The moment didn't last long.
A crystalline stallion whinnied in his foreign language as he brought down his battle ax upon Aria's barrier. It shattered, and plummeted down towards Vivid Heart's back.
Aria surged forward and one of her falchions guarded her comrade.
"Cursed moon," the stallion growled, his voice resembling crystals scraping together. Bits of his language were indecipherable, but Aria could pick out a few words from her limited understanding of Geotongue.
She thrust her sword forward, the back of her blade shrieking against his ax, and she forced him to back up before her sword impaled his throat. Her ponies stayed put as their commander protected them. She glanced back to see Vivid's turquoise eyes wide with surprise, her own short sword readied for the fight.
"Our moon is far from it," Aria answered. The stallion pulled his ax away and glared at her through his veil. Aria stood tall, simply narrowing her eyes. "In fact, I'd say your hearts have been damned to fail since your pathetic Empress led you astray."
"You are wrong," he retorted, dust flying off his tongue. His teeth were miniature opals. "Heart guide Crystal to freedom. To peace."
Aria scoffed and paced forward. The stallion let out a warning bray and she stopped, tilting her head. One of her ponies behind her whinnied softly.
"Peace? Peace is what you desire?" She spat to the dirt and wrinkled her snout. "Then why dare attack our Republic? Why do you oppose the moon, why do you oppose Princess Luna?" She leveled her falchion with his throat and he cowered. "You've killed innocent ponies this night, and I am aware you must have murdered more on previous nights. Such an act in itself is damnable."
"Your wrong sayings," he insisted, thrashing his head. His rose-plated armor glistened in the moonlight. "Cursed moon. Your eyes are blind."
CRACK.
A spatter of blood hit Aria's face. The stallion plummeted to the dirt, his clear ichor pooling out of the shattered mass that was once his head. His helmet was bent and ruptured. She stared at him, a shiver rolling down her spine.
"Y'know…" Fiery Mind said, trotting towards her. "Ya really are kind o' a dumbass. Ya don' frat'rnize with tha others."
Aria didn't answer.
"Eh?" He twisted the cigarette in his teeth and nudged her. "Virgin? Ya good? Did I hurt yer lil' feelins?" He flashed her a grim smile as smoke rose from his mouth. When she didn't react, his face dropped.
Our eyes are blind?
"Oi! Ya there! Git yer flanks here."
A small tremble of hooves approached Aria and Fiery sucked his teeth.
In what sense?
"Snap 'er outta it."
"I don't take orders from an outsider." That sounded like Cacophony.
"Ya came o'er, didn'tcha?" He barked out a laugh. "Ya'd let yer c'mmander jus' sit an' weep with no worry?" The world had grown soft, no cries of pain or anger carried on. There were just murmurs from the Lunars and the mercenaries. The sky was dark; the aurora's dance was over.
Weep?
Aria slowly wiped her face. Warm tears soaked into her hoof along with tiny crystal fragments and cold blood.
Why do I shed tears for an enemy soldier?
Pain fluttered in her head, swirling around the base of her horn to behind her eyes. She sat, exhausted, and let her tears flow.
Why?
"Aria, this is really unb'comin'," Fiery said teasingly.
"Quiet," Crimson said, her hoofsteps growing close to Aria's left. "Leave us." Aria felt her friend lean against her.
"Aight," Fiery replied after a moment. His voice was clipped. "Glad I could help with yer shitty fight. Barely worth bringin' the ship."
"We didn' need yer help."
Aria lifted her head to see a bloodied warhorse stomping up to the group. Fiery grimaced and spat out his cigarette.
"Ah, Gen'ral Applejack," he chuckled, "did'ja like the show?"
"No." She narrowed her eyes at him. "I didn'."
"Shame," Fiery said, wrapping his lance's sash around his shoulder. He gave an exuberant bow. "I'll be on my way—"
"Y'ain't goin' nowhere, colonel. Ya've got some 'splainin' to do." Applejack glanced at Aria and her growing company. Her ponies stood behind her with Crimson Lock and Vivid Heart at her sides. "Y'all're dismissed. Good work t'night, comm'nder. I'm not pleased with the ins'bord'nation — we'll d'scuss that la'er — but we still won regardless. Y'all may rest."
