Chaos and Insanity

by Altoid

Chapters

• So the Insanity Begins...
• A New Day of Unwanted Events...
• Great, More Crazy Ponies...
• Some crazy stuff happens!
• Separate Paths Unto Destruction...
• Hormones and War...

So the Insanity Begins...

This is a Round-Robin collaboration/game between: Altoid, Timothy48,  The Grey Pegasus, Flying Wingnut, wariyoshi, flowandthought, ModernWarfareBrony

We took turns writing a paragraph or two and some dialogue and created this. We have no idea where it is going to go. We have set rules though to help prevent it from becoming too random and stupid. I hope you enjoy! -Altoid

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Discord was growing tired of being a statue. The physical stress was not much, but psychologically it was torture. Celestia’s garden was the most orderly place in the world. Every flower and statute had its own little place on the grounds. The most chaotic thing was the maze, and after a few seconds of examining it, he had realised that even it had an orderly design.

The only respite he had from the drag was the occasional chaos that happened. A gardener would drop a pot, or a party of school foals would argue amongst themselves as their weary teacher showed them around. But none of it was enough to relieve his pain, let alone set him free.

In other words, he was bored. With precious little chaos to amuse him, and with no one to talk to or even interact with, he was having a hard time keeping it together. In fact, just the other day he caught himself thinking logical thoughts! A sure sign he was going insane. Suddenly, a pair of familiar female voices reached his stone ears.

'Oh, what is this? Both Celestia and little Luna are out for a stroll? I wonder what they’re doing out here in my neck of the garden?'

The royal sisters had drawn closer to him while he had been thinking, and he could now hear them both clearly.

“Now Luna, are you sure this a safe place to talk?” Celestia asked her sister.

“Why, what do you mean, dear sister?” Luna replied.

“We should be cautious about what we talk in this area of the garden-”

“Please elaborate.”

“You’ve managed to lead us into Discord’s area of the hedge.”

'Why of course,' Discord thought, 'where else would you be?

If he could slap himself in the face for such an obvious answer, he would have. Alas, he was still stone, and could only imagine himself doing so.

“But it’s not like he could do anything about it-”

Celestia tried to interrupt.

“- and I know that he can still hear anything around him. So what? It’ll give him some things to think about.”

“But what if he manages to break free? What we say here could change the course of the future,” Celestia declared.

“Would you like me to fabricate a conversation until we are out of earshot from Discord? I can make a funny story if you wish. Or would you rather have a tale of epic adventure?” Luna playfully teased.

‘Get on with it already. I thought pegasi were supposed to be great storytellers,’ Discord randomly thought. ‘And good at thinking on the spot. They are the ones with their heads in the clouds.’ Still he’d been waiting in the garden for so long, patience was a quality that he inevitably learned. ‘Oh well, I suppose it’s only a little bit longer until those two actually start saying some interesting things. Maybe...’

"Spare me, Luna." Celestia said, with a hint of malice in her voice. "Let's just quietly move away from...him...and talk elsewhere."

"Oh very well, sister."

Luna reluctantly complied with her sister's request, and resigned to silently being led by her solar sibling through the maze.

‘Oh, darn.’ Discord was less than pleased with this turn of events. ‘Of course they would move. They must be paranoid. I mean, if you can't trust a statue with some idle gossip, than you really need to relax a little. Oh, if only I was free, I could show them how to loosen up a bit. Then again, they would probably sic their little attack dogs on me, their 'Elements of Harmony' or what not, and turn me to stone once again.’

Discord continued on with his internal monologue for a few minutes, which felt like hours to him, but stopped when he heard a pair of familiar voices.

"Alright, I don't think he'll be able to hear us now." Celestia said.

'Oh, how wrong you are, princess.'

"Now tell me, sister," Luna whispered, betraying a hint of anger in her voice, "what is so important that you had to drag me away from my duties in the middle of the night to tell me?"

'Oh, please, do tell, Celestia. I'm dying to hear it.'

"Now, Luna, you remember our political relations with the Griffin Empire, right?"

"Only what you told me. We currently have an uneasy alliance with them, our trade relations cover things like gems and metals, and we both have been bolstering our defenses on each other's borders."

"Unfortunately, sister, that does not describe the situation in enough detail."

‘Political relations, trade agreements...Oh for Celestia’s sake, or your own sake in this case, get to the good part!’

"It doesn't, does it?" Luna was getting visibly angered due to her sister's assumed secrecy. "Tell me, dear sister, what have you been hiding?"

"Luna, I don't know how to say this," Celestia's speech started to stutter, and tears were beginning to form in her eyes, "but our nation may be on the verge of war."

‘A war?’ Discord was ecstatic with joy. ‘Oh, well now, how convenient is this?! I may just break out of this infernal prison yet...’

Luna’s eyes widened as she stared at her sister, near-speechless, “A war, sister? Surely you can’t be serious!”

The solar princess silently nodded, “Yes, sister, a war, and I assure you I am dead serious.”

Luna sighed, “But what reason could we possibly have to do battle with the Griffin Empire? I thought relations with them were running smoothly.”

Celestia sighed, “Yes...to the public eye. Behind the scenes, I have run into...well, a disagreement of sorts with the Emperor.”

Princess Luna rolled her eyes, “Oh spare me, sister; we’ve had hundreds of disagreements with other nations, maybe thousands! What makes you think that they would dare challenge us?”

‘To be fair,’ Discord said with an internal, smug smile, ‘it doesn’t take much to get me out, you know. Well, you don’t know, but you will soon enough, I’m sure.’

“It’s the emperor’s daughter. For many months now she has been gone, and apparently they caught a pony who has been dealing out lies about Equestria” she confessed.

The lunar princess seemed to growl just a little bit. “I wish to speak with the emperor”

Celestia shook her head, “That’s just it, Lulu. We are no longer on speaking terms. They have cut off all communications”

Luna frowned at the loss of their last diplomatic option, “Should we prepare defenses yet, then?”

Celestia sighed deeply and stared into the sky, “I don’t know, Sister, I just don’t know.”

With that, Celestia turned and walked slowly back into the palace. She almost regretted putting an end to the discussion so quickly; her sister might have had valuable advice now left unsaid, but on the other hoof, one could never be too careful around Discord. For all anypony knew, he might have the whole of Equestria, or at least the whole of the Canterlot gardens, under his influence from within his stone prison.

‘He can't possibly be a threat for another thousand years,’ Celestia reassured herself. Besides, she remembered the last time she'd been suspicious of Discord- not that that was very long ago- her advisors at this point took statue paranoia to be a weekly occurrence. Last week, the Royal Guards had nearly gone on strike about guarding statues instead of getting real action. The week before that... well, they'd agreed to never speak of the bunny incident again. And the week before that, an over-eager pegasus guard had mistakenly seized the statue of Star Swirl the Bearded and wrestled it to the ground.

Meanwhile, in the garden, Luna approached Discord's statue, at first apprehensively, then more boldly as she became certain Celestia was out of range.

Discord braced himself to be seized and wrestled to the ground, but to his surprise, she instead spoke to him.

"I wanted you to hear all of that."

‘And what's that supposed to mean?’ Discord thought furiously. No answer, of course, since all that his imprisonment afforded him was an internal monologue. Through his nearly useless petrified eyes, he caught what he thought was the slightest glint of mischief in Luna's expression. ‘Interesting. Very interesting.’

“Knowing you Discord,” Luna continued. “You already know what I have planned. After all, you did teach me every inharmonious thing I know.”

‘Oh, you can hear my thoughts.’ If Discord could have clapped his claws with joy if he could. ‘I was starting to believe that you had forgotten your old skills. So what do you want from your old master?'

Luna smiled, “Your power.”

‘There is not much left of it dear,’ the draconequus mentally chuckled. He knew that was what she wanted and he was not going to part with his abilities that easily. ‘Go find power somewhere else.’

“I could keep it safe,” Luna persuaded.

‘Keep it safe?’

Luna winked. “I can tell that your powers are fading away along with what you call sanity. I could keep both of them safe with me.”

Discord knew she was right, and as he prepared to decline, he stopped himself. An idea formed in the back of his mind that he hid from the younger princess.

'Very well.' He tried to sound reluctant. 'You can have my power and chaotic essence as long as you give it back to me when I escape.'

Luna grinned triumphantly as his power moved itself into her. When the energy ceased to flow she looked back up at the statue.

“Thank you my former master,” she taunted. “But I do not intend on giving it back.”

The statue didn’t reply and Luna couldn’t feel the sentient mind of Discord within its stone. A sudden pressure pushed up against her mind.

‘Hooray for you,’ Discord said within her consciousness. ‘You got the package deal. My power and me! Do you want fries with that?’

‘You’ve gotta be kidding me!’

‘Nope. I most assuredly am not kidding. I said my power and chaotic essence. Oh look! I found one of your old foalhood memories!’

‘Get out of there! Those are private you...you!’

‘Bwahahahaha! Oh I am going to enjoy this! Hmmm, this room looks comfy, I’ll just set up shop here.’ A mental Discord opened a door, and began to throw metaphorical junk and sentimental memories out into a long dimly lit hallway for a mental Luna to try and catch.

Struggling to catch the veritable blizzard of memories and other things flying at her, Mental Luna ground her teeth in frustration. ‘What in Equestria possessed me to let his powers into me? I should have known better!’

The Spirit of Chaos’s voice replied from his new room, ‘I guess I still have that effect on ponies. Clouding one’s judgement is an art, I’ll have you know, and isn’t as easy as it looks. ‘Course those hairless apes of mine do it so well, I barely have to do anything with them. Hmmm, I should probably check on them, been a while.’

Luna heard the creak of a lid being opened from the room and a soft *squee* emanating from what she assumed was Mental Discord. ‘Oh look! They’re fighting again! So cute!’

Mental Luna simply facehoofed. Giving an exasperated sigh she asked, ‘So how long are you planning on staying here?’

‘Hmmm, how does forever sound?’ His maniacal laughter echoed in her mind, as Mental Luna screamed.

‘NOOOOOoooooooooooooo!’

Meanwhile, outside Luna’s internal conflict, Celestia had already walked halfway back to the castle. But she had a strange foreboding feeling that something was amiss with Luna. She attempted to contact her sister telepathically, but found only a wall. No resistance, just unreachable. And this shouldn’t happen, even near Discord’s area. There was something obviously wrong with her sister, and so Celestia decided to take the express route and fly above the garden. She spotted Luna near Discord’s statue, and she was writhing on the ground holding her head.

“Luna! Are you alright?!” Celestia asked once she landed. At the voice of the white alicorn, Luna was able to gain control of her own senses once again.

“Oh! Yes, I’m sorry Tia. Discord was just having a fitful argument with me over here. I think we should leave now.”

“Yes... we should.” Celestia turned to the statue, which was void of any entity. However, she did not know this, and did not bother to check before she spoke. “Stay away from my sister, Discord. Or I will allow you to be taken into an anti-magic vault deep inside the Canterlot Mountain.”

‘Oh please try,’ Discord remarked from inside Luna’s mind. Luna inwardly growled, for she did not like hearing her sister be mocked. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it. At least, for the moment, it seemed like Discord would be pleased with spectating events. For now.

Celestia turned back to her sister. “Come, Luna. The War Ministry wishes to speak with you especially.”

“Me?” Luna replied in surprise. “Why me in particular, sister?”

“They see you fit for this role much more than I this time. You have been very active in foreign politics after just a little over two and a half years since your return. They also see you as the one more willing to take the necessary actions, rather than me.”

‘Oh this seems very fun,’ Discord commented to Luna. ‘Wait... You came to me for a reason other than respect, didn’t you...’ Luna didn’t answer and just kept walking. ‘Right. You’re not going to tell me... BUT I can just access your memory files!’

When Luna heard this, she nearly jumped in real life. Still, she kept her composure, and attempted to keep Discord out of her memories and thoughts. Alas, it was for naught.

‘Oh what’s this?’ Discord said aloud in the vast rooms of Luna’s mind. He rooted through imaginary filing cabinets, until he found the latest ‘transcript’. ‘So THIS is your reason for seeking me out. You already knew that there was a possible prospect of war, so you sought me out for extra chaos to help in assistance with war affairs! Clever girl...’

‘Silence already, you annoying spirit!’ Luna mentally yelled.

‘Alright, stop right there. It’s been awhile since I’ve had some fun, so I’ll help you with it.’

‘Right...’

‘Seriously! You wanted my chaos for this reason, right? To help direct a war? But that doesn’t mean I’ll do it peacefully. You’re simply too fun to mess with for that. Though it would’ve been better if it was Celestia’s head... No matter. I’m here now.’

‘Would you be quiet for a few minutes, you freak of nature? I need to keep my composure in front of the ministry, and I can’t do that with you taking center stage in my mind!’

‘Oh very well, Luna, I’ll comply, but only because you asked so nicely...’ There were clear hints of sarcasm in his voice.

Luna quickly pushed the meddlesome draconequus to the back of her mind, hoping to maintain some semblance of composure as she and her sister walked through the castle halls. They soon arrived at the solid wood doors of the War Room, a past relic from Nightmare Moon’s time.

“Well, Lulu, I’ll leave you to it.” Celestia said.

“Wait,” questioned Luna, “You’re not coming in with me?”

“No, they wanted you, and I find myself uncomfortable with this business. They will report back to me with their decisions.”

“Very well, sister. I shall see you tomorrow at breakfast, then?”

“Sounds good, Lulu.”

With a sisterly nuzzling of each other's necks, they parted ways, with Celestia heading back to her room to catch a few more hours of rest before raising the sun in the morning, and Luna heading past the wood doors and into the War Room to converse with the ponies gathered inside.

The War Room wasn’t exactly large. It was lit by torches, which were placed in holders on the wall. There was a large table in the middle, with a map of Equestria and its surrounding countries. On the map were various flags, meant to represent the current positions of friendly forces and the last known location of enemy forces. Gathered around the table were four other ponies, each in their ceremonial armor, which was a solid gold color with dark blue stripes, meant to signify the reunion of Celestia and Luna as co-rulers.

The pony standing at the head of the table snapped a quick salute to Luna.

“Princess Luna!” He said. “Pleasure to see you.”

“Spare me the formalities, General. Let’s get down to business.”

“So,” she began into the mess of a meeting this would be, “what are our options?”

“Well, the most obvious and least sane option...” the old pony began, causing a mental chuckle from Discord.

‘I like that, Lulu, choose that! Choose that!’ he mentally yelled in a childish fashion.

‘You do NOT get to call me Lulu you abomination! Just shut up, I’m trying to listen!’  she almost screamed at him in her head.

“...would be a full-scale assault on the Griffin empire,” he said with a chuckle and a roll of his eyes, “which, obviously, we probably won’t end up doing”

‘Why not?’ he asked Luna playfully.

She sighed, ‘Because if we DID, we would lose a majority of our military forces!’

‘Hmmm...I don’t like the sound of that...who will I use to enforce my laws when I retake Equestria?’ he asked with a slight hint of sadness in his voice.

Luna rolled her eyes, ‘You are NOT taking over Equestria again, Discord!’

‘Oh, perhaps you’re right,’ he sighed, ‘I WON’T have any laws, will I?’

“Ahem,” one the generals said, gathering Luna’s attention, “pardon my...observation, your majesty, but are you alright? You seem to be in some sort of...internal debate.”

“Oh...I’m sorry, gentlecolts, I’m just thinking about what would be the best for Equestria,” she lied.

They were satisfied with her answer and continued, “Our second option would be to take out their navy to show that we aren’t joking. With no navy, they’ll hopefully understand that they can’t mess with us.”

The third pony, who had remained quiet up until now, spoke, “I think this may be one of the better options, your majesty, as it may cause a large amount of destruction, but in turn it will most likely avoid a massive war that would devastate both of our countries.”

Discord frowned, ‘I don’t think I like that option...can we please go back to the ‘all-out offensive’ option? That one looked like a blast!'

The commander spoke once again, “Our last option, Princess, would be to instead build our defense. If the Griffin empire saw how strong we were, they would think twice before attacking us, I’m sure. That is the peaceful option.”

The third one chuckled, “I suppose you could crash the moon into the empire”

He cringed, realizing that it was possible that the Princess would actually do that. He blinked, then looked at her with a look that said ‘it was a joke’.

She pretended to ignore it.

They all looked at her, expecting an opinion to leave her lips, but she only stood shaking her head, ignoring Discord’s screams of joy at the “crash the moon” option, “I...I need some time to think this over...”

“If I may, your majesty,” the second general began, “we seem to be running out of time, so a hasty decision may be best”

She sighed and walked out, “I will have made a decision before the morning, I promise.”

~

Luna had been pacing around the royal chambers since the meeting. At this point, she was definitely pushing the limits of what could be considered "before morning". The lowering of the moon was slightly behind schedule, though as it occurred to her, even being late on that was forcing Equestria's hooves towards war. According to her calculations, which with regard to her lunar duties were infallible, the delayed moon was currently causing unusually low tides in griffin territory. If she waited much longer, simple gravity would wreak havoc on the griffins' coastal lands.

She switched to walking counter-clockwise to relieve the monotony. Her horn glowed as she picked up the list on her desk once again.

A. Total war. Heavy casualties.

B. Strike griffin ports with extreme prejudice.

C. Defense. Build up our own forces.

D. Hit them with the moon. (???)

‘Is this some kind of joke?’ Discord asked from within her mind. ‘You're no closer to a decision then when you started.’

‘I don't want your help.’

‘You're going to get it. We're taking this into your headspace.’ Discord said. Luna found herself facing Discord across a clearly hallucinated but very expensive-looking table.

