The Imperial Age of Equestriaby dEdPhErEChaptersChapter 1: A General Announcement by the Empress of EquestriaChapter 2: Stone Mason and the Mane Six Attend Luna's CoronationChapter 3: Stone Mason, Spike, and the Mane Six are DraftedPrologue: Luna Usurps the ThroneChapter 1: A General Announcement by the Empress of EquestriaChapter 1: A General Announcement by the Empress of Equestria Fluttershy woke up with a smile. She was ready for a new day with her five best friends, and today was especially important. Today was the day she needed to go to the market. She was short on food today, and she needed some new cleaning equipment anyway. She got out of bed, found a quill and paper, and scribbled up a shopping list of fruits, vegetables, a few spare brooms and more. Angel woke up a few minutes later while Fluttershy was putting her wallet in her saddlebag. He swiped the quill from Fluttershy’s desk and seemed to be adding items to her list. He handed the paper to Fluttershy with a demanding power. She gently took the paper and silently read the newly added contents: Chocolate cake, carrot cake, cupcakes, assorted candy, chocolate bars, and anything sweet, sugary, deep-fried and/or covered with chocolate. “No, Angel,” said Fluttershy kindly, “too much sugar can give you a really bad tummyache. I’ll just buy you some carrots, okay?” Angel crossed his arms and looked away from Fluttershy. He closed his eyes bitterly with a cold scoff. Fluttershy giggled softly and floated out the door to do her shopping. After a short walk to the market, Fluttershy walked to the center of the crowd. She took out her shopping list and read the first item; Apples. Fluttershy used her wings to gently float over to the apple stand of her orange-brown earth-pony friend. “What’s new, sugarcube?” asked Applejack from behind her apple stand. “Um… not much… Applejack,” Fluttershy half-whispered in her usual quiet, nervous nature. “Discount on golden delicious today!” said Applejack “We’re overstocked.” “Uh… thanks,” said Fluttershy “but, I’ll just have seven of the usual red delicious.” “Sure thang, Flutters,” said Applejack cheerfully. “Fourteen bits.” Fluttershy pulled out her wallet and took out fourteen coins with her teeth. She laid them down and Applejack took them with her hoof, and put them in a lockbox. She locked it as a familiar white unicorn with flowing purple hair walked with an air of gloom about her. “Oh, of all the filth in the world!” shouted Rarity, covering the right side of her head with her hoof. “Why did this barbarian have to splash mud in my hair?” Behind her was a cyan-colored pony with rainbow hair rolling on the floor, guffawing at the sight of Rarity. “Lighten up, Vanity!” said Rainbow Dash. “You’d be laughing if you’da looked into a mirror right now!” “Vanity” was her new nickname for Rarity ever since Twilight Sparkle taught her the word, and it fit quite well. But it didn’t sit well with the white unicorn. “Stop calling me tha-! Oops…” said Rarity, stomping the hoof that she used to cover her hair on the floor, much to her accidental chagrin. The side that was covered had patches of mud in Rarity’s otherwise clean head. “Oh, you poor thing,” Fluttershy squealed sympathetically. “Let me dry you off.” She grabbed a hose from a nearby gardening tools salesman and accidentally turned the valve to full blast. The hose fired off like a sniper rifle aimed directly for a headshot on Rarity. It hit its mark as she screamed in pain while Fluttershy winced in horror, while still recovering in a daze from the hose pushing her to crash into the gardening tool stand from which she borrowed it, but left no dents or marks due to Fluttershy’s low weight as a pegasus. She quickly turned down the valve on the hose. The last of the droplets fell to the grass, and Rarity’s face was revealed. She had a large pinkish-red bump on her forehead and had a dazed look on her face. Her hair had been blown back and molded together by the water, and she looked as though she had spears sticking out backwards on her head, prepped for a rearward charge. “Uh-oh,” said another familiar voice. The four ponies looked in Rainbow Dash’s (who was laughing even more hysterically than she was before) direction to find a purple unicorn pony with indigo hair and pink streaks. There stood Twilight Sparkle, her head down while her eyes looked up at the ponies. Everypony knew that she was about to use magic, and some had mixed feelings about this, especially Rarity, who backed away slowly. “Let me fix that hair up,” Twilight Sparkle said helpfully. Her horn glowed purple light, and so did Rarity’s hair. The latter then glowed white, and instantly reformed itself into its usual shape: The typical swirly plethora of gelled, artificial-looking hair that Rarity called perfection. “Glad you didn’t screw that up,” Rarity said with a sigh of relief. “Who d’you think you’re talking to?” asked Twilight sardonically. All five ponies proceeded to finish their respective shopping lists. When they were done, they decided to visit Sugarcube Corner for a malt. Sugarcube Corner had changed its take-out-bakery-style format, and was now a fully functioning ice cream parlor/bakery/sweetshop. On the counter was a radio, colored a bright shade of cyan. It was playing an upbeat, 60’s-style rock n’ roll song. Behind the counter stood a pink earth-pony with a white shopkeeper’s cap (the paper kind that ice cream shop clerks wear) wiping down some malt glasses. She looked toward the door and smiled like a filly that’s just received a Hearth’s Warming Eve present. “Hey, Pinkie Pie!” said the five customers at once “Five malts, please,” said Twilight. She put fifteen bits on the counter, and the pony named Pinkie Pie put the coins into the cash register. She handed each pony their malt and proceeded with to exchange pleasantries. “Okey dokey lokey!” she said with a disturbing amount of cheerfulness. "So what's new with all of you?" She then grinned. The smile was one that looked forced, but the rest of the ponies knew that that was just how Pinkie always smiled. All of the ponies said their own versions of “Nothing” or “Not much” until the cyan radio in the corner suddenly went to static. “Uh-oh, radio’s on the fritz,” said Pinkie casually. She was about to go and inspect it, but as she approached it, it came back on, but this time, a voice was speaking. “Citizens of Equestria!” the voice boomed. “We are Princess Luna! The Kingdom of Equestria is now under new management! Princess Celestia has passed on peacefully and quietly in her sleep after a sudden stroke of an unidentified cause! We all mourn the loss of a valued leader, a trusted matriarch, and best of all, caring sister! I will now be ruler of Equestria! I will do my best as your Empress! The official name of our nation is no longer the Kingdom of Equestria! We will now be… The Equestrian Empire! All of Canterlot and Ponyville must attend our coronation at two o'clock sharp this afternoon! Anypony in defiance will be put to death!” Silence filled the room, as the ponies’ faces were either terrified, shocked, devastated, and/or outright depressed. Applejack and Pinkie Pie each took off their ten-gallon and cap respectively. The most distraught of the