Author's Note

Hey everyone; sorry this has taken forever to get out. Life has been kicking me. Hopefully I'll be getting on a more consistent schedule once the holidays hit! Thank you for your patience!

Chapter 31

Luna and Star Strider returned to the forest. Night had fallen around them as Luna positioned the moon in the sky. Just as she was finishing the raising, torchlight flickered in the periphery of their vision. She turned to see six night guards all holding torches and lances. They were calling out for her and Star Strider.

“Princess! Thank the moon we found you. Are you alright? You two were gone well past the fifteen-minute mark you gave the watch.” The lead pony spoke frantically.

“Yes, we’re fine. I just wanted a quiet place to raise the moon and practice with Commander Strider.” Luna sighed out in response, annoyed at the disturbance of her peace with Star Strider. Before Luna could say anything she regretted, he broke in.

“Thank you for searching us out. Had we gone missing, everything would be in jeopardy.” He glanced at Luna with a look that told her to be grateful that they cared. “We shall be returning to the camp soon enough. You are more than welcome to stay as princess Luna begins visiting the dream realm.” Luna’s eyes went wide. I had almost forgotten about that part. In the stressful weeks of the preparation, Luna was lucky if she was in the dream realm. She tried as best she could to answer calls to nightmares but leading the campaign had taken much of her attention from her royal duties.

“Of course. We would be honored to stand watch.” The lead guard spoke again. Luna looked at the row of guardsmen and noticed one of them staring at her. Curse this debilitating foal. Luna grimaced as she made eye contact with Streak Lighter, the guard from all those months ago. She shifted to be closer to Star Strider, almost brushing up to his side, so that Streak Lighter could see plain and clearly what was going on. He seemed to pick something up as his eyes wandered away from the pair. Luna sighed in relief and walked toward the riverbank just out of earshot of Star Strider and the guards. They began mumbling to each other as Luna began concentrating. She drew back the inky curtain and launched herself into the dream realm.

Star Strider approached the group of guards and sat down. He conjured up a small campfire between them and gestured to the ponies to take their own seats. The lead pony whispered something to one of the other ponies as they walked off to stand watch. The guards all sat with Star Strider, but they were all on full alert. Star Strider leaned back on his haunches. “Please, remove your helmets and relax for a moment. We are quite safe in this part of the forest since the burning of the first elder tree.” The guards all looked to their leader who nodded and removed his own helmet. Grateful for the respite, some of the ponies drew out snacks or notepads to occupy their time. Clearly free time was a rare commodity to these poor troops. Only the commander and one of the newer guards, a private by his markings, remained to entertain Star Strider. “Tell me your names.” Star Strider asked as he prodded the fire with a branch.

“I’m Lamp Light, Master Sergeant. This here is Streak Lighter. He’s a bit of a nooby in the ranks, but he’s doing alright.” Lamp said as he ran a hoof through his sweat-soaked mane. Star Strider smiled kindly at the two of them as the young Streak Lighter had yet to remove his helmet or relax.

“Streak Lighter… I believe we met before, yes? The halls of Canterlot, should I remember right. I see you finally got out to the action then?” Streak Lighter sat unmoving; his gaze fixated beyond the large gray stallion before him.

“Yes.” He answered shortly. Lamp Light clapped his hooves to try and get his soldier’s attention.

“Hey, anything else to add? He’s trying to make conversation with us you know.” The sergeant said.

“Sorry sirs, just thinking.” It seemed like Star Strider would not be getting any more out of the young soldier. He turned his attention to Lamp.

“So, your division, did you train with me back in Canterlot?” His voice carried over the crackling fire.

“Yes sir, we were in the last group you demoed before you shipped out to Ponyville. Well, some of us were anyway. A couple of these guys were slacking off or had yet to transfer in. But I have to say, it’s amazing what kind of battle prowess you got. For a farmer, you make us all look like sheep.” He laughed and took a swig from a canteen he pulled out. He extended his hoof to Star Strider who accepted the canteen. The large pony took a sip from it and pursed his lips.

“Hard cider? I hope you do not usually indulge in such on active duty.”

“No sir, only when we’ve got a spare moment. Never strong enough to mess my head. I just love the taste. Those Apples sure know how to make cider.” Lamp said wistfully as though he was reminiscing on something more than the drink. Star Strider passed back the canteen and looked around. He saw Luna off in the distance with her eyes glowing white and her frame sat back. “You and the princess, huh?” Lamp’s question caught Star Strider off guard.

“Yes... yes indeed. She and I have found kinship since my arrival. I try not to let it affect how I am to act for the coming storm, but she has rooted herself in my heart and mind.” His response triggered something in the young pony who had been staring in Luna’s direction. Streak Lighter shook his shoulders and sneered at the older pony.

