As Celestia and Luna walked back to the command tent, they reflected on the events of the day. They looked at the clearly unimpressed ponies leaving.
"That could have gone better," Celestia commented, Watching the cleanup as she passed by.
"There were complications, but the fortress has been taken and the ponies of the region are safe. That's what matters." Luna responded, her eyes focused on the command tent ahead.
"The goal was also to sway these influential ponies to aid your new organization. To do so, we needed to put on a show as well as secure the area." Celestia emphasised.
Smoke still came from the hole Luna had blasted in the viewing stand. The strange stallion from before mourned the loss of his snacks as a valet cleaned the spilled food. His associates tried to drag him away.
"If it were a choice between saving lives or appeasing spoiled nobles, we would choose the former every time." Luna snubbed, moving faster as she scorned the leaving ponies.
Celestia quickened her pace to catch up to Luna and cut her off outside the command tent.
"Luna, there is only so much we can take from the treasury before we have to justify it to the public. Without benefactors, your project will never go beyond this." Celestia gestured widely to the surrounding camp.
Luna walked around Celestia, unimpressed by her sister pressuring her.
"It matters not. Once the ministry has had time to grow, public opinion will sway to our side, and we can raise the funds ourselves." Luna reasoned as she opened the tent flaps fully with her magic, allowing herself and Celestia inside.
Celestia was displeased by her sister's effort to slide off the issue.
"Your new ministry requires equipment, food, transport, and a proper base of operations. How do you intend to grow your operations without more money?" Celestia asked, knowing Luna had no answer.
Before Luna could shoot back a flimsy argument, they were both interrupted by a third voice.
"I might be able to help with that..."
Both the royal sisters were surprised to see General Brasshorn and a well-dressed stallion in the command tent. The Stallion, who had just spoken out, stepped forth. The Stallion's coat was a flat steel grey, with his short-styled silver mane parted in the middle. With a white front piece, black vest and pork pie hat, the Stallion cut a decent image.
The General introduced the Stallion.
"Your Majesties, May I present the baron of the Ruber estate. He has a proposition that may elevate your financial concerns"
The stallion took off his hat at the introduction.
"The name's Oil Slick. It is an honour to make your acquaintance." He said, putting his hat back on.
"Ruber... that estate owns a fair amount of land near Dodge City. Doesn't your family hail from there, General?" Celestia inquired.
"Yes, ma'am. The Baron has been something of a philanthropist to the city, Paying for public repairs. 'Baron Rails' helps keep the city on the map." Brasshorn explained, painting the Baron in as good a map as he could.
"Yes, it was fortunate that you are personally acquainted with an industrialist who could fill our needs," Luna stated, hiding little of her insinuation.
"I knew your father, Coal Dust. You have my condolences for his passing" Celestia said, pushing past Luna's previous comment.
"Thank you, Princess. The world lost a true visionary that day," The Baron responded.
"You said you had a solution to the Ministry's financial situation?" Luna Pushed, Visibly uninterested in being in the tent any longer than she needed to be.
"Yes. As it has been explained to me, you're in need of some significant investment, however, you also need a supplier. It just so happens I have both," The Baron announced.
The General piped in once more.
"Ruber Industries has been a reliable supplier of equipment for the guard for over three years now. With control of most major rail and a decent share of heavy industry, the Baron will keep you supplied and do so at the lowest expense on your side."
"So generous, and what does 'Ruber Industries' want in return?" Luna asked.
Celestia and Luna both listened for the catch.
"I've been listening to the news on these...creatures. I've heard things from all corners of Equestria, The Machines they have. I know you have Equestria brightest working on figuring it out. I also know about your foreign friends working for your ministry, the papers talk. I bet they know things, like how their machines work. why else would you fast-track them to your employment?"
Celestia did not like where this was going.
"We can manufacture your toys as well as regular capital. In return, Ruber Industries gets the patent for any technological innovation to come out of your ministry."
