The Lunar Empire

Planning Room

January 21, 1133

Ace Graymane

2:13 p.m.

"Send a patrol up to find out where the Celestial troops went. We need to know if they are planning a second attack." Dark Thunder said to one of his officers.

"Yes sir. I will send one out immediately. Is there anything else you need done?" he replied.

"Yes. I want to convert some of our merchandise ships into warships. If Celestia and her Generals decide to blockade our port, we will need them." Dark continued.

The officer gave a salute, then trotted out. A couple seconds later, Dark and I followed, closing the door to the dim room. "I guess now we can see what Beldin made for us. I think he fixed his weapon, and he should be out there now." I said.

"Might as well. Don't need a repeat of what happened to you in the workshop."

I thought back to what happened while Dark had been fighting.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" I asked.

"Yes, yes, of course." the Griffin replied. He continued tampering with his creation, mumbling to himself. "That should do it. Now, where did I put the charge?" he said, fumbling around the room.

"Beldin? Are you sure it's a good idea to be firing that thing inside a building?" I asked anxiously.

"It will be fine, provided I measured the gunpowder correctly." Beldin replied, finally locating his charge. "Now, we just stick it down the barrel, follow it with the ball, and fire!" he continued, loading the weapon. Without any sort of warning, he lit the fuse.

Beldin suddenly acted as if he had remembered something important. It was too late, however, as the weapon fired, putting a hole in a nearby wall. The barrel itself exploded near the back, sending smoke and still-burning gunpowder all over the room. Some of it had landed on Beldin and me, giving the two of us non-painful burns and soot marks. "Beldin, did you forget something?" I asked sarcastically.

"That would be a safe assumption," replied the Griffin, brushing off some soot. "seeing as half my workshop, us included, is burnt!"

I looked around. Sure enough, several areas of the shop had been scorched, and some smaller fires had begun to spread. I saw Garath poke his head in through the hole in the wall. "Um, Ace? You might want to put that fire out," he said, gesturing to my tail.

"What do yo- oh my!" I said, noticing the slowly spreading fire on the end of my tail. I quickly stomped out the flame, then thanked Garath. I looked over at Beldin. Because he was closest to the cannon, he had quite a few more blackened feathers than I.

"No matter. I will have it fixed by the time Dark Thunder returns for another demonstration, this time outside." he said.

I brought myself back to the present. By now, we were nearing a field primarily used by archers or spear-throwers. Other than Beldin, we were the only ones there. The cannon was a little different from last time, boasting a longer barrel, wheels, and a ramming rod attached to the bottom of the gun. A small rucksack sat next to one of the wheels.

Dark stepped up to the weapon. "So this is our war winner. How many have you made so far, Beldin?" he asked.

"After I made sure it would be safe, I had some of our smiths use surplus iron to make around twenty barrels. As of right now, this is the only fully operational cannon." Beldin replied. The Griffin pulled out some gunpowder charges and iron balls from the bag. "I also have several different types of ammunition that I will be showing you. For now, I'll just show you the standard load, which I will fire at that target." he said, pointing at several painted planks downrange.

He used the rod to push down the charge, then did the same with the ball. When it was down, Beldin pulled a fuse from the bag, and placed it in a small hole near the back of the cannon. Finally, he took out a small match, which he used to light the fuse.

"You might want to cover your ears," I said to Dark.

"Why would I-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the cannon fired with a loud boom. Fire shot out from the barrel, and the ball was briefly visible right before it smashed through the wooden target. The explosion from the cannon echoed around the field for a few seconds, and a small cloud of smoke drifted away from us.

Beldin looked extremely proud of his creation. He stood on his hind legs, smiling, with his arms crossed behind him. "Now, for the rest of the ammunition types." he said.

For the next half hour, Beldin went through several different charge and load variations. One load was numerous steel balls, that, when used at close range, could rip through any sort of wall. Another charge type was gunpowder packed together, and it allowed the load to be fired almost twice as far as it normally could. He even made a ball that exploded after its fuse burned out, the time of which was changeable by extending or shortening the fuse. The fuse itself was lit by the fires produced when the cannon went off.

"Well? What do you think?" Beldin asked.

