//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Sunrise // Story: World of Tanks Chronicles: Tales of the 20th ERAD // by TS874 //------------------------------// Everyone in the room bowed down to Celestia, except for one. "Princess Celestia!" Twilight ran over to her. Celestia embraced Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student. I knew you could do it," Celestia said. "But... you told me it was all an old pony tale." "I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart. "Now if only another will as well." She looked over to the pedestal. "Princess Luna!" Everyone in the room looked over. What they saw was not a imposing black alicorn, but a blue alicorn not much bigger than a average pony. She was lying down, somewhat disoriented. Nightmare Moon's armor lied in pieces in front of her. Princess Celestia walked to her. Luna opened her eyes and looked up at Celestia. "It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this," Celestia said, "Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister." She then laid down in front of Luna. "Sister?!" several of the ponies yelled in surprise. "Will you accept my friendship?" Celestia asked. Everypony else looked at the two in anticipation. "Woah!" Pinkie fell over after leaning too much. She quickly got back up. Luna closed her eyes, full of regret. She then got up and ran to her sister. "I'm so sorry!" Luna cried, "I missed you so much, big sister!" The two embraced each other, having finally reunited in one thousand years. Pinkie blew her nose and then started crying. Her tears drenched the pony to her right, but not the one to her left as he had pulled out an umbrella. She then had the most brilliant idea. "Hey, you know what this calls for?" Pinkie said rhetorically. The pony to her right just grumbled. "What, Pinkie?" Twilight asked. "A PARTY!!" The group went back down the stairs, with a few escorts in front of Twilight and her friends and a few behind Celestia and Luna. As they exited the tower, they saw that the shadow ponies had disappeared and the guards were knelt down with their weapons dropped on the ground. There was one pony missing though. "Hey, where's Sundowner?" Lucky asked. Luna's eyes grew wide in realization but said nothing of it. ----- When Chalkboard had expected a nightmare, this was not what she was thinking of. She was in the middle of the woods, sunlight poking through the canopy. There was a nice, brisk, mid-autumn wind. The only aspect that could possibly pass off as a nightmare was the fact that everything looked so big to her. Wait, maybe it's not because everything is so big... Chalkboard thought. Chalkboard looked around for a while. Eventually she stumbled upon a pond. She peered at her reflection in the water. What was looking back was not a fully grown mare, but a little filly. Never thought I'd see that face again. She looked at her flank. Her cutie mark, a set of books and a piece of chalk, was still there. Something suddenly clicked in her head. If this is a nightmare and she's just a filly in the middle of the woods, then it could only mean one thing-Slendermane is coming to get her. She looked around nervously, then remembered if you looked at Slendermane, it will take you. But walking around blind was just as terrifying, so she instead looked at the ground. Sure Slendermane was just a story that parents told their kids so that they'll stay inside once the sun sets, but in a nightmare your fears can turn very, very real to you. Chalkboard heard a rustling of branches. Must just be the wind. Then she heard crunching leaves. That couldn't be Slendermane, can it? And then she heard a fallen branch snap. Keep calm Chalkboard, it's probably some kid that wants to scare you... She turned slowly towards where the source of the sound came from. *eee* There were two warning signs that Slendermane was near. One: a audible electronic screech; and two: everything would darken and turn black and white. Dontpanicdontpanicdontpanic... *eeeeEEEE-EEE-EEEEE* Warning sign number two hasn't come up yet. Yep, it just must be somepony that think they're going to scare m- Suddenly the sunlight faded. Everything became darker. Once Chalkboard had turned completely around, she saw a white, blank face. *EEEEEEEEEEEE* "AAAAAHH!" Chalkboard ran the other way. She ran as hard as she could with the small body she was now stuck in. Or rather the small body she used to have. She had her eyes shut. "OOF!" Chalkboard crashed into another pony. The two crashing into each other had knocked both of them onto their behinds. She opened her eyes a crack in case it was Slendermane-instead it was a blue earth pony colt with a yellow mane. He was wearing a crocodile hunter hat and had a BB rifle with him. His hat was obscuring his face. "Um...sorry about that," Chalkboard apologized. The colt