Celestia held her disposition, not wanting to give the baron any window into her disgruntled reception. Luna had no compunction.
"You cannot be serious." Luna deadpanned.
The Baron was taken aback by the blatant response.
"I ah...I assure you, Princess, I am. With Ruber Industries' backing, Your ministry will have whatever it needs at no markup, and we get the sole right to make what you need."
"Making the whole Ministry dependent on your company," Luna sneered.
Brasshorn used the opportunity to cut in.
"Be reasonable princess, how many others are offering you such a deal? Your alternatives just walked away."
Celestia stopped listening to ponder on that. Not all options had walked away, there was always one available.
"And what do you receive from this arrangement, General? We refused to allow you access to the dangerous technology in the ministry, so you use the baron's access to go around us?!" Luna accused.
If looks could kill, the General would be guilty of regicide. While he would never directly oppose the sisters, he was seething.
"We need those weapons to win this war. Good ponies die because they don't have the tools they need." The General defended.
Luna flared at the statement.
"Don't lecture Us about how our ponies are dying, we are the ones signing the orders!" She hissed.
"That, your majesty, we are very much aware of," Brasshorn replied.
It was time to step in.
"Baron Oil Slick," Celestia said in a raised voice, catching everyone's attention.
"Unfortunately, The patents are not for sale. The danger of having one source of equipment is something that can not be ignored given the nature of the threat. If something were to go wrong, the Ministry needs to have alternative methods of supply. We will, however, offer patents on all things considered unessential; As well as preferential treatment on all future business. However, the licenses for anything deemed dangerous by Luna's Research team are not open for negotiation."
Celestia laid down her terms.
The baron considered the offer.
"I see, I hope you accept that this alteration comes at a cost. While the offer of providing goods at no markup will stay. I cannot afford to invest in the Ministry without the guarantee of majority market control."
Monopoly, what he had wanted was a market monopoly.
"Princess, you must reconsider" The general began to say.
Celestia quickly cut him off.
"General Brasshorn. Princess Luna and I are completely aware of the situation the guard is in, however, we will not give our guards untested and unknown technology. Whatever the Ministries Research team deems dangerous will stay within the ministry where it can be safeguarded. Outside of this tent, this is not a war and it will remain so until we say otherwise."
Whatever he was about to say, The General thought better of it.
"You may both leave." Celestia prompted, causing the two ponies to leave the sisters alone.
Luna watched the two leave, waiting for the fabric of the tent opening to close. Once she seemed sure they had privacy, Luna cast a notice-cancelling spell. Celestia was used to Luna doing this when she didn't want to see her arguing with the sister in public, usually when it was a more personal matter.
Luna swung round to face Celestia. All of her bravado was gone, replaced by hurt.
"How could you undermine Us like that?!"
Celestia waited patiently as she let Luna vent her frustration.
"You claim to trust us, yet intervene at the first instance! How are We supposed to be taken seriously if you keep interfering?"
"Luna, I'm just trying to help," Celestia told her sister, her calm voice a stark contrast to her sisters.
"We know today didn't today did not go as planned," Luna admitted as her eyes wandered.
"Luna," Celestia said to her sister, getting her attention.
"seven dead, five wounded. That is a statistic that hurts to read. But that number would have been greater had conventional tactics ruled today, Your ponies saved lives today. It's early, there are many mistakes they are going to make. I do believe your idea will work."
"Then why do you keep pushing Us aside?" Luna asked.
"Because you still don't understand. We rule WITH the nobles, not over them. Keeping peace for a thousand years, took compromise. To rule over Equestria meant making deals, and handing over some control. They handled most day-to-day matters, and I kept the final say. It is a relationship built on trust and support. I could have told them what do to and made them do things my way. However, then I would have to make them, rule with fear." Celestia explained.
Luna clearly saw where this was going, as it was written on her face. Celestia knew the shadow of the moon was not so far from the light of the sun.
