There were no two ways about it.
The forces of the Night had suffered a catastrophic defeat, and that much was a certainty.
If the plan had been some form of capitulation of the enemy, a sort of fearful submission upon seeing the supposed might of the NG, then such objectives had been failed, with either doubt or ambiguity attached to them.
What had been foreseen had not come to pass, and the only decisiveness to be found on that night was that inductiveness had reigned supreme, leaving the forces of the Night lost and embarrassed.
Though perhaps they should consider themselves fortunate in that regard. Death had not claimed them, for the most part, and Celestia would not find a square dedicated to the failures of those who challenged her madness. For that much, Solar could rest easily, knowing the fight would continue, and those who had indeed fallen would serve as the faces of the resistance, and not a warning to the citizens of Equestria that dangerous revolutionaries had arisen.
Despite near annihilation, the NG had nonetheless escaped that night with their lives, in great part to the last minute arrival of those who Solar now dwelled with, in a hastily established camp situated at the northern fringes of the Everfree Forest. Canterlot, proudly atop its great mountain, remained forever in view, a shining beacon that seldom left Solar without the painful reminder that Luna was still there, now devoid of him and the protection he offered her. Still, as agonising as this crippling sight was, Solar did not totally lament his torment. Not that he ever could, but it was with perhaps unsurprising irony that his burdens only furthered his resolve, and strengthen his determination to relieve them. Canterlot, the seat of power in these lands, currently one kept warm by Celestia, was his target, his destination in saving, and all those who he loved within its ancient walls.
Its pristine white washed walls would, of course, need blackening through the burning away of the corruption it harboured, but as long as the obnoxiously adorned city intruded his view, then Solar was content in the knowledge of which that stain in his vision, would forever beckon him back, a desperate plea of help that Solar would deliver, when its resident tyrant had been toppled, and her barbaric servants were thrown from its battlements.
For now however, wounds would be licked, reassessments made, and plans drawn anew. A disappointing step back for sure, but not one without an accompanying wake up kick. If a state of even further dedication to the cause existed, then Solar would have been shocked. Even among his new “friends”, cast out of Canterlot proper in fear of repercussion, he did not despair. On the contrary in fact, for such new circumstances were not without their opportunities, and they were certainly would provide Celestia with a far more impossible task at fighting back.
Ample luck lie in wait for the bringers of the Night. All that was required was the overcoming of one rather simple, if burdening obstacle.
“Hello Commander!” Came the chipper voice of Neon Edgy, she being the only familiar face in this sea of wild Thestrals. “You want which food? Rabbit or…wild flowers?” From her hesitation, it most likely seemed the case that only one of these choices was on her mind.
A non-issue, Solar quickly established.
“Buck, you think I care about that right now, Neon?!” Curiously, and quite out of character, Solar’s snappiness seemed to somewhat startle Neon, as if she had genuinely come here to initiate small talk.
“Right, you don’t eat anything bloody…Keke” This could only warrant a hard stare of the most disbelieving variety. It wasn’t out of the question that Neon was doing all this as a way to break the proverbial ice that had frozen from the retreat out her. A valiant, if unrequired action.
“Ugh! Enough Neon, please!” Regardless, Solar was in no mood for idle chatter, and quasi teasing of his uniqueness in the camp needn’t be required, such was the current wall that Solar had found himself encased in.
A restraining, almost debilitating issue that Neon slowly began to see.
Her head bowing, albeit only a little, and her eyes narrowing as if to seriously and sincerely focus on the matter at hoof, Neon actually cast aside her quirky and untamed attitude aside, and allowed herself the role of Solar’s new family.
“Commander, we had no way of knowing…no Intel, even from the Shadows.” She began, as caring and loving as any Pony bound by blood could be. “….It was never your fault…”
Solar had to double take. Was this seriously Neon speaking right now? Her normality seemed unreal, and her logic, actually present. Truly, all was not right with the world, for even as Neon deviate from her true self, so too Solar did abandon an earlier quality.
Now, all him shame had been vanquished from him, and Neon would currently be all the poorer for it.
“As if it ever could be so! Celestia’s state sponsored terrorism wasn’t exactly a fair swing!” Solar’s anger was palpable, not least of all because of his seemingly constant camp out on the perimeter of one of Equestria’s true dark spots. “Buck! I knew we should have gone in harder!”
“Kekeke!”
Solar lamented any serious response to his frustrations, his sanity spared only by a thankful return to form from Neon, who after recovering from her giggles, did actually entertain Solar.
“You really think it was her?” A simple question, designed as if to humour Solar as simply as he could be. She watched him like a parent did their child, their eyes watching the innocent one with an innocently accommodating and laissez faire like attitude.
Solar, as if he was ignorant to the societal norms of the grown up world, took the non-existent bait, and began his vindication.
