Imperial Forclousure

by The Sound of Loneliness

Miracles Abound

“This is disastrous,” Daybreaker buzzed bleakly. “She was right. The tree did smite her as soon as she dared to address it. This venture was a poor gamble. With Nightmare lost, we are lost as well. More than in any other time.” Daybreaker turned towards visibly stunned Flurry Heart,
“You will be punished for your failure!”

“Me?! This wasn’t in the visions! I told you both, it had to be her! I tried to do it right, but you just had to do what you thought was better! So choke on your threat! You only got yourself to blame!”

“You impudent… You vowed that the tree would not harm her! This was not even banishment! There were no portals to the realm of the dead! The tree simply purged her before our eyes! You will die for what you did!” Daybreaker ignited her horn, attempting to cast a spell to immolate the source of her vow but discovered that the inferno she wished did not manifest.

“Ha!” Flurry grinned. “Forgetting something, queenie?”

“I don’t need magic to see your head on a pike!” Daybreaker bared her sharp fangs. With a speed born from all-consuming rage, Daybreaker leaped to tackle the younger mare.

Equally swiftly her way was barred by a lithe yet determined pink form,
“Daybreaker, stop!” Cadance desperately begged, but her plea fell on deaf ears. Resigning herself to what she had to do, Cadance threw herself beneath Daybreaker’s hooves, sending her tumbling to the ground. Refusing to give her a moment of respite, Cadance quickly fell upon her, pushing the posses changeling to the ground,
“Daybreaker, please! She wouldn’t want us to kill each other because of her!”

Daybreaker struggled on the ground to get out from beneath Cadance’s weight, but the alicorn was stronger. Managing to slightly shift her body to get an angle, Daybreaker kicked at Cadance’s hind legs. Using the momentarily unsteady balance of her adversary, Daybreaker rolled to her back and kicked with all four of her legs, aiming for the head. Her aim was slightly off, but her kick still connected with Cadance’s jaw, the force of impact sending her on the ground a few steps away in a shower of bloody spittle.

“M-mom!” Flurry cried out.

Not one to leave enemies behind, Daybreaker was quickly upon the stunned alicorn, delivering more strikes to her head and exposed stomach. Something cracked in Cadance’s head, and her jaw hung open, tilted at an unnatural angle. Blood flowed in streams from her many gashes.

A powerful force threw Daybreaker away from Cadance’s unconscious body. After several tumbles, she found a wall. Something cracked in her back, but Daybreaker pushed herself up, feeling no pain. She directed her burning gaze at Flurry Heart.

“You want a fight?!” she hissed, tears flowing down her face. “I’ll give you a fight!”

Daybreaker bared her teeth again and charged her enemy. Having only made a few steps, she felt the familiar pull of magical force. In a moment of clarity among the sea of burning rage, Daybreaker realized that she had no chance against an alicorn without her magic. As she was being flung around the cave like a puppet and slammed against the wall and ground, Daybreaker’s anger was soon replaced by terror. Daybreaker felt her shell shatter and break under the impact; she still felt almost no pain due to adrenaline flooding her blood, even though it had already begun coloring the ground in dirty, brown puddles.
Her beating stopped as suddenly as it began, leaving her on the ground, ten steps away from a panting Flurry Heart, still glaring at her with unrestrained hatred. Daybreaker tried to stand up again, but was forced to stay prone by Flurry’s arcane might.

“You… will do… exactly as I… tell you to,” Flurry rumbled between her pants. “You are… serving me… now! Got it?!”

“Is she?” Both mares turned their heads to the source of the question. Their bewilderment increased tenfold as an onyx alicorn slowly and gracefully stepped from a purple tear in space itself. Her glowing, teal eyes betrayed no hint of emotion. Flurry and Daybreaker simply stared as the newcomer glanced behind her shoulder right before the tear closed behind her.
“Are you the overlord here, Flurry Heart?” the mare asked calmly. “Should I bow?”

The question made Daybreaker spring into action. She forced herself up, as much as her wounded body would allow her, before prostrating herself,
“I am so sorry!” she lamented. “I thought you were gone! I lost control!”

The mare smiled warmly,
“Do not ask my forgiveness, sister mine. I am grateful and flattered that you would go to such lengths for me. But you won’t need to. With the blessing of the Tree, I promise: I will never leave you ever again.”
Her smile soured as she looked at the unconscious Cadance,
“She will live and recover in merely a few hours. I have suffered worse wounds in the past. But your apology would be in order nonetheless.”

“O-of course. Anything you demand!”