"I think that you have just won us the war, Beldin. You can use all of our spare iron and timber to make these weapons, as well as any variants you may have planned. I have to say, I am impressed that you managed to think of, let alone perfect one of these in the short time you had." Dark replied. Beldin began pushing his cannon back in the direction of his shop. Just as we were about to go back, a dark haired Pegasus landed in front of us. He was wearing a full set of armor, and he had several small wounds as well as dents all over said armor.

"What's going on? Are we under attack?" Dark asked.

"No sir. I am with the patrol you sent out earlier to find out where the Celestial troops had retreated to." he replied.

"I see. From the dents on your armor, you must have found them. How many are there, and where are they?" Dark asked again. Probably can't wait to test out those cannons,

"The rest of the patrol has barricaded themselves inside of an old quarry about five miles west. Last I checked, there were at least sixty Celestials, a third of which were part of an elite unit. The rest were the survivors of the first battle." the soldier said. "I can go back and fight with you if you want."

"You look pretty tired from flying in a full suit. You can go back if you want, but I wouldn't advise it." Dark replied. "However, I do have one favor to ask. Go find Beldin's workshop and ask him how long it takes to fully assemble the mount for his cannon, then report back to me."

"Yes sir. We almost fell headfirst into the quarry when we found it, so I think I'll go back with you. Don't want that happening to the ponies bailing us out." the soldier replied. He gave Dark a salute, then began walking in the direction of the shop.

Dark looked over to me. "We will get as many mounts as we can in one hour, then set out towards the quarry. We need to get those ponies out of there before the Celestials decide to attack." he said.

"How many troops are we going up against?" I asked.

"You heard that pony, right? Around forty regulars backed up by twenty elites." Dark replied.

"I know that. I meant how many troops does Celestia have on her side?"

Dark let out a sigh. "At Canterlot alone, there are one thousand regulars, along with five hundred Royal Guards, half of which are highly trained mages. There are reports of ships massing at Baltimare and Manehattan, and a small defense force of around two hundred at the developing city of Fillydelphia. In Cloudsdale, we are up against three hundred of Equestria's finest aerial warriors, and finally, we have heard of an unknown number of soldiers stationed in Los Pegasus. All in all, we are facing easily over twenty-five hundred soldiers, with an untold number of townsponies ready to raise a pitchfork to us when we invade. This is going to be a hard war, Ace."

"We have only about one thousand spread out among our cities, and the Shadrin's numbers are small, only around two hundred and fifty, so you can see what sort of position we are in. Even with the assistance of a few cannons, an advantage the Celestial soldiers surely lack, we still have a pretty good chance of losing within the next couple of battles." he continued. Dark had taken on a sad expression as he spoke of the odds stacked against us.

"What if I went across to Cervidas and got help?" I asked. The question surprised Dark. He stood there a moment, staring at me.

"You mean hire more mercenaries? Don't we have enough with the Shadrin here?" he replied, finally.

"No, I agree that we don't need more hired soldiers. I mean convince them to bring their military over here and help us." I said. It would be a long-shot, even for me.

"Ace, I know you are good at what you do, but persuading a country on the other side of the strait to lend us soldiers seems impossible." Dark said, repeating my thoughts.

"I know, but it would be worth it. We could promise them land, or maybe some of our cannons when the war is over." I said.

"We could do that," Dark said, "...But for now, we have other matters to attend to. Our patrol member is back, and it looks like he has good news."

I turned around, and sure enough, the Pegasus was trotting towards us. After giving Dark another salute, he said, "Beldin says that, with the help of magic, a cannon mount can be created and the barrel attached in about ten minutes, maybe less. I saw that weapon, General. How exactly does it work?" Dark thought for a moment.

"It uses gunpowder, the stuff we occasionally use for mining and fireworks, to launch a metal ball over a distance." he explained as simply as possible.

"Interesting... When do we leave?" the soldier asked.

"In about forty-five minutes, we will set out to the quarry with as many cannons as we have made. When we arrive, we will set them up at the entrance with the close range shot that Beldin made." Dark replied.

"What do you plan on doing afterwards?" the Pegasus said.

"I plan on giving those Celestials hell."

