“Sirius, is that you?” Cepheus asked, deep within the depths of his dream.
The blurry visage was issuing a warning, but he couldn’t hear it. His half-brother’s voice sounded so far away….
“I’ve missed you,” Cepheus went on. “How have you been?”
Sirius’ obscured features were slowly coming into focus, and Cepheus squinted his eyes. “Sirius? Are you there?”
Suddenly, the face came into focus. “Wake up,” Starlight whispered.
Cepheus blinked. Who exactly was this stallion in his dreams?
“Wake up,” Starlight repeated, but this time it was louder, and with more urgency.
Cepheus began to sweat in his dream. Something was wrong. Why is it so hot in here?
“WAKE UP!” Starlight bellowed.
Cepheus awoke with a jolt, heavy beads of perspiration accumulated on his brow. It was unbearably hot in the bedroom. The acrid stench of smoke had dried out his lungs and had made them sore. He struggled to breathe, and roused the sleeping Candle next to him. She was burning up too, and slowly awoke. “Hmmm?” she murmured sleepily.
A glaring orange light was filtering in through the curtains. “Fire,” Cepheus whispered to himself. Candle began to cough, a loud hacking sound. Dusty who was sleeping at the foot of their bed also awoke as Candle struggled to catch her breath. Cepheus stumbled out of bed and dropped to the floor, the air at this level still cool and clear. “Candle! Dusty!” Cepheus shouted. “We have to get out of here!”
They all got on the floor and wriggled out of the room. In the hallway, frightened residents had grabbed all that they could and were galloping towards the exits. Nightborn guards were pounding on the doors, and helping to evacuate all the ponies.
“Cepheus!” a pony called him over the commotion.
Cepheus looked over and saw Starlight rushing to them. “I just returned from a patrol,” he said, out of breath. “The whole forest is ablaze!”
“Is it a wildfire?” Candle asked, obviously concerned.
Starlight shook his head. “This is no wildfire,” he said cryptically. “This was arson. I’ve never seen such a blaze before.”
He blinked. “What does this mean?”
Starlight looked up at him. “The Scions of Celestion have begun their march,” Cepheus gasped, and Candle drew Dusty closer to her. “It’s been approximately three days,” he whispered. “The flames have been pushed in our direction by the dry, windy weather we’ve been having lately.”
Andre rocketed down the hallway, skidding on the stone floor, flapping his wings in an effort to stop himself. “Starlight!” he shouted. “I brought the Elements of Harmony to your chamber while you were on patrol. You have to go get them while I finish up evacuations!”
“Where will we go?” Dusty murmured sleepily.
Starlight looked down at the foal, then up at Andre and Cepheus. They all wanted to know. Starlight thought for a moment, and sighed. “Andre, I need you to get our military equipment after we’ve evacuated. The most logical move for the Scions is to attack Nocturnus. We’re going to meet them there.”
Andre saluted him. “Yes, sir!”
Starlight nodded. “I also need you to come with me and collect the Elements of Harmony.”
Andre’s eyes went wide. “Sir, I cannot possibly do all these things you have asked me.” He sighed, something silent being exchanged between him and Starlight. “You have no choice right now,” he said, and gestured at Cepheus. “You have an able bodied stallion standing right next to you. Use him.”
Starlight fidgeted uncomfortably, the same way he did whenever he was asked to do something with him. Cepheus embraced Candle, and she looked at him, frightened. “Candle, I need you to take Dusty and get out of here. I have to help Starlight.”
“Come with me,” Andre urged. Candle nodded, and they followed him down the hallway.
Starlight sighed, and unfolded his wings. Cepheus did the same. They flew down the hallways, bounding off the walls as they turned corners.
They arrived at Starlight’s chambers, and Starlight rushed ahead of Cepheus. The air had become thick with smoke, and they were both coughing. Cepheus’ lungs felt like they had been torn and were bleeding.
