Celestial Eclipse 2: Equestria Uprising

by BattleMaestro

Rating: mature
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Sad, Princess Luna, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Tragedy, Adventure, Princess Celestia
Length: 22172

Twilight finds herself on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. Canterlot is on fire, and ponies everywhere are thrown into slavery. Recently saved from an execution order, Twilight, finds that to save Equestria, she has to end the life of Celestia.

Twilight finds herself on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest, along with Discord, Shining, and Luna. Recently saved from Celestia's Execution orders on her life, Twilight, and the Mane Six, go into hiding. Luna runs off, and disappears without a trace. Equestria falls into ruin and chaos, and the only solution to save the nation, is to kill her former teacher, Celestia.

How will the Equestrian Refugees find a way to slay their new dictator, and how will they ever manage to get close enough, when Celestia enslaves the ponies in an iron grip, and forces them to build defenses, and mechanized weapons, around her ‘fortress’ of Canterlot?

Proofread by lighting dash 13, and Symphonicdysonince!

Fantastic Cover Art done by: Swirling Line

It is HIGHLY recommended to read the prequel, if you haven't done so already. Otherwise, this story will probably make no sense whatsoever. Equestria Uprising basically picks up directly where Celestial Eclipse left off.

OC tag, because of references to the OC from the last story.

Published 2014-07-10 23:40:04 UTC
Last updated 2015-01-14 22:30:00 UTC

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Sacrifices

Twilight wobbled up onto her hooves, the residual effects of a recent teleport still fresh in her body. Once she was standing, she twisted her head around to absorb her surroundings.

Her mouth flew open, as she saw Discord standing behind her, along with Shining Armor, and Princess Luna. Behind them, was the Everfree Forest. The sun was setting quickly. Twilight knew it was much earlier than it should have been. It appeared that they were all standing just outside the edge of the forest. Twilight looked back towards her front. Sudden bursts of light were exploding sporadically inside of Canterlot.

“Wha-what just happened?!” Twilight asked, as a violent chill ran through her body.

“Discord saved your life.” Shining answered, almost mumbling. Twilight turned to look at her brother, and noticed that he seemed worried. She followed his eyes.

Once again, she was staring at Canterlot, except now, there was smoke rising from the city. Twilight's stomach twisted into a knot, as her ears perked up to hear the sound of distant screaming.

Discord walked up to Twilight. He stood beside her, and continued to stay silent. Twilight strained her neck to look up at him, searching for any sign of inner emotions. She saw nothing new. His claw was wrapped around his back, lion paw stroking his beard. His eyes too, were locked onto the smoking city on the horizon.

Twilight stepped backwards, separating herself from the draconequus. She quickly turned around to further distance herself, but stopped as her heart sunk, when her eyes came upon Luna.

Luna was sitting in the grass. Her eyes were wide, soaked in tears. Her ears were folded back, and her right front hoof was being held up in front of her chest in fright. Tears streamed down, and around her face in all different directions. Her mouth was agape, as she watched Canterlot.

Twilight took one step towards Luna, but as soon as her hoof touched the ground, Luna’s eyes shot towards her. Twilight flinched backwards, but continued onward, taking another step forward.

Luna’s mouth twitched closed slightly, and wobbled, as she quickly stood. She turned around, facing the forest, and opened her wings to take off into the sky.

Twilight raised her hoof, in an attempt to get Luna to stop. Twilight, once again, flinched as Luna turned her head. She saw into Luna’s eyes, at all of the raw emotional turmoil that raged inside of her body. The sadness and despair that tore apart Luna’s heart, was somehow, being shadowed by an overwhelming terror that plagued Luna’s mind and soul.

Luna turned away once again, facing the darkness that resided inside the forest. With one great flap of her wings, she was off, and away into the darkness.

Twilight ran forward, in a vain attempt to follow Luna, but halted, once she realized how pointless it really was.

“Luna...what’s wrong?”

“Let her be, Twilight.” Discord spoke.

Twilight turned abruptly to reply, but found a lump in her throat. Discord was right. From the way Luna looked, any kind of attempt at helping her now, would only worsen the situation.

Twilight chose to let Luna go, and chose to sit in the grass, and watch this new world unfold before her eyes. She felt horrible. This had all happened because of her willingness to do the right thing. Whether it was right for her to have helped Solar Eclipse, or do as she was told, and possibly save pony’s lives, she couldn't decide. All she could do now, was watch as the world she once knew, collapsed around her.

Visible fires started to appear from within Canterlot’s walls. Being as far away as they were, the fires had to be the size of entire city blocks.

“What’s happening in there?” Twilight asked, forcing the question past the frog that refused to move from her throat.

“One of two things.” Discord stated, turning around, and walking towards Twilight. “Either the citizens of Canterlot are revolting over the execution of Solar and yourself,” Discord hesitated, and stole a long glance at Canterlot. “or Celestia has already realized what has happened, and is losing her mind.”

Discord looked away, and continued to walk past Twilight into the forest. Twilight took the opportunity to gallop to her brother’s side. She felt like her stomach had rotated itself twenty times over, and her chest ached, while her heart pounded furiously inside.

She finally reached him. He had been sitting in the same spot, motionless since her arrival. His eyes were locked on the now burning city of Canterlot. His mouth was slightly open, but wobbled, in the exact same way Luna’s had only moments ago. Other than his mouth, his expression remained mostly stoic.

“I can’t believe she would do something like that.” Shining said, unwavered by his sister’s presence.

“We all couldn't believe it at a time,” Twilight responded, “but what else do we have to believe?”

“I know...but...she...tried to kill you.” Shining whispered, barely audible.

