A/n
Many thanks to Velkaden, who offered his services as editor! (I did some editing of my own, so I hope nothing got through. Enjoy!)
Chapter Sixteen. Black Sun, Red Moon -Part II- Edict of War
"...So they cast us off to our sleeping quarters-"
"Telling us nothing of what would transpire the very next day."
The Princesses, Celestia and Luna, seemed eerily distant in this particular part of their tale.
Applejack gave a bittersweet smile. "Ah can't believe it. Mah kin were on that land since the Princesses were lil' fillies?"
Celestia nodded. "It seems so."
"Well ah guess that's all over now, huh?" Applejack said with a sigh.
"Take heart young one, we are not beaten yet." Luna declared.
Twilight was lost in a torrent of academic chaos. "Eclipstria? Alicorn wars? Ancient rams? You two as fillies?!" The purple unicorn incoherently babbled in confusion.
Celestia gave a reassuring nod. "I know it's a bit hard to take, but as the saying goes, we were all foals once." Celestia noticed several slight chuckles from the human crew. "Well not all, but you see what I mean. It is the right of all -intelligent beings- to have that special time for themselves, and as we will explain, ours was cut short by our parents, Ramkind and The Banded."
Star Sabre, who's exhaustion meant that he had barely paid any attention at all, now bore a deadly serious expression.
"When you mentioned them before, you meant some ancient group right? They aren't the same panic cell that I watched nearly burn my home town to the ground, right?"
Luna pursed her lips in dread. "There is... a connection."
"You're not saying they are the same?!"
Luna nodded.
"That's not possible!" An enraged Star Sabre screamed out from the cabin of the helicopter. His friend and mentor, Sky Blade remained calm.
"Calm down Star. What's not possible?"
"The Banded! They were just a bunch lowlife punks that trashed Hoofston! My Hoofston! How could they have been around back then?! How could they be behind this?!" the defiant pegasus questioned.
Steven Mace put his hands up in a diplomatic gesture. "Chill, dude! They didn't say anything about them being behind anything, right?" He looked over to the Princesses.
They gave no answer.
"Uh, right?" He tried again.
The royal sisters exchanged nervous glances. "Give forth an appropriate amount of time, and we shall tell you many, many things. Allow us to continue the story, and the truth shall be laid bare." Luna answered.
Lenard held his hand to his chin in thought, then grabbed a mic. "Mike, how long?"
"Still about a half an hour at least. We're treading extremely dangerous territory, remember?" Lieutenant Kaiser responded with just a hint of annoyance.
"Alright, keep a sharp eye out for any scouts hiding in cover." The Captain answered. "I'd rather not have to jog back to base."
"Will do, chief."
"Well," Captain Greene waved a hand towards the Princesses. "It looks like you have plenty of time."
Celestia nodded.
"As we were saying earlier, our mother and father sent us to bed like they always did. Father lowered the sun, and mother lifted moon, just as they always did. It wasn't until much later that we would learn gravity of the situation. This was not just any normal end to a normal day, but one of the last sunsets for liberty in the old kingdom. In the coming months, the king and queen would pass a law that would tear the kingdom in half,"
"The Edict Of Eclipstrian Sovereignty."
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"In closing, It is our decree that all of these troublemakers and rabble rousers be driven from our land. Anypony seen aiding these scoundrels and rapscallions shall be punished accordingly. Furthermore, any action against the throne, whether foreign or domestic, shall be expediently dealt with... Harshly."
"That is all."
The royal messenger, a pegasus, quickly rolled up the royal scroll with his teeth and flew away. The small crowd of Ponyshire folk assembled to hear it, slowly dispersed. Amongst them, a light blue young mare discreetly trotted away.
Later that night, that same mare snuck away from her small house in the Ponyshire farms and made her way down the beaten path towards the now guarded border. She continued until she reached a small hidden cave, near the banks of a mighty river. She knocked three times on a rock near the mouth of that cave, and patiently listened for a response.
Three answering knocks sounded out from deep inside the cave, and the mare ventured in. After trotting a ways, she picked up a familiar iron lantern lying against a large rock, and lit it. The lantern fire filled the cave with warm light, and a very familiar horned face became visible in front of the mare's. The two faces quickly merged.