Fiery looked at them all before sighing and clicking his tongue. Applejack escorted him away, her thunderous voice still audible from the distance.
Aria got to her hooves and sheathed her swords. Crimson stayed by her side as she led her troop back to the Moon Base. Her friends were injured, but the main recovery outpost — in Métis — was destroyed. It had only been a few hours since the first strike, so Aria had to take her comrades to the Moon Base's medical tent.
Robed ponies were shuffling around the battlefield, dragging bits and pieces of broken crystalline soldiers to various piles. Others were levitating fallen Lunars, gently resting them in rows with their injuries concealed. The only ponies that were left untouched were the very few mercenaries that had died.
After a few minutes of silent walking, crackles could be heard far behind them. The stench of burning hair drifted towards Aria and made her stop to turn around. Pitch black smoke bobbed up towards the clouds from various pyres. The robed ponies were lighting the enemy bodies ablaze, though it seemed only their armor and manes were burning. Aria briefly sent an internal farewell to the fallen Lunars. She could not force herself to dawdle on the field.
The funerals happened around midnight the following evening. The entirety of the Moon and Métis bases attended, including Princess Luna. Only seventeen Lunars perished, but they were still ponies, and they deserved proper burials.
Watching Princess Luna kiss the caskets of the fallen ponies tugged at Aria's heart. The princess's wings were tucked as close to her as possible, and she wore a midnight-blue veil with no jewelry. A black gown adorned her body, and she had no shoes upon her hooves.
Aria only recognized a few of the names: Fletching, Night Glider, Buttercup, and Spring Daydream. The others she had never known their names, only their faces. The little colt from Métis, whose name turned out to be Valiance, struck a particularly rough cord through the ponies who gathered.
Blazing Reign attended the funeral as well, her mild concussion cured without the bat of an eye by a unicorn nurse. She wore a black button-up blouse and kept her chin down the entire ceremony.
The dead were buried with the others in the Penumbral Field, west of the Abandoned Rock Farm. There, their souls would rise to the moon and rest for eternity.
Aria left the funeral depleted. She trudged towards her tent near Luna's castle, and barely stopped before she hit a smaller pony.
"Commander," Silver Star purred.
"Silver," Aria responded, lifting her head. Silver's lips twitched into a smile.
"Do I hear weariness, dear?" The small pegasus fluttered her feathers. "So strange when all of you ponies seem to be nocturnal."
"It is always night, but time of the universe doesn't pause for us." Aria lidded her eyes. "What do you need?"
"Oh, me? Simply nothing. I was just respecting the dead along with everypony else."
"So you have a heart," Aria mused, her voice rugged. She had gotten no rest the night before, and her limbs ached.
"Don't we all?" Silver said with a chuckle. She briefly touched the ring around her throat.
"No," Aria answered. "Not all."
With that said, Aria pushed past and continued her pursuit for her tent. Her legs shook with every step and there was a faint ringing in her ears. She sucked in a breath and teleported.
She ended up a few feet outside of her tent, and a little ways in the air. She fell to the dirt and landed on her right shoulder, her snout getting pushed into the ground as a result. Aria sighed and struggled to her hooves. A clanking of chains and snorts of protest sounded out somewhere to her left. She blearily looked over.
Three guards were escorting a muzzled orange crystal mare. Divots and chunks were missing from her body, and she swore in Geotongue at them. Her ruby-colored eyes flicked over to Aria and the mare tossed her mane. Clear blood dripped from her muzzle as well as an exposed vein on her forehead. A translucent scythe was her talentmark.
We took prisoners? Aria thought, her gaze following the ponies. Why haven't I seen any others?
Aria glanced between her tent and the group before falling in a broken gait behind them. All three of the mare's guards were up front – two to her sides and one leading the way – leaving Aria unnoticed in the rear.
