//------------------------------//
// Sun and Moon (HoI4: EAW) 
// Story: Drips and drabbles 
// by Lynneth 
//------------------------------//

It had been some time since she’d been placed here, deep within the caverns underneath what she thought to be Canterlot. She was unsure how much time had passed - her captor never bothered to tell her much. With a sigh, Luna lifted some leftovers from her earlier meal to sate a sudden craving to munch on something. Telekinesis, that’s all this infernal bridle-shaped device permitted. Anything stronger, more focused, and the ring around her horn would initiate painful feedback. Even her dream magic was useless now. That particular bit had for some reason led the nightmare to utterly vanish into the deepest corners of her subconscious, though she still was transformed as best she could tell. 

Her introspection was interrupted by the distant sound of approaching hooves, alerting the former Princess to her visitor. Irregular though they were, these visits were some of the only contact with Ponies she’d had in recent times. It was lonely, but she’d endured worse before. In due time, the corridor lit up slowly. A few moments later, her captor’s fiery mane came into view, then the rest of the pure white Alicorn. Clad in mystic armour, Daybreaker looked as she ever did. 

For a time, she stood there, watching her prisoner. Luna eyed the other mare for a few moments before finally, finally eating the blasted muffin. Chocolate chips, mhm. Not even her sister’s fallen counterpart could stop the mare from savouring and thoroughly enjoying the little treat. Chocolate was rare, these days. Oh, perhaps not aboveground, but she didn’t get it often. 

It appeared Daybreaker had been waiting for Luna to finish the treat. She spoke a minute after the thing was eaten and swallowed, its taste washed away by saliva. “New Mareland was attacked today,” she said. That made Luna perk up and listen. “The Griffons rebuilt their never sufficiently damned empire. The Regent of Grover, sixth of the name, declared war on the River Federation and Equestria both. The fool demanded we cede multiple territories, such as the entirety of New Mareland, what once was Nova Griffonia, and just about everything west of Rijekograd itself.” Daybreaker looked to the side and let out a sigh. In so many ways, she was like her old self, still. 

“The Thestral uprisings,” no longer the Lunar Rebellion? Nightmare Moon’s return? “Stalliongrad. All those idiots with their aspirations of independence. Sombra’s resurgence, however brief. Nova Griffonia and their penguin puppet. All of them I could handle. All of them I did handle, with the help of my precious student and her friends, with beloved Cadence and her family, and all my little ponies, my children. It got difficult there and again, but we managed. Families were torn apart, towns destroyed and their citizens relocated. The fields underneath Canterlot, Cloudsdale and west of Ponyville saw countless thousands settle there. The centre of Equestria, they said, was the safest place to be.” 

Luna listened. The walking Sun had never before spoken so much. Before, she’d always been taunting, or trying to be subtle and misleading. But now, seemingly baring her heart, the Moon couldn’t help but feel for her. Just a little. Daybreaker turned her head back to Luna. 

“For years, my children fought for me. Even the Thestrals came around, despite the earlier… misunderstandings,” she said. ‘Misunderstandings’ was heavily understating the situation. Tens of thousands had fought and died in the Moon’s name. Died in futility. Killing the Sun’s worshippers. Celestia’s ponies. “We thought we’d done it. That we could live in peace, again.” She shook her head, eyes closed. A few moments passed. 

“Chrysalis,” the elder Alicorn spat with such venom, such vitriol and loathing that her mane flared, brightening the room. “The Queen Bitch of the Changelings, after enslaving the Deer and the Bears, thought herself sufficiently prepared to attack us. To attack Equestria, and to enslave its ponies,” Daybreaker muttered, stalking closer to Luna’s cell all the while. “To war it was, once more. Into the factories, into the trenches, into the breach, once more!” she sputtered with barely-restrained rage. The room was beginning to get uncomfortably hot, and Luna found herself scooting backwards a little. She had no magic to protect herself. 

