True Colors

Chapters

Crimson Shackles
Golden Halls
The Golden Days Part I
The Golden Days Part II
Black and Blue
Black or White?
Black
Red Dawn
Bad News from the White West
Blackened Hearts
Through Crimson
Reason and Red
Silver and Gold
The Dusty Brown Road
City by the Blue Sea Part I
City By the Blue Sea Part III
Shades of Grey
The Grey Path
City by the Blue Sea Part II
Important announcement

Crimson Shackles

Nightmare moon paced back and forth in her temporary bedroom. The room itself had a large bed, though rather small to her, placed against the center of it's back wall with a picture of a sunrise hanging over it. On each side of the bed were small nightstands, and on the wall to it's left was a dresser with a mirror attached. Nightmare had raised the night long ago. In fact, it was nearing dawn by now, and yet the empress was still awake. This was not uncommon. The black alicorn was often awake longer than her sister. She preferred her night to the day, but since most ponies were awake during the day she did them the courtesy of being up through much of it whenever she could.

This was different though. The empress of the night needed to be awake through practically all of tomorrow, so she should have gone to bed by now. Yet she couldn't. Her mind was too preoccupied with the thief. The truth of the matter was that Duke Gravel Pie had been correct when he had said the appropriate punishment for imperial theft was death. There was little else that stacked up to that in terms of severity, and while the point of not killing the mare was to be more lenient Nightmare still felt she needed to be punished. The unicorn had stolen from her, and the reasoning, though odd enough to give the empress pause, was ultimately selfish.

The alicorn sighed, not for the first time that night. She could banish the mare. The unicorn certainly seemed to have some survival skills, but was it enough to ensure that Nightmare wasn't just sending her to a slower death sentence? She had no idea. She couldn't give her a life of imprisonment. Equestria had no real prisons since most criminals who would warrant a long imprisonment were killed or banished anyway, so supplies weren't wasted on keeping them alive. Jails were meant only to temporarily hold criminals, and dungeons, while built to last, were preserved for their owners' to deal out personal punishment or interrogations.

This left the only option as indentured servitude or outright slavery, but again there were problems. Most slaves were put to physical work, and the unicorn appeared rather scrawny. She had been caught by her guards fairly quick as well. Obviously, she wasn't cut out for hard labor. Then again, why should Nightmare Moon care? The alicorn stopped, and stared up at the roof in thought. Why did she care? She should've let the duke execute the thief, but she didn't. "Why not?" She questioned herself mentally,

The more she tried to find the answer the easier it seemed to elude her. Growling to herself, Nightmare shook her head violently. Her gaze shifted to the floor as she thought, "Why couldn't she just be more fit? Then I'd have already figured this out and could move on..."

That's when a thought struck the empress. The unicorn was not physically fit, but she clearly had some talent for magic if she could teleport. Then the thief's reasoning stuck out in Nightmare's head. "Of course. If she was willing to go through all that trouble just to read a book she's likely an eager learner. Which means she might be intelligent." She reasoned.

While most slaves, indeed, were used for physical labor personal ones were used for a large variety of things, and while Nightmare did not need one she could think of ways a powerful intelligent unicorn might be useful to her. What guarantee did she have that the thief was intelligent, though? She had said that the book she attempted to steal was the first one she'd seen, and how much magic could she have learnt on her own?

The black alicorn groaned as more problems presented themselves. She had no intention of holding the unicorn's hoof if she was made her personal slave. Nightmare Moon glanced out the solitary window on the wall to the bed's right. Her moon was growing close to the horizon. Heading to the bed, she made a plan. In the morning, she would interview her little thief, and learn what she could. Hopefully, the unicorn would prove to be acceptable to Nightmare's standards. If not, then she would have to become good at hard labor fast. Decision made, the empress removed the covers to the slightly cramped bed with her magic before laying down, and covering herself up.

Twilight Sparkle awoke with a start. She'd been having a nightmare where the empress had only kept her alive to torture her consistently. Needless to say, the unicorn was scared witless. She began to shiver in fear as she laid on the hay on the floor.

The cell she was in was located in the basement of the duke's home. Though she hadn't had much of a chance to look around before she was placed in the cell, which sat directly across from the stairs leading to house above, she'd seen enough to know the walls were all constructed of large stones, and that there was no flooring. The only difference of the cell Twilight was in from the rest of the basement was that it had a patch of, suspiciously wet and putrid, hay for a pony to lay on. There were no windows of any sort, and no candles that might be elsewhere in the basement were lit. This left the young unicorn alone in the darkness, and without anyway to tell what time it was.

All in all, it wasn't that different from her own home. The only things that really made it uncomfortable were the cast-iron bars keeping her locked up, and the growing sense of foreboding within her. "Oh Celestia, you've really done it now Twilight." The mare mentally rebuked herself, "Why'd you have to go and steal that book? Idiot!"

She clenched her eyes shut, and covered her head with her hooves in frustration. She could've just gone back into her tunnel, and ate her other apple. She could've continued living peacefully, but she just had to see the book. Didn't she? A loud creaking alerted her to somepony entering the basement. Releasing her head, Twilight stared into the shadows as a silhouette that she couldn’t make out thumped down the stairs. When the figure reached the bottom a quick navy flash illuminated a horn on it’s head, and a candle on a desk near the stairs lit up. The sudden light revealed the shadow to be Nightmare Moon. The empress’ slitted pupils seemed to bore into Twilight, and made the mare shiver once more. The unicorn tried to stop staring at the ruler of the night, but couldn’t tear her gaze from the alicorn. “Twilight Sparkle, correct?” She asked.

The mare in question nodded her head numbly. “I am going to ask you some questions, and you will answer them truthfully. Understood?” The empress continued.

Twilight once again nodded her head. “Where do you live?” Nightmare asked.

“I-in the poor side of town. Near the edge.” Twilight answered shakily.

Nightmare Moon’s face remained impassive as she stated, “Judging from the state of the area, I assume you do not have a home then. Ho-”

“Um…” Twilight interrupted, and flinched at the glare she received for it. “I-I d-do have a home. I live in a tunnel I made under a collapsed building. It kept the weather out so I-”

“Do not interrupt me.” Nightmare Moon ordered, narrowing her eyes.

Twilight trembled at the invisible menace in the empress’ tone, and hid her head under her hooves squeaking, “I’m sorry!”

When the alicorn’s voice returned it showed no sign of anger, “How is it that you keep such shelter? I’d imagine any thug would think nothing of taking it from you.”

Twilight cautiously rose to her hooves, and reached back to the skirt of her dress to move it, showing off her decorated thigh. “It’s my cutie mark.” She explained. “Most ponies are afraid of me because they think I’m connected to the stars.”

Nightmare Moon raised a brow, but the unicorn didn’t notice, busy looking at her own flank. “It appeared after I saved myself from some other ponies. They were trying to…I don‘t know. I…I was afraid, and I just acted. I don’t remember what happened too well, just seeing a few plants around afterward, but my magic’s always been stronger since than it was before. So, I think it has to do with magic. Not the stars.”

“That would be more likely. While I can manipulate their light to shine in anyplace I wish, even I can not control the stars. They are simply too far away.” Nightmare replied, bringing the unicorn’s attention back to her. “How did you learn to teleport?”

Twilight was flustered by the sudden change in subject, but recovered quickly. “I was running from guards at the time, and I knew I wasn’t going to make it. I just wished with everything I had that I could be home, and then I was there.” She explained.

“So you learnt it by instinct?” Nightmare asked.

“I guess.” Twilight answered. “I was never taught any spells. I just learnt what I know naturally.”

“How much do you know?” The alicorn queried.

Twilight laid down, rubbing her right foreleg in embarrassment, as she replied sheepishly, “Just telekinesis and creating light. Aside from teleporting that is.”

Nightmare Moon snorted, and changed subjects once again. “Teleporting while in motion is difficult for even those who can use the spell in the first place. If you could manage it before, why did you not use it escape my guards?”

The young unicorn looked to the ground, and replied, “I’d already teleported to make it into your chariot unnoticed, and that used a lot of my energy as it was. I doubt I would’ve had the strength to do it even if I’d thought about it.” Her tone turned somber as she added quietly, “Why didn’t I think of it though?”

Nightmare Moon maintained a cold distant mask all through out the conversation. However, inside, her mind was processing multiple thoughts all at once. The unicorn was indeed powerful. She had a talent for magic, but she was also unlearnt. She was intelligent though. Her words and speech were well articulated, and she likely knew how to read. Also, “Is that disappointment in her voice?”

It was. The unicorn was disappointed for not thinking about teleporting away from her pursuers. She was probably analytical. Further proof of her intelligence despite her environment. One more question. “Do you have any family?” Nightmare asked.

“No.” Twilight Sparkle answered.

She had no attachments. Perfect. Nightmare Moon allowed the tiniest smirk to cross her lips. She turned back to the stairs, and extinguished the candle with her magic as she spoke, “That is all I need. Your cooperativeness shall be taken into account.”

As the empress proceeded back into the duke's house proper she was hopeful. The unicorn would still require teaching, but, really, Nightmare had been expecting this. The chances that the unicorn wouldn't were unrealistic. So, the empress would teach her what she felt necessary. If the thief-no. If Twilight Sparkle learnt quickly, as Nightmare believed she would, she would continue to serve the black alicorn. If she didn't learn fast enough, she would be given to slave merchants to do with as they pleased.

Arriving in the den at the top of the stairs Nightmare was joined by a single royal guard. The rest were out in the city, gathering ponies for the empress' speech. The guard fell in step behind her as she made for the outside. "Did the prisoner give you any trouble, your grace?" He asked.

"No." Nightmare Moon shook her head, "She answered truthfully."

"Are you certain, your majesty?"

Nightmare narrowed her eyes slightly as she glanced briefly behind her, and responded in a cold tone, "Do you doubt my word?"

The guard appeared frightened and stuttered in reply, "N-no, my empress. I merely mean to say that the prisoner can not be trusted."

Nightmare stopped at the door to the outside, and turned to the guard. She could hear ponies chattering beyond it, but it wasn't quite time for her speech yet. She frowned. The guard seemed to have perceived the threat in her tone, but he had still persisted. "I may not hold court with nobility as often as my sister, but I have done it enough to perceive when a pony is lying to me. Legate Artillerus is not an honest pony himself. Twilight Sparkle has not lied to me yet, and I don't expect she shall." The empress explained.

"Twilight Sparkle, ma'am?" The guard questioned.

"The unicorn's name." Nightmare answered. "Did you think me above knowing the names of important ponies?"

"Important?" The guard's tone grew incredulous. "Your majesty, she is nothing but a lowborn rotten thief!"

Nightmare's eyes shot open as she realized just which guard she was speaking with. "You will watch your tone when speaking to me." She ordered with true ire in her voice. "Lowborn or not she is important, especially to you now. I have decided to make her my personal slave, and I expect you treat her with the same care you would any of my other possessions. Now go, and tell your companions my decision."

"But, you gr-"

"ENOUGH!" The empress ordered, unconsciously deepening her voice with magic. "I will not change my mind simply to heal your wounded pride! Now leave me before I decide to make an example you!"

"Yes, ma'am!" The guard barely squeaked out before rushing out the door behind his master.

Nightmare eyed the door angrily for a moment before sighing and closing her eyes. "I guess it's official now." She thought.

That brought to mind the issue of loyalty. She needed to be able to trust Twilight Sparkle if she was going put her to use. The mare was clearly afraid of her, but fear was not the best way to ensure obedience. Not to mention it was bound to wear off eventually, given that the unicorn would be spending a lot of time with her. She could hope for the mare to develop a sense of duty, but captivity rarely caused positive feelings to grow. In truth there was nothing guaranteeing that Twilight wouldn't try to escape when she was strong enough. Teleportation was nearly impossible to track. Come to think of it, there would be no way to prevent her from using that spell without impeding the rest of her magic. Wards could only be placed on objects. To stop Twilight from teleporting a seal would need to be placed on her magic, but part of the reason Nightmare had use for her was her magic. Well...There was one solution. Not commonly practiced, and with good reason. "It's a bit archaic, but it should work perfectly..." She thought.

The door to the outside creaked open, and duke Gravel Pie walked through. "The ponies are gathered, your majesty. As many as could be retrieved." He said.

Nightmare Moon opened her eyes, and stepped past the duke wordlessly. In front of the cabin's porch were over a hundred ponies. A little over half the town's population. The street was crowded as ponies struggled against one another to gain a view of the upcoming speech. It would be enough to intimidate any normal pony, but the empress of the night was no normal pony. She had given rallies and public declarations before. Perhaps not as much as Celestia, but more than enough to know what to do. As she stepped onto the porch the ponies quieted, all staring at her. Her very presence demanded respect, and it was given.

Nightmare Moon's eyes gazed over the crowd, taking in as many faces as she could. Most ponies stood in awe of her, but, as the day before, there were some who glared at her in anger. The black alicorn's thoughts returned to her own upset at the town's state, and the growing unrest in her empire as she began her speech, amplifying her voice with magic, "My subjects, you have gathered here because there is a message that needs to be delivered. For decades now, you have struggled. Your forefathers fought hard to tame this land, and today you still live with their pains. Your hunters search for animals that are disappearing. What money you make goes towards food. You sleep in structures barely fit to be called homes, and, in many cases, you lack homes. Yet there is always a light within my night. Just as there will always be one in your lives."

The ponies appeared unmoved by her words, and the angry ones appeared to be growing restless. The empress continued undaunted, "I know it is not easy to see. There are days you go without so that your foals may have, but change comes to all things. Countless years ago ponies were little better than the beasts of the field that many of you hunt. Yet now we are a civilized kind. If this change, something beyond our ancestors' imagination, could occur then how is it possible that your own lives will not improve with time?"

As the words left Nightmare Moon's mouth she could feel a disgust for them rising within her. Change does not come without an instigator. As their rulers it was her and Celestia's responsibility to be that instigation, but all they were doing was giving a pretty speech. "We'll be lucky if this doesn't aggravate the problem." She thought.

As the words crossed her mind an angry voice called out from the crowd, "But when is it going to change? You just sit there in your castle locked off from the rest of us by that damn cursed forest and live a life luxury while the rest of us suffer!"

Nightmare's inner disgust at her own words turned to rage at the personal insult, and she scanned the crowd for the voice. She found no source, and as a guard to her side prepared to surge into the crowd she blocked him with a foreleg. No sense in starting a zebra hunt. If the speech didn't incite more unrest arresting random ponies in the crowd would. The empress lowered her leg when the guard backed down, and responded in a calm unreadable voice, "I would not be here if I did not care about the state of your lives, and there is a guarded path through the Everfree that is safe to travel. We are not as unapproachable as you presume. This very town was founded by those who came to us for permission, and we have continued to help it as needed."

"Then what of the ponies sent to ask for more help?" Another voice shouted.

Again, Nightmare could not discern the speaker. "I am unaware of any such party." She answered.

In truth, she was, but claiming no knowledge was simpler than explaining they'd been imprisoned for disrespecting her sister. The crowd seemed to be growing distressed at the scene unfolding before them. Their faces were not contorted in anger, but it was clear the unexpected questioning was having the opposite effect Nightmare wished to create. "Any more disruptions will be met with appropriate punishment!" Gravel Pie suddenly shouted from her side.

The black alicorn's eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the duke. He had spoken out of turn. As if in response to her anger a rock flew out of the crowd, and hammered into Gravel's forehead. He paused as his mind processed what had happened. A warm red liquid pooled from the spot the rock had struck, and fell across his face in a single red line. The duke's face twisted, and he angrily shouted, "Guards! Find the son of a horse responsible for this, and arrest him! I want his head on a pike!"

Before Nightmare Moon could do anything the crowd panicked, and began to surge out of the street as the town guards that had stood watch in the alleyways and on the porch began to brutally apprehend ponies to be sorted out later. As the situation spiraled out of control the empress hurried back inside, breathing heavily. Once out of sight she let go of her composure with a wretched scream of fury. She had no doubt the ponies outside had still heard her, but she didn't care. This was unacceptable. Unacceptable! "I manage to reel in my own emotions for the sake of these ponies, and that bastard of a duke has to ruin everything!" She thought.

Oh, it was undeniable that the rock was a grievous insult, but what did the overzealous duke think he would accomplish by sicking the guards into a crowd of ponies that numerous. Did he really think he would catch the perpetrator? Was he that foolish? Nightmare suddenly came to the conclusion that poverty wasn't the only problem Stalliongrad had. Snorting in aggravation the alicorn proceeded further into the house. She wished to be free of this town as quickly as possible, but there was still one thing she needed to do.

Twilight Sparkle couldn't hear the commotion going on above, nor did she have any clue what was to become of her. She still had that nagging fear in the back of her head that the empress only spared her to torture her. However, she could only lay in her cell and twiddle her hooves. The door to the basement was slammed open, startling the mare. The faint light that spilled into the staircase from above did little to reveal the large figure that descended them. Though, Twilight swallowed hard, already suspecting who it was. Three deep blue auras seemed to support her suspicions, and, when the center light glowed brighter briefly, the candle on the desk across from her cell lit to confirm them. Before her was Nightmare Moon once more, and she held two objects within her magic. To her right was a small knife, and to her left was cup. Twilight had little time to wonder about the objects as the empress immediately began in what seemed like a hurried tone, "As punishment for attempting to steal from me you are to become my personal slave."

Twilight wanted to flinch and breathe out a sigh of relief at the same time. She was, at least, a little more confident that she would not be tortured if she was the empress' slave, but, on the other hoof, she had no idea what she would be made to do. The young mare's thoughts were once again pushed to side as Nightmare continued, "You will do whatever I ask whenever I ask. Understood?"

Twilight nodded mutely, mouth falling slightly askew. The alicorn didn't notice or didn't care as she proceeded again, slowing down slightly, "Good, but before I let you out of that cage there is one thing I must have you do. Your word, as a thief, is untrustworthy, and I have no use for a slave that is not loyal. Therefore, I require an oath."

"I promis-" Twilight began only to be interrupted.

"Not that kind of oath. A blood oath."

The unicorn tilted her head in confusion. She had never heard of such a thing before. "I...don't know how to do that." She stated.

"Simply follow my orders." The alicorn instructed.

Inquisitive nature getting the best of her, Twilight was about to ask another question. However, before she could, the knife in Nightmare moon's magic was lowered halfway down the alicorn's foreleg, and cut deep. Several drops of blood began to pour out, but the empress did not flinch. Instead, she lowered the cup, and collected her blood within. Satisfied, she moved the objects through the bars of Twilight's cell. As the knife came for the unicorn she began backing away. "Stay still." Nightmare Moon ordered, authority ringing in her voice.

Twilight stopped, more afraid of the empress than the knife. Clenching her eyes shut, the unicorn offered her shaking foreleg. The knife cut quick, barely leaving time for pain. Twilight reopened her eyes as the cup collected some of her own blood. When Nightmare felt it was enough she pulled the cup away, and began stirring with the knife. Twilight lowered her leg, and stared at the surprisingly small cut. For as much blood as had come out one would assume the wound had been bigger. The unicorn's attention was brought back to reality when the cup was set on the ground in front of her. "Drink." Nightmare ordered.

Twilight looked up at the empress, startled. "She expects me to what!?"

"I said drink." The alicorn's stern tone brooked no argument.

Hesitating, Twilight looked down at the red liquid inside the cup. Her lip trembled as she bit onto the cup's side. The idea was disgusting, but she wasn't really in any position to refuse. Quickly, the young mare tilted her head, and chugged the lifewater down in one gulp. She dropped the cup immediately, and began gagging. The very idea of what she'd just done mortified her. She could feel bile rising in her throat. "If you vomit you'll only have to do it once more." Nightmare stated matter-of-factly, preempting the action.

Twilight clamped her mouth shut, and forced the warm liquid back down. After the moment of sickness passed she shuddered, and looked up to the empress pitifully, hoping she was done. "Come to the bars." The alicorn ordered.

Apparently not. The unicorn forced herself to her hooves, and walked slowly to bars. Nightmare Moon came forward, and bent down, placing her long horn just over Twilight's heart. The empress' horn began to glow once more, and she instructed, "Repeat after me. I, Twilight Sparkle..."

"I, Twilight Sparkle..." The unicorn began.

"Do hereby pledge my life in service of Nightmare Moon."

"Do hereby pledge my life in service of..." Twilight hesitated to use the empress' name, "...Nightmare Moon."

"Whatever she commands, I will do."

"Unless she should choose to release me..."

"I shall serve her to my dying breath."

As Twilight finished the oath Nightmare Moon's horn flared brilliantly for a brief moment. In the wake of the powerful magic the unicorn's heart skipped several beats before picking back up. The empress stood up once more, and she warned, "Breaking that oath will kill you. Your life belongs to me now."

Author's Note: And that is the second chapter. Once again, I lack an editor, and must edit this myself. Therefore, I apologize for any mistakes. I do the best I can.

On another note, sorry this chapter doesn't have that much of Twilight in it, but the next two chapters are going to focus on her more than Nightmare. So that should make up for it. Also, I am happy to say to anyone who read my blog post that my computer is back, and functioning perfectly. At any rate tell me what you all think.

Golden Halls

Twilight Sparkle gasped at the sight before her. The Everfree Forest created a thick canopy over the ground, shrouding it from view. Yet in it’s center a massive structure rose out of a clearing. The ground around the building was perfectly visible, trees near it having been cleared, and ponies, mostly royal guards, could be seen trotting about completing their day-to-day tasks. The structure in the center of the clearing was The Royal Pony Sisters’ Castle. A building every little filly dreamed of living in when they were foals, and now she was going to live out the dreams of all those foals. Well, not exactly. Most fillies would dream of being taken in by the empresses’ to live as royalty. Twilight, on the other hoof, was going to live there as a slave. Still, as a personal slave to the ruler of the night she wouldn’t be living in too bad of conditions…Would she?

Twilight raised a hoof to her chin in thought as her mind, paranoid from growing up in the streets, turned to the worst possibilities. The servants in the castle might push her around, or the guards. “Or I might be forced to live in the pens with the guard animals!” She thought.

The idea made Twilight shiver in fear violently. Said movement earned a stern stare from Nightmare Moon. Twilight stopped immediately. For though she could not see the look, due to the empress sitting behind her, she could feel the alicorn‘s eyes boring into her back. The unicorn remembered being told not to move much during the flight, lest she unbalance the small chariot. This was only the second time she had actually moved, which was quite a feat considering the travel time, but she did not want to test her master’s patience.

Twilight had been let out of the cell in Gravel Pie’s basement after she had finished the blood oath, which still disturbed her, and had been stripped of her dress, Nightmare stating she’d look more presentable without the ragged cloth. After heading outside, catching a brief glimpse of the disappearing panic, Twilight had been hurried into the empress’ chariot, and they had left with hardly a word to the duke. The unicorn was confused about what was obviously rude manners, but she was perceptive enough to realize something had upset Nightmare Moon and it would be stupid to ask.

Twilight was jarred out of her thoughts as the chariot landed roughly onto the stone path in front of the castle. Her eyes were drawn up as the castle seemed even larger from the ground. In fact, it was absolutely intimidating. She wasn’t sure how big it was, but she suspected it would take more than a day if one were to try to explore every inch of it. The castle was constructed mostly of large white stone bricks while the conical roofs of the many separate towers and the angled roof of the monastery-like main entrance appeared constructed of smooth polished ebony that looked almost like metal from its shine.

Lining the edges of the roofs, walls, windows, and entrances was pure gold, as shown by its orange luster. The front doors were easily large enough to admit the Dragon. Twilight would have wondered how the ponies managed to open it were it not for two burly unicorns in royal guard armor on either side of the massive double-doors. The doors themselves were made from mahogany, and were studded with half-orbs of impure yellow gold. The gold was also formed into the shape of pony-head knockers in the center of each door, and above the doors were two beautiful blue glass windows that ran straight to the roof. Twilight was almost tempted to say they were made from crystal, with the way they shined, but she knew better than that.

Suddenly, she felt a breeze at her back, and realized the empress had left the chariot. Hurriedly, the young mare exited as well, and trotted to catch up with her new master, who was already proceeding to the grand entrance. As she reached Nightmare’s backside she lowered her head and looked around nervously. She felt very out of place here, and while the guards on the sides of the stone path’s stares were impassive they felt very accusing to the unicorn. She was still uncertain what the empress intended to do with her, but she felt safer in close proximity to the alicorn, if for no other reason than that she would be angered if something happened to her “property.”

As the two ponies made their way to the entrance the two unicorn guards’ horns lit up in grey and green auras. The doors were covered by the light at their edges, and opened, allowing the two to pass. Twilight followed Nightmare as close as she dared, but as she entered the main hall her pace began to slow. She raised her head as she took in the sight.

The floors were made out of white and dark-grey marble arranged in a checkered square pattern that led straight down to a large set of stairs at the end of the hall, which split into two smaller sets of stairs heading to the right and left. The walls were a warm polished rosewood whose grain was nearly invisible, and all along them were rounded archways that were easily three times the size of Nightmare Moon, all leading to different passages in the castle. Lastly, the roof, while ebony on the outside, was a white stone on the inside that seemed to emit light on it’s own. Twilight wasn’t sure if it was magic, or just her mind playing tricks on her.

Suddenly, she was made aware of a third set of clopping hooves. Looking about the mare saw several passages had pairs of guards in front of them, but the sound wasn’t coming from any of those ponies. No. The source of the sound was made clear when a large earth stallion came from one of the guarded halls. He was massive for a pony, easily standing at shoulder-height to Nightmare Moon, and well-muscled. Yet the muscles were not a dominating feature. While they were noticeable they did not seem as ridiculous as the stallion’s height. His fur and mane were dark grey, with a few lines of white in his mane, but still held strands of black here and there from a time years before. Upon his flank was the image of a gravestone, but it did not unnerve Twilight as much as the golden eye patch that seemed bonded over his left eye, a faded scar from long ago running behind it. The metal eye patch held the emblem of a star shining between two large orbs that seemed to be the sun and the moon. Twilight had no idea what it meant, but it was clearly the stallion’s symbol of office, and it was the only the thing that deemed him more than a commoner to the unicorn’s eye. For the only other clothing upon him was a simple red robe with a blue sash tied around it at his wait, and four undecorated steel bracers tied to his legs.

The stallion crossed in front of Nightmare as she made her way to the stairs at the back of the main hall, Twilight in tow. The two ponies stopped in front of one another, and the stallion bowed his head respectfully. Nightmare responded in kind, her head moving only slightly, and a silence settled across the hall. The two ponies simply stared at one another, as if waiting for the other to begin. Finally the stallion spoke up, “You are back earlier than expected, empress.” His voice was aged, but still flowed smoothly as silk.

“Indeed. Things did not go as hoped.” Nightmare Moon responded honestly.

“Heh.” The stallion smirked, “Were you expecting any different?”

“Not much so.” Nightmare answered, shaking her head. “Why are you smiling, Artillerus?”

“Because I know a good number of ponies who owe me money now. If you’ll excuse me, ma’am.”

Nightmare Moon frowned at the comment about betting on her success, but did not mention it, simply nodding her head in permission. The stallion walked around the alicorn, and continued on his way. As he passed his one brown eye fell on Twilight. It’s stare did not seem as accusatory as the guards’, merely analytical. Still, Twilight shied away from it, and trotted over to the side of Nightmare opposite the stallion. As his hoofsteps faded away and the two began climbing the stairs Twilight asked, “Who was that stallion?” Remembering who she was talking to she hastily added, “If you don’t mind me asking, empress.”

“That was Legate Artillerus. General of the Celestial Army and captain of the Royal Guard.” The alicorn explained as they turned to the stairs on the right, “And he’s not a stallion.”

Twilight absorbed the information, but her mind seemed to reject the latter half of the answer. “Wait, what!?”

“He’s a gelding. As are all high-ranking members of the Royal Guard.” Nightmare answered intuitively.

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes widened at information. She suddenly felt sorry for the Legate, but the pity quickly turned to worry as her pessimistic mind began imagining them doing something similar to her, for one reason or another. She gulped at the thought. The nagging fear continued to bother the unicorn as she and her master made their way through the castle. Turn here. Stairs there. Corridor here. The travel took ten minutes in all, plenty of time for Twilight to stew over her fears. She was finally snapped out of her thoughts when they came to another pair of grand double doors. One door was ivory with obsidian decorations carved on it to depict the sun shining over a village. The image of the village continued to the next door, which was ebony, where it was constructed of alabaster and a full alabaster moon shone over it. Beside the doors were two royal guards who opened them for the two mares.

The room they entered continued much the same style of the rest of the castle with it’s checkered floors and rosewood walls, but in front of the walls columns of grey stone rose to hold up the long curved stone ceiling. In front of each column stood a royal guard, their armor an odd turquoise instead of the usual gold painted steel, and at the end of the hall-like room Twilight saw the reason why there was so much security. On a platform slightly raised above the floor were two thrones. One was obsidian and had a crescent moon carved on the top of it’s back. The other was alabaster with a sun carved on it, but what caught the young mare’s eye was the figure sitting upon it.

There, on the throne, was an unmistakable white alicorn. Her mane and tail, colored in stripes of pink, blue, green, and purple, flowing about magically, like Nightmare’s own. A sun decorated her flank, and her four hooves bore shoes of pure gold, much like the gold outside. Upon her neck was a large engraved thick necklace almost like a collar with a great purple sapphire in it’s center, and her crown bore a smaller one just hidden behind her horn, both adornments being made of pure gold as well. This was Celestia. The other empress of The Celestial Empire and sovereign of the day.

Twilight Sparkle’s legs started shaking, and she had to fight the need to hide or bow. For Nightmare Moon was still proceeding through the room, and she had to follow. Celestia rose from her throne, and practically glided across the room, her hooves never making a sound as a testament to her strength. The two alicorns met in the center of the room, and it was at this point that Twilight Sparkle gave in to her instincts and bowed, though it looked more like she laid down. At this range Twilight could make out more subtle differences between the two sisters. Nightmare Moon was skinnier than Celestia. That is not to say that the white alicorn was fat, but, where as Nightmare was mostly taut muscle stretched thin, Celestia had a more normal frame. She was neither fat nor skinny, and no muscles were visible. The day-empress’ purple eyes briefly flashed over Twilight, and in that instant the mare could swear she saw something cold and distant. Yet the eyes were off her in a second, leaving the unicorn to wonder if it had been her imagination. “Nightmare.” Celestia greeted warmly, a smiling stretching cross her snout.

“Sister.” The black alicorn responded more formally, but with a genuine smile as well.

“You are back early sister. How bad was it?” Celestia asked.

“How does she know it went bad?” Twilight questioned herself.

“The duke set his guards on the crowd that gathered for the speech.” Nightmare answered her sister.

“Ooooh,” Celestia frowned. “That is bad.”

“Indeed.”

“It appears I owe the Legate some gold.”

Nightmare did not respond, but Twilight could see her jaw tighten.

“And what have you brought with you?” Celestia asked flicking her eyes to Twilight once more, though the unicorn thought the eyes looked kinder than before.

Nightmare Moon turned her gaze to Twilight before answering, “This is Twilight Sparkle. My personal slave.”

Celestia’s brows raised in mild surprise. “Personal slave? And here I thought you said it went bad.”

“It did.” Nightmare said, turning her attention back to her older sister.

Celestia smirked playfully. “Ah, but you still gained something from it.”

Nightmare scowled at her sister’s apparent inability to take the situation seriously. “Guard.” She called.

One of the many guards in the room trotted forward. “Take Twilight Sparkle here to a guest room. The closest to mine for convenience. I wish to speak to my sister alone.”

The guard apparently did not take insult at the fact that he and his companions did not, it seemed, count as ponies in this situation. For he simply bowed, and nudged Twilight Sparkle to her feet. The unicorn stared at Nightmare briefly before following the stallion, “Or is he a gelding too?”, out of the room.

As the two exited the doors to the throne room closed behind them, and Twilight attempted to start up a conversation, “Umm…So what’s it like being a royal guard?”

The guard did not respond. “I imagine it’s hard to stay so still all time.” She tried again.

She frowned as she was ignored once more. “I notice your armor’s different from the others. Why is tha-”

“Quiet, slave.” The guard finally responded.

The mare lowered her head with a sigh. She wasn’t going make the guard talk anytime soon, regardless of the innocence of the question.

As soon as the door closed behind Nightmare she began, “Sister, this is no time for jokes.”

“Oh?” Celestia asked in an innocent tone.

“Stalliongrad’s in worse condition than either of us thought. The edge of the town is hardly livable.” Nightmare explained.

“Hardly? So it can still be saved.” Celestia responded.

“If it were to be they would need a lot more money, and more jobs, as well, so that the homeless there can afford the reconstructed buildings.” Nightmare stated.

“If they need more jobs they can always map out the region more accurately.” Celestia suggested.

“That alone won’t do, and you know it. I doubt many of them have access to parchment and ink, anyway. That slave I brought with me had never seen a book before.” Nightmare objected.

“Really? Why did you bring her anyway?” Celestia asked. “Feeling lonely?”

The younger alicorn’s eyes widened at the accusation, and her lip twisted into snarl that could rival a manticore’s. “I brought her because she has potential.” She growled out.

Celestia snickered and replied, “I’m only joking, dear little sister. If you were really feeling that way you could have any stallion you want. You wouldn’t take some random mare off the streets.”

Nightmare Moon relaxed somewhat at the word, but an irritated flicker was still present in her eyes. “Of course, I have to wonder what you mean by potential.” The older alicorn continued.

The night-empress’s muscles tensed once more, though it was hardly less noticeable. She couldn’t tell Celestia that the unicorn had stolen from her. Her sister might insist on killing Twilight. Of course, Celestia wasn’t always predictable. The older alicorn might just brush it off with a laugh, and accept Nightmare’s decision as punishment enough. It was not worth the risk though. Time to lie, and, as her sister had shown her more than once, the best way to lie was to tell the truth. “The town guards caught her while I was meeting with duke. Apparently she can teleport.” Nightmare explained.

“Is that all?” Celestia asked.

Teleportation, though rare, was not special enough to warrant Nightmare changing Twilight’s original punishment to bring the mare with her. “They were going to put her to death for stealing from the duke. I intervened on a whim, and, after talking to her, came to the conclusion that she was both very talented in magic and intelligent.”

“On a whim? That sounds more like me than you. What about her caught your eye?” Celestia asked.

Nightmare’s body grew even more tense at the question. Celestia seemed to sense the weakness, and before the alicorn could respond she pressed on, “What did she do? Did she give you a look?”

“A look?” Nightmare barely had time to think to herself as Celestia leaned forward, face an inch from hers.

“Or was it more? Did you enjoy it?” The white alicorn asked.

The night-empress’ jaw dropped slightly as her older sister leaned back with laugh. “You were always so easy to fool, falling for every single tease.”

Nightmare Moon’s eye twitched momentarily before her mouth returned to a snarl. “Tia will you take this seriously or not!?” She yelled.

Smiling the day-empress replied, “Well, now that I’ve gotten you to use my name I will, but let’s talk about this tonight, at dinner. You look tired.”

Nightmare breathed heavily, giving up. She was tired. She didn’t even question how her sister knew. They’d known each other for so long, and Celestia had always begin good at telling things about a pony in a glance. “Fine.” The younger alicorn agreed. “But keep thinking about Stalliongrad in the meantime. The town needs help.”

“Of course.” Celestia responded politely, and turned to head back to her throne.

Nightmare, likewise, turned to the door, and left the room. Talking to her sister had only added to her exhaustion, and, while she was used to hardly resting, she still needed sleep.

Twilight Sparkle had occupied herself in the silent trip to her new quarters by observing her surroundings. After one was over the initial shock of grandeur they would notice the castle mostly settled into a monotonous continuum. “Mostly.” Twilight thought because she was certain that rooms like the empresses, maybe even a few offices, were probably unique.

Of course, on the way Twilight and her escort came across numerous ponies. This surprised Twilight as most ponies she passed were not guards, but, instead, servants. They were the first servants Twilight had seen, and they all seemed to hold an air of superiority that made her look away whenever they would stare at her. “They must take their jobs as a privilege.” The unicorn thought.

Half of her wanted to mock the servants for not being as grand as she was sure they thought they were, this coming from bitter years in the streets. The other half refused because, where she came from, jobs were a privilege. To be able make money meant being able to support oneself in far better way than skulking in the streets, and waiting for a merchant or hungry guard to be distracted. Twilight still wouldn’t be making any money, but at least she wouldn’t starve like she’d done some days. She’d also have a bed from the sound of things. At least, if Nightmare Moon didn’t change her mind about the unicorn’s lodgings. “Ooooh,” A sudden thought occurred to her. “Maybe if I serve the empress well enough she’ll let me have access to the royal library!”

The idea made Twilight giddy, and it took some willpower for her not squee in front of the guard. All those books. All that knowledge. Why it might take her weeks, NO, months to learn everything in the library. Of course, she wasn’t sure if there was such a thing as a royal library, but castles were supposed to have treasure, right? Certainly there was no better treasure than knowledge. Twilight smiled to herself blissfully, and held her head high. This was the first time she’d smiled since she’d seen Empress Moon she realized. Maybe being a slave wasn’t going to be so bad after all. It was at this point that her fears of torture and spaying suddenly reared their heads, and her smile became glassy. Curse her paranoid mind. It did her no favors right now.

Soon, Twilight and her guard arrived at their destination. A simple wooden door stood in the wall of the passage they were in. A spiral staircase that headed up one of the towers of the castle stood right next to it. “Her grace’s room is at the top of the tower.” The guard explained.

“Thank you.” Twilight said.

The guard snorted, looking at her out the corner of his eye. “Do not thank me.” He said. “I tell you only because it is expected of you to know, and it may reflect poorly upon me were I not to explain this.”

With that comment, the guard turned back the way they had come to return to his post in the throne room. Twilight briefly wondered how it would reflect poorly on a single guard. Surely, the empresses didn’t know his actual name? Then again, maybe they didn’t need to. His armor was different from the regular royal guards. Perhaps he belonged to a smaller detachment of them. If so, all the empresses need do was tell whoever was in charge of it that one of guards had disappointed them, and the group would sort out who itself.

Shaking her head, Twilight tossed the thought to side, and turned to the door. After a second of staring the mare entered her new room. It was fairly simple. A wooden room with a desk and chair in it’s far left corner and a window in it’s right. A blue rug laid out in center of the room, but none of these caught Twilight’s attention at the moment. In the center of the back wall was a large four-post bed. The unicorn’s eyes widened, and, after carefully shutting the door behind her, the mare charged across the room to jump onto the bed. The piece of furniture’s carefully arranged covers flopped up and over the laughing mare, and the pillows at it’s head became unsettled. She’d never had a bed before. She’d always slept on the cold hard ground, but this… Oh, this felt just like she’d always dreamt it would. Twilight began to roll around the bed like a foal, laughing in pure joy. The covers were entangled by her, and wrapped around the mare as she continued without a care in the world.

Nightmare Moon proceeded down the hallway as stoically as ever. Her business with her sister concluded, she wished to retrieve her slave. She needed massage. She doubted Twilight Sparkle would do too good of a job, but anything was better than nothing after these past two days.

As she approached the stairwell that led to her room, and the guestroom that she’d told the guard to bring Twilight to, she noticed the servants in the area looking down the hall with confused or concerned glances. This bothered Nightmare slightly. Normally, the servants were too uptight to let their minds wander in the way their expressions indicated they were now, and the ruler of the night had an idea what was causing this. Soon, she heard laughter. It was faint at first, but quickly grew in strength the closer Nightmare came to her destination. The alicorn’s minor agitation turned to confusion as she stood in front of the door she knew her slave to be behind. For the first time in decades, she hesitated. Then she opened the door.

The world seemed to freeze as the empress took in the sight before her. Her slave was laying on the disheveled bed, cocooned in it’s covers. She stared at the purple mare. The purple mare stared back. Nightmare closed her eyes and turned around. Taking a deep breath the alicorn spoke up, “Twilight Sparkle, get up. I have something for you to do.”

The sound of rustling covers filled the air as the unicorn responded more eagerly than the alicorn had ever heard her before. “Yes ma’am!”

Author's Note: Apologies for the shorter chapter. The next one will likely be longer. Regardless, the antagonists have now been introduced, and I hope you guys will come to enjoy them. For now, though, they are not threats yet. Also, I realize the castle looks nothing like the ruins from the show, but continuity in that area is not something I'm going to strive for. There was hardly anything in the second episode to work with there, and this is an AU. Lastly, I hopy you all enjoyed Twilight being cute. I know I do.

The Golden Days Part I

24th of March

Twilight Sparkle arose with dusk once more. Yawning the mare sat up in her bed and looked around the room. She smiled as she spotted several books laying on the desk next to her bed. She had no time to study them now, though. Her master was most likely already up, and would be expecting her. Not wanting to disappoint Nightmare Moon, Twilight slid out of her bed, and headed for the door, unconsciously making up the bed with her magic.

As Twilight exited her room, and started the climb up the tower she began to ponder the recent events. Three weeks. It had been three weeks since the young unicorn had been taken to the castle. The most difficult thing at first had been growing used to the night-empress’ odd waking hours, which were subject to change every so often. For the most part, though, Twilight typically managed to arise around the same time as the black alicorn, and when she wasn’t awake on time her master often sent a servant to wake her. The lavender mare preferred waking up at the right time herself, however. Simply because it satisfied her master more.

Briefly, Twilight wondered at how she had become so used that word. Master. Her master. It made her feel strangely happy. Why? Because, as the unicorn had quickly learned, when she served Nightmare Moon well enough the alicorn rewarded her, and in the best way possible. She gave Twilight books to read, and not just any books. Books about magic.

In the past few weeks the unicorn had learnt more on magic than she had ever dreamed. She now knew of “The rule of faith” as it was called, and that magic always required a source of energy to draw upon. That was part of why she knew so few spells. While all magic had it’s origins in imagination few spells were capable of drawing from faith as their energy source. All the spells she knew before coming to the castle, minus teleportation, drew from belief, but there were many other energy sources.

For example, fire-related spells often drew from one’s emotions more than anything else. A passionate emotion specifically. Like anger or love, and what did Twilight love more than anything else? Learning! It had been so simple to cast a fireball. All she had to do was focus on how learning made her feel. Well, she had to direct the magic too by imagining a fireball in front of her horn, but that was a simple task to a unicorn whose only spells, until recently, were more heavily influenced by belief than most.

Unfortunately, she had cast the spell in her room, and had neglected to learn a water spell. By a stroke of luck Nightmare Moon had walked in shortly after the fire had consumed the lavender mare’s rug, and, seeing the situation, had doused the fire. This was followed by a very loud berating that Twilight still cringed at, and she had been forbidden to learn offensive magic without supervision from that point on, not to mention she went without food that day. Twilight hadn’t learnt one since. Fortunately, she was still allowed to study other forms of magic.

The unicorn sighed at the memory. Missing out on any knowledge was a disappointment to her, but at least she could still study illusions. She knew. She had asked right after the empress had finished yelling, since she had been confused as to whether they counted as offensive or not. The bewildered look on her master’s face faded as Twilight came to the double door at the top of the stairs. It wasn’t quite as grand as one who had seen the rest of the castle might have thought. The only notable things about it were that it was made of ebony, and had many different spherical carving circling it’s center, each one representing a different phase of the moon. The unicorn raised a hoof and knocked on the door, knowing better than to just waltz in. “Come in, Twilight Sparkle.” Came the slightly muffled voice of Nightmare Moon.

Twilight did not question how the alicorn knew it was her, she was used to it by now, and simply used her magic to open the door before proceeding in. The night-empress’ circular room was regal but not ostentatious. The entire floor was covered in a massive royal blue rug, and the furniture was all polished ebony. Yet there weren’t many furnishings. On the back wall was a truly massive, by Twilight’s standards, bed with thick black drapes hanging from the roof surrounding it. To it’s left was a wardrobe, and nearer the door was a dresser with a vanity mirror on top. To the bed’s right was a giant bookshelf that covered the entire wall, and was filled to the brim with tomes of knowledge. “Not all about magic.” Twilight giddily noted in her mind.

Lastly, in between the bed and the bookshelf was a balcony that looked out onto the forest, and on it was Nightmare Moon. The alicorn had her eyes closed in concentration, though Twilight could not see it, and her horn glowed a deep blue as she raised the moon. The scene was beautiful. The lunar surface of the far out object painting Nightmare as a silhouette. The lavender unicorn gaped, not for the first time. She would never become used to this sight. It was so unequisly, though in a good way.

Cautiously, Twilight approached the balcony. The moon was on it’s way through the sky, and Nightmare could focus on other things now. Yet the unicorn did not like to bother her as she continued about her second task. The night-empress’ horn still glowed as she wove the images of the night sky. Twilight sat down beside her master, and watched as stars disappeared, their light reappearing elsewhere. Nightmare had mentioned to the unicorn that she could not control the stars. She could only control their light, and manipulate their light she did. A few stars were left alone for navigational purposes, like the north star, but the rest were all altered nightly. Every time she raised the moon Nightmare would make new images in the sky, constellations she called them, for those who cared to enjoy. Twilight had only just begun to be able to pick out constellations, and their constant changes did not make it easy for her. She could see nothing new tonight, so she turned her attention to the alicorn beside her, whose eye were darting across the sky as she changed it. It was clear to anyone that Nightmare truly enjoyed her art. Yes. Art. That was the right word. To the alicorn, her night wasn’t simply a duty. It was her art, her passion. She relished it as much as Twilight did in learning, if less excitedly. Furthermore, at night she always felt, “Is something the matter, Twilight Sparkle?” Nightmare interrupted the unicorn’s thoughts.

The lavender mare started at the question, having not paid attention. She realized she had been staring. Cautiously, Twilight looked up into her master’s cool turquoise gaze and answered hurriedly, “N-no, my empress. I was just enjoying your night.”

Nightmare’s calm stare continued, unabated. Twilight lowered her head, and flattened her ears to her skull. “W-well, actually, if it’s not forward of me to ask-that is I-”

"Speak." Nightmare interrupted the unicorn.

Gulping, the mare spoke up as she felt her heart tighten, “You seem different at night. Like there’s more of you here.”

“Is that all?” Nightmare asked, and turned back to her room.

Twilight followed as the alicorn began, “It is simple. My sister is of the day and I am of the night. We are not ‘weak’ during our opposing times, but we are diminished. As I am now, I am at my peak.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. If that was true, then was this invisible force she felt around Nightmare at night the alicorn’s power? She had so much that it was at constant work? “They really are goddesses.” Twilight thought.

“Come, I wish to have my breakfast with my sister.” Nightmare ordered, halting the unicorn’s thoughts.

Shaking herself back to reality, the young mare tailed her master out of the room. As they descended the stairs the night-empress spoke once more, “I hear you’re still practicing in your room.”

Twilight cringed at the sharp tone and hurriedly replied, “Yes, but I haven’t looked at any offensive spells once since you forbade me. Well, no, not exactly. I mean some are on the same page as other spells and theories, but-”

“Enough.” Nightmare interrupted harshly.

Twilight cringed again as the pair reached the ground floor, and turned in the direction of the royal dining room. “What things have you been learning?” Her master asked hastily, though the mare failed to notice the speed.

Twilight perked up at the question, and began her extensive answer, “Oh plenty of things! At first I was upset that I couldn’t learn anymore offensive magic, but then I realized that left me more study time for other subjects. Like magical theory, magic in history, enchantments, defensive spells, biology-”

“Biology?” Nightmare interrupted once more.

Pausing, Twilight elaborated, “Well, yes. I don’t want to learn JUST magic. Though the book was about magic, so it talked about how certain spells effect a pony’s body, white magic especially.”

“So you’ve learnt curative spells?” Nightmare asked.

“Not exactly.” Twilight answered. “Without somepony to practice on I can’t know whether I’ve understood the text or not. I just know the theory behind a few.”

“The same could be said of your other spells.” Nightmare argued.

The young unicorn found it curious how the empress was interested in her learning, but chalked it up to just wanting something to talk about. “Well, yes, but most other spells that need a target I can use on myself.”

“Practicing on yourself is not wise.” Nightmare stated.

“But I learn the counter-spells first.” Twilight attempted justify herself. “It’s not like I’m going to set my room on fire again.”

The empress maintained a cool attitude, considering she had just been objected to, and replied, “Counter-spells also need practice before you use them. You do not know what could happen should you fail to cast them properly, nor what would happen is you failed the initial spell.”

Twilight looked at the floor in disappointment as she mumbled, “How else am I supposed to learn?”

Nightmare apparently heard this and answered, “I was not telling you to stop. Merely making you aware of exactly what you’re doing to yourself. One should be aware of the consequences of their actions.”

Their conversation ended as they arrive at the simple mahogany door that served as the main entrance to the royal dining room. Entering, Twilight stared about stared about the room. It was made entirely of heavily polished wood, and an empty fireplace sat at it’s back. Two large windows were framed in the right wall, and a grand piano was next to the door. In the very center of the room was a long wooden table, and seated at it’s head, in front of the fireplace, was Empress Celestia with a pair of the turquoise armored guards standing at attention beside her.

Twilight now knew what the guards were. They were Praetorians. The elite of the celestial military. While one might assume that was the Royal Guard they would be wrong. The Royal Guards were better than most of the individuals of the Grand Army, but the Praetorians were the exceptional few who were unparalleled. They were selected from among the Royal Guard, and given “special” training. Twilight had no idea what kind of training it was, just that it was special.

Their turquoise armor, itself, was also special. It was known mythril or, more popularly, lunar steel, so named because of how it glowed in moonlight. The metal was harder than actual steel and, surprisingly, lighter. It also had a unique effect that, at one point, had been thought to only be possessed by gemstones. When magic was focused into lunar steel it would bounce back and add on to itself continually to create a stronger spell or enchantment, similar to an echo. Twilight knew all this because a book she was studying mentioned the mineral, and went into detail about it’s use.

However, the metal was not without it’s drawbacks. The heat at which lunar steel melted often caused severe heatstrokes, plenty of which were fatal, and the mineral was extremely rare. In fact, Twilight couldn’t be certain just how much there was in all of Equestria. There were only four mines in the nation, and while those provided plenty of gold and silver there was little else in them. This lead to the Celestial Empire doing plenty of trade with the five gryphon kingdoms and The Pack, the gryphons more-so now-a-days. Though Twilight couldn’t be sure as to why. She had, however, heard rumors even before living in the palace that wolfkind were not exactly friendly with ponies, so it was little wonder that trade with The Pack was going down.

“Ah, Nightmare.” Celestia welcomed her sister with a smile.

The black alicorn smiled in response, and proceeded to sit at the hoof of the table. “How was court, dear sister?” She asked.

“Boring, as usual. Nopony showed except the royal financier and a pony bringing plans for the next month’s weather for approval.” Celestia answered.

“The financier? What did he say? Do we have enough money for my suggestion?” Nightmare asked intently.

Twilight could see Celestia’s jaw tighten, but the white alicorn replied easily, “If you wish to cut back on our soldiers’ supplies, then yes.”

“We are not at war Celestia.” Nightmare stated, narrowing her eyes.

Before the empress of the day could respond, the door behind them opened as a chef appeared with a tray, which carried two covered platters. “Ah, our food is here. I hope you don’t mind that I took the liberty of ordering for you.” Celestia explained.

Nightmare merely grunted in response, and eyed the tray sullenly as it was set on the table beside her. While the chef placed a platter before her, the black alicorn spoke, “Twilight Sparkle serve my sister her food.”

“Yes, your grace.” Twilight responded automatically.

The unicorn immediately levitated the other platter off the tray, and trotted over to Celestia. As she placed the dish down she caught Celestia staring at her out of the corner of her eye. That distant cold stare. It unnerved the young mare. So she hurriedly removed the platter’s lid, revealing some kind of steaming salad, and trotted back over to Nightmare’s side, trying not to gallop.

As her master levitated her utensils she ordered, “Very good. Now go to the mess hall, and fetch yourself some food.”

“Yes, master.” Twilight replied, and hurried out behind the chef.

Turning in the opposite direction as the servant, the lavender unicorn cantered down the hall. Truth be told, despite living in the castle for three weeks she largely felt uncomfortable anywhere outside her room, unless her master was by her side. The way the guards and the servants looked at her, and the difference between the castle and Stalliongrad. It was like she didn’t belong there. Like she wasn’t welcome. Yet with Nightmare Moon by her side Twilight usually wasn’t nervous. The empress’ presence made her feel safe. No. That wasn’t it. Not safe. More like, she was wanted. Like she DID belong here. Of course, the mare wasn’t so naïve to believe that Nightmare cared for her as more than a possession, but still…The did mean the alicorn cared for her to some extent, and that was more than Twilight had ever had before. “Good Nightmare!” She swore in her mind. “I’m probably the first pony to like being thought of as a possession!”

Her thoughts stopped as she heard bickering coming from down the hall. “Damn it, I’m tired.” Said one voice.

“I don’t care.” Replied another.

“Look, do you think I didn’t have any trouble out there? I did. Those beasts fight like monsters, and they outnumbered me! Now I’m back, and all I want to do is get some sleep!”

“Then hurry and deliver the report. After that you can sleep.”

Twilight Sparkle slowed down as two royal guards came into view. One was leaving, and the other appeared upset. The angry one noticed her, and shouted, “You! Come here!”

Nervously, Twilight gulped and trotted up to the pegasus. “Y-yes?” She asked.

“I want you to take this,” He said while grabbing a letter from his saddle-bag in his mouth. “And give it to the Legate.”

“But, I was going to the mess hall. I have to finish before Nightmare-”

“You!” The guard interrupted her, his eyes widening.

His face warped into a vicious snarl as she spat the letter at her. Twilight grabbed it with her magic on reflex as the guard began to rant, “I am a royal guard of the Celestial military! I am above lords in authority, and you are nothing but a worm who got lucky!” Twilight flinched at the wording as the stallion continued, “You will listen to my orders and obey me! Understand!?”

Twilight nodded vigorously, scared of the guard. “Yes sir.”

“Good.” The guard snorted, “Now go!”

Immediately, Twilight bolted away from the mad guard, letter wrapped in her magic. She had no idea why that stallion had been so angry at her. She hadn’t done anything to him. She could only hope that she did not encounter him again.

Finding the Legate’s office was simple. Twilight might not have been comfortable in the castle yet, but she knew her way around most of it by now. Approaching the plain door, the unicorn knocked. There was a pause, but then an unmistakable “Come in.”

Pushing the doors open with her magic, Twilight walked in. The tile floor was covered by a scarlet rug with gold designs on it, and the walls were nothing but bookshelves that put even Nightmare’s to shame. Twilight had nearly drooled the first time she saw them, but now they were no surprise. In a corner by the door there was a large globe of Equis featuring the continent of Eden, and in front of three large paneled windows on the back wall was a desk, upon which a mess of maps were spread. Behind the desk sat Legate Artillerus. The gelding looked up at Twilight and spoke, “Ah, Nightmare’s slave. Does the empress wish something of me?”

“N-no.” Twilight answered. “A guard told me to bring this to you.”

The unicorn levitated the letter over to Artillerus’ desk, and placed it down. “A guard?” He asked eying the note with his single eye.

“Yes.” Twilight answered again.

“I see, and where is your master?”

“Eating breakfast. She sent me off to fetch my own before the guard stopped me.” The unicorn explained.

The Legate’s eye turned up to her, and he asked, “Wouldn’t the food at the mess hall be running out by now?”

Twilight’s eyes widened, and, forgetting her manners, she screamed, “Oh shit!”

She’d gone without food before, but she hated missing it. The mare galloped out of the office barely remembering to shout, “Thank you,” over her shoulder.

3rd of April

Artillerus sighed as he stared at the map before him. Several red Xs marked the land near Equestria’s west border, it’s border with The Pack. If it wasn’t one thing it was something else. Dealing with civil unrest was difficult, but it could be done. Routing out invaders was less difficult and could be done. Together, they made for a headache. The wolves apparently smelt a weakness in Equestria, and were trying to pinpoint it. It was obvious the groups they sent in were not invasion parties, but they were likely scouts. Still, as aggressive as the wolves were, Artillerus doubted they would do anything. It was too risky when The Pack only had one real city, and as impressive as it might be it was hardly defensible against a siege, especially for a ground bound race. Of course, the fact that The Pack wouldn’t really attack is what truly bothered Artillerus. Why would they send scouts if they weren’t planning an invasion. “Perhaps they’re aiding the rebels.” The Legate pondered aloud.

Of course, they could hardly be called that. The ponies that opposed The Celestial Empire had grown in strength recently, and several ragtag bands had started attacking small military outposts with limited success. Just a month ago, however, the “rebels” were little more than ponies who simply spoke out against the empire in public. They had grown, however, and, with as many ponies as had been suppressed when they spoke out, Artillerus found it likely they would continue to grow. Still, they should’ve taken longer before they had been able to assault any part of the military and succeed. They were receiving aid, and the answer as to who was aiding them was obvious. “Humph. Pit us against one another, and then pick the bones clean. Clever Alpha, but that’s dirtier than I’d expect from you.” The Legate said.

“It is odd for a wolf, isn’t it? As prideful as they are.” A voice responded.

Artillerus looked up from the map to entrance of his office. There stood a white pegasus with a black tail and mane in turquoise armor. The pegasus’ red eyes held a more youthful look than Artillerus’ despite the fact that he wasn’t much younger. “Prefect.” Artillerus greeted the commander of the Praetorians.

“Artillerus.” The pegasus replied more warmly. “Obsessing as always, old friend?”

“You call it obsessing. I call it being focused.” The Legate answered. “How’s your nephew doing?”

The Prefect snorted at the question. “He’s been worse ever since Empress Moon’s trip to Stalliongrad. Some poor slave’s apparently getting the worst of his attitude.”

“Oh? In what way?” Artillerus asked.

“Does it matter? She’s a slave.” The Prefect responded.

“Maybe. But a member of the Royal Guard is expected to behave with dignity, and he’s had disciplinary problems before. If he goes too far it’s my job to rein him in.” Artillerus explained.

The Prefect chuckled and replied somberly, “Always so chivalrous.”

The Legate simply shook his head. He was anything but chivalrous. “Is there a reason you’ve come, Daunting Hooves?” He asked.

The Prefect straightened up and answered, “Under Empress Celestia’s orders I’m to send a pair of praetorians to Stalliongrad with a small squad of royal guards at their command. It’s a black operation.”

“Stealth? Why does her majesty wish this?” Artillerus asked.

“Undercover precisely. She would not disclose the reason to me. I came here because you know your ponies better than I. I would like your recommendation on who to send with my ponies.” Daunting explained.

