The group turned sharply to look behind them, Luna almost screamed in terror but Celestia anticipated this and covered her sisters' mouth with a hoof.
“Well, who do we have here? Impostors?” Said the voice belonging to the blue-green glowing eyes, perforating the darkness.
Raider quickly pulled out his radio,
“Sir, we’re under att-” was as far as he got before the body belonging to those eyes fired a beam of magic and flung the radio at an unbelievable velocity from Raiders’ hoof into a wall, decimating it into thousands of pieces.
Cirrus then drew his sword and the quickly-recovering Raider unsheathed his combat knife to point it towards the shadows where the eyes seemed to hang in midair, attached to nothing but the darkness.
“I could shout for help quicker than you could kill me.” Pointed out the feminine voice. “So I’d recommend re-sheathing those.” Suggested the voice.
Raider sighed, knowing he was beaten.
“Fine. What do you want to know?”
The creature emerged from the darkness while Luna studied her. She was a Changeling, as expected, and she was a guard, wearing very dark blue armour, almost dark enough to blend in with her black skin. She also had holes in her legs, a recurring theme in all Changelings. Despite the holes, all Changelings managed to walk without trouble. The Changeling was wearing a long sword on her midriff, ready to strike, but safe in the knowledge that she had the upper hand.
“I want to know why you’re here.” Said the Changeling.
Raider realised that lying would only worsen the already dire situation they had put themselves in.
“We’re a scouting party from Canterlot.” The Sergeant said.
Luna was shocked by how easily Raider had told the truth, did he want them to die? He could have said they were lost or something less likely to get them killed.
Raider continued.
“We traveled here to take back our Elements of Harmony, you don’t have the right to take the from their true owners.”
Raider then tried to embellish the truth to appeal to the guard.
“Discord has taken control over all of Equestria except the Changeling Kingdom, this is where he will strike next, you have to give us our Elements back.” He whispered harshly.
He knew that Discord had given up his rule, but hoped that the Changeling wouldn’t know.
“Who are you, anyway?” Asked the curious Luna.
Celestia snapped at Luna for asking such a stupid question in such a desperate situation.
“I’m glad somepony asked.” Said the Changeling with a smile.
“I am the Captain of the Changeling Royal Guard.” Started the high-ranked Changeling.
“But I am also Princess Chrysalaria della Malvagità, the next in line to be the Queen of the Changelings.” She stated self-assuredly.
“But you can call me Chrysalis.”
Chrysalis then continued.
“Don’t try to play me for a fool, Sergeant.” She said after noticing the chevrons on Raiders’ helmet, denoting his rank.
“I know that Discord has taken over all of Equestria except here, but that’s because my mother, Queen Ellixandria, struck a deal with him that guaranteed that Discord couldn’t harm a Changeling or invade our Kingdom. So don’t try to gain any leverage here by mentioning Discords’ name here.” She recommended.
As Chrysalis finished talking, a patrol of four Changelings walked around the corner and were surprised by the presence of their Princess and her pony prisoners.
“Just in time, men.” Chrysalis said. “Take them to the prison.” She walked away with a cruel laugh.
The four Changelings quickly got behind the ponies so that they couldn’t attack them, then they drew their weapons and held them behind the ponies.
“Walk, and we may not kill you where you stand.” Ordered one of the Changelings to the sounds of laughter from his comrades.
The four Changelings led the group across the street towards the giant black tower doors guarded by two other Changeling troopers.
Luna began to weep quietly as she realised how close to death she may was. She didn’t want to die. She hadn’t experienced enough of life, of friendship, of love. She looked towards Celestia, who also seemed to be crying, her eyes looking wet as the moon reflected off of her tears.
The two Changeling guards on the door started to laugh.
“Remember the last ponies we found, Eris?” One of the troopers asked, chuckling.
“I sure do, Dysis.” Responded the Changeling called Eris as he and Dysis started to re-enact a past event in high-pitched, mocking voices;
“Oh, I love you, Glimmer. I’ll never let you go.” Chuckled Eris.
“But, Orbit, they’re going to kill us.” Laughed Dysis.
Luna recognised the names of the ponies they were talking about, her mother and father. Luna stiffened at the mention of their names and her anger started to rise.
“Yeah, they sure squealed like pigs.” Replied Eris as he laughed uncontrollably.
“Not when we’d finished with them!” Exclaimed Dysis, wiping tears of joy from his eyes.