I never saw any others, though I've never seen this mare before either. Perhaps a messenger from the Bleeding Heart? Aria's ears flicked with thought. Unlikely… We wouldn't beat her so much if she were. There'd be no point.
Aria bit her cheek as the guards drew closer to Luna's castle. She wasn't in the right shape to meet with Luna so soon after the funeral, however her curiosity about the orange mare was nearly overpowering. Aria briefly made a motion across her chest at the castle guards so they could let her through. They eyed her for a moment before letting the doors lag open for just a second, allowing Aria to slip past.
Aria took a pause at the entryway, watching the four ponies head for Luna's throne room. She fell into an identical pace as the prisoner, disguising her hoofsteps. Another set of guards at the throne room doors looked at Aria approaching the group from behind. They both seemed to process the situation; their ranks versus her own, and a small detail that included "Was Aria actually part of the group, but flanked behind like a responsible leader, or was she just going insane?"
They decided between themselves and allowed her through. Aria briefly nodded a thanks and cast a light-bending spell, giving her the appearance of being invisible. She stood off to the side of the doors next to a stained glass window which depicted Luna brandishing a moonstone sword against the sun. The sun was made of blood-red glass, and a woeful face was imprinted above it. Aria smiled at it and turned to the entourage and the princess.
"Your Highness," the foremost guard said, bowing. "As per your request, Colonel Frosted Leaf has retrieved the Bleeding Heart's general, Fire Opal."
The muzzled mare let out a muffled bray. The guard to her left gave her a kick to her front legs and she collapsed. Her chains and hide scraped against the marble floor. When she tried to get back to her hooves, the other guard to her right punched her on the muzzle and forced her down.
"Wonderful," Luna beamed. She leaned back in her throne, looking pleased.
Loud cracks came from Fire Opal and the two guards that assaulted her. Aria felt a minuscule grain of sadness for the mare.
Princess Luna's eyebrows twitched a millimeter down and Aria felt a sharp pain in her skull. She rubbed at her eye slowly, biting back a groan.
I mustn't pity the unworthy, Aria thought once her head cleared enough for her to process anything. Opal's stifled cries of pain no longer hurt her heart. She chose her side. She chose wrong.
"Remove her muzzle. Perhaps she would like to speak now." Luna smiled politely down at the four ponies. "Hue, Remedy, you two may cease. I believe our ore-birthed friend has some words for us."
The two guards – Hue and Remedy – chuckled and backed off. Opal gasped softly, salt pittering off her cheeks. After a long moment, she got to her hooves. The first pony guard deftly flicked off Opal's muzzle and the mare immediately stretched her jaw.
"Thank you, Sour Drops."
Sour nodded to Princess Luna and stood behind Opal, taking her chain from Remedy, and pulling it taut. The crystal general blinked slowly, swiveling her head around the room. Her gaze fell onto Luna and her snout twisted into a snarl.
"Nightmare Queen," she said. Her words came slowly. "Disappointment, but I am not surprised." Aria nearly leaped from her spot.
"General," Luna answered. "I believe you know a few things I'd wish to learn. May you share them with me?"
"I am not understand," Opal said. "Ponish difficult."
"You know enough to tell me." Luna slid off her throne and stood. Her wings remained folded, but her stance was as imposing as ever.
Opal dragged a hoof against the marble floor. She swore softly in Geotongue.
"Nightmare will not breaking Empress's magic." The crystal pony looked around again. Remedy seemed to be debating on whether he should knock Opal to the floor again or let her speak. "Crystalling refract Nightmare's curse."
Sour Drops's horn gleamed and a large hammer appeared to his side. The stone it was made of was eroded with use. The princess glanced toward it and merely nodded.
Aria's gasp was drowned out by the riveting crunch of Sour's hammer connecting with Opal's hindlegs. Opal let out an ear-splitting shriek; her right leg shattered wholly on impact, ichor splattering to the left of her as the veins within ruptured and burst. Her left leg only lost the hoof, which bounced across the room towards the wall. Her clear blood sloshed out over the floor and Luna lifted a displeased eyebrow.