lifted his hat to take a look at Chalkboard. "Crikey! It's a croc!" the colt shouted. "Huh?! A crocodile?! Where?!" Chalkboard yelled. The colt laughed. "I'm talking about you, mate!" "What? But I don't look like a-" Chalkboard then remembered that crocodiles were green-colored, just like her. She smiled and began to laugh with the colt. *EEEEEE* Chalkboard screamed in terror and hid behind the colt. "Slendermane's coming to get us!" she told him. "Slendermane?" the colt said, "Looks like I'm going to bag a big one today!" The statement didn't quite reassure Chalkboard; she tried to make herself as small as possible behind him. Everything grew darker as a pony with a featureless white face approached. *EEEEE-EEE-EEEE* The colt aimed his BB rifle right at Slendermane's head. "Steady, steady..." *EEEEE-EEEEE* *fftoo!* *EEEEE-* The round striked Slendermane right in the head. For a moment Chalkboard thought he was only made it madder-then she heard something that wasn't very like Slendermane. "Ow!" Slendermane fell to the ground. It then starting rubbing the place on its head where the BB hit. Everything became a little brighter. Chalkboard noticed that the reason why it was getting darker at times was because of the overhead clouds. "Boom, head shot! Victory for Far Shot the Monster Hunter!" the colt shouted. "Murrrf..." Slendermane replied. Chalkboard noticed that it was much smaller than she thought it would be now that she had a better look. "Better luck next time, Blaze! Wait, Far Shot? Blaze? Is it really them...? Chalkboard thought. "Slendermane" pulled off the thin white sack over its head, revealing the face of a blue-maned grey filly underneath. On top of her head was a small tape recorder that kept on emitting an electronic screech. She pressed the stop button on the tape. "No fair, I was focused on chasing someone else," she said. "Oi, you mean lil' Crocky right here?" the colt asked. He moved aside, revealing Chalkboard to the filly. Chalkboard chuckled weakly. "Oh, hi there Crocky," the filly said, "Sorry about scaring you-it was all part of a game Far Shot and I were playing. By the way, I'm Trail Blazer! But you can call me Blaze." "So, what brings you to these parts in the Whitetail Woods?" the colt asked. Chalkboard didn't know what to say. Yet she talked without thinking about it. "Um...I here to find the old Whitetail Lodge back from when the Apple Family first settled here." "And why is that?" "Well...I'm very interested in history. Also, my grandma and grandpa would always talk about the place-it was where they first met each other." "Oh is that so? Well then follow us! We know where it is!" the filly declared proudly. The colt and her ran to the deeper part of the woods. Chalkboard was somewhat reluctant-she remembered that back when she was younger she would be picked on by bullies for having a teaching cutie mark. "Teacher's pet! Teacher's pet!" they would chant. And they always tossed papers, pencils, erasers, apples, and (to mock her name) pieces of chalk at her. "Well? Are ya coming or not, Crocky?" the colt said. It sounded genuine enough-Chalkboard nodded and then joined them. Though it felt like hours, they finally reached what looked like a old and big lodge made out of tree logs. The door was left ajar but was surprisingly in better condition than the rest of the building. Above the door was a faded sign that said "W-it--ail L--ge". "After you," the filly gestured to Chalkboard. Inside there were several rooms-what looks like a kitchen, a living room, and a washroom. There was also a set of stairs that led up to the second floor. She carefully climbed them. On the second floor were several bedrooms, one of which she is looking for. She saw it-a room with a drawer right in front of a window. That was where her grandparents lived in when they were younger. She entered that room and climbed onto the drawer. She looked out the window-which was opened. Suddenly she felt someone push her. She fell through the window and to the ground below. "AAAHH!" She fell into a large pile of leaves that cushioned her fall. "Bombs away!" The colt leapt out of the window and right into the same pile of leaves. He was laughing. "Banzaaiiii!" The filly jumped out with her wings spread out. She glided upwards and then corkscrewed downwards into the pile. Her impact sent leaves flying in all directions, reducing the pile to the size of a mole hill. She began laughing with the colt. Chalkboard had a sour face. "Oh come on Crocky, lighten up!" the colt said, "We do this all the time during the fall season!" "Let's do that again!" the filly said. She ran back into the lodge. The colt followed after her. He then noticed that Chalkboard wasn't coming with them. "What's the matter, Crocky? Mad that we surprised you? Come on, you have to admit it, it's fun!" The colt then