Luna felt the sting of the cold air against her cheeks as she soared through the snowy night sky, below her she could hear the sound of gunfire and artillery pieces booming away. Her heart ached, knowing that somewhere down in that place of horror were two people she loved dearly. The mare wanted to join in the search for Maria, or to help Dominic on the front lines, but she knew she had a bigger obligation. The mare had been preparing herself to use a great deal of magic over the past couple hours, but even as she flew towards the place where she would make her contribution to the war effort she felt uncertain. She hadn’t used such spells in over a thousand years, she feared that she would do more harm than good if one of her spells happened to backfire.

The alicorn knew, however, that she had no choice. Ready or not, she would be aiding her fellow Onorussians in what would likely become one of the fiercest naval exchanges in the history of both Terra and Equus. Despite that though, she knew that her sister would be there, for the first time since the war nearly a decade ago they would be side by side, on common ground, and it felt good to know that despite everything that had happened family still meant something between the two of them. Maybe, just maybe, this would be enough to bring them together as a family once again.

Luna snapped out of her thoughts as she watched the glow of explosions vanish from beneath her, she was now flying over the ocean. The salty air was just as bone chilling, but the alicorn would not be stopped by mere wind or snow. On the ocean below she could see lanterns mounted to the endless convoy of Caribou ships, carrying their soldiers and supplies to the Onorussian coast. Luna narrowed her eyes, feeling the anger welling up in her, those were soldiers that had every intention of harming her family and everything she held dear. For half an hour she flew, watching the lanterns flicker below, before she caught sight of another form in the air.

“Sister!” Luna called out as she saw Celestia flying towards her, the two of them began flying next to one another. “I’m glad you could make it, I had worried you had changed your mind.”

“I would not leave you in your time of need, Luna.” Celestia replied, the two of them awkwardly smiled as they continued flying. “Might I ask where it is we’re flying to?” Luna’s horn glowed softly as they approached a large mass of cloud, with little effort she used her magic and parted the cloud. Celestia was surprised to see a massive Onorussian airship floating where the clouds had been, and by massive she meant dreadnought sized. It bristled with cannons and other weapons, many of which lined its belly and faced the ground. “W-What is that…?”

“That, dear sister.. Is where we are going.” Luna said simply, as they flew closer Celestia could see at least a half a dozen other airships of varying size, not a one compared to the massive monstrosity. “We created it as a contingency plan, as you know we have possession of the mirror portal… If any massive threat were to come through from the other side…” Luna and Celestia continued flying alongside the massive ship, Celestia saw it had a very gothic aesthetic to it. “This… Is the ONV Exterminatus. Usually it patrols remote parts of the frozen north, to keep its existence as secret as possible” The name was painted across the bow in bold white lettering, covered slightly by the clouds. Luna flew towards a portion of the deck and landed, Celestia following suit.

“What are we doing here?” Celestia asked as she looked over the edge of the airship, down at the water below. In the distance she could still see the lanterns flickering, as if daring the Onorussians to come and get them. Luna looked to the sky and pointed with a hoof.

“Turning the tide of battle… In a very literal sense.” Luna said simply, Celestia was shocked to see her sister close her eyes and ignite her horn. Her wings spread outwards as she began levitating off the deck of the massive airship, Celestia’s eyes turned to the sky as the wind began to howl louder and louder. The clouds began to swirl away, revealing even more airships parked in a battle line. On the ocean below Celestia could see dozens of ships, cruises, destroyers, battleships and so on. Celestia felt her bones begin to chill as powerful magic began to arc off of Luna’s horn, the mare watched in awe as her sister’s magic took on an almost crimson tint.

The night sky, which had up to that point been moonless, was suddenly bathed in a blood red glow. Celestia looked up to see that the moon had risen, now glowing bright and red, the alicorn of the day heard hissing off to her right and left and watched as dozens of Thestrals in Lunar Marine uniforms were drawn to the edge the ship. Celestia realized what Luna was attempting, sending nervous chills through her spine, such magic had been lost since the banishment of Nightmare Moon. In a booming voice that made even Celestia cover her ears, Luna began to speak, her voice carrying over the distance to the convoy of Caribou ships.

