Las Pegasus, April 14th. Year 1 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2031).

"Open fire!" somepony yelled, and hell rained down on the oncoming soldiers. Magical blasts destroyed masonry and obliterated the concrete of the roads, forcing those who were not obliterated in the barrage to take cover. A hail of bullets lashed back in the direction of the magical turrets, and soon there was nothing but death in the streets.

"Ponies of the Solaminan Guard!" screamed one voice, somehow louder than any other in that cacophony of explosions, screaming and the crack of weapons. "For Her Majesty - kill them all!"

And a white mare with a cropped mane of red and purple charged forward, a sword held in her telekinetic grip and silver armour adorning her body. She screamed a war cry as she charged, her soldiers behind her, and then there was a flash of light -

***

Moondancer shot awake, eyes wide, gasping for breath.

"NO!" she called out, but there was nothing there. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to blot out the memories that followed the rush of that dream. It had not been a very pleasant experience…

Understatement. One thing her father had been…

No, she thought. No, we’ll not dwell on that.

She heard a knock on her chamber door, shaking her from her thoughts. "Major-General Moondancer? Is everything alright in there? Do you need help?"

"Everything's fine, Corporal Grey," she called back, trying her best to keep her voice from shaking. "Just a nightmare."

"Alright ma'am," the voice of Corporal Grey called back after a moment. Nopony questioned when Moondancer had nightmares - Las Pegasus gave everypony nightmares eventually and there was no Luna to calm their dreams anymore. "Just so you know, it's oh-five hundred now - your meeting with Colonel Will and Major Shine is at oh-seven thirty."

"Thank you, Corporal," Moondancer said softly, almost too quietly to be heard. "I appreciate the reminder."

She stood up and went to her private en-suite bathroom. A few moments later, she was in the shower, her eyes closed as she tried her very best to forget the horrors she had seen over the last few days.

It was not easy.

Life in the Royal Guard was both much harder and much more rewarding than Moondancer had ever imagined as a filly growing up. In the beginning, her desire to join the Guard had been fuelled purely by nostalgia and childish memories of her father's attitudes to the Guard.

"Why are you a Guard, Daddy?" she always remembered asking.

"Because there are a lot of griffons and dragons and moles and other creatures out beyond the borders of Equestria who don't like ponies very much," her father would always say. "And ponies like me stand between them and little fillies like you. So I fight for Monarch and Realm, to keep little fillies like you safe."

He had been a patriotic stallion, her father - he had been one of the few ponies around who truly believed in the old idea of "Monarch and Realm", and one of the fewer ponies still willing to die for those beliefs.

Which he had, when Moondancer was only six years old.

After that, of course, she had been sent to Canterlot to live with her family there, far away from the colony her father had died defending, far away from his bones. only six years old, many had (rather foolishly) expected that she would be alright: that she would forget, that she would move on.

Idiots.

She had never forgotten. She had survived, maybe even thrived. She had met every expectation of her, just (and more often than not with not a little amount of strain and stress), and she had never forgotten her father, never forgotten the ideal he had died for, and always wished that she might one day learn to be like him, might one day be good enough to do what he did.

And then came the declaration of Empire.

She had joined in a heartbeat. Any lingering doubts about the justness of a war of annihilation against the remaining humans seemed to vanish when she made her oath of allegiance, and instead she was left with a sense of purpose. She was Royal Guard, part of a tradition that stretched back thousands of years, to the beginnings of Equestria itself in the Old Time none now remembered save Empress Solamina herself. It didn't matter that her first assignment upon completing officer training was command of a garrison outpost on the Iron Wall (the rather dismally named outpost 21-Omega), and it didn't matter that the most action she saw during the entirety of the war was preventing a few ponies from escaping over the wall.

It didn't even matter that something within her had vanished when Solamina had died. She had heard rumours about "brainwashing", about Converted suddenly breaking free from some sort of control. She didn't care - her loyalty was to Solamina and the Empire - that was what she had sworn to, and the sworn word was the principle her father had died for as much as a distant monarch he had never met in the flesh. Even though she had never met Solamina, she had sworn an oath and she would die upholding it.

She closed her eyes as the hot water cascaded all over her.

An explosion, so near her hearing turned into nothing but a ringing noise that refused to clear. She spun her sword once, testing her magical grip, and then charged forward anyway, screaming even as she did so, unable to hear her voice. The humans were dead ahead - and then she was upon them, her blade flashing. A bullet grazed her thigh and she stabbed the shooter. A pony died behind her and she blasted his killer's head off. Another explosion, closer, and suddenly hearing returned and she was deafened, this time by the cacophony of screams and shouts and cries and the sound of metal on metal…

She shuddered slightly. Las Pegasus, city of blood and death. The humans were no less relentless than the veterans of the war on Earth had warned her.

