The Cost of Utopia

by Dr Freedom MLP

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 1
Chapter 10

Chapter 2

“And thus I clothe my naked villany

With odd old ends stolen out of holy writ;

And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.”

― William Shakespeare, King Richard III

Chapter 2

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Twilight Sparkle’s bleary eyes were assaulted by the early sunlight streaming in through her bedroom window. She rubbed her eyes as Spike snored on at the hoof of her bed. She sighed, wishing for just a few more minutes of sleep. Even though she was used to getting up as soon as Celestia's sun rose, it didn’t mean she liked it. The heavy eyelids, the slow response of her limbs: none of it was appreciated by the drowsy pony. Nevertheless, the purple pony started putting breakfast together for herself. It was grits for the third time this week; even though she was the princess’s most trusted student, she didn’t get much funding for anything other than books.

As Twilight made her way back from the small kitchen in the back of the library, she pulled a few books off the countless shelves. Today she had decided to read something different. Normally she read factual books or occasionally a Daring Do novel, but she decided to give romance a try so she picked one about a pegasus down on his luck, who moves to Ponyvile and falls in love with the local weather pegasus. She started eating and reading when she heard a knock at the door. Who would come by this early in the morning? she thought. Everypony’s normally still asleep at this hour. She opened the door to see a royal guard standing in front of her.

“Miss Sparkle,” he said in a quiet tone so as to not wake her neighbors. “Have you seen the ponies Snips and Snails recently?”

The purple pony pondered this for a moment. Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen either of them for quite some time. Ponyvile was a fairly small town and it was hard to not see everypony in a single day, especially those two. They were hard to miss what with their... unique stature, and... special ways.

“As a matter of fact, I haven’t. Why, has something happened?” The concern in her voice was fairly clear. While Twilight wasn’t a huge fan of the pair, she certainly didn’t wish ill on anypony.

“Well, nopony has seen them, so we’re doing a door-to-door search for them.”

"Oh dear, can you tell me more, perhaps over some coffee?"

"Well I shouldn't, but you are Celestia's personal protege; what you say is law." He grinned, happy enough with the lame excuse. Twilight opened the door wider and he walked in. He followed the unicorn into he kitchen where there was a small table.

"Cream? Sugar?" she asked.

"One of each please." He responded. After a moment Twilight gave him the coffee and sat down.

"So how long have you been going door to door this morning?" She asked.

"Well me and a few other solders have been going at it for almost two hour but we haven't found anything. Although most of us weren't expecting to find a trace."

"Why's that?" He froze with his mug halfway to his partly open mouth. He slowly set it down and found words.

"I'm sorry I really shouldn't be talking about this with you."

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked with an air of annoyance. "If you can tell the princess something you should be able to tell me too. I'm practically her third in command after Luna." The stallion knew he was on thin ice here so he tried to delicately let her down.

"Has Celestia ever shown you exactly what she does to run the kingdom? Has she ever brought you to her side and explained anything she does to you?"

"She's taught me so much about magic. She pra..."

"No" he interrupted, causing Twilight to look at him clearly annoyed. "Ugh, I'm sorry I'm not trying to be rude but... It seems to me she's only ever thought you about magic and not about the kingdom because there are some things even she doesn't want you to know." Across the table Twilight was becoming ever more confused and annoyed as the conversation went on.

"So your telling me... She hides things from me?"

"Not really hide. It's just..." he paused searching for words. "She's just trying to protect you. I've... I've got to go." He said, trying to find an easy way out. "I think I heard my captain calling." The mare raised an eyebrow. She looked at his uniform which that he was the captain of his squad, but there was something different about his uniform.

"What's that symbol there?" She asked pointing to an embroidered set of light blue circles.

"Nothing!" he answered quickly. "Goodbye!" he yelled as he practically galloped out the door, almost upsetting the kitchen table in the process.

That was strange. Twilight thought as she slowly rose to her hooves, heading towards the bathroom. I don't know quite what to think about that. He seemed to think that Celestia hides things from me. I expect him to know a lot because of his high rank but still... After tidying up her hair she headed towards the door, ready to gather her friends to discuss what she had just learned. Maybe I’m overreacting, and not thinking straight. Maybe I should talk to the others about this over the picnic we’re having today, get another set of views on everything. There’s nothing to be worried about, right?

Upon opening the door, the sun greeted her, now just past the horizon.

“Maybe I should wait until it’s not dawn.” She said to herself, grinning with amusement.

Later that day, Twilight and her five friends went out to Fluttershy’s cottage for a picnic. The weather was mostly clear, with a few clouds overhead drifting lazily in the morning breeze. Rainbow Dash flew up and landed on a cloud.

“C’mon!” Dash yelled down at the others.”We’re almost there; hurry up!”

“There’s no hurry, Rainbow. It's still early," Applejack dryly pointed out as Dash slowly glided back to the ground.

Rainbow just kept flying farther ahead of her friends, then falling back so as to not get to far ahead.

“I’m super-duper uber excited about this picnic! It’s been soooooo long since we one!” Pinkie exclaimed happily, bouncing around like an electronic pogo stick powered by a car battery.

“Pinkie, we had one last week,” Twilight reminded her, shaking her head. She could never wrap her head around how the pink pony thought and acted.

“Oopsie,” Pinkie said, giggling in spite of herself. “Silly me!”

As they arrived at their destination, Rarity pulled out a blanket from her picnic basket and magically laid it on the ground before setting the basket down. Twilight went about arranging dishes, while Applejack and Pinkie went about setting up the food. Once that was done they started to eat and talk.

"So, the reason I wanted to have this picnic today was to discuss some thoughts I've been having recently."

"Please tell me it's not another stallion," Applejack said, rolling her eyes.

"Of course not silly! This isn't that kind of story!" Pinkie replied giggling.

"Pinkie Pie... You are so random!" Dash said before breaking down laughing.

"Girls!" Twilight yelled, somewhat annoyed.

"What I was TRYING to talk about was how the princesses govern us!"

All were quiet for a moment.

"What do you mean?” replied the cyan pegasus. “That's the princesses' jobs. Why does matter how they do it if everypony’s happy?"

Twilight sighed, and recounted the events that had taken place earlier that day.

"After he left I got to thinking, what does that mean? I always thought of me and the princess as very close. Why would she hide anything from me? To protect me? She always said that she was always trying to protect everypony, but she never what she was protecting us from. She can't be protecting us from other kingdoms, there are literary non left in the world besides Equestria. Then I thought, what if shes protecting us from herself?

“Now dear, that can’t be true,” replied Rarity. “Celestia would never harm anypony? I mean, it's not like she's evil like some of the rulers of the old kingdoms...” the unicorn trailed off. She brought a hoof up to her chin, thinking over her, and her friend’s words.

“Well, wha' would she be hidin’ some part of herself from us?” asked Applejack, the interest in her voice fairly clear.

“I don’t know, but if she's hiding something it it’s probably nothing to good. Ponies don’t just hide things for no reason.” Twilight reasoned. Everypony sat in silence for a bit, wondering what could be so important until Twilight spoke up again. "What does this mean for how they rule us? If we question a leader shouldn't we question their methods? Shouldn't we know what she's doing about Equestria since it effects us directly?"

“Well, I think it’s better we don’t know,” stated Rainbow. The others looked at her questioningly.

"Now why would y’say that, Rainbow?" asked the orange earth pony.

"Well, do we really want to know everything?” the pegasus asked. “Life is a lot simpler just going about our lives without worrying about what doesn't need to be worried about... it’s kind of like the Celestia is a big sister watching over us."

"I don’t like the idea that they might be able to see everything we're doing," Fluttershy added quietly. "Oh, I'm sorry. Was I interrupting?"

"I'd rather have the freedom to do what I want than be controlled all the time," Twilight argued.

"But it's so much safer when we don't have to make unneeded decisions that put us at risk!"

"I don't care if it's safer! I'd rather be able to say what I want to say. I don't want anarchy, but freedom never hurt anypony, right?"

"I wouldn’t say that. Even though I think it's cool idea to be completely free, tons of ponies would take advantage of it, and think of all the dumb things ponies would do!"

"Stop it!" shrieked Pinkie. "Stop being used to convey an age-old argument!"

"What’n tarnation are you talkin' 'bout Pinkie?" Applejack asked.

"Um, I have an idea I’d like to share,” the Fluttershy quietly stated, before quickly adding, “I mean, if that's okay with all of you, of course."

“Go right ahead, darling; we’re listening," said Rarity.

"Well... I think we should go see Zecora. She's not from Equestria originality, being a Zebra and all. I'm sure she'd have a different take on everything." As she spoke, her voice grew quieter, and by the last word, she was barely audible.

"That's a great idea Fluttershy!" Twilight exclaimed. The others nodded in agreement.

"Oh, thanks," the timid pony replied with a weak smile.

"Well let’s get to it!" Rainbow Dash yelled.Abandoning their half eaten food, the group packed up and headed for Zecora's hut in the Everfree forest.

Chapter 3

“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.”

― Gloria Steinem

Chapter 3

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The next morning, Celestia strode towards the dining room, up before her sister... as usual. As she walked across the hoof-woven Persano rugs towards her destination, a young colt approached. He was a unicorn, with a dark red coat and white mane. His body was partially covered by a blue vest showing his belonging to the high levels of the empire. He was of average stature, and his cutie mark was an arrowhead pointing down and to the left. His mane was somewhat long and carelessly kept, and his eyes were a bright blue. He casually walked up next to her and spoke to her.

“You asked to see me, Princess?”

“Yes that’s right,” the somewhat drowsy alicorn replied. “May I talk to you privately?” Though it was posed as a question, her subject knew that it was an order.

“Of course.” They quickly moved into a nearby storage room. As the pair entered the room, Celestia closed and locked the door. She then turned to her follower.

“Dom, is everything in order for tomorrows operation?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” the unicorn replied promptly. “The machine will be ready for tomorrow, and the ponies in question are being gathered as we speak.”

“Very good. On another note, I am going to be showing my sister the Cutie Mark Creation Bureau today. I would like you to come along as a sort of guide and walk us through the whole process. I would do it myself, but I am quite tired, and I’m sure a few things have changed since I last visited.”

Dom blinked as he processed the information just unloaded on him. While he and his brother were the overseers of all secrete operations within Equestria,he did not have many direct affairs with the CMCB. He only visited once a month and did not linger for too long. He just critiqued a few workers, observed the head of the Bureau for a short time, brought to attention anything that he thought should be changed and improved, and then left. Surely, he was not the most qualified person for the job in question... not that it mattered much what he thought. It was his job to serve the princesses until his last breath, and one cannot simply walk away from a job as important as his. If he even tried to leave, there would be no happy ending: he would be caught have his tongue cut out and then immediately put to death. They could not have him telling the general population the truth of how Equestria really functioned.

