The Golden Age

by The Quiet Party

III: BADEN-WURTTEMBURG, GERMANY, May 6, 2024

BADEN-WURTTEMBURG, GERMANY
May 6, 2024

“Talk,” Twilight snarled at the wild-eyed pony, “or I will kill you where you stand.” The look in her eyes was equally wild, and Luna had to admit, on a surface view, it was hard to tell who was sane and who was lost nowadays.

“You can’t do that!” the madstallion giggled. “Soon the Queen will come for you all. Especially you, traitor. Oh, you’ll know what she feels like when she gets her hooves on you. She’s got a thing for ma––” the words were interrupted by the sound of a sharp crack, followed by the stallion crashing against a far tree. None present were sure if the sound was from the hit, the impact from the blow, or the stallion’s neck snapping.

“And that’s for them,” Applejack said, her eyes narrow with anger as Twilight was led away by a stone-faced Rainbow Dash.

“Orders, ma’am?” Luna turned to the human standing next to her. A soldier from the nation where this had all started, they’d been assigned to assist – or rather, babysit – the ponies that had come to render aid to humanity during what the ponies were calling the Second Equestrian Civil War. However, Col. Hewitt soon learned that Princess Luna and her allies were on the up-and-up, and the ponies that had sided with her would do everything to protect humanity as much as they could. As a result, the global media of Ground – No, it’s “Earth”, not “Ground”, I’ll have to remember that – had dubbed Luna’s faction “The Truehearted”, or often just “True”. One of Luna’s generals, during a television interview, had referred to Nightmare Star’s faction as “Those Fallen from Grace”, and as a result “The Fallen” had become their moniker.

“Colonel, please cut down them down and give them the burial they deserve. Ask Lt. Guiding Light to assist you – she’s one of my Selene priestesses and will perform the last rites.” Luna looked around the expanse of the Black Forest. “Then contact Prince Shining Armor and let him know what happened. Do not let Empress Cadance know, under any circumstances – I will talk to her personally. Lastly, please contact Prince Blueblood and ask him to meet me in London at his first opportunity. I need to know how the warfront back home is proceeding.”

Col. Hewitt saluted. “Yes, ma’am.” He then walked off, giving orders to his troops. Luna looked at his retreating figure, then looked around at the dozens of trees here in Germany’s Black Forest. Hopefully, just hopefully, looking at nature might dull the horrors just for a moment. But she knew that wasn’t going to happen any more than the event that had started this all.

Celestia had murdered her own daughter. Luna could sense the dark intent and power from the moment she first stepped on Earth. And now Sunset Shimmer, Luna’s niece, a mare she had never really had the chance to know, was dead. Another member of her family destroyed because of Nightmare Star.

Just like now.

Luna forced herself to watch as the human soldiers gently cut down the bodies of Twilight Velvet and Night Light. They’d wanted out of the war and had emigrated to Earth, taking Flurry Heart with them in order to protect her. Now, if there was any indicator, two unicorns that Luna considered family were killed, and if the blood and small feathers were any indicator, there was nothing left of the filly left to bury.

“Eight years old,” Luna whispered, forcing back the tears. There would be time to mourn her great-niece later. “She was only eight. Why?” Her sorrow turned to sudden rage, all of it directed at her fallen sister. “You will pay for this, Celestia,” she growled. “I will end you this time if it’s the last thing I ever do.” Last time she’d uttered those words, it had been the white alicorn on the side of the angels, as the humans tended to say. Now, it was her right to be there.

“My queen?” a pony spoke behind her.

Luna wheeled on him, rage in her eyes. “Never call me that,” she hissed. When the guardspony backed up in fright, Luna’s eyes softened as she realized what she’d done. “I am a Princess and proud to be one. Equestria needs no queens, especially not madmares. My apologies, Corporal. What is it you require?”

“Lady Rarity wishes to speak you at once,” the guardspony answered. “The Americans have set up a communications tent down that way, and Col. Hewitt and Oberstleutnant Haufmann will meet you there.”

Luna nodded, remembering that the German military had sent troops to assist; this was, after all, their nation and after Celestia’s forces had destroyed Berlin, the government, now situated in Bonn, had authorized assistance – it was, after all, their nation. “Thank you. Please have Princess Twilight and Capt. Dash report to me immediately.” The soldier saluted, and Luna went on the way.

Luna silently made her way to the tent, giving a quick salute to the American and German colonels. She looked on the screen, where Rarity was broadcasting from a research facility in Colorado, if Luna remembered correctly. DARPA had once been located in San Jose, but with most of California in ruins due to Nightmare Star’s rampage, the US military’s top secret “skunkworks” – where did it get a nickname like that? – was in the most secure facility in the world, she was told. Even Nightmare Star would have a hard time getting in.

“Rarity, it’s good to see you,” Luna said as she took seat at the head of the table.

“Hello, Luna, dear,” Rarity said with a smile. She looked haggard and exhausted, and had clearly forgotten her military decorum, though knowing Rarity that was an intentional attempt to cheer her up. “I think I finally succeeded with Project Engram. If this works, we can leave equipment anywhere in the world and unlock it at a moment’s notice.”

“Col. Rarity,” Hewitt began, “I understand you’re the best petrothurgist your people have?” Luna stifled a much-needed giggle as she saw the man’s difficulty in realizing that Rarity held a colonel’s rank.

Well, they are entitled to those ranks as the bearers, and in Rainbow’s case, her naval rank was outright earned. Rainbow, as a naval captain, led the Corsairs, a team similar to their Wonderbolt predecessors, but clearly ready for a more combat footing.

“Well, I’m not quite the best, Paul, dear,” Rarity began and Luna caught Rarity’s tone in the man’s name. Was there something going on that she wasn’t privy to? “But you know me well enough. As it is, my team has been working on this project for the longest time, trying to fuse magic and technology, and I think we have a breakthrough.”

Onscreen, the alabaster unicorn pointed to a gun. Luna didn’t know human weapons well, but she recognized this one: it was a Khvostov 7G-02, the first modern weapon made by ponies, albeit through a partnership with the Russian weapons company Khvostov Concern. She even knew the weapon’s designer, Applejack’s sister Applebloom. The human version of the Khvostov was a counterpart to the pony version, the Khvostov 7G-01, and one could be easily turned into the other with some part switchouts. Needless to say, for that reason it was becoming a gun on par with such famous ones as the M-16 and the AK-47 … neither of which Luna was familiar with.

“Now then, here’s a Khvostov. Normally, it would be difficult to carry around, but with the right touch of magic….” Rarity’s horn glowed blue for a second, and with a flash, the rifle turned into a white crystal, about the size of a softball and easily hand-held. “There! Not too big at all and should easily fit into saddlepacks or backpacks. And if you don’t have the decoding spell, all it is, is just a glowing crystal.”

Otl. Haufmann looked at the change on the screen as Rarity changed it from a white crystal back into a rifle and said in thick English, “Colonel, forgive me for stating the obvious, but humans don’t have magic.”

“Oh, I know that, sir, and we’ve rectified that. We will be providing a device to generate an additional signal that will equate to the magical signature and unlock the engram. The engrams are designed to rotate the codes on a regular basis, so knowing the spell or having the decryption device will be absolutely vital. I’m not entirely proud of having contributed to the prosecution of war, but I am proud that this will hopefully bring the bloodshed to an end faster.”

“We can only hope, Rarity,” Luna replied. “We can only hope.”

Comments

[Shinzakura]

This just seems to get worse and worse.