Back on Duty

It began according to plan, but it quickly became improvisation as all military engagements tended to do. Luna swept past the first row of tents, grinning as the humans scattered. Some of them had guns, but her appearance was so fast and unexpected they didn't think to use them at first. Good thing she'd practiced her Nightmare Moon illusion for that misplaced Nightmare Night prank. It served her well to strike fear into the hearts of these mortals and, more importantly, into the few unicorns she spotted moving freely about.

Her wings were black velvet and her mane was a window into a midnight-starry sky. Her eyes were vertical slits and her teeth pointed, like those of a monster. Even her horn looked longer and sharper. She glanced back to make sure her troop were still on her tail, then swooped around the wooden building and flew straight for the glimmering portal in a clearing. Several humans were already running for it, but it was a trivial matter to pick them up in her magic and toss them aside. If they weren't knocked out by the landing, they wisely stayed down.

More were on their way and a few were already near, fiddling with their guns as she considered what to do next.

She looked back and barked orders: "Go! Don't let them use their guns!"

As soon as Luna had said that, she pulled sharply up and let the pegasi shoot forward and split up. They had their jobs.

The portal. A simple shield would not do, especially since these humans had ponies on their sides. She saw one of the unicorns running toward her. It would have to be her original idea, however distasteful. There was no real time for anything fancy, so Luna focused her horn on the ground around the portal. This was a little trick she'd picked up when she and Sister had fought Sombra.

Black crystals shot up from the ground around the opening, higher than a man could jump. They crackled with dark energy and splintered into sharp points. No creature would be stupid enough to approach that. It would have to be cleaned up later, but it was the fastest she could do in a pinch and it didn't need concentration to maintain. The black power within them had a life of its own. It would spread if unchecked and plunge this part of the world into corruption and mayhem. Most importantly, it would serve her for a while.

There was a soft ping and she looked in that direction. The air rippled as more and more bits of metal - bullets, they were called - ricochetted off her shield. That was good. Most of the soldiers were focusing on the biggest threat, which was clearly her, while the pegasi flew around the clearing, laying waste to the armed humans and ponies on their side.

She watched as a group of three unshaven men whirled to face the charge. Corporal Heat Lightning and his wing pony expertly flipped in the air, hind hooves bent like a coiled spring. They bucked and Luna thought she could hear the low thump of hooves on chests. Two fewer defenders and the third one couldn't keep his grip on the weapon as it was kicked out of his hands. He went scurrying after it, but the piece of metal was twisted beyond usability. She glanced the other way and saw one of her guards deftly evade a unicorn's spell and drop a net over the shocked pony. He pivoted practically on his tail and his hoof slammed against the unicorn's head.

More bullets impacted her shield and were deflected. It really was no effort at all and Luna slowly descended to land before the main group of soldiers.

She would show them what it meant to go against an alicorn!

One of the men tossed a small metal ball at her and shouted: "Grenade!"

The soldiers threw themselves down and she frowned at the thing. It was a bad idea to let it touch her, so she smacked it away with levitation, but it landed nearby and rolled to a stop. Just in case she thickened the magical barrier around herself.

Its concussive force nearly pushed her off her hooves and for a few moments all she could see was white. The world rang after the explosion and Luna took an involuntary step backwards, covering her muzzle with a wing. She blinked her eyes, trying to bring two images back into alignment. She shook her head to get rid of the ringing in her ears.

There was a cheer from the humans, but she took a step forward and it died out.

Had the 'grenade' been a hoofstep closer, she might have been knocked down, perhaps even lost consciousness. It was a piece of luck and Luna was a little shaken. Perhaps a touch more respect had been warranted.

Despite that, she bared her illusory fangs and snarled at the men. She kept a close watch for any more of these grenades lobbed her way. Luckily, the fighters lost heart and turned to run. The front rank collided with the people in the back as they struggled and pushed to get out of her way.

