she would be down in a few seconds. Luna stood patiently as a light violet mare with a darker mane with a streak of pink descended the steps and upon sighting Luna, rushed forward to greet her. “Princess Luna! Welcome to the library, and to what do I owe the pleasure?” She asked offering Luna a chair, “The army is passing through Ponyville and since I have a request for you and your friends I had the army make camp outside the town.” Twilight blinked as she registered Luna’s words, “The army? What army? Princess Celestia didn’t tell me anything about the army being on the march. Who are we at war with?” Lua answered hesitantly, not sure if Tia had withheld the information for a purpose or had just never thought to mention it.

“We are not quite sure, we do know the army that attacked the palace was based out of the city of Dragonheim, but-” “WHAT?! The palace was attacked?! Oh no, was-was Shining hurt? What happened? What-” Luna put a hoof over her mouth, silencing her. “Calm yourself Twilight Sparkle, Shining was not hurt he, fought valiantly during the battle. We are marching on Dragonheim to attack if the city is the one who sent the army that attacked us, or somepony else. I also have a request for you if you do not mind.” Twilight nodded hastily. “I would like you to march with us and function with our small unit of mages. We only have a few and I do believe that your magical prowess would be very useful to the army.” Twilight thought for a moment before answering, “What about Spike? Can he come as well?” Luna had an idea, Spike could be a valuable source of knowledge on dragons, so that she might better understand Aeroga. It would be an excellent idea to have him along. “Of course Twilight. He could even stay with me if he wished, I have no short supply of gems he may find tantalizing.” Twilight turned and trotted back up the stairs, “Very well. Let me make preparations and tell Spike. I will meet you at your pavilion when I am ready.” Luna gave her consent and exited the library, sending Rose and Daemon back to camp and heading for the sweet shop that was where Pinkie Pie worked and resided.

Sugarcube Corner quite literally looked edible and made Luna’s stomach growl hungrily as she looked on the gingerbread house appearance with a cupcake standing as a kind of tower on top of the building. She walked into the busy shop with a long line of ponies waiting at the counter as a bright pink earth pony with a puffy mane zipped around the kitchen faster than ponily possible, both taking and filling several orders at an impossible rate. Luna stood at the back of the line, unnoticed by anypony as she looked about the bakery at the dozens of pastries, cakes, and all other sorts of baked goods. Suddenly Pinkie burst into view, little party streamers flying out of nowhere, “”Hiya Princess!” Luna stumbled back in surprise and looked at the counter where she had seen Pinkie whizzing about, and indeed, the pink pony had left her position in the kitchen, leaving only bowing ponies before her. Pinkie pulled an off-white cannon with her cutie mark painted on its side seemingly out of thin air and it fired on its own, showering a nearby table in perfectly set party decorations. “And now we are going to have a BIG party for Luna!” She yelled excitedly. Luna stopped her and asked if they could speak in private. Pinkie nodded excitedly and Luna could swear she would be crushed as she picked up the cannon effortlessly over her head and carried it with them into a side room off the bakery.

“Ok, a private party. We can do that, but without anypony here besides you and me it will get kinda boring, but that’s what I am here for...” Pinkie was talking faster than a chattering squirrel barely giving Luna time to understand what she was saying before Luna interrupted her, “Pinkie I am not here for a party, merely a request. The army has made camp outside of Ponyville and I am curious about your party cannon. I-” Pinkie blurted into Luna’s speech, dropping her facade of giddy joy, turning very serious. “Oh no you don’t. Twilight has asked me this before, no I will not turn it into a weapon. I made it to make ponies happy, not sad. This cannon is for parties not battles so I won’t teach your siege ponies how to make and operate one. Look at this,” She said pointing at the copy of her cutie mark on the side of the cannon. “Those are party balloons and happy ponies, not steel projectiles and dead ponies.”

Pinkie walked out of the private room without a word after that and Luna took that as a definite no without any chance at a compromise. She looked at the cannon and began inspecting it when Pinkie walked back in and wheeled the device out of the room without a word to Luna. She walked out glumly, those cannons had been a hope to reduce casualty rates at the walls and decrease the time it took to break the walls and ultimately, the war. She thought about bringing that point of view to Pinkie, but decided against it.

