Luna's Secret Army

by Bronyxy

1 Twilight Makes a Discovery

It was the end of a hot and sunny day in Canterlot. The few ponies that were around trudged through the dirty streets with their heads hung down. A playful breeze caused sporadic dust devils to form at the corners of buildings, spinning litter and dirt into spiteful, roguish spirals that lasted a few short seconds before dying down again.

It didn’t used to be like this, but memories of happier times had been flushed away as surely as a giant hand had pulled the plug from a basin, leaving only dirty stains remaining. Indeed, the stain that had spread across the land was the shadow cast by King Sombra, and his heartless influence permeated every corner of the carefree existence that ponykind had once taken as its right.

One of the figures in this neglected cityscape was trotting with more of a purpose than the others. She was a young lilac unicorn mare, and the casual observer would have been hard pressed to realise that she had just finished a double shift as logistics officer, planning movements of everything from food, uniforms and equipment to the front lines. She was tired, but she was happy, knowing that her contribution was making a big difference in helping The Cause, as the fight against King Sombra intensified.

No matter how hard she had worked, she held as prized the brief hour or two in which she could study at the end of her shifts. She had no friends to speak of and thus was free to enjoy furthering her knowledge of history and magic. She often wondered what it would have been like to attend Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, but since that prospect had never come her way, she was determined that lack of such an opportunity would not dampen her love of studying.

The young unicorn arrived at a white tower and climbed the spiral steps to get to her apartment at the top, opening the door into a large spacious living area, the upper portion of which was totally dominated by books. Under less hard pressed times, she would have definitely found a niche as a librarian.

She pulled up a chair and carefully opened the book she had been reading for the last few evenings, placing the book mark neatly on the table. Turning another page, she noted the chapter heading “The Elements of Harmony” and let out a fascinated “Ooooh” sound as her eyes lit up; this wasn’t something she had heard of before.

She read on, fascinated by the imagination of those who had contrived such a splendid myth, eagerly lapping up every detail of their unparalleled power. Then she stopped in her tracks. She reached a passage that stated they had had been last used over a thousand years ago by Princess Celestia to banish Nightmare Moon.

This was all fresh in her mind as she recollected the Summer Sun Celebration during which Princess Celestia had brought her sister back from the moon; Princess Luna having renounced the evil of Nightmare Moon on the spot. She gasped suddenly as she realised that these stones were not a fanciful myth, but reality. If they were even a fraction as powerful as the book suggested, then they may be useful in helping to vanquish King Sombra! With that, she carefully bookmarked the page and packed this along with other important books into her saddle bag and fairly burst through her front door to seek out Princess Celestia.

The unicorn galloped through the streets towards Canterlot Castle, not even slowing to cross roads or go round tight bends; bowling past those few ponies who still remained about. Her eyes were focused and she bared her teeth as she didn’t even stop to apologise to those whom she terrorised in the process. Finally, she rounded a corner and hurtled towards the main entrance of the castle, straight at two guards on duty who watched her approach with their weapons prepared. She pulled up at the last minute, finding her way barred, and shouted with the full fury of her pent up emotion “Let me in! I must see Princess Celestia! NOW!!”

“No Miss, we are under strict orders not to let anypony in unless by Royal appointment” replied one of the guards.
“I’m guessing you don’t have an appointment?” said the other.
“No. Errr …” mumbled the unicorn as she suddenly realised that she could have said yes. She mentally facehoofed at her stupidity and continued her tirade at the hapless guards who remained stoic and detached throughout her protracted outburst.

Inside the castle, Princess Luna was filling the sconces with lavender as was her nightly want, when the sounds of the altercation at the entrance drifted through the passageways towards her. She pricked up her ears, alert for danger, but at the sound of a solitary young mare, relaxed, gently placing her sheaf of lavender on the floor and trotting off to investigate.

She arrived to see the guards patiently but firmly refusing to allow the lilac mare into the castle; it was the only excitement they had seen that day, but no matter how much this young mare appealed to them, they knew they were there for a purpose, and that purpose was to keep out uninvited guests like her.