The sun was barely starting to set when we arrived at the entrance to the quarry. I had decided to follow Dark, for the sole purpose of seeing war up close. The area around the entrance gave me a pretty good idea of what I would see. There were a few dried pools of blood near the wall, which was a combination of old wooden planks, slabs of stone, packed dirt, and holes. Our guide, who had finally revealed his name to be Midnight, was walking back towards our group. "It's clear. Sledge and Star are pulling down a part of the wall so we can get in." he said. "They are pretty relieved that help is finally here."

After a few more minutes, a small hole began to appear in the wall. We began pushing the five cannons that we had brought through the hole. The twenty or so soldiers Dark had as reinforcements followed them in, pulling in supplies. When they were done, I went inside. Dark looked around, making sure there weren't any enemies nearby, then entered.

The quarry was nothing more than a couple ruined buildings and scattered tools. Dark's soldiers quickly went to work on rebuilding the wall, as well as loading and placing the cannons. A couple of the patrol members looked at me, then started talking to each other. "Do you think it was a good idea for General Dark to bring a civilian with him? He could do something and get himself killed, then it would be on us for not protecting him." one of them said.

"I think it's perfectly fine. It's not like he's some filly that keeps getting under your hooves." said the other.

"I can hear you!" I yelled at them. They quickly stopped talking and walked away to a third member, who was talking to Dark.

I turned around towards the wall and saw that it had been finished. There were six holes, five of which were large enough to fit a cannon barrel through, and the sixth looked like an observation slit. I walked over to where the patrol members were all standing. Dark was talking with three other ponies, all of which looked like they'd been here a while. Where are the rest of them?

"We were attacked just before Midnight left, and again before you all got back. Right now, Edge and Trailblazer are in pretty bad shape. I'm not sure if either of them will make it until morning." said an Earth Pony. He appeared to be patrol leader.

"I understand. Right now, those cannons are loaded with a special shot, designed for close range. Tonight, if we can, we will lure the Celestials into a charge on the wall. Right as they get close, we will fire at them. After that, you won't have to worry about any more attacks." Dark replied.

"I hope those weapons are as effective as you made them out to be, General." the leader replied.

I began walking in the direction of one of the ruined buildings. It had some gear strewn around it, as if it had been removed in a hurry. When I looked closer, I noticed that most of the pieces either were broken or covered in blood. I stepped inside the building. It was too dark to see, causing me to stumble around for a while before my eyes adjusted to the room. I saw two forms huddled on the ground, and a third standing above the one closest to me.

"Midnight? Is that you?" I asked quietly. "Yeah, it's me. Be quiet, I think Edge is finally resting." he replied. I walked over to him as silently as I could. "What happened?" I asked again.

"Right before I left, those elite soldiers fired a lucky arrow through one of the holes in our wall. It hit Edge right in the center of his chest. It must have been poisoned, because he's just been laying here, shaking for the past few hours. Can't eat, can't drink, and can barely speak, let alone move. I don't think he is going to make it." Midnight said. Poor guy... I can only imagine what that feels like.

Midnight walked over to the other pony. This one was completely still, other than the occasional movement of his chest as he breathed. "This is Trailblazer. From what I heard, there was an attack right before we arrived. Avalanche says that he's lost a lot of blood, and that he's just been passed out here for a while. I don't think he'll make it either. It's a miracle we've even lasted this long." he said.

"We are going to win this war, Midnight. And when we do, all that died helping us shall have their names carved into our castle walls so that they will never be forgotten." I said, almost imagining the sight. "If we lose, then all anypony will ever know is their side." Midnight replied, doing the same. We both brought ourselves back to the current time. "I will be in here if you need me." he said.

I walked out of the building. The sky was now a mix of colors, ranging from bright reds to dark purples. The soldiers seemed to be preparing for the attack. There was a small hole in the wall, and some planks nearby. I guess the runner will go in and out through that hole, and then they will patch it back up when he is safe.

A young looking Earth Pony from Dark's unit stepped through it. He gave a salute to Dark and Avalanche, then turned around. "May you run with the speed of an arrow." one of the soldiers said. I heard the sound of hooves against the ground as the pony ran off towards the enemy.

