The War for the Sun & Moon

by Maxes Altho

Three

Splorp.

A gelatinous pile of glorp falls onto my tray. I gaze at it in indifference; there’s some fancy name for the food, but everyone just calls it what they want. It contains all the vital nutrients a fighting pony needs, all in a single serving. Filling, but definitely lacking in the taste department. I thank the food lady (remember kids, be thankful no matter what), and make my way to a secluded table. I don’t have that many friends; I’m sorta in between groups. Too old for the Crusaders, and not skilled enough to sit with the actual soldiers. My one real friend doesn’t ever leave his workplace.

A hiss of static fills the room; somepony’s turned on the television. Instead of showing the propaganda news or anything, the screen shows the royal seal and a blare of trumpets sound. I mentally check the calendar. Great, it’s the Empress’ personal Shit-on-the-Warriors day. Sure enough, the seal fades to show Her Royal Bitch in front of a podium.

“My always faithful little ponies,” she begins. Booing fills the room. “We are gathered here today to remember the tragedy that befell us eighteen years ago. Eighteen years and some months ago, I bore my first, and only, child. I was at the height of ecstasy. Finally, an heir to the throne!” cheering is heard in the background. The Empress puts on a sad smile. “Yes, it was a wonderful time. Then, eighteen years ago to this day, rebel scum broke into my palace and stole the Crown Prince from under my nose.” Intense booing from the crowds near the cameras. “Yes, I was distraught. No demands were made, no ransoms delivered. It was as if my dear son had fallen off the face of Equis. So, I made it my personal goal to utterly destroy all rebel groups until we found my son. We were successful in destroying them, but we never found him. Then, six months ago, Queen Pinkie Pie had a vision. A vision that there was a group still alive! We laid a trap, and sure enough, one rebel faction took the bait. Queen Applejack led the operation, and gained a rousing success.

“I am here today to tell the world we will not stand for these rebels!” the cheering grows louder. “The State of this Empire is strong! We will not kowtow to the likes of the scum of the earth! We will hunt down this group, and remove them from existence!” the shouting reaches a crescendo. “We shall devote any and all resources to exterminating these ‘Warriors of the Sun and Moon’. I shall not rest until every one of them pays for their crimes against the Empire!” She steps down from the podium amidst the uproar from her precious subjects.

I, personally, couldn’t give a damn. I was only an infant when it happened, but what I do remember is, yes, the Crown Prince was stolen from his crib when he was only a few months old. Now, don’t go thinking I’m him; that’s impossible. The orphanage owners who found me said I was there months before the whole foalnapping fiasco. Nopony has ever come out and admitted to it. It is one of the Empire’s greatest mysteries, topped only by why Queen Pinkie keeps punching holes in walls, then screaming into said holes.

And yeah, she’ll try to find us. She tried before, and we endured. Speaking of enduring, I should go see how Battleborn is doing. I plop my tray down into the cleaning line, then make my way towards the Armory.

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Ah, the Armory, where I first realized I wanted to fight hoof-to-hoof against the Empress’ forces. The smell and crackle of the fires, the glorious sound of a hammer striking metal, the sight of a shitload of blueprints surrounding an impressive number of workstations. It almost feels like a real home. Well, if this is a home, and I must be the son, I go to find Daddy.

I find him hunched over a workbench, fiddling with some mechanism in his light blue magic. I stop when I get about ten feet from him. He doesn’t like to be interrupted while he works. Eventually, though, some part of his training kicks in, and he puts down his project with a sigh. “What do you want, Shining Star?”

I have that momentary flash of panic at the thought of being found out. I mean, he’s awesome and all, but you’d think age would have dulled his senses a little. Well, that’s what you get for thinking ill of an ex-Royal Guard. Yeah, Battleborn was one of the personal guards of Celestia and Luna. He was outside the castle when the attack came, and he was able to escape. He and a couple others got together, and actually started the Warriors, built us from the ground up. He’s provided us with all the weapons and armor we couldn’t steal.

“Hey, Battle. I just wanted to see what you’re working on today.”

“Well,” he turns with a gruff pause, “I’ve been trying to adapt some of the tech the Empress has been dishing out to work for us. Wanna see?”

Boy do I! It’s like Hearth’s Warming whenever Battleborn creates a new toy! He holds it up; it looks like a regular magic-fed pistol. I gingerly take it in my magic, and gasp. It’s a hell of a lot heavier than a regular pistol. He leads me over to the range. I take up my position, aim, and fire once. A flurry of bolts flares from the gun, and the recoil knocks it out of my grasp.

“Holy shit, Battle! You managed to make an automatic pistol?”

He grins. “Yup. Now we get the power of the Empress’ fancy rifles with the haul ability of a simple pistol. However,” he picks the pistol off the ground. It’s sparking and has smoke coming from the chamber. “Still needs more work.”

“Well, if anyone can do it, it would be you, Battle.”

“Thanks, Shining. Now go. I need to focus.”

I salute, and exit. He’s a bit weird sometimes (the doctors call it PTSD; a side effect from the action he’s seen), but mostly he’s pretty friendly.

I make my way up towards the residential section, where I spend all of my free time. I stop near the main entrance, to converse with the only two soldiers that would give me the time of day.

“Hey Blockade, Signal. What’s happening?”

They smile; nopony else usually gives them a second glance. Being the guards, they watch everything, and tend to blend into the background. “Hi, Shining. Not much, I’m afraid. We’ve had a few to the surface, but nothing to report, as always.”

“Cool. Hey, I’ll try and put in a good word for you to the chef, maybe get you a little something extra during your lunch.”

“Man, you the best, Shining!”

“I try, Blockade, I try.” I start trotting away.

“Hang on…” Signal Flare mutters. I pause.

“What?” She fires up her horn.

“Single pony… coming down tunnel… fast…light hooffalls…changeling!” I almost drop a load.

If changelings finally found us, that’s it. Game over, man. Game over! Signal fires up her horn again, and shoves it into a special slot on the wall. A pulse of light rips through the compound; high alert. I back off, and hide around the corner, ready to leap in if they need help.

A gallop enters my field of sound, and a single changeling appears at the end of the tunnel. It’s limping somewhat, with the closest thing to desperation on its buggy little face. It collapses about ten feet from the guards, then struggles to its feet. It speaks in a raspy voice.

“I am… Chryssid… Last son… of Chrysalis… I come seeking one pony…” his gaze reaches me, and his eyes go wide.

“You… you are who I am looking for…” he tries to step towards me, but is stopped by Blockade. He backhoofs the changeling, and it crumples against the wall. Blockade turns to me.

“Go get the others! There may be more on the way!”

I scurry off, the thing’s words somehow at the forefront of my mind. Why would a bug be looking for me?

Comments

[Battle154]

:) Wow! I was building a weapon.