After the two lovers separated, the horned member of the rendezvous laid down. His coat was soaking wet, his leather belts and guards dripping.
"You think you could swim across the border next time? That river is quite cold." The ram shivered.
"Vance, you know I can't swim." The mare chuckled.
"Well I suggest you learn, Flower, before I catch some dreadful disease! Perhaps... Perhaps we should stop this."
"Darlin', we've met like this countless times, and you never complained before. Is something wrong?"
"My love, the noose grows tighter around our necks. My kind have stated their stance on international relations, just as your kind have. I do not know how to tell you this, but there is going to be an... incident tomorrow. You must stay away from the city of Everfree at all cost. And go nowhere near the palace."
"An incident? You mean some kind of attack?" the mare nervously asked.
The ram solemnly nodded.
"Why are you tellin' me all this?" AppleFlower questioned.
"I felt it right for you to know. There is no longer anything you or I can do to stop it."
"Why?"
"This edict was predicted as the latest of Eclipsestrian aggression against my kind. And unfortunately, it will give my comrades a excuse to wage war if left unchecked. As I said, there is nothing we can do now. If we are caught helping each other, If they ever find us togethe-"
AppleFlower gently put a hoof up to the ram's mouth.
"If we're caught, then so be it. I'd rather face those punishments then say goodbye to you forever."
"Yes but-"
"Do you love me, Vance?"
The ram lowered his eyes. "Yes. You know that I do. I have risked imprisonment on several occasions just to see you. But believe you me, incarceration will no longer be a problem. If we are caught now.... "
A tear welled in one of Vance's eyes. "I cannot bear to loose you. Promise that you will try not to get into trouble over me, please?" The ram pleaded.
"Ah promise." The mare smiled, a tear in her eye as well. "Please, stay with me."
"I will, but I must leave for home in the morning. I have been called on to serve."
"In the army?!"
"Yes. But I will do anything and everything I can to return to you."
"Yeah. I know you well enough to say they'd have to tie you to a galleon to keep you from someone you care about."
"Yes, you do know me well."
The two closed their eyes and met in an embrace.
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Several days later, an alicorn filly impatiently pranced around her pristine summer get away home.
"Princess, I implore you to not stand upon the table!" a unicorn servant exclaimed.
The miniature form of an alicorn foal hopped off of a mahogany table.
"Sorry." The cute little filly responded. "Must we be shut in this place forever? I want to go home! I want to go play!"
"Listen, I knowest of thy exuberance, but we mustn't return to the palace. Please calm thyself."
The white filly alicorn turned to a blue filly, quietly sitting in the corner. "What's wrong sis?"
The baby alicorn looked up. "Celly, why did they send us away?"
The white filly put a hoof to her chin. "I don't know. Maybe mommy and daddy are planning a surprise!"
"Or maybe they do not want us to be home." the blue alicorn filly glumly answered.
"Don't be so sad, I am sure nothing is wrong, right mister servant guy?"
The royal servant lowered his gaze and turned away. "Uh, y-yes. Now please settle down."
A pegasus mare, wearing the same garb as the royal servant, entered the room. She whispered something into the servant's ears, bowed, then slowly flew out of the room.
The servant stood up "I have good news, your Highnesses. We may return to our home now."
"Yay!" Celly cheered.
"Finally." Lulu mumbled.
******************
As the flying royal procession bearing the Princesses approached the castle, an almost eery presence filled the air. Everypony seemed to feel it, even the two young alicorns seemed to take notice, looking around for something, or somepony, that wasn't there. The palace itself appeared to have weathered a monstrous storm. Black marks, from what must have been fires, streaked its mighty walls. Several royal guards could be seen picking up several large pieces of debris, strewn across the landscape. One appeared to be putting a sheet over a sleeping guard lying in the-
Celly and Lulu gave a small gasp at the sight of it. The guards closed the curtains on the windows of the carriage.
Celly turned to her sister. "What do ya think happened?"
Lulu covered herself in her tiny ceremonial black hood. "I don't know. Celly, I'm scared."
Celly nodded. "Me too."