“No,” she shook her head slightly, causing the jewelry in her mane to jingle melodically. “Do not do so because I ordered; do so because it is what your honor demands you must do. You have harmed her out of anger, not because it was just.”

“Of course.”

Nightmare Moon nodded slowly,
“What of you, Flurry Heart?”

“What of me? What about you! You just disappeared on us! Your whacko sister almost killed my mom! I had to do something about it!”

“Yes, something. With such power as yours, one would think you'd have no need to resort to such measures. If I remember correctly, you even volunteered to teach my sister some of your magic. Is this what your lesson was like?”

“I… well, I guess I could have restrained her… but…”

“Flurry Heart, please. There is no need for this; I understand how it feels to have made a mistake and be afraid to admit weakness. We will not judge or use it against you. Simply do what you know is right.”

Flurry Heart visibly cringed and stiffly turned to face the still-bowing Daybreaker, who watched her with one slitted eye,
“I’m… sorry… I may have been too rough with you. I mean, it’s not nice that you beat my mom like this, but I didn’t have to do the same to you. Especially since… you know.”

“I accept your amends, Flurry Heart,” Daybreaker responded somewhat grumpily.

“Now then. Flurry, tend to your mother. She will wake soon. Me and my sister must take the news to all of our allies.”

“What news?” Flurry tilted her head. “They already know that we were going to find a queen for the ‘lings.”

“I know what we must do now!” Nightmare Moon proclaimed. “Your mother, Luna, my sister. You all had a piece of the puzzle, yet only now do I see the full picture. To allay the ponies from their suffering, we first must earn the right to do so. Come, sister, let us see what we may yet salvage from our misguided prior course.”

“Yes… ugh!” Daybreaker moaned as she felt a sharp pain pierce her when she stood upright. “I will be fine. If the spirit is healthy, the body will pull through.”

“That is good, for you will be required for this next part. You must convince our changelings to put their trust in you. They will not receive you well at first.”

“I am ready! Let’s go!”

“But first, we must visit Celestia and release our prisoners.”

“Release?” Daybreaker asked out of pure confusion.

“Yes. Although holding them provides us a bargaining chip, they may aid us in a different, even more profound way.”

“If that is your will, Nightmare.” Daybreaker did sound convinced, but Moon smiled gratefully at her regardless.

“And one more thing, dear sister. I am Nightmare no longer. From this night on, I am simply Moon.”

---

The moon shone brightly at them as they stepped outside. Moon took a deep breath of cold, forest air. It filled her with sensations she had long since forgotten. The taste of the air was intoxicating. But she had no time, not now.

Moon spread her wings and took a few experimental flaps, It had been some time since she used wings to fly. Daybreaker next to her seemed to be similarly struggling to understand how she had to use her new wings. Feeling confident, Moon took a short start and leapt in the air, making several powerful flaps to gain altitude. She circled a few times, waiting for her sister to join her.

“This is delightful!” Moon cried excitedly. “I missed this oh so much!”

“I am glad you are in good spirits,” Daybreaker grumbled, frustrated with her short wings being too short.

“Try flapping faster,” Moon suggested. “Remember how our Shadow flies.”

That seemed to help, Daybreaker flapped as quickly as she could. A characteristic buzz filled the air. It took Daybreaker a few more minutes to understand how to steer herself, but before long she too steadily ascended. Moon proceeded to land at the entrance to the Castle, glancing at her sister expectantly over her shoulder. The queen slowly and cautiously followed, touching down on the grass and cringing from the pain in her back.

Moon stepped inside and a full hall of ponies greeted her. Some were tied up, others sat in makeshift cages, but most were allowed to roam free. After all, she did promise them freedom. They all immediately ceased and looked at her; some warily, others in bewilderment.

“Greetings once again, my little ponies,” Moon walked through the door, Daybreaker uneasily trailing behind.
“Have you seen your caretakers by any chance?”

“I am here, Nightmare Moon,” Celestia stepped out from behind the former command tent. Her eyebrows rose as she took in Moon’s new look.

“The Tree did not smite me, Celestia,” Moon began explaining. “Instead it blessed me with understanding. I no longer have doubts, I know what we must do.”

“Pray tell, what is it?”

“Free them,” Moon gestured at the closest cage. “We have no use for prisoners anymore.”

“I am no great warrior, but even I see that releasing the enemy for no gain is a foolish strategy.”

“They are no enemies to us. They will carry the word of our return throughout the land. Let all know.”