ponies was Twilight Sparkle. She slowly walked toward the other side of Sugarcube Corner, tears rolling down her cheeks and dropping like missiles at her hooves. “All my life she’s been my teacher,” she sobbed. “She taught me everything I knew, like the aunt I never had. And now, she’s gone forever. We’ll never see her again.” At this thought, the rest of the ponies started sobbing in unison. All of them, including Pinkie Pie, huddled around Twilight Sparkle, mourning the loss of a beloved friend and mentor. Chapter 2: Stone Mason and the Mane Six Attend Luna's CoronationChapter 2: Stone Mason and the Mane Six Attend Luna’s Coronation Stone Mason woke up to the sound of static from his radio. He had no idea what was happening. This was to be Stone’s day off, and he wasn’t going to let a faulty radio ruin his morning of sleeping in and not giving a damn about the work he needed to do. He knew that his little brother Pebble was volunteering to work Stone’s shift. At least, that’s what Pebble said. Stone slowly reached his hoof to the knob on his radio, but before he could, he heard a loud, non-equine voice yelling from the speakers. “Citizens of Equestria! We are Empress Luna! The Kingdom of Equestria is now under new management! Princess Celestia has passed on peacefully and quietly in her sleep after a sudden stroke of an unidentified cause! We all mourn the loss of a valued-!” Stone clicked off the radio. Wow, he thought with his morning confusion. What a way to start a day off! (pun intended) He clicked the radio back on, but instead of continuing from a point after he turned it off, the voice continued after the word “valued,” after which Stone had shut the radio down. The message finished, and Stone Mason was now legitimately worried about the future of Equestria. The first thought that came to mind was the last thing the new leader said. Nopony in Equestria had been put to death for hundreds of years, especially for such a trivial matter as failure to attend a coronation ceremony. But, to be fair, it is tradition, and a respectable one at that. Stone knew he might need to get out soon and head for Canterlot; it was already eleven thirty. He spent the rest of the morning (albeit reluctantly getting out of bed in the first place) more energetic than his usual groggy morning air. He occupied himself wondering what new changes his new leader would make. She mentioned making it an empire, but what did that mean? Stone didn’t know. He glanced at his cutie mark, a red brick being struck with a metal clay-shovel. This reminded him that his talent was masonry and bricklaying, not political science or military philosophy. The latter was only what came to mind when he heard “Empire.” What might she have meant? He thought this might be a sign that Equestria was going to war with nearby nations. But what would Prin--- Empress Luna want with Glascow, Gildedale, Germaneigh, the Griffins’ Territories, or Prance? One could only imagine what was going through the alicorn’s mind. Stone finally decided that he shouldn’t be worrying too much about this since it didn’t affect him as much as it would affect the cows and griffins of neighboring kingdoms. If Equestria had an aggressive army, we would surely win. Especially against Prance. Stone then felt like getting a malt from Sugarcube Corner. He figured if he spoke with someone who knew Princess Celestia better. Being closer to Canterlot than his old hometown of Hoofington (from which he moved to Ponyville not more than three months ago), he might meet someone with (and gain) more insight on the situation, maybe even a friend of the royal family. As he walked through the Ponyville market, most of the ponies were grieving. Some were crying, and others were simply apathetic (or just stoic enough to hide their sadness). When Stone approached Sugarcube Corner, he noticed six colorful mares walking out. All of them were crying, but the one that seemed the saddest was a purple unicorn with indigo and pink hair, and a cutie mark in the shape of a magenta six-pointed star. The other five mares, though sobbing quietly themselves, were trying to cheer up the purple one. “How could something like this happen?” she cried with immense sorrow. Stone assumed this pony might have known the late, great Princess Celestia personally. He took this as an opportunity to find out more about this whole “Equestrian Empire” business. “Excuse me!” he said to the unicorn. “Did you, by any chance, know Princess Celestia personally?” “How’dja guess?” she replied angrily. This was understandable, as one tends to lash out when they are in grief. “Well, you’ve been crying harder than anypony else,” Stone replied in a matter-of-fact way. “And you might be this Twilight Sparkle I’ve been hearing about. The one that saved Ponyville from both Nightmare Moon and Discord. Are you that same pony?” “I am,” said Twilight, giving a gentle smile of pride before returning to her weeping. “But I couldn’t have done it without the prince-eh-heh-hess!” The last word was the stereotypical crackling sob. The other five mares huddled around Twilight Sparkle and continued crying themselves, the pink one to the far right wailing with tears streaming upward and then downward like waterfalls. “My condolences,” said Stone sympathetically. “I take it the rest of you knew the princess as well?” “Yes,” said a white unicorn with artificial-looking purple hair “But as you know, Princess Celestia was Twilight’s personal mentor, and her death struck her with immense pain. It’s times like this where I wonder if a friend, in this case Twilight, will be able to get up tomorrow morning, or if she will need to cry herself to sleep tonight. It’s a sad thought, really, but it must cross one’s mind at some point.” “You must be Rarity, the Element of Generosity,” said Stone. “I saw the mural in the Canterlot palace when I visited there on business.” “Then you should know me!” said the pink mare, suddenly stopping her wailing and smiling at Stone. “What’s my name and Element of Harmony? Huh? Huh? Do you know them? Huh? Huh?” “Ah, Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter,” said Stone. He pointed to the rest of the ponies one by one and stated their names and Elements. “And you are Applejack the Honest, Rainbow Dash the Loyal, and Fluttershy the Kind. Am I correct?” “Um… p-pretty much,” said Fluttershy. “Do you mares mind if I hail us all a carriage to Canterlot?” asked Stone, feeling generous. “I’ll even pay the fare! By the way, the name’s Stone Mason, but you can call me Stone!” The mares’ faces lit up a bit, because they knew they now had a free ride to Canterlot! ………………………………………………………………………......................................................................... In Canterlot, the coronation was about to begin. It was now one fifty in the afternoon, and Stone Mason, along with the six mares, was running to Celestia’s (now Luna’s) Palace to watch the ceremony, which was just outside the palace. The Empress had cast a spell on all of Ponyville and Canterlot so that she could find out who attended the coronation and who did not. She did not want everypony in defiance to be killed immediately because she wanted to kill them herself once she found out who they