The Legate narrowed his eye. This was odd, but it was her majesty’s will. “Very well. I’ll send you a list of our stealthiest soldiers shortly.” He complied.

“Thank you, sir.” Daunting said, bowing his head in salute.

As the pegasus turned to leave the room Artillerus could only wonder, “What has gone wrong in Stalliongrad?”

15th of April

Nightmare Moon’s eyes opened to the welcoming darkness of her cloaked bed. Though the drapes around it were designed to mimic her night, with small magical lights that drifted along their inside, she was well accustomed to the hours of the day, and knew it was only past noon. Briefly, the empress considered rising, but found herself unwilling to do so. It was something that simply didn’t fade with age or maturity. Nopony really wants to get out of bed. They would if they had things to do, but they didn’t want to. So, Nightmare stayed under her covers, and stared off into space.

As she laid there, her thoughts drifted to the past, what was it? Month-and-a-half? Nearly. It appeared she had been correct in her assumptions that Twilight Sparkle was both intelligent and magically talented. In fact, dare she say, she had UNDERestimated Twilight. The unicorn was already on par with any average unicorn, minus a few minor areas, and she had only been studying for a month-and-a-half. No. Nearly a month-and-a-half. While this could partially be because of the mare spending almost all her spare time studying, that was still a lot of information to take in considering the years of education she’d missed, and it wasn’t even considering the fact that she seemed to cast most spells right the first or second time. She was nothing short of a prodigy.

To be honest, Nightmare Moon was surprised. She had assumed it would be years before she could put Twilight Sparkle to work on anything more than menial labor, but it now looked like only a matter of months. The empress was pleased to say the least, but she could not let that be known to Twilight. At least, not yet. She gave Twilight books to study with as rewards for good service, some of them with helpful notes mysteriously written in them. Of course, after the unicorn’s mentioning of it a few weeks ago, Nightmare now gave her more than just magic books to study as well. The reason for the secrecy, though, was because Twilight was a slave as punishment. If she knew she was being taught on purpose she might make certain unsatisfactory assumptions, like that she was above hard labor. This charade could not have gone on long, though, were it not for Twilight’s consistently excellent performance at her regular duties. In fact, Nightmare was slightly unnerved at the lack of misery or animosity in the young mare. She could only chock it up to Twilight appreciating the gifts, but the night-empress suspected there was more to it than that. Still, the lavender unicorn served her well, and so, as with any useful possession, Nightmare took care of her.

A knock alerted her to someone’s presence outside of her room. It couldn’t be Twilight. The unicorn wouldn’t suspect that Nightmare would be awake right now. Maybe if she ignored them whoever it was would go away. Several seconds of silence filled the air, and Nightmare Moon closed her eyes. The knock came again. Sighing, the alicorn rose from her bed, and proceeded past the curtain surrounding it. As she levitated her crest and crown on she called, “Come in.”

The door opened creakily, and a black earth pony wearing an ostentatious shirt and vest entered. “I apologize if I awoke you, my empress.” He said with a bow. “But you requested my presence, and I’m afraid I could not make room for any other time. I am simply too busy.”

“That is quite alright.” Nightmare responded simply as she turned to face the stallion. “I was already awake with my thoughts.”

“If I may inquire, what has her majesty awake at such an hour as this?’ The earth pony asked.

A cold fire sparked in Nightmare’s eyes as she answered, “That is my own business, and you will remember your station, financier.”

“Of course, forgive my impudence, your grace.” The royal financier hurriedly apologized.

Nightmare Moon waved off the comment with a hoof and replied, “Let us just attend to business. I wish to know the current state of the treasury.”

“Ah yes, the treasury is currently filled to the brim thanks to the recent tax laws. If you are inquiring for some form of project, then I am happy to inform you it can be done without any drawbacks in the empire’s current areas of spending.” The financier explained.

Nightmare’s eyes narrowed slightly at the news. If the treasury was full she should be able to help Stalliongrad without affecting the military. Why had her sister lied to her? Also, “Recent tax laws?” She queried.

“Yes,” The financier responded, “The tax was increased by twenty percent two months ago by order of Empress Celestia. Were you not aware?”

“Yes. I had assumed you meant something else.” Nightmare Moon lied. “That is all. You may go now.”

The earth pony bowed once more, and said, “Your grace,” before departing.

In solitude, Nightmare pondered the information. Her sister had outright lied to her, and she hadn’t even suspected. Why? Why was the tax increased as well? Twenty percent? Twenty percent of what? Their subjects’ income? Whatever it was on, an additional twenty percent was ridiculous. If her sister was going to raise it then why raise it that much? Perhaps the treasury had been low. “No. If that was the case she would’ve lowered it by now.” Nightmare reasoned in her head.

Her sister was up to something, and it felt wrong, whatever it was. What bothered her the most, however, was that Celestia didn’t want her to know. The night-empress ground her jaw, and left her room. She needed to think, and scenery always helped with that.

“Why do you need me to do this again?” Twilight Sparkle nervously asked as she eyed the half-eaten loaf of bread wrapped in her magic.

The royal guard, who she now knew to be called Zephyr, glared at her. “Because,” He said as if explaining to a child, “I snuck extra rations out of the mess hall with me last time I ate. As a soldier, I can be punished for this. Since I didn’t finish the bread it needs to be returned to the larder. I can’t have any evidence left.”

“But it’s been half-eaten.” Twilight protested.

“Vermin is a believable excuse.” Zephyr replied.

“Wouldn’t it just be simpler to throw it away?” Twilight suggested.

“It will be noted missing.” Zephyr answered through his teeth, anger clearly rising.

“But there’s so much food he-”

“Enough!” Zephyr interrupted the unicorn with a shout. “I. Don’t. Want. Any. Evidence. Understood?”

Sighing, Twilight nodded. Zephyr had been doing this to her ever since they first met. Anything he could have her do without drawing too much attention, he would. She wasn’t quite sure why he always tried to have her help be secret, but she assumed it was because most of what he wanted done was like this, against regulations. She had tried to refuse once or twice, but Zephyr would always make her do it in the end. He was stronger than her after all, and she couldn’t use her magic on him. If she did she could be in trouble. After all, as the pegasus had said several times. Who were they gonna believe? A slave or a royal guard? “Good.” Zephyr’s voice snapped her back to reality. “When you’re done, meet me at my current post in gardens. I have another job for you.”

Without waiting for a response the guard turned down corridor and trotted out of sight. Twilight sighed once more. She had best do what he says. After all, she didn’t want to be in trouble. Turning with her eyes closed she walked straight into a fury wall. She fell on her rump, and rubbed her head with a hoof. After a moment, she looked up to see she had collided with a leg. A large white leg. “Empress Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed, bowing. “I am so sorry! I should have watched where I was going!”

Deep down, Twilight prayed the alicorn would just go on her way. While typically jovial towards Nightmare and several subjects, Celestia had always been cold to Twilight. That gaze of hers in particular unnerved the unicorn. That distant freezing gaze. It made her feel more insecure than she had ever been in the streets of Stalliongrad. “Why do you listen to him?” Celestia asked.

Twilight jerked up, reeling at being spoken to be day-empress for the first time. “H-he’s stronger than me.” She replied cautiously.

The white alicorn continued to simply stare at her, though not with the usual cold stare. “Uuuh…” Twilight thought for a moment before adding on. “And he has more authority than me.”

“Why not tell my sister?” Celestia asked.

“I don’t want to seem ungrateful. She’s already done so much for me.” Twilight answered.

“Has she?” Celestia’s brow quirked at the statement.

“Well, yeah. She gives me books to study when I do good. Even though she doesn’t have to.” Twilight explained.

Celestia smirked at the comment and chuckled. “I see. Best hurry on then. Don’t want to cause any trouble.”

Twilight Sparkle couldn’t tell what was so funny, but just brushed it off, grateful the alicorn wasn’t going to do anything about the extra ration. As Celestia departed, so too did Twilight.

As the unicorn arrived at the mess hall she peeked her head in through the door. The room was massive, and filled to brim with wooden benches. On one side, however, was a long counter where food was served for the servants and soldiers. Behind that counter was the door to the larder, and what luck! Nopony else was in the room. Twilight hurried into inside and behind the counter. When she tried the door, however, she found that it was locked. “Damn. I don’t know any spells for locks.” She thought.

She couldn’t teleport inside either. She’d never been in the larder, so she didn’t know what it looked like. Without that knowledge she couldn’t imagine being in there. She began to run over what she could do, but her thoughts were interrupted at the sound of the mess hall door opening. Twilight whirled around at the noise, and ducked behind the counter before she could be spotted. As an afterthought, she grabbed the bread with her forelegs so the glow of her magic wouldn’t give her a way. The clopping of the other pony’s hooves began nearing Twilight. Whoever it was was coming behind the counter. The lavender mare began to panic as she thought of any spells that could hide her. She couldn’t turn invisible, but she did know a few illusions. Hurriedly, Twilight prepared a spell that would make her seem invisible to anyone she cast it on. As the pony stepped around the corner she shot the spell at him. “What the hell?” He shouted and blinked for a second.

The pony stared about for a moment looking for the cause of the lavender flash he had seen. Twilight flinched as his gaze turned to her, but after a second he simply shrugged it off. The pony pulled out a key and unlocked the larder door. As he proceeded in Twilight gulped, and prepared to do something risky. Standing up, she threw the bread into the larder, and galloped out of the mess hall before she could hear the pony’s reaction. It wasn’t that stealthy, but the job was done. Now, she had to meet with Zephyr again.

The gardens were one of Twilight’s favorite parts of the castle. The only evidence of civilization in them were the walls surrounding them. Other than that there were no torches, no magic lights, no statues, and no confining pathways. It was just like a giant meadow. Beautiful rare flowers bloomed all over in unspecific patterns. A few crystal clear ponds filled with oddly colorful fish dotted the grassy land, and old weathered, yet oddly majestic, trees formed a canopy from the sky. Or they apparently did when they bloomed their pink flowers she had been told. She wished she hadn’t missed them, but they only bloomed in winter.

Sadly, the unicorn could not enjoy the scenery at the moment. “Zephyr!” She called out.

After a few moments the royal guard in question approached from the trees. “Do not call me like I’m your dog, whelp.” He spat.

Twilight gulped. “I’m sorry. It can be hard to find ponies in here.” She apologized.

The guard snorted, but did not pursue the comment. Instead he asked, “Did you do as told?”

“Yes.” Twilight nodded.

“Good, now-”

“Um…” The unicorn interrupted, “I was wondering…what I did to you.”

“What?” Zephyr asked, a dark tone in his voice.

Twilight continued ignorantly, “It’s just that, you’re always so mean to me. I have to wonder why you treat me like this.”

“I will treat you however I damn want to slave!!!” Zephyr screamed, “You dare think I treat you like this because you actually managed to do something to me!? Who the hell do you think you are?! Just ‘cause you managed a lucky hit you think you’re better than me!?”

“Wha-No I-” Twilight stuttered uncomprehendingly.

“Know your place, slave!” Zephyr shouted once more as he slammed a hoof into Twilight’s cheek.

Twilight hit the ground hard. This wasn’t the first time he’d hit her, but it was the first time he’d used so much force. The young mare had no idea what was going on. A lucky hit? She’d hit him? When? How?

“You think you’re better than me slave!? Do you know who I am!?” He yelled as he kicked her in the stomach.

The air was forced out of Twilight’s lungs, and her forelegs reflexively covered her gut. What happened next, however, caught her off guard. Zephyr was suddenly flung several feet away by an invisible force, and pinned to the ground, completely unable to move. Around him was the unmistakable dark blue aura Nightmare Moon’s magic. A familiar powerful voice with a barely constrained fury behind it answered the stallion’s question, “A worm.”

Suddenly, the guard’s armor began to bend inward, crushing bones and organs. Zephyr screamed in pain, and began to writhe much like a worm. After several seconds, the aura around him lifted, and he was left barely breathing but alive and conscious. “Twilight Sparkle.” The voice spoke again, this time without malice.

Twilight looked up to see Nightmare Moon had come up beside her. “Can you stand?” The alicorn asked.

Slowly, Twilight nodded. “You saved me.” She stated as she rose to her legs.

As Nightmare looked at her there was something unidentifiable in the black alicorn’s eyes. “You are my slave.” She explained. “That means your wellbeing is my responsibility. I will not have you harmed under my watch. Of that you can be certain.”

Twilight’s eyes widened at the statement. All she could say was, “Thank you, master.”

“You are welcome, Twilight Sparkle.” Nightmare Moon replied.

A horrible wet retching breath escaped the inwardly-mangled mess that was Zephyr. Snarling at the sound, Nightmare turned saying, “Come, let us find a more pleasant place to talk. Perhaps you can show me what you’ve been learning.”

Smiling, Twilight trotted closely to the night-empress. The soreness of her face and gut faded away in the wake of excitement.

Author's Note: This chapter's not as long as I originally intended it to be, but oh well. I hope you all enjoyed that little moment with Twilight and Nightmare at the end. I think it's the right mix of cruel and sweet for a Nightmare Moon love story. Don't you? At any rate, tell me what y'all think.

The Golden Days Part II

20th of April

He rushed through the eerily abandoned streets as fast he could his pursuers hounding at his back. His companions were all gone. Either dead, or having abandoned their duty. He was the last one, and he refused to give in. He needed to make it back. He needed to tell his commanders now. First, however, he needed to escape. The ever increasing cacophony of hooffalls behind him alerted him to his pursuers catching up. He tried to pick up his pace, but found himself unable to go much faster. He cursed the armor he wore. It slowed him down considerably, and he would tire out quicker with it. That left his only chance at escape as outmaneuvering his hunters.

Quickly, he turned off the road into a narrow alley. The remains of his wings scraped painfully along the walls, but he forced himself to ignore it. One of his pursuers dove out of the sky, and landed at the end of the alley, blocking his exit. Thinking quickly, he turned down a second wider alley connected to the one he was already in. After a short distance, he skidded to a halt. It was a dead end. He turned around to see the other pony that had been hunting him trot slowly down the alley. He braced himself, knowing there was no escape. He’d have to fight make it out. The enemy charged at him with inpony speed, and reared onto its hind legs. Before it could slam down upon him, however, he rammed into it, shoulder slamming into its gut. The enemy pony was unphased, though, and brought its forelegs onto his ruined wings. He winced, his strength wavering for just a moment. The enemy took this chance, and overpowered him, throwing him against the wall. As he staggered back up his eyes widened in terror. The enemy pony had turned around, and raised its hind legs. Before he could react, the enemy bucked with all its strength. His skull cracked open as the legs drove it into the wall. He died instantly, slowly sliding down the stone, and leaving nothing but a smear of blood and a corpse as evidence of his existence.

3rd of May

Nightmare Moon’s eyes remained studious and observant as the heat of flames and crackle of energy passed along the field. She stood in one of several archways leading to the training field for the guards. Most of the guards were not present, as it was night, but a few stood in the arches as well, watching with mild interest. Nightmare stayed focused, taking in every single twinge of her slave’s muscles, and every alteration of her spells between casting, so as to correct her methods when she needed to. Though the incident a few weeks earlier still infuriated her, she was able to use it as an excuse to train Twilight in offensive spells. The young unicorn did not suspect a thing. She merely assumed it was so Nightmare wouldn’t have to save her should she find herself in danger again. In part it was, but it was also part of Twilight’s education. Not to mention it was a chance for Nightmare to see the unicorn’s progress for herself.

The lavender mare’s horn glowed to show her preparation of a spell. She went to aim her horn at a practice dummy, but quickly stopped. Nightmare quirked a brow, something she noticed she seemed to be making a habit of, as Twilight kept her head held high. A fireball shot out of her horn, but instead of flying into the sky it went straight for the dummy. The ball, rather than igniting the dummy, exploded on contact, splintering it into smoldering embers. Nightmare had taught her how to alter the spell for that effect, but she had not taught her how to aim like that. The black alicorn grinned at her slave’s ingenuity. She had just learnt a new technique with no direction or instruction. While unicorns could, and often did, aim their spells physically they could also alter them by imagining the spells going a specific way. In other words, a spell’s path could be programmed into it if the caster wished. Ignorant of her master’s joy, Twilight began to excitedly experiment with her new technique by combining it with other spells.

As the unicorn cast a large arc of electricity in a loop-de-loop that arched away from a dummy before slamming into it, a voice spoke up beside Nightmare, “She’s quite talented.”

Nightmare cast a glance at the turquoise-armored pegasus by her side before looking back at her slave and replying, “Yes, she is, Prefect.”

“That why you took her in?” Daunting Hooves asked.

Nightmare scowled at the smirking pegasus. “You would do well to mind your own business, Prefect.” She replied.

Daunting’s attention returned to the unicorn practicing in the field, who was giving whoops of joy at her continued success with her new technique, and he frowned. Nightmare, likewise, began observing Twilight again as she noted the odd behavior in the pegasus. Usually, Daunting Hooves was, infuriatingly, only encouraged by such comments. “Is something bothering you, Prefect?” She asked.

“It’s been nearly two weeks since I was contacted by a party I sent off. Two of my own were in it.” He responded.

Nightmare frowned. Praetorians were fierce, and extremely difficult to defeat. Such was the result of their “training.” For two to have been defeated was odd. Even with the increasingly militant behavior of some of her subjects, which she sympathized with to a small degree, they shouldn’t have been capable of such a thing. So what had they been doing to have gone missing in action? “Why were they deployed?” Nightmare asked.

“You’d have to ask your sister, but, if you’ curious, they were sent to Stalliongrad.” Daunting replied.

Nightmare frowned at the response. It did not ease her mind. Did it have to do with whatever Celestia had been planning? “Master! Did you know I could do all that?” A voice excitedly called.

The black alicorn shook her head as she realized she had been staring off into space. Ignoring the Prefect’s snickering she answered Twilight, “Yes, though I had not intended to teach you that yet. I am proud,” what an odd word to use, “of you for discovering it on your own. That is enough for tonight, however. I wish to take a walk. Come.”

As she turned to walk away, Nightmare did not catch the unicorn’s excited bounce at the praise, nor did she bother to pay attention to the speed at which the little pony reached her side.

6th of May

Twilight Sparkle studied the book in front of her as astutely as her tired eyes would allow her. She lay on the floor of Nightmare Moon’s room with a small stack of tomes next to her. Nightmare herself was studying more books and scrolls behind the curtain that surrounded her bed. Twilight’s eyes turned to the balcony, and was unsurprised to see the sun through it, indicating that it was late in the afternoon. Her master and her had been studying the limited books on Stalliongrad, its ponies, and the surrounding area for most of the night until now. Twilight was uncertain as to why her master was suddenly interested in the area, but neither of them had yet to turn up anything out of the ordinary. The young unicorn turned her attention back to the last book she had to study. It was a book of genealogy, and Twilight had initially been excited at the prospect of finding out who her parents were, if nothing else. However, as she proceeded through it she had come to realize that even if her parents had been accounted for in the last census she likely wouldn’t be able to identify them. The only memories she had of them were blurry images, and being told, by name, to hide.

Frowning, Twilight Sparkle closed the book. There had been nothing of interest there. Looking towards the cloaked bed she stated, “I’m finished master. There was nothing unusual.”

“Are you certain?” Nightmare Moon asked from behind the black cloth.

“I could be more so if I had a better idea of what I was looking for.” Twilight responded.

“If I knew that, I would likely tell you, Twilight Sparkle.” Nightmare explained, a slight strain in her voice. Quietly, she added, “What are you up to, sister?”

Catching the after comment, Twilight asked, “Is something wrong with Empress Celestia?”

She received no reply. Frowning once more, she continued, “Is she going to do something to Stalliongrad? Something bad?”

“Why would you ask that?” Nightmare Moon finally responded.

“Well, to be honest,” Twilight began, staring at her hooves, “she scares me. The way she’s always looking at me.”

“What are you trying to say about my sister?” Nightmare asked, her voice once again tense.

Twilight sighed, ignorant of her master’s agitation, before answering, “It’s just…She feels wrong. Untrustworthy.”

“You will watch what you say about Tia!” Nightmare ordered, her head flying out from behind the curtain.

Twilight paled at the fury etched on her master’s face. This was first time the alicorn had been angry at her. True, when she stole her book Nightmare Moon had been agitated, and rather short with her. Yet, she hadn’t been angry at her. “I’m sorry!” Twilight yelled, forelegs shielding her face.

“She has been with me most all of my life, and had every chance to hurt me! If she was truly untrustworthy I would have the scars to prove it!” Nightmare berated the lavender mare.

“So you t-trust her?” Twilight stammered out, peeking between her legs.

The night-empress paused, and retreated back behind her bed curtain fully. She did not answer the question. Instead, several books floated out wrapped in her magic. “Take these and your books back to the archive.” She coldly ordered.

Not wanting to test her patience, Twilight levitated all the books into the air, and replied, “Yes, master,” before leaving the room.

As Twilight proceeded down the tower to the main palace she noted how sensitive the subject of Celestia apparently was to her master. Maybe it was because they were sisters? She couldn’t be certain. She’d never had a family let alone a sibling. Was it a brother or sister’s job to look after one another? If so, the unicorn could see how her comments had upset her master. She’d like to apologize, but she knew better than to bring it up again. Besides, she meant what she said. The day-empress always felt dangerous to her, and she doubted she would ever feel different. Maybe it was just paranoia. If her master said so she should at least give the white alicorn a chance.

After a few minutes of travel Twilight arrived in a disused part of the castle. This was evidenced by the fact that it was entirely constructed of the white stone that made the outside, but the bricks were eroded and cracked. Truth was, hardly anypony came over here. There were only three things in this section of the palace. There was the vault located far into the most disused part of the area. Twilight had no idea what it contained, the royal treasury was located elsewhere, but her curiosity for it was limited. After all, she hadn’t even found it, only heard of it from Nightmare Moon. Second in the area was the archives. Sadly, Twilight had come to find out there was not a royal library. Books were a private possession in the castle, minus the ones in the archives, and were mostly found in personal quarters and offices. The archives were the closest thing to a library the castle had. However, there was little of interest in it. It was the place where all official information of Equestria and it’s population was stored. Maps, taxes, genealogy, and the like. While Twilight Sparkle could find interest in some of it, most of it was bland, even to her.

As the unicorn arrived at the archives’ door she stared down the hall in front of it at the third thing in this disused section of the castle. It was a double door with an iron padlock sealing it. Twilight had asked Nightmare what lay beyond it, but was told that it was unimportant. Any further queries had been ignored. The mare could not stop wondering about it, as if something compelled her to look inside, but she had a job to do. Turning quickly from the path, she entered the archives, and began the search for the books proper places. The archives were musty and large, but fortunately the documents inside were cycled every fifty years, making it easier to find what anyone was looking for than one might think. Lighting a candle with her magic, Twilight trotted quickly down the aisles to the spots she remembered Nightmare taking the books she had with her. When all the information was stored once more the unicorn left, closing the archive door behind her. Before she headed back toward her master, however, her eyes were drawn to the locked door down the hallway. She bit her lip. “Just a peak wouldn’t hurt.” She thought.

Of course, she still didn’t know any spells to open locks, but as she walked to the door she wasn’t bothered by this. Her curiosity was too high for little details to annoy her as they usually did. Stopping in front of the door, she sparked her horn, and attempted break the padlock off with her magic. However, the moment her magic touched it she felt a bolt of invisible energy slam into her skull through her horn. Yelping, Twilight fell on her flank, and raised a hoof to her head to try to ease her new headache. After a moment she glared at the door, realizing there must be a protection ward on it. Why though? Most everything in the castle only used locks. She hadn’t seen a ward here once until now. Whatever was in there must be important. Now more determined, and curious, Twilight stood up, and began probing the double door cautiously with her magic. There appeared to be an intricate spell woven into the woodwork itself. The unicorn couldn’t make out much without risking another shock, but she felt fairly certain that the ward wouldn’t work against anything physical. Dropping her concentration, Twilight stared at the padlock. It was old and rusted. She might not be that strong, but in its condition she could handle it. Turning around, she bucked the lock hard. It clinked in response, but did not break. She bucked again, but the lock still held. Gritting her teeth in determination, the lavender mare bucked one more time, and padlock shattered, falling to the ground. Grinning, Twilight approached the now unlocked double door smirking in triumph.

The doors creaked open as Twilight pushed inside, and was astounded by the sight. The room was massive, overly large considering it held only thing, and constructed entirely of stone. It lacked any decoration save for six stain-glass windows depicting individual images each. The window closest to the entrance on the right side was a picture of a black alicorn, which Twilight could only recognize as Nightmare Moon, speaking to several ponies who appeared to listen with interest. Next to it, the night-empress was shown again. This time she was giving food to a hungry pony, and, lastly, the window farthest from the door showed her smiling and laughing with other ponies. Twilight considered the last image odd. She had never seen her master smile before. There were a few smirks, but never a fully fledged smile. Not to mention the idea of Nightmare Moon laughing was laughable itself. Still, the left side windows distracted her from the thought. Closest to the door was the image of a white alicorn, presumably Celestia, standing by a few ponies against some odd mishmash of a creature. Twilight wanted to say it was a chimera, but there were no chimeras that were made of that many creatures. It seemed as if every part of the beast was different. Shaking her head, the unicorn looked to the next window. It showed Celestia shielding several ponies from the rain with her wings, and the last window showed the alicorn with the sun rising behind her, her horn ablaze with brilliant golden light. Then Twilight’s attention fell on the podium in the center of the room. It was raised higher than any pony could reach without magic or flight, even the empresses, and had five small platforms extending from it. On each platform was a large pure gold necklace with a different colored jewel forming an emblem in each. One had a black crescent. Another had a turquoise orb. A third had a purple blot. The fourth had white burst of light, and the fifth had a yellow flame. All these pieces of jewelry, however, paled compared to the one on top of the podium. It was golden tiara with nine large opals encrusted in it, and on top of it, connected by two decorative rails, was a large orange sun. All the jewelry seemed to pulse as if they had hearts, and Twilight instinctively knew they were magic. Powerful magic. Suddenly very afraid for herself, though in reflection she wouldn’t know why, the unicorn galloped out of the room, and towards her master’s.

Twilight slowed herself, and attempted to calm down as she came Nightmare’s tower. It wouldn’t do to burst in there, and have to explain herself. Soberly, she climbed the stairs, and knocked on the door to her master’s chambers. “Come in.” Came the night-empress’ voice.

As she did so she saw Nightmare Moon standing outside the alicorn’s bed and regarding her suspiciously. “Twilight Sparkle, while you were down there did see anyone else?” Her master asked.

The unicorn gulped before answering shakily, “N-no.”

Nightmare’s shining turquoise eyes seemed to dull and pierce through her as she asked, “Did you do anything else aside from the task I assigned you?”

“No!” Twilight answered a bit quickly, “I-I put the books up, and came right back here.”

Nightmare’s eyelids drooped as she said, “Speak truth.”

The young mare’s heart constricted painfully. She couldn’t lie to Nightmare. She shouldn’t. The alicorn had done so much for her, and she was betraying her master’s trust. Besides, she hadn’t been forbidden to go into the odd room. “I went into the room across the hall from the archives!” She confessed. “I broke the lock to get in, but I didn’t touch anything else.”

Nightmare Moon sighed harshly, as if in disappointment, and Twilight winced at the sound. She had, apparently, let her master down. “My sister will have likely felt the door into altar open as well, and have sent guards to investigate. Depending on their report you may face a great punishment, Twilight Sparkle.” The black alicorn explained in an empty voice, not the rewarding proud one Twilight had come to know. “For now, you are confined to your room with no food until tomorrow night for attempting to lie to me, and for breaking into the Altar of Harmony you are forbidden from any studies for the next two weeks. Understood?”

Twilight Sparkle’s face fell as she lowered her head in shame. She had let her curiosity get the better of her again, and, like last time, her master was not pleased. “Yes, your majesty.” She answered.

“Good. Now leave me.” Nightmare ordered emotionlessly.

May 12th

Artillerus sat in his office staring out the windows at the sunset. It had been an uneventful week. Except for when Nightmare’s slave had broken into the Altar of Harmony. He had been ordered by Celestia to personally lead a group of guards to it, and find out what had happened. Fortunately for Twilight Sparkle, nothing had been missing, and the door had a new, much stronger, lock placed on it. The whole castle knew about the incident by now. Most, however, did not know what was broken into, the Altar wasn’t common knowledge, and simply were aware that the unicorn had gone somewhere she wasn’t supposed to. This had caused a lot of gossip to spring up around the palace. The Legate did not care for the incident, though. As far as he cared it was simply a slave being too curious. She hadn’t caused any real trouble, but the empresses were upset, Celestia in particular.

The door to the office opened, and Artillerus turned to greet the very pony in question. “Your majesty, how can I be of aid?”

“I’d like an update on the misled rabble of ponies that wish me off my throne.” Celestia answered.

Straight to the point today. “Not much has changed in the last few weeks, your grace. The rebellion’s attacks on scouting groups have allowed us to narrow their location to somewhere near Stalliongrad, but where, exactly, we don’t know.” Artillerus explained. “I assume that’s why you sent those praetorians to the town. Trying to find more information on them.”

“Praetorians?” Celestia asked.

There was an unrecognizable face on the day-empress. One that, in all his decades of serving, Artillerus had never seen. “Yes.” He responded dutifully, “The two you sent to Stalliongrad with a squad of royal guards. We lost contact with them a few weeks ago.”

“I see.” Celestia replied, her face slipping into an unreadable mask.

A silence settled between the two, and they simply stared at one another. After a moment, the Legate opened a cabinet in his desk, and pulled out a bottle of wine and a glass. “Would you like some?” He asked, before pouring the alcohol with his mouth.

“No thank you, Artillerus.” Celestia answered. “I have plans for tonight.”

“Oh?” He replied before sealing the bottle of wine, and putting it away.

“Yes. Nightmare has punished her slave lightly in my opinion, and there is something I’ve wanted to do the unicorn for a while now. It will do for the rest of the punishment.” Celestia explained with a smirk.

“You do realize your sister is likely awake, your majesty. Her slave will be with her.” The Legate stated.

“No, she won’t. Nightmare appears to be distancing herself from the unicorn. I asked if I could borrow her for the night, and my sister agreed.” Celestia replied.

Artillerus downed his wine in one swallow before he spoke again, “Well then, I suppose you should go meet the slave then.”

“Indeed.” Celestia responded as she left the room.

Twilight Sparkle stared at the tile floors sadly as she made her way to the opposite side of the palace from where she lived. Her master must have been very disappointed with her. Yelling she could handle. Anger would probably make her feel better at this point, but this cold indifference Nightmare had shown towards her since her punishment began was heart wrenching. Over these months her master’s opinion had come to matter so much to her. To suddenly be ignored, only being addressed minimally, upset Twilight. It also terrified her. What if Nightmare Moon was unhappy with her services? What if her bond was released, and she was sent on her way? Life at the palace wasn’t perfect for her, but it was better than anything she could’ve hoped for back in Stalliongrad. Now, she was being sent to serve Celestia for the night instead of being allowed to stay by her master. Just another sign, to her, that she was being abandoned.

The young unicorn arrived at the day-empress’ door. Unlike Nightmare Moon, Celestia lived on the ground floor. The door was also far more grand Nightmare‘s. It was the size of the throne room doors, and made of white marble with a carving of the sun rising behind a tree covering most of it. Had Twilight not known better, she would’ve assumed it was part of the wall, but the directions she had been given, and the fact that most walls in the castle were wood on the inside, made it unmistakable. Swallowing her sorrow, the lavender mare put on a smile. Her master had told her Celestia wasn’t someone to be afraid. Maybe if she did well here Nightmare might warm up to her again. Yes. That might be it! The night-empress might be more upset about the argument they had nearly a week ago than her breaking into the, “What was it? Altar of Harmony?” She thought.

Now more encouraged, Twilight Sparkle knocked on the marble door, and waited a moment. The door was suddenly surrounded by a golden light, and it split right down the middle. It opened just enough for the mare to enter before a recognizable voice ordered, “Come in.”

The unicorn trotted through, the door sealing behind her, and looked around the new room. It was Celestia’s room, and everything about it seemed to contrast Nightmare’s. Where the night-empress’ room was round and, relatively, small, Celestia’s was rectangular and very large. Where Nightmare’s was sparing in decoration, Celestia’s was filled with various furnishings and knickknacks. On the walls there were swords and beautiful paintings. All around were statues, small and large, and furniture, grand and gaudy. Where Nightmare’s room was blue and mostly covered by a large rug, Celestia’s walls were all rosewood, making things look very red in the candlelight, and the only rug was a small one just in front of the bed on the wall to the right of the door. Directly in the middle of the room, staring at an empty fireplace, was Celestia.

The golden glow of her horn dissipated as she let go of the doors, and turned to meet Twilight with that cold distant gaze. Her smile faltering only momentarily, the young unicorn bowed saying, “How may I serve you, your majesty?”

Something sparked in Celestia’s eyes as a grin grew on her face. “Rise, slave.” She ordered softly.

Twilight did not like being called slave. Although she knew it was what she was, her master had the decency to call her by name. Still, she offered no complaint as she rose to her hooves, and only continued to smile. “You are a very lucky mare. You know that?’ Celestia asked.

“I…am?” Twilight returned quizzically as a pit began to grow in her stomach.

“Oh yes.” Celestia answered, and rose to walk slowly toward the young unicorn, “You were taken off the streets to live in the palace. Your magical abilities have developed faster than any pony in recorded history, and you are quite beautiful.”

The white alicorn ran a hoof over Twilight’s cheek as she finished, and the lavender mare felt the pit grow deeper. She had seen a lot in Stalliongrad, and she didn’t like where this was going. Still, Nightmare had vouched for Celestia. She shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Instead, she merely replied meekly, “Thank you.”

Celestia’s smirk stayed in place as she ran her hoof slowly down Twilight’s spine. “Can you guess how long it’s been?” She asked.

“Sssince what?” Twilight responded nervously.

“Since I’ve had any.” Celestia answered, her hoof running over the unicorn’s thigh.

Twilight jerked back in surprise, and retreated until her flank hit the sealed marble door. “Please, empress. You’re scaring me.” She pleaded.

“What if I don’t care?” Celestia asked slyly, her smirk growing bigger.

Twilight thought hurriedly before she answered, “M-my master wouldn’t approve!”

“Possibly.” Celestia began to reason as she casually stepped closer to the smaller cowering pony. “But she likely wouldn’t believe you either. Besides, what if she did? I know I wouldn’t care if a toy of mine was used. So long as it wasn’t in bad condition when it was returned.”

“T-toy?” Twilight asked, her mind grinding to a halt at the word.

“Yes.” Celestia answered, and lowered her head to gaze into the young mare’s eyes.

“I’m a…toy?” Twilight asked again in desperation.

“What did you think you were? She owns you. She plays teacher with you. She keeps you all to herself most of the time. You’re a toy and nothing more. Now, toy, present yourself.” Celestia ordered.

“A toy?” Twilight thought. “I’m just a toy? No…No it can’t be! My master cares for me! She treats me like a pony! Not a…possession.”

All of a sudden the lavender unicorn realized that even she’d come to think of herself as Nightmare Moon’s property. Was she really nothing more than a toy? In a rush of anger Twilight released a massive gust of wind out of her horn. The spell knocked over furniture and decorations in the room, but Celestia stood unmoved. “You’re lucky nothing you can do can harm me.” The alicorn grinned. “Now, I’ve waited long enough.”

She threw Twilight to ground, and stood on the young mare’s thighs, her full weight coming to rest there, as she lowered her horn to the unicorn’s flank.

Author's Note: Yes. For any who are uncertain, Celestia rapes Twilight, and, no, I'm not going to write that scene. That's why I ended it just before the act took place. I do have a question involving this, though. Since the rape is only implied, if heavily, do you think I should turn the story's rating up to mature or not? I'd really like ya'll's opinion on this since I know rape is a touchy subject, and I don't want to get in trouble for rating this story wrong.

In other news, I now have a new project I'm working on. Starting now I'm going to be writing a second story to be called Shoot for the Stars. Don't worry, True Colors is still my primary focus, and will be updated more often than my second story, most likely. Still, it's something to look out for if you're interested, and, if you're not, then it'll explain why some chapters for True Colors might arrive slower.

At any rate, I'm eager to hear what ya'll think of the latest chapter.

Black and Blue

Twilight Sparkle lay in her bed, covers thrown to the side, weeping. She hadn’t stopped crying from the moment Celestia had released her. Sleep was something she hadn’t even considered. It simply hurt too much. She was not in physical pain, any soreness from the day-empress’ actions had worn off, but emotional pain. She felt filthy, dirty, vile, and above all weak. Like an insect. No. Like a toy. She’d tried to resist, she really had, but it had only seemed to encourage Celestia. There was nothing she could’ve done to stop the alicorn, and there was nothing she could do now to stop the hurt. For all the magic she had learned, and knowledge she had gained, she was completely and utterly powerless. There was a sharp intake of breath as the thought sent Twilight into a fresh series of sob, further wetting her already soaked sheets. It was in this state that the unicorn found herself when a knock came at her door. She ignored it, hoping it would go away, but the knock came again. Sitting up in bed in bed, the young mare wiped the tears from her eyes. She was certain she looked quite the sight. Her mane was disheveled. Her face felt puffy, and her eyes were obscenely dry, despite the fact that they still wanted to produce tears. She was certain they were bloodshot too, but as the third knock came, harshly this time, she knew she had to get up. Stumbling off her bed, the unicorn made her way to the door, and opened it just as the fourth knock was about to come. A butler of some sort stood there with an almost-hidden look of agitation on his face. He seemed to take in Twilight’s appearance, and with a sneer he said, “Your master is awake, and wishes your presence. It would be best not to make her wait.”

“O-of course.” The young mare responded slowly, “Just…let me…make myself pr-presentable.”

The butler pony sneered once more, and walked off, uncaring. Closing the door, Twilight leaned against it with a heavy sigh. She wasn’t ready for this. Besides, the sun was still out, and, though it had to be late in the day, it was earlier than usual. That was probably why Nightmare Moon had sent the servant. Still, she couldn’t let the night-empress wait long. The last thing she needed at the moment was more trouble. Not having any mirrors in the room to help her fix herself, Twilight Sparkle settled for a passive illusion. Her horn lit as she tried to picture herself as she always looked. Mane neat and tidy, and her face bright and clean. No blood-shot eyes. No wet face, but she found it hard to concentrate. Memories of what had happened kept spilling into her head. “…And you are quite beautiful.” Celestia’s words haunted her.

Finally, after much struggle, she managed to cast the spell. No one would see what she looked like. They would only see her as she normally appeared. Sighing one more time, the unicorn put on a glassy smile, and left the room to ascend the tower.

Never before had Twilight considered the climb to be a long one, but as her hoofsteps echoed around her so too did the seconds tick by agonizingly slow. She was dreading this. Dreading meeting the night-empress, and the confirmation of what Celestia had said. “You’re a toy and nothing more.” Her mind told her in a horrid blend of her own voice and the day-empress’.

When the familiar ebony door came into sight at the top of the stairs the unicorn swallowed hard. She approached the door, and knocked on it. The wait was only a moment, but it felt like forever before the voice of the night-empress called, “Come in, Twilight Sparkle.”

The lavender mare pushed the door open with a hoof, not bothering with her magic, and entered. Nightmare Moon was focusing on a document floating before her as she sat in front of her bed. The black alicorn did not look at Twilight as she shut the door. “Twilight Sparkle, there should be a quill and parchment in my dresser. Retrieve them and take a note.” The night-empress ordered.

“Yes, m-my empress.” Twilight stuttered.

She had almost called Nightmare master, but should couldn’t do it. Master had come to be an affectionate term. As odd as it was, the unicorn relished in saying it. It had meant someone had cared for her. Enough not to kill her for stealing. Enough to teach her when she was good, and enough to protect her when she needed it. Now, she wasn’t so sure the alicorn did care for her. Nightmare had lied to her. She had said Celestia was trustworthy. Not only was that untrue, but she had sent Twilight to the day-empress. How much else had been a lie? Did it really matter whether the young mare was hurt or not? Did Nightmare teach her out of boredom? Was the alicorn even pleased with her service? Ignoring these hurtful thoughts she began to search Nightmare Moon’s dresser for the quill and the thin scrap of leather she had been told about. Her odd phrase, however, seemed to have caught the night-empress’ attention. As the black alicorn was now eyeing her instead of the document she had been so fixed on before. After locating the items she was looking for, Twilight levitated them, unconsciously hiding behind the leather parchment, and stated, “Ready.”

There was a few seconds pause before Nightmare began her dictation. “Legate Artillerus, I have read the recent scouting reports, and have been made aware of the rebels’ estimated location. Their close proximity to Stalliongrad is not a coincidence. Too many things have been occurring around that town for it to be. I suspect the rebels have some hold over the town itself, and I therefore forbid any military action against them. As of this moment there is no telling what they may do to the town if we attack. Their claims may be noble, but their intentions have yet to be proven likewise. I will not risk the loss of civilian life to put down a small rebellion. For now, have the soldiers continue reconnaissance until we can be more certain of the safety of our subject. Your empress, Nightmare Moon.”

As Twilight Sparkle finished copying the words, she wondered why the alicorn was sending a letter instead of speaking to the Legate directly. Perhaps it was so he couldn’t argue? Whatever the case, she wasn’t going to ask for once. Her ma-…her owner’s reasons weren’t of interest to her anymore. Wordlessly, Twilight put the quill back in the dresser before closing it. Nightmare’s magic took the letter from her, and it burst into a green flame. The unicorn quirked a brow at the odd spell, but did not question it. “Twilight Sparkle,” The night-empress’ voice addressed her. “You are behaving oddly.”

“I-I am?” Twilight gulped.

The last thing she wanted was to be exposed. She couldn’t tell what Nightmare would do to her if she knew what happened. The following statement, however, was unavoidable, “Yes. Is something bothering you?”

“No!” Twilight blurted hurriedly.

“You’re a terrible liar.” Nightmare responded. “You weren’t like this the other night. Did something happen with my sister?”

“No.” Twilight squeaked.

“Twilight Sparkle, Speak truth.” Nightmare ordered.

The young mare’s heart constricted painfully, and she clenched her eyes shut. She should tell Nightmare. She owed her the truth. “No! She won’t believe me! She’ll punish me even more for accusing her sister of this.” She argued mentally.

But it would feel so good to let the emotions out, wouldn’t it? “It’s not worth it!”

Isn’t it? She hurt you. She needs to know that. “She won’t care!”

As Twilight struggled with herself her lungs began to burn from a lack air, despite the fact that she was breathing. She was beginning to feel dizzy. She ceased being rational, and her illusion shattered as she screamed, “YOUR SISTER RAPED ME!!!”

From the moment she woke up, Nightmare Moon had this feeling in the back of her head. A foreign hurting feeling, as if something was wrong. It had bothered her until she rose. When Twilight Sparkle arrived the feeling had only become stronger, and when the unicorn started behaving oddly Nightmare knew that something was, indeed, wrong. This, though…It couldn’t be real. It had to be a lie! But it wasn’t. She had used the blood oath to force Twilight into telling her what was wrong, and she had specified for it to be truth. How could it be true though? Was this a dream? No. It was real, but…She knew her sister had been behaving suspiciously, but this was so out of the character that she knew that it incomprehensible. Her mind reeled in the revelation, refusing to accept it. Yet as she stared at the pony in front of her, broken and in tears, she knew…She knew it was true.

“Why?” Twilight Sparkle’s voice came quietly behind her sobbing.

“Why what?” Nightmare Moon risked clarification.

“Why did you send me to her!?” Twilight yelled, “If you hadn’t…If you hadn’t sent me then she wouldn’t have…”

Nightmare cringed as a new wave of tears began to stream down Twilight’s puffy face. “Twilight-” She began softly.

The lavender unicorn interrupted her, “You told me she could be trusted! I said I was scared, and you yelled at me for it! You-”

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” Nightmare yelled over the unicorn, making her stop, but continued softly, “I told you before you that your well-being is my responsibility. I had no reason to suspect that my sister would do this you, but I intend to find out why. Now, I need you to return to your room now. Lock the door, and let no one in. I will come to you myself when my business is finished.”

Twilight stared at her silently, mistrust and anger in her bloodshot eyes, but offered no argument. Instead, the unicorn simply walked out of the room without a word. When she was gone Nightmare Moon let out a heavy sigh of exhaustion. How could this even happen? Where should she even start? The answer was simple; with her sister. The darkening sky outside told her the sun was setting. Standing up, the alicorn made her way to her balcony. She would raise moon first, but then she would confront her sister. This was in excusable! There was no reason for Celestia to have raped some pony! None at all. What was more, she had decided to rape a pony that belonged to Nightmare. This wasn’t her first crime either. The day-empress had been increasing taxes, and ignoring subjects in need. She had been disregarding many of Nightmare’s suggestions, and been attempting to keep her dark about everything. A righteous anger began to replace the confusion within the obsidian alicorn, and she had every intention of letting it loose on her sister.

The few servants she encountered on her way to the royal dining hall hurried out of her way. It was not that she looked angry, nor any action she was committing. However, she radiated an air of malice. One would not have to know her to realize she was beyond furious. When she arrived, she opened the dining hall’s door slowly. There was Celestia at the head of table, waiting for her food. Nightmare Moon’s ire rose at the sight of her sister, but she maintained enough control to enter the room and close the door carefully. “Nightmare.” Celestia said warmly.

“Celestia.” The night-empress responded, her restraint lowering her voice to a whisper.

“Is something wrong?” The older alicorn asked.

“I should say something has been wrong for a long time now, dear sister.” Nightmare spat.

An annoyed look crossed Celestia’s face. “Is this about Stalliongrad again?” She guessed.

“This is about more than Stalliongrad. It’s always been about more than that town.” Nightmare replied.

“What are you going on about?” Celestia asked.

“Let’s start with the taxes, shall we? You raised them several months ago, and mentioned nothing of it to me.” Nightmare began.

“It must have slipped my mind.” Celestia lied.

“Just like how it slipped your mind when I inquired about the state of the royal treasury? You said we didn’t have enough to spare for Stalliongrad.”

“We don’t.” Celestia replied.

“It’s full!” Nightmare yelled.

“And we can not afford to support a town that can not support itself. They’ll drain at the treasury, slowly but surely, and we’ll have nothing left for ourselves.” Celestia explained.

The night-empress snorted. That was cruel, even if it made sense. They shouldn’t ignore ponies in desperate need. “That kind of reasoning is why there’s a rebellion!” Nightmare argued.

“No.” Her sister responded firmly. “There is a rebellion because the foolish ponies believe they have a right to govern their own fate. To have a hoof in the government. To have mercy in the law.”

“Do they not?” Nightmare Moon snarled.

Celestia stood and angrily stated, “Were it not for the ponies governing themselves then Discord would never have been born!”

The alicorns’ argument froze for a moment. The spirit in question was not powerless, even how they left him. In such close proximity he could likely hear them, especially since his name had been dropped. The walls seemed to lean in. Ignoring it, Nightmare growled, “And neither would we.”

It was Celestia’s turn to snort as she replied, “My point still stands. They can not rule on their own.”

“They do not have to rule on their own. There can be compromise. They can be sated with an important seat in the government. We would not have to step down.” Nightmare argued.

The day-empress shook her head, “We would have to satisfy them by agreeing to carry out certain changes. The first of which would be a more lenient law, but that phrase is an oxymoron in itself. True justice can not be achieved with compassion. A pony who has killed in self-defense has still taken life, and the blood must be repaid. Had he not killed he would have died, but perhaps his assailant did not wish to kill him. Perhaps he only needed money to support his starving family, but the ‘victim’ refused to part with it. With the assailant dead his family will surely die, and the ‘victim’ will have inadvertently murdered several more ponies. Do you see? If you use mercy and understanding you must consider all sides, and nothing satisfactory will come of it! The order we have worked so hard to achieve will descend into chaos once more!”

“Not all cases are so, sister, and, in the end, would any resulting pain not be worth our subjects’ happiness?” Nightmare asked.

“You would abandon order for simple mortals who live and die in mere moments to us?” Celestia inquired darkly.

Nightmare Moon’s eyes narrowed. This was not the Celestia she knew. They had fought against Discord because the ponies had been unhappy. This open denial of what they wanted was in direct contradiction to the reason the Celestial Empire had been formed in the first place. One particular unhappy pony flashed before the night-empress’ eyes, and she asked quietly, fury beginning to build once more, “Does your definition of order justify raping an innocent mare?”

Celestia’s eyebrows raised in surprise at the question, but she answered readily, “No, but she was hardly innocent. She strayed where she wasn’t supposed to, and your punishment was far too light. Simply stripping away rewards for misbehavior? One must strip away rights, too, sister.”

There it was. The day-empress hadn’t even tried denying it. Nightmare’s horn lit up and the room became heavy as an immense amount of energy filled it. The furniture of the dining hall all lifted up in the glow her magic, and the black alicorn growled in an unnaturally loud voice, “Don’t call me sister.”

Celestia flinched, though barely noticeable. Not at the display of magic, but at the power behind the words. Two unicorn royal guards burst in shouting, “Empress, we felt a large mag…ic…fluctuation.”

The speaking guard’s words died on his lips at the sight, but he did not have much time to gawk. At the intrusion, Nightmare abruptly dropped all the furniture, and stormed out of the room.

Twilight Sparkle lay in her still messy bed distracting herself with a book. She was, technically, still under Nightmare’s punishment, but at the moment she didn’t really care. She was too angry and too hurt to do so, nor she was actually paying attention. It was an action to occupy her mind, nothing more. She furiously read the text in front of her aloud, trying desperately to keep herself focused, “Each different spell is fueled by one of the six sources. They are faith itself, emotion, blood*, stamina, ‘personal fuel,’ and magic batteries. *NOTE: Blood is the only source which possesses it’s own type of magic. All blood fueled spells are classified under Blood Magic, and no other spells are.

“Personal fuel varies from pony to pony, hence it’s name, but is typically the presence of something important to the pony in question. What it is can normally be determined from the Cutie Mark. Despite what one might think, personal fuel can not be used as alternate fuel for any spells. Rather, there are certain spells that can only be cast with personal fuel.

“Magic batteries are a synthetic energy source created by ripping another magical energy source, such as blood or emotion, directly from a pony and sealing it within an object. Once inside, the energy changes in an unknown way, and can be used to power most spells, instead of their intended fuel, at cost of reduced power. Any object can be made into a magic battery, but they are typically gemstones. This is due to the echo effect which, in the case of magic batteries, increases the amount of energy stored within. It is important to note that objects can be repeatedly used as magic batteries, but if used too much the object will shatter like an old wineskin, releasing the energy it stored violently. Another point of interest is that larger objects can hold more-”

Twilight’s reading was interrupted as her door bust open, the lock breaking, and Nightmare Moon trotted in. The young unicorn jumped, breathing heavily, and eyed her owner warily. The black alicorn snorted, clearly angry, and for a moment Twilight feared for herself. She had been reading a book despite her owner’s punishment at the beginning of the week. Nightmare, however, didn’t seem to notice, and ordered brusquely, “Come.”

“Why?” Twilight asked mistrustfully.

The night-empress gave an annoyed glare before dodging the question, “I will explain. Come.”

With that, Nightmare cantered out of the room. Twilight sat on her bed for awhile longer. She didn’t want to go. She was afraid. What did her owner want with her that was so urgent? Surely, she was angry with Twilight, but for what she didn’t know. Nightmare had said she was going to investigate her claim. Maybe Celestia had denied it. Maybe she hadn’t, and they had discussed what to do with the young mare. Either way, the unicorn was certain this was trouble, but she didn’t have much of a choice, did she?

Hurriedly, Twilight leapt out of bed and galloped after her owner. She was too slow to catch up, but she suspected where the night-empress was. She arrived at Nightmare’s room to find the alicorn levitating objects into a saddle-bag. There were scrolls, water-canteens, and food being stuffed away, as much as could fit. Looking to the side, she spotted an already full pair of saddle-bags sitting on Nightmare’s dresser. They were a beautiful black, and their clasp looked identical with the night-empress’ cutie mark. “Here.” Nightmare’s voice called Twilight’s attention back to her.

There were the plain old saddle-bags the empress had been packing levitating in a dark-blue aura. Twilight grabbed them with her magic, and stared at them hesitantly. Was she being kicked out? Nightmare Moon grabbed the more-unique saddle-bags in her magic, and rested them over her flank. No, the lavender unicorn wasn’t being kicked out. Her owner wouldn’t be coming then. “Where are we going?” She asked.

“The Stalliongrad region.” Nightmare Moon answered.

Region. Not the town then. Why? The black alicorn threw Twilight’s thoughts off track as she removed her crest and crown. The naked alicorn looked different somehow. She was still very much the lithe powerful empress of the night, but the removal of the two objects made her seem less distant. Twilight shook her head, trying to focus, as she asked, “Why are you removing your regalia?”

Nightmare gave her an unimpressed look before answering, “It takes a certain level arrogance to walk into wild and enemy territory ornamented. I do not wish to be disrespectful.”

Wild and enemy territory? Disrespectful? To who? The enemy? What enemy? “Why are we leaving?” Twilight asked.

Nightmare, apparently growing impatient, took the saddle-bags from Twilight’s magic with her own, and set them on the mare’s flank before answering, “Because the conversation with my sister was enlightening, and I need to figure out whose side I’m on. You are coming because you belong to me, and because, I suspect, it’s dangerous for you here without me. Now come.”

The black alicorn began walking to her balcony, and Twilight followed, too confused to be suspicious anymore. “Side? What side?" She wondered in her mind.

Nightmare Moon stepped her forelegs onto the balcony railing and unfurled her large wings. The black feathers seemed to absorb the moonlight, making them almost appear a ghostly shade of white. The alicorn took an audibly deep breath before asking, “Are you ready?”

Twilight, realizing the empress’ intention, replied worriedly, “I can’t fly!”

“I am aware of that.” Nightmare responded.

The young unicorn suddenly felt a cool caressing sensation sweep across her, and she found herself floating. Before she could panic, however, she was deposited on her owner’s back, and the sensation left her. Twilight instinctively wrapped her forehooves around Nightmare’s neck, and the alicorn advised, “Don’t move much, unless you prefer falling.”

Twilight could feel Nightmare’s muscles tense just before the alicorn leapt off the balcony. The ground came rushing up, and the young unicorn buried her face in the back of her owner’s neck. However, before they could hit the ground the black alicorn’s wings caught an updraft, and they soared into the sky. After a few moments to question why she had not died yet, Twilight lifted her face away from her owner‘s neck, and stared at her surroundings. Nightmare was gracefully gliding along the wind currents, barely flapping her wings, and the canopy of the Everfree lay below them. Above, however, was far more beautiful. Though Twilight Sparkle knew she was staring through her owner’s mane, the starry field blended near seamlessly with the night sky above. “Wow.” She blurted.

A slight chuckling vibrated from below her, and Nightmare’s voice replied, “You took the word out of my mouth, Twilight Sparkle. It feels good to fly again.”

Author's Note: Sorry for the short chapter, especially after pranking y'all earlier. However, a significant amount has happened in this chapter. Personally, I feel I learned a bit about the Spectrum version of Celestia while writing this. I think I'll be able to portray her better in the future. Also, I just wanted to clear this up. Despite that he's mentioned, Discord is not playing a part in this story. At any rate, what do you guys think?

Black or White?

Nightmare Moon gazed over the rebellion camp with interest. It was impressive. It was…even larger than the Legate had anticipated. All throughout the trees and clearings were tents and campfires scattered about. Large wooden crates lay emptied, and weapon stands stood fully stocked. The ponies of the rebellion trotted about their business all well equipped, and in far higher numbers than predicted. Nightmare had no idea where they all came from, but the equipment was explainable. The wolves were definitely supplying the rebellion, but there was oddly no sign of the wolves anywhere. Their last shipment must have been days ago.

Ponies closer to the alicorn and her guides were staring dumbfounded, unable to process what was walking in front of them. Nightmare decided it was best to ignore them, and looked to her side. Twilight was keeping pace despite the scouts’ rapid gait, but she appeared to be as distracted by the rebellion as the alicorn had just been. Her gaze turned to Nightmare, staring a little above the ruler of the night’s face, before she realized the alicorn was staring back and looked away. The alicorn returned to looking about the camp. She knew what had captured her companion’s attention. It didn’t really bother her, despite the fact it was technically an embarrassment to walk around with it. It was part of the deal she had made, and she would stick to it for now. Even if the enchanted leather sheath on her horn did felt a bit tight. It was not long before the group arrived at a particularly large tent in the center of the camp. Two earth stallions in slightly worn steel armor blocked the scout leader from entering with their spears. “The council is meeting.” One of them said in a strong tone.

“All the better.” The scout leader replied. “We have a guest, as you can see, and it is best left up to them on how to deal with the situation.”

The other guard narrowed his eyes as he looked Nightmare over, but the alicorn simply stared back. “What are you playing at?” The guard asked.

“Nothing. There is no illusion on her, and she wishes to speak with the council. I agreed on the condition that she allowed her magic to be sealed, and it is.” The scout leader explained.

The first guard took note of the too small leather sheath on Nightmare’s horn. He snorted before mumbling something about, “Damn unicorns and their fancy magic.” Before anyone but the alicorn could realize what he said he spoke aloud. “Alright, but if your wasting the council’s time it’s on your head. You and your ‘guests’ can go in, but the rest of your squad will have to go elsewhere.”

The scouts all looked their leader questioningly before he dismissed them with a hoof saying, “Go get some rest.”

The other scouts saluted, and left the party as the earth stallions removed their spears from the entrance.

When Nightmare followed the scout leader behind the flaps of the tent she was once again surprised. Around a table in the center of the room were three ponies calmly strategizing over a map. One was a red earth stallion with a blonde mane and tail wearing a heavy full-body steel suit, minus the helmet. Another was an entirely dark blue pegasus mare with only a light leather saddle and barding for armor, and the last was a young, and slightly nervous looking, white unicorn with a black mane and tail wearing a simple green robe. They, however, weren’t what was surprising. They were clearly the “council” that had been referred to earlier. The leaders of the rebellion. Their presence had been both expected and wanted. What was surprising were two mythril armored pegasi at the back of the tent looking as stoic as any other guard. Nightmare Moon paused at the sight. Their armor was in perfect shape. If it had been stolen it wouldn’t be. They were praetorians. In the rebel camp. The obsidian alicorn was suddenly reminded of Prefect Daunting Hooves’ concern about two missing praetorians in the Stalliongrad region. It was now clear why they had gone missing in action. They were traitors to the empire. But why? “More importantly, how? They wouldn’t decide to just fight their family on a whim. The Praetorians are too close to each other for that. So what could cause their change of allegiance?” Nightmare wondered in her mind.