As a product of good situational awareness taught during his training, one of the guards suddenly became aware of Luna’s gentle hoofsteps behind them and turned whilst the other kept his focus on the would-be gatecrasher.
“Sorry for the noise, your Majesty” he said saluting smartly “We can remove her by force if you wish.”
“That will not be necessary” replied Luna as she strode purposefully towards them.

The lilac mare stopped in mid flow, her eyes widening and her jaw falling open as a figure with regal deportment emerged from the shadows in front of her. The remaining guard did not salute his Princess, but maintained a defensive posture, making sure not to give the visitor any chance to rush him. He needn’t have worried however, as she was rooted to the spot, totally awestruck to be in the presence of royalty for the first time in her life.

“What, pray, is the meaning of this interruption?” asked the Princess with haughty detachment.
“P – P – Princess …” was all the unicorn could manage to say.
“We heard your demanding to meet with our Sister, did we not?”
“Yes, Princess” said the unicorn, her face glowing bright red as she suddenly realised what an exhibition she had been making of herself.
“And what dost thou demand of her?”

“I - I have found out about the Elements of Harmony” she blurted out. Both guards gasped whilst Princess Luna stiffened appreciably at mention of the instruments that had sent her to the moon, her glare focusing sharply on the young researcher.
“I – I – I’m sorry” said Twilight sheepishly, foreseeing everything in her life coming crashing down around her “But I read that they hold the most powerful magic in Equestria and I wanted to know if we could use them against King Sombra. I’ve got my books right here …”
The guards held their breath, appreciating vividly that this meeting was about to swing one way or the other very quickly.

Princess Luna thought briefly. She was angered to her core to be reminded of her fate as Nightmare Moon, and especially by one so young; so impudent! However, it was possible that she may be on to something. She looked at the researcher’s saddle bag bulging with books and made her decision.
“Very well. Guards, this filly is to be granted audience with us. You are to be commended for your diligence.”

The guards stood back and snapped smartly to attention allowing the lilac mare to pass. Having appreciated the faux pas she had made in front of the second most powerful pony in all of Equestria, she took a moment for the offer, nay summons, to sink in.
“Well?” said Luna “Wouldst thou keep the Princess of the Night waiting?”
At this, the uninvited visitor was jolted from her stasis and walked timidly into Canterlot Castle as the personal guest of Princess Luna herself.

“Prithee, what is thy name, filly?”
“My name is Twilight Sparkle” replied the unicorn, a little more at her ease in spite of being led around the castle by one of the Royal Sisters personally.
“We shall be known as Princess Luna” came the retort. There was no more smalltalk as the two ponies walked through a maze of corridors until arriving at a guarded door, outside of which burned two torches, one either side. Luna acknowledged the smart salutes from her guards and let herself in using her magic with Twilight following behind, taking in the shelves of books and arcane scrolls and the sparse furnishings.

Luna arranged herself behind a table and looked at her guest.
“Prithee take thine ease” she offered, gesturing with her eyes exactly where she intended her guest to sit. Twilight felt the sheer power of command behind the eyes of her hostess and obliged, sitting directly opposite her, daring not to speak unless spoken to.

Luna stared at her guest, trying to make her out, just as comfortable with the silence between them as Twilight was not. She placed her forelegs on the table, hooves together and rested her chin, looking down sternly at her.
“What hast thou discovered that demands an audience so late in the day?” she enquired.
“I’m sorry about earlier” Twilight started “But I thought you were Princess Celestia.” She realised that she was saying all the wrong things again and decided to stop babbling and get to the area of her greatest strength; knowledge. She outlined everything she had found and laid the book out as evidence. Luna listened impassively throughout and when Twilight ran out of steam, folded her forelegs, heralding her impending comment.
“The Elements of Harmony were once wielded by our Sister and us, and latterly by our Sister as thou knowest. However, we are both unable to wield their magic any longer and thus we have discounted their employ in the current battle.”

