The Countdown Begins
Princess Luna’s mouth felt dry as it hung open while staring at the senator walking towards her cell. She could hear her heart beating loudly in her ear, completely in sync with his slow steps. Her breath was caught in her lungs and refused to be released. Small tears began to form, stinging her eyes far less than any stinging in her heart.
She had been betrayed. Betrayed by a member of her Senate. Betrayed by a pony whose family she had watched over with love for the past thousand years, as close to her heart as Twilight Sparkle’s.
And yet something seemed very off with Land Share. Luna always feared the day would come when some evil pony would try to take over. In a successful imaginary scenario, that pony would be gloating at his or her victory over the lunar goddess while mocking laughter filled the air. Overly pleased that they had taken her down and taken over her kingdom at the very least. Yet Land Share seemed to be…unhappy. There was no better way to describe this. His eyes were downcast and there was a frown on his face. His slow pace told the princess that he was tired or that he was slightly hesitant.
Once Land Share was in front of the cage, he did something else that baffled both princesses: he bowed before them. Well, he bowed in the direction of Princess Luna at least.
“Princess Luna,” he said in a shockingly calm voice, devoid of any emotion as he stood up. “Please forgive me. I had hoped to make this cell a bit more comfortable for you during your brief stay.”
“L-Land Share,” breathed Luna as the old senator rose. “Please tell me that this isn’t happening. That this is some sort of sick joke. Because, y-you couldn’t…you wouldn’t…after everything I have done for you and your…” Luna’s words trailed off, her voice choking slightly as more tears appeared in her eyes.
Land Share let out a short sigh as he looked into his princess’s eyes. “I am truly sorry my princess,” said Land Share calmly. “But I am afraid that this is no joke. You are indeed my prisoner for the time being. I, along with some of the LBI, have taken over Dome Zero. I know this is a poor way to repay the kindness you have always shown my family these past thousand years, but know that everything I have done has been for the good of the Lunar Republic.”
“What do you mean by that?” demanded Celestia as she eyed the aged stallion in contempt. “Just what are you planning on doing?”
Land Share looked at Celestia calmly, making her back away slightly. It wasn’t because he had a sneer, an insane smile, or any of the other emotions she was used to seeing from villains who had believed they had won and had come to gloat. What spooked her was the lack of emotion. His face seemed to be completely empty of everything.
“We are going to be dropping a T.O.M. on Equestria,” said Land Share casually, getting a gasp of horror from Luna and a look of confusion from Celestia. “One of the larger ones is currently being redirected from the dark side of the moon. In less than an hour it will strike Canterlot Mountain, with enough force to destroy all life in Equestria in a single blow. Any poor souls who survive this will not last much longer for the dust thrown into the atmosphere will block the sun’s light and deprive the world of warmth. And with all pegasi dead from the T.O.M strike or unable to fly thanks to Operation: Umbrella, it will be impossible to stop an endless winter from consuming the world and ending all life there.”
“That…That is monstrous!” yelled Celestia, now realizing the horror of what was going on. She slammed a hoof on the bars of the cage in her anger. “Why are you doing this?!”
“Land Share,” said Luna softly. “Please tell me you are not seeking revenge for what has been done to your family. I thought you were better than that.”
“Luna, what are you talking about?” demanded Celestia as she stared at the aged stallion.
Luna was breathing heavily as she kept her eyes on Land Share, yet still did her best to answer Celestia. “D-Do you remember that colt I brought to the castle before I-I left?” she asked. “The one who survived the fire in Hoofshire?”
A frown appeared on Celestia’s face as she thought back to that day. It wasn’t hard considering how often the Hoofshire tragedy was being brought up recently. Indeed, she did remember that when she met her sister that fateful day there had been a sleeping colt. But what did that have to- Celestia’s eyes suddenly snapped open as she turned to look at her sister who nodded sadly.
“He’s…He’s a descendant of that colt?” asked Celestia. “The one you saved?”
“Yes,” replied Land Share with a nod. “I am the last of Stone Plow’s line. According to the story passed down through my family, Stone woke up halfway through Princess Luna’s explanation of what had happened in Hoofshire to you Princess Celestia. Imagine how he felt when the sun princess flat out refused to consider the possibility of foul play. That his parent’s deaths were simply accidents and that she were going to wait a few months before addressing this. Stone Plow took this anger with him to the moon and never let go of it until his dying day, passing this hatred to his foals.”
“So you are going to destroy all life on the planet for something that happened a thousand years ago?!” yelled Celestia in anger.
“No, of course not, that would be ridiculous,” replied Land Share with a shake of his head, surprising Celestia into silence. “That hatred was strong with my early ancestors, this is true. However as time went on that hatred began to fade away. It certainly wasn’t there when my grandfather told me of my family’s past nor did my father ever express any hatred towards Equestria when I was growing up. What happened back then was tragic, but that was so far in the past that it didn’t matter anymore.
“I guess that’s why I supported Princess Luna when the merger was first brought up. While some like Gigawatt believed Equestria hadn’t changed, I was willing to believe the opposite. That in all that time, perhaps the ponies of Equestria had learned to be more tolerant. At the very least I was hoping that they would have open minds and would be willing to learn. That, and I believed in Princess Luna. She had never steered us wrong before, always put us first. So I gave her my full support and went planetside.”
“Imagine my disappointment when I saw Celestia’s nobles. Arrogant, selfish, and treating us like sub-pony scum. It was hard to sit there, but I did it because I trusted my princess and that there had to be better ponies out there. Yet the more I saw, like that book Gigawatt showed me of their bloody history and the state of that bat filly, the more I began to question this. But what helped me through all of this was you Princess Luna. When you saw the state of that filly and the way they treated all bat ponies, you were ready to walk away because you knew a merger with a nation like this would not be in our best interests. You quickly came back to the table when they offered us much better conditions, but that ended just as quickly when we found out how we had been presented for the past thousand years. Then, once we were back on the moon, the change from merger to alliance was brought up and I thought this might be a better deal for us. I supported this. I truly believed this could work.”
“But we all know how that turned out. The Equestrian delegates were on the moon for barely a full day and the Republic lost most of its water and I lost my Dome. I nearly died being blown out into the vacuum of space. As my life flashed before my eyes, I realized that Gigawatt had been correct. Equestria hadn’t changed at all. Its ponies wanted us dead no matter the cost, and I was going to be one of the first they had taken in a very long time. If you, Princess Luna, hadn’t teleported me back…I’d be dead.”
Land Share paused for a moment as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “When those six mares were brought before you, I had thought that this was the end for them. I wanted it to be the end. Yet, you did not kill them nor place them in a prison pod. Twi-Twilight even defended them! I was in shock. I had to know why.”
“You tried to kill Twilight?” asked Luna in shock.
“NO!” screamed Land Share, shocking both princesses. Up until now, his speech had been calm and void of any emotion. But now he looked flustered and his eyes were watering. “I would never willing hurt her. I-I used to read her bedtime stories when she was just a little filly. I watched her grow up. B-But that day I…I just w-wanted to talk to her. I-I just h-had to know why s-she didn’t want to c-condemn the ponies who nearly killed me! There had to be another reason other than ‘starting to become friends’, there just had to be! But she wouldn’t tell me! I-I was so hurt and angry! I saw the apple peeler in her room and everything j-just went red! Stars above, the next thing I k-knew I was standing over her b-b-b-body and there was b-b-blood everywhere and…and…I screamed.”
Land Share let out a soft sob, looking like he was trying his best to hold back a tidal wave of guilt and pain. Luna cried silently as she watched him rein in his emotions, trying to wipe away his tears with his right foreleg. When he finished, he looked at them with the emotionless expression he had before.
“Of course, my Princess soon began an investigation,” he continued in a much calmer tone, as if his outburst had never happened. “Soon I found myself in front of the LBI. I confessed everything instantly. At first Sealed looked at me like I was crazy, but as I talked he began to understand. A little anyway. He was willing to help me get away with the crime since it looked like T-Twilight wasn’t going to make it. He altered the footage as well as used the Liar’s Cube to alter what they said. We knew that Gigawatt would want to take advantage of the situation so we programmed it to respond to several questions we calculated that he would probably ask. It was during the trial that we learned of Blueblood’s involvement and Sealed became more convinced that I was right. Sadly, things did not go according to plan. We had hoped that you, Princess Luna, would condemn them for execution right away and be done with it. But that’s not what happened. The implanted phrase we used on the Equestrians for the trial was too open-ended and made it seem like there was a possibility that Celestia wasn’t the mastermind. T-Twilight, thank the stars, looked like she was going to make it and you were going down to Equestria to get Blueblood. As soon as you left, Sealed arranged it so T-Twilight’s medicine was changed so that she would remain unconscious until those five were dead and all dealings with Equestria were finished.
