After embracing the dark side, Nightwing proclaims a new empire.
After embracing the dark side, Nightwing proclaims a new empire. He uses his brand-new inventions to wage war against Equestria and the League of Elementals.
Emperor Nightwing was leading his army of Droid Soldiers through the empty streets of Canterlot. The city had been abandoned after his attempted coup, signs of his previous attack were still evident, ranging from rubble strewn across the streets to rotting corpses.
His mechanical eye, which he had made from a red gem, scanned his surroundings, ready to take down anypony, foolish enough to try and attack them. Nightwing thought it was rather foolish to abandon such a strategic city. Turning towards his forces, he ordered, "Check these buildings and make sure they are empty, if you find any survivors bring them to me."
Nightwing then entered the destroyed fort that used to be the headquarters of the League of Elementals. He searched for any clues that might point to the location of Celestia and the rest of the elementals. Not finding any, he then decided to use the aura to feel for any connection to either Celestia or even Defender, however he could sense none.
Nightwing walked up to a flag pole and cut down the Equestrian colours, before raising the flag of the Imperial Empire, which was a red flag with a black circle that has miniature spikes around its circumference, within the circle was a white symbol with the same appearance as the black symbol, surrounding the symbol was a black octagonal ring.
If he was to use the city as his new capital then he would need to repair the destruction that his forces had caused. Facing his legion of droid soldiers, he suddenly announced, "Attention Droids, We have successfully taken Canterlot and have got the enemy on the retreat. I want all APIs to be on the hunt for the retreating enemies. I want sentries on all major entrances to the city and patrols in the streets. If you find anypony, bring them directly to me, I shall be investigating the old archives."
With that, Nightwing made his way to the royal archives in search of ways to increase his power. Entering the archive, he instantly made his way to the restricted section; there he found an entire bookcase dedicated to the dark side. Sitting down at a desk, he began to examine the ancient texts, mumbling every time he found something interesting.
***
After he had finished examining the archives, Nightwing began to make several plans for new inventions that could help his new empire, he needed to make sure that everypony knew about his empire, so he began to design a droid that could project a live image of himself so that he could make public addresses without needing to be there in person, this communication droid could also make it easier to communicate with his forces and potential allies. His second plan was for a much larger project, they were blueprints for a type of airship that was large enough to house thousands of ponies, it was to essentially be a flying fortress. He called it the Sky Destroyer.
The Sky Destroyer would have a triangular design with three large rocket boosts at the rear of the ship, giving it large amounts of speed, the ship's bridge would tower over the rest of the ship. Unlike the old airships that were controlled by Celestia, the Sky Destroyer would have no open decks, making it next to impossible to board while in the air. It was to be heavily armoured and have hundreds of cannons that could shoot down any hostiles from the sky. There were also several large hangers that could house Advanced Pegasi Interceptors. Emperor Nightwing was hoping that the Sky Destroyers would be the backbone of the empire.
As soon as he had designed the Sky Destroyer, Nightwing, immediately ordered hundreds of droids to begin construction of the colossal airship, he wanted to have the Sky Destroyer up and running as soon as possible.
While construction began on the Sky Destroyer, Nightwing was in his newly created workshop, creating the new comms droids. The comms droids would be in the shape of a ball and would use tiny rocket boosters to keep themselves in the air, while it would use a projector to show the live feed of the pony that was using it. He wanted to create enough so that they could be sent out to all of Equestria, where he would give Celestia's precious little ponies a message of his own.
One good thing about using droids was that they didn't need sustenance, which meant that they didn't take up as much resources, however despite this, Nightwing knew that his empire would crumble if it had no creatures that were alive to live in it. He needed more land, however, he didn't want to start any conquests until his Sky Destroyer had been built; this wasn't because of fear that he would be beaten, no, it was because he wanted to send a message that his empire was unstoppable.
Looking out from his window towards the Skyport that was being used to build the Sky Destroyer, Nightwing knew that it would be months before it was fully operational. Suddenly an idea had come to him, as far as he was aware, Celestia nor any of the elementals hadn't been seen, not even by their own subjects, the same subjects that they were supposed to be protecting.
