Battle on the Dark Side of the Moon
Miss Foster sighed as she looked at the empty bed in front of her that belonged to Scootaloo. It wasn’t unusual for this particular filly to go missing every once in a while, but she never missed hay burger day. And even when she stayed out past her curfew, Miss Foster would have at least seen her around town.
The last time any pony had seen Scootaloo had been the day before the Summer Sun Festival. According to some of the other orphans, the young pegasus had been seen with the purple unicorn and the bat pony that worked for Princess Luna (otherwise known as Nightmare Moon). As soon as she found out, she had gone straight to the local sheriff’s office to inform her of the missing filly. Sheriff Morning Star had patted her on the back and said that there was nothing she could do until the filly had been missing for more than twenty four hours.
Since then, all Miss Foster could think about were the horrible things that were most likely happening to the young filly. She had probably been taken to the moon to be boiled in oil or eaten alive by giant moon worms. While she waited, the caretaker of the orphanage did her best to stay calm as well as keep up a strong appearance. She had to be strong for the other orphans that depended on her.
But, it was hard when all she could think about was all the ways Scootaloo could be in trouble. At one point in the day, she nearly lost it when Sweetie Belle had come over with another filly named Apple Bloom. They had only wanted to ask it Scootaloo could come out to play, but Miss Foster, who did not want them to panic or worry, had told them that Scootaloo couldn’t and simply asked them to leave.
Once it had been over the twenty four hour grace period, Miss Foster’s fears were at an all-time high. Believing that this was an emergency, she quickly wrote a letter to Princess Celestia, begging her to do everything in her power to bring young Scootaloo back. To make sure it got there quickly, she paid extra to have it sent by magical fire. Hopefully the Princess would bring back Scootaloo back to where she belonged before something horrible happened to her.
-x-
Scootaloo stood in amazement as the platform went down the tube as it traveled to Dome Four along with about ten other fillies and colts. All around her, she saw things that no other pony in Equestria had ever seen before. Like, for example, the white barren landscape that was just outside this tube. The young filly had been told that no pony could survive outside, yet still she saw glimpses of ponies in odd suits with a lot of equipment. Scootaloo wished to see what they were doing out of pure curiosity, but the platform was simply moving too fast.
It was the same when they reached Dome Two. Scootaloo tried to take in as much as she could in the few minutes they passed through at seemly lightning speed. The main focus of this Dome was a single, giant container of water that almost went up to the ceiling. Along the ground were hundreds of tubes that went off in every direction.
Scootaloo also noticed several other small containers on the ground with several ponies working around them. The orange filly also noticed that there was a small cloud town within this Dome as well.
Several minutes after exiting Dome Two, the group found themselves in the next Dome. Dome Three reminded Scootaloo of Ponyville. She saw what looked like hundreds of farm fields on the ground. Every once in a while, she would see a machine hovering over the farm land as it collected the crops below.
Seeing all of this made the filly a little homesick. She began to wonder if anypony back home missed her or even noticed she was gone. Hopefully Sweetie Belle was at least wondering where she had gone. She also wondered how Miss Cheerilee would, when Scootaloo didn’t show up for class.
Several minutes after the platform had left Dome Three, Scootaloo noticed that they were heading towards a dark area. Gulping, Scootaloo turned to Dinky and asked her what it was.
“Don’t worry,” said Dinky with a reassuring smile. “That’s just the dark side of the moon. Don’t worry, that just means that it’s nighttime there.”
“Oh, cool,” said Scootaloo as she let out a sigh of relief. It was so dark over there that the filly thought that they were heading out into empty space or something like that.
As they moved into the darkened landscape, Scootaloo saw something she thought she would never see on this barren rock. Up ahead was a brightly lit Dome and inside of it was a forest. Large trees, taller than any Scootaloo had ever seen in her life, seemed to dominate the entire Dome. Or, at least from what the filly could see, since she was still a ways from the Dome.
