//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Rise of the New Lunar Republic 
// by Reddened Chaos 
//------------------------------//

	Zero continued to search the Base for his life servant Barb, a lovely dragoness, who was extremely loyal to him, and for good reason. He had saved her long ago back when they first met, and as thanks she explained that she now owed him a life debt, and as a way of showing it, she would always refer to him as Master. For whatever reason though she seemed to always want to be cuddled close and sleep with him. Whether it was just for comfort or because she wanted to protect him, Zero didn't know, but he liked it, as she was kinda cuddly. He calls out for her again "Barb? Where are ya?"

As he was searching for her, he came across Chrysalis.

"Ah," she said when she saw him. "Hello, Captain." She was wearing her combat outfit, which consisted of overlapping plates of enchanted armor that gave her a dragon like appearance, and covered her entire body. It was colored black, the same color as her chitin. She wore no helmet, as doing so would have restricted her line of sight. "How was the test flight?" she asked.

"Fun as hay. Maybe a beautiful Changeling like YOU should join us next time." he said with a laugh. "Nice armor....certainly gives a dragon like appearance....speaking of which have you seen Barb? I've been looking all over for her since I got back with Nightmare." he said, as he Looked her over, approving of her armor.

"Perhaps I will," she said. "As for Barb, I believe I saw her going to your quarters a while ago." He thanked her, and just as he was leaving, she said, "And good luck with Nightmare."

Red snickered as he looked back "So you know eh? Well. at least now you've got a stable food source for that emotion diet of yours huh?" He said as he walked off, heading for his own quarters to find Barb, expecting her to be there, or on the way, waving back at the beautiful changeling queen.

It took him a few minutes to reach his room. When he arrived, he knocked on the door. He only had to wait a few second before hearing, "Come in." He opened the door to see Barb, a teenaged pony sized dragoness with emerald green scales and garnet red under scales and spines. "Oh. Hey, boss," she said with a smile. She wore an aqua blue sleeveless shirt that went down to her stomach, which left her gut revealed, which wasn't bad, as she was always exercising, and knee length red shorts.

Red smiled, as he hugged the Dragoness, who was roughly about as tall as he was "Hey there Barb. How's it going? Looking as good as ever I see, and most have recently gotten done exercising I'll bet...I've got something I wanna show you...Nightmare, Luna, and Chrysalis have given me a reward for my service in the NLR..."

He trailed off, in order to work up Barb's excitement. "Well, what is it,?" she asked.

Red smirked, as he took her hand. "Come with me, my dear." He then pulled her along as he quickly ran out to take her back to the hanger to see the new ship.

The two made their way to the hanger, a walk that took fifteen minutes. When Barb saw the Shadow, she gasped and said, "Wow. That is cool," with a wide eyed look of appreciation on her face. "What can it do?"

Red smiled happily as he hugged her, before motioning to it and began to list off everything it could do, as he also walked her inside it and gave her a tour of it. "So I'd like you to possibly be the Copilot of the Shadow whenever we have to use it...What'cha say Barb?"

She looked at him with a blank expression before saying, "Are you bucking kidding."

She then broke into a large grin. "Tartarus, yes," she said happily.

Meanwhile- NLR war room

"While I admit your idea would help us dearly, sister," Nightmare said to Luna after the latter had suggested turning one of the Elements against Celestia, "the risks would be too great just trying to get one of them. They are always in Canterlot. It would be difficult for the three of us to get in there if it was under siege and the barrier was strained. Under current circumstances," she said, "it would be impossible for even a changeling not associated with us to get in. So what do you say to that?"

Luna shook her head "I'm not sure...other than possibly talking to them in dreams...Or...maybe sending Red in alone to talk to them in private?" She suggested "I doubt it would work though, considering he's the one who made the note to Celestia back then..."

"Agreed," Chrysalis said. "I'm certain Celestia cast a spell on herself, the Elements, and her soldiers to ensure you," She said, gesturing towards Nightmare, who wore midnight black armor that looked as if it was made out of water, "couldn't enter their dreams, and I'm sure an unintentional side effect of this, though it still hurts us more, is that Luna wouldn't be able to do it either. We'll just have to wait until an opportunity presents itself."

"Unfortunately," Luna wearing armor similar to Nightmare's, said, "there are no known spells that would allow us to circumvent any precautions Celestia and Twilight Sparkle have set up."