Sour flourished his hammer and set it to the floor as Opal's screams quieted. Jagged sobs escaped her as she struggled to keep herself standing. Her body sagged leftward, the jagged stump of her hindleg grinding against the floor. She coughed for a few moments, and shakily raised her head to glare into Princess Luna's eyes.
"You're refracting much less, now," the princess said softly. The guards withheld their laughs.
Fire Opal shook with each breath. Blood continued to pool around her. The chains that had been around her hindhooves now were rendered useless. Hue scooped them up with disdain, her wings shuddering.
"Love," Opal whispered. She swallowed hard, unknown words in Geotongue falling to Aria. "Unity. Empress spread."
"I don't need to hear the usual spiel you rock-born creatures spit," the princess said. "Tell me everything you know about the Crystal Empire's defenses. Tell me about the border outposts and where they are the thinnest." Luna began to walk down from her throne, lifting her chin. "Tell me all about the fissures you contain so I may extract my well-earned territory from the Bleeding Heart's hooves."
Princess Luna and Fire Opal were mere feet away. The general had to raise her head to keep her eyes locked with the princess's.
Aria could feel her fur standing on end from being so close to her princess. Her heart felt light. Her breath smooth and steady. All her ailments seemed to have been forgotten.
Fire Opal's top lip peeled back in a grim smile, revealing her missing teeth. "Nightmare useless against Crystal Empress. Nightmare Queen will burn."
Princess Luna snorted softly and her ears swiveled back, indignant.
"Take her to the Nix Base." As Sour passed the leading chain to Remedy, he lagged behind for the princess to whisper to him. The unicorn stallion nodded and paced towards the ponies leaving, readying his hammer. Aria, as quietly as possible stepped over to the main doors so she could leave with them. A headache began to wheedle at her spell, sweat drenching her neck.
CRUNCH.
Crystal fragments flew through the air. Translucent blood spattered across the floor and the walls. A scream was cut short only milliseconds after it began. Strands of hair lay in clumps attached to chunks of Fire Opal.
Aria was frozen. Her legs refused to move. She could taste blood on her tongue. Her heart was beating hard, it the only sound resonating in her ears. Sweat dripped off her chin. Her shoulders shook.
Sour Drops set his hammer down once more with a sigh. Fire Opal's body lay in ruin at his hooves; his hammer had shattered her skull, leaving nothing but her body and her legs. Her head was in pieces, blood steadily pooling out of the fracture of her neck. Hue and Remedy looked up at Princess Luna in bewilderment. She merely dusted off her gown and made her way back up to her throne.
"Clean up this mess," Princess Luna said in a clipped voice. "In one hour meet me in my War Chamber. We will organize the assault then."
The three guards nodded in unison and they opened the room's doors. Two robed ponies stepped in with leather sacks and a mop. Aria sucked in a breath and swerved around the ponies exiting and entering the room, and she did her best to avoid the pools of Opal's blood. Her horn fizzled and she tensed up, her eyes darting to the ponies to see if they had heard it.
Everypony was busy removing the remains of Opal, reading events off to the princess, and rearranging the tapestries between the windows.
Aria slipped out of the doors and stumbled into the main corridor of the castle. Her head was pounding. Her vision was blurry.
Just need to make it to my tent.
She staggered out of the room and managed to get herself outside before her magic failed. She gasped softly and let her legs crumple beneath her, her body thumping to the dirt. Aria sighed deeply and let the cool air and ground soothe her aching body. Her spine was bruised, her ribs holding minor fractures, and the slices she'd received from her fight with Fiery Mind were scabbed over. They still throbbed irritatingly, and they mixed with the pounding in her skull. She was tempted to lay there for the rest of the night until her next drills took place.
"Aria?" a voice called from her right. She blearily lifted her head to look up at the pony approaching. "What are you doing on the ground? Shouldn't you be resting?"
"You see, Shadowbane," Aria rasped, letting her head fall to the dirt. Her eyes closed. "I am resting."