“Well?” The princess finally snapped impatiently.

“Oh!" The colt was quickly pulled out of his thoughts. “Yes, of course... Your Majesty.”

“Good. We will meet again at the castle gates around noon.”

“Alright then. Is there anything else you require?”

“Not at the moment, no.”

“Then shall we be on our way now?”

“We shall.” Celestia cast a spell to see through the wall of the locked door.

“Not a pony in sight.” With that, she unlocked the door and they went their separate ways.

Once the morning had passed, both sisters and Dom met at the castle gates, ready to depart for their visit. Celestia seemed slightly more cautious than usual, checking her surroundings every few seconds.

“Let’s get moving,” she said looking around for what had to be the millionth time. Luna rolled her eyes.

“Yes, let’s,” their guide replied. He started moving, leading the princesses around the gate and to a rough patch of grass. He checked his surroundings before teleporting the party inside of a small room. Their guide put a hoof to his lips so as to make sure the princesses were silent.

He then turned to face the steel door and whispered his name: “Dom.”

At this, a green magical aura enveloped him and he was lifted up for a few moments before being set down again, the door having been opened. The door shut behind them after the three walked through and magically locked itself. A long corridor stretched out before them; and the colors of the walls were bland, which gave great contrast to the candy colored floor.

“Follow me,” Dom said, reverting to his normal voice. Luna stood, stunned; she had never seen anything like this before, from the tame colors to the extremely well concealed entrance. It was quite clear that Equestria had gained a darker side while she was gone, whether Celestia admitted it or not. Despite being in a state of shock, Luna followed, after receiving a gentle nudge from her elder sister.

They entered the first door on the left, which was still quite heavy and would not be usable without magic; even the strongest pony in the world would not be able to open it with a simple kick of their legs. The setup inside was strange: dividers were set up in square formats with two desks in each square. There were no windows and the workers all seemed to be unicorns. Nopony even noticed them enter because they were all so concentrated on their task. Half the ponies were reading to their partner who, in turn, seemed in a deep state of concentration.

“Let’s begin,” the Royals’ escort said. “This is one of the most secretive operations of the republic: this is where cutie marks are created.”

He paused, letting that information sink in before continuing. “The first pony reads off the fillies in question and their strengths. He or she then proceeds to list off the job openings that need to be filled. The second pony here decides which pony is most adequate for which job and then puts an appropriate cutie mark in their queue, so that the next time they perform that action, it will cause the cutie mark to appear.” He took a deep breath, glad to have finished his explanation.

Luna stood there taking in all the information. “Alright,” she began. “But I do not understand. Why does this need to be done?”

“Well, you see,” began the sun princess, “the population does not always want to do the mundane jobs that are sometimes needed, but if they find out this boring job is ‘their calling in life,’ they are almost guaranteed to do it and stay with their job. It’s a means of controlling the population and their output, without them realizing it and passing judgement that could hurt Equestria as a whole. It also allows us to decide if a pony should move up in social standing or not. If we need a family, such as the Apples, to stay farmers forever, we can do that... for the benefit of the majority, of course."

“So why do some ponies take a long time to get their cutie marks, like the Cutie Mark Crusaders in Ponyvile? And what do cutie marks like Snips’ and Snails’ mean?"

This time, Dom was the one to answer. “Each of the crusaders is a little bit different. We intend to have Apple Bloom get hers after her Granny Smith dies, so as she can take the latter’s place. Sweetie Belle will get a sewing cutie mark the next time she helps her sister with her business, but since she never does, she hasn’t gotten hers yet.” He then shook his head. “And as for Scootaloo...”

“Oh; I’ll explain that as well as Snips and Snails tomorrow,” the older princess quickly interrupted.

“Of course,” their follower humbly replied.

“Anything else, Luna?” asked Celestia. She seemed to want to explain anything else classified while they were here and not even chance being overheard on the surface.

“One last thing... Why do we need to have social classes? Aren't all ponies equal?”

There was silence for a moment before Celestia slowly began to reply.

“Yes, all ponies are equal,” she started. “It’s just... some ponies are more equal than others. If we allowed cutie marks to rule freely as they used to there, would be no difference between high class and low class, and anyone could be anything. Nopony would work for anypony and society would crumble. There would be no structure. Everything would be forced negotiations between tribes like before we began our rule.”

“I suppose so,” said Luna begrudgingly. Even if they had no control over cutie marks again it wouldn’t mean that everything would dissolve back into paleopony tribes, she thought to herself. They had managed order in their younger years without deceit and manipulation; why couldn’t they do it again?

“Shall we leave now?” Dom asked, almost happily... as if he wanted to leave the underground lab more than anything.

“Yes, I think that’s a good idea,” replied Celestia, opening the door and leaving. The other two quickly followed her lead, leaving the workers to their monotony.

Chapter 4

“People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.”

― Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

Chapter 4

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Although the Everfree forest was somewhat scary, the six had gotten used to it, what with going to visit Zecora and their countless adventures that always seemed to drag them into its depths.

Pinkie giggled. “Hey girls, do you remember when we were scared out of our minds to come in here? We were so silly back then, weren’t we!?” she said, giggling again after she finished.

“Well we kind of had good reasons to be afraid,” Twilight replied, then shuddered as she remembered the cockatrice ordeal from earlier that year.

“So what d’ya want to go see Zecora for, Twilight?” Applejack asked.

“For the same reason as Fluttershy: she will have a different view on things. Plus, I’ve been meaning to write a book about her and where she comes from. I hope that it will teach ponies to not be so scared of others just because they come from different places. At least that’s the idea.” She seemed quite excited to be writing a book for once instead of reading one.

“Oh that’s marvelous, my dear! If you ever need someone to look it over and edit it, I’d be more than happy to help.” Rarity was practically beaming at the news. “I’ve been waiting so long for you to decide to actually write something instead of just reading. I want to help as much as I can.”

“Thanks Rarity.” Twilight returned the smile..”That means a lot to me.”

“Well, as touching as this moment is, we’re here.” Rainbow was right in her statement. The shabby tree-hut adorned with strange tribal masks sat directly in front of them. Everypony sat still for a moment.

“Well what are we waiting for!? Let’s get in there and talk to her!” Rainbow complained while moving towards the door. All the others followed suit and approached the zebra’s house. Twilight then proceeded to knock on the door, the sound of her hoof hitting the hard wood echoing ominously. When it was once again silent, the door opened very slowly and a wild-looking zebra poked her head out.

“Twilight what brings you to see me, deep within the great Everfree?” Zecora inquired, somewhat surprised by their visit but still motioning for them to come inside.

“Oh, I just wanted to get your opinion on a few things we were discussing.”

“An opinion I can provide, but please first follow me inside.” With that, she turned around and entered her hut once again. The six followed her inside; although it was a tad cramped, they managed to make themselves comfortable enough. Zecora went about getting some herbal tea to share with her unexpected guests. After she was done, Twilight began the story she had told earlier that day to her friends. After she finished, she brought up her thoughts about the guard and how he seemed to know. And finally she started discussing what would become known as politics.

"...So that's why I came to you, Zecora. I want to know what you think about the princesses and if you agree with me. Also, how was your nation run? You know, before you came here, back when you were with all the other zebras."

There was once again a long pause as the zebra ran the young pony’s thoughts through her head over and over, trying to decide how to respond. She then began to speak slowly.

"I am quite impressed with your thoughts, young one, but soon they will weigh quite a ton.

There is more here than meets the eye, even a chance that some may die.

As for the princesses and what I think, you may find my thoughts on the brink

of insanity, at least to you, and they will give you lots to chew.

Where I come from, no party rules; but please do not think us fools.

For you see, the way we do things, everypony, their thoughts to the table they bring.

We all vote on what seems quite right, and it normally stops all the mindless fights.

Here is quite different, as you can see, for two ponies make the decisions for you and for me.

Although they really mean quite well, only time will really tell

if they are really doing what is right, or if a new country will take flight

and call themselves separate from their start, although I'm sure the princesses will be quite tart.

For you see they try very hard to control, and keep all their subjects as innocent as foals."

With that, she seemed to finish putting in her two bits and inhaled deeply, glad to be done with sharing her thoughts. Everypony in the room was silent for quite a while before anypony decided to speak.

"That was... very insightful. Thank you, Zecora. I'm not sure I like what was said but, it certainly leave me thinking for a-" Twilight started before being interrupted.

"Wait, are you saying that somepony will decide the princesses are wrong and fight against them? That's... That's..."

"Rainbow! I was trying to say something!"

"We're not even supposed to talk about these things! If the guards found out we could..." She paused.

"Wait, why arn’t we allowed t’talk about this stuff?” Applejack responded. “Ah mean, shouldn't we be allowed t’be honest an’ criticize when we feel it’s necessary?"

With that, Applejack made one of the biggest revelations ponykind would ever experience.

Chapter 5

“For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.”

― Elie Wiesel

Chapter 5

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Celestia laid on her bed, preparing herself for the day ahead. Today was going to be nerve racking, what with having to keep an eye on the workers at the Cleansing, as well as having to explain quite a few things to Luna. Although she was sure her sister wanted the best for Equestria, she was almost positive she would have taken a different approach.

The process was a bit... gruesome... but if it wasn’t done, the gene pool would deteriorate in quality, and that couldn’t be allowed to happen. Able-bodied ponies are what the empire needed; not ones that would only use up their precious resources. This exact reason was why the ponies of Equestria couldn’t be told what was going on. They just wouldn’t understand why the poor ponies needed to die. They wouldn’t, they couldn’t, accept the greater good. What she had seen after being alive for centuries showed her that what she was doing was right-- that the end justifies the means, no matter the cost.

After a bit of more thinking, Celestia decided it was time to get up and raise the sun. As she stood up the sun followed her lead and caused the orange sunlight to pour in through the window. Celestia smiled, then stretched, relieving the tightness in her muscles that came from lying still for hours on end.

After a filling breakfast of the finest fruit salad, she proceeded with her morning meetings with nothing important going on. She then had lunch with Luna, which was nice. She liked spending time with her sister even if she had somewhat different views. It always led to interesting conversations and debates, which normally ended in a tie since they were fairly evenly matched.

The Cleansing began right after lunch, so once they finished eating, they began their walk to the labs.

“Are you prepared for today, Luna?” Celestia asked, trying to get some insight into how her sister was feeling.

“If this is what I think it is, I’m not sure I'll ever be ready.” Luna seemed ill at ease, which was somewhat understandable. Celestia stopped thinking for a moment. Luna had used regular English without any old words.