A Year Later


Red is in charge of a Supply outpost, the Rogue Shadow is docked in the nearby hanger, with Barb naturally being with him, as his assistant as always. She is typically being used to communicate written messages between him and Nightmare or the others, whenever they don't use their comm links. Over the course of the year, Red and his beloved Nightmare had grown quite close, Chrysalis had been reaping some of the benefits, by feeding off their affections, as Red and Nightmare would occasionally hug or hold hands when close together.

Red nodded "Yeah...I heard it...I'll check it out. You guards keep watch here." He spoke, as he walked back to head to the warehouse and investigate.

Red walked over to the door. As he made his way there, he ignited his lightsaber, which gave off a faint green glow. Once he was at the door, he opened it slowly, and walked inside, closing the door behind him. He walked for a minute before he heard something on the other side of the crates to his left. Fortunately, there was a left turn just in front of him. He made his way there and turned. The turn led into a large area. He looked to his left and saw what was probably the strangest thing he had ever seen.

He saw what appeared to be a unicorn stallion in bulky, angular armor that looked nothing like standard Solar Empire armor, or even prototype NLR armor. The armor was mostly a shade of blue that resembled the color of Luna's hair when she and Nightmare had been separated six years ago. The part of the armor that wasn't this color was a brick-like red. The helmet had a thin, rectangular, bronze visor. What was directly below it looked like a mouth. The side of the pony Red could see had a small shoulder plate, most likely to allow for greater range of movement. The chest had a triangular piece in the middle, with what Red guessed were ammo pouches on the underside of it. Both the greaves and gauntlets flowed as if they had been made from water. The under-suit was colored the same shade of blue as his armor. On his thigh, Red saw a curved piece of metal that had a faint blue glow at one end and red glow at the other. The pony was sitting cross-legged, almost as if he were meditating.

Even though Red himself hadn't made a sound, his saber gave off a faint hum, and this pony could obviously hear it, as he turned towards Red. He got up and turned to face him. 

Even at this distance, Red could tell this stallion was as tall as Luna. "Who are you, and what do you want?" Red asked.

"You can call me Lone Shadow. As for what I want, it's to see if you are the swordsman many say you are." He then grasped the piece of metal and brought it up.

With a flick of his wrist, two blades came into existence. They were both curved, and ended in a point. There was a gap between the two blades that Red's saber could easily get caught in.

Got to make sure my saber doesn't get caught in there, Red thought.

The top blade's color was the same as the stallion's primary, and the bottom was the same shade of red as the secondary. He brought his right arm up, with a slight bend at the elbow, and held the elbow in the opposite hand, and spread his legs. This was obviously a pose for combat. Red assumed his combat stance: both hands on his saber, his feet spread wide.



The two then began to circle each other in silence. (1:30) Red tightened his grip on his saber. He tried to discern where Lone was looking, but the visor stopped that. (1:48) They began to edge closer to each other. Not all at once, but gradually. (1:56) The two charged at one another, Lone's blade held low, Red's held high. (2:05) The blades clashed, and the combatants spun away from one another. (2:24) They charged again in the same pose, only this time, they did not spin away from the other. As Red brought his saber down, Lone reacted with a speed only alicorns should have and blocked the slash, his arm not moving as the blades collided. Lone pushed his sword up and kicked Red in the chest, causing him to back away due to the impact.

He looked down at where he was struck, and thought, That's the first time anypony has been able to hit me in a duel. He was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard Lone running toward him. He looked up and saw Lone charging, his weapon held at the side. Once Red was in range, he slashed his sword horizontally. Red had barely been able to get his bade in position to block it before he was hit. He pushed the sword away and spun, hoping to use the momentum to stab Lone.

This proved fruitless, as Lone jumped out of Red's reach before he had fully spun around. Lone jumped at Red, spinning while he did so, which made him look like a glowing halo of red and blue light. Red blocked this attack with difficulty, as the momentum of Lone combined with his armor's weight led to a great deal of Kinetic energy, and thus, a lot of force.

Before Red could retaliate, Lone disappeared in a flash of green. Red was processing this as something hit him on the back, causing him to fall down to the ground and lose his grip on his saber. He turned over and saw Lone standing over him, his sword pointing directly at Red's face.