She stepped out of the shower and dried off, before strapping her silver armour on. She looked in the mirror, and kept looking until a strong, honourable Guard Officer stared back at her instead of a scared, tired and traumatised mare.

"Right then," she said softly. "Time to go change the world."

***

Meeting Room, April 14th. 07:30.

"Major-General," Colonel Strong Will, an Earth Pony stallion with tan coat and white mane whose cutie mark was a round shield, nodded as Moondancer entered the command room. She nodded back at him, before approaching the war table. As well as the two officers, Colonel Will and Major Dull Shine (a tired looking Pegasus stallion with a shield cutie mark not unlike Will's, save for the single star upon it), there was also a purple-robed pony with her hood up, only her stature and her legs revealing her gender. She had called herself Eternity, and while the name was pretentious, nopony wanted to argue with her, given that she had already provided them with additional troops and weapons (including several smuggled Crystal Amplifiers).

"Alright," Moondancer said quietly. "So - what's our situation?"

"Four more attacks in the night," Dull Shine said. Half the reason he looked tired was because he was the night-shift commander of the defensive lines: after this meeting, he would be going to his bunk. "We lost another two hundred soldiers but we managed to repel them."

"And how many did we kill?" Moondancer asked.

"Count's still happening," Strong Will said quietly. "But they always lose less. They're damn good at what they do."

"These attrition rates were common in the war," Shine added tiredly, yawning as he spoke. "We'd lose a hundred soldiers for every twelve or thirteen of them we'd kill - we'd take out a squad and lose a platoon. Their weapons are formidable."

"Unacceptable," Moondancer said. "Gentlestallions, the days when we could afford such a casualty rate are firmly in the past. That is why we are here. Madam Eternity, late of the Archmagi, has supposedly been working on a project that may well allow us a fighting chance against the humans."

"Thank you, Major-General," Eternity said, her voice soft and wistful. "It is important that you listen carefully to me, all of you - this may be difficult to accept."

"Just get on with it," Will said bluntly. "I've about had it with theatrics."

Eternity paused. "Very well. We of the Archmagi were working on an enhanced potion during the latter stages of the war. Though we never managed to perfect it in time for the battle of Canterlot, a version of this potion has been perfected now, and with it, you will be able to conquer the humans in Las Pegasus, kill the usurper Blueblood, and possibly even finish the glorious work of the beloved Solamina."

There was a long pause as the ponies in the room digested this proclamation.

"A bold claim," Strong Will said, raising an eyebrow.

"I do not make it lightly," Eternity said. "I say it because it is the truth. You need only reach out and grasp onto this opportunity."

"What makes this potion so special?" Dull Shine asked.

"What makes it special is the fact that it does not merely create ponies from humans," Eternity replied, her voice taking on a slightly condescending air. "It creates Alicorns... and it can be used to transform ponies into Alicorns."

Moondancer's breath hitched slightly. "What did you say?"

"That's impossible!" Strong Will exclaimed. "Only ascension can cause that kind of transformation!"

"It was impossible," Eternity countered. "Now it is fact."

Moondancer narrowed her eyes at Eternity. "If this is some sort of trick…"

"Then I would be incredibly stupid to come into the heart of the Solaminann Loyalists’ territory just to attempt it," Eternity said, cutting her off with a wry tone. "By all means, you may test the potion before utilising it fully, but I assure you that it does as I have said, and does so perfectly."

"Does it have side effects?" Dull Shine asked.

"All potions of this kind of transformative nature have side effects," Moondancer said before Eternity could answer. "That’s one of the basic laws of magical transformation - it all depends on the severity."

"And that is enough reason to not trust this," Strong Will snorted. "Apologies, Madam Eternity, but why should we risk the lives or the sanity of our already depleted forces on testing a potion that might just destroy them?"

"Because you are losing this conflict," Eternity told them bluntly. "And without this potion, you do not have a single chance in tartarus of succeeding."

Moondancer scowled at this, and Strong Will and Dull Shine looked no happier - but this was no lie on Eternity’s part, no threat, no dire false prediction to sway their curse, and they all knew it. She was right - this was not a war they could win. Even holding their ground in Las Pegasus was costing them far more than they could afford in terms of loss of ponies and equipment.

