The days went by swiftly as the New Lunar Republic was training with their new weapons, preparing for their great mission, Operation Crystal Sword. Now, it was time to go and put the operation into action.
Red yawns, waking, yet again, curled up with Fleur and Nightmare Moon, kissing both to wake them up as well.
"Morning girls. It's time for the operation."
The three were with the army, just a day's march from the Crystal Empire. The reason why was to boost troop morale, and because Lone had come up with a plan that would gain the NLR another ally, should it be successful.
Nightmare was the first to wake. "Then should we not prepare our armor?" she asked with a teasing grin on her face.
"Yes, I was going to ask that as well," Fleur said groggily as she woke up.
Red snickered a bit, and got up, as he began to get dressed in his armor, and, whilst leaving the helmet off for the time being, he put on his Solid Eye, which appeared to simply be a plastic eye patch over his left eye, but in reality, was a miniature camera featuring Night vision, Thermal/Infared vision, Radar, Zoom function, along with being able to track footprints, somepony's heart rate, sweat secretion and body temperature, Along with detailing the armaments and specs of various weapons of the targets that enter it's range of vision. He cracks his neck and rolls it as well getting loosened up as he put away his Lightsaber, His Z-Saber, the Dual SMGs he had, And his shotgun, holding the helmet in his hand.
Fleur and Nightmare also put on their combat gear. Fleur was wearing what she wore the day she left Canterlot, and Nightmare was wearing her Draconian armor.
Once they were all geared up, with Fleur and Nightmare having both their sabers and energy swords, they left the tent the ywere in, and mad their way to the command tent,where Lone and the others were waiting.
Red entered with them, helmet off, smiling beside both of them.
"So, what's the plan Lone? How are we approaching this?" He asked, now that they were all there, and it was time to discuss the plan for Operation Crystal Sword.
Lone nodded in greeting before saying, "As the ground forces are keeping the bulk of the crystal army distracted, we, meaning all of us here, will use the Shadow to infiltrate the castle, where Cadence is, along with her best soldiers. Me and Red will hold them off, while the rest of you head to the throne room, where Cadence will most likely be. We don't want her dead. Once me and Red are done having fun, we'll join you guys, and I'll cast the suggestion spell."
"Yeah no. I'm going with Moony. You guys can handle the army. I can handle dealing with Cadence." He said, with a smirk on his face, placing his hand on her shoulder.
Lone shrugged. "Fine." He grinned, "Looks I'm going badass again."
"Same here. I'm taking on Cadence on my own when we get to her. Besides, I don't think we would need that suggestion spell of yours to be able to get Cadence on our side...ya see, she can sense the feelings of others, such as their love for one another. Comes with being the Princess of Love after all. I suspect, she'll be able to sense my own feelings of love for not only Fleur..." He said placing his hand on her side. "But also Moony here." He said, kissing her as both were helmetless. "And I'll bet that she thinks Moony put those feelings in my head to secure my loyalty, even though it was all my own choice. I'll face her, proving it to her, AND, use our knowledge to convince her to join us as well."
"Yeah, probably. That's the only change in the plan, then. Anypony have questions?"
Rarity spoke up, "How many guards are we going to have to deal with?"
"You guys," Lone said, "None." He grinned again, "Me? About one hundred. Peace of bucking cake."
"Well, we might still have some guards on us. Even if she IS in the throne room, we've still gotta go through the castle to her." Red said. "I'd suspect close to a hundred, if not a little less... on our end." Red mentioned, thinking about how many guards they would be dealing with.
Lone reached for his helmet, which was on a nearby table, and put it on. He rolled his head, small popping sounds being heard, and cracked his knuckles. "Just get me in there. I'll draw enough," he said.
"Well I'd say at least we'll deal with 50 as we make our way to Cadence. SO Alright then." Red said, as he picked up his own, and slipped it on, cracking his neck and his knuckles as well. "So, shall we board the Shadow and get to work then?
The others all nodded. All but Lone, who was wielding his hybrid weapons, went to grab the newest weapons that had just been produced. The Nightbringers.
Red quickly grabbed his wrist before he could pick up one of them. "That one's not yours." he said, and moved it to another nearby one of the pistols. "That one's yours, and yes, it matters, GREATLY. they are DNA coded to each of their users. If the ID lock isn't bypassed through the safety procedure, then well, it self destructs, and takes your hand, half your lower arm, and Possibly your life with it." He explained.
