//------------------------------// // Arc: Quietly Into the Night IV // Story: A Circle Has No End: Volume I // by Gladi Writes //------------------------------// Bon-Bon had been on watch duty when the alarms sounded, and now she sat near the concrete staircase that led back up to the bunkers entrance. She kept her gun close, and kept her eyes both on her herd, and on the machine before her. One of an increasing number of teleprinters hooked into a gigantic system that ran throughout the tunnels below Canterlot, and connected to a central station in the city. The central signals station, through which all of Equestria's military signalling was routed. It was well protected by the Night Guard, although recently that was bolstered by Celestia's centurions, who Bon-Bon greatly admired. Perhaps one day, she would be one of them. The best of the best, Celestia's right hoof in these dark times. The last message had been thus: FLASH: ATTACK CONFIRMED — CIVILIAN SHELTER ORDER: CODE TWILIGHT — WAR PLAN RED — COMMUNICATION BLACKOUT — Bon-Bon shuddered as she read it again. “War Plan Red” That plan, one of a great many, was perhaps the worst. It specified an attack from within Equestria itself, and one that had such overwhelming force that the defending force had no hope of victory. The protocol for such was simple: no surrender; the only hope for survival was to hold out for reinforcement. War Plan Red was reserved for only the most terrible of situations, and the capital itself being under attack certainly fit the bill. It was, in essence, a death warrant. She had never expected to see one, no less be part of one in Canterlot of all places. Code Twilight meant the civilians were to be rounded up into the "Twilight Shelters.", which was the moniker given to the defence bunkers built, by great expense on the orders of Princess Twilight Sparkle. She wasn't much of a war leader, but her organizational skill was quite apparent. Hundreds of these shelters, one of which Bon-Bon was in charge of, went up nearly overnight. Each ranking officer had a block and a plan, which had been rehearsed dozens of times. These places had saved hundreds in Manhattan and, tonight, in Canterlot. Equestria owed Twilight a great debt. She looked back at her herd huddled together in the dim light, and sighed. There was a certain green pony that was missing, and her absence worried Bon-Bon greatly. Lyra had saved her from the muddy trenches south of the Changeling Hive, and was her soul-mate. Bon-Bon had given her families estate to the green mare, since she was forced to sell it at the start of this atrocious saga. Apparently she had become rather close with a changeling bureaucrat, whom seemed nice enough. Still, anybody with that obvious a thirst for power wasn’t to be trusted with her loves life. Lyra was too naive to see it, but the “stallion” clearly saw any pony else as mere tools, to be used and discarded. Just like the rest of their “leadership”. Celestia, and her protege Twilight, were the only ones that seemed to really value life. So naturally they were both forced out of power by a certain lunar pony. While Bon-Bon kept an eye on them, those ponies quietly talked amongst themselves while the explosions above continued. Over the last few minutes the larger sounding ones had stopped, and for the most part only the crack of small-arms could be heard. The ponies weren’t sure what to think however, and they all had the same question on their minds. “Did we win, or did we lose?” “Queen Luna”, what an embarrassment. How Celestia hadn’t realized that Luna was just manipulating events to fulfill her thousand-year-old ambitions for total power was beyond Bon-Bon, but so was most politics. All she really cared about was keeping these ponies safe, and that’s where politics intersected. Bon-Bon had watched from the sidelines as the Night Guard was given unlimited power, and now she saw the results of that. Luna was a fool, and her short-sightedness had cost hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent lives. The shelters would help, but an attack from within wasn't what they were designed for. The machine beeped, and Bon-Bon jumped back from it, startled. After a moment it buzzed, and printed out a short message. THE NIGHT REIGNS —ALL CLEAR, CIVILIAN PONIES ORDERED TOPSIDE FOR CLEAN-UP. Bon-Bon felt a chill go down her spine, and was almost overtaken by a sick feeling in her stomach. So that was it, Equestria as she had known it was dead. As if the Griffons weren’t enough, the Lunar Princess had turned treasonous once again. The all-clear signal was clearly fabricated, although some of the more nervous block-leaders might be given to following the order anyway. Bon-Bon was not so stupid. She still had a job to do, and these ponies needed her. So she crumbled the message up, and turned to her herd. “Listen up!” she shouted to get their attention. “I want a report on how