Luna stood atop a boulder, watching the horizon, looking for the train that should come in some time. Around her, thirty fighters armed with small guns and makeshift weapons. They weren't going to be the main fighting force just yet with their armament, it was going to be Luna and her ability to pick up large rocks and throw them.
Behind a larger boulder a bit far away from them, Star was waiting with her ship, ready to provide support if the enemy started getting an advantage and to intercept the train if it started moving.
A distant whistle was heard. Luna quickly dropped down from the top of the boulder and waited. The train was coming.
They didn't have to wait long. A long armoured train came into view, floating above the landscape like Star's ships. It was probably because of the difficulty of maintaining a track in a desert.
The train slowed down and stopped a hundred meters from the crater or about fifty meters from where they were hiding in the rocky landscape. Several figures could be seen getting off the train and heading to the city. As they neared, Luna could make out that they were lightly armoured soldiers and there were twelve of them. They were chatting among themselves, rather loudly and didn't seem to walk in any formation, meaning they weren't particularly trained fighters either.
Once they were close enough, Luna stepped out of her cover. They spotted her within moments and raised their weapons at her.
"You there! Identify yourself or we'll shoot!" their leader shouted from the front of the group.
"I am princess Luna and I will give you one chance to surrender." she replied as a hundred or so large rocks around them were picked up by her magic.
"Shoot her!" the leader ordered his squad, who seemed be not zealous enough to pick a fight with her. She didn't have to do anything, however, as one of the fighter shot him in the head with a pistol. His helmet protected him but he wasn't immune to kinetic force. In the moment when he was distracted, Luna flung one of the rocks at him, neutralising him quickly. The others dropped their weapons at the display of force and surrendered quickly but this was not the end of their troubles.
The train was starting to move probably because the driver saw what was going on and wanted to make an escape. Star's ship moved out quickly from its position and caught up with the train which couldn't accelerate fast enough. A shot from the ship's cannon was heard followed by the train coming to stop.
They had captured the train without any casualties on their side.
The fighters emerged from their hiding spot and quickly confiscated whatever weapons and armour they could from the soldiers before taking them back to the city but not before Luna gave them a warning about trying to escape.
After that, Luna made her way to the engine where she found Star and a griffon removing a dead stallion from it.
"He didn't stop when we told him to. Bastard threw burning coal at us. Had to shoot him." the griffon said as he took the corpse away.
"We have the train now. They were dropping off food and dynamite here." Star said as she looked over the controls of the machine.
"Leave the food here and take whatever explosives we can." Luna ordered.
The sun was setting. The soldier in the watchtower yawned and put down the binoculars he was using to spot the train that should have come back now. In a minute, his shift would be over and he'd go back into the fort barracks and have his rest.
A bell sounded and he left his post, not noticing the small light that had appeared over the horizon. As he descended down the staircase, he remained unaware of what was happening outside. Not a moment later, a train car broke through one of the walls, sending debris everywhere and killing whoever was unfortunate enough to be in its way. In the chaos, no one noticed that it was half filled with dynamite that was rigged to explode.
The city shook as the explosion destroyed the fort and the city's defenders almost completely.
As the fort burned, the rest of the train came hurtling through the flames. It was going in a straight path to the palace of the ruler, destroying the many buildings that were in the path, most of which seemed to be mansions or other expensive buildings or statues.
The engine finally hit the palace and after ploughing through three walls, came to a stop. Behind the train, Star's ship moved in the path cleared by the train, quickly moving to the palace. On the deck, Luna was waiting with the rest of the fighters for the ship to stop. They had to make their way through the palace quickly and get to the Nawab, the one ruling the land around Hyderabad, before he could escape or send out a distress call.
The ship stopped at the entrance made by the train, allowing the fighters to disembark. Ten stayed at the entrance to defend against any potential attackers while the rest along with Luna made their way deeper into the palace.
They walked past the destroyed engine and into a hallway. There were a few dead soldiers from which they picked up weapons and ammunition before continuing onwards. They opened the door at the end of the hall and found a pair of guards who were moving to secure the perimeter. With the element of surprise and numerical advantage on their side, they were able to kill one and injure the other.
"The Nawab, where is he and how do we get there?" Luna asked the fatally wounded guard as the others quickly moved to cover the doors in the hall.
"Upstairs through there." he said as he pointed at a door. Satisfied with the answer, Luna left him to join her group. They tried opening the door but found it to be blocked from the other side.
"Let me." a bulky earth pony stallion said as the others failed to force the door open. They moved out of the way, allowing him to kick it open. His strength was so great that the door was ripped off its hinges when he kicked. As soon as the path was cleared, they entered.
They were greeted by the sight of a stairwell which they quickly ascended. Upstairs, the stairs led to a hallway that was empty. Before they could make a move, the door at one end of the hallway opened and a heavily armoured griffon stepped through. He raised a large gun at them.
"Machine gun!" one of Luna's fighters, a charcoal pegasus with rainbow hair, said just as the griffon fired at them. Luna raised a shield but wasn't quick enough as one of the bullets found its way to the pegasus' head, destroying his head instantly. There was no time to mourn or recoil at the gore as the door at the other end of the hallway opened and another similarly armed pony entered. Luna was quick to raise a shield and stop the incoming gunfire.
They were pinned. Luna could keep the shield up against the gunfire but they didn't have that much time.
"Be ready. I'm going to send out the shield in a pulse towards the griffon." Luna told her fighters, who nodded and quickly pointed their weapons at the armoured griffon. Luna did as she said and the shield was on its way to the griffon. The pulse hit the griffon, throwing him to the ground. The fighters seized the opportunity and fired at the griffon who was trying to get up. The continuous fire took the griffon down quickly and one side of the hallway was cleared. Luna sent out the second shield in a pulse but this time with much more force which knocked out the pony soldier. A bullet was put into his head to make sure he wouldn't get up again.
Luna picked up the griffon's gun as they made their way into the hall on the other side of the door. The hall was decorated with various murals, paintings and ornate wooden furniture. It was probably a meeting room. On the other end of the hallway was a pair of doors. The doors slammed open, revealing a worried looking unicorn wearing a crown and a purple cape. He was the Nawab. He noticed Luna and her group and tried to make an escape but Luna fired at him with the machine gun she got from the griffon, hitting him in the legs.
He fell to the floor with a shout as blood came out of the bullet holes. Luna dragged him into the room with her magic and closed the doors behind him. She sat him down on one of the chairs forcefully and was about to order him to surrender when he spoke up.
"It is too late for you! The empress knows of your presence here and is going to strike you down, demon." he said with a laugh. Luna slapped him.
"You don't have the right to speak, let alone call me a demon, until I give you permission! I offer you one chance to surrender or die like the gluttonous pig you are." Luna said angrily.
"And he'll choose death if he knows what is good for him." a mare's voice said from all around them. The fighters looked around trying to find the source of the voice. The Nawab smiled in victory while Luna stood there silently as she recognized who was speaking.
"Sister, it has been a long time since we last spoke."