“Think?” he asked, offence very nearly taken. “I don’t think so Neon, I know so! Why else do you think that I’m here, frolicking in the woods? That bitch Celestia wanted us dead, there and then, and she won’t stop now just because the citizens of Canterlot are a little shocked!” Anger was swiftly becoming Solar as his thoughts drifted to the actual full reality of Celestia’s aggression. “I’ll give her this though…As demonic as she is, she knew we would prove a problem to her as soon as she let off the blast. She’s well aware that there isn’t a chance in Tartarus that I would let her get off with this sort of tyranny!”
His frustrations were real. Escaping with one’s life was seemingly anything but bittersweet, given what a gift it was, but it was a delight very much of the moment. In fleeing that blood stained square, Solar was of course glad he would still live to tell the tale, but life was anything if not continuous. Just as he had always done so, Solar would continue living, knowing that almost surreal feeling and prolonged life would not last. Yet that was then, and the present was not yet devoid of challenges and dangers. Alive he may be, but only to live with the burden of further responsibility.
“You ready to believe she did it?” Neon then asked as if she was playing a round of quick fire questions. An unnecessary action, Solar need not be questioned about his cause, nor judged by any others. His belief was powerful for sure, but his reasons for being blessed by such conviction, the truth he fought for, was simply so noble in its dictator deposing intentions, that to question it was to undermine it.
And that was dangerously close to becoming an enemy to it.
“Neon, don’t tell me that you’re having…second thoughts on all this?” Solar had to literally prepare himself for suggesting such a thing. Celestia was bad enough all by her lone self, but blackening the world with her rot of misfortune, be it from either treachery against her own subjects, or corrupting Ponies against their true saviours, that was one move too far. Solar stepped forwards towards Neon, looking down upon her deceivingly almost sweet features, not just as an impassioned response, but crucially, as a warning.
If this was so however, Neon Edgy did not react as accordingly to it as many would have expected. As true to herself as she could be, or at least her more logical and calm side, she looked up and her co-leader with a neutral, almost pitied look, as if she was looking upon a Pony broken by his own desires.
“Are you, about me?” She simply replied, her voice gentle and curiously tamed. She did not react as one defending their legitimacy to the cause, as one could very easily in such a situation. Despite her lack of passion in her tone, Solar was, once again, taken by back her swift switch to wisdom. A dual personality it could be, or maybe even just an act designed to keep both her enemies and friends alert, it nonetheless ensured a very bitter realisation on Solar’s part. That he was now the one questioning the belief of a Pony who had given her whole life to the cause, and for far longer than he had ever had.
“Argh!” He cried out, frustrations coming out as if he was venting hot steam. “I know you’re loyal Neon, I’m sorry.” A pointless gesture almost, given that the Pony in question had never seemed fazed by Solar’s provocations in the first place. The truth of the matter was that Solar was indeed frustrated, and practically being locked up in some camp at the end of civilisation, was no sure way to rectify those issues.
“You seem troubled, Commander? Want to tell Neon all about it?”
How could one react to such a back and forth? Solar surely could neither find the words nor the surety given by a chosen reaction. The stability of such a positon was not found, leaving him in that ever unstable ground that was indecisiveness. Alone he now stood, in the middle of the proverbial battlefield, exposed and totally weakened by his action. Most of all however, he was left an open soul, and for either good or bad, was about to let himself open up to Neon.
“No, no I’m not!” he began, shaking his head as if it were the only remaining option. “In fact, how could I be? Sure, the battle wasn’t exactly to plan, but you know what? I can ignore that. Water under the bridge almost…What pisses me off, is the fact that I’m now here, far from Canterlot and the rest of the NG, surrounded by….” Teetering on anger, Solar immediately decided only a prompt silence would delay the inevitable, then to only spend this crucial reprieve on an investigation of his new camp mates. “Who and what are these guys exactly?”
A solid question, and one in dire need of answering. Thestrals, they clearly were. Their slit like pupils, leathery wings and tufted ears were practical trademarks of the race, not to mention their very prominent and literal fangs. The basics of their selves were clear, the only remaining questions relating to them was everything else.
“They’re from the jungle. Duh, Commander!” Solar made no mistake in believing that Neon was genuinely shocked of his ignorance on the matter.
“The jungle…” Solar then reiterated, as if he was trying to force himself to play along. “…Mind telling which jungles exactly, and like I asked, who the buck they even are?!” Now was not the time for riddles, least of all because Solar’s current emotional state. These new ponies were, apparently, allies of some kind, and if Neon expected him to just ignore them and see them as some last minute saviours, then perhaps it was she who remained the ignorant one.
Any attempt at spiting his opposite into speaking sense were, once more, met with total failure. Never once did she seem fazed by any foreboding repercussions from her angry co-leader. As seemed ever the case, social norms alluded her completely.
“You know, the big one in the south!” She finally answered, a large smile on her face that Solar made no attempt at decoding. “Oh, with the pyramids!”
“Tenochtitlan?” Solar intervened, determined to usher in some normality and sense.