The five gems of the Elements of Harmony had already been fitted into its golden circle-piece, and seemed to glow faintly. As Cepheus drew closer, the glow intensified. “Starlight? I think it’s reacting to my presence….”
There was silence. Cepheus looked around for Starlight. Where had he gone?
Cepheus began to disassemble the circle-piece so it would be easier to carry. The gems seemed to be pulsing with energy at his proximity. They were alive with vibrations. Surely this wasn’t normal….
Cepheus fashioned the golden circle-piece into a sort of necklace and wore it around his neck. He had to stop as he had another coughing fit. The air was thick with smoke and was becoming suffocating. They were running out of time.
As soon as he turned around to leave, a stack of chests was dropped in front of him. Starlight flew down, desperately trying to lug all his belongings out of the room. Cepheus was confused. “Starlight, how do you expect to carry all these things!?” Cepheus drew closer, seeing the edges of papers and photographs sticking out of the hastily packed chests. “What is this stuff that you are willing to risk both of our lives for!?”
Starlight ignored him. “Just help me get these out of here!”
Cepheus felt an emotion that he very rarely felt: irritation. “Starlight!” the other stallion stopped tugging and stared. “We won’t make it out of here if we bring these things along. You have to leave them.”
Cepheus was surprised when he saw tears in Starlight’s eyes. “Please,” he begged. “These are very important to me.” Cepheus was uncertain. “Please…” he pleaded.
“Fine,” Cepheus conceded. As they both lifted up two very heavy chests onto their backs, he heard a lot of papers shifting around as well as the crinkling of newspaper. This wasn’t just memories of his dead wife packed in here… there are other things in here as well.
Cepheus didn’t think much more of it, having to focus all his energies on getting out of the building alive. The Elements of Harmony were buzzing against his barrel as they managed to find the exit.
Stepping outside, Cepheus gasped as he saw the forest burning all around him. The trees were like torches, and the strong winds were urging the flames to spread. He felt like he had stepped inside some kind of cavernous furnace. Sweat dripping from the heat, lungs burning from the acrid air, back sore from the luggage, he went to go find his family among the crackling timbers and falling embers.
Cepheus had suited up in his armor as they approached the city. He and the other Lunaran Knights were climbing up the ridge which would give them an excellent vantage point of the city. Andre had said that it was important to get a good sense of what was going on before entering the fray.
Cepheus was exhausted from their constant march and the heavy armor was encumbering him. The Elements of Harmony that once hung around his neck, were now kept in a strongbox in the supply train in the very back. It was the safest place for it to be. His wife and Dusty were also there.
Cepheus had sensed that she was forcing herself to stay back and not be with her husband. Despite his urging that it was okay for a mare to fight, and that there were other mares among the stallions, she had insisted on staying with the supply train.
As her husband, he respected her decision. Somepony had to take care of Dusty while her stallion was in the front rows… and if something were to happen to him…..
Cepheus shuddered. He looked up ahead and saw that they were almost to the top of the ridge. Starlight hung aloof at the very front, the Lunaran battle standard erected on his saddle. The silver crescent moon insignia in a field of purple and azure flapped in the hot, dry breeze. The moon was shining, the wan light reflecting on the silver armor of the Knights around him.
Nearing the top of the ridge, he looked ahead and saw Starlight standing at the edge. Cepheus saw trails of billowing smoke rising up into the sky. That wasn’t a good sign.
They reached the top of the ridge, and Cepheus joined Starlight in mutual horror.
There was a gaping breach in Nocturnus’ city wall. There were the sounds of screaming, clashing swords, and carnage from within. The city’s buildings that were tall enough to be seen from over the wall were either burning or venting streaks of black smoke from broken glass windows.
Andre was aghast. “Impossible,” he whispered. “How could they have broken through so quickly?”
“I guess the defending Night Guard garrison was weak,” Starlight muttered. “What is Necron – Nightmare Moon playing at?”