The carriage and escorting pegasus warriors flew up to an upper balcony of the palace. They dared not land the carriage on it, for it seemed structurally unsound. They simply opened the doors and allowed the Princesses to exit the vehicle.
Waiting just inside the upper room, were the king and queen themselves, flanked by an unusually large following of royal guards.
"Mommy! Daddy!" The fillies cheered.
The two Princesses galloped up to there mother and father and held them both in an extremely tight hug.
Celly looked up at her father. "We thought something terrible happened an-"
She stop as she noticed a large, but rapidly healing scar running down the kings face. The queen had a similar injury on her neck.
"Mommy, Daddy... What happened to you?" the white filly questioned.
Lulu's face contorted in confusion as she looked at the general look of disruption that now dominated the castle. "What happened to... everything?"
The king and queen inconspicuously traded glances.
"There was a small accident." The queen finally spoke.
"But everything is okay now." The king explained. "Here, let me take you to your room, we bought you a few presents for being so good while you were away."
The royal family trotted up to the large chamber at the top of one of the castle spires. Several guards gave weary salutes as they passed. The two alicorn fillies entered their rooms to find several toys, dolls, games and everything else that would make a young filly immediately happy.
"THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" the fillies cheered savagely hugging their exhausted parents
King Soltaire and Empress Noctau managed weakened smiles. "You are most welcome dears." they simultaneously answered.
As they descended back down into the central hall of the castle, the queen turned to the king. "They are not dullards. They will realize what has happened."
"I know, but they are still children. We cannot ruin that for them. Instead we will crush those who would dare attack our home!"
The queen nodded, and the two began to trot toward the central atrium of the palace. There, in the middle lay a massive Sun and Moon emblem. Carved and painted into the very foundation of the castle itself.
They stood in the center of it, and lit up their horns. Suddenly, the emblazoned ground began to sink ever so slowly into the floor. The emblem lowered the two monarchs into a large cave, filled with prison cells and lit up by several oil lanterns. The soldiers guarding those cells saluted as the platform lowered deeper and deeper into the cave, until it reached the stone floor of the cavern. A single cell adorned this particular section of the dungeon. In it, sat a beaten, battered and defeated ram warrior.
The ram shakily got to his knees, as that was as far as he could stand. "To what do I owe the honor?" He weakly spat at the royalty in front of him.
The king and queen stood unfazed.
"We want to know how you did it."
"Did what?" The ram gave a mirthless laugh.
The king's horn burst into flames, his eyes glowing a hot white. A bright orange aura surrounded the ram and pulled him against the bars of the cell.
"No commoner has ever managed to penetrate our defenses! You and your army destroyed some of our finest warriors! You even managed to harm me and my wife! YOU WILL NOT LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER DAY IF YOU DO NOT TELL ME-"
The king paused to regain his composure.
"... if you don't tell me... how."
The ram put his forelegs behind his head, closed his eyes and smiled. "I don't know, luck?"
A mighty torrent of blue enveloped the prisoner. The queen's eyes now glowed white as well.
"YOU AND YOUR KIND WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO HARM MY FAMILY EVER AGAIN!" she roared.
The rams felt himself pressed into the bars as if crushed between two boulders. Both the king and queen seemed to be trying to flatten him against the bars.
"Y-you won't g-get any-anything fr-fr-from m-me!" the constricted ram managed to squeak.
The king and queen, eyes still a pupilless, incandescent white, turned to each other, then back to the helpless ram. Their horns and eyes glowed even brighter. The ram felt as if he would burst. The prison bars quite literally shattered, and the ram flew forward into the air. He landed in a broken heap, right in front of his two royal tormentors.
"I-I will n-n-not t-tell!" the quivering ram shouted.
The queen leveled her gaze. "I do not think thoust understand. We will have thy secrets, even if we must bore through your insolent mind to obtain them."
The king and queen drew nearer and nearer to the downed ram. Their eyes and horn glowing brighter and brighter, blinding him in terrifying light that rivaled the fury of the Sun and Moon itself.
"No! No! The Banded will save me! Your own kind will avenge me! An approaching freedom will claim you all!"
A scream filled the entire dungeon.
******************
"Celly did you hear that?"
