Of Starships and Golden Armors

by Devona

Act III, Chapter 12: Lost

Following the disappearance of Princess Luna, the Castle was in uproar. Hatred grew between the parties, and in time, little would remain between it and a spark that could ignite the fire. The giant halls of the Canterlot Palace echoed with suspense, as ponies moved about uneasy, ready to watch their every step. One day, guards would trip over their own legs out of stress, another, the security was basically bypassed at all times with how distracted the EUP were. If they could get the Princess, then why not them? All the while, the streets were on fire, as crowds uncounted chanted Cloud Haze's heavy words coming from the top of a wooden stand. The situation was quickly getting out of hand for all... which was not helped by humanity, who soon demanded that their own troops bear the sole responsibility of protecting their landing zones.

And so, one faithful day, during one faithful talk...

"We will get her," said Moreson, hoping Celestia might listen to his words. His suspicions though, were saying the exact opposite.

"Absolutely not!"

"But-"

"But nothing, human. Our guards can solve the issue, and our talks can continue in the meanwhile. Perhaps you would like to finish what we had started, would you not...?" She replied with a tinge of venom in her voice, and a lonely tear rolling down her cracking cheeks before continueing down the massive hallway, mind not the human frozen in place.

Taking out a lone cigar from his coat's pocket, Moreson started thinking...

---

Invisible rays stretched out from the lenses of rifles of all the pitch black soldiers as they moved about the perimeter, deep inside the Everfree Forest. Where they once were, now nothing remained, as the humans mimicked shadows in their movement through the dark woods.

Shush!

Hashch!

Gone, forgotten!

Unseen by sentient eye.

Where they were, now nothing remained. Nothing but lone, empty air whistling about in the smoothest of winds.

And as one soldier laid down in the decaying leaves, among bushes and trees surrounding an elevated meadow, the invisible ray gently touched the forehead of a pony cultist down below.

The human's finger rests on the trigger, unphased, unmoved. And as silence undescribable overtakes all, a single order resonates over the comms.

"Visual made. Execute, over."

And the finger put weight on the trigger. And the pony's head was shot right off their shoulders.

Shouting. Shots. Flashes.

The team descended upon the Darknight compound in the middle of the Everfree Forest like an avalanche, while above them, two multirole warplanes momentarily decloaked, hovering midair and providing a barrage of hellfire on every step and place that dared move an inch.

"Clear?"

"Clear!" Someone shouted, gesturing for the squad to take point. One of the members rushed in to a big, stone wall, knowing all too well what to do. She put out a square device, and after a few presses, gestured for the others to take cover.

One second.

Two.

Three.

...

BOOM

And so, dozens of footsteps boomed through the stairs leading deep into the ancient cobblestone structure in the middle of the meadow as flashlight rays illuminated the walls of the corridor. It was a while before the soldiers entered into the first chamber, only to meet fierce resistance from tens of assembled Darknight cultists.

That is, the resistance would've been fierce if not for the utter inferiority of pony weaponry.

One stab.

Tw-

boom!

Ratatatata!

Flashes illuminated the hall, once every half a second making the gruesome scenes visible, as if photos taken via a particularly slow camera. Bullets zoomed and curved all around the hall, ripping through the air like a knife would through butter. Two dozen shots, three, four, hellish yelling! Ripping and tearing through space and time alike... until there was nothing left but pony corpses on the dim, cobblestone floor.

---

Princess Luna laid on the stone table, her appendages stretched to the very limit as dozens of tears rolled down her cheeks. She could feel another migraine approaching, the base of her horn squeezed by a tight, rubber ring in a manner that disabled any and all forms of magical powers.

She cried; there was nothing left to be done. She cried, for she had lost all that had been dear to her. She cried, for the only person she started relying on in so long had been taken from her... so cruelly, taken by his government. By the humans, for 'reeducation', as if there was even a bit wrong with him. Even a bit...

But on the other hoof... they had to win their war. It was a war like none other in pony history, in any history she knew of. It was a struggle for existence, for survival, for... life. Every bit mattered, but... even at such cost...?

And even then, while she could gather what 'reeducation' entailed as a term... what exactly would be changed within Stanley eluded the Princess.

But now... now, nothing mattered. He had been taken from her, and she from him. She from him, via brute force. She had let her emotions blind her, and make her vulnerable... just in that one, precious moment. That one crucial moment of weakness... and alas, the Cult had captured her. The Cult...