“But then, what happened was even worse. Princess Luna was assaulted by the Equestrian guards. Ambushed. When I saw the few survivors I knew this was it. We were going to war. But no, we were not going to conquer and rule them. Instead, we were going to put another pony on the throne until Celestia was reeducated while getting the supplies we needed. This…was just not acceptable.”
Land Share looked down at his hooves and gave a long sigh. “Princess Luna, it was during the war council meeting of the Senate, I realized that no matter what happened, you would never hate Celestia like the rest of us. I understand why, she is your sister after all. You would always give her another chance…you want to give her another chance. After everything she has done: withholding information, lying to you, manipulating your dreams, refusing to correct her mistakes, even trying to have you taken prisoner or killed! But no matter what happened, sooner or later you would give her another chance. Another chance to mess things up for everypony. I could see it all happening as I sat there, Celestia coming back into power and reverting back to her old ways. Then, as soon as we allowed them back into the Republic they would strike again and the cycle would repeat itself. Even if Cadence and Celestia did make some sort of token effort, those ponies down there are past the point where their beliefs can be changed. So…our plans changed.”
Land Share looked back up at Luna. “I will admit that there have been a few setbacks. Gigawatt suspected something was going on almost right from the start. To be honest, I’m not sure what tipped him off but he began to follow me around. Then, to my shock, Captain Shadow Blade discovered the altered medicine and did a little digging. Princess Luna, you should be proud of that stallion for what he found. If he hadn’t run into me first, then the war would have been averted. Luckily, he did not suspect me and while we headed off to show me his findings the LBI took care of those little details. With two ponies poking their muzzles into our plans I knew I had to do something. Even if I wanted to get rid of them, they were so high up the chain that somepony would notice. I especially didn’t want to hurt Shadow since he is to marry Twi-Twilight and I did not wish to do her any more harm than I already have. So instead I mislead them. I convinced Shadow to head to the LBI headquarters after helping him and I smuggled those five mares out of their cell. Then I left some clues for Gigawatt to follow to lead him straight to them. Shadow Blade would be safe while Gigawatt went to kill those Equestrians or they killed him.
“The only other problem with our plan was getting Operation: Umbrella up and running. Bunsen Burner had done too good of a job to ensure no pony but Princess Luna could activate it. We could not do it on our own and with time running short, we had to abduct him and pressure him for the information. Thankfully, it was activated before we became too desperate.
“And that leads us to this moment,” finished Land Share. “Everything is now in motion. Until it is finished, the two of you are staying in this anti-magic cell. As an added measure, those rings on your horns will also block your ability to call on your magic. They are set on a timer and will only come off twelve hours after our estimated impact. Not even I will be able to take them off before then. Once this is over you will both be set free.”
Luna and Celestia stood there for a moment as they absorbed this information with their mouths hanging open. Neither one could see how anypony could sound so calm about a plan to commit mass genocide. Both knew they had to stop this.
“Land Share,” said Princess Luna. “You know that if you do this it will not just be the ponies of Equestria who will suffer. Bat ponies will be killed as well along with the griffons, donkeys, deer, and many others. Are you truly willing to kill so many innocent lives just to destroy one country?”
“It pains me to say this, but yes,” said Land Share with a nod of his head. “After learning so much about what has been going on between these races, there are many down there who will also wish us harm. Races like the changelings or the diamond dogs who will only see us as ponies. Or there might be greedy creatures who will pretend to be our friends in an effort to steal our technology for themselves. There are also monsters down there like hydras and centaurs who, if we ever set hoof on the planet, will try to kill us. I know there are good creatures down there, but they are unfortunate sacrifices for the greater good and safety of the Republic.”
With that, Land Share turned around and moved towards the door. “Land Share,” came Luna’s voice, stopping him in his tracks. “If you do this, you know there will be no forgiveness. You will be seen as just another Genetic Code.”
For a moment, Land Share stood there staring at the door. This pause gave Luna hope that she might have gotten through to him, even if it was just a little bit. If she got that edge in that she needed, there was a chance she could talk him down and make him see reason. However, when he did turn around his face still lacked any emotion.
“I know,” he replied. “Once the Republic finds out about what I have done, they will be horrified. Me and the LBI helping me, no matter how we justify it we will have killed billions, if not more. I…Princess, you are in that cell like this not just because we want to make sure you can’t stop us but also so that you will receive no blame. By locking you up, we are ensuring that everypony will know that we went against your will. We have all agreed that once you have been released from your cell we shall shoulder all the blame and accept our deaths.”
“NO!” screamed Luna as she slammed her body against the bars with all her might. “I won’t let you do this!” She slammed her body against the bars once again.
“Please, do not do this,” begged Celestia. “There is still time, I am sure you can stop this. Princess Cadence is right now working to fix many of the problems with Equestria. Right now she is in Appleloosa trying to help the bat ponies there! If you just gave us more time then-”
“No,” interrupted Land Share firmly, shaking his head and turning to leave again, “You had a thousand years for which ‘to fix things’. You didn’t even try.”
Land Share waved a hoof at the door sensor, “And now, as with any crime of negligence, your repentances come far too late,” the door slid open, “and what innocent lives there are planetside, they are paying the price for your centuries of inaction.”
This time, Land Share did not turn back as he exited the room, leaving the two alicorn sisters alone with his final words.
“You had a thousand years to change,” he repeated as the door closed, “and now, you’re out of time.”
-x-
At the same time, Princess Cadence was helping to bring the last of the injured guards into the farmhouse. Slowly she walked past the couch which was already occupied by Blazing, who was doing his best to keep his moaning to a minimum, before proceeding upstairs. Once Cadence had gotten to the second floor, she walked down the hallway with her final destination being Granny Smith’s bedroom. As she passed the other rooms, she spared a quick glance at the occupants. Each bed held at least two of the injured guards who were all bandaged up as best as they could have been. Zecora was in one of these rooms, treating them as best as she could while she waited for the plants Trixie and Sunset had been sent to get. Helping her was Big Mac and the rest of Cadence’s guard. Downstairs, Granny Smith was hard at work in the kitchen in the hopes that something in the bellies might help ease their pain.
As for Lone Wolf, Poisoned Apple, and Darkwing…they were bringing those who could no longer be helped into the barn.
Once Cadence was in the room, she did her best to lay the guard on the bed. This was difficult since she still didn’t have her magic and was unused to doing things like earth ponies. She didn’t want to toss the poor stallion on the bed so instead she decided to press her body against the side of the bed, lower herself down a bit, and then rolled him onto the edge. As soon as he was off her back, however, the guard let out a short cry of pain.
“I’m sorry,” said Cadence quickly as she turned to look at him.
“No, don’t worry about it,” grunted the guard who had one eye open. “Actin’ like a foal. I’ll be fine.”
Cadence gave the stallion a ‘yeah right’ look, but said nothing as Zecora rushed in to check on him. Not wanting to be in the way, Cadence exited the room silently. As she walked down the hallway she couldn’t help but feel useless. She didn’t know enough about first aid to help any of these ponies nor could she use her magic to help ease their pain. And after everything she had been through since she left Appleloosa, she felt so very drained.
That wasn’t much of a surprise. In a short amount of time of her travels, she had seen more of Equestria’s problems firsthoof than she had ever had back at the castle. She had witnessed buffalo about to destroy a town, to a psychotic bat pony who wanted nothing more than to tear her throat out. Twice she had witnessed ponies around her being attacked and hurt badly. Cadence was beginning to feel like she was at her limits.
“Are you ok?” Cadence’s ears perked when she heard Midnight’s voice coming from downstairs. Slowly she walked down a couple of steps until she saw her daughter standing in front of the couch and looking up at Blazing. In between them was a glass of apple cider with a straw in it. Cadence noted that it was about half full, probably due to her spilling some of it while bringing it from the kitchen to the injured stallion if the trail of small puddles on the floor were any clue.
“I-I’ll be fine,” whispered Blazing through his pain. “Just need s-some aspirin and some bed rest. Then I’ll be right as sunshine.”