Her presence still seemed to demand attention, even here, as shortly after she entered all eyes in the tent turned to her. “What…in the hell?” The red earth stallion gaped.

The white unicorn’s horn lit with a grey glow, and the blue pegasus locked eyes with the scout leader. “You, soldier. What is this?”

The scout leader sighed at the prospect of explaining again. “One of the empresses wishes to speak with you.”

“Are you mad, colt!?” The red earth pony exclaimed.

“There are no illusions, mind control, alteration spells, nor any other spell upon any of them.” The white unicorn clarified as the glow on his horn stopped. “Although…”

His gaze drifted to Twilight, and Nightmare stepped in front of her servant protectively. The white unicorn smiled nervously, and dropped whatever he had been about to say. The ruler of the night, however, was fairly certain of what he had been about comment on and she grew tense. She did not yet know if the rebellion were trustworthy, and it would do no good to have Twilight’s blood oath exposed to enemies. She felt that alien nagging in the back of her head again telling her something was wrong with her companion, and glanced back at Twilight. The lavender mare appeared distressed and she was breathing hard. The alicorn shot a glare at the white unicorn at the table. He had done something. To be able to sense a blood oath was impossible with a simple detection spell, and Twilight’s current state confirmed something else had been cast by the unicorn at the table. Nightmare stood resolute in front of her charge as the red earth stallion scoffed, “You’re the real Nightmare Moon?”

The black alicorn had to resist scowling. The way the earth pony said her name. It was as if he had no respect for her at all. The earth pony continued, “What? You think you can just waltz right into our camp and do as you please?”

“Thunder, enough.” The pegasus mare interrupted.

“What? Afraid she’s gonna make the ground swallow us or something?” The earth stallion mocked.

“While I doubt her divinity and supposed control over the moon, I would be a fool, like you, to underestimate her.” The blue pegasus retorted. “As long as she’s lived she must powerful. Speaking of which…”

“I believe they’ve…already sealed her magic.” The white unicorn mumbled.

The pegasus took note of the leather sheath on Nightmare’s horn. “So they have…Then the question is, why does the night-empress want to speak with us?” She addressed the alicorn.

The ruler of the night responded without skipping a beat, “I would first wish to know with whom I am speaking.”

The earth stallion at the table mocked her again, “Hah! You-”

“I am Hail Bolt.” The blue pegasus mare interrupted.

“Masque Raid.” The white unicorn stallion supplied dutifully.

The earth stallion grumbled under his breath staring at his companions malevolently before answering himself. “Thunder Cracker.”

“A pleasure.” Nightmare Moon politely responded as she walked over to the table.

Twilight followed behind her cautiously, but avoided stepping out into clear view. The praetorians at the back of the tent tensed as the alicorn sat on the unattended side of the square table and began explaining. “Now, to answer your question, I have come because I believe we have something in common, and I wish to confirm this.”

“Oh? What could we possibly have in common with you?” Thunder Cracker derided.

“I am not sure when it happened, but over the years my sister has changed. She is no longer the caring alicorn I once knew.” Nightmare answered. “She speaks of ponies as if you are beneath us.”

“You…don’t…think we are?” Masque asked unbelieving.

“I have never. So you want a seat in the government? I say we give it to you. You want a more lenient justice system and laws? Very well. She, however, does not believe you can rule over yourselves. She believes it will lead to your own destruction.” Nightmare responded.

“Snobby bitch, ain’t she?” Thunder Cracker asked rhetorically, earning a glare from the black alicorn.

“If your so kind, then why do you show your face to the common ponies even less than Celestia, and why did the one time in the last few months that you did happen to be nothing more than a publicity stunt?” Hail Bolt asked coolly.

“Ponies are usually awake during the day, and I usually hold my court at night.” Nightmare Moon explained. “And if you are referring to the incident at Stalliongrad…Let us just say that my sister and I disagreed on the subject.”

“Oh what? Did you want to actually get up off your plot and do something?” Thunder Cracker scoffed.

The obsidian alicorn scowled viciously and growled, “Yes.”

Masque turned to the praetorians and asked, “Can you offer any support to the empress’ claims?”

“We have never had the pleasure of speaking with Empress Moon ourselves,” One of them began. “But we have been present during many of her conversations with Empress Celestia in the throne room. Their behavior is very different. Though they are both cunning Empress Moon is more open about her emotions, and very insistent about her stance on things. Whether she is speaking truth about agreeing with your goals or not, we can confirm that after her return from Stalliongrad she was upset with her sister for them not doing more. They had an argument, or Empress Moon at least tried to. She did indeed wish to help Stalliongrad.”

Honest, if a bit revealing. Perhaps the praetorians’ presence was a blessing. She had her own questions, however. “I have been patient with you,” Nightmare cut a look at Thunder Cracker. “And now I ask that you be patient with me. I did not come here to simply explain myself. I came because I no longer agree with the path my sister is choosing for this country. I wish to help you, but before I do I need to know that you are not going to simply take advantage of everypony after this war.”

Thunder Cracker put on a snarl that could rival one of Nightmare’s own and began yelling, “You come into our camp brazen as you please, and begin to question whether our motives are true!? You, a leader of the empire, are suddenly concerned about the common pony!? Just who the hell do you think you’re foolin’!?”

“Th-thunder, calm down.” Masque tried to reassure the earth stallion while waving his hooves up and down. “It
won’t do any good if she thinks we have anything to hide.”

“Oh, so what? You trust her now!?” Thunder Cracker asked pointing an accusing hoof at the younger unicorn.

“N-not exactly, but if she’s telling the truth she can be a powerful ally. She could share all the information she has about the empire with us, and, like Hail said, she has to be extremely powerful. She could be a great boon to the forces.” Masque Raid attempted to explain.

Thunder Cracker snorted, but let the subject drop to simply glare at the unicorn and alicorn. Hail Bolt sighed, and addressed Nightmare Moon, “I’m afraid we can’t divulge any information at this critical moment. Unless you have someway to prove your honesty.”

The ruler of the night had not expected this to be entirely easy, but she was not worried. She did, however, wonder about something. The pegasus had said this was a critical moment. The rebellion was planning something, and, regardless of if they could trusted, she needed to find out what that was. First things first, though. “How about the fact that none of you are dead?” She asked rhetorically.

Her horn abruptly took on a dark blue glow, and the small leather sheath around shattered. The rebellion leaders shot to their hooves, and the praetorians dropped into a battle stance while the scout leader simply gawked. “Did you really think any sealing spell you could perform, let alone a hobbled together one like that, could actually work on me? I have more than enough power to brute force them broken. If I was truly your enemy, I would kill you all now, teleport away, and then flee to a safer distance.” The alicorn explained.

Nopony relaxed, but they did begin to stare at each other nervously. Nightmare did not decide to speak into the silence. She simply remained motionless to let the idea sink in. After a few minutes Masque Raid spoke up, “U-um,…Well you’ve…certainly…given us a lot to think about. Perhaps we should change subject for the moment? Umm…For example, who is…this mare you’ve brought with you? You didn’t…bring any guards, so…?”

All eyes turned to Twilight Sparkle, who had stepped around Nightmare over the course of the conversation, and the lavender unicorn flinched at the sudden attention. The alien feeling pulsed inside the alicorn’s brain. Twilight was afraid. Nightmare placed a hoof protectively in front of her companion and answered, “She is a personal servant bound to me by a deal. Her name is Twilight Sparkle, and she has served me faithfully. I did not wish to leave her behind.”

Thunder Cracker appeared to begin to relax. As he grunted and mumbled quietly, “Figures she’d be dedicated to a damn servant.”

Hail Bolt, who appeared to be the most together of the rebellion leaders, let out a sigh and said, “I believe that there has been enough tension here for now. Ms. Moon, I am afraid we are in the middle of something urgent, and must return to it. In addition we need to time to ponder what you have said, and decide what to do in regards to you.”

Nightmare nodded in acceptance. She could not force the issue if she was to gain their trust. “Then what do you suggest in the meantime?” She asked.

Hail Bolt responded only with a slight pause. “Praetorians.”

“Yes ma’am?” The turquoise armored guards in the back spoke at the same time.

“I wish for you to take Nightmare Moon and her servant to a tent for them to stay in tonight. Guard them. Do not let anyone into their tent, barring us, and do NOT let them out.” The blue pegasus explained.

The alicorn narrowed her eyes. They were not given a choice or chance to negotiate. Then again, what more could she expect? She was still perceived as their enemy. The alien awareness in the back of her head shot up like a wild fire, and she immediately jerked her view down towards Twilight. The unicorn was breathing rapidly. She wasn’t just scared. She was frightened. Of what? The alicorn began lowering her wing to comfort her servant, but paused halfway. Twilight hadn’t been taking so well to being touched since her rape. Nightmare pulled her wing back up, and addressed the mare verbally, “Twilight.”

The unicorn looked up breathing slowing only slightly. “What is bothering you?” The alicorn continued.

“N-nothing.” Twilight Sparkle mumbled, and began breathing more calmly.

The awareness in the back of Nightmare’s head began to die down, but it was still present. The alicorn frowned, but decided not to pursue the subject in present company. The praetorians, who had waited until the Twilight calmed down, approached. “Follow us.” One said, and they began to lead the way.

Twilight Sparkle trotted into the small tent behind her owner nervously. Inside it was barely large enough for them both, and that only added to the unicorn’s trepidation. She was afraid. She was trapped. The only good that had ever happened when she was trapped was becoming Nightmare Moon’s slave, and, after everything she’d been through, Twilight no longer believed that was true. She laid on one of the mats on the ground, and stared at her owner cautiously out of the corner of her eye as the alicorn did the same. They weren’t touching, but they were close enough that she could hear her owner’s breathing. Nightmare looked at her before stating, “I can feel your anxiety, Twilight. We are as alone now as we will be in this camp. Now tell me what is bothering you.”

The unicorn looked at the ground. She didn’t want to answer, but…Her owner would use that power on her again, wouldn’t she? Twilight sighed, “I don’t…I don’t like being trapped.”

“Ah.” Nightmare responded. “You have no need to fear being held captive, so long as I am by your side.”

“Because you’re the only one allowed to hold me captive?” Twilight mumbled to herself as she stared at a tent wall.

“What was that?” Nightmare asked.

“Damn it!” Twilight thought.

“Twilight, you may be my slave, but you are not my prisoner.” The alicorn corrected sternly.

“Oh? What’s the difference?” Twilight asked whipping her head around to her owner, but before she could be answered she continued. “Because I have a use? Because you find me entertaining, or because that’s just what I am to you right now? One day I’m imprisoned by you. The next I’m serving you, and living better than I’ve ever dreamed. The next you’re even protecting me. After that you’re teaching me, and then you abandon me to whatever your sister wants!!! Then you tell me that everything was a mistake! That you need to go see the ponies who were, up until then, enemies, and you’re bringing me along! You don’t apologize! You don’t even ask me if I’m okay! You do whatever you want with me without thinking about how it makes me feel! Why!? Because I’m just your toy, so why should you even give damn!!!?!?”

The unicorn began panting as she finished her rant. She half-expected to be punished for snapping at her owner, but Nightmare Moon seemed shocked at the outburst. She was staring, jaw agape, something Twilight hadn’t seen on her before. The obsidian alicorn recovered quickly asking, “Toy?”

There was silence for a few moments before Twilight looked away and answered, “That bitch said it herself.”

More silence. “Twilight, you’re more than a toy to me.” Nightmare Moon spoke up after a few minutes. “I apologize if I gave the impression that I didn’t care for you.”

“Oh, so you’re sorry after I point it out?” The lavender mare asked sourly.

“Yes. I am.” Nightmare answered. “I did not want to broach the subject because it was personal to you, and I did not wish to reopen fresh wounds.”

“So you did it to spare my feelings? To put me at ease? Is that the same judgment that told you your sister was trustworthy?” Twilight asked angrily, still looking at the tent wall.

“Twilight…I regret sending you to her that night. I wished no harm to come to you, especially not in such a horrid manner. If I had known my sister’s intent, I wouldn’t have sent you to her.” Nightmare replied.

The young unicorn grit her teeth and closed her eyes as tears began to build in them from the memory of that night. “Why didn’t you save me?” She whispered.

“Pardon?” Her owner queried.

Twilight Sparkle whirled her head around to Nightmare eyes open, and her tears freely falling. “I PRAYED to you!!! You didn’t come! You didn’t save me!”

The alicorn looked speechless. She stared at Twilight with an unidentifiable flicker in her glowing turquoise eyes. She looked away as she responded in a strangely subdued voice. “I’m not a god, Twilight. I’m…sorry.”

The unicorn took in the news with a shaky breath before she too looked away, and let the silence lull her to sleep.

Nightmare Moon breathed in the cold morning air, her usually steady breath having the slightest tremble. She stared at the still sleeping form of Twilight Sparkle through half-lidded eyes as she pondered their argument the night before. Twilight had prayed to her…While it was, aggravatingly, popular belief that she and Celestia were deities open worship was uncommon. Prayer for salvation, though? That was unheard of. She supposed, though…Now that she thought of it, that it shouldn’t surprise. From what little the alicorn knew of it, Twilight’s life prior to enslavement had been rough. When the ruler of the night had taken her into forced servitude, however, Nightmare had provided the unicorn with a home and steady food. More food than Twilight had probably been able to steal most of the time in Stalliongrad. She also gave her charge books to study, and, eventually, taught the unicorn herself, at least in offensive spells. She had given Twilight everything, so should it really be a surprise that the unicorn worshiped her?

Then, it all fell apart. Nightmare had acted coldly towards her slave after she broke into the Altar of Harmony. The alicorn could see now just how hurtful that might have been, and she hadn’t apologized for that either, not that it was a good idea at this time.

Truth be told, Nightmare Moon was bothered by just how attached Twilight had apparently become to her, or at least in the manner that the young mare had. Still, she could see that the extent of the damage of Celestia’s actions extended beyond just that of emotional damage, which was undoubtedly extensive on its own. It also had severely distorted Twilight’s perception of reality. Her “god” had abandoned her to harm, and done nothing about the incident when it returned. The alicorn placed her head back on the ground, and looked away from Twilight as the unicorn began to stir. Her heart was heavy. She was guilty of hurting her servant, and it was her responsibility to make it right. She wasn’t sure how, though, and it hurt to think about it.

There was a rustling, and Nightmare felt Twilight’s eyes on her. Before either of them could do anything more, the tent flaps opened, and Hail Bolt stood before them. The ruler of the night’s somberness faded at the presentation of another pony, and she raised her head to the pegasus, their eye levels even because of her laying down. “Come with me. We have things to discuss.” Hail stated before trotting outside the tent.

Nightmare rose to her hooves immediately, but paused as she looked at Twilight. The lavender unicorn shrugged off her gaze, and rose to trot after the pegasus. The alicorn sighed, and bore up her guilt for a later time. She cantered out of the tent after the two mares, catching up quickly due to her height. The look of the camp was different this grey morning. There was an air of seriousness that exceeded anything Nightmare Moon had felt in centuries, but it was a seriousness she recognized from her early years all the same. Even the praetorians marching on either side of the group seemed more grim than they had before. “What is it that we need to discuss?” Nightmare asked.

“You want a chance to prove yourself trustworthy? Fine. We are about to do something you wouldn’t be willing to aid us in unless you truly have thrown your lot in with us.” Hail Bolt explained.

“I did not say that I had yet. I still need to know whether you and the others of your council are being honest in their goals.” Nightmare argued.

“Then you’ll know soon enough.” Hail Bolt responded.

“You mean when it’s too late for me to take back what I’ve done?” Nightmare thought.

The group returned to the large tent they had been in the night before to find Thunder Cracker and Masque Raid already around the square table. As Nightmare and Hail took their own positions the red earth stallion snorted, and aimed a glare at the alicorn. “Are you two certain about this? If YOU’RE mistaken we might be losing everything before we’ve gained it.” He said.

“Nothing risked, nothing gained.” Masque Raid replied.

“It’s a damn big risk.” Thunder Cracker grumbled quietly.

“Enough. We agreed on this last night.” Hail Bolt said.

Thunder Cracker did not respond. “What’s…going on?” Twilight asked timidly.

Hail Bolt sighed and began explaining, “For the months that we’ve existed we’ve done little, but amass supplies and harass the empire forces. However, as you’ve no doubt seen, we are well equipped and numerous. Now, we’re more than capable doing something more damaging.”

“You’re going on your first real offensive.” Nightmare guessed.

“Yes.” Hail Bolt confirmed. “We’re going to capture Stalliongrad, and you’re going to help us.”

Nightmare Moon heard a gasp from her side, and looked at Twilight. The unicorn appeared surprised. Of course, why wouldn’t she be? They were talking about her home town. The alicorn refocused on the pegasus and asked, “Why do you need our help? The town is hardly defensible, and even with the increase in actual soldiers in the area most its forces are just town guards. You can easily overwhelm them.”

Thunder Cracker snorted, “We don’t need your help. We could do this on our own, but you’re being offered a chance to prove yourselves.”

Masque Raid spoke up, “Even if we don’t need it, however, your power will come in handy. You see, you are correct about Stalliongrad being difficult to defend. However, you are incorrect about most of its forces being town guards. Our harassment has bit us on our plots, so to speak. The Grand Army has a fairly sizeable number of troops in the town itself. Enough that it will take a good amount of force to eliminate them, but they are not the main concern. If we were to send in all of our forces we would win easily enough, but few things are ever simple.”

“The Grand Army’s forces aren’t just inside the town.” Hail Bolt took over. “They have much more outside of it. Spread throughout the region are camps, outposts, and scouting parties that would undoubtedly hear the commotion of our attack and come running. Unopposed, they could box us in, and end the threat we pose then and there.”

“Even if we won we’d still take too many losses to be able to prepare for the empire’s counterattack.” Masque began again. “So, we need to split our forces in half. One half will take over the city. The other half will split into smaller groups that will attack the outposts at the same time as our assault, or form a perimeter around the town to catch any scouting parties.”

Nightmare studied the map in front of her as the strategy was explained. There were seven outposts marked on the map and ten camps. Splitting up the forces like that was risky, but there was little to be done about it. The area around Stalliongrad was a field, so they couldn’t have the whole of the second half of their form a perimeter. That would work fine for small scouting parties, but in the numbers that the outposts and camps added the rebellion would be slaughtered. The outposts needed to be handled before they could arrive at the town. The alicorn looked back up at the rebellion leaders and asked, “One question, what are you going to do with the town and its residents after you take over?”

“We fortify it.” Thunder Cracker answered in part.

“Those who wish to join us are trained and equipped, and those who don’t are under our protection.” Hail Bolt finished.

Nightmare closed her eyes in thought, and let the idea sink in. They were going to assault an empire town, and they wanted her help. Yet, they at least sounded like they meant well for the residents. They weren’t going to force them to join. The ruler of the night opened her eyes and gazed at her saddlebags. She hadn’t used what was in them for over a millennium, but… “Stay here, Twilight. I must prepare myself.” She said before exiting the tent.

Twilight Sparkle stared at the grassy ground in the tent lost in her thoughts. Were they really going to attack her home town? Was she expected to fight? Probably. “I don‘t have any combat experience.” The young unicorn thought worriedly. “I’ve chased off a few thugs, and trained in the castle yard. Nothing else!”

The sound of tent flaps brought her gaze to the entrance, and, for a moment, she forgot her panic. There, Nightmare Moon stood armored. Perhaps armored was not the right word, though. Whole might be a better one. The obsidian alicorn wore six intricately carved mythril pieces. The turquoise metal covered each of her hooves entirely, and rose in branched spikes to shield the knees of her front legs, coming just short of the hocks’ level on her bark legs. A great thick crest took the place of her chest, and a crescent moon lay engraved in its center. The final piece of armor was a helm the seemed to meld with her skin and fur, and left her face open and a hole for her magnificent horn. Her astral mane flowed as freely as ever despite being partially matted down by the piece of lunar steel. “So,” Nightmare Moon began, “Where do you want me?”

Author's Note: Oooh yeah! This is the moment we've all been waiting for. I apologize for this chapter mostly being conversation, but, as you can tell, most of next chapter is going to be action. Of course, you all have to wait until the week after next. After all, I update Shoot for the Stars next week. Not this one.

On another note, in case you missed the memo somehow True Colors now has a side story by courtesy of Leonofsweden. It's called At the End of Bliss, and it's brilliant. I even made a reference to it in this chapter. Word of warning, it has to do with Celetia's rape of Twilight. Assuming you aren't okay with the idea then don't read it, and, please, don't insult it. Regardless of the subject matter it IS great. If you are okay with reading rape, however, then go check it out.

Be prepared for next chapter kiddies. Because we're going to war.

Black

The ponies of Stalliongrad trotted about their business as any other day. Though it was still a daily occurrence, crime had been reduced by the presence of the soldiers of The Grand Army. Most criminals in the town did not wish to tangle with ponies who had received military training, so they grudgingly hid away for now. The city guard were not very happy about the presence of the black-armored soldiers either. They were to defer to the military, and that meant the guards could no longer half-ass their duties. The civilians were unnerved by all the commotion in the region, but they were always nervous in Stalliongrad, due to the crime. The soldiers themselves patrolled the city looking for any suspicious activity. They didn’t expect they would find anything, but they were smart enough not to slack in their duties. None of the ponies were prepared, however, when the loud horn sounded in the distance.

Twilight Sparkle waited in the brush near the outpost she was supposed to hit. It was a rather large one, but she thanked whoever the real god was that she wasn’t alone. The squad she was with was fairly large in itself, and certainly wouldn’t be outmatched by the soldiers in the fortified camp. This did little to ease her nerves, however. As the chaffing caused by her too small leather armor constantly reminded her, this was a battle. She would be fighting not just for her life, but also to kill. The thought filled her with dread. She had broken her share of laws in Stalliongrad, but she had only killed twice before. The young unicorn knew she could do it. She had the power to kill, and the idea didn’t repulse her as much as it did the first time she’d done it. Still, she hadn’t been the one to seek out the fights. She’d never initiated them. She didn’t like conflict, and this was conflict on a whole new scale. She wasn’t ready for it.

Ready or not, her reflections were brought to an end in an instant. At the distance from Stalliongrad she was the sound was muffled greatly, but the horn signaling the attack was still distinct. The rebellion troops about her acted immediately by rising to their hooves and charging down to the fenced outpost. Twilight was hurriedly forced to follow as her allies swept her into the stampede.

As they neared the gate, the pegasi leading the charge swept into the air, and flew into the lookout towers to grapple with the ponies inside. The unicorns behind them readied their horns, and launched several blasts of magical energy. The gate broke off it’s hinges and shattered into splinters as the balls of energy collided with it, a few going past it to slam into imperial soldiers beyond.

Inside the outpost was chaos at the unexpected attack. Soldiers near the gate were skewered on rebel spears and unicorn horns before they could realize what was going on. Other soldiers immediately fled for weaponry, but found themselves crushed or trapped as the rebel pegasi tore their lookout towers down on them. As the initial shock wore off, the more prepared imperials engaged their attackers, and the rebels’ slaughter slowed down. An imperial stallion’s sword met a rebel’s, and the two entered a straining match. The imperial, having heavier armor, possessed the weight advantage, and began pushing his opponent back. The rebel attempted to switch strategies, but the moment he broke the lock the imperial sword buried itself in his neck.

Most of the earth rebels in this squad found themselves in similar situations. Without tougher armor they were outweighed, and were unable to rely on their strength as much as they were used to. Fortunately, however, they were not alone. As the imperials began to press their attackers back, the rebel unicorns used their combined magic to raise a large wall of earth straight from the ground to separate the imperials from them. Apparently lacking any unicorns of their own to undo this, the imperials began climbing the wall, but at the top they found themselves face to horn with the majority of the unicorn rebels attacking them.

Twilight gulped with dread as an imperial soldier clambered on top of the wall in front of her. She immediately tried to cast a fireball at the mare, but she was too afraid to use it. The enemy soldier raised her sword, and leapt at Twilight. “Hate. Hate. Hate.” The lavender unicorn rapidly thought as she tried to pull the right emotion for the spell out.

The image of a particular white alicorn flashed in her mind, and she screamed as a massive fireball burst from her horn. The enemy mare was launched back over the wall by the force of the spell, and landed in a heap on the other side. The imperial soldiers panicked, and began to hurry away from one another to keep the fire from spreading amongst them. Twilight was left shaking as her target’s scream filled her ears. She took several deep breaths, and forced herself to swallow her fear. She needed to stay focused if she wanted to make it through this. Resoluteness filling her, the lavender mare’s horn lit brightly, and she concentrated on the wall in front of her. She took a step forward, and it budged. Another step, and another budge. As Twilight began to slowly move the wall forward she was oblivious to the stares of awe the other rebels were giving her. The unicorns quickly shook it off, and began to focus on the wall themselves. As their magic weaved with Twilight’s the wall began to move forward quicker, and the imperial troops were corralled behind it. Soon all of the grand army soldiers were packed tightly against one of the outpost walls. The soldiers began to try to climb out, but the rebel unicorns simply knocked them back in with telekinesis.

Twilight looked to the sky to see her allied pegasi finishing off the last of their imperial counterparts. Their leather armor had proven more advantageous than the standard steel of the Grand Army. They had been able to easily outmaneuver their opponents. As the last of the imperial pegasi fell dead Twilight amplified her voice with magic and called out, “STORM!”

The rebel pegasi stared back down at her, and, after a second, seemed to connect the dots. They hurriedly took clouds from the sky, and used them to seal off the roof of the trap Twilight had made. The pegasi then began to pound their hooves on it, and several bright flashes occurred within the cloud. The flashes were quickly followed by several bellows of thunder that seemed to meld together into one. Promptly, the pegasi removed the clouds to check on their work, and were pleased to see that all of the imperials had been roasted alive.

Twilight felt a hoof pat her on the back, and she flinched. She turned to see an old but spry looking unicorn. He smiled and said, “Good job filly.”

He then turned around to the rest of the squad and called out, “Alright, ponies, we’re heading back to the Stalliongrad field to add to the perimeter around the city. We will be aiding in catching any scouting parties that make it through, or, should things go bad in the town, we will act as reinforcements for the taking of it! Move out!”

As the squad began a hurried march out of the ruined outpost Twilight sighed with relief. She had made it, for now at least. It…hadn’t been as bad as she thought, but it wasn’t something she was eager to do again. She shuddered as she pondered over the fact she had basically just cooked who knew how many ponies alive.

Thunder Cracker stood ready, muscles tensed, as the stallion to his side blew on the horn. As the earth pony finished Thunder reared, and began galloping from the edge of the forest across the field. Behind him the main force of the rebel army followed with the earth ponies leading the way. There were no watchtowers by the edges of Stalliongrad, and few guards who were near it. Yet the sound of roaring voices and pounding hooves began to draw the guards and soldiers alike in the town to its edge. The few there to meet the rebels blanched at the force and attempted to flee, but they were only trampled beneath the hooves of Thunder Cracker’s forces. Civilians fled to their homes or the nearest rubble, but the rebel ponies were still forced to swerve away from those who were not quick enough to move. The accumulating evasions began to slow the rebellion’s stampede, but they continued to press on.

Inevitably, bands of guards and soldiers began to meet them. Thunder Cracker snorted as three soldiers rushed at him with their swords ready in their mouths. He bent his head low, and charged under the guard of the first one. With a heave he turned the soldier over on top of the second, and quickly stepped aside to allow the rebels directly behind him to trample the two. The third soldier was quick enough to avoid the charging ponies, and continued towards Thunder Cracker. He threw his head back to strike, but as he swung the rebellion leader caught the blade on his own. Rather than enter a straining match, the red earth stallion twisted his head to ground, forcing the soldier to do the same, and galloped forward. With the imperial’s head down, Thunder Cracker ran straight up his back, and crushed the soldier with his superior weight.

The rebellion’s speed and ferocity allowed them plow over the imperial forces one by one, but their tactics turned against them as the soldiers further in formed phalanxes in the streets. The forces of the rebellion slammed against their enemies’ shields, trying break through, but the imperial soldiers held strong. As the rebels packed tight against one another they were left with limited room to move. It was then that the imperials struck back. Spears slipped through the cracks over the top of the shields, and began to skewer the rebel forces. The rebels with light armor stood no chance against the powerful thrusts, and even those with heavy armor fell prey to their foes’ precision. Thunder Cracker himself barely managed to dodge a strike aimed at his eye, gaining a nasty cut on his right cheek instead. The rebels began to slowly retreat back the streets they came from, and the Grand Army soldiers and town guards pressed forward, regaining ground surely but steadily.

But the imperials’ advantage did not last. As they passed the alleyways unicorns, who had slipped inside them when the charge first hit the phalanxes, let loose with various spells. Bolts of electricity and magic seared the air as they cut down the phalanx lines from the side. In response, those of the imperials who were pegasi took to the sky in order to avoid the attacks and regain the advantage. However, as they took off a second horn sounded over the city. At the sound, the cloud cover burst open to reveal the rebellion’s pegasi, who dove towards the city to counter the imperial flyers.

Nightmare Moon soared through the air to her next target as the second horn was blown. She looked off in the direction of Stalliongrad in surprise. She hadn’t expected the main force’s pegasi to be called in so quickly. The Grand Army must’ve been putting up a better fight than expected. The alicorn quickly refocused on the task at hoof. The rebel leaders had wanted to make full use of her power, and had assigned her the task of eliminating all the outposts. Whenever she was done with one, she went to another. If it was already cleared then she moved on. If not, she got to work. She was pleased to see that the outpost Twilight had been sent to was already cleared, and there was no sign of the unicorn’s corpse. So, Nightmare was able to assume her servant had survived, and that had sent a wave a relief down her spine.

The alicorn dove from the sky into a clearing holding another outpost, and dropped dead center in the middle of the fortified camp. The imperial soldiers about her were startled from their fighting by her presence, and looks of joy or relief began to grasp their features. Nightmare Moon momentarily felt sorry for them, but she pushed the pity out of her mind. It had no place in battle. While the soldiers were awed by her presence the rebels began to slaughter them from behind. The screams of the fallen drug the imperials’ attention back to the fight, and Nightmare smirked at their distraction. Her horn glowed, and the imperial soldiers began scrabbling at their chests as the blood flow to their hearts stopped. One by one they began to fall prey to heart attacks, and whenever one died Nightmare would immediately add another to her list of targets in their place. The imperials began panicking, and those not yet suffering from the effects of Nightmare’s magic fell prey to the blades of the rebels. When the last imperial was slain the alicorn immediately took to the sky. She did not want to stay for the awkward staring contest between the rebels and her, and there were still three outposts she had yet to visit. She did not blame them for their mistrust, but it was growing on her nerves. “Well, hopefully it will no longer be an issue after this.” She thought wryly.

As Nightmare Moon neared the fifth outpost she saw the rebel pegasi narrowly dodging blasts of magic from the ground. They were fortunate in that this outpost was not in a clearing, so their unicorn attackers had to aim around the trees. Even so, the imperial unicorns were only narrowly missing, and the pegasi were being hard pressed to do anything other than evade. A stray ball of fire went straight for Nightmare, and snapped her out of her analysis. She did not react quick enough to dodge, but when the flame came close to her it hit an invisible barrier. It passed through the other side as nothing more than warm gas, leaving the alicorn unharmed. The ruler of the night cursed herself for not paying attention. It was a good thing she was wearing her armor again. Otherwise a wing might have been seared, and she would’ve been unable to fly.

Pushing aside her mistake, Nightmare flew into the storm of spells, and began to head towards the ground. Her lack of practice flying and large size made it difficult for her to avoid the spells being shot into the sky, but the enchantment on her armor protected her from what she failed to dodge. Her dive was interrupted, however, when several imperial unicorns combined their power to uproot a tree, and throw it at her. The alicorn immediately halted her flight, and grabbed the tree with her magic just before it hit her. She smirked as idea came to her, and took off back into the sky dragging the tree behind her. Finding the nearest cloud, she landed on it, and slammed her hooves down. Lightning burst from it, and lit the tree ablaze. The alicorn then took careful aim at the largest group of unicorns she could see, and telekinetically threw the tree back at them. The large plant did its job, and crushed the unicorns underneath it before crashing into another tree in the outpost, and it setting ablaze. The fire began to spread rapidly, and the rebels took the chaos as their chance. Both air and ground forces began to rush the imperials, and cut them down.

It still wasn’t enough though. The imperial unicorns remained calm, and began to retaliate with more magic. Before Nightmare could formulate another plan, though, she caught a glint of turquoise diving from the sky. The praetorian slammed into the ground in front of the bulk of the imperial unicorns, and spread his wings wide. Shortly, the unicorns began wailing in terror. The unicorns not in the mass soon looked toward the screaming, and noticed the praetorian before they fell prey to fear as well. The rebels, however, avoided looking at the praetorian, and began to eliminate the whimpering mass of ponies.

Nightmare smirked at the display of power. Most ponies assumed the praetorians were the best because of intense training, but there was very little training to it. They were the best because they were selected from the best of the Royal Guard, and because of one rather abominable thing done to them. The alicorn shook her head to regain focus. It had been so long since she was in a real battle she was forgetting basics like to not become distracted. She growled at the thought, and took off to head for the next outpost. The rebels had this one taken care of.

Hail Bolt dodged around an imperial pegasus that tried to cannon ball into her and turned around after him. She caught up quickly, and, just as her heavy armored opponent was starting to head beck himself, she tackled him. The enemy pegasus attempted to knock her off and right himself, but Hail finished him quickly by jamming the dagger in her mouth into his throat. She pulled it out quickly, and leapt off the corpse to let it fall, blood streaming behind it. The rebel leader did not stay still, but instead made a break for another enemy that was overpowering one of her ponies.

The sky was a mess of battle. As it often was for pegasi aerial combat, there were no formations of any kind of organization. Pegasi of both sides were everywhere fighting each other. Here there were three rebels ganging up on an imperial. There there were five imperials taking on three separate pegasi. There was no order. There was simply pandemonium as the two sides struggled against one another.

Hail Bolt proved her name appropriate as, once again, she acted like a projectile, and tackled the imperial that was about to slay one of her ponies. This time, however, instead of targeting his neck she cut his gut open. Hail let go of the body, and watched for a short moment as its stomach and intestines tried to fly out, only failing because they were still attached to his insides. As she was watching the corpse fall she caught sight of Masque Raid casually walking through the imperial ranks as if he hadn’t a care in the world. She raised a brow at this, but chocked it up to the work of some form of illusion. Masque was a master of black magic. Her attention was snapped back to the battle as an imperial pegasi collided with her. She struggled as the two fell out of the sky, and managed to knock him loose. Before she could right herself, however, she fell back first into the stone roof of one of Stalliongrad’s building. The rebel leader laid there moaning in pain as the enemy pegasus glided down next to her and pulled out his sword. Before he could finish her, however, two rebel pegasi slammed into him. The imperial soldier was knocked to the ground, and found a blade sheathed in his eye before he could react. Their enemy taken care of the pegasi rushed to their leader. “Are you alright ma’am?” One asked as he helped her to her hooves.

Hail Bolt took a sharp breath and swallowed the pain before responding, “Yes. I can still fight.”

Waiting only a few seconds, she took to the air again, and her saviors followed her.

Masque Raid trotted calmly through the tumultuous streets as his enemies galloped right past him. He should technically have been leading the unicorns in the town, but he wasn’t that good on a battlefield. There was no time to think, and he liked to think. So, instead, he was heading toward a specific target that would prove troublesome when they took the city. The soldiers and town guards rushing about, which he noticed were thinning markedly, couldn’t see him of course thanks to a fairly advanced spell. He needed to continually focus on it, but so long as he did he would be shielded from unfriendly eyes. Of course, as a skilled spell caster, he was able to multitask. Which meant he could search his surroundings for the appropriate building, and not drop the spell.

It was not long before he spotted it. A rather large nice log cabin. Smiling, he trotted up to the door, and attempted to open it. Not surprisingly, the door was locked. “Well, that’s not a problem.” He thought.

He would have to drop his illusion to enter, but he doubted there was anything inside he couldn’t handle. So, he switched spells. Before any nearby guard could notice him, Masque walked right through the door. “I do so love black magic.” He said as he came out the other side with a smile.

A town guard who was posted right by the door was started, and held his spear out at Masque. “Wh-who are you?” The young, and obviously inexperienced, pony asked.

“Hmm?” Masque hummed as he looked to his left. “OH! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Answer my question!” The guard blurted quickly.

“Oh? What was it? Who am I? Just someone who wants to help.” Masque replied.

The young guard gulped and asked disbelievingly, “Really?”

“Yes.” The white unicorn answered. “So you can put down your weapon.”

The guard shook, and his breathing became unsteady. “Don’t worry. I’m not gonna hurt you.” Masque reassured him.

Slowly, carefully, the colt placed his spear on the ground. “What are you doing here?” He asked a little more calmly.

“Oh I’m just here to take care of some business. You see my friends and I are trying to help everypony, but I’m afraid the duke might present some trouble. So, I need to talk to him. Do you know where he is?” Masque asked.

“Su-sure.” The guard answered. “Follow me.”

Masque did as told, and found himself being lead into the basement. It didn’t surprise him. From what he recalled Gravel Pie’s jail cells were in the basement, and the sturdy construction they required of it made it the most secure part of the building. As they arrived at the bottom of the stairs Masque could see the duke sitting nervously beside two guards who, unlike the unicorn’s guide, appeared the appropriate age for a guard. Gravel Pie grunted as he saw them approach. “What are you doing down here? You’re supposed to be guarding the door! And who is this?” He asked harshly.

The young guard in front of Masque started once more, but the unicorn simply walked around him and bowed. “I believe you know me.” He replied.

Gravel studied Masque for a moment before his features broke out in terror. “Oh, Celestia, you’ve come to collect!” The brown earth stallion screamed.

His guards pulled out their blades, but Masque waved them down. “No no.” He answered.

The guards paused and looked to the duke, who bore a confused face. “What do you mean no? If you’re not here for what I owe then the rebels have hired you, and that means you’re still here to kill me.” The old stallion rebutted.

“Not hired, but I am one of their leaders.” Masque replied. “Either way, I’m not here to kill you.”

The guards grew tense at his admittance to a connection to the rebels, and the young one stared at him horrified. “If you even think about hurting the duke…” One of the guards mumbled through his sword handle.

“I assure you, so long as he does as told he won’t be harmed. Which is more than I can say for you.” Masque responded.

“Are you threatening us?” The other guard asked.

“No, no, no.” The white unicorn answered. “I have no ill intent for any of you three. I was simply comparing my methods to his own. After all, can you tell me how many times he’s had you punished when you failed him?”

The guards were silent but appeared uneasy. Gravel Pie seemed affronted as he yelled back, “If I don’t punish them they don’t learn from their mistakes! If you’re in charge of this rabble of an army then you know discipline is needed! You can’t say you haven’t punished your own soldiers!”

“Perhaps not, but I don’t beat colts.” Masque Raid smartly responded as he looked at the young guard’s oddly unarmored flank, which appeared knotted and bruised. “For that matter I don’t force colts who are still several years off from being stallions to fight for me either.”

Gravel Pie gaped, but before he could say anything in his defense Masque continued. “Lock him in a cell, and keep an eye on him until we’re ready to interrogate.”

The two guards by the duke’s side turned their swords on him, and Gravel gaped further. “I-I y-you can’t do this to me! It’s your job to guard me!” He proclaimed.

“And so they will.” Masque replied with a sweet smile on his face.

Nightmare Moon quickly lowered her glowing horn to the ground, and a ripple ran through it straight to the last of the grand army soldiers. As it reached them it suddenly exploded outward, and launched them high into the air. It was a while before they slammed back down, and the alicorn did not wait for it. She took to the skies once more, and began to head for the last outpost. She imagined that by now it had already been cleared, but she needed to be certain. Assumptions on the battlefield could lead to disaster. “Huh, getting back into the swing of things, am I?” Nightmare mentally wondered.

The trip was quick, and, just as expected, it was empty except for corpses and structures. There was a problem upon further inspection, however. Instead of the ground being littered with the black armored corpses of grand army soldiers it was almost entirely rebellion dead who lay in the outpost. In fact, there weren’t that many imperial corpses at all. Nightmare Moon’s eyes hardened, and she looked to the horizon. The rebel squad assigned to this outpost had failed, and the imperials were heading to Stalliongrad. The alicorn began to hurry in the direction of the town. She needed to get to the field around Stalliongrad quickly.

By the time Nightmare Moon arrived at the field, surviving outpost imperials were already well into fighting. They had stretched as far as they could to attack as much of the rebel’s perimeter as possible, but their numbers were too few to present a great threat. They would fail. Nightmare was still bothered, though. The reason was that she knew her servant was down there, likely fighting. She had failed to protect Twilight once, and she would not do so again.

The alicorn dove, and slammed into the ground in front of the perimeter. Immediately, she focused on the three closest imperial soldiers, and slammed them into each other before launching them as far into the air as she could. She then marched forward quickly to search for Twilight, killing soldiers as she went. She used her magic to cut one’s neck open, and a different spell to immobilize another, which she promptly stomped to death. It wasn’t long before the soldiers began to thin, and they had yet catch on that Nightmare was not on their side. Then, the alicorn spotted her servant with a soldier looming behind her.

Twilight hurriedly used her telekinesis to jerk the spear out of the enemy unicorn’s own magic, and jammed into his throat. The soldier fell to the ground gargling in pain as his blood began to spray about, striking Twilight in the face. The lavender mare clenched her eyes, and forced the bile building in her throat from the smell down. She shuddered and opened her eyes, but her worries became far more material at that moment. A soldier from the Grand Army knocked her to the ground, and glared down at her hatefully as he pulled back his sword. Twilight clenched her eyes shut once more as she prepared for the blow. Then there was the sound of a scream and piercing metal. Nothing else came. Twilight was surprised that she didn’t feel any pain, that she wasn’t dead. Cautiously, she opened her eyes to see Nightmare Moon standing over her protectively with a bloodied horn and the body of the soldier who had been about to kill her laying on the ground nearby. The alicorn looked down at Twilight and asked, “Are you alright?”

The unicorn nodded numbly, and Nightmare sighed with relief. She stepped back to allow Twilight to regain her hooves and apologized, “I am sorry I was not here earlier.”

As Twilight stood she stared at the alicorn with confusion. “Why?” She asked.

Nightmare stared at her sadly, “I told you once before that your wellbeing is my responsibility, Twilight. I can’t protect you all the time. You already found that out the hard way, but I intend to make it up to you. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I’ll be there for you whenever I can regardless. Whether you like it or not, you pledged your life to me on your life. That doesn‘t just mean you must serve me. It also means that you aren’t alone.”

At that moment a third horn sounded in the distance signaling victory. The few remaining imperial forces were fleeing, and the rebels were shouting in celebration. Twilight was not paying attention to any of this, however. She was deep in thought. Here Nightmare was promising her protection again, but look what happened last time. Well, actually she wasn’t promising just protection. She was promising more, but could Twilight trust the alicorn? The old affection she still had for the ruler of the night began to rise in her heart. The young mare wanted to. She really did, but she couldn’t. That didn’t mean she couldn’t try though. Twilight looked at Nightmare Moon in hope, that things wouldn’t go wrong this time, and saw the alicorn was now distracted by looking at the city. “Come on, Twilight. I believe it’s best if we meet up with the council.”

“Yes,” Twilight swallowed as she stuttered out the next word. “M-master.”

Author's Note: Hey everypony! Sorry for taking so long again, but here you go. Just in time. I may have experience writing action, but this was actually the first time I wrote for a big battle. So I'd appreciate any advice or feedback you guys can give me on it. Still, I think I did a fairly good job, and now Twilight can start her road to recovery.

Red Dawn

Celestia sat in her throne room pondering. It was all she seemed to do these days. She could think of few else who could send a message to the Prefect by flare delivery other than her sister, but what reason could Nightmare Moon have had to send praetorians to Stalliongrad? More importantly, where was the younger alicorn? She had not been seen once since she left, and Celestia had expected some news of her by now. Obviously, Nightmare did not wish to be found, and that bothered the day empress greatly. A simple tantrum and a fight was all she would have attributed to her sister’s actions, but Nightmare had not returned yet. That, and Celestia recognized the look in her sister’s eyes during their last argument. It was one of both fury and determination. Nightmare Moon meant to actually do something. She believed she was right, but what did she plan to do?

Celestia was stirred from her thoughts as the doors to the throne room opened, and a soldier, from The Grand Army judging by his black armor, entered being escorted by two royal guards. The soldier looked like he’d been through hell. His fur was messy and wet with sweat. He was panting, and his armor was dented and scratched. He seemed like he was about to keel over, but he continued to march forward. “Your majesty,” One of the guards addressed her. “This soldier is from the Stalliongrad territory, and he has come as quick as he can bearing a message that he deems extremely important.”

Celestia stared at the soldier for a moment. If he had been stationed in the Stalliongrad territory he had been to deployed to counteract the rebels. He was clearly exhausted, and the alicorn doubted from his condition that his message was unimportant. She suspected he hadn’t rested the whole trip here. Something had happened with the rebels. “What is it?” She asked calmly.

The soldier took a deep breath before speaking, “My empress, Stalliongrad has fallen. The Rebellion overwhelmed us and took the city.”

“How?” Celestia asked.

“There were too many of them. They ran right over our defenses.” The soldier answered.

“Were the outposts nearby unable to help?” The empress questioned.

“I…No. I don’t why. I was stationed in the city, and I was one of the few lucky to escape with our lives. I made for here as quickly as I could, and only stopped when I could go no further.” The stallion explained.

“I see. Thank you for this message.” Celestia responded.

“Wait! Your highness, there’s more…” The soldier stated.

“Oh?” The alabaster alicorn wondered.

The soldier waited several moments before speaking, seemingly preparing himself, “It’s Empress Moon. She was with the rebels. I saw her in the distance as I fled, walking among them.”

Celestia strained not to let her surprise shine through. Her sister was working with the rebels? It certainly sounded like that. Of all the things for Nightmare Moon to do, she was leading a revolution against her own sister. This was treason! How could she do something like this? “Your majesty?” One of the guard’s asked.

“Leave me.” She ordered.

The guards nodded in understanding and escorted the soldier out of the throne room. The empress’ mind was abuzz with thought. Her sister wanted to wage war over her beliefs? Fine then. Celestia would slaughter all of Nightmare Moon’s followers. Their deaths would be on the former night empress’ hooves. Because she was the one that made them so foolishly believe they had a right to freedom.

The main issue at the moment, however, was dealing with the immediate fallout. Her sister aiding the rebellion wasn’t something she could keep quiet for long, so it would be best not try. The question was, how would The Grand Army take this? How many of those moon-revering soldiers could she trust? They had a total of eight legions. They made up the bulk of the military. She couldn’t afford to lose them. Well, they had been the ones stationed in Stalliongrad. Perhaps Celestia could portray her sister as a butcher. Someone who mercilessly slaughtered her followers. That wouldn’t work for all of them, but it was the best choice at the moment. Now, she needed someone. “Guard.” She ordered, and one of the praetorians stepped up from their post. “Bring Legate Artillerus to me.”

Twilight Sparkle stared at the ruined structure she use to live in. She had asked to be alone for awhile, and, thankfully, her master had complied. This half-collapsed building was no longer her home, and it took little more than staring at it to make that clear. She wasn’t going to go inside. There was no nostalgia to be had. She had no joy or pride in this home any further than the fact she had dug the tunnel underneath it herself. Which was also likely why she wasn’t bothered to see the door to it had been broken down. That wasn’t a surprise. She’d been gone for months, and it would’ve taken only a couple of days before the criminals in the area grew bold enough to try something. She wasn’t worried about anything they would’ve taken either. All she’d ever owned was blanket that she herself had stolen off a dead pony’s corpse. If they wanted it they could have it.

Still, all these things aside, Twilight couldn’t help but stare. Had she really lived here? Of course she had. She knew it, but…still…It seemed like it had been so long ago. It felt more like years than months since she’d left, even though she didn’t feel much older herself. The few rebellion unicorns combining their efforts to move the rubble from the structure’s backside helped add to the feeling of unfamiliarity. The Rebellion was making use of everything they could to fortify the town. Outside of Stalliongrad’s actual edge was where they had moved their camp. The tents and campfires now covered the field, and at their edge were the many tall sharpened logs that The Grand Army had used to fortify their outposts. There weren’t enough to ring the whole town and camp, but The Rebellion was fixing that with the aid of the Stalliongrad ponies by cutting down nearby trees to add to the fortifications.

That was another thing that was different. Many of the citizens of the town were actually helping The Rebellion. It was so odd to Twilight. Normally, the ponies of Stalliongrad just tried to mind their own business, but many of them were actively helping in anyway they could. So far, not many citizens aside from town guards had actually “joined” The Rebellion, but the others were definitely aiding. Lumberjacks helped cut down the nearby trees. Carpenters helped shape them right. Those who knew about construction helped set up the fortifications. Other citizens provided information to The Rebellion about the town’s layout, and those in town who couldn’t be trusted.

If Twilight had to guess, she would assume the helpfulness came from the direction the town was taking over the past few days. The Rebellion was doing away with money for time being. If you needed, they made sure you were provided for as best they could. On top of that, they were making good use of the information the townsponies were providing. If they heard of a known criminal, they hunted him down, and made him do forced labor for them. Twilight didn’t see how that in particular was much better than what The Celestial Empire did with its criminals, but she supposed it was excusable given it was a time of war. A judgment system could be put in place after they took over.

Twilight sighed and turned away from the building. She didn’t belong there anymore. She didn’t belong here anymore. This was where her master was, though, and Nightmare Moon was all she had. She had promised herself she would try to trust the alicorn again, and she wasn’t going to back down from that. Now that she thought about it, her master was probably wondering where she was by now, and it was best she hurried back. As she began to walk away, however, she accidentally bumped into someone. “Oh, I’m sorry!” She began.

“Well, well. If it isn’t little miss starshine. What’re you doing back here, runt?” The pony she’d bumped into replied mockingly.

Twilight studied the scruffy-looking earth stallion she’d bumped into who, despite his insult, wasn’t much bigger than her. She didn’t recognize him, but figuring out what he was was simple. If he wasn’t an outright criminal who simply hadn’t been caught yet, he was street trash, like she had been. “I’m here with the rebels.” She answered shortly, not in the mood for putting up with an attitude.

“Oh? So is that where you went all those months ago? Couldn’t stand the queen bitch’s speech, so you ran off to join The Rebellion? Bet you’re pissed she’s part of it now, huh?” He asked snidely

“No.” The lavender unicorn responded. “I’m here because she is. She’s the one that took me out of here months ago.”

“Oh? So you’ve been living in lap of luxury? I bet you don’t even remember how to fight. Easy pickings.” The earth stallion continued mocking. “If it weren’t for all these rebels walking about I’d take you myself. Bet you’d like that, huh starshine? You’ve never felt a stallionhood before have you?”

Twilight’s eyes widened, and her horn instantly flared as the stallion began laughing. His mirth was cut off, though, as he felt his neck tighten. He struggled to breathe, scraping his hooves uselessly at the glow around his neck. This stallion…This…THIS TRASH! HE WANTED TO RAPE HER!? TO USE HER LIKE THAT WHORE AT THE CASTLE HAD!? WELL SHE WOULD SHOW HIM! SHE WASN’T GOING TO BE PUSHED AROUND ANYMORE! The stallion’s eyes pleaded for mercy, but he received none. Without even thinking about it, the unicorn snapped his neck.

Twilight was breathing hard as she dropped the body from her magical grasp. She suddenly became aware of eyes staring at her. She whirled around to see rebels and civilians alike gawking at her in shock, but why were they afraid? He’d threatened her. Hadn’t they heard? No, they hadn’t. Twilight looked back at the stallion she’d killed, and his terror stricken eyes stared back at her in an expression so familiar. It was one she’d worn not too long ago. It wouldn’t matter if the crowd had heard what the stallion said. He hadn’t threatened her. He’d just been mocking her.

Twilight began to hyperventilate. She’d killed before, a good number of times thanks to the recent battle, but not like this. It was always in self-defense, never anger. The young mare rushed away from the corpse deeper into town. She needed to get away from the body. It looked too much like her.

Nightmare Moon sat in the den of Gravel Pie’s former house with the other members of the rebellion council. Following the taking of Stalliongrad they had been true to their word, and now welcomed her and Twilight into The Rebellion. As a show of respect she had even been made a member of the council. She was one of the leaders of The Rebellion now. Thunder Cracker was not pleased. Which, of course, pleased Nightmare.

The alicorn was surprised at the lengths The Rebellion would go to, though. If something could be used they would use it. They scavenged any weapons or armor left by the dead that was still in good enough condition to work. What wasn’t, they sent to the town blacksmith to see if it could be repaired. Usually it couldn’t, but the blacksmith, like the most of the town, appeared happy to help. Hell, they even used the ruins of broken down buildings to reinforce the fortifications. Nothing went to waste.

“So, he’s provided nothing?” Thunder Cracker asked in aggravation as he paced in front of the burning fireplace.

“Nope.” Masque Raid answered simply from the couch near Nightmare Moon where he appeared to be reading a book.

“Then what use is he?” Thunder Cracker queried.

“Absolutely none.” Masque replied.

“Are you certain it’s not just you? That your methods just can’t break him?” Hail Bolt wondered from the far side of the room as she sharpened one of her daggers.

“Last time I came for him he begged for his life in one minute, and I’d only really killed one guard. I’m certain that if he knew anything useful he would’ve told us by now. If it makes you feel any better I let that one praetorian dig around in his mind.” Masque explained.

Nightmare Moon winced. That couldn’t have been pleasant for either of them. Both the praetorians in The Rebellion were pegasi. They had no experience with magic. Whatever had been done, the praetorian was likely reeling from the effects. “Then we kill him.” Thunder Cracker stated.

“No.” Nightmare objected.

“What?!” Thunder Cracker turned on her.

“That is no better than the empire. I can understand simply making the petty criminals work off their punishment without trial, for now, but Gravel Pie is an important figure. If you want to set an example, and prove to the ponies of Stalliongrad your intention, give him a trial first.” She reasoned.

Thunder Cracker growled. “We’re just going to find him guilty anyway.”

“Yes, and that is what’s expected. However, doing this can be perceived as fair. It will help show the public that you’re not just going to become another empire.” Nightmare countered.

“She’s right.” Hail agreed, sheathing her dagger. “We want them to trust us, not fear us.”

“Aaarggh!” Thunder Cracker yelled as he was defeated in yet another conversation.

“Speaking of becoming another empire.” Masque Raid Spoke up. “We intend to be a nation, right? So we can’t just keep calling ourselves ‘The Rebellion.’ That’ll grow old quick, and when we win it’ll lose any reason. We’ll be a sovereign nation, and everyone will be left wondering what the hell we’re rebelling against now.”

Though worded silly, Masque had a point. They needed a name. A flag. Something to rally behind. Something to identify them more than as just a bunch of rabble rousers. They were a budding nation, and they needed to be recognized as such. “A republic.” Nightmare suggested.

“What?” Thunder Cracker asked.

“A republic. It’s an old type of government wherein the government is run by a council of some form. Like us.” The alicorn explained.

“Well, gee, thanks for the history lesson. Don’t mean squat though.” Thunder Cracker replied.

Nightmare glowered at him until Hail Bolt spoke up, “I think she was suggesting that we be called a republic.”

“Still not a proper name.” The red earth stallion grumbled as he turned to look at the fire.

“Maybe not, but I think have an idea. It could work well to get us more troops.” Masque explained. “After all, there are plenty of ponies in The Grand Army who would be willing to side with Nighty-”

Nightmare Moon’s horn sparked. “Nightmare,” Masque corrected himself. “Over Celestia. Most of them practically worship her, and I doubt she liked having to kill them.”

The obsidian alicorn looked to the ground in thought. She didn’t like them worshipping her, but she, indeed, would rather not kill them. She had been able to do so easily during the battle because it was in the middle of battle. Of all the distractions she had, stupidly, allowed herself in combat she had at least kept herself from pitying her enemies. If she could avoid killing them in the future she’d prefer to, however. “What are you suggesting?” She asked.

“Simple, we use you as advertisement. The Lunar Republic.” Masque answered.

“NO!” Thunder Cracker yelled. “Absolutely not! I refuse to be identified with her!”

“You already are.” Nightmare Moon calmly shot back.

“I will not have you take over!” Thunder Cracker argued.

“If I wanted control I would simply have stayed at the castle and killed my sister.” Nightmare growled.

Before the earth stallion could respond Hail Bolt spoke up, “Masque has a point. The Celestial Empire has over fifty thousand soldiers. We have just five thousand, and we’re lucky to have that many. If we’re to stand a chance we need more ponies, and I don’t care where they come from. So long as they obey orders and stick to the cause.”

“Three to one. You lose again, Thunder.” Masque stated, eliciting another yell of anger from the stallion. “I’ll see if I can find someone in town willing to make us a flag later.”

“Well, if that is all, I’d like to go find my servant.” Nightmare Moon stated as she rose.

Thunder Cracker waved a hoof at her as he ordered, “Get out of here!”

The alicorn snorted and left the building to find Twilight waiting at the doorstep in front of the praetorian guards posted at the door. “Twilight,” She said. “You could’ve come in.”

“I…I know.” The unicorn responded.

The alicorn quirked a brow at the hesitant answer, and trotted down the steps saying, “Come.”

Twilight Sparkle silently followed her.

The silence lasted until the two of them entered the camp circling the town. “Twilight, is something bothering you?” Nightmare asked.

Though the unicorn wasn’t as open with the alicorn as she had once been, she hadn’t been as reserved or upset since the battle either, much to Nightmare’s relief. “I…I’m fine.” Twilight answered.

That was a lie. “Twilight, if something is wrong I can help you.” Nightmare Moon attempted to reassure her.

“I…I killed someone.” The lavender mare choked out.

“Most everyone here has.” Nightmare responded, unsure of why her companion was bothered.

“I know, but…not like this. I-it was a little while ago. I killed someone because they made me angry.” Twilight explained.

The alicorn eyed her oddly. She’d never seemed the kind to do something like that. It was almost against her nature. “Why? Who were they?” The older mare asked.

“I don’t…know who he was, but he recognized me. He started mocking me, and then he…he joked about raping me. Then I lost it.” Twilight explained.

Now it made sense. That topic would be extremely sensitive. “The look on his face…it was just like mine was…” The unicorn added, trailing off.

“Twilight…” Nightmare Moon began and hesitantly placed a comforting hoof on the lavender mare’s shoulder.

