//------------------------------//
// 12. Luna: Besieged 
// Story: Rise of Ponietheus 
// by twitterdick 
//------------------------------//

	"Rest soon, Twilight Sparkle!" Luna called down to the young princess, "I shall find you shortly."
She pulled herself away from Twilight's dream and felt the cold, familiar crust of the moon beneath her hooves. It was so strange to be back there. The Earth looked still and far away. Luna sighed and swallowed. Even if everything worked out, Celestia would not be happy with her. Her dear sister did not think much of Gaea.
Luna rubbed her nose and remembered Mogadon - their messenger. She closed her eyes and stretched out, looking for him. He was easy to find. His mind was a dim but brazen red, isolated from others. He was trying to sleep beside a fire on the side of some road. He was a quiet one. He stuck out amongst all the noise she could feel. Luna rubbed her mouth and focused. He was dreaming. 
She breathed in and opened her eyes. She was then in a small, vegetative garden with cobblestone pathways and a soft, spring ambience. The brick and stone that laced that place was colored with dirt and sunk into the earth. It was more nature's garden than that of a pony. Luna breathed in through her nostrils and caught the scent of cut grass. She listened to the sounds of content birds and running water. She followed the cobblestone path to a large opening with vivid, sun baked red bricks and stone steps. In the center was a circular fountain that spewed a spout of water up nearly ten feet. It was quite sizable - maybe twenty feet in diameter - and the water was crisp and clear. Mogadon sat on a bench on the side opposite to her.
He watched the fountain with his head tilted slightly to left and his mouth hung open. Luna walked around and motioned to greet him. He graced her with a closed mouth smile, but his eyes never left that fountain.
"Good morning, Your Majesty," he said, "Would you care to sit down."
Luna shrugged and sat on the steps a few feet from him. The brick was comfortably warm and the heat of the sun was snug on her back. She laughed quietly to herself. It was nice to enter such a sensibly detailed dream. She turned to look at him. He looked down and the garden seemed to shutter when he did.
"This is a dream. I'm dreaming," he said.
"I am sorry to interrupt," Luna said, "How close are you to the Crystal Empire?"
His brow furrowed with thought. He shifted his head around and the trees in the distance went grey and blurred away.
"I am… two days. A day and a half if I push myself."
"Don't," Luna said, "If… Should young Twilight Sparkle and I fail, you'll be the only one who knows what this storm really is. I fear it will spread."
Mogadon closed his eyes and thought. "I was watching it. I wanted to tell you. I climbed up a steppe so I could take a look." He turned and looked at her. "Up until it reaches Ponyville, it's a straight line. It pools in a perfect circle once it hits the town. It's like a puddle or water seeping into fabric. Your Majesty, I think it radiates from he that carries it - that bandaged creature. I think so long as he remains there, it won't go anywhere fast - but that's just what I think."
Luna rubbed her nose. "That tidbit could be useful regardless." 
She closed her eyes and reveled in the warm bath of the sun and in the cool breeze of early morning. It was satisfying, even though it wasn't real. She took a few deep breathes and was wearily committed.
"I'll speak to you again soon, if I can," she said.
Mogadon looked back at the fountain. "Don't worry about me," he said.
She was pulled away from his dream.
Luna breathed out. Her hoof were sunk into the familiar dust of the moon. She looked at the Earth from an eerily familiar angle. Her heart fluttered. She'd forgotten how it looked from here. She pushed herself from the moon dust and pushed for Earth. One would fall to Earth anyway, but the trick was to use your wings to slow yourself down. She closed her eyes and focused on her wings. She loved this jump as a kid. Now… not as much.
Luna felt the winds of Earth's thick atmosphere pick up in her ear and she opened her eyes. She extended her wings fully and glided along the winds, using her momentum to speed towards the thick, black storm beneath her. She approached the cloud's contours, summoned a small bubble to protect herself from the rain, and descended.
