Waning Moonlight

by Amarandream

4 - Two Blind Fools

Princess Luna shuffled through the papers on her desk, finding the updated security measures satisfactory. "We thank you for the report, Commander. Was there anything else before We let you go?”

“Just one thing, Your Highness," Silverbright politely added, the formality sounding as odd as ever with her country accent. "I’ve found a suitable replacement for my old position. I believe Azure Gaze will make an excellent captain.”

“Azure Gaze?" Luna halted a moment to remember the young lieutenant. "Are you sure? If We recall correctly, her combat record is unexceptional, her training figures below average, and she’s expecting a foal to boot. Surely there’s a better choice.”

“I wouldn’t underestimate her, Your Highness. What she lacks as a warrior she more than makes up for elsewhere. And believe me, having her as captain will be vital to my mission. There’s no better organizer out there, and nopony I trust more outside this room.”

“Very well then," Luna nodded her assent. "You shall have her. Though if We were you, We would worry about what Captains Starside and Diaemus might think, what with you promoting one perceived as incapable.”

“Starside can disagree all he wants," Silverbright almost scoffed, "and Diaemus’ opinion won’t matter for much longer. The Moonspeaker Conclave has recalled him to Tzinacatlia. His service is done.

“We see. Do you have a replacement in mind for him as well?”

“I just might," Silverbright frowned, "though it’ll create friction with the Solar Guard. Your Highness might want to consider the effects before agreeing to this one.”

“Actually, they already sound perfect." Luna smiled mischievously. "Our sister’s followers deserve some humiliation.”

“…right.” Silverbright's frown only deepened.

---

Captain Starside stared at the unmarked letter sitting at the edge of his bed. A letter that had been left inside his locked room whilst he was still sleeping in it. That alone was enough to send shivers down his spine, but its contents held even greater implications.

The words were written in the sort of neat cursive he usually associated with unicorn script, though the first time he read it he'd been too astounded to pay much attention to the details—not to mention furious that somepony could and would get in and out of his room so easily in the dead of night. Upon a reread though, he found himself smiling. It seemed his fortunes were turning out for the better after all. If it could be trusted, of course.

Though he'd already gleaned everything he could from it, Starside found himself rereading for a second time:

Captain Starside,

You do not know me, but I am a keen admirer of yours within the walls of Blackwatch. Long have I resented the power and influence wielded by the ponies of the Solar Guard and despised how our kind has been consigned to lurk in the shadows. Princess Luna was the only one worthy to be sole ruler of Equestria, and what happened to her was nothing short of a tragedy. And believe me, that tragedy was no mere accident. I have it on very good authority that Princess Celestia has been planning to seize control for some years now.

The moment we failed to take our rightful place was the moment Silverbright was made commander, a role that should have gone to you. Enclosed are a set of documents written by Commander Steelheart himself which would have given you the authority to take command of the Lunar Guard. Note that Princess Luna never signed them. It seems that at some point Silverbright was able to get in close and whisper poison into our princess's ear. She convinced Luna to take herself over you and has been consistently suppressing you since, always wary of you taking your rightful place.

Worse, Silverbright has taken every measure possible to ruin the Lunar Guard. She elevated her friend, Azure Gaze, to the rank of captain rather than somepony even half competent—or somepony not married to one of the enemy, for that matter. Then she took a known troublemaker by the name of Sunsear straight from those who plot against us in the Solar Guard. I suspect she even ordered Lieutenant Nightly to abandon his post at Everfree so that our princess could be taken out of the picture, thus allowing Silverbright to exercise her own dictatorial power over the Lunar Guard.

Clearly, Silverbright cannot be allowed to remain in power. That is why I’ve come to you. Only you, our rightful commander, are fit to take the reins and lead us toward salvation. Now, I know you're thinking this is crazy, impossible, but fear not, for I have a plan.

Lieutenant Enneadecaeteris (vile name, I know) will be taking on the training session you had scheduled with the novitiates today. Near the end of this time, Silverbright will be coming to check in on their progress. This is your chance.

You must go to Silverbright’s office and plant the medallion I’ve included with this letter under her desk. Said medallion is enchanted to hold a single spell. When it senses enough bodies in the room at once, it will activate. And thus, when she next meets with her closest supporters, they will be finished. Just make sure you aren’t in the room when this happens. In the meantime, I will draw off any ponies in the area and ensure her door remains unlocked.