Applejack and Fluttershy had similar results, Applejack was in the middle of an apple harvest and Fluttershy didn’t even like the word “army”. Luna grew less and less optimistic as the rejections piled up and didn’t even bother the prissy unicorn Rarity. Luna took flight and headed for the last pony she had hope for, winging her way to the drifting mansion.

“YESS!!” Rainbow Dash bellowed, jumping up in the air and pumping a hoof in excitement. “Of course I will fight for you, I will be your best guard ever! I promise!” Luna smiled happily, and thanked her for cooperating and told her that Twilight was coming along as well. Rainbow Dash grinned, a mysterious twinkle in her eye, but said nothing to this, instead she asked, “Did that Aeroslash colt ever return? If he is with the army I would love to meet him finally. It has been like a year since I was at the palace and-” “I am afraid that Aeroslash died during that mission that he was gone for. He never returned.” Rainbow Dash looked down at her feet with an embarrassed apology for bringing it up. Luna accepted it and told her to report for duty in the morning. The cyan pegasus gave a sad, “Yes Princess” as Luna left her home in the clouds and flew for the encamped army.

Later that day Twilight arrived at Luna’s pavilion along with Rainbow Dash, interrupting her boring conversation with a siege engineer, to which she was grateful. “Where are the others Princess? Are they not coming?” Luna sighed and after dismissing the engineer, regaled her experiences with the remainder of Twilight’s friends. Twilight winced when Luna told her of Pinkie’s rude rebuff, but said nothing as Luna told her that she was not angry with the pink party pony. When she finished her tale, Rainbow Dash spoke up, “So do I stay with the army? Or do the guards stay in your camp?” Twilight turned to her in surprise, “You are fighting in Luna’s bodyguard?” “Indeed she is Twilight, I believe her speed and ferocity will be valuable should a fight go awry and draw near to me. I have wingblades and certain armours that she will wear in battle.” She said going to a chest by her bed and withdrawing from it a set of armour, with the sharp blades atop the small pile. Rainbow Dash took the pile and began trying them on as Twilight helped her adorn the new items.

Luna was pleased with Rainbows’ enthusiasm and continued her debriefing of the two. “You two will stay in my tent because I would love to have some actual friends around sometimes rather than all these stuffy soldiers. I get into more arguments than I do actual conversations and I could use some friendly talk for once. Being royal has its downsides that is assured.” Luna sighed involuntarily, revealing her carefully hid frustrations with the numerous aristocrats, to which Twilight remarked. “ You seem tired Luna. Are you not getting enough sleep?”

Luna chuckled despite herself and responded with reassurances and badly changed the subject, asking if Spike had come along with Twilight. Twilight nodded, “He is out and about helping Rarity gather some gems before he goes, but he accepted your bequest and offer of lodging with you. He seemed pretty happy with the gem part.” Luna asked when he would be along and Twilight just shrugged her shoulders. ”Rarity will sometimes be gone for an hour and sometimes be gone all day. There is no telling when he will be back.” “Very well. Twilight, do you know much about dragons?” She looked at Luna with a confused expression as Rainbow Dash began posing in front of a mirror, finally finished putting on the armour. “Not really. I don’t see many dragons besides Spike, and he is about as knowledgeable as I am. He does know some things though, several years ago he joined a dragon migration and learned a few things, but not much. Just that they were pretty mean and abused their considerable power often.”

Luna nodded and looked over at the pegasus now making faces under the light helm that adorned her crown. Rainbow Dash saw her watching her and spun around embarrassed. The three proceeded to pass away the hours until sunset, speaking of the happenings of the countryside. They hadn’t even heard of the attack on the palace and had no idea that an army had marched across the land. As Rainbow put it, “Thought she had seen smoke on the horizon.” only seemed to confirm Luna’s fears, the army had burned through the contryside and she could only pray to Mother and Father that she wouldn’t find the carnage that her imagination forced upon her.