“Have you been practicing speaking?” Luna seemed somewhat surprised at the older alicorns question.

“Why yes, I have. I spent quite a few hours last night, and I try very hard when I speak.”

Celestia smiled. “That’s great, Luna. Now about today... I am sure I will have to explain many things, but please believe me when I say that this is the right thing to do. Please don’t run or do anything like that; it will just make everyone feel awkward and won’t help at all.”

“I’ll try.” Luna almost seemed angry. Why must she baby me like that? she thought. It’s not like I’m a filly anymore. Besides, she knows I would rather not talk about this “Cleansing”. The things she’s been implying are horrible, so I can only imagine the actual process being even worse.

As they reached the secret entrance to the labs Luna tried to cool off a little. 1... 2... 3...

As she slowly started calming down Celestia teleported both of them into the scanning room.

“Could you try to open the door so I know they’ve added your name to the acceptable list?” the sun princess inquired of her sister. Luna nodded and approached the wall she had seen Dom use yesterday.

“Luna,” she whispered to the wall. She felt a strange force pick her up and probe everything. It felt overly intrusive. She could tell it was looking at her thoughts and making sure she had no bad intentions inside. She tried to clear her mind of the misgivings she had. It set her down fairly softly on the floor, and...

“Luna. Access denied.” There was silence for a moment.

“How strange. I’ll make sure they fix that,” Celestia murmured. Luna knew the system knew who she was; it was just the thoughts in her head preventing her from accessing the labs. But her sister didn’t need to know that. She would just end up freaking out and maybe even imprisoning her.

“Celestia.” The green magic picked her up and set her down.

“Celestia,” the voice repeated. The doors slid open and the two sisters entered. The doors closed behind them as Dom poked his head out of a door directly to their right. “Over here, princesses.”

Both cantered over to him and entered. They were in what seemed like an observation room with a large glass window directly in front of the entrance and a heavy looking door to the left. As she cantered up closer to the window, she could see out... and her mouth dropped open.

It looked like something out of a horror story: there was a conveyor belt leading up to a pit into the middle filled with grinders that she was sure could crush just about anything that got in their way. A metal staircase was the only way in and out other than the conveyor belt into the crusher.

Celestia laughed to her left. She LAUGHED. What was wrong with her? Couldn’t she see the terrible sight in front of them?

“I have to say the look on your face is fairly amusing,” she said. Luna couldn’t believe her ears. When she looked over her sister was still grinning. The door behind them opened to admit a pony in a white lab coat, who walked over to a control panel that the younger sister had not noticed.

“Are you ready to begin?” he asked.

“Not yet, Butch. I need to talk to my sister for a little bit first.”

“Alright, Princess. Just let me know when you wish to start.”

The older sister then looked over at Dom. “Do you wish to explain?”

“Yes I will,” he replied. He then turned to Luna and began to speak.

“So this is what is called the Cleansing. Here is where we clean the gene pool of ponykind by getting rid of any genetically unhealthy ponies. This ensures the continued health of future generations. If we were to leave the ponies we dispose of here to their own devices, they could possibly harm the gene pool and damage the future workforce. All ponies are tracked through their young life until they are decided unhealthy or healthy, in which case they are either marked with their job by their cutie mark, or they are given a meaningless mark, which tells other ponies to stay away, seeing as they are a danger to society no matter how good their intentions are. This also lets the Genetically Deficient Cleanup Crew, the G.D.C.C., find them easier, so that they can be brought here to be disposed of. Their remains are then used as fertilizer on farms, so that even though in life they couldn’t help others, they can in death.” Dom seemed done but Celestia had to add her own two cents.

“Snips and Snails fit in the category of an unhealthy pony, hence their nonsensical cutie marks. As for Scootaloo, her wings will never fully develop, and so she is handicapped. She can’t do the regular pegasus jobs so she must be disposed of so to make sure her inferior genes don’t spread. She will probably be getting a sickly cutie mark soon, and will be sent here for next month's Cleansing.”

Luna just stood still, taking in all this information. As horrible as it was, her sister’s awful scheme made some sense. She still hated it, but she could at least see where her sister was coming from. She didn’t buy that innocent ponies needed to be murdered, though, and so she was still opposed, but at least it wasn’t just some sick pastime her sister had acquired during Luna’s absence.

“We are ready, Butch.” With Celestia’s words, the lab pony nodded and hit a button. The machines on the other side of the glass spun to life, filling the observation room with a slight roar, despite it being magically soundproofed. The clothed pony then flipped another switch and the conveyor started moving.

“I think there’s about 15 this month,” Dom said as the first pony came into view. As the pony was dumped into the grinder, a soft scream filled the room, which was quickly and abruptly cut off. Luna shuddered; she had always hated blood, and the fact that it was innocent ponies’ didn’t help. She felt her older sister’s eyes on her, but she didn’t say anything. Celestia was always paranoid and Luna could tell this just escalated her fears. If it got out that she did this...

One at a time the handicapped ponies fell in and died a painful death. Then a little gray pegasus with a blond mane appeared.

Luna gasped. She knew her! The amber-eyed pony had been at Nightmare Night in Ponyvile last year. As the tied-up pegasus turned her head to look up at the four in the window, Luna's heart broke.

Without even thinking, she reared up and jumped through the glass, shards going everywhere and glistening in the artificial magic light. She could hear her sister scream behind her, but she didn’t care anymore. She opened her wings and grabbed onto the surprised mailmare. As she turned around, she readied her teleportation spell to the only place she could think of, Twilight’s library. The image she saw just before she teleported burned into her mind: her sister sat looking angrier than she had ever seen her before, and there was something else, too, but the moon princess couldn’t quite place it.

With a flash, Luna and Derpy vanished from Celestia’s sight and appeared in the Ponyvile library. A lavender mare looked up from a book she had been reading and her face filled with surprise.

“Princess?”

Chapter 6

The great masses of the people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one.

― Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf

Chapter 6

_____________________________________________________________________

Silence filled the room as the truth in Apple Jack’s words seeped into everypony. Twilight was the first to respond.

“Apple Jack, that’s... so true. I never thought of that.” She paused. “Oh Zecora I almost forgot! Would you like to come stay in Ponyvile? I want to write a book about you and where you come from but it would be such a hassle to come out here so often. I understand if you don't want to but," Zecora cut Twilight off.

"Miss. Sparkle I would love to be, the center of your book you see

But I am not used to company, as I live out here just I myself and me.

I would be honored to come, but I feel I may ruin your fun." The unicorn just waved off the warning.

"Nonsense you'll be fine, I'll help you meet everypony else if you really want, to break the ice and all." The zebra sighed but nodded anyways.

"Fine then it has been settled, I will come stay with you and your pony fellow.

I will come over tomorrow evening, for I need to get things before leaving." Twilight beamed at the news and seemed barely able to speak.

"I... Awesome! I'll see you tomorrow around sundown then?" Zecora just nodded already getting things packed for her move.

"So can we go?" Asked Rainbow dash tired of having to sit for so long. Twilight seemed somewhat annoyed but agreed. After saying their goodbyes the six headed back to Ponyvile and went out to dinner to discuss the day’s events and Twilight's soon to be book.

"Table for six Miss. Rarity?" The host asked as they entered thought the doorway.

"Yes that will be fine sir. Thank you." After grabbing six menus with his magic he led the posse to a table and sat them down. After a little bit a waiter came over and got their drink orders. It was autumn so all of them got apple cider, which of course came from Sweet Apple Acres. Rarity was the first to talk.

"So dear why do you want to include her in your book?" Twilight readied herself for a rather lengthy response.

"Well I really want to write about what she thinks of us, normal ponies that is. A view from an outsider would be interesting. I can only imagine what she would say." She paused for a few seconds.

"Her home will be really interesting too; I mean how does everything work without a ruler like Celestia or Luna?" Rainbow Dash gagged making everypony look at her with some concern.

"Can we stop being all egg-heady and move onto a different subject?"

"Rainbow!" Apple Jack yelled. "Be nice!"

The waiter moseyed over to their table

“Are you ready to order?” They all were so they ordered and ate without too much more conversation. After they were done eating they all said their goodbyes, but Fluttershy pulled Twilight to the side before she could leave.

“What is it Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, somewhat antsy to leave since Spike had been home all day without supervision.

“Well, um, I’m just kind of nervous about the whole Zecora staying with you thing. I mean, not that she’s bad or anything but I think she’ll be a fish out of water to an extreme extent. She’s used to living alone so transferring to somewhere like here may put her in a shock.”

“Thanks Fluttershy I’m glad you're concerned but I think it’ll be ok.”

“Oh, ok. Well goodnight.”

“Goodnight Fluttershy.” They both started to walk away.

“Oh Twilight!” Fluttershy shouted softly. The unicorn stopped, turned, and looked at her friend.

“I think you should be careful talking about politics, and stuff. I think you could get in some serious trouble.”

“Mmk, night”

“Night”

The next day Twilight searched her library over for any books relating to politics but could only find one. “My Struggle” by Celestia so the young mare decided to go looking for others. "I'll be back in an hour Spike! Make sure to organize the library today!" She looked around at the piles of books she had made while searching earlier and giggled. Spike always hated it when she did things like this, making messes and having him pick them up. Spike came down the stairs and growled at the sight.

"Ugh, Twilight! I just organized them yesterday!!

"Sorry, but I needed to find some really important books. I'll be back in about an hour. Bye!" With that the lavender mare left her home and headed for the only bookstore in Ponyvile. As she walked through the door the bell rang and the brown earth pony with a book for a cutie mark behind the counter looked up.

"Oh hello there Miss. Sparkle, and to what do we owe this pleasure?"

"I’m looking for any books about politics. Do you think you have any in stock?” The worker twitched at the word “politics” but retained his composure for the most part.

“We only carry one but I can go it for you.”

“Yes, that would be great. Anything helps.” After nodding he walked into the back of the store for a few seconds before returning with a familiar looking book in his mouth. As he set “My Struggle” down the unicorn sighed.

“I’m sorry but I already have this book. Are you sure you don’t have any others?” the unicorn said slightly annoyed.

“I’m sorry but we ca... don’t carry any others.” There was an awkward break in his speech almost like he had said something he wasn’t supposed to.

“Well... Thanks anyways. Goodbye.”