“You oughta know that she isn’t one for sustained relationships. Good luck with that.” His rude comment earned him a rap from his sergeant on his helmet.

“Streak Lighter, unacceptable. You are not to talk of your princess that way or so rudely to commander of this op!”

“It is quite alright sergeant. Please, Streak Lighter, what have you to say?” Star Strider folded his hooves over with an indignant smile on his face.

“All I’m saying is the princess is a real ‘one and done’ type pony. If you think you’ve got something, I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“Hm. Perhaps you are correct, my young stallion, but that business is of none of your interest nor concern.” Star Strider stood up and walked over to Streak Lighter, towering over the young pony. The smile had vanished from Star Strider’s face and his eyes now filled with a fire that Streak thought would ignite him and set the forest ablaze. He gulped and turned away from the intimidating figure.

“No sir, I guess not.”

“You may have experienced Princess Luna in a different time of her life, but I can assure you that she has yearned for something real for centuries. It is hardly your place to question it.” Lamp sat watching the two, nervous for what could happen. Streak felt a hot sting of anger and jealousy flare in his heart. He mustered the courage to turn back defiantly to Star Strider.

“If she wanted one so bad, why’d she send me or any other guard away after we fucked her!” He yelled at Star Strider. The other guards all stopped their activities as the sergeant stood and tried to get between the two of them. He was nothing in the face of the giant wall of muscle and fur that hung over his private.

“Choose your next words carefully, young one. This campaign has claimed too many lives of those who had no ability to think clearly. I would hate for you to join them.” Star Strider threatened him. His words sent shivers down Lamp’s back. He didn’t know if Star Strider would actually kill Streak, but he didn’t want to find out.

“Enough! You two please just back off. Streak Lighter, back to camp immediately. You’ll be lucky not to be thrown out of the night guard for your slander of the princess.” He hashed the younger pony as he started up. “You, Daisy Plain, take him back. Make sure he reports directly to the command tent and tells General Magnus everything he said.” The pink mare saluted and found her helmet. She escorted Streak away as the sergeant turned to Star Strider. “Listen, commander, I’m sorry for him. His outburst. It won’t happen again.”

“Tell me sergeant, how many of you laid with the princess?” Star Strider continued to look off above the smaller pony.

“Excuse me sir?”

“How many of you entered her chambers. It is a simple request really. Just answer.”

“I don’t— I’m not sure. I know I wasn’t. It used to be a rare thing until the last few years.”

“If you had to guess.”

Lamp sighed and scratched his head. “Based on how many of them won’t shut the hell up about it, I would put a recruit every other week for the last year or so. Probably forty or more by my guess. That’s just in the time I’ve been alive.” He winced as he finished, expecting some sort of blow to come from Star Strider. He finally opened his eyes to see his commander with tears coming from his eyes.

“Thank you sergeant. You and your patrol can return to the camp. Luna and I shall return soon.” His words were empty. Lamp nodded and silently got his men together to return. He turned back to look at Star Strider sitting alone by the fire. He felt sorry for the old pony. Shaking his head, he turned back to the forest and raised his torch to light the way.

Luna rubbed her eyes a few times to clear the spots from the dream realm. She stretched her wings and back and made her way over to a small campfire. Star Strider sat with his back to her, alone. “Where have the guards gone?” She sat next to him and snuggled up. He didn’t wrap an arm around her, but he didn’t push her away. Without looking at her, he stoked the fire again and spoke softly.

“I sent them back.” An ember flicked up and landed at his hoof. He stomped it softly. Luna nudged him.

“Hey, what’s wrong now? I know I was gone for a little but I’m back now.” She playfully brushed him with a wing.

"One of the guards spoke crudely of your past life. It hurt me.”

Streak Lighter. I’ll have his head. Luna frowned as she understood what he meant. “My love… I know how hard it must be to hear that, but I’m not that pony.”

“I know, but it is still painful to think about. It feels as though our first time together was not as meaningful.” Luna hugged up against him and pressed her head into his chest.

“But it was. It was the only meaningful time I’ve had that. I love you Star Strider. I never loved anypony else.” She looked up at him. “I promise you, if I would have known I would meet a stallion thousands of years older than me after we resummoned him from a spatial rend, I would have waited for you.” She smiled and tapped his nose. He smiled back to her.

“When you put it that way, it is more difficult to oppose you.” He let his face go serious again. “But Luna, there will always be a part of me that feels like I do not measure up. I am sorry.”