As they got closer, something above them caught Scootaloo’s eye. It was a flash or a spark of some kind directly above the platform. Squinting with her eyes, the filly waited to see if there would be another one.
After a couple of moments, her patience paid off as two more sparks appeared in the sky above them. Then, a couple more happened, close to where Dome Four was. Turning her head in that direction while looking up, Scootaloo was able to see what it was thanks to the light of the Dome.
What she saw nearly stopped her heart. It was a giant mass of rock floating in the space above them. It was huge, spanning for miles in every direction. Scootaloo knew that if it fell down then no pony would survive. So, why was it placed here? And what were those sparks she had seen?
“I see you’ve met TOM,” said Lightning as she appeared next to Scootaloo.
Scootaloo blinked. “You named it Tom?” she asked. “That’s a funny name for something that could smash everypony into pancakes!”
Lightning Dust let out a laugh. “TOM isn’t really its name,” she explained. “It’s an acronym. TOM stands for Total Obliteration Meteor. That one there is about one fourth the size of Equestria. If that thing even made contact with the planet, it would end all live on it in a matter of days at the most.”
“Wait, you have more?!” yelped Scootaloo. Lightning nodded causing the filly to feel dizzy. It was hard to imagine that the ponies of the Lunar Republic had more than one of these monsters. “Are you insane? What if one of them falls on us? Won’t that kill us all?”
“We need them,” said Lightning with a shrug. “TOM’s sometimes pass by and they provide valuable materials that we desperately need. Things like water and metals. They have to be close so that we can use our shuttles to bring ponies back and forth from there quickly.”
“I mean, think what would happen if somepony gets hurt up there. If it’s close by, then it is faster to get that pony medical attention. Also there are a ton of safe guards in place to make sure it doesn’t fall on us. Take that TOM for example. It has a large rocket engine in back, so that if it does start to fall, we can adjust it so it will either return to orbit or get shot into the sun.”
“Then why are they on the dark side of the moon?” asked Scootaloo as the platform entered Dome Four.
“That was Princess Luna’s idea,” answered Lightning. “She was afraid that if Celestia ever saw a TOM orbiting around the moon, then she might fear the worse and attack us. From what I’ve heard recently, if the nobles from Equestria ever found out about them, they might fear us using them as weapons.” It was at that moment that the platform stopped. When it did, all of the fillies and colts raced outside onto the grassy landscape with just Lightning and Scootaloo brining in the rear.
Scootaloo was amazed by the forest-like feel of Dome Four. All around her, she saw trees of all types. She also noticed several park benches, as well as trash cans, that made her think that this Dome was used more like a park.
She was only half right. This Dome also served to provide sixty percent of the air for the Republic. Without it, the inhabitants of the Lunar Republic would surely die. To ensure that nothing happened, several ponies from the Shield Corps were constantly present, and it was given state-of-the-art security to prevent any foolish pony from tampering with it. In short, it was the second most protected place in the Republic, next to Dome Zero.
“Well, well. Look who we have here,” come a voice off to the side of Lightning Dust’s group that made Scootaloo think of Diamond Tiara. Everypony turned their heads to see orange unicorn mare with a red and yellow mane. Behind her were several other ponies that looked like they were two or three years older than Scootaloo. “I would have thought that you losers would have been smart enough not to show up. I guess I gave you all too much credit.”
“Shut it, Sunset,” said Lightning as she glared at the mare. “Besides, this isn’t going to be like last time.”
“For once you are right,” said Sunset as she smirked wickedly. “This time you and your Troopers won’t last three minutes.”
“Oh, they’ll last more than three minutes,” said Lightning confidently. “In fact, I’m willing to bet that they’ll beat the stuffing out of your Troopers!”
If it were possible, Sunset’s grin grew even more. “Oh, will you now,” she said slowly. “Very well then, I accept. As for what’s at stake, let’s have it so that the leader of the team that loses first has to eat the special at Diner 51. Sounds good?”