It was time to finish the battle. Her enemy was on the run and their best weapons could not touch her. Luna lowered her horn and drew more magic into herself. 'Try not to kill.' That had been her Sister's advice. It wasn't out of compassion for these brigands, but rather out of concern for her. Killing hurt the heart. It was to be avoided. That was where magic provided much greater finesse than these crude human weapons. A blast shot from her horn and Luna swept it across the fleeing backs of men. Where the blue beam touched a human, said person fell to the ground, stunned. They would sleep firmly, unable to wake, until at least sunset.

The sergeant landed before Luna, a fierce little grin on his muzzle. "They are on the run, Princess," he reported. "Some of them run for the woods."

Luna shook her head. "We must catch them. They will not survive alone in this forest. Have your ponies keep track of them from the air. They should stay out of reach of their guns."

She glanced back at the portal, but it was completely impenetrable. Even the best unicorns in Equestria couldn't get through that barrier. She shuddered a little at the dark, thorny feel of the magic coursing through those stones.

What a twisted genius was Sombra.

"First, finish the search of the tents and the house. We do not want any surprises. If you find prisoners, bring them to this clearing."

Black Velvet few in from the side, muzzle twisted into a grimace. "Princess! Sergeant! Casualties!" he reported.

Luna's heart dropped and she remembered the other side of war. "Dead?" she asked, keeping her voice steady. There would be time to mourn later.

Velvet shook his head and it was as if a large stone rolled away from Luna's heart. "No, but... you might want to see for yourself."

She glanced around the clearing, but there was little else for her to do. A few earth ponies were dodging between the tents, trying to evade capture by two of her pegasi guard, which was clearly a fruitless endeavour. There were no bipedal creatures standing. Her attack had been so sudden that most of them had no chance to fight. A few of them were kneeling with their hands on their heads under the watchful gaze of Heat Lightning.

The rest, she thought, had run into the woods, but there were winged shapes up above tracking their every move.

"Very well. Let's go. Moon Glow, keep an eye on things."

The inside of the cabin was dark and gloomy. The small window didn't let in enough light. Not to mention that it stank of unwashed cloth, alcohol and sweat. At first the scene made very little sense. One of her guards, Rain Drop, was standing in the middle of the room, a crude wooden spear in his hooves aimed at a cowering human.

She was about to ask where the weapon had come from, but she spotted a couple more leaning against the wall near the door. Beside the human was an unconscious unicorn with blood on his head. He was covered with the dampening net despite that. In fact, red droplets liberally spattered the floor and Luna quickly identified the source. Rain Drop already had a hastily wrapped bandage around a foreleg, the fabric stained pink.

"Are you alright, Private?"

The stallion nodded without taking his gaze off the captive human. His eyes glanced down and Luna saw a knife, edge coated with blood.

"The unicorn... proved somewhat of a distraction and it allowed the human to strike," the private admitted, a touch of red gracing his otherwise azure muzzle coat.

The Princess transferred her gaze to the man, who snarled wordlessly at her. She didn't let him do anything else and lowered her horn. He managed to get his arms up to shield his face, but it was useless. The stun ray hit and he toppled over. Only then did Rain Drop relax and let his spear fall.

"Come here. Let me see your wound. Corporal, check on the unicorn."

The private took an unsteady step, trying to suppress a wince. Obviously the wound pained him, but he didn't want to show it. Luna unwrapped the bandage with a simple bit of levitation and hissed through her teeth.

The gash wasn't very big, but it looked quite deep. Luckily she knew some basic first aid spells. "Hold still, this will sting a bit."

Her horn glowed and enveloped the injury. Rain Drop grunted, but didn't try to pull away, reminding her that she only picked the very best for her guard.

Let Celestia have her pristine white, statuesque stallions. She'd take the tough, the wiry, the fierce, regardless of their color. If some of them had nice, firm haunches, that was only an added bonus.

"There. Bandage it up and keep it clean. Report to Canterlot Medical as soon as we're back."

The stallion saluted. "Yes, Princess!"

