In the distant future, relationships have changed. Rifts developed and sides were formed. What was once one single, unified country split up into two separate sections, each wanting more power and control over the other. The two leaders each had their own version of what a perfect totalitarian society looked like and pushed for that, leading their own armies into battle.

One of these factions – codename: The United Heliacal, led by the former ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia – was one that had hoped to bring back unity to the remainder of the country. Their wishes and admiration for all things bright and cheery was what led one of the most prolific ponies to joining the battle herself. She proved herself rather quickly and rose through the ranks at an exponential rate, as if she could top each and every one of her accomplishments with ease. Now sitting as one of the highest-ranking officers the empire has, she commands her troops into battle and motivates them into doing good in the name of the Sun Goddess herself.

The other faction – codename: Midnight's Rising, led by the former ruler of Equestria, Princess Luna – was another that also hoped to bring back unity to the remainder of the country. It was the determination that this faction had in bringing the night to the forefront of the hours of the day that caused this pony to join and pledge himself to the cause. He too rose through the ranks quickly and sits as one of the highest-ranking officials the faction has, commanding his own set of troops into battle and dedicating all he does with them to the Moon Goddess herself.

Things weren't always this bleak in the society. Towns split themselves into similar factions and, as a result, unleashed a brutal cold upon themselves. Friends becoming enemies, kindness turning into hatred, and one key idea abandoned after it proved to fail between the former rulers themselves. The cause, on both sides, needed the support of everyone that they could sway, even those who hadn't made up their minds and stayed neutral.

In the middle of an abandoned field, the two armies clashed together. Spears were thrown at others, piercing their skins and making them bleed. Those who had no weapon of their own used conventional means, whether that was their magic or their own hooves. The commander for the Midnight's Rising faction, a pony by the name of Lunar Nights, rushed forward and, with his metallic wing, sliced through a few of the soldiers for the United Heliacal faction. He pulled himself up, briefly looking at his wing to see if it had sustained any sort of damage whatsoever. Sighing slightly, he looked around, flapping his actual wing and metallic one, taking off into the sky to get a better view of the battlefield.

He spotted the invisible line his troops had formed and saw them pushing forward a bit, into enemy territory. Tucking his wings in, he swooped down and focused some magic into his horn, blasting a couple of the enemy troops away, forming a path for his own troops. He smirked, feeling that things were turning in his favor. Dodging a couple of spears thrown at him, he charged up a bit more of his magic and unleashed it as a wave on the troops blocking his way.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the battlefield, the colonel for the United Heliacal army was fighting against a number of soldiers from the Midnight's Rising faction, using an array of defensive spells that brushed back each attacking soldier. This pony, known as Twilight Sparkle, was one that focused more on defending herself and tiring out her opponent rather than striking them first. She always tried to see the good in each creature and attempt to project and amplify it within the borders of the faction, seeing force as more of a distraction than anything else.

Seeing some of the soldiers tire themselves out, she flapped her wings and flew into the sky, charging some magic in her own horn. She looked towards her own soldiers and, using her magic, casted a wide-ranged defensive shield for them, watching as they now pushed back into enemy territory. She looked up and spotted the commander flying around, blasting some of her other soldiers back, leaving her current soldiers with the shield to go defend the others.

Twilight flew towards the other side of the battlefield and charged up more of her magic, using it to defend her soldiers as best as she could. Her efforts earned the attention of the commander, Lunar Nights, and prompted him to redirect his sights from the soldiers of the United Heliacal army to her. He focused energy into his own horn and, when it was ready, blasted it towards Twilight.

Twilight managed to spot this incoming attack just in time and, acting quickly, shifted her shield from her soldiers on the ground to her own body, surrounding herself in a majestic magenta colored ball of aura. Lunar smirked and pressed forward with his attack, focusing more on offense than defense.

"I have you now," he told Twilight, strengthening his own magic attack, brushing Twilight backwards a bit.

Twilight saw that Lunar was focusing solely on offense and, using her wits, teleported behind him with her magic and began striking him back, between his wings.

"The tables have turned!" Twilight cried, strengthening her own magic now.

Lunar glanced back and saw that his metallic wing was starting to come loose from its holding spot. He tried to use his wing power to keep him steady and in the air, but with one of his wings malfunctioning at the present moment, all he could do was retreat down into his army and use them as cover. Twilight noticed this and kept her distance, but still followed where Lunar was traveling within his soldiers' formation.

