Darkest Days, Brightest Nights

[A/N]: Now I know what you're all thinking. You're thinking, "Dusk! What the buck is this thing!?" Well, over the last week, I've been dealing with some really important life stuff that can not be neglected under any circumstances *cough*blackops2*cough*. Therefore, no chapter 3 this week. But I was thinking at 11:00 Thursday night (and writing until 1:00 Friday afternoon.), how could I make it up to everyone?

Well I know! I'll make a quick little sneak peek of something I have planned for the future!

Now hold on, what about spoilers?

Well here's something, I can just redact all the spoilers, then fill them in when they're no longer spoilers! Now I have something that hints at the future of the storyline, but is missing enough information to keep you guessing!

Now you're probably thinking, "Dusk! Did you seriously just spend five minutes writing down a conversation you had with yourself!?" Well, that's irrelevant. Instead of thinking about that, you're going to read this thing and forget about all my cognitive dysfunctions.

PS. If anyone manages to guess one correctly, I'll fill it in with red text, all conventionally revealed words will be filled in with blue text.

[E/N]: Black Ops is bad and you should feel bad too.

[Post-Secrets A/N]: Hint: 01010010 01001111 01010100 00101101 00110001 00110011 00101100 00100000 01001000 01100101 01111000 00101100 00100000 01000010 01100001 01110011 01100101 00100000 00110110 00110100 00101100 00100000 01000001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01000001 01100010 01101111 01110110 01100101 00101110

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Chapter: [REDACTED]

NEPUVIR PBEEHCG

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April, [REDACTED] Year of Celestia's Reign.

A lone airship was floating in the serene skies. In the distance, a black thunderhead was rolling towards it. A brown unicorn came running up to the orange [REDACTED] mare was standing at the helm, where he yelled over the growing winds, "Fleet Admiral [REDACTED]! That storm is headed straight for us!”

“Yes, Leo. And we are headed for it.”

"What do you plan, Fleet Admiral?"

"You know how close we are to the border. The heretic's flagship patrols these skies. That storm front will make the perfect cover."

Another unicorn suddenly ran up to them and saluted. "Fleet Admiral. Commodore." He nodded to each of them in turn.

"What it it, Ensign?"

"Another ship has been spotted to our starboard."

"Military or civilian?"

"It bears no markings, but we assume military."

"Class?"

"Unknown, Ma'am. It appears to be a stealth frigate of some sort."

[REDACTED]'s eyes darkened. "Uncle. I said he was nearby." She motioned to Leo. "Commodore, take the helm and bring us around. We are not getting away from this one without a fight." She proceeded to begin shouting orders. "Commander! Make ready the bow shatter-cannons!"

A couple kilometers away, a sleek, dark grey airship with roughly the shape of a diamond rose fully from the cloud layer. From this ship, Dusk watched in silence as the enemy turned to face them. The red pegasus at the helm beside him spoke up. "At least they won't be able to shoot us from the front." As soon as she finished speaking, there was a flash from the bow of the enemy ship. "Okay, so maybe they can. At least the [REDACTED] doesn't have long-range cannon technology yet." Both of them were promptly forced to duck as a small projectile flew over their heads and across the entire deck before exploding into a cloud of black smoke past the aft of the ship. "I'm just gonna stop talking now."

Dusk stood up and looked at the dissipating smoke with curiosity. "Was that bucking flak!?" His eyes slowly widened in realization. "That's the Elysium."

"What!? That’s her ship! Can I take her, Uncle Dusk?"

"Not a chance. Even I’m going to have trouble handling her." He waved to a grey pegasus. "Sub-Lieutenant! Raise a flag of truce. I want to talk to [REDACTED] before she does something she'll regret."

Though airships didn't have a 'mast' per se, they still had a crow's nest and a flagpole resting on top of the giant balloon that kept them aloft. The pegasus quickly flew up there to signal a truce.

[REDACTED] and the ensign from earlier stared in curiosity from the Elysium. The Ensign raised an eyebrow. "They're flying a white flag, Fleet Admiral. Are they surrendering?"

"Net kapitulyatsii"

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. Could you repeat that?"

"Net kapitulyatsii. It is Dusk Star's motto. It means, 'no surrender'. I believe that in this case, they simply wish to parley." She thought for a second. "Signal that we accept. I'd love to hear what nonsense he's come up with this time."

As the two airships pulled up alongside each other, Dusk used his magic to enhance his voice. "This is [REDACTED] Opacare Stellata of the HMS Dark Nova. You are in restricted [REDACTED] airspace. You are to cease hostilities, and prepare to be boarded."