“Foul demons that hide under the cover of my night! The blood moon has risen, and with it, the thirst for blood! Tremble in fear, and know that for thine wicked deeds you shall be punished by the full fury of the night you so wrongly abused!” Luna announced, still levitating as her horn continued its eerie glow. Celestia watched in amazed silence as tendrils of red magic began to swirl around Luna’s body. Enveloping her in a cocoon of energy, Celestia was shocked to feel the signature it gave off, it was very familiar for some reason, but not exactly like Luna’s. Celestia’s speculation was cut short as the cocoon vanished, revealing Luna.

The mare was a spitting image for Nightmare Moon, though every part of her seemed to have the same crimson tint, and her mane looked like it contained an entire nebula rather than the usual few stars. Celestia heard the thestrals hissing as they flapped their wings in anticipation, on the surface of the ocean below the Caribou ships were slowing and scrambling to get into battle formation.

Luna felt her heart racing, even a thousand years ago she had never felt this powerful, but then again she had never fully summoned a blood moon. Despite the darkness of the night, she could see every enemy vessel as if it was lit up with a spotlight. She looked over at Celestia, only to flinch away, her sister was extremely bright in her eyes.

“Sister. Let us not tarry.” She said, glaring down at the Caribou. “I am unsure of how long I will be able to maintain this form.” With that, Luna flexed her wings and began flying towards the enemy convoy, Celestia nodded and followed suit. To her surprise it was almost impossible for her to keep up with her sister, but she did her best to speed along. “I will take the ships to the west, you target the east. The ships will attack the center.”

“Understood!” Celestia said as she began banking back towards the mainland, Luna gritted her teeth as she flew east towards the Zebra homeland and the port of Rhymista. It was so close to Onorus that they couldn’t risk hitting it with Thermo-Arcane weaponry, but Luna was determined to see the city in ruins before the night was through. The Alicorn had never felt such power before, and yet, at the same time she felt an odd numbness, as if she were wearing a suit of armor rather actually containing the energy. Once she had traveled for a couple minutes she spotted a cluster of Caribou ships, her horn crackled and glowed with red energy.

The crew of the Caribou supply ships looked up in awe as a glow filled the sky, their captain was shouting orders at them, but it transfixed them with its terrible fearsome beauty. The wind whipped and howled, blowing their hats from their heads and pushing their sails roughly. Seconds later there was a tremendous roar as a beam of red energy struck like a bolt of lightning, the crew of one ship barely had time to shout before the beam cut through their ship like butter. The others watched as Imperatrix Luna dove on them, her horn glowing and firing off shot after shot. Ships were sliced in two with surgical precision, or set aflame and left to burn.

Luna began flying over the ships at blistering speed, blasting away at whatever ship she could as she passed over, she was starting to feel the power course through her, the numbness was fading. A line of ships burned in her wake as she followed their convoy to its source, ahead of her she could see the lights of Rhymista. The citizen of Rhymista could see her to as she left her trail of destruction, her mane also left a glowing trail of red in the sky. She continued destroying ships all the way up until she got to the harbor, then there were no more ships to destroy. The power was stronger now, she could practically feel it gripping her heart. The mare circled overhead, glaring down at the port city.

To her left she heard the engines of biplanes, she looked over and spotted a group of five Caribou biplanes. A swift motion of her horn sent a wide beam of magic at them, incinerating the aircraft and their pilots, like hitting a fly with a sledgehammer. The mare flew higher into the sky, hovering over the port city as search lights flicked on to find her. She closed her eyes, the energy of her Blood Moon form started to fill her mind. On the ground the Lunar Imperatrix was visible to the ground forces and citizens of the city. Their anti-aircraft guns began firing, but a sphere of energy had formed around Luna that vaporized the shells and bullets on contact. Such power, such unstoppable energy, Luna had never felt anything like it. She continued holding her eyes closed, trying to summon as much energy as she could so that she could wipe the entire town from the planet. Just as she was about to reach the critical point, a thought entered her mind.

Her horn changed its target at the last second, taking aim at the port area and harbor. With a cry of anger, Luna unleashed the energy. The sky lit up brighter than a thousand suns, visible from even across the channel and in parts of Saddle Arabia. A massive blue beam of energy struck the harbor and port area, subjecting the area to the icy cold of space and the moon. The water flash froze down to the seabed, soldiers and sailors became rooted to the spot, frozen in their last actions, massive icicles formed on buildings, ship’s hulls buckled, and the ground became as ice.