ran into the lodge. Well it was a little fun... Chalkboard thought. She then giggled to herself. Oh well, why not? ----- "Sir, we have successfully defended Ponyville!" a radio pony declared, "All cultist forces are surrendering." "Canterlot has reported in," another radio pony said, "the attacks have stopped." "Looks like the long night has finally ended....sir?" A third radio pony looked behind him for Firehawk. For a moment he thought that he had left the room before noticing something on the floor. Firehawk had fallen asleep, having not rested once during the night. "Looks like the Second Lieutenant decided to take a nap," the first radio pony said. "Can't blame him. You try pulling a all-nighter," the third radio pony said. "Let's get him to a proper bed," the second radio pony said. The three carefully lifted him up and took him to the staff quarters. ----- When the group made it back to Ponyville, the whole town celebrated. Civilians and soldiers alike went to see the two Princesses and the newest bearers of the Elements of Harmony return. Luna was still troubled by what she done. Two pegasus fillies went and gave her a flower necklace. While it did not completely clear her conscience, it was good enough assurance for now that these ponies have forgiven her. A photographer aimed his camera at her. *FLASH* Princess Luna looked back at her sister. Celestia gave her a warm smile. Twilight was not as happy as they were though. Celestia noticed this. "Why so glum, my faithful student? Are you not happy that your quest is complete and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?" Celestia asked. "That's just it," Twilight replied, "Just when I learned how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them." Princess Celestia nodded. "Spike, take a note, please," she said, "I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville." Her friends, and everyone else for that matter, cheered that Twilight could stay in Ponyville. This was the beginning of a new era. ----- Luna stood in the middle of what was a battlefield only half an hour ago. She inspected the Tiger II. Despite being rammed twice, shot multiple times in the sides and rear, and blown up by several different sources, it could only be registered as a mobility kill instead of a catastrophic kill. "Any explanation for that thing, Princess?" Cogswing asked, "Nothing was able to get through its armor except for whatever it is one of our ork pony crews used. And only through the roof." "None except through the roof, Warrant Officer?" "Nothing, ma'am. It's odd, because Ancient reports stated it had 80 millimeters of angled side and rear armor and 150 millimeters of angled front armor. We should have been able to at the very least pen the sides, and even 150 millimeters of angled armor cannot defeat a seventeen pounder APDS shell at this range." "That's because this wasn't a regular Tiger II." "Oh?" "Twas a...personal project of ours. Thou could see that tis impervious to most attacks. We have made one misjudgment though..." "And that is...?" "We made it on the Moon without strengthening its suspension. It had no issues during live fire testing, but the conditions between the Earth and Moon are different." "Another question, ma'am." "Thou may proceed." "You keep on referring yourself as 'we'. Care to explain?" "Thou must not know of the Royal Canterlot traditions. It is tradition to address ourselves to our subjects by the 'Royal We'. And..." "And...?" "To use THIS MUCH VOLUME!!" Luna shouted thunderously. "Owowow, me ears..." "You think you have it bad!?" Nighty yelled, hooves covering her ears. Batponies usually have more sensitive ears than regular ponies. "Do pardon us, but we wished only to demonstrate the Royal Canterlot Voice." "It's okay, ma'am. Just please, please warn us before ye do that again," Cogswing said. "We shall consider it next time." "Also, there's another reason why you're here, right?" "Thou is correct. We will bring back those thou hath thought fallen." "WHAT!?" Dartboard shouted in surprise, "You mean-!" Luna nodded. "We did not go back on our promise that none of thou will be killed. Though that changeling was very...tempting." Anton rubbed his neck. "Bzzt...uh, we are okay now, yes...?" Anton said nervously. "Thou need not to worry. As thou would say, 'it is now water under the road'." "Sorry to correct you Princess, but...bzzzt...it's 'water under the bridge'." "Anyway, those munition our followers used either stunned the target into a deathlike state, or transported them each into a empty pocket dimension while also having a explosive effect on any nonliving things. For the former, whenever they would go to sleep they would suffer through a nightmare created by a projection of us. "They were isolated from each other unless they were in physical contact. Even then they would