Love and Hatred

Moon and Twilight woke up the next day feeling refreshed, and somewhat decent. They knew that getting into the HQ was going to be hell, but they shrugged off the thought. They got their saddles on and ready to walk out off the door when Spike rushed in panting, with a worried look on his face.

“Guys... Hurry up and get downstairs, there is a problem.”

They looked at each other with confused looks and followed Spike down the stairs into the front room of the inn. As they got closer to the door leading out of the building they heard shouting and screams of horror. They tried opening the door, but it was jammed. Damn this old door Spike thought. He ran through the door with such force, it rocked the foundation of the whole building, and this caused Moon to smile. When he had met him the night before, he thought that he was just a joke, the huge stature was just a facade, but after seeing this, he knew he was as strong as he looked. When they got outside they saw what was going on: Celestia’s troops had come and started to terrorize the small town. This made Moon fill up with anger, such anger that he started to shake again. Twilight noticed him shaking, and went over beside him to calm him down, putting her hoof around him. He jumped a bit at that, but quickly realized who it was. He started to stop shaking, and he was calming down.

“Moon, don’t be so angry, we can try and stop this.”

“How Twilight, how?!”

Twilight looked at him and gave him a “Seriously?’ kind of look. She calmly walked over to to the soldiers and just stared at them.

“HEY! What the hell is going on here?!” Twilight never swore, so Moon gave a little smirk at this.

“Well, you see miss....uh?”

“Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle.”

The guards immediately stopped doing what they were doing, and Moon had just remembered that she was one of Celestia’s generals.

“G-general Sparkle, what a pleasure to meet you.” Said one of the guards.

“Oh cut the crap soldier. Why are you terrorizing this town?”

“Well, it was Celestia’s order.”

“Oh really?”

“Y-yeah” The guard was scared beyond belief.

Twilight looked over at Moon’s way and asked a simple question Moon was dying to know the answer to.

“Before my friends and I escort you out of this town I have a question.”

“Uh... Sure.”

“Well, you know about the murders that happened at Canterlot about a week ago right?”

The guard nodded.

“Good, glad to know that news travels to Prance. Anyways, do you know who was the cause of these murders?”

“Of course. It was Celestia who ordered a small group of pegasi to Canterlot. She got word that the Shadowbolts were there, and she wanted to get rid of them. I thought you would know this General?”

And at that moment, Moon snapped. The shaking came back, the rage came back, and he grabbed the knife he always kept in his saddle. The same one who killed Nightshade, it was coated in his dried blood. Moon charged the soldiers, slashing the necks of two of them. Nothing could stop him, not even Twilight. She just stood there, watching Moon murder the soldiers one by one. Spike tried to intervene, but Twilight just held him back.

“No Spike, just.... let him go. We can’t stop him.”

There was one guard left and Moon stared at him with crazed eyes. The trooper looked back with such fear, he was almost crying. Moon slowly trotted to him and stopped 4 inches from his face.

“You’re coming with me.” Moon said in a half whisper.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike helped Moon drag the soldier into the room that Twilight and him slept in. They threw him on the bed like he was nothing. They tied his hooves up and started to question him. Moon was first to ask the questions.

“Does your ‘Oh so great’ leader know they also killed two Wonderbolts?”

“W-wait.... There were Wonderbolts that were killed?!”

Moon scoffed towards the soldier.

“Heh, of course not. Should’ve guessed those cowards wouldn’t say that.”

“Moon!” Twilight exclaimed

“What? You and I BOTH know that the Solar Empire is filled with a bunch of cowards! And so is the Lunar Republic! This whole damn war is filled with cowards!” Moon turned back to the Soldier.

“Sorry kid, your time’s up.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“But Twilight, he MURDERED somepony in one of the rooms! He can’t be trusted!”

Spike was furious at Moon for cutting up the Celestian guard. Moon just shrugged and waited for Twilight to finish talking.

