Barro Vs. Luna Part 3

The moon
Three years ago

It was almost noon. Luna knew what time it was because the moon told her. Knowing an object for so long, one came to know the changes it constantly underwent. Even in the vast darkness of space, information was communicated through the stellar objects. Indeed, space was not empty; space was full, and the moon felt almost like an extension of her own horn. She felt every dusty groove and crater across its surface, everything on the moon, and through it, space itself.

It was as if she was standing on a stone submerged deep beneath the ocean, so deep that it seemed to be a part of the greater expanse rather than an individual object. Space, to her at least, was absent of the pressure of the water, the only gravity something she had power over. It gave her a unique perspective of space. She was able to see farther, feel more and sense more through the moon more than any other pony in Equestria, even her own sister. She could draw on its strength and feel like even Equestria itself was in her grasp... but she knew not to go down that road again.

Noon came. It was time for her duel with Barro. She looked around, scanned the starry expanse. As per their agreement, the terms of the duel, Barro had twenty minutes to reach the moon's surface in one of his gunships. He had several, and even his own team to fly them, Luna knew. They could attack from any direction, but she could teleport the moon faster than any vessel. She could do a lot with her moon; use powers she hadn't demonstrated before, like wrapping it in a shroud of shadows to render it invisible, using its surface to reflect the sun's rays and cosmic energy, sheer the fabric of space and time and create a rift between-

*BOOOOOM!!*

An explosion rocked the moon's surface. Fire burst outward, sending moondust floating in the limited air. She could feel the explosion and not just because it was close by. Technically, it was several hundred meters to her left, but she could feel the impact and heat on the moon's surface. She turned her head left and right, frantically searching for-

*BOOOM-BOOOM-BOOOM!!*

Three more explosions. She couldn't even see Barro. Where was he, where were his ships? Where were the satellites, the missiles, the weapons he had to have been using?

*BOOOM... BOOOM... BOOOM-BOOOOM*

The explosions were coming too fast for her to react. She saw one, finally and could tell it was coming from out in space above her. A red streak rained down from above and exploded in a bright, red burst of heat and energy, expanding outward with force enough to level a Manehattan building with ease before vanishing, leaving behind a rising cloud of moondust and cinders. The limited atmosphere she kept on the moon was only enough to sustain flames for barely a second before even the embers were snuffed out, but the surface felt the heat and force.

Luna summoned magic into her horn when an explosion knocked her off her hooves. She summoned a shield to protect herself when one of the red bolts hit her in midair. Despite the shield, the force of the blast slammed her back down into the moon and another explosion hit nearby.

She was in danger of losing the duel. She had made a mistake. If this kept up, the moon itself would take damage and the barrage showed no sign of ending.

"Barro!!" Princess Luna shouted, "You've broken the terms of our-" *BOOOOOOM!!*

She was hit again, knocked back by the force of the blow. The heat washed over her, but couldn't catch her mane on fire or burn her. It was still painful, and knocked the wind out of her and tossed her back.

The moon was her strength, but she now saw it as a weakness. The explosions, the bursts of fire were silent... but not to her, not slamming against the moon. The moon was like her horn and the energy salvo was like drumming on her head with a hot sledgehammer. She was too attuned to it, too bonded to it, had never expected such sensation to come from space, such pain in a vacuum. The heat of the sun had always been so far away, but now... it was right against her face, burning.

"I give up! I surrender!!"

Just as she had said that, Barro's ship had appeared above. It seemed to just sail out of the darkness. It had no apparent lights on it, no flare from its engine and yet, it moved. Carefully, deliberately, the gunship landed on the surface of the moon a few meters away from Luna.

The cockpit canopy pulled back and Barro emerged in a spacesuit. He casually walked over to where Luna lay on her back. And he reached out with one hooof and-

"Boop."

Barro booped the Royal Snoot of the Night.

"...Are you bucking kidding me?"

"Good afternoon, your highness. I believe I've won our duel."

"You..." she rolled to one side, braced herself and began to get up. "You violated the terms. You said you wouldn't fire a single shot!"

"The day of the duel, I wouldn't fire a single shot," Barro said. And with a smile, he added, "I didn't."

"The day of the... ohh..." Realization dawned on her.

Luna had underestimated Barro. It's true that she had seen into his dreams and used that to formulate a strategy. She'd expected him to try stealth, misdirection, and it seems that he did, just not in the way she anticipated. Luna had not used the full extent of her power, but Barro's point had been made; she was taken off-guard. An opponent that can do that for even a moment had the advantage over even one such as her and her sister, and the game they were playing was for the highest stakes.