were, and she wanted to watch it happen, and to make it as painful and humiliating as possible for the perpetrator. This was Empress Luna’s mindset now. It was now two o’clock sharp, and she sensed about seventy ponies in defiance of her rule. Oh, what a fun weekend this would be! Stone and the Mane Six watched a white pegasus in golden armor (like the ones that guard the palace and drive the carriages) carry a crown between his teeth. The crown was the one that originally belonged to Princess Celestia, a golden-white tiara with a large, purple gem in the center. Luna magically picked up the crown with glowing horn, and placed it atop her poll. The currently sunny sky suddenly turned black with storm clouds as lightning struck the crown, followed by the immediate sound of lightning. Luna was not hurt, nor was anyone else, but they were frightened beyond belief. The most surprising effect of the lightning, though, was on the crown. The tiara shifted colors, from its normal shade of golden-white to a terrible jet-black. The gem turned red, like the blood of the alicorn that Empress Luna slew. The sky cleared back to its blue, sunny tone, while all of the ponies sat shocked and confused at what had just transpired. The only evidence of the mysterious event was that the crown had remained the black shade it had obtained when it was struck by the lightning. “Well, that was strange,” said the Empress. “Go home, all that have a radio. If not, find a pony who does. We will be announcing the drafting list tonight at nine o’clock. I will know who is listening and who is not. All that are not will be put to death.” And with that, all of the ponies did what they were told and scattered. Stone Mason and the Mane Six did not know what to think. All they could do was hope for the best. Chapter 3: Stone Mason, Spike, and the Mane Six are DraftedChapter 3: Stone Mason, Spike, and the Mane Six are Drafted Stone Mason, who sat next to the Mane Six while his little brother, Pebble Mason, sat with three of his best friends that he met when he first transferred schools to Ponyville. His best friend was a yellow earth-pony with red hair named Apple Bloom, who, as it turns out, was Applejack’s younger sister. Another was Scootaloo, an orange pegasus with purple hair who had an admiration for Rainbow Dash, but was not related to her. The third was a white unicorn with pink and purple hair, Sweetie Belle, who happened to be a sister to Rarity. As Stone spoke with the six mares about these coincidences, particularly Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, he couldn’t help but wonder (and neither could they) what Empress Luna meant by a “drafting list.” The word “draft” has so many definitions in the dictionary, but the most likely definition used by the Empress of Equestria was the one that meant that the people mentioned on the drafting list were to be forced into the Equestrian military. Judging by the drastic changes Empress Luna seemed to be making, starting with the one to put people to death for trivial matters, this seemed to be the most probable use of the word “draft.” Stone knew that his new friends thought this too, but were about as optimistic (albeit stupidly so) as he was, and were more than willing to keep the subject on the coincidences involving Pebble and his friends. But, the topic had to come up at some point, and Rainbow Dash was the first to realize this. “What did Luna mean,” she asked with a hint of demanding in her voice, as she almost always did. “when she said ‘drafting list’?” “Well, if I’m correct, it means she’s going to decide who enters the army,” said Twilight Sparkle. Her tone then changed to one of the stereotypical irritable, rogue policepony serving up rough justice with his/her hard-hitting, no-bullshit attitude. “If anything, we should be careful now. The system’s changed, and I have a feeling we’re going to have to live our lives just like everypony else.” “If ‘everypony else’ means we’re going to live under a tyrannical leader,” said Rarity, flipping and fixing her hair for the umpteenth time. “Then I almost hope we get drafted into whatever ‘imperial army’ our Empress is building. It can’t be much worse than the lifestyles of the hundreds of thousands of ponies in Equestria, which might change significantly. For all we know, we could all be communists!” “I don’t think that’s the definition of communism, Rarity,” said Twilight. “What’s the difference?” asked Rainbow. “Well, the type of government Rarity is thinking of is totalitarianism,” answered Twilight. “Communism is when the central government of a nation takes control of trade, particularly prices and trade rates of items as they choose, which distinguishes itself from our capitalistic and guild-based society because such things are controlled by the seller of said goods, usually relying on the system of supply and demand.” Everypony except Stone and Twilight stopped for a moment to grasp the concept. Seeing their difficulty in doing so, Twilight tried to think of a way to simplify her explanation. Seeing that nothing came to mind, the rest of the ponies simply ignored it and caught up with Twilight and Stone. All seven ponies (including Stone, who was now a part of the Mane Six’s group) stayed at Twilight’s house in mourning. They each reminisced with all the great memories they had with the late princess. Twilight was still, by far, the most upset by her death. She was still yet to fully heal, since she had only found out several hours ago. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… By around seven at night, the seven ponies had fully grasped the fact that Princess Celestia was gone, never to grace them with her presence or hear a lesson Twilight or the others learned about friendship. Stone Mason spent most of his time consoling the other six mares, and Spike, who had just finished understanding that he would never need to write another letter to Celestia again. Normally, Spike would be happy that he wouldn’t have to do that kind of work anymore, but seeing as the reason was the fact that she was dead, he just sat by one of Twilight’s many bookshelves in silent grief, the occasional tear running down his cheek. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… It was almost nine o’clock now, and, as promised, Empress Luna was about to announce the drafting list. The radio blared its telltale static and everypony in Twilight’s house was anxious to know how exactly this “drafting list” was going to work, and who would be on it. “ Attention, citizens of the Equestrian Empire!” yelled Empress Luna’s “Nightmare Moon” voice “We, Empress Luna, are about to announce everypony who will be drafted into the New Equestrian Imperial Army, or, for short, NEIA (pronounced neigh-ah)! The Empire salutes the ponies that are on this list, and honors them should they die in battle! The names of the ponies will go by alphabetical place of town! The names themselves are in no particular order! The first town on the list is Appleloosa!” The Empress announced the names of the drafted ponies in Appleloosa. Twilight counted one hundred and forty seven names. This was a lot of names for one town, but the most outstanding moment during the announcement was when Applejack cringed in a mix of fear, sadness, and hope as she heard the name of her cousin, Braeburn. The next town on the list was Baltimare, on which there were written two hundred and twelve names. Next was Canterbury, then Canterlot, then several more. The ponies paid extremely close attention when the list got to Ponyville. The first one the list was a familiar pony named Golden Harvest. She was one of Pinkie Pie’s friends and she whimpered when the name was called. “Merry May,” continued Empress Luna. “Sea Swirl, Shoe Shine, Bon Bon, Lyra Heartstrings, Apple Jack,” The ponies (and Spike) gasped in horror as the list continued. They glared hopefully at Applejack, who glared back with melancholy anger. She squatted down in shock, and ultimately fell over in sadness to her left side. “Rarity Belle,” the radio blared as they all glanced at her, who portrayed basically the same feelings as Applejack. “Rain Drops, Pinkamena D. Pie, Rainbow Dash, Dizzy Twister, Flutter Shy, Derpy Whooves, Stone Mason, Carrot Cake, Beauty Brass, Twilight Sparkle, Spike Sparkle, Octavia-” Twilight turned off the radio. She had heard all eight of their names, and was prepared (or at least thought she was) for the worst. “So, what happens now?” asked Pinkie Pie, in the optimistic, hopeful manner she is known for. “I’m not sure,” answered Stone, pacing over to the bookshelf Spike was leaning against. “but all I know is, things around here are going to change.” And with that, everypony fell silent, hoping for the best. Prologue: Luna Usurps the ThroneThe Imperial Age of Equestria Prologue: Luna Usurps the Throne Princess Luna trotted into the Canterlot Sculpture Garden. She galloped past all of the unimportant statues (at least not important to her task at the moment) as she raced to find the one she was looking for. She had forgotten her way around this maze of a garden, as she never really found importance in going in. But now she did. In fact, coming into this garden was a prelude to the most important thing that she would ever plan to do. She finally gave up and used a simple unicorn spell to find things that are not hidden, but that the caster wants to find. The alicorn found the statue she was looking for. She ran towards its location, as indicated by her horn’s magic, and sure enough, there it was. Or rather, there he was. Standing twenty feet tall, with the head of a pony, left horn of a goat, right antler of a deer, a snake tongue, right arm of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, the right leg of a lizard, the left leg of a goat, a bat's right wing, a pegasus' left wing, and a snake's tail. He was the God of Chaos, Disharmony, Evil, and All That is Detrimental to Order and Peace, Discord. Luna gazed at his awe-inspiring grandeur, but returned her focus to her main objective. She placed her horn on his lizard-leg, and recited a spell that would gain her Discord’s knowledge. Slowly but surely, after several seconds, Luna knew everything that Discord knew. With her new knowledge, Luna sprinted back to her palace to study the spells that would give her control of Equestria. She had to study in secrecy, especially from Celestia. Her plan involved costing the life of several innocent ponies, including her older sister. SEVEN MONTHS LATER Princess Luna closed the last spell book that she needed to read in order to complete her task. Her mind was near exploding from all of the information she had taken in. Luckily, with the help of memory-aid spells, she was able to memorize everything she read and create formulas, equations, and spell combinations that enabled her to do what she needed to do. She stepped out of her room and walked down the palace corridor toward her sister’s with nervousness and determination. This was it, the night that Luna had planned for seven months. It was a long time, but seemed like nothing now that she had finished. There was no turning back, for there was no other way than to delve into the secrets of Discord’s magic. The God of Chaos had been sealed away for good, and nothing could break him out. But Luna didn’t need to. She only had to extract his magical abilities and knowledge through a set of convoluted spells only an alicorn could master. She had found out through studying Discord’s black magic and intricate spellwork that there is, in fact, a way to kill an immortal alicorn princess. She just needed the pieces to be set exactly right. Luna entered her sister’s chamber through undetectable teleportation. It produced no sound, and Celestia was weakest while she slept. Luna knew that this was the only time she could assassinate her sister. It half-pleasured her to do this, maybe more than half. But who could blame her? A thousand years alone on a giant ball of rock in space can become fuel for a grudge. But a part of her loved her sister, and wanted Celestia alive for the sake of family. But Luna quickly silenced that half, believing that she was doing the right thing at the time. She floated over to the bed because her sister might hear her hoofsteps. She slowly bowed her head and horn downward, and lightly touched Celestia’s sun-shaped cutie mark. She looked, cross-eyedly, at her own horn, which was slowly changing from its dark-blue shade, to a dark, indigo-like color, to purple, to bloody magenta, to a dull, ruby-red. She closed her eyes, and thought hard with the spell she had memorized. When she was done reciting the spell in her mind, she opened her eyes. A split second after, Celestia woke up with a jolt and looked quickly at Luna, with eyes wide and bloodshot. “Luna!” she shouted, but not before Luna created a magical ball of silence around Celestia. After a few seconds of inaudible shouting, Celestia’s mane, a flowing patch of hair with a sort of diluted, rainbowish color, had dissipated into the air, giving her poll and crest a look of being bald, besides the horn on her forehead. Luna couldn’t hear her sister, but she knew she was in pain, and that is exactly how she wanted Celestia. The part of Luna that regretted this act was momentarily, completely gone. She knew only malicious hatred for her sister now, laughing maniacally with a burning, hateful passion. She modified the silence ball so that only Luna could hear the inner noises. A blood-curdling scream pierced her ears like spears made of sound waves. Luna’s horn turned yellow (while going through several shades of orange) and Celestia’s cutie mark disappeared. It then seemed as though Celestia was expanding by her muscles, but Luna knew this was just the skin peeling off by a controlled radius. It then could not hold the bulge of magical, expanding air inside it and it ruptured like a popped balloon, revealing Celestia’s muscular tissue. She bled everywhere, and lost control of her bladder from the shock, voiding herself onto her own exposed inner thigh muscle. Her scream became louder, and it was music to Luna’s ears. Luna’s horn was white now, as Celestia’s exposed abdomen and chest area expanded like her skin did a minute ago. Her ribs ripped through, making the sun goddess bleed profusely. Her heart detached from the arteries and veins that attached it to her innards, and dropped onto her bed like a stone. Her lungs followed, as did the rest of her internal organs. Seconds later, there was nothing but silence. But silence was all Luna could now bear to hear.