The sound of the pony running quickly faded away, leaving the area silent. It seemed like an eternity had passed before we finally could hear the beating of dozens of hooves and the frantic yells of the pony as he fled back to the wall.

"Behind me! They're right behind me!" he screamed, barely outrunning the enemies. I saw him slide through the hole, and the other ponies immediately placed the wooden planks over it.

"Guns, ready!" I heard Dark yell to his unit. The ponies ran up to their cannons, torches near the fuse.

The Celestial soldiers had not slowed down. They were planning on smashing right through the wall and killing every Lunar soldier behind it. I could hear a loud war cry as they neared.

"Hold it!" Dark yelled. The ponies all suddenly looked nervous. The Celestials got closer every second.

He yelled at the gunners to hold again. Most of the ponies were now a nervous wreck, convinced they would die before Dark gave the order to fire. "Just wait a little longer!"

Time slowed down as the Celestial line came to be mere yards from the wall. I heard Dark shout something which was quickly drowned out by the sound of explosions coming from the other side of the wall. I flew close to the wall to see what was happening. I could already hear the cries of the Celestial soldiers as the small metal balls ripped through their armor and right into their bodies, and the flame from the cannons burning their skin.

I looked through a hole by one of the cannons. The Celestial soldiers had been completely decimated. Bodies and blood covered the corridor of stone. The combination of the close range attack along with the metal balls bouncing off the nearby stone had ensured that barely anypony made it out unscathed. I could hear the low groans of the wounded ponies as they lay on the ground, slowly bleeding out.

I heard Avalanche beside me. "Dear Luna... I didn't know something like this was even possible..." he said. I looked over at him. He had a shocked expression, almost unable to comprehend what had just happened. The soldiers next to me began moving away the cannons and started deconstructing the wall.

By the time they were done, most of the noises had stopped. Dark handed me a dagger. "Take this. We are going to do a sweep of the area, and see if we can get any prisoners that will survive, and we will need all the help we can get. If you find any that are messed up too badly... You'll know why I gave you this." he said. I began walking out into the corridor.

As I walked, I noticed the carnage caused by the cannons in even greater detail. There were long cracks in the wall where the projectiles had bounced off. I stepped over a mangled body, wondering how it was possible to do such a thing without the help of magic.

I stepped over another body, only to have it move. I jumped back, surprised. The pony had numerous wounds from the cannon, and his coat was so blood-soaked that I couldn't tell what color it may have originally been. I looked closer at him. His face was twisted with pain, and it looked like he was trying to say something. I listened as closely as I could, trying to hear him.

"Kill me... Please, kill me..." he whispered. I felt slightly sick at the thought of ending the soldier's life. I briefly thought about calling over one of the soldiers to see if it was possible to save him, but that idea quickly disappeared when I noticed that some of the balls had actually gone through parts of his body, and one had taken out his left eye. It would be cruel not to kill him, as much pain as he must be in...

I unsheathed the dagger Dark had given me. It was very basic, boasting only a wooden handle and a blade about four inches long. I mentally prepared myself for what I was about to do. I moved the dagger close to the dying soldiers heart was, moving aside a piece of ruined armor. That spot seemed to be the only part of him that wasn't completely red.

I closed my eyes and pushed hard on the hilt of my dagger. I felt the soldier shift from the new pain, then the feeling of  warm blood running against my hooves. I opened my eyes and looked down. The soldier was staring back up at me. I could tell just from the look in his remaining eye that, if he could speak, he would thank me for ending his misery.

A feeling of sickness came over me, so strong that I had to sit down. "Mercy kill... I-It was a mercy kill..." I whispered to myself, trying to convince my conscience that I had done the right thing. It worked, because I was soon able to stand up again. I pulled the dagger from the soldiers corpse, holding it in my hoof.

I continued walking. Something at the edge of my vision caught my attention, causing me to look up in curiosity. The outline of a pony against the fading sun greeted me. He was standing at the top of a hill. "Hey! Somepony's standing up there!" I yelled. The others didn't seem to hear me, focused on finding prisoners. I took off and began flying towards the pony. He suddenly disappeared behind the hill, as if beckoning me to follow him. I sheathed the dagger and came up over the top of the hill.