Midnight tilted her head, her expression unreadable due to Cadence’s position. A moment later, Cadence watched as Midnight tried her best to pick up the glass with her two tiny front legs while standing up on her hind ones. She wobbled a bit, spilling a bit more, but managed to get the straw close enough to the stallion’s mouth who eyed it questioningly. Once she had completed doing all this she said “Drink”.
“I’m not t-thirsty,” said Blazing who looked like he was going to turn his head away so he wouldn’t have to look at the filly. Cadence saw him hesitate as Midnight’s cheeks puffed up slightly.
“Granny said if I wanted to help then I had to get you to drink this,” said the filly firmly.
Blazing coughed out a laugh. “Just trying to help huh,” he said as his lips locked onto the straw. Midnight nodded her head.
“Mommy is working super hard right now,” she said as she eyed the draining liquid. “She might need a nap soon, but there’s so much to do that she might not be able to take one. So I thought if I helped then she would be able to take one.”
Blazing continued to drink until the three heard him try to slurp out the last drops before letting go of the straw. “That hit the spot,” he said as he laid back down. He then gave the filly a small smile as Midnight got all four hooves back onto the ground. “Thank you, princess. Feeling better already.”
Midnight smiled before holding the glass in her mouth. She then said something that might have been “You’re welcome”, but it came out muffled. She then galloped back towards the kitchen, the straw falling out of the cup in her eagerness.
Still on the stairs, Cadence placed a hoof above her heart as a smile crossed her muzzle. The scene she had just witnessed had simply been adorable and heartwarming. Seeing Midnight wanting to help her was almost enough to bring a tear to her eyes. And hearing Blazing call Midnight princess and sounding genuine, gave her a burst of newfound energy.
While Cadence heard Midnight asking Granny for more cider, Cadence did her breathing exercises. As she did this, she felt her fatigue lessen and the weight she had been feeling faded to a more manageable level. Neither had vanished completely, but she was feeling better. And that was what was important at the moment to keep her going.
By the time Cadence got to the bottom of the stairs, the front door opened to reveal Trixie and Sunset. Both of them were carrying large saddle bags full of herbs on their sides and in their mouths. Instantly Cadence could tell something was terribly wrong, however. When Trixie entered, she had not made a grand announcement nor had she praised herself for getting back quickly. Both Trixie and Sunset looked…pale. Sickly pale in fact, as if they were going to vomit at any moment. Then there was the blank look of horror in their eyes.
“Is everything alright?” asked Cadence slowly. “Did you have any problems when you got to town?”
“Y-Yes,” stammered Trixie as she dropped the bag in her mouth. Sunset did the same as Blazing turned his head slightly to look at the mares. At the same time, Zecora walked down the stairs.
“There was-” began Sunset but stopped to gulp loudly as she stared into empty space. “There was a problem. When we got to town there was a panic. Sweet Apple Acres wasn’t the only place that had magic taken away. All of Ponyville watched as pegasi fell from the sky and the unicorns were unable to catch them with their magic.”
“Oh no,” said Cadence as she pictured this horrifying scene, her coat becoming paler. “Has there…Have there been any deaths?”
“Trixie saw a few bodies being taken away,” answered the azure unicorn. “The others were being taken to a medical tent due to the hospital being overcrowded. If Trixie had to guess, the ponies there are trying to see if the doctors can help them. Everypony else was running around and screaming about this being the end so much that nopony could help get what Trixie needed. We had to break into the shops and stalls to steal what we were sent for! Then…” Trixie’s voice trailed off as tears began to appear in her eyes. Her lower lip began to quiver and her voice became very quiet. “Trixie…Trixie saw it happen. Canterlot is g-gone.”
Cadence felt her eyes widen as Trixie began to sob wildly. Sunset reached out to comfort Trixie which was accepted. Out of the corner of her eye, Cadence saw that Blazing was trying to get up but Zecora held him down with a single hoof.
“How can that, ugh, happen?” demanded Blazing through his pain.
“It just…fell,” said Sunset as she looked at Cadence. “We were heading back when we saw the mountain and the city just fell down.” Trixie let out a loud sniff and Sunset patted her on the back before she continued. “Everypony is even more scared than before they found out all magic was gone. It’s chaos out there! Some ponies are packing up and are planning on heading out of Equestria while others are bunkering down. And we weren’t the only ponies looting. I think that sooner or later ponies might be heading over here.”
Cadence closed her eyes while doing her best not to groan. As she did, she could hear hoof steps coming down the stairs, probably Ruby and her other guards. However Cadence didn’t greet them as she was imagining what could be going on. In all likelihood the battle in Canterlot was over by now. But was the city destroyed in the battle, or after as a sign on revenge from the Lunar Republic? Or maybe Blueblood did it in an effort to kill the Lunar troops? Did the ponies of Canterlot escape in time? If they did, where will they go? And what about the sudden loss of magic? If Ponyville was in this state right now, what about other areas of Equestria? What should she do now? Should she-
“Princess!” came the voice of Lone Wolf, forcing Cadence to open her eyes. She had been so deep in thought that she hadn’t heard the door open. There standing by the door were the bat ponies who had been in the barn as well as Shining Armor. Not a second later, Ruby and her fellow guards put themselves in between their princess and this new stallion. It appeared they were not taking any chances with her safety after the run-in with the griffon. Big Mac moved over to block the way into the kitchen, most likely in an effort to keep Granny Smith safe while beckoning Zecora to stay close to him. Which the zebra shaman did.
“Mr. Shiny!” cried Midnight happily, who ignored all the adults as she dashed towards Shining Armor. Once she was close enough she leapt into the air towards the stallion who caught her in his forelegs and brought her up into an off-the-floor hug while affectionately nuzzling her.
Both Lone Wolf and Darkwing watched in amazement as Shining Armor eventually lowered the filly princess to the ground, planting a kiss on her forehead. As Midnight giggled with delight, Lone Wolf turned to look at Princess Cadence who didn’t seem to be making a fuss or moving to protect her adopted foal. That she trusted this unicorn with her filly, and more importantly, the unicorn stallion exuded none of the hate and contempt for the bat pony child as so often experienced by the other thestrals present in the room.
“Have you come to help?” asked Midnight, gazing up at Shining with wide eyes full of hope.
“I have,” confirmed Shining Armor with a nod, his eyes moving to look at Cadence. “I have orders to take you and your mommy to the Republic where you’ll be safe. Or, at least I hope you’ll be.”
“You’re not taking Princess Cadence anywhere!” stated Ruby furiously, silently wishing she had moved in to keep Midnight safe. Much to her relief, Shining let go of the filly. But then much to her surprise, Midnight hopped eagerly to clamber upon Shining’s back, to which the unicorn knelt down to allow.
The Equestrian bat ponies stood agog at how casual and unguarded the Lunar unicorn was treating Midnight. Not as a threat to be eliminated, not as trash to be disposed of, not as vermin to be stepped upon, just...normal.
“I take it something happened,” said Shining, looking back up to Cadance as Midnight settled upon his back and him standing back up.
“A lot of things have been happening Captain Shining Armor,” said Cadence as she watched Shining flinch a bit at the use of his title. “I have just found out that my aunt was kidnapped, a war between our nations has erupted, Equestria is in chaos because we can’t use our magic, we were attacked by a griffon sent by my cousin, and now Canterlot has literally fallen. So, yes, a lot has happened. So I would appreciate it if you could tell me what is going on.” While she didn’t intend for it, Cadence heard her voice rise with every problem she had or was dealing with. She even noticed a few ponies flinch at this. But not Shining Armor.
“I will, on the way,” said Shining Armor firmly and quickly. The tone of his voice screamed urgency, which seemed unlike him. However, Cadence knew she couldn’t leave to go to the moon right now. Not with so many ponies here who needed her.
“Capt-,” began Cadence but was swiftly cut off as two more ponies entered the building. One was a bat pony stallion and the other was an earth pony mare, both wearing the silver armor of the Lunar Republic. As soon as the bat pony entered, Lone Wolf’s eyes went wide. Both ponies were wearing the same type of armor. There was no difference between them except for the slots that allowed that bat pony’s wings to be out in the open. There was no color difference like with Cadence’s guard nor did the armor look run down or used like a hoof-me-down. It was as if they were…equal.