The draconequus reached under the table and produced a chess board.

"Heavy-hoofed on the metaphor, I know," he apologized as he arranged the pieces. "With chaos spread so thin after my defeat, it's had to cut back a bit in the subtle analogies department. The chaos would be delicious, but even I would have to advise you against total war. I'd prefer to have something left to rule over when, I mean if, I take over. The peaceful option is, of course, also right out."

He visibly cringed at the thought of Equestria making it through the ordeal uneventfully. The chess pieces began to move, playing through a game of their own accord.

As much as Luna wanted to disagree with Equestria's former nemesis, she had to admit that he was right on both counts. The natural aggression of griffins, at least in comparison to ponies, meant that, more likely than not, something active had to be done. "Our forces are ready for a preemptive strike on their ports. We could have naval superiority by tomorrow night."

"They'll expect that. Any SANE enemy would."

"If we can bring up our reserves of pegasi by then, their forces will be crippled regardless. Even if their king does not re-establish diplomatic contact, we would be in more or less a winning position." The nonexistent player of the black pieces was up by a knight.

"Enough, Luna. You're GOING to take the insane option. That's not a question. That's a statement." On the chess board, the queen threw itself against the enemy line, with three ways it could be taken. "If anything, sacrificing the moon is the simplest option. All you have to do is let go. Oh, and the stallion who suggested that to you... give him a promotion."

As Luna left her internal dialogue, she felt the moon begin to drop. More than anything, she just hoped Celestia would think this was an accident.

'In case you were wondering,' Discord continued, 'the chess game ended right there.'

A New Day of Unwanted Events...

Chapter 2

Luna didn’t know when she had fallen asleep but after a series of Discord filled dreams a loud banging sound pulled her out of it. Her eyes snapped open and looked at her door.

“Luna!” Celestia’s enraged voice washed away any lingering weariness. “You have some explaining to do!”

The younger princess searched her mind for an excuse. The idea of running away even crossed her mind a few times. Discord was surprisingly silent during her panic. Luna guessed he was still asleep. She hoped Celestia didn't blow down her door before a logical excuse could be found. Telling her sister ‘Discord made me’ would probably get her sent to an alternate place since her moon was now a mountain where the Griffin Empire had been.

‘The griffin’s would be proud,’ Discord yawned. ‘Their mausoleum is the largest mountain in the world.’

‘Shut up you. You’re the one who got me into this mess in the first place!’

‘Oh no, you are not pinning this all on ME missy. After all, it was your desire for my powers that led to all of this in the first place!’

Luna was about to reply when her door suddenly disappeared in a massive explosion of wood splinters, smoke and fire. An extremely angry looking Celestia walking through the shattered remains of the door. Her usually peaceful and beautiful mane was now a raging inferno of solar activity, and her eyes were literally aflame with rage. Luna felt the surrounding air temperature ratchet up a few hundred degrees or so. In fact some of her more flammable possessions were beginning to smolder as Celestia advance on the now cowering princess of the night.

She lowered her head till it was face to face with Luna’s and spoke quietly, “You my dear sister, have misused your powers for the last time. I now see that it was a mistake to trust you after what happened a thousand years ago. As punishment you shall be stripped of all of your powers and banished to the sun for eternity.”

“I-I’m s-sorry sister, but Discord-”

“ENOUGH! I have made my decision and I shall carry it out for the good of the world. Goodbye...sister.” With those final words, Celestia’s horn began to glow with her magic, slowly a magical aura surrounded it and grew brighter and brighter, till it looked like a miniature sun had formed in the room.

Squinting her eyes in pain at the spells brilliance, Luna could feel her powers being slowly drained. If anyone wants to know how painful that is, just imagine that all of your bones were broken at once, now raise that by a factor of ten and you’d come close to the amount of pain that Luna was experiencing at that moment.

After what felt like hours, but was in fact less than half of an hour, the spell was complete. Laying on the floor panting from the pain, Luna looked up at her sister’s face, hoping against hope that she wouldn’t send her to the sun. No such luck, with one last flick of her horn, Celestia completed the banishment spell, and Luna disappeared from the land of Equestria. It was at that moment that Luna awoke from sleep.

“NOOOOOOoooooooooooo!” screamed Luna as she sat upright suddenly in her bed. Her coat was drenched in sweat, and she was breathing hard. What happened? Was that all just a dream?

‘Hehehehe, oh that was fun.’

‘Discord.’ she mentally growled. ‘Don’t you ever mess with my dreams again, or so help me I’ll...’

‘You’ll what? Throw me into prison? Banish me? Throw me into prison in the place you banished me too?’

There comes a point where even the patience of a goddess reaches its limit, and Luna, unlike Celestia, didn’t have all that much patience to spare. What she did have was a mean temper, and since she was princess of the night, that translated into her being in control of the dream world. Aka, the mind, unfortunately for Discord, while he could mess with her mind, and others, he had no where near the level of mastery over the dreamscape that Luna did.

So when he finally pushed her too far, she retaliated.

‘Hey! What are doing? Put me down! Foul I say foul!’

Said retaliation was to lock Discord away in his own nightmare for awhile and see how he liked it. His horrified screams were sweet music to her mental ears as she placed him in the one place that he feared above all others. The logical and reasoning part of her mind, where everything made sense and was orderly. In addition, she placed special wards upon him to keep him contained and harmless, at least for a little while, in there, while she set about figuring out how to fight the war.

Shaking her head to reorient herself with the real world, she finally heard the panicked pounding of hooves on her doors. Giving a heavy sigh she thought to herself, ‘Well at least I know what’s the first thing on my list of things to do today is.’

“Princess Luna! Princess Luna! You are requested by the War Ministry!”

Luna opened up the door to reveal a guard bearing the message. “So I have heard. What time of day is it?

“It is not even midday. But the Ministry calls for your presence.”

“Very well then. Please return to your duties. I will proceed with the meeting with the Ministry shortly.”

The guard left to go to his post, leaving Luna alone with her thoughts, and fortunately right now, only her thoughts. She searched her inner energy, and found chaos present among them. It would help with orchestrating the war.

Still, she worried about that chaos. Would she be able to keep it under control? Perhaps the Elements of Harmony should be brought to the castle just in case. It was a good plan, but since it wasn’t yet necessary, Luna would wait calling on them until later. For now, she had to meet the War Ministry.

As she walked out of the door, another memory had come up- what had happened to the moon? Luckily, Celestia was just walking by, presumably to check on Luna.

“Sister!” Luna called out.

Celestia turned at her name. “What is it Luna?”

“I would like to know... what had happened with the moon last night?”

Celestia appeared slightly downcast. “Well it went down past the horizon as normal. But.... before that, it started coming closer to the earth. It affected tides heavily, and it apparently affected the griffons the worse. The waters terrorized their ports, with damages at varying amounts. I’m sure the dropping of the moon was completely accidental, with all the stress put on you by recent events, but unfortunately, the griffons saw it as an act of aggression, and have now officially declared war.”

Luna was taken aback. Then she was surprised that her mind was quiet, as she just remembered that she had locked Discord away for an undetermined amount of time. She actually expected a retort from the draconequus, but he was currently... indisposed. Luna was finally able to react a little more naturally.

“Declare war? We are now officially at war?

“Yes. And that is why the officials have decided that now would be a good time to wake you up.”

“I see. I guess I should be making my way to the War Room now?”

Celestia nodded. “Well then, good night, Tia.”

“Good night to you, Lulu. I hope you do not have much trouble this night.”

“I’m sure it will go much more smoothly.” With that, Luna left to meet the Ministry.

She walked slowly, first thinking of Discord’s horrible dream. She apparently crushed the griffon’s country with the moon. It was absurd, though probably effective. Perhaps she should consider it an actual option for much later, obviously giving it much more thought rather than doing it on a whim like in her dream. For now, she had to get to the War Room. She quickened her pace.

As Luna briskly walked through the castle halls, she was already developing a strategy in her head, planning every intricate detail of the coming operations. Troop formations, logistics, recruitment, manufacturing, Spec Ops; everything was being carefully considered within the confines of the lunar princess’ mind. As well as military strategy, she was pondering the events of the night before.

‘Damn, this whole Discord thing was a bad idea. How could I be so foolish? How could I let him influence me like that? Because of that freak, I just escalated the situation to a full-blown war! I have to find some way to get this meddlesome thing out of my head! No, Luna, nevermind about that now. You have a war to fight. War first, Discord later.’

She was so busy with her mental gymnastics that she almost passed by the doors to the war room. As she entered the doors she was greeted with a salute from each of the four generals, which she promptly returned.

“At ease, generals.” Said Luna.

The generals immediately put their hooves back on the ground.

“I trust that you all have come up with strategies?”

“Of course, Luna.” said the first general, General Storm Thumper. “All of us have come up with different offensive plans to-”

“Why only offensive?”

“Well, ma’am,” continued Storm, “After you followed the ‘advice’ given to you by General Anchor Weight, “ At this point, Anchor could be seen lowering his head in embarrassment, “We lost the ability to simply build up defenses. The other generals and I may differ with our strategies, but one point we do agree on is that the griffins will try to attack before we are ready, and that we need to make the first move.”

“Is this true, everyone?” As Luna looked across the table, All four generals nodded in agreement.

“Well, I agree. Storm, Let’s hear yours first. I trust that, since you lead the Air Force, your plan will utilize them to their fullest?”

“That’s absolutely correct, princess. Here, just let me...” As he spoke, he cleared the table, and proceeded to place his own pieces on the map.

“Ah, much better. Now, let’s get down to business. I believe that the first order of business should be to establish air superiority. If we are able to take control of the skies, We would be in control of the griffin’s main theatre of war. They would be at a significant disadvantage with their favourite arena denied to them. From there, ground forces could easily assault defensive positions, while the Navy could shell strategic points. The griffins would be overwhelmed, and would easily surrender. The war would be over in a matter of months.”

“Interesting, General.” Said Luna. “How about you, Anchor? Let’s see what you’ve come up with.”

“Very well, ma’am.” Anchor Weight cleared the board of Storm’s pieces, and began laying down his own. “As the leader of Her Majesty’s Navy, I know a good opportunity for sea warfare when I see one. Personally, I say we should exploit their weakened naval capabilities. Their ships were damaged due to your lowering of the moon, and my ships can easily kick somepony when they're down. Their ships would never last against ours in the condition they’re in. Once the ships are down, the port towns would be next. Short range shelling could decimate the port towns in a heartbeat. As for ground troops, I have more than a few transport vessels that could land ground troops and cannons on their beaches. From there, the invasion would proceed however Stonewall and Spear Edge want it to.”

“And I assume you would be providing support with your ship cannons, Anchor?”

“All the way to the Griffin Emperor’s front gates, ma’am!” Luna could tell he was enthusiastic about the prospect of battle.

“Excellent, General Anchor. Next, please.” Luna’s stress was eased just a little bit by the ideas coming from the generals.

“I believe that would be me, madam.” Stonewall quickly removed Anchor’s arrangement and put down his own.

“Personally, madam, I feel that a full assault is in order. My earth ponies are more then capable of simply pushing the enemy back to their capital. With support from the other divisions, we would be able to form a wall of troops that would keep pushing. No retreats, no excuses, no mercy. In a matter of months, we could go from the border to the castle.”

“Not bad, Stonewall, but I’m still not sure about a full on offensive.” Luna did not want to lose any more lives than was absolutely necessary. “And finally, we come to Spear Edge.”

“Yes, we do, princess. Now to show off my contribution. “ Interestingly enough, Spear, instead of moving to clear the pieces, grabbed some papers from out of the saddlebag that was at his hooves.

“Now, I didn’t come up with a strategy, per se,” Said Spear, “But I came up with something that will help with all the previously mentioned plans. As you all know, the Unicorn Division handles both artillery as well as R&D. Well, we’ve come up with something that will increase our effectiveness 10 fold.”

Spear pushed the papers over to Luna and the other generals and remained silent, allowing the others to drink in the majesty of his plan.

“Um, Spear?” said Anchor, “What exactly am I looking at here? All I’m seeing is a bunch of technical drawings.”

“My boys down in R&D have developed a new type of cannon that can increase the power of a spell by 10 times. It harnesses the power of the sun in order to amplify the power of a unicorn’s magic. With this, we can go from providing close range support to raining fire down on towns miles away. I call it ‘The Magic Amplification Cannon,’ but you can just call it a MAC.”

“Very promising, Spear Edge,” said Luna, “but how long until it can be used in combat?”

“Actually,” responded Spear, “we’ve already built some test models. With some field testing, these babies could be in production within a few days, if everything goes well.”

“And what better field test than an actual war, right Spear?”

“Pretty much, princess. And, Anchor, If we’re lucky, we could have some of these mounted onto some of your ships in due time.”

“Oh, I like the sound of that,” exclaimed Anchor, visibly excited by the prospect of having a cannon as powerful as the MAC mounted on the deck of one his vessels.

“Well, Gentlemen, “ declared Luna, “I certainly have a lot to think about, don’t I?”

“With all due respect, princess,” replied Stonewall, “We will need a decision as soon as possible in order to mobilize our forces in a rapid fashion. Now would be preferable.”

Luna pondered over the different strategies in her mind. ‘What do I do? Each one has its merits. Storm Thumper’s strategy limits the fighting ability of the griffons, Anchor Weight’s strategy takes advantage of the weakened navy, and Stonewall’s strategy is so simple yet deadly in its implementation. Well, at least I know which one Discord would pick. Oh, what to do, what to do... Hmmm... Aha! I’ve got it!’

“Gentlemen, I have made my decision.” Luna announced smugly.

They all blinked simultaneously in confused unison, before Spear spoke up, “Er, and what would that be, then, your majesty?”

‘Genocide’ a familiar voice whispered in the back of her head.

“Genocide!” she announced triumphantly.

The generals all recoiled in horror, “W-what did you say, your majesty!?”

Luna blinked; what did she say? Genocide? Genocide! Oh buck, genocide!

She cleared her throat, “Er, psyche! Aerial superiority!”

The generals all chuckled nervously as they wiped the sweat from their brows, before Anchor spoke up, “You weren’t really thinking about that, your majesty, were you?”

‘Yes, I was and still am!’ Discord whispered mischievously.

“Yes, I was and still am!” she exclaimed before she put a hoof over her mouth. “Just kidding! I wasn’t really!”

After a few awkward moments of silence, she started to slowly back away from the table to the door. “Right then, Gents, I’ll be off! Continue on with your...duties and, er, I’ll see you this time tomorrow! Bye!”

She burst through the doors and ran down the hallway screaming, “Tia! Tia! Where are you!?”

Anchor shouted after her, “Wait! Your majesty! We still haven’t formulated the military’s budget yet!”

Spear facehoofed. “I’m loyal to my princesses, but I’m more than a little scared about Luna...”

They all silently nodded in agreement.

Luna nearly tore the doors off of their hinges as she galloped into her sister’s room, “Tia! Are you there!?”

Sitting at her desk, Celestia looked up and raised an eyebrow. “Er, yes? What’s wrong, Lulu?”

Princess Luna was shaking. “Tia! Look, you have to take me out of office for a while,I’m not fit for duty!”

Celestia blinked, before hugging her sister tightly and looking deeply into her eyes. “Lulu, calm down, deep breaths. Now tell me what’s wrong.”

Luna wept into her sister's iridescent mane. The situation was far beyond what hugs could remedy. "Celestia... the moon... surely you must know..." With Discord's influence hindering every word, getting out even a nondescript sentence fragment was an accomplishment.

'You will tell her NOTHING!' His voice drowned out Luna's own thoughts with a mental shout. 'Not now! Celestia mustn't know of our arrangements yet!'

‘Yet? You mean that you have a plan?' Luna asked. ‘You're not even living up to your name anymore, Discord.’

'Oh, no, I'm just making this all up as I go along. It's more fun that way!'

'Yes, it must be fun to have a moon dropped at you. I wonder how they feel about that.'

'That's... er, that's not the point. Though it is pretty amusing. And tell her what you want, as long as you don't mention ME. I'd like to see her reaction when she figures it out on her own. It'll be priceless!'

Luna was snapped out of her internal debate by her sister's voice. "Um... Luna, you've just been standing there. Do you have anything else to say?"

"If I've made some questionable decisions lately, it's because I'm, well, not exactly in complete control of our- I mean, MY mind right now." Luna thought that was enough of a description to put Celestia on the right track. "You know me well enough to know I wouldn't do what I just did. Removing me from power, at least temporarily, is what a good sister, and a good ruler, would do."

Celestia paused briefly in thought. "There's no precedent for removing one of us. A thousand years ago, the two of us were the entire government. But now, just to give one example, somepony would have to take your place in the War Room. I wouldn't trust any of the four generals to be in charge of the other three, and there are so many other committees that you have to be on... the budget, the school for gifted unicorns, that secret project that I forgot to tell you about yet, and-"

Luna raised a hoof. "The war is the only pressing issue at the moment. Surely you must have somepony in mind." With a supreme effort, breaking Discord's defenses against her saying more, she hastily added, "And have somepony examine the statues in the garden."

The sun princess looked back at her in confusion, then smiled. "Yes, I have the best pony for the job."

Luna stared into the icy wasteland that was beyond Stalliongrad that Celestia had taken them. A small building could be seen out in the middle of the wasteland with a flag that was waving in the air. Supposedly there was somepony here that was just suited for the job.

Celestia looked at her sister and saw the doubt in her face. “He was once one of the greatest military leaders we had in a very long time but over time he was moved out here since the other generals thought he had gone mad.”

‘This pony sounds fun!’ Discord exclaimed

‘We need somepony that can think properly, not just anypony who has gone insane.’ Luna retorted as the princesses neared the building.

