Luna’s Story 3: Long Live the Night
Part 7: Quench the Flames

Canterlot. The city of splendors, some ponies called it. The one city in Equestria built on the side of a mountain, designed by the geniuses of old architecture. They’d build it up, not out, and not inside the mountain itself. It perched on the sheer cliffs like a great white lizard, full of massive balconies that held entire neighborhoods. Home of royalty, center of government, and--!

SHK-BOOM! SHK-BOOM!

She roared at the nearest building, demanding her pet come out. She perked her ears, listening for signs of movement. Hovering there on her fiery wings, she sprayed embers upon the ground with every flap. Hearing nothing within the building she opened her metallic, fanged mouth and blasted it with a beam of super-heated light! The building collapsed into rubble, shaking the ground and the tier of Canterlot it stood upon. She cantered around the ruins, looking for any signs of the red pony. He wasn’t there. It made her sad. Moving to the next building, the beast stuck her head inside and repeated the process. No pet there either. She couldn’t seem to pick up his scent, so she’d resorted to looking, building for building, in the city. A long trail of destroyed buildings was behind her, for she’d been checking at random. Entire district tiers were already smoking, and the only thing that kept them from falling was the genius of the old mathematicians that had designed them to hold their weight with the mountain, rather than with the stones themselves. The beast had created a new group of underlings to check in pipes, under market stands, and through the alleyways. She would find him, somehow, and bring him back to where he belonged by her nest.

Meanwhile, on the lowest tier of Canterlot, the Lunar Stallions corps reached the edge of the city. They looked around with nervous curiosity. The train station was deserted, the train long gone carrying scared citizens far away to Appleoosia. The invading group had heard the blast and felt the ground shake, somewhere above them. Aegis Shield and Stalwart Hide flanked Princess Luna as she brought the entire column to a halt. Turning about, she addressed them. “Split up into groups of five. Look for the other Lunar Stallions. Meet back here. If anything bad happens, send some sort of signal and we shall all converge to start the battle early.” She knew it was a flimsy plan, but she needed to gather their fellows if they were going to take on Celestia. All of the stallions bowed to her, and began separating into little squads of five or so.

“We took around fifty Lunar Stallions to the Nightmare Night festival.” Aegis Shield reminded his Princess. “I hope we find the others.”

“Have faith, Aegis Shield.” Luna said, peering upward and spreading her wings. “The night is not over yet.” Nor will it be until this is sorted out, she added silently. He seemed to understand, and both Captains launched off the ground to follow her skyward. They rose through the tiers of the city. It really was a silly design when you thought about it.

“Look.” Stalwart Hide pointed, for there was movement on one of the tiers. “Is that the Solar Guard?” Luna and her two trusted guards landed on a rooftop and he called down to them. “Hey! Hey there!” the stallion called down to the group of golden-armored ponies. They looked up at him, and instantly he regretted shouting.

“Sweet Faust above…” Luna swore under her breath.

The armored ponies began to crawl up the walls like insects to get at them, snapping their piranha-like teeth back and forth. Chittering like cicadas, they came up over the lip and onto the rooftop. The close-up view was even worse. It was as if somepony had poured liquid gold over a group of ponies, grown their teeth out into fangs, then scorched their hooves black. Their eyes glowed red, no pupils or colors of their own to speak of. “What are they?” Stalwart Hide said, eyes wide.

