Back on Duty

Nothing much had changed for Princess Luna as she waited for reinforcements at the human camp. The injured former prisoners were recovering well and none of the criminals had tried a counter attack to reclaim what they had lost. Heat Lightning thought he saw some movement nearby on his night patrol, but by the time he could land and check it out, whatever had been there was gone.

Hunger would eventually drive them to surrender, the Princess had no doubts about that. Her bigger concern was boredom. Sombra's evil crystal magic was still being held fast within its protective ring and there had been no obvious attempt to breach the portal from the other side. Soon the enemy camp on Earth would be captured and then she could finally dispel the dark magic and stop lying to her sister. Celestia was getting quite nosy in their dream meetings.

The sun was setting and Luna finished her circuit around the quiet camp. She paused at the hut, where Black Velvet threw her a smart salute. "Private, is the Corporal back from his round?"

"He's inside, Princess."

He probably had nothing new to report, or he would have sought her out directly. Guarding the defeated human encampment was mostly boring, after all.

"I will get his report and meet with Sister in the dream world. Then I will come and relieve you for the night."

The stallion was uneasy of having the Princess of all ponies stand guard while he and his superior officer slept, but he had been trained well enough never to question her orders.

"Thank you, ma'am!"

Luna ducked into the gloomy interior, where a single candle was flickering fitfully on the table. There were darker shapes against the far wall and she heard quiet snoring. The Corporal was sitting at the dying fire. He had looked over when she was speaking with the guard outside, but now his eyes had been drawn back to the embers.

"Anything, Corporal?" Luna asked in a soft voice so as not to wake their guests.

"Sorry, Princess. I'm sure there are some humans in the forest, but I wasn't able to spot them."

"Any ponies?"

The soldier shook his head. "No. I caught a whiff of human a few times, but no ponies other than us."

"Good. Get some rest. I must meditate to meet with Sister and then I will be taking the first watch. I want you on the second."

Rather than replying, Heat Lightning just saluted. He kept the gesture slow, so as not to clank his hoof against his helmet and wake the sleeping people. He didn't move from the fire, though, even after Luna had waited for a while.

"Corporal?"

His head turned again, eyes reflecting the fading daylight outside.

"I said you are relieved for now."

"Thank you, ma'am. I'd prefer to stay up and... and watch the fire."

"Is everything alright?" Luna inquired. She sat on her haunches next to the guard and joined him in staring at the dying embers.

For a while he was quiet, but eventually he answered his Princess: "It's just- Princess, I saw how the slaves were kept and how they were made to work. Why would ponies do that?"

It wasn't something Luna had been expecting and she took some time to think it over. What would Celestia say to this? "Corp- Heat Lightning. Most ponies are good, but not all. I don't know how else to put it. There will always be a few bad apples in the bunch, however carefully the crop was tended."

"Yeah, but I never thought they'd- all this!"

"Don't worry, Sister and I will get some answers. We have the pony responsible in the Castle dungeon already. If there are more accomplices, they will be found and this cancer will be cut from our society." Luna was staring past the fire, into her memories of the recent years as she had helped rule beside Celestia. She had seen that darkness sometimes took hold in even the best of ponies. "Perhaps we are not yet as homogeneous as Sister and I would like. Some of the elite still think themselves better than their kin. Sometimes, one such can convince themselves that other people are worth less. That other people are not people at all."

She watched the Corporal's face for any signs of understanding. She was about to explain again, but he gave a slight nod. "I'm glad we rooted out this place, Princess. I'm honored you chose me for this mission."

The fervor in his voice made Luna smile and she placed a wing around the stallion. He didn't seem to notice, at least not consciously, though he did lean against her side. "Stay still now, I must meditate to speak with Princess Celestia."

Luna closed her eyes and focused. With her experience it was easy to slip partly into a dream. Such half-measures wouldn't be enough to fight even the most basic nightmare, but it was sufficient to speak with her Sister, who should have been asleep by now. She soon found Celestia among the slumbering ponies. Luna could never explain how she did it, but she always knew where to look for whomever she sought. Celestia wasn't dreaming yet, but it was relatively easy to create a shared dream and pull her sister into it. She made it the Canterlot Castle balcony on a beautiful, cloudless, moonlit night. Her dream, her rules, after all.

The white alicorn walked from the balcony entrance and her eyes immediately focused on her sister. "Luna!" There was a growl in her voice and a scrunch to her muzzle which Luna didn't find comforting at all.

"Sister? Is something the matter?"

Celestia took three quick steps and stopped. She seemed to tower over her younger sister. "What have you done?! Tell me!"

Luna swallowed a lump and squared her shoulders. She was not a little filly anymore to be punished by her sister for every perceived slight! "I don't know what you mean."