Chapter 1: A General Announcement by the Empress of EquestriaChapter 1: A General Announcement by the Empress of Equestria Fluttershy woke up with a smile. She was ready for a new day with her five best friends, and today was especially important. Today was the day she needed to go to the market. She was short on food today, and she needed some new cleaning equipment anyway. She got out of bed, found a quill and paper, and scribbled up a shopping list of fruits, vegetables, a few spare brooms and more. Angel woke up a few minutes later while Fluttershy was putting her wallet in her saddlebag. He swiped the quill from Fluttershy’s desk and seemed to be adding items to her list. He handed the paper to Fluttershy with a demanding power. She gently took the paper and silently read the newly added contents: Chocolate cake, carrot cake, cupcakes, assorted candy, chocolate bars, and anything sweet, sugary, deep-fried and/or covered with chocolate. “No, Angel,” said Fluttershy kindly, “too much sugar can give you a really bad tummyache. I’ll just buy you some carrots, okay?” Angel crossed his arms and looked away from Fluttershy. He closed his eyes bitterly with a cold scoff. Fluttershy giggled softly and floated out the door to do her shopping. After a short walk to the market, Fluttershy walked to the center of the crowd. She took out her shopping list and read the first item; Apples. Fluttershy used her wings to gently float over to the apple stand of her orange-brown earth-pony friend. “What’s new, sugarcube?” asked Applejack from behind her apple stand. “Um… not much… Applejack,” Fluttershy half-whispered in her usual quiet, nervous nature. “Discount on golden delicious today!” said Applejack “We’re overstocked.” “Uh… thanks,” said Fluttershy “but, I’ll just have seven of the usual red delicious.” “Sure thang, Flutters,” said Applejack cheerfully. “Fourteen bits.” Fluttershy pulled out her wallet and took out fourteen coins with her teeth. She laid them down and Applejack took them with her hoof, and put them in a lockbox. She locked it as a familiar white unicorn with flowing purple hair walked with an air of gloom about her. “Oh, of all the filth in the world!” shouted Rarity, covering the right side of her head with her hoof. “Why did this barbarian have to splash mud in my hair?” Behind her was a cyan-colored pony with rainbow hair rolling on the floor, guffawing at the sight of Rarity. “Lighten up, Vanity!” said Rainbow Dash. “You’d be laughing if you’da looked into a mirror right now!” “Vanity” was her new nickname for Rarity ever since Twilight Sparkle taught her the word, and it fit quite well. But it didn’t sit well with the white unicorn. “Stop calling me tha-! Oops…” said Rarity, stomping the hoof that she used to cover her hair on the floor, much to her accidental chagrin. The side that was covered had patches of mud in Rarity’s otherwise clean head. “Oh, you poor thing,” Fluttershy squealed sympathetically. “Let me dry you off.” She grabbed a hose from a nearby gardening tools salesman and accidentally turned the valve to full blast. The hose fired off like a sniper rifle aimed directly for a headshot on Rarity. It hit its mark as she screamed in pain while Fluttershy winced in horror, while still recovering in a daze from the hose pushing her to crash into the gardening tool stand from which she borrowed it, but left no dents or marks due to Fluttershy’s low weight as a pegasus. She quickly turned down the valve on the hose. The last of the droplets fell to the grass, and Rarity’s face was revealed. She had a large pinkish-red bump on her forehead and had a dazed look on her face. Her hair had been blown back and molded together by the water, and she looked as though she had spears sticking out backwards on her head, prepped for a rearward charge. “Uh-oh,” said another familiar voice. The four ponies looked in Rainbow Dash’s (who was laughing even more hysterically than she was before) direction to find a purple unicorn pony with indigo hair and pink streaks. There stood Twilight Sparkle, her head down while her eyes looked up at the ponies. Everypony knew that she was about to use magic, and some had mixed feelings about this, especially Rarity, who backed away slowly. “Let me fix that hair up,” Twilight Sparkle said helpfully. Her horn glowed purple light, and so did Rarity’s hair. The latter then glowed white, and instantly reformed itself into its usual shape: The typical swirly plethora of gelled, artificial-looking hair that Rarity called perfection. “Glad you didn’t screw that up,” Rarity said with a sigh of relief. “Who d’you think you’re talking to?” asked Twilight sardonically. All five ponies proceeded to finish their respective shopping lists. When they were done, they decided to visit Sugarcube Corner for a malt. Sugarcube Corner had changed its take-out-bakery-style format, and was now a fully functioning ice cream parlor/bakery/sweetshop. On the counter was a radio, colored a bright shade of cyan. It was playing an upbeat, 60’s-style rock n’ roll song. Behind the counter stood a pink earth-pony with a white shopkeeper’s cap (the paper kind that ice cream shop clerks wear) wiping down some malt glasses. She looked toward the door and smiled like a filly that’s just received a Hearth’s Warming Eve present. “Hey, Pinkie Pie!” said the five customers at once “Five malts, please,” said Twilight. She put fifteen bits on the counter, and the pony named Pinkie Pie put the coins into the cash register. She handed each pony their malt and proceeded with to exchange pleasantries. “Okey dokey lokey!” she said with a disturbing amount of cheerfulness. "So what's new with all of you?" She then grinned. The smile was one that looked forced, but the rest of the ponies knew that that was just how Pinkie always smiled. All of the ponies said their own versions of “Nothing” or “Not much” until the cyan radio in the corner suddenly went to static. “Uh-oh, radio’s on the fritz,” said Pinkie casually. She was about to go and inspect it, but as she approached it, it came back on, but this time, a voice was speaking. “Citizens of Equestria!” the voice boomed. “We are Princess Luna! The Kingdom of Equestria is now under new management! Princess Celestia has passed on peacefully and quietly in her sleep after a sudden stroke of an unidentified cause! We all mourn the loss of a valued leader, a trusted matriarch, and best of all, caring sister! I will now be ruler of Equestria! I will do my best as your Empress! The official name of our nation is no longer the Kingdom of Equestria! We will now be… The Equestrian Empire! All of Canterlot and Ponyville must attend our coronation at two o'clock sharp this afternoon! Anypony in defiance will be put to death!” Silence filled the room, as the ponies’ faces were either terrified, shocked, devastated, and/or outright depressed. Applejack and Pinkie Pie each took off their ten-gallon and cap respectively. The most distraught of the ponies was Twilight Sparkle. She slowly walked toward the other side of Sugarcube Corner, tears rolling down her cheeks and dropping like missiles at her hooves. “All my life she’s been my teacher,” she sobbed. “She taught me everything I knew, like the aunt I never had. And now, she’s gone forever. We’ll never see her again.” At this thought, the rest of the ponies started sobbing in unison. All of them, including Pinkie Pie, huddled around Twilight Sparkle, mourning the loss of a beloved friend and mentor.