Luna turned towards a shelf and levitated a wooden stand atop which rested a crystal ball, summoning the artefact in her magic and placing it exactly between them.
“Hast thou urgent appointments this night?” she asked.
“No” replied Twilight.
Luna nodded her approval.
“Hast thou employ for The Cause?
“Yes Princess, I’m a logistics officer”
“Commendable. Thou art relieved of thy duties tomorrow by Royal Command; verily thou hast no reason not to focus upon our spell this evening, Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight was astounded. What could Princess Luna want with her?
“Meditate upon the Elements of Harmony and naught else.”

Luna summoned joss sticks and incense to appear and then lit them with her magic before going to each of the four corners of the room in turn muttering strange incantations and leaving behind lighted candles. When candles adorned each of the four corners, she extinguished the room’s lights and returned to her position in front of the ball. Twilight was deep in meditation, so the blue alicorn issued no further instructions and cleared her mind to focus into the ball by the light of the candles.

As Luna concentrated, her eyes went completely white and shone with the intensity of the full moon, allowing her privileged access to her world and those of others, a magic closely linked to her talents as a Dream Walker. She could see through the ball the image of the young unicorn before her, and as she drew deeper upon her magic, the picture began slowly to transform; Twilight looked the same, but wore a gold tiara studded with sapphires and topped with a magenta gem. Drilling further into this image, she realised with shock that this gem was in fact one of the Elements of Harmony itself.

Even greater focus revealed images of five other ponies, each with a strong attachment to one of the other elements, making six in all. Luna was straining to maintain a link with this alternate timeline and pushed as hard as she could to find names and see images, but the link was demanding more and more of her magic, threatening to close at any second. Just before the portal snapped shut, it gave her one final piece of information which caught Luna completely off her guard. She pushed back violently against the table and snapped out of her trance causing Twilight to awake startled.

“What – what’s wrong Princess?” she asked recovering her senses.
Luna did not answer immediately, but stared at her guest, rubbing her chin with her forehoof. Eventually she broke free of her reverie and looked Twilight straight in the eye.
“Twilight Sparkle, what knowest thou about alternate timelines?”
“I’m familiar with the theory from ‘Rules of Causality 101’, but I’ve never done anything practical on those lines.”
”Thou art indeed well read, Twilight Sparkle. Come, we will see our Sister now. There is much need.”
“You mean Princess Celestia is here in the castle?” enquired Twilight excitedly.
“No - we must go to her.”

Luna extinguished the candles and the votive offerings, returning the room to its conventional lighting, then opened the door and issued orders to one of the guards who shot off to make hurried arrangements.
“Attend thy Princess, Twilight Sparkle, we have a busy night ahead” said Luna leading her out of the door and down another maze of passageways. After a number of twists and turns, they emerged into a courtyard where a dozen pegasi in full battle armour waited. They looked so imposing that Twilight felt overawed in their presence. Not only that, but they looked different from normal pegasi. Luna caught her staring and commented:
“They are Bat Ponies from our elite Night Guard; we only have the best for our personal protection.”
“What do we do now?” queried Twilight, utterly dwarfed by all those around her.
“Climbst upon our back, we are going to our Sister.”

Twilight started to shake in a mixture of excitement and fear, but did as she had been directed and got on to Luna’s back, holding on as best she could. A pair of guards took off, one from each side, then two more, then Twilight felt Luna hunker down underneath her before springing into the air with graceful beats of her majestic wings. Against what she thought would be possible, Twilight had managed to hold on and found herself soaring through the warm night sky flanked by six Bat Ponies on each side.

Adrenalin surged through her veins and a broad smile spread over her face; she couldn’t help herself; she just had to whoop in excitement! Unseen to her, Luna smiled at the sound of her innocent joy whilst the Bat Ponies tactfully pretended not to hear. The feeling was exhilarating and Twilight wondered briefly if the airflow would cause her smile to become stuck across her face forever, but quickly did some mental calculations and dismissed the idea.