“That’s it!” Neon replied with unrivalled speed and enthusiasm. “Sorry, we don’t like that place very much. Can you picture a big ugly blue monkey thing, with a Human like hand on its tail?! Yeah, freaky right?” Baring the fact that geographical knowledge, a crucially basic skill in this line of work had been neglected, somehow, this specimen of a Thestral had broken the wall of reality, and entered a realm of such disbelief and bewilderment, that Solar knew it was a path he could not follow.
“Right…” He barely managed, wrestling not only with Neon’s attitude, but also any potential information. “And what about their presence here? Tell me they are allies, Neon. You better hope they are…” Solar never expected for them to be otherwise, not while they currently play the part of saviours, but call it the burdens of leadership, for darker thoughts now so liberally entered his mind. The Night had many enemies, and possible many more not yet ready to make themselves known as such. As unlikely as it might have seemed, Solar now swore to himself a simple rule.
That any enemies of the Night, forces of ill will that proclaimed themselves as enemies of progress and the betterment of Equestria, would be stamped out relentlessly. Pre-emptively if need be.
So much was this firm belief held, that Solar, only after finishing his sentence, did now realise how close he had approached Neon, and how severely did he appear to her. His teeth were felt to be clenched, ready for an approaching fight almost. His gaze, descending upon the smaller Thestral, was so fierce in its sight, that it was a miracle that even Neon was not so intimidated. For Solar, so lost in his determination and ideology, was not the shepherd that this flock so dearly needed. He was instead, lost within a state of viciousness and overzealous dogma, a warning in Pony form, and the consequence that would be wielded against traitors to the Night.
Neon held her ground though, as she would any enemy to her. She was a strong servant of the Night, and not one so easily swayed by threat or insinuation. Her true thoughts on this aggressive change in Solar however, did not become communicated.
“They are the Disciples, Commander! Come oooonnnnn, keep up!” Be it a coping mechanism, or just plain old lunacy, Neon set aside her Commander’s attitude, and served her cause, in her own eccentric way. Information was given, however ambiguous it was to Solar.
“Who?” He asked with a blink and a long awaited step back. “Geez, what’s with all these cult like names? The Children, and now the Disciplines? I can’t keep up!” It was true. Too many forces unknown had entered the game as of late, following Humanities lead. Sure, these “Disciples” appeared to be allies, but how wise was it to just ignore these blind spots? How dangerous was it for him, the champion of Luna, to ignore these strange and hidden legions?
“Oh yeah, the Disciples hate the Children of the Solstice by the way!” Neon interjected as if the information was nothing, “They both come from the jungle actually…which I guess explains why you have never heard of them! Keke!”
Solar could only pause in total silence. As his mind raced, his eyes wandered as he began to contemplate the reality of this information. Neon seemed to find amusement in this vacant appearance, but it was of no consequence to him, not as he wrestled with the existence of these groups.
“And what? They each…worship their own respective extremes of the day?” Not necessarily a well thought out answer, but a perfectly instinctive one nonetheless.
“You got it!” Neon replied as a teacher would to a gifted student. “How did you guess?”
“Um, because these lot here are Thestrals?” Solar replied, almost sensing a test up Neon’s unpredictable making. “And that they saved us from the Children?”
A test it might have been, or not. Neon showed to signs of one in the making, but then again, normal reactions weren’t exactly her forte. She simply nodded, forgetting, it seemed, of her previous, enthusiastic response.
So while it appeared the case he was correct in his assessment, that these two contrasting groups had emerged from the tall grass to fight for their aligned side more visibly, a follow up thought, rupturing to the surface as Neon remained silent like she had nothing more to say or do, now dominated Solar’s interest.
“Neon, how did you know where to find them?” He asked, determined to know more up her part in the recue. A valiant effort, had it not been for Neon’s apparent confusion on the matter.
“Find them?”
“As in how did you know to go all the way to the damn jungle, just to acquire some allies?”
The Thestral nearly seemed to have genuine concern for Solar, as if he were ill or something. Narrowing her reptile like eyes, it became clear that, for whatever reason, Solar was, yet again, not privy to the apparent truth.
“Silly Solar!” Neon giggled through honest sincerity. “I’m from there! Duh!”
Perhaps this should have been a bigger deal, given its fairly limited impact it had on Solar. Without a doubt, there was an embarrassed form of shame felt, as it seemed the case that this role had not yet become his own, a disturbing pattern demonstrated beautifully with his tactical failure back in Canterlot. An ignorance born of his exclusion from the facts, yet not a wound so deep as if to compromise him.
“Are you…?” he finally replied, slowly and with his mind elsewhere. Of course, being a Thestral and a Shadow, Solar had never expected Neon to call her past home in some quaint town like Ponyville, or some bustling metropolitan urban hell hole like Manehattan. Her past, even prior to today, and bar any mentally shaping events, was of little concern to him. After all, it very much seemed the case that all those in service of the Night, particularly within the Shadow’s, shared the same past. An unstable, tough life, but one ensuring them a place in the violent business of protecting Equestria. Neon, even with her uniqueness, had this in common, at the very least, with her comrades.