Celestia snorted, but not in amusement. "Sombra's magic? Really, Luna? Whatever possessed you to toy with something like that?!"

"How did you-"

"Because it spread to the other side! It is already a mile wide and growing by the hour!"

This was very unwelcome news and Luna lowered her ears. She gazed past her sister and her eyes darted around as she thought. "It should not spread at all! It did not spread on our side!"

"How do you figure?" Celestia demanded. "You know we never studied it in too much detail. Magic like that is simply too dangerous and unpredictable! I am very disappointed Luna! Whatever could have possessed you to-"

"I had to make sure, okay?!" Luna defended herself with hot tears in her eyes. "I did not know what I would find when I attacked. I didn't know how many unicorns the humans had working with them. I had to block the portal off in a way that wouldn't require constant checking if somepony had broken the shield during the battle!"

"Why didn't you pull it down after the battle?"

Luna growled low in her throat, but she couldn't come up with an answer. By that point she'd already decided to leave Sombra's magic in place until the other side was safe. "I placed a ward around the portal to prevent it from spreading, but it didn't even try. I thought it was inert!"

Celestia sat on her haunches heavily and let out a weary sigh. She put a hoof on her face. "Because it focused all its power into spreading on the other side, where it was not limited."

It made sense now, sure, but how was Luna supposed to have known that?! She was determined to clean up her mistake, though. "Fine! I will tear it down and then I'll go through the portal and cleanse the Earth side as well!" She stood up and was about to will herself out of the dream without another word, but Celestia reached out a hoof and laid it on Luna's back.

"Don't. We do not know if you can purge it through the portal and it could ensnare you the moment you step through. It is not safe."

"Then what do you suggest?!"

"You will come to Canterlot as quickly as you can. The relief team will be at the portal tomorrow and you can leave your guards in charge until then. You will go to Earth with Commander Callahan and he will get you to their side of the portal. There you will work under his commands for as long as it takes to cleanse the corruption from their world."

It would mean being away from Eli and her comfortable quarters for longer still, but the shame of not having foreseen this problem stung enough that Luna readily agreed.

"I will. I swear."

"Oh, and one more thing, Luna."

"Hmm?"

Celestia looked frightened for the first time since her tirade had begun. "If the infestation on the other side becomes large enough, it may bring Sombra back. If you suspect that's happened, do not fight him alone. Callahan will use his machines to contact me and I will come help."

Suddenly there was a chill running down Luna's spine and she felt as if her horn crawled with insects. "That can happen?! I didn't know that!"

"I kept it a secret. We do not want misguided unicorns trying to bring him back."

"What about the corruption on this side?"

Celestia shrugged. "There are unicorns in the relief team, you will teach them the purging spell in their dream. As you said, your ward is holding and it should hold for long enough until we have this whole mess sorted out."

Luna let herself relax a little. Of course her sister would already have a plan for fixing her mistake. She was irritating like that sometimes, but it was also a very comforting thought. She took the two steps until she was nuzzling Celestia's neck. Her sister's hooves came around in a big hug and Luna could have sworn she felt the warmth of sunlight on her fur.

"Thanks. I'm sorry, and- thanks," she whispered.

"You are to obey Callahan's every command, except if he tries to make you break the law or hurt somepony. Oh, and if he tries to take you to his bed. You may refuse that one."

Luna stiffened, but didn't pull away from the embrace. "He m-might do that?!"

Her sister's gentle laughter reassured her.

"That was not funny!"

"Sometimes I think I would prefer that option to his demands to bring more soldiers into Equestria," Celestia murmured back. "Perhaps you and he will get along better since you both enjoy military matters. He can show you some of the machines he keeps talking about and you can show him how alicorns fight."

It sounded as if Celestia intended for Luna to stay on Earth for quite some time. She pulled away and looked her sister in the eyes. "Just how long do you mean for me to spend there?"

The older Princess shrugged. "Until the corruption is banished. Send a signal to let the unicorns on our side know to dispel the crystals here, then you can return through the portal."

Now that it had been decided, Luna didn't want to lose any more time. The crystals had already spread across a mile on Earth in the few short days she had spent there. The sooner she could start destroying them, the less chance of Sombra being re-instituted.

"I will give my guards orders and begin my flight back immediately. With Twilight's lessons in long-distance teleportation, I will be in Canterlot by morning. Have the Commander ready to take me to Earth."

Rather than answering Celestia grasped her with forelegs and brought her in for another warm, sisterly hug. "I will see you off. Fly safe, Sister."

"And you have sweet dreams." Luna returned the embrace for a few more seconds, then woke herself up. Already excitement coursed through her. She'd forgotten about the guard pressed against her side in the night's chill and he fell down with a squawk as she stood.

"Corporal, I have new orders..."