Luna opened her eyes, the gunfire had stopped, as the entire city was in shock of what had just happened. Plumes of steam rose up from the frozen area of the town, the air around the newly created iceball still hadn’t adjusted to its sudden change in temperature. The mare panted as she over the city, her heart racing in her chest. After a couple seconds she shook herself out of her shock and began flying back towards Onorus, once again she followed the remaining ships of the convoy, or the flaming wreckage that hadn’t sunk yet.

Celestia, for her part, had been hesitant at first to attack the ships she had been assigned, but she knew that it was for the best. She had been laying waste to the New Axis beachhead, even as the night sky was illuminated with a second sun across the channel. The fires below were blazing brightly, Celestia could see the enemy troops on the ground rushing to put out the fires. She looked back to sea and could see the Onorussian Armada was laying waste to the ships that Celestia and Luna had missed, the alabaster alicorn began flying back towards them, watching as beams of energy arched down from the belly of the ‘Exterminatus’ and struck the enemy ships. The massive propellers that held the large ship in the air hummed intimidatingly, louder than they had been when Celestia had first seen them.

It seemed that the operation had been a success, many enemy ships had been destroyed and the enemy port had been rendered unusable. But there was always a sense of doubt, both Luna and Celestia had their own slight fears that the invasion would somehow continue, that somehow their actions would prove to be for nothing. Celestia landed on the deck, next to Luna, her sister was staring down at the fires in the distance.

Luna felt the odd numbness return, a small wave of light passed over her, returning her to her usual appearance. The moon’s red glow began to fade, the alicorn of the night looked up to the sky and closed her eyes before sitting on the deck of the ship. Celestia moved next to her and sat down, watching her sister’s features closely. Luna felt an odd presence in her mind, almost like her sister was trying to communicate telepathically, but she knew that wasn’t the case. The mare looked up at the moon itself, then blinked for a few seconds, for a moment she thought she’d seen a mare’s face looking back at her. As soon as it disappeared, so too did the presence in her mind.

Celestia extended her wing quietly, putting it around her sister and pulling her into a hug. She could tell that her younger sibling was in a bit of an odd place, Celestia could relate, it had been so long since either of them had actually fought, had actually killed. Luna closed her eyes again and leaned against Celestia’s neck, the alabaster alicorn felt a warm liquid begin to trickle down her fur and felt Luna shaking against her. Celestia closed her own eyes and hugged Luna tightly, her own tears beginning to fall from her eyes. In the distance the sound of artillery echoed, but in that brief moment, in that small part of existence, the two sisters shared each other's pain in silence.

[♠]

Maria and Scootaloo sat near the front window, listening as the sound of fighting grew louder and louder in the distance. The snow was so deep that they couldn’t hope to move Victor, and what was worse was that it didn’t show signs of letting up. There had been flashes in the distance, bright lights that Maria had at first feared were the detonation of Thermo-Arcane weapons. The woman and the mare could only wait with baited breath as the rest of their group rested on the couches, huddled together for warmth, as the fireplace was still likely to draw unwanted attention.

Scootaloo’s eyes flicked over to Victor, the boy was under a mountain of blankets and still shivering. At least his fever had broken, and they had been able to close the windows. The mare looked back to Maria and adjusted her grip on her AK-47, feeling a bit uncertain of if she should say anything. Scootaloo knew that the Imperatrix was relatively easy to talk to, at least that’s how she seemed in her interviews. It had never even occurred to Scootaloo that she would meet the ‘Queen of Death’ one day. She supposed that it was as good a time as any to shake off her fear and clear her throat, Maria looked over at her quietly with a raised eyebrow.

“Um… Ma’am?” Scootaloo asked, Maria nodded as she looked back to the window. “I wanted to thank you… I don’t think we would’ve made it out there on our own.” Scootaloo hated to admit it, but if they hadn’t found the lodge it was likely that at the very least Victor wouldn’t be breathing any longer.

“You would’ve made it work, Lieutenant.” Maria replied in a calm voice as she continued watching the road for any sign of enemy activity. “I got my first command as a corporal… You know?” Scootaloo raised an eyebrow at the woman, watching her rather than the road. “EOL sniper took out our captain, the next in command lost his nerve, had a squad of their heavy hitters breathing down our necks… So, I took charge.” Maria looked down at her rifle and sighed, running her hands over the wood of it. “Ordered my guys to slip out through the underbrush, that left me and the lieutenant with the wobbly knees.”