much food and water we have. We’re going to be here a while.” she said. Bon-Bon flicked a switch beside the teleprinter, and behind the crowd a dozen more lights came on to reveal rows of bunks and metal closets. They had a few weeks supplies down here, hopefully enough to hold out combined with whatever the civilians brought. The crowd of thirty ponies, standing together in that dimly lit concrete chamber, lowered their heads with collective sadness. They understood what her order meant, and resigned themselves to their fates. “We lost.” Bon-Bon felt it with them, but steeled herself to her duty. She needed to put on a strong face for them, and did so. “Get to it!” She ordered. That sparked them to action, and they started collecting the belongs they had managed to bring, along with the supplies in the bunker itself, into a pile. One of them was taking charge of that, which gave Bon-Bon a chance to collect herself and think. If Luna had turned against Celestia, than holding out for rescue wasn't an option. The Night Guard would surely break down the door soon enough, or else somehow convince Bon-Bon it was all clear. She couldn't trust the surface for rescue, so her only option was to escape to the country somehow. The city was lost, but if this bunker was built under it, then there must be access into the caves somewhere. Probably a small tunnel for running the communications wires. Wherever it was though, it was well hidden. Obviously keeping people from entering the evacuation chambers from behind had been thought of during their construction. So Bon-Bon began tapping at the walls, working her way along them, looking for some sign of a hollow area. Clack Clack Clack Clackaaack Bon-Bon paused, and hit that area again. She thought she could hear a faint echo behind, as if her tapping was bouncing down a hallway. “I need a unicorn…” she mumbled, and her thoughts once again turned to Lyra. “I need a unicorn!” she repeated, loud enough for the rest to hear. “Here!” one of them shouted back, and came through the group towards her. He was a rather well built stallion, and wore his fetlocks markedly unshorn. His swagger suggested the obvious, but Bon-Bon only smiled amusedly. Her barn door swung in quite the opposite direction. He was wearing the standard cover-alls of a manual labourer as if it was a suit and tie, but his messy-mane, and dirt covered yellow coat, betrayed the reality of his career. He was one of the enormous force of manual-labourers that poured their energy into making new ships of war in the dry-docks. “Overcast, at your service,” he said, and gave a polite bow. She tapped at the spot of the wall, and stepped back from it. “Open this,” Bon-Bon ordered. “Gladly.” Overcast charged his horn, and a moment later blew the wall open with a burst of red energy. Bon-Bon coughed and waved aside some dust before sticking her head out into the dark tunnel beyond. Just as she thought, dozens of wires ran along the ceiling. Eventually, she thought, there must be a way into the caves from here. So she looked to the group, and told them her plan. “We’re going to look for a way out, the rest of you stay here,” she said, while she quickly collected her rifle. "Don't open that door for anything!" She added. With a nod to Overcast, she led him into the tunnel. The red light of his horn lit the way ahead, and Bon-Bon found it rather surreal. Their hoof steps echoed up and down the hallway, giving her goosebumps from the feeling of being followed. She could swear they were being watched, but her frequent glances behind made that impossible. Nonetheless, she held her rifle tight. Bon-Bon realized while they walked that, other than their footsteps, it was totally silent. Either they were too deep to hear the sounds of war outside, or the city had utterly fallen. Overcast seemed spooked by it, and calmed himself by chattering on about his job. He was doing his very best to impress Bon-Bon with his feats of naval engineering, including apparently moving a six-tonne naval gun all by himself. He was quite proud of his work, and went deeply into detail about a new ship called the Marauder. An impressive design, apparently. She paused, and put a hoof to his chest. His heart beat quickly, and he leaned down to her. “Overcast, I’m taken.” The poor stallion was crushed, and looked way to hide it. “That’s… fine,” he lied. Bon-Bon laughed, and slapped him on the shoulder. “It’s not you, it’s just I… don’t quite go for stallions.” His ego instantly repaired itself, once it realized that it was no lack of charm that had lost him his prize. He turned back to her, and smiled. “All the good ones…” he joked, and gestured on ahead. Bon-Bon chuckled, and led him onwards. The momentary lifting of their spirits quickened their pace, and a few minutes later they found a door at the end of the hallway. As expected, and to her chagrin, Bon-Bon found it locked. “Can you…” The