“Look, I’m sorry Spike, but..... Well...” She started to whisper in his ear, “They are the reason that his friend he grew up with almost all of his life is dead. He’s an emotional wreck.”

“Then why are you with him Twilight?”

“Well, for two reasons Spike. One, to make sure he doesn’t do anything to get himself killed. And two...” She stopped there. She didn’t want Spike to know that the colt who murdered somepony in a room is the person she loves the most.

“What’s the second reason?!” Spike demanded.

“Oh, nothing, just that first one.”

Spike could see the hesitation in answers, but just let it go.

“Hey, you guys done talking?” Moon yelled across the room. He was starting to get very impatient.

Twilight started to walk towards the door after saying her good-byes to Spike, when he stopped her. There was a groan from across the room.

“I’m coming with you guys.”

Twilight just stared at him. Was he serious? Did he have any idea what he was getting himself into?

“O-ok. Not sure how Moon will feel about this but whatever.”

As Twilight and Spike walked towards Moon, he was confused. Why was Spike with her?

“Uh, what is he doing?”

“Well, he’s coming with us.”

Moon had the same reaction and facial expression as Twilight. He stared at her, then him, then back at her.

“Twilight, is this really a good idea? I mean, sure he’s big, but what fighting experience does he have?”

Spike gave Moon a glare that shot through his body. Moon felt it too, he gave an evil smirk towards Spike.

“Yes, I’m certain it’ll be a good idea. The more people we have, the better survival rate.”

“*sigh* Fine, but I don’t want him interrupting me when I’m killing troops.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight climbed on Moon’s back, preparing for another reckless flight. Spike, on the other hand, grew wings as he aged. Moon watched Twilight climb on his back hesitantly, so he reassured her that he wouldn’t fly as fast. And as dangerous. She gave a little chuckle, and that made him smile. He was always fond of Twilight, even as a growing child, he always liked her.

Both Moon and Spike started to flap their wings, and they took off. With the recent news that Celestia was the reason that Blitz was dead, they flew west towards Prance. Luna would have to wait, he thought. It’s time to get revenge. For Blitz.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The night came quick after flying all day. The two ponies and Spike were worn out, so they decided to find a place to stay. Unfortunately, they were surrounded by mountains. Spike was on the lookout for a decent looking cave for them to stay, and 3 minutes later, he found a perfect cave. Spike went out to look for a river or lake nearby to get water, while Twilight and Moon set up make-shift beds out of clothing on the ground. Twilight kept glancing over at Moon, and smiled each time. Sometimes he would notice, and he would give a small smile to himself. When they were finished, Spike hadn’t come back yet, so they set up a fire with tinder they brought along. The cave was silent, with the exception of the crackling fire. Twilight was the one to break the silence.

“Hey Moon, can we talk?”

“Sure Twilight, what’s on your mind?”

“Well, it’s just that.... Well... I can’t explain it, but... Uhm...” Twilight was trying to tell Moon she loved him, but she just couldn’t.

“I.... Uh... Oh jeez.... Well Moon I-”

Moon stopped Twilight from continuing to stutter with a sudden kiss. To her, it seemed to have lasted forever. When the kiss broke, he gave her a smile and said,

“I know Twilight, I love you too.”

She blushed, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks Moon. I was just worried that if I said that I lov-”

He kissed her again, this time shorter.

“I’ll shut up now.” Twilight giggled.

