Luna finished lifting the moon as Star Strider kept watch. Despite their current situation, the cycle of Equestria needed to be maintained. It wasn’t her finest raising, but the moon was there, nonetheless. The two continued their trail in the direction Fluttershy had shown. They were silent the whole trip. Storm clouds formed overhead. This deep in the forest, the pegasi had no control over the weather. Small droplets of rain began splashing around them. She finally decided to speak up.

“I don’t know why it’s so obvious you have to sacrifice yourself for this.”

“Because it is my fault that Starswirl is suffering. That the stallion I killed will never see his family again. That those ponies who are enslaved may never have their magic back. I will do anything to reclaim their lives. Even at the cost of mine.”

“Sure, very noble. Especially the part where you abandon the ponies who love you.” She huffed her words out in anger without much thought. He stopped and turned to her; a brow raised.

“And who might that be? Starswirl exceeds my physical age, my friends have all passed, I too am meant to leave this world. Our feelings towards each other cannot trump the greater good Luna. You must know this as a ruler.”

She sighed in exasperation and finally came clean. “Yes, but you are the first pony to make me feel like I’m more than just a princess. I’m a pony. No one has done that. Not only that, but you’re the only stallion with a chance for immortality. I want to spend forever with you. I know we met only a few months ago, but I can’t imagine going back to a world without you in it.” Her voice broke as tears formed in her eyes. He watched silently. “Star Strider, I would give everything to be with you. I need you.” She trailed off and met his eyes with hope. “Do you need me?” For the first time ever, Luna saw Star Strider’s eyes become misty. He failed to hold her gaze and took a shaky breath.

“Luna, I am not saying I want to die. But this is not about what I want. Or even what you want, as much as I would do anything for you. I need to fix this. Please, understand.” Luna felt her heart break a little, but she pushed it aside as she moved closer to him. She raised his chin with a hoof and kissed him. They held it for a moment before he sank his cheek into her arm. “I would do anything to freeze this moment in time. Get rid of all the problems and just be with you.” They kissed again and embraced each other as Luna felt his body shudder, no doubt holding in the tears.

“I know. I’m sorry for saying that. I’ll do whatever I can to help. But just promise me that you’ll do everything you can to stay alive, okay?” She pulled him away and smiled at him. He gave a low chuckle and wiped his eyes.

“Deal, princess. I shall do everything I can to protect Equestria and not die.” She laughed back at him as she held his shoulder. They kissed one more time before getting up and continuing onward.

They soon heard a crash off to their right. Looking at each other with concern, they hesitantly made their way towards the sound. Peering through another set of bushed, they saw four unicorns with murky eyes cutting down the trees with their magic. Star Strider let out a small breath. “I never saw the thralls use magic before. I assumed it was stripped of them by the Lichen. It’s learning.” He whispered to her. As they tried figuring why these unicorns were cutting trees, they noticed a large, winged shadow emerging behind the four. “It must be him. Not a word, not a breath.” Luna nodded back as they watched. To their surprise and horror, it was not Cosmic Sunder, but a new alicorn with wicked features. Luna put it together quickly.

“Strider, that’s—” His hoof clamped over her mouth, and he nodded. He held his other hoof up to indicate silence. He slowly backed up and she followed. Their steps were painfully slow. She felt as though they were making no progress. When she looked back up to Star Strider he was raising one of his hooves. It was glowing with his magic as he slowly cast a bubble around them. Their sound became insulated as though they were under a glass dome. He sighed in relief.

“This should hide our forms and sound if we move slow enough. But this is a horrible development Luna. We may already be out of other options. If Twilight has fallen prey, the rest of the world is close. If it comes to it, we may need to kill whatever thralls protect the Lichen. Including her.”

“But again, not if we can help it. Twilight is a close friend and trusted ally. She must have been off her game to be caught by Cosmic Sunder. She is usually very analytical. The only thing that could have let her slip up would be something too complicated that she had to stop and think. Fluttershy did say Discord was last with her. I suspect he had a part in this.”

“The lord of chaos should not be afflicted by the Lichen. If it negates his spells, then he exists outside of its realm of control.”

“Discord is not always on the side of good. I would not be so sure of his intentions.”

“YES, he can be a conniving little wretch, can’t he?” Star Strider and Luna jumped back as he quickly cast a spell at the twisted figure of Twilight hovering over them. She warded it off and grinned with her sharp teeth on full display.

“Twilight! It’s us! Fight it off and come back!” Luna yelled as she raised her own ward. Twilight cackled as she swooped down in front of them, landing to display how much taller she had become. Rivaling Star Strider in height now, her vorpal mane twisted in the black night and rain above. Her eyes were visible now, clearly twisted by the Lichen.