Where the action now lay however, and what Solar’s mind was now so focused on, was a selfless turn of affairs. No jealousy of missing out on crucial information, nor the anguish of seeming a failure. For the safety of the wider world, and the benefit of Equestria, Solar lamented being unable to use its secrets. Neon appeared a strong ally yes, but for an enemy, or even anything else worth their metal in playing a part in this struggle, Solar grew agitated at his apparent unworthiness of being unable to ensure Equestria did not suffer because of them.
“I am! Do I have the accent? I left there pretty young to join our Queen! So I’m really boring and plain now…” Of all things, Neon was surely not those latter qualities. Maybe if that were the case, then Solar would have had an easier time at properly grasping this new world. Regardless, that was not the reality he now faced. His world, however cruelly it had tried to rest him in, was one to be learned and adapted from.
For all Equestria’s sake, he would gain that iron grip around the world’s hidden underbelly even if it tortured him to no end. There were no personal feelings in it, but in him being secluded from the know, and exiled from control, Equestria would suffer through its anarchy. Only he could set it right, and only he could step in and guide the world to a better future, however rough the path may at first seem, especially for anypony but him.
“Hmm…” With an almost dismissive grunt, gone was that burning sensation of intrigue that had arisen when Neon and these “Disciples” and swooped in and saved his very life. In an endearing turn of fate, at least for him, only the task at hoof mattered now, and as its mere instrument, Solar’s personal feelings mattered little when it came to shaping Equestria a better future.
Neon, as if she were emotionally connected to him, witnessed something at least.
“Do you…want to know more, Commander? It could help?” She spoke, far more subdued and submissively.
“Tell me.” Came the cold and efficient reply of Solar, taking up the offer solely because of its attractiveness to the cause, and not in a ravenous hunger for secrets.
Neon Edgy edged closer, looking around as if she had proper reason to display paranoia. Of course, Solar would anyway around such strangers, but this was just Neon being Neon. Surely?
“Ok so they are the actual old Lunar Guard, even though they don’t call themselves that anymore”.
Oh shit
“WHAT?!” Exclaimed Solar, this time justified in his shock and most likely on the side of most folk, who would come to learn of this news. “Are you fucking serious? Damn it Neon!”
It was ironic, but all Solar could now think was Princess Twilight’s very similar reaction to when she learned that the NG was the spiritual successor to the ancient Lunar Guard. He had dismissed her fears as meaningless, given the fact that his NG was, in fact, not the actual Lunar Guard of old. Yet, apparently, here they were, albeit far more primal.
“I know!” Neon acknowledged, the smile on her face easily suggesting that she perhaps wasn’t as in sync with Solar’s concerns as he would have liked. “But they said it’s ok if we basically keep the name. It’s been many years since they’ve used it anyway!”
Knew it!
“W-What? No, Neon! That’s not the issue here!” Just as he had concluded his mere self-mattered little in the grand scheme of things, so rushed back the primal fear of self-responsibility. “Unless you’re about to tell me that you’re also 2000 years old, I trust you remember the reputation of the actual Lunar Guard?”
And what a reputation it was. Not that it had, in any way, impacted him personally in his past. Still, millennia had passed with little mention or consequence of their disappearance, and not for a single one of those years had the large majority of Equestria lamented that.
“Oh...” Neon responded, as ignorantly innocent as one could ever be. “Oh right…”
Solar was dumbfounded. Neon legitimately seemed insulted to the point of a filly being disciplined by her parents. She stood there, eyes wide and shining as if tears had already begun to form.
“Oh come on Neon!” Solar found himself exclaiming, almost by force. “Self-pity won’t help us here. Just think of how this could all backfire, should Celestia get her grubby little hooves on this truth!”
Undoubtedly, should the public become aware of this fact, then the consequences for the Night would be worse than severe. However drifted they had become into myth and legend, the original Lunar Guards carried a dangerously destructive reputation, one of blood, horror and near evil.
Solar could not think of a single scenario in which Equestria would somehow accept this ancient force remerging, and fighting for the Night once more. These Thestrals, once the elite on Princess Luna’s forces, just as he was now, had not fought against the demonic forces that would grow to consume the Princess. On the contrary, there was great evidence to suggest they greeted such a corruption with open hooves and, if you were of the very suspicious kind, helped usher it forth even.
Regardless, until Nightmare Moon did emerge, the Lunar Guards were simply akin to the Shadows of today. Mysterious yes. Dangerous. Defiantly so. But still, on the side of Equestria.
When the dark mistress finally revolted however, the Lunar Guards wasted no time in satisfying her most vile and cruel whims. The role of death squads became all too familiar to the Ponies of the day, and as would become evident, once the dust had settled, these Ponies that Solar was now literally among, had no qualms at liberally dishing out the evillest and horrible crimes and nightmares.