“Were you not the one who spoke of the danger of this eventuality? Nightmare Moon, it is not like you to be so whimsical,” Celestia said incredulously. The white alicorn stepped fully into view, approaching to confront the now smaller Moon. “I am already surprised that you submitted yourself to the Tree’s judgment and it did not reject you. What is this?” Celestia made a wide, vertical gesture over Moon’s body.

“Not a single spec of vile magic. Pure dream matter.”

“How?!” Celestia exclaimed. “You cannot dream!”

“That was the nature of my blessing, Celestia. Now I dream and my dream has enlightened me. I have no need for sorcery now, I only need the Dreamrealm and my voice. Those are the tools that I shall use instead of weapons.”

“How? Your dreams will not help you against our enemies.”

“On the contrary, I will show you,” Moon gestured for Celestia to step aside. Reluctantly, she did. Moon flickered her horn through the air, cutting a visible purple line. She pushed the sides of the fissure wide enough for her foreleg to fit through. Moon reached inside, and a short moment later, she retreated back out with a juicy red apple.
“Do you remember the apples from Sweet Apple Acres, Celestia?” she offered the apple to the shocked alicorn with a smile.

“T-that’s impossible!” Celestia cried out in the otherwise completely silent room.

Moon’s smile got broader,
“Don’t be so rigid, Celestia. That is your one flaw. Try it. It is freshly picked, I promise.”

Celestia reluctantly took the offered fruit. Inspecting it closely the alicorn could not find a single flaw. It looked exactly like Celestia remembered. She took a bite, and her eyebrows flew upward at the explosion of flavor in her mouth. She chomped the rest of it almost on reflex.

Moon giggled,
“I told you.”

“But… how?!” Daybreaker asked, just as shocked as the Princess. “Why couldn’t you before?! This is incredible!”

“I have some for all of you,” Moon said, reaching inside the fissure yet again. This time she pulled out a full basket.
“You see, there is something about Luna that you, Celestia, and even me always overlooked. We all treated her sovereignty over the Dreamrealm as an afterthought. Just as you govern the day in all senses, Celestia, Luna does night. Dreamrealm is infinitely malleable for all of us. Just wish and it will be so. What made Luna different was that she could freely traverse it. But she never attempted to leave it in any other way aside from waking, for that would have surely killed her real body. And now… the dream and the waking world need not be so separate. You see, I have no body.”

“You turned the bane of our kind into an advantage!” Daybreaker exclaimed.

“Yes! Rejoice! We shall no longer have the need to harm others for our own sake!” Moon spread her wings and directed her attention to the rest of the ponies,
“For you, my little ponies, I bear gifts! Go and tell what you have seen to all you meet! But before that, you shall feast!”

---

The hall was full of chewing, slurping, and occasional laughter as ponies, both prisoner and guard alike, enjoyed the best food they had in their lives, from simple fruit to the most exquisite dishes Moon could remember her cooks ever created. A few were even singing a merry song, and others were already passed out. Even Celestia half-heartedly enjoyed a plate of cucumber salad.

“Sister, I still do not understand how this is possible,” Daybreaker said, being the only one unable to enjoy common food. “Surely there should be some limit to this ability of yours…”

Moon glanced at her from her seat at the newly-created table, setting down a goblet of fine vine,
“Sister, do not think about such things now. It is the moment of merriment, not worry. Think at least what we will be able to accomplish with such power! You, me, Celestia, Luna, Twilight, even Flurry Heart. We will make Equestria better than it ever was!”

“Hmm…” Daybreaker uneasily frowned. “I hope you are correct, sister.”

“You are not convinced?”

“I fear not. You may be able to do what any wizard of old would call a divine miracle, but many others will still oppose us. It unnerves me how easily reality itself bends to you now. There is a limit after which one can have too much power.”

Moon stared at her surprised,
“Sister? Are you implying…”

“No, no, no! Of course not!” Daybreaker quickly contradicted. “If anyone is worthy of such power, it is you. It’s just that I simply fear that you may come to rely on it too much. What makes you formidable is not your spellcraft or your strength. This seems to me an unnecessary crutch.”

“Oh…I understand your concern, dear Daybreaker. You are correct, of course, but this is no more than a tool. I only need it to better serve my people, just like I served these ponies around us. It is this that I wish to do with it, nothing else.”

“As always, I bow to your wisdom.”

“Now then, let us not dwell on the dour. Pray tell… have you seen Twilight as of recently? I wish to… how do they say it… blow her mind.”

“Oh, that would be something to witness,” Daybreaker smiled. “She stayed at the airfield, the last I heard. I came here to check on Celestia and see if I could interrogate Flurry Heart about your whereabouts, but did not find her here.”