When Lightning Dust heard that, her coat turns a shade or two lighter. No pony in their right mind would eat that stuff! She didn’t even know why it was still on the menu. Slowly Lightning turned her head to look at her Trooper who had been silently watching the two of them. Gulping, Lightning turned her head to look at Sunset once more.
“Deal,” she said. Grinning, Sunset walked away.
“Who was that?” asked Scootaloo as she set her scooter next to a tree. “And what’s her problem?”
“Sunset Shimmer,” said Lightning with slight disgust. “At one point in time, she was a contender to be Princess Luna’s prized student. I don’t know all the details, but I heard that she got impatient and then somehow lost to Twilight. I asked her what happened, but all Twilight said was she didn’t want to talk about it. Ever since then, Sunset’s held a grudge against Twilight along with anypony close to her.”
Lightning then looked Scootaloo dead in the eye. “I want you to be extra careful around her. If she finds out that Twilight adopted you, then she might try to get to you somehow.”
With that, Lightning pulled together her Troopers so that they could all get ready. One by one, the foals were fitted with a black, leather-like belt that had a strange device attached to the side. The device was about half the size of Scootaloo’s body with a hole at one end. Along with the belt, she received something like a headband that also had a red, see-through piece that went over her right eye.
As soon as she put it on, a target symbol appeared in front of her eye. When she turned her head, she found that the device on the belt moved to point where she was looking. As she looked around, Scootaloo saw that all but Dinky had on the same thing she did. As for Dinky, she had a large crystal strapped to her back.
“Ok everypony,” said Lightning Dust as she got everypony’s attention. “I going to give you all a quick refresher before we begin. These laser guns you all have are the same kind we use for training in the royal guard.”
“In order to fire them, you have to focus on your target and think ‘fire’. Each laser gun shoots six times before it runs out. If you run out, you just need to stand next to Dinky who is carrying the recharger crystal, and your weapon will do the rest. If you are hit, you will be unable to move until somepony comes to get you or the game is over.”
“The rules of the game are simple, last team standing wins. There are only two rules. The first is that you’re not allowed to modify your equipment under any circumstance. The other is that you are not allowed to use any performance enhancing drugs. Are there any questions?”
No pony raised their hooves nor said anything. “Ok then, we starts in a couple of minutes. If you want to, you can practice using you laser guns or work on your aim. I’ll let you know when we are starting.”
With that, most of the fillies and colts began to talk with each other. Only Scootaloo and a couple others decided to try out the laser guns. Deciding to play it safe, Scootaloo took aim at a tree. She stared at it for a second or two while thinking ‘fire’ over and over in her head. Nothing happened.
Slightly frustrated, the little filly tried again but thought about firing a little louder in her head. Again, nothing happened. Now she was starting to lose her cool and screamed ‘FIRE!’ in her head. This time a red light shot out of her weapon and hit the tree exactly where she had been looking.
“Nice shot,” said Dinky as she walked up to her new friend.
“Thanks,” said Scootaloo as she grinned at Dinky. “So, how come you’re stuck with the recharger thingy?”
“Because I’m the worst shot here,” said an embarrass Dinky. “I get distracted easily and end up shooting the wrong thing.”
-x-
Meanwhile, over with the Troopers from Dome Nine, Sunset Shimmer was busy at work. After the Troopers under her charge had equipped themselves, the crafty unicorn had started removing the power cell for each laser gun and replacing them with a stronger one. The new power cell would not only allow her ponies to fire up to thirty times before needing a recharge, but it would also cause a slight amount of pain to whoever they shot.
“Uh, are you sure this is a good idea,” asked one of the ponies. “I mean, we can take them down no problem without cheating.” Sunset looked up from her work and glared at the one who spoke.
“Let me ask you a question,” she said slowly. “Do you like to lose?”
The younger pony gulped. “Well, uh, not really.”