That was partly why Luna had put her faith in the Magic Gear project. Peace Walker and her ilk, barrowed from the CIA, would be a deterrent for Equestria. She thought she and Celestia could handle space all on their own. Cadence and Shining Armor won hearts and minds, Celestia and Luna had day and night, the Magic Gear was the pocket ace while Twilight and her friends advanced the cause. Any gap in their defenses left them vulnerable; Barro had showed her she was not as prepared as she thought.

Barro nodded. "I traveled a good distance away and fired them then. Yesterday. It took the bolts a full eighteen hours to get here. Mr. Hay and I calculated where the moon would be in its orbit at the time, the likely place you'd stand on it between the light and dark halves, the timing between shots to prevent you from reacting defensively, how you'd move in response to each blast and finally, where you'd land on your back."

She stared back at him in an exhausted near-disbelief. "You calculated all of that? And what was that- the ordinance, what were those, those energy blasts you used?"

"Bursts of hyper-accelerated plasma fired from a railgun. They can be even more potent and powerful than what you just experienced. Similar to when Celestia harnesses the sun and projects its power and energy. Princess Celestia," he quickly added.

She panted, catching her breath as she finally stood. "You've... you've made your point, Mr. Barro."

"Have I?" Barro turned to her. "Your highness, I could crack this moon in half if I wanted to. What do you think is going to happen to Equestria when our enemies decide they want it? They're not going to simply walk up to the front door and knock, no, they're going to raze it and then walk over the ashes. They could strike anywhere, hit us faster than we can react unless we have satellites. Satellites that have a chance to detect things before they hit us."

She nodded. "I see."

"I'm thankful," Barro said. "I haven't matched your power and that of the princesses, Luna- I've surpassed it. And so have others. There are more powerful weapons than what you've seen, but the biggest problem is what I've shown you today."

"And what is that?"

He pointed at her. "You're predictable. I know how easy it is to fall into comfortable patterns. But this won't help you when someone is out to take what is yours."

She got up fully, dusted herself off. "So what do you propose we do? You want satellites, you can have them. Within reason. I'll approve the order of an orbital network of satellites, ones that you can launch. We will... overlook the gunships in your possession if you're willing to use them to help us."

"I am. More than willing."

"Then what more do you think we need?" Luna asked. Then, it dawned on her. "We could use you as an advisor. I find it a bit embarrassing, and quite a bit surprising that I'm beaten by, mostly... well, mathematics. I was not prepared as I could have been; you are right, we are overconfident in our abilities."

Barro thought about it. "You're offering me a position? With the royal guard, or something?"

She nodded. "For you and Mr. Hay if you accept."

"I..." And Barro thought about that. "I'm not the right person... the right pony for that."

She quirked her head slightly, not quite understanding. "You seem very qualified."

"I... thank you," Barro said. "I have my area of expertise, but... that's about it. We need someone as an advisor who has more comprehensive skills. Myself, my opponents know space and air defense is what I'm good at, so they'll use more anti-air components. It's basic strategy. What you need is someone who is... unpredictable."

Luna walked over to him. "We play with the hand we're dealt, Barro. You could be the key to the play we need. You could be the ace up our sleeve. But, you're saying we still need a wildcard."

"Our enemies are going to be playing with a full deck and more up their own sleeves. We need every advantage we can get."

Luna nodded again, agreeing. "I see what you mean now. You may not be our wildcard, but, I hope you'll stick around for when we need you."

He shrugged slightly. "I wasn't planning on going anywhere."

"Good," she said. They shook hooves, ending the duel. Barro walked back to his gunship.

"Would you like a ride, your highness?"

"No, thank you." She turned back towards her moon, preparing to clean up the mess. "How are you able to make that machine fly without power?"

Barro grinned. "Trade secret, your highness." He boarded the ship.

Before the canopy slid back again, Luna said one last thing. "And Barro?"

"Yes?"

"Two things: first, if the results of our little engagement appear on the news, this moon will get quite a lot closer to your studio very, very quickly if you understand."

"I understa-"

"And also," Luna said. She turned her head back to him. Something flashed in her eyes, something dark. "Next time, I won't be holding back."

But Barro just smiled at her. "You'd better not."

Eventually, Dan would take the advisor role Barro declined.