//------------------------------// // The Diary of Blood Moon // Story: The Incomplete History of The Acid Flask Family // by The Irish Brony //------------------------------// I don’t feel good about what I did during the war. Everything I thought was right now feels wrong. I feel like a monster now. I keep thinking, was I always a monster and the war just brought it out? I guess this diary thing might help me process it, so here I go. Day 1 This day was before the war began. I remember it all too well. I knew about what Luna was planning, it was hard not to when you are one of her personal bodyguards. She was planning on hitting Canterlot Castle soon. She was going to start a revelation for a New Lunar Republic (NLR). She had started whispers amongst the Bat ponies that she wanted to show the ponies of Equestria that her sister had gone weak, not necessarily soft. She wanted to show her sister and the ponies that they needed to up their defenses and safety measures or they could end up attacked from the inside out. I wonder if she knew something but wasn’t telling us. I wanted to warn my husband Acid Flask about the attack on the castle, but something stopped me from telling him. I don’t know if it’s because I agreed with Luna, or if it’s because I thought he would take it the wrong way if I did tell him. He works in the science department in the castle and has a very close relationship with Celestia. Maybe on some level, I didn’t want to ruin that. I went to sleep that night very nervous about what was to come. Day 2 I went to work early. I even grabbed Dox, Acid’s adapted changeling, and dropped him off at school. I was seriously that early for work. (Picture of Dox) I couldn’t pay attention all day. I had canceled my regular night guard training class for the new recruits because I didn’t want them in the crossfire. This allowed me time to breathe and grade some of their tests. The attack just kept coming back into my head until I heard the deafening sound of rubble collapsing. The explosion of the main exit wing of the castle. The attack had started and now anyone in the castle was trapped unless they knew their way around the secondary hallways as I did. I quickly went to go find Acid. I had to fly over bat ponies fighting the guards to get to his lab, but I made it. I must have passed over him and in the chaos of the fighting didn’t spot him, because he was not in the lab. The next thing I thought he could be was in the throne room. I flew down the halls as fast as I could. The only thing on my mind was his safety. I fully regretted not telling him that the attack was coming. I made it to the throne room to find Luna and the night guards had already secured the room. She sent ponies after her sister who had run from the room before I got to it. Luna said she didn’t know where Acid was, but I think she was sparing my feelings. He had run away with Celestia and was helping her. We quickly found out that Celestia had fled out of Canterlot and to Ponyvill. We were told this by a random pony calling themself a volunteer. I found out later from Acid that they had a few ponies calling themself that and going by the term VFD. This was not the last time I ran into them, but it was the first. The VFD member specifically said that Celestia had fled to where the world was quiet and that she was heading for the last safe place. They even mumbled something about the great harmony, but I couldn’t hear them very well. We figured out the rest from those two slightly confusing sentences. I was tasked with making a platoon of 100 ponies to make a trench at the bottom of Canterlot Mountain facing Ponyvill. Of the 100 ponies I chose, only 4 of us survived. 10 were wounded and in the hospital. Another 10 were almost dead, and 25 were dead. 51 ponies, as of right now, are missing in action. I have a bad feeling they aren’t coming back. (Picture of the remainder of “The Night Terrors” as we were called by the other platoons) We brought cannons to help defend ourselves just in case the Solar Empire attacked first (SE). We were in the middle of digging our trenches parallel to the SE when one of our cannons went off. I would later go and inspect all of them, but none of them were faulty, someone intently shot the cannon. The strange thing, no one was near the one that fired. All hell broke lost the moment the cannonball landed against the SE trenches. We quickly scrambled to find out what had happened. We had no time to think when a counterattack shot back. We had no choice but to fire back at them. We tried to only target the opposing cannons. That is much harder than you think it is. I may have missed and hit a few buildings. I haven’t heard anything from Acid if any innocent ponies were hurt during that initial back and fourth scrimmage. We got pushed back by the Pegasus army led by Rainbow Dash. We had to abandon the trench we were digging and save the cannons. The cannons were now useless to defend because the Pegasus kept coming after them. We split the group, one went and dug for a while and the other defended the cannons. Eventually, we got back up and pushed back to the fighting line where we quickly completed the trench. My platoon switched out and rested through the night. Before I went to bed, I was approached by another “volunteer” who had told me that Acid Flask was dead. He was killed during the first attack on Canterlot. You have no idea how sad I was. At that moment I felt my world crumble around me. The only reason I was fighting was to find Acid. He was my little sunshine. The only light left in my world. He was the only good thing in my life other than my father. I couldn’t believe that the world would take such a nice, kind-hearted, and caring pony from me. But I had no time to mentally process it, I had to sleep and get ready for tomorrow. Day 3 This was the first time in over three years I’d woken up without Acid tucked nicely against my stomach with my arms gently wrapped around him. It felt so lonely, the house felt very empty. Dox was kept in the castle with Luna so he wouldn’t end up a casualty of the war. Many of the bat pony kids were also sent to live in the castle so they wouldn’t get hurt by SE civilians still in Canterlot. I went to a briefing with Luna and a few other high