“How dare you talk about my parents like that!” Luna screamed violently as a river of tears poured from her eyes. Celestia nudged Luna to silence her, to possibly save her life.
“Woah!” Dysis exclaimed. “We’ve got a live one over here!”
“Yea.” Guffawed Eris. "But not for long.”
Luna’s momentarily subdued rage exploded out again.
“I'll kill you!" She screamed. “All of you!”
Luna squealed as she was pushed forcefully down the flight of stairs leading to the prison, she was pushed so forcefully that she couldn’t react in time to use her wings. Luna threw a hoof in front of her to stop her fall; she landed with a loud, horrible crash as she collided with the wall at the bottom of the stairs, Luna could no longer cry or scream as she had the breath taken from her lungs as she smashed against the floor
Now inside the castle, Raider tried to shake free from his guard to attack the guard who pushed the innocent Luna so violently, but he was forced to the floor by his guard, who threatened him.
“Try that again, and you won’t live to regret it.”
Cirrus and Celestia gently cried as they saw their family and friends attacked and they wept at the fact that they may be dead before sunrise.
The group were stripped of their armour and weapons as they entered the prison.
The Changeling guards led the beaten and bruised group down to a small, narrow prison cell, then locked the cell door behind the ponies, walked away and shut the door main prison door, casting the jail in almost complete darkness.
Luna continued to weep at her pains from the guards’ unneeded brutality as Celestia tried to comfort her. Raider paced up and down the prison cell, desperately trying to brainstorm ideas on how to get out. Cirrus sat at the back of the cell, also thinking of ideas.
“Damn it!” Raider yelled. “I can’t think of anything!”
“Wait!” The suddenly excited Cirrus butted in, springing to his hooves. “You two can get us out of here!” He yelled happily as he pointed at Luna and Celestia.
“How?” Celestia asked, still hugging the bruised Luna.
“Yes!” Raider shouted. “You can use your magic to teleport us outside the tower!”
Celestia stood, realising what Raider wanted her to do. Celestia adopted a steady stance and concentrated on her magic. She had done many teleportation spells and could easily move a group of people about fifty yards. Celestias’ horn shone a bright white colour, illuminating the cell. Cirrus, Raider and Luna stood anxiously awaiting what would happen, but then the Celestia’s horns’ light blew out with a fizzle.
“I can’t do it.” Celestia panted, exhausted by the spell. “They have an-anti magic barrier in the prison, I can feel it, it blocks my spells whenever I try to-” Celestia stopped talking quickly as the prison door opened.
The sound of hoof steps rang throughout the almost empty prison under the castle. Raider poked his head as far as he could through the iron bars to see who was coming, but he couldn’t see through the darkness of the prison. He heard what sounded like something trotting down the flight of stairs, clunking with the sound of armour and weapons.
Luna and Celestia began to cry and hold each other, cherishing what would be their last moments together. Cirrus sat at the back of the cell, too shocked to move by the fact that he was going to die. Raider took a few steps back from the gate of the cell, knowing he was going to die, but he composed himself and looked at the gate. In his mind, he told himself that if he was to die imminently, he would go like a soldier, either fighting or staring his killer directly in the eye, unmoving. He wouldn’t cry or beg to live, but accept his fate like a true Royal Guard.
Suddenly, the hallway in front of the gate lit up as a torch facing the cell was lit, illuminating the cell again, the imprisoned ponies realised that it was Chrysalis, who dropped some armour and weapons on the floor, they were Raiders’ weapons.
“So, you tried to escape using magic? You didn’t do a very good job.” Chrysalis laughed. “Looks like I’ll have to give you a hand.”
“What?” Asked the astonished Raider.
“I’m busting you out.” She replied.
“Why?” Asked the equally shocked Cirrus.
“Well, I need your help. I’m not waiting till Ellixandria dies of old age so I can become Queen, and I won’t be able to kill her without anyone else noticing, so I need you to kill her. In exchange for me getting you out, of course.” Chrysalis explained.
“Why didn’t you just ask us before your guards attacked Luna and Raider?” Asked the angry Celestia.
“I’m sorry for the way the guards behaved. But I needed you inside the building first, and if I alone brought in four prisoners, it would look suspicious.” Chrysalis pointed out.
Celestia seemed to see reason in Chrysalis’ point and quietened down.