“No, of course you don’t,” replied Sunset as she began to pace back and forth. “I also don’t like to lose. I especially don’t like to lose to Twilight Sparkle or her friends. When that happens, I’m not happy. And when I’m not happy, nopony around will be happy. Do I make myself clear?” All five ponies nodded.
-x-
“Ok, listen up,” said Lightning Dust as she called all of her Troopers together. Next to her was a unicorn stallion wearing a black and white striped vest. “I just found out that there will be a total of ten Lunar Trooper teams out today. That mean there will be nine teams you will have to defeat in order to win.”
“Now, before you begin, I just want you all to know that as long as you give this all you got I’ll be proud of you. Even if you come in last place. Just remember that we’re here to have fun.” After she was done talking, the stallion pulled out a whistle and a watch. He stared at his time piece for a bit before blowing into the whistle to signal the beginning of the games.
For several minutes, the Troopers from Dome One maneuvered through the woods, doing their best to keep a look out for the other teams. Scootaloo stuck close to Dinky since her friend couldn’t defend herself in a fight. Also, Scootaloo felt that somepony should defend the one holding all the extra ammo. She knew this would be difficult, seeing that the laser guns weighted them down a bit. The orange filly noticed that one of the other pegasi on her team trying to fly every once in a while, yet never getting more than a foot or two off the ground.
All at once, the silence of the forest changed. Several shots were fired in their direction, hitting two members of their group. The two cried out in pain, tears falling down their faces. The rest of them began to hide behind trees or under bushes to escape the onslaught of laser fire. Scootaloo did her best to keep Dinky safe while trying to fire back.
From behind her tree, Scootaloo waited for one of them to stop firing so she could shot back. But something seemed odd. The same shooter hit her tree seven or eight times before stopping. Unless Scootaloo had forgotten how to count, that meant that they had more shots than they did. Taking a deep breath, Scootaloo look out from behind the tree and saw who they were fighting.
It was the ponies from Dome Six! There were four of them ahead. Three of them were shooting, keeping the ponies from Dome One pinned down, while the fourth had the recharging crystal on his back. As soon as she took all this in, they began to fire in her direction once more.
“What did you see?” asked Dinky. Quickly, Scootaloo relayed the information while they heard another pony on their team cry in pain. Once she was done, Dinky nodded. “They used this strategy last time. Those guys are going to pin us down while the fifth circles around to pick us off one at a time. Looks like we’re going to lose again.”
“Oh, no we’re not,” growled Scootaloo. “There’s got to be a way to win.”
“Unless we can get around them, I don’t think so,” said Dinky miserably. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, scrunched up her face as if she were thinking about something. A moment later, her face lit up before hugging her friend.
“I think we can!” exclaimed Scootaloo. “Follow me. I think I have an idea.”
Several minutes later, the ponies from Dome Six were counting the heads of their victims. So far they had counted eight fillies and colts with laser guns. That meant that there was one more out there with a laser gun and another with the recharging crystal.
Everypony had a different idea where the two had gone. One suggested that they were trying to spring a trap of some kind, while another believed that they had simply run away. Then, they heard an odd noise.
“Hey, do you guys hear that?” asked one of them.
“Yeah,” said the one holding the crystal. “It sounds like wings flapping.” Without warning, there were three flashes of light and three of them were on the ground. Looking in the direction that was fired, the Troopers from Dome Six saw an unusual sight.
Scootaloo was riding her new scooter with Dinky holding on to her for dear life. It seemed that the laser guns also adjust do to a ponies position, since Scootaloo’s guns was still able to fire while she was standing up. And with her larger wings, she was able to flap them faster than ever before.
The orange filly fired three more times to hit the remaining two. Sadly, she missed as they jumped out of the way to hide behind trees. Once she was out of ammo her gun spun around in the direction of Dinky’s crystal. A beam of light shot out of the device on the unicorns back into her friend’s gun. Once the beam of light faded, it once again pointed in the direction of their enemies.