Maria reached to her breast pocket and withdrew a cigarette from within, she had found a couple packs laying around the cabin and since she hadn’t been pregnant for eight years she figured it was okay. The woman perched the cigarette on her lips and lit it quickly with a match, Scootaloo watched as she took a long drag, the glowing end getting slightly more orange. Maria exhaled after a couple seconds, feeling the nicotine taking its effect and smoothing out her nerves.

“Managed to slap some sense into him before the EOL guys got close.” Maria said simply, rubbing the back of her neck. “I nearly got shot in the ass on the way out, but aside for our CO we all got home.” Maria looked to Scootaloo and took another drag on her cigarette. “War is a nasty business, Lieutenant. People die… Whatever decisions you make out there, you have to make it with the interest of everyone in mind.” The woman exhaled a cloud of smoke which rose into the air. “I know you would do what you thought best…” Scootaloo wasn’t sure how to respond, remaining rather quiet. Maria sighed and rubbed her eyes. “I’m sorry… I’m not so good at giving ‘soldier’ advice, you’d be better off talking to my husband for that.”

The two of them lapsed into silence, watching as tracer rounds streaked into the sky from a distance, as it got later and later the sound of artillery and rifle fire began to taper off. The deafening roar had dwindled to a dull echo as the snow fell faster and the clouds got thicker. Maria occasionally took another drag or two from her cigarette, her eyes scanning the forest in the distance. Maybe ten minutes passed, perhaps more, before Maria’s eyes shifted over to Victor laying on the couch.

“How old is he?” Maria asked, keeping an eye on the boy as he shivered under the blankets. Scootaloo looked as well, wincing as she saw just how sick he really was.

“Just turned sixteen a week ago.” Scootaloo replied before looking back outside, her voice shaking a bit. “I didn’t know what they expected me to do when they pulled my name for this assignment, I mean, I’m two years older than him… He’s… He’s more like a little brother to us than a soldier.”

“He have a family?” The sniper followed up as she dropped her cigarette to the floor and crushed it under her boot, Scootaloo hummed for a moment and looked back at Victor, then back out the window with an uncertain grunt.

“I assume as much, but… I don’t think they’re really close.” The lieutenant admitted, her wings stretched for a couple moments before resting back at her sides. “He’s a good soldier though, always volunteers for the tough assignments.” Maria nodded quietly as she continued watching the trees, sighing softly.

“You know… I think that the infection on Earth might have been a blessing, in some twisted way…” The woman said in an almost bitter tone, watching as the flames of battle glowed against the clouds in the distance. “Earth before the infection… I’m not sure Victor or even these other kids would’ve survived ‘The real world’.”

“What do you mean?” Scootaloo said as she looked at her squad, a bit surprised. They were young, sure, but they had all proven themselves to be of good moral quality.

“It was just… People whined and complained, groups that would later form the EOL were taking control of the government.” Maria said in an annoyed voice. “Politicians were politicians, never to be trusted… The freedoms and liberties were gradually being stripped away to make way for ‘Safe Spaces’.” Maria looked at the three boys, then back out the window, sighing as she thought of Altair. “No fun allowed. No best friends, because someone could feel left out. No tag, ‘cause someone would have to be ‘it’. And dodgeball? Don’t get me started…” The woman leaned back in her chair and ran a hand over her head. “If I was there right now, and had to raise my son in that sort of environment… I’d homeschool him.”

“It couldn’t have been all bad.” Scootaloo said, she glanced down at her rifle and held it up. “I mean, you had the technology to make stuff like this, and computer games, and TVs and movies and all sorts of other neat stuff! You went to the moon!” Maria nodded quietly and reached to her neck, clasping the crescent moon necklace that hung there. Luna had given it to her when she had been made a part of Luna’s ‘Order of the Night’, the alicorn’s personal cadre of soldiers.

“Yeah… Technologically we’re pretty badass!” Maria said in a faintly chipper tone. “But, for all our technological splendor, for every scrap of motherboard and every sliver of gears… I don’t know, I felt more like a machine than a person.” Maria looked over at Scootaloo, getting the sense that the mare could kind of sense where she was coming from. “Now, we don’t worry about offending people, we don’t worry about people’s ‘feelings’. Feelings were what lead to the politicians opening the floodgates to hundreds of thousands of refugees, at least half of them were infected.”