be placed considerable distance from each other, with the only way they can find each other is through very careful hearing. Their internal clocks are also accelerated, causing them to sleep more often. The nightmares would slowly break their will. Eventually they would do anything to make the nightmares stop." "Which includes submitting to your rule..." Dartboard said. She shuddered to think what kind of nightmares her sister was subjected to. "Thou is correct." "Talk about 'mind rape'," Spade whispered to Nighty. "It is a most damning way to obtain followers, but as Machiavelli said: "It is better to be feared than loved." At least, that is what we had thought." Luna bowed her head shamefully. "If our subjects will not love us, we thought the only way was to have them fear us. But we had stopped the projections after we had reconciled with our sister. We do not want to hurt our subjects anymore." "Wait, Machiavelli? But we only discovered Ancient books not more than a century ago!" Cogswing exclaimed. "We had much time trapped on the Moon. One of our discoveries was a library filled with countless books of long ago. A Wrinkle In Time, 1984, Tom Sawyer, U.S. Army: 30 Handy Flamethrower Recipes, A Series of Unfortunate Events, How to Train Your Dragon, The Art of War, Underwater Basket Weaving: A Foal's Guide..." "What?" Dartboard interrupted. "Tis a useful skill. We befriended an entire Lunar Maria colony once by weaving baskets for everypony. We saved them from a giant squid not long after using the same skill to weave a net." "Lunar Maria?" Spigot whispered to Spade. "Moon seaponies," Spade replied, "A nice and hospitable lot, from what I've heard." "There's water on the moon!?" "Below the surface, actually." "Reading was one of the things we would do to keep us from going mad," Luna continued, "for our old friends we either put into stasis, outright avoided us, or was taken by the Nightmares." "And those are?" Anton asked. "Beings of shadow that hold only malice and contempt. They twist whoever they control into a dark version of their former selves...including us." "Is that how you became...?" Cogswing began to ask. Luna nodded. "But we let them in. We were weak. Like the legend said, we grew resentful of our sister because everypony lived in her day but slept during our beautiful night. There were still those that did appreciate it, but..." "The Nightmares convinced you that you largely went unnoticed while Princess Celestia took all the credit," Cogswing said. "Yes...they cloud your mind, distort your views, bring the darkest thoughts in your mind forward, and make you feel that their way is the only way. The worst part? You never know they're there until you are ready to accept them..." That statement gave everyone shivers. "Bzzzt...what was it like to live with those things?" Anton asked. "....That shall be a story for another time. We must now approach the task at hoof. Move away from us, and don't stand in any of the wreckage." Everyone started to back away from Luna. She concentrated very hard. A blue aura formed around her horn, and a white glow developed at the tip. Luna then pointed her horn skywards. ----- "Far Shot, wake up," Chalkboard said. No response from Far Shot. She shook his shoulder. "Far Shot, please wake up..." His body stirred. "Mmph...I was having such a good dream too..." he said. "I think something's happening. I started feeling a breeze when I woke up," Chalkboard said to him. "Grargh...Chalky, hit yourself," Far Shot told her. "What? Why?" Chalkboard asked confusedly. "Need to make sure this isn't a recursive dream..." Far Shot replied. "Um, I'm not sure about that..." Chalkboard said nervously. "Fine, I'll do it," Far Shot said annoyedly. He slapped himself-it hurt just like last time. "And how do I know you're not just a figment of my dre-" Chalkboard began to ask. Far Shot grabbed Chalkboard's arm and then swiped his hoof on it. "OW!" Chalkboard cried in pain. "There. Not a dream." The breeze intensified. "Hey, you hear that?" Chalkboard asked. "The wind or the rustling of leaves?" Far Shot asked. "So you do hear it." Suddenly their bodies started to glow white. They both started to feel a warm sensation. "You think we're going over now?" Chalkboard asked sadly. "If we are..." Far Shot grabbed Chalkboard's hoof. "It'll at least be with you, crew mate." Chalkboard smiled and closed her eyes. ----- Tendrils of energy poured out of Luna's horned and shot towards the sky. They then scattered and either went back down to the ground near her or darted to Canterlot. Most of the tendrils went into the tanks wrecks. "Thou might want to shield thy eyes now!" Luna shouted. Everyone complied. In each of the wrecks vague shapes of ponies and other various species began to materialize from the light. Dartboard briefly squinted open her eyes and