“Captain Armor, sir,” said the stallion as he quickly saluted Shining Armor and bowed to Cadance. “We are still unable to make contact with Crescent Hope. Dome Zero remains silent as well. We need to get going.”
“Thank you Private Moon Blitz,” said Shining who was keeping his eyes on Cadence. “We’ll be leaving soon. Make sure we are ready to go.”
With a salute, Blitz and the mare turned to exit the room. While they did, Lone Wolf continued to stare at the bat pony in amazement. Not only was his armor the same as the mare’s, but he looked completely healthy. That stallion had no bandages on his body nor any visible scars. He had the look of a pony who had never gone hungry a day in his life and was well treated. While his word with the unicorn had been short, it sounded like he respected the unicorn. And the look in that stallion’s eyes, it had been brief but Lone Wolf had seen it. It was the same look that the stallions in the mural had as well as the look in Ruby’s eyes. Pride. Did they come from some place that was like what Princess Cadence was trying to make? A place where bat ponies fit in with the other pony races as ‘normal’ ponies?
“W-Who are you?” asked Lone Wolf. “Who is your princess?”
“Shining Armor, Guard Captain of the Lunar Republic, ruled over by Princess Luna,” said Shining Armor quickly before speaking to Cadence again. “Princess, I need you to trust me. Something has gone very wrong and every second counts. I promise I will tell you everything I know and everything I suspect once we begin making our way to the Republic.” Cadence opened her mouth, but Shining spoke again with greater urgency. “Cadence, please I really don’t have time to argue with you. You can bring whoever you want. Everypony on this farm can come if they want but we need to move. Whatever is going on, I think we’ll need your help on this. And you won’t just be helping the Republic, but also Equestria.”
Cadence looked at him for a moment before taking a long breath in and exhale. “Very well,” she said, turning to her own company to issue orders, “Ruby, you will accompany myself and my daughter on this journey. Thunderclap and Dusk, I want you two to remain here. Your tasks here will be to help with the injured while also guarding his house in case looters come.”
“Yes, My Lady,” came the trio of acknowledgments, alongside salutes.
Cadence turned to Blazing. “Lieutenant,” she addressed, “I entrust my Guards to you.”
Despite a wince of pain in doing so, Blazing Storm managed a salute. “I’ll take care of them like any fellow Guard under my command, Princess.”
“I wish you much luck, Princess, on your grand journey,” said Zecora. “I shall remain here to treat the fallen so you shall not need to worry.”
“Naturally ya won’t be alone,” said Bic Mac with a grin as he look at Zecora. “Gonna stay here so ah can protect mah land an the most important mares in mah life.” The zebra mare blushed as Big Mac ran a hoof through her mane.
“Ah don’t need no protectin’,” shouted Granny from somewhere in the kitchen.
“Well I’m going,” said Darkwing as he stepped forward. “If whatever is going on is affecting everywhere, it might end up hurting my colony. There’s no way I can just stay here.”
“I’m also going,” said Lone Wolf as he looked at the door Blitz had walked out of. “I want to see this ‘Lunar Republic’ as well as protecting my own colony.”
“Ah…Ah’m gonna stay here,” said Poisoned Apple. “Not abandoning my kin after Ah just found them after all these years.”
“Alright then,” said Lone Wolf as he looked over to the country bat pony. “But I’ll need you to head back to the colony first. I’m sure many of the ponies back there are asleep right now, but when they wake up and find they can’t fly there will be a panic. And it’ll only take one, like for example Jackal, to rile them up into doing something stupid. So your job is to let them know that I am heading off to see what the problem is and, if possible, fix it. Just tell them to lie low and remain safe.”
As the two bat ponies spoke, Trixie stood there silently as she thought about what she wanted to do. The idea of returning to the moon was not a thought that filled her with anything that could be considered warm or friendly, given her last visit. And now after everything that had been going on in Equestria with them she felt certain that they would not be happy to see an Equestrian pony or Princess Celestia’s student.
‘Princess Celestia’, thought Trixie as the guilt she had felt earlier returned with force. ‘She is on the moon and Trixie has a chance to save her! And even if Trixie can’t, Princess Celestia would be…proud of Trixie just for helping. Trixie…wants to make Princess Celestia proud that she chose the Great and Powerful Trixie as her student! So Trixie will be brave for her.’
But before Trixie could even open her mouth, somepony else spoke up.
“Great,” said Shining as he tapped his hoof impatiently. “Now that you have declared what you’re doing, can you please get your things so we can get a move on?!”
-x-
“I can’t believe you thought I attacked Twilight!” roared Gigawatt through the old communication device Land Share had left for the Equestrian’s. “You should have come to be if you had any information! I am the former head of the LBI and-”
“And we knew that the current one was in on this,” snapped Shadow on the other line. Everypony could hear sounds in the background that sounded like rushing wind and the flapping of wings. It was clear that he was most likely flying at high speeds to get to Dome Zero as fast as he could.
It had been several long minutes since Gigawatt and the mares from Equestria were told that Land Share was the one who stabbed Twilight, leading them to the theory that his involvements might go deeper than that. Twilight seemed to be getting her strength back at a much faster pace than before, the older medicine that had kept her asleep slowly leaving her system. Now she was able to speak in full sentences, informing all around her about Land Share’s visit. Gigawatt listened to everything his friend said while pacing pack and forth.
During this time, the communication device activated with Shadow Blade calling out for Applejack in a panic. The apple farmer mare answered it with the captain of the Lunar Guard quickly confirming that Land Share was behind all of this. Applejack then told him what was going on before hoofing the device over to Gigawatt who began their conversation by yelling at the bat pony.
Gigawatt took a deep breath. “Very well, I will concede that you have a point there,” he conceded. “Now back to the matter at hoof. We know that Land Share and Sealed Document are working together towards something. Most likely trying to destroy any chances of a future alliance. Make the one that Princess Luna is trying to make with Cadence fall through.”
“It’s far worse than that,” interrupted Shadow, causing Gigawatt’s eyes to widen. “I managed to get a lot of info out of Sealed. He and Land Share are going to drop a TOM on Equestria while Operation: Umbrella is active, ensuring that they kill all life on the planet.”
Gigawatt ignored the chorus of ‘What’s?!?’ from the Equestrians as his he stood still in frozen horror. The magnitude of such a plan. All the wonders and resources that the planet below them had to offer gone in a matter days or weeks. All of the foals killed by such an act, it shook him to his core while leaving a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wanted to throw up as he thought about what would happen. He hated Equestria, but not enough to do something like this! It was beyond insane!
“Are you sure?” demanded Gigawatt once he regained his senses.
“Senator, you weren’t there talking to him,” said Shadow with a great unease in his voice. “Sealed was unnervingly calm as he talked to me. He told me that things have been set up so well that it didn’t matter what I did, there is no chance of stopping them in the short amount of time we have.”
“We’ll see about that,” said Gigawatt as he pulled away to look at the mares. “I don’t know how much time we have so we need to make every second count. I need all of you to pack up Twilight and anything else you can use in a fight. Make sure you pack light so we can move fast.” Without waiting for them to reply, Gigawatt turned his attention back to the communicator.
“You’re bringing Twilight?” asked Shadow.
“I’m going to need all hooves on deck,” said Gigawatt. “And I can’t leave Twilight here all by herself in her current state. She might need additional emergency medical attention. Also, there is a possibility that she can be used to help talk Land Share down. It’s unlikely given that he’s the one who put her in this state, but I’m not ruling that option out. Now, I need details on what we’re up against.”
Shadow waited a moment before responding. Gigawatt could tell he was still unhappy with the decision to bring Twilight along on a dangerous mission. The most logical argument he could make would be that she’d just slow them down. Yet he said nothing. Perhaps because he understood Gigawatt’s reasoning and didn’t have any other alternatives. Or because he didn’t want to waste what precious time they had arguing.
“Here’s what I know,” said Shadow after the pause. “The LBI has stationed many of its agents in key sections of the castle to control the flow of ponies. With most of the Guard being planetside and all of the captains out of Dome Zero this has been made this easier for them. Anypony who acts suspicious is quietly removed. Those who were not brought in on this, both the LBI and Royal Guard have been sent to Domes all over the Republic for various reasons. As for the Princess, we don’t need to worry about her. Sealed said that they planned on removing our forces on the planet when they were ready to begin as well as disabling our space force. Princess Luna was teleported to her cell while most of the troops teleported to Crescent Hope, which is currently unable to move. I am sure that Captain Starway is trying to get around whatever it is they’ve done to her ship, but I think it might take some time.”