They believed in their Empress, that much Solar was sure of, but the extents they went, the destruction, death and devilry they gladly brought to Equestria, that much seemed too far. Too blinded by their own messed up ambitions.
So when Neon reacted to these accusations with a “Oh right”, then Solar was well within his prerogative to question her instincts on the matter.
“Or are you really so bucking stupid to see that?!”
For the first time, Neon showed very real and genuine offence. Her vacant and wandering gaze suddenly snapped to Solar with shocked and taken back eyes, and uniquely for her, she seemed ordinary in her emotions.
“They are my people, Solar…” Nestled within that tone was no shortage of hurt, as she should have been. However fresh the knowledge was, Solar could understand now what a family meant. His newly found clan wasn’t exactly cozy and cuddly, and it sure as Tartarus wasn’t accommodating. He was in a world of back stabbing and war. Yet still, they were his own, and damn those who so aggressively fought against their faults. Perhaps to a more extreme extent, nevertheless, these Thestrals were Neon’s kind, and such a bloody past, full of the literal stuff of foal’s nightmares, wouldn’t part her of her connection to them.
If Solar would stand by his cause and people, even as they could very well be part responsible for a bloody civil war, then so be it. If he stood by his beliefs, then Neon had that very same right too.
“SHIT!” he cried out, frustrated at the obstacle after obstacle. “WHY DOES VICTORY HAVE TO BE SUCH A BUCKIGN COWARD AROUND US?!”
Subtlety had long taken its leave, abandoning Solar to his focused fate. Until now, the Thestrals now known as the surviving Lunar Guard had kept to themselves, being the reclusive and mysterious creatures they were. Now however, with Solar’s frustrated outburst, that condition was about to be revoked.
“There there, Commander. It’ll all be ok. We will find you food you can eat still!” Perhaps it shouldn’t have surprised him, but alas, as Neon stepped over, and comforted Solar with a supportive hoof over his shoulders, it was a confused surprise that then reigned supreme. Neon truly was a Pony of the moment, a mind so focused on the sentence at hoof, that whatever had happened previously, be it good or bad, mattered little in the face of the current moment.
Her starting point had been a sincere point of heart. An out of character, yet greatly impassioned love for her own. Her destination however, was a more familiar one. One more suited to mess Solar up and his mind with it.
“Eat?” A passing reply, hardly any effort or thought put into it as Solar merely spoke his vacancy of the mind out loud. Of course, logistically, being the odd one out here, a balanced diet would perhaps be hard to come by.
What a non-issue.
How Solar would not woe as nice food became slightly more a luxury than usual. Feeling the immediate urge to open the flood gates, and to demolish of dam that held back his sarcasm, Neon was only saved from this condescending onslaught, through a rather deserved turning of the tables, and a near repeat of that night in Canterlot.
A by-product of Solar’s racket, now finally did one of these horrors of a bygone age approach, their rather untamed and unkempt look now appearing ever that more terrifying to Solar and his possession on the truth.
Like many Thestrals, she possessed an almost atmospheric grey coat, seeming the case that to blend into the night and darkness, was an ancient advantage. That coat however, in contrast with the meticulously controlled fur of the Shadow’s, truly betrayed the feral and long lost nature of its owner. As if it had seldom been groomed through its entire life time, it was evident, from this close up, that this Thestral was truly one with the wilderness. Messy and dirty, Solar was now less shocked in hearing how long these once Lunar Guard’s had gone unheard of. Judging from this ones appearance, this most likely would have been her first venture up north, into the great open expanses of civilisation.
“Hey Solar, this is A Speck of Hunting and the Found, she’s kind and won’t hurt you.” Already, Solar had received the impression, from the mere mannerisms and vibe of this strangely named Thestral, that Neon wasn’t exactly unique in her odd little attitude. Through this new Pony’s brilliant orange eyes, Solar saw that same derangement and unpredictability found in his current companion and without shame in saying it, friend.
“Yes. Hello there…” Forced to oblige Neon’s introduction as if he was fearful of awkward small talk, Solar nevertheless bite down on his tongue, and tested the water of unfamiliarity.
“Oh she probably doesn’t speak common Equestrian.”
Solar had to roll his eyes. Of course, Neon’s friends were never to have been normal or otherwise compatible with some desperately needed sense.
“Yes I do! Many words in fact!” Came the new voice of this Thestral, shaking her turquoise mane quite vigorously. “LOADS!”
Solar’s hunch was correct. On the mark in fact. Why she felt the need to literally yell her latter word was beyond Solar, but still, bot exactly surprising. Neon was truly one of these innocently erratic if murderous Ponies.
“Right. Fine. Good. See you around….Speck?” Under no circumstance was Solar going to force himself to repeat her mouth full of a name. If that was the reason for Neon’s apparent offence, then she needed to broaden her horizons.