Shaking his head vigorously, Cepheus stamped his hoof. “We have to get down there.” Starlight and Andre looked at him. “There are civilians caught in the crossfire. Can’t you hear the screaming?” The particularly shrill screech of a mare echoed in the night. “The Scions want to kill all the Nightborns, civilian and Night Guard alike. Most of the Dayborns have taken up arms alongside them, and the remaining Night Guards are probably killing all Dayborns on sight in response, whether they are hostile or not. We have to rescue those not involved, or they will all be killed in the crossfire.”
“Well said,” Starlight agreed.
Andre ordered the Knights to form an advance formation to approach the city.
Cepheus fell in line with the others, hoisting his shield up, and Starlight led their charge down the ridge.
The pounding of their hooves against the ground, the rattling of armor being jolted up and down, his heart racing in his chest, and the heavy breathing of the other knights was all that Cepheus could hear.
They blitzed across the land in front of the city towards the breach. The siege grounds were covered with rubble from the wall, corpses of slain Scions and Night Guards, and razor sharp arrows with their heads embedded in the dirt.
When they all arrived at the breach, and saw what was ensuing within the city, Cepheus realized that the situation was completely out of control. Half of the buildings were either smoking or on fire. Dayborn rioters were throwing Molotov cocktails at Nightmare Moon’s institutions which had oppressed them for so long, while the Scions clashed with the Night Guard in the streets.
Starlight turned and faced them. “The Scions of Celestion will have complete control over this city in a few hours. The Dayborns in this city are safe for the time being,” they all nodded, agreeing. “Therefore, our priority shifts to rescuing the Nightborns from their collective wrath.”
Andre nodded and pointed his hoof towards the center of the city. “The Nightborns are the minority in this city, but control all the wealth. They all reside in the upper class dwellings in the heart of the city, so that’s where we will expect to find our civilians.”
Cepheus swallowed hard. The further they went into the city, the harder it would to get the civilians out safely. Hopefully the remaining Night Guards could keep them busy long enough for them to escape.
Starlight led the charge into the breach, and they galloped through the street. As they fought their way into the center of the city, Cepheus saw the destruction all around. Shattered storefronts, all the wares within looted. A toppled statue of Nocturnus’ mayor had completely obstructed one street, so the Knights had to climb over the rubble. The burning façade of a bank building came into view as they galloped, and Dayborn rioters were on the roof, screaming. “Death to Nightmare Moon and her corporate Nightborn scum!”
Cepheus grew increasingly frightened the deeper they went into the city. There were only Dayborn rioters left here, reveling in the devastation the Scions had left behind. They immediately scattered when the Knights charged through.
How far had the Scions penetrated into Nocturnus’ defensive lines? Cepheus thought, despairingly. The inner ring was where all the Nightborn gentry lived, so naturally it would be the most fortified. Hopefully the Scions hadn’t gotten through yet….
Cepheus’ hopes were shattered when he saw the gate that segregated the Nightborns neighborhoods from the Dayborn slums. A massive hole had been blown in the portcullis, the heavy metal beams melted by an intense blast of heat. The stepped through the ruined fortification and immediately felt the difference here. This area exuded wealth. The once pretty fountains had been smashed, the fancy dwellings had been ransacked, and their businesses had been broken into and were still being looted. It was eerily quiet here….
The Knights slowed down as they drew deeper into the city, seeing what had taken place here. They all stopped when it came into view. This was their first time they had seen any Nightborn civilians since arriving into the city. Cepheus couldn’t look away from the ghastly sight before him. “We were too late…” he whispered.
It was the city park, and on all the trees, hanged the bodies of the city’s Nightborn. Stallions, mares, foals, all well dressed and groomed with a necklace of rope around their necks. The branches creaked eerily as the Knights began to trot through, the corpses swaying in the breeze.
Cepheus couldn’t look at their faces. It made him too sick. He heard a mare sobbing form nearby, and the sound of a foal crying.