He then attempted to reach out with the aura to see if he could sense the elementals or Celestia, however, he still could not detect the missing princess and warriors. He knew that there being no indication of the elementals in the aura was a potential indicator that they were dead. Nightwing was no fool and instead, he felt it more probable that they were blocking him from sensing them; he had no idea of how they could be doing this, however, this also meant that as far as the citizens of Equestria were aware, their protectors and princesses had vanished, which made them more vulnerable.
With a plan in his mind, Nightwing then sent all of the comms droids to various towns and cities across Equestria, once they were in position, Emperor Nightwing began his message to the ponies of Equestria...
Celestia was sitting on the roof of a large skyscraper and was overlooking the City of Manehatten.
She should’ve known this would’ve happened.
“Sister, you seem troubled,” said Princess Luna, joining her older sister and fellow princess onto the roof.
"I could've stopped this," Celestia said, angry at herself for her former protege's downfall.
Luna sighed, placing a hoof on her sister's shoulder, "No pony could've predicted this, not even you."
"No, you don't understand, there were signs, they were staring at me in the face and I foolishly ignored them," Celestia muttered angrily, shaking her sister's hoof off her.
"Celestia, you should get some rest." Luna urged.
"No, I need to correct my mistakes. I need to take Void Streak down." Celestia said finally before leaving the room, Luna felt helpless at the situation. Her student was not doing much better, he had been Void's best friend.
Luna decided to go and check on Defender, who had been training with his magiscaber. Walking towards the training grounds, she watched as her student cut down every single mannequin that was still standing with his blue magiscaber. "Defender!" Luna called out, halting the young pegasus's training
"Yes, Princess," Defender acknowledged, walking past his mentor as he put the training equipment back to their original location.
"That is enough training, you need to rest," Luna ordered, she couldn't stand watching, her protege train himself to the point of exhaustion.
"I can't, I have to be ready to face Vo- Him." Defender said, Luna noted the way Defender stopped himself from saying Void Streak's name.
Luna sighed, "Defender, you can't face him, alone."
"I HAVE TO! He was my best friend and he betrayed me." Defender shouted angrily as he remembered his fight against his former friend.
"Revenge is not the elemental way. Revenge will only make you as bad as Nightwing." Luna told her student.
Before Defender could retort, a royal guard ran into the room, "Your majesty, Princess Celestia needs you in the command centre," the guard explained.
Luna nodded as she motioned for Defender to follow her.
***
The command centre was located at the top of Manehatten's tallest tower, The Celestia State Building. "Why couldn't the command centre have been located on the ground," Defender grumbled to himself as Luna chuckled at his remark, her face soured as she what appeared to be a hologram of Void Streak, now known as Nightwing, Equestria's sworn enemy.
The hologram then began to speak, Nightwing's voice rumbled all around them as everypony could only glare at the evil pegasus.
"Attention Citizens of Equestria, I am Emperor Nightwing. I am here to tell you that your precious princesses have abandoned you in the face of danger and invasion. Last night, my forces marched through the remains of the grand capital city of Canterlot. While her defenceless subjects were being slaughtered right before her eyes, Princess Celestia fled in fear. She is now hiding like a coward and has left your cities open to attack. Right now the City of Cloudsdale is being destroyed after they refused to join me peacefully.
Now you can be like Canterlot and Cloudsdale and have your city, wiped off the map or you can join my new Imperial Empire and have guaranteed security and safety. Join me or die, those are your only options, you have twenty-four hours."
"Everypony in Equestria heard that message and we are already receiving reports that Cloudsdale is under attack by those flying ships. We have also lost contact with the cities of Las Pegasus and Vanhoover." A royal Guard captain said as everypony cursed themselves.
Blaze then spoke up, "We cannot abandon Cloudsdale lest more cities will join the Imperial Empire."
"We may be too late, by the time we are able to muster an army to defend the city, Cloudsdale will already be destroyed," Cerberus said.
"That may be the case but as protectors of Equestria, it is our duty to defend all cities even when all hope seems lost," Star Swirl explained.
Luna then declared, "I can quickly mobilize a detachment of Night Guards to help hold the Imperials off while we wait for reinforcements."