From the Elysium, [REDACTED]'s voice answered, "You and Captain [REDACTED] are the only ones who are allowed over, Uncle."

Dusk returned his voice to normal and turned to [REDACTED]. "Alright, you heard her. You're coming with me, but I do not want you starting anything."

They flew over to the Elysium, where they immediately noticed the crew were almost all brandishing weapons. [REDACTED] greeted them. "Hello Uncle, [REDACTED]."

Dusk dipped his head to her. "Hey, [REDACTED]."

"Do not call me that. I'm not a foal any more."

"You actually are."

She waved a hoof dismissively. "A technicality. Now, are you here for a reason, or are you just going to make small talk all day?"

"I'm here to tell you that [REDACTED] is lying to you. You're being used."

"Aww... the 'you're being used’ speech again? I thought you would have come up with something new by now. Oh well, I suppose I will just have to kill you." She cast Tessera, a twin blade of darkness and light. Leo levitated a metal rod from a sheathe, using it as a focusing rod to cast Gratia. [REDACTED] extended her twin fetlock daggers, one of them glowing an eerie green, and quite obviously a cast blade, despite her being a pegasus.

Dusk just sighed, then cast Terminus. "Dammit."

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Two airships, their grey and white hues contrasting, flew side-by-side through a raging maelstrom. The pegasi aboard both ships were frantically circling them, doing their best to protect their respective craft from the storm, while attempting to take down their opposition. All of the pegasi except one. A bright crimson mare did an aerial backflip over an oncoming bolt of bright golden magic. "That the best you got, commodore?" A hat with an incredibly massive plume of feathers suddenly appeared on her head. It was quickly blasted off by another bolt of magic. "Ha! You missed~!" She cringed as a bolt twice the size of the others was dissipated inches from her face by a shimmering green field. Once she realized what had happened, she started trotting in place mid-flight. "I made a shield~! Who's awesome? I'm awesome!"

Leo scowled. "Enough with the parlor tricks, [REDACTED]!"

"You mad, bro?" She landed on the deck of the Elysium in front of him. "How's about you fight me like a stallion then? Come at me, bro!"

He responded by rushing forward, Gratia raised. [REDACTED] easily sidestepped, then sliced Leo's ear with one of her daggers. He skidded to a stop, having completely missed the crimson pegasus, then pressed a hoof to his ear and watched as the blood on it was washed away by the torrential downpour before glaring at [REDACTED]. "You little-" He was cut off as he was sent tumbling down to a lower deck with a yelp by a streak of midnight blue.

After running into Leo, Dusk kept sliding backwards along the slippery deck, only managing to yell as he smashed through the ship's railing and fell, wide-eyed, off the edge, "DO NOT WANT!"

[REDACTED] looked in the direction Dusk had come from to see an orange [REDACTED] calmly walking towards her. "Uh-oh."

The Fleet Admiral smiled cruelly. "Hello cousin. I guess you are next." Her horn started glowing.

[REDACTED] quickly put up another shield. It was immediately shattered as her opponent's amber beam impacted it, and continued towards her. She was forced to stop preparing for the end however, as the attack was deflected away by a pulsing indigo barrier.

Dusk looked down at the cowering pegasus, a little battered, but otherwise intact. "Go find Leo, and avoid me at all costs. I don't want to accidentally hurt you." She did as he said, and he turned back to [REDACTED]. "I apologize in advance for what I'm about to do." He began to slowly walk forward. After the first two steps, his hooves began leaving a print of black flames. The howling winds intensified exponentially, the clouds turned even darker, and the rain turned to hail. All across both ships, ponies moved their conflicts away from Dusk. They had all heard the stories.

Dusk cast Alpha and Omega. [REDACTED] began taking steps back. A colossal arc of lightning flew from Dusk's horn. [REDACTED] deflected it back with Tessera. It had no effect. She barely managed to deflect another arc, but she didn't have time to aim, and it ended up blasting a hole through the Elysium's balloon, causing the edges of the hole to burst into flames. She continued to retreat. "Uncle! What are you doing!? You can't use combat spells!" His only response was silence.

The next two arcs were deflected into the deck, and straight through all of the decks beneath them. Wet ash was beginning to join the hail. Dusk had been advancing faster than [REDACTED] had been retreating, and she was now within range of his swords. Dusk swung Alpha, and cut a deep gash in her leg. As she stumbled, he ran Omega across her chest. He pulled back for a moment, before slashing at her head from above. Despite the pain, she somehow managed to catch the blades on either end of Tessera. Dusk lowered his head so that his horn was pointed directly at her face. She couldn't deflect lightning from point-blank range. The attack sent her sprawling to the ground, writhing in agony and clutching at her face. Dusk continued his assault without mercy. He used Alpha and Omega to impale her [REDACTED] to the deck, then took aim with his horn once again.