looked at the remains of Chalkboard's tank. She gasped and ran towards it. Blaze, Carry, Merry, Alastair, and Loudmouth ran with her to the wreck. While the rest stayed clear of the wrecks, Dartboard ignored Luna's warning and walked closer to what remained of the M4A3E2. Then the spell finished. A shockwave emanated from each of the wrecks. While most were far enough not to br affected, Dartboard was knocked back. She was flipped over before falling on her back. Dartboard shook her head and then got back up. She ran to the tank and climbed up its hull. As its turret was blown clean off, she could see inside through the turret ring. Inside was a blinding light. It slowly dimmed. As the glow faded away, Dartboard could make out the shape of Far Shot lying over Chalkboard. She guessed that he did it to protect Chalkboard. When Chalkboard opened her eyes again, she saw that she was in the burnt out remains of her tank. She saw someone looking inside but couldn't identify them due to her vision being very blurry. She tried to sit up, but wasn't able to. Far Shot was lied down on top of her. He came to moments later and carefully got off. Now with her forelegs free, she rubbed her eyes. "Ch-Chalky...?" Chalkboard's vision became clear enough to see who it was. "Dart?" "SIS!" Dartboard jumped into the tank and hugged Chalkboard tightly. Dartboard had tears of joy running down her face. Chalkboard returned the hug. Far Shot looked at the two sisters embracing each other and smiled. "Chalky! Far Shot!" Blaze yelled. The rest of the crew, plus Alastair and Loudmouth, climbed up the hull of the tank. The rest of Loudmouth's crew came shortly after. Dartboard, Chalkboard, and Far Shot climbed out of the tank. The group tossed Chalkboard and Far Shot upwards, and then caught them and tossed them up again. "Hahaha! It's good to be alive!" Chalkboard shouted. Eventually the group put the two down. Luna looked at all the friends reuniting with each other. It warmed her heart that she was able to do this, but a tinge of regret remained as she was the one responsible for all this pain inflicted in the first place. She turned around and headed back to Ponyville, where the Royal Guards were waiting to take her and her sister back to Canterlot. "Hey," somepony said. Luna looked back. It was Far Shot. "Oh. What is it do thou want?" Luna asked. "Despite wounding my legs and putting me and Chalkboard through a pretty disturbing nightmare..." Far Shot began to say. Luna was worried that he might be considering hitting her in the eye. "...thank you. And welcome back." Far Shot held out a hoof. Luna hesitated, then turned around and held out her hoof to shake his. "We'll meet again sometime," Luna said. "That'll be nice. And tell your sister Far Shot said hello. That's me, by the way" "It shall be done." Luna walked back to Ponyville. Merry quickly ran up to her. "Hey! Princess Luna!" Merry shouted, "We have a song for you before you go!" Luna nodded. "We wish to hear it." Excited, Merry cleared her throat. "We'll meet again, Don't know where,don't know when, But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day." Loudmouth then sang the next part. "Keep smiling through, Just like you always do, Till the blue skies drive those dark clouds, far away." The next part then went to Pinkie. "So will you please say hello, To the folks that I know, Tell them I won't be long, They'll be happy to know that as you saw me go I was singing this song." The three began singing together. The rest of the Mane Six joined in. "We'll meet again, Don't know where, don't know when, But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day." The crews of Chalkboard, Dartboard, and Loudmouth joined in. "We'll meet again, Don't know where, don't know when, But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day." By now, everyone started joining in singing. "Keep smiling through, Just like you always do, Till the blue skies drive those dark clouds, far away." Luna smiled. This was actually one of her favorite songs when she was trapped on the moon. "So will you please say hello, To the folks that I know, Tell them I won't be long, They'll be happy to know that as you saw me go I was singing this song." Although as Nightmare Moon she didn't want to believe it, a small part of her listened to this song because she had hoped to see her sister again. She didn't care if she had to wait a thousand years for that-as long as she held on to that hope, she would be happy. "We'll meet again, Don't know where, don't know when. But I know we'll meet again, some suuunnyy daaaayy!" A small part of her as Nightmare Moon still loved the day her sister would bring fourth, and knew that her sister still loved her beautiful night. She truly did love her subjects. And now she knows her subjects truly did love her too. -END OF ACT 1-