Starlight and Cepheus drew away from the main group and sought out the source of the sound. Cepheus spotted a Dayborn mare sitting in front of a tree, crying. Starlight drew close to her, and she looked up at him. “Who are you?” she asked. “You’re not part of the Night Guard.”
Cepheus saw a bundle in her hooves, and saw the small head of a Nightborn foal peeping up from the white wrap, mewling for nourishment. He looked up at the tree where the mare was crying, and only two corpses hung from this tree: a stallion and a mare. They were presumably the parents of the newborn foal. The Dayborn eyed Cepheus and lifted the bundle up to him. “You have the look of a kind stallion,” she whispered. “Please take him. The others will kill him if he stays here.”
Cepheus took the bundle from her, and his gaze met the inquisitive stare of the little foal. His mewling had ceased entirely and they looked into each other’s eyes. Cepheus felt tears in his eyes and embraced the colt. He felt tiny hooves touching his neck, and heard his distressed breaths, anxious from not seeing his mother for so long. The foal began to whimper nervously and Cepheus cooed to him. “It’s going to be alright… Shhh…”
Starlight approached the mare. “We are the Knights of Lunara. Who are you?”
“I’m just a foal-sitter,” the mare said, watching Cepheus soothing the foal. She looked up at Starlight. “I have worked for the Nightborns of the city my entire life.” The mare looked at all the corpses hanging from the trees. “They didn’t deserve this.” She sighed, and looked hopefully at all of them. “You guys have armor… and have weapons. Perhaps…” she gestured towards the center of the city. “You can save those who are left. The remaining Night Guards are defending city hall. It’s where all that’s left of Nocturnus’ Nightborn population have taken refuge.”
Andre and Starlight exchanged glances. The mare slumped back down, resting her head against the trunk of the tree. “Better hurry. The Night Guard pulled out the majority of their forces right before the invasion… city hall will fall to the Scions any time now.”
Cepheus and Starlight wanted to rush to get to city hall, but Andre remained. “The Night Guard pulled out their forces?” he asked. “They saw us coming, why did they leave?”
The mare shrugged. Starlight touched Andre’s shoulder. “We have to get to city hall.”
Andre nodded and they all left the mare. Cepheus had wrapped the bundle around his barrel, forming a sort of sling where the foal would be held secure.
They began to gallop, and Cepheus kept his strides smooth to minimize the shaking of the foal.
Cepheus didn’t want to take the foal into battle with him, but he had no choice.
The Lunaran Knights came into view of city hall. The grand administrative building was located in a large quadrangle, one main approach with four smaller ones, five besieged streets leading in. The Night Guard defensive lines set on each approach had been obliterated and the remaining few guards were being slaughtered by the Scions. It was only a matter of a few minutes before the bloodthirsty Scions overwhelmed them and swarmed the mayor’s residence. And the main force hasn’t even arrived yet….
“We have to move now!” Starlight shouted to his knights. They charged down the southern approach. The makeshift barbed wire fences had already been trodden over, and the clashing Scions and Night Guards swiftly drew near.
Andre gestured for them to raise their shields, and the archers behind the shield-bearers discharged a volley of arrows. Both Scions and Night Guard were peppered with the projectiles, and fell dead with the arrows sticking out of their bodies.
A Scion swords-pony leapt into Cepheus’ way, and froze when he realized that the stallion he had ambushed was Dayborn. Cepheus took advantage of his hesitation and rammed him with his spiked shield, impaling the swords-pony and knocking him to the side.
The foal strapped against his chest began to cry at the sudden jolt. “I have to be more careful,” he hissed to himself.
There were no more confrontations though, since the archers picked off anyone who dared to approach them.
They leaped over the final sandbag fortification and entered the quadrangle. Cepheus looked ahead and saw that a massive army was marching down the street of the main approach. What caught his eye, was the pony who was leading them. The pony appeared to be a mare, and he could barely see her through the shimmering, superheated air around her. She was spewing jets of flame at the Night Guards, like some great dragon.