"In your tent, commander," he huffed, tucking a hoof under her foreleg. "Can't have you getting trampled by the Night Guard." Shadow deftly hoisted her up to her hooves and nudged her chin up. Aria sighed as her legs trembled with the effort to stand. "You look like shit."
Aria chuffed a laugh. "Right back to you, Hexor. Another shift on the outskirts?"
"Bridge duty," Shadow answered, leading her. "You were on the lines, yeah?"
"Aye. I might've screwed over some plans in exchange for fewer casualties." Aria snorted. "I believe the General is going mad; losing her farm and family can only do the worst for you."
"That's blasphemous talk at best, Spellweaver," he replied after a moment. He gazed at a couple of tents as they walked by. "You know how the cadets can be; it's for your own good if you keep condemnatory thoughts in that wonderful head of yours."
Aria exhaled slowly and wrinkled her snout. Her tent grew closer, and she was growing more exhausted with each second.
"I'll do what I can to keep rumors to a minimum," she said. They both stopped right outside her quarters. Shadowbane let go of her foreleg.
"Good. I don't need you getting any more heat on your hide than you've already got." He rubbed at his chin through his beard. "Word has it that the General is holding a strongly-worded meeting with Her Highness about our delightful new-hires later in the darkest point of night. Something about their leader bringing in a direct airstrike, and weaponry nopony has seen before."
"You mean their lances," Aria suggested. "They seem to be made of metal and wood and they shoot fire."
"Portable draconic technology?"
"No, the dragons only control flight and fire, and in certain cases, magic. Their lances have metal incorporated somewhere within, and the projectiles they launch are catastrophic." Aria shuddered as the image of the stallion's shattered skull from the battle sparked in her mind. She remembered how his helmet was bent and warped around the mass of his head. "It can collapse an activated crystal soldier's form in moments."
Shadowbane snorted. "Seems a tad too convenient if you ask me."
"I wasn't asking."
"It's just… how is it the first fight these ponies weren't called into they somehow have the means to drop a crystal soldier without lifting a hoof? And break orders to show it off?"
"I don't know, Shadow, and frankly, I feel as if that's Her Highness's issue for the time being," Aria sighed, lifting open her tent flap. She didn't want to think about what she had seen in Her Highness's throne room, at least not right now. She would mention it someday. She didn't even know if she could tell him after the dust settled. Why dare add a stain on Her Highness in his eyes when they all should see her as pure as the moon's surface? "Get some rest. We can ponder this as much as you'd like over the first meal of tomorrow."
"Oh," he said, his ears twitching. "Um… goodnight, then." He lingered at her post as she walked inside.
Aria glanced over her shoulder. "Shadow?"
"Yes, commander?"
"Thank you." She offered him a small smile. "Goodnight." Her flaps closed behind her and she trudged to her cot. She was asleep before her body hit the blankets, her mind forcing out every thought and every dream so she enjoy the empty void of unconsciousness.
When Aria emerged from her tent the following night, a group of padded soldiers were cantering off across the bridge out of camp, their sheaths for their swords clicking softly against the drone of their hooves thumping the dirt. Dark helmets obscured their faces, and they traveled as a cohesive pack only nickering to communicate. She squinted after them, trying to see any sort of insignia. A moment passed and she felt all the air get sucked from her chest.
No….
Aria galloped East, past the Everfree and into the plains. She only slowed when she reached the outpost between Métis and Titan. She panted hard as she tossed her head side to side, looking over every tent and campfire. The air only continued to avoid her until she reached one tent in particular. She threw open the flaps and stormed inside, glaring around.
Everything was askew: the sheets were torn and bundled, the cots on their sides, the carpet wrinkled, and various broken items lay abandoned. There had been a struggle, but one made from haste, not a confrontation.
Aria bit down on her cheek to the point blood pooled in her mouth. Her lungs felt as if they were getting crushed under a Crystal stallion's steel boot. She slowly left the tent and looked to the sky, where there were no clouds and only a waning moon looked solemnly down upon her.
Rumble had fled the Republic, and he had taken Angelwings and her children with him.