“Star Strider, It’s I who’s sorry. I never wanted to make you feel like this. It’s not fair. I’m the one who doesn’t measure up to you. If anyone is unworthy of the other it is me of you.” She kissed him gently. “I just hope you’ll forgive me for being so foolish.” Now his hooves finally wrapped around her in a hug.

“I already have, my love.” He looked into her eyes. But I hope you can forgive me.

They made their way back to camp in the dark, enjoying the sounds of the nocturnal critters. Luna was able to identify them all from their calls. She had grown especially familiar with them as sometimes they were the only living things awake during her reign across all of Equestria. Luna was surprised by how warm the air was. While the campaign of the forest had started in a warmer season, the night air was usually cold and dry. Tonight, it seemed to welcome the happy couple as they sauntered through the branches and bushes. They walked the last few hundred meters back in silence just enjoying each other’s company. Luna began to notice that she was sweating from the heat. It never gets this hot, even on the hottest summer days. Star Strider noticed it too. They shared a look of concern as they increased their pace. As they drew closer to camp, the heat was incredible and the light from the torches were brighter than Luna remembered. That’s not torchlight. They ran through the tree line to find an enormous fire erupting around the campsite. The guards were scurrying around with buckets and water spells while more of them moved to the far side of their encampment. Luna and Star Strider ran into the chaos and shoved their way past ponies who ran around them. They came to the command lodge that still held its place and ducked inside. Flash Magnus was ordering three ponies as they entered.

“Get those flames under control! Set the trench and backfire as soon as you can. The rest of you make way for the western edge; those ponies are on a death march.” The ponies saluted and turned to rush out the door. Flash’s eyes sparked in relief as he saw the pair before him.

“General, what’s going on?” Luna questioned.

“It’s Dusk Bringer. She’s here with a force of night guard that were corrupted. They opened with a volley of incendiary spells. I lost four to the initial flame and many more have been injured. We’re fighting for our lives but could use some heavy cavalry.” He nodded to them.

“Ensure that she does not take more soldiers under her command. We need to put the unicorns as the primary offender line. Distance is crucial.” Star Strider ordered.

“We know. We already lost quite a few earth pony CQC teams. They’re advancing rapidly. We may have to leave the camp.” Flash pulled out a chart with escape routes marked through the forest.

“Not yet. I shall gather the unicorns to hold the line. Luna, take the pegasi and suppress them via bouldering. We are past sparing their lives we need to defend our soldiers. I am sorry, Luna.” Star Strider bowed his head to her. Luna realized what he meant. She would have to kill the troops that were possessed if they hoped to stand any chance. She somberly nodded and stiffened her neck.

“I will do what I must for the good of Equestria.”

They rushed toward the western line to see bolts flickering back and forth through the tornado of flame. The fire had dulled slightly, but the raging inferno still seared the air and dampened any other sounds. The darkness of the night had disappeared in the intense luminosity of the fire and magic being thrown about. Star Strider began shouting at any unicorns he passed as Luna ordered the pegasi to the air. She still couldn’t fly from the injuries to her wing, but she would play her part all the same.

They finally saw the enemy lines advancing in haste. Their strategy played similarly to how Star Strider intended his; possessed unicorns held the front line, guarding and blasting at the soldiers while hostile pegasi hurled boulders over their walls. Luna noticed an absence of earth ponies, but decided it meant nothing in the moment. A stray shot nearly landed in Luna’s chest as it exploded in front of her, sending debris and dirt flying around her. Ringing filled her ear as she coughed a cloud of dust out. She opened her eyes to see Star Strider waving in front of her and speaking. She couldn’t hear him, but it was evident by his expression that he was worried. She shook her head and regained a bit of noise to hear him shouting.

“Get behind the bastion line!” He shoved her backwards and quickly whipped around to cast an aegis spell as another bolt crashed into it. The shockwave went sideways, and Star Strider contorted his other hoof to change the aegis into a wall of spikes. With a simple motion, he shot it towards the offenders. The spell crashed into three unicorns who all were sent flying backwards. Five more unicorns took their place. Divines, how many of them are there then? Luna worried about how many troops they were losing with every shot fired.

She raised her own horn to cast a bolt of energy into a pegasi who had flown just high enough to be outside of the shield of unicorns. The bolt struck the possessed flier in the chest, and they spiraled into the ground. Luna quickly ran across her own battle line to rally some of her troops into fighting stances.

As she ran, she caught a glimpse of a dark glowing purple wave far behind the enemy advance. She peered across the flame-engulfed dirt and saw a sliver of a face that bore wicked teeth and narrow pupils. Dusk Bringer. Twilight. Luna paused for a moment in hesitation. Her friend was behind this attack, and she had no idea what to do about it. She was snapped back to reality as one of her own unicorns dove in front of her and cast a spell to deflect an oncoming bolt. The magic was sloppy as the shot bounced slightly off course and caught the unicorn in the leg. He screamed in pain as his leg was charred off below the knee cap. Luna swept in front of him and shielded as two earth pony medics dragged him back.