“Ok, how quickly can we get back up from the Guard?” asked Gigawatt.
“I…don’t know,” admitted Shadow. “Sealed didn’t really go into detail where he sent my ponies. If I have to take a guess he’d have them sent to the farthest Domes from the castle. I’ll try and contact them as soon as I’m inbound. Until then you’re going to have one objective: getting to the central control station in the castle. It’s the only place where you have any chance of redirecting the TOM. It will also be the place where you’ll find Land Share. Everything else will have to be secondary for you.”
“Right,” said Gigawatt as he spared a glance at the Equestrians. Right now Rarity was using her magic to help Twilight stand. Applejack looked like she took a bunch of the medical supplies as did Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash was in the air, throwing punches at nothing as if to mentally prepare herself. Pinkie Pie was twirling around her rubber chickens as if they were daggers in her hooves. “I think I might need a bit more help. How quickly can you get here?”
“I’m flying towards the shuttle bay right now,” replied Shadow. Gigawatt shook his head.
“That won’t work,” he said sternly. “The LBI will never open the bay doors and you can’t crash through the Dome unless you want to kill everypony inside.”
“Who said I was flying the shuttle through space?” asked Shadow, Gigawatt sensing a smirk on the bat pony’s fanged face.
-x-
Lightning Dust walked through the halls of the castle as she did her best to look normal. To act like her best friend on the moon wasn’t in hiding and her commanding officer wasn’t trying to break into the headquarters of the ponies who were committing some of the greatest crimes in the Republic’s history. Being forced to give a friendly nod to any LBI agents she happened to pass by so that they didn’t suspect that she was on to them. To ignore every instinct in her bones to start beating up these scum balls to find out what was going on.
Trying to look normal was proving to be more difficult than she thought.
As Lightning turned towards the medical wing, she spotted three LBI agents down the hall. The three, two mares and a stallion, were standing side by side as if to block anypony who would want to get past them. Looking further down, she saw a doorway a few pacing behind them. There was a light on and, as far as she knew, that room was supposed to be reserved for ponies who had been critically injured in battle. With a frown on her face, Lightning marched towards them.
The three spotted her instantly. Lightning could see that they were quickly talking amongst low enough so that she couldn’t hear them. One thing that she also noted was that more than once did they glance behind them to look at door.
“Halt,” said the LBI stallion once Lightning had gotten close enough. Said stallion was standing in the middle in between the two mares, all three of them wearing the same black suit and black sunglasses with slicked back mane. “This area is off limits right now under orders of the LBI.”
Lightning raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t made aware of this,” she said. “If an area is off limits for whatever reason, it should be reported to all members of the Guard so that we can assist. Especially this hallway since it’s in the medical wing. A pony might need something like this in case there is an emergency.”
“We are aware,” said the mare on the right.
“But this is classified,” said the mare on the left.
“Classified?” echoed Lightning as she began to feel uneasy. “Under whose authority?”
“That is none of your concern,” barked the stallion as he took a step further. “Especially since you are currently off duty due to injury.”
Lightning narrowed her eyes. “I volunteered to assist in patrolling the castle since most of the Guard is currently away,” she replied hotly. “We did just send a large amount of ponies to Equestria after all. And with the remaining Guard deployed to various Domes somepony has to protect the castle even if it’s a flightless pegasus.”
“The LBI can guard the castle,” said the mare on the right.
“So leave or be detained,” continued the mare on the left.
Lightning was about to respond when hear ears twitched as the sound of something toppling over came from the room several feet ahead of her. The three in front of her shifted slightly, but gave no impression that they were going to check to see what that noise was. Something that worried Lightning Dust greatly. The only other movement she saw was that the two mares turned their heads to look at the stallion in the middle.
“You should have turned around when you had the chance,” he said as he reached into his suit. Whatever he was reaching for, however, he never got the chance to pull it out. Lightning reacted instantly, rushing forward before turning around to use a sweeping kick the knock the stallion off his balance. By the time the other two agents thought to reach into their suits, the stallion was falling onto his side. As he tried to stop this, Lightning spun around again while this time extending her metal wings so that one of them hit her opponent in the next. And when he hit the ground Lightning could tell by the sounds he was making that he wouldn’t be getting up soon.
Seeing movement on both sides, Lightning jumped back just in time to avoid being hit by the two mares. As she landed on the ground, she saw that on both of their right forehooves was something that looked like a black glove with sparks dancing around them. The two mares stared at her with no emotion on their faces.
‘Ok, so they got shock gloves,’ thought Lightning as she assessed the situation. ‘All it will take is a solid hit from one of those on one of my unprotected areas and I’m out like a light. My armor has no blasters attached to it right now and no melee weapons. Also flying is out of the question right now since I’m still not used to these new wings. This is going to be…fun!’
Smirking, Lightning made a ‘come at me’ gesture with her hoof. For a moment the other two mares seemed to not take the bait and Lightning was sure they were glancing at each other from behind those sunglasses. Once the moment was over, however, the charged at Lightning and attacking on both sides at the same time. The Guard mare backed away just in time to miss the attack, but her enemies didn’t miss a beat and continued to go after her.
Lightning wanted to do this in the cockiest way she could. Something like dodging the attacks by ducking while walking backwards and smirking at her own impressive skill. Something like in one of those good fighting cartoons were the hero is just leagues above the enemy and she’s just humoring them. But Lightning knew that this wasn’t the time to be cocky. If she messed up now, it would spell trouble for her friends as well as the Republic.
So, when the next blow came, Lightning went on the attack. After dodging the attack from the mare on the right, she immediately placed her hoof on her opponent’s extended foreleg and pushed it to the side while charging forward. The mare couldn’t hide her shock right before Lightning got in close and head-butted her with enough force that the traitorous agent was sent flying towards the wall. As she hit it with enough force to be bounced off the wall, Lightning turned around just in time. The other mare had jumped into the air, ready to strike Lightning’s backside with her gloved hoof. Lightning did the only thing she could think of, she took a step forwards before leaning forwards and bucking her hard with her hind legs. While she might not have been as strong as some farming ponies, she did have more than enough leg strength to knock her against the other wall.
But as the mare felt Lightning’s back hooves connect with her chest, she was able to touch Lightning’s rear leg for an instant. And in that instant, Lightning felt pain like she had never felt before. She threw her head up and screamed as electricity shot through her body before it quickly ended. When it did, Lightning stumbled while trying to remain standing. Slowly she turned her head to look with tear stained eyes at the spot where the attack had made contact. ‘I was lucky,’ thought Lightning, spotting a furless area of her coat that was smoking. ‘Must have just grazed me with the side of the glo-’
Lightning’s thoughts were cut off as forelegs were wrapped around her neck and she suddenly found herself standing on her rear legs while her back pressed against the chest of another pony. Lightning tried to call out, but whoever was holding her tightened his hold making the only sounds coming out of her mouth gargled. Not thinking about anything other than the need to breathe, Lightning sent her elbow into the enemy’s side. Once she felt herself make contact, she leaned forwards with whoever it was holding on for dear life. As Lightning got back onto all fours, her attacker rolled off her back and landed in front of her. It was another stallion in an LBI suit.
While breathing hard, Lightning lifted a forehoof and slammed it into his muzzle while looking around to see if there were any more LBI agents. Seeing none she breathed a small sigh of relief before heading towards the door they looked like they were guarding. She moved slowly with her body pressed against the wall incase somepony came out of the room. Soon enough she got to the door and peered inside.
On the floor of the room was a doctor. She looked like she had been roughed up, most likely from putting up a fight with the LBI agent or something. As Lightning entered the room the mare looked up at her with fear in her eyes that soon looked relieved when she saw Lightning’s armor.
“Thank the stars,” said the doctor as she tried to stand. “I…I thought they were going to…” Her voice trailed off for a moment as she shuttered.
“What did they want?” asked Lightning. She knew she should ask how she was or say something to calm her down. To take things slowly. But after what happened, Lightning was sure that the LBI was making their move to do…something. Whatever it was, she knew she was the only Guard in the castle right now who knew they were up to something. And until Shadow returned it was up to her to make every second count.