A unicorn stood outside the building with a heavy cloak. His cloak was as white as the snow around him and he wore a strange mask on his face. Two blue mirrors rose to greet the two princesses.

"I’m guessing your not here to transfer me out of this post?" He said in a tired voice.

The sun princess paused at this statement. ”No... We are here to talk with your superior.”

“He’s inside, I swear that this will be the death of me.” He replied barely muttering the last part.

Celestia turned to Luna and looked at her with a serious look. “Before we head in there are a few things you need to know. First off he has basically been at war with something his entire life. That is why he rose up the ranks so quickly during the Germaney uprising, that happened before you returned. Next is that he is not really here with us, his mind sees and thinks through things differently. Lastly is Do. Not. Touch. His. Mug. He is very protective of it.”

They opened the door to find a sparsely furnished room that looked to have been abandoned long ago. A unicorn and a pegasus could be seen inside wearing similar cloaks as the one outside. In the middle of the room was another Unicorn wearing a black jacket, a strange red scarf, an old military hat with a star on it, and a mask that looked similar to the ones the other ponies wore. He sat behind a desk that looked to have been torn to shreds with a steaming mug with a red heart on it and a piece of folded up paper with a crudely written name on it, Direktor Captein.

“Welcome, what can zee captain do for you today?” The unicorn said before taking a sip from his mug.

Great, More Crazy Ponies...

Chapter 3

“Zee Captain?” Luna looked at the masked pony with a puzzled expression. “Never heard of you. Where are you guys from?”

Captain leaned back in his chair the purple lenses of his gas mask sparking in the dim light. “A wondrous land of adventure and fun!”

“Also known as the war torn wastelands of East Stalliongrad!” The blue masked sentry yelled from outside.

Luna turned to the other two ponies. One had a green gas mask and a tight biosuit, while the other was orange and wore a soft, furry coat. “Who are you two?”

The green masked pony spoke first. “I’m Pilot! Commander of Captains Air force!”

Luna couldn’t help but smile at Pilots enthusiasm. Discord thought the same.

“How about you?” Luna asked the other.

The orange masked pony sighed. “I’m Engie. I carry Captain’s damn shoes.”

“That’s, uh, important. I guess.”

‘I love these guys!’ Discord cheered. ‘Enlist them now. Make them your advisors and rule the world!’

“And that sad fellow you saw outside is Snippy. He is the crazy one of my minions.” Captain took a sip from his mug with his straw and somehow through his mask. “Snippy, I require a new beverage!”

The blue masked and white cloaked pony entered the room. “Why can’t you make Pilot do it? He's your favorite by the way?”

Captain didn’t answer but continued to stare at Snippy. After a full two minutes the white cloaked pony sighed.

“Fine.”

“Why are you all dressed like that?” Luna asked Zee Captain. “With gas masks and everything?”

“To survive in our surroundings no matter the amount of radiation!” Captain stood to show himself/herself off to the visitors. “Don’t I look simply stunning in this coat and scarf?”

“Very stunning,” she replied flatly.

Captain sat back down,”So I hear that you are at war with the griffons.”

“That is top secret! How do you know about-”

“Do not question Captain’s ways!” Pilot jumped up and stood, ready to attack. “Or you’s gets the scalding!”

“Settle down Pilot,” Captain chided the green masked pony. “Celestia told me about your terrible predicament.”

“If my sister told you then, very well. Yes I do need your help.” Luna let herself calm down as well. “I don’t know why I am asking this, or how you could possibly make a difference, but will you help us?”

“Well are you worthy to be of my services?”

Luna looked confused. “Are we worthy of being under you? What does that mean? I’m Princess Luna, one of the two highest positioned ponies in Equestria! Your country is asking for your help!”

“Well, Loony, how about you fill out this resume and I’ll consider it.” Captain leaned back on his seat.

“Loony? Don’t call me that- wait, never mind! Why would I fill out a resume? We’re employing you, not the other way around!”

“He used to work under me. Now look at what’s happened,” the pony named Engie spoke.

Luna was getting a headache. It wasn’t even from Discord, who was surprisingly quiet at the moment. It was from the randomness that was occurring that she couldn’t process, as well as maybe the cold air of the region. And maybe from the strange tingling sensation in the air. Whatever the case, maybe she could get somewhere by looking at the questionnaire.

“20 pages?! You must be joking!”

“And please use a #2 pencil.”

Discord finally spoke from the inner reaches of Luna’s mind. 'Okay, you know what? Can we get out of here? Even I don’t get it. And didn’t ‘zee Captain’ say something about radiation? Because I think it’s getting to your head, Loony-'

‘Don’t call me that!’

Discord chuckled. 'Anyways, I think it might be getting to your head. And it hurts. So can we leave?'

‘Perhaps if I stay here long enough, the radiation can purge you from my mind. But because that would involve frying my own mind, I will go.’

Luna turned to her sister. “Celestia, may we return to Canterlot now? I will...” the night alicorn glanced at Captain, “... consider his abilities.”

“But your interview is not yet over,” Captain stated.

Princess Luna slammed her hoof on the table. “I couldn’t give a BUCK about your interview, you imbecile! Celestia, we are leaving! NOW!”

Luna briskly walked out the front door of the house, with Celestia following behind.

“Lulu, I really think you should have been a little less hasty with your decision. We really could have-” Luna immediately spun around and cut her off with her own torrent of yelling.

“Less hasty? That colt is a moron! Did you read his stack of papers? E-mails? Phone numbers? Salsa dancing?! He’s somepony I wouldn’t trust with a butter knife, let alone a military operation, and I will back-hoof you across the snout if you even consider him for filling my role!”

Celestia was about to answer back, but she saw a unicorn on a distant hill. The unicorn was using a pair of binoculars, but behind them she could see a pair of glowing pink eyepieces.

“Um, Captain?” shouted Celestia, “There’s somepony on the far hill. You know him?”

Captain immediately jumped out of his seat, mug still in his hoof. “What does he look like!?”

“About the same as all of you, but with pink lenses on his mask.”

“That’s Mr. Stalky! Snippy! After him!”

Snippy could be heard grumbling under his breath as he started to gallop after ‘Mr. Stalky.’ Celestia and Luna took off and left the war-torn and irradiated ruins of Eastern Stalliongrad behind them. After they had flown for a few minutes in silence, Luna decided to ask Celestia a question.

“Tia, do you know of anypony else that could take my place in the war room?”

“I think I know of somepony else, but I’m not one hundred percent sure. Follow me.”

With that said, Celestia and Luna took a hard turn and left the insane ponies and teleported to The Mild West.

~

Meanwhile in the War Room...

"Do we even have rules on what to do without the Princesses around?" Stonewall asked the other generals in confusion. "There's probably something that says technically we're not allowed to be here right now."

Storm shrugged. "Celestia left a note with one of the guards. They're both off on important royal business looking for somepony. Wouldn't say where they went, though. Ah well, can't argue with alicorns." He glanced at the map of the battlefield, which was currently clear of pieces. "But Luna didn't finish making the plans that we were supposed to make yesterday. So there's a war on... and we officially haven't got a strategy yet."

"Princess or no princess, we have to do something. We can't just STALL. Which seems to be what we're doing right now," Anchor said. He reached under the table for a battleship piece and placed it on the board. "So if nopony else wants to fight this war, I will."

"And what exactly gives you the authority to do that?" Spear bucked the piece out of Anchor's hooves. "We all rank the same, and none of us voted for your plan."

Each intent on getting their own personal strategy put to use, none of the generals pointed out that this was exactly why a princess had to be present at their meetings.

Several hours, hundreds of games of hoof-wrestling, three actual fights, two black eyes, and one accidental unicorn horn stabbing later, they hadn't come to an agreement. They also hadn't noticed the uniformed pony standing at the door of the war room with a letter in his mouth, though he hadn't been there quite that long.

"Report from the front, sir," he explained. "Luna may have crippled most of the griffins' forces, but they are by no means harmless. Our failure to immediately capitalize on the surprise of the moon drop has given them time to attack some of the pony settlements near the border. Trottingham is under siege, and they can't hold out for much longer without reinforcements."

"Oh bucking hell," Storm said. "We'll send them right away. And another mission, soldier. Find out where the Princesses went, and what could possibly be more important to them than the war going on."

"There were reports of unusual activity near Stalliongrad. Might be a good place to start," Stonewall added.

"Yes, sir." The soldier left the war room.

Given focus by the news from the front, over the next hours the generals worked out a combined strategy that they had to admit, without being the slightest bit narcissistic, was absolutely brilliant and flawless. But as they exchanged hoofbumps in celebration, another report arrived, from the first pegasi to reach Trottingham.

Nothing had been happening there at all. In fact, the previous report had been an outright fabrication.

Stonewall facehoofed. "Great work everypony. We've got a spy to deal with now."

<<+>>

Back in Stalliongrad...

Zee Captain was standing outside the old east Stalliongrad train station as he watched Snippy and Engie carry enormous packs. None of this bothered him as he took a sip of his tea.

“Captain, we are ready!” Pilot shouted out from inside the station.

“Good! Soon we will be on our way.” Zee Captain replied.

Soon they made their way onto the closest train. The train was broken and in major disrepair, other than the metal frame the train would not even budge an inch. He decided to sit down next to a fine looking skeleton. Their conversation was going well before his other two minions entered the train.

“I’m telling you Luna was never banished to the moon!” Zee Captain said as his other two minions slowly began filing in.

“Isn’t it obvious? What do you mean the evidence says otherwise?! You are a boob to believe  in such nonsense!” He continued his conversation as Snippy and Engie just watched where they stood.

“What did you just call me?! I’LL KILL YOU!” Zee Captain shouted out as he lunged for the neck of the skeleton.

On impact the Skeleton fell to pieces inside the clothing it wore. Zee Captain dusted himself off before returning to his seat.

“Captain, you know this train is never going to move again. Ever. Where would we go anyways?” Snippy said as he stood by Zee Captain.

“Nonsense, I had Pilot find some old prototype engines and rigged them to the train. Public transit will never be late again! As Loony had said before, there is a war happening and you know what that means.”

“Dear Celestia, this thing is actually moving! We have enough problems already with the radiation and the cold!” Snippy replied as the train began increasing in speed as they neared some unknown destination.

“Yes, we're moving off to the lands of new adventure! Hopefully they left some war for us when we get there.”

“Where is there?!” Engie shouted over the engines as the landscape around them began to blur.

“Why, Canterlot of course!” Zee Captain replied before taking a sip of his tea through his mask.

The train flew through the frozen tundra with four unique engines strapped to the hull of the train. With the minions trying to obtain some sort of hoofhold, Zee Captain sat there drinking his tea and softly singing a tune he remembered from days gone by.

“...With Germane horde uncounted, With forces of the night...”

<<+>>

‘Ah, the mild west,’ Discord sighed happily as they walked towards a small hut in the middle of the desert. ‘Did you know this use to be a lush forest many thousands of years ago?'

‘Until you destroyed it.’ Luna tried to ignore the spirit and focus on the unassuming house.

‘I improved it, made it more fun!’ An image of Discord leaning in a hammock, sipping a imaginary lemonade from an upside down glass played in her mind as he continued. ‘From what I remember, you and your sister did most of the destroying when you fought me here on one of my many vacations.’

Luna rolled her eyes, then a question suddenly formed in her mind. ‘Why don’t you just leave my head? I freed you from the statue? Why stay with me?’

‘Oh, my little Lulu-’

‘Don’t call me that...’

‘You should know why I don’t leave you.‘ The draconequus laughed. ‘You have basically become my new prison. The spell holding me captive has just transferred over to you along with me.’

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Luna said out loud.

“What?” Celestia turned to face her. “Are you alright sister?”

“Uh, oh, yes.” Luna scrambled for an excuse. “Just the heat getting to me.”

“Alright,” Celestia smiled. “We have arrived.”

Luna looked up at the unhinged and broken door.

“Who could possibly live here that would be of any help to us?”

“Go on in and find out.” Celestia stepped back and motioned for her sister to enter. “He doesn’t like more than one visitor at once though. I will wait out here.”

Luna sighed nervously and walked through the door. As her eyes became accustomed to the darkness the rare click of a minotaur-made revolver and a stallion’s quiet yet dangerous voice sounded from somewhere ahead of her.

“What do you want?” He growled.

“We need your help fighting a war.” Luna replied strongly. “My sister and I are creating a group of skilled military leaders to fight alongside Equestria.”

‘So that is what you are doing?’ Discord interjected. ‘I just thought you guys were walking around abandoned parts of the world looking for crazy ponies!’

“Do you have money?”

“I have enough money to last you for the rest of your life.”

The sound of the gun being put away filled the air.

“Sounds tempting but I don’t fight in wars anymore.”

Luna was about to dismiss this shadowy pony but decided to press onwards. It was probably the fact that he had aimed a gun at her that was causing her determination.

“You could be the advisor. No field action.”

The stallion chuckled. “Now you're baiting me with something boring!”

Luna decided to give up. She turned to leave but stopped, recognition of the pony hitting her like a pile of bricks. The fact that he was using a minotaur made revolver that was customised for a pony should have given it away! “What if I had a way to allow you to see your children again?” The unknown stallion visibly perked up, raising his ears to listen closely to Luna’s words. “I recently came across a new form of power that could break the curse preventing you from seeing her again after you betrayed Equestria and cost so many ponies their lives all those years ago. Serve once again, be the legend you used to be, and you can see her again.”

A match suddenly was lit, casting a dim light on the pony’s rough face. A black wide brimmed hat covered the stallions eyes as he lit a short cigar.

“Now that is an offer I can’t easily throw aside,” he muttered as he puffed smoke towards Luna. He looked up at her with calm, cold and sad eyes. “You win, I shall help you.”

Luna smiled. “Welcome back, General Black Apple.”

Manehattan Harbor, Naval Yard, HMS Honesty

“Good morning Captain Seasalt, how are you this fine morning?” Seasalt turned to face the cheerful voice, a near permanent scowl on his face.

“I would be fine, if we weren’t at war Mr. Capstan. I’d also be a lot happier if we were actually ready for a bucking war!”

Capstan visibly wilted at the the captain's reply, his once cheerful face now a mask of seriousness. Seasalt tended to have that effect on ponies. He wasn’t a mean pony, just abrasive in nature. Looking around the pilothouse thought, Capstan could see why the captain wasn’t too happy. HMS Honesty was one of the older ships in the navy’s inventory, in fact she was the oldest, by nearly ten years, and her age showed. Paint was peeling, and the once shiny brass was beginning to turn green from corrosion. Parts of the wooden deck were beginning to rot, and her engines were in desperate need of an overhaul, and if one looked real hard, you could see that the forward mast was leaning slightly to the left. All in all she was in terrible shape, before hostilities broke out, she had been slated for decommissioning. Thus, she was ill prepared for when the war broke out.

It also didn’t help that Seasalt had recently been informed that he was to make ready for sea in less than three days. As a result, his mood had taken a turn for the worst, and he had been taking it out on the crew. His ship wasn’t the only one caught flat hoofed. HMS Valiant, Steadfast, Fearless, and Loyalty were also struggling to get ready for sea. Of the five ships, only Valiant, Fearless, and Honesty, were fully crewed, Steadfast and Loyalty had only a skeleton crew aboard. However, they were also the only two who were fully supplied, and in the best shape. Of course the reason they were in such good shape was because they were the newest ships to come out of the building yards, and were the first to be completely powered by steam rather than a combination of sail and steam.

It had always mystified Capstan as to why the navy spent so much more money on building new ships, rather than maintaining their current ones. Shaking his head, he focused his attention back to the captain and asked, “Are there any special orders for the day Sir?”

Shaking his head Seasalt replied, “No, other than hurry yer flanks up! What is the status on the engines?”

“Still working on em Sir, Chief Grease Gun thinks he might be able to get them working by the day after tomorrow. No promises though.”

“Damn, at this rate, we won’t be able to sail with the rest of the fleet when it leaves! In fact, we’ll be lucky to sail at all!” He stomped a hoof in frustration, turning to look back over the harbor, he could see the many ships, coming and going, and it frustrated him that his ship was stuck in port with a bum engine! Giving a heavy sigh he asked, “What about the sails?”

“I’m afraid that they are unsound Sir, Mr. Canvas thinks that if we tried to hoist the sails that they would snap the spars.”

“So, we have no engine, no sails, and no supplies?”

“Pretty much Sir.”

“What a cluster buck this is turning out to be.”

Capstan simply nodded.

<<+>>

Canterlot Castle

It was just nearing sunset when the two princesses returned to the castle. During the trip back, Luna had trapped Discord again, silencing him for yet another unknown length of time. The difficulty of locking him away varied, but it was always easier when her temper was raised by the spirit. The cause of the rage this time was some... remarks made against the general they had just hired back into service, partly due to the fact that he was the father of another pony Discord did not particularly like. Luna would not take these insults, even if she had mixed feelings about Black Apple.

Once landing at the castle, Luna first set to raising the moon, then went back to talk to her sister. “Celestia, are you sure Black Apple would be enough to help lead our forces in battle? I mean, do you think he is still fit for duty?”

“For one, I’m amazed I’m still involved in this. You are the one in charge of war affairs.” The two started walking towards the War Room to check on what had happened in their absence.

“Well you have more personal knowledge of the ponies that I must deal with. I was not here to know them well.”

“Of course. Now, about General Apple. You know his descendants as of now. They manage a large farm, all on their own, of which they are little in number. Their attitudes are filled with much vigor. Strong willed. Black Apple is no different. He knows what must be done in order to become victorious.”