“But… Doesn’t that make us more like machines? If we stop caring about people’s feelings, I mean.” The orange pegasus asked, outside there was the sound of gunfire that was slightly closer, but it didn’t seem to pose much of a threat.

“There has to be a cut off point. I assume you’ve heard of the term ‘Church and State’?” Maria asked, Scootaloo nodded as Maria leaned agaisnt the window, looking up at the snowy dark sky as her breath fogged up the glass. “When the rights of the individual are reduced in order to make someone feel better, that’s when you have to say ‘No.’. That’s why you can say ‘Fuck’ on television now, why you can say whatever you want without fear of getting beaten over the head by people like the ADL or the ACLU.” The woman paused and looked over at Scootaloo. “But at the same time, I don’t expect you to take that as the god’s gospel truth. I expect you to look into what I said, see both sides of the argument, and come back to me with your own thoughts. Even if your opinion differs, I’m not gonna go off on you. Follow?”

“I follow.” Scoots said as she leaned back in her seat, listening to the sound of pounding guns and roaring engines in silence once again. The mare quietly ruminated on Maria’s words, in some regards the Imperatrix had a point. Censorship for the sake of feelings was bad, at least, to her. Seeing as bad was all relative. Scootaloo hadn’t expected so much introspection during her guard shift. The Imperatrix had really gotten her thinking about various things, some things that scared her, others that relieved nagging questions that had bugged her for a long time. As if a dozen doors had been closed, only for another dozen to open.

Maria sighed, looking to the sky as the night continued on. She didn’t like talking politics, mainly because she didn’t want people thinking she was trying to influence them, but at the same time she felt obligated to show someone a different view into thinking. Maria’s eyes glanced back over the the three boys that were resting deeper in the cabin, she wondered what they would be doing if the infection had never started. She could speculate.

Victor seemed rather mousy and skittish, likely a social outcast in a way she could relate. He likely had a few friends that were close to him, but it was very possible that on ‘Old Earth’ he would be hiding away somewhere. Miserable and lonely, too afraid to approach anyone for fear of getting an earful about what a bad person he was. Carlos seemed to be the most normal of the group, at least, in Old Earth terms. Maria guessed that he had played football, had more friends, maybe even a couple girlfriends. He would do alright in the world, at least, as long as he kept his nose clean.

That left Vincent, Maria found it almost like looking at a younger version of Dominic. Hot headed, angry at the world, and in some cases narrow minded. Maria had managed to get her husband to mellow a bit more, not by force, but rather by doing her best to understand and deconstruct his emotions and actions. With Vincent, she could see the markings of great potential, as she could in all three of the boys, but Vincent… Well, there was a darker side to that potential, Maria could recall a time where she had been very worried about Dominic.

The woman closed her eyes for a couple seconds, trying to force the memory out of her head, but the more she thought about getting rid of it the more it stayed. It was something she had never shared with a soul other than Luna. One night she had gone over to Dominic’s house to surprise him, she hadn’t expected him to be home, or to find him in his room fitting a belt to a metal bar in his closet, or to see a note on his desk that essentially was saying goodbye. She quickly wiped her eyes, remembering how he had explained himself. His parents had been fighting again, his grades were plummeting, his social life was in the gutter…

“Ma’am? Are you okay?” Scootaloo asked, Maria nodded quietly and opened her eyes.

“Y-Yeah, just… Uh… Just thinking about home, is all.” Maria said, doing her best to sound convincing. Scootaloo nodded, allowing Maria to close her eyes once again. The images flashed through her mind vividly. Other than the her first night with the National Guard, that had been the scariest night of her life. Even more than a decade later she could still remember the fear that had coursed through her veins when she imagined what could’ve happened if she hadn’t come to his house early. She hadn’t read the note, simply tearing it up and tossing it into her fireplace at home. After that, Maria remembered Dominic was quieter in school for a month or so, until one day it was like nothing had happened at all. Maria opened her eyes and wiped them, as they had started to tear up. She looked back to Vincent, knowing that with proper guidance he could do great things but fearing the worst. The woman looked back outside, watching another flash in the sky, wondering just where her husband was.

