Chapter 11
Big Macintosh sidled up to his sister and handed the cowgirl her hat. “Thanks, Big Mac,” said Applejack.
“What was all that commotion about?” he slowly asked.
She shook her head. “Nothing much. Some weird ponies came in to bother the Princess. I guess we oughta head to our battle stations.”
“Eeyup,” he agreed. They trotted through the familiar earthworks to the front of the defensive line next to the northern tip of Crescent Fastness. She yodeled, and hollered, “Rough Riders, get ready!” They were irregular soldiers in western garb, with cyan bands around their heads, chests, or legs to signify their allegiance. Those in the back of the position moved to the front, and those already at the front stood at attention. They were armed mostly with rifles, but a couple heavy machine guns were also dug into their station.
General Burke Graywood strode behind the battle line, walking boldly over the exposed surface and crossing planks laid out over the trenches. Though he looked like an average brown earth pony, there was great pride in his bearing. He had risen through the ranks honestly to take his father’s command and saw it as his destiny to protect the Republic. “Where are the engineers? Are defensive preparations complete?”
A pink pony head popped up from one of the rearward positions. Perky puffs of equally pink hair bulged out of her helmet and made it look like it might fall off. She held a shovel at attention, and replied with an inappropriate smile, “All ready to throw them a party!”
“All forces report in,” he barked, and began to call out the units in order, “5th Lunar.”
“5th Lunar Regulars, locked and loaded, sir!” a lieutenant reported from the walls of the fortress and shook his gun in the air.
“Rough Riders.”
“EEYUP!” Big Macintosh hollered. Applejack and some of the other country crack-shots waved their hats and whooped.
“2nd Manehattan.”
“2nd Manehattan, in position,” troops further down the line reported and saluted.
The Lunar general continued down the battle line. His calls to each unit and the answering shouts faded from the Rough Riders’ hearing across the wide field of contest. He returned to the center of the line and climbed sandbag steps onto the roof of a bunker to address the army.
Some looked up to him, but others still searched about or kept watch on the gate of the Fastness. Greywood paused to consider the horizon full of foreboding and the attitude of the troops. He had heard his fill of nervous murmurs from the trenches, and had planned his response. “Maybe you were expecting Luna to be standing here,” he began. “Do not be discouraged if you do not see her fighting with you. Luna is already fighting. As long as the big guns keep firing, consider that your divine protection from the Imperial fleet.”
“I,” he bellowed, “I am your flesh-and-blood protection from the Imperial army. Should you be overwhelmed, I will send you reinforcements. Should reinforcements fail, I will reinforce you. Should I fail it will be with my last breath,” he swore, “But I will not fail. You will not fail. When the fighting is desperate, we will not retreat. We will not surrender. We will not die. We will not because we cannot.”
The general pointed to the east, where faint shimmers in the air bespoke the coming foe. “In front of us wait all of Celestia’s destroyers, pillagers, and killers. There are rumors that Celestia is not with them. Some of you might think, now that they have a choice, they will show mercy to their fellow equines. I can tell you, they will not. Their Empress has taught them well. They will show no mercy, because she has never given them any. For them, anything that breathes behind this line is a traitor to blessed life itself. And what is behind us?”
“Farmland, sir?” a rifleman on the bunker answered uncertainly.
Applejack facehoofed, and griped, “Manehattanites.”
“No!” roared General Greywood. He motioned forcefully to the west and declared, “When we stand here, we hold the Ponyville Gap. That means that ALL the farmland is behind us. Manehattan, Baltimare, and all the cities are behind us. All of the Republic is behind us. All of your homes and families are behind us. Luna is relying on us to stand to protect her while she protects all of Equestria.
“That is why we cannot fail. Some of you are strong, and some of you are not; but tonight you are mighty stallions. You are so strong that should every weapon in the world attack, you will not break. You will hold the line because you cannot do otherwise.”