“I’m aware. But I offered to break his curse. I fear that he may be under too much stress or too distracted to function. It was as if I had finally made the past catch up with him.”

“Yes, I understand. His past is not a pleasant one. But I know that he will pull through because it is his duty. Whether breaking his curse serves as a distraction or incentive is his choice to make.”

“Maybe we should continue finding additional ponies to help. I trust your judgement that he is a strong leader, but one pony can not do it alone. And I was foolish to think that it was possible for me to help orchestrate the war with the others.”

“You actually expected to be in the room with them planning strategies all the time? It’s not necessarily part of your job, you know. You only have to keep watch and be involved in major decisions. Nopony ever said you had to be in there working with them all the time.”

“I know. But it feels right that I should help in it. I have put much thought in the matter,” declared Luna. However, she knew that the statement wasn’t necessarily true, with the spirit of Chaos trapped in her head. Fortunately, it was possible to get breaks from him every now and then, but there was no telling when he might come back. “Though I still feel that there is a need for more minds of great strategy. Perhaps with enough, I can even relinquish the position I had put myself in.”

“You can already relinquish your position. Nopony can stop you,” Celestia stated.

“I will not. I have resolved to do as much as I can, and if that means I must stay in this position, I will stay.” Luna paused to think about her feelings. ”And I feel that I will only give up the position when I meet the greatest mind we can find.”

“The greatest mind?! What makes you think we can find the greatest warmonger general here in Equestria?! Anywhere but our country!”

“Exactly. I just won’t step down from my position then.”

“What do you want me to do?! Teleport in a replacement from another universe?!”

“Don’t start getting ridiculous with me, Celestia. As much as I appreciate jokes, this is serious business for me, and I’m not in the mood for jokes.”

“Luna, if you’d like, we can keep rooting through the files to look for the few remaining retired generals. Fly around Equestria reinstating them. Yes, many of them are veterans of some uprising or conflict. But what about the current generals in the War Room?”

“They are good, but the more there are, the more the plans are processed thoroughly. Yes, it runs the risk of more conflict between the ponies, but they are disciplined, high ranking leaders. They would know better.” As Luna said this, they arrived in front of familiar large wooden doors. Luna opened it, and saw the four generals... and got the impression that all did not go peacefully while they were gone.

Celestia leaned closer to Luna. “Yes, it seems like they know better.”

Luna approached the generals. “What happened here while my sister and I were away?”

The four stallions looked towards their superior. “...Disagreements,” answered Anchor Weight.

“It sure looks like more than that,” Luna deadpanned. “I would have trusted that as high ranking officers, this would never had happened.”

“We’ve got more important matters than what has happened in this room,” Stonewall said. “We had just gotten a report earlier that was false. We may be dealing with spies.”

“Where did you two go?” Storm Thumper asked.

Luna answered quickly. “Currently classified information. I will discuss it at a later time.”

“As you wish...” As the general finished speaking, a pegasus messenger arrived outside the door.

“General Thumper, a message has arrived for you,” the courier announced. “It’s from the Cloudsdale Airship Division.”

“Very well. Bring it here.” The pegasus walked over, gave the message, and left. The general opened it, and seemed pleased with the message. “Well, it seems that the new zeppelin model has just underwent its first successful test run.”

“Well, that’s some damn good news, right there!” Anchor yelled to Storm.

“Indeed, Thumper,” said Luna “that is very good to hear. Now, if you boys would please regain some semblance of professionalism, I must talk to you about something important.” Almost on cue, the four generals snapped a salute and raced to their positions around the table. Each one looked like they would collapse any second, but they stood strong and held onto consciousness. “Celestia, if you could close the door on your way out, that would be splendid.”

“Very well, sister.” said Celestia. “I shall see you in the morning. Oh, and please try not to overexert yourself. We all know what happened last time.” Celestia gave a slight smirk as she closed the door, leaving Luna with the four generals.

Luna made a face at Celestia behind her back, then turned to her subordinates. “Gentlecolts, I’m about to tell you something that may upset you, but I implore you to trust my judgement.” All four generals gave a quick nod. Luna looked at each of them, apprehensive about what she was about to say. “I have employed the help of some... outside forces.”

“Excuse me, princess?” Yelled Stonewall. The other three generals were taken aback by this outburst against their ruler. “Why would you do something like that? Do you not have confidence in our ponies’ abilities?”

“It’s nothing like that!” retorted Luna, “This colt knows war inside and out and will be a great asset to our operations!”

Spear Edge looked surprised. “Wait, you only got one pony? Who could possibly be so skilled that they would be the only one you hired?”

“Oh you might know his name, Spear.” said Luna. “It’s Black Apple.”

All four generals gasped at this revelation and stared at the princess with a horrified expression.

“Black Apple? Black Apple!?” Spear yelled. “You mean that foal of a bitch who pretty much ran the rebellion 20 years back!? You would bring HIM into this!? He had thousands of innocent ponies killed! He was the one who-”

Luna cut him off. “I know what he did! The fact of the matter is that he will be helping us with this war, and that is FINAL!” On the last word, she slipped into The Royal Canterlot Voice, a relic of the olden days she thought she had cast off long ago.

“Princess, with all due respect,” inquired Anchor, “How do you even know he’ll actually keep his word?”

“Simple. I have something he wants. Something he lost, something he holds very dear, and something that he would sacrifice everything to get back.”

“And what would that be, exactly?” Anchor was confused as to what would be so important to a washed up general.

“His daughter.”

“He has a daughter?! A stallion like him has a daughter?!” Anchor said. “Who?”

“Just think about it for a second. His family name is ‘Apple.’”

All four generals pondered for a moment. Who could they think of that had the family name of ‘Apple?’ Only one family came to mind; a certain farming family in a small town not far from Canterlot. Four pairs of eyes widened at the realization.

Stonewall was the first to speak up. “Wait...you don’t mean-”

“That’s right, Stonewall.” Luna replied. “The Element of Honesty herself. Applejack.”

After a long, awkward silence engulfed the group, Spear quirked up a single, questioning eyebrow, “So are we gonna kill her, or...?”

“What!?” NO!” Luna screamed, the last word slamming him into the wall.

Anchor rolled his eyes as Stonewall sighed, “What are you, stupid?”

“So now that we’re all in agreement about our new ‘friend’ Black Apple, why don’t you lot brainstorm a few ideas in my absence?” Luna asked/told them as she start to walk out.

Anchor’s eyes went wide, “Wait! You’re leaving us already, Princess? You just got here!”

“There are certain...emotional matters that I have to attend to,” she added, still walking, “I’m sure you all understand.”

“Y-yes Princess...of course,” Anchor replied, still confused.

Once the Princess had left, Stonewall turned to Spear and glared, “Kill her? What were you- Oh, he’s unconscious.”

Anchor and Stonewall shared a sigh, “We’re probably going to lose this war...”

<<+>>

Ponyville

The lunar princess walked through her beautiful night, cloaked completely from head to hoof. She was used to Canterlot where the paparazzi would photograph every inch of her flank should she go out for one measly minute. Being a smaller town, though, Ponyville was quite different. Virtually nopony (Save the occasional drunk) was out and about at that hour. For once, Luna appreciated that nopony was embracing her night.

And then he spoke. Again.

‘Aaah...such a calm night out tonight, yes? Go into the middle of town and use that Royal Canterlot shout thing or whatever it’s called...’ Discord said nonchalantly. 'Oh, say Fus Roh Dah realy loud!'

She made no comment and continued walking.

She travelled down a dirt road leading away from Ponyville to a small farm. She knew what she was about to do was probably going to be difficult, but she also knew that it was necessary. Applejack had to know about her father.

Sweet Apple Acres isn't as close to Ponyville as it seems, Luna thought as the farmhouse came into view. Then again, the nighttime walk had given her ample time to admire her work. With all the tribulations of the monarchy, she hadn't been able to do enough of that since returning from the moon. Doubt crossed her mind: had all the stars had risen in the right place, or had Discord been toying with that too.

‘Oh yes, Ursa Minor Beta ought to be just a little more to the left,’ Discord thought in response. ‘Good job noticing that, though I wouldn't have liked you to realize my growing influence so early.’

'And what will that do exactly?' the princess responded.

‘According to my current estimates, I'll be able to use your powers directly in... about a week. Give or take six days in either direction to account for the fact that that number was based on hallucinated assumptions,’ Discord said. ‘Still plenty of time to check into the Canterlot insane asylum. But that's not important right now. You came to Ponyville for a reason.’

Luna nudged the door open with her hoof. "Anypony home?" she whispered, rather pointlessly. Quietly she walked up the stairs and opened the four doors of the second floor.

Granny Smith, asleep in her rocking chair.

Applebloom and the other Crusaders, apparently trying to get a slumber party cutie mark.

Big Mac whispering something to Smarty Pants - how cute - oblivious to her presence.

By process of elimination, it had to be...

"Applejack!" Luna said, entering the fourth door. "I have to tell you about your-"

Nopony was there, but it was obvious somepony had been.

Luna noticed the grey feathers caught in the window frame, and sighed with relief that at least there was SOMETHING to go on. Nothing had been going as planned, and it didn’t seem inclined to start doing that now.

---

Two guards stood at the East Canterlot Train Checkpoint and did what they usually did, they watched an empty train track. Since the fall of Stalliongrad trains rarely came through here. Either they would find a way around the broken down city or not go at all. Before Stalliongrad fell, the trains that passed through had some odd magical residue that nopony could really place a hoof on. Today started as usual, watching the sun rise and then begin their daily duty of watching a barren train track. Everything was going as normal until a small dot on the horizon. They passed up the idea that a train might be coming until the dot grew large enough to see that it was not apart of their imaginations. The train blew down the tracks as though it was breaking out of Tartarus. Hastily they crossed their long spears in front of the train to no avail. The train blew past as it seemed to be spewing fire.

Back in Canterlot the train from the east blew straight into the braces at the end of the tracks. Four strange cylinders flew out of their straps and spiraled through the air until they exploded on impact. The train seemed to be strained to its very physical limits. This was punctuated with on of the walls fell down and made into an impromptu ramp. Out of the cabin four heavily covered figures stepped out into the open. All of them wore mysterious masks that hid their faces. Guards began swarming down into the station until the Captian of the Guard, Shining Armor, came down to investigate.

“Oh dear Celestia, he’s back.” Was all that Shining Armor could say.

“Why hello Shinning, I am glad to meet you again. Are you here to escort me and my minions to the War Room?” Zee Captain replied oblivious to shock expertly displayed by Shining Armor

Some crazy stuff happens!

Chapter 4

Applejack awoke and found herself in a dark room and tied to a chair. Or, she believed it was dark until the grogginess in her mind faded away and she could actually feel the sack over her head. The orange mare’s heart started to pound as she tried to figure out where she was. The faint sound of somepony crying next to Applejack caught her ear.

“Who is in here with me and where are we?” She demanded.

The crying stopped and the unmistakable voice of Fluttershy piped up. “Applejack? Oh, I am so afraid! Where are we, who ponynapped us?”

“Ah don’t know sugar cube. But everything is gonna be okay, Applejack comforted. ”The others will find us.”

“I sure hope so,” another voice sighed. “But I am most wonderfully happy that I’m not the only one here!”

“Oh, hello Rarity,” Fluttershy squeaked. “I didn’t know you were here. Do you have a bag over your head too?”

“Yes,” the fashionista replied flatly.

“I do too,” the excited voice of Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Do you think this is a surprise party?”

“I doubt it,” Rarity sighed.

“Wha- where am I! Help!”

“Oh, why hello Twilight,” Applejack beamed. “You're here too I see- er, I mean hear.”

“Where is here?” Twilight squirmed in her chair and tried to pull the bag off with magic but to no avail.

“No idea.” Applejack shrugged. “So, the only one of us not accounted for is Rainbow Dash. Maybe she will rescue us?”

“Doubt it,” hissed a certain multi colored pegasus from behind them.

“Aw, horseapples,” said Applejack

Somewhere in front of them a door opened and two individuals walked in. From the sound of talons clicking on the floor, Twilight could tell that they were Griffins.

“Ah,” one of them squealed joyfully in a high pitched accent. “Celestia's secret weapon now in our claws. Welcome to the Gryphon Empire ponies, I hope you enjoy your stay.”

“Secret weapon? What do you mean ‘secret weapon’?” Twilight asked their unknown interrogator.

“Why, the Elements of Harmony, of course, what else?” the griffon explained.

“Wh-what?!” Twilight was shocked. “The Elements aren’t a secret weapon! They’re not a solve-it-all WMD! I’m not even sure how they completely work!”

“Really? Well then, at least we can still use you six as leverage. I’m sure your princesses wouldn’t do anything too drastic with you under our talons.”

“Depends. How far are you going to go to use us as leverage?”

The griffon in front of her didn’t move, but the second one took steps around the group, coming to one of them and giving them a good hit. A loud audible thump was heard.

“Aaahhhh...” one of them groaned. It sounded like Applejack.

“Applejack!” the other five yelled.

“I’m alright... that hurt...”

Rainbow could be heard struggling in her chair. “Hey! Don’t hurt my friends, you-”

The griffon laughed. “You want some of it, pegasus? Well guess what? You keep struggling, and we’ll give it to your earth pony friend instead.”

“Who, me?” Pinkie asked. “Heh... n-no thanks, I’m fine, thank you.”

“And you- same goes for you- if you don’t stop talking, we’ll also give it to your other earth pony friend over there.” Rainbow stopped, defeated. Pinkie went quiet.

Twilight didn’t speak, for fear of more of her friends getting injured. ‘Celestia help us...’

<<+>>

Sweet Apple Acres

Princess Luna grabbed the grey feathers with her magic and brought them in front of her eyes. She looked them over with great care, before finally coming to a conclusion.

‘Huh, it’s the same color as the captain of the special intelligence unit. Stardust, I think his name is. But that can’t be right. The quill is far too thick for a pegasus feather. Besides, he and the other Royal Scouts are on the border of the Griffon Kingdom.’

‘Loony-’

‘Don’t call me that!’

‘Why are you thinking of random stallions? I thought you were here for those mares. Focus a little bit,’ Discord said with a chuckle.

'Focus?! Because you’re definitely helping.’

‘Hee hee, I know.’

‘Discord, I swear to Faust, when I get you out of my brain I’ll have your head cut off and mounted over my throne!’

‘And how do you plan on getting me out of your head exactly?’

‘How about I send you back down to the rational part of my brain so you can find out for yourself?’

‘Well, I walked right into that one, didn’t I?’ With that, Discord was flushed down to the reasoning and rational part of Luna’s mind, where he would remain scared and confused for a few minutes.

‘Well, now that that’s over with, back to this feather.’ Luna returned her attention back to the problem at hand. ‘So, the feather can’t be a pegasus, and it doesn’t match the coloring on any local birds. That could only mean...’

Luna’s eyes widened in horror at her realization.

“Griffons!”

Luna flew straight out the window and towards the town of Ponyville to check on the other five Elements of Harmony. She first went to Twilight’s Treehouse, but found a window broken and an empty bed. It was the same for each one of them; Rarity’s Boutique, Pinkie’s room at the bakery, Rainbow Dash’s cloud house, and Fluttershy’s cottage each had a broken window and a missing pony.

‘Oh Faust, no, they’re all gone. I have to tell my sister!’

Luna soared through the skies, making a beeline for Canterlot to tell her sister about the kidnappings and to mobilize a strike force to get the Elements of Harmony back.

<<+>>

Canterlot Castle, Throne Room

Princess Celestia was lying down on her bed, contemplating past events. She knew that her armies needed to move as soon as possible, before the griffons made their move first. That was imperative. The Empire of Equestria needed to make the first move and initiate the combat, so as to have an advantage over the griffon forces. As she was thinking, a certain dark blue alicorn burst through her bedroom door.

“Celestia!” Luna said as Celestia’s doors flew off their hinges, “I have grave news!”

“Did it warrant destroying my door?” Celestia said.

“I’d say so, sister. The Elements of Harmony have been kidnapped.”

Celestia’s blank expression turned to one of horror. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped to the floor.

“Are you sure Luna? Maybe they all went out to grab a bite to eat, or have a picnic, or-”

Luna cut her off. “Sister, I’m sure. Each house had a broken window and a missing pony. Also, I found a griffon feather at Applejack’s house.” Luna handed her solar sibling the feather that was caught on Applejack’s window.

“Griffon?” Celestia eyed the feather that was given to her, and her expression turned into one of barely contained rage. All of her muscles tensed up, and Luna backed away slowly as she stared at the feather with murderous intent. Celestia broke her stare with the feather and threw it to the side. Luna watched the feather burst into flames, then followed her sister out of the door. As they walked down the halls of the castle, servants quickly got out of their way, knowing that they would not want to be on the receiving end of Celestia’s anger. They quickly arrived at the entrance of the war room. Celestia spun around on her front hooves and bucked the doors open.

“GENERALS!” She yelled. The four generals quickly gathered around the table and snapped a quick salute. They tried to hide it, but their eyes betrayed them and showed their fear.

Celestia walked over to the end of the table closest to the door and continued to address the generals. “The Elements of Harmony have been kidnapped. I want our armies in Griffon territory NOW! Status Report! Stonewall!”

Stonewall quickly piped up, not wanting to be the one who angers Celestia any further. “Earth Pony Division is ready to move, ma’am!”

“Spear!”

“Test models of the MAC are ready to be mobilized, and the Unicorn Division is awaiting your word!”

“Anchor!”

“All Navy ships are ready and accounted for! We can be in the water in two hours or less!”

“Thumper!”

“Pegasi Division is ready to fly!”