door was forced off it’s hinges into the room beyond before Bon-Bon could complete her request. The light from beyond was blinding, and she stumbled backwards from it. “Who are you!” a voice demanded. Bon-Bon raised her rifle unsteadily at the light. “Who’s asking!” “Malgavian! Night Guard Tactical Command!” The voice replied. “One of the good ones!” it added. Bon-Bon wasn’t so sure, and squinted through the harsh light to see a figure pointing it’s own gun down at her. She kept hers steady. “Oh yeah?” “Yes! I assure you, dear pony, that I’m not with the others! We’re not all… like that.” He said, with a bit of disgust in his voice. “I’m sure you aren’t, now lower your weapon!” Bon-Bon demanded. “You heard her!” Overcast added. To her surprise, Malgavian threw down his weapon. Bon-Bon lowered hers in turn, and looked curiously at the thestral standing beyond the portal. “I told you, we’re not all like that,” he said, and stepped aside. Bon-Bon exited into the room beyond, and found dozens of injured bat ponies lined the walls, and dozens more tended to them. Racks of weapons and loose supplies were on the walls, and at one end of the room a dark cave ran into the abyssal darkness. Two guards, with mounted heavy machine guns, watched it intently. “Corporal Bon-Bon, GHT1889, Castle Guard. So, it’s true, Canterlot has fallen?” Bon-Bon asked as she looked over the room. “For now, yes. We’ve been mounting hit-and-run attacks, but the… traitors… have superior weaponry. They’ve locked most of us in the mountain, we’re all that remain of those loyal to Luna.” Bon-Bon eyed him suspiciously. He looked just like any thestral, and the dim light didn't help much. All she could really make out, beyond his glowing eyes, was a glowing patch on his shoulder. N.G.T.C “Now, correct me if I’m wrong…” she said, and prodded him with her rifle, “… but isn’t this all about Luna, or Nightmare Moon, or whatever that bitch is calling herself now?” Malgavian cringed at the obvious disrespect, but released his anger with a deep sigh. “I can understand why you would think that, but she had nothing to do with this. It’s only a sect of extremists that think they know what’s best for Her Highness, over her own orders. They’re deluded into thinking they know better than Luna herself, and will stop at nothing to ensure she’s the only princess in Equestria. They did this…” he sighed, and leaned against the wall. “We did this, and we are forever shamed. For millennia our two races have been friends, separate but equal. Now that relationship is shattered, and we both pay the price for our own cowardice, our unwillingness to fight the evil that had taken root. Mezza Luna was our greatest leader, and our worst. We should have seen the signs when she insisted that Luna was going to try to take the throne again. She built us a great military, and filled our hearts with a desire for everlasting night. You ever see the Magnificent? That was ours. When Luna came back, and denied her this "final victory", she was heartbroken. I think it drove her insane, honestly. Imagine spending your entire life training for someone, only for them to tell you you're wrong. It broke her. ” "Imagine if you were told you could have the sun rise forever. Would you not be tempted? Giving up that idea was a hard pill to swallow." Bon-Bon left absorbing that exposition for later. “I have civilians, we’re looking to get out of the city. Can you help me?” she asked. Malgavian shook his head. “I’m afraid not. The tunnels are crawling with traitors, and they aren’t shooting blanks,” he said, and gestured behind him. Bon-Bon followed his hoof to find a pair of changelings, quite badly wounded, amongst the others. They lay on the ground, embracing each other tightly as their lives slipped out into a damp towel around them. “They were apparently down here to cause a distraction, and they certainly did. Crafty little bugs collapsed a tunnel, and took out a few dozen traitors. Ended up getting shot eventually.” He said, and led her over to them. One of them weakly opened his eyes, and looked at Bon-Bon pleadingly. “I’m afraid there’s not much we can do but ease the pain, it’s the end of the road for them,” Malgavian said. Bon-Bon reached down, and touched the forehead of the one looking at her. It was cold. He reached up and weakly grasped her own hoof, and with a gentle green glow around himself seemed to feel some relief for a moment. He smiled weakly, and then closed his eyes. Bon-Bon felt a tug at her insides, as if she had just run a marathon, but let that energy flow freely. The second changeling gasped for a second, and then shuddered with relief as he too glowed for a moment. “Goodbye, friend pony.” It was the last words that changeling would ever say, and Bon-Bon wiped a tear from her eye before turning away. To think, that these creatures had once been seen as their natural enemies. They were just as good as