bat pony guards. The one I found odd was the tall stallion bat pony that kept to himself and seemed to be in shadow all the time. Getting back on track, we found out that Watermelon Rat had been snuck out of the castle and to Ponyvil. He was previously being held in his room in the castle. I went and investigated, but all I found in his room were the words VFD on a piece of paper and a book called The Incomplete History of Secret Organizations. I placed it into the evidence locker room for later but found out too late that it was later stolen by a pony that could change into any pony. I think I know what little bug did that. I knew he followed me, I just didn’t think it would hurt for him to just watch me from the door. Now I can’t find him and I don’t have the heart to tell Acid, so I lied that Luna knew where he was. My platoon switched in at the trench right when the first plane came by with a bomb. That first one killed at least 15 of us if not more. We scrambled to fight back but kept getting hit with bomb after bomb. We must have lost over 350 ponies that day. There were 20 different platoons at the trench, only 10 were left even remotely in shape to fight by the end of the day. 5 platoons were completely killed or gone missing, again not holding my breath, and the last 5 platoons were completely hospitalized. We tried to push back, but we were too weak and got pushed back again. I went back home tired and broken. My mind was starting to crack in front of me. All I wanted was Acid back, but the world wouldn’t allow me to have even that bit of joy in my life. I cried myself to sleep that night while hugging his pillow. I just wanted my husband back and for this war to end. Day 4-7 The next few days felt like hell. My body did things on its own without my interference. I would wake up, get ready, eat, go meet up with Luna, and then go down to the trench with my slowly dwindling platoon. Every day was the same. Cannon fire, we fire back. Bomb drops, get out of the way before firing back at them. A few times they charged at us personally with swords drawn. We were told to only kill if it was necessary. I was too angry to listen to that command. I murdered many ponies in pure anger. That’s what it was, murder. They did not need to die. They had nothing to do with Acid’s death. They were innocent fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters. I stay awake every night thinking of what I did. I no longer deserve Acid and his love. I didn’t deserve him to start, but now I’ve seen what I am. I’m a monster, and I fear if I told him what happened, then he would fear me too. As I’m writing this with Acid lying against my side I’ve had to make sure he wasn’t looking. I don’t want him to know what I did in my anger and sadness. We had heard that the SE had a secret weapon they were planning on using to win. We were told this by another volunteer from VFD. That weapon was thankful never a real thing to begging with. This does make me question where the VFD pony heard it from. Are they really on our side? Or maybe they started this whole thing. Day 8 Day 8 was the final day of the war. It was like every other day I woke up alone without Acid. We were told that this was going to be the last push we could do. Our numbers were weak, not dwindling, just getting tired. We were pushing hard back, so much so that I knew it was going to be the end. We charged up into no man's land, as we called it, and headed for the SE trenches. They charged out after us and that day was when the bloodiest battle of the war took place. I was covered in sweat with blood dripping down my chest and neck. That’s when I saw him. I couldn’t believe my eyes, he was standing opposite me fighting off one of my own team members. I stopped as tears filled my eyes. It was Acid Flask, my husband, my love, my little light. In shock, I had dropped my sword out of my mouth. I felt like hiding, I didn’t want him to see me. I didn’t want him to see what I had become. Blood was literally dripping down my chest from ponies he probably knew. I loved him, yes, but I didn’t want him to fear me like other platoons did. They called me the Oncoming Storm. They told me that they wouldn’t want to be on the enemy side if they saw me. They were right, I had become a monster, something to be feared. It was too late for me to run and hide. Where would I even hide behind? We made eye contact, and that’s when I saw his jaw unclench and his eyes teared up. The same look of shock and horror was on his face as it was on mine. We stared at each other as the war kept going on around us. It felt like forever. All I wanted to do was to vanish. I felt so ashamed of myself. But something kicked in me that was much stronger, it was love. Tears still in my eyes I ran to him. He ran towards me as we both took off our helmets. Not even one word was spoken and yet we understood what the other wanted at that moment. I hugged him tight as he jumped up and wrapped his arms around my neck and kissed me. I kiss back as I held him tight in my arms. I never wanted to let go of him again. I wanted nothing more than to just pick him up and leave the battle. I wanted to bring him home and hold him close. I wanted to tell him how much I love him, and how much he makes me a better pony. But there was no time for that, an NLR bombing squad was diploid earlier that day and I knew we had to get out of there. We ran to the closest trench, which was the NLR trench. I defended him again my own squad's insistence to jail him for being on the SE side. I yelled at them to leave him alone. I was going to make sure my little stallion was not going to die today or get jailed for just being on the wrong side. Honestly the more we talked, the more I thought I might have been on the wrong side. Day 9 You have now been caught up with what happened in the last week. Right now me and Acid sit on top of the trench eating and writing in our diaries. It was his idea, not mine. Right now Luna and Celestia are in no man’s land talking about an agreement. I still fear one thing other than what I did in the war. What happened to Dox? I haven’t heard anything from Luna about him. I hope he’s just hiding in our home and when we go back we’ll see him huddled up in the corner of his room. I hope so…