"Do that, we must do everything that we can," Celestia ordered, stressed out by the situation that she was facing.
***
Emperor Nightwing smiled as he stared up at the smouldering ruins of Cloudsdale. Unbeknownst to Celestia and the Elementals, he had lain a trap, while the Equestrians thought that he was destroying the city, in actual fact, he was rigging the city with hidden explosives that would detonate when the enemy came close.
He had no intention of destroying the city, Cloudsdale was far too important to lay waste to, besides, how could he rule an empire if his empire had no functioning cities.
He had ordered his APIs to use strafing runs against the city so that it would give the impression that the city was being destroyed, while several hundreds of Soldier Droids flooded the city with the intention of occupying the city. The civilians had not been evacuated as Nightwing was going to be using them as pony shields and hostages.
Below the floating city several cannons, that could fire magic bolts, were lined up and hidden by sheets of camouflage, ready to bombard the city as soon as the Equestrians arrived. Cloudsdale was more of a death trap than a city.
Suddenly a Droid Soldier walked up to him, bowing before saying in a robotic voice, "My Emperor, our droid scouts have reported that multiple Equestrian Chariots are flying at speed towards Cloudsdale. Should we move to intercept?"
"No, let them enter the city. I do not want to scare them off before they can enter my trap." Nightwing ordered.
Nightwing was grinning as he watched the Equestrian army rush into Cloudsdale, his evil grin grew wider as his keen sight recognised Princess Luna and the traitor, leading the Equestrian forces, which he noticed were Night Guards.
His mood soured upon realising that they were Night Guards. Night Guards were trained by Luna, herself and were effectively more experienced and tougher than the average Royal Guard. This did not concern Nightwing as he knew that even if they managed to escape the city alive, they would be no match for his APIs, who would destroy them as soon as they made any form of getaway.
Still smiling, he ordered, "Let the battle begin, FIRE!"
Upon entering Cloudsdale, both Princess Luna and Defender were surprised to see that the city looked like a ghost town, with the once bustling streets, now completely devoid of any life. Suddenly they both sensed something coming in their direction from the sky.
Looking upwards, Luna shouted, "Take cover!"
As a red magic bolt struck the city, causing a massive explosion. The bolt had narrowly missed them, however Defender could see several more heading their way. The Equestrians dived into the nearby buildings, however, this only made things worse as upon entering the buildings, they exploded.
Defender, who was about to enter a jewellery store realised what was happening and quickly yelled out, "Stay away from the buildings, they've been rigged with explosives!"
Defender quickly took to the skies, in hopes of getting a better view of their situation, however as soon as he was clear of all the buildings, he came under fire from APIs and was forced back to the ground. That was when an army of Droid Soldiers came cascading around the corner.
"We're surrounded!" Defender shouted, pulling out his blue magiscaber and began deflecting magic bolts that were being fired from the droid's blasters.
Luna looked around them before closing her eyes and reaching out into the aura, looking for a way out of the doomed city. She then snapped her eyes open as an idea pinged in her mind. Using her horn, Luna powered up a forcefield that expanded, destroying the droid's leaving the street open for their escape.
"Quickly, we must retreat. The city has been lost," Luna said, both hurriedly and reluctantly.
The Equestrian Soldiers quickly leapt back into the chariots and taking off into the skies. "What will we do about those enemy ships?" Defender asked as he spotted several APIs flying straight towards them.
Looking towards the APIs, Luna explained, "You deflect those magic bolts, while I fly and use my magic to blast them out of the sky."
"What about their shields?"
"Those ships are small so their shield reactors will probably be weaker, besides their shields will be no match for my alicorn magic," Luna said with no concern.
Defender nodded as he flew to the rear of the flying convoy, while his mentor made a B line for the enemy. Princess Luna used her horn to take out the shields before blasting them out of the sky with her powerful, alicorn magic. Meanwhile, Defender had been using his blue magiscaber to ricochet magic bolts back towards their owners.
Luna grunted in frustration as every time she took down a single API another one seemed to pop up to replace its fallen brethren. Flying back towards the convoy, Luna told her protege, "I'm going to distract them, you head back towards the fleet and contact Celestia for more reinforcements."