“Now, Ellixandria will be in the throne room, which is next to the entrance hall, so when you leave the prison, turn left, and she’ll be in there.” Chrysalis noted.
“Why do you think we’ll go after Ellixandria and not the Elements?” Cirrus questioned.
“Because Ellixandria wears the Elements at all times, she can’t use them, but it’s safer than storing them anywhere. So you’ll have to kill her to get them. If you’re lucky, she’ll only have one guard helping her, the Sergeant.” Chrysalis said aggressively in response to the disobedient Cirrus.
“What form are the Elements in now? How many different pieces are there?” Asked the curious Raider.
“They’re in the form of two necklaces containing three traits each. As Solaria and her mother were the last holders that used them, they split for those two ponies specifically.” Chrysalis replied.
“Oh, and about the Sergeant that will be guarding Ellixandria, he has a slow reverse sword swing, so try to attack him on his right side.” Chrysalis suggested.
“Got it.” Raider said. “Where will you be in all of this?” He asked Chrysalis.
“Someone has to distract the guards; I’ll draw them away from the castle.” She pointed out.
“Well, draw them to the north-east corner of the city ‘cos we’re leaving on the hill in the south-west corner.” Raider suggested, eager to leave nothing to chance.
“I’ve brought two extra weapons for these two.” Chrysalis said as she held out two knives to Luna and Celestia.
Luna looked uncomfortable at the possibility of using a weapon.
“Erm…I think we’ll stick to magic.” Celestia said.
“Suit yourselves.” Chrysalis shrugged.
“I’ll go now to draw the guards away,” Chrysalis said as she trotted away.
“Thank you” Luna said to the Princess
“Thank you, too. You’re helping me as well.” Chrysalis said with a smile.
“Good luck.”
The group followed Chrysalis up the stairs, Chrysalis peered around the prison door, the coast was clear.
“Come on.” She whispered to the group.
“I’ll stop any Changelings coming through the main door, you lot plan your attack. Tell me when you’re ready.” Chrysalis said as she stood in front of the main door on lookout duty.
“Right.” Raider said as he looked through the gap in the door to the throne room. “There’s only one guard, he has three chevrons on his armour, so it’s that Sergeant.”
“Luna and Celestia, you two attack the Princess, work in a pincer movement so she has to focus on one of you, that’ll give you a chance. Use your magic, block her attacks, then quickly counterattack.” The sisters looked very worried about this plan, but Raider motivated them.
“You can do it, when me and Cirrus have dealt with the Sergeant, we’ll help you as quick as we can.”
“No.” Chrysalis interrupted. “You can all attack the Princess.”
“How?” The confused Raider asked.
“When I go and make a scene, the guard will walk towards the door in front of you, so just ambush him when he gets close enough, then you can all attack Ellixandria.” Chrysalis pointed out.
“Right. We’ll do that.” Raider acknowledged Chrysalis’ wily plan.
“We’re ready when you are, Princess.” Raider said to Chrysalis.
“Good luck, all of you.” Chrysalis said as she burst out of the castle’s front doors.
"Help! The prisoners have escaped! They’re running north! After them, all of you!” Chrysalis screamed and bolted northwards, followed by her loyal troops.
As expected, the area outside the castle and leading southwards was clear, and the guard was approaching the door, wondering what was going on outside.
“Good, the guards’ coming.” Raider whispered, not wanting to give away their position.
The guard reached within five yards of the door, then shouted.
“Dysis! Eris! Is everything okay?!”
“Damn. He isn’t coming to us, we’ll go to him.” Raider decided. “You three ready?”
The three ponies nodded.
Raider then burst through the door, startling the guard, he began to draw his weapon, but Raider was already on him, driving his knife through his stomach, destroying his vital organs, killing him instantly.
Queen Ellixandria jumped to her hooves from her throne, ready to fight against the suddenly-appearing enemy. Luna saw the Princess, long black mane, jet-black skin; it was as if she was darkness herself. Except for the two necklaces she wore;
The Elements of Harmony.
Luna was temporarily distracted by the Elements, hypnotised by their appearance, Ellixandria noticed this and unleashed a beam of magic that just missed Luna’s head, singeing the top of her mane. Celestia wasn’t distracted and used her magic to topple the throne onto the unsuspecting Queen, crushing her. Cirrus and Raider continued to close in on the Queen, avoiding her lethal magic beams.