I know I am asking you to commit a terrible deed but believe me when I say we will be all the better for it. The Lunar Guard needs this to survive, and I can guarantee that none of this will be traced back you. To that end, you must destroy this letter. Silverbright’s spies will be watching and we must not provide them any rope with which to hang us.

Faithfully yours,
A Friend

Starside briefly looked through the documents which once would have provided for his ascension to commander of the guard, then turned his gaze to the medallion. It was only a small golden piece, but almost its entire surface was covered with the mark of the sun. It was a sort of token the Solar Guard gave out to the families of those who died in service. That couldn’t be mere happenstance. This mode of attack was designed perfectly to provide him an excuse. Once Silverbright was gone, he could take whatever remained of the medallion and use it as proof the Solar Guard were behind her death. He could then justify whatever new approach to the current political landscape he so desired.

That Starside was once destined for the role of commander was unsurprising, yet infuriating nonetheless. He'd often felt slighted that the younger and less devout Silverbright had been chosen over him, and now he had physical proof that his feelings on the matter were correct. Silverbright won that post only because Starside had been too honorable to scheme for it. No more. It would be his, no matter what he had to do.

Oh, how he already dreamed of the things he would do as commander. He'd need to promote new captains for one. He might let Azure Gaze stay, so long as she offered an oath of fealty to him and agreed to use her husband's position to infiltrate the Solar Guard, but Sunsear definitely had to go. He imagined he would knock on her door in the middle of the night, joined by two of the Lunar Guard's finest, and drag her Solarist flank off to some dungeon where she might never be seen again.

The other captains would probably be Nightly and that thestral with the name he couldn't pronounce, purely because they had seniority amongst the lieutenants. He'd be expected to promote them, but if either one acted up, he knew he could disappear them. Then he could get on with the ponies he really wanted. Perhaps his new friend might even take the position, assuming Starside could gain the proper leverage on them to ensure loyalty.

Once his reorganizations were complete, he would strike a bargain with the separatist elements of Tzinacatlia and launch a surprise attack on Celestia and her Solar Guard. If he was very lucky and maintained the element of surprise, Everfree could fall within seventy-two hours and the rest of the country soon after. Then he could get to work on solving Princess Luna’s current predicament.

His only concern was on just how this new ally of his thought they could manipulate him. A pony smart enough to conspire was a pony smart enough to stab him in the back and seize control. But he could worry about that later. For now, he had a job to do.

---

Captain Sunsear lay prone in a snowbank just outside of Blackwatch, a white cloak covering her so that she might better blend in. Every minute that passed, she crept ever closer to her target. Soon, she would be able to unfurl her wings and spring out at whatever villain dared spy on the Lunar Guard.

That's right, not an hour gone had she been standing at the midnight stone parapet of Blackwatch's walls, gazing out at the landscape, when she saw something rather unexpected: the glint of a spyglass in the sun. Somepony was positioned up on the nearby slopes of the Canter Mountains, trying to get a view over the walls of Blackwatch and into the courtyard. As to why, she could only guess they wanted to get a good view of their defenses but didn't want to risk a pegasus flyover. It was a smart idea, but not smart enough.

Sunsear could see them now, a tan pegasus stallion in a plain but heavy white winter coat. He was camped out in a sitting position with the spyglass in one forehoof while the other shielded it from the sun. It must have been only a brief lapse then that had allowed Sunsear to spot him before. Regardless, she had him now. A few more yards and she should be able to tackle him down without trouble.

The light breeze passing over the snowscape picked up suddenly, catching the edge of Sunsear's cloak for just the briefest of moments. In that instant, the spy's ears perked up and his head turned sharply, eyes locking on Sunsear's position. She was made.

Sunsear didn't hesitate, whipping off the covering as she scooped up a hooffull of snow and chucked it at the stallion with her wing, briefly blinding him. She followed that with a lunge forward, hoping he would be stunned just long enough for her to cover the regrettable distance remaining between them.

It wasn't enough. Just before she could put her hooves on him, he rolled out of the way, scoring a kick to her head in the process with one of his hindlegs—and though her helmet took most of the blow, it still knocked her back enough to win him some space. It seemed this would be a more interesting challenge than she'd anticipated.