A shadow blocked out what little light came through the open door and Luna looked up. It was only Moon Glow, but he had an interesting sort of smirk on his muzzle.

"Sergeant?" she asked pointedly.

"Sorry, ma'am. Unusual to see Nightmare Moon tending the wounded!"

She suddenly realized she still had her disguise. She couldn't help chuckling at how the exchange with Rain Drop must have looked. It was only a matter of stopping to concentrate on the spell and it faded. Her form went back to her normal, slightly less imposing, but infinitely more lovely self. At least those had been Eli's words. That man had some strange ideas for the bedroom, some of them involving Nightmare Moon. She had to shake her head twice to clear the sudden memory.

"The prisoners?"

"Six ponies, three humans. The ponies were being taken to Earth, the humans just came from there."

"Good. There is one more thing I must do. See to things."

The sergeant just saluted as she squeezed out of the cabin past him. She walked to the portal and inspected her hoofwork. Already the corruption of the crystals was spreading, but she didn't dare banish it yet. Some of their essence penetrated to the Earth side, warning all not to try enter the portal. At least, Luna hoped they'd be smart enough to stay away. If they tried...

She didn't know what would happen. Probably nothing pleasant.

There was a bit of the portal still open near the top, but it looked like the crystals would cover it in a few minutes. That was perfect for her. It took her a few moments to remember the spell she'd worked out with Celestia and the human scientist she'd brought to see her. Something like a beacon.

Her horn began to glow in the blue light of her usual magic, except a lot fiercer, and the mare grunted with the effort. The spell itself was simple, but she had to make it last as long as possible. A ball detached from her horn and floated before her, its magical energy making an angry buzz in her mind, like a rasp being dragged across her horn. It was making the hair on her back stand on end. Luna poured more and more into it, until the ball was as big as her head and the angry buzzing practically screamed at her. That was good enough and she didn't want to tire herself out unnecessarily, in case there was more trouble.

She nodded at the ball and it floated up. Then Luna flicked her horn and the thing flew into the portal. It was pure energy and there was no way for the humans on the other side to stop it, even if they had built a building around the portal. The ball would rise several miles into the air and keep blaring out that annoying magical noise.

Celestia's scientist had called it a- what was it now?

Luna had to say it out loud to remember properly: "Wide-spectrum, high-frequency E. M. radiation. Huh..." The words tasted foreign and she couldn't begin to guess what they meant. She decided to ask Eli when she was back.

"Princess?"

Corporal Black Velvet was standing behind her.

"Nothing. Just something I heard."

He watched the portal, even though the ball was gone and the crystals were slowly enveloping the last opening. "What does it do?"

"The humans will be able to sense it, somehow, with their machines in the sky. They will know where to go, where the other end of this portal is hidden." One more thing, and an important one at that. "Stand back, corporal," she warned.

Black Velvet scurried out of the way as Luna aimed her horn down. It blazed pure white this time and a stream shot out to score a gouge into the ground. The furrow she made with it was filled with light. Luna began walking backwards, keeping up the pressure, until she had circled the portal and the shallow trench became a moat of white light.

"There." She was beginning to feel a slight headache of magical exertion. She shook her head and sighed. Out of practice, out of shape. "It will keep the dark magic contained until the other side of the portal is secured. Then we will banish it."

"What will happen with this second portal?" Black Velvet asked.

Luna could only shrug. "That is for Sister to decide. I'm glad I'm not in her hoofguards, though. It will... complicate matters." Still, she had won a victory and the mere thought was enough to bring out a smile. "Come. Let us see to the prisoners and plan how we will get everypony back to Canterlot."

The guard inclined his head and stepped aside to let Luna pass.

"We will hunt down the stragglers, first," Luna added, looking at the dense forest around them. "It would not be civilized to let them die out there."

Besides, Equestria had to be shown those responsible. There had to be justice done, proper justice, not simply revenge.

That was something both Eli and Celestia had insisted upon.