Cepheus shuddered. They had to get the civilians out before she scorched them all.
The Lunaran Knights had blitzed across the garden surrounding the building, and saw that the building was fortified. The doors were steel and very sturdy looking. Metal grilles covered the windows. The walls were made out of thick concrete.
They arrived at the back wall of the building, and Starlight tapped one of the windows. He beckoned at a rank of unicorn knights. “Use a magnetism spell to pull the metal grilles off these windows!” he commanded.
The windows were their quickest way in, and by the look of the other four approaches, they were running of time.
The unicorns lowered their heads, and horns beginning to glow, the metal grilles began to creak and groan. They were ripped off, and the unicorns sent them flying off in the distance. Cepheus and the other soldiers in the front ranks smashed the windows on the ground floor and climbed in.
Cepheus was one of the first to climb in, and he was met by a gale of frightened shouts from the Nightborns hiding within. “They’ve broken in!” a secretary hiding underneath a desk cried out. She began to throw heavy accounting textbooks at them.
The books bounced off his shield, and the other clerks, janitors, and secretaries fled the room. They stopped when they realized that almost all of them were Nightborn. “We’ve come to rescue you guys!” Starlight told the frightened ponies.
“Oh, thank Nightmare Moon!” the secretary said. “When the Night Guard pulled their forces out of the city, I thought we had been abandoned!”
Cepheus shook his head. “We’re not the Night Guard,” the ponies looked at him, confused. “We’re another group, dedicated to preventing civilian casualties during this conflict.”
It was half true.
A stallion janitor sighed. “Whatever! Just get us out of here!”
All the Nightborns who were hiding in the city hall gathered in the room. There were about a hundred of them hiding here, and added with the Lunaran Knights, there were roughly two hundred of them.
They had barricaded themselves in, and had lost all hope until they had arrived. Nocturnus’ mayor was among them, a petite, purple mare with a long flowing mane. “My name is Lavender Lilac, and I thank you Knights of Lunara for saving us. I have gathered as many ponies here as I could in the little time we had. Now…” she clasped her hooves. “How do you intend on us getting my citizens to safety?”
There was an explosion from outside. The entire building trembled, and columns of dust were shaken loose. There were frightened cries, and all the Nightborn citizens began to cower.
There was another explosion, and this time it felt like the whole roof would cave in on them. The foal started crying again, and one of the unicorns cast a sleeping spell on the foal. There was total silence, as they braced themselves for the next blast.
“Mayor Lavender!” a voice came from outside.
Cepheus’ heart fluttered in his chest. He recognized that voice.
The Mayor cleared her throat, her tiny frame shivering with fear. “Yes?” she responded.
“Surrender yourself, and we may spare the other rats hiding with you.”
No, it can’t be… Cepheus thought.
Lavender rose up, and brushed herself off. “I will gladly sacrifice myself for the safety of what remains of my people.” She looked down at her hooves, tears in her eyes. “I was too vain. I had too much faith in the Night Guard. I knew the Scions were coming, and our defenses were far weaker than they usually were. I thought….” Everypony was looking at her sadly, their eyes all saying that it wasn’t her fault. Lavender puffed out her chest, wiping her eyes. “I should have evacuated, and now I must pay the price for my mistake.”
She moved towards the double doors they had piled bookcases against. She stumbled, and Cepheus helped her. “I’ll come with you,” he whispered. “You are very brave for doing this.”
She nodded, and eyed the sleeping Nightborn foal strapped to his chest. “You are a remarkable Dayborn….”
Cepheus tore down the bookcases holding the doors shut, and opened them up for her. Lavender stepped outside, and Cepheus was about to, but then he saw her: The mare who had burned all in her path like a dragon, the champion of the Scions, and Celestion reincarnated. She was wearing beautiful golden armor, her eyes fierce and determined. “Persei…” he gasped.
