Chapter 2

When Luna is Away

Equestrian Central Intelligence Bureau

Lunar Contingency | Mission Directive 1337

Agent: Lunabelle “Luna” Quasar | Princess, Captain (Equestrian Special Forces)

Princess Luna,

The last International Trading Summit (known henceforth as ITS) did not end on the happiest of notes. The Empire of Crystallia to our west was rather indignant on natural resource allocation between our borders. As we are sure you remember, the Viceroy of the monarchy of Crystallia demanded that we allow exploration of our lands by foreign companies for crystal mining. Although you, Princess, stated this in more ‘colorful’ words, it was agreed upon by the leadership that Equestria was under no obligation to comply with the ludicrous demand. The matter, apparently, did not die right there.

Intelligence went to work immediately after the ITS. Agents have reported that there is a high probability that a small contingent of Crystallian troops have been ordered to seize a large crystal refinery about two miles within our borders in order to have a negotiating token. This could potentially lead to a larger conflict if left unchecked.

The mission is as follows:

Arrive at the drop point, which is about one mile and a half away from the refinery in question, and silently make your way to the Crystallian border. Scout and use your best judgment to determine if an incursion is planned, which one most likely is. If aggression is clearly planned, infiltrate the border and sabotage the spearhead force. You are authorized to use deadly force only as a means of self-defense and/or achieving mission success.

Field Dir. Monochrome Contrail

Luna read the directive scroll several times to ensure accuracy in her objectives, her eyes moving with perfect precision over each letter, leaving no room for misinterpretation. Satisfied with the proofreading, she nodded to herself and slipped the scroll into a secured pocket on her combat uniform. She was currently in transit in the air to her objective which was about a hundred miles west of Canterlot. Luna knocked on the pilot’s aperture:

“Does thou have a time estimate in regards to our arrival?” Luna asked.

“About ten minutes, Princess. Probably a good time to start getting ready,” the pilot said. Luna nodded in return and went to do just that. She un-holstered her pistol and pulled back the slide. Seeing the red crystal pop into the breech, she released the slide with a resounding ‘click!’ Re-holstering her weapon, Luna pulled her rifle off of her back, wiping it down before adding extra attachments to it. She added a magical aperture sight which rested above the weapon HUD. This sight allowed her, through personal magical manipulation, to distinguish friendly from enemy, and civilian from combatant. It also outlined any weapons in its sight, being able to see if one would be hiding anything. As of now, she turned it off, leaving only a bright teal blue reticle in its place. She attached a suppressor before slinging the rifle on her back again. Lastly, she pulled a gas mask on her face before sliding her helmet back on.

“Thirty seconds, Princess!” the pilot called back. Luna nodded, got to her feet and steadied herself by the chariot door. True to the pilot’s word, the door gently flapped downward and the chariot flew to a smooth halt. Luna softly paced out on the plank-like drop door, looking down at the ground which was several thousand feet below her.

“Thank thee for the ride, Blueleaf,” Luna said over her shoulder.

“Princess?” Blueleaf called back. Luna stopped mid spring to turn her attention towards him, an inquisitive look on her face.

“Be safe, alright?” he said apprehensively with a smile. Luna returned it in full even though he couldn’t see it through her mask, warming her heart knowing that many care about her safety in what she was doing.

“You know I will be,” Luna replied. Blueleaf nodded.

“May the Moon guide you!” he shouted back. Luna nodded once with her traditional grin and took a leap of faith off the chariot door. Her body picked up speed until it was in free-fall but only for a short time, since she was only a few thousand feet off the ground and not tens of thousands of feet. Luna gracefully shifted her body chest down as she dropped, her hands flaring in her magical aura; artificially adding inertia and friction to the surrounding air. After about forty-five seconds, Luna slowed down enough when she was about thirteen feet above the ground, which happened to be an open field. She dissolved her magic and dropped the remaining distance, landing expertly on her feet and hunching down to take the pressure off her knees. She did not move from this position, for several seconds, silently taking in the surrounding sounds as she slowly darted her eyes around her, checking… waiting for something to go wrong. Nothing moved. Just her, the wilderness, and the night. With that, Luna stood up and unclasped her rifle from her back. She took a magazine from a pouch on her uniform and slid it into the magazine receptacle in the stock of the weapon before pulling the charging handle. Ready for battle, Luna took off in a small jog towards the border area.