“Heyyy, Solar. Not nice! She’s our friend!” Like the filly she was, Neon seriously did not appreciate Solar’s lack of enthusiasm in meeting these violent and wild killers. With a totally unthreateningly, if rather adorable looking, scowl that Solar nearly burst a lung in from withholding his laughter, irony consumed the Commander of the NG, and found himself capitulating to the immature co-commander.
Or at least in a way that still allowed him to remain his bitter self.
“I don’t need friendship lessons right now. I’ll read a book if I ever wanted all that. Right now I-“
“It probably exists Kekek!”
With a blink, Solar turned to this Speck character, silence in the air.
Could his ears have deceived him? Had this Pony actually created some humour worthy of him?
“I don’t doubt it…” In restrained truth, Solar could to snort out a sharp laugh. Speck was right. A friendship book, a manual of sorts, most likely did exist in this decrepit society, ready to be swooped up like seagulls on a beach full of hungry tourists.
Degenerates. This is why the Night exists.
A repugnant thought, but at least one born of a minor benefit, that being the Pony whom had caused it. This Speck, as equally unhinged as her present kin, did at the very least, seem somewhat in tune with Solar’s own opinions.
A short lived victory however. Apparently content with Solar’s small acceptance of Speck, a satisfied Neon smiled happily, almost as if that was that, and she may die happy. In reality, in the bleak existence of the real world, this was far from the case. Awkward chatter had been avoided, albeit only through a stroke of luck, but the constraints forced upon the Night had not been so freed from.
His vestiges of a good mood flowing away into an emotional sinkhole, Solar lowered his eyes, and once again met his old friend darkness, yet not the kind of his beautiful Princess Luna.
“Would you like to ask Speck a ques-“A useless inquiry for a useless concern. Gallivanting verbally with the troops was far from needed right now, and however much she wanted it, Solar would not entertain Neon’s ideas of a school camp trip, with fireside chats and idle gossip made.
“Definitely not!” He spat, cruel only to the point of ensuring Neon knew him to only be frustrated, and not hateful to his allies. “I want to get out of here! I want to fight back! I want to see Canterlot free from its resident dictator! I want…I want-“Passion overtook him. Desire consumed him as inactivity proved to be the bane of his life.
“Is your friend ok?” Asked Speck to Neon as if Solar wasn’t even there.
“NO IM BUCKING NOT! HASN’T MY PREVIOUS SHOUTING SHOWN THAT?!” All goodwill, once generously gifted by Solar towards Speck, suddenly vanished, the Thestral proving she was perhaps too much alike Neon and her inconsiderate mouth of nonsense. “I DONT NEED-“Of course, discipline had to maintained, less these lunatics of legend may see it within their powers to dispose the mad leader of their modern Order. “I don’t need all this. I don’t need Ponies with crazily long and weird names striking up small talk with me! And I certainly don’t need to stay here while that bitch Celestia had our Luna all to her damn self!”
Emotional insecurity or not, Solar could not remain still. Even if it was just away from these two, Solar had to leave. Of course, in his own illogical mind, this departure was allowing him to get back to the task at hoof of deposing the corruption of the world from its rotted thrown. Reality though, seemingly the steady and consistent set of waves it was, came thrashing over him once more.
“Solar, I said don’t be mean!” Neon begged aggressively, chasing after him.
“No, Neon!” He yelled, turning his head back with gritted teeth on show. “Stop! Ill rip Celestia’s head off her pretty little shoulders myself!”
Music to the old Lunar Guard’s ears, it seemed. Little wonder. They had shown themselves to be beasts in combat, and judging from that, personal demons of Celestia. Such an old, everlasting hatred of the day must have been great, if it had lasted that long. So when Solar spurted out unrealistic yet satisfying threats towards Celestia, tuffed ears pricked up, and fanged smiles began to emerge.
One of those delighted listeners, Speck, must have loved it so much, that she flew over Solar, and blocked his path.
“Hey.” She said, as nonchalantly as any living being could. “Ok first, outsider, our names are considered a great honour. We earn them, and I’m proud of my abilities. The name Solar, though, concerns me a lot. Don’t we hate the sun?” A hard lump formed in Solar’s throat. As if it wasn’t enough for her to be like Neon as it was, so it seemed that she just had to copy her bi-polar like mentality, and switch to a coldly serious tone. Worse even, the rank of outsider, given to him bitterly and without any great love, hit home for just how dedicated these Ponies were at fighting for the Night. This was far from their home, but within this organisation, he was the newbie. The one who had not proved his loyalty with generations of sacrificed blood. He had intruded into his position, and however much he loved Luna, he would never come close to the eons of servitude these Thestrals had given.
“It’s just a name. I’ll have you know-“Pleading, however intimidating and in command he tried to seem, proved fruitless.
“And the Empress is just a Pony? This is just a fight? The Children of the Solstice are just a cult?” A Barrage of belittling was thrown indiscriminately upon Solar, who could now neither find the words nor desire to answer back.