Red picked up his own, and the display read 'ID Confirmed' and was linked to him as he had just explained to Lone.
"Nice, but I'll stick to these," Lone said, holding up his plasma rifles.
"And how can you tell how many shots they have left?" Chrysalis asked.
"There's a small meter on the side," he said, turning one of his rifles to the left so they could see it. "The green represents the charge. Purple would represent what's been used. Takes a while to understand it, but easy to once you know how to."
Red nodded understandly, as he let the rest of them gather up their own Nightbringer pistols, to each of them the ID locked and confirmed it was them. Once they holstered them, Red smiled behind the helmet. "So, I think we should get to flying eh?" He said, "Operation Crystal Sword is a go now!" He said as he looked to the others for confirmation that they were all ready to go.
The group made their way to the Shadow. Once they were aboard, the ship lifted off. Nightmare opened the army wide frequency, which included troops on walkers designated AT-ST's, as scouts often used them, gungooses, and ground troops, as well as the giant walker for firing support, which had been designated an AT-AT.
"All forces of the NLR, the day of Operation: Crystal Sword has arrived. We are here, not to kill, but to bring the glory of the night to the Crystal Empire. Should any of the Crystal forces surrender, take away their weapons and armor, and bring them back to the camp. Victory for the Night!"
"VICTORY!!!!" The army cheered, as they instantly began the operation. Red was having Barb pilot the ship so that he would be ready for their own part of the plan, to go and confront Cadence, to get her to turn to their own side, and thus, secure the Crystal Empire's great amount of saber crystals, And their location, Along with their assistance for the cause of the NLR.
With the radar cloak active, the Rogue Shadow made it's way over the Empire as the NLR ground forces began their attack. Lone had cast an invisibility spell just after takeoff. That way, nopony in the castle would know of them until they came knocking with explosives. As it neared the castle, Lone walked up to the cockpit where Barb was.
She gave a nod as he walked in. "Lone," she said.
He nodded in return. "Barb, think you make us an entry way at the bottom, since they fortified it there?"
"Can I," She answered, in an almost gloating tone.
"Good," Lone said. "Once we're in position, wait until I give the word, and once we're out, help the ground forces."
"Got it."
Red loooked to Nightmare Moon, Fleur, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie. "You girls ready?" he asked looking to them as he kissed Nightmare and Fleur, as he would be working to protect them on their trip. He also gave Rarity and Fluttershy their own kiss on their foreheads, as a sign of luck and support for them since he'd be protecting them, just as they would protect each other.
They each nodded, Rarity and Fluttershy blushing lightly at his sign of support to them, but they all signaled that they were ready to go. Red checked out his weapons, and was positive that he was ready to go. he had his two sabers, now he's maining the Z-saber due to the versatility he had made it be able to take, along with having his lightsaber, and the two SMGs, and the shotgun, culminating with his own Nightbringer. All were filled and ready to go. and his Solid Eye would give a red flash once in a while, for it's camera was naturally scanning each of them showing him their weapons specs. Hilariously enough though, when he ended up scanning Pinkie Pie, it ended up saying 'ERROR' on it due to her being beyond understanding, save for the weapons she carried at least.
Lone came down to the bay where they all were.
"Coming up," Barb announced over the speakers. "Get ready!"
"Okay, people," Lone said. "Time to kick plot," he said, bring up one of his plasma rifles.
"In position," Barb said.
"FIRE!!"
The Rogue Shadow launched it's attack, blasting open a route for the team, as Barb kept it in the air, and the entire group dashed out, landing on the ground, and quickly went right to work to fight and take the Crystal Empire as their ally.
Red, Nightmare, Fleur, Chrysalis, Luna, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie rushed for the castle, as Red took the lead, pulling out his new pistol. "High Ex!" He spoke as the Pistol's display switched to High-Ex on it, and he pulls the trigger, firing off a round of a grenade, which fired ahead and blasted a massive hole in their way, spraying out bloody remains of the guards who were in the blast range, dismembered and bleeding out.
Lone stayed behind, kneeling on the ground. He waited until just about ninety-nine percent of the guards not in the castle, part of the group going against the army, or dead or dismembered had him surrounded.
When they had him surrounded, he got up. "Well, as an old friend of mine once said," Lone said, "and I'm paraphrasing here: The guarding," he said, pulling out one plasma rifle, and bringing out his second in energy sword form, pointing the rifle in front of him, and the sword low to the ground, "ends here."