"Sloppy," he said, as if this was a training fight. "You never freeze up in combat. If I had actually been trying to kill you, I could have just stabbed you with my sword." Lone then deactivated his sword and put it back on his thigh. He then reached his left hand out to where Red's saber had fallen. It came over to him in a green aura. Lone then reached down to Red with his right hand, saying, "You are definitely the swordsman the rumors say you are. If you and the leaders of the NLR would allow it, I would like to join."

Red took his hand, and got up, taking his lightsaber back, clipping it to his belt "Hmm...Come with me...We will find out what Luna and the others say...Your combat skills alone impress me.....Especially being able to beat me in single combat like that...But as you no doubt know it's not my call on this..." he said as he walked with Lone, back outside, and took out a pen and some parchment, and wrote out a note to Nightmare, and rolled it up tying it. It Read as such:

Dear Moony,
I've encountered somepony with impressive combat skills, and, very interesting Armor...he challenged me to a duel and WON as well...he wishes to join if I, and the rest of you leaders of the NLR allow him to...Please contact me through Hologram once you receive this message. I'll be waiting on board the Shadow with Barb.
Love, Captain Zero 'Red' Star.

He then called Barb out, and had her send it, who happily did so, by breathing her magical fire as it sent off and appeared before Nightmare at her location.

Nightmare was in her room, looking over the battle reports from the front lines when Red's message appeared in blue flame. She opened it, and read it, surprised that a pony had been able to defeat Red in one on one combat. She was also interested in his armor. As far as she could tell from what Red said, it was something he hadn't seen before. She sent for Chrysalis and Luna, telling them to meet her in the war room so they could all talk to Red and the other pony.

Twenty minutes later, all three were assembled in the holo room portion of the war room. "Are you certain we can trust this pony, Nightmare?" Chrysalis asked.

"Red vouched for him personally, and he is a good judge of character, so yes."

"Are you certain of that, sister," Luna said, "or is that just you vouching for your love?"

"I am certain of it, Luna. Now, I say we contact Red and this pony and speak with him.

"Agreed," the other two said. With that, Nightmare activated the link between the war room and the Rogue Shadow. The three did not have to wait long before Red appeared.

Red smiled, as the hologram appeared on both ends, with the three mares seeing him and Barb, and him seeing the three of them. Red smiled speaking up "Greetings Chryssie, Luna. And of course, the most beautiful of the three, Moony." He spoke, waving, with his helmet being off.  Chrysalis spoke up first smirking.

"She's the most beautiful? What if I did this?" She then changed to look exactly like Nightmare, when Red spoke again.

"That's cheating, As my dear Moony is the most beautiful." He said with a chuckle as Chrysalis changed back. Nightmare playfully stuck out her tongue at Chrysalis. It was good that even during this time of war, they could afford to have a laugh, playing with each other at times. "The individual I was referring to calls himself Lone Shadow. I'll let him step into view now, so that you girls can ask him what you wish, and We can talk of him possibly joining our side, once he introduces himself." He said as he stepped aside with Barb, motioning for Lone to step into range, as he did so, he removed his helmet, to let his face be seen by the leaders, and to Red himself as he had never seen him face to face till now. He had a black coat, and had neck length mane, which matched his coat but had red and orange on the sides to give a fiery appearance to it. His eyes were the same color as Luna's. Red spoke up shortly after, to be professional.

"State your full name, and credentials to show worth in joining our cause." He demanded, to essentially allow him to do so.

"My full name is Lone Shadow. As for my credentials: That is something I'll keep to my self. What I will tell you is that I have had many good teachers. Nothing you do or say will change that," he said, making the four members of the NLR somewhat mad. "Plus, I think my duel with Captain Zero Star earlier," he gestured with his hand to Zero, "speaks to my skills."

Luna spoke up first "The statement of your skills is true...our Captain here is extremely skilled. None have bested him in single, much less, in a handicap combat where he's on his own against a group of foes...And you did so fairly easily...thus your skills would speak for themselves...Tell us about your weapon...that...segmented blade we see in the video feet from Red's helmet..." She spoke, referring to his sword like weapon.

"Of course," he said, moving to grab his sword. He activated it. "It's my own custom weapon. I call it an energy sword. Unlike light sabers, this uses electromagnetic fields to contain plasma. Normally, both blades would be blue, as me and some of my friends have them as well, but mine was custom made, and matches the color of my armor. This weapon is easily able to cut through just about anything, including mid-level magic shields. I tested that feature personally."