“Good day!” As Twilight left she wondered why they might not carry any other political books. I don’t know why they don’t carry any books on that topic besides Celestia’s. I mean should Luna at least have a book? Then again she was banished for a thousand years... Off topic. He tripped over his words while he was speaking. What did he almost say? Ca... Can’t? They can’t carry those books? What does he mean? They’re not allowed? That would be awful strange. Once she got home she sat down and decided to read the only book she had on the topic so she sat down and started to read Celestia’s book. After a little bit of reading she heard magic being used in close proximity to her. She looked up in confusion to see Princess Luna standing in the middle of the room, looking around frantically.

“Hello princess.”

Chapter 7

“Comrade, I did not want to kill you. . . . But you were only an idea to me before, an abstraction that lived in my mind and called forth its appropriate response. . . . I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late. Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony—Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy?”

― Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front

Chapter 7

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Luna dropped Derpy from her mouth and began wildly casting protective spells over the Library. She knew that Celestia and the guards would be after her shortly and didn't have much time to prepare.

“Princess what are you doing?!” Twilight yelled over the spells being cast. “What's going on? Why are you here? Who’s...”

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE I DO NOT HAVE MUCH TIME!” Luna yelled with the royal Canterlot voice. “I HAVE DONE SOMETHING MY SISTER WILL NOT APPROVE OF AND MAY EVEN BANISH ME FOR! PLEASE GATHER THE OTHER ELEMENT HOLDERS AND HEAD TO THE RUINS IN THE EVERFREE FOREST. I WILL MEET YOU THERE TONIGHT!”

“Yes princess! Spike we’re leaving! Now!”

“Uh, wh- Woah!” Spike was interrupted by being thrown across the young ponies back.

“We have to gather the others and head into the forest!”

“Wait why are we-” The baby dragon’s voice was cut off by the door slamming behind the pair on their way out. Luna now had no distractions and could completely focus on her work.

She closed her eyes and focused. She started laying down every trap and anti-magic spell she knew, from a no teleportation zone to an invisible barrier that would stun anypony who walked through it. A few minutes later she finished and opened her eyes.

Surprisingly the pegasus she rescued was just sitting patiently in a corner somehow un-phased by her near death encounter.

“"Now, we need to get out of here before my sister comes and sends me back to the moon. We could teleport but that will leave magical residue that shows where we went so running or flying is the only option. Are you ready?" The gray pony grinned.

"Let's go!" With that Luna shot up and out of the Library through a window going straight up so as to avoid ground detection. After looking back to make sure Derpy was still following the leader went up a few hundred feet more than leveled out. From the vantage point she could see the guards closing in on Ponyvile. There were hundreds more than she had ever seen in one place before. As the pegasus caught up to the princess she looked down with a smug look on her face.

"Bastards really don't want any news of covert operations inside the castle getting out do they?" Luna thought for a moment. Covert operations... Nopony talked like that unless they were in the military. Then it all clicked, the way she wasn't scared after a near death experience, the way she spoke, her confidence. But at the same time she was disabled. Celestia defiantly wouldn't have let a handicapped pony into the armed forces. Heck she wouldn't even allow them to live.

"Did you used to be in the military?"

"What gave it away?" The veteran replied somewhat sadly.

"You sound unhappy about it."

"I did some things I wasn't proud of alright. I'd rather not talk about it."

"Alright then." Was she injured at some point and that’s why she wasn't in the military anymore? That would make sense, although then her sister’s argument for killing all the ponies would be void since that wasn't a genetic disability.

The two flew in silence for a while until the princess decided they were out of the search range, which was about halfway to Las Pegasus. The princess was the first to break the silence.

"Alright I think this is far enough that if we teleport the residue will disappear before they can find it."

"I agree, let's land." The two slowly descended into the mountains that separated the western seaboard from the majority of Equestria. Most of the area wasn't good for landing since it was sloped. It took a good half hour to find a suitable spot to set down. Once they landed the princess sat down somewhat out of breath. The golden eyed mare just sat there patently.

"Low gravity will make you week, and a thousand years of low gravity will make you a wimp. I worked out for hours every day while I was banished so as not to lose most of my muscle and yet back here I'm week anyways. Just one more minute" There was silence for a moment.

"Staying on the run for so long has kept me in shape, I don't tire out as easy as most ponies."

"I can tell." A few more minutes passed before the alicorn stood up. "Alright, come closer so I can teleport both of us."

The grey pony moved closer, and Luna's horn began to glow with her magical aura, then there was a flash of light and they were in a great hall that had, at one point, been absolutely breathtaking, but now all of the tapestries were torn and the black marble floors covered in a century of grime and dust. There were five sets of hoof prints and a set of claw prints leading up to their respective owners. Unfortunately a certain cyan pegasus was missing.

"There's she is!" shouted Apple Jack, having just noticed the pair's appearance.

"Princess are you ok?" Asked Twilight.

"Yes I'm fine but we have a lot to discuss. Where is Rainbow Dash?!?"

"We searched everywhere and couldn't find her! We finally ran into some guards and had to give up." Pinkie answered. "You would think the element of loyalty would be a bit more dependable. Then again loyalty is all perspective. One pony’s terrorist is another pony’s freedom fighter!" The princess just sighed and lowered her head before addressing the others.

"Then we will just have to assume the worst. She has probably been kidnapped and is being interrogated right now."

“Oh my, Celestia! What can we do?” Asked Spike.

“We need to have someone on the inside, to tell us what is going on inside Ponyvile and possibly Canterlot.” Replied Luna. Twilight’s eyes widened as she realized the perfect candidate.

“Zecora!”

Chapter 8

“Master, go on, and I will follow thee

To the last gasp with truth and loyalty.”

― William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Chapter 8

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Freedom stood in shock at the shattered window as Celestia fell into the royal Canterlot voice she hadn’t used in decades. Once he saw Luna teleport away with the gray pegasus he knew his day had just gotten much worse.

“AHH!” Celestia shouted she turned and with a burst of magic from her horn disintegrated Butch on the spot. Still the pegasus just stood there taking it all in.

“DOM! GO FIND OUT WHERE THEY WENT! I WILL GATHER THE GUARD AND WE SHALL GO BRING LUNA BACK!” The white maned pegasus stood still for a moment before realizing the words were directed at him. He then turned and went down the stair to crusher as Celestia stormed out of the room. He moved over to the stopped conveyor belt and took a scan. Ponyvile, of course. The element holders lived there, Luna wasn’t dumb she knew what she had done was very bad and knew that a war might have just started. Whoever held the elements and their holders would win. Right now the sides would be even; with Luna possible having the holders while the elements themselves were locked in the castle.

Freedom moved back up the stairs starting to think more and more. Why had Luna rescued that specific pony anyhow? She was an ex-military vet who had incurred a disorder and run away. Did the princess of the night known her from somewhere before? Then again did it really matter? She had been a high ranking officer and given that information Luna had gained a distinct advantage. She didn’t like what they were doing in secret that much had been made clear. We are just trying to help the majority he told himself, but somewhere in the back of his mind a little voice said What you are doing is wrong. He shook off the thought and teleported to the castle ready to report to Celestia.

As expected everypony was running around like crazy, either trying to stay out of the way or trying to organize the guard. The sun princess was standing in the middle of the chaos bellowing orders. The organized princess looked so out of place amidst the chaos, being so angry. He had never truly seen the princess angry before and although the fact this had her so upset frightened him but he approached nevertheless, ready to complete his given task.

“DOM WHAT NEWS DO YOU BRING REGARDING THE CONVICT?” Convict, her own sister.

“She has-” He started

“I CANNOT HEAR YOU ALL OVER THIS COMMOTION FOLLOW ME!” She turned and went up the staircase to the situation room. As he entered he remembered that it hadn’t been used in years, the faded upholstery on the chairs and dust on the table showed that. As soon as the door shut Celestia locked it then blew apart a chair with magic before slumping down in a corner.

“I hate ponies seeing me like this.” She sighed almost sadly. “Just give me a moment.” Everything in the room was quiet for a moment. The muffled insanity just outside the doors pounded on both their heads until a deep breath broke the tension.

“Where is she headed?”

“Ponyvile.” Silence again.

“So it’s just as I expected, she’s against us now?”

“We can only assume so.” another sigh.

“What do you think she’s doing there?”

“You already know.”

“Humor me.” This time Freedom sighed.

“Well she knows what she did has angered you and I think she thinks you will be coming after her, as we are. She, most likely, is going to gather the element holders and regroup in the Everfree forest.”

“So we are on the same page, good. I’ve already deployed the first set of troops.” She paused. “It’s been so long since I used that word, no since the Great War when we conquered all of Equestria.”

“Mhm, you were saying.”

“Ah yes, well they will arrive there and hopeful stop Luna though I’m not counting on it she’s not dumb. All this time we’ve been able to control the population, keeping them out of trouble and stopping any wars from even being thought of but the only thing we didn’t think of has ruined it. I am almost certain war has just begun, and I’m not sure we can win.”

“I’m fairly certain we can-”

“You do not understand the power of the information she and that commander now hold. All of our war tactics as well as all our operations have now been divulged. We have NOTHING on them. That information will scare a lot of ponies away from us and she will be there with open hooves ready to take them in. I do not wish for Equestria to turn into what is going on behind those doors right now!” She said pointing a hoof towards the outside “Chaos is all that is and unlike Discord I would like to keep things orderly and not amuck. The Great War was a deadly war but we won. I was certain we could win when we started; I am not so foolish as to start this nation on something it cannot finish. Unfortunately we had two leaders then, Luan was still with us. We are not that lucky this time around.” There was a knock on the door. “You will tell no one about this. We must keep them certain that she has no chance of winning.”

“Of course.” Another knock.

“Yes?” The door opened a crack letting in air from the outside, thick with insanity and fear. Yelling filled and echoed about the room that moment ago had been a haven in the center of chaos, but had now succumb and been filled with it.

“A pony to see you my highness.” Said the secretary. The alicorn thought for a moment, deciding whether a visitor was a good idea or not.

“Send them in.” The door opened to reveal a young cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane.

“Rainbow Dash.” Celestia whispered while slowly closing her eyes. “I didn’t quite expect to see you.”

A huge grin spread over her face. “Hey I AM the element of loyalty after all.”

Chapter 9

"I prefer the challenges of life

To the guaranteed existence"

― Thomas Paine, Common Sense

Chapter 9

_____________________________________________________________________

The weight of Luna’s words settled in. Without the sixth element holder the other five were only as useful as regular ponies, they functioned as a team on as a one pony army.

“We need to rescue her!” Cried Twilight, fearing for her friend’s safety.

“I agree Twilight Sparkle but first I must explain a few things.” Luna then went on to explain the Cutie Mark Creators as well as the Genetically Deficiently Clean-up Crew.

“So wait, yer’ tellin’ us ahr’ entire lives we’ve been used?” Apple Jack said trying to clarify the evil. Everypony was horrified by the idea of innocent ponies being butchered.