Chapter 2: Stone Mason and the Mane Six Attend Luna's CoronationChapter 2: Stone Mason and the Mane Six Attend Luna’s Coronation Stone Mason woke up to the sound of static from his radio. He had no idea what was happening. This was to be Stone’s day off, and he wasn’t going to let a faulty radio ruin his morning of sleeping in and not giving a damn about the work he needed to do. He knew that his little brother Pebble was volunteering to work Stone’s shift. At least, that’s what Pebble said. Stone slowly reached his hoof to the knob on his radio, but before he could, he heard a loud, non-equine voice yelling from the speakers. “Citizens of Equestria! We are Empress Luna! The Kingdom of Equestria is now under new management! Princess Celestia has passed on peacefully and quietly in her sleep after a sudden stroke of an unidentified cause! We all mourn the loss of a valued-!” Stone clicked off the radio. Wow, he thought with his morning confusion. What a way to start a day off! (pun intended) He clicked the radio back on, but instead of continuing from a point after he turned it off, the voice continued after the word “valued,” after which Stone had shut the radio down. The message finished, and Stone Mason was now legitimately worried about the future of Equestria. The first thought that came to mind was the last thing the new leader said. Nopony in Equestria had been put to death for hundreds of years, especially for such a trivial matter as failure to attend a coronation ceremony. But, to be fair, it is tradition, and a respectable one at that. Stone knew he might need to get out soon and head for Canterlot; it was already eleven thirty. He spent the rest of the morning (albeit reluctantly getting out of bed in the first place) more energetic than his usual groggy morning air. He occupied himself wondering what new changes his new leader would make. She mentioned making it an empire, but what did that mean? Stone didn’t know. He glanced at his cutie mark, a red brick being struck with a metal clay-shovel. This reminded him that his talent was masonry and bricklaying, not political science or military philosophy. The latter was only what came to mind when he heard “Empire.” What might she have meant? He thought this might be a sign that Equestria was going to war with nearby nations. But what would Prin--- Empress Luna want with Glascow, Gildedale, Germaneigh, the Griffins’ Territories, or Prance? One could only imagine what was going through the alicorn’s mind. Stone finally decided that he shouldn’t be worrying too much about this since it didn’t affect him as much as it would affect the cows and griffins of neighboring kingdoms. If Equestria had an aggressive army, we would surely win. Especially against Prance. Stone then felt like getting a malt from Sugarcube Corner. He figured if he spoke with someone who knew Princess Celestia better. Being closer to Canterlot than his old hometown of Hoofington (from which he moved to Ponyville not more than three months ago), he might meet someone with (and gain) more insight on the situation, maybe even a friend of the royal family. As he walked through the Ponyville market, most of the ponies were grieving. Some were crying, and others were simply apathetic (or just stoic enough to hide their sadness). When Stone approached Sugarcube Corner, he noticed six colorful mares walking out. All of them were crying, but the one that seemed the saddest was a purple unicorn with indigo and pink hair, and a cutie mark in the shape of a magenta six-pointed star. The other five mares, though sobbing quietly themselves, were trying to cheer up the purple one. “How could something like this happen?” she cried with immense sorrow. Stone assumed this pony might have known the late, great Princess Celestia personally. He took this as an opportunity to find out more about this whole “Equestrian Empire” business. “Excuse me!” he said to the unicorn. “Did you, by any chance, know Princess Celestia personally?” “How’dja guess?” she replied angrily. This was understandable, as one tends to lash out when they are in grief. “Well, you’ve been crying harder than anypony else,” Stone replied in a matter-of-fact way. “And you might be this Twilight Sparkle I’ve been hearing about. The one that saved Ponyville from both Nightmare Moon and Discord. Are you that same pony?” “I am,” said Twilight, giving a gentle smile of pride before returning to her weeping. “But I couldn’t have done it without the prince-eh-heh-hess!” The last word was the stereotypical crackling sob. The other five mares huddled around Twilight Sparkle and continued crying themselves, the pink one to the far right wailing with tears streaming upward and then downward like waterfalls. “My condolences,” said Stone sympathetically. “I take it the rest of you knew the princess as well?” “Yes,” said a white unicorn with artificial-looking purple hair “But as you know, Princess Celestia was Twilight’s personal mentor, and her death struck her with immense pain. It’s times like this where I wonder if a friend, in this case Twilight, will be able to get up tomorrow morning, or if she will need to cry herself to sleep tonight. It’s a sad thought, really, but it must cross one’s mind at some point.” “You must be Rarity, the Element of Generosity,” said Stone. “I saw the mural in the Canterlot palace when I visited there on business.” “Then you should know me!” said the pink mare, suddenly stopping her wailing and smiling at Stone. “What’s my name and Element of Harmony? Huh? Huh? Do you know them? Huh? Huh?” “Ah, Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter,” said Stone. He pointed to the rest of the ponies one by one and stated their names and Elements. “And you are Applejack the Honest, Rainbow Dash the Loyal, and Fluttershy the Kind. Am I correct?” “Um… p-pretty much,” said Fluttershy. “Do you mares mind if I hail us all a carriage to Canterlot?” asked Stone, feeling generous. “I’ll even pay the fare! By the way, the name’s Stone Mason, but you can call me Stone!” The mares’ faces lit up a bit, because they knew they now had a free ride to Canterlot! ………………………………………………………………………......................................................................... In Canterlot, the coronation was about to begin. It was now one fifty in the afternoon, and Stone Mason, along with the six mares, was running to Celestia’s (now Luna’s) Palace to watch the ceremony, which was just outside the palace. The Empress had cast a spell on all of Ponyville and Canterlot so that she could find out who attended the coronation and who did not. She did not want everypony in defiance to be killed immediately because she wanted to kill them herself once she found out who they were, and she wanted to watch it happen, and to make it as painful and humiliating as possible for the perpetrator. This was Empress