Princess Luna placed herself in the middle of the massive gun bunker that was Crescent Fastness. She stood few discrete paces between and behind the busy crews of two center guns. There were twelve eighteen-inch guns in all. Luna’s long guns more than matched their name; the barrels of the two iron behemoths stretched forty feet out from their bases and protruded past the wall into the dark sky. Fluorescent lights guided the practiced movements of the ponies that kept the weapons as they lowered the artillery into a long-range firing angle and loaded the first huge shells.
The Solar air fleet could not risk making the passage over the mountain ranges on either side; resistance from even a few Lunar destroyers or hostile pegasus winds could run the heavy airships aground on the rocky peaks. The fleet would have easier passage far to the south, but such a move would take time and possibly leave the Empire’s heartland open to counterattack. With its goddess’s shocking disappearance, the Empire demanded a quick strike to somehow save the sun or to simply deliver swift retribution. The long guns, built for destroying armored airships, would prevent the fleet’s passage through the Ponyville Gap as long as they were operational.
Since the guns were the target of the entire Solar Empire, Luna was sure that they would be attacked by all means: by air, land, and magic. The eastern walls of Crescent Fastness were imperviously thick, and in the unlikely event that a shell entered the gun slits, steel plates between the weapons ensured that only one gun or crew would be lost. The greatest danger was of storming by ground assault or sabotage by teleportation.
The magically endowed Princess bowed her head and concentrated her energy into a point in front of her. There, a few feet off the ground, ribbons of white light pooled as they streamed from her horn. She formed it into an almost solid pulsing sphere. In the middle of the strongpoint, the magic orb outshone the other lights, and all throughout ponies could feel a strange tingle. As it reached full size, the night Princess remained rapt in spinning the vaguely lunar object and whispering to it.
A hush fell over the trenches as the attack grew imminent. Bullets jingled as the machine gunner next to Applejack fed a belt of ammo into the weapon. Soldiers with rocket launchers peeked over the edge of their hiding places, where they would be protected until they were needed. Overhead, storm clouds built up as they were moved into position.
A brief plume of fire starkly illuminated the wall of the Fastness as a long gun opened the battle. All inside wore ear protection; it did not look stately or inspiring, but the Princess did as well. Luna did not flinch from the shockwave and kept focus on her protective arts. Small, fast Solar destroyers weaved their way through the cover of low hills on their way into the fight while the larger ships held off. More shots thundered out of the stronghold.
The broad plain ahead of the defenders began to creep with shadows. As the Solar army approached, their ranks shimmered with points of light, religiously held forth by each soldier in homage to the sun. “What in tarnation are they doin? They’ll ruin their night vision,” an experienced Rough Rider commented. The destroyers now charged directly out of the hills over their army and the heavier warships drew into range.
The Rough Riders heard the rumble of tracked vehicles and thousands of hooves and began to make out the shapes of the attackers. Lunar mortars behind them assailed the tide of dark silhouettes. They lined up their rifles on the advancing bodies of infantry.
Suddenly day seemed to return with the eruption of a luminous shockwave over the Solar army. Sheets of bright green, yellow, and red covered the sky in an instant. Spotlights on vehicles and almost equally bright discharges of magic on the ground were joined by naval floodlights from the destroyers above. Across the battlefield, the Lunar soldiers closed their eyes or turned away from the blinding light.
Pinkie Pie watched the display with exuberant satisfaction.
“Damn sonic rainboom!” Applejack cursed. She covered her eyes with the brim of her hat, but not fast enough. “Damn Rainbow Dash.”
Over the confusion, she heard the General Graywood’s booming voice calling frantically, “What’s going on!? Can anyone see the enemy?”
She put on a pair of dark sunglasses and hollered, “I can see!” She raised her hat and forced herself to scan the gleaming Solar charge. She closed her teary eyes and announced, “Columns of ponies behind flamers and shield horns!” Hearing all he needed, the general ducked into the command bunker to send orders to all units.
Some Lunar soldiers took cover to regain their vision and others tried to shoot towards the wave of light on the ground. It was to no avail; the whole enemy army was well protected from their gunfire. Flamethrower tanks and unicorns alternated across the front of the formation, with the following horde of earth ponies sheltering behind the armored vehicles and the bullet-repulsive spells. More unicorns cleared away tank blocks and other obstacles so that their forces could cross the exposed plain while the enemy was still disrupted. The army took casualties from mines but pressed forward.