“Well then. Shall we go surprise them? The night is still young.”

Both mares stood up from the table and headed for the charted teleportation circle, carefully stepping inside to not damage the delicate lines. Upon ensuring they were both inside, Moon began cautiously weaving the spell. She was not as artful at it as Twilight was even when she was not out of practice. After a moment, they both were in a completely different place entirely. Not at the Castle anymore, but not at their destination either. It looked similar enough, but this could not be it…

“Moon! Get down!” Daybreaker desperately called out to her, but Moon did not hear her. She stared as if bewitched at the scene of carnage before her. Ponies cried out in pain, explosions threw heaps of dirt around, and gunfire racketed in the silence of the night. No, this couldn’t be it. She had to be still dreaming. She couldn’t have miscalculated this much…

“Am I… Am I still dreaming?” Moon asked, her voice shallow. “Was everything just an illusion?”

“No!” Daybreaker emphatically denied. “This is real! I swear to you on Luna’s name, this is real! Please, get down!”

Moon allowed her sister to drag her towards the ground. The grass felt so real… but she couldn’t remember how grass was meant to feel. The sounds of battle were so real, she thought she knew those sounds well, but could she be certain?

“Moon, sister of mine, please, we have to stop this!” Daybreaker spoke to her. “Please, come to your senses! We can’t falter now!”

“But, this isn’t real!” Moon countered. “I am dreaming. This has to be my nightmare. My newfound power, the joy I forgot I could feel, the glorious future - all of it was too good to be true. I was so foolish to believe it.”

“Sister, please, look at me!” Daybreaker asked insistently. “Look at me!” Moon did as asked. She looked upon her sister, the hideous creature that her sister became. The piercing, green eyes, the maw dotted with sharp fangs and jagged horn.
“I can’t summon my fire anymore,” she said deliberately. “This may be your dream, but to me it is real. I cannot do this alone, not anymore. Do you understand?”

“But this is the Dreamrealm, I can just command it-”

“No,” Daybreaker said simply. “You cannot. If you interfere with the dream, you will interfere with me. I am your sister, regardless of this hideous form. I was always first to step up when you could not. Will you step up in my stead now?”

Moon blinked a few times, the dream did not disappear. Instead, the fog in her mind cleared a little, she could see a purpose before her.

“Smite the invaders, sister,” Daybreaker instructed. “Kill those who would harm our own. That is the way of the battlefield.”

“Yes… I will. For you, I will.”

“Then go! Our warriors are dying pointless deaths! Stop this!” Daybreaker pushed Moon away and she rapidly propped herself up. She scanned the battlefield around, her mind racing to find a plan of some kind. She spotted a whole squad of invaders assaulting a single building. They were entering through the side door, but the defenders kept them at bay, so there was no way out. A moment later, they were inside. She was needed there.

Quickly teleporting, Moon was at the door, just in time to see one of the invaders chuck a grenade. It flew over a barricade, two hooves reached out for it, but failed to catch it; kicking it higher in the air instead. She seized the moment and grasped it in her aura, pulling it outside and hurling it away. Some warriors watched their grenade reverse its trajectory entirely and fly out of the door, while others were entirely oblivious and were creeping closer to the barricade along the ground, weary of the blast.
The air filled with static, and her fur stood up. The faces of the enemy turned from surprise to terror as they realized what was about to happen. Moon cast a blinding lightning bolt at her closest adversary, but it did not stop at them. Electricity jumped between each one and as one they all collapsed, their bodies twitching. There was but a moment of elation before Moon quickly realized that she made a mistake. Chain lightning was far too unpredictable to cast so close to her own ponies. In two huge leaps, she was at the barricade, putting her forelegs onto it to peer behind it. Suddenly, a barrel emerged, aimed directly at her. She reacted before she could even think, swatting it away. The weapons discharged, firing a burst of hot metal past her. Moon reflexively grasped the weapon and pulled, but the stubborn warrior refused to let go and she pulled him the whole way to the top of the barricade, before stopping. As he looked at her, his eyes widened in bewilderment.

“L-Lady? How are…”

“It does not matter,” she interrupted. “Who else is here with you?”

“Sergeant Blackhoof and Silver Shine over here, t-that’s all,” she glanced to the hide he nodded in, Silver looked white as snow even though his coat. He stared at her in such a way as if he saw a goddess come to him. She cringed at the thought.

“Are you wounded?” she asked.

“No, Lady. Though Blackhoof is, he’s upstairs.”