She excused herself when the sunset began peeking through the entrance of her tent
and left her pavilion to raise the moon. As she walked from the tent, Spike walked up to her. “Sorry I was late. I was-” “Twilight already told me you were helping Rarity. But I would like you to take a walk with me.” “Uh, of course Princess.” He did walk with her silently as she found an ideal place and began the rising of the moon. Spike watched in awe as she raised the pearly orb from beneath the horizon and bestowed it into the sky. The creatures of the night erupted from the brush in a flurry of activity as those of the day settled in for the night. Luna stood watchful over the deepening darkness, lost to herself in memories of her early days as princess of the night, before Spike poked her on her leg with a finger. “Ummm Princess? I don’t mean to interrupt but-” “No need to apologize Spike. I just had a few memories well up. I did ask you here for a reason, now sit and we will talk about a few things.

The little dragon complied, plopping his purple rump firmly on the grass and started looking a the stars. “Twilight once showed me a star through her telescope, and it turns out the stars are suns for other planets. If we only see the stars at night, then do you raise them up along with the moon? But if you did that, then that would mean that you require much more power than Celestia does to raise one sun, while you raise many.” Luna chuckled, “No Spike. I only raise the moon. You cannot see the other suns during the day because our own is so bright because it is much closer. My moon is much less bright and so you can see the stars only at night. You will notice that when I raise a new moon, you can see more stars than when I raise a full one like this.” She indicated to the shining white orb hanging lazily in the night sky, indeed full. Spike remained thoughtful until Luna revealed why she had asked him to come. “How much do you know about dragons?”

Spike burst into thralls of laughter much to Luna’s confusion, she had no idea the question was a joke, nor did she get the hidden jest that was the cause of such fits of merriment. When she asked what was so funny, Spike could barely form words around his hysteria. “Y-y-you asked a d-dragon i-i-if he knew ab-b-bout dragons!” “I am merely curious about them. I did not ask if you knew they existed, but what it is like being one or what they are like. Twilight said you once went to a dragon migration.” Spike had settled some and wiped a tear from his eye before responding to her query. “Yeah, I did and it was not what I thought it would be.” “How do you mean?

“Well, I mostly hung out with the juvenile dragons, not really any of the adults so I don’t know about adults, but the ones I was around, let me tell you, they make Diamond Tiara look like Fluttershy. Pretty mean and they really abused their power, stealing eggs from phoenixes, and doing all kinds of cruel stuff.” “Did you ever see a dragon use magic?” “Not from the adolescents, but I saw one adult use magic of some kind. Moved a big boulder from a lava pool not quite big enough to sit in with the rock. But it wasn’t like Twi’s magic, more like he just willed it to move and it did. I do know one thing that I asked Zecora after a certain growth spurt I had with being greedy, different types of dragons have different skills. Some can breath fire better, while others have harder scales, some can use magic, others can’t. It’s like the three different types of ponies, unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies, but with a much wider range in number of specimens, and variation. For some reason, Zecora seems to know a lot about dragons, I never really thought about that before.” Luna considered speaking with Zecora about this, but decided against it over a wide yawn. The food train would be stocking the abundant apples from Sweet Apple Acres on the morrow, and she would have plenty of opportunities to go speak with her then.

Luna bid Spike to follow and the two returned to her pavilion. Rainbow Dash was snoring lightly on a pile of pillows on the ground, making Luna’s bed rather bare beside the dark sheets, and Twilight was not there at all. Luna snuck two pillows from Rainbow’s makeshift bed and gave one to Spike and kept the other for herself. She made a mental note to purchase two other beds for Twilight and Rainbow tomorrow before she went to visit Zecora in the morning. Spike was asleep almost instantly, but Luna struggled to persuade her body to sleep. She was still recovering from the repeating nightmares that had haunted her every night during the march, always Aeroslash and Aeroga battling to the death. The victor was always the same one. The green dragon had died once from his wounds after defeating his opponent, but mostly he barely did, his fine scales littered with wide cuts and his wings missing most of their feathers.