“Good! I want you all to send a clear message to the griffons! This! Means! War! Is that understood?!”

“Yes, your majesty!” Like lightning, the four generals stormed out of the room, each tending to their respective operations.

“Luna.” Celestia said, starting to calm down just a bit. “I need you to send a spec-ops team into griffon territory to get the Elements back.”

Princess Luna smirked confidently. “I know just the right team for the job.”

As Princess Luna said this a guard came through the doors.

“Generals, there is a situation... Oh Princesses, you might be interested in this as well, since the generals are not here.” he began, almost running into Luna.

“I didn’t think that Black Apple would have made it here so fast” Luna commented.

“Well this morning a train came in from the East Train Checkpoint going at speeds well beyond any train schematics we have. I had proceeded down with Captain Shining Armor and found four oddly dressed ponies exiting the train. The captain seemed to have a past experience with one of the ponies but was too stunned to give more information. We have been trying to move them to the holding cells but they have been slipping through our grasps.” The guard explained before voice could be heard echoing off the walls of Canterlot Castle.

“Don’t worry Shinning, I still remember my way around the castle. I have to disapprove of the holding cells though. They have not been improved since I was here last.” A very familiar voice said as it grew closer to the war room.

“I am Shining Armor, Captain of the guard! Now you will follow my orders!” The voice of Shining boomed through the castle.

“Look, you can shout all you want but you can’t change his mind. I have been trying ever since I was placed under his command.” A different voice stated.

Hoofsteps could be drawing closer to the war room. The confused looks on the princesses quickly turned to utter shock as the mysterious ponies stepped in front of the doorway. Luna was just as shocked to find Zee Captain and his minions standing right there with a breathless Captain of the guard. He took a sip from his steaming mug looking back at everyone in the war room through his lens.

After a long dead silence Zee Captain spoke up. “Why is everypony standing around? Shouldn’t we be marching towards the Griffon Capital with blood on our hoofs and smiles on our faces?”

“You really have gone mad.” Luna responded.

‘Madness that only the genius possess, and the insane lament.’ Discord said.

“I also bring along with me a weapon of mass destruction. It can summon Cancer!” Zee Captain said as he magically pulled out a black purse with a cartoon cat on the front.

Appaloosa Train Station, Two Days Later

The fact that the foal was staring at him didn’t bother Black Apple. The fact that his mother continuously told him that “it wasn’t nice to stare at the ‘less fortunate’” made him angry. When the train heading to Canterlot arrived, Black Apple hoped that their attention would be directed elsewhere. But to his despair, they sat down next to him. Black Apple hated to ask for things,  it wasn’t in his nature. So he decided to make her move.

When the mare noticed him light his cigar she scowled at him. But the expression soon turned to smoke induced suffocation as Black Apple sat back and relaxed.

“Could you please put that out sir?” She coughed.

Black Apple acted like he hadn’t heard. The foal stared at him with wide, amazed eyes. Cigars weren't a commodity in Equestria, the ex-general had to order them from either the zebras or minotaurs.

“That is cool,” he squeaked in wonder. “It’s like you are a dragon!”

“Hm-hm.” Black Apple nodded but continued to sit back and look out of the window.

“No,” the mare growled. “It is not cool. It is disgusting and they say it shortens your life.”

“And for those reasons is exactly why I smoke them,” Black finally said. “I have no urge to live longer. In truth, it bewilders me that I am still alive. Fate can be a bitch.”

Black Apple couldn't help but smile as they moved to sit somewhere else. For the rest of the ride to Canterlot, Black Apple sat in silence.

He was almost asleep, with the cigar still hanging out of his mouth, when the train came to a screeching halt. He opened his eyes and peered out of the window. What he saw mildly surprised him. Blocking the tracks, was a pile of boulders and twenty gryphon rangers.

Giving a weary sigh, Black Apple rose from his seat, and grabbing his saddle bag in his teeth, made his way towards the door of the train car. As he passed by the mother and foal who had moved, the mother called out to him. “What are you going to do?”

Turning slightly, he replied, “I’m gonna ask em to move.” With that he turned and walked towards the right side door of the rail car, and pulling the brim of his hat low, stepped out into the bright sunshine .

At the front of the train, the griffon rangers were busy subduing the locomotives crew. As they were finishing their current task, one of them looked up and spotted Black Apple as he exited his car. One of them shouted, “Hey you! Drop your bag on the ground and assume the submissive position!”

Giving a small grin, Black Apple complied with the first part of the griffons request, and let his bag fall to the ground, a small cloud of dust rising from where it impacted. When he failed to assume the submissive position, the griffon, now irritated with the unknown pony’s refusal to cooperate stalked towards him menacingly. Black Apple’s expression didn’t waver as the large griffon made his way towards him.

Stopping in front of him, Black Apple was able to see that while the griffon was big, he was slightly bigger bulk wise anyways. Years of hard physical labor will do that to a pony, and even though he’d been relatively sedentary over the past few years, he was still in good shape.

The griffon felt his confidence wane as he took in the size of the pony before him, having misjudged his actual size from a distance. However he quickly regained his cool and looking the strange pony in the eye said, “Assume the position, or I’ll make you pipsqueak!”

Tilting the brim of his hat up with a hoof, Black replied, “Fraid that just won’t be possible, feather face. See I’m just not into griffons, and even if i was, I’d rather do it with a cactus than an ugly son of a mule like you.”

“Why you!” snarled the now enraged griffon, and reaching for the sword fastened to his side made as if to cut Black into little bitty pieces with it.

However, Black had other ideas, before the griffon could even pull the sword free from his scabbard he was sent flying by a kick powerful enough to shatter small tree trunks, as well as spines. As the now dead griffon landed bonelessly several feet away, his still living comrades stared at their now dead friend's body in shock.

Before they had a chance to recover from Black’s sudden attack upon their former comrade, the pony was in amongst them.

Kicking and biting anything that came near him, he became a literal pony tornado, ripping into the group of griffons with ease. Within minutes they were either dead or knocked out cold. Brushing a loose feather of his shoulder he made his way towards the tied up train crew, untying the conductor first he calmly said, “Well that’s that. You okay?”

The conductor gave a shaky nod of his head and asked, “Where did you learn to do that?”

Black gave a cold smirk before replying. “A little bit here, a little bit there. I used to travel a lot.” He finished untying the conductor and said, “Now if you’ll excuse me I’ve some unfinished business to attend to.” Turning he walked and picked his saddlebags up and secured them to his back. Making sure everything rode properly he trotted further along the train.

Reaching the front of the engine, he spotted another group of griffons. How many did I take out back there? Looking back over his shoulder he saw that there were no less than six griffon bodies behind him. Nodding his head at the sight, he thought dryly. Only fourteen to go.

Trotting on a little ways down the track, Black couldn’t see hair nor feather of the remaining griffons. Squinting his eyes he scanned the rocky hills around him he suddenly dove to his right. Just as a sword sliced through the air, right where his head used to be. As he rose from his roll, he pulled out his trusty pistol, its metal gleaming a blueish silver in the afternoon sunlight.

Clicking the safety off with his tongue, he scanned the rocky terrain before him once more. This time he spotted the griffon, rather than felt his presence like last time, whirling towards his attacker, he leveled his gun. Time seemed to slow as he took in the details of the scene before him.

This griffon was young, barely into adulthood, his tawny coat was mostly covered by his tan colored armor and his white facial feathers were caked with the dust of the land. But these were only secondary things compared to his eyes, and the way they widened in fear as Black leveled the large revolver at him.

It’s interesting, seeing the reaction of a person when they know that they’re are about to die. Some are fearful, others accept it, and yet there are others who don’t believe that they are about to die and don’t seem to notice or care. However, not this one, as he realized that he was moments from death, he tried to weasel out.

Black could see it, the griffons grip on his sword was beginning to loosen, as if he was trying to drop it in surrender. Before he could even take one talon off the hilt though, a .44 caliber lead slug blew the back of his head across the dry dusty ground.

That’s when things got really interesting. Before the now rapidly cooling body could hit the ground, another griffon was charging at him. Swinging his pistol towards his new target, Black’s tongue gently caressed the trigger and another griffon fell dead.

If any of these griffons were packing iron themselves, Black knew he’d be dead long before he heard the report of the gun firing. However, it seemed that these griffons were armed only with swords and daggers. Strange, griffon rangers normally had at least one archer or other long range- A sudden stinging pain erupted from his flank, interrupting his thoughts. Looking at the wound he saw a long red line of blood forming on his flank. Hope that arrow wasn’t poisoned.

Looking back up he realized he was out in the open with no cover and mentally chided himself for being so careless. Rushing towards the nearby cover of some large boulders he dove for the safety of the rocks just as another arrow whizzed into the ground behind him.

Panting slightly he muttered, “I’m getting too old for this.” Taking the opportunity to reload his pistol he continued to mutter to himself, “All I wanted was a little peace and quiet, but noooooooo! The Perfect Pony Princesses somehow managed to foul things up again. Honestly, I sometimes wonder why we even still have them as our monarchs!”

Giving a weary sigh, he risked a glance around the corner of his cover, and was rewarded with another arrow, this one striking sparks off the rock as it nearly missed his face. Muttering curses under his breath he said to no one in particular. “I’m tired of this crap, time to end this.”

Taking a deep breath he rushed from his cover. As his hooves thundered across the dry earth, his eyes roamed across the landscape, trying to spot the griffon archer before he put an arrow in his side.

Sliding into a gully he risked a look over the edge.

'Come on, come on! Where are you?' Suddenly, he spotted a shadow moving across a rock less than twenty hooves away. 'Ah hah! There you are my little birdie!'

Rising from his current cover he dashed towards the last known location of the griffon archer.Rounding the corner of a particularly large rock he nearly ran smack into the startled griffon. Said griffon let out a squawk of surprise and tried to bring his bow to bear on Black. Only trouble was, the bow was too big and awkward to bring into position fast enough. Moreover, Black’s weapon of choice wasn’t. One shot later and another griffon lay dead upon the ground at his hooves.

‘How many was that? Six at the engine, one on the track, another next to the seventh and this guy. That makes eight in total.’

Shaking his head at all the work he still had left to do yet. Black back tracked towards the train tracks and once more scanning the area strode out into the open. Looking towards his left he didn’t see anyone, nor did he see anyone when he looked to his right. Plopping his rear end on the hard railroad ties he spat his gun out and taking a deep breath yelled at the top of his lungs. “OKAY YOU TURKEYS! I’M TOO OLD AND IT’S TOO HOT FER ME TO GO AND ROOT Y’ALL OUT OF YER HIDIN’ PLACES! SO JUST DO ME A FAVOR AND COME OUT WHERE I CAN SEE YA, AND THEN KILL YA!”

To which an unseen griffon responded, “MAKE ME!”

Black simply sat there under the hot afternoon sun, his left eye twitching for a moment before he calmly replied, “That’s it, no more Mr. Nice Pony!”

Nopony back at the train saw what he did to the remaining griffons, but they didn’t have too. The sounds of gunfire and blood curdling screams was all they needed to know, to not mess with that pony.

A short time later, a lone figure calmly trotted out of the rocks ahead of the train. A scowl painted on his face, one brave pony asked him, “Are you okay mister?”

Whirling on the hapless pony Black spat back. “No, I’m not okay! Five of the turkeys got away.” He took a deep breath before letting it out sadly. “I hate getting old. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve gotta go and look after Crispin.”

“Who?”

“Her.” Was all he said, lifting his pistol up for the other pony to see. The former blueish silver finish was coated with dust and what looked suspiciously like blood, and the muzzle of the gun had a coating of unburned gunpowder on it.

Sliding the pistol back into his saddlebags he continued walking towards his car, everypony staring at him like he was some kind of demon, that would at any moment turn and gobble them up.

Finding his seat, he took out the old revolver and began to lovingly clean it. The dusty landscape whizzing by, as the now moving train continued on.

<<+>>

Unknown Location, Griffin Empire

“So. You think we can talk now?”

“I don’t know Rainbow. Maybe.”

Silence.

“Well, none of ‘em’s come back. So I guess we can talk now,” Rainbow continued.

“I suppose if they’re not here, talking doesn’t do any harm,” Rarity speculated.

“Do you think the Princesses know we’re gone by now?”

“Hopefully,” Twilight answered.

“How do you think we’ll get out of this?” Applejack asked.

“Alive, I hope,” Rainbow replied. “Think they’ll send some ponies to rescue us?”

“I guess they would,” Twilight said.

“Any clue on who they would be?”

“All I can say is that I’m sure Princess Celestia will send Equestria’s finest soldiers. Past that, I don’t know.”

“... Do you think we could try and break out ourselves?”

“Don’t even try and think about that Rainbow,” Applejack flatly stated. “We’ll be dead before we see the sky if we do that.”

“It’s a waiting game from here on out,” Twilight declared. “The only way we’re getting out of here alive is being rescued by Celestia’s best ponies. I’m sure assaulting wherever this is with an army would either cause the griffons to take us somewhere else... or kill us on the spot.”

Some gulps were heard after her statement.

“Twilight, do you have any idea what the ponies she would send might be like?” Rarity asked.

“Well, from what my brother’s told me, they would be special forces, much higher on the ladder than the Royal Guard. They would send maybe around ten of them, and they’d be able to get us out of here, through means of force and stealth.”

“Equestria has ponies trained for these situations? I thought Equestria was a very peaceful country,” Rainbow asked in disbelief.

“We are a peaceful nation Rainbow. But that doesn’t mean our guard is down. In fact, other countries might even take advantage of that status. We have to be prepared for anything. So yes, there are ponies specifically trained in the art of war, trained to kill, and have no bounds, no matter how peaceful our country may look.”

“Oh. Wow. That’s... kinda cool... and freaky.”

“At least we know there’s a chance of making it out of here alive,” Applejack responded.

“If only because of ponies like them,” Twilight agreed. “And for your sake, Rarity, they can also be some of the most well-mannered ponies that you can meet. My brother told me that these types have great dignity and self-esteem. They take pride in Equestria, and so they chose to live that kind of life. Well, at least some of the branches are. Others can be cold, but there are a lot of nice ponies.”

“Hmmm... How exciting! I suppose we could find out soon enough,” Rarity replied. “I’m sure their dress uniforms are quite lavish.”

“We’re stuck in a life-or-death situation, and now you’re thinking of dresses?” Rainbow spoke.

“Well, anything to keep our minds off of where we are,” Twilight told them. “Almost anywhere is better than here, even the sanctuary of our minds I guess.”

<<+>>

Zee Captain moved into the war room as Princess Luna left them to themselves. Stepping into the room brought back memories of before his transfer to the frozen wastelands of one of the most powerful Equestrian cities next to Canterlot. He walked around the table until stopping at a spot where circular stains could be seen on the table. With the memories flooding through his head he stared down at the map with small figures scattered across its surface. While not available to any of the minions, the map seemed to grow and expand until a real life version was displayed in front of zee Captain. The pieces had changed into boats, airships, and legions of pony soldiers. As he viewed the units and the layout of the units, something seemed off. Leaning in for a closer inspection he could see that the pieces had recently been made and all held either a spear, a sword, or a bow. Looking at the boats and airships just increased his uneasy feeling.

“Seems like these generals have misplaced a few pieces.” Zee Captain commented as he began looking around.

“What is missing? It looks alright where I am standing.” Snippy replied as he shifted the strap to his rifle on his back.

“Something does seem off. Ships do not float with balloons, I already tried.” Pilot replied as he leaned towards the map.

“They seemed to be missing some units I knew were here last time.” He replied as he headed out of the door.

Outside the war room a pony was passing by with a satchel. Zee Captain approached him and lifted the satchel off his back.

“Hey, give those back!” The pony exclaimed.

“Where did those pieces go?” Zee Captain asked more to himself than to the pony.

“There is classified Top Secret documents in there! You just can’t go rummaging around in there!” The pony tried to explain as fear began to slip into his voice.

“I assure you that I am well beyond qualified for these papers, lets see here...” He replied as he began going through the papers.

Zee Captain flipped through all the papers finding things about some Elements of Harmony, Stalliongrad, and the Griffon Empire. Thoughts began running through his mind as he placed all of this together. This obvious meant one thing, the griffons had stolen his rifles and mechs. With cup and pony in magic, he called to his minions to come as they began their way back to the train station.

A guard stopped them on their way. “What are you doing with that pony?”

“He withheld information from me. His papers are back there if you want to look.” Zee captain said as he dropped the pony.

Off he and his minions went towards a grand new adventure as the guard began looking through the papers. The look on his face looked as if he had found a spy in the ranks. Zee Captain did not really bother with this much. All he cared about was getting his supposed weapons from the Griffons, and possibly these ‘Elements’ as well.

Separate Paths Unto Destruction...

Chapter 5

Canterlot

The reinstated General Black Apple had finally arrived on Canterlot’s grounds. He gave a grunt of annoyance and a puff of smoke from his cigar as his hooves stepped upon the city.

“Hey- who are you? Looks like you came from a far way off.” Black looked to the voice and found a Royal Guard.

“Who am I? Somepony that you would’ve never met under normal circumstances. And Faust help you if you remember who I am.”

“Remember? Remember you? What... would I remember about you?”

“Look here, ceremonial armor stand, just know that I’ve got clearance to enter the castle.” Black started walking away, muttering to himself. “Well that’s one thing that Celestia did right I suppose. Or not, depending on how you look at wiping history from records and minds.”

The guard, only hearing the first sentence, was left standing confused. Meanwhile, the pony walking away was pained with memories- knowing the few that retained the knowledge of his existence, and worse, the ones who didn’t.

