After the End

by Dsarker

Chapter the Second: What Happened Next

In the palace of Canterlot, the new habitation of Princess Celestia of Equestria, stood Lieutenant Eclipse, formerly of the Lunar Guard. He felt awkward in the polished waiting room, for it was unlike any palace or home he had seen. Rather than banners, statues or paintings, the room was decorated with different shapes arranged into patterns. It was pretty, he supposed, but it did not quite appeal to him.

The door opened, and he came to attention as the Princess’ secretary entered the room. “Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, will see you now.” He moved abruptly to the side, and waited as the Lieutenant entered in, before shutting the door behind them. The room they entered into was a dark one, lit only by the dim light of a pair of candles placed at a desk. Behind the desk was the Princess, her hooves steepled and resting on the desk.

“Lieutenant Eclipse. We’ve been expecting you.” The tentacle pony waited as the secretary moved around the table, and passed a piece of paper to the Princess, who waved him away. “Yes, Quill Pusher, I know this pony well enough, thank you.” She sighed. “Well, let us put this mystique aside, then?”

The room suddenly burst into bright light as with her magic she lit a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. She then blew out the candles on the desk rather than extinguishing them with more magic. “I prefer to do things by hoof if I can. Magic can sometimes be a crutch, if you let it.” She stood up. “Will you walk with me?”

She led him down the room. In the light, Eclipse could see that this was a long hall, and as they began to walk down it, he looked around. There were different images in stained glass in the windows, and though he could not see them fully in the nighttime, what the lights revealed assured him that they must be masterpieces. That is, those that existed. Only a few windows were made of this stained glass.

“This is what I wanted you to see, my little pony. These pictures are all of the good works that my sister and I have done in Equestria. In a thousand years, all this will be mere legend. Ponies do not have a long memory, you see, as a race.” Eclipse remained silent as the Princess spoke. It was the prerogative of rulers to pontificate on such matters, he presumed. It was the role of an officer to listen to this verbiage and nod and smile and then to keep doing as they had always done. “That is why I called you here. I have not been blind to the way you and your fellow soldiers have been treated, despite what you may think. I have seen it, and now I have here a choice for you.”

“A choice, your highness?”

“That is correct.” The Princess looked closely at the Lieutenant, and he nodded.

“And what is this choice?”

Without speaking, the Princess led him towards one of the empty windows. “One last mission. Succeed, and you will have redemption for those of you who need it. And in the mean-time, privacy and solitude.”

Eclipse did not answer straightaway. He had learned from bitter experience that such promises were rarely exactly what they seemed. “What is this mission?”

She nodded, as if that was what she expected. “The mission is a simple one on the surface, though in truth I do not think it will be as simple underneath. Come with me.” She led him onwards to another painted window. From what he could see, it depicted Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and a third pony, a unicorn.

“This is in remembrance of our first—and only—trip to the Crystal Empire. Sombra, the unicorn, had taken over the Empire, and was ruling it with an iron hoof. When we confronted him in the capital, we banished him, but he cursed the city to disappear as well. With it went its occupants, and more importantly every map of the Empire. It also caused a great winter to befall the area, and so far nopony sent to map it has returned.”

“This is a mission of mercy, then?”

“It is far more than that.” Celestia indicated a heart painted in detail on the window. “That is the Crystal Heart, a magical artefact only dwarfed by the Elements of Harmony. Even then, I am not sure that is the case. It disappeared, but my sister and I knew that Sombra had hidden it. If you can find it, who knows what it might be able to do? It might even be enough to restore to you your own form.”

He shook his head at that. “No thank you, Princess. I like how I am.”

“Do your comrades feel the same way? Even if so, it must be kept safe. That is what I am asking you to do. The rest is up to you.” She looked him in the eyes as she spoke, and he struggled to hold the gaze, just as he had done with Luna.

“Let me be sure I understand this, Your Highness. You are sending us on an impossible mission—a mission that everypony before has failed in—and you expect us to do…what? This is solely because we are expendable. Am I correct?”

She sighed. “If you want to take it that way, then yes. I am choosing you who will not be worried after if you go missing. If you fail to return, I will not receive grieving letters asking where dearly departed was, or why the mission was so important. That you can believe, if you want to think the worst of me. Or, on the contrary, you could believe that I believe you have a chance to succeed where so many have failed, and that your success will give you the redemption I think even you seek.”

