//------------------------------//
// Midnight Sun 
// Story: On the Road to '63 
// by niBBoi 
//------------------------------//

A flash, and then it was gone.

Using magic to send letters over long distances was inefficient, but it was necessary considering how secure it was. Luna recounted how many times Equestrian counterintelligence reportedly caught Chiropterran insurgents attempting to intercept her letters. Besides information on their operations as well as other kinds of intel that were not meant to be publicly shared, the princess also valued her privacy, and some of those letters were meant for her sister back home. Who knew what the insurgents would do to try and manipulate things through that avenue?

Luna frowned. She was being paranoid again, but who could blame her? Anyone would be pretty anxious too if they had to fight a fanatic insurgency ran by the same people who had already made several attempts on their life in the past. The worst part was that it wasn't just Luna's life at risk, but others' as well. Mistakes such as letting sensitive intel slip had and still costed lives, and the princess obviously wanted as little casualties as possible.

There was also the fact that the operation revolved around Chiropterra, a nation which had worshipped Luna's greatest mistake.

A short time passed before Luna turned away from her desk and started scanning her dimly lit royal suite for something. When she found it, her horn lit, and out came two bottles and a small glass from a cabinet. Luna poured herself a glass of whiskey and soda, and set it down on her desk. The princess found herself drinking ever since the Great War as it soothed her nerves whenever she needed it, but unlike her sister, she wasn't such a heavy drinker which was a good thing too since it meant she avoided falling into alcoholism like her sister did.

Celestia...

Celestia thankfully had had it under control for a while and had been sober for a year after returning to drinking tea and soda as a substitute like she had been doing before the war. The two sisters worked on the problem every time Luna visited Celestia, and it seemed to have born fruit. Perhaps there was something to those plants in her sister's garden after all.

Luna smiled at the thought, but, suddenly, a slight tinge of sadness filled her mind. Operation Midnight Sun - a name which came from Lunar and Solar Guard special forces both being involved in the operation - had been going on for months already, and although Luna was determined to lead the operation as its overall commander for far longer than even what had been planned, she did miss Equestria and especially her sister, and the princess was worried about Twilight's ability to take care of things alone back home. In the meantime, however, letters would have to do.

There was a stop to Luna's train of thought as silence reigned once more and Luna sipped on her whiskey basking in the stray rays of golden sunlight shining through the window by her desk. After a while, she poured herself another glass and turned to put the bottles away.

With the bottles safely inside their cabinet once more, Luna turned her attention to her room while she absentmindedly tidied her desk with her magic. She wasn't staying in Chiropterra but rather in Hippogriffia after she was told to ease off on her eagerness to lead from the front. There was a lull in insurgent activity in Chiropterra anyway, so the princess acquiesced.

The royal suite Luna was provided with was lavish to say the least. Mount Aris had made sure to make her stay as comfortable as it was safe, and it wouldn't do for a leader of an allied nation - a princess of Equestria - to have complaints such as "inadequate" accommodations or assassination attempts.

Chuckling at the thought of the Hippogriffian government being concerned with offering more than generous comforts to her as much as making sure she wasn't killed, Luna admitted that she was almost convinced that her advisors were right to permanently move her headquarters to Hippogriffia.

Almost.

Luna put a stack of papers away in a drawer and slammed it. While Operation Midnight Sun is an Equestrian endeavor, in the end, Chiropterra is Luna's problem. The princess wanted - no, needed to be the one to clean up her mess, and if it meant leading at the front, much to her advisors' horror, and taking responsibility for her own actions, then she was more than happy to oblige.

The princess looked at a globe sitting on her desk and stared at a particular spot. Stars know how much wrong Luna had inadvertently put into the world when she turned into the dreaded Nightmare all those centuries ago. The Chiropterrans, at least the ones waging a foolish insurgency at that very moment, were her fault, the ones who had invaded a foreign land and had enslaved all of its peoples in the name of Nightmare Moon were her fault, and the ones who had built a militaristic society hell-bent on ensuring the return of the mistress of eternal night were all her fault.

It was only fitting then in the princess' eyes that she did not put the burden on others any more than what was necessary. Hell, if she didn't need a proper armed force to help the Hippogriffians handle the situation in Chiropterra, Luna would have very well just flew into North Zebrica and crushed the insurgency herself. Unfortunately, she did need an army, and Luna was committed to getting as much of Equestria's sons and daughters back home as possible. War had become much larger in scale and deadlier in weapons and technique than she had ever imagined was possible a thousand years ago, and it was a fact that Luna had to learn the hard way during the Great War...

There was a sigh. No use dwelling in the past. The past was gone, but the present needed tending to, and for the princess, the present held the stains of her past - of thestral discrimination, of Chiropterran sins, and of other things which she must resolve to end once and for all.

Luna finished her drink, and prepared to head to bed. It was already seven in the morning, and there was much to do later in the afternoon when she was well-rested.