Black walked into the castle, still remembering his way around, if only because he hated being there. He found the War Room, the closest place to feeling comfortable for him. All the other generals stopped what they were doing when they heard him enter.

Anchor Weight was the first to react. Huffing before he spoke, “Welcome back, you traitorous bastard.”

“Didn’t ask to be back, I’ll tell you that. I’m only here to break a curse.”

The four other generals gave a collective look, remembering the details of how Luna convinced him to return... and how far downhill things could go because of their current predicament.

Anchor continued. “Right... well, we’ve got some pressing matters on strategy. And,” Anchor hesitated for a moment, “I remember your rank before you decided to do that stupid revolt. Supreme Commander. Don’t know how the hell you were, but we’ve been told you’ve been fully reinstated. So you’re in charge of putting everything together.”

Black Apple relaxed a bit and sighed. “You know, Anchor Weight, if you remember, those old days were much, much different, but I won’t go into detail. Did that white unicorn pegasus thing wipe only the better memories of me from your head?”

“Nah, it was me trying to forget them. You used to be somepony else. Granted, you always smoked and drank, but at least it was in happiness.”

Black’s cold eyes looked down, and decided it was time for business. “Alright then. Now that all that’s out of the way, let’s get to work. As much as I hate to ask, anything non-combat related I have to factor in? Politics, hostages, anything?”

Stonewall visibly cringed at the second item, and it didn’t go unnoticed.

“You- General Stonewall... see you were promoted from Brigadier.... what do you got for me?”

Stonewall thought it’d be best to keep the information as shallow as possible. “Yes sir. Griffons have some important ponies hostages.”

“Who are they? Do we know where they are?”

“No, we don’t know. And they’re important ponies.”

“Why are they important General?!” Black slammed his hoof on the map table.

Stonewall sighed. “They’re the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.”

“And they do what again?”

“They’re one of our greatest defenses against dark arcane arts, I guess.”

Black Apple grew up a simple, rough farm pony. He never really had much to do with magic, but he respected its power. Then he rose through the Equestrian military ranks, and learned things about it. He knew that even though magic might’ve seemed silly or annoying sometimes, it was definitely a serious topic.

“Right... I haven’t heard much about that, but that definitely sounds important.”

“Yeah, their involvement with Equestrian history was only fairly recent.”

“Who are they specifically? Names.”

Anchor heard the question and asked one back. “Why would you need to know that?”

“Need to know who we’re dealing with. Backgrounds. Type of family. Never know if their family’s gonna make a great fuss about it with the press. Psychological strengths. If we need to rush over there and prioritize their mental safety or if they can hold on. Come on you colts, didn’t they teach you to look at every angle in academy?”

The four generals gave a frightened look at each other. Names.

“Hey, hey, what’s with that look? If you try and lie, I can tell ya it’s not gonna work.”

Anchor built up some courage and started listing names. “Right. The six bearers are all close friends. The first is Twilight Sparkle. Personal student of Princess Celestia-”

“Oh great...”

“- her brother is Captain Shining Armor-”

“Oh, interesting.” Black’s face turned to thought.

“Very intelligent and avid magic user. Element of Magic.”

“Okay. Continue.”

“Rarity. Seamstress from Ponyville. Don’t have much on her off the top of my head. Does some work for the Royal Guard every now and then though. Element of Generosity.”

“Next.”

“Fluttershy. Animal caretaker. Personality, if I remember right, is very timid, but can be very aggressive within correct circumstances. I believe analysts said she has incredible hidden mental strength. Element of Kindness.”

“Intriguing. Next.”

“Pinkie Pie. Baker in Ponyville for Sugarcube Corner-”

“- That place. Huh. I remember that. Proceed.”

“Personality is difficult to place, though possibly slightly unstable.”

“Unstable how?”

“Psycho unstable?” Anchor said in an unsure tone.

Black Apple looked up a bit. “Really now? Okay... keep going.”

Anchor was getting nervous. He was running out of names.

“Rainbow Dash. Brash pegasus. Showy. Shown to be self-confident in front of others-”

“If she’s got her friends with her, then she’ll do fine.”

“- Basically. Element of Loyalty. Aanndd, that should be it.” Anchor kept a straight face, hoping it could work, or at least buy time.

It didn’t. “You useless pony, Anchor, that was five. There’s six. Who’s the last one?”

Storm Thumper spoke up. “Stupid navy general, you forgot the Element of Honesty. Hardworking, strong pony. Confident, dependable, and strong willed.”

Anchor breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh yeah. Thanks Storm. Damn this war’s getting to my head.”

“Name,” Black Apple said.

Stonewall looked worried. “Sorry sir?”

“You didn’t say what her- I’m assuming it’s a her- name was.”

Spear spoke for the first time. “How important is a name, really?”

“You told me all the others. Might as well complete the list.”

“Well, let me tell you this Commander. You’re better off not knowing.”

“Why is that? Is it the daughter of one of my most hated enemies, and I’d prefer to leave them to the griffons?”

Silence.

Anchor gave a hopeless chuckle. “Yeah, if you count yourself as your most hated enemy.”

Black rose an eyebrow. “The hell does that mean, Anchor?”

“You want to do the math or me tell you straight out?”

Black rolled his eyes. “Just get on with it, General.”

Anchor Weight shook his head and gave another weary chuckle. “Applejack. That’s her name. Applejack.”

Supreme Commander Black Apple stood silent for a moment. “What is the meaning of this, General?!”

“What do you mean? You wanted information. I told you.”

“You’re telling me that my daughter’s been taken! Are you trying to make me angry?!”

“Face it, Black! It’s the truth. They’re gone! They’re not in their homes anymore! Anything else?!”

“Well fine, Anchor! How did they get captured!” Black Apple was staring daggers across the table at General Anchor.

“Apparently some Gryphons came across the border and took them. Or maybe they were already in our territory when they got their orders. We don’t know. All we know is that Applejack and the other elements are currently somewhere in Gryphon territory, likely in the capital city.”

Black Apple closed his eyes in thought. He made no movements or facial expressions. The four Generals stared at him curiously. After about a minute, Black Apple opened his eyes and raised his head.

“I need a courier.” He said.

“What are you going to do?” Anchor chuckled. “Write them an angry letter?”

A deathly silence fell for a few seconds as the old general fumed. He let the rage build up inside him. Then he released it.

“COURIER!!” Black Apple made sure his voice was heard all the way to the edges of Canterlot. A grey pegasus flew through the doorway. Apple saw him, only recognizing his uniform. “A Royal Scout. I asked for a courier, not Special Intelligence and Recon.”

“Anything that the Supreme Commander shouts throughout Canterlot about is probably too urgent to wait.”

“Fine. I can respect that. Besides, I hear you guys are fast flyers. You’ll probably do better than a courier.”

“I’m guessing it requires going into Griffon territory?”

“Into the heart.”

The pegasus rolled his copper eyes. “Dammit, I just came from there.” He sighed. “Still, a mission’s a mission. Captain Stardust, 1st Royal Scouts. What do ya got for me?”

“A message. General Anchor Weight, take a letter.” At that, the unicorn took a quill in his telekinetic reach and some parchment.

“Who should I address it to?” Anchor asked.

“I don’t know. This is just a preliminary message. Let them know what they’re up against.” Black turned directly to Anchor. “Write this down.”

“I don't know who exactly you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you that we’re not giving in that easily. And what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for ones like you. If you let my daughter...”

Black Apple paused.

“...and the other Element bearers go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will march the entire Equestrian army unneededly through the entire Griffon Empire and back, and I will personally look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”

Anchor looked up. “That it Commander?”

“It’s enough to let them know that I’m coming.” Black turned to the Royal Scout. “Captain Stardust. Take this to their monarchy.”

“Yes sir,” Stardust responded. He turned out the door.

Just before the special forces pony left, a thought occurred to Black Apple. “Hey- Captain.”

The pegasus stopped in his tracks. “Yes sir?”

“How’d you know I was Supreme Commander? I just arrived today, and the only ones that remember me are specific, high-ranking military leaders. Not even special forces was spared from memory wipe. And I don't remember allowing your memory restored.”

"Oh we know all about you, Commander. Your impressive combat record, that revolt, and your curse. Celestia's mass memory wipe. How you can personally restore a pony's memories of you at your will and command. We know all that. And yes, you didn't restore my memory."

"So how?"

“Celestia still keeps written records of things, you know.”

“But that’s restricted and classified.”

“We’re Special Intelligence. Nothing is restricted and classified from us.” Stardust gave a wink as he continued on his way out.

The old general understood what it meant. “Heh. I think I kinda like that pony actually.”

<<+>>

Gryphon Empire, 1 day later

The Gryphon Emperor, Lord Talonnius, was sitting on his throne, simply acting as an ornament. He had no duties at that time, so he had no need of being in the throne room. He simply liked to feel important, which was why anyone looking for him on his off hours could find him sitting on his golden, jewel-encrusted throne. He was about ready to take a nap when a Gryphon courier entered the room.

“My lord, I have a letter for you!” He yelled from across the room.

Talonnius was stirred from his half-slumber quite violently. “Can it wait?” He said. “I was about to have a nap!”

The courier approached the throne and stopped in front of the emperor. “It’s from the ponies, my lord.”

“Blegh! Ponies...” He turned his head and spit on the ground. “Give it here. Let’s see if they’ll comply with our demands.”

Talonnius skimmed over the letter quickly. “Hmm...no ransom...set of skills...long career...nightmare for me...blah blah blah...wait! Daughter? What are the odds, huh? One of the elements happens to be the daughter of some government official. Talk about lucky. Anyway...let them go...march my armies...yadda yadda yadda...signed:...” The back of the emperor’s beak curled into a menacing smile. “Black Apple.”

Talonnius put the letter away and took out some parchment and a quill. The courier observed the emperor while he wrote his reply. Talonnius finished writing rather quickly and handed the letter to the courier.

“See to it that this letter is placed directly into the hooves of General Black Apple.” said Talonnius.

The courier looked at the letter. On it were only two words. ‘Good luck.’  The courier bowed and left without saying a word.

Talonnius walked to the window overlooking his city, smiling to himself all the way there.

“Black Apple, you may be a formidable opponent...but your family will be your undoing.”

Talonnius erupted into a maniacal laughter, one that could chill the blood and shake the foundation of even the most battle-hardened soldier.

<<+>>

Griffon Empire Border

Zee Captain strolled through the destroyed griffon checkpoint. It had been so long since he had been in battle. He took in a deep breath of the air around him before taking a sip of his tea. The smell of the smoke, brimstone, and blood gave him a warm feeling that he had dearly missed. From the time of his new deployment orders, there had been little to no action where he was. It was as if the generals actually wanted him gone from the military and Equestria. All that he had done was encourage the factories in Stalliongrad to develop new technologies, crush the Germanie uprising, and help stop Black Apple’s revolution. In the end he had let the former Supreme Commander live and turned his attention towards stomping out the troublesome diamond dogs. A small moan pulled his attention from his thoughts. Down on the ground was a griffon that seemed to be barely holding onto life.

“Who are you?” The griffon barely muttered.

“Who am I! You steal my weapons while I am away from my spot in the war room of Canterlot and expect me not to notice! I am Zee Captain and I will stop at nothing until I find what is rightfully mine!” Captain boomed before tossing his tea into the face of the griffon.

He continued his way into the Griffon Empire as the screams of the griffon sounded behind him. A strange feeling pierced through his thick blanket of nostalgia, as if he was not the only one heading into the griffon Empire for something. The feeling was noted and placed off to the side, Because right now was the time to do something he had not had the pleasure of doing since he was moved to oversee the defense of Stalliongrad. Off in the distance was his first stop for his investigation. It was an old castle that once guarded the border of the Griffon Empire back when it was not the large size it was today.

Upper Atmosphere, three miles above Canterlot.

‘After I created the worlds largest ice cream mountain,’ Discord was saying to Luna as they soared on crisp night wind. ‘The Zebras made me their god. Then I went on to solve world hunger. What I don’t understand is why you alicorns decided to overthrow me after I did so much good.’

“Because the evil that you did greatly outweighed all of the good.” Luna paused in the sky and peered over the horizon at the distant Griffon Empire. “And if I remember correctly, you took away all of that food and caused a great famine shortly afterward just to see how they would react.”

‘Hey, I got bored.’ The image of Discord shrugging passively flashed momentarily in Luna’s mind. ‘I never saw you alicorns with your resources and power doing anything for the lesser races. You just sat in your far away lands and watched. I was just getting your attention and it worked... with side effects.’

“Stop trying to justify your actions Discord. And please stop talking for a while. I’m trying to use a very difficult spell.”

‘My “mouth” is shut’ The distinct sound of a zipper closing filled Luna’s mind. ‘Hmmmhrmmph Hermphhumm.’

The Princess rolled her eyes and proceeded with the spell. Her eyes and horn glowed just as the moon rose above the horizon. Everything the moonlight touched suddenly became visible to her and it was as if the moon had become her eye. She first took a look at the presumed location of the rescue team headed by Zee Captain. At first Luna couldn't find them in the snow storm, but as her vision passed over the High Pass Fortress she was surprised to see the imposing castle in flames.

‘I am not going to ask how he succeeded in eliminating the garrison, but oddly I’m not surprised.’ Luna shifted her gaze from the fortress and to the gathering armies forming on both the North-East and South-East borders. Something caught her eye as she looked at the southernmost army. ‘What in Equestria are those?’

‘Hmm, what?’ Luna felt the Draconequus push in and share her vision. ‘I don’t know. Lets check it out!’

“Wait wha-”

Discord snapped his mental fingers and the sharp noise echoed through the Princess’ head. Moments later she found herself standing next to the unknown items.

“I feel sick...” Luna moaned.

‘Shh, are you crazy, we are in the enemy camp!’

Luna’s eyes went wide. ‘How?’

‘Chaos magic, it’s so cool! All the hipsters have it. And I had it before all of them! Hah!’

‘I-what?... Never mind.’ Luna turned and started to examine the item. ‘I will talk to you about it later.’

Luna had exceptional night vision and she could easily make out the shape of the items. They were elongated cylinders with a rounded tip and halfway surrounded in a heavy brass casing. They were instantly recognised as thousands of large artillery shells but their sheer size and odd shape confused the Princess. She peered at the writing on the side and shook her head in exasperation.

‘I never knew that you didn’t know how to read Griphonian!’ Laughed discord. ‘Here, let me help you.’

Discord snapped his “fingers” again and the words instantly changed into Equestrian.

“Sulfur Mustard?” Luna muttered to herself. “What is this?”

‘Sounds tasty. I love the zangy-tangy flavor of mustard! It’s good on everything! But isn’t sulfur toxic?’

‘Yes.’ She lifted one of the artillery shells magically. ‘Could you take me back to Canterlot. I need to show this to my sister.’

‘Yes Captain Looney, it shall be done,’ Discord said playfully.

‘Call me Looney one more time and I swear-’

Luna disappeared into the night a split second later leaving no trace that she had been there other than the single missing artillery shell.

HMS Honesty, Manehattan Naval Yard

Seasalt’s mood had not improved over the past few days, if anything, it had gotten worse. True to his predictions, HMS Honesty had failed to sail with the rest of the fleet. To make matters worse, when the higher ups learned that she wouldn’t be able to sail, they had made the decision to transfer most of her crew to the other ships. Leaving behind a very small crew to try and make repairs and get her seaworthy.

To add insult to injury they had also informed Seasalt that his ‘failure’ to get his ship ready in time would be reflected upon next time promotions came around. Guess I can kiss ever being an admiral goodbye. Groused the frustrated captain.

Turning away from the window he was about to retire to his cabin when an out of breath messenger ran up and exclaimed. “Captain Seasalt!”

“What?” he asked.

“The fleet’s been destroyed!”

Seasalt felt his blood run cold at the news. ‘How...how could that have happened? Intelligence said that the Griffons didn't have a fleet capable of matching ours! And after Luna’s moon caused all that coastal devastation they shouldn't have even have means to destroy ours!’

Quickly shaking his head he wiped the shocked look off his face and calmly asked, “Do you know anything more?”

The runner hesitantly nodded. “Y-yes, sir. A few ships managed to escape and they reported that the Griffons were using some sort of new all metal ship. The initial report says that it shrugged off every spell that was thrown at it! In addition, they said it was using gunpowder cannons that could blow a ship apart with just a few broadsides.”

Seasalt sighed, with the loss of the fleet to this iron warship, Equestria’s coastline was now unprotected. Not to mention the nations pride was severely wounded. However, and he hoped he wasn’t in error. If the Griffons had one one of these monstrous warships, then it was possible that there was still time to fully mobilize the rest of the navy. One thing was for sure. The new ‘magical cannons’ had to go. Seasalt had never really liked them to begin with, conservative by nature, he vastly preferred the old cannons to these new ones.

Having made his decision he turned to the courier and said, “I want you to gather all of the other ships captains had tell them to get their flanks over here now. After which I need you to deliver a message to the War Council in Canterlot informing them of these new developments as well as what I am doing to try and fix the situation. Did you get all of that?”

The courier nodded. “Yes sir, gather all of the remaining ships captains here aboard Honesty  and then inform Canterlot of these latest developments”

“Very good, dismissed.” the courier gave a sharp salute and bolted out the hatch way.  

Seasalt meanwhile had resigned himself to a rather long evening.

Unknown Location, Gryphon Empire

All six ponies were fast asleep, their dreams being the only escape from the hell they found themselves in. Each of them had accumulated their own set of bruises, cuts, and scars. Gryphon talons weren’t known for being dull, after all. Twilight Sparkle woke up slowly, wanting to fall back to sleep and avoid the daily pain. The Gryphons were kind enough to remove the bags from over their heads, even though there wasn’t much to see in the room. It was dark, musty, and had stone floors and walls. It seemed like a typical dungeon. Twilight looked around at her sleeping friends. She couldn’t help but smile.