“Wait here, he will be with you in a moment,” Moon gloomily promised.

Both stallions gave her bewildered stares, but she was already running up the stairs, jumping four steps at a time. She found him sitting by a window, near a sea of glass shards and spent casings. He had noticed her, but was seemingly unsurprised.

“Have I lost this much blood already?” he asked, then laughed. “Hah! I guess I always was on the scrawny side, wasn’t I.”

“Hold still,” she ordered, approaching.

“As if I could do anything else. I never thought… you know, the whole star thing was real. Guess these bleeding batwings were right about something after all. So, am I gonna meet my ma and pa now?”

Moon silently opened a tear and cautiously levitated him inside. She willed his body to heal inside her Dreamrealm, before pulling him out again. The stallion was dazed, but his wounds were gone.

“Whoa… never done that one before…”

“On your hooves, Sergeant!” she barked. “Your squad is waiting for you downstairs.”

“Wait… what? Are they dead too?”

“You are not dead, you fool! I healed your wounds!”

“Huh?” he looked down at himself.

“Go! Lead them back to your officer and regroup,' she ordered, swatting him on the withers for good measure.

The stallion stumbled out in confusion. That being taken care of, Moon still had the rest of her troopers to save. She teleported herself outside, high into the air. Flapping her wings, she scanned the battlefield. Spotting many dark figures on the ground she realized that swooping from group to group would take too long, and many of her ponies would die. There had to be something else she could do. Her eyes scanned the scene before her until they stopped - on her moon. This… this could work.

Moon licked her suddenly parched lips as she prepared to upset the natural order of things. She focused her might on the distant sun and felt it answer her call, recognizing her.

The battle then swiftly ground to a halt as warriors on all sides looked with both bewilderment and fear at the rapidly ascending sun. Thestrals covered their eyes and screamed in pain at the suddenly bright light surrounding them. Moon felt her own eyes burn too, but she welcomed it.

Her soldiers seemed just as terrified as the thestrals were. Some dropped their weapons and cowered, while others searched for cover. They needed orders,
“Cease!” she spoke in her loudest Royal Canterlot. Her voice rolled across the mountains and echoed back to her from distant peaks. “I speak to you, bat-winged creatures, who profess to worship my name! You have greatly angered me, openly attacking my servants! I am Moon, your goddess, and your judge! Drop your weapons and surrender now, or risk my full wrath!”

Moon hoped her word would be enough; all things considered, it was often her most powerful weapon. She looked down beneath her for one singular creature.

“Sister! Are you alright?” she asked, teleporting to the changeling lying on the ground.

“I am fine, Moon,” Daybreaker stood back up while wiping off the dirt she had caught. “Are you alright?”

“Yes… yes, I am well. Let’s go, we have to find Stormbreaker; hopefully, he has not perished in the fighting.”

They flew towards the air control tower since Moon expected it to be the best defensible place in the area. Moon landed at the entrance and burst inside. It was a complete mess… wounded lying on all possible surfaces, next to boxes of ammunition. The ground was dirty from hooves and blood, and the air was full of gunpowder fumes. It took Moon a moment to find her officer.

“Captain, report,” she asked. The officer didn’t even raise a brow as he looked at her new form. “What in Tartarus has happened while I was gone?! I left you with a fortress and when I return, I discover that you nearly lost it to some zealots!”

“I accept full responsibility, My Lady,” he said calmly in the face of her outburst. “I was too confident in our position and became complacent. About 3 o’clock in the morning we came under bombardment by artillery, after which the assault immediately began. The enemy landed directly on the airstrip and charged out positions.”

“What are our losses?” Moon asked, calming down somewhat.

“I cannot tell at the moment. May I ask…?” he nodded at Daybreaker.

“It is my sister, Daybreaker. I hope you still recognize her, even in this body.”

“Understood,“ he nodded. “My Lady, you may take stock of our casualties yourself. The hospital has been set up by the eastern fence.”

“Not now. You have spoken of the artillery. Where is it?”

“I cannot tell at present, My Lady,” Stormbreaker curtly responded. “I will send someone to determine the rough direction by the craters.”

“Do so. I will be back in ten minutes. I expect you to have some intelligence by then. And tell your soldiers to take stock of prisoners.”

Moon stormed out of the company headquarters in a storm. She did not know what to think or feel. She had stopped the slaughter, but not the madness. These were Luna’s people! How could they attack her own like this?! Did Luna turn against her? Or did the Thestrals turn against Luna?