She shrugged. “That is your choice. Now, do you want to refuse or accept this mission?”

“I accept, of course.” It stung a little that she had thought that he might decline. “But why have you chosen me?” She looked down at him again, a frowning open mouth.

“Did you seriously think that there was anypony else left among you who could have done it?” She shook her head. “No, my dear lieutenant, you were the only one. The Colonel of the—I believe you called it the Red Company?—has disappeared. I fear that he has seen fit to drown his despair in drink, or the apparently more satisfactory diversion of suicide. The rest of the Medical Corps seems mostly to want to forget they were ever soldiers. Of the remainder, you are the only competent leader left. Many, or perhaps most, of the others are not fit to lead. No, it must be you.”

It did make a modicum of sense. It was not as if there was anypony else he could recommend instead, even knowing them better than the Princess did. That left only two questions unasked. “Who do I have?”

“As many as you need. Take the whole of the survivors if you want to. Only do this for me: turn nopony away who wants to go with you. Despite what their injuries might be, despite everything. They deserve this chance at redemption as well as you.”

He nodded at that. “When do we leave?”

“Leave as soon as you can, without being overly hasty.” She crouched down to look at him face to face. “I want all of you to return. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

She smiled at him. “Good. Do you have any further questions?”

“Not for now,” he said, shaking his head. “We will leave as soon as we are ready.”

“Keep me updated, captain.” With those, her final words to him, her secretary appeared again and gently but firmly led the ex-lieutenant out, back through the antechamber and through the palace.

* * *

As the new Captain walked through the entrance hall of the palace, he fumbled with his new gold flanchards. He could see the Royal Guards—the other Royal Guards, now—watching him from their positions at the doors. They did not even salute.

It had not mattered before. It was only two weeks since the last battle had concluded, and the two groups of the Guards had stayed clear of each other. He had stuck with his own kind, and the old routines had kept going. The uniform had changed, but nothing else. Now it did matter, and so he approached them.

“What happened to officers receiving a salute, troopers?” he said, as calmly as he could manage. It was not very. The snigger of one of the guards just about raised his temperature to boiling point.

“I can’t see any officers here, can you, Aegis?” said the one who had not sniggered to his other. “All I can see is a dirty murdering trait-“ He had no time to react as Eclipse wrapped his tentacle around his neck and lifted him fully from the ground.

“No officer, hmm? Then the little restriction against striking enlisted ponies is out the window.” He dropped the Guardspony to the ground, and turned aside. “That will be sir next time.”

Even as he walked away, the anger that had filled him drained quickly. Those guards had been in the wrong, but his violence had solved nothing in the long run. It would be impossible to physically intimidate every single one of the other guards. The Princess’ plan made sense. The only way to deal with this for good would be to do something big enough that they would be unable to forget.

With these thoughts in mind, he made his way out of the palace, and headed down towards the barracks.

* * *

Eclipse wandered in through the barracks. The rooms for the former Lunar Guard had been hastily constructed, and many of them still had simple mats on the floor rather than proper cots. He walked past the enlisted quarters, frowning as he looked. No less than thirty or forty were sitting around, staring into the distance in silence. It was not natural for a soldier to waste his leave like that.

He reached his quarters, and walking in through the door, he found Sergeant Cloudshadow standing. He came to attention when Eclipse walked in, and gave a crisp salute. “Sir.”

“Sergeant. To what do I owe this visit?” The keshi pointed to a new barding hanging from a post by the door. Eclipse looked at it, noting the heightened rank markers. “They’re quicker than usual.” It took a second for him to notice the other difference. “Wait. That can’t be right.”

“Looks to be, sir.” The sergeant was wearing the same uniform—barring the rank markers, of course. It was the silver-grey of the Lunar Guard again. “That’s why I came to speak to you, sir. Did you know anything about this?”

He shook his head, turning back to the hanging armour. “No, I did not. All I knew is that we had received a new mission. From the Princess, Celestia, herself.” He dragged himself back to facing the sergeant. “Does everypony know?”

“Only the sergeants and officers, so far, sir. The others still have their gold on.” The sergeant looked carefully down at Eclipse. “You’ve been promoted, sir?”

Captain Eclipse nodded. “That’s correct. I’ll need a rollcall, sergeant. Consider yourself appointed company sergeant major until you hear otherwise.”