[♠]

Dominic gripped his belt tightly as he pulled up his pants, they had started to sag as the tank jostled around. With the aid of Luna and oddly enough Celestia, the Caribou’s stranglehold had been broken. Saddle Arabians were surrendering in droves, the Zebra were being gunned down as they tried desperate suicide charges, and the Caribou were retreating in any boat or ship they could find. Now Dominic stood in the turret of the tank, the cold air biting against his cheeks as the snow continued to fall. The man sighed quietly as they rolled past a field filled with dead Zebra, knowing full well that the invasion would likely end with a similar gruesome image.

Helicopters buzzed overhead, airlifting wounded and dropping in shock troops to deal with the small pockets of resistance that remained. The enemy beach head was just a half mile away, ruined and pillaged houses lined the streets and the stench of burning wood and flesh permeated the area like some sort of twisted barbeque. Dominic adjusted his peaked cap as the tank continued rolling past entire platoons of surrendering Saddle Arabians and captured Caribou or Zebra. The latest casualty reports had put the number of dead Onorussian troops at nearly ten thousand, and there were thousands of civilians that were unaccounted for as well. On top of that all was the great unanswered question of where his wife was.

Dominic pushed himself up out of the tank and sat on the edge of the turret as it continued rolling along the road, he could see walking wounded being helped along while reinforcements moved in to take their place. The engineers had managed to get the street lights back online, illuminating the area around them in tandem with the fires that continued to blaze out of control in the remains of homes. The Imperator knew that rebuilding those homes would undoubtedly be difficult with the war going on, but hopefully most were just summer homes. The man grunted as the tank rolled onto a sandy area and came to a halt, he reached down into the tank and grabbed his AK-47 before hopping off the vehicle and looking around.

The tank had stopped near the road that the reinforcements were marching along, their boots echoing loudly for miles as they continued on their way. The tent of the commander of the operation was a couple feet away from the tank, but Dominic stopped to watch the soldiers as they continued their march to reclaim the other parts of Onorus that were filled with pockets of resistance. After several minutes, Dominic slung his rifle over his shoulder and began walking towards the tent. His boots squelched in the cold mud, his expression stoic and neutral. He passed the guards outside and pushed the flap of the tent open.

“Achtung!” Shouted one of guards as he entered, catching the attention of the officers in the tent. They stopped and looked at the newcomer and, upon realizing it was the Imperator himself, snapped to attention. Dominic silently looked them over, as well as the room. There were radios, a couple smaller tables with combat laptops resting on them, and a large table with a map laid out over it. The large tent was lit by electric lanterns hanging from the walls.

“As you were.” Dominic said in his stoic tone, the officers went back to work on their various projects. The Imperator approached the griffon in charge of the 88th division that had masterminded the assault that had helped break the New Axis beachhead. “Colonel Iron Eye. Report.” The Colonel turned and saluted before clearing his throat to speak.

“We’ve cut their escape with our navy, sir. The Saddle Arabian units have been surrendering in droves, the Zebra and Caribou units are starting to merge together to try and hang onto the smaller fishing villages and other small towns.” Iron Eye said as he looked the map and pointed to several of the locations that were still under enemy control. “Their putting up a helluva fight, sir. We’ll have them wiped out by morning.”

“Excellent.” Dominic said stoically as he looked over the map. “Colonel. Has there been any reports on the whereabouts of my wife? Has she been captured?” Dominic looked to Iron Eye. “Killed?”

“No, sir.” Iron Eye said quickly, noting that the Imperator’s face had become far more intimidating when he mentioned his wife’s safety. “We’ve debunked plenty of their claims that she was captured, one of our squads to the north came across her luggage in the woods. It was missing her fatigues and ammo, according to the manifest you sent us.”

“I see… Show me where on the map?” Dominic said as he looked over the map, Iron Eye pointed to the place where the bag had been recovered in the woods. Dominic looked around the area, noting there were several red markers in that area, Caribou units that had refused to surrender. “On foot she could’ve covered a good distance, she knows her way around here, at least a little…” The man leaned closer and examined the map, looking at an area with a small clearing and a solitary structure. “Here… Here is where she would go.” Dominic tapped his finger on a hunting lodge. “At least, if she knew that it was going to snow. If she didn’t, she might have headed north towards Applewood.” An aide approached Iron Eye and handed him a paper, the griffon looked it over and grunted

“Either way we would need to move immediately, sir.” Iron Eye said as he handed the paper to Dominic, a report that three of the caribou units were moving towards one another. They were dangerously close to both the hunting lodge and the route to Applewood. “I hate to say this sir, but we’re so spread out I can’t spare troops to fight this group and look for the Imperatrix… The convoy is destroyed, and the Saddle Arabians seem to have given up, but there’s still a lot of Caribou and Zebra that won’t quit. I can’t even spare your tank, sir.”

