Dan Vs. Flashback: Barro Vs. Luna Part 2

Note: Part 1 of this flashback can be found here Barro Vs. Luna Part 1

Canterlot Castle
Three years ago

"You want me to what?"

Barro turned to face her. "Reconsider."

"How did you even get in here? Is that..."

"Ah, yes, I DID have to sort-of borrow Vinyl's... everything to get in here," Barro admitted. He removed the fake musical note cutie mark, the wig and glasses.

"I see," Luna said, still looking extremely skeptical. "And breaking the law, impersonating another pony, violating my sanctum, barging in here and waking me up is supposed to make me... reconsider?"

Barro swallowed, but continued. "No, your highness. I..."

"Barro," Princess Luna got up. "I understand your position. Professor Vice Grip's proposal was chosen over yours, Vinyl's and the others because it is the most practical." She walked out of the closet.

Barro opened the door fully, stepping out to follow her and asked, in the most compelling tone he could muster, the simple question, "A giant robot? Really? How is a giant pony robot practical?"

She turned back to him. "You don't need to understand my decision, Mr. Broadcaster. If it is any consolation to you, I was impressed by all the proposals I saw, yours and Mr. Hay's included. If, at another time, we require and have more funds to support a second project, your resources could-"

"You don't know what's out there," Barro said flatly. Silence, then Luna raised an eyebrow.

"And you do?"

Barro took a deep breath. This was beyond insubordination, beyond questioning the highest authority in Equestria, beyond straight-up disrespecting the most prominent figure in security, safety and defense for the entire kingdom. This could end more than just his career, though at worst, he might face exile. After a lengthy stay in the dungeons.

"I'm just saying... we need satellites."

"We have a satellite," Luna said. Obviously, she meant the moon. She felt safe, felt confident with it, the source of her power. It made all of Equestria's airspace feel safer knowing she controlled the nearest celestial object and could leverage its power whenever she desired. But, for all its magic, it was still just a big rock. Barro knew Equestria needed something more precise than a big rock.

She walked back towards him. "Look, Barro, I know how things seem. I've seen your dreams. I've seen everypony's dreams. You're not the only one here who came from far away with more than your share of baggage. There are threats and yes, many of them are unknown to us. But, as my sister will tell you, we do things our own way here. Equestria does things its own way."

"And your way involves giant robots? This... Magic Gear thing, you're that confident in it?"

She hesitated, but then nodded. "We are confident, yes. And more than just the professor are involved, though he is the chief designer of the primary platform. The A.I. will have inputs from multiple sources."

The way Luna hesitated, that was telling. Barro seized on it. "Multiple sources? You don't trust just one pony programming this thing's brain, do you?"

"The specifics are classified. The security privilege you and Michael were given doesn't make you privy to such details, I'm afraid."

Stone-cold. He decided to try a different approach. "If we're to pitch this thing again at some point, the least you can give me is a reason for why you chose his over mine."

She paused again, debated whether or not tell him. "Well, we considered every part of each of the projects before making our final decision. Ultimately, in the subject of yours against the professor's, we estimated deploying a defense grid would be more difficult to accommodate than a ground-based platform. A large pony walker is easier to conceal than a network of satellites, and would be more in-keeping with the kingdom's aesthetics."

"Aesthetics? Aesthetics?" Barro repeated. He had to stop himself; he noticed his tone was getting a bit too insubordinate. "Your highness, I could easily modify the existing... aesthetics of the satellites to-"

Luna started shaking her head before he finished. "You'd still require communications equipment, and the modifications to the existing buildings just aren't in keeping with Canterlot's aesthetics. We can disguise a pony walker as a parade float, or-"

Barro turned. "Wait, you're doing this because the thing looks... cute?"

"Cuter than your gunships," she quickly blurted out. But then, she realized she'd made a bit of an error.

It was all too easy to figure out after that. "You thought the Magic Gear was cuter and would look better when you paraded it downtown."

She turned away, nearly scoffing at his accusation. "It's a practical machine and something we can conceal easy. It's a secret weapon, Barro, not one to constantly hang over our own heads."

"And weaponized satellites are too obvious," he said, finishing her thought. She walked out of the room, he followed her.

"We appreciate your concern." Luna used the royal "we" again. "But we've made our decision."

But before Barro fully left, he turned around to her one last time. "Would your highness be up for a little wager?"

Her royal eyebrow quirked. "What sort of wager?"

Barro paced. Then, turned to her, mustering all the confidence he could. "I challenge you to a game. A duel, of sorts. Friendly duel."

Another long silence. "You're challenging me to a duel?"

Barro nodded. "A contest." Gone from wager, to game, to duel and now contest. "In space."

"You're challenging me to a duel in space?"

"On the moon, specifically," Barro said. The moon was the place where Luna was the most powerful. Her former prison and also her primary source of magical strength, she was linked to the stellar object just as Celestia was to the sun. She lowered her brow at him, in essence asking Barro if he was serious. Challenging the Princess of the Night in a place of perpetual night, she would have every magical advantage. And Barro wanted it that way.

"You say you can defend Equestria, let's see how well you defend the moon from my assault. I will attack the moon with you on it. If you can push me back, keep me from reaching you on the surface, I'll give the professor's project my full support. The weapons for my satellites, we can mount them on your Magic Gears to make them even more effective."

"What makes you think we require your weapons?" Luna asked.

"Even with magic weapons and spells, you still need conventional weapons, your highness."

She considered his words. "Fine. And if... you should prove victorious?" She was trying to hide her own confidence. Good.

"If I win, I'll still provide you with the weapons. Machine guns, S-Mines, homing missiles, the works. But you have to launch my satellites. Let's say... this weekend. Saturday. At midnight. I will launch my attack from outside the solar system. You will have to defend the moon and prevent me from reaching you on it. For... let's say, twenty minutes-"

"Only twenty minutes?" Luna asked. "Why not an hour? A siege can last for days-"

"I won't even need the twenty minutes," Barro said. And now, he was speaking with confidence. A bit too much, he needed to soften it, so he followed up with, "And neither will an enemy. To devastate Equestria, they'll hardly need any time at all, your highness."

She took a long time to consider before answering. "I accept. I accept your challenge and your terms, Mr. Barro. Your breach of palace security will be forgiven... this time. If you don't reveal to anyone that I nap in the closet." She didn't even try to disguise that last bit by calling it a 'royal respite room' or something.

There was no hoof-shakes, no pacts, nothing to seal the deal, no contracts. A princess' word was law, fact, as true as anything else and not debatable. Not unchallengeable, but inarguable. The only times they signed things were treaties or decrees and a wager was neither. But, it would have just as much impact as anything else involving the royal family, and much more. Barro would see to that.

Barro was almost his way down the hall when Luna called after him. "Mr. Barro."

"Yes, your highness?"

"I know more about you than you realize. Including where your loyalties lay. All of them."

He held her gaze. She held his.

"Equestria is our home, Barro. We will do whatever it takes to defend it, to protect it."

"Are you asking me if I'm loyal to you?"

"I'm asking if we can trust you," Luna said.

Once more, Barro thought for a long time, an honest time before he gave an honest answer. It was not easy... but it was right. It was the right thing to do, the right answer. Trust. Dan would've said you should never trust anyone or anything completely, yet he did. Having confidence in yourself was ultimately easier than having confidence in someone else. Being confident, speaking with confidence, that wasn't the challenge. It was having confidence, having faith in others, faith that you could trust them. Faith... and trust.

"You can now," Barro said. And he left the castle grounds. Princess Luna went back to napping.

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Luna went with the Horsie, cos Crusader just couldnt fit in the street?