Time after time he was forced to remind that these quaint beings weren’t just Neon copied over. She, the Pony who could instil so much horror in her enemies, and be ready to spill blood in a formal room of discussion, was, in effect, a tamed version of her people. Old stories were just that, stories. Incapable of painting a full picture, often leaving out the grizzly details. Solar had no desire to test the Lunar Guard, even as if stood by them as allies. If the stories had told them to be demons in Pony form, nightmares walking, then what would reality hold for him, just as it had bruised him up so much today?
“We have been fighting your proxy war with the Day for centuries now, spilling our blood for our cause while you lot up north eat grapes and lick candy!” Despite the strange choice of culinary actions, Solar wouldn’t be the one to correct her. “We are what causes the moon to rise, and we shall be the ones to ensure it stays up there! If you think you can do better than us, Pony of apparent Virtue, by all means, try. When you die however, like you nearly did in Canterlot, we will not save your soul from their fiery pits of the afterlife! There shall be no stars to shine for your service!”
Fearful of Speck or not, it honestly mattered little. She was right. In the grand scheme of things, he was inconsequential. A mere tool of the Night. If that much was so, then how much did he really matter to Luna herself? Had many other foolishly ambitious yet thick skulled Ponies come into her life, only to fall and disappoint her? Solar was sure he had feared this before, but in the chaos of it all, the fear he had for losing, he couldn’t remember. The only he could think of was his mental plea, to not let Celestia win.
“So if you don’t start making sense, Commander, we shall find another Pony who will, and maybe that Pony won’t be so careful to not let the villages and towns of this sinful Equestria, fall beneath us. For sinners of the Day must be liberated from their mortal bodies through the pain they have chosen to inflict upon themselves. Through the fire they unknowingly worship, their towns will burn as they are exhumed from their decadence…”
Solar bore the Ponies of Equestria no great love or loyalty. He fought for them, but casualties were to be expected. The Lunar Guard however, very much the reskinned Children of the Solstice, were blood thirsty maniacs. They were not occupiers or administrators. They were not soldiers bound by law or state. They were a literal illegal organisation, whose terrorism and horrors could never do their true crimes justice enough. If Solar were to lose their trust, and were they to decide their “enemies” needed punishment immediately, then…
Town…
“The house…” Solar said to himself, his mind full of sudden realisation.
“House?” Entered Neon, unsure how to act while her friend and comrade was subject to such abuse from one of her own.
Speck’s threat was severe, to say the very least. Worst of all, it was backed up by belief, ancient ideology and most importantly, strength of force. As shown by this telling off, the Disciples were itching to unleash some pent up vengeance upon the relatively innocent populace of Equestria. Failing them and condemning them to an era of slaughter or desolation was to fail, whether many liked it or not, Luna’s chosen few, even if she did chose them a millennia ago. So as Solar was forced to stand there and take whatever danger Speck specifically insinuated to, a stark choice came to him. Remain loyal to the Night, or not.
It wasn’t really a choice at all.
Dangerous and murderous they may be. Potential slander and propaganda to be used by the Day against the Night, and perhaps even an accident waiting to happen, loyalty to the Night was loyalty to those who shared the same view. Solar had accepted the NG into his life, now was the time to join with the Disciples, regardless of what horror they would unleash.
“In Ponyville. It’s mine!” Such an asset was begging to be used, especially when cast out of Canterlot. Ponyville was not exactly an inconspicuous town, after all, thanks to the efforts of Twilight and the Elements, it had become quite a hot bed of activity. Surely a foolish place of exile then?
The problems faced by the Night were many, but few posed as more immediate and long term as the image they carried. Sacrificing even more of it by just being with the Disciples, gaining support was paramount. Solar had seen how it was possible back in the hospital in Canterlot. Ponies were desperate for an alternative, and provided the Night was capable of showing itself other than just a tool of destruction, then that support was very much possible. Despite its lack of obscurity, and proximity to Canterlot, the Night could very well build its support base there, especially with Princess Twilight in tow, a process started just after the bombing.
Spreading from Ponyville, Equestria would fall to the loving strength of the Night, and rid itself of the corruption that held it hostage.
“You have a house?” Asked Neon, totally missing the point.
“Well yes, but-“
“What are houses like? Are they cozy?” Intervened Speck in this unnecessary and uncalled for divergence, her attitude, like Neon, easily capable of contrasting itself.
“It’s a house for-“
“Yeah! Hanging sleeping is so nice!”
Like filly’s gossiping, Solar needed these girls back on board. Even if it meant these strange sub-sets of Ponykind ripping into him, then so be it.
“LISTEN!” He cried out, seeing ears suddenly twitch towards him. “My point is we can use it as some form of headquarters, and build from there. We can assemble our power there, and strike forth!”
Of course, this camp was temporary, or at least Solar hoped. The details of the Disciples were, to him at least, still quite lost to time. Maybe they liked feeling exposed and in the open, though he prayed that was not so.
“Dangerous, Solar…” Neon suggested wisely. Dangerous it was, but danger, until Celestia was gone, could not be viewed as such a fearful thing. The Night, more than anypony else, needed to feel that danger. For that was what it meant to be the nation’s guardians.