“Then get me on a transport heading this way.” Dominic said flatly.

“Sir, all due respect, but I can’t do that. I can’t put you at risk as well.” Iron Eye said cautiously, Dominic glared at the map. “We need to pick one front, sir. We can engage this unit in one of the areas you think your wife is, that way we can multi-task.”

“Sir! The enemy is moving on Applewood!” Shouted a radio operator, Iron Eye looked at the map, then at Dominic.

“Looks like they made the choice for you, sir. I’m sorry.” The Colonel moved towards the radio to start getting more information, Dominic stared at the hunting lodge on the map, a ringing presented itself to his ears and his fists clenched and unclenched. The Imperator looked to the Colonel, then back at the map, without a word he walked out of the tent. The Colonel looked back and saw that the Imperator had left, he felt a bit of a knot forming in his stomach. He knew that the Imperator wasn’t one to sit idly by, he just hoped that whatever the Imperator was doing it wasn’t going to get him killed. “Contact the Exterminatus, see if they can get Imperatrix Luna here. Quickly.” The Colonel said to the Radio operator.

Dominic walked out of the tent and made his way towards the remains of a beachhouse, the garage was still intact. The soldiers marching along the road watched with interest as their Imperator shot the lock off the door and hefted the garage door up. He went inside and looked around, there wasn’t a car but there was an old looking dirt bike. The man crouched beside it and began looking it over, it needed work, but he could get it running quick enough. As he gathered the tools and began going about working on the dirtbike he felt his blood pumping faster, he had to get it working, he had to find his wife. If the Colonel couldn’t spare troops or a transport he’d find his own way. Seconds felt like minutes and minutes felt like hours.

“Socket wrench… Socket wrench…” Dominic muttered as he looked for the appropriate tool, he spotted it on the floor. Just as he reached for it it was encompassed in a familiar indigo glow and pulled away, the man looked to the source and saw that Luna had appeared in front of the garage door. Her wings twitched on her side, telling Dominic that she had flown there very rapidly. “What’re you doing?” The man tried to take the tool.

“You aren’t thinking clearly, Dominic!” Luna said as she tossed the tool away, Dominic sighed and stood up to go after it. Luna moved towards him and blocked his path, much to her surprise he gave her a hard shove, but she stood her ground. “Stop!”

“No!” Dominic shouted, Luna grunted and shoved him back. “Luna, move! I need that tool!”

“You need to stop and think!” Luna shouted at him, the man stared at her quietly, panting as his emotions ran high. “You can’t afford to put yourself in harm’s way anymore, not with the position you hold! Riding in a tank among a battalion is one thing, but charging head first into an enemy infested war zone on a dirt bike alone is stupid!”

“I can’t lose her, Luna! Not again!” Dominic shouted. “I promised her I would always come back for her! I haven’t broken that promise once! I’m not about to start now!” Luna put her hooves on his shoulders and looked into his eyes.

“Dominic… I know how you feel.” Luna said, Dominic couldn’t argue with her there. “It eats me up that we can’t do anything, but…” The mare’s voice cracked. “Gods forbid something happens to you, I couldn’t handle losing you and Maria… And Altair… He would be beside himself.” Dominic looked at the floor, doing his best to control his feelings. Luna caught a glimpse of a tear running down his cheek, and had this been a more private setting, she knew it would likely have been more than a single tear. “When you took up this position, you had to take up this responsibility as well… You can’t charge off to save the day alone anymore… Onorus needs you. I need you.”

Dominic stood up straight and adjusted the peaked cap on his head, silently he walked out of the garage. Luna followed him, standing beside him while looking out at the aftermath of the battle and the marching reinforcements.

“They will regret the day they ever set foot in Onorus…” Dominic said hatefully as he watched a squad of guards marching a group of surrendered troops. “Tomorrow I will order our Vulcans and B-52s to strike the Caribou mainland… By the end of this, the Caribou Empire will be spoken of only in hell.”

Author's Notes:

here's another one for you lovely dovelies.

And here's your clip of the day!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs5Y7YHh6Po