From the ground, Lunar continued to retreat while his soldiers pressed forward. Some passing soldiers noticed his damaged wing and understood why he was retreating while others gave a dejected look to him, wondering if he knew something that they didn't. Moving through his forces, Lunar finally returned to his base and looked for one of the medical ponies inside the medical tent. He moved the curtain, looking at one of his better friends.

"Noct!" Lunar called, "Gonna need some assistance, ASAP!"

Nocturne, or as his friends call him, "Noct," was a bat pony who worked in the medicinal area of the Midnight's Rising's army. He knew Lunar from his time in Baltimare and often helped him out of jams that he was in. Prior to Lunar's ascension to the throne in former Equestria, Noct and Lunar were often times inseparable.

Noct turned around and spotted Lunar, clearing a table for his damaged friend, "Over here, Lunar!"

Lunar proceeded over towards the empty table and rested himself on top of it. Noct, turning on a portable light above him, looked at Lunar's body and spotted the damaged wing, looking at it and trying to see what had been damaged.

"How'd this happen, bud?" Noct asked.

"Their colonel struck me when we were fighting," answered Lunar, "I knew she was tough, but I didn't think her magic was that impenetrable."

"What do you mean?" Noct wondered, carefully removing the wing from its support bay.

"We had reason to believe that she only focused on defense for her magic," said Lunar, trying his hardest not to wince.

Without the metal wing, his wounds were revealed even more now. Underneath the support bay, Lunar's body suffered from pretty severe wounds from a previous battle. Ambushed by a few of the soldiers from the United Heliacal army, Lunar was left fighting for his life. Nearly captured, he saw that some of his own soldiers sacrificed themselves so that Lunar could return to the base. During the battle, Lunar was stabbed four times and sliced open by a passing spear. The stabbings nearly reached his heart, all while missing several nerves in the process while the spear tore off his wing. The bleeding was severe however and, as soon as he evaded capture and returned to the base, he collapsed and was brought in for medical assistance immediately. Doctors managed to stop the bleeding, but couldn't salvage the torn wing. They provided an alternative however and Lunar has been using the metal wing since without too much trouble.

Looking at the wing, Noct saw that some of the metal had been dented and penetrated. He took the wing to a separate table and went back to Lunar to check on him. He smirked, continuing to converse with the damaged commander.

"Funny," he told Lunar.

"What is?" Lunar replied.

"Seeing you like this," answered Noct, "it's been far too long since I've seen you as a unicorn." He looked over Lunar's body from the side the wounds were on and chuckled slightly, "Well, half of you, that is."

Lunar rolled his eyes playfully, going along with the joke, "Yeah, I really did take a step back, wouldn't you say?"

"Perhaps I should've been given a horn instead," Noct said, using one of his hooves as a horn, "then maybe I could've beaten that colonel."

"Easier said than done, Noct," laughed Lunar, "I'd never seen anypony who could do what that colonel did, magic wise. Hurts like hell, honestly."

"I can imagine, commander," Noct stated, looking back to the wing, "you're done for the day, dude. The way that wing is right now? You're lucky it wasn't worse."

"What do you mean?" Lunar wondered.

"That wing is barely being held together," Noct advised, "if you were in the air, you'd be falling faster than gravity would probably allow."

"How long will it take to fix?"

"Depends," smirked Noct.

"On what?" Lunar chuckled.

"On you," Noct answered, "we both know how slow you can be at picking up things."

"Shut up, dude," Lunar laughed, shoving Noct playfully. He pulled his hoof back and slammed it on the table. "Dammit! That hurts like a motherf-"

"Take it easy," Noct said, "it'll be some time before you're fully recovered, you know."

"Don't remind me," Lunar responded.

"Grab some grub, bro," Noct suggested, "then get your rest. You've had a long day."

"Will do," Lunar said, lifting himself from the table cautiously.

Making his way to the mess hall, Lunar began to sigh, thanking Noct for his work. He hoped that the wing could be fixed quickly, but recognized that an object as complicated as his wing could take a while to fix, even though it sustained what he thought was minor damages. He continued going about his evening, wondering how his soldiers were performing out on the battlefield.