“No idea, but I don’t like those teeth coming towards the Princess.” Not waiting for any commands, Aegis Shield and Stalwart Hide rushed at them. Rearing up, they hoof-stomped one right off the roof before he could rise over the lip. He fell with a shriek, hitting the pavement with a sickening crunch. Turning quickly, Aegis used a wing buffet to toss another off his hooves and quickly shove him over the side as well. Stalwart Hide tangled, wrestled, and finally overpowered an opponent before bucking her in the teeth and sending her sprawling. She rose with a shriek, launching herself at him and biting his leg. The stallion whinnied in agony, blood blossoming out of his leg. Turning, he punched her in the temple, over and over, until she let go and he punted her over the side! Luna gasped as a pair got past her guards. Rearing up angrily, she brought her dinner-plate sized hooves down on both of them . One fell, the other dodged and leapt upon her, fangs out. She shrieked, tumbling backward and barely holding its fangs off of her neck. It writhed and shrieked at her, squeaking and chirping with an otherworldly voice. Its jaws locked over one of Luna’s gauntlets, but thankfully the moonsteel held. Aegis bucked hard, sending it right off the roof with the others. The three of them quickly recovered though Stalwart Hide nursed a bleeding leg. “We’d better move. If there are more they’re on the way h--!” He was interrupted when the ground shook again. Somewhere about them was a rumbling that could only be a collapsing building. Squinting, the Lunar Stallion started to take off and investigate.

Luna stopped him. “No, not yet. If that is Celestia, it’s too early just yet.” She shook her head. He obeyed, landing. “We must find out what happened to the other Lunar Stallions. This city is empty, they must’ve gone somewhere.” She peered about, through the buildings and streets. “I refuse to believe all twenty of them lost.” She scowled at the very thought, turning and cocking her head when another building high above was destroyed. Canterlot shuddered a little.

“Princess?” There was a whisper that turned their heads. “Princess, up here.” The same sound barely carried on the wind. Luna peered about, squinting. A crouching statue on the building next to theirs turned its head. A Lunar Stallion! A Pegasus, no less. Spreading his wings, he moved quickly and quietly, carely not to let his hooves make too much noise when he landed. “Your Majesty.” He bowed. “What… happened to you?” he cocked his head, eyeing her armor and new mane look with awe.

“We art dressed for battle as we should be. Report.” Luna said, smiling and thankful to find the stallion alive.

“The… the beast has left the palace. She seems to be looking for something.” He told her after a few moments of gawking. “She’s been going from building to building for over an hour, spawning those… things here and there.” He gestured to the gold-armored monsters they’d just taken out. “Whatever she’s looking for, it’s made her mad. According to the Solar Guard, she’s been perfectly content to stay in the throne room up until now.”

Luna processed all the new information for a few moments. “You heard from the Solar Guard?” she suddenly asked.

“There are a few of us hidden around the city, both Solar and Lunar. Avoiding the beast and the little golden gremlin things is a chore though.” His wings wilted a bit. Luna didn’t like that her sister was being refered to as ‘the beast’, but there was little to be done about it. She certainly wasn’t Celestia when she was like this… “We’ve been able to do little more than watch and bode our time.” He looked up at his Princess.

“There’s a gathering of Lunar Stallions on the lowest tier. Go and join them.” Luna commanded, gesturing. “When we’ve mustered, we shall make for the upper tiers to confront my sister.”

The Pegasus saluted. “Yes, Princess.” He spread his wings and, flying as low as possible, took off towards the lower tiers of the city. They watched him go until he was safely out of sight.

Over three hours of sneaking around later, almost all of the Lunar Stallions had been found, hiding in some form or another. Escaping detection by sticking to shadows, old drain pipes and various hiding spots, they all had the same story. Celestia had been destroying Canterlot one building at a time, and they’d been waiting for Luna’s return. They were missing a few stallions, but they could delay no longer, for the beast had already destroyed almost half of the city.

=-=-=-=

She looked up suddenly, sniff-sniffing. Her ears perked. She could smell him. Her pet. He was near. Spreading her fiery wings she dove towards an alleyway. Peering about and snarl-growling, she stuck her head into a dumpster. Then, she poked a trashcan with her face until it tumped over. Maybe he’d been by here recently? His scent was here, sweat and a certain sweet smell. Cocking her head, she put her nose to the ground like a dog and walked slowly along between the buildings. Suddenly aware of movement, she looked up.