The Queen tried to squeeze from under the heavy stone throne, but to no avail, so she used all her force and pushed upwards, sending the throne flying towards Cirrus and Raider. Cirrus saw the throne coming and slid on his belly across the slick floor towards the Queen, but Raider hadn’t seen it, and the weighty throne landed on both his fore legs, with a terrible double-snap ringing throughout the castle to the sound of Raiders’ cries of pain.
As Cirrus slid across the floor, the Queen was trying to rise to her feet, but was slowed by the pain the falling throne had caused her. Cirrus jumped into a sprint from the slide, unsheathed the silver, gleaming sword and plunged it into the Queens’ eye, which saw the life drain out of her, and Chrysalis became the new Queen of the Changelings.
Cirrus had been taken back to his days in the Guard and had an almighty adrenaline rush, so much that he looked for more enemies to fight in the room, but there were none, and his temporary blood lust was ended.
Luna and Celestia witnessed the death of the Queen and ran to the screaming Raider, his fore legs broken by the throne. The sisters used their magic to lift the throne, but Raiders’ legs were broken, he would be unable to walk for a long time.
“Raider!” Luna yelled. “Are you okay?” Luna was increasingly worried about the brave Sergeant’s wellbeing.
“It’s my legs.” Said the clearly distressed Raider. “I can’t move them.” He cried.
“Just get the Elements, quickly, so we can go.” He ordered.
Cirrus continued to tend to the Sergeant in any way he could while Luna and Celestia went to get the two necklaces.
Luna and Celestia approached the dead Queen, Luna poked her with a hoof to confirm she was dead, just making sure.
As Luna and Celestia touched the necklaces containing the Elements, they were both lifted into the air, as if by some type of powerful magic.
“What the hell?” Cirrus exclaimed as he watched the sisters be lifted off their hooves, surrounded by a bright, white light.
As the light intensified, the necklaces attached themselves around Luna’s and Celestia’s necks. When the necklaces made contact with them, their eyes glowed pure white, as if overcome by the magic within the Elements. When the light went out, Luna and Celestia landed on their hooves.
“What was that about?” Asked the confused Cirrus.
“I-I don’t know.” Said the very perplexed Luna, looking at her sister for answer.
“I don’t know either.” Celestia admitted.
“We haven’t got time for this.” Said the pained Raider. “We need to leave now.”
“Come on.” Cirrus said as he lifted the Pegasi as he lifted the gasping Raider. “If we fly, we’ll get to the hill quicker.”
Cirrus, Luna and Celestia took off and flew as fast as they could to the evacuation site on the hill.
The group reached the hill with no interruptions; all the guards were ‘chasing’ them, which left a massive hole for them to escape through.
Cirrus lay Raider down so he could sit on his hind legs.
“Thanks, guys, I’d have left me there.” Raider admitted.
“We need you, Raider.” Cirrus said.
“Are you going to make it?” asked the worried Luna.
“Of course he’ll make it, Luna!” Celestia laughed, “I’m sure he’s face much worse and come out well.”
“Well, I’ve never had broken legs.” Pointed out the brave Sergeant, his teeth gritted in pain.
“Look! It’s the chariot!” Luna shouted.
Luna pointed up to the night sky and saw the golden chariot. The chariot was pulled by two Pegasi with two other Pegasi manning cannons on the sides of the chariot. The section of the chariot that held things had about enough room for seven fully-armoured, fully-grown stallions, so this group would easily fit in.
As the chariot completed its landing and the tailgate came down, the two soldiers manning the cannons left the chariot with a stretcher as Luna, Celestia and Cirrus entered it. The two soldiers carefully lifted Raider from the grass and placed him on his back on the stretcher.
As Raider was being placed on the chariot and the tailgate was being bolted up, a strange sound that was similar to a swarm of angry bees erupted from the Changeling Kingdom.
“What the hell is that?” Asked one of the soldiers, shaking in terror.
As he asked that, hundreds of Changelings appeared over the top of the buildings, flying towards them.
“Quick!” Raider shouted. “Go!”
The soldiers quickly manned the cannons and the two Pegasi started to sprint towards the Desert, speeding up to take off.
When at full speed, the chariot would be much quicker while the much more powerful stallions pulled it, but the Changelings could catch them while they were taking off and accelerating.
Luna, Celestia and Cirrus lay down as close as they could to the cannons with Raider inches in front of them, the further forward in the chariot they were, the higher survival chance they had.
The chariot pullers quickly took off with the army of Changeling rapidly approaching.