They flew on through the warm night, passing over parts of Equestria where she had never even set hoof, let alone flown. Finally, Luna spied fires on the horizon that signalled their approach to the Equestrian headquarters that lay within striking distance of the front line. They began their descent still dutifully flanked by the Bat Ponies in tight formation, and levelled out just above treetop height. Twilight watched spellbound as they flew frighteningly fast at less than the height of the surrounding hills and skimmed over trees, gaining a whole new respect for their precision flying skills.

Two guards flew off ahead towards the camp fires as Luna and the main contingent of guards hung back to await their return. In a few minutes they came back escorted by a dozen white pegasi in full armour, Twilight and Luna now at the centre of a veritable armada of airborne fighting power. Two of the white pegasi banked away and Luna turned to follow, the remaining flyers circling protectively overhead.

The ground grew closer and closer until Luna flared her mighty wings and alighted gently next to a large tent, the two pegasi not landing but following her down, then peeling off at low level, perfectly synchronised before circling up to join their colleagues above. As Luna sat to allow Twilight off, the Bat Ponies all landed close by, whilst the pegasi remained aloft to ensure that the skies remained safe above their leaders.

Princess Celestia trotted out from the tent to greet her sister and quickly invited her and her guest inside. Where the interior had just been full of advisers and planners, it was now suddenly empty, allowing the three of them to talk freely.
“Dear Luna, it is so good to see you again, but what urgent business demands your visiting me here?” asked Celestia.
“Sister, we should like to introduce you to Ms Twilight Sparkle; Twilight Sparkle, Her Royal Majesty, the Mare of Morning, Princess Celestia of Equestria, Protector of the Realm, Ruler of the Solar Court, Bringer of the Dawn, Empress of the Sun, and Monarch of the Day.”
“Joint Ruler dear Sister, as you well know” said Celestia with good humour in her voice. Twilight looked in awe at this beautiful white mare whom she had seen so many times at a distance, but never thought she would be formally introduced to. She was speechless, her mouth hanging open as the gears span round inside her head, simply refusing to mesh together to allow anything coherent to come out of her mouth.
“Was this your first flight Ms Sparkle?” enquired Celestia as an ice breaker.
“Yes your Majesty” said Twilight “It’s such an honour to meet you, but please call me Twilight.”
“Very well” said Celestia with genuine warmth “Twilight it is.”

“Sister” said Luna “Twilight Sparkle has brought to our attention the Elements of Harmony.”
“Yes, but had we not discounted them because we can no longer control them?”
“Correct Sister, but we have performed a working this evening with Twilight Sparkle and have found an alternate timeline to our own.”
There was a brief pause while Celestia let this sink in.
“Please explain further” she encouraged.
“In this alternate timeline, Twilight Sparkle hath gained mastery of friendship magic and employeth it with five other bearers to control the Elements of Harmony.”

Both Celestia and Twilight gasped at this revelation.
“Therefore Sister, if we can unite the same individuals then we may have a chance” Luna concluded.
“The war is going badly; we need a miracle and this could be it” said Celestia thoughtfully.
“One more thing, Sister” said Luna “The alternate timeline is dominant - we are the imposter!”
“That is good” said Celestia after a pause “Then Equestria is meant to be at peace.”

“Sister, we have names and descriptions of the five ponies we need. Perhaps any that are here could be spared to return with us lest they be lost in combat?” asked Luna.
“A sound idea” agreed Celestia “Please provide the details to my adjutant and we will see if any of them is here.”
At that, an officious looking pony with thick glasses was summoned and Luna provided him with as many details as she had been able to glean from her meditation. She was able to recount descriptions and some first names, but all-important surnames were in short supply. She cursed inwardly that she had not been able to provide more detail, but consoled herself with the fact that she at least had something on each pony. At the name of one individual, Rainbow Dash, the adjutant stared in surprised recognition, but the others would take some researching.