Princess Luna stood before her, less than five paces away. Surrounding her in a horse shoe shape were dozens of Lunar Stallions. The beast looked over her shoulder, back to the other end of the alley. More were there. Then up into the sky, she could see them hovering on the wing. Growling savagely, she heaved a great breath. “Shield!” Luna roared. Over a dozen horns lit up and a magical barrier formed just as the blast of heat and light erupted from the maw of the monster. The blast lanced forth like a sunray of molten death, splattering upon the barrier and spraying in all directions. The Lunar unicorns grunted, teeth gritted as they held it as best they could. The barrier bent and groaned as though made of tin, but thankfully held.

The best stared, and they finally got a good look at each other. So, these new arrivals would not burst into ash like the others! Forgetting about her pet for the moment, she leaned forward and sniffed at them. Her jowls lifted and she drooled liquid metal from behind rows and rows of silvery teeth. More than a couple of stallions turned their ears back. The heat was overbearing. She tilted her head back and roared skyward, scattering the Lunar Pegasi. Suddenly, from around corners and clambering out of windows came her minions. Golden armored demon ponies with red eyes and black hooves.

“There’s so many!” Hammershot whispered, shouldering up next to Pen Maker.

“Hrmg-g-ghhh.” Panzer Hoof was looking around with a scowl, scratching at the ground with a hoof.

Aegis Shield adjusted his helm, making sure he could see properly.

Stalwart Hide reached, clutching at the little Lunar Stallion action figure he hid in his breastplate.

“Fight the minions! Celestia is mine!” Luna shouted to those gathered. A hard breeze pushed her mane like a banner, making her look majestic and awe-inspiring. “Lunar Stallions!” she shouted, raising a hoof. Wings opened. Horns lit. Hooves scraped at the ground. The Royal Canterlot Voice concussed the city. “CHARRRRGE!”

=-=-=-=

Twilight Sparkle held her head just a little. She was laying on her belly in one of the caverns where they’d gathered everypony. She saw every unicorn in the room flinch just a little. They could feel it too. They didn’t know what it was, but they could feel it. “Oh Princess…” Twilight whispered, laying her chin on her hooves worriedly.

Meanwhile, the foals of the gathering were having a sort of campout. Who said hiding in caves had to be boring? They could still have fun together! “And then, the little filly looked up at the boss of the rainbow factory,” Scootaloo was looming over the campfire, telling scary stories to her friends and other foals that had gathered around to listen. “You have such beautiful… eyes.” She said in a whispery, scary tone. “The end.” There was an ooooh of apprieciation from those gathered. Faust only knew where she’d heard such a gruesome tale. Pinkie Pie was among the audience members, chewing on her hooves and shaking she was so scared.

Twilight flinched again, a new subtle wave of solar magic hitting her from Canterlot. She slowly stood and went towards the exit. Applejack saw and followed her worriedly. “Y’okay Twi?” she asked.

“I can feel it. Luna and her stallions have reached Canterlot.” Twilight said softly, rubbing at her runny nose a little. The farm pony couldn’t feel anything, being not magically inclined. “The waves of solar magic are coming faster and faster. They must be fighting now.”

“Can you tell what’s happenin’?” Applejack said eagerly.

“No. Only that Celestia is using a lot of really powerful magic.” Twilight said softly. “I know its hard to describe since you can’t use magic, but…” the purple mare paused for a few moments to make up a good explanation. “If you blindfolded a unicorn and then had another unicorn perform magic near them, they would feel it if they were in the same room or something. The more powerful the magic, the further away you can feel it.” She said.

“Uh, Twi, we’re hours away from Canterlot.” Applejack said worriedly.

“Exactly.” Whispered the purple mare. She stuck her head out of the cave, peering out of the canyon they were hiding in and up at Canterlot. Even from the great distance, she could see the curls of smoke. “I’m even more worried about when I won’t be able to feel it anymore.” Applejack hugged Twilight to her strong chest, stroking her mane. Twilight hugged her back and whimpered just a little.