“Sadly, yes.” Luna stated flatly. “Now that we have gotten that out of the way I believe our first move should be to gain support for our cause. Most ponies do not know of what really goes on inside the castle like you do now that I’ve explained it. All the extra support will allow us to do things faster as well as show Celestia what power we hold. I don’t wish this to turn to war but I can’t see any way to avoid it. What my sister is doing is unjust!”

“Well what your sister is doing may be unjust but an unjust peace is better than a just war.” Rarity exclaimed, making it clear that she thought war was an abomination.

“I do not believe that my little pony. If war means killing now to save generations later I will partake in it now.”

“So let me just write this all down.” Said Twilight bringing a quill and parchment out. “We need to gather supporters, and rescue Rainbow.” She paused. “Shouldn’t we raise an army if we’re going to war?” There was silence for a moment as all in attendance thought over that was being said. War. How could something so big happened so fast?

“Well, I think that if they feel strongly enough they will join our cause, and I do believe they will feel strongly for our cause.”

“Well that makes sense.” Fluttershy added quietly. “Um, I have an idea.”

“What is it?” The princess said slightly more forcefully than she should have.

“Oh, um well...”

“It’s ok sugar cube, go on.”

The yellow pegasus began getting slightly more confident as she continued “Well we need somewhere to stay and while this old building works I thought we could make it a little better. Me and Rarity could stay behind and work on it while Luna puts down protections. Twilight, Apple Jack, and Spike could go get followers, and that gray pegasus could guard here while we’re gone.”

“Derpy.” The gold eyed pony corrected.

“Oh, sorry.” Replied the other pegasus looking down.

“That’s a good plan Fluttershy; let’s do that, although we can’t go to Ponyvile.” A pause “What’s the next closest town besides Canterlot?”

“Manehatten” Luna replied. “About a day's walk.”

“Maybe we should something consistent to tell everypony. Oh, I know! How about a pamphlet? We could use the name “Common Sense” since once you read it it's common sense Celestia’s wrong! I mean who can like a mass murdering, controlling pony, who uses everypony else?!” Pinkie rambled.

“Spike!”

“What is it Twilight?”

“Start writing the pamphlet Pinkie came up with, and make sure it sounds official. We don’t want anypony to think we’re not telling the truth.”

“Ok hang on.” He wrote for a few minutes.

“Read it back to me.” The purple mare demanded.

“I have four sections. Power, Control, Life in Equestria, and The Solution.

Power: We have almost always been protected by our princesses. They can’t do this without some control over us, but how much power do they really have? How much power should they have? In truth they have more power than anypony can imagine. Luna recently tired of the tyranny and has now told us the inner workings of our government.

Control: Everything we do is controlled weather we know it or not. The government has altered how cutie marks are made created. Instead of handed out by nature these “life callings are now assigned in a basement in Canterlot castle. A list of Fillies is looked through and one by one they are manually assigned cutie marks. This allows major control over the work force. We should let nature and ourselves control what we do, not a dictator.

On another note involving control. The richest 1% of ponies control 40% of everything. This clearly is an uneven distribution of wealth that is not good for the economy or for the majority of the population.

Life in Equestria: Most of us live our lives happily and healthily in our great nation, but have you ever actually seen a truly unhealthy pony? That no is because if they are truly sick they are put to death so they don’t ‘hinder society’. The end does not justify the means here; hundreds are killed just to make society look a little better.

The Solution: Clearly we live under a corrupt government that uses its powers to benefit the rich minority. We are the 99% and the 1% should work to the benefit of all not just themselves. We hold these truths to be obvious, that all ponies are created equal, that they were given certain indispensable rights, including life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to make sure these rights stay in place governments are put in place, kept in power by the common ponies. Whenever a government breaks these rights it is the subject's duty to alter or destroy it, and put in its place a new government. It is just common sense that our current government needs abolished, and a new one instated.

That’s it.” There was a thoughtful moment before anypony spoke.

“That was, nice.” Fluttershy whispered.

“Right, Spike, let me see that so I can make some copies of it.” The dragon let go of the pamphlet as Twilight’s magic took hold. It rotated slowly as she concentrated, and then with a small pop fifty more came into existence. The unicorn quickly gave a bunch to Apple Jack, and her assistant.

“Let’s go.”

Chapter 11

"Taught never to retreat, never to surrender. Taught that death on the battlefield in service to Sparta is the greatest glory he can achieve in his life."

― Dilios, 300

Chapter 11

___________________________________________________________________

Luna slowly awoke and opened her eyes. She groggily looked around and noticed Twilight and Apple Jack had left for Manehatten as planned, although Spike had decided to stay behind to try and help keep things organized. She smiled before remembering why she was laying where she was. The chaos of the past day unfolded in her mind and she saddened a bit.

She slowly stood up, while thinking about what she would do. There wasn’t really anything to eat. Everything had happened so fast no one had thought about food or supplies. She sighed and decided to start by putting some protections on the ancient castle the 8 of them now called home. She focused her energy on the task at hand and crafted a warning system, protective bubble, and a few booby traps.

After she finished the princess turned around to find everypony still asleep aside from Derpy. The gray pegasus was sitting quietly in front of Luna, one eye watching her, the other lazily drifting throughout the room. Luna broke the silence

“Nice to see somepony besides me rises early.” No response. Luna sighed.

“Today we need to gather supplies; we won’t last long without food or armor.” Luna said to nopony in particular. “We are so far outmatched, and outgunned its not even funny.” She continued becoming crestfallen. “Is there any possible way we can win? They have thousands of guards and more resources than most ponies can imagine. I’ll be surprised if we make it even a week.”

“Do you remember the war between the ponies and the griffins?” Derpy said after a moment.

“Well, yes. It was long and bloody. When they finally surrendered it felt like the summer sun celebration was happening in the streets of every city in Equestria.” The princess replied.

“Do you remember a specific battle involving a mountain pass where three hundred ponies held off the griffin army’s main advance.”

“Yes, I gave some of those ponies their metals myself.”

“They were vastly outnumbered and outgunned yet managed to hold back a huge assault until our main army could arrive. Do you know how?”

“Not really, I’m no general. Celestia and I have advisers for a reason.”

“They had huge advantages over their enemy. They had positioning, they had the most elite units at their disposal, but they had one thing more powerful than any other. A cause. A war without a cause is lost before it is started. If you have no reason to fight your better off not fighting at all. Fortunately we have a cause. We are fighting against the injustices to ponykind, and for our freedoms. Once other ponies find out what is going on we won’t be insanely outnumbered, in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if we were the larger force. Once we have the ponies everything else will follow.

As she finished her pep talk Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity began to wake. After a few minutes of ponies wandering around half awake Luna called a meeting between all ponies present.

“This meeting is regarding our current state.” The princess began. “As you all know we are outnumbered, and outgunned. We need supplies and ponies for us to stand any chance. As we speak Twilight, Apple Jack and Spike are out trying to gather followers. We need to be ready for when they start sending ponies back. We need to start gathering metals that we can make armor out of. I know that there is an abandoned mine east of here so we should start there for that. As far as food goes we either need to take some from the towns surrounding or find it in the forest. Any other thoughts?”

“What about information?” Rarity brought up. “We need to know what Celestia and her forces are doing if we are to plan accordingly.”

“I wish we had a pony on the inside.” Luna thought out loud.

“What about Zecora?” Began Pinkie Pie. “I mean she’s on the inside right now! If we had a way of talking with her she could tell us everything! I’m sure that Celestia would take her in right away! She wouldn’t want her poking around.”

“Who?” the night princess asked.

“Oh, Twi was going to write a book about her so Zecora was moving to ponyville but then this happened so I guess the book will be a little delayed.” Pinkie giggled. “She would be superty duperty perfect for what we need! I can talk to her when I sneak into ponyville for supplies!” Rarity raised an eyebrow.

“You're going to sneak in?” The white unicorn asked. Nopony could even imagine the pink pony sneaking past a corpse no less a large portion of the equestrian military.

“Of course! I snuck into sugar cube corner all the time when I was younger and had a curfew. It’s easy as cake! Or maybe pie? Which do you think is easier to bake?!”

“Why don’t you get ready to sneak in now Pinkie so you're ready to go tonight?” Derpy said, trying her hardest to stop the pink pony from talking. Pinkie laughed.

“Oh silly, it doesn’t need to be night! I’m just gonna go sneak in right now and see what's going on. Be back soon!” And with a dust cloud she was gone.

“How that pony could do anything covertly is beyond me.” Rarity said.

“Oh it’s Pinkie Pie, I stopped trying to understand anything about her a long time ago.” Fluttershy stated. “Oh, I’m sorry were you trying to say something?”

“Fluttershy keep watch” Luna ordered me and Derpy will head to the mine to start gathering ore for armor and Rarity will stay behind in case Twilight starts sending ponies our way. By the way Rarity when they get here try to have them start cleaning up the rubble and such, we can use it for barricades and such later.” And with that, all the ponies started their jobs.

Chapter 12

“When you have established that one alternative is good and the other is evil, there is no justification for the choice of a mixture. There is no justification ever for choosing any part of what you know to be evil.”

Ayn Rand

Chapter 12

______________________________________________________________________________

Shining Armor awoke the morning after his conversation with Freedom. His military training kicked in and he was quickly wide awake. After looking around his private quarters he stood up and stretched before heading out the door. He nodded to the guards that had kept watch over his door during the night.

“Captain Sir! Celestia requests that you meet her at ten hundred hours in the town’s main hall!” One of the guards shouted after him.

“What time is it now private?” Shining asked.

“0930 Sir!”

“I guess I’m skipping breakfast then.” With that the captain walked off.

Ten minutes later he stood before the doors to the town hall. Using magic to pull them open he walked in shutting the door behind him. It was clear that the hall had been used to house troops even though it had only been one night. The place reeked of sweat and stallions.

As he made his way through the hall he spotted Celestia. She stood patiently, awaiting his arrival. He headed over starting to talk."You wished to see me princess?" he inquired.

"Yes, I did." She paused. "Walk with me." she said while beginning to trot. The white unicorn quickly caught up and listened to what she had to say.

"Shall we assume that the resistance will try to gain supporters?"

"Resistance? Don’t you think that..."

"Yes that is a strong word but I believe it fits for the circumstances." She paused. "Commander, I believe my sister will try to overthrow me."

"Why would you ever think that?"

"She made it very clear when she was here she did not agree with most of the decisions I made while she was exiled. Now that she has decided to go against me I'm sure her plan is to overthrow."

"And you wish to stop this?"