She approached the hospital tent and already knew that things did not go well. Body bags were laid outside. Dozens of them. Both changelings and ponies alike labored together, carrying their dead out. Suddenly, a pair of changelings stared directly at her so pointedly that it made her stop. One of them then dropped her side of the bag and turned away. In shame?
Moon stared at the pair for a moment more. The other one glared at her, before turning away herself and drawing closer to the first one. She... knew them.

Inside the hospital was full of wails and screams, as well as nervous orders of doctors. Some thestrals were sitting on the ground, waiting their turn. Moon feverishly scanned the faces, until stopping on one.

“Twilight!” she called. The purple alicorn turned her head towards her. Moon rushed towards her, trying her hardest not to bump into anyone.
“Oh, Twilight! I am so glad you are fine!” But she was not, tears stood in her eyes. Moon looked at the table next to her, and it was as if her heart stopped.
“No, no! Not y-you!” Moon sobbed. On the table was her Shadow, lying lifelessly.

“I-I tried! The fragment was stuck in her lung, I couldn’t get it out before she suffocated!” Twilight bleated, but Moon didn’t hear her.

Moon reached out to the changeling’s still body but stopped just short, before faltering entirely and sliding down to the ground. She sobbed. Everyone saw her, but she did not care.

A thought ran through her mind. It was not over, she could fix this! Desperately Moon opened another tear and cautiously, gently, sent her Shadow through, ignoring the surprised gasps. Moon willed her wounds to heal, the fragments disappeared from her lung, her heart to beat, and her chest to heave.
When she returned Shadow from the dream realm, the changeling’s wounds were gone and her breast heaved. Even the age cracks in her shell and her horn returned. Moon sighed in relief. She put her back on the table before stunned Twilight.

“My Shadow, can you hear me?” Moon asked gently.

“Yes, Mistress.” the Changeling responded, slowly trying to rise. “Forgive me… for this weakness.”

“H… How?!” Twilight gasped. “It was too late, the brain would have been damaged irreversibly!”

“No,” Moon said, looking at Twilight with one eye. “No one will suffer because of my mistakes, not anymore. Gather the wounded and the dying. I will heal everyone. No one will die today.
“And you, my Shadow,” Moon whispered. “Rest. You have given so much more than I could have ever asked. You need not give any longer; now it is I who shall give back to you all. I have all we need now, it will all be right now. I promise.”

---

“Chief, Ahm tellin’ ya. This whole exercise thing stinks like a dungheap. When yer doin’ an exercise ya be scheduling it. We’d be on a range right ‘bout now.”

“Got the papers right here,” Chief stubbornly retorted. “Wait for fifteen minutes and get ready to fire again.”

I sighed heavily and went to get the next batch of shells. I knew that something wasn’t right with this story. Our battery got raised at night and got trucked to the middle of nowhere to fire some shells over some mountains. That’s not how exercises were conducted, despite the paperwork from battalion headquarters being legitimate. I had a very bad feeling about this and wouldn’t be surprised if MPs would take us in in the morning.

I crowbared a box open and dragged out a new shell. I turned around to carry it back to the gun. It was a bit heavy and I almost dropped it, but I straightened out. A cool light shone on my face, and I figured the clouds parted. Then, I realized that the moon couldn't be in the south. I stopped and focused on the source of light, it was dim and pale. At first, I thought it was a plane, but then it flew low… and approached rapidly.

“Uh… Chief? The hay be that?” I asked. Chief took a break from his paperwork and looked up. He simply stared at the light until it got so close I could see what it actually was. A pony, with both wings of a pegasus and the horn of a unicorn. It was a mare of large stature and idealized but gentle beauty. A light dress hugged her sides. And her whole being exuded soft light, like the moon from the sky. I wondered if a goddess was coming down to the earth to demand our worship.

She landed in the middle of our battery, completely unbothered by some of us reaching for weapons. She looked at each of us appraisingly for a moment. No one moved, but I saw Chief slowly reaching for his sidearm. The mare had seen that also.

“You must be the officer in charge,” she spoke in an even, cold tone. “I have come to see you in particular.” Chief pulled out his weapon and chambered the round. She only smiled,
“Fire, I dare you.” I could see that Chief was tensing up but he held off. The mare then pulled the weapon away from him, making him stumble forth a few steps. She then pulled his pistol to her own chest and fired. We all gasped. She fired several more times, her smug grin never disappearing.
“Not all of us are so easily harmed, my little ponies,” she declared, throwing the pistol back to Chief. Blood steamed out of her chest, which didn’t seem to bother her in the slightest. A cold shiver ran down my spine.