The handful of crazy ponies who thought the Nightmare was the rightful Luna... the handful who considered the lonely Princess but a body snatcher... the thought alone jerked dozens of tears from the already weakened Luna...

She laid and sobbed like tomorrow was a term long by now forgotten.

---

Footsteps sounded heavily as dozens of troops flooded the innermost chambers. Boom! Katash! Bam! One after another the pony cultists fell, as human soldiers moved steadily forward through the maze of corridors, appearing like shadows from beneath some unseen waves, the enemy blinded by their majesty.

Nothing could stand against them. Nothing at all, and not even the stunned unicorns were able to release their deadly lasers, killed before they could realise the danger...

---

Luna heard something. Or maybe it was but a squeak of birds? Wait... birds, inside the huge compound?

No... wait! It was-

Boom!

A huge explosion echoed through the chambers accompanied by scream after scream, as shadows danced through the room unannounced, breaking chain by chain, neck by neck, until it was done.

Until silence reigned supreme.

Until nothing remained but Luna and the shadowy, dark silhouettes made of pure darkness, only seen to a small extent by the Princess' strained eyes. And so, she prepared for the worse. Who these were, she could know not, but now, her mind did not care; it only shouted, screamed, for so many things: for water, food, a bathroom, any type of respite at all as Luna felt like she was falling down some unending hole that stretched forevermore into the hellish darkness below.

There was nothing left anymore but her strained thoughts as the world grew darker and darker. Maybe it was the Griffon spies who broke the agreement with the cultists, busting her out now? Maybe... no matter what, nothing good remained for the Princess, not with the blasted ring blocking her magic in full. Nothing... She had allowed herself to be caught by giving herself to emotions for just one moment, and hence...

Until one shadowy figure approached, revealing a big, black faceplate, and, with one swift movement of its appendage, Luna felt relief blocking all her other thoughts... the ring was now gone.

Curious, the Princess looked up, right as the faceplate depolarised... revealing a well-known, split-in-two face.

"Hello there, friend. Long time no see?"

Luna could not help but smile wildly from ear to ear as her shackles were, at last, loosened and thrown down.

---

"Who were those ponies?" Stanley asked as the human troops trudged through the forest alongside Luna, careful to watch their surroundings well. Before long though, Stanley had been delegated ro talking with the kidnapped Princess and trying to figure out what happened, as it was him who, after all, knew her best.

The only and sole reason he'd been brought out of isolation in the first place...

"They... I, we hate them..." began the Princess, her voice clearly shaken. Stanley raised an eyebrow.

"I would too after something like that, but-"

"No," the Princess interrupted. "I've hated them long before... they are the Darknight Cult," Luna took a deep breath, preparing herself to elaborate more. "They... somehow, I believe they convinced themselves that whilst partaking in my banishment, we, I... became lost to the double personality..." she said, lowering her head. Stanley moved a bit clser to try and comfort the shaken monarch.

"So... that means that they..."

"They believe I am an impostor in the Nightmare's corpus. A body snatcher, if you will," Luna uttered, with glimmers of raging fire suddenly in both her eesas she clenched her teeth shut. "But there was... more."

"More?"

"Yes, moreso," Luna reiterated. "The Griffons. The Empire has long tried to undermine Equestria's position, and with the current riots on the streets and humanity choosing ponykind as representatives of all Equis, they've been... particularly displeased."

Stanley just shook his head, sighing heavily as he did so. "So we may have a ticking bomb on an international level here..."

Luna sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. "Yes... we might indeed so."

Stanley did not respond. He simply walked forward, eyes wide open as if in a trance, knowing full well what this could mean for humanity's war effort...

In the distance, sirens wailed as if a flock of frightened birds, and suddenly scorching heat overtook the group as a blazing ball of flames swallowed the meadow they had previously left.

---

One day later...

It was a cold and windy night when Princess Luna swung the giant, ornate doors open, entering one of the many balconies of the Canterlot Castle. Step by step, she moved forward, finally leaning against the high railing. Down below the huge mountainside, she could see myriads of human ships and bases stationed across the plains of Equestria.

Many thoughts occupied her mind, from trivial considerations to terrifying worries. What would've happened if the Republic had not come to save her...? And how was she supposed to trust her Equestrian companions when they had not only not conducted any operation themselves, but as she had learned from ambassador Moreson, actively objected the rescue? How?!