Luna’s mindset now. It was now two o’clock sharp, and she sensed about seventy ponies in defiance of her rule. Oh, what a fun weekend this would be! Stone and the Mane Six watched a white pegasus in golden armor (like the ones that guard the palace and drive the carriages) carry a crown between his teeth. The crown was the one that originally belonged to Princess Celestia, a golden-white tiara with a large, purple gem in the center. Luna magically picked up the crown with glowing horn, and placed it atop her poll. The currently sunny sky suddenly turned black with storm clouds as lightning struck the crown, followed by the immediate sound of lightning. Luna was not hurt, nor was anyone else, but they were frightened beyond belief. The most surprising effect of the lightning, though, was on the crown. The tiara shifted colors, from its normal shade of golden-white to a terrible jet-black. The gem turned red, like the blood of the alicorn that Empress Luna slew. The sky cleared back to its blue, sunny tone, while all of the ponies sat shocked and confused at what had just transpired. The only evidence of the mysterious event was that the crown had remained the black shade it had obtained when it was struck by the lightning. “Well, that was strange,” said the Empress. “Go home, all that have a radio. If not, find a pony who does. We will be announcing the drafting list tonight at nine o’clock. I will know who is listening and who is not. All that are not will be put to death.” And with that, all of the ponies did what they were told and scattered. Stone Mason and the Mane Six did not know what to think. All they could do was hope for the best.
Chapter 3: Stone Mason, Spike, and the Mane Six are DraftedChapter 3: Stone Mason, Spike, and the Mane Six are Drafted Stone Mason, who sat next to the Mane Six while his little brother, Pebble Mason, sat with three of his best friends that he met when he first transferred schools to Ponyville. His best friend was a yellow earth-pony with red hair named Apple Bloom, who, as it turns out, was Applejack’s younger sister. Another was Scootaloo, an orange pegasus with purple hair who had an admiration for Rainbow Dash, but was not related to her. The third was a white unicorn with pink and purple hair, Sweetie Belle, who happened to be a sister to Rarity. As Stone spoke with the six mares about these coincidences, particularly Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, he couldn’t help but wonder (and neither could they) what Empress Luna meant by a “drafting list.” The word “draft” has so many definitions in the dictionary, but the most likely definition used by the Empress of Equestria was the one that meant that the people mentioned on the drafting list were to be forced into the Equestrian military. Judging by the drastic changes Empress Luna seemed to be making, starting with the one to put people to death for trivial matters, this seemed to be the most probable use of the word “draft.” Stone knew that his new friends thought this too, but were about as optimistic (albeit stupidly so) as he was, and were more than willing to keep the subject on the coincidences involving Pebble and his friends. But, the topic had to come up at some point, and Rainbow Dash was the first to realize this. “What did Luna mean,” she asked with a hint of demanding in her voice, as she almost always did. “when she said ‘drafting list’?” “Well, if I’m correct, it means she’s going to decide who enters the army,” said Twilight Sparkle. Her tone then changed to one of the stereotypical irritable, rogue policepony serving up rough justice with his/her hard-hitting, no-bullshit attitude. “If anything, we should be careful now. The system’s changed, and I have a feeling we’re going to have to live our lives just like everypony else.” “If ‘everypony else’ means we’re going to live under a tyrannical leader,” said Rarity, flipping and fixing her hair for the umpteenth time. “Then I almost hope we get drafted into whatever ‘imperial army’ our Empress is building. It can’t be much worse than the lifestyles of the hundreds of thousands of ponies in Equestria, which might change significantly. For all we know, we could all be communists!” “I don’t think that’s the definition of communism, Rarity,” said Twilight. “What’s the difference?” asked Rainbow. “Well, the type of government Rarity is thinking of is totalitarianism,” answered Twilight. “Communism is when the central government of a nation takes control of trade, particularly prices and trade rates of items as they choose, which distinguishes itself from our capitalistic and guild-based society because such things are controlled by the seller of said goods, usually relying on the system of supply and demand.” Everypony except Stone and Twilight stopped for a moment to grasp the concept. Seeing their difficulty in doing so, Twilight tried to think of a way to simplify her explanation. Seeing that nothing came to mind, the rest of the ponies simply ignored it and caught up with Twilight and Stone. All seven ponies (including Stone, who was now a part of the Mane Six’s group) stayed at Twilight’s house in mourning. They each reminisced with all the great memories they had with the late princess. Twilight was still, by far, the most upset by her death. She was still yet to fully heal, since she had only found out several hours ago. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… By around seven at night, the seven ponies had fully grasped the fact that Princess Celestia was gone, never to grace them with her presence or hear a lesson Twilight or the others learned about friendship. Stone Mason spent most of his time consoling the other six mares, and Spike, who had just finished understanding that he would never need to write another letter to Celestia again. Normally, Spike would be happy that he wouldn’t have to do that kind of work anymore, but seeing as the reason was the fact that she was dead, he just sat by one of Twilight’s many bookshelves in silent grief, the occasional tear running down his cheek. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… It was almost nine o’clock now, and, as promised, Empress Luna was about to announce the drafting list. The radio blared its telltale static and everypony in Twilight’s house was anxious to know how exactly this “drafting list” was going to work, and who would be on it. “ Attention, citizens of the Equestrian Empire!” yelled Empress Luna’s “Nightmare Moon” voice “We, Empress Luna, are about to announce everypony who will be drafted into the New Equestrian Imperial Army, or, for short, NEIA (pronounced neigh-ah)! The Empire salutes the ponies that are on this list, and honors them should they die in battle! The names of the ponies will go by alphabetical place of town! The names themselves are in no particular order! The first town on the list is Appleloosa!” The Empress announced the names of the drafted ponies in Appleloosa. Twilight counted one hundred and forty seven names. This was a lot of names for one town, but the most outstanding moment during the announcement was when Applejack cringed in a mix of fear, sadness, and hope as she heard the name of her cousin, Braeburn. The next town on the list