The NLR pegasi force sent down lightning from the wall of storm clouds and threatened to stall the advance. The enemy air destroyers fired a broadside of specialized shells that dispersed a gravelly mixture as they burst in midair. Within moments, the flying soldiers endured a hail of stinging particles that dispelled the clouds out from underneath them.
Machine gun fire from an onrushing tank raked the dirt over the Rough Riders. “Missiles! Get out here and take out those tanks!” a lieutenant relayed.
The anti-tank soldier behind the Apples’ trench started to rise out of his position but shied away from the bullets. “I can’t see them!” he called frantically.
A unicorn galloped over the surface to their aid. He cast a green energy in front of the Rough Riders and yelled, “You’re safe! Get up and fight!” Hostile bullets turned aside, ricocheting off the empty air.
Applejack leapt out from her cover to give the rocket pony her sunglasses. “Shoot the headlights!” she recommended, before returning to Big Mac’s side. Emboldened, the trooper stood up and took careful aim on the tank that was bearing down on them. The machine gunner on top saw the threat and impotently fired rounds into the protective spell. With a kick and a whine, the rocket flew out of the launcher and into the field of lights. The warhead made contact and the tank went dark and lifeless. With its shadow in stark relief to the lights behind, those in the trenches could see how close it was.
Now that the sonic rainboom was fading into the black sky the attackers were so close that they were backlit by the floodlights of the destroyers. To the south, on the other side of the battlefield, a pony-sized shell from Luna’s long guns ripped open a Solar destroyer. The craft was engulfed in flame and crashed onto the plain. The Solar troops in front of it were starkly lit by the flames and took heavy casualties from Lunar marksmen. Daring Lunar pegasi swooped down to drop grenades into the unsheltered columns of earth ponies. Most of the flamethrower tanks were disabled by mines or missiles, and the defenses held.
In the north, farther down the line from the Apples’ unit, the flack from the destroyers swatted down the flyers that attempted to bomb the columns. Even worse, most of the flamers got through. Their weapons sported lion or eagle figureheads that spat out burning streams of synthetics mixed with potion. The magically enhanced fire seemed to be alive; when it reached a trench, it curled over the edge and slithered down the length of it, devouring the occupants. Lunar reinforcements were sent to aid the north flank but Solars were already in the trenches.
The heavy Solar warships shelled Crescent Fastness from miles away with their own huge guns. The face of the castle disappeared from view in ground-shaking explosions, but when the smoke cleared, it showed little damage. The armada shifted target from the battery to the trenches, where they took a heavy toll. The battery replied, damaging a cruiser so that it fell intact onto the hills; it would be useless for this battle, if not for the war.
On the flagship Imperial Sovereignty, General Armor gave the order to deploy UNICROM. The secret team of military-trained unicorn magicians filed onto deck in full body armor but without weapons. They carried saddlebags full of high-grade explosives on their backs. The gold-plated General reared back and exhorted, “Destroy them so I can take Equestria, for Her light and honor!” Twelve unicorn commandos moved to the side of the ship to gain a view of the Lunar castle. At their leader’s signal they lit their horns and strained their minds towards their targets. Twelve synchronized flashes of different colors lit the deck as the saboteurs teleported away.
Inside the Fastness, Luna still held up the shining orb. Suddenly jagged arcs of plasma spurted from its ethereal surface as if it took sharp impacts. Gun loaders dodged away from the turbulent enchantment and stared at the Princess in confusion. Its light dimmed and flickered under the punishment, but Luna closed her eyes and coaxed it back into a steady, bright ball.
A second after departing, the commandoes reappeared in their places on the battleship. The surprised unicorns were hurled backwards across the deck as they materialized. Eleven struggled to their hooves, and one who was slammed into a bulkhead received medical attention. “They’ve created a barrier, general,” the team leader gasped as he recovered.