Rainbow Dash was famous. She was a highly decorated flyer, leading an airborne fighting unit that had evolved from the Wonderbolts display team and now attracted the best pegasi flyers from across Equestria. She had been awarded every medal for bravery that it was possible to receive and was respected by her team for both her skill and unswerving loyalty.

In spite of the hour, Celestia sent for the flyer’s Divisional Commander and continued catching up with Luna about the state of events both at home and on the front line. In less than five minutes, a gruff battle hardened veteran pegasus stood before his leaders to receive the news that his star Unit Commander was required for a top secret mission. He had been around long enough to know not to ask what it entailed, but there was no disguising the mixed emotions that flew across his chiselled features.
“Do you want her to report to you now, Ma’am?” he asked.
“Would it be a kindness to allow her to sleep?” enquired Celestia.
“She’ll be fine” he responded casually “I can go rouse her now if you wish.”
“Then yes, please” Celestia requested.
“We shall delay our departure until Ms Dash can join us” added Luna.
The Division Commander was surprised that Rainbow was so important that Princess Luna and her escort of fearsome looking Bat Ponies would delay their departure until she was ready, so dismissed himself promptly to get his star flyer out of her bed.

Ten minutes later a cyan pegasus in her combat suit reported and saluted smartly. If she felt awe being in proximity of the Royal Sisters, she didn’t show it, maintaining instead a rigid military demeanour that shocked Twilight such that she forgot even to introduce herself.

The Royal Sisters exchanged a tender nuzzle then Luna led the way for Rainbow and Twilight. As they walked out of the tent, the Bat Ponies joined, flanking the party as they walked to their take off point. Rainbow exchanged looks with the Bat Ponies, both eyeing each other with professional respect; each knowing of the others exploits.

Luna allowed Twilight to climb on her back, then the first two pairs of Bat Ponies took off and Luna hunkered down once more, Twilight bracing herself for the launch. Rainbow watched closely, taking her cue from the blue alicorn, and both rose as one, Rainbow slowing her ascent to match the rate of climb of the larger alicorn who had the extra weight of a passenger to consider.

Rainbow checked out the Bat Ponies’ formation flying and situational awareness skills and was impressed; these guys clearly knew what they were about. But what, she thought, was so special about that lilac unicorn? She looked nerdy and she certainly wasn’t military. She didn’t look like her kind of pony at all, and Rainbow seriously doubted she would have any good war stories to tell; the Bat Ponies on the other hoof, well that was a different matter altogether. She allowed speculation to bat to and fro across her mind as she flew, but was no nearer to reaching any conclusion when the end of their journey came into sight.

They approached Canterlot, Twilight feeling a thrill of excitement seeing it from the air, now a seasoned veteran of two flights and much more at home with the idea of flying. The party performed a gently banking circuit around the city then followed the same landing procedure as before, Luna flaring at just the right point to ensure a perfectly smooth landing, Rainbow by her side. Once Twilight had disembarked, Luna faced the moon and lowered it from the sky so that Celestia, miles away, could raise the sun and allow the day to begin. By rights, daybreak should have happened over an hour ago, but Luna wanted to finish the journey under cover of darkness, so dawn had been delayed; being Princess of the Night did have its advantages after all …

She turned to her two guests, Rainbow smartly at attention while Twilight wearing the most enormous smile just wanted to bounce for joy; she had flown to the front line and back overnight, met both Royal Sisters and seen Luna lower the moon – she couldn’t have even begun to imagine such an adventure only a day ago!

A unicorn approached and Luna gave her orders, dismissing Rainbow and Twilight to the dining room and quarters in the castle where they could rest. She wanted very much to rest too, but knew she had wheels to set in motion before he would allow herself to succumb to such luxury. A waiter brought her a coffee which she pondered whilst the unicorn returned, having tended to the needs of her guests. As she had with the adjutant in Celestia’s tent, she summoned her secretary and ran through the names and descriptions of the four ponies she wanted brought to the castle, emphasising the extreme importance of finding them, but not explaining why.

With outstanding affairs addressed, she headed towards supper and bed.