Luna lay for a long time until Twilight entered the tent carrying a basket full with a small mattress and a blanket, and a few books. She transplanted Spike into the basket, tucking him in like just like a mother would her foal, and lay upon Luna’s bed with a book in hoof. She gave one to Luna and settled into her own, focusing with a tunnel of thought that was near unbreakable. Luna looked her own book over, a shadowy black or dark gray leather-bound cover with intricate runes lining the spine in a deep red ink. The runes were a language Luna recognized, but the title was unknown to her, “Dragons Among Us”. She raised a suspicious eye to Twilight her remained enthralled in her book. “Um Twilight, how did you know I was curious about dragons?” The unicorn was unresponsive, remaining entirely focused in the book. Luna poked her with a hoof and she gave a half-minded “Hmm?” “How did you know I was interested in dragons?” “Oh I didn’t, I just thought that you might find it interesting. I don’t know the language so I don’t know what it is about or even what the title is. Why? Is it about dragons?”

Luna nodded and translated the title to her. Twilight just shrugged and returned to her book, quickly losing herself in the dry pages of the novel. Luna opened the old cover and the same runes from the spine were inscribed on the parchment inside. The language was a very old form of Equestrian, before the alicorns left Equestria. It was the standard back then, everypony spoke and wrote it, at least the alicorns did. The language was never translated for the unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies, but was simply dropped as the alicorns forsook what soon became Equestria. Luna read it easily, almost as easily as she did normal writing, but it had been a long time since she had even though of it, actual millennia. The first few pages were acknowledgements to several different dragons who assisted with the writing of the book. One particular name caught her eye, a word that meant something along the lines of Father or Patriarch. But it was one among several strange and different names.

The book turned into a study on the intricacies of dragons, their differences in their species and abilities, like what Spike had spoken about Zecora. The book made critical notice on the special type of magic dragons used, a literal substance called “Aura” or the living essence of all things. The ability was explained as both being magic and not magic at the same time, drawing in the strength of the things around a dragon and converting it into raw power on the basis of instinctual will. It explained that the power of the aura absorbed was increased exponentially when drawing on magical energies, i.e. When magic is being absorbed in the form of aura, the power converted is much more powerful than the base life energies of a creature. “That explains the way mine and Tia’s magic was beaten so easily and effortlessly.” “What Princess?” Luna explained about the power that had swatted Luna aside so easily in the gardens. Twilight was interested in the mention of Aeroga and commented on a green dragon she had seen flying overhead. “Where was he headed?” “South, I think. He was flying at an odd time of the year, long before the dragon migration so he wasn’t an early bird. He flew pretty fast, flashing across the sky like Rainbow Dash when she tries to beat her records.” Rainbow snorted at the mention of her name, but resumed her light snoring, being joined with a loud rumbling sound coming from the little purple dragon in his basket.

Luna delved into the book again wondering why he had flown south, perhaps to hunt down the Dark Lord? The book made several reference to different breeds and their capabilities with aura. Auxiliary horns act like unicorn horns, channeling the energies needed to harness aura, but were not necessary. A certain breed, the Draconian reminded Luna of Aeroga, the description almost an exact copy of the dragon-turned pony himself, two horns along the side of his snout, feathered wings, as well as a particularly strong capacity for the control of aura. The Draconian is much smaller at adulthood than almost any other breed, but is the the single strongest type at the control of aura with the exception of “The Patriarch” or Father Dragon. Studies showed that the Draconian was capable of enormous feats of strength and adaptability, one of only three species able to survive in any desired climate with little to no change in its habits, and was able to adapt in a situation with incredible speed and precision.

Luna looked for a passage on transformations into dragons, but only found a small script on a dragon that lived much as a changeling does, but without the hostility or malevolence. Luna paused in her reading to ask Twilight if Spike had ever had demonstrated an ability with aura, but upon seeing her nose pressed into the book before her with her eyes shut tight, put the two books away and drifted off to sleep, surrendering herself to the horrible dreams of Aeroslash and Aeroga in battle. But this time something was different, Aeroga lashed out every so often with a wave of magic, and he won the battle with far less grave injuries than before, defeating his opponent suffering only a rather nasty cut on his shoulder. Luna shuddered awake just before the dawn.