She flinched, but didn’t fight it as the alicorn continued, “We all make mistakes. Some are bigger than others.”

“But this was more than a mistake! I ended somepony’s life just because of the way they talked me!” Twilight argued.

“You were not in your right mind. He brought up something that deeply hurt you. Had you been thinking clearly you would’ve known better.” The obsidian alicorn consoled.

“But…But I shouldn’t hurt somepony like that because of…what happened!” Twilight replied.

“No. You shouldn’t, and you regret your actions, do you not?” Nightmare asked.

The unicorn nodded, and she continued, “Then you need to move on, Twilight. He is dead now, and there is nothing you can do to change that. Dwelling in the past will do you no good.”

“But it was hardly an hour ago!” Twilight argued.

“It is still in the past. You need to move on, or you won’t find any peace.” Nightmare stated.

Twilight was silent for awhile before she responded, “I don’t think I can.”

Nightmare Moon sighed, “It will come, in time. For now, I need to begin training you again. I believe it will do us both some good.”

Author's Note: Right, so I have to apologize for this being my shortest chapter yet. It was basically just a fallout one to tell what has happened since the last chapter. The only piece of news I have right now is that there's a new sidestory up called True Black. It's made by the same guy who did that last one, but this one is neither a clop nor a one-shot. It's fairly interesting, so you guys might want to go check it out if you haven't already.

Bad News from the White West

Twilight Sparkle grunted as she jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the stomp of her opponents’ front hooves. Nightmare Moon did not miss a beat, however, as she snapped open her left wing in an attempt to hit the unicorn. Twilight ducked under the blow, and lit her horn as she took aim at the alicorn’s joint. The ball of magical energy she shot forth missed, however, when Nightmare rolled away from it. As the ruler of the night rose quickly rose to her hooves her horn sparked. The lavender mare quickly erected a bubble-like shield around herself in preparation. Nightmare smirked at this as the glow from her horn ceased, and she rushed over. The alicorn pulled back a hoof and slammed it against the shield. Twilight Sparkle stared in confusion as the thunking from the strong punch reverberated around her. Her master should’ve known that wouldn’t work. Even so, the alicorn’s smirk never ceased as she pulled her hoof off the shield after a second. Her horn then sparked with the familiar dark blue glow, but Twilight’s eyes widened as the glow began to grow in size. It tripled the length of Nightmare Moon’s horn, and became far more focused a light. The obsidian mare stepped back from the shield, and she thrust her horn forward. The glow penetrated Twilight’s shield like there was nothing there, and stopped just short of the unicorn’s neck. She could feel the sheer power radiating from what she now assumed to be some sort of energy blade, and it made the fur on her neck stand up. She did even dare to swallow for fear that the slight extension of her neck would bulge enough for the energy to cut into her. “You lose.” Nightmare Moon stated.

Twilight sighed with relief as the energy dissipated, and her master stepped back from the shield. She had felt certain the alicorn would kill her this time, even as irrational as she knew that was. Still, sparring with Nightmare was fierce, and the alicorn had them do it at least once a day, or night as it now was. The shield seemed to melt around the lavender mare as her master commented, “You’re improving. You’re far more nimble than you were a few days ago, and you think well on your hooves.”

“Th-thanks, master.” The unicorn mumbled in response before looking up at Nightmare. “Umm…How did you do that? My shield should have been tough enough to repel most magical energy, and I know you didn’t just overpower it. It would’ve shattered.”

Nightmare tilted her head for a second before answering, “There is more to magic than simply power, Twilight. While I will admit you have an extraordinary amount of talent you can’t simply brute-force everything, for lack of a better phrase. All things have a weakness. No matter the strength of your shield as a whole there were still weak points in it that could be exploited. Most ponies couldn’t find these weaknesses by anything other than luck, but they are there. You need to be prepared for them. Always have a back-up plan, and never rely purely on your strength.”

Good advice, and Twilight would ponder over it later. It wasn’t the answer she had wanted, though. “But how did you find the weak points, and what was that spell you used on your horn?” She asked.

“My punch was what clued me in to your shield’s weaknesses. I used two spells. They are both part of a fighting technique I made a few centuries back called arkanai.” Nightmare explained.

Twilight’s brow furrowed in contemplation. She had never heard of a spell being focused through another part of the body than one’s horn. How had her master done that? “Are you…going to teach me that?” She asked.

Nightmare hesitated before answering, “Perhaps when you are more experienced, and your training is less urgent. Arkanai is better suited for one on one combat than war, and many of the techniques require knowledge you don’t yet have.”

Twilight frowned. She didn’t like being unable to learn something, especially in relation to magic, but it hadn’t been an outright no. There was still a chance she might learn it one day. “Come. Let us call it a night.” Nightmare Moon stated and began to walk away.

Twilight Sparkle followed behind quickly with a, “Yes, master.”

As they were walking, however, a cold chilling howl cut through the night. The young unicorn halted with a shiver as she stared about. The rest of the republic soldiers seemed to be focused on the noise as well, but they appeared less confused. The sound came again, but this time there were several howls backing it. The unicorn could have sworn there was something demanding and powerful in the tone. “Master, what is that?” She asked as she looked up to the alicorn.

Nightmare Moon seemed focused on the gates at the edge of the camp as she answered, “Wolf song.”

The black mare changed directions without a word, and she began heading towards the gates. Twilight followed behind trepidatiously. They arrived just as the large wooden doors were opening to welcome in the visitors. A group of twenty wolves, two of whom were pulling supply laden wagons, padded in staring about with a minor degree of interest. Twilight tensed slightly at the sight of them. This was her first time seeing another species. They were taller than her. They still only came up to just under her master’s chest, but they were taller than most ponies. Their fur was longer and wilder looking. Their eyes spoke of an odd mixture of savagery and intelligence, and their long sharp teeth and claws awoke an almost primal fear in the young mare. These creatures were completely alien to her. Even their weaponry was unfamiliar. Strapped to at least one forepaw on each of the wolves was a leather gauntlet, and blades extended from them over the wolves’ claws. The blades were longer than daggers, but not quite as long enough to considered any kind of sword. On a few gauntlets there weren’t any blades at all, though. Instead there were thick clubs for bludgeoning. Those were fewer though, and Twilight suspected it had something to do with their movement. Judging by their lithe build, which was not as impressive as her master’s, and the fact most of them were wearing light armors like leather or chainmail she supposed they relied on speed heavily. The clubs, of course, hindered movement and speed to a certain extent, so there were fewer wolves that used them. An older-looking, than his companions, grey wolf stopped in front of Nightmare Moon and stared up at her curiously. “What are you doing here, Nótt?” He asked.

The obsidian alicorn stared down at the wolf coolly as she replied, “My sister and I disagreed on how Equestria should be ruled. I am on the former rebellion’s council now because our goals are aligned. We are The Lunar Republic now, for various reasons.”

The wolf chuckled slightly, “You wish to bring Sól to justice do you?”

“Yes.” Nightmare answered simply. “And your kind has been delivering supplies to us.”

“Yes. Though, as you are no longer a rebellion, perhaps new negotiations should be made?” The wolf proposed with a smirk.

“My, how fox-like of you.” Nightmare mocked.

Twilight balked and took a step back as, as one, the wolves all began snarling, growling, and glaring at her master. The alicorn, however, was unmoved. “It. Is by. The Alpha’s. Orders!” The lead wolf growled.

“Then perhaps you need a new Alpha. It sounds as though Deceit is getting to them…and you.” Nightmare replied.

The wolves still appeared greatly upset, but they began to calm, an almost regretful look in their eyes. “We wish to speak with the rest of the council.” Their leader growled.

“Of course.” Nightmare agreed with uncharacteristic sweetness. “Just leave the supplies here for my ponies to unload.”

The lead wolf growled slightly more before turning his head to bark at his subordinates. Those who were hooked up to wagons unlatched themselves, and trotted away from the burdens. Nightmare nodded towards the nearby republic soldiers, and they hurriedly set to work. The soldiers had initially been hesitant to obey the alicorn following her addition to the council, but stories of what she did in the battle spread quick. After that, there had been no qualms about them obeying her.

Orders exchanged, Nightmare Moon turned around, and she began leading the wolves through the camp and into town. Twilight, having not been dismissed, tagged along close beside her master. The truth was that she disliked the wolves. They scared her, but she was more worried about Nightmare. She could not be certain the alicorn wouldn’t simply punish her for running off right now. “Probably not.” She thought to herself, especially considering the two had been heading for bed earlier, but experience had taught her that listening to herself was unwise.

Prefect Daunting Hooves sat in his messy office tapping a hoof in thought. He had been lucky. The soldier that delivered the news of Empress Nightmare Moon’s betrayal had not seen the praetorians the prefect knew to be stationed with the rebellion. Of course, he could deny any knowledge as to what they were up to, but praetorians turning traitor was nearly as big an issue as Empress Moon’s betrayal. It couldn’t simply have been brushed aside. The group was too close for it to be considered coincidence. There would have been investigations. Empress Celestia would’ve wanted to know why he hadn’t seen it coming and stopped it. Even as fortunate as he had been to avoid that situation he still needed to be careful with his next move.

His last act had been to eliminate the best soldiers in the Royal Guard at stealth. The ones who had the best chance at revealing The Praetorians for what they were, or, as was important at the time, locating the rebellion. It had also had the bonus of delivering two of his companions to the rebellion to aid them when the time came for their real offenses to start. He had, of course, forged a letter as a cover for himself, and even Empress Celestia had believed it.

Of course, no one in The Praetorians actually knew the flare delivery spell. So, the prefect had to make his next move with limited information on the rebellion’s status. It was best to stay away from directly helping the rebellion in this situation. Instead he should focus on something else. The rebellion needed more forces if it was going to overthrow the empire. The most obvious choice was The Grand Army, but he already knew of what Celestia was going to do in an attempt to counter defections. He could counter her quite simply too, though. The four legatus legionis of The Grand Army were gathering outside of the Everfree with most of their forces for a meeting about Nightmare’s betrayal with The Legate and Empress Celestia, and, of course, to talk strategy as well. All Daunting Hooves need do is have several praetorians go undercover in the army and spread good word about Nightmare Moon. It would help gain troops in the long run, hopefully, and in the short term it would further confuse the empire’s largest force. Yes. This was what he should do next.

A knock sounded on his door, and the gelding rose from his desk to approach it. He opened the door to see a unicorn mare standing out of armor before him. “Yes, Gull Wing?” He asked, recognizing the praetorian.

“It’s the new recruit, sir. He’s down in the ritual chamber. He’s made his selections, and he’s prepared to become one of us.” She said.

“Ah, good.” Daunting replied with a sad smile. “I’ll head down immediately. Thank you for informing me.”

The unicorn nodded in response, wearing a similarly sad smile, before heading away. The prefect proceeded out of his office. One never forgot their day of initiation into The Praetorians. There was a reason they were so fierce, and they all paid a heavy price for it. Maybe not in the long run if you were less judgmental than most ponies were, but they were still scarred by it.

Daunting Hooves trotted slowly down into the compound basement, and took in the scene before him. The basement was dark, and lit only by a forge at the back that had five wrought-iron rods stuck inside of it. The entire room was constructed of stone bricks, and several arches on either side separated the main open room from the sides where the tools for working the forget were kept. In front of the forge were seven different ponies. Six of them wore mythril armor, but one, a green earth stallion, stood stark naked staring at the prefect with determination. This was a scene Daunting Hooves knew well. He approached the stallion as he asked, “Are you ready to be flesh bound?”

The stallion took several deep breaths before answering, “Yes.”

The prefect smiled sadly once more as he replied, “No. You’re not.”

A pony to the side with a dagger in their mouth stepped forward, and sheathed blade into the earth stallion’s flesh on his side, beginning the ritual. The stallion grit his teeth and breathed sharply, but he stood strong. Even so, three other ponies moved forward to hold him still. Daunting Hooves began reciting the praetorian oath, “Long ago the spirit of chaos ruled Equis from his throne here in Equestria…”

The pony with the dagger began to carve a rune into the stallion’s side, never taking an inch of the blade out. The stallions groaned in pain, and his breaths became quicker. “But the glorious Celestia and graceful Nightmare Moon turned against him. They waged war on their master…”

The pony with the knife quickly jerked the blade out as he finished the first rune, causing the earth stallion to give a muffled yelp, but he quickly jammed the blade back in to start on a second. “In their war they had many followers, but none so faithful as the ponies. In the face of abominations, however, few of even them did not cower. Those who did not, became abominations themselves to fight for their land, their world, and their goddesses. These were the first praetorians…”

The second rune was finished, and the pony with the dagger withdrew the blade quickly to impale it back within the stallion a third time. The stallion himself was holding up admirably. He managed to keep his teeth ground, and was hardly straining against the ponies keeping him in place. However, his eyes were screwed shut. His muscles were tense, and he was constantly moaning in pain. “They served faithfully. They did not cower from Discord’s creations. There were none like them among any of the goddesses’ other forces, and they were rewarded for their service. They became the first of the Celestial Empire’s military upon the fall of Discord.”

The knife was withdrawn, and replaced a fourth time. “Over time other military departments were added. The Grand Army was formed for those who were normal, but wished to fight for empire and goddesses. They are numerous. They are skilled, and they love the moon. For Empress Nightmare Moon has continuously aided them…”

The dagger was withdrawn. “BUT THEY DO NOT COMPARE!”

The dagger was shoved back in a fifth time. “The Royal Guard was formed for those with talent for military. They are not small. They are the envy of other soldiers. They are renowned, and they are not to be underestimated…”

The dagger was removed, and shoved back in. This time, however, it was not make a new rune, but to finish the fifth. When it was removed for the sixth time Daunting Hooves shouted once more, “BUT THEY DO NOT COMPARE!”

He settled into silence as the dagger bearer stepped back. The earth stallion was panting heavily now that the carving had stopped. His side burned like he had never felt before. Each breath stung as it expanded the area his scars were now in. After a few seconds of silence the stallion’s blood had well overrun the runes, and a unicorn stepped forward. He touched his horn to the first rune, causing the stallion to hiss, and it glowed gold as he began to channel in magic and meaning into the scar. Daunting Hooves resumed speaking, “We are The Praetorians. We are few. We are strong. We are skilled. We are brave.”

At each we the unicorn empowering the runes would move to a different one. With all of them charged he stepped back, and the five iron rods in the forge were pulled out to reveal themselves as brands. Each one appeared exactly as the runes carved into the earth stallion’s side. The first was lowered, and the earth stallion braced himself. He grit his teeth, and his muscles grew taught. He could feel the heat alone from the brand was starting to bother the scars. “We are scarred.”

The first brand was pressed into his side, and the stallion screamed and attempted to lash out. However, the three ponies restraining him kept him in place. The feel of the raw flesh being seared shut was beyond words. It was several seconds before the brand was pulled off and cast aside, but it felt like hours to the stallion. The second brand was lowered. “We are wounded.”

The second brand was pressed in, and the stallion screamed louder than before. It was pulled away after only a few seconds. “We are monsters.”

The third brand was pressed, eliciting another howl of pain. “We are abominations.”

The third brand was removed, and the fourth was pressed in. The stallion struggled more, but his restrainers kept him in place, with some effort. “And you…”

The fourth brand was removed. “Are one of us.”

The fifth, and final, one was pressed in.

“You can’t be serious!” Thunder Cracker shouted, and for once Nightmare Moon was in agreement with him.

“It’s not our war.” The wolf leader stated simply.

“Then why were you helping us in the first place?!” The earth stallion asked.

“Because it was the Alpha’s orders, but we did not wish to do it then either. All of The Pack is quite glad that our aid to you will be ended soon. Including me. Helping your kind in any way is repulsive, and an insult to Fenrisúlfr.” The wolf leader replied.

“Would you stop going on about your damn god!?” Thunder Cracker exclaimed.

“He’s not a god. Gods don’t die.” Nightmare stated as she glared at the wolf, trying to insult him.

She was not happy. Not at all. The Alpha had apparently decided to go back on whatever deal had been struck between them and the republic beforehoof. They would not be delivering anymore supplies soon. They, apparently, couldn’t risk being exposed now that the republic was making itself a real threat. Nightmare Moon wondered, like Thunder Cracker, why they had decided to help in the first place if that was the case. It was unlike The Pack at all. They didn’t want to risk exposure? That was practically against their code of honor. To sneak and manipulate were fox traits, and no wolf wanted anything to do with that behavior. So why had they done so now? It all came back to the Alpha, she knew, and from them likely to their trophy. Either way, it would not be long before the wolves stopped coming, and they had chosen the worst time too. Stalliongrad still had one major problem that the republic couldn’t solve. No food could grow here, and now that it was under republic control it couldn’t simply trade for food. This was worse given the addition of the mouths of the republic soldiers to feed. They wouldn’t be able to last more than a few weeks like this. “Watch your tongue, Nótt! Sleipner may not be your ancestor, but you are still based on his kind. I will not tolerate you insulting our father!” The wolf leader threatened.

“And I will not tolerate you abandoning my ponies to starve.” Nightmare snarled.

“Then I suggest you act quickly.” The wolf leader stated menacingly before turning to leave.

“Do us all a favor, and let the door hit you on the way out!” Thunder Cracker yelled after the wolf.

Quiet settled on the group as the door to the outside slammed shut. Nightmare glanced to her side to see Twilight still sitting as quietly and rigidly as she had done the whole meeting, though she had visibly relaxed some now that the wolf was gone. “So what are we going to do now?” Masque Raid asked.

“Simple. We take another town. The closest territory is the Silver-seas’. We don’t need to attack North Bay. They keep all their towns well supplied. We can just grab a small village near the border with Stalliongrad territory.” Thunder Cracker explained.

“Won’t work.” Hail Bolt stated. “It would take several days for a sizeable force to march down there. By then the empire is likely to have launched a counter-attack, and we can’t afford to be down any ponies if we want to stand our ground.”

“That’s another issue with it. We just don’t have the forces to spare making supply runs between towns right now. I reaffirm that our best bet is to wait until the empire brings the fight to us, and then convince their soldiers to join us before the battle really begins.” Masque suggested.

“But how many of them would really be willing to switch sides, and how many of them can we trust?” Thunder Cracker rebutted. “And what are we supposed to do until then? They know we have a limited supply of food. They might just try to starve us out.”

The group settled into silence once more, but it was broken a few minutes later when Hail Bolt asked, “Nightmare, what do you think?”

The alicorn sighed, and closed her eyes before speaking her thoughts, “The biggest issues right now are food and numbers. We’re too few to topple my sister at the moment, and without a steady supply of food we’ll starve…I suggest that we send a messenger up to one of the gryphon kingdoms asking to open trade. Gildaris is a good choice since it’s close by. There’s a good chance nothing will come of it, but it’s the best immediate option we can take. We should, however, stay bunkered down here, and wait for my sister’s retaliation. Neither her nor any of her officers know our food is limited. They’ve been suspecting the wolves’ aid for months, but they could never prove it. Celestia will attack for certain, and it seems likely to me that, even considering their reverence of me, she will send mostly grand army forces. If we can not convert them out right we can throw their forces into confusion easily with a quick speech from myself before they begin their attack in earnest. If we’re lucky we’ll gain a hoard of new soldiers. Enough to begin acting without fear of losing what we have gained. If not, we’ll deal a heavy-enough blow to cause Celestia to take pause before acting again. During which time we can recover, and formulate a new plan.”

“I don’t like it. It’s too desperate, and I hate the idea of relying on former empire soldiers.” Thunder Cracker stated.

“We do what we must.” Masque said. “Without a plan of action we are desperate.”

“And I was a Praefectus Auxilii, remember? There are plenty of good trustworthy ponies in The Grand Army.” Hail Bolt argued.

Nightmare looked at the pegasus with surprise. She had expected that the blue mare had combat experience, but a high ranking in The Grand Army itself? That wasn’t something she would ever have thought. “Fine.” Thunder Cracker grumbled. “We’ll go with Ms. Traitor here’s plan.”

Author's Note: Sorry this is a day late guys, but here you go. There's not too much Twilight centric this chapter, but there's a little. Also, some very big reveals. In particular, I showed the truth about The Praetorians. The secret to their powers, one of which you've seen before, and just who really was behind the letter. Now the question is, is Daunting Hooves legit in his want to help the republic? And how will this next battle go?

On another note, for those who are unaware, I recently made a group for the universe of this story. It can be found here.

Lastly, the weaponry of the wolves were an idea belonging to Rebelfire.

Blackened Hearts

Twilight Sparkle sighed as she stared at the roof of the tent. She always had trouble sleeping. Though she was unhappy to admit it, it hadn’t been as bad since Nightmare Moon had hugged her that day, but it was not enough to free her from her nightmares. So she often lay awake at night with nothing but her thoughts to distract her. She had contemplated more than once going on a walk, but her master’s tent was right next to her own. She didn’t want to risk the alicorn seeing her. Not out of fear for what Nightmare would do. Just out of fear that she wouldn’t be left alone. She used to take comfort in the alicorn’s presence, and while things had not been as bad since the taking of Stalliongrad Twilight still preferred solitude. She believed her master wouldn’t hurt her, or, at least, as far as she could. She was still very aware of what Nightmare could do, though. The strong aching in her back from an earlier sparring match attested to that. Of course, Nightmare had offered to heal it, but Twilight wasn’t quite ready to trust her body to the alicorn like that.

Sighing in aggravation, Twilight decided to risk being noticed. She wasn’t going to get any sleep soon, and she could use the walk. Once she stepped out of her tent, though, she was surprised to see her master sitting near her own tent, and looking up at the sky. Curiosity overriding her desire to be alone, the young unicorn walked over, and sat a little away from her master, being certain there was some distance between them. Nightmare Moon did not seem to notice her, so she decided to attract the alicorn’s attention. “Master?” She asked politely.

“Hmm? Oh, Twilight.” Nightmare greeted, briefly looking to the unicorn. “What are you doing up?”

“I couldn’t sleep. You?” Twilight Sparkle asked.

“I don’t normally get too much sleep. A few hours here and there. I thought you would have learnt that by now.” Nightmare answered.

“Sorry.” The young unicorn replied submissively.

Her master sighed, and looked to Twilight with something between exhaustion and hurt in her eyes. “You don’t have to be afraid me.” She stated.

Twilight knew that, but how was she supposed to not be afraid when she knew how powerful Nightmare Moon was? Maybe…Maybe her master wouldn’t hurt her like that bitch, but there was still every chance the alicorn would turn on her one day. She remembered how great things had been up until she mentioned not trusting the…day empress. When she’d said that Nightmare had lashed out at her quite explosively. Maybe her master hadn’t hurt her, but the possibility was always there. Twilight knew not to trust anyone, growing up in Stalliongrad, and the events a month and a half ago had reaffirmed that.

After several moments of silence Nightmare turned her attention back to the night sky saying, “You don’t have to call me master, either. I haven’t thought of you as a slave in weeks.”

“Just because you don’t think of me as one doesn’t mean I’m not.” Twilight replied vindictively.

Nightmare Moon was silent for awhile before agreeing with slight downturn in her voice, “I suppose you’re right. A blood oath can never be broken.”

Silence returned to the two, and Twilight took it to calm down. Shortly she asked, “So what are you doing out here?”

“Working.” Nightmare replied. “This helps me relax and think.”

The lavender unicorn raised a brow before looking to the sky, and taking note of it slowly changing. The alicorn was rearranging it. She hadn’t had too many chances to do such since leaving the castle. The three quarter moon seemed to glow much brighter than normally, and the space around it was immediately black. The stars were dim in comparison this night, and only served to compliment the white orb. Suddenly, a blue aurora cut through the sky, and broke around the moon to head off in four different directions part it. It was a beautiful night, but, then, Twilight would openly admit she had gained an appreciation for the time since Nightmare had made her a slave. “What’s on your mind?” The young mare asked idly as she watched the stars shift position.

“Everything.” The alicorn answered. “Our numbers, our supplies, the tasks ahead of us, the gryphons’ coming response, the rest of the council, Celestia, and you.”

Her? Nightmare Moon’s actions and words in the past insisted that the obsidian mare had no ill thoughts of Twilight, and while the unicorn did not entirely trust her master she had no grounds to argue that point. It made her wonder what, exactly, the ruler of the night was thinking about. She wouldn’t voice this, though. “Are we really in that much trouble?” She asked.

“Twilight, we have a chance, but at the moment it is slim. Celestia outnumbers us by many legions, and while we have potential recruits in The Grand Army there is still no guarantee that any of them will necessarily join. Our only hope for supplies at the moment is Gildaris, and the gryphons all have a very bloody past. They are a greedy and selfish race. There are few reasons they would help us, and even less that are any good. Without soldiers or steady supplies we will not be able to push forward in this war, and we will fall apart.” Nightmare Moon explained. “So yes.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. She hadn’t spent most of her time with the obsidian mare for the past few months to not be able to tell anything about her. “You think you acted too brashly in leaving the empire.” She stated.

“Yes.” Nightmare admitted. “Though I am uncertain what I could have done on the inside. I know that should we fail in this coup, however, we will face dire consequences. My sister would most certainly kill you, and I do not know what she would do to me. Neither idea sits well with me.”

“I don’t think leaving was the wrong choice. So long as she pays.” Twilight replied. “And if we fail…It’s better than being forced to live with her.”

“Is that why you fight? Out of hatred for Celestia?” Nightmare wondered, diverting her attention from the sky.

Twilight’s brows furrowed in thought. “I…No. I do hate her! With everything in me!…But I don’t fight because of it. I fight because I have to. Because, like everything else in my life, I’ve been put in a situation where I have no choice.” She explained.

“That is something you should remedy then. Fighting without cause is likely to kill you. If you have no reason to, then you don’t put your all into it, and war is not something you can afford to hold back during. I would advise against vengeance, though. It very rarely turns out right.” Nightmare counseled.

Twilight Sparkle looked to the ground for a moment to ponder her master’s words. Then she nodded in agreement, and turned to walk away. “Thank you.” She said, meaning it.

Legate Artillerus stood rigid, and emitting as much of a sense of authority as he could. By his side sat Empress Celestia, unreadable as ever. They were simply waiting now. Waiting in a tent outside of the Everfree for the four Legatus Legionis in charge of The Grand Army. Once they were present talks over the retaliation against the rebels could begin. There was an issue, though. While the Legatus would all be deeply bothered by Former-empress Moon’s betrayal they would more than likely be loyal to The Celestial Empire first. Whether it be because they quite liked their positions, or they believed in it more didn’t matter. One, however, would be trouble. He was much too young and passionate to be swayed easily. Legate Artillerus suspected he would try something rash, and was quite prepared to kill the young gelding on the spot. Furthermore, there were plenty praetorians and royal guards in the camp for security. Neither the Legate nor the Empress would be taken by surprise should any of the more zealous members of The Grand Army attempt to cause trouble.

The flap to the tent opened, and four ponies walked in. One was a golden unicorn gelding who, from his ursa pelt cape and gold filigreed armor, was easily identifiable as a noble. Lord Zahav of House Platinum was a portly unicorn, but still appeared quite capable of putting up a fight. His family’s duchy was the closest to the Royal Pony Sisters’ Castle, and was given to his elder brother. When he did not inherit the territory he entered the military instead, and proved himself a skilled, if slightly arrogant, strategist over time. He was now getting on in age at fifty years old.

The second Legatus Legionis was a white unicorn mare, spayed as her rank required of her. Rough Cut was surprisingly built for a female unicorn, but not overly so. She was the shortest of the Legatus, but hardly any smaller than the average pony. She was known for being slightly ruthless. She cared for the legions under her command, but was perfectly willing to sacrifice them if necessary. She wasn’t afraid of going for less than honorable tactics either.

The third Legatus was a well built rust colored pegasus gelding. The child of a well-known unicorn who had standardized many large-scale strategies for spellwork. As a result Path Blazer was surprisingly knowledgeable about magic, despite being a pegasus. He had proven quite talented at coordinating his kind and unicorns together, and, as a result, earth ponies were a minority in his legions.

The fourth Legatus was the problem. He was a grey earth gelding that stood nearly as tall as The Legate himself, and, while muscular, he was very lean. He was not wearing plate metal armor like his fellow Legatus, though. He was wearing leather armor over black chainmail, but his flanks were left open to show off his cutie mark. A full moon shining down on the silhouette of a pony. Ardent Fervor had been a missionary for Nightmare Moon when he was young, but had essentially been forced into the military to pay off his family’s debt to House Platinum. He was, as a result, both resentful to Lord Zahav, and a very zealous individual. At thirty-eight he was the youngest Legatus ever. It was not that he was an amazing strategist. He was skilled in that area, but he was a Legatus because of his ability to inspire and relate to his troops. He was nearly as much of a figurehead to his legions as Nightmare Moon was to all of The Grand Army, and his influence wasn’t just in them. He was an extremely charismatic pony, and would more than likely side with Nightmare Moon in this conflict. He was a very large issue for Celestia and Artillerus to deal with.

“I am glad you could all be gathered.” Celestia began calmly. “As you have been informed, our empire faces an emergency. The rebels have managed to seize one of our towns, and, with it, its duchy. Stalliongrad has never been that valuable, but it was the only town within the duchy. With the whole territory now belonging to the rebels it casts a poor light on us. Our enemies will believe we are weak.”

“Yes, that is problematic, but we all know the real reason you’ve gathered all four of us here. So let’s cut to the chase. Shall we, your majesty?” Zahav suggested.

Celestia closed her eyes for a moment to collect herself before speaking, “Nearing two months ago my sister came to me in a rage over the ruling of our empire. She stated accusations that we are unfair, and cruel to our subjects. That night, she fled from the castle, and she was not seen again until just a few weeks ago. In Stalliongrad, where she was slaughtering your soldiers in an attempt to take over the town. Naturally, with her power, she succeeded. The soldier who first arrived at the castle informed of personally seeing her killing his comrades with no remorse. The facts are simple. My sister has turned traitor, and she has joined the rebellion.”

Zahav, Rough Cut, and Path Blazer all grimaced in contemplation of the information. Ardent Fervor, however, appeared more contemplative than anything. “There must be a reason why she left.” He commented.

“Yes. She wishes to take over. She believes The Empress is corrupt, and that her solitary rule would be better.” The Legate supplemented.

“But when would she have come to this conclusion and how?” Zahav asked.

“Perhaps she’s been contemplating this for awhile. I doubt the night empress would make such a decision on a whim.” Path Blazer responded.

“I’m more interested in what her actual complaints were.” Ardent wondered.

Artillerus disliked the gelding’s calm. It was forboding. His attention was drawn to Celestia, who spoke without hesitation, “Among other things, her primary complaint was that our subjects are treated too harshly. She believed the common pony should have some form of say in the government, and that the justice system should be reworked.”

“Outrageous!” Zahav proclaimed, angered by the threat to his family’s status as nobles.

“Moreso than you might think Lord Zahav. If such a thing would occur it could only lead to chaos. Our infrastructure would be made weak. Our enemies would be able to see that. Criminals would walk free, and something best forgotten may find its way back.” Celestia explained, sending a look to Ardent.

As a former missionary he would know of what she spoke. Even so, when he spoke his voice began to pick up a little power behind it, “Empress Moon would not be so foolish as to let it come to that. Furthermore, I dislike your continued insinuations that this a grab for power. Empress Moon is the Avatar of Honesty. She would not be so underhoofed.”

“You’re blinded by your faith, Fervor. Former-empress Moon has done plenty in the past that is questionable. Her status an avatar of harmony does not mean she is an innocent being.” Legate Artillerus rebutted.

Ardent Fervor glared at the larger gelding as he bit back, “Perhaps, but she is an avatar because she best represent those elements out of all the creatures on the planet. I refuse to believe she is a through and through traitor.”

“Need I remind you that she was seen slaughtering grand army soldiers during the taking of Stalliongrad?” Celestia wondered.

“An enemy is an enemy in war. It doesn’t matter who they used to be to you. You have to fight them all the same.” Rough Cut replied.

“Perhaps, but how many of them would’ve fled if she simply told them to?” Artillerus asked.

The Legate was met with silence. Nightmare Moon’s betrayal had not been known at the time. Celestia hadn’t even made her absence from the castle public knowledge until Stalliongrad was taken. Many of the soldiers would have simply left if they had been ordered by their sovereign goddess and ruler to do so. They may have been confused, but they would have had no reason to stay. “You see? She has no remorse for killing any of her followers. She views everyone who will not aid her to take the throne as an enemy. Even if she is sincere in her wishes for the country do you really wish for someone that ruthless to rule alone?” The day empress pressed.

“But she would NOT rule alone.” Ardent immediately cut in. “You said she intended to give the public say in the government. Were she so ruthless she would still not be on the throne alone. Furthermore, though harsh she may be at times, I doubt she acted as callously as you claim. Empress Moon has never been one to needlessly waste life. She understands that there must be sacrifices at times, but she does not kill without remorse.”

“How would you know what goes through my sister’s head?” Celestia asked as her tone took on a barely noticeable edge.

“Because if you would so easily call her a traitor then apparently I know her better than you.” Ardent retorted.

“You will watch your tongue, Legatus Fervor. It speaks treasonously.” Legate Artillerus warned darkly.

“So does yours.” Ardent bit back.

Artillerus was not an easily angered gelding, but the blatant rebellion in the lean earth pony’s words was hard to ignore. Fortunately for him someone else spoke out first. “Hmph. Funny to hear a missionary blaspheming against a goddess. Even if she isn’t the one he preached about.” Zahav mocked.

Ardent paused for a few moments before apologizing, “I am sorry, your majesty.”

“I shall forgive you this time, but remember who you serve when next you speak.” Celestia warned.

“Yes, Empress.” Ardent replied.

“Now that that’s out of the way, I believe we should begin discussing what it is we intend to do. We can not sit idly and chatter while the rebels regroup.” Path Blazer spoke out.

“We aren’t. I already mobilized a troop of five hundred. The rebels will be wiped out soon.” Rough Cut supplied.

“I did not authorize you to begin a campaign yet.” Artillerus said.

“Oh? So I’m supposed to wait for your approval while our land is threatened?” Rough Cut sarcastically remarked.

“You should not underestimate my sister. A tenth of a legion may not be enough.” Celestia cut in.

“But there’s only so much one pony can do. She’s not omnipresent. If my troops don’t win then the rebels will be severely weakened, and we can move in for the kill.” Rough Cut replied.

“When did you do this?” Zahav asked, disgruntled that he had been beaten to the punch.

“Just a few days ago. It won’t be too much longer before my forces arrive.” Rough Cut supplied.

“You call that swinging? Come on! Put your neck into it!” Hail Bolt instructed as she watched a large group of republic soldiers sparring with dulled training weapons. “You, soldier, you’re putting too much strength into your swings. That’s a dagger, not a greatsword! It’s made for quick cuts and stabbing! Aim for vital areas and retreat! Don’t try and engage an enemy with a larger weapon in a lock!”

Over all, most of the troops knew what they were doing, but the Stalliongrad villagers who had volunteered definitely needed practice. Hence why Hail Bolt herself was overseeing the training when she could. She was the second most experienced pony in the republic, only being surpassed by Nightmare Moon. She had been a Praefectus Auxilii in The Grand Army after all. She had a whole legion under her command once, and she did not reach that rank by luck. No, she had worked hard for it, and proven her metal time and again. She had done so for the glory the empire, for the glory of her former goddess, and for the glory herself. She had something to prove then, but she did not now. At least, not in the same sense. She still had a purpose, but it was so much proving something as trying to achieve something. Then again, maybe she was trying to prove something. “C…Commander Hail Bolt?” An uncertain voice asked from the pegasus’ side.

She turned to see Twilight Sparkle. She knew the unicorn fairly well by this point. Nightmare’s servant or slave, she wasn’t sure on the details. Twilight’s reputation had reached large heights among the republic after they took Stalliongrad. Apparently she had lifted a massive wall of earth from the ground by herself, and used it, with the aid of other unicorns, to corral the enemies she’d been facing. Before ordering the pegasi to fry them. It had shown power, creativity, and a willingness to take charge that Hail Bolt wouldn’t have believed the young mare possessed other wise. The reason being that Twilight seemed to be a rather sensitive individual from what she’d seen, and the reports of the unicorn killing someone for mocking her supported that. Twilight’s relationship with Nightmare confused her, though. The lavender mare seemed dependent upon her master, but also held some degree of resentment towards the alicorn. To be honest, Hail Bolt was unsure of what to make of Twilight, but she was certain that the unicorn’s potential is why Nightmare kept her so close. “Yes, Ms. Sparkle?” The blue pegasus wondered.

“If you’re not too busy, could I talk to you?” Twilight requested.

Hail Bolt turned her attention back to the soldiers training in front of her. “That depends on what it is.” She answered.

“What is it you’re fighting for?” Twilight wondered as she sat down beside the pegasus.

Hail Bolt’s brows raised at the question. “That is very personal.” She replied honestly.

“Well…It’s just that my master told me I need to find something to fight for. Otherwise, my chances of survival are low. So, I thought maybe asking someone else what they fought for could help me.” Twilight explained.

“Ah.” Hail Bolt breathed in understanding. “You’re a very direct pony, you know that?”

Twilight merely shuffled her hooves uncomfortably in silence. “Have you tried asking one of the other soldiers?” Hail Bolt asked.

“Yes. Some of them didn’t say. Others were mostly just for revenge or punishing the empire for mistreating them, and my master said that that wouldn’t help me.” Twilight answered.

“But did you listen to their reasons?” Hail Bolt queried.

Twilight shook her head before answering, “Not always, why?”

“What about the ones you did listen to? Think on them. Aren’t they mostly horrible events?” Hail Bolt drilled.

Twilight hesitated before nodding, and allowing the pegasus to continue. “Tragedy brings ponies together. It’s happened before. We’re all here because something horrible has happened to us, and we blame the empire. Don’t get me wrong. There are plenty who do believe in the ideals we’re fighting to attain, but they were mad at the empire first. Can you say you’re any different?”

The lavender unicorn shook her head no. “And so I’m right. If you’re looking for something to fight for it has to be personal. It can’t be because somepony you don’t really even know was hurt in the past. I’m not gonna ask what happened to you, but my advice is to take it and analyze it. If you don’t want to fight for revenge then see what else is there to encourage you to fight. Though, I would also advise that you don’t always listen to your master. Hatred can take a pony a long way.” Hail Bolt finished.

Twilight was silent for awhile as she took in the information. “So, you fight for revenge too?” She eventually asked.

Hail Bolt took a deep breath, and for a moment she was there again. She could hear the screams, feel the heat on her fur. Then she was back in Stalliongrad. “No.” She answered shortly.

“Then…what?” Twilight asked cautiously.

“Forgiveness.”

Decurion Duster felt extremely uncomfortable in his own skin. The beige earth stallion had ever since that night three years ago. He’d been lucky enough to make it out with a demotion, and blacklisting from ever going up in rank again. His commanding officer at the time, though, had been dishonorably discharged. He considered it a blessing since what they had done was technically a war crime, but she had still deserved better in his opinion. It wasn’t like she wanted to do it. She was under orders. They all were. Now, Duster was under similar orders to back then. The difference was that they were dealing with an actual threat rather than just civilians who had overstepped their bounds. The Decurion still wasn’t happy about this, though.

The earth stallion shook his messy dark brown mane from over his green eyes, and focused on the task ahead. To eliminate the rebellion by any means necessary. Any means necessary. Duster was quite familiar with those words. He’d become used to doing Rough Cut’s dirty work by now. After all, if you have a disgraced soldier under your command why not give him the dishonorable jobs? What has he to lose?

As the Decurion stared about his troop he noticed that none of them seemed as bothered as he was. Why should they be, though? It had yet to sink in that their orders meant more than just killing combatants. They were supposed to kill everyone. The town was known for its upset at the Empire. Anyone could have collaborated, and Legatus Legionis Rough Cut wanted no chance of the uprising returning. Besides, who would miss a town as destitute as Stalliongrad? There would be little lost. That was her opinion on the matter, anyway. Duster, however, was certainly not looking forward to the razing. He’d done it before. It was gruesome work. Soldiers aren’t meant to take the lives of civilians, especially not citizens of their own country. However, the Decurion wasn’t a soldier anymore. He was a tool, and he would do as his operator directed. He’d done this before, and he could do it again.

Still, he didn’t think this was going to be easy. Even if numbers were on their side, surprise certainly wasn’t. The large troop marching along the part of the Empress’ Road of that lead through the Pie Duchy was hardly quiet, and had no chance of hiding. Rebel scouts would know they were coming, and the enemy would be prepared. Duster wasn’t one to underestimate his foe. Only a fool would think the rebellion hadn’t found someway to fortify Stalliongrad, so this would likely turn into a siege, even if a small one. That meant their numbers advantage might not count for much in the long run. Still, the Decurion remained “optimistic” that they wouldn’t be too slowed by whatever the rebellion had set up for defense. He just prayed to Nightmare Moon that he could be forgiven for what he had done in his life.

Twilight tightened the last of her armor’s straps magically. Fortunately, since the last battle, she had found a set that fit her better, and now no longer felt like she was being squeezed too tightly. She had again opted for leather as she wasn’t used to heavy chainmail or plate, and, while she may not be the fastest, she did not want to be slowed down. Timing was key, she had learnt on the streets. Reacting a second too soon or a second too late could give unsavory results. “Twilight, I wish to speak with you.” Came the voice of her master from outside her tent.

Knowing there was no time to waste, she hurried outside to the alicorn. Nightmare Moon stood with an air rigidity and wariness about her that Twilight did not normally see. Even so, the ruler of the night still had an air of calm about her. “I’m ready, master.” The young unicorn stated dutifully.

“Good. I have specific orders for you.” Nightmare explained, causing the lavender mare’s ears to perk in question. “I’m taking you off the main battlefield. You are to guard the inner town and civilians.”

Twilight quirked a brow curiously as she replied, “I’m not afraid to fight. I’ve seen REAL combat now, and I know I can handle it.”

The unicorn was slightly relieved with her orders, but she did not like her abilities being questioned, especially not after her master’s training. “You have not seen all war has to offer, so don’t be eager to do battle. This order isn’t a question of your boldness. Protection of the town is important.” Nightmare rebutted.

“But we’re ALL protecting the town.” Twilight argued.

“Yes, but if we’re all at the front then any enemies that slip by will be practically unopposed. We need ponies defending the noncombatants. You have more experience in enclosed spaces than you do in open field, and your knowledge of the town will help your squad to coordinate their defense better.” Nightmare rationalized in slight irritation.

Twilight Sparkle sighed. She wasn’t that set on being on the front. “Alright.” She agreed.

Nightmare nodded in acceptance. “You’ll be reporting to a soldier named Cold Water near the east side of town. He’s a grey-blue unicorn with a black mane, and Twilight?” She asked.

“Yes?” The unicorn wondered.

“Keep safe.” Nightmare answered before cantering away.

Twilight watched her master go with some confusion. Ever since the last battle the alicorn had been far more concerned for her, and she wasn’t sure how to take it. She didn’t hate or distrust Nightmare anymore, but the former empress was an enigma. She seemed to change her opinions quite a lot. Add to that Twilight’s own hesitance to grow close to her master again, and the young mare was uncertain what to think. With a quick shake of the head the unicorn began trotting towards the town in the center of camp.

As she traveled lunar republicans, combatant and not, rushed about her like bees tending to their work. Yesterday, their scouts had reported a large empire force heading towards them. It was entirely grand army, and they were at least four hundred strong, likely more. They would be here by nightfall. So the Lunar Republic prepared as fast as it could. While extra supports were piled against the walls, especially the gates, rubble from the decayed buildings was moved back into the town to block off certain streets and alleys. If the Grand Army did get in, they wouldn’t be able to stampede through like the republic soldiers had when they took the city.

At the same time the civilians were being ushered into their homes before barricading themselves in for extra protection. Twilight personally though the last step was rather stupid. If they needed to run it would be all the harder to do so. Still, she didn’t really have any say in the matter. It was above her position, so she didn’t bother concerning herself over it.

After about ten minutes of searching Twilight found a unicorn by the description she’d been given wearing platemail, and talking to four other ponies. The others were an earth pony and three more unicorns, all wearing chain. “Cold Water?” Twilight asked as she approached the group.

They looked to her before the unicorn that was talking just moments before smirked. “So, the murderer’s with us. Sit down and listen up.” He ordered idly.

Twilight flinched as her mind flashed back to the stallion that had mocked her. She’d killed before, but always with good reason. She was NOT a murderer…Or at least she hadn’t been. She couldn’t justify what she did that random pony. Swallowing her shame she sat beside the other ponies she was stationed with, and listened as her commander began to explain his strategy. At least none of them seemed to dislike her. That was something.

It was a bright full moon when Duster’s regiment arrived at Stalliongrad. They stood at the edge of the forest staring at the walled settlement. He had been right in assuming they fortified the area, but the wall’s size implied the rebellion camp was in between it and the town. Still, it was wooden, and therefore not too much of an obstacle. Oddly enough, however, the wall was clear of any ponies patrolling it, as if the place were abandoned. What caught the Decurion’s eye, though, was a fluttering navy blue flag that depicted a silver crescent moon surrounded by several stars, and with one large one in the center of the moon. Were the rebels proclaiming something about the night with their flag, or just using the symbolism for whatever it is they stood for? He couldn’t be sure, but what happened next was the most shocking of all.

Stepping up onto a rampart behind the wall, so she could be seen clearly was Nightmare Moon. What’s more the Empress was clad in armor, clearly ready for battle. Duster’s mouth dropped open as his goddess spoke out to him and his regiment in a magically enhanced voice, “Ponies of The Grand Army, brave soldiers of Equestria, I implore you to listen to me before you carry out your orders. Long have you served The Celestial Empire faithfully. You have fought to maintain its peace, its power, and the safety of its citizens. However, how deserving is it of your faithfulness? Many of you, perhaps all of you, are common ponies. Back home, you all have families of your own, but what do you or they receive for your servitude? There is no special consideration for you, or any normal citizen of the Empire. You are all treated the same, like stepping stones. Your government seeks nothing, but to use you. Should you step out of line once, purposeful or accidental, you are treated as if you are a criminal. Your families toil to make meager livings, and supply themselves with what they need to survive. Knowledge that you deserve is withheld to keep you in line. Nobles flaunt their riches, and abuse their power. YOU are put in the front lines, in danger, and what do you receive for it? Some pay? You are given no aid for permanent injuries sustained in battle. You are forced to keep serving, or be publicly disgraced. Worst of all, you have no way to speak out against these or other injustices. You have no say in what happens, and no representative to tilt things in your favor at any time. No one to say that you need help, and no one to even appreciate your troubles. It is why I have left to join The Lunar Republic. We are fighting for freedom and equality. YOUR freedom. YOUR rights. Please, do not turn this into more bloodshed. You have a choice. You can follow your orders, and please the leaders who care nothing for you. Or you can surrender now, and follow me to a bright new future. What will you do?”

Murmuring began to spread through the troop. One of their leaders, their sovereign deity, wanted them to rebel. Nightmare Moon, the mare who held a special place in most grand army soldiers’ hearts, wanted them to turn their backs on the Empire. She made an appealing case too. They broke their backs for the Empire, but they were treated no better than most. Here, their god was promising them better treatment if they should follow her. Many of the soldiers were beginning to think of rebelling.

On the other side, there was the fact that she had apparently abandoned the Empire. She had given up her position as their ruler to join a bunch of rebels. She had brought an end to the peace. She had made herself a threat to the land. She was effectively saying their efforts within the Empire were worthless too, and inadvertently insulting them in the process. Besides, how was a government supposed to function efficiently, and take each of its citizens into account? There were many soldiers who still wished to carry out their mission, if a bit more reluctantly.

Duster looked up at his goddess sadly. He truly believed what she was saying was true. He’d been quite abused by his superiors, but he wasn’t about to turn traitor. Even if he had done horrible things in the past, and was about to do another one he wouldn’t commit that sin. He doubted he would be forgiven now. “Burn it.” He ordered.

Author's Note: Hey everypony. It's been far too long, but with this chapter up I have my plans straight for now. So I'm hoping to get back to my bi-weekly updates for this, and I hope you all can forgive me for taking so long. However, I needed to figure some things out. Fortunately, thanks to inspiration from another source, I now know how I'm going to go about the rest of the story. What is my inspiration you ask? George R. R. Martin.

Through Crimson

Twilight Sparkle shifted uneasily as she sat behind a wall of rubble in the street along with the rest of her squad. She could hear the sounds of battle in the distance, and it worried her more than when they took the city. She was technically in the middle of a battle, and she was doing nothing. Her instincts and training both screamed at her to be moving. To look for a target, and take them out before moving onto the next one. She had to wait, though. That wasn’t her position. She was to wait until the enemy came to her. Which may never happen, and if it didn’t then how many lives would be lost that wouldn’t have if she had been in the battle? Twilight wasn’t prideful, but she wasn’t stupid either. Her master taking the time to personally train her in combat. The compliments she received from the alicorn on her skill, and the looks of surprise and awe on others' faces when they watched sometimes. The young mare knew she was powerful, but now that power was going to waste.

She glared at her commanding officer. The stallion was staring out over the rubble. He was starting to grate on her nerves. He shot down every idea she had. He wanted them to wait, but Twilight felt they should be out patrolling. The enemy had to proceed through the camp ringing the city to get in, but who said they had to come from one direction? All the republic forces were either at the gate or spread throughout the city. What if a pegasus, who could fly over the walls they’d erected, managed to escape from the battle? He could get in easy, and start wreaking havoc without anyone being the wiser. Patrolling would eliminate that issue.

Cold Water, however, felt they should wait to ambush anyone who came. Twilight wasn’t an expert strategist, and she had admitted there were advantages to that plan. They’d have a better chance of dealing with a larger group than if they were patrolling, and they’d certainly have better defense. It wouldn’t help if someone snuck up behind them, though, but there was no arguing with Cold Water. He refused to listen, and he refused to budge.

The young mare looked at the four other ponies near her. They were all watching Cold Water dutifully for the signal that would likely not come for awhile. They were soldiers, she would give them that, but they were also sheep. They did as their commanding officer told them. They didn’t object. They didn’t question, and they didn’t offer alternatives. They were dutiful, and that was it. It disgusted Twilight, to her own surprise. Nightmare Moon had taught her many things, but chief among them was creativity. You must see all your options to make the best choice, even ones no one else would ever think of, and if you’re harder to predict then you’re harder to counter. Both these things came with creativity. There was more to it than that, of course, but none that fit her situation at the moment. These soldiers were uncreative. They would fight like soldiers, and they would die like soldiers. Twilight had no intention of dying this day.

To say the least, things were not going as Decurion Duster expected. For one, the fire spells and burning arrows that had made contact with the log wall surrounding Stalliongrad were not taking well. The wood was too thick and damp. It was always humid this far north, so this wouldn’t have been surprising had Duster been from the region. Even if it didn’t rain, the logs were too wet to burn. The other bit was the worse news.

It was total chaos in the field. Not two seconds had passed from when the first shot was fired that those who were swayed by Nightmare Moon made themselves known. In an instant at least half, perhaps more or less as Duster was in no position to count, of the troops had turned on him, and now soldiers of the Grand Army were fighting each other. What was worst of all was that there was no way to distinguish friend from foe. None of the rebelling soldiers did anything to identify themselves. They simply fought. Which meant that now no one trusted anyone. The only advantages they had were that the rebelling soldiers were in as much of a pickle as them, and that the republic forces were not attacking yet. Duster could only assume they valued the soldiers they could get from this, and he thanked Nightmare for that, despite the fact she was now his enemy.

A soldier lunged at Duster with a shortsword in mouth, but the Decurion bounced the blow back. Fluidly, he followed the blow up with a counter slash to the unprotected side of his assailant’s neck. Then he quickly retracted the blade, allowing the twitching corpse to fall, and blocked the sword of another foe that had attempted to flank him. Duster had not used to be a Chief Decurion for nothing. It took more than just commanding skill to rise to such a rank. The earth stallion shoved his opponent back only for the mare’s head to be skewered by a javelin thrown from elsewhere.

Duster didn’t even have time to think before another enemy engaged him. However, this one backed off after recognizing him, but the soldier found his life quickly ended when a bolt of electricity from a unicorn roasted him alive. It was madness. Fortunately, it was not to last much longer.

It took the Decurion awhile to notice, but the fighting began to slowly die as soldiers galloped for Stalliongrad’s wall, quickly discarding their helmets. Duster didn’t question this. He had to take this moment to regroup. Jamming his sword into the ground to clear his mouth he shouted, “All those still loyal to the Empire form up on me!”

Immediately, his soldiers began recover. Gathering their wits, they started forming defensive lines only for pegasi in non-uniform armor to begin dive-bombing them. The Lunar Republic was beginning its attack.

Nightmare Moon had not been entirely pleased when the troops she hoped to recruit turned in on themselves, slaughtering each other. Ideally they would’ve all turned to the Republic’s service, but, then, ideally the entirety of the Celestial Empire would rebel. Which would be foolish to hope for. Still, even as it was, things were going better than if no one had listened to her. That did not mean things were going well, though. Sure, the Republic could just sit back and watch as the grand army soldiers tore each other apart, but that would leave little to no new recruits from among them. The Lunar Republic needed to press forward, and capture more towns and territory if it was to be anything significant, let alone the nation changing force it wanted to be. Yet it could not hold Stalliongrad, a single town, and press forward at the same time. The Republic was in dire need of troops, and Nightmare could not allow their only chance at recruits to pass them by.

The alicorn had set to work as quickly as she could, and crouched against the rampart to protect herself as she acted. Via magic, her mind flew from one grand soldier’s psyche to the next, and quickly sorted through for the soldiers’ motivation, doing her best not to damage their minds in the process. She left those who fought for the Empire alone, and targeted the ponies who now believed in her words. She planted in their minds a subtle but insistent urging to rally at the gates of Stalliongrad, and discard their helmets so they could be told apart from the Republic’s enemies.

Small streams of ponies began to do as they were instructed, unknowingly, but on this scale what Nightmare Moon was attempting was a difficult task, even for her. It would take her time to complete. As she was doing this, however, the republic forces did not remain idle. Pegasi took to flight under the command of Hail Bolt, and began to bombard the enemy soldiers to keep them at bay while the Republic’s new allies rallied at the gate.

Hail Bolt and four other pegasi dove from the sky, weapons in mouth, directly at the front line of the enemy. She was uncertain how many of her ponies found their mark, but her dagger met flesh. She expertly drove it under the high collar located on the front of most grand army plate armor, to protect the throat, and thrust the blade into her opponent’s neck. Quickly, she withdrew her dagger, and began a rapid ascent to avoid retaliation from any of her dead target’s allies.

As she rose, the blue pegasus checked her sides to see the rest of her group rising in synchronization. Pleased that they had made it, she changed her ascent into a large loop by turning on her back in the air, and then beginning a descent as fast as the climb up. Picking a target, she flew straight for him, but he was able to bring his sword to bear in time to block her strike. Having no time to waste, she slammed her hooves into him, using her momentum and strength to knock him down, and bolted into the air again. This tactic wasn’t so much about killing as it was delaying the Grand Army’s recovery. Checking ahead real quick, she saw several other teams of pegasi doing the same as her group further into the mass of enemy soldiers. She could’ve sworn she saw a few missing from the supposed-to-be groups of five, but she didn’t have time to be certain as she made another loop.

This time, however, the enemy was prepared. Arrows, bolts, and a few spells were launched at the republic pegasi. Forcing them to dodge, and swerve off path a little. Hail Bolt evaded the missiles with some effort, but only narrowly managed to clip a pony’s ear with her dagger before beginning the loop again. She thought it odd, on her way back up, that none of the enemy pegasi had taken to the air to counter them. Did all the pegasi in this contingent convert to the Republic’s side? Were there no enemy pegasi in the first place? Each seemed rather unlikely, but as Hail Bolt caught sight of the massing traitors to the Empire they did seem like a larger group than what was still attacking. There was no one else moving between the groups either. Whatever Nightmare Moon had been up to, she was done.

Hail Bolt turned her loop into a dive, and landed amongst the new recruits. “Who here bears no loyalty to the Empire?” She called out loudly, ready to fly if the force assembled was not what she thought.

In response, however, she received a raucous shout from all the troops around her. Soldiers wearing the black armor of the Grand Army. Cheering. It was so familiar. Too familiar. She couldn’t focus on that right now. There was a battle to be won here. “Then follow me!” She ordered, tucking her wings into her sides, and charged through the crowd to lead them back to battle.

Twilight’s patience was wearing thin. What was going on? Were they winning? Losing? Had any soldiers been swayed by her master’s words? It was so aggravating waiting here. Once upon a time she would’ve been just as patient as any of her squad, and maybe she still could be under different circumstances. However, now was a battle, and from her current position she had no fucking clue what was going on. Her master could be dead for all she knew! The thought made the lavender mare stop, and her blood began to run cold. She quickly fought it off with a vicious shake of her head. There was no way Nightmare Moon could be dead. She was too strong to just be killed by some random soldier.

Twilight’s thoughts were interrupted by a scream from a few streets over. The unicorn went rigid, and pointed her ears in the direction of the sound, trying to hear more. It was difficult to tell, but it almost sounded like there was a struggle. She took a few steps towards the edge of the street only to be halted by a shout from behind, “Stop!”

Turning, she saw Cold Water glaring down at her. “Where do you think you’re going?” He asked in an annoyed voice.

“There was a scream. I’m going to check it out.” Twilight answered, trying to remain respectful.

“Your place is here.” Her commanding officer responded.

“But someone might be in trouble. We should help them.” She argued.

“We are to wait her for grand army forces, and ambush them when they come.” Cold Water pointed out in growing agitation.

“We’re here because we’re supposed to protect the civilians. What good will we do them if we hide, and let them come to harm?” Twilight rebutted, her own aggravation rising.

“It is an ambush. We take our enemy by surprise. THEN we go around killing any we find.” The unicorn stallion explained as if she were stupid.

“And what if the enemy doesn’t come down this road? Should we just sit out every chance we have to help? What if it’s pegasi that come? They’ll see us from above, and ambush us instead!” Twilight growled.

Cold Water scowled and threatened, “Cease being insubordinate right now, or Nightmare Moon will hear about this!”

“Go ahead and tell her!” Twilight replied, and cantered away without further word.

She had nothing to fear from her master knowing. She was right, and the alicorn would see that. Twilight stopped as she heard hoofsteps behind her, and turned to see the earth pony from her squad following her. “You’re coming?” She asked in surprise.

The earth stallion hesitated before nodding an affirmative. “Yes ma’am. You’re right, ma’am.” He replied.