She then flew back towards the APIs, where she shot down several more down. When the APIs had turned their full attention towards the alicorn, Luna quickly fled in the opposite direction of the convoy...
***
Defender watched with concern as Princess Luna flew off, with the APIs in hot pursuit. He then glanced over to the starboard side of the ship, where he could see the once glamorous city of Canterlot, now a heap of darkness and death. He had to resist all temptation to change the course of the convoy and head towards the fallen.
Defender sighed before turning towards the doomed city of Cloudsdale, the once white and fluffy clouds were now thunderous, and grey. That was when he felt it...
Looking towards a large hill, he could see several large cannons that were firing the magic bolts into the city. Then he spotted him
Glaring at the figure, he turned towards the ship's captain and ordered, "Keep heading towards the fleet, I'm going to put an end to this, once and for all."
Before the Captain could reply, Defender leapt into the sky and began to dive towards the cannons.
Meanwhile, Princess Luna, who was destroying several APIs, suddenly sensed that her student was in trouble. She looked towards the convoy, her eyes widening as she realised that Defender was going to try and attack Nightwing...
***
Nightwing was staring disapprovingly at his APIs, which had clearly fallen for the oldest trick in the book. Suddenly a red and blue blur rushed past him, slicing the barrels of his cannons in half, putting them out of commission.
Nightwing smiled as he realised, who had dared to try and challenge him, "Well well well, If it isn't the traitor," he chuckled as he heard the distinct whooshing sound of a magiscaber being activated.
Defender ignored him as he raised his blue magiscaber. Nightwing slowly turned towards his former friend, "Tut Tut tut, you come here seeking revenge. Luna will be disappointed, the elementals do not approve of revenge."
"They may not approve of revenge, but they do approve of justice and this is justice for the elementals and innocent ponies that you slaughtered at both Canterlot and Cloudsdale!" Defender shouted, pointing his magiscaber directly at the heart of Nightwing.
Nightwing merely chuckled as he powered up his own red magiscaber, "I'm afraid that will not be possible as the only way that you will be able to see your precious elementals, will be in a casket."
Defender screamed as he lunged at the deranged emperor, Nightwing quickly blocked his strikes with his magiscaber before swinging his own magiscaber around and launched his own strikes. Defender blocked these jabs and leapt over the blue pegasus, attempting to stab him in his back, however, Nightwing spun around and dodged the failed strike.
Nightwing then tried to swing his magiscaber down onto Defender's head, but, before it could come into contact with Defender's scalp, he used the aura to push him back before using the aura to pick up large clumps of dirt and threw it at the emperor. He dodged these attacks by slicing them with his saber.
Several Droid Soldiers attempted to intervene, but Defender merely swung his saber around, cutting their robotic heads off.
Nightwing, who was now losing his temper, used the aura to pick Defender up in a choke hold, before pulling him closer, where he used aura lightning to knock him backwards and sending spasms of pain through his body.
Nightwing approached the fallen pegasus with his magiscaber raised, "You underestimated me, now it is time for you to pay."
Bringing his magiscaber down, he was both surprised and angered as a purple magiscaber cut its path off and blocking it from striking the unconscious Defender. Nightwing was then pushed back by the aura, quickly jumping to his hooves, he faced his attacker.
"Luna, what a pleasant surprise. I never expected you to use a purple magiscaber, I'm surprised that the elementals approve of this. What was wrong with the blue one that I built for you?"
"Your blue one was tainted, besides this one is much more superior than yours." Luna snarled.
"Let's test that then," Nightwing said cockily, a glimmer of his former self.
"Trust me I would happily fight you but unfortunately, we have places to be," Luna said before grabbing Defender and then teleporting away.
Nightwing stared in annoyance at the spot, where Luna and Defender had been stood moments earlier. He then used his new invention called a comms link, which allowed him to contact his forces. He spoke to his API squadron leader and ordered, "The enemy must have a fleet nearby, I need you to search for it and tell me at once. Do not engage without proper reinforcements."
Nightwing then watched as his APIs began to fly around in a searching pattern for the Equestrian fleet.