***

“I'd get plenty of sleep: you're gonna miss it.”
Errant Flight, The Avatar of Albion.

***

London. January 17th. 2032.

The skies were filled with ‘helicopters’, or at least that was what Princess Luna had been told they were called: it wasn't the oddest word she had heard in all her years, but it was certainly close. The strange things were carrying the injured and the dead to and from locations and ferrying in replacements.

Of course, Luna herself could be counted among the injured, she mused with a wince. She was limping, her side still hurting from the wounds she had sustained in battle against the Nightmare.

She shuddered as she thought of that twisted, broken creature, how it had seen her - or rather, seen Nightmare Moon - as some kind of precursor or role model. Her greatest shame had become a mark of the highest honour for a twisted religious cult.

Nonetheless, she felt a wave of relief still flowing over her as well. They had engaged the enemy, and despite the challenges that had been thrown their way, they had survived.

Thoughts of celebrating this victory had been quashed quite quickly, however, when Luna had been told of their casualties. Over a hundred dead in the first engagement, and many more maimed and injured. Commander Charlie Horse had looked nauseous as he stood among the wounded from his unit, checking on each of them individually. Luna wondered whether the Commander had ever truly faced anything like this before. Almost cruelly, she found herself wondering whether the young officer had even seen blood spilled before.

Equestria has not known war like this in years, she thought grimly to herself. The enemy have the advantage over us in this. They know this horror intimately, have become used to it. We have not. She sighed. We must adapt quickly if we’re to match them.

She sighed, shaking her head. “This isn't right.” Saying it felt like the only way to express herself. “How could this have happened?”

Nopony answered.

***

Lyra sighed as she went over the list of casualties. As expected, they were horrific: hundreds more dead and injured, much of the city turned from skeletal ruins to flat-out wasteland…

“Under the circumstances,” Ser Eric commented from next to her, his eyes closed and a soft glow encompassing much of his unarmoured body, “we didn't do too badly.”

Lyra rolled her eyes, before looking at him. “Should you be doing that?”

“It's bad for me in the long run,” Eric admitted, the glow subsiding, “but I'm an Iron Clad. There's not so many of us right now that we can afford for me to have a three month convalescence while I heal myself up the old-fashioned way.” He wiped a little trickle of blood from his nose. “A little nosebleed now is a price I'm willing to pay.”

“It's more than just a nosebleed,” Lyra pointed out, lowering her voice.

Eric shrugged. “I'll live?”

Lyra scowled at his flippancy. “You and David will both be the death of me, y’know?”

Eric smiled tightly. “How is he?”

Lyra glanced over to a nearby bed. David Elliot was laid out, one arm over his eyes, sleeping like a log. She sighed.

“He's exhausted,” she admitted quietly. “I don't know how much longer…”

Eric held up a finger. “Careful.”

Lyra nodded. She glanced around, making sure they were alone, before continuing. “I don't know how much longer he can go on.”

Eric nodded slowly. “Yeah. He has been… more fatigued recently.”

Lyra sighed. “Haven't we all.” She looked over the list. “You know what's scary?”

“Ghosts?” Eric asked with a sardonic smirk.

Lyra gave him a mock-glare. “I'm getting used to this. These casualties… they're insane. And I'm ok. Or almost ok. Like this is the new normal.”

“And has been for a while,” Eric said, his smirk disappearing. “I don't like it any more than you do, but it's not like we’ve got another choice.”

“I know,” Lyra said, her voice almost a whisper. “I just… I keep telling myself, this is how it is. I just can't quite bring myself to believe it, no matter how much I might be getting used to it. How did it come to this.”

“You shouldn't get used to it,” the voice of Elliot piped up, and the two of them looked to see him, still lying down with one arm over his eyes. “The minute you get used to it, you forget that life's not meant to be like this.” He lowered the arm and looked over to them, something that might have been attempting to be a reassuring smile on his face. “And it's not, you know. We’re fighting to save ourselves, but after this, I'd like to hope we’ll make a new world that's better.”

Lyra smiled. “You're right, I guess. Though it’s hard to believe there'll be a world after this.”

“Well, there'd better be,” Elliot said flippantly, putting his arm back over his eyes. “I’m still wanting to open that bookshop.”

Lyra snorted. “And if you do, I’ll be right there with you.”

Elliot peeked at her from under his arm. “Promise?”

Lyra looked away and said nothing, and with a smirk, Elliot put his arm back over his eyes.

***

Luna limped up the stairs of St Paul’s cathedral, frowning slight as she saw Charlie Horse motioning to troops to move this way and that. She saw one of the Starlit Towers her forces had brought, the great magical edifice standing strong amidst the ruin.

Ponies die but the Guard stands tall, she thought unbidden. It was an old saying, one of many. “And the mountains will break…”

“... before the Guard does,” a voice finished from next to her. She looked down, to see a green-coated Unicorn stallion directing troops. He saluted her. “Ma’am.”