Twilight allowed herself a small smile. It seemed some ponies were willing to listen to her. She waved for him to keep following, and continued down the alley between streets.

After crossing over several roads Twilight came into the middle of one in particular to find a pegasus mare in black leather armor digging a spear out of the corpse of a clear noncombatant. The young unicorn was slightly shocked. Her point in being here was to protect civilians true. Yet to actually see an enemy soldier not only have killed a civilian, but, judging by the ruined door to the building not far behind the corpse, to have purposefully hunted one out was repulsive.

The grand army soldier stared her for just a second before flying straight at her. Twilight’s instincts kicked in, and she teleported on top of her assailant. The unicorn was surprised by this, having never teleported on a moving target before, but she didn’t have time to wonder at her own actions. Her weight brought the pegasus mare to the ground, but her foe began struggling underneath her. The pegasus was stronger than Twilight, so the lavender mare acted quickly. Her horn glowed brightly, as she focused her telekinesis around her enemy’s head. Then pushed inward. The pegasus mare’s entire skull caved under the force of Twilight’s magic. Before she had time to rest, though, her ally rushed past her.

The unicorn turned to see the earth stallion buck at one of a group of three more pegasi, forcing the foe to flutter backwards. Twilight quickly resumed a battle stance, and brought her horn to bear. The leftmost pegasus appeared ready to charge, but he quickly found the ground lashing upward to pull him down. The pegasus struggled in vain, his efforts proving worthless. Only for the republic earth stallion to grab his head, and twist his neck.

Taking advantage of Twilight’s distraction, the rightmost pegasus charged her. The lavender unicorn only realized this at the last second, and flinched as she attempted to bring an energy shield to bear. A wet cracking sound made her reopen her eyes to find her attacker hanging onto her half formed shield by a bloody throat. Twilight took a few moments to analyze this, and realize what had happened. Then she smiled proudly as an idea hit her, and she dispelled the shield, allowing the body to drop. Turning her attention back to remaining pegasus, she found her ally taking a shortsword from a trampled corpse. Only then did she notice that the earth stallion had oddly been unarmed.

Pushing the issue aside, she rushed into the broken in house. “Hello!” She called. “Is anyone still alive in here?”

Receiving no response after a moment, Twilight grit her teeth in aggravation at herself, and turned back outside. She scanned the skies, and found that there was a significant more amount of grand army pegasi flying about. They hadn’t seemed to take notice of her, though. They were diving below, and presumably landing on buildings to raid them. Not good. “Ma’am?” A voice asked, and Twilight turned her attention back to the earth pony who was with her.

He appeared worried. “Come on. It’s not safe for the villagers in these buildings anymore. We need to move them. The former Duke’s place would be best.” She ordered, and rushed to next door to check for any civilians.

Hail Bolt narrowly dodged the unicorn’s stomp, but sprang forward like a cat without hesitation. Her dagger dug its way slowly through her opponent’s leather armor, forcing the pegasus to stop mid jump. With a hard jerk, her dagger was free, and there was a long bloody cut down her enemy’s side. The unicorn fell over screaming from the pain. He would be dead soon enough, and she had no time to waste.

Before she could be engaged again, Hail Bolt flew into the air, and took in the scene of the battle. She was uncertain exactly what kind of fortune it was, but not only had the bulk of the regiment sent against them converted to their side. The enemy was losing ponies at a much faster rate, as well. They were winning more effectively now than when they had taken Stalliongrad initially. Granted, the blue mare was concerned by the lack of enemy pegasi, but not one grand army soldier had managed to make it inside the town.

Whoever was in command of these soldiers could not be faulted for underestimating the Republic. Though his pathetic attempt at burning the wall showed he was unfamiliar with combat in the north. The fact was, however, his or her current condition was due to no mistake on their part. After all, it was hard to account for or counter over half your own ponies turning against you.

A nearby boom of thunder alerted Hail Bolt to Nightmare Moon’s turning of the weather against their foes. A clear scorch mark of burnt bodies lay where the lightning had struck. The alicorn seemed to be avoiding using much magic at this time. Which Hail Bolt found curious. Had whatever she done been truly that taxing on the faux deity’s magic? The pegasus had trouble believing that. Whereas she had once doubted the alicorn’s movement of the moon she had seen Nightmare at work on the night several times now, and her faith on that account had been restored. If the former empress was capable of altering the night then, however magic worked, she still had plenty of magical strength left. So why was she avoiding magic? It would do the pegasus no good to bother herself over it. Hail Bolt had a job to do.

She dove back down into the mass of soldiers below her, and picked a random target in plate. Quickly, she jammed her dagger into his eye before he even knew she was there. She didn’t have time to pull it from his corpse, as a large ball of rock slammed into her hip, knocking it out of place. Hail Bolt bit back a scream, and turned to see a unicorn mare charging at her and levitating a conjured blade. The pegasus’ movement would be limited on the ground now, but fortunately she could fly. She pulled out her second knife from its sheath on her chest, and waited until the last second before taking to the air. Her assailant’s blade swiped at nothing, and she was able to circle around to the unicorn’s side. She thrust her dagger forward, but her enemy’s hauberk prevented blade from going in far. Even so, the unicorn neighed in pain and reared, her conjured blade disappearing with her loss of focus. Continuing to hover, Hail Bolt was quick in moving to her enemy’s front, and slitting her throat.

The pegasus did not have time to relax, however. Hearing a rustle of approaching hooves, she turned, and barely blocked the sword strike in time. She was at a disadvantage, though. She was using a smaller weapon, and holding back the sword required strength from her wings since she was hovering, rather than her legs. Needless to say, this was difficult. That’s when she took in her opponent, and both her eyes and his own widened in recognition. This was her old subordinate. Duster. She never even felt the blade slide up from behind her, and cut her throat open.

Nightmare Moon was attempting to aid the battle from a distance. She was not weak by any means, but she had been routing around the minds of hundreds of soldiers. One of the spells she had been using was fueled by stamina, and as such her strength was sapped significantly. Even so, her aid from the sky was, aggravatingly, proving limited in its usefulness. Making lightning strike was easy. It was just a simple stomp of her forehooves. Ensuring that it only roasted enemies was not. It took an amount of carefulness and time she did not have. The republic pegasi weren’t bothering with weather attacks either. They were either dive bombing the enemy, or switching between ground combat and aerial movement. Finally growing fed up with her efforts, Nightmare jumped off the cloud she was on and dove.

A few spells were launched at her, but they hit the invisible bubble that surrounded her, generated by her chest plate’s enchantment. The spells were weakened as they entered the magic dampening field, but even so Nightmare had to grit her teeth at the burning caused by the blasts of energy. She landed directly on top of an enemy stallion, using her weight and momentum to crush him, and a field of dark blue energy extended from her horn, her helmet’s enchantment nullifying the effect of the magic-dampening field on her.

The soldiers about her, enemy and ally, stood in awe for a moment. Their goddess stood before them ready to fight. Eventually, one young stallion forced himself to attack. Swallowing hard, the earth pony charged. Nightmare sent a blast of air from her horn, and tripped him. Before he could climb back up she rushed to him, and used the cone of energy extending from her horn to chop his head off. She wasn’t in a situation to use arkanai properly. She didn’t have much time to waste with annoying her enemies. She needed brutal efficiency.

Two more soldiers, possibly seeking revenge, came for her. Thanks to the exhaustion from her efforts earlier in the battle she did not react in time. The unicorn shot a fireball at her, and though it was weakened by the field around her it still packed enough power that when it slammed into her chest plate it forced her to stumble back. The earth mare took advantage of this, and drove her blade into the alicorn’s shoulder.

Nightmare neighed in pain. Her boots’ enchantment made her skin as tough as leather, but they offered little protection to her insides from the cold steel. She retaliated by rearing, and slamming her hooves into the ground, channeling a spell through them instead. The immediate area quaked, causing her opponents to lose balance. Then, wincing in pain, she telekinetically jerked the sword from her shoulder, and threw it into the unicorn’s face. Just as the earth pony was recovering, she swiped her energy horn across the grand army soldier’s neck, and severed her enemy’s head.

There was more rustling behind her, and she turned to cut off the snout of whoever was stupid enough to attack her next. However, she quickly stopped short when she saw it was one of her newly acquired ponies. “Your highness.” He said with a bow. “The day has been won.”

Nightmare allowed the energy on her horn to dissipate, and looked around. Surely enough, their remaining enemies were dropping their weapons, and pressing themselves into the ground in surrender. The alicorn allowed herself a weary smile. Good. She may be able to gain even more soldiers for the Lunar Republic. The only question on her mind was where were they going to keep these prisoners?

Twilight Sparkle slid to a halt, her charges continuing to hurry forward, and turned around. With hardly a thought, she generated two shields, but stopped forming them when they were only in the shape of foot wide discs. Then she threw them at her pursuers. Her new technique proved useful for the umpteenth time. One disc cut off a pegasus’ wing, causing him to drop, and the other sliced straight through another pegasus’ torso. Energy shield spells apparently made for excellent cutting weapons.

There were at least five more pegasi behind those two, but Twilight was not left alone. Two more republic unicorns were quickly by her side, and shooting balls of magical energy at the enemy. “Go ahead, ma’am. We’ll hold them off.” One said.

“Thank you.” Twilight responded, and hurried after the villagers she had been escorting.

This was the tenth party of civilians the young mare was shepherding, and at twenty strong it was the largest. She hadn’t remained unnoticed by the grand army pegasi for long once she had started gathering civilians, and moving them to safety. Fortunately, Twilight and her earth stallion ally hadn’t remained alone in their efforts. There were other squads in the town set to protect the villagers as well. Whether Twilight had met them moving through the streets or defending homes they had quickly agreed to her plan, and, without even realizing it, she had risen to command of the operation.

The bulk of the republic soldiers in town were protecting the former home of Duke Gravel Pie. As that was where all the civilians were being moved. There were a few soldiers patrolling, though, in attempts to protect the escorts or simply take out as many pegasi as they could. Twilight and six others were the escort. They would go out, and collect the civilians to safely move them. The unicorn had been fortunate enough that Masque Raid had been at the Duke’s old home, and he was now in charge of protecting the villagers already moved.

The thought made Twilight wonder why Hail Bolt, Thunder Cracker, or her master hadn’t sent them any air support. Unless, they didn’t know the Grand Army had made it into the town. The only way the young mare could see that, though, was if the Grand Army’s pegasi had somehow slipped away from the bulk unnoticed to sneak around into town. It was the only thing that made sense.

Twilight caught up with the villagers and her allies just as they arrived at their destination. Pegasus corpses littered the area. The lavender mare could only hope the enemy was thinning at this point. “Open the door!” She shouted, and one of the many ponies guarding the structure knocked on the door to signal this wasn’t a trick.

The door opened, and the villagers hurried for the safe haven. A colt tripped and fell, but Twilight levitated him out harm’s way, saving him from being trampled. Once everyone else was inside she levitated the colt in, and prepared to head out to gather more civilians.

She was halted, however, as a large group of pegasi began flying towards the building. Twilight did not wait or waste time. Immediately, she began creating her shield disks, and tossing them at the enemy. The spell was draining her emotionally, and her mind was beginning to slow down. But she forced herself to continue. If she stopped now she would die, and the civilians her master had charged her with the protection of as well. One disk cut off a pegasus’ hind legs. Another decapitated one, and a third cut another pegasus in half. After that, however, the pegasi began to catch on, and were quickly swerving around her energy disks. However, this left them open to spell and bolt bombardment from the many other ponies present. The enemy pegasi were dropping like flies under the constant shooting, and turned to try to retreat. Their retreat was stopped, though, when they came face to face with Nightmare Moon and the republic pegasi.

Twilight let out a breath she’d unknowingly been holding in all this time, and allowed herself to pant. She felt more exhausted than she should. Regardless, she’d succeeded at her task. The civilians were safe now. If Nightmare was returning, then the battle was likely finished outside of town.

Hail Bolt lay on the ground outside the town. Nopony bothered her, but she was alright with that. She just wanted to rest right now. She was surprised, actually. He breathing came easy and normal. There was no strain to it or wetness from the blood. Actually…she didn’t think she was bleeding anymore, either. She felt pretty normal. Even though the cut was still on her throat.

Her thoughts were cut short when a set of pale hooves stopped in front of her. They seemed oddly far apart. As if the pony, for she was certain that’s what it was, was much taller than a normal one. Her visitor was silent for a moment before a kind feminine voice said, “It’s time to go.”

Go? Go where? She needed to head back to the town sure, but…couldn’t she stay here for a little longer? “You can’t. Not here.” The tall pale mare spoke again, seeming to know what was on her mind.

Wait…Did she mean…? No! Hail Bolt couldn’t leave the Republic! She needed to stay here! She needed to fight! She needed to…The image of Duster’s face swam before her, and she forced herself not to weep at the memory of what they had done all those years ago. “Am I…forgiven?” The pegasus asked as if her visitor could absolve her of her crimes, or even know what she was talking about.

“That’s up to you.” The kind tall pale mare said as she offered one of her forehooves to Hail Bolt. “Take my hoof.”

Author's Note: Right, so it's been way too fucking long. I'm sorry guys. Really. Suffice to say writer's block is a bitch. I know some of you might think that that's what the other hiatus was about. No. That was planning out what I wanted to happen. This was a problem with a single scene in this chapter. And that was...How the FUCK was I going to make the Empire traitors identifiable to the Republic?! I hope I did a good job with that when the answer came to me. At any rate, I'll stop ranting, and let you guys start speculating and telling me what you think.

Reason and Red

It was eerily quiet in the former home of the dead duke. The battle had left a somber mood for the leaders of the Lunar Republic, after Thunder Cracker’s yelling was finished. Two days ago they had a resounding victory against the Grand Army forces sent to take Stalliongrad and the Pie Duchy back from them. They had gained over three hundred soldiers from the fight, with more being very slowly converted from the prisoners, and the leader of the enemy regiment sent against them had been identified among the dead. Yet so had Hail Bolt. They had lost one of their leaders. This left most of the Republic quiet about their victory. They didn’t want to speak of it because of what they had lost. Yet they could not remain still for long. They had the troops they needed to start invading the Silver-seas Duchy, and it was time for them to go on the offensive again.

Nightmare Moon took a breath, and broke the silence, “We’ve wasted enough time. I was fine with giving the soldiers time to adapt to their allies and the…loss of Hail Bolt, as I was certain we would hear back a response from the ponies we sent to Gildaris by now. It’s been too long, though. We need to press forward while we have the advantage. Celestia likely does not yet know of the attack’s failure. The Silver-seas don’t have that many significant towns, but there are quite a few villages between here and North Bay. We should work our way down the Empress’ Road until it starts curving south, and conquer any villages in our way.”

Quiet filled the building again. It was awhile before Masque Raid responded, “I’m assuming that once it starts bending south we’ll cut through the wetlands to the part of the road that leads to North Bay?”

“Yes. It’ll be slow going, but far less dangerous than if we went down to the border with the Platinum Duchy and came back up. North Bay has secure walls, and we can really only attack it from one side. Not to mention that the city guards there actually have their own little fortress. We’ll need to keep any troops we might lose fighting a force patrolling said border to ensure the best possible outcome.” Nightmare answered.

“And who would be leading this force?” Thunder Cracker asked, staring at the fire burning in the fireplace in a lost way.

“Me.” The alicorn answered, eliciting a snort from the earth stallion. “And since I know how much you mistrust them I’ll be taking mostly our newly acquired forces.”

“Really? I’m supposed to trust you leading Grand Army forces?” The angry stallion queried as he looked back at Nightmare.

The former empress stared back at him coolly. “Have I not proven myself trustworthy in all I’ve already done? And they are not Grand Army anymore. They’re Lunar Republic. They’re our soldiers as much as any who were here before.” She pointed out.

Thunder Cracker opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by Masque, “I’m afraid she has a point, but even if you don’t trust her only one of us need stay up here. I can lead the force with her if that would be easier to swallow.”

The earth stallion glared at him a moment before snorting, and looking back into the fire. “Fine.” He replied. “But what about your supplies?”

Nightmare was surprised that he had given in so easily. He must truly have been upset about losing Hail Bolt. “We’ll have to make do for now. We’ll take what we can without endangering the town, and hope that the other villages we cross will have the food and water we’ll need. It’s not like it will be difficult taking them either. Since the gryphons have not responded we need to hurry to North Bay. It’s Equestria’s best port next to Manehatten, and certainly the most profitable one. It’ll have enough supplies to support everything we’ll have gained by that point.” She answered.

“Barely.” Thunder Cracker scoffed. “That’ll spread our resources thin across camps, outposts, and villages. We’ll be weak and struggling if you take everything out of North Bay to supply the whole Republic.”

“It’s better than if we allowed said villages or camps to starve, and it will have to do unless the gryphons reply back soon. We can’t wait forever.” Masque pointed out.

“That makes enough sense, but it won’t do for a permanent solution. My point still stands.” Thunder Cracker argued.

“If the gryphons of Gildaris won’t help us we still have two other gryphon kingdoms we could contact.” Nightmare offered.

“And if they don’t help us?” The earth stallion asked. “Why should we ask those overgrown chickens for aid anyway? Aren’t you the one fretting over what they’ll want if they help?”

“We are asking the gryphons because they are our only option. The monkeys, zebra, and bison live too far south to be of any aid at the moment, and why would they have any reason to help us? The monkeys are so isolationistic hardly anything has been known about them since the middle of the Disparate Era over a thousand years ago. The zebra and bison together could provide significant strength, but they hate each other. Not to mention they have no interest in other societies politics. The gryphons’ greed worries me greatly for what they might ask, but it is also the only thing giving us any hope of receiving supplies. As for if none of them will aid us…I am uncertain how our movement will survive. We need them. That’s all there is to it.” Nightmare explained.

Suddenly the front door burst open, and a soldier rushed into the room from the hall. “Ma’am, sirs!” He addressed, breathing heavy. “It’s Twilight Sparkle…”

Twilight sat in her tent with the prepared materials. Since the battle things had been changing for her throughout the camp and town. Citizens had been grateful to her for saving their lives. Some had even given her gifts. A thick dark blue cloak that was bit large for her was one, and she quite liked it. It matched most of her mane and tail in color, and it helped keep her warm. She, like most citizens of Stalliongrad, had become numb to the cold to some extent, but that didn’t mean she was entirely protected from it. She could still feel it if it was bad enough, and warmth was always welcome. Another gift she’d received was a copper brooch one of the smiths made that resembled the large star that dominated most of her cutie mark. It was fine craftsponyship by no means, but it still had been cleaned and shined.

The citizens’ gifts and gratitude weren’t the only things happening to the young unicorn, though. The Republic forces were treating her with more respect now, and the new recruits from the Grand Army… Twilight supposed it had something to do with how closely her master interacted with her. Even if the lavender mare herself was still somewhat distant, Nightmare Moon was kind and caring towards her, if a bit firm. The soldiers didn’t seem to know she was actually their goddess’ slave, though. All they knew was that Nightmare favored Twilight greatly, and kept the unicorn by her side often. Which caused them to treat Twilight with a certain level of reverence. They treated her like a commanding officer for hardly any reason.

All these things, the gifts, the respect, and the reverence, the young unicorn was uncomfortable with. The only pony to treat her with respect or give her things before was Nightmare. Plus, it had been her job to protect the civilians. They really shouldn’t be giving her gifts for it. This was all too new and too sudden. She wasn’t going to argue with it, though. She might be unnerved by this new treatment, but she knew that it was supposed to be a good thing. Wasn’t it? Deep down, she did feel some joy at the respect, and at having helped the ponies of the town. It made her wonder about the question Nightmare Moon posed her with before the battle. What did she fight for?

At the moment, Twilight was attempting something new. She had plenty of practice with combat magic by now, but she hadn’t been able to study or practice other kinds of magic since leaving the Royal Pony Sisters’ Castle. So, she was going to try to make her cloak more useful. She was going to enchant it. Her master had packed a few scrolls into her saddlebags when they first left, and she was fortunate to find that one of them held the rune alphabet. Granted, she technically didn’t need it. She knew well enough that any mark could function as any kind of rune, but she had a hard time imagining that. Her mind didn’t want to accept it. So, she was glad to have the rune alphabet here to aid her.

She had taken careful calculation and planning in what she wanted the cloak to do. Invisibility seemed like a plus, but it would have to be massive to cover her whole body. Otherwise, parts of her would show. Besides, she liked wearing the cloak. She didn’t want to store it away for special missions. No. Instead, she decided to attempt making the cloak tougher than the leather armor she usually wore. With her power and the fuel source she chose that shouldn’t be too difficult.

What she was going to use to mark the runes she needed on the cloak, and what she was going to use to fuel them were also matters of debate. She ended up settling on blood for both. It would make a good permanent mark on the cloak, and it would also increase the power of the enchantment. All in all, it was her best choice.

Twilight Sparkle took a deep breath to prepare herself. She was used to being hurt now, but doing it to herself was something she needed to brace herself for. She lifted one of her forelegs over the bowl in front of her, and levitated the small knife she had brought up to her flesh. Quickly, she cut herself, and put the knife aside as she waited. Her blood slowly fell from her scratch, and began to fill inside the bowl. It was a bit slow of a process for her taste but necessary.

Once the bowl was filled, the unicorn bandaged her leg, and then dipped the brush she had with her into her blood. Carefully, she painted the runes she needed onto her spread out cloak. She had no experience painting, and the runes looked sloppy. However, they’d pass. There was little blood left in the bowl when she was done, and Twilight was relieved that she’d had just enough to make the runes. She would’ve been agitated if she had to cut herself again.

Two steps done, the young mare, stepped forward, and placed her horn on the runes one by one. She gave them all meaning and power. Forcing them to draw the fuel needed from the blood used to make the runes was complicated, but she managed.

When the task was done she gave a slightly tired smile, and levitated her cloak up to inspect it. Thankfully, the blood hadn’t leaked the whole way through, so there were only a few spots of blood on the cloth’s backside. On the underside, where the runes were painted, the blood appeared to have already dried and stained the cloak, but when Twilight slid it on she could feel the warm wet spots where her blood made up the runs. It bothered the unicorn, but she pushed it aside as unimportant. She secured the cloak with her brooch, and left her tent. She had to test her enchantment to make sure it was working, but she didn’t have a sword or proper weapon to test it with in her tent.

As Twilight made her way through camp to an armory tent she couldn’t help but take note of the occasional group of ponies bound together with a few guards watching over them. There wasn’t a proper dungeon in town, just a few cells under the dead duke’s house. So the prisoners were spread throughout the camp in small groups, and watched over by soldiers of the Lunar Republic. It was inefficient and ill-advised, but without a proper place to hold the criminals what were they to do? Keep them bound together in a large group? No. Better to split them up, so they couldn’t work together to attempt escape. Alternatively, they could let some go, but Nightmare Moon wanted to gain as many soldiers as possible. So she was holding all of them until they could be converted. Judging by progress so far it was likely they could all be made to serve the Republic, but it would be slow going.

However, there was another important reason to keep all the prisoners. If no one escaped then no one could inform the Legatus Legionis that ordered the attack that it was a failure. Celestia had no idea that the Republic had won yet. Twilight wasn’t worried that the prisoners might escape either. The guards watching over them were attentive. Attempts to convert soldiers were frequent, and there were more than enough forces in this camp and town to foil any escape attempts.

Before Twilight Sparkle could reach an armory tent a shrill unfamiliar cry echoed over the town. Everything seemed to stop. The noise. The talking. Whatever ponies had been doing at the time. The young unicorn looked up curiously, as the sound had been very bird-like. A large flock of massive flying forms were circling round from the north to the camp’s main entrance. Twilight hesitated before following. She could test her enchantment at anytime. She’d never seen creatures like these before, and she wanted to investigate.

As the young mare neared the camp entrance she heard shouting. “What are you doing here?” Demanded an angry voice.

“I could ask you the same thing, grand army dog! And what’s with the white stripes on your armor?” An equally angry and clearly non-pony voice retorted.

Twilight furrowed her brow at it. It sounded sharp and chirping but powerful. It was very foreign, and made her ears twitch. “This is our camp, and you will show us respect by answering first!” The first voice argued.

“Excuse me.” Twilight said as she came to a crowd apparently gathered round whatever spectacle was occurring.

The pony to whom she spoke immediately moved to the side when he saw who she was, and the rest of the ponies in the crowd began parting for her as she progressed. She didn’t even have to push her way through. She came to the front to see something she had never before. Gryphons. A whole wing of them.

They were massive, and could probably stand eye to eye with her master. Most all their bodies were pure muscle with the exception of their scaly bony forelegs. Which ended in claws sharper and larger than even the wolves’ Twilight had seen. Their digits were also long and far more flexible than any creature the unicorn would’ve thought. The entire front ends of their bodies were covered in several coats of large feathers of varying colors from individual to individual. Just behind and above their shoulders were massive wings the lavender unicorn suspected were even larger than her master’s. Their necks curved seamlessly into their heads, and their ears were long and curved to fold into their necks perfectly during flight. Which prevented the wind from deafening them while airborne. Their eyes were almost as large as pony eyes, but appeared to constantly adjust, flex, and take in everything. They likely had superb sight, and they had no snouts but sharp cruel beaks that could probably break many a sword in half.

The aft end of the gryphons’ bodies were drastically different though. They were chimeras after all. It was shaped like a manticore’s, but the fur was shaggier and longer. There were less variances in color on the gryphons’ back ends as well. One of the oddest things to Twilight, though, were their long wiry tails that ended in a mixture of a tuft of fur and feathers.

Unlike the wolves the gryphons wore armor as well. Large breastplates with attached shoulder pads covered their upper torsos. Heavy platemail shielded the outer and inner thighs of the gryphons, and some had chainmail leggings running under the plate. Twilight was curious how the massive beings flew with all the weight they carried.

“Bah! We aren’t here for you, dog!” The, presumably, gryphon commander retorted. “Out of our way!”

“I will not let you pass unless you state your business!” The former grand army soldier stated, refusing to budge.

The gryphon commander apparently grew tired of arguing as he pulled back a claw to strike. “‘Is that why you fight?’” Nightmare’s words echoed in Twilight’s head, and the unicorn made a decision right there and then.

In a flash she had knocked the soldier out of the way of the gryphon’s attack, and the chimera struck. There was a shriek of pain, and the gryphon recoiled. He stared at his broken talons in shock before snarling at Twilight as best his beaked face would allow, and letting out an odd chirping hiss. The enchantment on the young mare’s cloak had taken with more effect than she would’ve thought. Feeling emboldened she snarled back with a fierceness to match the gryphon’s. “Answer the question.” She ordered.

“Mare.” The gryphon commander hissed with disdain. “You think you have the right to command me?”

Had Twilight thought about it she would have realized what the alien creatures were here for. She did not. She was caught up in the moment. Infuriated that the gryphon commander had dared attack one of HER allies. “I am Twilight Sparkle. A slave of Nightmare Moon. Yes. I do.” She answered, half with the intent to insult the gryphon before her.

The chimera picked up on this, and his growing fury was evident in his eyes. So did the rest of his wing, as they began to crowd closer. It was now that Twilight caught sight of the confused pegasus among them. She paid him no mind. “You can not hope to kill us all mare.” He spat, as if her gender were lower than her lot in life.

“She doesn’t have to.” A voice said, and Twilight looked to her side to see that soldier she had saved standing by her.

The crowd behind her was moving closer with angry scowls etched on their faces. If the unicorn had a way to thank them she would, but now was not the time for it. She looked back at the gryphon commander with a smile of superiority. “You don’t have to lose your whole wing today, nor do I have to lose my ponies. Our feud is with each other.” She pressed.

She was doing this to protect the crowd. She didn’t want them to risk theirselves for her. The gryphon continued to scowl, but gestured for his soldiers to back off, and they did. Twilight turned to her side, and with a simple wave of the hoof to the soldier there he and the crowd did likewise. She then pulled up the hood of her cloak to protect her head. “Ready, mare?” The gryphon asked as he redrew her attention.

The chimera had drawn a blade that looked like finer steel than Twilight had ever seen. It was thinner than any pony-made sword she’d seen as well. She had not noticed the scabbard on his side until now because she had yet to take a good look at his sides. Briefly, she found the way he held it in one of his claws odd, but she hadn’t time to ponder it. “Yes.” She answered.

The gryphon commander’s response was immediate, and his sword flew towards her. She barely had time to create a shield the size of a disk to block the attack. The gryphon did not waste time, having already predicted the block. While one claw kept the blade pressed against the shield to Twilight’s left the other came swooping in on her right. The unicorn quickly ducked out of the way, and used her shield to force back the gryphon’s blade. Once she was no longer in danger of having her head cut off she dropped the shield, so she could throw opponent back with her telekinesis. With but a little twisting of his wings, however, the gryphon commander was able to catch himself, and flew up into the air.

Twilight shot several bolts of magical energy after him, but he dodged with ease. When he was directly over her he dove. She did not move, but waited until he was just a few feet away before creating a massive gust of wind to knock him flat onto the ground in front of her. Before he could recover she formed small shields over his arms to restrain him to the ground, and snatched up his fallen blade in her mouth. Thanks to its thinness it did not weigh enough to overbalance her, despite her inexperience with the weapon. The hard metal handle tasted and felt odd in her mouth, but she was able to get a good grip with her teeth. The almost artistic wiry guard pressed firmly against the side of her muzzle, and the small curving piece of metal in front of her snout, which she assumed was for protecting a gryphon’s claw, provided slight protection. She didn’t take time to analyze these things, though, and galloped to the side of the gryphon. She lifted the blade high over her opponent’s neck, and brought it down as hard as she could to-- “STOP!”

It had been so long since an order was given to her by way of her blood oath, which she now understood said orders to be empowered by, that Twilight was startled when she found herself short of breath, and dropped the sword before she could behead the gryphon commander. Fortunately this brought her relief, and she quickly looked off to the side to see her master standing there with a furious look. The alicorn approached and glared down at her. “We will talk later.” She stated angrily.

Twilight could not reply before Nightmare Moon turned her attention to the gryphon commander. Who had risen, and was sheathing his sword, the unicorn’s shields having dispelled when she dropped the sword. “What do think you are doing attacking the ponies under my command and protection?” She demanded.

“She attacked me.” The gryphon commander lied.

Nightmare slapped a hoof upside his head, throwing him for a loop. “Do you take me for a fool?” She asked rhetorically, as her magic ripped his scabbard from his armor.

It was thrown over Twilight, but the unicorn understood from her master’s warning earlier this was not reward. It was simply punishment to the gryphon. Nevertheless, she grabbed the blade and scabbard in her magic, and levitated them to her side. In her mind she had earned it. Even if she was uncertain what she would do with a sword. “What are you doing!?” The gryphon shrieked in outrage.

“You have lost to a female. That is shameful in your culture. You also lied to me. Which is dishonorable in ours. You don’t deserve that sword.” Nightmare explained. “Now, I advise you and your wing to follow me. Otherwise I will be the next one you fight.”

The alicorn did not wait for a response before storming off. The gryphons, reluctantly, followed. Twilight knew she would be in trouble later for starting a duel, but at the moment she didn’t care. She felt justified. She had been defending her fellow soldiers, and she had her reason to fight now. She fought to protect.

Author's Note: Boy it feels good to be updating frequently again. Well, here you guys go. The introduction of the gryphons, and some major character development for Twilight. Also, to clarify, a wing is the term for a group of gryphons. Typically it's applied to a military squad, though. A wing can be anywhere from eleven members to twenty.

Finally, I had not intended to give Twilight the sword, so I'm not sure what to do with it. So, I'm leaving the idea up to you. Provide me with suggestions for what she should do with it. Make no mistake, she's not going to become a master swordspony, but I'm willing to take any suggestions you guys give. Now, if you don't mind I have to hop into the TARDIS, and go have some fun at the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Silver and Gold

Nightmare Moon sat alone in front of a plain board wall with a shelf on it. Along the shelf there were six simple wooden carvings. One of ponies laughing together, one of a pony speaking out to crowd in apparent defense of a pony behind him, one of a pony giving to another who seemed worse off, one of three ponies standing their ground in front of an angry crowd, one of a pony attending to another’s injuries, and one of a unicorn about to cast a spell. There was no church in Stalliongrad, despite it being a duchy capital. Largely, Nightmare suspected, because few ponies in the town believed in Harmonyism given that many were upset with the Celestial Empire here before there ever was a rebellion. In the end this meant that the ruler of the night and the grand army converts had no place to contemplate their beliefs. So, the soldiers had constructed this simple shrine in an isolated side of camp.

Nightmare was not here to contemplate her beliefs exactly, but to gather her thoughts. Twilight had seemed to take her rebuke with little care. Which only agitated the alicorn. The unicorn admitted her actions were rash, but she did not regret them. Quite in fact, Twilight seemed proud of them. The former-empress was uncertain where this sudden determination came from, her charge had always been more reserved, and she would have been proud if the circumstances were different. However, as they were, Nightmare Moon was infuriated by this stance her servant was taking.

She could at least be thankful that possible relations with Gildaris hadn’t been injured. The gryphon commander had been defeated by a female. So despite his current attempts to make negotiation hell, a fact only bolstered by Thunder Cracker’s aggressive attitude, in the end little he said or decided mattered. He’d be overthrown by one of his subordinates when they arrived back in Gildaris, and the facts would be relayed as they were, rather than twisted to the commander’s liking. The obsidian alicorn was both hopeful for and afraid of a positive response. The gryphons had said little of what they wanted so far other than possibly taking the Pie Duchy into their kingdom. Said request was a large one, but Nightmare suspected the gryphons wanted more than that for risking open war with the Celestial Empire. Regardless, they had sent back one of their own to carry the Republic’s response to their kind. The alicorn suspected it would not be long before this messenger returned, as he did not have to worm his way into the king’s court.

Still, Twilight could’ve caused things to go very badly. If she had killed the gryphon commander then the king of Gildaris would likely have been insulted at the treatment of his envoy. If she had lost then the gryphon commander wouldn’t be disgraced, and his fury at the treatment could’ve been used unhindered. Not to mention she would’ve died.

Nightmare’s blood ran cold at the mere thought, and she had to force herself not to shudder. She wasn’t entirely sure why, but she was greatly upset about the idea of no longer having Twilight Sparkle in her care. She supposed she was attached the unicorn given that Twilight had been her slave, which she rarely liked to think of the young mare as any longer, for months. She’d had the magical prodigy by her side much of the time since they’d met, and she’d taught her charge most of what the unicorn knew. Yet it didn’t make sense why she felt this way.

The former-empress had been friends with several subjects over her years, though it was rare, and she was always saddened to see them inevitably die as she lived on. However, none of their passings bothered her nearly as much as the simple thought of Twilight dying. “Noctim for your thoughts?”

Nightmare Moon did not jump, but she was quick in looking to her side to see who had invaded her privacy. “Masque.” She sighed. “What are you doing here?”

“Same as you. Thinking. Pondering. Meditating. It’s no Equinenox Cathedral, but it’ll do.” The cream white unicorn answered.

“You’ve seen the Cathedral?” Nightmare wondered.

“Naturally. I grew up in Bridlelon. Family and me attended every service. I saw you and sister there a couple of times. Always separate.” Masque Raid explained.

“Of course. We couldn’t both step off our thrones often. Normally only one of us can take a break at a time.” Nightmare commented.

“Didn’t trust the Legate?” Masque asked.

“Depends on which one. Artillerus, only in matters of military. He has trouble enough relating with his troops. I can’t imagine putting him in a political position, and force him to deal with civilians or nobles. Krieger though? I would’ve trusted him with anything. He was loyal and charismatic, very friendly. I suspect had Tia not already been the Avatar of Loyalty he would’ve been instead. He could’ve been laughter too. That gelding was a blowhard for the fun of it. Katar? She wasn’t very good with normal ponies either, but she was dedicated to their wellbeing.” The alicorn reminisced.

“You knew them well.” Masque commented.

“The Legate is in charge of all divisions of the military, but has direct command over the Royal Guard. It is a lot of responsibility. I aided where I could. Which lead me to the position that I am held to by soldiers of the Grand Army. Point being that I have known most legates well, as I have often aided them.” Nightmare expounded.

“And what of the current one? Do you think it will be long before he sends the Royal Guard after us?” Masque Raid wondered.

The former-empress hesitated, and turned her gaze from the shrine in thought. Off in the distance she could see a group soldiers training someone together. She narrowed her eyes curiously, and saw it to be her charge. Twilight Sparkle was training with the gryphon commander’s sword. Curious. Nightmare hadn’t thought the unicorn would wish to learn non-magical combat. She couldn’t tell for certain from this far off, but the young mare appeared to be doing poorly. Still, the soldiers helping her didn’t seem bothered either. The alicorn wondered if there was anything she could do to aid her servant in learning how to use the weapon properly. “Nightmare?” Masque asked, and snapped her back to reality.

“Hmm? Oh. Artillerus strikes me as unlikely to so readily move the Royal Guard off royal territory. It is more likely the Grand Army will be opponents again next, but we’ll face a much larger force this time, I’m certain. There is also the chance may send some royal guards or praetorians with our next enemies, but not large enough to be the primary fighting force.” She answered at last.

“Well, let’s hope for the latter.” The unicorn stallion replied.

Nightmare Moon snorted, “I still do not understand why the Prefect would turn traitor, nor do I trust him for it.”

“You turned traitor, and you were in an even higher position than he.” Masque Raid pointed out.

“Fair enough, but you do not know the Praetorians. They are too close to the Fae to be trusted so easily.” Nightmare argued calmly.

“Even when you made them?” Masque asked. “Besides, they are not faeries. All of Discord’s creations are long since destroyed.”

The obsidian alicorn stared at her current companion suspiciously. He was smirking knowingly. How much did he know? Who was he? “Whose your father?” She asked.

Masque’s smirk grew wider. “You didn’t know him, but you knew my mother.” He answered ambiguously.

Silence settled. After a few moments Nightmare spun her forehoof asking, “Well?”

“Well what?” Masque asked innocently.

The alicorn sighed in aggravation. If stallion was going to play games then this wouldn’t be worth the effort. She rose, and began trotting away. “Where are you going?” Masque asked.

“To watch my charge practice.” She excused, but was surprised to find she had already been heading in the direction of the young mare.

As she neared the group with whom Twilight was practicing she could hear the lavender unicorn, “I can’t put all my force behind it! The sword will break, and you’re stronger than me anyway!”

“That’s gryphon steel ma’am. Your bones will break before it does.” One of the soldiers she was sparring with replied.

“That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t have the strength to overpower you. Especially when you have a bigger sword.” Twilight complained.

“The size of a weapon does not matter when it comes to lethality. If you and your sword are too small to fight normally then be quick. Use mosquito bites. Don’t hack off limbs.” Nightmare advised, as she arrived.

The soldiers took notice of her, and abruptly dropped into bows. With a simple wave of her hoof they rose. Twilight stared at her in frustration with the rapier she’d won from the gryphon commander in her mouth. “Is it time to practice magic again?” She asked, speaking surprisingly well around the handle.

Nightmare was surprised by the unwelcomeness in her charge’s tone. “No. I…just wanted to watch.” She answered.

Was there something wrong with that? Evidently not. As some of the frustration seemed to fade from Twilight’s face at the explanation. “Your highness, if I may, the Magus can not rely on such small attacks for more armored opponents. Even with a blade of such caliber she’ll need a significant amount of force to pierce plate. Excepting that it’s shoddy work.” One of the soldiers interjected.

Magus? That was an odd word. The Alicorn had never heard it before, but judging by Twilight’s lack of reaction the soldiers had been calling her it for some time. They said it with such respect too. Curious. “Then the answer is simple. She must exercise more, and build up muscle. For now, Twilight, I advise that if you need more strength then put your legs into it.” Nightmare suggested.

Twilight quirked a brow, and gestured with her head for one of the soldiers to get into a fighting stance. An earth mare complied, and readied her sword. The lavender unicorn promptly locked her rapier with the soldier’s broadsword, and pressed forward with her legs rather than her neck. She held out for longer, but the earth mare inevitably forced her back. “That didn’t work.” Twilight grouched.

The earth mare put her sword away, and beat Nightmare to the punch by correcting, “It worked better, but, like her majesty said, you need to be stronger. Exercise.”

“I exercise plenty.” Twilight retorted, her aggravation at her lack of progress seeping into her voice.

“Magus, you work on stamina and speed. Not strength. You don’t have much muscle. Just enough. You need more if you want to use a sword effectively. Unless you want to levitate it, but we’d have difficulty teaching you then.” A pegasus soldier pointed out.

“But if I levitate it that’ll take up almost all my concentration. Casting two spells at once when one requires you to stay focused on it is almost impossible. I want to use the sword naturally, so I still have access to my magic.” Twilight explained.

“Then work on building up your muscle, Twilight.” Nightmare responded, strangely put out by the other soldiers helping to teach her servant.

The unicorn sighed, seemingly aggravated at the amount of work it would take to learn this skill, and sheathed her sword. She looked around and dismissed the soldier, “I’d like to take a break. You can go.”

Saluting, the soldiers did as asked. “Could we…study some magic?” Twilight wondered once they were gone.

Nightmare smiled warmly. Only she could teach her charge what said young mare truly enjoyed. “Of course. I’ve been meaning to ask about the enchantment on your clo--”

“There you are.” A strong voice chirped.

Severely agitated by the interruption, the alicorn turned to see one of the gryphons. “Come,” He commanded in his odd bird-like speech. “Our messenger has returned. We have more business to discuss.”

The former-empress glared coldly at the arrogant gryphon before her. He thought her a gryphoness to be ordered around as he wished? “Do not speak to my master that way again.” Twilight warned.

The obsidian mare was surprised to once again have been beaten to the punch, but even moreso by her servant’s defense of her. The gryphon stared at the unicorn contemptuously, but amended his statement, “Please, come?”

Nightmare nodded in response her own glare disappearing. “Lead the way.” She replied.

“What is she doing here?” Thunder Cracker demanded.

“You have never been bothered by Twilight’s presence before.” Nightmare replied.

“Yes. Because she’s a slave, but we’ve never negotiated anything with a group she’s offended before.” Thunder Cracker argued.

Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes at the aggressive earth stallion. She had insisted on coming. Which agitated her master slightly, and she understood why. Still, she felt it was her duty to know exactly what was going on. The soldiers almost all looked up to her, and even referred to her by their own title. Magus. She presumed it came from the word magic. The unicorn wasn’t sure that she deserved something like that, and she was still uncomfortable with the treatment. However, if they respected her so much that they placed her in a commanding position over them then she would do her best to fit the role. Which meant that she needed to be in the know with the council’s decisions. “She is here now, and that will not change.” Nightmare Moon insisted.

“Perhaps it would be wiser to not argue in front of our potential allies?” Masque interjected.

Twilight had to resist laughing at that. The incident just earlier that week had not been forgotten. The soldiers clearly disliked the gryphons, and the civilians in the town weren’t much more receptive. Needless to say, the Republic was, for the most part, upset that their “potential allies” had behaved so violently towards them. The unicorn was thankful that the gryphons would just be delivering supplies and then leaving. If they stayed and fought there would be more incidents, and Twilight was uncertain how she would deal with upset and angry ponies looking to her for guidance. “Yes, if you would cease bickering like females perhaps we could discuss our business.” The gryphon commander mocked, and caused Nightmare and Twilight to glare at him in unison.

“Gragh, fine. What did your king say?” Thunder Cracker asked.

“Half the duchy is not enough for what you ask. The whole duchy is not enough.” The gryphon commander answered with as much of a smile as his beak would allow.

“What!? That would double the size of your kingdom! How is it not enough?! All we need are some damn supplies!” Thunder Cracker barked.

“A lot of supplies. So many so that we won’t be able manage subtlety once you proceed beyond this town. The Celestial Empire will find out about what we’ve done, and they will come after us should you fail. We have no guarantee of your victory. Your force is several thousand strong and sizable, but the total of the Empire’s might is over a hundred thousand. You need to sweeten the deal if you want to be supplied.” The gryphon commander argued.

“What is it that King Gerrit wants?” Masque Raid interjected before anyone else could say more words of objection.

“In addition to the whole duchy we want you to cease all trade with Rapture, offer us better rates on traded goods, and to pay us back for everything we give you.” The gryphon commander explained.

Twilight may not have been lucky enough to have more than single daeum in her life, but even she was smart enough to know that the Lunar Republic wouldn’t have the money to pay Gildaris back when the war was over. If they did then it would severely sap what was saved up in the Empire’s treasury. The nation would be poor. Especially if trade was cut off with Rapture, the largest of the gryphon kingdoms. She managed to keep her mouth shut, though. She’d done enough to damage relations with Gildaris already, and her master would be very angry with her if she completely ruined the deal they needed so badly.

“Lofty demands.” Nightmare commented. “What’s stopping us from seeking something more favorable from the other gryphon kingdoms?”

“Rapture is too content with their current situation to risk this. Feliniss is too far away to be of any aid to you until you capture North Bay, and you need our supplies before then. Feethers and Shrye are not only too far away to do you any good at all, but they wouldn’t be able to ship too many supplies to you without being caught by us, Rapture, or Feliniss. Besides, it would take too long for you to get a messenger through to the court of one of the other kingdoms. By then you will be starving. It’s a wonder that with a host this large in this land that you aren’t already.” The gryphon commander pointed out with what Twilight assumed was a sly grin.

“Bastard.” The young mare thought, and grit her teeth.

Thunder Cracker looked ready to spontaneously combust. Nightmare Moon appeared far calmer, but Twilight had been around the alicorn long enough to know better. The barely noticeable twitch of the eye. The slight lowering of the ears. The tenseness of the muscles. The former-empress was furious. Masque, however, was the one who broke the silence. “And if we agreed and couldn’t pay?” He asked.

“Then we take more land as payment.” The gryphon commander answered with a pleased look, clearly wanting such to happen.

“Bah! Your price is too steep.” Thunder Cracker growled, evidently trying to keep himself from starting another war.

“But we’re the only ones with a price.” The gryphon commander pointed out again and chuckled.

Twilight was having a very hard time trying to restrain herself, but she was fortunate in that her master apparently had an idea.

The alicorn rose from her cushion, and approached the gryphon commander. “Perhaps we do not have to pay our debt in money. What your kingdom desires most right now is land. Land enough to rival Rapture. Help us take the Empire. Give us at least a year to recover, and then we will help you take part of the Pack Lands for yourselfves Does this not sound agreeable?” She asked.

The gryphon commander hesitated, uncertain how to respond. “Would serve those two timing rats right.” Thunder Cracker, oddly, agreed.

“Two wars so close? That may be pushing it a bit.” Masque argued.

Twilight was inclined to agree with him. Though she could see little chance of avoiding it. There would either be one with the wolves or one with Gildaris. In the end, however, would it not be easier to fight Gildaris than The Pack? Then again, what proof did the unicorn have of this? True, the wolves awoke a more primal fear inside of her when she met them, but there was no guaranteeing that wasn’t just her. Plus the gryphons had size and strength to outstrip most earth ponies, and they also had flight. Not to mention that from the comments her soldiers made, and from what little she could tell of her own sword, gryphon crafts and armaments were the absolute best in all of Eden. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so much less difficult than war with the wolves as it appeared. “No.” The gryphon commander suddenly insisted. “Potential war with the Empire is enough. We shall have your money in payment. Not the wolves’ land.”

“Oh really? Would you three kindly tell me what would be of more benefit to Gildaris? Land to expand upon or money?” Nightmare asked the subordinate gryphons who had accompanied their commander to the meeting and remained silent until now.

The three gryphons looked between one another without a sound before one of them answered, “Land.”

“Hush!” Their commander ordered.

“Why Commander Leopard, are you not acting in your country’s best interests?” Nightmare asked coyly, forcing him to be quiet. “However, there is another issue. With all that we will already be giving a second war would be overpaying. So, in order to make things fair, I request troops in addition to supplies.”

“No. Risking war is one thing. Declaring it is another.” The gryphon commander argued.

“Are you three going to allow a coward who lost to a mare decide your path, and the path of your country?” Nightmare asked the subordinates.

They were quiet, but they were also glaring at their commander. “So,” The alicorn continued, “you will leave immediately, and go to your king. You will tell him that in exchange for steady supplies and whatever amount of soldiers he feels is appropriate we will evacuate Stalliongrad, and give him all of the Pie Duchy. In addition, provided a year’s time to recover after the Celestial Empire is overthrown, we will aid Gildaris in a further war against The Pack to claim more land for his kingdom. We will not, however, end trade with Rapture. We shall maintain it, but we will give Gildaris large discounts on any traded goods from us. This does not apply to traveling pony merchants who enter Gildaris to sell their items, nor to any other service we might provide.”

The gryphons nodded in agreement to take the message. While their commander simply appeared confused as to how he had lost control of the situation.Twilight, however, could only think of one thing. The Lunar Republic soldiers would have to work alongside gryphons now. "Shit."

Author's Note: Sorry all. I know this is a day late, but I have a damn good excuse. Halo 4. Now, in this chapter I wanted to focus a bit more on Nightmare Moon, it's been a while since we've had a chapter mostly from her perspective, but I ended up cutting a last section out. So this is divided evenly between her and Twilight I feel. I also wanted to focus more on their relationship. Someone pointed out last chapter that it has indeed been too long since I've progressed their shipping any. At any rate, I hope you all enjoyed this. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to shooting people in the face with a shotgun, and running into massive swarms of enemies on legendary for the fuck of it.

The Dusty Brown Road

Travel was slow in the large company, and that was slightly grating on Twilight given that on the move she had little time to practice her magic or swordsponyship. Still, they had finally made it onto the Empress’ Road, so things were bound to speed up some. Of course, the trip would still be fairly slow-going given they were traveling with a decent-sized troop. They had taken a total of four hundred soldiers, mostly grand army converts, and all seventy-three as of yet unconverted prisoners. Which left a bare minimum of roughly one hundred and fifty to guard Stalliongrad. However, given that the troop was heading south, attention wouldn’t be on them. Most of the Empire and its military’s attention would be on Twilight Sparkle, her master, Masque Raid, and their soldiers. So over a hundred soldiers left under the command of Thunder Cracker would be more than enough to hold Stalliongrad.

Twilight couldn’t say that she’d miss the earth stallion either. He was always so angry and confrontational it was difficult to do anything with him. Not to mention that she did not appreciate many of the things he accused her master of being. There was a time when she would have been happy to hear such things, but…Nightmare Moon had at least earned her trust back for the most part. Though on occasion the unicorn would grow unreasonably nervous of what her master was up to when she couldn’t see the alicorn, and she still didn’t like to be touched much by anyone. It didn’t frighten or startle her, but it did make her skin crawl.

Gildaris had not been heard back from yet, but Nightmare Moon insisted they had waited too long as it was. The Empire would soon figure out its counterattack had failed, and the Lunar Republic had to strike before it could formulate another assault. That was especially now that they WERE out on the road. They were vulnerable here.

Nightmare felt that the gryphons would agree to the offer, though, and trusted Thunder Cracker to at least finalize the deal. Even if she just barely did. Then the Republic’s new ally would be told of their plans, and the first shipment and soldiers would be directed towards the traveling troop. Masque expected they would have it before they reached North Bay. Twilight supposed that if enough gryphons were sent to support the goods sufficiently they could travel by air then he would be right. Otherwise, it would take much longer before the first supplies arrived.

Of course, the young mare was by no means eager for Gildaris to agree to the deal. She knew it was needed, but she also knew that the republic soldiers would have trouble working with gryphons after the incident in Stalliongrad. Plus, from the bits her master had informed her about their society, she knew the gildarin soldiers would not listen to her on the simple basis she was female. It would be a disaster ready to happen, and Twilight knew that if she couldn’t keep her soldiers in line there’d be hell to pay.

A pegasus suddenly landed right next to her, and caused the unicorn to cringe in surprise. The mare paid no attention to it, as she delivered a message, “Magus, her majesty requests your presence at the front of the company.”

“Thank you, uh…” Twilight quickly searched out a ranking emblem on the recolored grand army armor. “Cornicen.”

“You’re welcome, Magus.” The pegasus replied.

As the messenger took off back into the air, the young unicorn began to canter through the large troop. The soldiers paid her mind, and moved aside whenever she needed them to on her way. Their respect still felt odd to her, but she was starting to become more used to it.

It did not take long for Twilight to reach the head of the company. There she found Nightmare Moon leading the way with several guards on either of her sides, including the two praetorians who were with the Republic right now. Blushing, the young unicorn did her best to ignore the view she had of the alicorn’s plot, and trotted up to the former-empress’ side. “Master, you asked for me?” She greeted, quickly regaining her composure.

Nightmare took note of her with the barest hint of a smile. “Yes. Are you well, Twilight?” The obsidian alicorn wondered.

Twilight furrowed her brows in confusion but answered all the same, “Yes. Did you call me here to check on my health?”

“No. Do I need a reason to have you by my side when I ask it?” Nightmare asked rhetorically.

The lavender mare frowned at the reminder she was a slave. Not that she ever forgot, but her master did usually rub it in her face like that. “I have been meaning to ask about your cloak, though. I’m curious as to where you found it.” The alicorn continued.

“It was a gift. For helping save the civilians during the Empire’s retaliation.” Twilight explained.

“That was your duty. It is inappropriate to accept something in exchange for it.” Nightmare admonished, and turned her head slightly to glare at Twilight.

The unicorn immediately jumped on the defense, not wanting to upset her master. “I didn’t want to take it! The villager who gave it to me insisted!” She replied.

Nightmare scrutinized the young mare closely, but eventually turned her attention back to the long wide dirt road that rested before them. “Then I can understand, but do not start taking things in payment for what you were supposed to do in the first place. What I wonder more about anyway is how you enchanted the cloak. You have never so much as written a rune before. Let alone worked a ritual or enchantment.” She pointed out.

“How do you know it’s enchanted?” Twilight asked.

The cloak had only seen use once, and her master had not been there. “Aside from the fact that I can see still fresh splotches of blood on its backside right now? I can feel it. You are bound to me by blood, Twilight. Did you think that only ensures you serve me? I know I have taught you little about blood magic, but you are smarter than that. I can feel when something is wrong with you, and I can feel whenever you use your blood to power a spell. I am surprised the reverse is not true for you yet. Now, do you care to explain how it is you’re using your blood to power a passive enchantment instead of a magic battery?” Nightmare asked.

Twilight was surprised by the revelation of her blood oath’s other functions, and she couldn’t help but wonder if there were even more features to her bonds. She had to answer her master’s question, though. “I just chose runes that would cause them to draw power from what made them. It was…difficult to figure out how to make that happen.” She explained, ashamed to admit to having trouble. “But I made it work.”

Nightmare Moon appeared surprised. “You made the runes draw power from the blood you used to write them? Your cloak hasn’t shown any signs of stress, has it?” She asked worriedly.

“No.” Twilight answered confusedly.

Her master pondered the information for a long while. “That’s…brilliant. I’ve never heard of a passive enchantment being powered by the runes that make it. Of course, that would only work if blood was involved, I’m certain. Though something similar might be able to be created with personal energy.” She supposed in astonishment.

The lavender unicorn blushed at her master’s praise. “I didn’t think it had never been done before.” She replied meekly.

“There she goes again, underestimating her skill.” A bored voiced interrupted.

Twilight looked to her other side to spot Masque Raid with the hood of his green robe pulled up. The young mare ground her teeth in minor agitation at her conversation with her master being interrupted. “What do you want, Raid?” Nightmare asked, her underlying tone indicating her agreement with the lavender unicorn.

“Many things. Right now I could settle for a cart.” The stallion answered with what he no doubt thought was wit.

“What do you mean underestimating my skill?” Twilight interjected before her master could lash back.

“Come now, I’ve seen you training. Do you think magic comes as easily to every other unicorn as you, or that most can conjure spells of the same strength as yours?” Masque wondered.

Twilight hesitated before answering, “No.”

“Correct. Normally it takes a unicorn anywhere from weeks to months to learn spells depending on what spell it is in question, and their spells are usually weaker than your own. Which means your talent is also far above average. There are exceptions of skilled unicorns learning quicker and casting stronger, but I’ve never seen one pick up a new spell in a matter of hours. Nor have I heard of an enchantment like the one on your cloak, or shield spells being used for offense. You’re a prodigy. You have immense power and potential, and that’s why those soldiers look up to you.” Masque explained.

Twilight’s jaw was slightly agape at this. She knew well enough that she was more skilled than most unicorns, but to be called a prodigy? The compliment felt as uncomfortable as her title of magus. She closed her mouth, and grimaced in thought. She had believed the soldiers followed her because they respected her and what she had done for them. Now it seemed they only respected, or perhaps even only desired, her power.

Nightmare Moon must have sensed her upset, as the alicorn rebuked, “That is enough, Raid. You shall not trouble my charge further. Go tend to the troops.”

“As you wish.” The stallion replied, and wandered back into the crowd, still staring at the sky.

Twilight looked up at her master to see the alicorn was doing the same now as well. “It’s not really true is it?” She asked.

“The soldiers’ respect for you?” Nightmare guessed. “Power always plays an important role in leadership…But it is not all there is, nor is it entirely negative. With leadership comes the responsibility to look after those in your care, and guide them. Those soldiers who look up to you respect and see your abilities as a sign that you are capable of leading and protecting them.”

Twilight smiled slightly, and looked to the sky to see what was so interesting. Her brightened mood was spoiled by the sight of dark clouds on the horizon. Rain was coming.

“Ninety-nine mugs of beer on the wall! Ninety-nine mugs of beer! Take one down! Pass it around! Ninety-eight mugs of beer on the wall!”

Daunting Hooves sighed, and shook his head in agitation. Normally, he was all for his soldiers relaxing when they had the chance. However, not only was this song annoying, but it was not a time for celebration. Their plans had not yet moved into significant motion, and it would also seem suspicious that they were celebrating when it was clear now that the attempt to reclaim Stalliongrad had failed.

There was little the pegasus could do now, however. Most everyone was slap-plot drunk. Interrupting would likely lead to rape by one of the mares among the Praetorians. Normally, such a thought would make him excited, but being a gelding removed a lot of the fun in life. It was at times like these when he idly wondered if he would’ve been able gain back his sex drive by flesh binding. If so, he totally should have gone with that. Though he had not been gelded until he reached his current rank, so it would have seemed a pointless waste at the time.

The Prefect’s thoughts were interrupted as the doors to Praetorian Compound opened. In walked a tall five foot gelding wearing leather and chain both for armor. The grey earth pony was accompanied by grand army soldiers who were watching the party going on with apprehension. Daunting smiled, and approached the gelding. “Ardent, it’s good to see you accepted my invitation.” He greeted.