"I do. I am trying to decide which city they will visit first. I believe they are held out in the Everfree forest. So the surrounding cities are at the most risk." As she finished her sentence they entered a room with a war map, and the only people inside were Rainbow Dash, and Dom. Shining nodded as a sort of greeting and Freedom nodded back in understanding.

"The closest places to the forest are Ponyvile, which is currently under protection, Cloudsdale, and Manehatten."

"In my opinion princess," Freedom began “I think Manehatten is at more risk than Cloudsdale. Not all 8 of them can fly and we have sources that Apple Jack has been there in the past to stay with family. We are currently checking to see if they are still there and whether she is still in contact or not."

"Given those facts Princess I would concur with him." The white unicorn stated. "We should make Manehatten our top priority."

“Not to bud in here or anything" Dash said "But I could fly up to..."

"No!" Celestia interrupted loudly, startling the other three. "I mean... I do not think it wise if we were to send you off alone. You might be captured." Rainbow was about to interject but the red unicorn cut in.

"So it's settled, I'll ready the troops with Shining to have sent out tomorrow. It'll be about a day’s travel, give or take a few hours. So by 24-hundred tomorrow we can hopefully have a presence established in the city."

"Alright then, it's settled. Everypony dismissed." Celestia adjourned. As everyone started to leave the alicorn put one of her forehoofs out to stop the military commander from leaving. After everypony else left she turned to him.

"Shining I know your sister," the stallion cringed noticeable at the mention. "Is with Luna and therefore against you, against me, against us. But I need you to swear to me you will not waver in your duties, and if you are to run into her..." Time seemed to slow down to a crawl for the scared brother. "You are to kill her and her friends on sight." Shining felt his legs getting flimsy and his stomach churning. "We don't need that scum around." The evil mare paused for effect, noticing the discomfort of the listener. "Swear to me."

"I swear princess, you need not doubt me." he said, lying through his teeth.

“Good. I shall expect you to move out with the troops tomorrow.”

“Of course princess.” He replied, bowing as he did so.

“You are dismissed.” She stated, before turning around to look at the table. Shining Armor quickly backed his way out of the room and shut the door. He then turned around to find himself muzzle to muzzle with Freedom. The blue maned pony let out a little yelp of surprise before throwing one hoof over his mouth.

“Were you listening!?” Shining whispered angrily.

“Um, a bit yes.” His counterpart replied not expecting his friend to be so angry. The prior just huffed and started to walk away. Dom quickly caught up with him, trying to start some sort of conversation. “Hey sorry man, I didn’t mean to tick ya’ off, I just wanna know what's going on.” The guard captain sighed, and tried to clear his mind. His friend didn’t mean any harm, it was just how he was. That pony always wanted to know what was going on.

“I just need some time to think.”

“Ok, I'll see you later.”

“See ya.” As Shining started walking away he began to think about what he would do next. He couldn’t stay in his current position. He might be forced to kill his sister and he couldn’t even bear thinking about that. That’s when he made the decision. He would have to join Luna.

Chapter 13

“The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage.”

Thucydides

Chapter 13

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The following morning Applejack's eyes opened to the bright morning sun. She was an early riser having been brought up on a farm and all. She was fairly awake for a pony who had just gotten up. Twilight was still asleep in the bed next to her's. It had been a long day yesterday between talking to ponies and handing out fliers they were both pretty beat.

Applejack made her way over to the window and quietly opened the drapes letting the morning sun shine through. She took in the view of the city for a moment before realizing something was wrong. Everything was quite... To quite. The normally busy city was laid back and few ponies were on the street. Then she saw a few royal guards making their way down the street. As they approached the hotel the two friends were staying in they stopped and talked to the doorman. The country pony couldn't hear anything since she was three stories up but she could tell that the doorman had told the guard her and Twi's location because the guards nodded in thanks and headed inside.

The orange mare whipped around and quickly moved to Twilight's bed, and began violently shaking her.

"Twilight!" She yelled as loud as she could without waking the ponies in the nearby rooms. "Twi wake up!" The purple mare groaned and rolled over.

"It's bucking 5:30 am. What's so important?" the unicorn muttered drowsily.

"Weh gotta go now! The guards are here!" At those words Twilight snapped wide awake, and bolted to her feet.

"Already? But we've only been here a day!"

"Ah know but I saw 'em enter down below jus' now." Applejack replied. The purple mare galloped towards the door to the

room, magically unlocking and opening it as she got closer. She stopped in the doorway and looked both ways checking to

see if the coast was clear.

"Come on AJ, follow me." She whispered before bolting out the door to the left, with the other mare following closely. They made for the stairs, hoping the guards had taken the elevator. They threw the door open and took the stairs three at a time. As they reached the bottom they slowed down, trying to look casual so as not to be noticed by anyone in the lobby. Both slowly opened the door and two violet eyes scanned the area for anything suspicious. Deciding everything looked ok the two mares walked into the open trying to find a way out besides the front door. Applejack spotted a side exit and pointed to show her companion the way out. As they approached a sign became visible.

"Alarm will sound is door opens." The two looked at the sign then at each other. The Apple pony opened her mouth and started to whisper.

"One." Twilight looked behind to see the elevator doors slide open and a pegasus in full uniform step out. "Two." He was talking to his comrades and hadn't noticed the duo yet. "Three." with the last number said she whipped around and slammed her back hooves into the door bucking it open. The alarm roared to life and the two galloped full speed down the alleyway that had opened up.

"There they are!" Twilight heard behind her. "Get them!" The un-athletic mare quickly started to tire and her more seasoned friend started to pull ahead. Gasping for breath she managed to yell.

"AJ I can't keep- oof!" she stopped mid-sentence having been plowed into by the pegasus she had seen earlier. She struggled but the station was to strong. She couldn't move.

Out of nowhere an orange hoof collided with his head knocking his helmet off and sending him sprawling, out cold. Looking up she saw Applejack standing over her, the other two guards standing menacingly a few hooves away.

Apple Jack charged into the awaiting ponies and took one out with a swift buck to the chest so strong it broke the gold colored armor. All too soon though she was hit from the side and sent tumbling into a nearby brick wall. Her inflictor stood over her about to finish her off before a laser tore through his middle and he dropped to the ground dead.

Twilight stood not five feet away still panting.

"Never *huff* thought I would *huff* need that *puff* spell." Her friend sat horrified for a moment before chuckling.

"Sure saved mah flank there. Were in Equestria did ya even get tha' spell?"

"Found it in some old guard training book years ago."

"Well it sure as hay came in useful."

"You ok?"

"Eeyup, no worse fer wear. How bout' you?"

"Few scrapes but I'll be fine. Ready to keep moving?"

"Ya mean y'all still has a plan?"

"Didn't you know Applejack? I always have a plan." She paused "Lets hide these bodies then keep moving." after a few minutes they dumped the bodies in some trash cans and started on their way again, sticking to side streets so as to be less noticeable.

"Where are weh headed sugar cube?"

The green eyed mare asked after a bit of walking. They were getting to the worse parts of town now. In Manehatten the Anadolu district was mostly comprised of earth ponies. There were some pegasi and some unicorns but most unicorns were in the upper class Hackney district while the pegasi were in the middle of the run Faroe district.

"Do you remember that nice stallion from the park?" Her counterpart replied. The other mare thought for a moment before responding.

"Oh yeah. Viney was it?"

"That's him. He said he would give us somewhere to stay if we needed it so I figured it's worth a shot. According to the address he gave us his house should be right about... Here." Both ponies looked at the house. It was in a somewhat sad state, needing some paint and possibly a new roof. The two made their way up the front stairs and knocked on the door. They heard movement then the door opened. A purple stallion with a green mane poked his head out.

"Oh, it's you!" he said excitedly opening the door wider. "Come in, come in." As they stepped inside they took in what they

saw, and it wasn't much. Two rooms were on the bottom floor. One acting as a kitchen and the other as a family room and dining room. There were stairs leading to a small upper level which appeared to be a bedroom.

"Good to see you again Viney. How is everything?"

"Good, good. I assume you need somewhere to stay?" Both girls were somewhat surprised by how blunt he had been. Noticing this he grinned. "It's fine, follow me and I'll show you where your rooms are." Both mares looked at each other. He had said rooms. There was no way there was enough room in this tiny place to give them both a room. The stallion just headed out the front door and across the street to the vineyard. The two other ponies followed him as he unlocked the door and stepped inside. He immediately headed downstairs to where the hogsheads of wine were kept. He walked up to one about middle of the row against the row and turned the nosle on it upside down. The front of the large barrel swung open on concealed hinges and led to a secret hallway rather large in length. The two friends’ mouths hung open. Noticing this Twilight just shrugged.

"I'm eccentric." he stated before making his way inside the secret area. Applejack and Twilight were slow to follow having been awed by the simple elegance of the hidden room. "Four doors on the right are bedrooms with three beds each. Doors on the left in order from closest to farthest are kitchen, bathroom, dining room, and storage. Any questions?"

Chapter 14

“The first duty of a man is to think for himself”

― José Martí

Chapter 14

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Shining Armor awoke the day following his confrontation with Celestia the rest of that day had been fairly calm. Nothing important had been found when he and some of the other soldiers searched Zecora’s hut. Apparently she had packed most of her things before making her way to Ponyvile. Standing up he headed for the bathroom to shower before he started his day.

I have a lot ahead of me today. He thought For my plan to work I can't make any mistakes. Nopony can expect anything if I want to succeed, least of all any of the troops or worse Celestia. He stepped out of the shower and dried off before donning his armor. He stepped out of his quarters once again and turned to his personal guard.

"Anything to report?” The commander asked

"Sir, no sir!" the colt replied enthusiastically.

"At ease." The white unicorn turned and walked away. Now to find Rainbow Dash. The burly unicorn made his way through the streets towards her home avoiding eye contact with everypony. He had never hidden things well, ever since he was a filly.

He remembered once many years ago Twilight had caught him kissing with Cadance. He hadn't been sure then how his parents would react to him dating their foal sitter so he told his sister to keep quite. Later at dinner his father had mentioned Cadance and Shining couldn't help but blurt out that he was in a relationship with her. They were happy for him of course. He chuckled at the memory. What had ever happened to her? They lost touch when she moved so she could attend advanced magic school in Trottingham. He should get back in touch with her. His thoughts of lost love were cut short as he arrived at his destination.

Floating above him was Rainbow's cloud home. He pulled the string hanging down, a doorbell for non pegasi, and waited for an answer. Sure enough a tired looking Rainbow Dash emerged and drifted down lazily.

"Ugh, does the empire need me now? It's not even ten yet." The lazy pony bemoaned.