"For over a thousand years, Equestria saw peace. It wasn't always pretty, it certainly wasn't easy, but it was peace. If you try to simply keep them out or turn them away, the nobles will simply find their own way, with no oversight. Then we will have no means to stop them but force, this is the only way to provide true peace. You don't have to like it, but I need you to understand it."
Luna had seemed to listen carefully to Celestia's words. It had not been the first time Celestia had tried to explain the new world to Luna, but it had never been a clear cut. The fact was that this was the most interaction Luna had had with the public and the political elite since her return.
"I'm trying to help you Luna, I don't want to see you ostracised or shunned by our ponies. I need them to see you the way I see you. I know when the time is right, Our ponies will see you. Not alongside me, but on your own hoove, seeing who you truly can be."
Luna's eyes had drifted to the floor during Celestia's speech. When she finished, Luna's eyes met hers again, all the previous resentment lost.
"A thousand years, was truly a world ago. I do not know how you did it, Tia, all those centuries." Luna told her sister with a comforting smile.
"Actually, for the few, I did have some help. Come on." Celestia answered, using a spell to pop the silence bubble around them and throwing the tent flaps open.
"What?" Luna asked, unprepared for the sudden change of pace. Celestia had already left the tent and caught the sun's glare.
Celestia Marched with an enthusiastic bounce as Luna caught up to her. Celestia continued to scan the area, looking for somepony.
"Sister, whatever are you looking for?" Luna asked as she tried to avoid the sea of workers packing up.
"Not what, Who." Celestia corrected, Finally seeing the pony she was looking for.
Celestia saw a Unicorn with a yellow coat and orange mane, his cloud-covered cutie mark clear to see.
"Lord SunSpot!" She called out.
The unicorn had not been expecting it, as he jumped at the call and looked around. When he finally saw the Princess walking up to him, he bowed.
"Princess Celestia, it is an honour!"
Luna finally caught up to her sister, who was waiting for the theatrics to end.
Celestia turned to Luna and gestured to the Unicorn and he rose.
"This, sister, Is Lord Sunspot. House Solar has been a reverent supporter of the crown for generations."
Turning back to Sunspot, Celestia took the moment to update her knowledge of the house.
"It has been a few years, sunspot. How is the family?"
The Unicorn dropped an uncomfortable cough at the question, seemingly trying to find the best words to say.
"Well, My wife and I divorced, that was a mountain of paperwork... and my son decided to move to the Crystal Empire to continue his studies. I think he finally just had enough of it."
That was not the news she was expecting to hear.
"I'm sorry, sunspot. I had hoped the consequences would have been less severe." Celestia said, unhappy at the news.
"It's not your fault, cracks had been forming for a while." He said.
"If I could go back and change things I would, losing a daughter is too much," Celestia added.
If Luna Looked confused, she did not say it. Celestia was grateful, for it was not something she felt should be brought up in front of Sunspot.
"We can't change the past... still, I think it affected Sunburst more than most. He didn't talk about it afterwards, just kind of buried it. Still, he writes back now and then. That boy has big plans, I think when the time comes, he's going to be a great leader."
Sunburst seemed to reminisce on the matter, before jumping back in.
"But, you didn't just come to ask how I'm doing, not after a show like this. How can The Solar House assist the crown once more?" Sunburst asked.
"To put it plainly, Our anti-incursion organisation needs funds. We can provide benefits to your estate and future preferences for offices." Celestia told the Unicorn, hiding nothing.
"Say no more, it's yours. Give our treasurer the details and we will make it so. It will never be said the Solar House shirks on its duties to the crown. Do you reckon we could see about putting some advertisement in there somewhere, a billboard or two? 'House Solar gets it done!'," SunSpot jested.
Celestia giggled at the idea.
"I don't think that will be possible, even if it's well-earned. Thank you Sunspot, your support is always appreciated."
The Unicorn simply nodded and continued towards the ship to leave.
"And what was that about the nobles?" Luna asked knowingly.
Celestia smiled at her sister.