“We are not friends, Prefect. Do not pretend otherwise.” Ardent Fervor warned calmly, as he brushed part of his brown mane out of his face.

“As you wish, Legatus Fervor.” Daunting replied in an attempt to be courteous. “Shall we retire to my office, so we can speak privately?”

“Very well.” Ardent agreed, and turned his head to call his guards.

However, one of them was being corralled into a group of drunk and agitated mares by a red pegasus and an orange unicorn. The rest of the Legatus’ guards were already in among the mares. Before the gelding could call out to them Daunting Hooves interrupted, “Let them have some fun. You’re perfectly safe here.”

Ardent stared at the Prefect mistrustfully before sighing in acceptance. “Fine. Lead the way, Prefect Hooves.” He said.

The white pegasus nodded and smiled in response. Before he turned, and started leading the way further into the Praetorian Compound. Travel was silent for awhile before Ardent asked, “What are your soldiers celebrating?”

“They like to do this every once in a while to blow off steam.” Daunting partially lied.

“Isn’t that undisciplined?” Ardent wondered.

The Prefect shook his head at his younger companion’s seriousness. “You might find that on our own we praetorians are far more relaxed than most ponies seem to be these days. Outside of the Compound, however, you have seen yourself that we are as strict and disciplined as the Royal Guard. Likely moreso.” He explained.

“Moreso?” The Legatus questioned.

When he did not receive an answer after several minutes he continued, “This is not at all what I had imagined you praetorians were really like.”

“Few things are what we expect them to be.” Daunting replied, as he opened the door to his office and private quarters.

Ardent trotted in, and began to look about at the mess while Daunting proceeded to his desk. He took two glasses and a bottle of wine out from inside it, and filled the glasses with the fine spirit. “Why have you called me here?” The earth gelding asked while Daunting put up the bottle.

“You’re not happy Legatus Fervor.” The Prefect answered, and gestured for his guest to sit before the desk.

Ardent stayed where he was and remained silent. “Don’t pull that stoic righteous orderly holier-than-thou whatever bullshit on me. You know exactly what I’m referring to.” The Prefect asserted.

The Legatus Legionis slowly walked towards the desk and sat down. “You know why the Empresses are fighting, don’t you?” He asked.

“So do you, or don’t you trust Empress Celestia?” Daunting Hooves wondered.

After a moment of silence Ardent Fervor answered, “…Her majesty is not the avatar of honesty.”

Daunting smiled at the response, and slid the second wine glass to Ardent before taking a sip of his own. “Wise words, but her majesty is wise as well. The things she said weren’t entirely a lie. For the most part they’re true. Excepting that Nightmare Moon is not doing this out of selfishness.” He clarified.

“Of course not! She is the avatar of generosity! It is against her nature!” Ardent proclaimed, not questioning how the Prefect knew these things.

Daunting rolled his eyes. Religion was a blinding thing, but it served to help the pegasus in this case. “She has had a disagreement with Empress Celestia about the course of the Empire. That is what this war comes from. Celestia believes in order, and Nightmare Moon believes in freedom.” He continued to explain. “And neither one is willing to budge.”

“Without order there is no peace or salvation.” Ardent asserted.

“Your god would seem to disagree with that.” Daunting Hooves pointed out coolly.

The Legatus grew quiet, but the Prefect caught him eyeing the wine. Finally, the earth gelding spoke, “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because we both know that you need to pony up and choose a side. I’m hoping you’ll choose the right one.” Daunting answered.

“I do not wish to fight either empress.” Ardent Fervor replied.

“You’re in charge of four full legions of ponies. You’re a highly respected and looked up to commander, and you’re one of the heads of the Celestial Empire military. Your choice isn’t whether to fight or not. Your position decides that in itself. Your choice is who do you fight.” Daunting Hooves calmly retorted.

“Who do you want me to fight?” Ardent asked.

“Clever.” The Prefect thought before taking a gamble. “Celestia. We both know the things she’s sanctioned and done. Don’t you remember that fiasco down in the southern desert a few years ago? A whole village and its inhabitants burned for settling unapproved below the border. You weren’t high enough then, but you’re high enough now to know the truth. The Praefectus that supposedly engineered the razing was ordered by Rough Cut to do it. Celestia knew this, but your fellow Legatus went unpunished for this war crime, and her subordinates took the fall. Or how about something more recent? Like the Empress’ rape of her sister’s dear slave.”

“And how do I know you’re not simply spouting lies to make me turn on her majesty, or that this isn’t some trick?” Ardent wondered.

“Because I wouldn’t need to trick you to kill you for treason. Legate Artillerus and the other Legatus Legionis hold no love for you. They’d be happy to be done with someone who was so likely to turn traitor in this situation anyway. Indeed, there might be a rift created between the Grand Army and the Praetorians, but I’d hardly call us friends as it is.” The Prefect answered. “And does it matter if I’m lying when I’m asking you to do what you want to do anyway?”

“It matters the world.” Ardent answered.

“I have no proof for you, and I have nothing more to say. I’m asking for your aid in helping Nightmare Moon. Whether you will or won’t is up to you. Just like whether you will walk out that door, or you won’t.” The Prefect stated clearly.

Ardent Fervor glared at the pegasus, and downed his wine in one swig. He knew it wasn’t a threat.

Twilight Sparkle sat at the front of her master’s tent. As she waited for the alicorn she observed the small village they had camped by curiously. “Conquer” some of the soldiers had said. Others had said “control.” Yet to the young mare it seemed more like a temporary arrangement.

This village, this Mareland, was so small that it seemed to Twilight this revolution would never matter to it. The government had only virtual say here. It was too unimportant to butt into, and it had no real guards. Just a few family stallions whose only choice of weapon was a hoe or a woodcutter’s axe. Most of its inhabitants were earth ponies, but there were also a few unicorns here with questionable talent in magic.

The villagers had thought them attackers when they arrived, and their first reaction to Nightmare Moon was to bow and worship. It was odd. The village was relatively better off financially than Stalliongrad, but the ponies here knew so much less about the world. They were…simple. Not to say they were unintelligent, but everything was down to earth here. Twilight admired it in a way, but the lack of knowledge bothered her on a personal level.

Needless to say, the village could offer no objection the Lunar Republic’s forces camping around them even if they didn’t like it. The soldiers were taking some of the village’s food for their own, but Nightmare Moon and Twilight both insisted that they only take a little. These ponies may be mostly farmers, but they needed what they reaped. In exchange for the little extra supplies they did take the republic forces offered protection with their mere presence. The villagers took all these things in stride. The presence of one of their goddesses quelling any upset they had at the sudden turn of events.

Nightmare Moon approached Twilight with an exhausted look. “Are you alright?” The lavender unicorn asked.

“Yes. Dealing with all this reverence wears on me, but I’ll be fine.” The alicorn answered.

“I thought you liked being in charge.” Twilight pointed out.

“An unfair assumption, but not what I meant at all. I despise being considered a goddess. I never wanted it.” Nightmare corrected.

“Then how’d you come to be seen as one?” The unicorn wondered.

“Celestia insisted.” The obsidian mare explained shortly. “And I’m afraid that we won’t be training tonight.”

“What?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Calm down, I said we won’t practice. I didn’t say I wouldn’t be teaching you. I simply feel seeing us spar might not have the best impact on my subjects here.” Nightmare clarified.

Twilight hesitated before nodding her understanding. “Okay, what am I learning tonight then, master?” She asked.

The former empress lead the way into her fairly large tent, and laid down on her bedroll. She used a wing to gesture to her side, where there was just enough room for Twilight, but the young mare opted to sit across from her master on the ground. It may have been a trick of shadows, but there seemed to be some hint of sadness in the alicorn’s eyes.

Regardless, Nightmare’s horn lit, and so did the candles in the tent. Yet her horn continued to glow, and the dirt along the ground soon arranged itself into a drawing of a square with many open spaces in it. Thirty-two water spheres soon appeared floating above spaces, but each one was clearly shaped differently and had names written on them to indicate what they were. “Strategy.” Nightmare Moon finally answered. “I know it’s hardly a replacement for an actual board and pieces, but it’ll have to do. Do you know how to play?”

It took Twilight a moment, but she soon recognized the piece names. This was chess. She’d seen guards and servants playing it in their down time on a rare occasion back at the castle. She understood the gist of it, so she nodded in response. “Good, now grab hold of your pieces. Don’t worry, they’ll stay intact unless you grow too angry. If that happens then you lose.” Nightmare instructed.

“That seems unfair.” The unicorn commented, as she grabbed the spheres of water in her telekinesis.

“You have to keep a cool head in even the most upsetting situations.” The ruler of the night responded. “In battle, doubly so.”

Twilight offered no argument, and took awhile to plan out her first move. She moved a pawn forward one space with the intent to slide out a bishop behind it. Nightmare smirked and did the same. Twilight raised a brow suspiciously at this, and moved her bishop out into the field a short way, attempting to be cautious. Nightmare moved out her bishop, and in just two short turns the orbs of water were next to one another. Without warning, the former-empress moved her piece over and destroyed Twilight’s. “What!? Your piece was on the wrong side of the field! It shouldn’t have been to able to do that! You cheated!” The unicorn complained, her pieces wobbling slightly.

“Twilight, look at the board. The spaces are not colored. I did not cheat. You simply limited yourself to a rule that is pointless in this situation.” The Alicorn stated.

“That’s not fair! You can’t bend the rules to suit you!” The young lavender mare objected.

“Nothing is fair in love or war, and who makes the rules? Different ponies from you in different situations and times. Rules are important, but they can be bent to suit different things better. Very few things are absolute.” Nightmare Moon explained, and earned a grumble from her student.

The unicorn did not accept what was being taught, too upset over failing. Agitated, she moved a knight out onto the field. Nightmare did the same. “Oh, what? Are you going to tell me they don’t have to move in Ls now?” Twilight asked sarcastically.

“No. The knights’ movement limitation is not centered around the colors of the board.” Nightmare answered seriously.

Twilight huffed, and began studying the game, trying to decide her next move. She slowly grew tenser as all the ways her master might cheat came to mind. “There’s no way I can win this, is there?” She asked through grit teeth.

“Learning to accept losses is an important lesson, but not one I am teaching now. I am not making this impossible for you.” Nightmare replied.

Twilight looked back at her master, clearly annoyed by the situation. She gave a huff and returned to contemplate the game pieces in front of her. Since it would be impossible to predict Nightmare’s movements, the best thing Twilight could really do was strengthen her defenses. She needed to make sure she always had one piece covering another, and hope she could somehow use the alicorn’s cheating to her own advantage during the game somehow.

With a plan of action in mind, she tried to calm down, and moved one of her pawns forward to threaten her master’s bishop. Nightmare countered by moving the bishop two steps over in a straight line. Once again clearly the ruler of the night was clearly breaking the rules for what the bishop was allowed to do, and, even more frustrating, it was now threatening the unicorn’s knight. Still, Twilight had managed to come to one conclusion from the way the bishop had so far been allowed to roam across the board. “So the bishops are essentially queens in this game,” She guessed, as she moved her knight so it now threatened the would-be Bishop in return.

“You should never judge an opponent’s abilities by how they look,” Nightmare Moon said calmly, and moved her bishop up one square to once again threaten the lavender mare’s knight.

Twilight gritted her teeth at this. Her master clearly wanted to be rid of her knight. So if that was the alicorn’s plan, she was not about to let that happen. Determinedly, she moved her knight into the protection of a pawn, and, in the process, put the bishop into capturing position. If Nightmare wanted to claim her knight now the ruler of the night would lose her bishop, a trade Twilight would be more than happy to make. Instead the former-empress proceeded to claim the pawn her servant’s knight had jumped over to get onto the field. The unicorn cursed, as she realized her rook and other bishop were in danger. What was more, there was nothing she could do about it. Desperately, she attempted to move her knight into position to take out the bishop, but she was already too late. She lost a rook. Nightmare Moon gave a little chuckle at the frustrated groan that escaped from Twilight, and the fact that the lavender mare could finally take out her master’s bishop didn’t seem to cheer her up any.

The game continued on in a similar manner. Nightmare taking three of Twilight’s pieces for every one of her own unicorn managed to take out, and the young mare was growing continuously more frustrated over how bad she was losing. Starting to slowly grasp the rules of the altered game was not helping any either. Her master already knew them, and it seemed that the alicorn was constantly making up new ones as well.

The ruler of the night had, without much difficulty, taken one of her knights, one rook, both her bishops and four pawns, and all Twilight had to show for that were three of her master’s own pawns. It was extremely vexing to see how easily the Alicorn had destroyed her defenses. In the end the unicorn had been forced to make a castling in a last desperate attempt to protect her King. Twilight closed her eyes and rubbed at her temples. This game had been nothing but provoking from the moment it had started. As she looked back down on the board Nightmare made her move. She grabbed one of her queens and took out the young mare’s own queen… “Wait! That wasn’t a queen a second ago!” Twilight wailed in frustration and indignation at the quite obvious trick Nightmare was trying to pull.

The second the unicorn had closed her eyes her master had morphed one of her pawns into another queen. Which had then perfectly situated to take out Twilight’s own queen. “You can't do that! That has nothing to do with the colors on--” She began to yell, but fell silent with her mouth agape as all of her pieces suddenly poured out over the game board.

Even if only for just a few seconds she had completely lost her cool. Nightmare looked down at a game board completely empty from Twilight’s pieces. “Looks like I win.” She said calmly before regarding her servant, who was quite clearly fuming now.

“That’s not fair! None of that game was fair!” Twilight screamed.

“We already went over this. It doesn’t matter if it’s fair or not. Your enemies are unlikely to care. YOU have to think calmly and rationally even in the most upsetting circumstances, and if YOU wish to fight fair that’s fine. But you far from need to, and at the very least you need to understand how your enemy can act against to prepare properly for it.” Nightmare lectured.

“But how can I know what they’re capable of when I don’t understand the situation!?” Twilight argued pointedly.

“That situation is the one you are in, Twilight. This rank the soldiers have made for you, Magus, they have given it to you because they respect you, and you are now in a commanding position over all of them. Yet you have hardly any real combat experience--”

“I have plenty of experience.” Twilight interrupted her master in aggravation.

“You have been in two battles. Two! Both of which you have shown great promise in, and your defeat of a gryphon commander in a duel was most impressive as well. You are indeed blessed with great skill and potential, but two battles do not make you an experienced commander of soldiers! You have much to learn and live through yet, and your reaction tonight shows you still have a long way to go.” The alicorn rebuked.

“My soldiers seem to disagree!” The young unicorn shouted.

“OUR soldiers have seen you practicing! They’ve seen you training with me! They’ve seen your skilled improvisation on the battlefield, and, most importantly, you defended them personally! They don’t know just how inexperienced you are!” Nightmare pointed out.

Before Twilight could retaliate there was a knock on the ten flap, drawing the two powerful ponies’ attention. “Yes? What is it?” Nightmare asked more calmly.

“Your glory, we beseech you for an audience. It is urgent.” Came the voice of a mare.

“Villagers,” Twilight realized.

She wanted to tell them to go away. She wasn’t through yelling at her master for the unfairness of the situation, but she knew she had no say in the matter.

Nightmare Moon heaved a quiet sigh before calling, “Come in.”

In entered a weary looking mare and stallion with a very ill colt. “Your grace, we beg your pardon for bothering you, but our son has been sick for two weeks now. Every day he grows worse. Please, we ask that you heal him. We fear for his life.” The stallion said.

Nightmare clearly looked exhausted to Twilight, but to anyone else she would’ve seemed as calm as always. Her eyes turned to the young colt, and she spoke tenderly, “Come here young one. Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

Nervously, the foal approached, and the alicorn gave a soft smile to try to calm him. “It hurts…right here.” He answered, pointing above his heart.

Nightmare Moon frowned sadly, and touched her horn to the colt’s chest as it lit with magic. After several minutes she lifted her head up, and gave a gentle smile that looked extremely fragile to Twilight. “You’re fine now. Go on home.” She said.

Immediately, the foal brightened, and began to run around his parents in excitement. “Oh thank you, your grace! Thank you!” The mother said gratefully.

“I promise, we’ll live by the tenets more fervently than ever!” The father claimed before leading his family out.

Distracted by the events, Twilight asked, “What was wrong?”

“Worms. He probably ate one alive on a dare. Trouble is, they reproduce by spores. I won’t go into more detail. Suffice to say, I couldn’t kill them without killing him.” Nightmare Moon answered sadly.

“Then why didn’t you tell them the truth?” Twilight asked.

The alicorn gave her an odd look. “Sometimes the truth isn’t what you need to hear.” She answered.

“But they’ll only be more hurt in the long run when he does die!” The unicorn argued.

“Not necessarily. They have faith now.” Nightmare countered.

“What?” Twilight blurted in confusion.

“Faith is one of the fuels for magic, Twilight, and it is the catalyst as well. You know this. Do you think it holds no sway with those that don’t have magic? Faith brings things into being.” Nightmare answered.

“What you’re saying’s impossible.” The young mare denied.

“Only a fool denies the impossible. That’s why they’re fools.” Her master countered.

Author's Note

Hello everyone. It's been FAR too long, and I apologize for the wait. No. Seriously. I'm really pissed at myself for taking so long. If it weren't for these fucking hiatuses between the chapters then this story would probably be done by now, and the most aggravating part is that most of it is due to procrastination. Some of it is for a good reason, but mostly it's just procrastionation. I hope you'll all forgive me, and I'll see about getting this story back on track.

I don't really have much to explain in this chapter except that I know the very last bit with the sick foal is going to divide folks. Normally, I'd be on the side of telling the truth, but keep in mind the entire point of that was Nightmare's ending line. The introduction of a concept that won't stick with Twilight for awhile.

Also, I'd like to thank Leonofsweden and the newly renamed CuriousCurse for giving me a hand with the chess scene. I'm not good at chess, so I was stuck there. Anyway, how have all y'all been?

City by the Blue Sea Part I

August 8th- 2nd Day of the Siege of North Bay

Travel once off the Empress’ Road had been slow. Going off road was bad enough, but the marshlands that surrounded that particular spot were difficult to travel through in such large numbers. That had not stopped The Lunar Republic from reaching North Bay, though. It only delayed them. Now, after several weeks of marching, they had arrived.

Yesterday, they made camp outside North Bay. The city was locked up tight, and had likely been expecting them for awhile. Having had a long march with minimal rest, most of the republic forces had begun settling down for the day, but Nightmare Moon had the pegasi and herself working in shifts to keep the area around the city stormy. Doing so ensured any ship that tried to head into or leave North Bay would sink in one way or another. However, it also blurred the difference between day and night, and made fighting more difficult.

Not that there had been much fighting yet. The city guards stood ready on the ramparts of the wall, and unlike the ones in Stalliongrad these were more experienced and significantly more numerous. This was a city after all, and one of only a few ports in Equestria. Yet despite their readiness, they waited. Twilight Sparkle could not be certain how many there were, but she knew this wouldn’t be as easy as taking Stalliongrad had been. Nevertheless, she had faith in the troops under her command. Despite her master’s insistence on her lack of experience she knew they would win. It was, at the moment, simply a matter of finding a way into North Bay.

The city’s gates had been barred, enchanted, and heavily reinforced. With the pegasi focused on keeping the storm up and resting between shifts they could not simply send in aerial troops to weaken the defenses. There seemed to be plenty of unicorns along the wall that readily countered all the spells sent at them or the wall so far, and Masque Raid suspected the wall itself had an old enchantment from decades past built into it that was aiding in the defense from spells. Twilight had not believed this at first, but after forcing all her might on raising the ground underneath the wall to break it, something only someone of her power could attempt, and failing she had come to agree. So, the republic soldiers were forced to rely on might for the most part.

Stretching in her tent in what she assumed was the early morning, Twilight sighed. Even through the heavy rainfall and black sky she could see the walls of North Bay standing strong as ever. “Fuck you.” She cursed at them in irritation under the roar of the wind and the shifting of her tent.

A battle lasting more than a day was confusing to her. She, of course, understood the idea, but it was disorienting. Even more confusing was the passiveness of the city guards. Unless attacked, they stood waiting on the walls. They were being purely defensive. Did they expect to outlast the Republic? It seemed unlikely, but North Bay did have stronger structures. So while the storm kept the city’s people from fleeing it was also wearing on the Republic forces more.

From the rain, an earth mare marched in, and Twilight had to fight an impulse from her days on the streets to strike out at an invader. “Magus, pardon the intrusion, but the Legatus requests your presence at the command tent.” She explained.

The young unicorn hesitated before realizing the soldier was referring to Masque Raid. It was confusing since the leaders of the Republic technically didn’t have ranks to Twilight’s knowledge, and the recruits from the Grand Army used the terminology from the Equestrian military. Recovering after a moment, the lavender mare dismissed the soldier, “Th-thank you. I’ll be there shortly.”

Satisfied, the earth mare left. Alone, Twilight took a moment to slip her sword and cloak on, and then headed out into the rain. Even with the cloth covering her, the unicorn was thoroughly soaked by the heavy rainfall, and the wind only made things worse by tossing her cloak about and soaking different parts of her more. Deciding to make this quick, Twilight galloped until the command tent was in sight, and then teleported to the entrance before rushing behind the flaps.

Inside, it was oddly cold compared to the hot summer storm outside, which only worsened things even further, and Twilight suspected that was due to spellwork from Masque Raid. The stallion sat at a table with a map of North Bay laid out on it, and he was wearing several layers of robes today. “A bit hot for all that clothing, don’t you think?” Twilight asked, as she walked past the few guards in the tent to take her seat.

“That’s why it’s cold in here. Besides, it’s better than being soaked.” Masque replied.

The lavender mare brushed that off to ask, “Where’s my master?”

“Still up top. She hasn’t been down since she helped start the storm yesterday. I imagine when she does come down she’ll be beat. So, most of the strategizing is up to us” The white stallion answered.

Twilight sighed and asked, “Alright, what haven’t we tried?”

Masque seemed amused by the question, only irritating the young mare further, as he answered, “Most things. You spent all of yesterday afternoon casting spells at the walls to get through, and only had the earth ponies provide you and the unicorns cover.”

“We should have been able to break through, and I didn’t see you coming up with anything.” Twilight shot back.

“Not everything can be solved by magic.” Masque replied calmly. “That said, I have no idea how they enchanted the walls to resist that much magical power. Regardless, we need to try something different. The pegasi are busy, and the unicorns can’t do real damage to the wall. So obviously we must rely on physical might. We don’t have any ladders, and the conditions aren’t well enough to build them with the weather as it is. Battering rams, however, are far easier to make. Breaking through the gates is our best option.”

Twilight sighed, and was quiet for a long while to think. Just as Masque was about to say something more she spoke, “You’re probably right, but that alone won’t work. They’ll focus all their firepower on our soldiers and slaughter us. We need more. The city has seven gates. We need to start striking all of them at once. The ones in the poor district will be more likely to break, but even if we get in we shouldn’t stop on the others. The more entry points the better. We don’t know how many guards they have, though. We can’t just throw ourselves at the gates and hope for the best. The unicorns and archers should cover the earth ponies while the latter put all their might into breaking through. Then everyone starts killing guards once we’re inside.”

Masque Raid nodded in agreement. “Good. You’re learning fast, but I suppose that makes sense given who your master is.” He said with a sly grin that pissed Twilight off for a reason she couldn’t figure out. “Chances are, though, that we still won’t be able to immediately win once we breakthrough. At least if they have enough guards. We might have to pull back out, but they won’t be able to erect strong enough defenses again in time for the next assault.”

“So we’re agreed?” Twilight asked.

“Yes. Let’s get the order out to start cutting down the forest for supplies.” Masque answered.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

August 9th- 3rd Day of the Siege of North Bay

Sharp Edge’s eyes were alert on the runes of blood scrawled across the ceiling as she walked through the Officer’s Club’s deep tunnels. The middle-aged unicorn had a light tan coat with a dark blue tail and mane. The latter of which was tied into a ponytail with blue ribbons strategically decorating it. She was elegantly dressed with sharp cold blue eyes, and though hidden by her gown at the moment her cutie mark was a velvet purse with a knife laying on it.

Beside her trotted her daughter, and heiress to the Officer’s Club, Velvet Rope. The younger unicorn resembled her mother heavily, but her father’s genes were evident in her iron grey mane and tail. Her cutie mark, a velvet purse tied with a velvet rope, was visible at the moment due to her lighter dress, but she still looked nearly as elegant as her mother.

The mother and daughter were currently performing an important but uncommon duty of those in charge of North Bay’s famous attraction for the wealthy and prominent, and they had brought along a young pleasure colt just in case. The Officer’s Club was not truly a restaurant after all, as many believed, but instead was a whorehouse with employees who were effectively prisoners. While the restaurant cover was on the main floor, both the upper levels and the lower ones were where the real business was conducted, and it was the lower ones that stretched on into the vast caverns underneath North Bay. Here, the most vile things were done, and very rarely did a whore, stallion or mare, come out alive.

Yet it was also here that one of North Bay’s most important defenses was maintained. For the blood of the whores was used to create a powerful enchantment in the tunnels directly below the walls of the city in order to strengthen them against even the most powerful magic. The issue was, even blood enchantments could not last forever, and must be redone every so often. One so large and complicated as this one required constant supervision, but maintenance was fortunately rare. Hence the reason why Sharp Edge and her daughter were wandering through the tunnels with their eyes on the blood marked ceiling. This part of the Officer’s Club was direly needed for the city’s safety. Especially with what was going on outside.

“The runes all look in bad shape.” Velvet Rope commented, hoping to influence her mother into letting her have a go at them.

“That’s just because they’re all really old. I think the last time most of these were repaired was when your grandmother was around your age. They’re all drying, and will need to be replaced in a decade or two. We’re looking for ones that need to be repaired now. The stress from all the efforts those damn rebels are making might have broken some prematurely.” Sharp Edge responded.

“But if blood’s so strong surely they can’t have any real impact.” Velvet Rope pointed out.

“Don’t underestimate the power of many unicorns working together. Plus, if the rumors of her majesty betraying the empire are true then checking these runes is even more imperative.” Sharp Edge corrected.

Neither of the mares believed said rumors, but the point remained all the same. Them observing and repairing the runes was important. This was, after all, the reason why the few bleeding hearts in power allowed them to do as they will in the city. The only ponies Sharp Edge’s family had to fear were the Silver-seas, but several of the ruling nobility were among their customers.

The young colt who walked with them had served in the Officer’s Club for several years now, and knew well enough to obey. He was broken to the point of not needing restraints to keep him from fleeing. The pegasus did not understand what his masters were saying either. He only knew that he was in the deeper tunnels, and rare was the time when somepony in his position came out of here alive. Though he had a suspicion as to why he had been brought down here. Last evening he had greatly displeased some clients. He was used to his work by now, but the odder desires of the more perverted customers sometimes caught him off guard. His last time with a customer had been one of those odd ones, and painful to boot. Naturally he had panicked. Suffice to say, the noblemare who had bought him that evening disliked broken noses and begging. So, silently and fearfully, he followed, as his mistresses conversed and complained about how the sudden siege was affecting business.

After several hours of walking they finally stopped. “That’s all the runes. Nothing needs replacing just yet.” Sharp Edge stated.

“Really?” Velvet Rope asked with a tinge of disappointment.

“Yes, but there’s no sense in wasting a chance to teach you more about one of our most important duties.” Sharp Edge answered, as her horn began to glow.

Velvet Rope smiled sinisterly at the unknowing colt behind her in excitement. Bits and pieces of the old dried runes began to peel away slowly until several of them were damaged enough to cease working. “If a rune is still functional applying new blood will do nothing but confuse the enchantment. Magic has to leave the old rune before it can be repaired. Which means the rune needs to be completely broken.” The elder unicorn explained. “Now that these three are broken we can apply new runes in their places to repair the enchantment.”

Excitedly, Velvet Rope grabbed the young pleasure colt in her telekinesis, causing him to scream in terror, but before she could cut him open alive she was interrupted by her mother, “Don’t puncture any major veins. Most of the blood will spray out before we can use it then.”

More calmly, Velvet nodded, and her mother watched proudly as the young mare opened the colt’s foreheels. The pegasus cried out in pain, as his blood began to pour out at a manageable pace. Sharp Edge grabbed it in her telekinesis until she had enough. Taking care not to drop the blood, due to it being liquid, the middle-aged unicorn levitated the crimson fluid up to the roof, and shaped it into the proper runes. She continued holding it up as she directed, “Now, give each rune meaning, and it will stay.”

Velvet dropped the pleasure colt, and the young pegasus drew himself into a ball, whimpering in pain and praying that this was over. The cruel young mare’s horn lit, and she quickly gave the runes meaning. “Good. Now, waste not want not. I’ll lead you to the center chamber, and we can dump the rest of this worm’s blood into the fuel fountain.” Sharp Edge said proudly, as she let go of the blood, satisfied at the sight of the fresh functional runes.

The young pleasure colt’s eyes went wide, as the implication of what was to come dawned on him. He began crawling towards the older mare as best he could with his injuries. “NO! Please mistress! I’ll be a good colt! I promise!!!” He begged only to receive a kick to the face.

“Velvet be a dear and take care of this for me. He almost got blood on my dress.” Sharp Edge asked her daughter politely, as she turned to lead the way.

Velvet Rope smiled viciously down at the injured pegasus at her hooves. “Don’t worry, you’re a cute one. So I’ll cut you from the belly up. That way you should black out from the pain before too long.” She reassured in a half-comforting half-amused tone.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

August 11th - 5th Day of the Siege of North Bay

“Don’t let up stallions! We can’t let these fucks breach the gates!” Iron Rod shouted in aggravation.

The grey-coated white-maned earth stallion was beyond angry. While not exactly lazy, he, like many of the city guards, was corrupt, but he was moreso than others. Rarely did he like putting his own hide on the line except in a battle where he had all the advantages, and there probably wasn’t a stallion in all of North Bay who fought as dirty as he did when he found he couldn’t escape a fight. Still, the captain was not the highest ranking guard in the city, and with the siege eliminating most business in the Officer’s Club he lacked the excuse of trying to help his wife, Sharp Edge. Which meant he was out here on the ramparts near the Elite District’s gate shouting orders at the city guards, as they shot spells, arrows, bolts, and slung stones down the at the rebels below.

Said ammunition was easily blocked and countered for the most part by the enemy unicorns. These “Lunar Republic” soldiers had given up on breaching the wall, and spent most of the previous days constructing battering rams from the small nearby forest. Undeterred by the heavy weather their pegasi were creating, the republic earth ponies were putting all their strength into breaking down the gates. Said gates could not be enchanted as strongly as the walls, and so were still a weak point. Iron Rod had already had this gate reinforced further, and it was still holding strong. For how long, though? Everything broke eventually.

A ball of fire zoomed straight for the older stallion’s head, and he narrowly ducked in time to avoid it. Missing him, the fireball continued on to hit a guard behind him that had been hurrying up the ramp to the ramparts. The unfortunate victim screamed in pain, and fell back into the streets below. Unnerved only by his own close brush with death, Iron Rod stood back up with an angry scowl. His heart, however, was fluttering in his chest. With a growl he snatched a spear from one of his subordinates, and furiously threw it into the crowd of rebels, praying it killed someone. Sadly he had no way to tell.

A thunderous crack sounded over the heavy downpour, and Iron Rod felt his blood run cold. He rushed to the back of the ramparts, and checked below, but the gate supports were still holding. No one was rushing in. With a sigh of relief, the guard captain realized the gate must’ve only cracked. Still, things were growing too tense. He hoped the gates held everywhere. Because he did not like the idea of actually fighting himself.
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Twilight Sparkle let out a shout of triumph over the heavy rain and thunder that even the howling wind could not steal as at last one of the gates to the North Bay Slums broke apart, the supports behind it splintering. It would not be much longer before the other one broke as well, she was sure, but this first entrance was the one deserving all attention now.

The soldiers of the Lunar Republic began to rush inside the city with cheers and cries of victory, but the battle and siege were far from over. Immediately on the other side of the gate were enemy forces, yet the earth ponies who had broken through the gate easily stampeded over the minimal guards positioned at the entrance to what the rest of North Bay considered an unimportant part of the city.

The guards on the ramparts turned around to focus their attack on the streets below, but they had minimal cover from this side. What was more, Twilight had a similar idea, and the moment she was inside the gates she had turned to begin conjuring shield disks for the guards on the ramparts. The repurposed shields flew, and cut through the city’s forces with ease. Pegasi took to the sky to flee or simply avoid the onslaught the young mare was dishing out, several unicorns joining her soon with their own spells, and enemy unicorns attempted to shield themselves with magic. Unsurprisingly, many of their shields managed to hold against Twilight’s spell, but the lavender unicorn grinned as a new idea occurred to her.

She quickly unsheathed her sword, and with a glow from her horn she disappeared in a flash. She reappeared inside one of the city guard’s shields. The small confines resulted in her blade having teleported directly into his throat. The shield around her vanished, and she used her telekinesis to remove the body from her sword. The young mare quickly threw it behind her to take out any guards that might be approaching, and ended up knocking several off the ramparts. With another flash of her horn she repeated the procedure, but this time she threw the body forward onto another unicorn in front of her who had grown wise to her tactics, lowering his shield. Twilight used her disciplined mind to quickly isolate the feeling excitement, and with the emotional fuel she shot electricity from her horn, frying the soaked guard.

With the immediate area cleared, the young mare turned her attention to the streets below, and motioned with her head for others to join her on the ramparts. The hoofful of soldiers who spotted it began to rush up to join her. Once they were with her, she lead them in a charge down the walls of North Bay, intent on taking out the guards at the other gate in the Slums.
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August 12th - 6th Day of the Siege of North Bay

“Where’s Twilight?” Nightmare Moon asked, not bothering to hide her heavy breath.

The alicorn, though normally an image of might and regality, was the perfect depiction of exhaustion. For five days straight she had worked on the storm with her soldiers without rest or food, and now she could work no longer. Only now would she see fit to come down and rest. Her wings sagged to the ground. Her eyes were dull and dark. Her coat was soaked with sweat and rain, and looked worse than Twilight’s had when they first met so many months ago. Even her mane seemed to have stopped flowing and sparkling. It was a wonder she could levitate her food to eat, and it was difficult to force herself to keep eating. Yet she needed to. She had pushed herself too hard, and her body needed nourishment.

Masque Raid, fortunately, did not seem to mind all this as he answered, “In the city. She’s managing the establishment of camps in the slums, keeping the civilians from stirring up trouble, and directing operations in there. I’m handling the management of forces still outside the city.”

Nightmare gasped, and set down her emptied cup of water. “Another.” She rasped before focusing back on Masque, as the soldiers in the command tent helped tend to her. “The battle is going well then?”

“For the most part.” The stallion began. “Casualties have been minimal, and we’re nearly through to the Elite and Commoner Districts. Their gates are not what’s slowing us down there. It’s trying to break in without too many deaths. There are far higher concentrations of guards there, but we’re still making progress. The Noble District and Silver-seas’ Estate have far stronger gates, though. I don’t think we’re breaking into the Estate directly, and the Noble District gate has one of our highest casualty rates. Since we’ve already broken into the city I’ll be redirecting our soldiers there to fight elsewhere. No sense in wasting lives.”

“Good. What about Twilight’s progress?” The ruler of the night asked.

“I don’t know. We only invaded the Slums a few hours ago. I imagine she’s still setting up. Knowing her, she’ll set siege to all the gates separating the Slums from the rest of the city.” Masque answered.

Nightmare shook her head. “I’ll have to go see her. There’s no sense in trying to get into the Merchant District. The city guards’ headquarters is there, and it’s a fortress unto itself. No sense in laying siege to that. The Harbor has direct access to the Noble District. She can skip right over the Merchant. She should focus on that.” The alicorn explained.

“I know that. I’ve been to North Bay before.” Masque corrected calmly.

“I…apologize. I’m exhausted.” Nightmare excused.

Nodding in understanding, the unicorn continued, “We have a major issue, though. Supplies are beginning to run low. It will take too long to capture this city. We’ll be starving before we can, and that means our enemies can finish us off.”

“The gryphons are still not here?” The former-empress asked, earning a shake of the head from her fellow commander. “They should’ve appeared on the way here. It’s been far too long.”

“Do you think their king didn’t like the deal?” Masque wondered.

“Ocelion is arrogant. He wouldn’t see this for the challenge it is, and we’ve promised him aid in taking more land for himself. Not to mention he gets to say that a pony god needed his aid. I doubt he’d pass up this deal. I have no idea what could be taking them so long.” Nightmare denied.

“We can only wait and pray.” Masque replied.

“I’m surprised to hear you say that.” Nightmare commented.

“Why?” The stallion asked curiously.

“You don’t believe in Harmonyism, and, before you deny it, it’s obvious from the way you speak of and to me.” The alicorn answered.

Masque chuckled, “Just because I don’t believe you and your sister are gods doesn’t mean I don’t believe in the idea of God. Though I may not know him.”
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August 14th - 8th Day of the Siege of North Bay

Duke Silver Sails stood at window in his family’s estate, and looked out on the city. He sighed. The head of the Silver-seas family was a harsh unicorn at times and somewhat grim, but he was not a cruel one. Not anymore so than he need be at any rate. The silver-maned light purple stallion was an expert at business, as indicated by his cutie mark, three trade ships sailing into a sunset. So naturally he did know how to play dirty, any good business pony did, but that did not mean he had absolutely no heart. Right now, his heart was aching, but few would be able to tell.

The Duke’s heart was aching at the fact that slowly but surely his city was falling. A prosperous city built by his family, and one in which many ponies found comfortable lives in. He was no fool. Just yesterday the Lunar Republic had made it into the Harbor and the Commoner District. It was only a matter of time before they claimed the Elite. Defeat for North Bay was inevitable, and it hurt to think that after all these generations his would be the one where it fell. He had no idea what these rebels intended to do once they’d claimed his city, and though he rarely thought of them he cringed at the fate that might befall the citizens of the city. They were his responsibility, and he had failed them like he had now failed his ancestors and the Empress. North Bay was lost, or would soon be.

Silver Sails felt a hoof touch his shoulder, and he turned to see his wife. Though an older unicorn mare by now she still held every bit of beauty he’d seen in her all those years ago. Duchess Salt Wind was a sand colored mare with a well styled dark stormy blue mane and tail that had a touch of ice blue to them. Her brown eyes stared back into his blue, and she gave a small sad smile. “It’ll be alright, darling.” She attempted to comfort.

“How?” Silver Sails asked.

Salt Wind thought for a moment before answering, “It may not be the end. We may not die.”

“No…But in such a situation would we be allowed to stay in power? I doubt it. Our children are not fools, except Silver Pot, but they have never lived as commoners. I am getting on in years now, as well. How would we come out alright in the end? We would have to scrape and struggle. We may even be hated. War has a way of doing things like that.” The aging stallion responded.

Salt Wind sighed, “We are strong, though. We would survive. This won’t be the end.”

“I wish I could believe that.” Her husband replied, as he turned his attention back to the window. “But when I look out there I can’t help but despair. We are losing this city.”

“This isn’t you.” The Duchess stated firmly, and regained Silver Sails’ attention with a slap. “You are a firm strong noble stallion, and you have always faced your enemies with dignity. Will you simply stand here and wither away? I will not. I will face those rebels as they come through our doors, and I will go down with honor and dignity. I will not let them see me as a defeated husk.”

It was Silver Sails’ turn to grow quiet. There was a shift in his demeanor. He grew stronger, and a determined look settled into his. “You’re right. Thank you.” He said, and kissed his wife.

“That’s better.” Salt Wind commented with a small smile, as they both looked back out the window.

In the far distance they could almost swear they saw shapes flying through the rain. Shapes significantly large and numerous enough to be seen through the heavy storm, but they passed it off as being their imagination.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

August 15th - 9th Day of the Siege of North Bay

North Bay was defeated. The gryphons had arrived the day before, and the supplies they brought were quickly circulated through the Republic ranks. Weapons and armor that were old were replaced with newly forged equipment that was of the finest caliber, as to be expected from gryphon smiths. Though they did not eat plants, gryphons did grow them for numerous reasons, medicinal herbs, extra flavor, trade, and the like, and so more food was now available for the Lunar Republic. Those who were injured were able to be treated better with the new herbs and medical chemicals. Of the most significance, however, was that a large company of seventy gryphons had now joined Republic forces with promises of more soldiers and supplies on the way. All of this, meant that the city would fall today.

The guards within the Noble District were taken by complete surprise, as the sky opened up and both gryphon and pegasi came down upon them for one grand assault. The large chimera attacked with brutal ferocity. While the pegasi acted with a fast fury.

A gryphon landed upon an enemy unicorn, crushing her under his weight, and quickly stood on his hindlegs to sweep his halberd all around him, cutting into pony vitals and knocking his foes off the wall. Another gryphon dove at the city guards with his talons and beak. His claws rent into two’s throats, and his beak closed like a bear-trap upon a third.

A pegasus dove onto the ground in front of a guard, and jammed her blade into the earth mare’s eyes before her enemy could react. She then quickly retreated to the sky to escape retaliation. One of North Bay’s pegasi thought he would fair a better chance in the air. Yet as he ascended he was cut off by a Republic pegasus. He attempted to retreat, but had been slowed down enough for a gryphon to snatch him out of the air. The chimera ripped open his stomach with its beak, and pulled out a few organs before dropping him down onto one of his comrades.

North Bay’s forces were thrown into disarray, and several gryphons devoted themselves to ripping out the gates’ supports. With the reinforcements gone, the gates from the Harbor and outside the city crumbled to the battering rams, and the Lunar Republic’s land soldiers were able to flood into the Noble District at last. The city guards within were slaughtered like flies in their confusion. From there, it was simply a matter of getting into the Silver-seas estate. Nevermind the remaining guards in the city. Once the ruling nobles were captured the guards would surrender.

The gryphons and pegasi resumed their onslaught as harsh as before, supported by artillery from the unicorns. Though slightly more prepared, the city guards were still reeling from the sudden turn of events, and so fell like their comrades before them. With no guards to stop them, the gryphons and pegasi opened the large metallic gates that had kept the estate safe. The Republic forces hurried inside, and began to secure the courtyard.

From the crowd Nightmare Moon proceeded calmly as ever towards the entrance to the Silver-seas Estate. Her rest had been limited, but she no longer looked ready to collapse. After four days of off and on resting, the alicorn merely appeared weathered. Alone, she opened the doors to the Estate and proceeded inside.

There, in the foyer, Duke Silver Sails and Duchess Salt Wind waited for her stoically. “You’ve lost.” Nightmare stated, as she strode towards the nobles.

“I know.” The Duke answered.

“Will you surrender?” Nightmare asked.

Silver sails hesitated before answering again, “Yes.”

“Will you agree to observation of your family until what is to be done with you is decided?” The alicorn pressed further, as she stopped just inches before the stallion.

“Yes.” Silver Sails agreed.

“Then you shall be treated fairly.” Nightmare stated with a cool smile.

Author's Note

And there we go people. This chapter took awhile, and I'm sorry. Now, for those confused by all the new characters, and those excited by them :trollestia: , this is the start of a crossover with the sidestory True Black. What's more, there's still at least two more chapters of this crossover to come, so I hope you people are getting excited.

For those who haven't read True Black yet, I advise you do. Not all the grammar and such is perfect, but given english is the author's, Leonofsweden, second language he does a damn good job. More importantly, you should be able to look past the mistakes to see that he is indeed an excellent author with a lot of potential. Some of you might also remember a certain other sidestory he did for True Colors.

At any rate, I hope you're all ready. Cause the next chapter is one I've been REALLY excited to write for a LOOOOONG time.

City By the Blue Sea Part III

Sleep had not come to her. Whether for nightmares, dread, a sudden fit of insomnia, or the simple all-consuming emptiness Twilight Sparkle had found no rest. She had desperately wished for it, some escape from what happened during the night, but her mind would give her no peace. Light had been escaping from the window for a few hours now, and she decided it was time to give up trying to sleep.

With a quiet heave, the unicorn climbed out of her bed and left her room. The halls were empty this morning, not a servant in sight, and her hoofsteps echoed around her. Twilight had thought her path aimless, but when she came into the dining room she realized she was hungry.

She was not the only one either. Within the dining room the whole Silver-seas family, minus Silverpot, a great black wolf, a large group of praetorians, and her master were all eating. The young mare caught the eye of Nightmare Moon, and for some reason she noticed it was a worried one.

Twilight swallowed, now nervous, and proceeded over to her usual seat beside the former-empress. “Twilight…what happened to your hoof?” The alicorn asked softly, as the unicorn sat down.

The lavender mare was confused for a moment before looking down to see the clawed stone fist on her left foreleg, rather than a hoof like there should be. She was suddenly aware that her gait had been off due to the size of the fist making her leg bend awkwardly. Whenever her left foreleg had touched the ground the echo had been louder and stonier as well. These were both very confusing. Because it felt like her hoof was still there, and yet it wasn’t. Bile rose in Twilight’s throat, and she wasn’t so hungry anymore. “It was cut off.” She answered with a small bit of strain.

“Last night?” Nightmare queried.

“Y-yes.” The unicorn answered shakily.

“By who?” Her teacher requested.

“M…May I be excused? I’m not hungry.” Twilight attempted to dodge the question.

“No. You came in here because you are hungry. I only wish to know who harmed you, Twilight.” Nightmare responded firmly yet with a hint of kindness.

The lavender mare searched the table for an answer to give. Her master would not be pleased with her…actions last night. Of that she was certain. She couldn’t let the alicorn know. “Mmn…They’re dead.” She responded.

“Who were they, Twilight?” Nightmare pressed.

The unicorn grit her teeth anxiously. There would be no escaping this. “A mare named Sharp Edge and her foals. They ran a whorehouse here that a guard captain tried to press me into…I killed them…All of them.” She explained, refusing to meet her master’s eye.

An uneasy quiet settled. Even the clatter of cutlery on dishes stopped. Twilight expected the obsidian mare at the head of the table to begin berating and yelling at her, yet when it did not come she began to look up uneasily. Again, she expected to find anger in Nightmare Moon’s face, but there was nothing there. It was unreadable. Which only made Twilight even more nervous. “I’m sorry.” She whimpered pathetically.

“Can I have a moment alone with my apprentice?” Nightmare said.

Knowing this was not a request, the various ponies at the table began to abandon their breakfast to leave the two alone. After only a moment, the alicorn turned her attention to the wolf who remained at the table. “That goes for you too, Lobo.” She informed a little more harshly to snap the great black beast back to reality.

Wordlessly, the wolf rose and exited the room as well, leaving the two alone. “I would have preferred you brought this matter to me, Twilight.” Nightmare stated in an even tone.

“I was angry.” The young unicorn replied lowly.

“I know you were.” Her master continued calmly. “This whorehouse, what was it called?”

“The Officer’s Club. It had a restaurant as a front.” Twilight answered timidly.

“I see…You do know this will not be easy to work through?” Nightmare asked, only to be greeted by silence from her apprentice. “The populace is going to be confused and afraid, and the city guard is bound angry as well. Not to mention that the wealthy of the city are going to be upset. The Officer’s Club was popular among them I believe. It will take a lot of effort to calm everything down. We haven’t even fully established our rule in this city, and already there has been a mass murder, by one of us no less.”

The lavender mare remained silent, her eyes locked on the ground. She had no way to justify herself, and she knew it. She should be able to. The world was better off without those maggots!…Even so, she found herself incapable of coming up with a reason that what she did was right. “If you had brought this information to me the whole situation could have been handled efficiently and without complication. I could have brought a small squad of soldiers there and arrested everyone, so they could be put on trial. If they had resisted, then it would have become violent, but there would’ve been justification. An explanation to give for the deaths. As it is, one of the Lunar Republic’s commanders strolled into what appeared to be a restaurant, and killed everything she could manage. You realize I’m going to have to come up with a different story, right? If the truth got out we could kiss our little revolution goodbye. The people of this city would rebel, and we’d have to put them down. Which would make us no different from we’re fighting.” The black mare informed.

“C…can’t you just tell them that’s what you did? Lead some troops there, but the staff resisted?” Twilight suggested.

“No. Because me leading soldiers through the Elite District in the middle of the night would be noticed, and I was elsewhere last night anyway. Chances are I was seen by several civilians, especially given my company at the time.” Nightmare corrected harshly, her even tone breaking for just a moment, before sighing. “Now…eat your breakfast. I have work to do.”

“I’m…n…not in trouble?” Twilight asked, but the cold glare she received from her master told her otherwise.

She was in trouble. There was simply no punishment for what she had done that would allow her to live, so the unicorn was being left unpunished. The thought did not make her feel better.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

To say that Nightmare Moon was angry would be to lie, but she was gravely upset in a different fashion. She expected better of her servant. She could understand why it had happened, but that did not make it excusable. Twilight should have better control of herself than to go on a killing spree. The fact that she didn’t also worried the alicorn. Was she right in teaching such a damaged pony? Was it a mistake to hone her ward’s abilities? If the unicorn snapped so easily now how would she react when she was even more powerful? Could Twilight be fixed? All these thoughts disturbed Nightmare, as she went in search of Lobo. Yet they did not show outwardly even a little.

The reason the former empress was now hunting down the wolf was that even after placing him under a blood oath the previous night she did not trust him. He was a spirit, and by that knowledge she should have slain him when she had the chance. The praetorians had convinced her of his usefulness, however, and what was more concerning was the information about this Chief Decurion Avarice that had ordered for a spirit to be brought into this world in the first place.

Nightmare had heard of him before, and even met him once, now that she thought about it, when he was in the company of Legatus Legionis Zahav. The stallion had struck her as unnerving. He seemed civil and polite, but there was a sensation the alicorn had around him that made her wary to present her back to him. The former-empress did not know what he was planning by conjuring Lobo, but it was clear he needed to be dealt with. So, she had every intention of sending the spirit and the praetorians that had come searching for him off to end Avarice, but she would not do it yet. She’d wait until her scouts could report the location of his unit, which according to Lobo should actually be coming down from the North. Then she’d be rid of a threat and distraction from the war.

Nightmare Moon’s ears pricked up when she heard the wolf speaking nearby. As she turned the corner she saw him in the company of one of the praetorians, who she had ordered to watch him at all times, and talking to a young colt and gryphoness. “…Still, you should not have left the forest. You should have remained hidden.” He fussed lightly.

The colt remained silent, seeming unable to answer. “You must be Lobo’s children.” Nightmare interjected.

The group seemed startled by her presence, and though the gryphon and Lobo watched her with a wary look the colt dropped into an instinctual bow. He seemed to think better of it after a second for some reason, though, and quickly stood back up. “What’s it to you?” The gryphoness asked rudely.

The alicorn glared slightly, but held back her anger. These two had a rough road, and some aggravation was to be expected of them. “I would advise you to watch your tongue, hatchling. Who I am should be obvious, and respect is due.” She responded, drawing a growl from Lobo that she pointedly ignored. “Now you are Raven, and you, colt, are Zig Zag, correct?”

“Yes ma’am.” The blue earth pony answered with a hint distrust.

“Good. Hammer Song, pass on my congratulations to your compatriot for locating them.” Nightmare said.

“He didn’t find them, ma’am. They were just here this morning.” The praetorian mare keeping watch over Lobo corrected.

“What?” The alicorn asked.

“We came here last night with a mare named Twilight Sparkle.” Zig Zag explained.

Nightmare took a deep breath at the information, and closed her eyes to brace herself for what that implied. After a moment she finally spoke again, “Then you had a hoof in the incident at the Officer’s Club last night, didn’t you?”

“Yes, and I don’t regret it. I killed the ones responsible for my mom’s death.” He asserted.

The alicorn grit her teeth, as she opened her eyes to stare down at the colt. Last night, she had a hard time imagining that such a young earth pony was as capable of a warrior, as his adoptive father claimed. Yet now, studying him, she could see it. He wasn’t heavily built at all. Only just enough. He was small, fast, and surprisingly well-armed. If he were indeed trained right he could be a terror in a fight. She could believe he was a part of the massacre. “That was foolish.” The former-empress stated tersely.

“Why? Because you wanted to protect Silver Pot?” Zig Zag growled.

“DO NOT…” Nightmare shouted, her voice echoing throughout the hall, before regaining control over herself. “…assume I valued that sack dung to any extent. After the way he touched my Twilight I would have been glad to see him burn……But slaughtering the entire Officer’s Club in the middle of the night is unacceptable. The point of the Lunar Republic, of this rebellion that you have wandered into, is to establish a more free and equal society. If the first thing that happens in this city after we have taken over is a mass slaughter in what most believe was a restaurant how do you think the public will react?”

“If it’s about equality then their reaction should be the same as when my mother died! Besides, those bastards deserved it.!” The colt argued.

“Zig Zag…” Lobo cautioned his son, noticing just how agitated the obsidian mare was becoming.

It did little good, as the ruler of the night let loose on the colt, “Whether they deserved it or not is a moot point! They were bound to and had every right to a trial! And who are you to say what they did and did not deserve?! You do not know all that they did or thought, whether they were true monsters or not! Even if they were you can not go out, and deal whatever judgment you feel like to whomever! If you treat them as the filth you perceive them to be, and act purely on your OWN desires and emotions then what does that make you?! Silver Pot?”

As she raved, the alicorn leaned down to glare into Zig Zag’s eyes. Her glowing turquoise orbs flared with her anger, and the full weight of millennia of wisdom and experience backed it. While in his eyes she could see fear, hurt, anger, refusal to admit she was right, and desperation for an argument. In the end, he could not find an answer, and he broke the paralyzing gaze by turning and running. Raven sent Nightmare an angry scowl before chasing after her coltfriend.

As the alicorn stood back up her attention was diverted to Lobo by a vicious growl. “You will not talk to my pup like that again!!!” He warned.

Nightmare Moon stared back stoically, as she harshly replied, “As a father you need to know that sometimes your children need discipline and rebuking, not assistance. This is as much your fault as theirs.”

“For all your speech of equality, you sure talk down to those around you, pony. Who are you to say such words about something you know nothing about? …How to react to the death of your family?” The wolf questioned, before he stalked off after Zig Zag and Raven.

Nightmare huffed, and without so much as a further look to the wolf, the former empress marched off to fulfill her duties. It was going to be a long day trying to calm down the populace, and explain away what had happened. Not to mention, she now had to pay condolences to the Silver-seas.

In no mood to be diplomatic after her conversation with Zig Zag, the alicorn opted out of speaking to the noble family at the moment, and proceeded to the privacy of her room. She sighed, as she closed the door behind herself. Alone, she did not need to keep up appearances. She could allow her emotions to run freely.

The obsidian mare scowled in agitation, and dropped her head low moodily. Like a predator, she stalked over to the desk near her bed, before plopping down in aggravation. After a moment of searching the drawers she found a page of leather parchment, and laid it out over the desk. With a quick uncapping of the inkpot, the former-empress set to work on writing a cover story to be spread among the populace.

Unfortunately, her privacy was not to last. Her door creaked open, and immediately she assumed an upright and regal posture. She did not turn to meet the intruder, though. Her ears twitched, as she picked up the sound of soft paws padding across the ground. “You should knock.” She advised warningly, not in a mood to deal with the wolf who she knew was behind her.

“And you should show more consideration for those around you, especially the younger ones.” Lobo huffed.

Nightmare refused to face him, ignoring his comment. “Shouldn’t you be looking for your children?” She asked.

“They didn’t go far, and of the two of us I’d say you’re the one who needs to keep an on their child.” The wolf growled warningly.

“Well, I would’ve been able to intervene last night if someone hadn’t interrupted me.” Nightmare bit back, glancing at the spirit briefly. “Twilight has never been a child to me anyway. She’s different.”

“Oh, so she’s different. That explains everything.” Lobo laughed sardonically. “And for the record you’re the one that stopped me from reaching Zig Zag, and even if Twilight is not a child ZIG ZAG IS! Yet you still tore into him in front of everyone, while you let her go without so much as raising your voice! Where’s this so called ‘equality’ that you spoke so adamantly about?”

“You assume that just because I didn’t yell I let Twilight off the hook?!” Nightmare snapped, as she whirled to face the wolf, dropping down into the animalistic stance she had when she first entered the room. “They both received the same!”

“Really?! Tell me how! You rave at a child for vengeance against the killers of his mother and friends, the owners of a whorehouse, while you leave your precious apprentice to slink off to Alpha knows where! Even though SHE’S mostly to blame for this!!! Had she not taken Zig Zag into the city then three of us would’ve been in and out without anyone being the wiser, and the city bereft of two ponies no one would miss!!! Instead YOUR apprentice brings my children into a massacre!” Lobo barked, and dared to prowl toward the black mare instead of backing up, teeth bared and hackles rising.

“At least YOUR son has shown enough sanity to be responsible for his own damn actions! Do you think I don’t know this is Twilight’s fault?! Of course I do! She has shown more than irresponsibility with this! After everything she’s been through I can draw no other conclusion than that my beloved servant is losing her sanity! How the FUCK do you suggest I react?!” Nightmare screamed, as she began to twitch, in desperate need of something to take her rage out on.

Lobo nearly fell over, clearly having not expected that comment. “My son…is responsible enough…and you…and Twilight…is what?” He stumbled over his words, flabbergasted, before regaining his composure. “Even if that’s true, and your Twilight has a problem, that still doesn’t give you the right to unload your frustrations out on Zig Zag like you did.”

“That doesn’t mean I was wrong!” The alicorn yelled simply.

Despite the wolf’s calmer tone, she was still in a rage. Everything today was testing her patience, and it was quickly coming to an end. “So what? I know you were right! But I was handling it my way because it was my son, and I was doing a hell of a lot better than YOU did! He needed time to reflect and think! Not your holier-than-thou crap shoved down his throat! No wonder Twilight is going insane…” Lobo retorted through grit teeth.

Nightmare Moon’s eyes shrunk at the comment and began to glow ominously. Her entire body shook with rage, and her heart ached at the sheer amount of anger coursing through it. He had crossed the line. “Get out…” She whispered viciously, literally only seconds away from ripping the wolf’s head off with her magic.

The spirit grinned back at her, seeming to think himself clever. “Doesn’t feel good, does it? Not when you’re on the receiving end of the barbs. Just think about how a fourteen year old pup would take it, or anyone without our existential experience to draw on.” He said smartly, as if teaching her a lesson.

The alicorn was not to be tested, though. With the roar of an Ursa Major, she leapt upon the wolf, pinning him to the ground by his forelegs. “Your highness, what’s wrong?!” Hammer Song yelled in panic, as she rushed in from the hall where she’d been waiting.