“They were going to do something to my patient,” said the doctor as she pointed to a medical pod floating in the room. “Said something about sending her back to join the rest of her kind’s fate. I-I had no idea what he was going on about and told him that Princess Luna herself gave the order that she was to be treated. H-He then…If you hadn’t come along I’d…” The doctor began to tremble slightly and Lightning just nodded. The doctor had lucked out. They both had.
“This is Captain Shadow Blade calling any member of the Guard who can hear this,” came Shadow’s voice on her communicator. “Respond immediately if you are in the castle and can hear this.”
“This is Lightning Dust, reporting in,” said Lightning as she brought her hoof to her ear. For a moment, there was a pause as if Shadow was hoping there was somepony else there.
“Lightning, the situation was not what we thought,” said Shadow eventually. “Land Share is the mastermind, not Gigawatt. He has Princess Luna locked up in her special cell and is preparing to drop a TOM on Equestria.”
“Wait, what? Hold on a-,” began Lightning.
“There’s no time!” snapped Shadow. “I’m inbound right now, but it’ll take me a bit to get there. Right now Gigawatt and the Equestrians are heading to the main control room to get Land Share. They will need help. Get whoever you can and make your way there as fast as you can! We need to stop that TOM at all costs! Do you read me?”
“I read you, sir,” replied Lightning, her voice sounding a little lost as the communication was cut.
For a while, Lightning just stood there as she processed all of this information. It just didn’t seem possible. She had known Land Share ever since she was a filly, hanging around Twilight when they went to visit him. Land Share was one of the kindest stallions she had ever met and one of the most loyal ponies in the Republic. How could he do something like this? How could he betray Princess Luna like-
‘Princess Luna!’ thought Lightning as her mechanical wings flared. ‘I need to save her and fast! She knows this place better than any pony alive and she knows all the systems. Stars, she could even use her magic to stop that TOM!’
Lightning had a grin of her face as she thought about rescuing a princess that slowly faded in time. If Princess Luna was in her special cell, there was a very good chance that it would be guarded by the LBI. Most likely more ponies than what she just dealt with and she didn’t think she could take them all on her own. Who was she kidding, she couldn’t do this on her own anyways thanks to the security that was put into place. You would need at least two ponies to do this. And there was no chance the doc could help her right now, given how shaken up she was.
Lightning Dust was about to dismiss the idea all together when she noticed the healing pod again. Slowly an idea began to form in her mind.
“Hey doc, will she survive if you wake her up?” asked Lightning as she pointed a hoof at pod.
“W-What?” asked the doctor in a slight panic. “T-That is out of the question. She needs more time. We have patched up the hole in her chest as well as her internal damage, but she still lost a large amount of blood! She’ll need at least another forty minutes before she is in any condition to-”
“I need help doc,” said Lightning in a serious tone. “Lives are in danger and our princess has been captured. We need everypony we can get that can fight. Now, OPEN THIS BUCKING POD!”
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............... he is keeping prisoner BEINGS WHO CONTROL THE FUCKING CELESTIAL BODIES. a source of power that made even discord a bit disconcerted, enough he had to use a plot against them........... sighs >_<
'fixing mistakes' that only exist because of the contrivance that is luna somehow being a better ruler, without giving actual reason, than celestia.........
sighs.
yea for update,
oh land share u are so going to get buck,
and why do I feel that by the end of this all the domes will be no more and everyone one the moon will be live on the planet.
I can understand Land Share's viewpoint, I can in no way support it but I can understand it. A thousand years of doing absolutely nothing except enable her ponies in doing what they pleased and trying to force others into her way of viewing things is very, very wrong. But outright murdering entire planet? Sure, maybe the other races would try something but if we just killed each other off on 'maybes' then everyone would be dead. It takes time and effort for people to change, just look at what happened with Celestia. A thousand years and the ponies were no different from when Luna left. But in the short amount of time Cadence was working, she already accomplished so much. Sure they all may be different on the outside but on the inside? Blood is still red, hearts are still beating, and brains are still thinking.
7673530 from this story it seem like neither luna nor celeita are good ruler by them self, togeather they are good ruler, but only if it an equal partnership, luna is more about action now without think of what could happen and plan for short term, while celeita is the deep thinker and planner. and plan for the long term
7673530 I'm just glad he's not a generic villian who is oblivious to what he's doing. He knows what he's doing is wrong, but the end is worth it to him. He even knows he's likely going to be exicuted in the end for his actions, but does this with no regrets hoping that his condemnation will keep Luna in a positive light. As far as villians go, I prefer a good intentioned and aware martyr villian like Land Share over another generic xenophobic, oblivious to his own evil Gigawatt villain (like many of us were expecting).
Celestia and Luna are definitely going to have to work together to stop the T.O.M. But again, even if they do, any chance of relations between the NLR and the planet are pretty much ruined. The NLR would have to go through another thousand year exile to let people forget before any kind of reconciliation could happen. Land Share doesn't realize how badly he screwed over the NLR.
7673498 How much you want to bet that this ends with the NLR being destroyed or made uninhabitable and forcing the NLR ponies to live in Equestria. That strikes me as being the ultimate poetic justice for both Land Share and Luna.
Title drop!
Also, I think shining armor should save Equestria. They did say he is powerful enough to stop a meteor by himself, and with cadence there, and the power of their love, hey can do anything. Plus, that would be perfect because if they get married, it would forge a strong bond between the lunar republic and Equestria.
7673666 I don't think this timeline is going to get the luxury of a happy ending. I predict that the end will come when the Mane Six go back to Equestria to use the Elements of Harmony on the TOM, only to realize it's too big to stop and ending up crushed under a rock the size of a city going at hypersonic speeds.
Wow. The countdown is about to go. And worse cadence is on the way. This is going to be crazy.
7673683 dude the elements of harmony can overpower a being who can magically warp reality, and the tree of harmony with the mane six once stopped a being who had the collective power of many ponies in equestira, four alicorns, and dsicord himself.
a meteor would be child's play. simply teleport it towards the sun or somehting.
7673745 Assuming they can hit it in the first place. A good paced meteor only needs about two seconds to make landfall after hitting the atmosphere.
Did lightning just go SpinZaku!
67.media.tumblr.com/4180cfb737ec41f91a5c2c7a74f0d8f2/tumblr_o0hq95lXWn1tjhxygo1_400.gif
7673551 Except Celestia's long term planning yielded no results, while Luna's 'short term' planning resulted in a highly advanced technological paradise (of sorts). It was only after they started interacting with Equestria that things started going sideways. They were pretty much ready for almost any for scenario, Discord included. Even though it had devastating side effects, Operation Umbrella succeeded in its purpose of nullifying Discord's magic.
7673745 Assuming they can even control it. Assuming they even know how, or what they are.
Remember, in this timeline, they didn't go on the Everfree quest. Twilight was on the fronking moon! And they haven't even been on Equestrian soil that often with the Mane 6, it's mostly been moon stuff.
Mane 6 Comments:
7673579
I think there is still another layer. he mentioned loosing the water, and that password was almost set up for pinkie to guess on accident. Someone/thing/pony is setting land share up to do this.
I don't understand why everyone is pointing fingers at the NLR and Luna like this is all their fault.
Remember they would not even be on the moon if it were not for the intolerance of the ponies in Equestria in the first place.
Add to that Celestia's seemingly uncaring attitude toward finding the ones responsible for the slaughter, and her lazy attitude to fixing the root problem.
Now we know Celestia does care, and she wants to see the good in everyone. Unfortunately sitting around hoping for ponies to act better without doing anything about the underlying hate and intolerance that caused the schism between her and her sister was ridiculous and naive.
There is also Blueblood to consider who also had a hoof in this tragedy.
All I am saying is there is a lot of blame to go around, and although Luna and the NLR reacted poorly they did not react without reason. They were pushed into these actions by the actions of others.
Bottom line there is blame and fault for everyone.
7673498 they are in anti magic cells and have on anti magic rings
7673530 true, but has he seen it? Also, it might not last. LAND Share believes that once Celestia gets back back into power things will go back to normal. The same might happen when Cadence dies
7673612 and things will just o back to square one
7673666
7673683 no magic on the planet and the elements are in space right now
7674897 yes, but I don't think shining armor would have to be on the planet to create a shield deflect TOM, he could probably do that from the ship.
7675076 maybe, but wouldn't force and speed play a role
7675098 maybe, but we really don't know how the physics of magic work, and we don't know how shining armor's shield works. For all we know it works by sapping all the kinetic out of the meteor, and doesn't have to worry about it. Ultimately, it's up to the writer.