any. Knowing she had helped them pass without pain made her exhaustion worthwhile. “So now what?” she asked Malgavian. She was startled by the sound of yelling at the rooms mouth, and then the roar of gunfire exploded into the air. The light of muzzle flash’s lit Malgavian’s face as he looked at her, unfazed by the commotion. “We die.” ---- Flash Sentry awoke, and immediately felt pain from what seemed to be every synapse in his body. Which he was thankful for- it meant he wasn’t dead. He opened his eyes, and looked over his immediate surroundings. He appeared be laying on the floor of the throne room, with the only light being flashes from outside. He couldn’t remember what had happened, all he could recall was a very angry alicorn staring them down. With a grunt of pain, Flash stood, and to his surprise found he had been relieved of his radio gear. His limbs were all there though, although his prosthetic was bent into uselessness. He tore it off, better 3 working legs than be hobbled by it. Granted, four would be better. “Flash…” Mary groaned. He found her lying nearby, as bruised as he was, but alive. “Next time they ask me to arrest an alicorn, I’m going AWOL.” she mumbled. Mary stood, and snapped her shoulder back into position with a yelp of pain. Beside her she found Big Mac, and put a hoof to his neck. “Well, he’s alive, but it looks like he has a concussion,” she said, and rummaged through her medkit. While Mary tended to their red comrade, Flash looked around for the remaining two of their troop. He found Excavo nearby, and woke her. She was rather shaken, but nothing a little sleep wouldn’t clear up. Brigadier Sunshine was nowhere to be seen, however. The rest of the room was empty, and they seemed to be alone in the castle. “Anybody seen the brigadier?” Flash asked openly. He then realized how oddly silent it was, and automatically reached for his rifle. Which was gone. “Where’s my gun!” “Where’s my gun!” Big Mac shouted. Flash felt a quick wave of panic. They were unarmed, and cut-off without their radio. Their commander was nowhere to be seen, which meant… “I’m taking charge. Get yourselves together, we’re leaving.” Flash ordered. “I ain’t going anywhere without my gun!” Big Mac shouted, and frantically tossed rubble aside in a mad dash to find it. “You will do as ordered corporal!” Flash shouted back, and the enormous pony halted in his search. He sighed, and turned to face Flash. “Yes, sir.” Flash hid his relief that he wouldn’t have to confront his friend. “Good, we can get you a new one later. For now, it’s time to get out of here,” Flash said, and looked down the dim hallway. “This place is seriously starting to creep me out.” Flash led them out, and the group slowly made their way back down the hall the way they had came. They passed a great many fallen Night Guards, and their formation became very tight to ward off the eeriness of the place. There was nothing but death all around, and they were eager to get out of there. To imagine, that this had once been a beautiful castle, full of history and gleaming in the sun. A place of safety and wisdom. The seat of power in Equestria. Now it was nothing but a blown-out ruin, full of corpses. The capital itself was burning, and not for the first time this month either. Dark times indeed. Flash continued along, leading his group, mindful of their lack of arms. Eventually they spotted a figure ahead, and Flash halted them. Silently they watched, and were watched, by the other. The lights flashing from outside highlighted it’s form as it approached, and Flash recognized tiny wings and a curved horn. Rather fat for how short it was. A changeling in the palace, an oddly re-assuring sight these days. “Halt, give us your name.” Flash ordered. The figure lit his horn so as to reveal his form, and Flash saw what looked to be a chubby black pony. He knew his face from the newspapers, he had become rather famous as of late. Just another flash in the pan, like Rarity or that farmer from Ponyville. “Prince Wildcard, leader of the changelings. It’s good that I found you. Your force has retreated, but I’ve discovered something important.” Flash held his position and eyed the stallion suspiciously. “What would that be?” “The insurgents still control the signals headquarters, I took a look in there, and they’ve been sending all-clear signals to the evacuation centres. They’re…” Flash’s eyes grew wide with horror. “No, no that’s too terrible!” “Not quite what you think. They’re rounding them all up as hostages at Celestia’s School. You still have a chance to get the word out and save them.” “Hostages? What do they expect is going to happen? They can’t hold out forever,” Mary said. Wildcard nodded. “Exactly. Their doomed unless you can get word out about this. I quite suspect Luna, in her anger right now, has lost the ability to even care. You see those flashes outside?” he asked. Flash looked out a