Prologue: A Long Time Ago
BATTLE FOR DAWN
BY DIAMONDSTARTHEUNICORN
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Prologue: A Long Time Ago
The weather outside was cold and stormy in Ponyville. Most of the citizens were sleeping, with their doors locked and their windows closed, so the freezing weather wouldn't get to them. The sound of quiet breathing, rain pattering, and the wind singing its song was in the air. A picture was being painted, a beautiful, peaceful one. Or it seemed. In the crystal castle just off the edge of the little town, anxiousness filled the air around it. Two ponies were waiting nervously: Twilight Sparkle and Flash Sentry. For Twilight swawas constantly staring at her enlarged abdomen. One thing the couple knew for sure was: they were soon going to have a foal. But they were running out of time. Twilight could go into labour any minute.
"Flash, I'm scared." whimpered Twilight. "I can almost feel my water about to break." She was nervous that the midwife woudn't arrive in time.
"Twilight, don't worry," said Flash Sentry. "They will come soon. Don't fret." He stroked her stomach like a kitten on a lap.
"But what if-" Twilight began, but was silenced gently by her husband before she could finish. He pointed to the door.
"Twilight!" he called. "Look." She hesitantly walked towards the door, and then opened it a little bit, showing enough of the rainy night to see a black carraige with a white cross on it. The midwife had arrived.
"Oh, thank Celestia!" they said simultaniously. They watched the white mare slowly stumble out of the carraige like the last minutes of a Wonderbolt race in Cloudsdale with Rainbow Dash in the lead. But they realized one detail as the mare walked through the door.
"Nurse Redheart?" Flash asked.
"Have you never known that I'm also a midwife?" said Nurse Redheart.
"No, not really," Twilight answered. "Here, I'll serve you tea. You must be--AUUUUGH!" She unexpectedly had fallen to the crystal floor. "Help..." she moaned.
"TWILIGHT!" Flash cried. He ran up to her. Twilight's tears were running down her face uncontrollably, and she could feel a warm liquid gush out from her legs.
"You're in labor," explained Nurse Redheart. "You need to get to your bed chamber NOW!" She look at Flash Sentry, then at the quivering Twilight on the floor. "Flash, help me carry her upstairs! I'll boil some water and get hot towels when she's as comfortable as possible." she commanded. Flash carried his distressed wife upstairs. He ran too, because there was one thing that bothered him the most: The sun was set to rise in a few hours, and what was worse, Twilight was now officialy in charge of the sun and moon.
***
"FLAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!!!" Twilight screamed, sweaty and panting. She was in her upstairs bedroom, with Nurse Redheart rushing in and out, grabbing as much hot towels and boiling as much water as her worried white body could. "Where is Flash? It HUUUUUUUUUUURTS!!!!" she panted, scared, as another wave of pain rushed from her stomach to her back.
"Don't worry! Concentrate on pushing," instructed Redheart. "You're fine! Just fine!" Twilight thought she could see sweat budding on the seemingly calm midwife's head.
"Ah, hah, hah, hah...." Twilight panted. "If only...ah, hah, hah... Flash Sentry....ah, hah,hah...was with me right now....uaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Another contraction came and she pushed, increasing the pain. She squinted and a small amount of blood came out between her legs. There was no one to help her, she was suffering in this pitiful world of darkness.
"TWILIGHT!"
She blinked her eyes a few times, and was sucked out of her fearful world of despair. She saw Flash Sentry, in the doorway, smiling at her. "I came as soon as I heard you cry out my name," he explained. "But I was also handling more hot towels with me." He handed his ever-so-important load to Redheart. She nodded.
"FLASH!" Twilight cried out with tears of joy. "I thought you would never return!" Flash smiled again. It had not been more than a minute.
"Twilight! The cervix has dilated completley! The baby is on its way!" announced Nurse Redheart. Twilight was startled. The baby was just about to come out now? She tried to ponder until another contraction hit.
"UAAAAARGH!" she cried. "Flash....help......me!!!" Flash frowned. Nurse Redheart stared intenly at Twilight's marehood util she smiled.