Nightmare ignored the praetorian, however. “TAKE! IT! BACK!” She screamed into Lobo’s face, amplifying her voice with magic half in the intention to deafen Lobo. “TWILIGHT HAS NOTHING TO FEAR FROM ME! SHE KNOWS SHE CAN TRUST ME! I HAVE ONLY EVER PROTECTED HER! I NEVER HURT HER! THAT WAS MY SISTER! NOT ME! TWILIGHT…isn’t…afraid. I-I never…hurt her…”

The former empress’ speech broke apart, as she neared the end of her raving. Her voice trembled, and hot tears slipped down onto Lobo’s face. Even then, though, her livid glare did not lessen one bit, but Lobo glowered right back at her. “Good! Take it out on me! I can handle it, unlike some little foal!!!” He spat.

The alicorn’s face twisted and contorted in sheer rage, as she howled like a banshee. “Your majesty, no!” Hammer Song shouted, and rushed forward to intervene.

Nightmare Moon quickly hopped off the wolf, and threw him at the praetorian telekinetically. He slammed into the earth mare like a boulder, but, far from done with him, the ruler of the night walked over to bite him by the tail. With a heave, she reared up, and threw Lobo onto her bed with enough force to snap its legs. His tail popped out of place from the swing, eliciting a yelp of pain. Yet he was given no time to rest, as Nightmare’s telekinesis catapulted him painfully into the opposing wall. Her magic faded from around the wolf, and he dropped painfully onto the dresser beneath him. Groaning in pain, he rolled over onto the ground with a heavy thump. Only for the furious alicorn to force him back up to his paws with her magic, as she walked in front of him. Presenting Lobo with her hindquarters, she pulled both her rear legs back, before bucking him square in his chest. For a brief moment, she felt a gratifying crunch, as the spirit’s ribs gave way, allowing her hooves to sink into his soft organs. After that short second, he flew across the room again to slam into the desk.

Heaving angrily, Nightmare approached the broken form of the wolf and snarled in his face. “Take. It. Back!” She demanded.

Coughing up blood, Lobo’s voice came out in a pained wheeze, “I…truly am…sorry…I…used your feelings for Twilight,…but you needed it…in more ways than one.”

As the wolf spoke between gasps for breath and groans of pain the towering mare began to calm down. His agony and sincerity broke through her anger, and her bestial scowl slowly melted. “Tell me, Nightmare…” The spirit wondered curiously. “If you had thought…that I had killed Twilight…would you have stopped before…I was a red smear…on the floor?”

The alicorn knew in that instant what the wolf had intended. She loathed it when she was outsmarted. Nevertheless, the point was made. For all her questioning of Twilight and Zig Zag’s self control, she had reacted in the exact same way. “No…” She answered, as she sat down and glared at Lobo, daring him to explain his point.

To emphasize this, the moment he opened his mouth again she used her magic to yank his ribcage back in place, eliciting another yelp. “Don’t move. I’m not that good a healer.” She advised, as she bent her power to restoring the spirit.

The wolf seemed to take the hint, and remained quiet while Nightmare healed him to the best of her ability, reattaching the bones and checking for internal damage. Another groan soon filled the room, and the clatter of hooves signaled the praetorian standing back up. “Are you okay, pony?” Lobo grunted

“Yeah, I’m good…” Hammer Song answered in confusion.

“Then you can wait outside, Hammer. There’s no threat to either of us in here.” The wolf dismissed.

After a moment, the clip-clop of hooves along the floor and the thump of a closing door told Nightmare Moon the praetorian had left. Still, the alicorn remained quiet. She did not speak once, until at last she was done. “I did what I could for your tail, but it wasn’t much. Your ribs should hold, but they aren’t fully healed. So don’t do anything else stupid.” She warned Lobo, slapping him upside the head for his gall.

“Right…No picking fights with any sort of alpha I encounter.” The wolf replied with a smirk, as he climbed back up to his paws.

“You were a fool for starting this in the first place. You knew I was in a foul mood, and yet you egged me on.” The obsidian mare retorted.

“I’ll admit that, but you needed to vent. I could literally feel the aggravation and anger radiating off of you. You would have snapped on someone sooner or later.” Lobo pointed out.

Nightmare huffed, “Not as violently, I assure you.”

“And how would I know that?” The spirit asked pointedly. “From all that I’ve seen of you, you can be very violent.”

“Nevertheless, my wellbeing is my own concern and not yours. Now are you done here?” Nightmare wondered.

“Almost.” The wolf answered. “Just as your wellbeing is none of my concern, my pack’s wellbeing is none of yours. I’ll leave you to your own devices from now on if you leave us to ours.”

The former empress quirked a brow at the request. All of this just to make her leave his children alone? Well, she hadn’t been listening earlier, so perhaps she was equally to blame for this incident. “Fine. So long as they don’t interfere in my plans I’ll leave the foal and hatchling be. If they do, however, I expect you to set them straight. Understood?” She offered.

“Yes. As long as you go through me in the future, I’ll keep them in line. Assuming I agree that they need reprimanding, of course.” Lobo agreed, as he started to stiffly make his way to the door.

Nightmare sighed and allowed him to leave. That was probably the best she was going to get out of him. Besides, she had other things on her mind now. The most concerning being how easily she lost her cool over her apprentice.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight had taken to wandering the streets after forcing what little food she could stomach down her gullet at breakfast. She needed to do something, anything, to get her mind off of what had been done. However, lacking any good ideas, she had decided to go for a walk.

Around her it was clear to see the ponies of the town were worried. They weren’t panicking, but there were murmurs and fearful looks everywhere. To the self-depreciating unicorn it felt as if the stares were directed at her, as if everyone knew what she had done, what kind of monster she was. Unable to shake the paranoia, Twilight grew increasingly uneasy, and hunkered lower to the ground, almost crawling. Her ears folded back, and her eyes began to dart around herself worriedly, afraid she was about to be lynched. A few passing gryphon soldiers snickered at her, and across the street a group of city guards glared at her in disdain. The young mare was only snapped out of her delusion when she bumped against the rump of a rather large brown earth pony.

She skittered back a few steps, as the stallion turned to look at her with a curious grumble. She swallowed hard once she noticed he was wearing the mythril armor of a praetorian. After staring for awhile, a look recognition settled onto his face. He blinked in surprise, before asking in a gruff and booming voice, “Hey, you’re the Empress’ slave, aren’t ya? The one I saw at the castle!”

“You…know me?” Twilight asked cautiously.

“Nah, not really, but I seen ya before leaving the garden all beat up and with yer master.” The stallion answered. “Ya look a lot different now, though. I barely recognized ya.”

The unicorn’s eyes drifted to the ground, certain his meaning was worse than it was, and in doing so locked upon the monstrous claw in place of the bottom half of her left foreleg. Curiously, the praetorian’s eyes followed the path of her own, and he winced a little at the sight. “Come on. I was just taking a look around a familiar town. We can talk.” He offered in an encouraging manner.

Confused but without anything better to do, Twilight began to walk beside the stallion. “Name’s Bender, by the way.” He introduced himself.

Hesitantly, the young mare did same, “Twilight Sparkle.”

“So…I heard about what happened.” Bender stated.

“Y-you did?” Twilight asked fearfully.

“At the breakfast table, remember lass?” The praetorian reminded.

Briefly, the unicorn thought back to this morning before remembering that she had seen a group of praetorians at the table. “Why are you here, exactly? We left the other praetorians up north in Stalliongrad, with Thunder Cracker.” She wondered cautiously, trying to change the subject.

“Huh? Oh, don’t know nothin’ about that. We were sent here to fetch Lobo.” Bender answered without a second thought.

“Lobo?” Twilight blurted in confusion.

The earth stallion shook his head, as he replied, “The wolf at the breakfast table. It’s a long story.”

The lavender mare grunted in response, barely remembering the immense beast in the wake of her master’s discussion. “Ah, but now ya distracted me. I was gonna ask why ya killed all ‘dem ponies.” Bender continued.

Twilight froze up, as the question brought to mind her night with that bitch for just an instant. Her anger came surging back, but she managed to restrict it, not wanting to cause another incident. “Mind your own damn business.” She hissed quietly.

The praetorian actually laughed in response, “Fine. Keep your secrets. I was just curious what could make a mare that I saw prancing like a filly back at the castle, despite a severe beating, lose it.”

Twilight grit her teeth, and glared off to the side of the streets, trying to keep calm. The idiot didn’t know what he was going on about. She needed to let it go. He needed to shut up. She NEEDED to let it go. “Bender!” A voice called, distracting the stallion.

Immediately, the young mare utilized the chance to escape, before she made another mistake. With the stealth possessed only by a thief grown up in Stalliongrad, she slunk away from the praetorian to be alone.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

“You look troubled. Noctim for your thoughts?” Masque Raid wondered, echoing his words from Stalliongrad.

He smirked, as he received a rare reaction of a jump from Nightmare Moon. The obsidian mare turned her attention from the strategy board they had setup in the study, turning it into a makeshift war room, and from the praetorian she had been talking with. “Masque.” She greeted in annoyance. “Do not sneak up on me again. It would be unhealthy.”

The devious stallion had to resist chuckling, “I wouldn’t be able to if you were on you’re game. Now, what seems to be the problem?

“Shall I handle this, Ma’am?” The praetorian asked.

“No. He’s another commander of the Republic. We’re equal rank.” The alicorn clarified for her companion.

“You’re still not answering me.” Masque pressed.

Nightmare frowned. “I had an interesting conversation with Lobo before he went into town. It made me think is all. Now, why are you here?” She wondered.

Masque walked over to the table, and levitated a letter out of his robe. “I’m surprised he could write.” The unicorn joked. “But Thunder Cracker says things are well. Stalliongrad has received its first shipment of supplies from Rapture. He’s chosen an acceptable candidate to manage the town for the Lunar Republic until the war is over, and is on his way to join us now.”

“I see.” Nightmare responded. “I don’t look forward to dealing with his pigheadedness, but this is still good news. Piercing Mark, here, was just explaining how our plan to advance won’t work.”

“Oh?” Masque wondered, as the subject was changed. “How so?”

“You can’t outmaneuver the blockade Legatus Zahav has set up.” The praetorian stated. “I know you can’t tell from here, but he’s used literally all of his legions to stretch it all the way across the Silver-seas Duchy’s southern border. There’s no getting around it.”

“Yes there is.” Masque argued without even having to think. “His blockade can only cover land. We can take ships around it, and make landfall in the Platinum Duchy.”

“There aren’t enough ships in the docks to carry the soldiers you’d need.” The Praetorian pointed out confusedly.

“No…But Rapture should have the extra ships.” Nightmare responded, as she caught onto Masque’s line of thought. “They’d have to sail far out to avoid being halted by Feliniss, so it would take awhile. But with steady supplies being delivered from over land we can hold our own here for as long as we need to.”

“There, see, no complication at all.” Masque stated smugly, as the praetorian shook her head in astonishment at the speed with which a new plan had been made. “Shall I go hunt down the gryphon commander and explain what we need?”

“Yes. Thank you, Masque Raid.” Nightmare responded pleasantly.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Celestia trotted briskly through the halls of the Royal Pony Sisters’ Castle. She was not in a particularly good mood, but it showed itself only by the serious look on her face. Apparently the Legate had alarming news for her, and once she had sent his messenger away she began to hurry to his office. The staff and guards were quick to hurry out of her way when they spotted her.

The Empress had been a terror to many of them since this war began in earnest. Her normally calm if teasing demeanor had spoilt. She was often in a foul mood, and eager for any excuse to punish someone, as if they were to blame for the continuing rebellion.

When the brilliant white alicorn arrived in Artillerus’ office she noted that Prefect Daunting Hooves was also present. “Your majesty.” The Pegasus greeted respectfully, as he rose from his seat on the floor with a bow.

“Prefect.” She grunted, before sitting on a cushion beside him. “Where is the Legate?”

“Likely speaking to Legatus Path Blazer about deploying his troops. Maybe organizing some royal guards to go with him.” Daunting Hooves answered.

Celestia sent a sharp look down at the blank flanked pony. “Why?” She probed.

“I believe Legate Artillerus would be agitated if he did not tell you himself, your highness. I am sorry.” The Prefect apologized.

“And how is it that you know what this is about and I do not?” Celestia snapped coldly.

“Your radiance, you know as well as I that though we praetorians are small number we are everywhere.” Daunting answered with a smirk that earned him an open scowl from the Empress.

The door flung open again suddenly and an equally foul-mooded Artillerus entered. The enormous earth gelding walked around his desk, before smacking his hindquarters into his cushion angrily. “We’ve been betrayed.” He stated simply.

“What do you mean, Legate?” Celestia asked agitatedly. “What has happened?”

The earth pony stared at the Empress for a moment, before sighing and reaching into his desk for his private bottle of wine. He poured himself a glass, as well as one for both Celestia and Daunting Hooves, certain they would both need it. After taking a large gulp from his own, he sighed and answered, “Birdlelon…”
_____________________________________________________________________________________

“…has fallen.”

Lord Zahav’s blood ran cold, and his wine glass slipped from his magical grasp to shatter on the ground. “…What?” The noble-turned-general blurted in an uncharacteristically weak voice.

“I’m sorry, sir. We don’t have much information at this time, but smoke was seen rising from it. In addition, civilians were fleeing from what they said were Grand Army troops. Legatus Legionis Ardent Fervor was spotted heading into the Platinum Duchy. It’s likely that he approached the city, and they allowed him into it, thinking he was just there defend it or camp for the night. He would’ve been able to take the entire city no problem. He had all his legions with him, and the city would’ve been taken by surprise from the inside and the out.” The soldier reporting to him explained.

“A-and…my family?” Zahav wondered fearfully.

The soldier was quiet for a long moment before answering, “None of the survivors who have made it out are of the Platinum Bloodline. To our knowledge, anyway.”

The world was falling apart underneath the aging unicorn’s hooves. This couldn’t be happening. For one of very few times in his life, the legatus felt weak and powerless. Zahav took in a shaky breath before quietly ordering, “Go…”

“Yes sir.” The soldier replied respectfully and left the tent.

In privacy, the stallion grit his teeth, and began to cry, hiding his face on the table. He was unsure how long he was crying. He only stopped when he felt a cold disgusting massive wet clammy appendage gripping his shoulder gently, and its fingers squeeze him reassuringly. He turned to face whatever this was, and in retrospect he would wonder why he didn’t cower in fear at sight of the three monsters. As one the triumvirate spoke, “We can help you.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________

As Twilight watched her namesake take the sky she was filled with just as much unease as she had since her master left her at the breakfast table. Her run in with the praetorian had not helped her to calm down either. Though her anger had faded the arrogance of asking her such a private question still bothered her.

She lay out in the courtyard of the Silver-seas’ estate, alone. The only ones that dared approach her were her soldiers. They could tell something was wrong, and they were clearly concerned. She could not tell them what had happened, though. Her master would be angry if she did, and she didn’t believe her soldiers would respect her the way they did now if they knew either. So the young unicorn just turned them away, and continued to lay alone in her private misery.

What she had done was unforgivable. Of that she was certain now. Those worms had deserved to die!…But the manner in which she went about it was wrong. It was odd. She did not regret killing them at all. What she regretted……was her cruelty. She had been just as monstrous to them, as they had been to others. With this realization, the unicorn’s eyes drooped in further depression.

The sight of the marble hand only made things worse. She made monsters too. She created some…things. Horrific creatures that made her shudder at the memory of their disgusting appearances. She’d poured all of her hatred and anger into them. She’d somehow CREATED living beings for the sole purpose of her revenge. Twilight wasn’t sure what was more vile. The monsters she made, or the fact that she twisted new life with her fury.

The young mare’s ears twitched, and her attention was brought to the Noble District gate. The large metal doors swung open to reveal Zig Zag and Raven entering the grounds again with a grey Pegasus. She shifted her eyes to the warm stone on which she lay in shame once more. Then there were these two. She didn’t know what they had done, but, regardless, she had brought a colt and a young gryphoness with her on her rampage. Then she’d left them to fend for themselves to boot. “This is her, Shadow Flight. The mare that helped us.” Zig Zag introduced with a friendly smile.

Huffing tiredly, Twilight stood up and faced the three. “Zig Zag. Raven.” She greeted nervously.

“You’re Twilight Sparkle? The mare who brought Zig Zag to that club last night?” The pegasus asked with more than a hint of anger in his voice.

Oh fuck. “Yes.” The unicorn answered cautiously.

“How could have you?! Do you have any idea what could’ve happened to him or Raven?!! They’re children for Celestia’s sake!” Shadow Flight yelled.

Twilight’s claws twitched at the name. “Shadow, what’re you doing?! We’re not helpless, and we knew the risks! I couldn’t just let her go after the ones that killed Mom by herself, though. I had to be there.” Zig Zag interjected, seemingly shocked by the older pegasus’ outburst.

Shadow ranted right over him, paying the earth colt little attention, “And don’t you dare tell me you did it with the best of intentions, because I know that’s a load of shit! There were more than one waitresses dead!”

“What do they ma--” Twilight tried to ask.

“They were tail lifters too you idiot!” The angry pegasus interrupted. “But Zig Zag and Raven tell me you killed them! They weren’t just caught in the crossfire either! You actively hunted them down! Not only that, but you killed Iron Helm as well!”

The lavender unicorn frowned. That was one of the names Iron Rod gave her, his older son. “He was on OUR side, but I guess shouldn’t expect some two-bit psychotic bitch that enjoys the suffering of others to know or care!” The grey stallion insulted.

Twilight grit her teeth. Enjoy the suffering of others? No. She didn’t. She didn’t enjoy her actions last night even as she did them. She was nothing like that bitch! “You were FRIENDS with one of THEM?!” Zig Zag exclaimed in horror, contorting his face in a snarl.

“He FOUNDED the Bright Skies! We were slowly freeing everyone enslaved in that damned club, and delivering them to safe lives in another duchy. In the long run we would have destroyed that filth pit without slaughtering the ones we were trying to save, might I add.” Shadow Flight explained to the young colt.

“Slowly.” Twilight sniped vindictively.

“You, shut up!” Shadow Flight barked, drawing a scowl from the mare. “Like you were doing them any favors, coming in there and slaughtering everyone in front of them! Do you have any idea what they’d been through, what kind of hell that place was!? They’ve suffered enough, and they certainly didn’t need a massacre committed right in front of them to add on top of that! It’s because of ponies like you that they wound up there in the first place, you irresponsible sociopath mon--”

“QUIET!” Twilight ordered.

Shadow Flight’s jaw snapped shut instinctively at the command. Only now did he notice that several soldiers had surrounded him during his rant. He looked to his sides to check that Zig Zag and Raven were alright for the first time since they arrived, but was surprised to find them now standing beside Twilight. Raven merely sat by Zig Zag with a scowl on her face, but young earth colt stared him with a mixture of disbelief, betrayal, and anger. The two of them glared at him. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong. However he quickly shut it again, as he heard the unicorn speak, drawing his attention back to her, “I have had enough of this! I am not proud, and I know I was wrong! But if you think I’m going to just stand here and listen to some stupid little nopony prick yell at me about it then you’re dead wrong! Do I know what they’ve been through?! I grew up in Stalliongrad alone! All my life I have had to scrape and struggle to survive! I’ve been beaten, arrested, enslaved, and…”

Her heart skipped a beat, and her mind reeled and rebelled against saying the next word. But her spirit demanded she say it, “…Raped! I know what they’ve been through a hell of a lot better than a little nine-to-five average piddly little cunt like you. Oh, and as for your ‘friend?’ He held me down while his little brother cut off the bottom half of my leg. So don’t try to tell me he was some righteous hero. He was just like the rest of them. Now, fuck off.”

Shadow Flight stood gaping, not quite sure how to react. When he did not move for several seconds Twilight ordered her soldiers, “Escort him out.”

With a quick salute, two burly earth ponies began to push the pegasus towards the gate. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know he’d do this. He said he had some information you’d want to know.” Zig Zag apologized, attracting Twilight’s attention.

The unicorn sighed, “It’s fine, but I would appreciate you two keeping last night a secret from now on. Besides, I should be the one apologizing. I know wasn’t…pleasant to you, to put it lightly.”

The colt thought for a moment before giving a small smile. “Thanks to you I got my revenge. As far as I’m concerned there’s nothing to forgive.” He replied with conviction.

“And you Raven?” Twilight wondered, casting the so-far quiet gryphon a hopeful look.

The gryphoness seemed to take longer to consider things, almost drawing the tension out on purpose. “So long as you treat ZZ better from now on I’ll forgive you.” She answered.

“Deal.” Twilight agreed, relief flowing through her.

Her ease fled when Raven walked right up to her face, staring down at her intimidatingly despite being several years younger. “But remember this, he’s mine. So keep your hooves to yourself mare. I’ve got my eye on you.” The gryphoness warned in a whisper.

Twilight blinked in confusion. She didn’t recall ever hinting at interest in the colt. He was a bit young, and she wasn’t…ready for something like that. “I’m…not interested?” She whispered in an attempt to put Raven at ease.

“Good.” The chimera responded with what appeared to be a triumphant smirk.

Author's Note

Hey everyone! I'm 19 today, so I figured what better way to celebrate my birthday than by giving you guys the next chapter. I know, it's been too long, but with both me and Leon caught up to the crossover chapters of our stories I have no choice but to focus on this more. Meaning updates should be coming faster than every few months for awhile now. I can't guarantee they will all be fast, but I hope to have at least two a month for you guys.

At any rate, while I don't think the chapter's perfect I think me and Leon did a pretty good job with it, and I hope you guys agree. If the argument between Lobo and Nightmare seems odd it would be because me and him tried something different with it, but I believe that it reads. I don't think you'll be able to tell.

Anyway, tell me what you all think.

Shades of Grey

There is good, and there is evil. That is a fact. It is unquestionable. The Alicorn knew this, but as she strode through the halls of her and her sister's castle she could only wonder. "What does that make us?"

She rarely posed this question to herself, often unsatisfied with the answer. She and her sister were the leaders of Equestria. The empresses of the Celestial Empire. The protectors of the ponies from everything, even from their some of their own poor decisions. Surely, they were good. For 2,000 years they had ruled this land, ever since freeing it from the piecemeal of a beast that ruled before them. Their citizens were happy. So why was she unnerved?

The alicorn stepped out onto a balcony overlooking the forest that surrounded the castle. The sun shined brightly down on her making the star-like sparks in her astral mane and tail nearly invisible, and warming her black pelt and cutie mark, which was a crescent moon in the middle of a purple splotch. Maybe, she was so conflicted because not all of her subjects were happy. She wasn't foolish or foalish enough to think that she could make everyone happy, but there were more than a few ponies that were dissatisfied with the government. A rather...staggering amount were actually. Of course, this was kept under wraps. The public didn’t know there were so many who would oppose the Celestial Empire, and, without that knowledge, many more who were unhappy would not take any form of a stand. This meant the bulk of the god-empresses’ subjects still followed them unquestioningly.

“God-empress. Hah!” The alicorn thought to herself.

If there was such a person as God she wasn’t him. She couldn’t even decide if she was happy or not, and she was certain that a deity would be decisive enough to determine how it felt. “Empress Nightmare Moon.” A stiff duty-filled voice behind her spoke.

The Alicorn turned around, and her turquoise eyes fell on a royal guard, bearing the usual gold and blue armor. “Yes, my loyal subject?” She responded as stiff and dutifully as the guard.

“Your chariot is ready to depart, your majesty.” The guard answered while bowing his head, completely unfazed by his ruler’s tone.

“Bastard.” Nightmare Moon thought at his lack of reaction. “Very well then. Lead me to it.”

The guard turned at the command, and headed back down the hallway. As the millenniums old alicorn followed him her thoughts drifted towards her trip. She was heading to Stalliongrad to increase morale. A little appearance to show the commoners that their deified leaders cared for them. Nightmare Moon scowled at the notion. It was not that she hated the idea of visiting her subjects, it did become lonely in the Everfree Forest with only their guards to keep her and her sister company, but there were so many better ways to help Stalliongrad than visiting to deliver a little speech. The town was in squalid condition. What it needed far more than morale was money. Money to improve the buildings and roads. Money to fund the schools and orphanages, and there was plenty money in the royal treasury last time she checked.

Yet, her sister, Celestia, was adamant that all that was needed was an attitude adjustment. Nightmare Moon wasn’t so certain, but her sister made most of the decisions revolving around the public. So who would know better than her? Nightmare’s own experiences with other ponies primarily came from her association with the Equestrian military. She organized it. She funded it, and she usually had final say on matters of security, national or otherwise. Of course, recently she’d noticed Celestia overriding many of her decisions. Nightmare meant to bring that up sometime, but she trusted her sister. After all, the older alicorn had been the one to start the rebellion against Equestria’s last leader, and, though they both had a hoof in it, was the one to ultimately lead the ponies to victory.

The guard and the empress stepped outside the castle to see many more guards, almost all pegasi, standing at attention on either side of the stone path leading from the castle entrance. In the direct center of the road, with it’s open back facing them, was a white chariot with gold colored rims and wheels, and four royal guard pegasi were strapped to it’s front. Nightmare Moon briefly noted that it was one of Celestia’s chariots before another thought pushed it out of the way. She sighed. It had been so long since she’d flown with her own wings, and even longer since flying without an escort, which always stripped away the feeling of freedom she enjoyed about flying. “Is something wrong, my empress?” The guard that had lead her dutifully asked.

Nightmare shook her head at the question, replying, “Nothing. You may return to your normal duties.”

“One must keep up their expected appearances.” She thought to herself as the guard strode away.

Wasting no time, the Empress took a deep breath and stepped onto the carriage. As she sat she ordered, “Let us go. I wish to be in Stalliongrad before noon.”

A lavender unicorn wearing nothing more than an old dress constructed from rags walked to the end of a narrow alleyway between two worn down stone buildings. She poked her head around the corner, her purple eyes searching for any danger in the snow covered town. The guards in Stalliongrad were usually too busy to perfectly memorize faces, but, even so, the mare didn’t want to take a chance. She had stolen some food just two streets down mere moments ago, and that wasn‘t the only time she‘d done something like that. The law was harsh. It didn’t matter your motives behind a crime, whether for necessity, greed, or something else, what mattered was that you committed a crime. Fortunately, growing up on the streets like the unicorn had advantages. Chances were, if you survived to adulthood you had enough skill and smarts to avoid being caught most of the time, and skilled and intelligent the unicorn was.

Spotting no threat, she left the alleyway and began walking down the street. She bent her head low in the imitation of a dejected look, and let her navy-blue mane, which had a pink and purple stripe each running through it, fall over her face, so as to help hide herself. A pair of guards in worn grey armor walked by, and the unicorn flinched on the inside. “Easy, Twilight.” She reminded herself mentally. “Just keep your head down and your pace slow, and you won’t stick out at all. Remember, they can’t see you unless you let them.”

Following her own advice, the young mare remained undisturbed on the outside. She was just a part of the crowd, and nopony could tell otherwise. She made her way to the edge of the town. The poor side, where she had a “home.”

Of course, with the whole town being poor, rich and poor had different meanings than usual. Rich, in Stalliongrad, typically meant you had a roof over your head, and made just enough to support your family. Poor meant you had nothing at all. You took what little shelter you could find, and had to steal to sustain yourself. The buildings around the poor side of town were either collapsed or in a severe state of disrepair, and with the way ponies who lived on the edge of town were forced to survive it was a dangerous area. Fortunately for Twilight Sparkle, for that was the unicorn's name, most ponies left her alone.

The reason was evident on her flank. Her cutie mark was a large crimson star surrounded by five small white ones. Most Ponies in the area, being unlearned or superstitious, took it as meaning Twilight had something to do with the stars, and they didn’t wish to anger someone connected to celestial bodies. They did live in the Celestial Empire after all. The truth, as a few had found out the hard way, was that her special talent was magic, and while she didn’t know any fancy spells, aside from a few she had learned on instinct, her sheer power was unparalleled by anypony in town. So, she was mostly left alone.

Finally, after half an hour’s walk, Twilight arrived at her home. She was still a little way off from the end of town, but not too far. The unicorn stood in front of a wooden building on the left side of the street. The structure was collapsed in on itself, but it’s front was mostly intact, including the door. Twilight smiled to herself, and her horn lit with a magenta glow. The door in front of her glowed as well before opening. Calmly, the mare stepped inside, and closed the door behind her. Inside, the broken and splintered boards formed a small triangular room that ended only a few feet from the entrance, but still managed to keep the elements out. In the middle of the room was a hole that led into a small tunnel Twilight had spent weeks making many years ago. This hole was her home.

Twilight walked into the tunnel, her horn barely clearing the roof, and proceeded to the back. The darkness closed in around her, but was quickly banished when her horn turned into a dim light, casting the tunnel in a magenta shade. The mare went to a soft patch of dirt at the very back, and laid down. Once again using her magic, she pulled the two apples she had stolen earlier from out of her dress, and began to munch away at them while taking a look around her home. Aside from a blanket by her side there was nothing else in the tunnel. It was rather depressing, but at the same time Twilight was happy for it. The door of the structure her home was in didn’t have a lock. So there was nothing stopping anypony from coming in while she was gone, and stealing anything she kept. At the same time, Twilight was also used to not having anything but the bare essentials, and she was grateful enough for having a roof over her head, unlike many on the poor side of Stalliongrad.

As Twilight finished her first apple she heard noise echoing down her tunnel, and paused in the middle of picking up her second piece of food. It sounded like a bit of a commotion. Fights weren’t uncommon, but as close as it sounded it would have to be in the street. The guards would certainly break it up and arrest those involved if that were the case, and few ponies here were stupid enough to risk that. Curiosity got the better of Twilight, and she placed her apple down before dispelling her light. Quickly, she trotted up the tunnel, and opened the door to her home. There were quite a few ponies in the street, and they were all staring down it at the same thing. The unicorn decided to join the bandwagon, and looked in the same direction. She gasped. Several stallions wearing golden armor that signified they were royal guards were pulling a chariot down the road, and in it was a sight no one could mistake, despite the fact nopony there had seen it before.

Riding in the chariot was a pitch black alicorn that sat tall. Even sitting the pony was three times the size of any other. Twilight would never have imagined that anypony could be so big, and, perhaps even more spectacular, the alicorn’s tail and mane were a constantly flowing field of stars. Upon the pony’s chest set a large black crest with a crescent moon on it, and, as if to assuage any doubts, the alicorn was adorned with a sapphire-encrusted silver crown bearing rounded spikes. What caught Twilight’s attention the most however, wasn’t the simple, yet expensive, raiment. Nor was it the alicorn’s lithe and unique body. Rather, in front of the empress’ face was a book.

The unicorn’s eyes widened to the size of plates at the sight. An actual book! She had never seen a book before. She had, of course, learned how to read over the years, but only from signs hanging in the town. To see a book just made the unicorn ecstatic, and filled her mind with all sorts of fantasies. What would the empress be reading? Certainly no ordinary book. No, that would be beneath her notice. She must be reading a book filled with all sorts of ancient secrets. Oh, what the little unicorn mare would give to have just a glimpse! Twilight continued to stare even after the chariot had passed, and without thinking about it, she began to follow it at a distance.

Nightmare Moon sat rigidly as her chariot touched down within the town. Her body was beginning to ache from sitting still so long. After all, the chariot was fairly small for somepony of the alicorn's stature. Too much shifting about would tip it over. Briefly, Nightmare wondered if her sister had given her the chariot to annoy her that way. After all, the dark alicorn’s own chariots were much larger in design.

Taking a look around, the empress was disturbed by what she saw. There were few buildings still standing, and those that were were riddled with large holes, some missing whole walls. Most of the street was lined with simple tents and campfires, ponies huddled around them to keep warm. As her chariot proceeded down the dirt road the ponies began stare at her, and murmur amongst themselves. Nightmare’s ears folded back in agitation. She knew it was bad in Stalliongrad, but she hadn’t believed it was this bad. It was difficult to look at, so the empress turned her attention to the inside of the chariot. Looking about, she spotted a small book in one of the pocket slots inside the chariot’s sides. The book glowed with a dark blue aura as Nightmare levitated it out, and brought it in front of her face to read.

It turned out to be a simple guide on the basics of magic, likely written for foals. Nothing new to her. She had learnt much more than what was in it on her own, in a time before books. Still, it would make for a good distraction from the morose atmosphere. So she lost herself the act of silently reading. “There are two prominent definitions for magic. One is ‘to enforce one’s will upon the world,’ and the other is simply ‘something that can not be explained.’ In reality, both of these can be said to be true. The most basic part of spells is to mentally will, or believe, something to be, but what causes magic is unknown. All that is known about the cause is that it relates to the horns of unicorns and our beloved empresses.

The range of things that magic can do is near infinite, but it requires more than just faith to perform most spells. While simple things, such as telekinesis or lighting, and a few advanced spells, such as mind control, require nothing, or little, more than enough belief to come about there are often other factors in casting...”

Nightmare’s mind was blank as she read. She wasn’t really paying attention to the book. The truth was that there was no difference between what she was doing and staring off into space. She just couldn’t stare at the town. It was too bothersome. Did it make her sad? Yes, but ,more than that, it made her angry. This town belonged to the Celestial Empire. It was under her authority, and what kind of leader let their followers suffer like this? Yet, what if it was just this section of town? True, that would be bad anyway, but perhaps this was the stem of all Stalliongrad's problems. If it were, then she could see how morale might help.

Nightmare carefully lowered the book, and began looking around the street once more. The tents seemed to have disappeared to make way for buildings that were whole. This almost confirmed the empress’ hope, but the ponies walking about appeared in little better condition than they had been earlier, proving it wrong. Nightmare Moon grimaced as she noted the expressions on their faces. Most had their eyes wide or jaws dropped in awe, a few even bowed, but several set their eyes in a glare, clearly blaming her for the condition of their lives. Was it her fault? Perhaps it was. As their leader and, in the eyes of many, goddess their wellbeing was her responsibility, but, then, how did Stalliongrad come to be in this position? The alicorn wracked her brain for the memories. It proved more difficult than she liked, a little over two thousand years of memories blending together a she searched. Finally, she recalled the start of the town.

It had been during one of Celestia’s courts. A group of farmers had approached with a request to settle land near Equestria’s northern border. Most of their reasoning was dismissible, such as gaining supplies from the untouched north. One idea in particular though, had won over Nightmare’s sister, and the night empress saw why. The northernmost land that ponies lived on was the old military fortress of Canterlot in the mountain to the north of the Everfree. With a town closer to Equestria’s northern border their claim on that land would be stronger, and the town would able to give warning of invasion from the northern gryphon kingdoms far sooner than Canterlot could.

Unfortunately, the land they decided to found Stalliongrad in was extremely cold, even in summer, so most of their crops didn’t make it. This led to the, at the time, small settlement struggling to survive. Celestia, not willing to lose the lookout so easily, selected subjects from other towns, and sent them to Stalliongrad. The new residents which made the budding village much larger were mostly builders and hunters. This allowed the town to expand easily, and establish a fur and trophy trade. However, considering that much of the money went to buying the food Stalliongrad had difficulty growing, the town continued to struggle. Things had only escalated as the town grew.

Nightmare Moon was jerked out of her thoughts as her chariot pulled to a sudden stop. Her guards began to unfasten themselves as she looked around. The town appeared much the same as earlier, but the building to her left, which the chariot had parked beside, was a surprisingly well kept log cabin. It was large in comparison to the buildings around, though Nightmare suspected the entrance hall to her castle alone was bigger than it. Still it was an impressive domain considering the rest of the town.

Nightmare stowed the book she had been reading earlier back into the slot she had taken it from, and stepped
out of the chariot. She stretched her body momentarily to ease out the tension in her muscles, and turned to head up the steps to what was obviously the ruling lord’s, a duke Pie if she recalled correctly, home. Her first order of business was to meet with him and exchange the expected greetings. Then, considering the growing late hour, she would discuss her lodgings, and giver her speech tomorrow when more ponies could be alerted.

Flanked by her four guards the regal black pony knocked on the door and waited patiently. After a few moments the door opened to reveal brown earth pony stallion with a gray mane. He had a serious look about him, but bowed his head when he saw who it was that was visiting him. “Empress Moon, it is an honor.” He spoke in aged voice.

Nightmare Moon nodded in acknowledgement and spoke as the pony raised his head. “Lord Pie, I presume?”

The pony nodded in return and stepped to the side saying, “Gravel Pie. Please, come in your majesty.”

The empress bowed her head to move through the door, and was followed by two of her guards. The other two took up positions beside the door as it was closed.

Twilight Sparkle stood in the middle of the street dumbly, staring at the chariot, as other ponies walked about her. The book was in there. It could be hers. She would actually be able to read something. Learn something! Yet, two of the royal guards were standing watch outside. They would see her, if they didn't already. "Outta the way!” A gruff voice ordered.

A normal guard shoved her aside, sneering as he passed. Twilight averted her eyes to avoid any recognition, and once the soldier passed she looked back up at the royal guards. One was staring at her impassively after the incident. Sighing, Twilight lowered her head, and began walking down the street once more. It was pointless now that she’d been spotted. The guards would stop her before she made it ten feet. Unconsciously, the unicorn turned down an alley and sat. “But, the book!” She thought. “I may never have another opportunity like this again. I...I have to have it!”

Determination set, the young mare closed her eyes in concentration, and began to think of where she wanted to be. Her horn started to glow. Subtly at first, but soon it was flaring with light. Several ponies walking by the alley stopped to stare at the spectacle as Twilight demonstrated a talent that, although she didn’t know it, was very rare.

After a few moments Twilight disappeared from the alley in a magenta flash, and reappeared inside the chariot that the empress had rode in on. Acting quickly, she looked to the slots on each side, and, after spotting it, grabbed the book in her mouth before turning to run. The royal pegasi guards, who had been stunned by the blinding light that signaled the unicorn’s appearance, recovered quickly, and took off in chase of the thief.

Twilight Sparkle glanced behind her to see the guards gliding towards her at rapid pace. Thinking quickly, the unicorn spotted a nearby barrel on the side of the street, and hurled it at her pursuers with her magic. One of them avoided it effortlessly, but as the other made to dodge the barrel slammed into his wing. The force of the object knocked the guard out of the air, and, worse yet, the barrel revealed itself to be a keg of mead as it shattered against him, dousing his feathers to render him flightless. The grounded guard scowled as he stood back up. The unicorn was faster than him on foot, so he turned around to do the only sensible thing. Report.

Up ahead, Twilight turned down a narrow alley to throw off the remaining guard, who had nearly caught up. Said guard swerved in the air as he missed the opening in between building, but returned quickly. He alighted on the ground, the alley too narrow for him to fly through, and galloped after the mare. As Twilight made it to the street on the other side the guard burst out of the alley behind her yelling, “Stop her! She’s stolen from the empress!”

Several normal guards that were in the street hesitated to process the words before they too joined the pursuit. Twilight was beginning to slow as she charged down the street. Normally, she’d be able to keep running for hours, having done it to escape authorities before, but the teleportation spell had drained a lot of her energy. It was only a matter of time now before she was caught.

Nightmare Moon sat patiently on a cushion in Duke Gravel Pie’s den as he paced back and forth expressing his apologies for the state of the town. He’d been going on like this for a while, and she’d only been able to make him stop for a short few moments by bringing up the subject of her lodgings for the night. Apparently, she’d be taking his room, and he would be moving into his guest room. “...of course it’s to the point where I don’t know if a pret-”

The duke was interrupted as one of Nightmare’s guards from outside rushed in and saluted saying, “I apologize for the interruption ma’am, but something has occurred.”

Grateful for a distraction the black alicorn responded, “At ease. Tell me what-”

She paused as her gaze turned to the guard. Much of his armor and his whole right side were stained brown and wet. The empress arched a brow before continuing more seriously, “Tell me what has happened.”

“There has been a theft from your chariot, your majesty.” The guard reported.

Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened at the news. The audacity. The sheer arrogance to do such a thing astounded her. Nopony was stupid enough not to realize that chariot belonged to at least someone of nobility, even if they hadn’t seen her riding in it themselves. “Wait...” Her mind paused. “What was in the chariot to steal?”

While she pondered this Gravel Pie had his teeth grit, and a stare set that said he was ready to kill somepony. “Where is thief now, and what did they look like?” He asked.

The royal guard turned to the duke and answered, “She was a lavender unicorn mare dressed in rags. As for her whereabouts, I am uncertain. My partner is still pursuing her, but I was...grounded after she...threw a barrel of mead at me.” The guard finished hesitantly, not wanting to admit his failure.

Gravel Pie shook his head at the guard muttering, “Incompetence.”

The guard glared at the duke before his attention was grabbed by Nightmare as she asked, “What was it that was stolen?”

“I didn’t get a good look, my empress, but it seemed like a book.” The guard answered.

“A book...” Nightmare Moon thought before making the connection.

The book she had been reading to distract herself. The black alicorn relaxed slightly. It had been nothing valuable. Gravel Pie turned to her. “Do not worry.” He assured her. “We will retrieve it.”

Nightmare replied calmly, “What was stolen is of no consequence...” Her voice became tense as she continued, “...What matters, is that it was ME who was stolen from.”

Gravel nodded nervously but spoke calmly, “We’ll scour the town for her.”

“No need.” A stern voice spoke up from the hall beyond the den.

A second royal guard followed several city guards entered. Being dragged between the city guards was a unicorn matching the thief’s description, but covered in fresh bruises, indicating the guards had beat her. She was unceremoniously thrown into the middle of the room, and the guards seemed to smirk as she winced. The unicorn looked around cautiously, and seemed to shrink at the stares being directed at her. When the mare’s eyes fell on Nightmare Moon she began to tremble. “As she should.” Nightmare thought with a smirk.

During the moment of silence she took in the appearance of the unicorn before her. She appeared just barely out of fillyhood. Seventeen years old, nineteen at most. “Here is the item that was stolen ma’am.” The guard that had caught the thief said as he walked over to Nightmare, and hoofed her the book.

The alicorn didn’t register this as she paid attention to the scene before her. Gravel Pie brought the unicorn’s attention to him with an angrily toned question. “What is your name?”

The young mare looked at Gravel, and shakily answered, “T-twilight Sp-sparkle.”

The duke eye’s narrowed as he continued, “And? What have you to say for yourself?”

“I-I’m sorry!” She yelled while lowering her face, and covering her head with her hooves. “I just...I’ve never seen a book before, and I wanted to read it! I know I shouldn’t’ve done it. J-just please...don’t kill me.”

Nightmare Moon quirked a brow at the explanation, it seemed unlikely. Yet she had been attending court for over a thousand years now, and was good at discerning the truth in ponies’ statements. This unicorn seemed to be telling the truth to her, or she was a very good liar. Nightmare doubted the latter though, as the explanation would not guarantee any kind of mercy. “Unfortunately for you,” Gravel Pie began with spite, “Death would be the appropriate punishment for attempting to steal from one of the empresses.”

“I‘m sorry!” Twilight pleaded once more.

“Take her away.”

“Please, don’t kill me!” The unicorn panicked, and began to struggle as the guards wrapped their hooves around her legs again.

“Stop.” Nightmare Moon commanded calmly.

Immediately, everyone in the room froze. The empress sighed. Her sister always said justice must be given without compromising emotions, but the black alicorn did not have it in her. What had been stolen was unimportant, and the unicorn’s reasoning was...very peculiar. She’d just wanted to learn something it seemed. Well, she would. This Twilight Sparkle had still stolen from her, and that could not go unpunished. Death, however, seemed too severe. “Place her in a cell until I can decide what to do with her. I was the one wronged, and I will decide her punishment.”

Nopony spoke in opposition. She was their ruler. She was the law. After a moment one of the royal guards stepped forward, “Of course, your majesty, but...Ma’am she can teleport.”

The alicorn raised both her eyebrows at this. That was surprising. She stood, sighing, and replied, “Very well. I will come with you and erect a ward.”

The unicorn thief ceased her panic as she was hauled away. Nightmare Moon, following behind, finally decided. She was not happy.

Author's Note: Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that. I feel the ending was a little weak, but I'm not entirely certain. Regardless, this not my first story, so please do not hold back if you have any criticisms. Of course, I don't have any pre-readers, so I apologize for any typos or the like. I do the best I can to correct those on my own. That said, I'm looking forward to writing the rest of this story for you guys, and hearing what you think.

The Grey Path

Twilight Sparkle trudged on behind Nightmare Moon while contemplating the situation they were in. Nightmare had only flown them beyond the Everfree before landing. Despite being powerful the alicorn hadn’t flown in many years, and carrying a pony and both their saddlebags ensured she would be exhausted if they flew all the way to Stalliongrad. So they were traveling on hoof. That alone would extend the trip from hours to days, but Nightmare was insistent on avoiding the roads, which would extend the travel time even further. She didn’t want them to be seen, and Twilight Sparkle had been told why.

The night-empress had apparently had an argument with Celestia over more than just Twilight’s abuse. The two were having a disagreement on the way the empire should rule, and Nightmare had decided to pay a visit to the rebellion. Twilight questioned this. It seemed unwise, but Nightmare was adamant not only that they go. She was also adamant that they give no indication to Celestia of their destination.

Twilight didn’t fully understand everything that was happening. She hadn’t studied on any politics during her time at the castle, and she knew only the bare minimum about the rebellion. However, the young unicorn found herself caring surprisingly little. She was simply happy to be away from the pony that had used her. Of course, she doubted, from the way Nightmare had told it, that the unicorn’s abuse was a big part of the issue, and she didn’t trust her owner. The only reason she hadn’t wandered off while the alicorn slept was because she had no idea how to navigate her way to a town, and she didn’t know how to survive in the wild. Granted all the food and water was in her saddlebags, Nightmare hadn’t disclosed the items she’d packed, but that would only last so long. So Twilight stuck by her owner. In the end, the unicorn realized, she didn’t have any more choice out here than she did in the castle. She was still a slave, and that title was beginning to gnaw on her since her perceived betrayal.

Twilight stared up at the stars that had remained the same since their escape, and began to pick out the growingly familiar patterns of constellations. Traveling by night was the easiest way to remain undetected, and it was also Nightmare’s preferred time of day. “Twilight Sparkle.” The alicorn in question’s voice called the lavender mare back to reality.

Twilight turned from the night sky to look at her owner. Nightmare Moon was not looking back at her, and simply continued to lead the way through the featureless foothills at the base of Mt. Liberum, at the top of which stood Ft. Canterlot. Nevertheless, the obsidian alicorn addressed the unicorn, “You have been very quiet for the past few hours. Is something bothering you?”

“Do you care?” Twilight thought in half-question half-answer before replying aloud. “No. I’ve just been thinking about the situation.”

“Did I not explain it adequately?” Nightmare asked with the smallest hint of annoyance in her voice.

“No. I think I understand.” Twilight answered. “You think the empire is too hard on the ponies of Equestria, but your…sister,” she wouldn’t say the name, “disagrees. So we’re heading to the rebellion. Because they…have the same opinion as you?”

“So they claim.” Nightmare replied.

“Claim?” Twilight queried.

“Many ponies claim do be doing the right thing when in reality they are taking advantage of others. I wish to see if they are honest.” Her owner explained.

The young unicorn was no stranger to the idea. There had been times when thugs had lured her into a trap by promising to help her when she lived in Stalliongrad. She wondered though… “That’s what she’s doing then. Lying to take advantage of others?”

Nightmare Moon stopped in her tracks for a moment before beginning to canter again. “I am uncertain.” She answered. “I believe that my sister believes what she is doing is right. Perfect order, however, is not worth it. Our subjects deserve mercy and freedom.”

Twilight glared at the alicorn for a moment. Not a single mention of what Celestia had done to her. With the way Nightmare originally presented the story it had sounded like, regardless of how small, it was part of the reason her owner left, but ever since there had been no mention of it. No apology for sending Twilight away. No apology for lying to her. No reassurances that Nightmare would protect her, like before it happened. With every passing moment Twilight’s trust in her owner shrunk more and more, and it…hurt. Oh Nightmare, did it hurt! She had thought the alicorn cared for her. She was the first pony to show Twilight any kindness, and the harm she had inflicted, on purpose the unicorn was slowly convincing herself, was irreparable. The lavender mare still had nightmares. She still felt filthy, but worse still was the pain that came from knowing the one pony she thought cared for her was the one to ultimately blame for it all.

Twilight blinked the hot tears, that were collecting, from her eyes. She needed to distract herself from the hurt. This was difficult given that its source was what was leading her, but knowledge always did the trick. She still had questions. “So what if the rebellion is being honest?” She asked.

“Then we join them, and fight until my sister sees the error of her ways.” Nightmare answered.

“If she doesn’t?” Twilight pressed.

Her owner did not deign to respond. The unicorn scowled and asked another question. “If the rebellion isn’t being honest?”

“Apologies will be in order. I will return to my sister’s side, and hope that I will be able to change her mind over the years. We are ageless, after all, and I’ll therefore have plenty of time.” Nightmare explained.

Twilight turned to glaring at the dirt. She would not go back there. She would not live in the castle with the day-empress. There had been no mention of freeing her. She was certain her owner wouldn’t, but she refused to go back there. The other idea, however, was somewhat frightening in itself. She would have to fight. She would be in a war, but it was also a war against Celestia. That was something she might be able to stand for. To hurt the pony that hurt her back. The lavender mare could only hope that the rebellion was honest about its goals.

Celestia stared out at the sunrise from her sister’s balcony. It had been nearly a week since the younger alicorn vanished with her slave. Celestia knew they’d left of their volition. Nightmare was purposefully doing her best not alert the day-empress, and the white alicorn knew that if her sister didn’t want to be found she wouldn’t be. So there had been only the bare minimum of search parties sent out to keep the military happy. Celestia frowned at the thought. Nightmare had been a large driving force behind the Celestial forces. Without her the military was panicking slightly. The funding wasn’t trouble. Celestia wasn’t stupid. She knew what to spend to keep the army going. The problem was organization. Without Nightmare Moon, total control of the military fell to the Legate, as it should, but while Artillerus was a brilliant strategist he was also grim. He was far from an inspiring gelding as well, the gelding itself was only a minor reason why. Furthermore, he didn’t connect well with the bulk of the army. The Royal Guards and Praetorians respected him well enough, and the former was a large portion of the military. However, most of the military was still contained within The Grand Army, the section of the military reserved for normal forces. Without the night-empress the generals of The Grand Army were beginning to worry. The younger alicorn was something of a figurehead for the average soldier, and while only the generals of The Grand Army knew of her disappearance it was still troublesome. Especially considering they seemed to respect Artillerus a surprising amount less, even though he was their superior officer. There was another, more pressing, concern over the military, however. One that had nothing to do with Nightmare.

Celestia sighed, and left her sister’s room. The halls of the castle had never been anywhere near boisterous, but to say the quiet was now deafening was something of an understatement. Since Nightmare had left a grim mood had settled over it. Most would never know why the night-empress left, but the black alicorn’s abandonment of her duties left all the subjects in the castle in confusion. What did it mean that one of their goddesses had abandoned them? Celestia smirked slightly as the thought calmed her. Goddesses, yes. She was, in truth, no deity, but she might as well be. She was far older, wiser, and more powerful than most any creature still living on Equis. Who was to deny it? It was a thought that Celestia had supported as it grew in her subjects, much to Nightmare’s chagrin. The day-empress shook her head. She must stop thinking of her sister. At least for now. Now, she had business to attend to.

The white alicorn opened the door to her throne room as she arrived, and trotted down the Praetorian guarded hall. She had arrived at the right time. For no sooner had she sat on her alabaster throne than did the throne room doors open once more, and Daunting Hooves trotted in. “You summoned me, your majesty?” He asked.

The Prefect appeared tenser than usual. Suspicious, but, then again, the Praetorians weren’t used to any kind of scrutiny. Perhaps a joke would lighten his mood. “Yes. I wish to know if you’ve discovered a cutie mark for wisecracks.” Celestia commented.

Daunting sighed, though he was smirking, “Sadly, my flank is still as blank as ever. Though I wouldn’t mind a wisecracking cutie mark.”

He appeared less tense now. Good. Putting on a smile Celestia said, “It is only a matter of time, Prefect. However, my real reason for calling you is much more serious.”

“Your majesty?” Daunting asked.

“I hear you dispatched a pair of praetorians to Stalliongrad along with a small group of The Royal Guards’ best stealth soldiers under my order. I gave no such order.” The white alicorn stated.

The Prefect gave her a confused look. “My empress, I do not know what you mean. I have a written order that matches your hoofwriting exactly.”

Celestia frowned. That was troubling. “Do you have it on you now?” She asked.

“No.” The white pegasus answered.

“Then shall we go fetch it?” The day-empress suggested.

“Of course, your majesty.” Daunting Hooves bowed.

Celestia stood, and as she reached the Prefect they began walking beside one another. The first few minutes of walking were silent, but eventually Daunting spoke up, “Empress Moon left.”

Celestia wasn’t sure what the gelding wanted her to say, and she wasn’t keen on discussing the subject with him either. “Yes.” She replied simply.

“Permission to speak freely on the subject?” He asked.

“Denied.” She answered.

“Permission to speak tactfully?” He requested.

Damn insistent blank-flank. “Fine.” She grunted.

“It’s unlike her to simply leave. To not tell or bring anyone.” Daunting stated.

“You do not know her very well then, Prefect. She has always been headstrong. She did, however, bring someone.” Celestia responded.

“Who?” The Prefect queried.

“Her slave.” The day-empress answered.

“Ah.” Daunting replied. “That makes sense. She was extremely talented in magic.”

“It is foolish.” Celestia explained. “The slave is bound to her by law. She can easily run, and, considering what has happened, likely will.”

“What has happened?” Daunting asked.

“That is above your station, Prefect.” Celestia retorted.

“My apologies.” The pegasus responded.

The alicorn did not choose to respond. Instead, she simply conducted the rest of the journey in quiet. The compound for the praetorians was actually separate from the rest of the castle, and appeared no larger, or grander, than a large orphanage. There were only a couple hooffuls of praetorians in existence, and all of them, young and old, called the compound home. Celestia stared about as she walked inside. She did not come to the Praetorian compound often, and it was for good reason. It confused her. While outside the compound praetorians were as dutiful and stoic as any other soldier, inside the praetorians were far from that. Due to their relatively small size, and that they had all gone through the same horrifying “training,” the entirety of praetorians were like family to one another. This was most apparent in the compound. The praetorians trotting about wore the bare minimum equipment. They were smiling and cutting up. Even the presence of royalty didn’t seem to distract them from enjoying themselves. It was disconcerting to Celestia, but she never tried to put an end to it. The Praetorians’ closeness made them even more effective in teams, and the alicorn knew the value of that.

The Prefect’s office would be better described as a bedroom. There was an unkempt cot on one wall, and items were scattered about the floor. The only office-like thing about it was a messy desk sitting against the wall opposite the cot. Daunting Hooves cantered over to the desk, and began shifting through the papers scattered about on it. After several minutes of, increasingly uncomfortable, waiting the Prefect trotted up to Celestia with a leather parchment in his mouth. The day-empress levitated it to her face, and read to herself,

“Prefect Daunting Hooves,

It has come to my attention that there is trouble brewing in Stalliongrad. I wish not to disclose the details, but I immediately order that a pair of praetorians and a small squadron of royal guards, all preferably with skill in stealth, be sent to the town immediately to investigate it and its outlying territories. The land, especially close to the town, must be searched thoroughly and discreetly. Should anything suspicious be found, I wish it reported to me immediately.

Your Empress, Celestia”

Celestia glared at the letter. It was a perfect match to her hoofwriting. She couldn’t blame the Prefect for not recognizing the difference. However, it was disconcerting to know there was someone who could copy her writing flawlessly. Even more so that it was someone close. It would have to be, as they not only could send letters to the Prefect, but wanted him to report the findings to her. They would have to be close enough to be able to rely on her relaying the information to them, or being in the same room as her when the information was delivered. Furthermore, and even more disturbing, if they were asking the findings to be reported to her then they clearly weren’t afraid of her finding this letter. They weren’t afraid of her. The most pressing question, however, was why would they ask this? Could it have something to do with the rebels? Possibly, but what? “Prefect, who gave you this letter?” Celestia asked.

“It came by flare delivery.” Daunting Hooves answered.

There weren’t many who knew that spell, and one, in particular, sprung to Celestia’s mind. “Nightmare.”

Nightmare Moon lay under the cover of the northern forest canopy, the branches above blocking out the midday sun. They were nearing their destination. If they pressed themselves they might be able to reach Stalliongrad’s official territory tonight. Then it was simply a matter of locating the rebel camp. This would present its own trouble, but it should not be too difficult for the alicorn. A stirring not too far from her caused her to crack open one of her turquoise eyes. It was Twilight Sparkle again. The unicorn was thrashing violently in her sleep, just as she had everyday since they left. That nagging foreign feeling in the back of her head would act up ever-so-slightly whenever this happened, and it annoyed Nightmare. Another thing that annoyed her was that as violently as Twilight was squirming the unicorn might hurt herself. Beyond the annoyance, however, the alicorn was concerned for her servant and charge. She could easily guess what it was that was causing the issue. The young mare’s mind was still troubled by Celestia’s raping of her.

The thought made Nightmare Moon look at the ground dismally. Even with everything that Celestia said about order, raping Twilight still made little sense. It was wrong in every sense of the word, and the unicorn, being the obsidian alicorn’s slave, was her responsibility. Not to mention Twilight had served her faithfully, and had, therefore, grown on her. It bothered the alicorn that Twilight did not come to her with the issue. It was something personal, and it was up to the lavender mare to decide how she wanted to deal with it. Nightmare, as a responsible owner however, wanted to help her anyway she could. That was the alicorn’s duty, wasn’t it?

Twilight’s thrashing brought her back to reality. She hated referring to her sister in this matter, but what had Celestia done in their youth whenever Nightmare had nightmares? Ah yes. Nightmare Moon rose from her spot on the ground, and walked over to Twilight. She laid down beside the mare, and, using her forelegs, brought the unicorn close to her, head resting on her heart. It felt awkward being this close to her slave, but it seemed to pay off when Twilight’s struggles slowly stopped. Nightmare smiled before closing her own eyes, and heading to sleep.

Twilight Sparkle was running. She knew what was behind her, and she was galloping as hard as she could. Unfortunately, she never seemed to gain any distance. Every time she turned a corner She was there. Every time she looked back She was there, trotting menacingly behind her. “You can’t escape, toy.” She taunted Twilight. “The only reason I haven’t caught you yet is because I’m having so much fun.”