"Hear what Lu?"
"That scream. It sounded like somepony was screaming. Wait, there it was again!"
The two paused. The palace was a silent as a tomb.
Celestia giggled. "You must be hearing things, moon brain!"
"Or maybe you're deaf, fire breath!"
"Take that back!"
"You first-"
A rumble could be heard in the distance.
"I definitely heard that." Celly commented.
Lulu pressed her ear against the bedroom door. "It sounded like it came from downstairs."
The rumble continued.
Slowly, Celly creaked open the door and the two snuck down the stairs. They fluttered into the air, hiding in the shadows of the palace's high ceilings in order to elude the stationed guards. In the center of the main atrium lay the familiar Sun and Moon of the royal crest,
"It sounds like it's coming from the floor!" Lulu whispered.
"Look!" Celly whispered back.
The floor moved and the emblem seemed to retract as another Sun and Moon emblem rose from the ground, upon which their parents stood, clearly upset. The king's mane seemed a bit more fiery than normal, and the queen's hoof steps resounded rather loudly, as if she was angry.
"What's down there?" Lulu asked her older sister from their secluded perch above.
"I don't know! I didn't even know the floors could move like that! Whatever is down there, it sure has them angry! What do ya think is wrong with them?" Celly asked her younger sister.
"How would I kno-" Lulu squeaky voice was cut off by a hoof from her sister.
The queen Noctau stopped, and turned her head to what sounded like her daughter's squeaky voice. Seeing nothing, she shook her head and caught up to the king.
High in the rafters, Celly released her grip. "Sorry, but they might have caught us."
Lulu cocked her head to one side. "What's so bad about that?"
Celestia paused and appeared to mull it over. "I don't know. I think, maybe they don't want us to know about... whatever is down there."
"Don't you wanna find out." Lulu spoke in an uncharacteristic boldness.
Celly shook her head. "If mommy and daddy wanted us to know, they would have told us, right?"
"I guess. But-"
"We can't."
"Okay. Wanna go play with all that new stuff then?"
"Sure!" Celly spoke, almost forgetting what she'd just seen. "I claim the bunny!"
"You can't have the bunny! That one was for me!" Lulu argued.
Several guard looked up into the shadowy rafters with confused expressions. There were voices, but nopony appeared to be there.
"Yours? What could possibly make you think that?" Celly argued back.
"It has a crescent moon on it!" Lulu spoke with a perceived logic.
"So! Just because something has the moon on it doesn't mean it's yours!"
"Fine then, first one up there gets it!"
The fillies flew back up the stairs.
The guards still held puzzled expressions. "Surely they're not that loud to be hearing them from the spires, right?" One of the guards thought. He shrugged and returned to his normal stoic appearance.
********************
The king and queen traversed the heavily guarded steps to a large room, covered in maps, diagrams, and charts. Several mares and stallions trotted back and forth, moving markers and symbols around on the maps. The two royals sat down on a small couch in the center of the room. The strategists, advisors, and workers stopped whatever they were doing and gave their full attention to the alicorns in the center of the room. The king and queen noticed this and stood.
"My dear subjects and advisors. The recent attack on our land is proof enough that we must go to war with these outlandish creatures. They will stop at nothing to destroy our way of life, and steal away every thing we have."
An officer raised a hoof. "But sires, how could they ever stand against us?"
The king sighed. "They have magic. Possibly as great as the most powerful unicorns in all the land. Possibly even approaching our own might. If so, we must destroy them as soon as possible to prevent a long and drawn out engagement. That means that a swift, unforeseen attack must be carried out immediately to behead this threat before it surfaces again, as the queen will explain."
The queen nodded. "Very well. Pegasus sweeps have revealed a Ram stronghold being built approximately fifteen leagues from our western border. The city is called Vertaigh, and has been in construction for months. This leads us to believe that the intent of these outlanders has always been war. Furthering that belief, are several large, mobile weapons, such as catapults, and trebuchets, that have been sighted in this city. They must be destroyed before they can be used to invade us."
"Fetch Centurion Rains. He will lead this attack." the king ordered.
"I am sorry my liege, he was lost in the attacks." an advisor commented.