“They’re gonna reach us!” Yelled one of the gunners. “We’re gonna need your help, do whatever you can! Magic, weapons, hoof-to-hoof, anything that’ll give us a chance.”
“Tia.” Luna said quietly, “in case we don’t make it…”
“Luna, we’re going to make it home, all of us.” Celestia butted in.
“But-” Luna tried to respond.
“No, Luna. We’re going to make it. But we need your help, use your magic.” Celestia ordered.
The fleet of Changelings soon neared the chariot as Luna, Celestia and Cirrus positioned themselves at the tailgate wearing Raiders’ armour, ready to fight off the horde. Raider continued to moan in pain, but held a knife in his teeth, just in case he had a chance to kill one.
As the Changelings approached fifty feet from the chariot, the gunners opened fire. The cannon fire scared the life out of Luna, the sudden explosion of sound as the metal balls flew towards the enemy. If the cannonballs hit, they exploded into smaller, sharp fragments that would incapacitate any nearby enemy. The only way they could escape would be outpacing the Changelings, as they would never be able to kill them all.
A radio strapped to the side of the chariot burst into life.
“Chariot Alpha, do you read? This is the Captain, do you read?” Asked a very anxious sounding Captain Steel Hooves.
Raider rolled from his stretcher and reached for the radio,
“Sir? This is Sergeant Raider speaking.” Raider replied.
“Raider. What’s going on?” Asked the desperate Captain.
“Well, Sir!” Raider yelled over the sound of the cannons. “We’re being chased by the Changelings, but we’re not going fast enough yet, and there’s too many of them!”
“Why aren’t you fighting, soldier?!” Shouted the furious Captain.
“Sir, I will if one gets close enough, I can’t use my front legs, they’re broken!”
Steel Hooves sighed sadly down the radio.
“Well, do what you can, just hold them off, we don’t have any chariots, so I’ll contact Emerald Horn for backup” Steel Hooves responded.
“Yes, Sir! Out!” Raider yelled as he turned to see a Changeling approach him.
Raider flicked the knife from the ground using his hind leg onto his stomach, lucky not to have stabbed himself, then he reached for it with his mouth. The Changeling continued to close down on him, then at the last second, Raider gripped the hilt between his teeth and raised his head. The Changeling tried to pull up, but was already going too fast, and was fatally impaled by the blade, the Changeling’s blood squirted into Raider’s mouth, temporarily choking him.
“Raider, report!” Buzzed the radio again.
The still coughing Raider picked up the radio and balanced it on his chest to talk while Luna and Celestia continued to fire magic at their enemies and Cirrus slashed at anything close enough while the constantly firing cannons continued.
Raider hopped onto his hind legs and peered over the edge of the chariot.
“Sir, we’re about two thousand metres from Stalliongrad!” he observed.
“Good, you’ll be away from them soon, but I can’t reach Commander Emerald Horn.” Said the Captain.
“Well, who didn’t see that coming?” Raider muttered, leaning away from the radio.
“By the time you’ve cleared Stalliongrad, you’ll be going fast enough and they’ll be blocked by Stalliongrad’s shields.” Steel Hooves pointed out. “Just do what you can. Out,”
“Over and out.” Raider obliged.
Luna and Celestia continued to fire their beams of magic towards the seemingly ever-growing fleet of Changelings.
“Keep going, Luna!” Celestia yelled as she killed her umpteenth Changeling.
“Cirrus, look out!” Luna yelled as she killed a Changeling that was aiming to spear Cirrus with its horn as he fought with another of its kin.
Cirrus finished off his original opponent as smiled at Luna, he then continued to fight.
There was no rest for any of the ponies on the chariot, all fighting against the onslaught of dark, evil creatures.
As the chariot entered the final five hundred metres, a different, but equally familiar voice rang out over the radio.
“I’m sorry we’re late!”
As Raider stretched for the radio, twenty armed and armoured Pegasi flew into the Changeling horde from below them, taking out a Changeling each.
“Emerald Horn?” Asked the surprised Raider.
“Well, not me personally, but the Stalliongrad Pegasi!” Emerald Horn responded proudly.
“Don’t worry, my friend. We’re firing from down here, too, we’ve got you covered till you get home!”
“Thank you, Commander.” Raider replied.
“Anything for my worst enemy!” Emerald Horn chuckled, “Out!”
“Out.” Raider responded, shocked that his previous enemy had become an ally.