The white face under the metal mask creased in frustration. “You said you could overcome any magical obstacles,” General growled. Shining Armor approached the smaller unicorn and put a hoof to his chest, locking eyes intensely, stallion to stallion. “Soldier, how long did you train for this? Did you get here by giving up?”
“No sir!” the lead commando replied firmly, gathering his power with rising determination. “I can break the barrier,” he promised. “Follow me when it’s down!” He made his horn shine with red light and crackle with something like black lightning. He galloped across the steel floor and leapt towards his target, vanishing into the ethereal realms in mid-jump.
Luna’s sphere burst into its constituent ribbons as a black presence forced its way into existence inside it. The bright cords stretched into a rough wire frame that almost engulfed the Princess as it expanded. Some white rays broke as the blackness grew. The ancient magician finally exerted her full power to send out fresh rays that surrounded the weakened node. She thrust her horn into the heart of the sphere and all the white light snapped back into the center, annihilating the black intrusion. Luna panted but immediately resumed spinning the metaphysical object.
On the Imperial Sovereignty, a torn red portal arced across the length of the deck for an instant. The Imperial warrior reappeared in several locations as stretched and smeared features falling out of a red mist. Blood, entrails, and bits of equipment spilled onto the armored floor. The General grimaced. “It must be Nightmare Moon herself,” he concluded. He coldly considered the blood on his hoof. “Pull the fleet back out of range,” he ordered, “and clean the explosives off my flagship.” The defeated commandoes dejectedly began to sweep up their leader’s remains along with his dangerous cargo.
The blinding effect was wearing off and the Rough Riders were free to fight as they pleased under the Lunar magician’s protection. To the right, Solar soldiers charged out around the wreck. An enemy “shield horn” led another column of troops towards them from the left.
The Rough Riders fired their rifles into the unprotected ponies to their right. The mustachioed machine gunner beside Applejack let loose a devastating stream of lead that temporarily put a bloody stop to that charge. They turned their attention to the Solar soldiers led by the unicorn. The skilled magician deflected all of their fire and was almost upon them.
One Solar marksman rested the barrel of an unusual weapon on the ruined tank and took careful aim. It was a SciMagic Works G3 “Even Justice” rifle: hoofmade with a heartchoke stock, enchanted smooth-bore silver barrel, and firing 50-caliber, sulfur-coated, dragon scale rounds. The sniper ignored the defensive enchantment and shot at the Lunar magician; as the projectile crossed the repulsive barrier, it merely glowed blue. The unicorn was hit in the middle of the chest and fell dead instantly.
To the Rough Riders, it seemed that a dam had burst. With their protector killed, bullets poured in around them. The anti-tank soldier had stood his ground and reloaded, so he was now caught in the open and unprotected, and was immediately hit. The enemy magician was upon them, and the soldiers behind him fired down at them with impunity behind the magic shield. Unable to fight back, they hunkered in the trench until the unicorn reached them. The Solar soldiers ran up, eager to pounce on their cowering foes.
Big MacIntosh sprang up with uncharacteristic speed and smashed the butt of his rifle into the surprised magician’s face before ducking back down. Applejack shot the unicorn before he could recover concentration on the protective spell. The Rough Riders took the signal to rise up and fight. The opposing soldiers fired frantically at each other at point blank range. The machinegun next to her again roared to life and took a heavy toll, but the enemy was already coming into their position. Applejack could barely chamber another round before a big colt was coming over the edge of the trench at her. She shot him in the chest, but far from center mass. It was enough to make the stallion drop his weapon but not enough to stop him. He jumped down on her, knocking her over backwards. He caught hold of her rifle and pressed down to crush her throat with it. She was almost gone when her comrade next to her drove his bayonet into her foe.
She found herself trapped under the dead enemy, covered in his blood and gasping for breath. She could see the Rough Rider who saved her turn and fire his rifle. Another moment and a burst of submachine gun fire tore into him. He fell next to her. The machine gun to her other side fell silent. More Solars came over the edge and into the trenches around her. She closed her eyes and awaited death.