As she swerved back and forth to avoid enemy fire, Scootaloo began to feel something stirring inside of her. It was a feeling of fulfillment. Moving at high speeds and jumping over obstacles had always given the filly a rush. But now, it was different somehow. Maybe it was because of something the Lunar doctors had done when they made her a full pegasus. Or maybe it was because there was an added amount of danger. Whatever it was, Scootaloo felt like this was something she was meant to do.
The two remaining Troopers from Dome Six tried in vain to hit their target. However, the moving target was too fast and their reflexes were too slow. Soon they wasted their last shots and without a recharging crystal, they were left helpless. They both saw the orange filly grin as she relieved they were out of ammo. The two of them no longer bothered to dodge as they were hit by Scootaloo’s laser blasts. As they fell, Scootaloo cheered happily as she and her passenger continued on to look for more teams.
-x-
Several hours later, Diner 51 was filled with laughing, happy foals. Those from Dome One were cheering “Third Place!” over and over. Over off in the corner, a very unhappy looking unicorn was eating what looked like mashed potatoes with blue, pulsing veins. Everypony else were drinking milkshakes and eating pie that a very happy pegasus bought them. Sitting next to Sunset were Lightning Dust and Scootaloo.
“I’m proud of you kid,” said Lighting Dust. “You were amazing today.”
“Thanks,” said Scootaloo who had conflicting emotions. Part of her was happy that they had made such a big comeback. The other part was disappointed that they didn’t make it to first place. At first, she had been really hard on herself, but once she saw how happy everypony else was, she cheered right up.
“You’ll do better next time,” said Lightning who was somehow able to sense what Scootaloo was feeling. “And you were very good for your first time. I’m willing to bet you’d be great in the Royal Guard. We have high speed vehicles that need pilots with your reflexes.”
“She cheated,” growled Sunset, before she almost barfed up her meal.
Lightning snickered. “There’s nothing in the rules about using a scooter,” she said before pulling out the modified power cells. “And, if anyone is going to be charged with cheating, it’s you. I’m sure the LIB would love to hear about this.” If Sunset was going to say anything, it was interrupted by a loud rumble coming from her stomach. Holding her stomach, the unicorn mare fell to the ground while looking like she was in a plot load of pain. “Looks like in a few hours, it’ll come out.”
Before Scootaloo would ask what the older pegasus meant, Dinky let out a gasp. “Scootaloo, you got your cutie mark!”
Every filly and colt suddenly gathered around Scootaloo who was as excited as they were. Looking at her flank, she could see it and it looked awesome. It was a winged wheel with flames coming out of it. The happy filly began to jump up and down with joy. However, that came to an end with what Lightning Dust said next.
“Congratulations, now you get to be Programmed!”
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HOLY CRAP! I thought you forgot about this fic!
~Skeeter The Lurker
Programmed? Oh boy...
2882298
Hey, I told you all what was happening in my last AN. It took longer than I thought just to write one of them.
Nice use of Sunset. I liked it a lot.
~Skeeter The Lurker
2882350
Shows how long it's been since I read it...
I am ashamed at myself. Sorry.
~Skeeter The Lurker
Yeah! Scootaloo got her cutiemark! New chapter!
Squeeee! It's back!~
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! AN UPDATE. (showing immense amounts of enthusiasm, and am currently overflowing with happiness.
Programmed. Sounds pleasant.
Programed. Oh I'm sure it's a lot less horrible then we picture... although it could be MUCH MUCH WORSE!!!one11!
I imagine Programming is nothing more than Cutie Mark analysis that suggests the position in Lunar society that would best fit.
Please, for the love of Faust, tell me I won't have to wait too long for the next chapter.
Yay it updated!
In regards to the orphanage thing, I'm sure it's fine. I'm sure no one will overreact and make up wild ass stories again. Nope not at all.
I wonder how the Lunar Republic would fare if these guys showed up?
---
Luna : (looking at the strange bipedal invaders now) Who are you? What are you?! Why have you invaded us?