She understood the intricacies perfectly well... knew something like this couldn't have been done hastily, and that yielding it to the humans was risky from the ponies' position. And yet, she could not stop the barrage of thoughts... thoughts that, despite everything... Celestia could've at least supported the human effort, even if it meant yielding down her pride. Even if it meant risking... the country's security...

Luna sighed. It was long since she had faced such a dilemma presented so clearly in front of her by factors so alien and unknown.

Actually, not long. Lately, things have all been so strange...

Slowly, she lit her horn up, readying to begin her nightly duties. After a short session of painting the night sky in all the colours of the midnight palette, she ruffled up her wings, preparing to leave the earthly realm, release herself from the tethered yoke and enter the void. To go to a place noone else would value as much as she did. To a place so... monumentally important it transcended even her own awareness. A place where she could finally find some recluse...

And so, Luna's horn lit up in a thousand shades of blue. And so... she prepared to enter-

What...? Why wasn't she... in the dreamscape?

Luna tried again, and yet, the Princess was stood right there, on the balcony, clearly corporeal, feeling no dreams coming to her. And again, and again, and again... nothing would happen, as if a sharp blade sliced through the tether connecting her to the dreamscape.

No...

Just as the realisation finally dawned on her, a lone, sole tear slowly rolled down Luna's cheek, as if a pond all on its own being blown through a desert of sunlight. She clenched her eyes shut, facing downwards as further tears threatened to make their way to the surface, and without thinking much, turned around, running, galloping to the only person she could relate to in these times oh so uncertain. She passed twists and turns of the Canterlot corridors, until finally, another gigantic door gave way to the Gardens. From there, the Princess took off, her wings flapping like never before, as she passed clouds and mists of the air and flied higher and higher and higher still, until even pieces of land were barely visible anymore.

Luna clenched her eyes shut as she burst into a cascading waterfall of tears. Inbetween wails, she shuddered, nearly falling down from her flight...

How could this have happened...? The... the despicable Darknights! Despicable, despicable Griffon spies, the fucked up Empire, the screwed over situation she found herself in! The... the fucking horror!

How! How even... why...? The ring, the blasted ring! Magic inhibition must've taken roots... the humans weren't fast enough to prevent everything, after all!

And now... Luna knew the true consequence of the kidnapping.

Here she was... Princess Luna, Diarch of Equestria and Raiser of the Moon...

Without her dreamscape.

---

"What of the Cyanosians, Sir...? We received word... we can no longer support our cover. The populace must know they are no longer with us, or else we might face a crisis of loyalty. We must-"

"We must nothing, Admiral. What we've found on Equis means little. Well, that is, it means much, to be sure, but not yet enough on its own to support what you propose. We must be patient."

"Patient...? Are you mad, Stratoi!? Have you lost your mind...? I have long known you have more than you've ever deserved..."

"Mind your words, Eriksson; you're speaking to Commander-in-Chief of this operation. While signs of Cyanosian activity on Equis are indeed disconcerting, what is worse is that we posses signs that the locals might've noticed their incursions... far prior to our first contact there. That would suggest, that..."

"...Lieutenant Colonel Martin's journey was not a coincidence..."

"Not quite. They were there first, and... quite frankly... who knows what the Cyanosians are up to... with the talks still in the air..."

"Who knows indeed..."

Who knows indeed...

---

On the streets of Canterlot, chaos reigned. Bottles, planks, everything thrown about like in the face of a wildfire as riots grew and grew each and every single last passing day.

To such a scenery did Luna race through the Canterlot Gardens, finally making her way back to the Castle. Tears still flew down her cheeks and through the neck, but she minded not; right now, all that mattered was reaching Stanley.

Twists and turns, turns again and twists once more, all passing by her as the Princess quietly cursed the labirynth-like design of the Castle's halls. Until finally, at last, she found her goal, earlier than expected too.

There, through the halls, walked an assortment of unmasked human soldiers, headed straight for the side door leading down the Canterlot Gardens. Not wasting any time, Luna shouted to her recipient.

"Stanley!"

The soldiers all turned, nearly causing the Princess to crash into them. Screeching to a halt on the pristine floor, Luna fell into Stanley, who quickly grabbed her in his arms, not letting his body move but an inch. Her eyes glistened from tears, shining with a dim, multi-coloured light. Luna looked at Stanley, her jaw shaking, and the soldier understood in a millisecond. Turning to his fellow troopers, he gestured for them to go, which they soon unenthusiastically obliged.