I should have paid closer attention; he didn’t need to take that. She looked up to the sky as her own pegasi began making strafing runs with large boulders. Some crashed harmlessly into the ground while others made a wet thumping sound, clearly landing their targets.

Luna reared up and began conjuring an enormous spell. Her well-trained unicorns behind her caught her action and shot their own magic into her horn. A large orb appeared above her head as she began sweating from the effort. With a large breath of air and a stamp on the ground, she shot the orb forward. It crashed into the magical barrier of the enemy and kept going. The entire wall broke as every possessed unicorn was rocked from the impact. The orb vaporized a trail through the enemy line and the corrupted troops began scattering away from it. Luna fell to her knees panting as her own troops advanced on their temporary fortitude. She faintly heard a vile-sounding Twilight yelling at ponies, but she couldn’t make it out or be sure it was her. Luna struggled to get up; a hoof shot into her face in aid, and she took it. She came face to face with Streak Lighter, the night guard from all those nights ago. She quickly pulled away from him as he nodded and turned to join the charge. Luna looked to her right to see Star Strider at the head of his own charge, casting runes and fighting ferociously at the onslaught.

He’s still kicking. Luna breathed a sigh of relief and marched forward. The enemy ranks were breaking rapidly as her troops crashed into their fleeing line. All at once, every corrupted pony immediately stopped fighting and turned in unison. They all sprinted back into the darkness of the forest, leaving their wounded behind. Luna craned her neck to see if she could spot Dusk Bringer fleeing, but she must have already left before the others. She felt defeated that they were unable to help her friend before she got away.

The fire was still burning, but in a much more controlled area. Water teams stood in a massive circle around the inferno, throwing water spells and buckets at its base as it ate up all of its fuel. The camp was devastated. Tents were charred, stands were broken. The command post had remained intact with the main command lodge and a few extra tents still standing. Civilian caravans still stood untouched on the other side of the clearing, but the soldier’s sleeping row had been burnt to a crisp. Luna saw some charred corpses still in their sleeping bags while others were being carried to a temporary infirmary by the command cabin. Soldiers hauled wounded corrupted ponies into a massive ditch. It had about twenty ponies if she had to guess. She wanted to go see Star Strider, but he was helping count the dead or wounded. She entered the command cabin to see a bustling room of ponies with the general rubbing his forehead. Luna approached him and placed a hoof on his table.

“So, what happened?” Luna prodded. Flash rubbed his temples harder and closed his eyes.

“What happened princess, was that my base camp got raided while my two biggest assets were off playing ‘hide the bacon’ in the forest! What happened is that we got raided and lost almost seventy strong soldiers to their ranks! WHAT HAPPENED was that twenty-three ponies died, forty-seven are incapacitated, and Cosmic Sunder’s army is stronger!” Flash shouted at her and stood up on his table. The room stopped only a moment before continuing their work. Luna rubbed her legs together awkwardly as she let her face drop.

“I’m… sorry general. We were—”

“Don’t sorry me. I lost over one hundred ponies today to something that could have been stopped if you were here. This was your campaign Luna. You need to be here to lead it. Those men?” He gestured outside of the cabin. “Those are your bodies. You put them here. You need to defend them.” Flash narrowed his eyes at her.

“That is no way to speak to your princess, general. Flawed as this encounter may have been, it is upon my shoulders to repent. Luna is not to blame here.” Star Strider’s deep voice ran through Luna as she felt relief wash over her. He strode up next to her, head held high in defiance.

“Commander, it would’ve been nice to have you earlier.” Flash seethed. Luna could hardly believe the attitude he took with ponies clearly so capable of flattening him.

“I have come to report an additional thirteen pegasi missing from the field. Assume they are taken. All other numbers are correct. I am sorry, general. I should have been here.” Star Strider knelt down and closed his eyes. Luna felt a stab of guilt. I’m the reason he wasn’t.

“It’s… it’s okay, you two. The attack would have come anyway. I just wish—” Flash sighed heavily and fell back on his haunches. “I just wish we had gotten her.”

“General, the good news to come of this is a stealth team was deployed immediately to track them. We have live feedback from the unicorn captain leading them.” A blue unicorn cut in. His voice startled Luna as she flittered her wings at his arrival.

“Good. Have them get us a rally point we can stage an all-out front from. We’re going to find that son-of-a-bitch and put him in the ground.”