The Lunar Empire

Residence of Ace Graymane

December 15, 1129

General Dark Thunder of the Lunar Guard

7:35 a.m.

"Listen, Ace, I've been thinking. There isn't much left here for me, the Guard, and the soldiers, not to mention that angry mob that nearly tore down the gates. Without Luna here to govern us, we may as well be rouges. What do you think about leaving Canterlot and making our own city?" I said.

Ace came to attention, then stared at me. "You mean... leave Canterlot? Leave Equestria? And bring all those ponies with us? I think you've gone mad." he replied.

I continued. "Yes, I mean leave Canterlot. We would probably have to leave Equestria too, but we wouldn't be very far from it. Do you have a map? I'll show you what I mean."

Ace thought for a moment. "Uh, yes, I think there is one in that drawer over there." he replied, pointing at a small dresser. I walked over to it and pulled out the drawer. I levitated the map back to a table.

"Come here." I said to Ace. He walked over to me and I pointed to a spot on the map. "Here we are, and here is the border around Equestria." I said, tracing an area with my hoof. "We have a strait to the south, desert to the west, and mountains to the east. Take your pick. Where do you think the best place is for a city?" I asked him.

"If you insist. I want to keep close to Equestria and the Griffins, and have access to the ocean. I'd say somewhere near the southern edge of the desert." Ace replied, pointing to a tan section of the map. "It would be hard for an army to go in and find us, let alone fight us when they did. However, we would be reduced to nomads."

"We could build or buy some ships, go over the strait, and land in Cervidas. The leaders there might be willing to help us." I said.

Ace stared at me again. "If we went there, we would have absolutely no power here in Equestria, which is what we need. I could send scouts, maybe go myself, but it really doesn't seem like a good idea right now." he said.

"Ok then. There is a triangle of unclaimed land right next to the desert. We could go there-"

Ace cut me off. "There might be a reason that land is unclaimed. Undocumented creatures, plants, that sort of thing. Maybe it was poor in resources, or too unstable to build on."

I let out a sigh. "The only other place I can think of is the eastern mountains." I said, pointing to a strip of land on the map. "It's desolate, but there are plenty of materials to find if you look in the right places. I should know; I scouted out the area for some ponies considering doing what we are doing. I found nothing at first, but I went back later and made a complete map of the area. Cave systems, ore concentration, landmarks - just about everything you need to build an empire from scratch."

Ace thought for a moment. "That could work. I've gone flying in high places before. The air is rather thin, so it would be hard for the larger Pegasi in Celestia's Guard to fly over us." The thought of a war came up in my mind the second I heard Ace mention the Celestial Guard.

"Do you think they would give us trouble? The Celestial Guard, I mean." I asked.

"They could." Ace replied. "If they did, we would need to defend ourselves, even if it started a war. I need you to find some smiths and trainers that are willing to go with us to the mountains."

"There are a lot more ponies loyal to Celestia than Luna. Not only that, Celestia's guards tend to be stronger than Lunar Guards. We would need a way to take them down easier." I said.

"Dark, where are you going with this? I highly doubt a full-on war will break out." Ace asked.

"A friend of mine once said he doubted he would get struck by lightning, but he did. Anything is possible, Ace." I replied. "And to answer your question, I want you to find some inventors. Maybe a little on the insane side. They tend to come up with the best... devices." I continued, grinning a little.

"Alright Dark, you are starting to creep me out. To get some smiths and trainers, well, lets just say I have certain connections, so we are good there." I'm not too sure I want to know what he means by "connections", I thought. "As for inventors, I know of two. Beldin and Garath. A Griffin and a Unicorn. A bit of insanity and a complete pacifist." he continued.

"A pacifist, eh? Tell me about this 'Garath'." I said.

"Not much to tell. He's about your age, looks kinda like you, but made some useful things that I can't remember the names of for all the life of me." Ace replied.

"Oh, yes, I nearly forgot." Ace continued. "We are outnumbered at the moment. I decided to pull some mercenaries in with us."

"Mercenaries? Are you sure about his, Ace?"

"Completely. They are called the Shadrin. Very secretive bunch, but very good at what they do. They don't normally operate in Equestria, but I've... funded their activities at times. We just need to get them to be loyal to us. Unlike most mercenaries, they aren't in it for the money. They fight because they enjoy killing."

"Explains why they don't operate here. Not sure I'd want a bunch of ponies who kill for fun in my kingdom either."

"Precisely. Promise them a few drinks and plenty of fights and they will follow you to the bottom of the ocean."

"It seems it is settled as to what we will do. Tomorrow I will gather all our supporters and deliver a speech in the afternoon. While that is going on, you can get the others. With luck, we can leave by the end of the week." I said.

The Next Day

I looked out over the massive crowd gathered before me. Despite being on such short notice, just about every pony in Equestria had arrived. Most I knew were in support of Luna, but I could tell that some were just here to see what I had to say  and then try to slander me afterwards.

I prepared one last time for what I was about to do.

"Ponies of Equestria!" I shouted over the idle chat of the crowd. They all stopped and turned to face me. I inhaled, the continued. "As you all know by now, our leader, Princess Luna, was unfairly banished to the moon by her sister, Princess Celestia, over the simple matter of increasing the day to allow for more farm related work to be done. Luna simply asked that, if the day would be lengthened, so should the night. A very simple quid pro quo. However, Celestia refused! She refused to be fair to her sister!"

I paused for a moment to look closer at the crowd. The ponies had mixed emotions. Some were shocked, some were angry, and some were sad.

I started again. "And now look! Our fair leader is stuck alone on the moon! After it happened, I was thrown into a mine shaft and forced to slave for stone! I was tossed in a dungeon where I was abused by the same guards that are supposed to protect and help us! But that is not all! Celestia was planning to execute me! A coup d'état of her own sister!"

I stopped a second time. Now, almost the entire audience sat with their jaws hanging open.

I continued. "We want the princess responsible for all of this brought to justice, but she hides in her damn tower surrounded by her supporters and her guards!" I shouted, pointing at the tower behind me. "The tyrant Celestia fears us! She fears what we would do if we caught her! But, we do not need to catch her, for I have a plan to bring our beloved Princess back to us, where she will judge Celestia herself! We will go to the eastern mountains, and we will build our own city! And from there, we will do all that we can to bring Luna back to Equestria!"

Surprisingly, I got a massive cheer from the crowd as I told them what I discussed with Ace. after a few more-or-less inspirational words, the audience began to disperse as the ponies went home to collect their things. As I began to step off the stage, I heard a voice behind me yell, "Hey, horn-head!"

I turned around to see who had tried to insult me. There were a couple of Celestial Guards standing there, a Pegasus and an Earth Pony. I said to them, "Can I help you two?"

They looked at each other, then the Pegasus said, "Yeah, you can. Mind telling us why you didn't tell your little followers the entirety of what happened on the fifteenth?" I wasn't expecting that.

"Ever heard of propaganda? That speech was a good example." I replied quickly.

"You also decided to personally attack our Princess. She did what she had to do, nothing more." said the Earth Pony, ignoring what I had just told them. "That's just like declaring war."

"If it's just like declaring war, then come fight me!" I yelled at them.

"Oh, no. there will be plenty of fighting on the battlefield. You were our enemy from the moment you attacked Rune. Now, with that lovely little speech of yours about how Celestia is a tyrant for doing what was right, you have a special place in our hearts." said the Pegasus.

"I think I'll enjoy making a necklace out of your horn." said the Earth Pony mockingly.

When I didn't reply, the Pegasus said, "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?"

I simply replied, "Nope, I was just thinking about this whole situation. I've been finding old friends, and making new enemies left and right."