“What are ye?!” I demanded. The mare turned on her large, slitted eye to look at me.

“I am a pony, just like you are. Some of you may have even heard of me. My name is Moon. I used to rule this country once.” My brows flew up and the cold of the night has returned tenfold. Of course, I knew that name, everyone did.
“You must have many questions,” she acknowledged my surprise. “I will explain myself, but first… Officer, I ask you to stop your bombardment of my wards. You have already injured many and would have killed yet more if I was not there. I do not know what your orders are, but you must stop.”

Everyone looked at Chief, it took a moment to find some sort of a response to this accusation,
“I… have express orders to continue the exercise until ordered to stop. In our documents, it is listed that our target is a practice range and that there are no settlements in the deviation range. It is impossible-”

“I promise you, it is quite possible,” she interrupted him. “Your orders are either incompetent or fraudulent. You were firing on the Canterlot airbase whilst it was being assaulted by a force no less than a company large of unknown allegiance. You are complicit regardless of whether you know what you did or not. I offer you one single opportunity to cease, I am prepared to offer great compensation if that shall sway you, but refuse and I will be forced to do what I must to protect those who trusted me with their lives,” her tone was distinctly threatening and Chief noticed that much as well. I looked at her chest again and to my surprise, there was not a single trace of wounds anymore. I started to have a very bad feeling about our chances…
Moon loudly inhaled and then released the air again, continuing much more softly,
“I beseech you: return to your homes or, better yet, come with me. There are many of your siblings waiting to greet you at my camp, even if their rest has been interrupted by battle and pain. I came back to you to ensure this is no longer needed. I will give each and every one of you a mountain of gold and gems, build each one of you a palace compared to which mine is naught but a hovel. I offer you everything your heart desires, right here and now… all you must do is but stop. I offer you safety too if that is what you require, no one shall harm you in my care. I will not allow that to happen again after tonight.”

I looked at Chief again, then at everyone else. Not one of us knew what this was about, but everyone knew that she meant business. Her voice and her gestures portrayed total confidence, and from her earlier display, I was convinced that it was warranted. After all, if we can’t kill her, what could we do?

“...I am sorry…” Chief said after a time. “...We’ve got our orders.” His tone wasn’t either proud or glad, not even confident. He simply said what he knew he had to.

Moon closed her eyes and deeply sighed, “I understand. Then, you know what we must do now. I take you as my prisoners and you shall be granted the customary honors. Resist if you must; your weapons will be of no use, but I will afford you a moment to prepare them,” her tone was solemn but tired.

Chief started reloading his pistol. I reluctantly took my rifle and slotted a magazine in. Moon waited patiently for us to reluctantly prepare. She gazed languidly at Chief.

“Uhh… battery! Attack!”

I put my rifle up and aimed, but I could not fire. I simply couldn’t move. Not a single shot was fired. Moon sighed again. She began twisting my legs away from my weapon. We never had even a single hint of a chance.

***
Tiny sat up in bed and yawned. Sleeping in bed was rather new to her. She usually had to do with a sleeping bag or even just a blanket. She had her own room too. The only one in their party to have one. One of the ponies also gifted her his satchel to keep her notes in. But most of all, Tiny felt like for the first time in her life she belonged somewhere, that she finally found others who treated her as a part of their group and wouldn’t want her to leave. Daybreaker tried acting like she did not like being her foalsitter, but Tiny knew enough to see through. Daybreaker wasn’t very good at pretending anyhow, it didn’t coincide very well with how far Daybreaker went to make sure she was comfortable and cared for. She constantly gave her work to do, most of which Tiny didn’t care for. But she did shore up what Tiny was reasonably sure was her own room at the Castle just for her, while staying in tents with her soldiers herself. The bed was old and creaky, but the bedding was new and clean. There was also very little dust around: and what dirt there was, was so old that no amount of washing would clean it.

Tiny felt welcome but not entirely comfortable. She looked at the helmet on her bedstand and thought back on what Flurry had told her. Her sister was already dead, what could she save her from?

With a heave, Tiny sat up and looked at the window. The sky was already bright. She might just catch someone right before they get to the important things they do. Tiny took her gifted satchel, dropped her notes in, and wore her helmet. Trotting down the stairs and a hallway, she was back to the main hall. To her surprise, it was significantly different from how she left it. The tents, boxes, and even creatures were all still there. But… they either slept all over the hall or were groggily walking about. Prisoners were also loose, but did nothing to escape.
Almost as soon as Tiny entered the hall, Flurry saw her and with a spark of her horn was already right next to her.