shattered window, and saw another light up the sky. “That’s not gunfire, that’s Her Highness. She tore out of the castle and has been carving a path through the insurgents. Quite something to behold really, an alicorn totally letting loose. Entire blocks going up in smoke; the collateral damage would be amazing had the civilians not evacuated underground, although that seems to be only temporary.” Flash was awed, and somewhat frightened, by the revelation. That’s why their own force had retreated, Luna had apparently decided to take things on herself. The full power of Nightmare Moon, unleashed against the Night Guard. What an odd, and entirely terrifying, state of affairs. Flash looked back towards the changeling, but found he had vanished. No matter, he had delivered enough important information for them to have a clear goal. “Well, you heard him. We make for the signals headquarters.” ---- Luna saw another figure down below, and shot another ray of explosive energy downwards. It, and everything within ten meters around, exploded with blue fire. She was not in her normal form, no this situation called for something else. She was armoured, fanged, and her slit-eyes saw through the night as if it was day. Nightmare Moon flew over Canterlot, sending down magic missiles of destruction at her enemy. “I will take you all down! I’ll send you all back to the hell you belong!” She shouted, and darted between the buildings to dodge gunshots coming from behind. "Traitors! Terrorists! I'll have your heads!" She had taken down hundreds of them, yet they still refused to give up. It was quite pathetic really, throwing their lives away so futilely. Fools, all of them were fools. She flipped over and dispatched the two following her before continuing. “Mezza Luna, come out and fight me you coward!” She boomed into the night, and flew back up into the sky. She hovered above, looking at the city below her as it blazed in the night. It was a ruin at this point, but she didn’t care. Nothing mattered now, only dispatching her enemy that had cost her so much. The fool has destroyed everything. Luna had respect, she had earned her place in the state, and she had regained the trust of her sister. All that was gone. Celestia would never trust her leadership again, nor would the ponies. Not after this. Furiously, she shot another beam against a random building below, sending it toppling into the street. She had helped build this city, in a way it was fitting she destroy it. She had freed the thestrals from their overlord, and they repayed her by giving their loyalty to this foolish threstral. What a gift to be freed from her lunar prison, only to become entangled in treason. Luna sighed, it was her fault as well. She should have been more open to their concerns. Their militarization was obvious, and it was clear a year ago that they had been waiting for her return not so much for her, but for themselves. They wanted to take their place as the master race, rulers of Equestria in the day and the night. It was rather similar to her own mistake, really. Almost poetic that she ended up fighting them. It was as if her own inner demons had been given corporeal form, and she had to destroy them physically as much as mentally. Now was not a time for poetry however, and Luna soared back down towards the city to begin her hunt anew. A red beam flew past her head, and exploded a building beside her. Luna spun through the debris and turned around, and saw her prey looking back at her. She wasted not a moment, and shot a blue beam at her. Mezza Luna was unfazed as the bolt bounced off herself, and grinned at Luna madly. She held a staff, which seemed to be made of the night sky itself. Starswirl's staff. "That staff does not belong to you, traitor! A great pony once held that staff, and now you tarnish it with your evil!" “Like it? I liberated it from that that changelings home. He’ll be needing a change of paint, by the way.” she teased. “You may have Starswirls staff, but your mind is too weak for it's power! Give up, and die with some dignity!” Luna shouted at her inferior, and darted towards the hovering thestral. “Oh I think not, dear Princess. I know your weakness now, I know where we went wrong. You love these ponies too much, it’s pathetic. Don't you see how superior we are, you and I? You are a wolf that believes she is an ant.” “You call this superiority? You’re nothing, Mezza Luna. Just a footnote in history, another spark out of the fire. You’ll fizzle out just like the rest.” Mezza Luna blew Luna back with a burst of air when she got close, and held her in a red field before she could react. “I think not. You burnt out a thousand years ago, and only this pathetic shadow remains. I am loyal to the true Luna, the Luna that knew her own superiority. If I have to destroy you to give us our rightful station as rulers of this nation, I will.” "Did you know we had a plan to