She passed through the clouds to the dark city underneath. To her surprise, it wasn't raining. She dropped her bubble and smelled the musky air. She grimaced. She hated normal humidity, let alone this thick, arid airway the felt like it chipped away at her. She breathed out and remembered Twilight had said she'd made it to the farmhouse.
Luna headed for Sweet Apple Acres.
Soon, she landed near the front porch. The house was quiet and the door had been left in.
She approached the doorway cautiously. The parts of the house she could see was dim and hazy with residue of sweat and snuffed out candles. She stuck her head through the doorway.
Then, from seemingly nowhere, Protean Joy was hurdled through the air to the wall to Luna's left. She jumped and retracted her head. Protean Joy didn't notice her. He grunted as he picked himself and wiped his nose. Small patches of darkness in the shaped of hoof-prints dotted his sides and legs. He winced, but nearly smiled. He laughed and charged at an unseen foe.
Luna entered the house. There, Protean Joy was wrestling with Applejack. Her skin was slick and black and her eyes where an incandescent white. Princess Luna lifted the two up magically. She placed Applejack in a nearby closet by the stairs and slammed the door. She placed Protean Joy on the couch and slid all the future in the room against that closet door. Applejack could be heard throwing herself against the door.
Luna turned to Protean Joy. "You! You're the Royal Guard that accompanied Twilight Sparkle, are you not!?"
Protean Joy winced and panted. He rubbed his eye. "Yeah," he said, "I mean, yes… Your Majesty…"
Luna glanced him over. He was a little bruised, but he wasn't bleeding. Still, he was covered in the darkness. "How are you feeling?"
"I've been… better," he said. He lifted up his arm and nodded at the darkness thereof. "That's not getting better. I'm done. It's only a matter of time."
Luna frowned. "I'm sorry."
Applejack threw herself against the door again.
Protean Joy shrugged. "Hey, just bidding time 'til you show up with the calvary." He glanced outside and frowned. "There's, uh, there's calvary coming, correct?"
Luna nodded somberly. "Where is Twilight Sparkle?"
"She and her lot took off. I'd bet they'd head for the town square. Spike's gone under, they're going to study him."
Luna nodded. Applejack threw herself against the door again.
"Hey," she said, "What about you?"
"Eh, just leave me here," he said, "Er, I mean, don't worry about me, Your Majesty. You can fly, and my leg is killing me. I'll keep an eye out for your calvary." He motioned towards his discarded saddlebag by the door. "There's a flare in there. When I see whomever's coming, I'll set if off. Then you lot will know."
Applejack threw herself against the door again.
Protean Joy shuddered. "Well, if Honesty doesn't bust out and rip my head off first."
Luna looked over at the closet. "What's wrong with her? All the infected I saw were lethargic and quiet…"
"I don't know," Protean Joy said, "They poked around upstairs and found her kid sister - Rarity's too, and some other kid. Then, she appeared and snapped. She hasn't said anything, she's just shouted and attacked."
Thunder cracked in the sky. Applejack moaned, then went quiet.
"Time's up," Protean Joy said, "I'll fire my flare if I see anything. It's your show now, Your Majesty."
Luna clenched her teeth and nodded. She headed for the door but stopped. She looked back at him. She felt like she should say something. She wasn't good at things like this.
"…See you later," she said.
He nodded and waved, but the way he curled a frown conveyed his skepticism.
Luna walked out and lifted herself up and looked onto the town. She frowned. She should've asked Protean Joy how long ago Twilight Sparkle left. She swallowed and flew off. The town was quiet beneath her. It wouldn't be too far until she reached the town square.
Then, benevolent light graced the lines between the clouds. Luna gasped and summoned her bubble. She poked up through the clouds and saw the sky. The sun was moving rapidly west and sunk beneath the horizon. From the east, the moon glistened upwards and painted the cloud tops a brilliant alabaster. Luna smiled.
Then, movement caught her eye.
Off to her left, about 30 or 40 feet away, the Harbinger surfaced as well. The darkness dripped from his form like smoke. He stared up at the stars in awe. 