"She’s right," Moondancer said quietly. "We’re losing. And we’ll keep losing, won’t we - there’s no way we can turn this into any kind of victory from our current position."

Neither of her officers responded - neither of them wanted to admit out loud that she was right. She sighed.

"Madam Eternity," she said. "We will test this potion on one pony."

"That will be enough to prove its effectiveness, I assure you," Eternity said quietly.

"Who would we test it on?" Dull Shine asked. "I can hardly imagine any of our troops will -"

"I will be the test subject," Moondancer cut him off.

"You, ma’am?!" Strong Will said, raising an eyebrow. "But you’re…"

"The most expendable pony in this entire army," Moondancer completed, frowning at them all. "My duty is to simply tell ponies where they are to die - anypony can do that, and I think someponies in this army could do it better than me." She raised her head, letting herself feel a little… proud? Certain? "Besides which - I am the commander of this army. I will not ask anything of anypony if I am not willing to do the same myself. That is true of the hell they endure on the front, and that is true of this potion now."

There was a moment’s pause as everypony took in this proclamation, and then a moment later, Strong Will saluted.

"I’d follow you to Tartarus and back, ma’am," he said smartly.

Dull Shine salted as well. "And me."

Even Eternity bowed. "You are a credit to our cause, milady."

Moondancer waved off their complements. "Don’t laud me yet. This hasn’t worked out for us yet."

"I promise you this, milady," Eternity said with a smile only just visible beneath her hood. "It will."

***

The straps on the bed in the medical bay were not particularly welcoming, nor did they inspire much in the way of confidence, but Moondancer had not achieved her rank through shirking the hard duties, and compared to some things she had seen, this was not a hard duty.

Eternity was stood next to the bed, a vial of orange liquid held in front of her, waiting. There were several Guards in the room as well, including the tall, masked and armoured forms of Eternity’s own Archmagi troops - they were there to guard against the possibility of her going mad with pain and trying to attack them. Some of these ponies were Converted, those sad few who had stayed loyal despite their doubt and the sudden pain of the spirit they had suffered - they knew what Conversion was like.

Moondancer thought about what this change might bring upon her - about the difference between the human being and the Converted, the difference between herself and the self she would become. Was such a change worth it?

She dismissed the thought immediately. I am these ponies’ commander. If I would not take this upon myself, I should not ask it of them.

"Are you prepared, Major General?" Eternity asked softly.

"There is no ‘prepared’," Moondancer said shortly. "Let us get on with this, please."

She laid herself on the bed, and allowed the Guards to strap her down. She watched as Eternity brought the vial to her lips, and she drank, allowing the foul-tasting liquid to slide down her throat. She closed her eyes as a burning sensation began to fill her stomach, and then, perhaps mercifully, her entire body went numb and she felt the sensation of losing consciousness…

***

... only to find her eyes open as she stood in the middle of a field.

She frowned at the sight of the field - it was plain grass, green and untarnished, and it seemed to stretch on, flat and featureless, forever, further than the eye could see.

Why was she here? She had memory of… something… but everything seemed to have faded, replaced by… by…

What?

"Who am I?" she wondered aloud.

My name is Moondancer, Major-General of the Solaminan Guard.

But none of those words meant anything to her, none of them mattered here.

Why are you here? a voice seemed to ask, speaking from both all around her and inside her own mind.

"I…" she began, but she trailed off. Why was she here? Memory

Are you here to serve? a voice asked. To fight?

"Yes!" she yelled out desperately. that much she remembered. She had come here to serve - to fight! "I’ve come to… to fight! To fight for… for…"

For what? Why do you choose to fight?

Why are you a Guard, Daddy?

Because there are a lot of griffons and dragons and moles and other creatures out beyond the borders of Equestria who don't like ponies very much. And ponies like me stand between them and little fillies like you. So I fight for Monarch and Realm, to keep little fillies like you safe.

"For Monarch and Realm," she said simply. "I come to fight for Monarch and Realm, to defend my people from their enemies!"

There was a pause, as though the voice was deliberating with… something.

Very well then, it finally said. You have come here a supplicant. You shall leave here a living weapon. There was a momentary pause. More than that - you shall leave here a commander of weapons. You shall leave here as the guiding hoof of armies. You are not Moondancer.

No, of course she wasn’t. Moondancer was a distant memory, one she discarded happily.

You are the first of your kind. You are Centuria, commander, warrior, the tip of the spear.

She heard the words, and she knew it to be true. She knelt, though she didn’t know to what she was kneeling.

"I am Centuria," she repeated. "I am the tip of the spear."