“Twilight shall not be rejoining us for the evening. Dusk Bringer on the other hoof would more than love to make your acquaintance!” She shot at the two of them. Star Strider rolled out of the way and Luna held her ward. It shattered on impact, sending her flying into the dirt behind. The wind knocked out of her, and she gasped for air as two of the unicorn thralls peered over her, ready to bind her. She struggled to conjure a spell as they pinned her down. A bright bolt flashed above her as Star Strider threw spells at the unicorns holding her. One yelped as it burned his fur and flesh at the impact on his flank. The other uttered nothing as the bolt severed his throat. Luna rolled onto her feet as she regained a little breath, only to be slammed into by Star Strider. They tumbled over one another as a beam of purple-black energy evaporated the spot she had just been and the body of the unicorn.

“RUN!” Star Strider shoved her towards the path to Zecora’s. She took off, glancing back to make sure he was following. She grinded to a halt as she saw him turn his back to her and cast another spell at Dusk Bringer. The alicorn flew under it and zoomed at him. Luna cast her own spell, directly impacting her wing. She screeched as she spun into a tree, narrowly missing Star Strider.

“Let’s Go! Come on we need to get back!”
“I’ll hold her! Get the troops back here as soon as you can!”

“No! I’m not leaving you!”

“GO!” He raised his hoof at her and blasted her back with a concussive spell. She flew a few yards, catching herself with her wings in the air. She spun back to see Star Strider teleport on top of a tree, shooting another concussion down on top of Dusk Bringer. She cratered the earth she impacted and seemed to stay down. Only for a moment. She spun as the tips of her wings glowed and extended, cutting the trees and grass around her cleanly. Star Strider began toppling over but teleported onto the forest floor below Luna. “LUNA! Double-time back to Ponyville! No time to argue! I’ll follow when I can!” Luna frowned and swooped down to pick him up. Without hesitation, he began blasting runes back down where Dusk Bringer stood. The runes formed into a large hex wall, trapping her. “That will hold her for a few moments! If you want to teleport without trace, Now would be the time!” Luna conjured a powerful teleportation spell and cast it with a shout.

They re-appeared in the middle of Ponyville, still flying at insane speeds. Luna brought Star Strider up into her wraps as she closed her wings around him. They slammed into the town hall’s wall with an entire division of night-guard unicorns wincing at their crash. They fell to the ground gasping for air. Luna felt her right wing broken in a few key places close to the spine. She unfolded it and winced, crying out in pain as Star Strider tumbled off of her. She shakily rose to her feet, her wing dangling life a broken costume. Star Strider’s nose was bleeding profusely as he steadied himself. He coughed up a spat of blood and clutched his ribs. “Excellent *Gasp* escape, princess.” He wheezed out a few words as he sank back to his knees.

“Star Strider! You! Get a medical team here now!” She pointed at a pair of night guards who saluted and galloped away. She rushed over to Star Strider’s collapsed body and started rubbing his back. “You may have a punctured lung. I’ll do what I can just hold on.” She closed her eyes and lowered her horn onto his chest. He gasped and coughed another, larger clump of blood onto the dirt. He grimaced and wiped away the blood on his lips.

“That… seems… to have at least… steadied it a little.” He rasped out and laughed a very airy laugh, indicative of his painful status. Four unicorns rushed back with an earth pony and another unicorn dressed in white smocks carrying a large rucksack. The earth pony unfolded it as the unicorn shifted her weight under Star Strider, raising him onto a gurney with magic. She took two blue stones from the earth pony and set them on Star Strider’s chest. They began glowing vividly as he gasped in a normal breath. A protrusion that Luna just now noticed sank back under his skin. No doubt the broken rib that fractured and punctured his lung. They began pushing him towards the hall’s entrance as Luna followed. She was halted by another pair of medics.

“Princess, you equally need attention. That wing is bent in the wrong direction. If you so much as drag it against the floor the wrong way, it may snap off. Onto the gurney.” The small lime-colored pegasi indicated another gurney standing beside Luna. She had forgotten about her wing in her concern for Star Strider. She looked one last time at him as he rolled into the foyer. His eyes were closed, no doubt passed out due to the pain relief. She sighed and lowered herself onto the bench. The pegasi flew above her, elevating her wing in a particularly painful angle.

“Fuckkkk” She muttered under her breath as she grit her teeth. They began rolling her in a different direction than the hall. She wanted to protest but felt like the next word out of her mouth would ruin the royal image forever. They rolled into a makeshift tent and closed the flap behind them.

“This tent is sound proofed by the unicorn’s ma’am. We need to set your wing back in place, so it’s going to be extremely painful. Say what you need but try not to squirm too much.” Luna was grateful that her staff were so privy to her concerns. The pegasi holding her wing began pulling on it as two earth ponies set similar stones to Star Strider’s on her breast. Her wing contorted around and curled into her as she grimaced. She closed her eyes as a tear rolled out and she clutched the side of the gurney. With a loud SNAP her wing set itself in place and shifted itself back from its broken state. Luna bit her tongue as she felt the entire healing process that would normally take months condense itself into a few seconds. All the pain that would be spread over time converged into three seconds of hell.