Invader : (looks at Luna with condensation) I am Aphosis! Kneel before your new god!
Luna : (eyes look steely) Never!
Invader : (sneering) Very well then animal. Now my Jaffa, kree!
---
Mane 6 Comments:
On the other side of the ethereal cloud
Programming either its nothing or something really bad.
If I were the nobles here's what'd I do:
1. Build a powerful bomb with magic
2. Put it inside a beautiful statue of Luna, make the bomb appear to be apart of the statue's innards
3. Tell Cadence you will forgive all bat ponies if her two guards deliver this peace offering to Luna
4. Convince the Bat ponies that the wings must be re-placed in the statue upon entering the throne room, thus activating the timer
5. Have Celestia unknowingly of the bomb send the two bat ponies and the statue to the moon
6. Luna would naturally be interested of the take of the two bat ponies thus letting them enter.
7. 10 minutes later Kaboom, effectively destroying the Lunar Republic's heirarchy
I don't suppose "Programming" is one of those things that is secretly repugnant from outside of the Lunar Republic's POV that helps show that TLR needs to improve as well as Equestria
Because right now with it's technologic advances and social progression, resource problem aside Equestria doesn't have crap against them
At first I was a bit confused at the whole 'Programmed' thing myself, since it does sounded a bit ominous, but it didn't take too long for me to figured out that it might not be as bad as it sound. Nonetheless, it does make me curious to what it is...not so much with what that crap that Sunset was forced to eat...ewwww. Heh....
As for poor Miss Foster, I feel sorry for the poor mare. Wonder how this will play out...
Thanks for the new chapter, IT was fun to read.
But I wounder what Programmed means?
Hope it's noting too bad I hope this wont hurt her.
Well good luck and best wishes
loved it. Can't wait for more..........Though the phrase 'programming' when talking about a person can never sound good no matter who or how its said.
Yay great job Scoots!
2883015
Then the republic's senators, who were not in the castle during the explosion, launch TOM's at equestria, destroying all life on the planet. Good job breaking it, hero, you triggered a war that ended the world.
Programmed: to be placed in a program dedicated to placing one where they would fit best in society.
... hopefully.
Great chapter.
Programmed looking forward to finding out what that's about.
While I haven't seen the movie either I do love your twist with bringing Sunset Shimmer in the story. Will we see more of her as the story goes on?
Just reading about that special makes me queasy.
I am now intrigued.
2885268
2885849
I suppose I ought to be more clear- you triggered a war that ended the world... while you were on it.
In short, not only did you kill trillions of other organisms, but you also killed yourself.
How could she not to be pissed, when even her very name, "Sunset Shimmer", is merely a sinonymus of "Twilight Sparkle"?
2885928 lol
Lets here it for the ministry of Propaganda! They think so you don't have to.
Scootaloo's Cutie Mark may carry problems of its own...
curse of the cutie mark, by DeviantArtist CSImadmax
It's great to see another update on this, I've been hoping for more in this world. It's good to see that Scoots is making friends her own age in Dome One, and that she's gotten a cool cutie mark. "Programming" sounds serious, though with the way Lunar society is arranged, I'm hoping that it just means that a foal who has gotten their cutie mark can now be shifted from a general studies educational track into a course set that is optimized for their particular talents and skill set. (Although, I have to wonder a bit, with that sort of orientation, what would have happened to Rarity if she were a Lunar colonist in this temporal exploration? Her special talent doesn't directly correspond to that of a fashion designer, does it?)
"TOM"'s are another bit of pragmatic Lunar society, as well. Asteroid mining was already mentioned, and on reflection it makes sense that any object large enough to be a viable long term mining target would fit into that size category. That they are fully steerable objects, though, adds them to Luna's arsenal of potential weapons, so I hope that there are a lot of safeguards monitoring those who have the control keys for those steering engines. (Granted, an alicorn who can move the Moon or Sun would have little problem shifting an object of that size, but there is a reaction time involved, nonetheless. A sneak attack would be hard to deflect.)