"House Solar has been reverent supporters of me for generations, they practically build their house up to help support the crown. In turn, they get benefits and positions. When a Member of House Solar sits in an office, I can rest at night knowing they're doing what I need."
"And his daughter?" Luna inquired.
Celestia's mood soured instantly from the painful reminder.
"Ah... yes, Sunset shimmer. Before Twilight, there was another I. A student of mine with great promise, another failure of mine."
"What happened?" Luna asked.
"It doesn't matter, she is gone. I fear the loss has done more damage than I had feared. I just hope my failers don't return to put Twilight in danger... Where is Twilight?" Celestia asked.
"She decided to stay and help with the aftermath of today," Luna responded.
"Are you sure she is ready for such things?" Celestia asked, concerned for her ward.
"Aren't you? She was there for the last battle." Luna returned.
Celestia pondered on the right words to say.
"War... is not an easy thing to suffer. I am concerned about what it could do to her."
"Unfortunately, she will have to learn, for this is only the beginning," Luna told her sister.
Twilight walked into the aftermath of the battle, the scene a mess. She had been spared the worst of it last time by being unconscious, now she had all the time in the world to take it in. As she wandered past the dead bodies she gagged at the smell, it reeked. The charred remains of humans and ponies alike could be found. Flies swarmed over the bodies. occasional cries of agony or whimpers could be heard from the living as the medics tried to save the few who could be saved... it was a nightmare.
"So much death..." Twilight muttered, overwhelmed at the scene.
Her morbid trekking ended as she saw Nate and the courier. Nate was hauling a firearm in each hand, adding them carefully to a collection leaning on a short stone fence. The Courier was next taking them and stripping them, then throwing them onto another pile. The courier's clothes and face were covered in a layer of drying blood. He didn't seem fazed as he continued taking apart the weapons, all the while smoke rose from the white stick in his mouth.
"Here's two more, it would go faster if you helped find them before disabling them," Nate told the courier.
"We fought, you lift. Seems fair to me." Six retorted, never looking up from the weapon in his hands.
"Where did you even find cigarettes?" Nate asked as he dropped the two guns and rubbed his hands.
The courier took out his cigarette and pointed it to a building behind him.
"Head honcho had a safe full of em. good thing about this duster, pockets."
Nate leaned on the wall, looking at the courier.
"Are you gonna share them?"
"Nope." The courier replied as he ejected a magazine and let it hit the floor.
"Of course not," Nate muttered to himself as he walked off to find more firearms.
The courier put the smoke back in his mouth and reached over to grab a new gun. Twilight, looked around for a way to be useful. Eventually, she stopped when she saw John talking with a familiar green pony. John seemed to look for something, before stopping when he noticed Twilight. He waved her over, and she complied.
"John, what's wrong with him?" Twilight asked, seeing the sergeant barely standing.
"The idiot was convinced to run headfirst into an iron gate. He's got a concussion. Can your magic make light?" John asked.
Twilight nodded, to which John waved her closer. Casting a light spell, Twilight watched as John tilted Battle Bowler's head up so he was looking at the light. The career soldier groaned at being forced to look at the light and meekly tried to push John away.
"Responsive, probably no long-term damage. Going to be stuck with one hell of a headache though." John stated, leaving the pony to sit where he was.
John stood up and walked over to the courier. Twilight decided to check up on Battle Bowler in a different sense.
"How are you feeling?" She asked the sergeant.
"Like anyone would feel if their brain was mush." He replied dryly.
" This is... it's horrible." Twilight said as she looked around.
"Well... get used to it. Cause it's only gonna from this point on." Battle Bowler responded.
"Wait... what?" Twilight asked, confused by what he meant.
"I, don't know, now leavemeimgonnagosleep..." Battle Bowler's words blurred into one as he slumped into a nap.
Unsure what to do, Twilight left the strange pony to his endeavour, his weird helmet covering most of his face. Looking for where John had gone, She saw him talking to the Courier. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but something had clearly set John off because he charged off.