(0:18) The guards rushed him, and many were killed before they could get close, their armor not designed to go up against plasma weaponry. Those that were lucky enough were killed by his energy sword. As more and more came, he killed them. He did not move from his position once during the onslaught. After three minutes of this, one of the guards brought out a rocket launcher and fired.
The rocket hit where Lone was standing, and the guards began to form up to go after Red and the others. (1:10) Before they could move, a shadow above them separated from
the ceiling and solidified, revealing Lone, both energy swords out.
He fell in the midst of the host of guards, and killed them left and right, not caring about their blaster bolts, as his armor had shields. It was another minute before the first fifth of the guards were killed. Most of the survivors retreated. The others pulled out their light sabers, and came at him.
As the first guards reached him, he used his magic to create two ethereal blades that resembled blades of old, and this made the guards think he was trying to intimidate them. The first four to reach him found out the hard way that this wasn't the case. The first two reached him at the same time, and raised their sabers for an attack. They were cut in half by the ethereal blades while Lone used his actual swords to block the other guards sabers, who he quickly disarmed by getting the blades of their sabers in between his blades, then twisting and yanking them to the side. He pulled of a roundhouse kick, which knocked them out.
More guards ran here, leaving only four awake and alive.
They charged at him, two staying further back to engage the ethereal blades, the other two coming up close to engage Lone directly. This worked for a few minutes, though
Lone was able to win when one of the guards engaging the ethereal blades over swung, which left him open to a counter, which Lone took, cutting off his head. The ethereal blade that cut off the guards head then moved to engage the other, and they made short work of him.
The two remaining guards, though fear was evident in their eyes, stood their ground before they were literally stabbed in the back. They fell to the ground, lifeless.
(End music)
As Lone was putting his weapons away, he heard a faint sound coming from behind one of the pillars that held the palace up. He walked over to it, and found a small colt, no younger than six or seven, with a light orange coat and a blue mane and tail, with wings on his back.
"Hey there, little guy," Lone said, squatting to come closer to eye level with the colt. "What're you doing here. This isn't a safe place for a colt as young as you."
The colt looked up, his eyes red from the tears he cried, and said, "I-I-I was here with my dad. My big brother is in Canterlot, and my mom is a part of the army." His head went back into his lap. "Th-they thought I would be safe here, but- but Dad couldn't protect me, so I hid."
"Hid from what?"
"A monster."
Lone reached out for the colt, but thought better of it, and went to remove his helmet instead. Once it was removed, he said to the colt, "Well, the monster isn't here anymore."
Lone smiled as the colt looked at him, hope in his eyes. He reminded Lone of his own childhood, when he had lost his mother and father just a little over a year apart, when he was just five and six, respectively, and he remembered what it was like. "What do you say we get away from here . . . Sorry, I didn't catch your name."
Some more sniffles from the colt before he replied, "Lightning Sentry."
"Well, Lightning," Lone said, standing up, but reaching a hand down to the recently fatherless colt, "let's get out of here."
Lightning looked up to Lone, before getting up, and taking his hand, holding it for reassurance. Together, they walked away from the bloddy battle field Lone had made, which included Lightning's father.
Crystal Palace- Meanwhile
The team had blasted their way inside the castle, and were making their way in, as more a good more set of guards were attacking them, Red easily dispatched them, as did Pinkie, who was having a blast...literally as her Nightbringer was set to High-Ex...and rapid fire...
Thanks to Lone's distraction, which could be heard, even in the deepest parts of the palace, the group encountered very little resistance, only encontering three squads of guards, and small groups of singular and double guards, though they fell quickly, and they made it to the throne room doors within miutes.
Red kicked them open entering in, as both the guards on the other side of the doors were squashed against the walls and were knocked out. Cadence is seen sitting on her throne, as the team began to spread out.
Red stared her down from behind his helmet, as she slowly stood up, and began to step down from her throne, having her own special lightsaber. it appeared to be a simple flat hilt, wrapped in what would appear to be bandages, similar to a classic katana, and the end of the hilt, looked like a large pink heart. when she activated it, it turned into a long hot pink blade. Red also stepped forward, as he looked over the armored princess of love, as he produced his Z-Saber and drew it.
"So, you're the one who's leading this attack?" Cadence asked, getting into a fighting pose.
"One of them," Red replied.