Moon grinned at her giggle. He never felt this way towards a pony, let alone his friend. The two ponies sat around the fire, hoof-in-hoof, and Twilight’s head in his shoulder. Spike returned 10 minutes later with news of the water hunt. He said that there was a lake about 15 miles to the south, but it was surrounded by mountains, and could easily be looked over. The two looked at each other and decided that they would go get water. They grabbed their canteens and bottles, and whatever else they could use to carry water in, and headed off to find the lake. They flew over it about a dozen times before they realized that it was below them the whole time. The two winged allies descended as Twilight started to pull out bottles, and canteens, and buckets. They filled each bottle, canteen, bucket etc. to the brim with water, and were overjoyed with Spike for finding this lake. It didn’t take them long to get back to the cave, Twilight was starting to get more comfortable with Moon’s crazy flying. When they got inside the cave, Spike laid his belongings next to ‘his’ bed and fell asleep fast. Twilight and Moon stayed up a little longer, sitting next to the fire, enjoying the time they had before they got to Prance. Before they went to bed Moon walked over to Twilight and gave her one last kiss before he put out the fire and went to bed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Moon was the first to wake up, as he couldn’t sleep most of the night. He had many things on his mind. One was that they would need to find a way to get revenge on Celestia for sending the troops to kill Blitz and two Wonderbolts. Two, he was in love. He was in love with a special purple pony, who didn’t give a damn if he killed somepony. And third, Spike. He was unsure of his reliability in this. What if he is siding with Celestia? Or with Luna? These and other questions kept him up most of the night. He stretched and walked over to Twilight, kissing her gently on the cheek, so he didn’t wake her. He decided that he would go for a quiet fly around the cave to try and clear his mind about everything. Everything but Twilight.

Twilight was the next to wake up, and she felt good. No, great. She felt great. She was reunited with Spike, who was pretty much her brother, and fell in love the night before. She walked to the mouth of the cave where she saw Moon flying around and she gave him a warm smile. He returned the smile and flew over to her.

“Hey darlin’. How’re you?” She blushed when he said darlin’.

“I’m doing quite well, and yourself?”

“Well, you’re here, so I guess that makes me extremely happy.”

They both leaned in and kissed. To the both of them it felt as right as the night before.

Twilight and Moon walked into the cave as Spike was waking up.

“*yawn* Oh hey guys, how’re y-” He drifted off, seeing them holding hooves. “So, uh, what’s going on?”

They looked at each other and noticed that they indeed were holding hooves.

“Oh, yeah. This, sorta happened last night, while you were gone.” Twilight answered, still blushing.

“Gah! I miss everything! Oh well. Off to Prance am I right?”

Moon nodded, and they started to pack.

30 minutes passed, and they were all packed.

“Well, we’re packed, why aren’t we leaving yet?” Moon asked.

“It seems Spike lost his compass, we don’t know which direction is west.”

“Well, let’s see. If the lake is south, and that’s that way, then west is...” Moon pointed in a direction, “...that way.”

They headed in the direction that Moon pointed in and went off towards Prance.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The trip took a good 6 hours, but they finally reached the border between Prance and Stalliongrad. They were stopped briefly by a guard, but then quickly recognized Twilight and let them in. Prance looked worse than Equestria. Whole towns were reduced to ash, lush plains were reduced to dirt, the whole place looked depressing.

Twilight approached one of the guards at the gate and kindly asked,

“Excuse me sir, but where is Princess Celestia currently staying?”

“Head about 40 miles north and you’ll see a castle. You can’t miss it.”

They all thanked him and they went to ‘pay a visit’ to Celestia. Moon was almost shaking from seeing Celestia for the first time since he was a young colt. He couldn’t wait to get revenge on her for the hell she and Luna out him through. He gave an evil grin at the thought of revenge.

They arrived at the castle and realized the guard wasn’t kidding; there was no way you could miss this. It looked bigger than Canterlot and Cloudsdale put together. Twilight was the first to approach one of the guards at the front gate of the castle.

“I would like to see Princess Celestia please, it’s urgent.”

The guard nodded and opened the gate. Now Moon was shaking. Not because he was nervous, but he was excited. He desperately wanted revenge on Celestia. He started to get more and more excited as the got closer to the main hall where Celestia was residing at the moment.

Twilight walked through the arched doorway and saw Celestia sitting in her throne in the middle of the hall.

“Ah, Twilight Sparkle, my favorite General. How have you been?”

“I’ve been good Princess, but there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

“What ever could y-”

She stopped her sentence early as Moon walked through the doorway and gave a smile at Celestia.

“Hello Celestia, remember me?”