Luna grimaced.
Soon, he noticed her. His breathing seemed noticeable heavier and he appeared to shutter. 
"Gaea!?" he shouted, "You… You've summoned Gaea?"
Luna clenched her teeth. She shouted back and shot a pillar of wind at him. He was struck and knocked asunder. As he recovered, she summoned her bubble again and dove back into the clouds. If he was that close to the town square, he was too close to Twilight Sparkle.
She drew her bubble away and waited for him. Sure enough, he sunk back through the cloud line and leered down from above her. 
"Hey!" he shouted.
Luna said nothing and shot at him again. This time it struck his mouth. His head whipped to the side and he lost his composure. He was knocked down to about her level. Now, he looked on her again from lowered brows and was angry.
"Stop," he said.
Luna's breathing picked up. No, she had to get him away - he that assault her home and her sister. She shouted and her eyes went white. Wind began to circle around her and she forced the clouds above her to churn. They resisted her, but she wasn't about to let some storm get the better of her. The Harbinger cautiously approached her. She stiffened the muscles in her legs and forced the wind to pick up. It spiraled and knocked him away. She felt a sting somewhere behind her left eye and whipped her head that direction. The wind circled her counter-clockwise then. She squinted. It was hard to see past the debris in the wind and the cozen white in her eyes.
Then, fire.
He set her wind ablaze and smoke filled her space. She coughed and lost composure. He split the fiery wind tunnel in the front and spread the tunnel wider. He stuck his torso in and grimaced at her.
"I know that look," he taunted. "Fear!"
He was snarling and bitter.
Luna swallowed and pushed him away with wind. The tunnel feel away and its fire struck the ground and was snuffed out. She flew down under him and flew east towards Canterlot. He leapt after here with her cool exterior cracking. She flipped herself over so that her back faced the ground and fired gales at him. He dodged and shot a stream of fire beneath her, then threw it upwards. It licked her back and she flipped to the side. She shot upward then. He followed.
He launch the occasional flame about her contours, like he was trying to herd her. When he shot fire beneath her again, she flipped upside-down and blasted a gust back at it. The gust overpowered the flame and blew it back at him. Its ambers struck his face and he screamed to shake them off. As he wiped at his face, she charged him and let her body swing so her hind-legs struck his left side. He was knocked a few feet.
He gave a blood curtailing scream and his eyes went black. He shot a thick, black stream of magic up into the clouds and they moaned like the damned in Tartarus. It was like his attack on the castle. Luna panted and braced for the lightning.
He was angry and reckless, though, and the lightning was sporadic. Luna kept her eyes to the skyline - the Harbinger was stiff and still - and weaved. The clouds blistered like burning skin before the lightning struck and the lingering moonlight indirectly lit enough to the clouds to make them easy to spot. She danced around them and positioned herself beneath him. She exhaled and shot a powerful gust up under him. The darkness in his eyes snapped away and he was thrown back. He screamed again and shot fired from his horn.
He searched and locked eyes with her. She smiled. It was working.
"I'll… drop you," he sputtered angrily, "Like I dropped your sister!"
Luna smiled melted away instantly. Her mind dropped away and something snapped behind her eyes. Rage - visceral, impermeable rage bubbled and sputtered inside her and she screamed. She threw another gust at him then, against his expectations, charged. She kicked him in the stomach and pushed him down. He moved away and panted. She looked at him and saw red. She charged again eager to pound and to bite. 
She swiped at him again, but he dodge. She kicked and hit his knee. She threw a punch at his face but he knocked it away. Then she throw an elbow and struck him right in the jaw. He trampled and kicked her away. The red snapped away and she stop to look at him. Then, he was on her. He shot fire right at her and it stung her face. She whimpered and wiped it away. He drove both his fore-hooves into her right side and pushed hard. She went flying towards the ground. She tried to stabilize, but failed. Her body hit the ground, her head smacked on the dirt and she blacked out.