She approached the courier.
"What was that about?"
The courier took out his smoke, tapping it to clear the ash as he spoke.
"He wanted to know if there were any more wounded he could check up on. I said 'Sure, got a bunch of the bastards in the back, they surrendered during the fighting, but I reckon one or two of them were bleeding." The courier explained.
"They surrendered?" Twilight asked, not quite what to make of the news.
"Yeah, doesn't happen often. But sometimes they see the writing on the wall, other times they don't have much fight in them, to begin with. Raiders aren't one big group with ideas. They all have their own reasons and rules. Usually, it's a waste of time though, wasteland rules don't usually care for surrendering. Guess this group was lucky." The courier explained as he went to put his smoke back in his mouth.
He stopped as the distinctive sound of a laser rifle rang out.
"Guess not." He finished, taking a deep drag on his smoke.
Twilight quickly put together what was happening. She bolted in the direction she saw John go, hearing another blast as she reached the room built onto the side of the fort's wall. A red light flashed as another blast rang. clearing the doorway she saw the scene before her.
John stood before a lone raider, bound at the hands and mouth. The raider was screaming into her gag which muffled the sound, desperately trying to wiggle away. Next to her were three piles of ash, all that remained of her companions.
"JOHN, STOP!" Twilight screamed.
The intrusion caught his attention temporarily, causing him to shift to see her.
"What are you doing!?" Twilight demanded, trying to understand why John had lost it.
"My job," he said flatly, before turning back and raising his rifle to the prisoner.
With little time to spare, Twilight teleported in front of John, face-first into the rifle.
"Get out of the way Twilight," John ordered, unfazed at the disruption.
"They had surrendered!" Twilight pushed, flaring her wings to cover the prisoner as much as she could.
John lowered his rifle as he rolled his head as much as his eyes.
"They're Raiders Twilight! They only did that because they were losing. If the roles were reversed, you would be dead and everyone you love would be next. They don't care about good and fair, they're sick bastards who are just looking for the next hit" John shot back, annoyed at Twilight's persistence.
"You don't know that, we need to give them a chance to change. we could rehabilitate them, everyone deserves a second chance!" Twilight stressed the last part.
"No, they don't. These fucks don't deserve mercy, everyday we suffer because of ilk like them. All they do is kill and take! They're scum! The only thing they deserve is a bullet, That's justice! I do what no one else can!" John spat back, even more agitated.
"This isn't the wasteland here John, and we don't just kill people." Twilight declared her stance firm.
John almost seemed to growl as he threw his head back and ran had hand through his messy hair.
"You just don't get it, Amata!" John shouted at Twilight.
That threw Twilight off, as she looked at John, full of rage, she asked one question.
"...Who is Amata?"
The question seemed to throw John off just as much. For a moment, the rage was gone as he seemed to reflect on the question. Just as quickly, the determination was back.
"Get out of my way Twilight!" John demanded.
"No, I won't let you do this!" Twilight cried.
"Out of my way!" John roared.
Twilight wasn't ready for it. Before she could react, John had taken his arm and used it to throw Twilight aside with extreme force. As she crashed into the ground in pain, she could see John aim his rifle at the now crying prisoner. Twilight mashed her eyes shut to avoid seeing what was to come.
After what felt like an eternity, she flinched at a sound. However, when she did hear something, it wasn't the sound of a laser rifle blast. It was the clatter of something hitting the floor. Ignoring the thumping pain on her side, she opened her eyes. The Woman was still there, looking up at John. As Twilight looked back over to John, his hands were empty. He had dropped the Rifle to the floor, his hands still hovering where they had held it. John was staring at Twilight, shock seeming to have gripped his soul. Twilight watched as slowly, as he shuffled backwards.
"I... I didn't...I'm..." John blabbered, unable to find the words, lost in his head.
He bumped into the doorway as he tried to leave, before turning and leaving.