She breathed (or panted) steadily as she jogged at an even pace, her rifle held low and swinging lightly in perfect synchronization with her movements. These little runs brought back memories of the first time she went on a covert mission like this. Her first time, however, was not on her lonesome. She was tagging along with several other field agents in order to ‘break her in’ and get a feel for the work. She killed her first time that night as well. A soldier held a shotgun to her face after he knocked her down. Magic could not be used since they were inside another country’s borders and magic could be detected if used, as well as its residue. Out of non-lethal options, Luna shot him in the chest three times. The mission was a success, but she cried for three days straight. Nevertheless, she was undeterred. In an increasingly hostile world, Equestria needed help more than ever lest they be thrown into open conflict. One does not forge a powerful and prosperous nation without irritating the others around you… it simply isn’t done.

Luna slowed her pace to a brisk walk, and then to a stop as she crested a hill. She got down on all fours and crawled through the bushes and tall grass, holding her rifle in the crevice of both of her arms. She eventually settled to a stop and peered over the crest, eying the small river this section that separated the two nations.

“Let us see what awaits on the other side, hmm?” Luna thought to herself as she pulled out some binoculars and peered through them. She eyed a few wayward Crystallian Soldier patrols making their rounds. Looking beyond the small band of forest, she saw a few armored personnel carriers and even a tank. Interesting… tanks are not used for mere border patrol. Zooming in more, she found several dozen, about thirty or so troops doing their own thing around the clearing. No mistake of it, something was going on, and Luna was going to make sure it didn’t happen. She then peered around and saw something that could present and potentially large problem.

“Hmph. That’s… not good. It is always something… dammit.”

Dispatching the Crystallian troops as she made her way across the river wouldn’t be the problem. The issue lay with Equestria’s border patrol which, like their counterparts, was made up of sparse patrol teams. If they saw her go through, it would raise enormous suspicion. And it wasn’t like she could just have the EBP cover her entrance into the Empire of Crystallia, as that would be blatant abetting to an incursion into foreign territory… not good. Besides, no one outside the necessary higher-ups was to know that she was here. She’d have to sneak by both border patrols, and if necessary, subdue her own soldiers. That thought made her shudder, but was quelled by the fact that if she wasn’t going through with this mission, those troops would likely be captured or killed when the Crystallians launched their attack.

Luna decided on her entrance point and she slowly made her way down the hill, keeping low and with rifle in hands. She made sure to take note of two Equestrian troops walking perpendicular to her path. They were looking away from her movements through the grass… at least so she thought. Or she hoped.

“Hey… something’s moving in the grass there!” One of the soldiers pointed out. Luna stopped dead and dropped.

Fuck me.

“Man, everything moves in the grass. Need I point out that it’s breezy out?” the other soldier responded in a condescending manner.

“I don’t know… I still think we should check it out.”

It pleases me greatly to see Equestrian military doing their jobs but please, just this once, shit off…

“Oh right, because maybe the Colonel will promote you for finding an illegal rabbit sneaking across our border, or a gopher smuggling carrot contraband into Crystallia,” the other soldier chided. Luna couldn’t help but stifle a giggle. She needed that.

“Whatever man. Something happens, don’t say I didn’t tell you,” the first soldier stated once more before they continued on, harmlessly passing Luna’s camouflaged form. Checking that the coast was clear, she made her way to the river bank. The Crystallian troops had dispersed for the moment, so there was no telling how soon they would return. Strapping her rifle to her back again, she waded into the cool water and submerged herself almost completely, using a very light stroke with her arms and legs to give off as little ripple as possible and using the cover of the natural noise of the river to silently make her way across. She made it to the other river bank and couch-walked up into the small forest perimeter. However, what she saw made her drop immediately.

Almost unseen there was one soldier who was just watching the river, looking bored out of his mind. However, Luna was essentially trapped now. She couldn’t move perpendicular, as that would definitely be noticed, and she couldn’t really just march up to him and punch him in the face. However, she most certainly didn’t have to shoot him… at least she wanted to believe that she didn’t, not yet at least. Fumbling with her equipment, she thanked the stars that she had managed to throw in one of these with her accessories. Luna pulled out a cylindrical, metal canister.

Type-26 Gaseous Anesthetic. Knock-Out Gas.