Sunsear ignited both of her moonlit blades, now shining a dull yellow rather than their original silvery color. "You want a fight? You got one! Feel free to surrender any time."

The stallion's eyes went wide as the light of the blades reflected off his pupils, then he abruptly launched into the air, kicking off the ground to give himself a boost as he aimed southeast, away from Blackwatch.

Oh, no you don't. Sunsear took off after him, tossing her helmet and the steel Solar Guard-issue sword strapped to her side away to lighten her load, leaving her technically better equipped to fly that the spy in his heavy coat.

But it wasn't enough.

This stallion was a strong flier, and Sunsear decidedly wasn't. She was physically fit for certain, and she'd learned how to use her wings with great expertise in combat, but she wasn't a racer or a scout, and she was born very weak in pegasus magic—the same magic pegasi used to control weather and fly despite having an otherwise unfavorable wingspan-to-body mass ratio. In fact, she'd found herself slowly sinking through a cloud on more than one occasion. And it definitely didn't help that she'd stuffed her feathers full of knives—though come to think of it, that did give her an idea.

"In the name of Princess Luna," Sunsear yelled at the pegasus quickly outpacing her ahead, "surrender now, or I will be forced to take you down."

The spy only looked over his shoulder, saw how hard she was struggling to keep pace, smirked, and kept flying.

That's it. I've warned him. No-holds-barred now. She flipped her wing forward, losing a bit of altitude as one of her knives flew forward directly at her target's right wing. Even as it did, she swooped downward, anticipating having to catch her soon-to-be prisoner. Unfortunately, however, he began turning south-west toward Everfree just as the knife left her grasp.

The knife must still have struck home because the spy was soon falling, directly into Sunsear's waiting grasp. He was as heavy as she anticipated, with her poor flying abilities forcing her to make a sort of controlled fall for the both of them. In fact, even "controlled" was perhaps not the best word, given that if their landing had been any worse it would have to be called a crash. It seemed they were very fortunate to have the snow.

Once Sunsear regained her bearings she quickly looked over the prisoner, only to find that he was not a prisoner at all. That last turn of his had allowed her knife to bypass his wing, instead planting itself directly into his skull. It seemed there would be no interrogation, and as a result, Sunsear might never know who he worked for. Unless, of course, he was stupid enough to carry some kind of identifying mark.

Growling in frustration, she ripped off the dead pony's winter coat and searched through his belongings. The spyglass from earlier was broken from the fall, and the cloth-wrapped remains of his lunch were squished, but everything else seemed to have held together. Sunsear briefly lingered on a portrait of the spy's family, looking for anything that might indicate a place of origin amongst the assembled foals, but tossed it aside when that proved fruitless.

What truly piqued her interest was the small brown notepad with its quill stuck to the side. She knew she should take it back to Silverbright immediately for examination, but since Sunsear was the one to stop the spy, she figured nopony would be upset if she took things just a little further on her own first.

The little book turned out to be written entirely in code, appearing to be nothing more than gibberish to the untrained eye. It was unsurprising, of course, as Sunsear expected any competent spy wouldn't carry uncoded documents on the job. What was more surprising was that Sunsear already understood the code. This did not bode well. After all, she'd been trained in this code when she received her officer's commission in the Solar Guard, and she knew they were just incompetent enough to have not changed it since.

Well... horseapples, Sunsear thought. Silverbright'll have an aneurism when I tell her this.

The book detailed quite clearly how this stallion had been sent to gather information on Blackwatch's defenses and assess the combat readiness of the Lunar Guard. To what ends, it didn't elaborate. Though at the very least one could intuit that the Solars were wary of a potential confrontation with the Lunar Guard. Blackwatch was mere days from Everfree, after all, and everypony knew that no finer defenses existed within Equestria than was offered by the walls of that fortress. Even outnumbering the Lunar Guard more than fifteen to one, the Solars might still struggle to overcome that particular hurdle.