"I have a special mission you are required for." The stallion stated. Dash perked up a bit at the mention of some possible action but remained wary.

"Really? Celestia seemed rather against me doing um... Anything!"

"Just precautions. This matter is highly classified and we don't want anyone to think anything." The stallion replied coolly. Everything was going to plan. After thinking for a few moments the pegasus decided that the story made sense.

"Alright then, what do I have to do?" She asked

"Follow me closely. I'll explain more once we're in a more secluded environment." He responded. With that he started heading for the Everfree forest. Once they cleared the town limits he spoke up again.

"We are going to find where your friends are hiding and report back to the rest of the army. We're still trying to nip this thing in the bud."

"Gotcha, want me to do a fly over to see where they are?"

"No, too risky. Is there any place the six of you and Luna have been before?" There was a short pause as she thought.

"Well there is one place." She began slowly. "But it's so obvious, they would never go there."

"Sometimes the most obvious places are the ones ponies never look. Do you know the way there?"

"Ya of course! A pegasus never forgets!" She exclaimed.

"Ya, right." Shing responded, shaking his head at the butchered saying. "Can you show me the way?"

"Ya, of course" With that she took off, heading for for the old ruins, where they had fought Nightmare Moon. She moved slowly enough so her counterpart could keep up. After a while she tried to start up a conversation.

"So you seem a little nervous." She stated nonchalantly.

"What makes you say that?" The guard captain replied, already starting to sweat a little.

"I don't know you just seem a little less confident than usual. Maybe it's in your eyes." She replied, not noticing how uncomfortable the stallion had become.

"Nature of these missions I guess." He lied. If she had been looking at him she would have known it was a load of crap.

"Yeah." She responded distantly. "What do you think of this whole thing? I know the whole situation has me stressed out." The castle ruins were in view now and the place was obviously filled with activity. "What if *mhff*" she was cut off as a gag was put in her mouth and her wings and legs became bound. She was caught out of midair by a light rose magic aura. Her eyes turned to see Shining Armor hold her in his telekinetic grasp. The unicorn shook his head.

"You talk too much for your own good." he paused "You don't seem super surprised considering I just kidnapped you." Rainbow did her best wing shrug while tied up. "I gotta get better at hiding things." he said to no one but himself. Dash just rolled her eyes.

He, and his prisoner, approached what was left of the entrance to the old castle. He had clearly sounded the alarm because he could see pegasi flying every which way.

"Who goes there?" Cried a familiar Royal Canterlot voice.

"It is I, Shining Armor! I bring information and a certain mare I'm sure you would love to see!"

Chapter 15

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Chapter 15

______________________________________________

"Princess!" cried a young earth pony, moving quickly towards her target. "Princess somepony's here!"

"Any idea who?" Luna replied.

"We're not sure but he's wearing a guard's uniform and has another pony with him who appears to be captured."

"Lead on." The two made their way out into the courtyard from the main hall before climbing up to the deteriorating battlements. "WHO GOES THERE?" yelled Luna, using the royal Canterlot voice.

"It is I, Shining Armor!" the stallion called back. "I bring information and a certain mare I'm sure you would love to see!"

"What should we do?" asked the same mare. "We can't just stand here forever, we need a response." After a moment of thought Luna replied.

"Please wait while we decide what action to take." The alicorn replied. She then turned to the mare that had brought her to the wall. "What's your name?”

“Template Ma’am!” The Silver pony replied. She had a Light blue mane, and her cutie mark was a schematic.

“Follow me.” Luna Stated before turning and heading inside. “Bring the commander, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike. I’ll be waiting in the command tent.”

“Will do.”

Listen to me Luna thought on her way to the tent, guards saluting her as she passed. Commander, command tent. Hell we didn’t even have ten ponies until yesterday! So many ponies get things done fast for sure. Now we have a makeshift guard, we’re repairing this place so fast, and growing in numbers so rapidly. Celestia is gonna have a big mess to deal with soon. She entered the tent, looked around and shook her head. I didn’t want this, but my sister... she forced my hoof. Luna stopped herself. I can’t think like that I have to keep my head in the game. At that moment everypony entered and moved around the table in the center of the room. Then they all looked at Luna. With a deep breath the dark blue mare began.

“We have a stallion in an empire guard uniform out there asking for permission to come inside and it appears he has a hostage of some sort. Any thoughts?”

“Well” Pinkie began, popping up next to Template and Rarity.

“AHHHHHHH.” The white earth pony yelled in surprise, stumbling back. The others just looked at her.

“What?” Pinkie asked.

“You just came out of nowhere!” The pony on the floor yelled. The pink pony just giggled in response.

“Eeyup! Anyways on my way back...”

“How did you get in the tent, and past the wall guards?” Template interrupted.

“Don’t question her.” Fluttershy whispered. “Just don’t.”

"EVERYPONY! BE QUIET!" Luna yelled above the pandemonium, causing the group to fall silent. "Thank you." she said returning to her normal voice. "Pinkie, please speak."

"Well Zecora’s being kept prisoner back at Ponyvile but says she will try and give us as much info as possible. She said right now they are keeping a presence in the town while some soldiers have started moving to Manehatten. I noticed Shining Armor, and Rainbow on my way back here. Apparently Shining deceived her and made her follow him before he bound and gagged her. I think he just wants in to make a deal using Dash and who knows maybe he’ll convert to our side!”

“I find that unlikely.” The princess responded. “I’m more afraid of him pretending like Rainbow Dash is a gift, us giving him access inside of here because of it, and him killing everypony.”

“Like a Trojan horse!” Pinkie exclaimed before falling over in a fit of laughter.

“A what?” Template asked.

“Never the less.” the alicorn continued, trying to avoid total chaos again. “What is our plan of action? I say we vote. Any objections?” The room was quite. “Alright then. My vote is yes; we let him in, but watch him closely. Rarity?”

“Agreed”

“Fluttershy?”

“Um, no. I don’t trust him.”

“Spike?”

“Yeah, Shining's a cool guy.”

“Pinkie?”

“Of course!”

“Template?”

“No.”

“Commander?”

“Yes.” The gray pegasus replied.

“Alright it’s settled then.” Luna finished. “We will admit him under close supervision. Meeting adjourned.” With that the group exited the tent and climbed the old walls.

As they reached the top Luna turned to the guards. "We are going to let this pony in, but watch him closely." They nodded in understanding. "WE HAVE MADE OUR DECISION." The dark blue pony yelled using the royal voice again. "YOU WILL BE ADMITTED INSIDE WITH YOUR HOSTAGE, BUT WE WILL BE KEEPING AN EYE ON YOU." She then turned away and headed to the broken gate, waiting for the stallions arrival.

After a couple of minutes he entered into the compound. Luna turned and began to walk with him. "Why are you here Shining?" She asked exasperated.

"I'm not here to try and stop you if that's what you’re thinking. I want to help." he replied, surprising his old leader.

"Really?" Still seeming somewhat cautious. "Why change sides now?"

"Celestia has gone off the deep end and needs to be stopped. She has a lot of power and no good sense."

"I sadly agree. Now, what about her?" She asked looking at Rainbow Dash still floating along in the unicorn's magic.

"Yes, well I got her to follow me but eventually had to restrain her due the positivity of her escaping."

"Can you remove the gag so she can talk?"

"Of course, just a second." He undid the obstruction, and removed it from her muzzle. With the intrusion removed she stretched her mouth open trying to get rid of the feeling of being gagged.

"That's better." The element representative said. "How are you princess?"

"Good Rainbow, how’s it going?"

"Besides a crazy pony is in control of all Equestria, and I've been bound and gagged for the past half hour it's not a bad day." The pegasus replied.

"Wait, you’re not mad at me?" Shining asked, astonished.

"Not so much mad as annoyed." She responded. "If you had let me finish what I was saying before you 'captured' me you would have known I was having second thoughts about staying on Celestia's side."

"Well now that that's resolved lets unbind the poor mare and gather the others to talk about what you're... We're going to do." After they broke the Rainbow Dash's bonds they made their way into the main hall. Inside was Derpy and Spike along with a bunch of other ponies.

"Oh. my. Celestia." Shining Whispered.

"What?" Luna asked. Shining ignored her and walked towards the dragon and mare.

"It couldn't be. She was MIA." he whispered as he drew near his mouth hung open. He tapped the gray pegasus on the shoulder. She turned and his assumption was confirmed. "Golden mane."

Chapter 1

“Experience has shown, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.”

― Thomas Jefferson

Chapter 1

______________________________________________________________________________

Princess Celestia strode through the elegant hallways of Canterlot castle with her sister by her side once again. As they walked, they admired the fine tapestries and stunning stained glass windows, color flowing through them and splashing over the floors.

"It's good to have you back again, Luna," Celestia said as she smiled over at her sister.

"'Tis good to be back," Luna replied. "As much as I fancy the moon, a thousand years is a bit too much." They both laughed, glad to be in each other's company once again.

"I forgot how elegant our home is," Luna stated, examining one of the nearby windows that was recently put in. It depicted six young mares defeating Nightmare Moon. Luna winced at remembering the pain and suffering she had endured in the recent past.

"Yes, well... if it were not for the fine ponies we rule, none of this would be possible," Celestia commented, knowing her sister may have forgotten how things worked in Equestria. It was good that not much had changed since Luna's imprisonment; it made life easier on her weary sister.

"Tis so true. We should go see our subjects now that I am back from my imprisonment."

"I quite like that idea." Both alicorns headed for the palace doors, making small talk as they went.

Once outside, the two made their way towards the Anadolu District. The Anadolu ponies were the lowest class in the Equestrian system. They generally worked for the higher classes, fulfilling occupations such as waiters or factory workers. As they walked, the older sister said hello to almost everypony they passed. Luna felt somewhat out-of-place for not knowing anypony, since she had been away for so long.

As they approached the center of the district, a gray stallion with a black mane cantered up, practically brimming with happiness at Equestria's leaders unexpected visit.

"Howdy!" he shouted towards the princesses.

"Good day," Celestia replied, rolling her eyes at the informal salutation. "How goes the production of our necessary resources?"

"Everythin's on track n’ we're workin’ hard," he replied with a smile, knowing that that was exactly what she had wanted to hear.

"Any problems arise recently?" the white Alicorn asked, raising an eyebrow. She already knew a certain filly had caused some mischief— nothing too serious, but enough that it should be mentioned. She needed to test him, so as to make sure that she was told everything and that nothing slipped by.

“Well, there was a small... incident wit’ a filly earlier, but thas’ all under control now.”

Good; there was no need to worry. Sometimes Celestia felt that she acted paranoid, but it was the only way to stay in power. Although most of the ponies would never betray her, she couldn't be too careful.