was Baltimare, on which there were written two hundred and twelve names. Next was Canterbury, then Canterlot, then several more. The ponies paid extremely close attention when the list got to Ponyville. The first one the list was a familiar pony named Golden Harvest. She was one of Pinkie Pie’s friends and she whimpered when the name was called. “Merry May,” continued Empress Luna. “Sea Swirl, Shoe Shine, Bon Bon, Lyra Heartstrings, Apple Jack,” The ponies (and Spike) gasped in horror as the list continued. They glared hopefully at Applejack, who glared back with melancholy anger. She squatted down in shock, and ultimately fell over in sadness to her left side. “Rarity Belle,” the radio blared as they all glanced at her, who portrayed basically the same feelings as Applejack. “Rain Drops, Pinkamena D. Pie, Rainbow Dash, Dizzy Twister, Flutter Shy, Derpy Whooves, Stone Mason, Carrot Cake, Beauty Brass, Twilight Sparkle, Spike Sparkle, Octavia-” Twilight turned off the radio. She had heard all eight of their names, and was prepared (or at least thought she was) for the worst. “So, what happens now?” asked Pinkie Pie, in the optimistic, hopeful manner she is known for. “I’m not sure,” answered Stone, pacing over to the bookshelf Spike was leaning against. “but all I know is, things around here are going to change.” And with that, everypony fell silent, hoping for the best.
Prologue: Luna Usurps the ThroneThe Imperial Age of Equestria Prologue: Luna Usurps the Throne Princess Luna trotted into the Canterlot Sculpture Garden. She galloped past all of the unimportant statues (at least not important to her task at the moment) as she raced to find the one she was looking for. She had forgotten her way around this maze of a garden, as she never really found importance in going in. But now she did. In fact, coming into this garden was a prelude to the most important thing that she would ever plan to do. She finally gave up and used a simple unicorn spell to find things that are not hidden, but that the caster wants to find. The alicorn found the statue she was looking for. She ran towards its location, as indicated by her horn’s magic, and sure enough, there it was. Or rather, there he was. Standing twenty feet tall, with the head of a pony, left horn of a goat, right antler of a deer, a snake tongue, right arm of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, the right leg of a lizard, the left leg of a goat, a bat's right wing, a pegasus' left wing, and a snake's tail. He was the God of Chaos, Disharmony, Evil, and All That is Detrimental to Order and Peace, Discord. Luna gazed at his awe-inspiring grandeur, but returned her focus to her main objective. She placed her horn on his lizard-leg, and recited a spell that would gain her Discord’s knowledge. Slowly but surely, after several seconds, Luna knew everything that Discord knew. With her new knowledge, Luna sprinted back to her palace to study the spells that would give her control of Equestria. She had to study in secrecy, especially from Celestia. Her plan involved costing the life of several innocent ponies, including her older sister. SEVEN MONTHS LATER Princess Luna closed the last spell book that she needed to read in order to complete her task. Her mind was near exploding from all of the information she had taken in. Luckily, with the help of memory-aid spells, she was able to memorize everything she read and create formulas, equations, and spell combinations that enabled her to do what she needed to do. She stepped out of her room and walked down the palace corridor toward her sister’s with nervousness and determination. This was it, the night that Luna had planned for seven months. It was a long time, but seemed like nothing now that she had finished. There was no turning back, for there was no other way than to delve into the secrets of Discord’s magic. The God of Chaos had been sealed away for good, and nothing could break him out. But Luna didn’t need to. She only had to extract his magical abilities and knowledge through a set of convoluted spells only an alicorn could master. She had found out through studying Discord’s black magic and intricate spellwork that there is, in fact, a way to kill an immortal alicorn princess. She just needed the pieces to be set exactly right. Luna entered her sister’s chamber through undetectable teleportation. It produced no sound, and Celestia was weakest while she slept. Luna knew that this was the only time she could assassinate her sister. It half-pleasured her to do this, maybe more than half. But who could blame her? A thousand years alone on a giant ball of rock in space can become fuel for a grudge. But a part of her loved her sister, and wanted Celestia alive for the sake of family. But Luna quickly silenced that half, believing that she was doing the right thing at the time. She floated over to the bed because her sister might hear her hoofsteps. She slowly bowed her head and horn downward, and lightly touched Celestia’s sun-shaped cutie mark. She looked, cross-eyedly, at her own horn, which was slowly changing from its dark-blue shade, to a dark, indigo-like color, to purple, to bloody magenta, to a dull, ruby-red. She closed her eyes, and thought hard with the spell she had memorized. When she was done reciting the spell in her mind, she opened her eyes. A split second after, Celestia woke up with a jolt and looked quickly at Luna, with eyes wide and bloodshot. “Luna!” she shouted, but not before Luna created a magical ball of silence around Celestia. After a few seconds of inaudible shouting, Celestia’s mane, a flowing patch of hair with a sort of diluted, rainbowish color, had dissipated into the air, giving her poll and crest a look of being bald, besides the horn on her forehead. Luna couldn’t hear her sister, but she knew she was in pain, and that is exactly how she wanted Celestia. The part of Luna that regretted this act was momentarily, completely gone. She knew only malicious hatred for her sister now, laughing maniacally with a burning, hateful passion. She modified the silence ball so that only Luna could hear the inner noises. A blood-curdling scream pierced her ears like spears made of sound waves. Luna’s horn turned yellow (while going through several shades of orange) and Celestia’s cutie mark disappeared. It then seemed as though Celestia was expanding by her muscles, but Luna knew this was just the skin peeling off by a controlled radius. It then could not hold the bulge of magical, expanding air inside it and it ruptured like a popped balloon, revealing Celestia’s muscular tissue. She bled everywhere, and lost control of her bladder from the shock, voiding herself onto her own exposed inner thigh muscle. Her scream became louder, and it was music to Luna’s ears. Luna’s horn was white now, as Celestia’s exposed abdomen and chest area expanded like her skin did a minute ago. Her ribs ripped through, making the sun goddess bleed profusely. Her heart detached from the arteries and veins that attached it to her innards, and dropped onto her bed like a stone. Her lungs followed, as did the rest of her internal organs. Seconds later, there was nothing but silence. But silence was all Luna could now bear to hear.