“FUCK!” She couldn’t help it.

The staff seemed to pay no attention to it, but she knew they were silently shocked at her foul mouth. What? I don’t get to feel pain either? She rolled her shoulder and wing, testing to make sure it felt proper.

Luna peeled the flap back from the tent and stepped out into the night. She was finally able to take in the scale of what she was looking at. Hundreds of tents lined the streets of ponyville, extending far past the village limits. None of them went towards the Everfree forest. Thousands of troops must be here. She walked toward the town hall and saw Mayor Mare with the others of Twilight’s friends and General Magnus. He noticed her approaching and saluted.

“Ma’am, we’ve successfully set up camp and have the mayor’s permission to use town hall as a staging post. I’ve moved the first and third legions of the night guard on perimeter security. Nothing is entering or exiting that forest without a fight. Unfortunately, I had already sent in a company to retrieve you two before Rainbow Dash informed us of your plan. I sent a messenger squad to retrieve them. The royal divisions await your orders princess.”

Luna’s eyes widened in fear.

“They need to come back immediately! It’s worse than we thought. If we lose some of the guard to the monster, it will only make this all the more difficult. It’s enslaving them for its own uses. We don’t know what, but Cosmic Sunder is planning something.”

“Cosmic Sunder? What kind of lame name is that?” Rainbow Dash sneered at her own comment. Applejack shoved her to be quiet.

“What’s worse… I’m so sorry girls, but Princess Twilight has been corrupted. Dusk Bringer has overtaken her form and serves the Lichen now. She is a terrible and formidable threat.” The whole group stood in silence, no witty remarks to be made.

“Ma’am, should we consider her an HPT? Is there a chance of retrieval?” Magnus broke the silence.

HPT was the standard abbreviation used by the special operatives in the Canterlot intelligence team for a high-priority target. It could either be signed as a retrieval operation, or a death sentence.

Luna shivered.

“Maybe. We need to hear from Star Strider. He has a few ideas. We are not to kill Dusk Bringer should we avoid it. Twilight is still in there and if I can overcome Nightmare Moon, she can beat her demon as well. But consider her extremely dangerous and order the troops to break contact should they see her. She is not their princess right now.”

“We can help! Maybe the castle will have some answers for us to use. I know the elements are gone and all, but there’s gotta be something we can do!” Applejack was the one to chime in this time.

“Indeed. When it is our friends in question, we will never back down from a fight! Tell us how we can help the army and you to get our Twilight back!” Rarity encored the sentiment. The other girls agreed and looked to Luna.

“Well… The citizens of this town, I assume evacuated?” Flash Magnus nodded.

“First thing we did was pack them enough food for a month and send them towards Canterlot. I have the sixth through tenth day-legions escorting them to the castle walls.”

“Good. But without a local populace to house the troops, they won’t be able to make enough food between rotations. Would you girls attend each main campsite and see what they need? I will call for you should we need anything else.”

“Yes ma’am! I reckon we can feed these colts all before sunrise with enough time to buck a whole field of trees! C’mon y’all! My farm has a lot of preservatives we can pass out!” Applejack led the group away towards sweet apple acres.

“General, please make sure they stay preoccupied. We can’t risk the other elements becoming corrupted. Make sure that nopony enters the forest. Adding to the Lichen’s numbers will result in bloodshed. I do not want to kill our own troops.”

“Affirmative ma’am. I’ll see to perimeter security myself. We’ll await your further orders from commander Strider once you’ve spoken with him.” He saluted and started off towards the group of unicorns waiting his lead.

Luna frowned and started inside the town hall. I can’t lose them; I can’t lose Star Strider either. Please have something. She made her way towards the back, passing Zecora on a stretcher. She was asleep but moaning softly in pain. Hang in there strong one, we will save you soon enough. She passed a partition and found a unicorn holding her horn to Star Strider’s chest. He was fast asleep on his makeshift bed. The unicorn nurse rested a moment and smiled at the princess.

“Princess, he’s doing okay. He’ll be up in a few hours after sleeping off the magic. Your quick fix actually helped a lot, thank you for that! Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“No, I just wish to stay by him until he wakes.” She rested a hoof on his sleeping arm. The nurse glanced between the two, clearly confused. From an average pony’s perspective, the royalty hardly ever had love interests. Cadence was the only princess to marry, and her relationship suffered from the prying eyes of the public. The sisters had been around so long that everypony assumed they were staying single. The nurse saw Luna’s enamored face as she looked at the sleeping stallion. The nurse bowed and quickly ducked out of the room as Luna pulled up a chair to watch over Star Strider until he awoke. In this moment, Luna felt calm. Despite their dire situation, watching her special somepony rest peacefully instilled her own sense of inner peace. She breathed deeply as she rested her head on his hoof, dreading the time they would have to return to the real world.

Author's Note

Fair warning to all: it gets more gory/explicit from here on out. Not wildly gross, but enough. Hope you all are enjoying!