There was a flash of some emotion in his eyes, and at the last second he redirected his attack to vaporize one of the Elysium's pegasi. He cleared his head with a few shakes, then looked down at what he had done. [REDACTED]'s face was badly burnt, and several arteries in her [REDACTED] had been severed. She was quickly bleeding out. Dusk mumbled to himself, "Why do I have to keep putting myself in these situations?" then he touched his horn to her barely conscious body and began to transfer her injuries to himself. After having done this exact procedure twice before, he managed to avoid screaming.

Once [REDACTED] was healed, Dusk cast a healing spell on himself. He backed up, and allowed her to stumble upright. She blinked in the light as the slowly descending airship made it out of the storm, then glanced warily at Dusk. "Why did you save me?"

"Many reasons. The least of which being that killing you now would cause a paradox."

They were unable to finish their conversation, as a pegasus from the Nova yelled, "GRYPHONS INCOMING OFF THE PORT SIDE!"

Dusk was giving [REDACTED] an incredulous look. "You hired Gryphon mercenaries?"

She shook her head. "They're not mine." Ponies from both airships abandoned their fights to look at the approaching Gryphons. [REDACTED] audibly gasped as she caught sight of them. "By Celestia... Those aren't mercenaries, that's the entire Gryphon army!" Her next command rang clear across both airships. “DISENGAGE THE NOVA! CONCENTRATE ON THE GRYPHONS! I WANT THE BALLOON REPAIRED AND THE SHATTER-CANNONS FIRING, NOW!”

Dusk turned to her. “Please, come with us. Your ship has sustained too much damage. You’ll never survive.”

“I can take care of myself, Uncle.” She spat the last word as though it were a curse, and Dusk flinched.

“Look, I’m sorry about [REDACTED], but-”

“DON’T YOU DARE SPEAK MY SISTER’S NAME!" For a second, her fur almost seemed to turn grey and she looked at the deck. “Not after what you did...” After a few more seconds, she straightened and her color returned. “What are you waiting for? Go!”

Dusk looked like he was going to argue, but instead simply placed a hoof on [REDACTED]’s shoulder. “I will do what I can to help.” He spread his wings, allowing the wind to catch him. As he glided backwards off the aft of the Elysium, He called out, “RETURN TO THE NOVA. PREPARE TO ASSIST THE [REDACTED] AIRSHIP!”

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As the Gryphon army approached, The Nova’s unicorn crew assisted in repairing the Elysium’s balloon while the two ships were still docked to one another, and the pegasi of both ships worked together to put out the fires. Despite the cooperation, the crews of the two ships were far from friendly, especially [REDACTED] and Leo. Once the repairs were complete, the crew of the Nova quickly returned to their own airship. Both Dusk and [REDACTED] stood on the port railings of their ships with one wing raised and ready to signal their crew to open fire. Before the gryphons were in range of any of the Nova’s cannons, [REDACTED] ordered the Elysium to fire.

Dusk slowly lowered his wing in shock as the Elysium’s flak began decimating the enemy’s front lines. Despite the losses, the gryphons never wavered. Once they were within range, Dusk held back on the order to fire. Instead he looked to the ship’s Commander. “Load the Zippermayr Device.”

The Commander’s eyes widened and he hesitated for a moment. “As you wish, Sir.” Despite Luna’s opposition to the project, Dusk had continued to develop the weapon in secret, using what he remembered of Earth technology. He was glad he had. Once the rocket was loaded onto the firing platform, the Commander stood ready to launch it, but before Dusk could give the order to fire, The commander took a step back. “I don’t think I can do it...”

Dusk jumped down from his perch and walked over to the Commander. He gave the unicorn a sympathetic look and said, “I will do it myself. I’m sure Twilight has heard of the other atrocities I’ve committed. One more can’t possibly make it any worse now.” He wearily lit the fuse. The crew of the Nova watched in horror as the rocket took to the air. Meanwhile, the crew of the Elysium watched in awe of the strange projectile, which flew on it’s own towards the gryphons.

Hundreds of gryphons were vaporized in an instant by the expanding ball of fire created by the otherworldly thermobaric warhead. Dusk showed no emotion as he watched on, having committed yet another genocide.

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