Twilight did her best to ignore the words. No. She had a chance. She could escape. But She was always on her tail, wasn’t She? No! Twilight had no choice. She had to escape. She wouldn’t go through it again. The unicorn looked behind herself once more, and there She was, following ever-so calmly. Twilight’s horn lit with magic, and she focused on the idea of a branch tripping Her. She gasped suddenly, and was horrified to find her magic not working. She concentrated once again, but nothing happened. All of a sudden, she ran up against something hard and furry. She looked upward to see Her towering over her. “Having fun?” Celestia asked. “Well, I’ve started to grow bored, so how about we both get straight to things, shall we?”

Before Twilight could respond she felt an invisible force stronger than steel slam into her, and hold her spread-eagle on her back. Celestia’s horn was lit with a golden glow, apparently immune to whatever was binding Twilight’s magic. The alicorn leant downward, horn pointed at sensitive areas, and the young unicorn clenched her eyes shut in dread.

Ba-bump

Celestia started upwards, and Twilight opened her eyes.

Ba-bump

The day-empress stared about fearfully, and jumped from side to side. “What is that?” Twilight thought.

Ba-bump

Celestia’s hold over Twilight’s body faded as the alicorn lost concentration in her fright. The lavender unicorn slowly stood up on her hooves, and began staring about for herself, more in awe than fear. The sound…was unfamiliar to her, but it didn’t seem threatening. In fact, it felt rather comforting for some reason.

Ba-bump

Celestia turned tail, and galloped away in fear. The world around Twilight seemed to fade into blackness, and left the unicorn floating. Only, it wasn’t an empty frightening black. It was warm and soothing. Like being wrapped in a blanket.

Ba-bump

Twilight sighed in content. Whatever this sound was, it had saved her, and she was grateful to it. The unicorn closed her eyes, and nuzzled the darkness in affection.

Twilight Sparkle blearily opened her eyes as she came out of her dream. For once, it hadn’t been a nightmare. It had turned out alright in the end. She abruptly realized she was still surrounded by the warm comforting black, and the sound, though no longer Equis-shaking, was still present as well. She nuzzled the black once more, and it was at that moment when she heard it. Breathing. Right above her, and the black was rising and falling. The young unicorn realized exactly what she was laying against, and the soothing heartbeat took on a sinister tone. Immediately, she forced herself out of her owner’s grip screaming, and backed up several paces. Nightmare shot to her hooves at the sound and sudden motion, and came face to face with Twilight. “S-stay away from me!” The lavender mare stuttered, her horn lowered and glowing defense.

Her owner looked at her with confusion for a moment before she ordered. “Stand down.”

“No!” Twilight refused.

Nightmare grew agitated, and ordered once more, “Twilight Sparkle, Stand down.”

The unicorn’s heart constricted. She shouldn’t threaten Nightmare. “She’ll hurt me like Celestia!” She retorted mentally.

Nightmare Moon wouldn’t hurt her. “Yes she would!”

Did she really think she could hurt Nightmare? Twilight’s horn ceased glowing, and she plopped down on her flank. She wasn’t stupid. She knew by now that her owner used some kind of power to make her obey, and she’d just given in again. “Twilight Sparkle, why did you threaten me?” Nightmare Moon asked.

Twilight stared at the ground, unwilling to answer. If she didn’t, however, the alicorn would simply use that power again. “Because you…had me in your…, and I was afraid you were going to…” The unicorn trailed off.

Despite the broken speech, Nightmare seemed to understand what she meant, and the alicorn replied more tenderly. “Twilight, you were having trouble sleeping. I was attempting to help you.”

The unicorn was supposed to believe that? “No. No you weren’t.” She denied.

“Twilight,” Nightmare addressed her sternly, though still with a hint of tenderness, “I am not my sister.”

Twilight shifted her hooves uncomfortably. “If what she has done to you has hurt so much, then please let me help you.” Her owner continued.

Twilight Sparkle wanted to. She wanted to gallop to Nightmare. To hug her. To cry all the pain out, and to call her master again. But she couldn’t. If she did she’d be leaving herself vulnerable again. Vulnerable to a betrayal she was certain would come. She couldn’t trust her owner. Tears welled in her eyes, and she snapped them shut to avoid showing her dejection. She turned around on the spot and choked out, “Shouldn’t we be going?”

Nightmare was silent for a few moments before she answered, “Very well. If that is your choice then I will respect it.”

Shortly, the alicorn walked by Twilight, and the unicorn opened her teary eyes. She pulled herself to her hooves, and trudged on behind her owner.

It was past midnight now as the pair trotted through the forest. Nightmare Moon spared a glance back at Twilight Sparkle, who was looking at the ground. The alicorn was truly starting to worry about her. All in all, when she thought about it, it made sense the unicorn would revile any unapproved touching, especially from an alicorn. Still, it was a shock to Nightmare, and it had been clear that Twilight had wanted to talk when she had refused the option. So, obviously, she didn’t trust the alicorn. Nightmare sighed, and began looking about. They had been in Stalliongrad territory for awhile. She could tell because they accidentally came upon the empresses’ road earlier, and a sign had said as much. So she kept her wits about her. There was no telling when-

Nightmare immediately erected a dark-blue shield of energy about her and Twilight as several arrows shot out from the trees. The projectiles bounced off harmlessly, and their owners came out of the brush shortly after them. Five unicorns, four stallions and one mare, all dressed in simple leather armor. Bandits? No. They looked too justified. Like they believed their attack was right. Scouts from the rebellion perhaps? “Well, well,” Began a stallion who was clearly the leader. “You must be stupid walking into this land with that disguise on.”

“M-my empress?” Twilight asked.

Nightmare spared the unicorn at her side a glance. She was nervous, and that was not good in this kind of situation. Fortunately, the alicorn was calm, but there was something else. Some other magic was… “Ah, of course.” Nightmare thought before speaking aloud. “I am neither stupid, nor is this is an illusion. Now tell your subordinate to stop trying to undo this shield. They won’t make any progress.”

“You expect me to believe-” The scout leader began, but was interrupted by the mare of the group.

“Sir, I’m not making a dent.”

“What?” The scout leader asked.

“I’m not sensing any spells other than the shield, either.” Said another stallion, whose horn was aglow.

The scout leader looked baffled for a moment. The he asked cautiously, “What are you doing here?”

“I am here to converse with your leaders. Bring me to them, and I will not harm you.” Nightmare explained bluntly.

The scout leader gaped, “Why should I believe you?”

“What can you do to me if you don’t?” Nightmare mocked, though it sounded as if she was serious.

The scout leader growled in frustration, and the area was quiet for a few minutes. He sucked in a steep breath before offering, “I’ll take you to them, if you let us seal your magic.”

Nightmare quirked an eyebrow. She doubted any seals they placed on her could hold. She was too powerful for that. Still, when a deal is offered, always ask for more. “I will agree on the condition that you leave my servant untouched, and by my side. Her experience with any magic other than the mundane is limited at any rate.”

It technically wasn’t a lie. Twilight had very little experience with magic considering she’d only been learning it for a few months. That didn’t mean she wasn’t skilled with it, though. The scout leader pondered this for a moment. During the quiet Nightmare glanced at Twilight, who still appeared nervous, and placed a comforting hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. Twilight flinched, and Nightmare inwardly winced at the reaction. Finally the scout leader spoke, “Very well. We have an agreement.”

Authors Note: Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long. I've been trying to make progress with Shoot for the Stars, not to mention plans for a third project with Janushyde, but it's coming along very slowly. So here you guys have another chapter. This is also the first one where we see Celestia's perspective. Now, whose the pony who actually sent out the Praetorians? We all know it wasn't Nightmare, unlike Celestia, so who?

Real quick I'd like to explain something. The king's road is a term once used, not sure if it still is, in countries like Britain for their equivalent to the interstate. Therefore, the empresses' road is the same concept for Equestria.

City by the Blue Sea Part II

After two days of hard work and organization things were beginning to settle back into the norm for North Bay. That is not to say things were normal, but the citizens of the city were trying to get on with their lives. Which was difficult given all the changes. There were patrols of Lunar Republic soldiers everywhere, and even the city guard was under close watch. This had been a city that was happy before, so there may have been those who would be upset by what was happening. Not to mention an occupation took a toll on business, upsetting the merchants, and the ships were not allowed to leave harbor, upsetting the sailors.

Nevertheless, Nightmare Moon and Masque Raid were well aware they were upsetting ponies, and they did their best to make up for it. Namely, they did not rely on using the business’ supplies, and sought to use primarily what the gryphons had brought. What they did take from businesses was paid for by the Silver-seas family, and Masque had ordered that the soldiers try to be kind to the civilians. Finally, though they could not do it yet for a lack of stone, Nightmare had organized plans to repair the seaside wall of the Poor District. Which would provide jobs, and then protection from drowning for those down on their luck.

So, the citizens of North Bay, though slightly fearful and upset, remained quiet. No. They were not the trouble. The city guard and the gryphons were the trouble. Until the new regime could be secured in the city, the city guard had been disarmed. They were still allowed to perform their duties, but they were allowed no weapons. Which had their higher-ups in a fit, only worsened by their wounded pride.

The gryphons, on the other hoof, were obedient to their own commander, Nightmare Moon, and Masque Raid. Yet they commonly clashed with the Republic soldiers. Not more than angry yelling thanks to the competence of commanding officers, but fights did come close to breaking out at times. It had not started out that way, though. Initially things had been fine.

However, when the gryphons were told Twilight was of equal authority to their commander, Legirus, they had been furious. Nightmare Moon they could accept because, while they did not believe in her divinity, they knew of her power. Twilight, however, was a mortal mare. Moreso, she was a slave, and therefore of low standing in even pony society. The final nail in the coffin had been the sight of her sword. The commander she’d taken it from was shamed among them for having been defeated by a female, but the blade was still a rapier. It still was a sign of authority among them as a kind of officer’s weapon, and to see it at the side of a mare? It infuriated them.

They did not listen to Twilight Sparkle unless she forced them to, something that aggravated and drained her, and they were constantly clashing with the normal soldiers since most of them looked up to her. This put the higher ranking gryphons and ponies on alert to break up any fight between foolish soldiers who couldn’t let things go.

As of this moment, Nightmare Moon was sitting on a rather plush cushion in the Silver-seas’ estate den with her ward and servant sitting beside her a little less comfortably despite being on an equally comfortable cushion.

Across from them were Duke Silver Sails and Duchess Salt Wind, but they were not the only ones present. No. This was a meeting for the whole Silver-seas family. All of their children were present as well.

Lord Silver Cutter was their firstborn son, and the chosen heir to the family. Like his father his coat was saffron, but his mane and his tail were white instead of silver. His eyes were brown, and his cutie mark was a ship sailing straight through a stormy sea.

Lady Silver Light was the second eldest and quite beautiful. Her body was the off white of bone, and her mane and tail were pure silver like her father’s. Her eyes were serene pools of blue, but her cutie mark stood out oddly against this all as an orb of fire. Something she had inherited from her mother. Whose cutie mark was a vortex of wind, indicating their talents in the elemental field of magic.

Also present were the fourth and fifth born of the family. The twins Lady Silver Spark and Lady Silver Flash. Both were almost exactly alike in appearance. Their bodies were the pale purple of their father and brother, and their manes and tails were the dark blue of their mother. Even their cutie marks were similar, as they both showed two theatre masks. One was happy, and the other sad. The difference was that the colors of the masks were opposing. The only other way to tell between them was their eyes. Silver Spark’s left eye was blue, and her right was brown. Silver Flash’s left was brown, and her right was blue.

The only individual not present in the family of unicorns was the third born, Lord Silver Pot, and Nightmare Moon made note of this. “I don’t think my brother is coming, Father.” Silver Cutter took the chance to point out, an undercurrent joy barely detectable beneath his formal tone.

“I will not waste time on fools. If he is not showing, then he is not worthy to know what we say here.” The Alicorn stated matter-of-factly. “We begin without him.”

The only response she received was a sigh from the Duke. After a moment further he asked, “So what is it you wish to discuss, your highness?”

Nightmare did not bother correcting him on his manner of address because it was pointless. There were more important things to discuss. “The matter is that you and your family know North Bay best of anyone. You know its layout, its people, and its ships. You know who to sell to, and how to manage trade and plan voyages. You know who is untrustworthy and who isn’t. Most importantly, your citizens are mostly happy under your rule. For these reasons, I believe it can be arranged for you to stay in your position of power.” She explained.

The family was quiet once more. This time, Lady Silver Light broke the silence, “That is…certainly a generous offer. But unorthodox.”

“Yes. If you intended to leave us in power why attack in the first place?” Lord Silver Cutter wondered.

“Because, your allegiance was to the Celestial Empire, and I am tearing it down. By taking your city you are no longer supplying the rest of the Empire. Furthermore, you can’t be called on for aid by the military this way. However, I said that I believe it can be arranged. I did not say it would be. You should know as well as I that things are not so simple in politics.” The Former Empress answered.

“So what are the conditions under which we can maintain our position?” Silver Sails asked contemplatively.

“The Lunar Republic has yet to establish a proper governmental plan. We don’t have much time yet. The war needs to be our main focus, but its name is not a decoration. There shall be no monarchy, and chances are that there shall be no nobility. You will have to have new titles, and it can not be guaranteed that rulership of North Bay shall always be within your family.” Nightmare revealed.

The idea did not sit well with the noble family. “So your offer is only temporary.” Salt Wind pointed out.

“Not quite.” Twilight interjected, drawing surprised eyes that made her uncomfortable. “Master…only said there would be no guarantee, but even if someone else takes over rulership there’s nothing saying you can’t get it back. We’re not taking your wealth either. Everything you own but the city would still be yours, including this estate. You could still live in wealth and happiness, and you could establish yourselves as well respected individuals. Which would aid you in keeping power.”

Nightmare gave a small smile of pride to her servant at the comment. She had taught the young mare nothing of politics, but it seemed that Twilight was able to reason some things out for herself.

After another moment of contemplative silence Silver Sails wondered, “I suppose there will be restrictions on what we can and cannot do?”

“Until we have secured control of the land, yes. Your city strives on trade, so we cannot completely cut off sea travel. Which means, you’ll be allowed to continue business, so long as it does not benefit the Empire. You will have to treat all citizens of North Bay with respect, and not take advantage of the less fortunate. You will also have to keep strict watch on the City Guard for any loyalists or individuals with overly hurt pride. Once the Lunar Republic controls Equestria, these restrictions will be removed, but naturally any new laws passed in regards to what you can and cannot do must be obeyed instead. And I will assure you of this now, so that the biggest issue is out of the way. There will be laws regarding fair treatment and representation of the common pony.” The Former-Empress explained.

“Unacceptable!” Came a new voice, as the door opened.

All eyes turned to see the third born child of the Silver-seas family. Lord Silver Pot was a slightly portly stallion with a sand-colored coat, and a silver mane, tail, and rather characteristic moustache and goatee combo. However, if one were to get close enough they would see blue roots. Indicating silver was not its natural color. His eyes were brown, and his cutie mark was a silver pot with a wine bottle in it. “Simply unacceptable!” He continued. “If they are treated equal to those of high standing how will they know their place?”

Nightmare Moon glared, as the arrogant young lord marched over to a cushion next to her ward and sat down. Twilight shifted uncomfortably away from him, and the Alicorn subtly shifted over in a minor attempt to comfort her servant. “They will know their place, and you will know yours.” She warned with a dangerous look in her half-lidded eyes.

Unfortunately, Lord Silver Pot either did not pick up on this, or he ignored it. “I personally don’t see the point of treating them any better. They are well enough off.” He insisted.

“Of course you wouldn’t.” Lord Silver Cutter jabbed.

Before the two could start fighting Nightmare interrupted, “It is not a matter of whether you see it or not. I see it, and that is all that matters. It matters even less if you don’t see it than if your whole family did not. You aren’t even their heir, and when the Republic is fully established while that will not matter I highly doubt that I will see you in power. Make no further mistake. Your family is not in any position to negotiate. You will accept our terms, or you will cease to have control over North Bay.”

Silver Pot took the hint and shut up, but he appeared quite upset at having been berated by the alicorn. As he lapsed into his silence his eyes fell on Twilight, and, though the Former-Empress did not notice, they lit up.

Nightmare had turned her attention back to Duke Silver Sails, as the aged noble sighed, “I apologize for his behavior, your highness. We--”

The head of the Silver-seas family was interrupted, as Twilight yelped loudly and fell back. Nightmare’s reaction was immediate, and the ebony alicorn stood over her servant protectively in an instant. Her legs blocked Silver Pot from Twilight, and she glared at the foolish lord with as much fury as she could muster. The stallion trembled in fear at the look. “What did you do?” She seethed.

“N…nothing of consequence. She’s just a servant, after all.” Silver Pot said, quivering at the sudden change in attitude.

“He reached under her.” Both the twins answered with scowls of their own.

“Do you know who you just touched? THAT is my APPRENTICE!” The Former Empress declared, as her eyes glowed with fury. “She is MORE important and MORE valuable than you can ever dream! You shall count in your blessings that I am merciful and leave now! If I so much as see you again you will regret it! If you ever touch my apprentice in such a manner again then death shall seem a beautiful maiden that rejects you even as you beg for her! Go.”

The young lord shivered for a moment before coming to his senses, and quickly bolted out of the room as fast as he could. The threat to her precious servant dealt with, Nightmare Moon sat back down, and pulled her shivering ward close. She could feel that tingle in the back of her mind again that told her something was wrong with Twilight. None of the Silver-seas family dared to move or speak, as the alicorn tended to the young mare. “Shh…It’s alright, Twilight. I’m here.” She said softly.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

“You should knock before coming in.” Ardent Fervor said, not looking up from the map he was staring at.

“Apologies, Legatus, but it seems your door has been replaced by a tent flap.” Crimson Dawn replied.

The grey gelding looked up at the praetorian in annoyance. Most praetorians maintained stoic attitudes when not in their compound at the Royal Pony Sisters’ Castle, but this one and her companion tended to be smartasses every now and then. He supposed it was better than them completely letting loose. When he’d left his meeting with the Prefect, which left a sour taste in his mouth, he had seen the two praetorians now in his company cheering quite loudly at the sodomizing of the soldiers he’d brought as guards. To say the religious earth pony was pleased to have them would be a lie.

Crimson Dawn was a red pegasus with a pink mane and tail that had streak of purple in them. Her eyes were oddly pink as well, and he cutie mark was simply a dagger.

The other praetorian amongst Ardent’s troops was her mate. An orange unicorn mare with a green mane and tail that also had a purple streak through them called True Shot. True Shot’s cutie mark was an arrow and a bolt crossed over each other, and her eyes were green.

“What is it that you wanted to say, Imagnifer?” The Legatus Legionis asked professionally.

“I just wanted you to know that a large troop of royal guards were spotted on their way to North Bay. It seems likely that The Legate sent them back up Zahav.” The Praetorian answered.

Ardent Fervor hummed to himself at the information. Discussion with Empress Celestia and Legate Artillerus had continued for several weeks after Legatus Rough Cut’s failure to retake Stalliongrad. The Legate and Ardent had seen eye to eye for once, and felt that the delay was unnecessary and dangerous. A week ago they’d received a letter from North Bay that informed them the Lunar Republic had been spotted near the port-city.

That had snapped the Empress and the other Legatus Legionis out of it at last, and they had finally begun acting. Lord Zahav was leading all four of his legions to blockade the border between the Platinum Duchy and the Silver-Seas Duchy. Legatus Rough Cut had been assigned with guarding Equestria’s southern borders in case anyone was feeling opportunistic, a subtle insult for her failure. Meanwhile Legatus Path Finder was still at the Everfree Forest, and continuing to help Legate Artillerus co-ordinate the defense.

Ardent Fervor had been dispatched to do as he saw fit, much like Zahav, but he had different plans from assisting the Empire. Even if he was intending to do otherwise Crimson Dawn and True Shot were here on orders from the Prefect to make sure he kept his word. “They probably aren’t meant to be reinforcements. They’re likely supposed to pass the barricade, and attempt to take back Stalliongrad.” He said. “At any rate. It shouldn’t affect us. We’ll continue as planned.”

“Understood.” Crimson Dawn replied professionally. “Though I have a question, why this city?”

“It’ll disturb Zahav. He’ll react, and, as a result, his blockade will weaken.” Ardent answered, as he turned back to the map.

“Are you sure it’s not something else? Something more personal?” Crimson wondered.

“Perhaps.” Ardent answered shortly.

“A bit vindictive for a missionary.” The Praetorian commented.

“Forgiveness is not among the tenets of Harmony.” The Legatus returned.

“No, but kindness is.” The red mare pointed out.

“And what makes you think I won’t be kind?” The gelding wondered.

“Few religious ponies are.” Crimson Dawn stated.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight Sparkle walked through the streets of North Bay with her head down. The event this morning in the meeting with the Silver-seas had thrown her whole day off, and the warm night air helped her to clear her head. She didn’t like thinking about what happened…She hated Flagstone. The fat slob’s arrogance dripped off of him like slime off a slug. She doubted he knew what it was like to go one day without a full three meals. For that matter she doubted he could even defend himself. He was a PATHETIC SACK OF--

The unicorn caught herself panting, and shook her head. She’d gotten too caught up in her thoughts. It wasn’t healthy to focus on that incident, much like how it wasn’t healthy to think about that bitch. In truth, what had happened this morning frightened her. Thank goodness her master had been there, but the ebony alicorn confused her. Such open comforting, as holding her in front of nobility? It was very odd, and then Nightmare Moon had said something that confused her. Her master had called her an apprentice. That made no sense. The Alicorn had indeed been training her, but she was Nightmare’s slave. Actually….Now that she thought about, Twilight realized her master had not referred to her as a slave in a very long time. Not since they left the Everfree all those months ago. Being an apprentice was still something new, though. The whole subject was confusing really, and Twilight found herself having trouble figuring it out.

“Excuse me, ma’am.” A stallion said.

The young lavender mare snapped out of her thoughts, and turned to the voice in surprise to find two city guards. “Could you follow us?” The one who had spoke before asked.

Twilight narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. These two did not seem harsh, and their tone was kind enough. Still, something felt wrong about them. Though that may simply be suspicion given Twilight and her troops had been slaughtering them not but two days before. “What for?” She asked cautiously.

The guard hesitated before answering, “Our…commanding officer would like to speak with you. It’s important.”

“To the Bastion then?” Twilight queried.

“Yes.” The other guard said.

The unicorn thought for a moment. The Bastion was under heavy watch, so if anything were to happen that she couldn’t handle it would make enough to commotion that her soldiers would come to her aid. Both these guards were earth ponies as well. She would have no trouble handling herself. “Alright then. Lead on.” She agreed, gesturing with a forehoof.

The city guards nodded and took the lead.

Travel to the Bastion was uneventful. Along the way there were a few guards, soldiers, and civilians, but no one spoke or stopped. When they finally arrived Twilight found that the fortress was a large and formidable structure that had clearly been designed to instill fear. Growing up on the streets, however, she had learnt that fear wasn’t enough to stop those who were determined or desperate enough. It just made them smarter. Still, Twilight could not help but feel a sense of foreboding as they entered in the city guard headquarters.

She followed along patiently, however, as the guards lead her through courtyard and into the building. At the end of a second floor hallway they stopped before a door, and one of the guards knocked. “What?” Came an agitated stallion’s voice from the other side. “I was just about to head to go join my family, so unless it’s something important then piss off.”

“Sir, we found someone that might fit the ‘special request.’” Her other escort answered.

Twilight quirked a brow at that. This was feeling suspicious now, and her street-honed instincts told her to flee. She would wait, however, and see what this was about.

“What?! Really? Thank Celestia we finally found something after all these months! Bring her in!” The voice from the other side of the door responded.

Twilight couldn’t help but snarl at the use of that name, and so she followed the guards into the office in agitation. Inside the office was a grey earth stallion sitting at desk. He appeared tired but elated. “Is this her?” He asked.

“Yes, Captain Iron Rod, sir!” Both of the guards answered.

The stallion stood up, and walked around his desk to inspect her. The unicorn was uncertain why, but she felt bile rise in her throat at the Captain’s close proximity. “She looks like she has an attitude, but that can be worked out easily enough. Now, the most important part, turn around.” He said.

“What?” Twilight blurted in confusion.

Iron Rod frowned, and forcibly jerked her around. Lifting up the side of her cloak, he chuckled, “Yep. That’s a star alright. Lord Silver Pot ought to be pleased, and if she survives then she could make a good tail-lifter for the Officer’s Club.”

Twilight’s eyes were wide. The reason she was brought here? This close proximity, and the way she was being treated? Her blood ran cold. The earth fell away beneath her, and something deep inside snapped.

She simply focused, and the next thing that Iron Rod knew was that the guards that brought her had been grinded to a fine red paste all over the office, exploded from the inside with nothing more than telekinesis. The young unicorn turned her blood spattered face to the Captain with a cold look in her eyes, and he stumbled back in fear. He fell over onto his back, and panicked in the vulnerable position. “What is the Officer’s Club?” She asked simply, her words dropping like lead.

“W-what?” Iron Rod blurted out.

Twilight snatched him up in her magic, and threw against his desk hard enough to break it. He hit the back wall with a cry of pain, as his torturer repeated, “What is the Officer’s Club?”

“Okay! Okay! It’s a restaurant!” He answered.

Bullshit. The guard captain screamed, as two of his teeth were slowly pulled out. He began to cry one they were out, and blood poured from the openings that were left behind. “The restaurant’s a cover! It’s a whorehouse for the wealthy and prominent! The tail-lifters are all slaves! Please! Please let me go! I-I’m not in charge!” He begged, his words slurring through the thick crimson and the missing teeth.

“Who is in charge?” Twilight asked simply.

“I-I won’t say!” He defied, but only received the removed teeth being shot into his gut.

He wailed, and blood began to pour from his stomach. “My wife!” He howled. “My wife, Sharp Edge!”

“Where is she?” Twilight questioned next.

“At the Officer’s Club! All of the family is! We were supposed to be having a meeting about what to do since the siege!” Iron Rod answered immediately.

The young unicorn turned, and began to walk out. Her questions were finished, and she had a goal. First, however, she was not yet done with this scumbag, and she grabbed the bleeding worm with her magic to bring him along.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Raven walked through the woods silently beside Zig Zag. The young gryphoness’ golden eyes darted every which way to be certain they were safe, sight being an advantage she possessed over her male. When they had arrived back here in North Bay they had the surprise of finding the pony military had occupied it. The young near-black-grey chimera would have assumed this were normal were it not for the reaction of her companions. Lobo had warned them to stay back at the forest near the city while he investigated. Zig Zag, however, had something more important on his mind than staying hidden.

The young earth colt was still a marvel to her. He was so much more colorful than gryphons were naturally, the only exception being those that dyed their feathers. His eyes were bright green with freckles underneath, and his coat was light blue with a few spots of black. His mane and tail were dark blue and rather messy. There were several differences that set him apart from his own kind as well. Half his right ear was gone, and he was still a blank flank with the exception of a nasty scar on his left hip. Most strikingly, however, he had four teeth in his mouth that he’d filed down to sharp points.

Both of the two were, of course, armed and armored. How could they not be after what they’d been through? They both wore gryphon crafted leather armor, and Zig Zag’s even had iron in a few parts. They were also well armed with various daggers that they had grown accustomed to using, some of which were hidden on their bodies. The young earth pony also sported an odd adaptation of wolf weaponry in that his boots were tipped short blades, resembling the gauntlet weapons The Pack was known for.

What the blue colt had wanted was to go to the mass grave hill that North Bay had nearby, and be with his mother for a bit. He wanted to go alone, but even as odd as the concept of a male mourning a female was to her Raven wouldn’t leave him. He meant too much to her to let him go alone somewhere they didn’t know was safe, especially after their escape from Crown Peak in Feliniss.

However, ever since they’d arrived in this place he’d been acting differently. He was quiet, upset, and focused. It hurt her to see the energetic friendly colt she’d fallen for acting like this, and she deeply hoped they would not be here long. She wanted her Zig Zag back.

As they neared the break in the tree line, the gryphoness spotted something in the distance. There was someone up ahead. No, wait…There were two individuals, likely ponies, and though she could not hear it clearly yet it sounded like one of them was panicking. “Hold on, Zig Zag…Something’s going on out there.” She warned.

The young earth pony slowed up, and began to stalk quietly like his adoptive father had taught him. Raven wasn’t quite as good at it as he, but she was a predator all the same. Which meant she was indeed capable of sneaking similarly.

Carefully the two of them proceeded up the to edge of the forest, and hid in the brush to listen and watch. After a moment the young colt jerked forward, and Raven grabbed him by reflex, careful not to sink her talons in. “That’s Iron Rod!” He seethed. “Let me go! He’s one of the ones that killed my mom!”

“No!” Raven squawked back quietly. “We don’t know who that is with him. They could be dangerous, and Lobo told us to stay hidden!”

Zig Zag stopped struggling, but he appeared upset with her. The gryphoness frowned as best she could with a beak. She didn’t want to make her love angry with her, but she wasn’t going to let him do something stupid. Cautiously she let him go, and he thankfully stayed. The two of them then focused on what was going on out in the field.

“Please, I’ve told you everything you wanted. Let me go.” Iron Rod begged.

The other pony, a unicorn, did not answer, and merely continue to dig into the ground with their magic. “I promise. I’ll change! It was all because of Sharp Edge! I didn’t have any choice really! Just spare me! PLEASE!” The guard captain sobbed and pleaded.

“No.” The digging unicorn responded.

Raven shivered at the answer. It was so final and simple, and there was a cold emptiness in the unicorn’s tone that scared her worse than any male gryphon had. Only now did she realize the digging pony was a mare as well. She had nothing to really judge it by since the only ponies besides her love that she’d seen were from a distance.

The mare ceased pulling dirt out, and picked up Iron Rod in her magic. “Wait! What are you doing?!” He panicked.

The unicorn did not answer, and merely dropped him into the hole. She then took a large piece of wood roughly the same size as the pit from her side, and lowered it in as well. Iron Rod began screaming in terror, as he was buried alive.

Without warning, Zig Zag bolted for the unicorn, and Raven cursed under her breath before taking off after him. She was slower than him on the ground, however, and had no chance at catching him before they were noticed. “What are you doing?!” The young colt yelled.

Raven was by his side as fast as she could be, and stood next to him, ready to defend her male. The cloaked lavender unicorn stared at them indifferently. “Taking out the trash.” She answered with the same coldness she’d spoken to Iron Rod with. “More efficient this way. It doesn’t pile up. The worms will eat it.”

The gryphoness was disturbed by this casual attitude. She’d seen more than her share of horrible individuals, but no one so callous as to speak of another as nothing more than garbage in a literal sense. “Who are you?” She asked sharply.

The unicorn looked at her in the eye, a cold fury in the mare’s own. “Twilight Sparkle.” She answered. “You’re not with the Rapture soldiers.”

Raven’s eyes widened at the mention of the gryphon kingdom. What were they doing here? “What? No.” She responded dumbly.

“Why did you bury him alive?” Zig Zag interrupted. “I came back to this city to find him. To kill him.”

Twilight turned to the colt and answered, “I was in his office being analyzed for potential in the Officer’s Club. I think I had the right to self-defense.”

“Since when does self-defense mean bury alive?” Raven thought, as she glared at the unicorn.

The feeling that they shouldn’t be anywhere near her was growing worse. Like they were standing before a predator much higher up the food chain than themselves. This mare was dangerous, and a large potential threat to her beloved. Zig Zag seemed to relax some at the lavender pony’s explanation, though. “I guess it’s fine then.” He reluctantly admitted. “But I still wanted him.”

Twilight Sparkle evidently didn’t care for his opinion, and turned to walk away. “Wait, where are you going?” The earth pony asked.

“To kill everyone at the Officer’s Club.” The unicorn answered bluntly.

“I’m coming with you.” Zig Zag stated.

“No. You’re a foal of what? Thirteen? I won’t be responsible for you.” Twilight denied, as she walked away.

“We’re fourteen!” The earth pony corrected, but was completely ignored by the purple mare.

Growling in annoyance, he followed against this stranger’s wishes, and Raven was forced to do so as well. “Zig Zag, we shouldn’t be involved in this. It’s dangerous, and Lobo told us to wait.” She attempted to convince her male.

“No.” The colt answered with steel in his voice. “These are the ponies responsible for what happened to my mother and me. I won’t let them all be killed by someone else.”

“If you insist on coming I won’t watch your back.” Twilight stated, as they approached the city.

Raven’s feathers bristled at the statement. “Like he would need your help anyway.” She grumbled.

This mare might be one of those accursed unicorns she heard so much about, but the gryphoness was not going to let Zig Zag be looked down on by her. Agitatedly, Raven grit her beak. She did not like where this was going.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Nightmare Moon’s steps came quickly, and she made no attempt to hide that she was in a rush. That feeling in the back of her head that warned her of her ward’s state was acting up again. Perhaps it was because more time had passed, or perhaps it was because of her growing closeness with her servant. Regardless, she could say without a doubt that the feeling was worse than ever. The imaginary sensation was so intense that it almost hurt. Twilight NEEDED her, and the Alicorn would not abandon her apprentice.

After casting a spell to locate the unicorn, the Former-Empress found her servant was outside the city walls, and she’d been rushing here ever since. Yet as she walked her thoughts were interrupted. Her battle senses were had been rehoned over her time in the Republic, and though not quite up to what they once were yet Nightmare knew when she was being watched. She could feel eyes on her.

The Alicorn turned, and her eyes gazed over the environment. The night was hers, and nothing could hide from her in it. She could see as clearly in this dim lighting as in the day. It was more difficult than usual, but she managed to make out a black shape keeping a low profile near the trees a ways off from her. She frowned. She did not have time for this, but if she was being spied upon it needed to be addressed.

With a short flare of dark blue from her horn she yanked the shape towards her, intending to let it slam into the ground at her hooves. Surprisingly, however, the being managed to recover, and land on its feet. Nightmare Moon’s brows raised at the sight before her. It was a pitch black wolf, but it was barely shorter than her. Normally wolves were only a head taller than ponies at five feet, but this one was at least six, likely more. “And what are you doing here wolf? Come to see how we fare since you abandoned us? You will not find easy prey.” She warned, as she narrowed her eyes.

“Abandoning implies I was on your side to begin with. I may have been a unwilling servant for a time, but I am no longer a slave to you ponies. Nor shall I ever be again.” The wolf growled.

Nightmare was curious at the odd reply, but she did not have time to waste. That feeling in her head was growing worse. “Whatever your reasons for being here you will leave, or you shall contend with me.” She commanded.

The wolf growled again, and his body tensed. “No pony has beat me yet.” He stated.

Evidently, the wolf did not know who he was dealing with and lunged forward. Nightmare Moon nimbly evaded him and glared at the fool. She was still recovering some from her work on the storm, and though she had power to spare it would be wise not to waste it. Especially if Twilight was in trouble. So, she would have to fall back on her arkanai.

The wolf began to prowl around her, but she stood still and ready. With a minor spark of her horn her reflexes and agility were increased. Her opponent struck at her left flank without knowing this advantage, and she rapidly rotated around to avoid him. With her own front to his side now, she punched a forehoof into him hard, and released a minor numbness spell through it to slow him down. The alicorn then extended a field of energy from her horn, and swung her head down at her foe.

Surprisingly, the wolf was still able to dodge away, and escaped with only a large yet shallow cut. Nightmare Moon took advantage of the situation to reverse roles. She began to calmly prowl around her opponent for a weakness with her energy blade still extended, and he followed her, keeping his front always to her and growling warningly. “I’ll admit, you’re impressive, but you are a fool. I admire the tenacity it takes to fight me, but the night is my domain. To challenge me now is death certain.” She stated.

“The night belongs to no one. All manner of creatures use it.” The wolf snarled.

Nightmare Moon scowled. The night was hers, and it showed it by bending to her every will. “Who are you, pup?” She asked, asserting her age.

“My name is Lobo, and I was never a pup.” Her opponent answered, and swept his claws at the Alicorn’s hooves.

The Former-Empress barely reacted in time, her other spells having worn off, and reared up. Lobo attempted to lunge for her belly, but with a single beat of her great wings a gust of wing blew him back just enough to fall short. It was then Nightmare came down, and slammed her forehooves onto her foe’s shoulders. She did more than pin him, though. She released another spell through her hooves, one meant to shake the immediate ground. The wolf’s entire body rattled painfully as bones cracked within, and this combined with Nightmare’s weight shattered his shoulder blades. The black mare then quickly thrusted her horn down quickly to end things.

Unexpectedly, her energized horn scraped against something impossibly strong, and was redirected into making a long bloody gash in Lobo’s back. The Former-Empress dispelled the energy around her horn in surprise, but, even as he howled in pain, the wolf attempted to latch his mouth around her neck now that it was close to him.

Nightmare jumped and glided back a distance out of reflex, and began to study her opponent again. When she noticed what went wrong, she had to resist slamming her own forehoof into her face. Lobo was wearing a thick collar made of, or covered by, mythril. The lunar steel had naturally repelled her attack due to its incredible strength, but she’d still managed to tear a small chunk of the metal off.

Before the Former-empress could reorganize herself the full moon’s light shined down upon the great black wolf, an obscuring cloud having moved out of the way. Nightmare’s brows raised in surprise, as he became white. The gashes along his back and side sealed up, and shortly he was standing again as if his shoulders were not in many pieces and his bones were not cracked. “I told you.” He said with a grin. “Many creatures use the night.”

The Alicorn frowned. Her moon was healing him somehow. That should not have been possible. Wolves did not possess any magic, and certainly nothing like this should even exist outside of flesh binding. Wait, was this wolf flesh bound? How was that possible? Only the praetorians, her, and her sister knew how to do it. It mattered not. She would not allow him the chance to use his power again. “And you are proven a fool again for revealing your gain. I told you, the night is my domain.” She responded.

The ruler of the night had enough of this. She’d wasted too much time already. She would waste no more. Focusing, the stars began to black out one by one until the moon was the only light in the sky, and then even it darkened. Cast into shadow, it could provide no light, and the land knew only all consuming darkness. Nightmare closed her eyes, so their glow would not give away her position. Then, before Lobo could flee, she extended her senses out with magic and found him. She focused solely on him to keep track of her opponent, and then she began to cast her spells.

A large spike of earth shot up from below the unsuspecting wolf, and a few of his teeth broke from the impact to his jaw. He was thrown into the air by the force, and landed on his back. Pain suddenly shot through his body, and he writhed and howled in agony over the attack to his nervous system. The spell ceased abruptly, and light returned to the world.

The moon, however, was blocked by thick clouds that would take a long time to move. Nightmare Moon was standing over the prone wolf, and she did not give him time to react. She reached into him with her telekinesis, and broke his rib cage inward. As he cried out in pain, the Alicorn switched her attention to his organs, and began to squeeze them tightly together, compacting them. “Empress, stop!” A voice shouted.

Nightmare paused in her assault, and jammed her hoof into Lobo’s broken ribs to keep him subdued with pain. Certain the wolf could try nothing now, the Alicorn turned her attention behind her to find a large group of praetorians. “What are you doing here?” She asked cautiously.

The leader, a female unicorn, answered, “We were sent here by the Prefect to assist you, AND to see about possibly gaining Lobo’s allegiance for your cause.”

“You know this wolf?” Nightmare queried.

“Yes. Please, your majesty, allow us a chance to explain.” The praetorian answered.

Nightmare hesitated, but removed her hoof from Lobo. “I am an empress no longer.” She corrected, and concentrated on her night once more.

The clouds slowly peeled away, and the full moon’s light shined on the wolf. He became white again, and as he healed the Alicorn took a chance to sigh. She shouldn’t have done that little stunt earlier. It had drained her. Even if she was trying not to show it. The bigger issue, however, was that the tingling in her head had yet to go away, and it seemed like she wouldn’t be able to get to her servant in time now. “I’m sorry, Twilight.” She whispered.

When she turned her attention back to Lobo, she realized he was up and ready, if winded. “Follow me.” She ordered, and began to head back to North Bay.

She didn’t need to say what would happen if he attempted something. He may be a fool, but he was smart enough to know.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight marched quickly through the streets of the Elite District, single-minded in her goal. Not even the darkening of the sky earlier had managed to make her so much as think of anything else. She had merely lit her horn, and continued resolutely until the light returned. All along, those two she had met earlier followed her towards the Officer’s Club.

When the building finally came into sight the unicorn scowled. It was a beautiful three story structure decorated with the finest colors and materials, but with enough moderation to not seem tacky or ugly. Yet to Twilight it was an eyesore. She wouldn’t burn this place down, too much trouble keeping the flames contained, but she wished she would.

The young mare proceeded through the mahogany door inside, and though she did not look to see if the colt and gryphoness were following she held the door open with her magic until she heard them step inside. Within, it was more beautiful than the outside, and the building smelt of delicious foods from the kitchen in the back. Twilight’s eyes narrowed. This place was a cover. She did not know this, but she knew what she had been told by Iron Rod. If he had lied, the unicorn was not in a state to care. She was here now, and she had every intent of punishing those here.

Around them it was clear to see business was bad. There was no one in the restaurant besides the staff, who were eyeing them oddly. Twilight did make note that there were a few guards around. Which seemed unnecessary for what this place was disguised as. Then again, they did call it a club, and these guards were most certainly not city employed. They looked burlier and nastier than your typical city guard. No, they were members of the Officer’s Club staff.

A pegasus waiter approached and asked, “Do you have an appointment, ma’am?”

“No.” Twilight answered coldly, but the mare speaking to her did not seem to pick up on her tone.

“Well, that’s alright. I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. What’s your name and connections?” The waiter wondered.

“Twilight Sparkle.” The young unicorn answered, and pulled out her sword with her telekinesis.

Before anyone else could react, the blade cut halfway through the waiter’s skull, and was calmly pulled out to be transferred to Twilight’s mouth. As she bit down on the handle, freeing her horn for spell casting, the waiters and barkeeper screamed in terror, but the lavender mare headed them off before the could flee to the kitchen by teleporting.

The barkeeper and a waiter were unable to stop in time to avoid her, and she stabbed one in the throat while snapping the other’s neck telekinetically. “What’s going on?!” A voice cried from behind her.

She turned around quickly, and impaled her rapier on a chef’s skull. Unfortunately her blade ended up stuck in the door chef had come through, and, try as she might, Twilight did not have the strength to pull it out. Hoofsteps from behind alerted her to someone approaching, and she dodged into the kitchen in time to avoid a large earth pony guard that had come after her.

Inside the kitchen the chefs watched with confusion and fear, as Twilight turned to confront the guard. He pulled her sword out of the door, and charged after her with it. The unicorn quickly backed up past several stoves, and used her magic to cause the fire to leap out of them. Several chefs were set on fire, causing them to run away screaming, but the guard ducked down to avoid the attack.

Twilight took advantage of this, and ran to the other side of the kitchen before he could rise. She quickly grabbed several knives in her magic, and waited for him to charge around the corner. The moment he did so she threw her knives at him. Several bounced off his armor, but three found their home in his face.

The guard fell to the ground, dead, and Twilight walked over to his corpse calmly as before the fight to take her sword back.

Looking around, she could see the rest of the chefs had fled, and promptly exited the kitchen. She reentered the dinning room to find the earth colt and gryphoness finishing off the last guard. Seeing this, she sheathed her blade, and proceeded to the stairs at back of the Officer’s Club. “Did you let the chefs or waiters get out?” She asked, as she tried to decided whether she wanted to clear out the upper stories or whatever was below.

“Yes.” The gryphoness answered in agitated tone.

Twilight brushed it off. “You shouldn’t have. Chances are they knew exactly what was going on up here.” She admonished.

“That doesn’t make killing them right.” The earth colt said.

“Right and fair are two different things.” Twilight responded. “You two head upstairs. I’m going to see what’s below.”

Without a further word, the lavender unicorn descended the stairs. At the bottom she came to a locked door. Frowning, she decided not to waste time trying to crack the lock. She summoned up the hatred that was coursing through her being at the moment, and shot a large ball of fire from her horn that tore right though the door and into the room beyond.

Inside was a small room with another door that had also been broken by her spell and two guards. The two of them were coughing and hacking at the smoke that trailed behind the fire ball. With ease, Twilight snapped their necks magically while they were distracted, and proceeded past the second ruined door, keeping her lips tight until she was in the next room to avoid inhaling the smoke.

The next room was a rather lavish one, and there were many stallions and mares about that were dressed provocatively. Twilight snarled. She was surprised to feel nothing for these prisoner-whores who were now cowering before her. “Leave.” She commanded.

Scared for their lives, the tail-lifters of the Officer’s Club began to quickly flee behind her, intent on making their escape before she started something. As they ran screaming one of the doors burst open, and two stallions rushed out. One was a unicorn wearing city guard armor. His coat was brown. His mane and tail were white. His eyes were grey, and his cutie mark was an iron helmet. The other was an entirely brown earth pony with grey eyes, and he possessed an iron boot for a cutie mark. Both of the stallions looked remarkably similar to Iron Rod, so these must have been his sons.

They turned their attention to her with a glare, and from behind them emerged two noble looking unicorn mares with looks just as cruel. One of them was young, and the other was at least middle-aged. Iron Rod’s daughter and wife. “Who are you?!” Asked the mare that must’ve been Sharp Edge, who looked ready to kill for the loss of all the whores.

Twilight did not choose to answer, nor did she give a chance for her foes to think. In an instant she had teleported before younger unarmed stallion, and drew her sword to cut off his head. However, his older brother acted quickly, and easily blocked the inexperienced blow with his own sword.

The young mare recoiled from the impact of blade on blade, and quickly summoned a shield to act preemptively. This turned out to be the right choice, as Sharp Edge’s daughter had launched a ball of magical energy at her. Twilight’s shield easily withstood this, and the group of four began to flee.

The lavender unicorn dropped her shield to chase, but a pain suddenly shot through her left foreleg. Twilight fell with a short scream, her sword clanging to the ground, and the illusion faded. Iron Rod’s family had not fled. It was merely a simple spell that tricked her. The younger stallion stood with a snarl on his face, and was holding his brother’s sword in Twilight’s foreleg.

“You have a lot of nerve.” Sharp Edge spat, as she stepped up to the lavender unicorn.

She stepped on the young mare’s horn, and Twilight screamed in pain at the feeling emanating from the sensitive bone. “Velvet Rope, go check upstairs. Iron Helm, help restrain her. Iron Boot, stay as you are.” Sharp Edge ordered.

The younger mare nodded and hurried towards the stairs. The older stallion conjured magical restraints to keep her pinned, and the younger one grew a slightly sadistic smile. “Who do you think you are, coming in here to try to ruin my business?” Sharp Edge snarled. “My FAMILY’S business?! Do you know how many generations have run this place? This club is nearly as old as the city itself, and I’ll be damned if I let some stuck up little cunt like you wander in here and ruin it!”

Hoofsteps came, as Velvet Rope returned. “Mom, it’s a disaster up there. She slaughtered everyone!” She reported.

“Really?” Sharp Edge wondered angrily before turning her attention back to Twilight. “Well, that’s a shame. You’re good enough looking to be a tail-lifter here, but I think I’m going to have to enjoy myself rather than let our customers have you. Boot, cut that thing off!”

Happily, the young earth pony jerked back on the sword, and painfully pulled it out. Only to slam it back in. Twilight screamed in agony, and Iron Boot repeated the action. The blade cracked against her bone, and tears of pain leapt to her eyes. Slowly, the sadistic young stallion hacked his way through her bone and the tissue beyond. When he was through her whole left foreleg below the knee had been severed.

The lavender mare’s blood poured out over the floor, and she continued to cry hot angry tears. It was the only thing she could do for all the pain she felt. “You really need to sharpen your sword, bro. If I had to actually fight with this thing I’d be dead.” Iron Boot commented, as he hoofed the sword back over.

Helm merely grunted, not looking pleased. “Can I go next, Mom? Please?” Velvet Rope asked excitedly.

“Go right ahead honey.” Sharp Edge agreed.

Promptly, electricity began to course through Twilight’s body, and the young mare screamed and writhed in agony. No! She couldn’t die here! Not like this! Not when these wastes of flesh hadn’t paid! Not when there were others out there that needed to die! She deserved better! She deserved justice! She deserved vengeance!

Though she did not know it, Twilight’s eyes lit up with a white glow. Her horn sparked, even through the pain, but it was far from normal. Her usual lavender colored magic had colors obscuring it. Black bubbled and slid, and red crackled along her horn. Sharp Edge, and her children backed up fearfully at the realization the pain they were causing wasn’t stopping the magic.

Shortly, the lavender mare’ blood began to boil, and a clawed hand shot up from it. Other hands and forms began to rise, as Twilight’s magic worked to create something from her blood and emotions. Before long, three massive bipedal beings stood in the room, and the blood faded into their bodies.

One of the creatures looked similar to an earth mare, but she was grotesque. She stood at an equal height with her sisters at twelve feet. Instead of hooves she had hands and elongated feet. Her skin seemed to be missing, or it was a film so thing it could be seen through perfectly. Which left her muscles exposed. Bones stuck up through them at odd angles, and some were twisted and malformed. Her eyes were completely white, and she seemed to possess a third arm that was undergrown. Finally, she was muscular beyond reason.

The second one resembled a unicorn, but she looked to be made of white marble. She was slim and almost beautiful, but other factors about her destroyed that image. Her eyes were completely missing, and she had long sharp dangerous claws on her feet and all of her many hands. She had so many hands because she a large mass of arms growing from her back, all of varying sizes.

The last creature looked like a pegasus. She had only two arms, unlike her sisters, but they were far too long, her hands hanging below her knees. Her teeth were sharp and cruel, and her face was more akin to a wolf than a pony. With the exception that her ears were massive and slightly rounded. Her wings were not feathery, but instead they were leathery nets, like a bat’s. Her eyes were black, and her muscles were stringy and bulgy in places while nonexistent in others.

Sharp Edge’s family stared with horror at the three entities before them, and as her magic faded Twilight managed to crawl to her hooves, blood still pouring from the hole where her hoof used to be. She picked her sword off the ground and sheathed it. Then she glared at the family. Though she did not know how she had done it, she was not bothered by these beings she’d created. She’d made them, so they would serve her. That much, she was certain. “What’s the matter?” She panted angrily. “Out of words? No more insults? Well, I have some. Restrain them!”

Immediately, her creations shot forward with surprising speed. Sharp Edge and Velvet Rope attempted to cast some sort of spell, but the unicorn creature’s horn was shrouded in black. Their magic failed them, as the creature’s magic impossibly managed to disable their own. The unicorn beast snatched each of them up by the throat, and only held back its strength enough not to break their necks.

The earth beast quickly tackled Iron Helm beneath its crushing weight, and, not missing a beat, ripped his horn from his head. As the stallion wailed in pain, his opponent stood, and lifted him up by the mane.

Iron Boot attempted to flee between the legs of the pegasus beast, but it was even faster than its sisters. It jammed its clawed hands into his back the moment he was close enough. He screamed loudly, as the claws were removed. No longer pinned to the floor, the prone earth pony was kicked over to Twilight by the pegasus beast.

Shortly, the other two creations brought over the rest of the criminal family, and pinned them before the lavender mare. She glared down at them. Not with the cold anger of before, but with the full fury of her hatred. “Pathetic.” She snarled, and limped over to Iron Helm. “Let’s start with you. Are you afraid of me?”

The hornless unicorn gasped in pain. A large portion of his forehead had been ripped away with the horn, and brain and bone were both now visible. He was incapable of answering her anymore, now just babbling nonsense. The very air in the room was now disrupting his thought process. There was no satisfaction to be had here. “Crush him.” She ordered.

The earth beast immediately stood, and stomped the guard into jelly. Twilight watched, unblinking even a blood splattered onto her, until he was nothing but mush and grime. When the oldest sibling was done the unicorn limped over to Iron Boot. “Are you afraid of me?” She asked again.

“Y...ye...yes.” The young stallion whimpered and sniffed.

“Good. Then you’re smart. Do you know why I’m here?” She wondered.

“N…No.” Iron Boot answered.

“Because you’re scum. You’ve taken advantage of ponies for too long. Put them through horrible things. I am merely paying you back as best I can.” Twilight explained.

“Wh…what are you going to do to me?” The young earth pony asked.

Twilight did not answer but merely ordered, “Give him a slow death.”

The pegasus beast complied, and jammed one of her claws into his back. Iron Boot gasped in pain, as his torturer slowly worked her claw towards his heart. “No! PLEASE, STOP!” Sharp Edge begged, but it was useless.

Iron Boot began to cough up blood, as his heart was finally pierced. He gasped, cried, and when he could take no more he fell limp. Satisfied with his death, Twilight turned her attention to Sharp Edge and Velvet Rope. “You’re heartless!” The former growled.

“So are you.” The lavender mare responded. “After all, you killed your own daughter.”

“What are you--” Sharp Edge began, but was cut off as darkness surrounded her body.

“M-mom?” Velvet asked tearfully.

The unicorn beast let the older mare up, and its magic forced her to walk over to Velvet. Against her will, she crouched down, and jammed her horn into Velvet Rope’s eye socket, stabbing straight into her brain. The magic dropped away, and Sharp Edge fell to her stomach crying. The older mare manically tried to remove her horn from her daughter’s body. After a few moments she finally succeeded, and fell onto her haunches. Quietly, with tears running down her face, she stared into Velvet Rope’s face. Which was frozen in fear. Her daughter’s blood ran down her own face, and the middle-aged unicorn began to take short panicked breaths that quickly turned into shrill screams. She’d broken. Her world was destroyed. There was nothing more to be had from her. Coldly, Twilight’s magic wrapped around Sharp Edge’s neck, and she snapped it, abruptly cutting off the screams.

Twilight stood still for a long while after that. She felt nothing. Her hatred and anger had no more targets, and the emotions they had pushed out of the way did not return in anyway. She did not feel proud or satisfied with what had happened. How could she? This was a massacre. She merely felt empty. Empty and tired.

The unicorn’s eyes drooped, but her attention was called back to her creations when the unicorn beast spoke in concern, “Master, you are bleeding.”

Its voice was barely understandable it sounded so odd. “Huh? Oh.” She responded dumbly, as she looked to her stump. Blood was indeed still pouring from it, and it was only adding to her exhaustion.

There was a loud snapping sound, and she once more looked to the unicorn beast. It had ripped the hand from its primary left arm. It reached down, and Twilight did not fight as the new limb was pressed against her foreleg. Darkness surround the hand, and it balled into a fist. At the same time Twilight’s flesh and the stone fused together. Her blood began to flow through the organic tissue inside the hand, and it became a part of her.

The lavender unicorn stood a little awkwardly on it. The hand being a fist helped, as it was similar to a hoof. However, the new addition was too large, and it bent at the wrist to make up for this. Which created an awkward balance that made Twilight feel as if she had three hind legs. Complaining was the last thing on her mind, however. “Thank you.” She said.

“You’re welcome.” All three of her creations spoke.

Normally, the first thing on her mind would be to ask what the creatures were, but right now all she could think of was her bed in the Silver-seas’ Estate. “Go through this entire place after I leave. Make sure no one’s left. If there is…Get them out safely. Should you find any patrons...kill them. Then you can do whatever you want.” She ordered tiredly.

The creatures looked at each other in confusion but answered, “As you wish, master.”

Satisfied with their response, she proceeded back up the stairs. She found the gryphoness and earth colt sitting on the bottom of the flight that lead to the second floor, evidently finished with the upper floors, and frowned. Then there were these two. She didn’t even know their names. They were practically children, and she’d dragged them into this. She still only felt tired. “Hey.” She called, interrupting their conversation.

They looked at her, and what they thought of her appearance was evident in their horrified faces. She probably looked like a monster. Covered in blood and gore. One of her limbs now vastly different. She was panting, and undoubtedly her exhaustion was apparent in her features. “You don’t have to, but if you want someplace safe to sleep then follow me.” She offered, and turned to leave.

After a moment, she heard steps behind her, and knew the two were coming.

The trip back to the estate was quiet. No one spoke. When they arrived, the soldiers guarding the entrance were clearly sickened themselves, but they did not stop their commander. No one would’ve. Twilight guided the gryphoness and colt to a spare room, and then made her way to her own. As she laid down on her bed, however, she would not find the sleep she needed. She could not after this night.

Author's Note

Well, here it is everyone. The chapter I've most wanted to write for months now. I'm sure you can see why. I got to say, writing a rampage is fun. Both for the violence, and the change that such a situation forces a character to go through. Yes, Sparky has some major evolutions to go through because of this. And for those who think this came out of nowhere, I've showcased Twilight's anger issues several times by now, and, more importantly, it only takes so much stress of the right kind to cause a psychotic break. Am I saying Sparky's insane? No. That's not what I mean at all.

To clarify what happened with the creatures, it was that Twilight's hatred and rage combined with her overwhelming magical strength, which reached its peak in her desperate situation, and used the life source of her blood to create three spirits. Not summon. Create. The only other spirits to ever exist in the mortal realm at this point are Discord and Lobo (Go read True Black already). The latter was summoned recently, and the former was created by the consistent chaos and destruction of all the species of Eden over centuries. I hope that gives an idea to just how powerful Twilight will be once she's mastered all her skills. Also, the three spirits Twilight made are based on beings from a real world mythology. Guess who, and I'll give you an imaginary cookie.

Now, if you're wondering what happened to Zig Zag and Raven, or what Nightmare's conversation with the praetorians was about? Those will be appearing only in True Black. As they primarily pertain to that story, and have little significance to this one. At any rate, tell me what you think, and don't expect next chapter to come so quickly. I have to figure out what to happen in that one yet.

Oh...I just broke 10,000 words in one chapter. WOOOOO! HIT THE PARTY MUSIC PINKIE!

Important announcement

Well, I'm sorry to disappoint many of you, but my life's too busy to keep writing on here. Not bad busy. Good busy. Developing a career, and learning the skills of my craft among many other things. I just don't have the time for writing anymore. Which is a shame. Because I really wanted to at least finish True Colors. Nevertheless, life can't be helped.

So what does the mean in regards to me or Spectrum? Well, I can still read a little, and hang around on here. So don't expect me to just up and disappear. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying I don't have the time for writing, but never fear about True Colors. I do have good news for you.

Effective immediately I am putting the story of on an indefinite hiatus, and may or may not come back to it in the future should I have time. BUT, Leonofsweden, writer of True Black, At the End of Bliss, and other impressive stories, has you covered. I have given him permission to do with the Spectrum universe as he will, and he has stated that after he finishes all his other stories he will see about taking over True Colors itself and finishing it. So you fans have that to look forward to even if it's a way off.

Again, I'm sorry to leave you all hanging, but the story will be finished by someone. So don't worry. I'm still around to talk if any of you ever want to, but I just don't have the time to write anymore.

Sleep tight