“Are thoust ready to depart, my sister?” Luna's voice snapped the white pony back to reality.

“Hm? Oh yes of course,” the elder replied, having been slightly startled.

They trotted back to the palace, talking as they went.

“So what shall we do with your responsibilities?” Celestia asked. “Are you ready to resume your duties or should I slowly give them back to you as you become ready?”

Luna pondered this for a moment, honestly wondering if she was ready. “I believe I am prepared to make a full return,” she finally stated, seeming somewhat hesitant.

“Are you sure? You seem a bit apprehensive.”

Luna breathed deeply. “I’m positive.” She gave a weak smile.

Celestia smiled back, trying to hide her concern. Luna always tried to be strong even if it was detrimental to her health. That’s why she had been sent to the moon. Luna had slowly become insane and was a mental hazard to anypony near her, including Celestia. She had secretly cast a spell to turn Luna into Nightmare Moon, allowing Celestia to banish her without criticism from the public. If they knew that one of the rulers had gone insane because of their duties...

The elder shook her head as she looked over at Luna, who was apparently lost in her own thoughts. At least that gave her time to think as well.

The regular Cleansing was coming up. She always attended, so as to make sure none of the workers got a weak stomach and ran out. Not that that ever happened, or that she expected it, but... the Cleansing was one of the most important and secret operations she— Celestia looked over at Luna before correcting herself, they— ran. Luna had never been to a Cleansing before; it had been created after her banishment. It was used to control the unruly and make sure there were no more problems created than necessary.

The white alicorn decided to stop thinking about it. She shouldn’t dwell on that topic too much. It was for the greater good: save the majority at the cost of a few.

They arrived at the castle gates just as Celestia made the sun set, nodding to Luna so she would know to raise the moon. It took no effort for either of them at this point; it was as simple as breathing. It could be controlled, yes, but there was no need to... not anymore, anyway. Celestia remembered keeping the sun up for days so as to weaken her sister enough to transform her into Nightmare Moon. Looking down she shook her head, trying to forget the atrocities of the past. When she looked up the moon was right in front of her, a wondrous backdrop for the sisters' palace. The night isn’t too bad, thought the sun princess. In fact, the moon is almost as beautiful as the sun. Its glow gave everything it touched a soft blue tint. The topiaries in the garden leading up to the entrance of the palace seemed to relish the night air. Their leaves rustled in a calm breeze, causing them to gain an air of life around them. They were so realistically done that one might have thought they would just get up and walk away if they had not noticed the flora were not real ponies.

A set of guards saluted as the sisters passed by, entering the palace. They made their way up the marble staircase to the dining room slowly after a long day. Up at 6 and back to bed at 10 left much to be desired, but it got the job done. Arriving at the table, they sat across from each other. The table was not too large but large enough to accommodate the two of them. Carvings in the teak wood showing past events such as the Great War and the first banishment of Discord were coated over by a thin magical seal, protecting the history from unnecessary scratches and defacement.

Luna cleared her throat just loud enough to interrupt her sister’s train of thought.

“I’ve been thinking,” Luna began. “Has anything changed since my... leave?”

Celestia's searched her mind for anything that Luna should know. Of course there was the Cleansing, and she couldn't forget the Cutie Mark Creators, but not much else came to mind.

"Only a few things have changed," She replied, looking around to make sure none of the servants were listening in before continuing. "The Cleansing is coming up in a couple of days, and then there’s the Cutie Mark Creation Bureau, but I feel both would be better explained if you saw them. We can visit the CMCB tomorrow and then the Cleansing is two days from now so I'll explain those when we get to them. But other than that, not much has changed."

In truth much had changed. When Celestia had transformed Luna into Nightmare Moon the older brainwashed the younger so she wouldn't remember how she had become Nightmare Moon. When Luna returned she wouldn't blame her sister. It worked, but with such powerful, and evil magic comes a price. Celestia herself had debated using the spell in the first place.

Every moral fiber in her body had told her "This is wrong. She is your sister. What are you doing?" But, with arguable advisement, she proceeded with the plan. The price she paid for the spell was great. While chunks of memory were removed from Luna's mind parts of Celestia's mind were twisted. What had seemed morally wrong at the time seemed like the correct decision afterwards. From there the wrongs began to grow. The ideas behind the "greater good" began to form and slowly over time, unknown to everypony, including Celestia herself, she was corrupted. Eventual he CMCB was formed and then the Cleansing began to take place. Over time Celestia began making changes to the way society worked, and during 1000 years of unchecked dictatorship a lot can happen.

Across the table Luna smiled at her sister. Inside though she wrestled with her thoughts, unsure of what was ahead yet wary of the things to come.

“Well I’m glad to hear we did not miss too much during our absence,” Luna replied, obviously unsettled.

“You’ll be fine. Don’t worry so much.” Her sister reassured her.

“Thank you.” Luna smiled, but behind her façade, her mind was racing. What had her sister done while she was gone? Neither of the things she named sounded like they would do any good. This “Cleansing” she spoke of sound like it would end badly and this Bureau... Nothing good could come of changing what nature should control. At least that’s what it sounded like these ponies were doing. Creating cutie marks was supposed to be nature’s responsibility. Maybe I’m overreacting, she thought. It can’t be that bad right? My sister wouldn’t do anything that she didn't think made Equestria a better place. She decided to just wait and see.

Once their dinner was served they quickly ate. Tonight’s meal was the finest grain in Equestria. Their drink was 100-year fermented red wine and dessert was a vanilla cake. It was multi-layered, coated in white icing and blue fondant. After their filling meal, most of which had been left unfinished, they made their way upstairs. They then got into their four-post beds with silk sheets matching their respective color and slowly drifted to sleep.

Chapter 10

"Certainly we expect to maintain both a career and a family, but we expect excellence in one role will come at some cost to the other."

― Melinda M. Marshall

Chapter 10

_______________________________________________________

Freedom, Rainbow Dash, and Celestia boarded the sky carriage to Ponyville, so as to be closer to the current events, the princess wanted to have direct say in what was going on. Once they were on board the alicorn turned to the cyan pegasus.

“So what do you know about what’s going on right now?” The prior asked as the carriage took off.

“Right now?” She asked rhetorically “I know Luna did something very bad and sent Twilight to gather us six up. I’m still not all that clear of what she did or why she’s in hiding now. What exactly went down?”

“My sister took matters into her own hooves when they weren't for her to decide. She has cost this nation stability, and she may have started a revolution the likes of which Equestria has never seen.”

"Oh is that all?” Rainbow replied sarcastically. Celestia did not seem to appreciate the mare's humor.

“Miss. Dash I advise you to remember the seriousness of this situation. We are probably on the brink of war and we might be able to prevent it with your help.” Freedom interjected.

“How so?” The pegasus inquired.

“Well if you can talk your friends out of their current position Luna will lose a lot of power and be much easier to deal with.” The unicorn responded.

“I see.”

“So are you up for it my little pony?” Celestia asked.

“Sure, but how should I start, you know, approaching it?”

“Well we need more information to determine where they are hiding, and you will need some major pull over them since they have probably been lied to so as to keep them on Luna’s side.” Freedom stated.

“Well our friendship is strong, so that should help.”

“Rainbow you must remember you will be outnumbered at least five to one so you have an uphill battle ahead of you.” Celestia warned.

“Yah, yah. I can do this.” Dash said as they landed in Ponyville, greeted by a half dozen guards.

“Your majesty we have something to report.”

“Go ahead captain.”

“It seems the element holders did run for the forest as expected although it is hard to track them through the forest we are trying. We were only just now able to get into the library because of all the spells placed on it but it seems Luna and the convict flew away. We have rounded up some suspects including a zebra that seemed to have been living in the forest. She is being interrogated now.” The guard finished.

“Take us to her.” The princess demanded.

“As you wish.”

“Zecora.” Rainbow said upon setting eyes on the foreigner being questioned.

“You know this mare?” Freedom asked.

“Well, yes. We, that is me and my friends, have run into her in the forest before. She lives in a hut deep in the forest and makes potions. That’s all I really know.”

“Dom.” The alicorn looked over at the pony in question. “Get me the guard in the room.” He did as he was told and poked his head in the door motioning for the armored pegasus to come out of the room. He exited looking rather annoyed.

“All she does it talk in bucking circles! Riddle after riddle!”

“We might have a lead. Ask her about her hut in the forest. Maybe that’ll scare her into saying something.” Freedom told his subordinate.

“Worth a shot I guess.” he mumbled back re-entering the room. Celestia quickly bugged the room before the guard got started again. “We have just gotten some news of your hut in the forest.” Zecora wasn’t very good at hiding her fear.

“Don’t touch my possessions, or I shall have to teach you a lesson!”

“Cool it stripes we haven’t hurt anything of yours, yet.” Anger was visibly starting to show on the zebra’s face. “We just need to know what you know then we’ll let you go.” He face hoofed realizing he had just rhymed.

“I have told you before but I will tell you once more.

The holders came to me deep within the Everfree

and Twilight asked if I might

take a look here so should she might write a book.

When I arrived I was then dived

Into the chaos outside.” She answered looking rather annoyed.

“One moment please.” The white pegasus walked out once again, although he swore he heard “Stay outta my shed” whispered behind him as he left. “So what do you think is she telling the truth?”

“Yah, we did go to see her and she was supposed to come move into Twi’s today so she could start the book.” The captain, who had been in the room the whole time, flinched at the name of the purple unicorn.

“Shining Armor I want you to go investigate that mares hut, then start a recon team to search for the convicts.”

“Yes, your majesty.” He responded, almost sullenly before leaving the room. Freedom looked around before following. It was night out, and the moon was bigger than the latter had ever remembered seeing it. He wondered how the time of day had changed when the princesses were at odds but shook off the thought upon seeing the white unicorn walking away.

“Hey wait up!” He said while cantered to catch up to the blue maned unicorn. “What’s stressing you man?” He looked up almost stunned.

“I never told you?”

“Told me what?”

“Twilight Sparkle is my sister.” the captain said before turning down an alleyway.

“Oh, boy. That could cause some problems.”

“You think?” He grumbled before sliding down one of the walls. “What am I going to do? I can’t fight my own sister!” Freedom sat down seeing a tear glistened as it ran down the white pony’s muzzle. He had never seen him cry before so he decided to pretend not to notice.

“You can do this. I don’t think this will turn into a war.” He lied through his teeth trying to comfort one of his few close friends. Shining looked up tears now streaming down his face.

“I took an oath to serve the princess until the end of my days, but what comes first family or the good of the empire?”