Luna was getting dizzy from the amount of magic she had used, but luckily, since the Stalliongrad forces had shown up, she had fewer things to shoot at; the cannons only fired every so often when the Pegasus forces had to swoop around for another strike. As they finished attacking the Changelings, they would have to reorganise, which took about fifteen seconds, and that’s when the Changelings learned to attack.
As the Pegasi finished another attack, the Changelings struck with their hardest surge forward yet. One giant Changeling rammed the chariot, sending Luna flying into the tailgate with a loud crash. Raider saw Luna’s problem; where the busy gunners, Cirrus and Celestia hadn’t.
Raider spotted a speeding Changeling going straight for Luna, Raider looked towards the reorganising Pegasi, they wouldn’t attack in time! He had to help her!
Luna shook her head in shock as she raised her head to see the Changeling motoring straight at her. Luna fired two quick bursts at the creature, but it skilfully avoided them, Luna pushed herself to her feet when another Changeling rammed the chariot, sending her sprawling again.
Raider saw her fall again, and time seemed to go in slow motion for him. He looked up to see the approaching Changeling only a few feet away from the defenceless and unaware Luna, still dizzy on the floor. Raider yelled loudly.
“Luna!”
The Sergeant ignored his pain and launched himself forwards with his hind legs, sending him soaring through the air towards Luna.
Luna looked up to see the sharp horn of the Changeling only three feet away from her, Luna said her goodbyes to her life in her head, accepting her fate. Then Raider appeared from nowhere, and blocked the Changeling.
But in blocking it, he took the horn full in the midriff, puncturing his stomach.
Luna saw her friend hit the floor of the chariot, and he didn’t move. Was he dead?
A strange feeling shot through Luna, one of intense magic. She turned to fire at the Changelings, ready to take them all on. Then her and the unsuspecting Celestia released a massive wave of magic simultaneously. Luna felt the necklace she wore charge her whole body, sending a massive magical shockwave out through her and Celestias’ horn.
The Changelings were decimated where they were, instantly vaporised. The Stalliongrad Pegasi hovered, wondering where their enemy had gone.
What had happened? Luna wondered. Her neck ached slightly, where she wore the necklace.
The shocked Cirrus turned to her.
“You just…used the Elements?” Cirrus couldn’t believe what he’d just seen, but couldn’t deny that only the Elements of Harmony were capable of that type of magic.
Luna forgot about the Elements and remembered her brave saviour, Raider.
“Raider, are you okay?” Luna asked as knelt next to him.
Raider was holding his stomach, plugging the fatal hole there, made by the Changeling.
“I’m definitely not making it home this time!” he chuckled grimly, gritting his teeth.
“B-B-But, you can’t…die.” Luna stammered, tearing up.
“It’s okay, Luna. All that matters is that we’re safe and that you and Celestia have the Elements. Just try explaining that to the Princess.” He chuckled.
“R-Raid-” Luna started, and that’s as far as she got, Raider sat up from his lying position as kissed Luna fully on the lips.
Luna was shocked by how Raider had reacted, but she didn’t back out from the Sergeant’s approach.
She felt overcome by how Raider was kissing her, nopony had ever been like this with her before.
The two eventually parted, Luna still sat there, slightly shocked, but feeling happier,
“I’ve always wanted to do that,” Raider admitted. “But I’ve never been strong enough to talk to you before ‘cos I didn’t know how you’d react.”
Luna’s world was changing right in front of her, a Sergeant of the Royal Guard...loved her?
“Well…” Luna stammered. “I sort of like you too, Raider.”
Raider’s eyes started to soak with tears as he realised that the secret love of his life also loved him, he could now die a happy soldier.
As Luna held Raider in her arms in his final moments, Raider beckoned her to lean closer.
“What is it, Raider?” Luna asked worriedly.
“Luna, even though I will die soon, I will always love you, even Death won’t stop me loving you.”
Luna started to cry, then she kissed Raider again.
When she released Raider, she looked him in the eyes. They were both crying. Raider smiled as his last breath left his body and his eyes glazed over. His lifeless face continued to look at Luna and still held that smile.
Luna rested her cheek against his and continued to cry while Cirrus and Celestia watched, not sure how to react.
Cirrus trotted over to the distraught Luna.
“He was a good soldier, a good stallion.”
“Yes, he was,” Luna replied through tears.
“And I loved him.”