“Hey, sis…. You slept well tonight?” Flurry started, both hurriedly and awkwardly.

“Uh… yes?”

“Well, didn’t you happen to hear… oh, forget it. Look, I need your help. Again. And it’s a big one too. Again,” Flurry stated flatly. “I know I am supposed to be this almost omniscient oracle, but apparently I am bad at my job and I don’t know what to do now.”

Tiny tilted her head slightly,
“What happened?”

“A lot,” Flurry waved in the direction of the camp. “Okay, this is going to take a second to explain. So, basically, I was going to convince Nightmare to ditch the whole war thing and go take care of the buggos instead. I thought I figured out what she wanted and I could just give it to her. But I guess I was wrong. I thought she just wanted to be useful and someone to take care of.”

The suggestion left Tiny puzzled. Nightmare always told her straight what she wanted, but Tiny never stopped to think about it. Nightmare wanted to be with Luna, but she never thought further,
“Didn’t she just want to be with Luna? That’s what she said,” Tiny shrugged.

Flurry cringed,
“Well., yeeeeeeeeeeah. Sort of. That’s not the whole thing though, since she could’ve easily just gone alone and found Luna all by herself. It would’ve taken time but time is one thing that she’s not low on. She wanted to, maybe, but she couldn’t leave y'all to fend for yourselves. She knew that you needed her and trusted in her. That means a great deal to her.”

“So, what went wrong?”

“Pretty much, everything! Starting from the fact that the one who is going to take care of the Changelings from now on is Daybreaker and I have absolutely no idea how that’s going to go!”

“But you can see the future!”

“Well, yeah! But not all of it, just the one immediately ahead of us at the moment! As soon as some circumstances change, the prediction comes out wrong! But wait, that’s not the worst part. Besides the fact that Daybreaker is now the Queen of Changelings and her getting into a bucking contest with my mom, that’s still not the worst news! What if I told you that somehow, between when you went to sleep and now, Moony managed to get friendly with Mom, get the approval of the Tree of Harmony, get physical again, and also get this new godlike power that allows her to pretty much bend reality?”

“What?” Tiny asked in confusion. “What does any of that mean?”

“It means that last night our world got rolled on its head and now we gotta figure out how to behave!”

“What’s that power you were talking about?” Flurry asked with no small amount of curiosity.

“Well, I could try and guess, but honestly, I got no bleeding idea!” Flurry artistically threw her hooves upward. Tiny could have sworn she could hear a distant confetti cannon, but it was gone as soon as she heard it.
“So, what actually happened is Moony said she wanted to get in touch with the tree. She went to it and she was just gone. Daybreaker flipped out and knocked out Mom. Moony then comes back in a swanky new body with jewelry the size of your snout hanging all over her and gets her to stop. She then casually goes upstairs and starts just pulling food out of thin air. And drinks too, that’s why everyone here’s so hung over that they can’t stand straight. She then went straight back to the airbase, which it turns out somebody had attacked it tonight, killed everyone who didn’t surrender, and then straight up resurrected Shadow from the dead in front of gobsmacked Twilight. I wish you could’ve seen her face,” the faintest trace of a smile appeared on Flurry’s lips.
“I have no idea what’s going on and whether this is even Nightmare anymore. She dropped the first part of her name and now just calls herself Moon. She can’t explain anything either. She just says that she unlocked the true potential of dreamwalking - that’s Luna’s second power, the one she got aside from controlling celestial bodies in the sky. That doesn’t explain how she does any of that stuff though. She just opens a portal to somewhere and pulls it out. Looks really impressive, but I am scared out of my mind, to be honest with you.”

Comments

[Migol-18]

Well, that's gota be one of the most OP types magic I could ever have read about, I have a feeling that there's a catch.

[The Sound of Loneliness]

11891063
Yes, it really isn't it? It's a thought that occurred to me someday and now I am baffled that nobody thought about this before. If Tentabus could escape into the waking world and do all the same things there, it means that Luna also could move things between the dreamworld and the waking world. Which in itself already makes her so unimaginably powerful that she couldn't have lost to Celestia, elements or not.

[Migol-18]

11891209
Interesting And Innovative idea, to say the least. Now she's so OP that she can solve everything with no problem at all.

[The Sound of Loneliness]

11893693
Can she now? Would you believe that a single person, even with reality-bending abilities could solve all problems by herself? Would she have enough knowledge for that? Could she dedicate enough attention?

[Migol-18]

11893834
Well, her sole powers can solve it, but not herself alone.