Reading on, Sunsear discovered the spy had been deployed from the Solar Guard garrison at Everfree by one General Gleaming Edge. And that was a name she knew well. Sunsear once served under Gleaming Edge during the war with King Sombra's Crystal Empire. In his prime, he was unstoppable, but he'd long since become little more than a relic. A stubborn earth pony more a decade past the age of retirement, he simply refused to quit. He was even once considered for the position of Grand Marshal, before he was passed over for the younger and better connected Dovekin. That he was involved in this matter said things were getting serious. And of course, Sunsear just had to go ahead and kill one of his agents.

The sound of wingbeats brought Sunsear to full alert. Those could be the sounds of a Lunar patrol, but she doubted it. That spy was unlikely to have been operating alone, and Sunsear cursed herself as ten kinds of stupid for not thinking of that sooner. Her only recourse would be to find cover and hide until they passed. The problem was that she would need to hide the body too, and she was out of time.

A pair of pegasi dressed similarly to the one Sunsear killed landed before her. More out of uniform Solars, this time with blades drawn by the mouth and fire in their eyes.

"Stop right there, scum!" the taller of the two stallions yelled. "In the name of Princess Celestia and her Solar Guard, you are under arrest. Come quietly or we will cut you down!"

Great, more of these idiots, Sunsear thought in annoyance. No doubt I'll have to kill them too. She ignited one of her moonlit blades, assuming a purely defensive stance. There was little chance she could talk her way out of this, but she could still try. Maybe this was that once in a blue moon: the time they'd see reason.

At the sight of her glowing sword, their eyes went wide. "Lunar Guard..." the shorter pegasus whispered. "This ain't good."

"You're not wrong," Sunsear smirked. "Do you know who I am? No? Well, let me inform you. My name is Captain Sunsear, and I am one of the most feared fighters alive. Now, I suggest you allow my return to Blackwatch. We all know fighting here's a bad idea. Let our commanding officers sort this out."

They both took a step back, even as the taller one spoke. "I recognize that name. You used to be one of us. Your exploits in the war with Sombra were legendary." He shook himself, grimacing at the tinge of awe that snuck its way into his voice. "But that's all over now, isn't it? Nowadays, you're nothing more than a traitor and a murderer, and it's our duty to bring you in." He turned to his compatriot. "Come on, Trips. It's two on one. We can take her."

"I don't know, Trails," the shorter one said. "Maybe we're better off going back and reporting this. Unless you want our friends investigating three murders."

"Look," Sunsear said, "I didn't know your friend was with the Solar Guard when I killed him. You're all in plain clothes. As far as I was concerned, he was guilty of espionage. And I'll have you know I gave him ample time to surrender."

"You can explain all you want," the taller one, who Sunsear now knew as Trails, began, "but our espionage laws don't cover watching a closed fortress from afar. You had no authority to kill him, no matter how long he watched, and you will face judgement."

"Whatever," Sunsear said dismissively, deciding peace was impossible. Now was the time to change tack. Dead stallions couldn't talk, after all. "All I'm saying is if your idiot friend didn't want to die, he shouldn't have been caught spying. It's his fault, really. Might as well have jumped on his own sword. But I guess that's just what happens to sun-blinded fools."

"You bitch!" Trails shouted, lunging forward with his blade aimed for her throat. No less than was expected.

Sunsear easily sidestepped the wild strike just before the blade would have connected with her flesh, swinging her own moonlit blade as he passed to gut him straight down the middle. In self-defense, of course. That last part would be important for her report.

With Trails dealt with, she turned to face Trips, only to find him gone. The coward must have taken off the moment Trails attacked because he was already high in the air and gaining speed when Sunsear spotted him. There was little hope she'd catch up to him in an aerial chase, so it seemed he was free to report back after all.

This was beyond frustrating. With both pegasi dead, Sunsear could have covered it up. Only she and Silverbright need have known. With neither of them dead, there was a small chance the Lunar Guard could have spun the first death as nothing more than a tragic accident. But this? This was the worst possibility.

In hindsight, she shouldn't have told them her name or of her affiliation with the Lunar Guard, but she hadn't expected the sheer cowardice required for Trips to have fled so quickly. Now she was once again a victim of her own recklessness, and she was certain that this time, real trouble would come of it. The slaying of two members of the Solar Guard wouldn't just be forgotten. Even her attempt to spin things to her favor was unlikely to help.

Resigned to her fate, Sunsear took to the air. She would go to Commander Silverbright and explain everything, then she would pray for the best. It was the only choice she had.