deal with your sister? I practiced with this staff, and I was to be the one to put her down for good. Oddly fitting that it be used against you, who has become nothing but Celestia's dog." Luna struggled, and the field fizzled as she started to break free. Mezza Luna squinted with exertion to keep it intact. “I did not burn out, I grew brighter, wiser!” She shouted, and shattered the field. Mezza Luna shuddered for a second, and frantically threw a hoof up. "Wait!” “Why? I should crush you now, you whelp!” Luna’s nemesis collected herself, and grinned. “If you kill me now, my forces will destroy Celestia’s school. There’s hundreds of ponies there, and they’re cowering in fear, hoping for you to save them.” Luna glared at her, and her horn radiated with energy. “You think hostages will stop me? I let you go, and you’ll kill them anyway.” Mezza Luna cackled. “You kill me now, and Celestia will never trust you again. She'll know what you did, and forever she will blame you. Kill me, and you lose your sister forever.” Luna paused. “Leave, now.” Mezza Luna grinned, and savoured her victory. “NOW.” “So be it.” Mezza Luna dropped from the sky, and left Luna hanging there glaring at her. Her anger presented itself as an arcing field of magical energy around, sparking fires below her. Luna could hold it for but a half minute, until she exploded with anger and decimated the ground below. Exhausted, she then dropped to the ground, and released a great sigh. "Perhaps you were right, Sister. Oh what I would give for your wisdom now." --- Flash Sentry saw it, and halted in the street. A brilliant white flash that lit up the sky, followed by a tall trail of smoke, lit by fire from below. “That looked like it came from the political quarter, that’s…” He paused, and a horrible realization came to him. “Oh no, no…” “No, they can’t have! Nobody is that.. that vile! Nobody could do anything that horrible!” He shouted. “What are you talking about?!” Mary asked frantically. Flash turned to her. “The school... they actually did it.” Flash screamed back, and then turned away from her. “You bastards, I’ll kill you all!” “Flash, Flash calm down!” Mary put a hoof on his shoulder and tried to calm him down, while the rest of the squad looked on. “Calm down? They just killed hundreds of innocent ponies, I’ll calm down when they’re all buried!” “Yeah, he’s got the right idea!” Big Mac shouted, and pumped his weapon in the air. Flash turned to his squad. “On me! We’re going to show these bats what happens when you mess with ponies!” He stormed off, and most of his squad quickly took his tail. “The only good bat is a dead bat!” Mary, however, stopped and watched him storm off. She tried to think, but a secondary explosion rattled her out of it. Looking to the sky, she could see the flames rising from away. “I’ll follow you into hell, Flash. Only for you.” --- It took them a half hour to cross the remaining breadth of the city, and arrive near the signals centre. In that time they picked up a dozen or so straggling airborne that had become separated by their units, and had been cowering in alleys. Their hearts blazed at the news of Mezza Luna’s crime, and then formed an angry, well armed, mob; picking weapons off the streets. Flash led them, with Mary taking his right, and Mac on his left. They paused in the street, with the signals centre in a fenced-off clearing before them. It rose like a monolith over it’s immediate surroundings, and was remarkably less battle-damaged than the rest of the city. “Plan?” Big Mac asked. “We kill them all, we'll show them what happens when you mess with ponies.” Flash said, and gestured at the gate. “Got it,” Mac said, and spun around to deliver a kick to the gate. It flew off it’s hinges, and the mob swarmed in, screaming incoherently as they raced to find their pray. A single thestral emerged from the doors to the building, unarmed and with their hooves over their head. “Don’t shoot, we surrender!” He shouted frantically. They did. - Half an hour later Flash, with Mary at his side, breached the inner sanctum of the building. His followers ran roughshod through, decimating any opposition they came across. It would seem that, for all their advanced weaponry, the Night Guard traitors hadn’t planned for a long engagement. They had, quite simply, run out of ammunition. They sensed their defeat and tried to run, but the Wonderbolts had returned, and tore them out of the sky. Within the signals station itself, none were allowed to surrender. You don’t get to do what they did, and walk away from it. Warriors surrender, terrorists die. Flash stopped beside the door to the inner comes room, and put his back to the wall. Mary did so across from him, and they tried to listen on the room itself. There was only silence. “Breach the door, and then get back. I’ll take a look inside.” Flash ordered. Mary nodded, and made a three-count with a hoof. At the end