“Sir.” With a salute, Cloudshadow left the Captain to the solitude of his own quarters. He was still for a time, just looking at the new uniform he had received. Then, with a burst of savage energy, he tore off the golden armour from his body, dropping it to the floor piece by piece. No more would he wear it. Reverently, he lifted up the champron, complete with a hole for his tentacle, in his magic and slid it on over his head.

The next piece was the peytral, and the criniere with it. They clicked into place with the champron, and with the flanchards that came next. At last was the croupier, which completed the barding. As he lowered it into place, he noticed a piece of paper that lay hidden under the armour, on the stand.

It read: Captain Eclipse,
I have seen fit to restore the old colours of the Lunar Guard for this mission. Stained as they have been under my sister’s deception, I ask you to return them cleansed by honest obedience. These particular sets of armour have been enchanted to protect the wearer from cold, as well as the usual blessings.
Your colonel is still missing. As far as we know he is alive, but his conscience is not at all aright. I fear he will never recover from that injury.
On the reverse of this, you will find a map showing where the closest outpost of the Crystal Empire was. Should you find it, with any luck behind you, you may find a better map as well.
Send a report via the usual method when you are able.
Princess Celestia

Taking the paper down, and turning it over, he found a hoof-drawn map of the northern borders of Equestria, and a single star to mark the outpost’s approximate location. The map had nothing else. No hills, no landmarks; even the scale was only a rough one. At the bottom was another note, but not in the Princess’ writing.

I apologise for the lack of detail, Your Highness, but something seems to have gone through our records to destroy every piece of information about the Crystal Empire. I have copied this only from memory. Yours, T.

That explained the lack of detail on the map, but it left far more unanswered questions in its wake. The Princess had clearly wanted him to see it, though, which meant that it must have been important. He rolled it up and slipped in into his saddlebags, which hung over his flanchards. Then, to complete his ready uniform, he slipped his crossbow into its holster across his back and a dozen bolts into his side pouch.

There was a knock at the door. “Come in,” he said, the door opening before he turned around. “You’re faster than I thought, ser-.” It was not the sergeant. A rather bedraggled-looking darkbolt stood before him, his eyes bloodshot and his black mane a complete mess. It took him a couple of seconds to recognise Colonel Martini, the Red Company commander.

“Colonel,” he said with a small nod in greeting. “May I ask the purpose of your visit, sir?” The darkbolt nodded, seeming a little dazed.

“I… I came to ask you,” he said, slowly. Eclipse nodded. “To ask you to allow me. To allow me to come with you.”

Eclipse frowned at that. “Come with me where, sir? Are you feeling okay?”

He shook his head. “No, no I am not feeling okay. I do not know where you are going, but I cannot survive here. Whatever you need me to do, whatever it is, I need to go with you.”

“How do you know we are going anywhere?” The colonel snorted at that, the first sign of his old self.

“Your sergeant is hurrying about organising things, and yelling in a loud voice. If you were going no-where, he would be doing only one of those things.” He looked Eclipse straight in the eyes. “Please, captain, I am not blind.”

Eclipse could only nod at that. “Very well, sir. You may accompany us, though I warn it may be far from what you have expected.”

Martini slumped his shoulders. “Thank you, captain, and… I am no sir. Not to you. You are a far better officer than I ever could be.” Captain Eclipse blinked at that unexpected compliment.

“Thank you, colonel.”

“Please, just Martini.”

“Martini, then. Thank you.”

“Not at all,” he began to say, when the new Company Sergeant Major reappeared with a knock.

“Sir,” he said, saluting the two, “rollcall is completed. All guards accounted for. What now, sir?”

“It is time,” Captain Eclipse began, rolling the words round in his mouth, “for a council of war. Send my regards to the officers, and have them meet me in the map room. Along with the quartermaster sergeant.” Cloudshadow saluted, and left.

“What shall I do?” asked Martini. Eclipse turned, a little surprised that he had even asked.

“Come to council, of course.”

* * *

The map room of Canterlot Barracks was made of white stone, and the roof depicted a stylized sun, with a chandelier hanging down to provide light. The centre of the room was its key feature, a large map showing all of Equestria. Traditionally this was where the high command would meet to decide on troop deployment, but as the Royals refused to share a room with the Lunars, Captain Eclipse saw no reason not to use it.