Now all alone, Stanley could finally focus on the shaken Luna. Taking a lesson from Celestia, he raised his hand to her face, slowly caressing the teary cheeks. He couldn't let her be like this, this shaken, this... terribly exhausted and down. He knew very well he should not mind, and yet, he could not, not at all, shake the feeling. No, he couldn't let this be. Not with his...

...

Not with his best friend...

Turning to the Lunar Princess, Stanley, at last, asked.

"What's the matter, Lulu?"

"I... we... the ring, the blasted ring, it inhibited magic, or... something, I..." Luna stuttered, struggling to express even a fraction of her emotions. Looking down at her, Stanley showed her his hand, commanding to stop.

And then, exactly then, the soldier pulled, bringing the Princess into his arms, and squeezing her head so tightly in his embrace. "Shhh..." he whispered, before looking Luna in the eye again. "What happened? Tell me, don't worry... I'm here."

Luna hesitated for a bit, before opening her mouth to speak again. "I... have... I've lost my dreamscape, Stanley... I've lost it. They took it away from me," Luna clenched her eyes, looking down at the floor, almost readying to cry again. Stanley, meanwhile, just stared into the distance...

"The Cyanosians...?"

"What...?" Luna whispered, cleaning her tears away with a wing. "Magic inhibition caused it... the ring you removed from around my horn. I..." she drifted away, taking a break for a moment. "What are the... Cyanosians...?

"I..." Stanley stuttered, looking briefly to the side. "I... galloped a bit too far... I should really get reeducated, we were just talking-"

"Stanley," Luna interrupted, taking her own turn at comforting her friend. She extended her right wing, wrapping it around the soldier who looked at her with hesitation. "Tell me... what were you talking about?"

"The... you see..." Stanley sighed. This isn't at all what he should be doing... but something just... made it so he could not stoo himself. Either magic itself, or maybe... the magic of friendship. "The Cyanosians are an empire in the galaxy... members of the Coalition, who suddenly stopped responding to our hails. We... we have detected signs of their activity on Equis. From before I arrived," Stanley said, sighing once again.

Luna blinked a couple of times. "Signs of activity...?"

"Yes. That means, that-"

"That our lands had been visited before thine arrival!" the Princess interrupted, opening her eyes wide. Stanley only nodded.

"Yes."

"So... that Cloud Haze, and the others on the streets, they... they are..."

"Right? It seems they got lucky," Stanley sighed, putting his hands on his waist. "Princess, I won't lie... the only reason I know and have been released from reeducation - which I'm not fully happy about - is that I know you... well. I am... you know, I..."

"...am you friend?"

Stanley sighed once more. "Yes, I am. And the situation's been critical, I couldn't bear to just let you... I'm lucky they allowed it, thought it was a good idea... but the point is, I shouldn't even know all these things, and you certainly shouldn't either..." Stanley bit his lip. "Or at least so I think... I don't know anymore..." he put an arm to his forehead, breathing heavily with frustration mixed oh so gracefully with confusion. Luna once again moved to envelop the soldier with her masssive wings.

"I... Stanley? Can I... say something?" she said, looking a bit to the side as if heavily hesitating. Her lower lip remained bitten while Stanley only nodded. "I... we want to go with you. See the galaxy for myself. I want to go and explore, I want to be there among my night's sky, among my stars... now that my dreamscape is gone, we have... nothing, we... we want to see what you've been talking about, we..."

Without any fuss, without any warning or signs at all, Luna's chin began to shiver, before the Princess broke completely into tears, momentarily laying flat on the Castle's pristine floor. Stanley crouched beside her, hugging the Lunar Princess tight where he could. "You're not accepted here, are you...? That's what you meant that one night, on the balcony..."

Luna nodded, not even trying anything in her power to stop the cascade of tears. "Maybe... we could... arrenge for one, a trip, just for a while...? Maybe it could help us bring balance to the talks again, build bridges between us...? A diplomatic show..."

Stanley did not respond. He only stared into the distance, thinking oh how much might just change with this single, small drop of words.

And so, a new journey, to a new world... was only waiting to happen, lurking quietly right beside a curtain of mystery and wonder... and bureaucratic talks to mend the feuded sides.