Yet, in the blink of an eye, the heat, the oppressive magic all vanished. Daybreaker - no, this was Celestia, with her beautiful purple eyes - was staring at her. “Something broke in me that day, sister.” She hadn’t called her a sibling in what felt a very long time. “When that young stallion burst into the middle of Day Court, gasping and wheezing. When he told me of the sudden attacks all along the border. Of my little ponies dying. Again.” The searing hate returned, and Celestia’s kind eyes were gone. 

“I broke. I’d failed to protect them. So I broke all of Equestria. I broke my little ponies, my children, and reforged them. I was all they’d known for centuries upon centuries. They followed me without question. As more and more ponies were sent to the front, I shattered the system. When the Changelings reached Whitebell, I put down the Magic of Friendship. When they reached Mariposa, I announced martial law to deafening cheers. When Las Pegasus was endangered, and Hope Hollow burned, I gave, and reforged myself. We held them at Las Pegasus. They never crossed the Dragon Mountains or Twilight Range.” 

She had never spoken of the war in such detail. The general gist, yes. That the Changelings had penetrated deep, overrun positions and defences like it was nothing, but were eventually forced to a stop. But not like this. 

“They outran their own supplies maybe fifty klicks west of Nova Luna, as it was called at the time.” Luna raised an eyebrow. Had they renamed it? “They took some time to reorganise. It gave us time to get things back in order. But it wouldn’t be enough time, that much was certain.” Daybreaker looked up at the ceiling. No, through it, towards the sky. 

“I let go. I finally allowed myself to not merely watch, but interfere. I smote the filth with all of my fury, with every ounce of frustration and loathing I had towards everything that threatened my children. I’ve no idea how many insects burned that day, but they were many. I continued to interfere all along the frontline. I incinerated them, melted their tanks into slag and darkened the skies with their ashes. They broke. We pursued them, to their homes, to their hives. Of many, I don’t know the names. Vraks, Vesalipolis, are two I know. They are but glass, today. Chrysalis managed to flee overseas, but the hives are subdued, and kowtow to me. Finally, peace in all Equus.” 

The silence hung deafeningly. Luna’s voice hurt from disuse, “But there was no peace.” 

“No. I don’t know how many, but surely millions have died in these past wars and conflicts. Now, the Gryphons come knocking. Arrogant, self-absorbed, troglodytic birds.” Daybreaker’s fury was there, clear as day. But it didn’t boil over the proverbial pot. Rather, she simmered. She simmered with rage, Luna realised, ready to unleash hellfire upon those who had wronged her. Who had wronged her ponies, her children. 

“The Empire is vast. Inferior in magic and industry, yet their population is greater than Equestria’s. Countless millions will die. A war beyond all wars, sister. It will destroy both Equus and Griffonia. I cannot let that happen,” Daybreaker stated, with the same certainty that the sun rose every day. Her magic flared. The bars of the cell - magically reinforced to withstand even the efforts of Sunrise Sparkle, Element of Magic still despite the changed name - met the ground with a strangely gloopy sound. Luna shuffled further back, eyes wide. Surely, surely- 

The bridle broke. Snapped without so much as a thought. Its constraints, magic-suppressing ring and all, gone, reduced to dust. Luna stared with wide, round eyes as magic filled her reflexively, healing hurts that had been plaguing her for months and years on end. 

“I can see that the Nightmare is gone. For a time, at the very least. If we’re lucky, it might even decline returning,” Daybreaker muttered, just loud enough for her sister to hear. “Either way. Sunrise Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer will need to administer Equus. Flurry Heart is doing her level best to keep the Crystal Realm together. Her parents refuse to leave their chosen exile in Evergreen. Vast as my powers are, devoted though Equestria is, even I have my limits. Equestria cannot hope to defeat the Gryphons in a conventional war.” 

“So you choose to be unconventional,” Luna stated, rather than asked. She flared her magic briefly, feeling it all under her control - even the vast strength the Nightmare had granted her, allowing her to overpower Princess Celestia in a duel. 

“So I do,” Empress-Mother Daybreaker replies, and walks away. 

Luna follows, mind whirling and plans forming.