“Neon, we’ve survived this long in Canterlot itself! Celestia was right upon us all that time. I think we can make it on some provincial town.”
Neon remained unsure. Speck, however, was entertaining the idea seriously.
“This…Ponyville…is the place…good? Is it ours?”
Solar knew exactly of what she spoke of. In her mind, and increasingly his, the world was brutally divided. As violence became ever more a familiar sight, then a Pony was wither with or against change. The Night or the Day, they were the sides to choose. Fence sitting in the middle, was simply a one way ticket to be caught in the crossfire.
“Does Ponyville believe?”
No
“It does. In fact, many there have grown to love the night created by our beloved Princess!” there was some legitimate enthusiasm to be made. Solar had heard stories, of one Nightmare Night, when the denizens of Ponyville were the first to accept and help a freshly reformed Luna. This town above all understood the meaning of friendship to the Night.
On the other hoof, Celestia was known to hold such a town in high regard. She had visited it frequently, and the Ponies there were not shy about their love of Princesses.
“Actually, Princess Twilight lives there!” Then suddenly decreed Neon, smiling as she remembered the Princess’s short involvement with the NG just yesterday.
“Neon!” Solar then spat sharply through his teeth, catching her innocent looking attention. “Not now!” His vicious tone was warranted. Twilight was once Celestia’s student, and while Solar had gone through this very same suspicion recently and realised the benefits of bringing her around, he was after all, no Disciple. He was no uncompromising warrior hell bent and blocking out all vestiges of the light of the Day.
“Princess?” Spoke Speck, hauntingly calm. “Like…Celestia?”
Speck, like Neon and most likely all of her kin, did not see Luna as just some mere Princess. To them, she was an Empress. Obviously a remnant of the days of Nightmare Moon, harmless to Solar personally, but in moments such as these, detrimental, given the distaste created of the world, by Celestia’s mere existence.
“NO!” Solar desperately shouted, jumping in before Speck decided Ponyville needed “cleansing”. “Not at all! She is a friend to the cause, in secret and unknown to the Day! She was wise enough to not let her positon cloud her judgment!” Every comment he now made felt like its results lay on the tip of a knife. Because of the Disciples principally unpredictable nature, Solar needed to extinguish the proverbial fire before it suddenly and violently spread.
“Hmm…” The silence following Speck’s decision seemed to last an eternity. Very possibly, the fate of the cause lie in her response, for the brutal reality was, apart from this, Solar had no other plan.
“The town will benefit us greatly.” Solar tried, attempting to sweeten the deal. “It strategically placed, the Everfree Forest stops it from being surrounded by enemies, and it’s ver- “
“Wait what?! Literally jumped an excited Speck. “Say that again!”
Solar thought for a moment. Like she said in her threat, he needed to be the Pony they needed, and that meant knowing them. Understanding their desires and culture. This meant, on a simple level, he needed to know their likes.
“Yes, the Everfree Forest lies in its doorstop!” There was no mistake in having this camp next to such a dark place. Not only did it shield the Thestral race from the harshness of the sun, but Solar had quite the inkling that these Monsters in Pony form would love a location that was known to be monster haven. In all, it was ideal for them.
“The ancient home…The place where she was lost but found…” It didn’t take a genius to get a grip over Speck’s fanatical cryptography. It wasn’t exactly a secret that the old seat of power in these parts, the now ruined Castle of the Two Sisters, was deep within that accursed wood. Back then, it was but an important palace for Luna and Celestia, yet crucially, it was the birthplace of Nightmare Moon, and the point of declaration for the followers of the Night. In that desolate location, the war against the tyrannical sun had begun, and in that castle, an idea was born. The one Solar now fought for.
“Retake it.” His suggestion was softly spoken, but its intent was far from so. “Celestia deems it worthless and useless! Do not let our precious history fall into a decay of her own making!”
An idea, however oppressed it may be, was an eternal flame. It may diminish into a mere flicker of its once mighty self, but never did it extinguish. However long it took, a spark would come along, and reignite the roaring inferno of an idea turned belief.
“I like this…Ponyville…”
So quick was the turn around, so easily the tune changed, that most could have labelled Speck too easily swayed. Weak in her personality almost. Solar however, knew these Ponies to be attached to their cause to an unholy degree. Solar’s Ponyville plan was treated with great scepticism, but belief was a powerful thing. The Disciples strength was so great, so relentless precisely because their belief was unstoppable. Their numbers may not match their enemies, but their conviction could eclipse any weapon possessed by the Day. This fanatical faith, blessed with the prospect of a holy gift in the form of the Castle, was too much to ignore for these Ponies.
And this was why Solar would, even after this horrible start, ultimately wield these extremists far better than the equally extreme Celestia.
“Pack up then. We have a town to ‘conquer’…” Solar commanded, the first smile on his face since Canterlot.