"The foal is coming! The head is visible!" she cried out. "PUSH! Push with all your might!" Twilight started to sweat more, Flash was instructing her to push, worried, and Nurse Redheart was telling her that everything was alright, but there was so much pain, Twilight could not withstand anymore.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! AHH! AH! UAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Multiple loud screams escaped her dry throat while many tears streamed out of her eyes. This was the end. She would die right here, right now, from all the pain and chaos happening around her. And then a strange sound, yet so familiar, anticipated for a long time, like a package that took longer than expected, rang through the room. A foal's first cries.
"It's a filly, Twilight!" Nurse Redheart announced happily. She handed the newborn to Twilight, wrapped in a fluffy blanket.
Flash realized something at that very moment.
"Twilight! The sun! It's supposed to rise by now!" he flustered. Twilight gasped.
"Oh, no! I forgot! I'm too weak to raise it now! I've doomed Equestria to eternal night!" she cried. Flash smiled. She was cute at times.
"Oh, really?" he asked, and kissed her on the cheek. A magical force flowed out from her horn uncontrollably, powered b Flash's love. The sun rose slowly, graceful like the wind, but surly. As the light in the room increased, the couple gasped in awe at their firstborn's appearance. It was an alicorn, like them, with an orange pelt. Its sharp magenta eyes contrasted with the pelt, strangly fitting with it. The mane and tail were a dusky pink-gray, like an early morning. Their beautiful blessing resemble the daw, and Twilight knew its name right away.
"Dawning Blaze," she whispered. "That's her name." And later that day, when they annouced Dawning Blaze's birth, the whole entire population of the lovely kingdom of Equestria rejoiced at the birth of the new princess.
Chapter I: One Pony's Joy Is Another Pony's Sorrow
The sun was rising in the peaceful town of Ponyville as ponies were waking up and eating breakfast. The day was a special one, and they had to get ready. The castle shone in the distance, and minature rainbows emitted from it in the sun. Inside the elegant castle, servants bustled around, rushing to and fro, preparing the dishes, decor, and music for the special occasion. Inside the kitchen, the chef was frantically mixing batter, frying fish and fries, and cutting fruits and veggies all at the same time.
"Mama mia, what a job!" he swooned. The job was huge and tedious. All of a sudden, a busy servant rushed through with dishes, ultimately bumping into the chef, causing him to fling everything into the air, hit the floor, and make the biggest mess anypony had ever seen. The mare awkwardly smiled.
"Sorry! I'll go leave now." she said, her dishes still in one piece, and rushed off.
"TI ODIO! SPERO CHE SI PERDE LA CASA E NON AVERE UN FIGLIO!" the chef swore. In a huff, he walked off to get more ingredients and rebuild his masterpiece.This would take a while.
***
Twilight Sparkle walked through the upstairs halls, looking for a certain room in the large structure. She smiled.
"Oh, Daaaaaaaaaaaawning!" she called. "Where aaaaaaaaaaaaaare yoooooooou?" She continued walking, a smile still on her face. A sudden snore came from the hall ahead of her, startling her. "Ah-ha," she said. "That's the room I'm looking for." she trotted calmly in the hall, stopping only when she arrived at a door at the end of the hallway, with an old paper sign taped onto it saying,
'Come in as you like, but if you don't call me Dawn, you're DEAD!!!!!' Twilight opened the door and walked in. The room was bright orange, with slightly dirty stained glass pictures of the chronicles of the Main Six on the walls. And in the upper right hand side of the room was Dawning Blaze, wings sprawled out, snoring loudly on her bed. "Dawn?" Twilight asked. "Daaaaaawn. Wake up." No answer came from her daughter. "DAWNING BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZE!!!!!!" Twilight shouted as loud as she can. Dawning stirred, and opened her eyes.
"Mom! I told you a gazillion times not to call me that!" she grunted groggily. She crawled out of her bed.
"Dawn, it's an important day. For once, could you let me call you your real name?" Twilight asked.
"Mom, what day is it? What special occa........" Dawn began, but fell asleep again. Twilight lightly punched her.