7674769 I actually think that the losing water incident was completly legitimate. We were in Pinkie's pov and she literally guessed the password with no provocation from anyone. The pony in charge even comments that the password is changed constantly to prevent sabotage. Like it or not, Pinkie messed up, BIG TIME. It's not completly her fault. She's not acustom to the rule and regulation centered, resourse tight society of the Lunar Republic. So it was a complete accident, but it was an accident out of shear ignorance.
7674872
Maybe because they overreacted and declared war against a backward nation which had literally no chance in hell to fight back. No matter how much of an asshole was Blueblood, he couldn´t send armies to the Moon.
Maybe because part of the blame lies in Luna and her refusal to make peace with Celestia if only for the sake of peace and the possibility of helping those Equestrians in need (like the local batponies, whom were abandoned to their fate until Cadence decided to do something for them), out of resentment and ego.
Maybe is because Luna chose unilaterally a decision which damned million of individuals and several sapient races over the planet, to the point even Discord complimented her with his last breath.
7675174
As Trixie herself pointed, they were stupid enough to use a single vocal password as safeguard for their most precious resource. Of course the NLR were too arrogant to admit their own blunder.
7675254 you seem to forget that Luna has tried peace with Celestia before, and it resulted in the slaughter of her ponies.
You seem to forget that there are already Equestrians on the moon that have endangered the entire NLR. Space is deadly with zero resources, and to the NLR it looks to them like the ambassadors of peace just tried to sabotage and kill them...then right after you have Blueblood and his ambush.
Is it any wonder they reacted the way they did.
You also seem to forget that any of Discords tricks could have resulted in the death of everyone on the moon...everyone. Discord has never dealt with technology like that, and I doubt he would have cared to think about the consequences of his 'fun'.
Luna's choice was either let her people die, or use the magic nullify device.
If you had read the story you would remember Luna trying for peace...only to find out that in the thousand years Celestia had to try and fix the problems of intolerance and hatred that she did nothing, and instead let even more rumors and hatred fester.
I am not saying genocide is the right response.
I am again saying that everyone has made mistakes here, and now innocent people are going to pay for it.
7675174 If it was truly an accident then it makes landshare wholly responsible for the water crisis. 'I wanna cupcake' is the password for venting all the water into space? I don't buy that even an Utopian society of the most innocent ponies would possibly consider such a complete sentence as a password, especially one that anyone having a temper tantrum might just casually say much less with no redundancy to avoid passing children unintentionally committing essentially extinction level events.
7675567 How could that possibly be Land Share's doing. You're implying that Land Share, used his powers as a counselor, to manipulate a branch he has no jurisdiction over, to get a technician, who changes the password constantly, to change the password to "I want cupcakes" on the off chance that one of the mane six, who he has never met before, would be ignorant enough to not only leave the group by themselves into a restricted area, but also be dumb enough to confuse the food despencer with the water control system, so that all that water will be dumped, dooming many people in the republic, just to make Equestrian look bad. Ok sure. That not contrived at all.
7675593 When I said land share was at fault, I was meaning that his whole martyr-thing falls on it's face. I don't think he specifically sabotaged the water, or set pinkie up, I think there is another layer of this problem with someone orchestrating based on a few unanswered issues. Chief among them why a society that has had to put safeties on safeties for a millennia would just decide that their principally needed resource would be fine with not only a single confirmation emergency ejection, but allow technicians to use common-speech structure as the password.
I am saying that the situation was indeed contrived. Just not by landshare.
7676957
Also remember that the LN had planned to use their trump card against Discord after the tuned it to his magical frequency. Once again pushed into a corner
I know this looks bad but....... i still support the Republic
SIEGE LUNA SIEGE LUNA SIEGE LUNA!
Mono-eyes: Lunar Republic
Guys getting their asses kicked: equestria
7674872
Well it was mostly me and it seems now Rastlin. My main point was that while Equestria and Celestia has its own failings, Luna can not ignore her her actions had the direct consequence of millions dead, This was mainly because after 67 chapters I finally felt like we had been show the negative results of Luna's leadership style and temper and the Republics militarism which was one of its flaws, after this chapter is back to near perfect again(sigh) But also I wanted to at least provide a counter to the immediate reaction of many which was along the lines of 'poor innocent Luna, I feel so bad for her', this response was not surprising, the key element of any Luna Republic story is that Luna is never at fault for her own actions.
That being said I was not blaming Luna for everything, but, and I feel I stand on solid ground here, every choice she has made from the time the Republic has been terrible, and each subsequent step she took lead to the her personally devastating a whole planet. People can have given many reasons for her actions, and I wont dispute them, she thought she was doing right, but just because she thought she was on the correct course dose not change the result.
7676957
See now just because there was a recognizable nation state dose not mean another power cant or wont make it a part of their empire, a real easy example is India in the British Empire, or to get more into the weeds, Imperial Germany's end goal in the first world war was to essentially to create a 'Middleeuropa' empire across Europe. Next, I have always maintainted that Luna frankly dose not know a thing about politics, or diplomacy for that matter. I am sure she did not intend to make Equestria a colony of the Republic, but that would be the end result no matter what.
Well I have said time and time again, ice is pretty common in space, water should never have been an issue, but failing that there is the ocean. As for food, well they could trade with someone else at least till they stabilized their own food sources, so yes they could have safely ignored the nation that could not harm them unless they let more on the moon. The war was only inevitable because Luna wanted to teach them a lesson, that lesson explicitly being defined as destroying the Equestrian army in front of Canterlot, no two ways about it, Luna straight up said she wanted the war and she wanted to kill a lot of Equestrians to prove a point.
This is very important, Luna actually started that fight. Now hold on for just a moment, yes a guard cut her cheek as she made a threatening move toward Celestia (guard choked) but things did not break down after that, things were deteriorating, but what caused the battle to being was Luna, an over 1000 year old Alicorn demigod snapping from a guard calling her Nightmaremoon, she started blasting after that. Then in her own words she told Celestia the fight would only end when Celestia was defeated, Luna then tried to kill her own sister, that was what allowed Blueblood to seize power. Seriously think about that Luna may have killed or crippled what was essentially a child when compared to her because said child called her a name. Just to be clear, I do like Luna, just not this one.
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A corner she put herself in. You know Luna can be at fault for her own choices and Celestia can still have been useless at everything forever right? one dose not preclude the other. You know at least originally her temper and short term thinking were at least supposed to have downsides, I mean that has not really panned out at all but still.
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Going to have to disagree with the Republic being perfect since there seems to be some internal struggle.
Also going to have to disagree with you on how this started. Since the first moment Luna tried to make things right with Celestia, she has been met with lies, manipulation, terrorism, and so on. So when members of Celestia's guard are not only showing open hostility towards her, disobeying orders to stand down, attack and insult her...is she supposed to shrug it all off? NO! She has put up with that shit for too long.
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I thought I said 'near perfect', if not that is what I meant, but I would argue that Landshares' rather awkward exposition dump went out its way to make sure we know that there is no systemic or inherent problems with the Republic, it is he and a few hardliners who are doing everything, in fact most of what I argued last chapter was refuted during his grandstanding. Now I suppose we could assume that Landshare is not all that sane so we cant take what he says at face value, but given what I consider to be the track record of this story, it read to me like a 'patch' for lack of a better word. The Republic is near perfect and Luna's style has had no drawbacks, its a real shame to because the author was there, all the implications piled up over near 70 chapters had come to fruition, only to be immediately undone.
Now I will never defend how Celestia or Equestria have acted, but I will argue that 'Boilling Point' and part of 'Clash of the Titans' are the one time I can think of where the author has depicted Luna bungling the situation and not walking it back. Luna's starting point was 'Give me everything I demand now, also I want to execute our nephew, or war' She was quit emphatic that there would be no negotations, and rather than produce the proof about Blueblood she claimed to have she got enraged and made a threatening move to Celestia and the guard reacted. Honestly when it comes to Blueblood specifically would you turn your family over to someone who had already tried and convicted him in their mind with no proof? (on that note the Republic justice system is a nightmare)
Question, if your a guard and a very angry individual makes a threatening move to your leader would you not intervene? The guard choked, but again Luna is at the least a little over 1000 years old, a demigod and a head of state, she must be held to a much higher standard than a regular pony. She stuck down a mortal and what might as well have been a child to her over a insult, and then would only end the conflict once she had stuck down Celestia. Then after that every choice she made took her to this current disaster, I know I'm repeating myself but if Celestia is responsible for her choices then so is Luna. So until the next chapter where I fear Clesetia will apologize to Luna for forcing Luna to do every negative thing she has done through out the story (this is a serious concern of mine) I will hold this position.