Cadence looked around the room, noticing Nightmare and the others. "So it would seem." She then saw Luna, which unbalanced her a little. "A-Aunt Luna? What are you doing here.
Luna spoke "I am on their side...the New Lunar Republic...because your aunt Celestia is a cruel and...iron fisted ruler..."
Red cut in "in more ways than one now." he spoke snickering a bit, as he looked to Luna, before facing Cadence again.
Nightmare spoke "Cadence, we do not wish to have to fight you unless we must but we would like you to join us." She said, as Cadence now began to feel a familiar tug of her magic...she could sense, feelings of Romance, between Nightmare Moon, Fleur and the stallion that faced her.
She didn't think that these were genuine, at least not to Nightmare, and thought they were implanted in to Red's mind to ensure his loyalty. "And why should I believe you?"
Cadence asked. "You may very well attempt to kill me once I surrender, and I have a duty to my citizens. To protect them from threats like you!"
She would have attacked then and there, but Lone cane over the radio, which was heard by everypony due to it coming from Red's armor, which had the external speakers on. "Red, Nightmare, guys. If you're hearing this, the guards are taken care of, but i won't be joining you. I found a pegasus colt whose father was killed, and I'm taking him a few blocks away from the castle, I'll probably be looking out for him until his mother comes for him, assuming she survives the fight. For his sake, we need to finish this soon. Lone, out."
She was a little surprised at this. Why would one of their soldiers look after one of my citizens, especially after killing the father, Cadence thought.
"You see, Cadence," Rarity said, "We don't want to harm anypony. The only reason this war started is because Celestia thought all of the ponies believed her to be an ineffable goddess,which she played along with, which is what so many of our comrades are sick of that.
"One of which, is likely your own husband...He's likely far more loyal to Celestia, than to you...If you were to join us, he'd likely label you as a traitor instantly rather than agree to cross over to our side with you..." Red said to her, as he moved to face Cadence in a duel.
"We do not wish to hurt the innocent..." Red said. "As he smiled towards Nightmare, and Cadence could feel those feelings budding even more.
"No," Cadence said calmly. "He wouldn't betray me. I'm the princess of love. I would know if his love for me was-"
"Greater than his loyalty to his sister, or mine," Luna interrupted. "You know as well as I that love is the only emotion you can sense."
Chrysalis chuckled a little here. "They aren't wrong, Cadence. When I was posing as you, I did feel quite a lot of love coming from him, but it was a measly amount compared to his loyalty to Celestia."
"Join us," Red said, "and you don't have to worry about that from the others. We are all equally loyal to one another, and we don't betray our friends."
"That did not seem to stop Luna from betraying Celestia," Cadence said
"Cadence, that's a low blow and you know it. Besides, that's a different story. You can sense love, no doubt you've been sensing the affection I hold for Moony and Fleur...and I'm willing to imagine that your questioning if it's even the real deal. Well." He spoke, as he removed his helmet, giving it to Fleur, and kissing her, for her to hold onto it for the moment, as the Solid Eye flashed red as it was revealed "Why don't you and I put it to the test." He wagered, his Z-Saber being active, and he pointed it to her to fight her.
Nightmare Spoke up, hiding some small tears behind her own helmet. "Celestia was never my friend...she took my daughter from me when I was banished....I was wanting that foal so badly...I used a magic spell to be able to give myself one...because I wanted SOMEPONY to be able to love me for me...love my creation...because Celestia never gave me the attention I deserved...she had to hog the spotlight with her own big fat flanks! And when I was banished...I gave birth to that foal...my little dawn...I can ...almost see her now....dieing in my arms when I was on the Moon..." She said, her voice beginning to break up, as this revelation began to bring Cadence's heart to flutter from the amount of love she could feel Red held for Nightmare due to this, Luna even gave her sister Nightmare a reassuring small hug, to help calm her emotions.
Even though her instincts told her what she was sensing was true, she couldn't believe it, and would do anything to prove it.
It was at this time, an adorable pink Pegasus pony, who actually had the same Mane style and color as Luna when she first returned appeared...but there was something extra special...she had Nightmare's eyes! she noticed Nightmare, and approached her "Hi missy!~" She cooed in an adorable voice. she was only around 5 years old, and Looking at her, Nightmare could feel a very strange connection...because this foal, looked just like her little Dawn from all those years ago.