"Dawning, it's your 16th birthday! How could you forget?!" she reminded her. Dawn immediately opened her eyes, suprised.
"IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!?" she squealed excitedly. "How could I forget? This is my big day!!!" She flew out of the already opened door, down the stairs, and into the kitchen as fast as she could, avoiding the mess that was from earlier. "Good morning!" she said to Flash, as she got herself into a chair at the table he was sitting at.
"Dawn! How's my 16-year-old princess doing on her big day?" Flash asked happily while Dawn was eating her cereal.
"Super duper extravagant, today is the 16th celebration of the anniversary of my birth!" she said, using big words with a smile, just in case some servants were nearby, expecting some fancy words to escape from the princess' mouth. "And, um...it's okay to call me by my real name today."
"Ok then," he replied. "I was going to tell you that Twilight's friends, Cadence and her husband, and the Two Sisters were attending also." Dawn spit out all the cereal in her mouth in shock.
"OH MY BUCKING GOD, REALLY!?" she cried out. "That's impossible!" A butler rushed in suddenly.
"Prince Flash! Princess Dawning! I mean Princess Dawn!" he announced. "Come to Ponyville right away! The party is about to commence!" Flash Sentry stood up.
"The party is going to start?" he asked. He looked at Dawn serously, his joyful expression not so vibrant. "Come on, Dawn, you don't want to miss your big day." he reminded her gently. He then held her hoof, causing Dawn to blush, and they both trotted out the castle to her birthday. What Dawn did not know is that she was walking toward an inevitable, horrible fate.
***
They arrived at the center of Ponyville a few minutes later, but the celebration had not begun.
The butlers always get the time wrong. Heh heh. Dawn thought. The decor was plastred all over the place, like a huge party cannon - no, a party nuke, had hit the town. Bubbles and balloons floated about, and ribbons and streamers were strawn all over the buildings and houses. A big banner said 'HAPPY 16TH, DAWNING BLAZE!' She realized that one pony could have been in charge of the decorations....
"SUPRIIIIIIIISE!!!!!" A high pitched ,yet deepened, voice rang through her ears, commencing goosebumps under her fur. A large bang was heard, and a few seconds later, Dawn was on the ground. Dawn started to flail, her eyes closed, in instinct.
"WHO ARE YOU? GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!" she commanded to the foreign object on her.
"Why would I get off of you? It's your birthday!" the voice replied. Dawn opened her eyes. A pink pony was on her, her curly mane slightly deflated with age - 30 years old, at least. Her blue eyes shone, matching with the adorable smile on her face. Dawn kept scanning her eyes on the pony, and saw her cutie mark. Three balloons, two yellow and one blue. Dawn knew who this was.
"Pinkie Pie?" Dawn asked in disbelief. "Is that really you?"
"Of course it's me!" she replied. "Why would'nt I be Pinkie Pie? You should really watch your language, though. There are fillies in the crowd!" She jumped off of Dawn, allowing her to stand up.
"Pinkie, don't clobber the first person you see!" another voice said. A blue pegasus flew up to Dawn. Her mane was rainbow-colored. This was all too familiar to her. "You could have KILLED the future heir to all of Equestria!" An orange earth pony walked up.
"Don't worry sugarcube, she just gets more excited than others at her age." the pony told Dawn. Dawn knew who these ponies were.
"You're...you're the main six! I can't believe it!" she exclaimed.
"That's right, Dawn." Twilight said, walking up to the group. "These are my friends from years ago. Those thrones on the first floor? We have meetings every month."
"Well that explains a lot." Dawn said with a tiny smile. A loud fanfare blared all of a sudden, grabbing their attention. It was coming from the town hall. Two guards from Canterlot were blowing the trumpets. It went on for ten more seconds, and the music receded. The mayor walked up, so old that she didn't need to dye her mane anymore.