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honestly I think you should stop reading if you are not enjoying it
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Not to mentoon that elements of harmony are not an antiair missile
They dont fire a beam to destroy or do " what you want " they solve problem of villains but meteor is not selfaware evil being
Aside of that In this matter I side with Republic.
Both parties are at blame...Celestia for procrastinating and hoping for the best while doing nothing... and Luna for acting too brash
Now notice that actually both characters are acting in role, according of what little we know about them from official sources.
That said, unless we get an official source that describes them in detail, we only have bits of info from their roles in show itself. That means most of their behavior is guessed at best and it is open to autors perception of them.
In the end it is " what if story " and it is " just a vision " experienced by mane 6.
I think there is no need to throw the blame eiter way. On the other hoof I like it is sorta grimdark story because result of your actions are usually more severe than having your face tattooed on the planet satellite.
No matter what will happen both sides will suffer. Celestia for her inactivity and Luna for condemnation of millions in moment of desperation
Now I said it before and Ill say it once more. In the end I massively enjoy this story and...
... finish it and make a hardcover print - if you do, I will be first to buy it.
After the battle/slaughter of Canterlot (excessive) and Operation: Umbrella (justified) this does seem like overkill. So I do hope that Land Share gets stopped, even though he does have some good points.
But I really hope that Celestia can truly appreciate the depths of her failures after this.
Yes, Luna does have some faults too , she does always give Celestia too much leeway.
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So again I never tried to defend Equestria or Blueblood, people keep acting like I am. I am merely trying to push back at the notion that Luna was blameless in all this, or in some way had no choice in anything she did. The scene we are talking about in particular, I will stand by what I have said before, it is one of the few times in the story that character flaws the author as attributed to Luna had any negative consequences. (She IS supposed to have a temper be short sighted and prone to rash action)
Luna showed up and once again making unreasonable demands as far a Celestia was concerned, would you turn over your family member for execution without question? She was actually affronted that Celestia demanded proof and she did in-fact make a threatening move to Celestia, I asked before, if your a guard seeing her move like that to Celestia what would you do, and again, this 1000+ year old powerful ruler stuck down someone for an insult, there is no getting around that moment, is it so hard to accept that maybe Luna did not handle everything perfectly there while accepting that this version of Celestia is little more than a prop? I know people usualy read Luna Republic stories mainly for the Luna > Celestia in all things, but with the benefit of seeing how the rest of the story played out, can you not at least see that Luna may have failed there as well?
Some questions from this arise. First why would there be insurance? where would that come from, not the Republic that is for sure, and what remained of the Equestrian government would not really be in a position to do anything. Those 'redistribution efforts' are exactly why I said Equestria would become a resource colony for the Republic regardless of Luna's intentions. So who in Equestria is going to negotiate the terms of that? The nobles are gone and Cadance will be relaying entirely on Luna's good will and backing to form a new government of some kind, also Luna said there would be no negotiations, so we can assume that Luna's demands, which we saw from Celestia would be very difficult to meet in the time frame Luna demand, will the the basics for what comes next.
Second who is going to enforce her demands? there really is no Equestrian government anymore, just Cadance, and there is no army left to collect the resources or keep the ponies from resisting, so an administration from the Republic will probably have to run the collection operation, and the Republican army will have be the ones to keep the populace inline and take the food and water from them as well, in short, and occupation.
Funny thing about occupations, they tend to last a long time, and the Republic would be obligated to do so, if only to defend Equestria from getting overrun by a world that hates them (another shot at Celestia) and to keep Cadance on the throne, as the average citizen would only see her as a puppet that let the Republic plunder their land after they killed so many of their Friends and family. And while no one will ever be able to say I am anti-government I can admit that governments/agencies do get addicted to new sources of resources and revenue, so I don't see the Republican government giving up all that food, water, and whatever else they can think to take from it. Keep in mind that one of the key themes of the last few chapter is good intentions having terrible results.
So first, my main goal there was to push back against the notion of Luna not wanting the war, seeking vengeance, or always wanting to limit casualties. Second that 'so what" is kind of terrifying when we are talking about war, its easy to say because this is fiction, but the 'so what' is that Luna just killed a half million ponies in a few moments of battle (not the nobles by the way) and following that up buy causing millions to billions more deaths when desperately trying to deal with the results of her actions. (she knew what they would be in advance)
You know just as an aside I always find peoples choice in words interesting, your not the first, but so many people over the years have used 'may' in reference to Luna's actions while being quite definite in condemning Celestia based of there fan theories, but that is neither here nor there.
The thing I wanted to address is this notion of Luna actually suffering consequences from her actions in this story. I don't believe it, aside from my criticism of Celesita, Blueblood and Luna's characterization and letting the historian in me get to lost in the weeds, my biggest issue is the author's consistent walking back of Luna's actions or responsibility, all that I said about last chapter, i fully expected to be refuted, and I fully expect Celestia, Blueblood, Landshare, and everyone else to take the bulk of the blame and absolve Luna of any wrong doing. I very much want to be wrong, and I have been wrong a LOT about far more consequential things in recent months, so maybe the trend continues. (I was rambling there a bit at the end wasn't I ? oh ps. compliments on Render Unto Twilight)
Really Hope this is updated soon because I LOVE THIS STORY SO MUCH!!!
Damn. That was quite the bomb drop that Land Share laid out. I guess the saying, "The path to hell is paved with good intentions" comes into play here. Celestia, Luna, and now Land Share. All of their actions, in some amount, have caused everything to lead up to this point.
Celestia: because of her indecisiveness to make the hard decisions, and work on ending pointless bigotry, we have an accumulation of over 1,000 years of senseless hate. Pile that on top of the fact that she was not willing to work things out fully with Luna, and that she allowed the nobility too much power control. Looking at you Blueblood!
Luna: because of her 'act first, think later' attitude, she has added to the problem at hand. There are probably millions of lives across the planet that died due to Operation Umbrella, and all for the sake of killing off Discord in a desperate-last option plan. Her stubbornness in not letting go of the past, and the fact that her government's justice system is screwed up as well.
Land Share: for thinking that mass genocide is the sure fire way to go. I mean seriously? You're willing to kill off an entire planet full of life, just to satisfy some sort of "means to an end" complex? No. Killing off billions of lives is NEVER justifiable to solve a problem! Have Celestia's and Luna's attempts to solve things peacefully not been working out? Yes. Does that mean that YOU get to ultimately decide on who lives and who dies because of it? No. Regardless of what your intentions are Land Share, you messed up just as badly as Celestia and Luna. I hope your plan fails.
As a matter of fact, I hope that neither Celestia nor Luna are put back in charge of their respective governments. It's obvious that the both of them have not been able to handle things their way. I feel that Cadence (possibly Shinning Armor) should be placed in charge. Maybe Twilight too, but I'm not sure on that yet.
In the end, there are A LOT of individuals at fault in this mess, and not just one or the other. I feel at this point in the story, the major leaders of both sides are just as guilty as the other. I hope everything gets resolved for the better.
~ Super-Brony12
Hope to see an update sometime soon.
Wait who was in the pod again? Its been a while.
7868262 Hot Pants
7870192 Will there be an update soon?
7870289 hopefully
Knowing what Umbrella is now there was nothing stopping Luna from warning every nation and activating it before Discord was free.
Her worry was that if he knew he could leave the planet before it activated. Well there's the solution, activate it while he's a statue, by the time he's free it's because all the magic is gone. All the Nations are warned, millions don't have to die, and the war is unnecessary cause there's no reason Equestria and the Lunar republic have to interact to use the Elements.
As a side note I've avoided mentioning it but nearly every villain is so cartoonishly over the top evil it's had to take seriously some times. Several times I've legitimately considered that Discord must have intentionally cast a spell to make everyone possible a batpony hating bigot. Racism like that can exist in a story but it's not usually so widely ingrained. Feels like 99% of Equestria is the same level of over the top bigot.
I do still like the story overall.
Tch! Don't you just LOVE 'men in black' government conspiracies and coups? Still, major props to you for some creativity on the basic setting and what's at stake!