‘They almost look... peaceful.’

Suddenly, Twilight heard the voice of her dear friend, Applejack.

“Twi, you awake?” she whispered.

“Yeah.” she responded, “I’m awake.”

“How’s Fluttershy holdin’ up?”

Twilight looked over to Fluttershy. Her yellow fur was stained with blood, and the fur under her eyes was matted down with tears.

“Honestly, I don’t know, Applejack.” said Twilight. “If I was to guess, I’d say not well.”

“Yeah, well that goes fer all of us, I guess.” Applejack’s gaze shifted to the floor. “Twi? Can I ask yuh a question?”

“Sure, Applejack.”

“Whadda we do if they aren’t comin’ ta rescue us?”

“Don’t say that! They’re coming for us!”

Applejack looked into Twilight’s eyes. “Do you really believe that?”

It was Twilight’s turn to avert her gaze to the floor. She remained silent for a few seconds and let a single tear fall from her eye. After heaving a long sigh, she said, “I have to...”

Both Applejack and Twilight hushed up when they heard footsteps closing in from outside the door. They could overhear tidbits of the two guard’s conversations.

“So, did you hear about the Equestrian Navy?”

“What Equestrian Navy?”

They both erupted into loud guffaws.

“Yeah, I don’t think they’ll be bothering us any time soon!”

They tried to suppress their laughter and put on a mean scowl as they opened the door. They looked over the six pathetic-looking creatures across from them. Twilight and Applejack were already awake, but the others didn’t hear the gryphons coming in, and didn’t wake up.  One of the gryphons remedied this by slamming the door behind him. The four remaining ponies immediately woke up.

“These ponies have no respect!” Said one of the guards. “They won’t even wake up when we enter a room!”

“We should teach them some respect, huh?” The second guard looked over the six ponies and smiled cruelly.

“Nah, that’d take too long. Besides, we only need one of ‘em.”

Fluttershy could be heard pathetically whimpering. The first gryphon walked up to her and raised her head so they were looking into each other's eyes.

“Aww, what’s the matter?” He said in mock kindness. “Need another beating?”

Fluttershy shook her head.

“Well, whadda ya want?”

Fluttershy mumbled something inaudible.

“Say that again?”

“I... I...”

“C’mon, speak up!”

“I...I wanna go home....”

The gryphon let her head fall back down and immediately clawed her across the cheek. Three fresh cuts stained her yellow fur once more, and she let out a yelp similar to a whimpering dog.

“Fluttershy!” yelled Rainbow Dash.

“Well, you don’t get to go home!” he yelled.

“You’re lucky I’m tied up, you overgrown chicken!” said Rainbow. “If I wasn’t, I swear I’d put you on a Faust-damned roasting spit and feed you to a manticore!”

The gryphon chuckled and walked over to Rainbow. He lifted her head up by her chin so that they maintained eye contact.

“I’d like to see you try.” He raked his talon along the bottom of her chin quickly, causing another superficial cut. He turned to the other gryphon, who was standing by the door. “Hey, which one did he say he wanted?”

“I think he said the white one.”

The first gryphon looked over to Rarity and examined her. “Ooh yeah, I can see why...” He slowly walked over to her with an evil grin on his face. Rarity’s heart started pounding.

‘Whatever he’s got planned, it’s not good.’ She thought.

The gryphon began to cut the ropes that bound Rarity to her chair.

“What are you going to do?” She asked.

The gryphon chuckled at her question. “Well, lets just say that...” As he finished cutting, he looked her dead in the eye. “...we’re gonna have some fun.”

The gryphon grabbed her by the mane and violently pulled her across the stone floor towards the door. She knew all too well what the gryphons wanted, and she was mortified at the fact that they could.

“LET ME GO! PLEASE, LET ME GO!” She struggled against the gryphon’s mighty grip, but to no avail. “HELP! SOMEBODY HELP! FOR THE LOVE OF FAUST, HELP ME!”

“Forget it, bitch, nobody’s gonna help you here.”

Suddenly, a normally quiet voice erupted from the corner of the room. “LET HER GO!”

Both gryphons turned to the source of the voice, a blood-caked yellow pegasus. Her teeth were clenched, and she stared at them with all the murderous intent of a tiger hunting its prey.

“I don’t care what you do to me, but you do not! Harm! My! Friends!”

The two gryphons looked at each other and chuckled before turning to leave. Unfortunately, they failed to see that Fluttershy had broken the ropes. She used her back legs to kick up into the air. She then rotated forward to plant her back legs on the wall. Using her wings for extra power, she sprung off the wall and towards the gryphon that wasn’t holding Rarity. She soared through the air like a missile, quickly closing the distance between him and her. With her shoulder, she slammed into the gryphon’s neck. He was now sandwiched between Fluttershy and the wall. There was an audible crack as his neck snapped. Cracks had started to form on the wall behind him.

The second gryphon tried to draw his sword, but before he could even get it half way out of the sheath, Fluttershy had landed, sprung up with her back legs, and delivered an uppercut to the gryphon that sent him to the ground. Before he could get up, Fluttershy was straddling his chest. She proceeded to, for lack of a better term, pummel the ever-loving shit out of him with a flurry of left and right punches. His eyes quickly swelled, and a multitude of lacerations and bruises appeared on his face, one after the other. Fluttershy’s hooves were stained with blood. Even when the gryphon stopped moving, she didn’t stop swinging. Everyone else looked on in horror as their once-lovable Fluttershy turned into a cold-blooded killer before their very eyes.

“Fluttershy!” yelled Rainbow. Fluttershy froze in mid punch and looked up towards her. “Please...that’s enough...” Rainbow was on the verge of tears from watching her best friend be reduced to the level of an animal.

Fluttershy slowly eased out of her rage. As she calmed down, she could see what she had done. Now, two living beings were dead, their blood staining her hooves a bright crimson. She slowly backed herself into a corner and curled herself into a ball.

“What have I done?” she whispered over and over again.

Rarity, meanwhile had collected herself and fetched the blade of the fallen gryphon so she could cut her friends free. The first one free was Rainbow Dash, who immediately flew over to Fluttershy to try and comfort her. Rainbow took Fluttershy in her embrace and quietly soothed her while they dampened each other's fur with their tears.

“Uh, girls?” said Applejack, who was now free. “This is nice, and everything, but we need tuh go real fast.”

Pinkie was examining the back wall very closely. “Say, Applejack, you think this wall is on the outside of the castle?”

“Huh? Uh, maybe. Why?”

“Oh, no reason.” From out of thin air, Pinkie pulled out a large, sky-blue colored cannon. “I just have an idea, is all.” Pinkie pressed a button, and instead of confetti, a large cannonball burst forth from the muzzle with a fiery flourish. The ball ripped the wall apart, turning it into rubble. “Alright, girls, we have our exit, let’s start running!”

Rainbow put Fluttershy on Applejack’s back, and they proceeded to run as fast as they could. The six ponies ran out of the area where a wall once was just as a group of Gryphon guards opened the door. They knew that gryphons were going to be on their tails at any minute.

<<+>>

Griffon fortress

The four stallions paving their way through the Griffon Empire now stood in front of a giant wooden door reinforced with metal bars. They all stood there looking straight up at the top of the gate where they could hear two griffons chatting away the afternoon watch.

"How are we going to get by this one?" Snippy mumbled, watching to see if one of the griffons would look over the edge.

"Why do you always question Zee Captain? Don't you understand yet that he is great space wizard! There is always a way!" Pilot shot back at Snippy.

"Easy there Pilot, Snippy will be excused of his insubordination. Engie, I believe it is time for another shoe." Captain said as he turned to the ski goggled pony.

Without a word Engie dropped his large pack and opened up one of the pockets. From the pocket he magically pulled out a shoe box. He removed the lid and tossed aside the box to reveal a block of what looked like clay. Engie molded the clay onto the giant gate and attached a small array of wires. After a quick look over, he gave a nod before grabbing the bag and moving back behind some of the surrounding boulders. The other three dispersed to their own spots knowing what was going to transpire. The device on the clay soon flashed a red light before detonating the clay it was attached to. Large pieces of the gate and the surrounding wall were blow up into the air and also back into the old fortress. Zee Captain walked inside the fortress, past the recently destroyed gate.

"This is not how you treat your guests. Where are those manners that your mothers taught you?" He scolded to the griffons that seemed to be pouring out of the walls.

He watched as they hastily charged towards them with swords, axes, and spears. Casually, captain pulled out his old ceremonial pistol that was given to him in commemoration of the end of both Black Apples uprising and the Germaney revolution with the help of the newest line in weaponry. The pistol was a .45 with golden trim seeming to flow like ivy across the outside. Zee Captain admired the craftsmanship before pointing it out towards the first griffon. Two shots later the griffon laid on the ground with two holes crushing the griffons skull. Six more bullets went out and ripped the poorly protected griffons.  The metal plates and chain mail stood no chance against the flying shots of lead. If anything, it just made more shrapnel to go digging through their flesh. Pilot sped forward with his katana in mouth. For a jet pilot, he was amazingly skilled with the blade. Behind him, Zee Captain could hear the quick, short bursts from Snippy's Cladesdale automatic rifle.

The smells of Captains past began to fill the air and fill him with joy. Not even two minutes passed before the once empty courtyard was now almost covered with the bodies of dead griffon guards. The four stallions then moved inside the fortress doors to the castle, ready for what might meet them inside. They moved through the castle with little resistance until they came upon a set of double doors with the words 'Officers Quarters' imprinted above the doors. Engie and Pilot made a quick dash to the door before turning and bucking the doors off their old hinges. Inside a group of five Griffons were arguing over a wooden table with maps spread across every inch of the surface. Zee Captain strolled in with his usual calm demeanor with mug in hoof.

"Tell me where you have taken my weapons and I might be generous with the prize." He stated before he took a sip through his gas mask.

"Don't forget about those 'Elements of Harmony'. They sounded important as well." Engie added.

"Oh yes, don't forget to tell me about those either." Captain said in a light conversational tone. "Or else I will have to bring out an old game of mine!"

________________________________________________________

Okay, things are getting... odd. But a good odd if ya know what I mean.

Hormones and War...

Chaos and Insanity

Chapter 6

“I understand the implements of this discovery my sister, but you still haven’t answered my question.” Celestia looked at Luna with searching eyes. Next to her was the mustard gas artillery shell. “How did you acquire it?”

The other ponies in the room looked at the space and could practically see the growing tension between the two. Luna wracked her brain for an excuse but it was difficult, especially with Discord talking in the background.

‘Tell her a bird brought it to you. No, make it a swallow. Oh, ask her if a Gallopean Swallow is capable of carrying a bomb or if an Zebrican Swallow can! No? Okay, how ‘bout you snuck behind enemy lines like a commando and took it yourself. Or-”

“Luna?” Celestia asked impatiently.

“Shut up!”

The older princess stood straight with her eyes wide with shock. Luna covered her mouth and looked apologetically at her sister.

“Everypony out, now!” Celestia ordered. “Luna, I think we need to talk in private.”

The others quickly left and Luna looked up a Celestia with nervous anticipation.

“What is wrong with you Luna? You can’t possibly be that over worked to be snapping at me.”

Luna took a deep breath and prepared to tell the truth. “The reason I am acting strangely all of a sudden, sister, is-”

‘NO!’

Luna suddenly couldn't feel her body and it felt as if she had been trapped inside of her own mind. She heard herself talking but it wasn’t her thinking of the words.

“Is I have hormone imbalances all of a sudden. War does this to me.” Discord continued controlling her. “Do you think I should get myself a stallion? To help take my mind off of the problems and the hormones?”

Celestia was in absolute shock and confusion with Luna’s response. “Wha-what?”

‘Discord!’Luna screamed mentally. She could only guess what he was going to say next. ‘Free me now and give me back my body!'

‘I will Looney, just be patient.’

“The thing is sister,” Discord said, trying to make Luna’s voice as sweet and seductive as he could. “I have been stuck on the moon for a thousand years without any males nearby and now there is a war going on... and war makes me hot.”

Celestia’s mouth dropped. “I, uh. Very well then.”

“So can I go and find some nice flank tonight?” Luna continued.

“Ye-yes? Yes.” Celestia didn’t have the slightest idea how to continue the conversation.

“How wonderful!” Luna turned and trotted merrily out of the room.

Only when she was in the hall did Discord give Luna back her body.

‘I don’t know what is more terrifying!’ Luna screamed at Discord. ‘The fact that you are getting stronger or what you just said to my sister. What I just said to my sister!

‘Hey, I got her to stop asking you questions.’ Discord stated matter of factly. ‘Now, let’s go get you a nice stallion for tonight. There are plenty of royal guards, I have noticed, that look at your flank when you pass by.’

Luna, gladly now in control of her own body, started towards her room. She surely needed some time to collect her thoughts.

‘Would you like a dustpan to help sweep your thoughts together?’

The alicorn just rolled her eyes and ignored it. She walked over to the door of her room and opened it. The first thing that she saw was a grey pegasus slumped on the floor of her balcony. He was covered in scratches of all sorts and was staining the floor with some blood.

She gasped. “Captain Stardust!”

Discord heard the familiar name, and connected some dots. ‘Oh, was this that stallion you thought of that other night? Let’s have some fun with him, shall we?’

Luna tried to put up a mental fight, not wanting to go through whatever he had planned to do. ‘No! I will not let you humiliate me once more!’

‘But certainly you thought of him for a reason, hmm?’

‘He’s a good friend!’

‘Oh yes, I’m sure he is.’

All the while, Stardust had already taken note of the princess standing in the room and greeted her. She seemed to be lost in thought. Especially strange was that she just stood there like a statue, with a goofy gasping face, staring off into the distance.

“Princess Luna? Helloooo? Are you okay?” The Royal Scout was standing right in front of the princess. Luna still stood dumbly in place. “Hey Luna... you okay?” Stardust was starting to get slightly worried at this very odd behavior, as well as the fact that he was becoming very tempted to start knocking on her head or something.

Just as he raised his hoof to tap her head, Luna stirred. Stardust quickly moved his foreleg into a salute. “Princess Luna!”

The night alicorn turned to the grey pegasus. “Oh, why hello there, Captain Stardust,” she greeted him in a suave voice.

“Top of the evening, miss,” he returned. “If you don’t mind me asking, are you fairing alright? Just moments ago, you seemed to be lost in thought. Very lost in thought. I’m just concerned about the well-being of your mental state.”

The real Luna trapped within her own head could only facehoof repeatedly at the irony of his statement. She was also considering shriveling up in a terrified position until the ordeal was over.

"Oh," 'Luna' started, "I'm not exactly well."

"What's the matter?" the grey pegasus asked.

"You see, I had just gotten leave from the War Room, and with the word of my sister as well. It seems that... I may have... a hormone issue, if you know what I mean," the alicorn said, looking at Stardust intently. He backed towards the balcony a bit.

"Hmm. How unfortunate. I guess I'll just leave you alone then."

"And my sister also permitted me to have a stallion for the night," Discord said through Luna's body, continuing to advance towards the Royal Scout slowly.

"Well you certainly wouldn't want me," Stardust flatly said. "I'm covered in cuts. And blood. Maybe some griffon guts."

"But who else," the alicorn kept teasing. "What better stallion then one as honorable as you?" Her eyes flickered. Meanwhile, the real Luna was mentally banging her head against her mental wall.

"Why don't you ask around."

"But I can no longer wait that long. My body requests for one now," the night princess told Stardust, and began to quicken her gait.

"And my body requests medical treatment, and is recommended not to engage in strenuous activities until such."

"Just lie with me. A princess. An alicorn. Think of the story to be told!"

Stardust was nearing the door to the balcony. "Uh-uh. No. Us Royal Scouts may have vigorous training regimes and be some of the most physically fit ponies around, but I'm not sure I could survive a night in bed with you. Nope."

Luna' stopped, as Discord hysterically laughed in her mind. 'Oh, that's rich! I don't think I've ever met a pony quite like him! Are there even ponies like him? Seriously, is this pony even from Equestria?! I think I kind of like him. For that, he's earned himself freedom from hormone-loony-Luna.'

Luna regained full control over her senses again and attempted to recover from what she had just seen as fast as possible, as to rectify the situation before it could get worse. “Wait!”

The pegasus stopped.

Luna tried to get her train of thought going. Anything useful at the other important task at the moment- the war. She thought back to earlier, and recalled the artillery shell. And right now in front of her was a highly trained intelligence gatherer. “Well then Captain, I at least have an assignment for you.”

Stardust sighed. “Alright. I’m listening.”

“We still don’t know the strength of the Griffon military. We don’t know if they have any secrets that may cost us lives, or even the war. I request that you scout through their country, in case you might find anything noteworthy and of utmost concern.”

The pegasi’s eyes opened at his mission assignment. “Wait. You want me, me, to go into Griffon territory and look for classified secrets?”

“Yes. That is your field of expertise, is it not?”

The Royal Scout growled in frustration. “I just CAME from there! A second time! Look at me! I barely made it out alive! They have orders to kill any pony on sight! Four. Four griffons I had to initially escape from, because of a letter that General Apple wanted sent. Four castle guards. You know what I did the second I saw the looks in their eyes? I dropped that letter right on the ground and turned tail. Right back towards the Equestrian border. And it didn’t even stop there! They signaled every guard post on the way! I had to fight through around thirty griffons! Thirty! And I’m sure they’re not happy about the five or six I left dead while trying to escape!”