Luna nodded before responding "Perhaps you can give us some blueprints, so that we might be able to have access to such a weapon..." She suggested, hoping for an extra edge against Celestia and her army.

Chrysalis spoke next in questions. "You say it can cut through Mid-level Magic shields? And you tested it personally...What type of Magical talent do you possess?"

Lone smirked. "Well, for one," he said, before disappearing in a flash of light. "I can teleport over greater distances than even Twilight Sparkle was able to as a unicorn," Lone said from behind the three rulers, which caused them to jump in surprise and turn around and look at Lone, a smirk still on his face. He then looked at Luna. "No to the blueprints. This is a weapon that only a few ponies are worthy of wielding, and it takes years to determine that," he said, angering Luna further, as she thought he was deliberately keeping the information from them.

"I also have a very large intelligence network," he said.

Red spoke up first seeing Luna be angered. "Well then jackass, Why don't we try to make a similar model that's mass-produced? that way we can still use such a weapon but only those who are 'worthy' are able to wield the real deal?" He asked, hoping to help calm Luna down, over the transmission, before Nightmare spoke up again.

"How big is this network of yours?"

"Because," Lone replied to Red, "the materials for this weapon are rare, and even if they weren't, only me and one of my friends know how to build them. As for your question, Nightmare. It's large enough for me to tell you what Celestia has as a mid-day snack every second Tuesday of the month, and that you are hoping to turn one of the Elements to your side." This got surprised looks from the others, as they had only talked about that behind magically reinforced doors designed to prevent eavesdropping."

Red speaks up again. "Okay your being very suspicious now...How do we know that if you join us, you won't turn on us later down the road?" He asked, as Barb decided to ask a question of her own. "What are your talents besides Combat and Magic sir?" She asked cutely.

"To answer your question, Captain, I've already had a chance to kill you and the other three, which would be easy for me, but I haven't. If that is not enough for you: Twenty minutes north and fifty minutes east of Canetrlot, there is a small, but vital, research base for Celestia's forces. They are currently working on developing large vehicles that will give them an advantage in ground combat. The contingent guarding it is fifty strong, a fair portion of them being researchers with only light combat training," he said. "As for your question, young dragoness, I can practically pilot any vehicle after just one go at the controls." He paused for effect. "And I can manipulate minds, which is something you all will need to gain the loyalty of one of the Elements," he said with a smile.

Nightmare seemed intrigued "Well...what elements should we try and win over?" She ended up asking the rather obvious question.

"Well, for one, we can't just use magic, we need logic," Lone said, raising a finger to emphasize. "Fortunately, I know how you can win over not one of the Elements, but three. More specifically, Generosity, Kindness, and Laughter. For Generosity, we use the fact that Celestia knew that Diamond dogs were invading the area around Ponyville five hundred years ago. If she had done something to stop it, then Generosity wouldn't have been taken by them. As for Kindness, my intelligence net works say she is part bat-pony after a vampire fruit bat incident on Sweet Apple Acres, and all of the bat ponies are with the three of you. As for laughter, we simply state that the most fun parties take place during the night. I already have a few plans for how to accomplish these goals, but I will need you five to trust me, and I will also need the captain's help with it."

There was silence before Chrysalis spoke up. "You have my trust, Lone, but mark my words, if you betray one of us, all of us will come after you. Is that clear?"

Lone nodded. "Of course. And what of you, Luna?"

Luna and Nightmare both remained quiet, before both nodded "We feel the same as Chrysalis, if you betray any of us, we WILL all come to kill you." Nightmare shown clear agreement in the matter.

Barb spoke up next "So long as Master Red trusts you, then I do."

Red thought before nodding. "You're able to beat me in combat...I'm impressed by your skills alone...and so long as that intelligence of yours rings true and we can possibly get our hands on some of those ground weapons, and get the three elements you mentioned on our side, then you'll have earned my trust. But if you betray any of us, much less Moony there, I will personally gut you like a trout and mount your head on my wall." He stated being genuinely honest.

"Fair enough," Lone said. "I'll lay out the plan tomorrow, once it's been ironed out. And don't bother about giving me quarters. I can sleep in the rafters if I have to," He said.

"No, you don't," Luna said. "There is a spare room near this room, which you can stay in."

"In that case," Lone said, bowing, "Thank you."

From there, Lone was showed his quarters, where he ironed out the details for the plan he had laid out earlier. Things are going according to plan, he thought to himself as the night rolled on.