Five Pegasi, all clad in standard Celestial soldier armor, looked up at me. We all stared at each other, before one of them screamed something, prompting all of the soldiers to take to the skies.

I turned around and began flying back towards the quarry as fast as I could. "Dark Thunder! Enemy Pegasi right behind me!" I shouted, loud enough for all of the Lunar soldiers to hear. I saw them look up at me, quickly noticing my pursuers and shouting to each other. Just like that time in Canterlot...

The three Unicorns in the crowd looked up, and began preparing some sort of spell. Dark fired a thunderbolt, which struck my nearest attacker, causing him to plummet to the ground. The other two, instead of using a spell, launched their daggers into the air, striking another Pegasus and nearly hitting another. I continued flying, trying to outrun the Celestial soldiers. Despite their armor, they were incredibly agile and gaining fast.

I flew over the quarry and into a small bunch of trees. I landed in a large bush, waiting for the soldiers to land as well. A plan hatched in my mind. When one of them walks by, I'll take him hostage and force the others to surrender...

A soldier landed right next to the bush I was in. He was quickly followed by the other two, who looked around briefly. "Where'd he go?" one of them said.

"I don't know. Could have sworn he landed right over here." said another, the closest to were I was hiding. He began walking over to me. As he did, some sort instinct seemed to take hold of me. It was more than the adrenaline rush I got from flying, or more specifically, the one I received from being chased by the soldiers.

I jumped out of the bush, catching the soldier off guard. He tried to pull back right as I grabbed his foreleg. Instead of pulling him closer to put the dagger to his throat, that same instinct took over and I slammed down with my hoof, breaking his foreleg with a sickening crunch that made everypony feel uneasy.

The soldier let out a cry of pain as his broken leg dropped to one side. I pulled him up on his hind legs and held my dagger against his throat. "Any of you move, and I kill him." I said. The two soldiers looked at their friend, then at me, and then they nodded at each other. Kill or be killed, The thought entered my mind.

One of them rushed forward at me, and once again my new-found instinct took over. I cut open my captive's throat, blinding my attacker with his blood. He jumped back in shock, trying to get his comrades' blood out of his eyes. I dropped the bleeding soldier and threw my dagger at my enemy, striking a gap in his armor. The soldier fell to the ground, struggling to pull out the blade.

By now, my former hostage had died, but this time, I didn't feel anything. I stood there, surprised as the remaining soldier flew away, only to be struck my a thunderbolt. I heard his body slam into the stone floor of the quarry. I slowly walked over to the edge of the quarry, and looked down. Dark was looking up at me. I saw him wave his hoof at me to come down.

I flew down to where he was standing. "Ace..." he said, staring at me as I landed.

"What is it?" I looked down at my hooves. They were covered in blood from the soldiers I had killed.

"I didn't know you had it in you."

"Neither did I. I guess that whole 'kill or be killed' instinct took over."

"Looks that way. I saw you kill that wounded pony, out in that corridor. Don't let guilt make you feel like a murderer for claiming your first kill. You did the right thing." Dark replied.

"He wasn't the only one." I replied. Dark looked at me, confused.

"I saw those three ponies go over the hill after you. I heard some screams. Did you...?" he said.

"Yes... The scream you heard was from me breaking one of the soldiers forelegs, right before I took him hostage. A second rushed me, so I cut the first one's throat, and threw the dagger at the second. I think that tallies up to three." I replied.

"Wow... And you don't feel like everypony else does on their first kill? You know, sick, guilty, that sort of thing?" he asked.

"I did with the very first kill, but nothing with the others. I guess I was just able to push the thoughts out of my head faster." I replied. I was beginning to feel very tired.

"And here I was, under the assumption that all you ever did was lie really well!" Dark exclaimed. I looked up at the horizon, or at least what I could see from the bottom of the quarry. The moon was starting to rise. Time must fly when you're killing ponies...

"You look pretty tired. The soldiers got some piles of hay to sleep on. You've earned first pick." Dark said, pointing in the direction of a second, slightly more damaged house. I began walking towards it, growing more exhausted with every step. I entered the structure, closing what was left of the wooden door behind me. I collapsed onto the nearest bed of hay, closing my eyes. Maybe this war won't be as bad as everypony makes it out to be...