Nice touch working in Sunset Shimmer. It really does make sense that Twilight has to have had rivals for her position as favored student, and working in that bit of semi-canon (still not sure if I can really believe that the movie fits in the rest of the series or not) was a good job. And if Lightning Dust does report the cheating incident to the LIB, it will be interesting to see what sort of punishment is levied on what is potentially a serious case of cheating. After all, Sunset's cheat not only affected the game, but as an adult instructor for her Dome's youth, she was setting an example of incorrect behavior for all the foals under her supervision, something that Lunar society apparently frowns on.
And you did a pretty good job laying out the reactions back in Equestria as well. It's good to see that the CMC were still a viable group of friends, if not quite as obsessed with CM acquisition as in the actual timeline (at least, maybe not.) With that message sent to Canterlot, the wheels are starting to turn that will give a reason for Celestia to attempt another communication with her sister, and I can see the nobles fastening on it as a potential causus bellum. Here's hoping that your Muse cycles back to this story again fairly soon.
You know what else exists on the dark side of the moon?
1.bp.blogspot.com/-9Zjp1B9AmF4/T5VA8ro0wiI/AAAAAAAAHx4/hdzgCFrnSms/s400/ironsky_nazi_fortress-copy.jpg
*slowly backs away*
2891024
Nazi ponies, oh my!
2885928
The nobles don't know about the TOMs. Additionally, killing Luna may destroy any means of making sure they hit the surface seeing as Celestia would defend the planet from the TOMs.
2891087
Or, would she see just how despicable the equestrians are, decide "They wouldn't listen to a thing I said, they are entirely ungrateful for the light of the Sun, and they killed my sister. Screw it, I'm leaving." And journey to the moon, leaving you and yours to suck spacerock?
I get the feeling the whole "Programming" thing is just supposed to scare us, and it's gonna turn out to be nothing
2894093 She's doesn't know Luna is dead unless she has some sort of "link" with her. Since she can't literally see the explosion or at the least know why. She'd be more pissed at Luna for having giant rocks because she may assume she always meant to use them as a bargaining chip to get resources.
Though in any case, this whole scenario is pretty close to the Cold War's idea of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) where unless Equestria can figure out a way to Reagan their way to the Lunar Republic's collapse they'd likely just stare at each other with "guns" ready. Though I doubt Celestia would, she could always work out trade agreements with other major nations and attempt to cut the Moon off from any supplies effectively choking them. Though in the end, neither nation has America's sheer industrial prowess and money to run their U.S.S.R. into the ground.
2894832
Look, Celestia wouldn't know there were bombs in the package, sure. She also wouldn't know about the explosion if she didn't see it. But what about the messengers never returning? What about the moon not raising by the will of a sister who had never shirked the duty before? What about a quick teleport to check on her sister, only to find your treachery?
2895841
Yes, all those are true but one would think the Lunar TOMs would be launched immediately not after another "night" Plus the nobles may be able to convince her that the Lunar Republic is attacking them for no reason and have kidnapped the 2 messenger ponies.
2896266
Unless it takes some time for the republic to reorganize the chain of command, rebuild/lockdown the domes and protect vs. Depressurization.
You know, the "let's keep living" stuff.
2897236
Programmed? ONE OF US.
TOM,
2882751 Sorry Gould vs Luna, my bets on Luna
Do you mean Equestria as in the country or Equestria as in the planet? Either way the planet would be doomed. I mean, the asteroid that wiped out the Dinosaurs was about 10 kilometers in diameter.
I was getting slight dystopian vibes about the lunar republic, those vibes got a bit stronger
8089086
Pretty sure the planet is not named Equestria. That's the nation. I believe it was even referred to as a specific land that was found in one of the episodes. I don't think the planet has an official name but I've seen many fanfics refer to it as Equis.
8777557
as well as I think luna and celestia don't know the name of the planet they call it equestria.
or equis.