Around him were seven ponies. Lieutenants, as he had been so recently. They were two darkbolts, a keshi and four tentacles. On top of that, Cloudshadow and the quartermaster sergeant, a keshi, as well as Martini joined him. He stood up, and waited until the quiet talking died down.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, thank you for joining me here. I don’t think I need to inform you of our present situation. It is fairly clear that we are suffering for our loyalty and obedience to Princess Luna, and that we will not be able to merely wait until we are accepted by the Royal Guard, and by Equestria.” Many of his listeners nodded at that.

“Princess Celestia, now the sole sovereign of the fair realm of Equestria, has noticed our situation.” There were a few derisory comments at the mention of the Princess. “Quiet there. She has treated us very well. She is not the enemy, not any more. No, she has suggested a solution to our problem.”

One of the lieutenants, the keshi, mimed a pony being hanged. “No, lieutenant Ferrous, the solution is not our execution. She has instead given us a mission, one that will clear our name and perhaps more. That is why I have called you here. We have all taken vows to the Princess of the Night and to her throne. That throne is empty now, and the Princess no longer has authority over us. It is your choice now. Do you pledge yourself to your new Princess? To her throne? Or will you slink away and hide in the shadows, and dream of past days? This is the choice before you. What say you?”

One by one, and then at last all of them nodded. “We will pledge ourselves,” said the keshi, who seemed to have elected himself spokespony. “But what is this mission?”

Eclipse nodded. “The mission is outside of Equestria, to retrieve a powerful magical artefact: the Crystal Heart, apparently even more powerful than the Elements of Harmony. It was lost after the fall of the Crystal Empire, hidden by the unicorn King Sombra. If we retrieve it, the Princess will reward us, and the Royal Guard will have no choice but to accept us. Our names—all of them—will be cleared.”

One of the darkbolt lieutenants lifted a hoof. “How is retrieving a lost magical artefact any mission for a company of Guardsponies? It seems like a thing to get a young impressionable unicorn to do.” After a bit of laughter at that, the captain raised his hooves for silence.

“There are two reasons. Firstly, we have the only remaining map of the Crystal Empire in Equestrian hooves, and it is unhelpful, to say the least. Secondly, and most importantly, we are not the first ponies sent to do this. Nopony sent so far has returned.” Silence reigned for a moment, before that temporary tyrant toppled to talking.

“What makes you think we can do it, then?”

“Three reasons. We are professional soldiers while the others sent were not. We have an entire company while the other sent were alone. Lastly, we have a bigger incentive.” They nodded to that last reason most of all, and another lieutenant raised his tentacle.

“You say we have the only map. Where is it?”

Lifting up his saddlebag, he took the scroll out and unfurled it on the table. A couple of ponies muttered at it, and he nodded. “I know it is not much, but it is all that we have. More than that, something thinks that this piece of knowledge is a threat to them. Otherwise, it would not have tried to erase it. Gentlecolts, fillies; this is all we need to succeed.”

The quartermaster sergeant lifted a hoof next. “Sir, when are we leaving? How long are we intending to stay?”

“The sooner, the better, but not until we have everything we need. We’ll be staying at least one month, maybe as much as three. Anything longer and we’ll have to pull back and resupply.” The sergeant nodded at that, and wrote something down on a pad. “Any other questions?”

“Do we have any expected opposition?” asked the other darkbolt lieutenant.

“Most probably medium opposition, but composition is completely unknown. Loyalist supporters of King Sombra.” That was a sobering thought for Eclipse. It had not been so long ago that they had been in that same position. “Other than that, the normal beasts and monsters.”

“How many corpsponies and medics do you have?” asked Martini. “If you’re going into combat, you will need at least a few.”

“Sergeant?” Eclipse turned to Cloudshadow with a nod.

“Maybe five? We don’t have many, sir.”

“Can you deal with that, Martini?”

“Of course. Lieutenants, if you can send me three or four ponies from your platoon? I’ll give them a basic training in first aid.”

Captain Eclipse took a deep breath. “Well, if that is everything? Then let’s be ready by… quartermaster?”

He scratched his head. "I'd reckon perhaps a week?”

“A week it is, then.” He nodded. “Gentlemen, let’s not mess this one up.”

As the other ponies went to their various duties, Eclipse was alone in the map room. He looked down at the map again. “Please, let’s not mess this one up.”