=-=-=-=

The streets were in chaos, for battle was upon them. Lunar Stallions and Solar monsters rushing back and forth in a furious blood-bath of carnage like no other. Grey with purple bodies were rushing back and forth over golden ones. Whinnying, screaming, biting, tearing, fighting like it was doomsday.

Hammershot and Pen Maker stuck together, shoulder to shoulder as they held one end of the alleyway together Pen Maker crossed horns with a unicorn monster, grunting with effort and lighting up his horn with its sparkling magic. Grunting, he jabbed himself at the beast’s chest and tazed him, using his enemy’s armor as a conductor. The beast went down hard and Hammershort swooped to tackle another one out of the air. Twisting just in time he smashed into a brick wall with a yelp, then head-butted his opponent before they both fell to the ground. Bleeding a little, Hammershot spread his wings aggressively, pumping into the air and divebombing over another monster just in time to get slide-tackled by yet another one. Pen Maker grabbed the beast bodily by magic and hurled it into the sky. That one didn’t have wings. The chaos continued as the best friends danced wildly amongst the enemies.

Pen Maker let out a howl of pain as he was rammed into a wall, then lunged with his horn to pierce the eyeball of his attacker. The spray of blood was fantastic. Shaking his head quickly, he barely had time to move before another solar-armored monster was upon him and charged at him. Rearing up with a feral whinny, he tangled hooves until they both went down hard, spattered with bruises.

Hammershot grunted, trying to get greater altitude and then dive-bombing again and again to smash his foes into the pavement. After the fifth one, though, they caught on and his sixth target twitched out of the way. Grabbing the Pegasus by his middle, the creature slammed him into the ground and leapt upon him with fangs outstretched. Hammershot had been stunned by the impact and didn’t have time to recover. White hot agony filled his mind as his leg was ripped and torn as though by a wild animal. Screaming in pain he flared his wings and sucker-hoof’d his attacker with his free front hoof. The clang of hoof on metal was loud, and they rolled about on the street like wild animals.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Panzer Hoof sighed to himself. There were over half a dozen golden-armored enemies attached to him at this point. Two on his back, one on each leg, and one biting and tearing furiously at his chest. Sure, he bled a little, but it wasn’t doing much more than annoying him. There was too much weight for him to simply throw them off so he had to sit still and hope that having distracted six enemy combatants, he was helping. “This is just embarrassing.” He grumbled, straining against all of their weight.

“Heee-yah!” One of the monsters went flying off of Panzer Hoof’s back and through a shop window with a glorious explosion of glass. He whirled his head around to see the soot-stained mare! “Need some help, big guy?” The one Lunar Mare of the entire corps reared up with both hooves, hoof-stomping one after another until he was free.

“Wow!” Panzer said, grinning like a fool. “You’re good.”

“I’mma Solar Guard too, don’t think I’mma whimp!” She reached and yanked him to his hooves, turning quickly when a group of the little beasts started to rush at them. “No accounting for numbers, though!” she said fearfully.

“Allow me.” Panzer Hoof said in his deep, gravelly voice. He reared up slowly, coiling his massive earth pony muscles. The blast of sound would be mistaken for thunder by many, and the street shook. A massive crack spider-webbed away from them, opening up into a black hole of who-knew what. The gaggle of solar monsters fell in with a series of shrieks, and they fell for a long time before they were silenced. “Let’s go!” he slapped the mare right on the flank and they charged into battle with matched roars of victorious violence.

All throughout the district ponies were being flung through walls and buried in rubble. They were viciously fighting, all of them augmented to be far more powerful than anypony was ever meant to be. One of the solar monsters even ripped a streetlamp out of the ground and began beating Lunar Stallions with them. The crunch of bones and the sprays of blood were breath-taking.

Pegasi of opposing armor types swooped at each other, crashing into one another in midair as they tried to out maneuver each other. Tree Knot met his unfortunate end after receiving a ten-story long drop while being held in a Germane suplex. His head was crushed into the pavement, and the rest of him lay limply to one side with a crackle of crushed bones.