of three, she darted back and blew the doors inwards with her magic. Flash quickly rolled into the new opening, and glanced inside. He quickly scanned the room, and found only one figure within the many desks. “Hold!” Flash shouted, and brought his rifle to bear on the enemy. The figure wasn’t stupid, and immediately ducked under the desk. “Don’t shoot, I’m not one of them!” Flash laughed, and slowly stepped inside. He motioned Mary to circle the room opposite him, and she did so with her rifle forward. “A likely story, but I know you’re all the same. At least the Griffons have the courage to meet us on fair terms, arms to arms. You bastards blew up a school.” Flash hissed the last remark, and his eyes pulsed with anger. “You don’t get it, I wasn’t with them! I was teleported here! They had me tied up until ten minutes ago!” Flash pointed his rifle in the direction of the voice, and fired at the movement he saw. It turned out to be a chair, which was ripped to shreds by two rounds. “Sentry, is that you?” Flash paused. “How do you know me?!” he demanded, and swung his rifle looking for the source. “We met here, when the war started!” Flash stopped, and lowered his rifle. “Echo?!” Echo rose from underneath one of the desks, and looked across the room to Flash. Mary quickly circled around behind her, and looked to him for orders. Flash shook his head. “Echo, how the hell did you get mixed up in all this? If you’re here, then you’re with them. You better have a good explanation.” Flash said. “Flash, Luna sent me here. At first I didn’t know why, but then I figured it out. I sent a distress call, the legion is on the way. They know about the hostages. One of the others was trying to get them to bomb the school, said it was a missile site.” She gestured to the other end of the room, where a figure could be seen on the floor. "I made him stop." Flash lowered his rifle, and released a great sigh of relief. “So it’s over.” Echo nodded. “It’s over.” --- It would be a day and a half before Celestia would return to Canterlot, with the rail station requiring significant repairs. She had spent her time in the Crystal Empire creating a new treaty that gave the Empire significantly greater autonomy, and in exchange the Empire was finally stepping into the war. They had, to Celestia’s surprise, been rather busy in the last few months. They had a force equal to a third of what Equestria had, and now it was on it’s way to the oceanic front. The news had been able to somewhat dampen the effect of “The Slaughter of Canterlot.” Canterlot was a ruin, and the castle lain to waste. While civilian casualties were near zero, thousands of thestrals had dies in their quick civil war. The inner-mountain was as ruined as Canterlot, and the race itself was brought to it's knees. The airborne had taken a few dozen casualties of it’s own, and the barely-airworthy hulk of the Magnificent hovering over the city was a stark reminder of where things were. Canterlot had not been the only battleground that night. The Hollow Shades had been decimated as well, as the fifth column there sprung into action, but was quickly routed by the Legion forces that had massed in Baltimare. The morning after, Shining Armour had gone in with his own force, and utterly defeated any remaining insurgents. The toll on the thestral race was huge, and this bloody saga left them on the verge of extinction. Mezza Luna was still at large as well, but now the entire combined force of Equestria, The Crystal Empire, the remaining thestrals, and even the Equestrian changelings was looking for her. Mezza Luna would face justice soon, and the race was on to see why would deal it out. In the meantime, the weather all over Equestria had turned fierce, bringing harsh storms in the lowlands, and bitter frost in the highlands. The Crystal Empire was facing a snowstorm two months early. Ponyville and select farms remained under controlled-weather, in order to better feed the population, but some saw it as favouritism. In Manehatten it had rained for a solid week, and flooding was reported all over the region. Vanhoover was dealing with a hurricane, and Appleloosa hadn't seen rain in months. Celestia however, knew that it was her own failings, and not her sisters, that had caused this. Luna had remained faithful to the last, and done her best to correct Celestia’s mistakes. If only she had been more pro-active in her management of the Night Guard, if only she had seen the signs earlier. She had never expected that anyone, not thestral nor pony nor griffon, could unleash such horror on the world. The reprisals had been almost immediate. Thestrals had been driven out of most of the smaller towns, and those in the cities faced angry mobs. Equestria was on it’s deathbed, and she could do nothing but watch. What they needed now was peace, but peace was a long way off. The sun had set on Equestria, and the dark began to set in.