She saluted back. “Guardspony…”

“True Grit, ma’am,” he replied. He winced. “Apologies. I just woke up from my injuries, needed to get back to it.”

“Thou should be resting,” Luna told him. “We won't get many more chances.”

True Grit smirked. “With all due respect ma’am, that's why I can’t rest.”

“Your highness!” Charlie Horse’s voice called across to her, and Luna turned to see the commander trotting in her direction.

She looked back to Grit, but he had already moved on. Luna sighed.

We have never deserved their devotion. How many brave soldiers like that, from the Thestral warriors who had fought at her back, to Celestia’s noble adjutant Twilight Star, had fought by her side over the course of these eleven millennia?

“Commander,” she said quietly to Charlie Horse, forcing her attention back to the present. “How go the efforts to reinforce this area?”

Charlie Horse looked over to troops wandering around. “Some of the troops are almost spell-shocked, your highness, and the truth is I don't blame them. This was a hard fight. Maybe the hardest in our times.”

Luna grimaced. “Yes. It was. But we have survived and triumphed over our enemies.”

“Yeah,” Charlie Horse said quietly, “I guess you're right, ma’am. Doesn't feel much like a triumph.”

Luna smiled hollowly. “None of them ever do, Commander. Not here, not now, not when thou art surrounded by…” She motioned around her. “This.”

Charlie Horse smiled back. “Well, maybe I’ll feel better when I’m home drinking this bucking horseapples away.”

Luna’s smile faded. “Thou wouldst not be the first to find such a solution.”

“And not the last, either, I’ll bet,” Charlie Horse chuckled. His expression soured. “Won't help though, will it? Never does. I've seen the sorts of ponies who…”

He trailed off, his eyes taking on a faraway look for a moment. Luna knew that look well - had seen it on a thousand ponies across thousands of years.

“Anyway,” he finally said. “These humans need us all at our best, right?”

“That they do, Commander,” Luna said with an approving nod. “That they do. These enemies are set on their annihilation.”

“Yeah,” Charlie Horse said, his expression drifting into thoughtfulness. “Hard to believe ponies are at this stage, though. I mean, we’re… we’re not aggressive, y’know?”

Luna nodded. “I know.”

“It’s like, every soldier I’ve had to train has started out thinking that they can’t kill,” Charlie Horse continued. “Not that they won’t, that they can’t. It’s not part of who and what they are. You have to break that out of them to even start… but these guys… they choose to kill, they choose to attack…”

“Whatever the cause, we will discern it as we fight,” Luna said, holding up a wing. “We can’t get too caught up in ‘why’, now.”

Charlie Horse sighed. “Alright, your highness.” He paused. “While I've got your attention, though, ma’am, there's something we’ve noticed among the enemy’s dead that bears bringing to your attention.”

Luna frowned. “Show me.”

Charlie Horse motioned for her to follow him, leading her over to a body in the white plate armour of the Ivory Guard. One of his soldiers was leaning over it, and he straightened as Luna approached.

“Your highness,” he said quietly. “This is one of the enemy’s casualties.”

He motioned to the flank of the pony, and Luna blinked.

“It's blank,” she said.

“That's right, ma’am,” Charlie Horse said. “So far I’ve had my troops clock two dozen or more of these blank-flanked Guardsponies, but I can't say what's caused it.”

Luna frowned. “Hast thou asked one of our hosts?”

Charlie Horse sighed. “They just said they were ‘convies’ or something. Didn't really have time to explain. Didn’t really seem to want to.”

Luna snorted. “They will make time for me.”

She turned and looked around, searching for a convenient soldier, before stopping one soldier, a beech-red Pegasus with goggles over his eyes.

“Soldier,” she said sharply. “I have a question.”

The Pegasus blanched at her approach. “P-Princess Luna, I wasn’t - that is, I -”

Luna held up a wing. “Calm down, soldier.” She paused. “What’s your name?”

“E-Errant Flight, ma’am,” the Pegasus said. “Uh, I mean… your highness. Sorry. I, uh, wasn’t expecting you. Uh, I mean, none of us were…”

“Breathe, soldier,” Luna said, giving him a reassuring smile. “I had some questions.”

“Uh, right,” Errant Flight said. “I, uh, should fetch Lyra or Hell Blazer, they’re better with questions.”

“If I wanted to find Operative Heartstrings, I would have,” Luna said, a sardonic edge to her tone. “After the battle she and I have just survived, I suspect she needs rest.”

“Yeah,” Errant Flight said slowly. “I… had heard something about that.” He took a deep breath. “So, uh, what is it you want to know?”

***

When Hell Blazer and Doctor Hooves finally showed up to speak with Elliot, he’d pulled himself into a sitting up position, though he had his head in his hands and was still groggy.

“So,” Hell Blazer began without preamble, “you still alive in there?”

Elliot chuckled. “Barely. I had a time of it, let me tell you.”