Bolts of stray magic lanced back and forth like a spectacular laser light show, unicorns blasting wildly at the other side. Rubble blew from buildings and sidewalk kiosks exploded like they’d been hit with bombs. A Lunar Stallion screamed as he lost an eye, only barely able to scrape between buildings to avoid being killed. When his enemy chased him he crushed him to death with a heavy dumpster before flopping back, unmoving.

A pair of earth pony Lunar Stallions tackled a single solar beast through a shop window, hoof-stomping her mercilessly until she stopped moving. Leaping back out into the fray, both of them were instantly killed when opposing unicorns blasted them with icy spikes of magic. Despite the overwhelming numbers, the Lunar Stallions were holding their own—but not invulnerable. Neither side could seem to overpower the other. Blood and death was ruling the streets, and carnage screamed across Canterlot.

Aegis Shield and Stalwart Hide were keeping the alleyway clear as best they could so Luna could deal with… the beast. They whinnied wildly, dive-bombing back and forth. Aegis Shield never thought he would have to use his teeth to kill anypony, but gold is a soft metal my dear reader and I must tell you even his noble muzzle was stained with blood. Lunar Stallions show no mercy, for the ancestors scream and sing for battle. Drunk on the high of battle, he reared and flailed his hooves. Stalwart Hide tackled another enemy, only to be cuffed in the face by a stray hoof and then knocked down. Rolling, skidding on the ground and flaring his wings to stop himself he charged again with a roar of battle.

Hammershot cried out when a particularly fast trio of solar pegasi slammed into him in midair, crushed him through a building, out the other side and into the plaza past that. He let out a whinny of agony as his body rag-dolled over the lip of a fountain and he smashed a statue that overlooked it. He fell into the water, and the statue fell on top of him. The three solar beasts drew near, watching him drown as the fountain began to stain red with his blood. They leaned over the edge, hissing and chirping like the monsters they were. They tossed their heads, manes flapping as they whinnied their victory—until they were smashed by a stone column. Pen Maker leapt over the deaths he’d just caused, “Hammersho-ooot!” he roared. Igniting his horn he THREW the entire statue to one side, destroying a small shop and crushing another beast in the process. Diving into the waters he wrenched his friend to the surface. “Hammershot!” he shouted. “Hammershot!” he shook his limp friend.

The gravely wounded pegasi turned his head slowly, his wings giving a weak little flutter. He couldn’t fold them properly, one had shattered its bones on the way through the building. “Puh… Puh… Pen Maker--” he whispered, his entire body shaking like a leaf. “S’cold… s’cold…”

“Hammershot, nuh-nuh-nuh! None of this!” Pen Maker said, his eyes sprouting tears. He stroked his friend’s mane, pushing it out of his face. “You’re fine! You’ll be fine! C’mon! We’ve gotta get you to a medic or something!” he knew the Lunar Stallions hosted no medics. Maybe there was a drug store or something nearby. He could patch his friend up there with a first aid kit.

“S’okay…” Hammershot whispered as the cloud of red grew in the waters around them. His hoof reached up, slowly caressing Pen Maker’s cheek. “I’ll be… okay.” He said, coughing a little as blood dripped from his mouth. “I love…” his hoof was scraping Pen Maker’s cheek, weakly. “I love…” he tried again. “I love…” his hoof began to fall limp. Pen Maker, tears streaming down his face, pressed his muzzle firmly over Hammershot’s. The pegasi’s wings fluttered weakly, then he slowly, slowly went limp. Pen Maker took the stallion's last breath into his mouth-- and when the kiss broke his best friend was dead.

The unicorn let out a great, echoing cry of agony. But, over the shouts and explosions of battle there was nopony to hear him. He hunched over the fallen Lunar Stallion in the fountain, weeping hysterically and stroking his face while the war raged on in the background.

End of Part 7