Luna looked sadly at the battered pegasus. She sighed, before adding a new detail. “Very well then. Take two days to rest. Then set out. And relay this to other Scouts as well.”

Stardust breathed an accepting sigh, then leaving a quiet silence between the two. Finally, Luna spoke.

“Can I at least tend to your wounds?”

Stardust held a cautious glance. “With all due respect, Princess, after your little, uh, hormone-induced episode earlier, I think I’ll just go.”

“But-” She didn’t even get to finish, as the pegasus jumped backwards off the balcony, out into the night. Luna growled in anger, and at the same time grovelled in sadness and nearly cried of frustration.

‘First my sister, and now you’re alienating me from even more companions around me?’

‘It’s a little too fun to mess with you. Besides, I could do a lot worse. Now if I was in the head of your sister... ooh that wouldn’t be pretty. Also, again, when you took me from the statue, you transferred the spell keeping me in. The effort and energy it takes to control you is quite tremendous. Which means I won’t always be doing it. You can rest easy for a little bit. Being you is so much work! I think I’ll take a nap.’

<<+>>

Meanwhile...

Five Gryphons were hiding on a rocky outcropping, waiting for their prey to return.

“Say, you sure he went into that window?” Said one of the gryphons.

“One hundred percent. The red-on-grey is pretty hard to miss.” The other gryphon replied.

“Silence, both of you!” The lead gryphon harshly whispered.

All five of them remained silent and stared at the window that Captain Stardust went into. They managed to follow him all the way into the heart of Equestrian territory without being seen. Now, they waited for their chance to snatch up their prey. Finally, their chance arrived. Captain Stardust jumped out of the window and descended down into Canterlot.

“Now! Let’s move!”

The five gryphons took off and headed straight for the unsuspecting captain.

<<+>>

Captain Stardust descended from Luna’s balcony into the heart of Canterlot. As he did so, he found himself preoccupied with his thoughts.

‘What’s with Princess Luna? First she spaces out, then she starts hitting on me, and now she’s going to send me on yet another suicide mission! Something screwy is going on in her head, I just know it! Oh well, at least she let me get a few days rest. I’m gonna go try out that new sandwich shop on Trot Avenue. Well, not like this, of course. I’d probably scare half the patrons to death. Then again, that would be kinda funny...’

As he was caught up in his thoughts, he could faintly hear the sound of wings to his right. When he looked over, he could see five large figures moving towards him at great speed.

‘Who the hell are those characters?’

As they got closer, he could see them more clearly. His eyes widened in horror.

‘Gryphons?! Oh for Celestia’s sake, not again!’

Stardust folded in his wings to speed up his descent. The gryphons followed suit and dove after him. As he descended into the streets of Canterlot, he looked behind him to see exactly what he was up against. Each of them wore leather armor in key areas, and were armed with large, curved swords. Stardust extended his wings, catching the air and leveling him out just before hitting the street. The gryphons behind him matched his moves almost perfectly, using the street to pick up speed.

‘Clearly these guys aren’t your average grunts.’ He thought. ‘I’m gonna have to get creative here...’

Stardust picked up speed, hoping to put as much distance between him and the gryphons as possible. No luck, however, as the gryphons were easily able to match his speed. Stardust looked around for somewhere to go. He saw a small alleyway coming up on his right. He kept going straight until, at the last possible second, he quickly turned into the alley. The gryphons were unable to follow his moves, and had to start flying over the buildings to catch him. Inevitably, they were spotted by a passing patrol.

The guards immediately sprung into action. The two pegasi started chasing the gryphons while the unicorns and earth ponies ran to alert the rest of the guards. For minutes, Stardust, the gryphons, and the guards were involved in a chase that spanned the entire city. No matter how well Stardust flew, the gryphons were always able to keep up.

'Man, you’d think they’d give up by now.' Stardust thought. 'Dammit, I need something to slow these buzzards down!'

As he thought, he saw in the distance, about twelve royal guards were waiting on a rooftop to ambush the gryphons.

“Oh, now we’re talking!”

Stardust started pumping his wings even harder. The gryphons followed suit. As the gryphons inched closer and closer to Stardust, they failed to notice the guards on the roof. By the time they realized, the trap was already sprung. The royal guards jumped off the roof and brought the five gryphons down to street level. They tried to resist, but the guards that were pursuing restrained them even further. At the end of it all, the royal guard had five brand new prisoners to interrogate.

<<+>>

       Zee Captain stared at the newly contained griffon officers. One appeared to be a seasoned veteran of past wars while the other three looked to have been pulled out of school. 'Good, maybe I won't have to make extra rounds to get my information.' he thought to himself. The officers and him were in the wine cellar of the old fortress. Snippy, Pilot, and Engie were checking the the rest of the fortress for any valuable information. All that Zee Captain had down here was his trustworthy cup of tea, freshly filled, and his automatic pistol.

    "Okay, anyone want to volunteer first?" Zee Captain asked as he looked at each of the four griffons.

     Silence filled the room as no gave a reply.

    "Okay then, let's start out with something simple. Where are my weapons? Last time I checked, when you have modern day howitzers, you don't fight hand to hand with swords and spears." He began as he motioned with his teacup towards the various shells lying around as if they were cheap paperweights.

    "None of your business! Us griffons will march across your precious Equestria and destroy your Capital, Canterlot!" The weathered griffon officer shouted out before spitting at Zee Captain.

    "Hum... Let's see, is patriotic rant on the chart? Survey says..." Zee Captain announced as he looked off towards a wall as if there some board placed up on the wall with the results of some survey.

    Thunder erupted through the room as he pulled of one shot into the officers knee. The room was filled with screams and curses before Zee Captain moved onto the next officer. From the looks of the well kept feathers and the forced grin on this ones face, here was the second in command.

    "Here is your chance to best your superior here. Now, where are my weapons?" Zee Captain inquired as he laid the barrel of the gun on the griffons right knee.

    "Burn in Tartarus you crazy pony!" The second in command shouted with hatred dripping off of every letter of that sentence.

    "Empty threat, Is that up on the board? Survey says..." Zee Captain asked to an unknown entity.

    The room once again filled with the sounds of the griffon officers as another bullet tore out of the barrel and through the second in commands knee.

    "Dear Faust! Please not me! I like my knees, please not the knees! The next griffon in the line of chairs begged as he tried to run away from Zee Captain and his gun.

    "Well all you have to do is answer this one question. Where are my weapons?" Zee Captain explained as he placed a hoof around the young officers neck.

    "All that I know is that a spy of ours in Canterlot found some plans buried deep within the archives. From those plans we have been remaking the most simplest of the designs. Some of them just were just filled with mad sayings on there! That's all I know!" The griffon explained as fast as he could as if the answer did not get out fast enough, it would be the end of him.

    "You feather-brained idiot!" the seasoned officer began before Zee Captain raised his pistol barrel from the knee of the third officer and fired off a round into the old officers head.

    "Nicely done, you have won the first round! Now here comes the bonus round! The question is, where and what are these Elements of Harmony?" Zee Captain exclaimed as confetti began shooting off in his mind.

    "Seriously, you have not heard about the Elements of Harmony?!" The last officer blurted out.

    "When you have a job of keeping the most important city in Equestria under control, you don't catch a lot of the more recent events." Zee Captain replied after a sip of his tea.

    "They are being kept in a mountain fortress a short distance from here. Sounds like we got a hold of their users rather than the actual Elements." The officer replied without hesitation as he stared intensely at the wall in front of him.

    "Well done, you won the grand prize, but first you must do one thing. I need you to deliver a message to whomever is in power. Tell them that Zee Captain is coming to find his little weapons thieves. Understood?" Zee Captain explained as he undid the bounds of the griffon officer.

    "Zee Captain, Weapon thieves, coming. I got it." the officer replied before heading out the door.

    "Hey Captain, What about us?" the fourth officer asked as Zee Captain was at the doorway.

    "What do you mean, you lost." Zee Captain replied before firing off a shot.

    The bullet sped past the officer and struck the ignition container on the bottom of one of the shells. The shell shot off towards the wall before filling the entire room with a deathly yellowish gas that choked out the last two officers tied up. Zee Captain closed the door behind him before using his magic to generate a screen before him.

    "Hello Princess Loony, I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Zee Captain began as a startled face of Princess Luna appeared before him.

“Wha- Zee Captain! What do, ha-how? Magic windows are blocked by the power of Canterlot Castle! Did you just call me Loony?” Luna appeared to have been arguing with somepony but Zee Captain could not see anyone else in her room with the Princess.

“I have access and that is all you need to know.” Luna opened her mouth to speak but the masked pony stopped her. “No speaking, I am trying to say something!”

She clamped her mouth shut and glared at Zee Captain. He either didn’t notice the hateful glance from the Princess or Zee Captain didn’t care.

“I have found the location of the weapons that were stolen from Equestria!”

“Weapons?”

“Hush!” Zee Captain scolded Luna. “The Elements of Harmony?

Luna’s mood instantly changed for the better. “Where are they?”

“In a fortress several miles from my location. Zee Captain out.”

Before Luna could ask any more questions the screen in front of her disappeared.

‘And you doubted him,’ Discord chided.

Luna was about to give the Draconequus a sharp reply when there was an urgent knock on her door.

“Yes?”

“Your highness!” Came a guard’s voice through the door. “Celestia needs you in the war room!”

Luna let out a sigh, opened the door and followed him to the room filled with military ponies. Celestia stood by the table looking at the maps and the pieces representing the locations of pony and griffin forces. She was surprised at how much they had moved since she last saw them.

“Ah, Sister,” Celestia said. “You are here. I hope you had a good night last night?”

“Uh, yes.” Luna walked next to her sister and looked at the maps with her. “What did you need my sister?”

“Black Apple has disappeared.” The older princess stated. “Along with more than half of our army.”

'Wow, I did not see that coming! Stuff just got real sister!'

Luna’s eyes went wide. “How and why!”

“I think learning that his daughter was captured by the enemy drove him to brash action, and we believe he is following the same path that Zee Captain took to get into the Gryphon Empire.” Celestia sighed and fidgeted with the piece that represented Black Apple’s army.

<<+>>

They were running. They didn’t know where, but they knew they had to. Stopping and getting caught could possibly mean death. It was nightfall now, and the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony were roaming a forest of pine trees. They were tired, never having endured stress like this. They might have dealt with hazardous situations before, even life-threatening, but this was the closest they’ve ever gotten to dying.

They escaped on pure adrenaline and survival instinct. Who would’ve known what might have happened if they were caught. The situation had been bleak, and... incidents happened that none of them expected. There was only one option they had left to take after the two guards had been dispatched- escape. And stay alive. The other options... they didn’t want to find out.

“Girls,” Twilight said to the group, “I think this is a good place as any to rest.”

They looked around. There was nothing special about it. It was literally just picking right where they stood. Twilight must have been so tired, or rather, noticed one of the others slowing, that she didn’t even worry about a good place to rest. It was not anywhere traveled, and so they should be safe for the night.

At Twilight’s announcement, they all dropped to the ground as if their legs simply gave out. Which, for some, probably did.

"Some of us are going to have to stay awake and keep watch," Twilight advised.

After a moment of panting and catching their breaths, Applejack spoke. "I'll do it. I can still hold up for a little longer."

"I'll stay along," Rainbow added.

"It's settled then," Twilight said. "Everypony else can go to sleep." Looking at the other three, Pinkie only gave a nod, while Rarity and Fluttershy probably never even heard her, already asleep.

With the two other mares sitting on watch, Twilight laid down to catch some rest with the others. She looked up at the sky, peeking through the high treetops. The moon. Luna's moon. It was so bright. Oh, how I wished we were home. I don't even know why we're here.

Twilight's head was in the midst of a swirling headache. The physical and psychological stress of the past few... days... was getting to her. She was becoming fatigued. In fact, she was so scared, that she could not even fall asleep for fear of being found by griffons. Not even her exhausted body could coerce her into slumber. Not when her mind was resisting.

The unicorn was essentially frozen awake in fear. She was too tired to sit up. She could not fall asleep while lying down. It was horrible. She didn't even know how much time had passed. Maybe an hour. Or less, according to the movements of the moon.

"EE-mmph!"

Twilight shot up at hearing what sounded like Rainbow Dash. She looked over and found Applejack clamping her muzzle shut and pinning her to the ground, looking at Twilight with desperation. She then made a signal to stay quiet, then pointed out to a direction in the forest. There was a small ray of light peeking through the pine branches, from a lantern not too far away, but not close enough to detect them.

They listened intently.

"... So, are they sure they got no good ways to track those ponies?" a voice whispered.

"Well if they did, we would've found them by now. But since we don't, we got to do it the hard way," another replied in a similarly hushed tone.

"How hard is it to find those mares anyways? They're just normal ponies! Not some special forces pony."

"Don't be too surprised... Remember that courier?" a third voice added.

The three mares looked amongst each other. A pony came into griffon territory?

"Courier? You still think that pegasus was a courier? After leaving griffons dead and still escaping even if we had twenty or so on him?" the first voice said.

The three ponies looked at each other with mouths agape. Not only did a pony come into griffon territory, but he had also made it out alive and also killed! This was a truly serious matter, and the Element bearers were hopelessly stuck in the middle of it.

"Well, uh..."

"Besides, what are those things called, cutie marks? What kind of courier has two aces of spades as a cutie mark? That wasn't no courier... Anyways, what are we supposed to do when we find those ponies anyway?"

"Orders were to just bring them directly to Clawthorne. That's it," the second voice said. "Said that it was imperative that they were found, and with utmost speed. They must be brought back alive. And have half of the stationed griffons in search parties in groups of three. Nothing else in the letter."

"Wow... what do ya think's gonna happen to them?"

"I don't know. But if they're gonna be brought to the capital, then I'm gonna guess that at least one of them's being executed."

Twilight, Rainbow, and Applejack all became more shocked than they were seconds ago. They didn't even react, except freeze in place. Anything else might alert the griffons to their position. And from what they heard, that would only lead downhill. They stayed in their positions. The griffons kept talking, but their voices were fading. They were leaving.

The only thing they heard next was their breathing. Twilight signaled the two to wait for a moment, then her horn glowed. It dissipated after a few seconds.

"Detection spell. The griffons are far away now. We're safe again... for now."

The three held gazes, until Applejack quietly broke down between the two. In between sobs, she talked. "Rainbow... Twilight... I jus' want to go home. This ain't where we belong. We didn't do nothin'..."

The two could only console their friend, as the night continued on.

<<+>>

The Griffon Territory was almost peaceful this night as Zee Captain peered over the landscape with only his trusty mug of tea. The landscape was serene with the thick forests and the few blotches off in the distance marking the griffon towns. A few glowing lights appeared every once in awhile as the reported griffons were scouring the forest stretching across the rock landscape. A lone fortress appearing to almost be floating over the forest was alight with torchlight and activity. He could not help but grin at the foolishness of the griffons. Even though they were pride filled warriors with skills known throughout the lands, but every warrior had a fault. A heavily armored griffon warlord is not able to stop an armored piercing bullet, let alone an artillery round from one of Stalliongrad designs. With a quick glance of his watch he noted how the hands were closing in towards 5:30, right when the sun would begin dawning.

At the wall edges and on top various towers were various artillery that the griffons had reproduced. After dealing with the officers, time was spent on fixing the errors on the mistreated pieces of equipment and added a few attachments to allow for them to receive orders through electronic magic created and perfected in Stalliongrad. This one magic he decided to keep under his sleeve if those fancy ponies in Canterlot would take his little secret away. The one thing that made it so amazing was how it was able to be used by not only unicorns, but by anypony with the know how. Allowing for the advancement made in the technological field when he was still stationed in Canterlot with the other generals.

“How goes the scavenger hunt?” Zee Captain asks as he pulls up a screen in front of him revealing Pilot and Snippy.

“Alright if you consider that if they are running their probably not sticking to easier routes. I’m surprised that they even broke out of the fortress” Snippy answered as he turned his head to survey the surroundings.

“These griffons have such lousy search protocol. They have nearly talked about everything that has happened.” Pilot commented.

“Do you still have the masks?” He asked as he looked off into the distance and found their marker on the HUD of his gas mask.

“Well I will leave you to your scavenger hunt then, have fun!” Zee Captain replied before closing the screen.

He nodded to himself as he thought back to his earlier checkups and the wealth of information leaving the griffons lips. It was as if they had no idea about military procedure or his glorious presence in their midst; That was all going to change soon. Each of the thirteen acquired artillery pieces found had a starting volley of the diluted griffon version of the mustard gas rounds followed with concentrated mustard gas round made in the dead of the night and varying types of High Explosive and regular rounds. He took a sip of his tea as he looked out over the landscape. A glance at his watched showed that it was about a few minute to go before the early morning artillery shelling.

“Captain, we have found the Elements! How much time to we have before the wake up call?” Pilot shouted as a screen appeared before Zee Captain.

“Just a few, I suggest you hurry.” Zee Captain replied as he closed down the screen.

He waited the few minutes with the sad thought that the first round of shells would not kill the griffons due to how badly they had created the gas bearing rounds. Not to mention any town within range was not one of large importance. As his minute hand rested on the 6 with a precise snap. The Artillery pieces fired off the first volley into the forest in front of him. Zee Captain chuckled at the thought of the faces of the griffons when their own weapons, that they have no idea of its true power, would begin pounding on their doorsteps.

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If any of you who are reading this and want to practice your writng skills just PM me and you can join us as we continue this story. I will only allow 3 and you need to know how to use Google Docs.

If you see any mistakes please tell me.