“So I hear,” Hell Blazer said quietly. “False Alicorns, wrecking an artillery position… it’s been a hell of a day for you, huh?”

“A hell of a day,” Elliot repeated tiredly. “Hell of a day for all of us.”

“Seconded,” Eric said from where he was sitting, smiling ironically.

“Not even gonna start with you,” Hell Blazer said, glaring at him and Lyra. “What’s this I hear about a whole new kind of F-A?”

Lyra groaned. “Let’s not, and say we did, ok? Me and Eric barely survived that whorse.”

Elliot frowned as the Doctor ran the light of his screwdriver over him. “You alright there, Doc?”

“Don’t call me ‘Doc’,” the Doctor said sternly, before giving Elliot a more sympathetic look. “I’m checking the status of your cells.”

“Let me throw a wild guess here,” Elliot said, smiling again. “They’re well and truly effed up.”

“You shouldn’t joke about that,” Lyra put in.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. “They are not in a good state, though fortunately for you, it’s not quite at the stage of being ‘well and truly…’” He coughed. “In any case…”

“David Elliot!” a strident voice called out. “David Elliot!”

Elliot frowned, sitting a little straighter, as Princess Luna strode towards him, her expression thunderous.

He stood up as she reached him, getting almost nose to nose with him. “Why. Didn’t. You. Tell. Me.”

Elliot swallowed- despite being roughly the same height, Luna was still intimidating. He couldn’t imagine being a pony facing her wrath.

“You’ll have to be a little more specific,” he said quietly.

“Why? Are you hiding any other abominations from me?” Luna asked in a hissing voice. “These ‘Convies’. I’ve just been told what they are. What they were.”

Elliot pursed his lips. “I see.”

“They… what’s been done to them…” Luna said, her tone wavering, her eyes full of horror. “They’re your people! All of them!”

“Yes,” Elliot said quietly. “They were.”

Luna’s horrified expression didn’t change, but for a moment it seemed like she didn’t know what to say. At this moment, a beech-red Pegasus ran up to them.

“Sorry, David, I couldn’t…” He paused, looking between Luna and Elliot. “Ah, horseapples.”

Elliot looked at him and gave him a smile. “Don’t worry, Errant. I get the feeling this would’ve happened one way or the other.” He looked at Luna. “You’re right, I should probably have told you about this.”

Luna said nothing, though her eyes narrowed angrily.

“It’s… just, that there’s a lot that’s difficult to say,” Elliot said. “How are we supposed to bring up ‘Oh, these used to be human but they were changed against their will, or with the threat of death’?”

“Instead, you’ve let me and my soldiers kill your people,” Luna said icily.

“They’re not, though,” Elliot said sadly. “Not anymore.”

“Can they not be saved?” Luna asked.

Elliot shook his head. “We’ve tried. All we can do - with difficulty - is break the hold on them -”

“Which sounds like a good alternative to killing them!” Luna cut in.

“And leaves them alternately catatonic, manically self-destructive or suicidally depressed,” Elliot finished. “Believe me, I wish I could save them all. But it’s impossible in the heat of battle to break the hold over them.”

“I came here to save your people, not murder them!” Luna insisted.

“Princess,” Lyra put in from where she was sitting, “it’s good that you might want to save the Converted. A lot of us want that, ultimately. But… at this point they make up sixty five percent of the forces the Solaminan Empire uses. You can’t restrain them, you can’t reason with them. They aren’t allowed to think of another way of life except the one they’re ordered to take, and they’ll fight fanatically.”

Luna sighed, shaking her head. “And so we must kill some of those we came here to save?”

“We’ve all done things we’re not proud of in this war,” Elliot said grimly. “And we’ll do plenty more before we’re done, I’m sure of it.”

“Um… Commander Albion?” a voice said quietly from behind them all.

All eyes turned to a young man, barely older than a child, dressed in a long black coat at least three sizes too big for him.

“Uh, sorry to interrupt, sir,” he said. “The Council have made contact. They request you give them an update as soon as possible.”

Elliot let out a breath. “Yes. I was wondering when that would come around.”

“The Council are your government?” Luna asked quietly.

“For what it’s worth,” Elliot replied quietly. He sighed. “Right, I’d better go pay the piper.”

Luna nodded slowly. “We will continue this another time.”

“Looking forward to it,” Elliot said, and with a quick mock-salute he walked off with the boy, heading for the back of the church.

Luna could only stare after him without really seeing him, and wonder just what it was that she and her sister had gotten themselves involved with. For the first time in millennia, words of faith came to mind.

Epona, mother of our kindred, be thou our protector and shining light, and guide us to Harmony, for I walk alone in strange lands and know not the way home.

Author's Notes:

So, uh... surprise?

Yeah, so I felt like getting back to this, this chapter was about half done, and so here we are. I’m not going to make promises about the next chapter of this work, but I’m going to say that I enjoyed being back at it in this instance, so it’s possible I’ll keep at it. 😊