Red didn't notice, as his attention was on Cadence. he brought his saber to bare, as he spoke up "Moony....Je t'aime de tout mon coeur" he spoke, in prench, which Fleur lightly blushed at knowing the phrase and exactly what it meant, as Nightmare heard, and her heart began to sour hearing the phrase, and even more when Fleur told her that it meant 'I love you with all my heart' Nightmare was thrilled and Cadence could feel it
Red and Cadence stared each other down as Pinkie spoke up playfully "THE DIVINE LIGHTS ARE BLAZING...ROUND ONE! FIGHT!" She said as Both fighters looked to her, gave a silly smile, as they then turned back and began to fight, saber after saber clashed and countered, being evenly matched, as Red's Solid Eye flashed when they were clashing, locked face to face, and he shoved her back, switched it to hammer mode and slammed the ground for a tremor wave, before switching back to Saber mode.
The wave from the hammer blow pushed Cadence into the air, which she used to get above Red. This worked for a second before Red used his own wings to get back on equal ground with Cadence, so to speak.
Red smirked, as they dashed at each other, and continued to fight now in the sky, slashing at each other still. Red could feel his heart pounding in this fight, and Cadence could feel his love for Nightmare surging.
Nightmare saw the little filly, and knelt by her. "Hello little one...those are...very curious eyes of yours..." She said as she and the others moved out of the way to let the two fight.
As they moved, the two duelists sped up their attacks, Red using his telekinesis to add more speed into his swings, Cadence, a speed boosting spell, but even with this, they could not best one another. The duel itself lasted for only a few minutes, but that was more tan enough time for the both of them to become exhausted, and they eventually stopped in the locations they had started in, their weapons up to be used should the other attack.
The filly giggled when Nightmare made the comment "Uh huh! I was told they were very...special eyes when I was a cute little filly...the mare that raised me told me they belonged to my Mommy..." she said with a smile, before it turned into a frown. "But...she and that stallion are gone now...and I never had a Mommy or Daddy..." she said softly, her big eyes practically filling with tears.
Red and Cadence closed in again and began to fight once more, now even taking longer breaks between attacks, as they also ended up behind each other. Before they swiftly turned around, and clashed blows again swiftly 12 more times, and ended up apart from each other in the same places, Panting, nearly exhausted from their duel. Red spoke first.
"You're Pretty Good." He said after taking a few breaths, as Cadence nodded
"You...Too...making me work about as hard as I do for my Husband." She said, as they were staring each other down again. "Your Heart...it's very pure...the affection I sense for both Fleur...and Nightmare...it's real...I'm amazed, but it's real...it's true, it's the real deal..." She said.
"So...will you join us, Princess Cadence?" He asked looking at her, to hear if she'd say yes, even if it was just to watch how his and Nightmare's love unfolded, along with the love for Fleur.
"If I do, how can I be certain you won't harm my subjects?"
"Do you not remember the radio message, Cadence," Nightmare said, still surprised at what was going on. "He was helping the child of one of the guards because he did not wish for the child to be left alone."
"Which guard," the filly asked innocently.
Nightmare looked down at her and said, "I do not know, young one."
"I need something other than words to know that you're telling the truth," Cadence said. Chrysalis laughed.
"Oh, you can't be serious, Cadence," she said in between fits of laughter. "I know that even you can tell when somepony is lying. So why are you simply denying the truth?"
"We told you, we don't hurt the innocent Cadence...your husband has possibly left you for Celestia and Twilight, simply because he is far more loyal to them than you, and on top of that, back when Chryssie here was posing at you, Twilight knew something was up. but Neither Celestia NOR Shining Armor, did anything to believe her or even more than that, even ATTEMPT to humor her suspisions. Had Twilight not been sent down to those caverns where you were, Shining would have been Chrysalis's husband, and love slave really, And you would have rotted down there till they found your corpse...and you needn't worry about Chryssie feeding off you if you joined us too...She's been feeding off my love for Fleur and Moony since we hooked up, so she's got plenty of emotional food....but on top of all that, you can clearly see Nightmare's caring for the filly who's shown up here...and Lone has simply taken the child to keep him away from the battle, And to make sure he's safe...Trust me we won't hurt your subjects, Not so long as they don't try to hurt us. if they try to hurt us, then we would fight back, but We won't hurt them without being provoked." He said being genuinely honest with the statement.
"Fine," Cadence said after ten seconds of mental debate that went along the lines of:
They're right. They could have easily used the filly for leverage, but didn't.
And what if that was just a ploy?