The King growled. "Then send in his replacement."
The advisor bowed and left the room. A few moments later, a bronze armored pegasus stallion entered the room.
"Centurion Crest, at your service my lord and lady."
"Excellent." The king spoke. "Your reputation precedes you, soldier."
The queen nodded. "I have heard of this one before. He will do fine as leader. Centurion, gather your finest pegasai and prepare them for a our strike."
"Remember," The king began, "They cannot be allowed to move those weapons into our kingdom, and they are already on the move. Prepare thyself, Tribune Crest."
The king and queen both raiser a foreleg into the air. "Go forth and may fortune smile upon you on your mission." They spoke in unison.
The Centurion, now Tribune, put a hoof to his chest and bowed in salute.
"Thank you for this honor. It will be done my lord and lady."
As he left the room, the various stallions and mares of the war hall returned to their duties.
The queen sighed and turned to her husband. "And so we go to war, just like so many of our ancestors."
The king nodded.
"Let us hope we don't end up as they did."
*******************
Dawn rose over the Kingdom of Eclipstria.
The newly made Tribune Crest stood atop a large cloud, as a massive army of heavily armed ponies assembled just outside the Capital city of Everfree. The king and queen stood on a higher cloud, silently looking on as the Tribune assembled the troops. From the top of the castle spires, Celly and Lulu looked on from their windows.
"Stallions and mares of the Eclipstrian Army!" The Tribune shouted. "You have been chosen to strike at the heart of those who would dare attack our land, our homes, and our king and queen! What say you?!"
"Huzzah!" the field of soldiers spoke in unison.
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A ram general stood before his soldiers.
"Who will destroy those who oppose Caprastia, and threaten us with war?!"
"We! The chosen few!" The soldiers of a large army answered.
_____________
"We are the sword. We are the shield. We are the mighty hoof of Eclipstria!"
"Huzzah!"
_____________
"Who will conquer those who have no honor?"
"We! The chosen few!
_____________
"I hope you have prepared yourself, for today we show them just what we are capable of!"
"Huzzah!"
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"Who will remove the cantankerous blight of alicorn justice?"
"We! The chosen few!"
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"Then onward! To Battle!"
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"Then forward we march on to Glory!"
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"Pegasai! To the skies!"
A strike squad or twenty-four pegasai took to the air, each carrying a payload of a single over sized blast geode.
"Unicorns, prepare your weapons of magical might!"
In a bright flash, the horned ponies cast protective and offensive charms and stood at attention.
"Ponies of the Earth! Put on thy awesome strength!"
The muscular ponies stamped their right forelegs into the ground creating a massive resounding thunder that shook the very leaves out the trees.
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"Prepare the great weapons of our ancestors!"
Several powerful magical artifacts began to glow around the great ram armies.
"Arm the catapults!"
The soldiers began to prepare the massive defensive cata-turrets surrounding the city.
"Bring up the barriers and defenses!"
Several nets and pillars were hoisted into position.
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"Hoist the mainstays of the mighty Eclipstrian Navy!"
Several fully rigged ships of the line, armed with massive spear launchers and catapults and docked on the banks of the Equus river, set their sails to the wind. The ponies on board the ships scrambled around, sweeping the decks and loading the weapons. The mighty wooden sailing vessels began to move forward,
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"Prepare the Leviathans!"
Several of the enormous land vessels began to move under the strength of several dozen rams, turning several dozen internal gears. On the top of the gargantuan machines, several more cata-turrets and battle slings were armed.
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The Tribune looked up at the king and queen. "Our forces are assembled."
The king nodded. "Carry on. Give the order to begin the assault."
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A large ram walked up to the ram General, he was at least four hands taller. "Hear me o' warriors of Caprastia! Join me in our ceremonial war chant!"
"The tyrants will fall, the downtrodden will rise! All will be as it is truly meant to be! The sons and daughters of the lost will claim victory over the chosen, and a new era will dawn over the land!"
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"Stallions and Mares! Today we fight for Victory! For Justice! And FOR ECLIPSTRIA! Soldiers, move out!"
The pony armies of Eclipstria surged forward, and the ram armies of Caprastia went forth to meet them.