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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