Cepheus froze, and the other Nightborns standing behind the Knights gasped. Starlight shrank away from the others, retreating to the back of the room. Lavender continued trotting alone and submitted herself before his sister.
I can’t believe this…
“Bow,” Persei commanded Lavender.
Was Persei behind all the atrocities he had witnessed today?
With a single motion, Persei decapitated the mayor. The Nightborns who were watching from within the building sobbed in terror, hiding behind the armored Lunaran Knights.
What had the Scions done to her?
Cepheus beheld his sister. She had changed so much since they had parted ways. How could she have become like this? He was so overwhelmed that he couldn’t think anymore. His eyes noticed something as they drifted away from her face. On Persei’s breastplate, there was a purple gem. It was glowing and vibrating. “The Element of Magic…” he whispered to himself. Persei had it.
She kicked the mayor’s decapitated head into the hall where they were all hiding. It rolled to a stop at Andre’s hooves. Persei raised her hoof in a commanding gesture. “Take the hall. Kill everypony within.”
The Scions of Celestion roared, and charged the hall. Cepheus gasped, and slammed the double doors shut. The other Lunaran Knights picked up the bookcases and piled them back up against the doors.
There was a loud bang from the doors, and the bookcase barricade became slightly dislodged.
“We're surrounded! What do we do!?” a frightened clerk shouted.
Starlight scratched his head, and his face lit up when he had an idea. “Does this building have toilets?”
Cepheus was confused by the strange question. A janitor in the back nodded. “Yes, we have a bunch.”
Starlight sighed in relief. “Thank Lunara.”
What? In this crisis, he wants to die with an evacuated bowel? Cepheus thought.
Starlight led them all to the bathrooms. “The city of Nocturnus is the oldest city in Equestria. The ancient plumbing system back from before Nightmare Moon came into power should still be here.”
They all piled into the bathroom, a large, marble floored room with fancy porcelain looking toilets. Starlight grabbed the toilet, and ripped it out of the floor. Below, there was a gap just large enough for a pony to fit through. The stench of excrement filled the air, and Starlight gagged. “Before these modern toiled were installed, ponies used to defecate into the boxes which covered these holes. There would be a door right under the box, and with enough feces piled onto it, the pressure would cause the door to open, and be dropped down these chutes into the sewers below.”
The Lunaran Knights nodded, and began ripping the toilets off the stands. Andre urged the civilians to hold their breaths and squeeze inside. Starlight nodded. “The sewers should empty out in some repository outside the city.”
A clerk rushed up to Starlight, dragging a large crate behind him with his magic. “Sir! We need to take this crate with us as well.”
There was a loud pounding sound, and the sound of bookcases being pushed aside. One of the Knights slammed the bathroom door shut. Starlight looked back down at the clerk. “Why? What’s in there?”
The clerk swallowed. “I don’t know, but Mayor Lavender said that if the Scions were to take city hall, they must never get their hooves on this crate.”
Starlight moved to open the lid to the crate, but there was a pounding on the bathroom door. “Fine,” he growled.
The civilians had already gone down, and the last of the Knights were squeezing in. He ordered the guards holding the door shut to go down first.
Cepheus looked at Starlight one last time, held his breath, and squeezed himself into the narrow passageway. The chute was wet and slimy, and Cepheus slid through with ease. It was then he caught the stench, and he gagged.
He heard the bathroom doors slamming open and the sound of a pony shouting. “They’re not in here!”
Persei’s voice responded harshly. “Well find them! Turn this whole place upside down if you have to! I want them all dead!”
Cepheus felt tears in his eyes as he slid down the chute. “Persei…” he whispered. “How could you have done such terrible things?”
Arriving deep in the bowels of the sewers, they were all gathered in a large cistern. Starlight led them into a narrow pipe, and eventually, the foal resting against Cepheus’ barrel awoke and started crying again. The sound echoed eerily in the cavernous network of long forgotten passageways and drains.