"Ladies and gentlecolts!" she announced. "Princess Dawning Blaze's 16th birthday celebration is about to begin!" Th crowd cheered. "But for a special suprise, I present the ponies responsible for Twilight's reign, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!!!" The crowd cheered even louder as the sisters walked up from behind the mayor, and flew onto the ground below, in front of the crowd. Dawn thought her ears would bleed from the exteremly loud noise. But the noise ceased, and all the ponies stepped aside and bowed to her. Even though she wasn't officially in rule anymore, everyone still appreciated her. Or as it seemed. As soon as the princesses joined Twilight's little group, the crowd crowded around them. Questions were asked, and the group answered them.
"Twilight, what's it like to be a princess?"
"Dawning, is life at the palace interesting?"
"Rainbow, are you planning to step down as Wonderbolts leader?"
It was genuine tabloid material. But Twilight didn't care. It was every day life, occuring every time she went out. For Dawn, it was rather unusual. She rarly went out, but she was still the pony every one talked about besides her mom and the Main Six. Twilight was signing an autograph when Luna jumped in.
"Yes, and she woud not be signing your pictures and answering these somewhat silly questions without us!" Luna chimed in, hoping for some praise and appreciation. But she was shoved aside, unfortunately.
"Luna, what were you thinking?" scolded Celestia. Luna growled. A feeling was swelling up inside her. A feeling that she had not felt in the past one thousand years....
***
"Here comes the birthday cake!" shouted Pinkie happily. "Move aside, everypony!" A massive tray pulled by the Wonderbolts (Dawn's favorite flight team), with a even bigger cake moved through the town, headed to another big table outside of Town Hall. Every pony in the crowd stepped aside, trying not to be crushed by the unnaturaly large pastry.
"Pinkie, you didn't have to make a gigantic cake just for me!" Dawn said, blushing.
"Oh, it's not for you only. It's for all Ponyville!" Pinkie replied. "You get the first slice!" After a embarassing birthday song, Dawn was served the first slice. And then everyone pigged out. Luna tried to navigate the crowd, hoping someone would recognize her. When she finally got to the cake, she flew on top of the table.
"The Two sisters would like slices of this divine frosted pastry, please!" she asked. Everypony stared at her awkwardly.
"Um, Miss Alicorn Lady, can I get my salad now?" a stallion asked. Luna looked down. One of her hooves was in the salad bowl. Some ponies in the crowd chuckled. Luna could feel a few tears leaking out of her eyes. With a harumph she stepped off the table and flew back to her sister. Celestia was slightly angered with her.
"I almost forgot something!" Twilight exclaimed. She teleported to the top of Town Hall. Her horn started to glow, and the sun began to set. Oohs and ahs came from the crowd as the great ball of light moved under the horizon, and began the night. Everyone began to go home shortly after that.
"Thanks, Mom. It was a great party." Dawn said to Twilight on their walk back to the castle.
"You're welcome." replied Twilight. Dawn suddenly stopped walking.
"Wait...where was Cadance and Shining Armor?"
***
That night at Canterlot, Luna and Celestia were in their throne room, tdiscussing what happened that day.
"You don't understand, sister! They don't care about us anymore!" Luna cried.
"They care, but it was Dawning's special day." Celestia calmly protested.
"They wanted to be with Twilight Sparkle and her kin, and not us!" Luna shouted.
"Why?" Celestia asked.
"Hear this name. Dawning Blaze. Dawning Blaze!" Luna replied, angered and saddened. "They only care about the day! Not the night!" Celestia stood up from her seat and looked at Luna, halting her pacing.
"Luna, they care. You're not a filly anymore." said Celestia boldly. Luna hissed and backed away.
"Nobody cares about us! Caring is giving us appreciation!" Luna cried, tears of anger coming out of her eyes. "I don't think you love me and my beautiful night! NO ONE DOES!" She shoved Celestia with the last few words.
"Luna....no...." Celestia whimpered on the floor.
"Oh, yes, Celestia..." Luna replied with a smile. "Ponies will never know day ever AGAIN!" A bright light filled the room. Tears fell from Celestia's eyes as she saw her sister turn into the monster she had thought was long gone. A brighter flash filled the chamber, and there, standing in front of Celestia, was Nightmare Moon. A bright blue laser beam rose fro the blak Alicorn's horn, and then, a sharp cry was heard.....
"LUNA!"