Luna carefully pulled the pin on it, and let the gas seep out a bit before lightly chucking it onto the grass behind the soldier. Thankfully he didn’t notice the object flying at him due to the shadow of the forest. After about fifteen seconds, Luna noticed that he looked a bit wobbly and before long, he collapsed.

Most Excellent.

Luna continued on, using the trees for cover and, true to her word, letting the bright moonlight guide her towards the forest clearing. Eventually, she made it and peered out of a bush. It was the same sight that she saw when peering through the binoculars, however this time, it appeared that the troops were ready to move. That meant that their operation would be a go, if it wasn’t already. Luna needed to think fast. Remembering her orders, she was not told anything specific, but just to sabotage the advancing force. Luna began to run through quick options. She could destroy the tank and APCs. She had enough magic to summon a couple heavy grade charges. But heavy explosives would undoubtedly alert divisions for miles. She could also place small charges and blow the tracks on the vehicles. Both of those options involved sneaking around a place crawling with troops in order to set a perfectly timed charge, possibly getting shot in the process and having to eliminate all the troops in the area in order to survive.

Or… she could find the commanding officer and eliminate him instead.

With no operations commander, their little plan would fall apart. It was decided. She’d locate a commanding officer, or officers, and kill them directly, unless an opportunity presented itself to make it look like an accident. But now, to find a commanding officer.

At that point, a man flanked by about three other soldiers and wearing an officers cap exited one of the APCs.

Well, that was almost too convenient, Luna thought to herself. Before she acted, it suddenly hit her.

I have no precision weapons!

Luna was feeling trapped because there was no way out of this peacefully. Any path she took would end up in an enormous shoot out. Even if she subdued one of the soldiers, others would immediately see her, or notice their absence.

I guess this is it then. First mission where I’ve blatantly run out of options and needed to go in ‘guns blazing, Luna thought to herself again. At the conclusion of her deliberation, she pulled three grenades from her belt.

For my subjects, and for the safety of Equestria

Luna pulled one pin after the other and sent the grenades flying in random directions of the clearings. Conversation and activity went on as normal for the next few seconds… and then it happened.

BOOM!

Since Luna pulled the pins at relatively the same time, the grenades went off also at relatively the same time, gripping the attention of all the soldiers instantly, a few of which were caught in the blasts. With their attention turned, time slowed down as Luna emerged from her cover, assault rifle in hand. She raised up the weapon, aimed at the officer who had his back turned, and squeezed the trigger. Her suppressed rifle spewed eight rounds, all of which struck the Crystallian officer in the back, sending him to the ground in a cry of anguish. After that action, the other soldiers immediately began searching for the origin of the death of their officer, not taking long for the closest soldiers to turn their attention to Luna.

“HERE! Shoot to ki—” the soldier was cut off as Luna turned her rifle, point blank, onto him, sending him to the ground with five new holes in his torso. Luna caught something in her periphery immediately as she ducked low and avoided the butt of a rifle, aiming high into the attacking soldiers chest as she squeezed her trigger again before side kicking him in the gut, and into the side of an APC in a bloody mess. With pure adrenaline, Luna dashed behind the APC and away from the fire that erupted towards her after she dispatched the two soldiers one after the other, firing the rest of her clip the entire way to cover.

Luna dropped the empty magazine into her hand, being sure to stow it away in her uniform before sliding in another. She couldn’t pull the charging handle as two more soldiers rounded the corner of the APC, guns raised. By pure instinct Luna knocked the barrel of the first rifle away before landing a swift kick in the soldier’s crotch. She then kneed him in the gut, using that opening to yank his rifle out of his hand and turn it on the other soldier, silencing him, before hammer-fisting the first soldier on the back of the neck and into the ground. Luna then stepped on his neck harshly, hearing an audible crack, one that would probably haunt her for the next few days. She yanked back the charging handle on her rifle and checked her surroundings. The moment she peeked out behind cover, the metal sparked right where her face was, indicating a near death experience with a bullet to the head.

Quickly thinking, she had already disposed of five Crystallian troops including the officer, there were still about thirty left. Yes, even if she was a human of the Ali-Cron race and thus immortal, that didn’t mean she was invincible. Ali-Crons couldn’t die, but they could still ‘be killed,’ and Luna was starting the believe that even she couldn’t take on all these enemy troops at once. The only for sure way of survival was if she used magic, but that would immediately incriminate Equestria, regardless of what the Crystallians planned to do. As of right now, Luna decided that she would have to see if she could escape and lose them, since her mission was technically complete.