With one side listing the arguments that supported Nightmare and the others, and the other trying to debunk that evidence, with the former winning out.
The others put away their weapons, with Nightmare sending out a message to the NLR forces that the operation was a success, as Cadence did the same with her forces, telling them to stand down and that the NLR were their allies now.
Red smiled, putting away the Z-Saber, as he approached Cadence, and shook her hand, securing the alliance, and as Cadence looked into his right eye, since the left was covered by the Solid Eye System, she could tell he meant every word that he said, And that his love for Nightmare and Fleur was genuine. He then turned to the filly and Nightmare, and approached both hugging her, and soon knelt down by Nightmare. "Hey there little one...What's your name?" He asked, as he reached over, and began to gently stroke her mane, scratching behind her ears, as he saw her beautiful eyes, which matched Nightmare's. What he, and Nightmare heard next was a surprise, that made Nightmare's heart skip a beat out of shock alone.
"My name's Dawn Mister...what's yours?" She asked innocently.
"My name's Zero Star...but you can call me Red." He told her, smiling
My Name is Dawn... Nightmare heard echo in her head numerous times, as she began to take deeper breaths, Luna could tell she was freaked out, and could see exactly why. this foal...not only had Nightmare's eyes...but, on top of that, she had the name of the foal that Nightmare had given birth to on the banishment...and...even more so...she had Luna's manestyle and color...Nightmare Spoke.
"D...Dawn!? Tell me little one...who is your mother? Do you know?" She asked, as she knelt down looking at her, but she didn't remove her helmet yet.
She shook her head "No Ma'am...I don't."
Cadence spoke up. "She's an orphan...I've been trying to raise her for the past few years, and keep her safe.....as a sign of good will, and of our own alliance...Nightmare...would...you and Red like to adopt her?" She proposed, as little Dawn beamed.
Nightmare shook her head, beginning to laugh lightly "No...Red and I won't adopt her...we will raise her......Because..." She said, as she removed her helmet and spoke again.
"I am her Mother." She spoke, looking little Dawn in the eyes, as Dawn saw that Nightmare had the same eyes and she began to feel that connection, that the black mare infront of her, indeed WAS her mother. Nightmare felt tears building in her eyes, just as Dawn did, and the two hugged close.
"Mommy!" Dawn said, crying.
"Yes my little Dawn....Mommy's here....and she's never going to leave you again." She said her voice feeling choked up, as Cadence could feel the huge amount of love radiating. Red joined in the hug, smiling with his lover. "You can bet I'll be your daddy Dawn...if you'll allow me." He said, as Dawn sniffled lightly, and he wiped away her tears as she looked at him, and nodded "Yes please...Daddy!" She cooed happily.
Crystal Streets
Lone and Lightning Sentry were walking to where the armies of the NLR and Crystal Empire were situated. He had heard Nightmare and Cadence's messages to their respective armies, and decided it would be best to bring Lightning back to his mom, assuming she was still alive, which he hoped was the case. After the message had been sent, it took twenty minutes to reach what was the Crystal army camp.
According to Lightning, his mom was a medic, so the first place they went was the medical tents. The first one they arrived at was packed full. Lone squatted down to Lightnings level and asked, "Do you see your mom anywhere?"
"No," he replied sadly, before his face perked up. "But I do see Miss Amethyst Shine, one of her friends," he said happily.
Lone smiled, knowing that there would be somepony who cared about him, if not would care for him. "Then what do you say we go over there and see if we can't ask her if she knows where your mom is, huh?"
"Sure," Lightning said.
Lone nodded, and got up, and led Lightning over to the mare he identified as Amethyst Shine.
"Amethyst Shine?" Lone said once he and Lightning were close enough to get her attention .
"Yes," she said as she turned around to see them. She was a mare of standard height, with slightly brighter coat, most likely due to her being a crystal pony. She had an auburn mane, and a similarly colored tail.
"Lone Shadow, NLR. I believe you know this colts mother?" he said, gesturing to Lightning, who was smiling.
As she saw him, she brought a hand up to her mouth to suppress a gasp. "Lightning, what are you doing here?"
"Looking for Mom," he said.
She looked to Lone and said, "I suppose I should thank you for bringing him here. His mothers been worried ever since, well, you know." She turned to face Lightning. "Come on, Lightning. Let's see if we can't find your mom."
As the two walked away, Lone smiled, knowing that good still existed in the world. Which made him all the more determined to ensure this. War. Ended.