The voice, though she still couldn’t see it, seemed almost… pleased.

And now, it said, awake.

***

From the outside, it was almost unimpressive… at first.

There was a glow, at first small, and then brighter and brighter, that seemed to radiate from within Moondancer. Her small, pale frame seemed to grow as it glowed, and suddenly the light flared, transforming her form into a white silhouette of light that forced everypony there to step back in shock and cover their eyes.

"What is this?!" one of the Guards yelled.

Only Eternity seemed to not react, simply staring at the light from beneath her hood, a small, cold smile upon her lips.

"And so it begins," she said, though nopony paid her any attention.

A few moments later, the glow seemed to receded. Four hooves touched the ground, the bed all but obliterated. A white mare stood, at least a head taller than the ponies around her if not more, her mane flowing behind her, not the ethereal mane of Celestia but nonetheless imbued with something beyond that of normal ponies. Sharp, bright eyes beaming with intelligence darted around the room, seeming to analyse every detail in moments even as the Guards recovered from the flare of light.

It took them all a few moments to realise that the mare they were staring at was - or had been - Moondancer. Her horn was longer and slightly thinner, as was her face. From her back sprouted two powerful, majestic wings that flexed slightly, the only sign that they had not been there being a slight dripping of what looked like blood, as though they had burst from her back. The mare rolled her shoulders, as though testing the muscles.

She was an Alicorn.

"Well then," she said simply. "It would appear to have worked."

"Major-General Moondancer?" one of the Guards asked, wide eyed. "Is that… is that you?"

"It is," the mare replied, smiling slightly. "But that is not my name - not anymore."

"There’s some trickery in this," one of the Guards said, his voice a growl. "That’s not Moondancer - it’s some damned Archmagi trick!"

Before anypony could stop him, he brought his spear forward, lashing it toward the pale Alicorn. Quicker than thought, she sidestepped the blow, reared up and lashed out, knocking the spear to the ground, before spinning and bucking, sending the guard flying at a wall - where he stopped, one inch away from the wall, held in a telekinetic grip. Her horn was glowing, and she released him, the stallion dropping to the ground with a thud, winded and stunned.

"That was unwise, but I forgive you," she said softly. "I was Moondancer, but I have been given new purpose. I am Centuria - I am war: it’s purest expression made flesh. I am but the first of many."

She glanced down at the spear she had taken from the Guard, and in a heartbeat it was lifted before her, her eyes running along the line of the weapon.

"This is a good spear," she said idly, "but I believe I can make some improvements."

There was a crackling sound as magic began to surround the weapon, running up and down it. In moments, the simple wood and metal weapon had transformed into an ornate, elegantly balanced creation, embossed with gold and silver, intricate lines of script carved into the hilt. The Alicorn smiled, and she spun it twice before slamming the bottom of it into the floor, her eyes looking back at the Guards, who were still shell-shocked by what they were seeing.

"Do not fear, brothers and sisters," the newly anointed Centuria said. "I am hope in this war. With my help, and the help of those like me to come, we shall take back our home. With my help, victory is not just possible - it is assured."

And such was the certainty in her tone that, despite their shock, despite their fear, they believed her. The one who had attacked her acted first… kneeling before her, head bowed. The others followed suit, one by one, even Eternity, until soon the entire room was kneeling before her. She smiled, though it was not a smile of joy at this supplication.

It was a smile of certainty. Victory was within her grasp, finally - and nothing would stand before the loyal children of Equestria now.

***

Eternity stood and watched the city of Las Pegasus burning. At the front line, she knew Centuria - but the first of the Alicorns that the Archmagi’s potion would create - would already be able to push ahead against the human forces Prince Blueblood had brought in to help him hold his stolen throne. Eternity did not know whether even the power of the potion-born False Alicorns could stand against these humans (they were a relentless species) but she knew that this would cause far more damage… kill far more ponies and other creatures than the conflict would have done before. This war would not end yet, and by the time it did it would leave bodies in the streets, cities in ruins, and an Equestria ready to fall.

She pulled her hood down, empty eye sockets and dessicated skin staring out at the battered skyline as she watched war consume this once peaceful land.

"Soon, my lord, soon," she murmured. "Soon now, they will see. They will all see.."

***

Author's Notes:

With thanks to The Void for helping proofread it, RoyalPsycho for his help worldbuilding, and Doctor Fluffy for writing the word "Moondancer" in one of these Bittersweet Victory chapters, thus inspiring me to actually write her and make her distinct from other (brilliant, I might add) interpretations.