Luna peeked out again and a bullet struck her shoulder plate, ricocheting away from her. Luna retreated back, only to immediately return, ducked low, and firing her rifle. Another soldier went down with a scream.

“YOU SON OF A BI—” a soldier ran around the other side of the APC screaming, but was silenced when Luna instinctually unsheathed her sword and used the momentum of her arm to fling it at the aggressor, the blade piercing his abdomen all the way through. She ran over to the body and yanked out the blade, sheathing it again before raising her rifle and peppering two more troops that were advancing on her, scoring two headshots on one of them. Another set of troops were converging on her from the right side, as well as more on the left. Luna instantly transferred her rifle to her left hand and yanked the pistol out of its holster with her right. She struggled to keep her rifle steady with the recoil when she had to return fire at a flanking soldier. She turned her attention to the new aggressors and  repeatedly pulled the trigger on her sidearm, the first rounds scoring direct hits on the point soldier and sending him down in a screaming mess. Luna was stepping backwards as she was attempting to ward off the enemy when she table-topped over one of the bodies, dropping her now empty assault rifle and falling on her back, nearly knocking the wind out of her. Luna shot her three more times at a soldier that attempted to aim over the APC, missing him and forcing him back into cover, before turning her attention to another one doing the same thing, firing three more times and striking him in the face.

That last action expended all the rounds in her pistol. Not taking any chances with reloading since her coast was clear at the immediate moment, she flipped up on her feet and made a mad dash for the forest periphery back where she came from, getting shot at the entire way. As the Crystallian troops gave chase, they were forced back as Luna dropped flashbang grenades and live grenades in her escape.

Luna was running faster than she ever had, as this had proved to be the potentially most costly mission she went on. She was able to grab her rifle off the ground before she split, reloading it as she was running and clearly hearing footsteps behind her a few hundred feet. She then jumped over a tree stump and crouched down, turning around and aiming back where she was running.

“THIS WAY, LET’S MOVE!”

“GO GO GO!”

“AAAAH!!” one of the soldiers cried out as Luna opened fire on the small group of troops that emerged into her field of vision. Luna made short work of the five of them due to her taking them by surprise, before turning on her heels and splitting once more. Soon she came upon the river and doing a quick check, she found a few Equestrian Soldiers doing their rounds. It would look even more suspicious if they detained the Princess of the Night, running like a bat out of Tartarus out of Crystallia. They would undoubtedly see her as she got closer, but she desired to live more so. With one last ditch attempt, she jumped and landed in the river, immediately casting an invisibility spell. She laid low for a while as the river rushed past her helmet, her eyes and nose above the water.

Soon enough, the remaining Crystallian soldiers emerged from the forest and did a sweep of their border. They weren’t being aggressive in the slightest against the EBP, seeing as they didn’t see anyone emerge from the forest.

“Everything alright over there?!” One of the Equestrian troops shouted out to their Crystallian counterparts, rushing towards the river in case they needed assistance. This got the attention of the other Equestrians in the area. Luna used the opportunity to quietly slip through back into Equestria, any potential magical residue floating away with the river, or staying on Equestrian soil. Once Luna got out of range, completely out of breath and, she was almost afraid to say, scared out of her mind, she dissipated the active camouflage and lightly jogged back to her drop point, where she found another chariot waiting for her. The pilot waved her down and led her inside before taking off. Luna checked the time: two in the morning. She sighed and slumped back in her seat, pushing the brim of her helmet down over her eyes.

“I deduce that the mission was a success, Princess?” the pilot asked, a different one than Blueleaf. Luna just held up her hand.

“I pray thee, please no talking right now… just… silence. I apologize but it’s been a horrid night. But yes, mission complete,” Luna acknowledged.

“Very well, Princess. I’ll have you in Canterlot in about an hour.”

“Actually, can you make a quick stop to Ponyville?” Luna asked.

“Umm… Yes Princess. I’ll divert course,” the pilot responded.

“Thank you. There is someone I would… love to see, and knowing her, she is probably still buried in a book at this hour.”

Next Chapter: 3: Ultimatum Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 43 Minutes