“I understand, and she would have too, if Discord hadn't saved me.”

“Do you know why...he didn't save Solar, Twilight?”

“N-no...no I don’t. I assume it was because he waited too long to save him.”

“No...that’s not it. He could have saved him at any time.” Shining stood, and turned around, stepping towards the forest. “He didn’t save him, because he could only save one of you.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. She turned her head so that she could address her brother. “Wha-what do you mean?”

Shining stopped mid-step, and glanced back at Twilight. “He knew Celestia would be mad if you two suddenly disappeared in the middle of your execution, so one of you had to die.”

“Well...why did he chose me to live?”

Shining faced the forest once more, and continued on his way. “Solar made the decision for him.”

Twilight spun around, and galloped after Shining. He had already gone into the forest, but it took little time, for her to find him inside. Twilight caught up to him and fell into the same pace. Shining was headed in the same direction as Discord had gone, raising Twilight’s nerves to a new peak.

“What do you mean ‘Solar made the decision for him’?” Twilight asked, straining her eyes to see if she could see Discord ahead of them.

“When Solar was stabbed, he gave you his magic.”

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks. That must have been what the magical ball of energy was. Solar had voluntarily given his magic to her, so that Celestia couldn't have it. If it hurt that much to absorb that much magic, she wondered what it had felt like to lose it. Twilight remembered the pain she had felt from being slammed with that much magic all at once. It had felt like somepony sliced every inch of her body with razor blades. Like explosions were blasting away the insides of her body.

Forcing it out, must have been a whole different form of pain entirely. Twilight quickly realized that she was alone in the forest, and quickly galloped off in the same direction Shining and her had been originally heading. Leaving the burning city of Canterlot behind, and the screams of ponies unattended.

Author's Note

Yay, the sequel!

I finally got around to it, after a ton of planning, and plot organization. Special thanks to lighting dash 13 for all of the help with this story.

Thank you for reading.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Lunar Emotions

The wind whipped through Luna’s mane and tail, as she flew over the Everfree Forest. Her heart pounded in her chest like a drum. She wasn’t sure where she was flying to. It didn’t matter. The tears that resided on her eyes, completely blurred all of her vision.

Her wings were aching to slow down, but she ignored it and pushed on. She knew that if she stopped now, she would be found. Twilight would find her. How Twilight hadn’t killed Luna on the spot, was beyond her.

Luna pushed her wings faster. She had no idea where she was going, but some part of her was guiding her forward. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears.

“I am nothing but a useless coward.” Luna spoke out loud to herself.

She felt awful. Solar Eclipse had died because of her. Twilight had only just barely escaped the same fate. She had nearly caused the death of one of the few who she considered her friend. She had caused the death of her brother, whom she hadn’t seen in over a millenium.

Luna looked down at the forest. She must not have realized she was travelling as fast as she was. Trees were flying by underneath her, faster than she could count. Luna looked back in front of her. The forest stretched on further than her eyes could see. As if the immense solitude wasn’t enough, Luna spotted storm clouds in the sky, directly in her path of travel.

Luna flew under the storm clouds. Rain began to pelt her body. She held a hoof up above her eyes, so that the rain would not make her vision any worse.

The light of the moon was blocked by the thick storm clouds. Luna could see random bouts of lightning striking the ground in various places all around her. Thunder boomed from the earth.

Through a flash of lightning, Luna could see a large structure far away, down in the forest. She was quickly above it, and with another flash of light, she instantly recognized it as her old castle home.

She angled her wings downward, pushing herself into a graceful, shallow, circular dive. The rain continued to throw itself at her, drenching her body in a cold, debilitating wetness. The cold only adding to the conflicting emotions in her heart. The need for shelter took heed, and she decided to get to the castle as quickly as possible. Once she was positioned directly above one of the crumbling holes in the roof of the castle, she dropped into a vertical dive.

Pushing her emotions aside, she flew as quickly as she could, down into the castle. She started flapping backwards as she grew closer to her landing, and slowed herself considerably. Once she was through the hole in the roof, she found herself in a long stone hallway. Doors lined one side, windows positioned opposite the doors on the other wall.

She raised a hoof to clear her eyes from the onslaught of tears, but found it futile, as her hooves were soaked as well. She could not recognize where she was in the castle, but knew she was somewhere on the second story of the Lunar Wing. She fumbled her way to one end of the hallway, passing doors that were in every different state of disrepair. The sconces on the walls, still held partially burnt candles, now covered in dust, and cobwebs. The high vaulted ceiling leaked water into the hallway, and the once grand rug that sprawled the length of the entire hallway, was tattered, soaked, and torn.

Luna fought to hold back the tears that came with the reminder of what she had done so many years ago. She finally made her way to the end of the hallway, and followed a bend that led inward towards the castle. The more she walked, and looked around, the more she recognized where she was. She flew in through the roof, into the servants quarters. Down the hallway she was currently traveling, was the grand entrance to the Luna Wing, that connected it to the main section of the castle. The main section held the throne room, but that is not what she wanted to find.

She passed through the grand entrance, glancing around only for a moment. The two stairways that led up the sides of the room, were both completely collapsed. The glass chandelier that once hung from a dome in the ceiling, lay destroyed on the floor, beneath the rubble of the imploded dome. The painting of Luna that once sat in the middle of the room, at the top of the stairways, was burned, and tattered beyond recognition.

Luna waked into another hallway across from the one she had just left. She had to fly over a hole in the floor. The hole appeared to go further down, as another hole could be seen in the floor of the first level, that spilled out into the basement.

Luna reached the end of the hallway, and stopped. Where there used to be a ‘T’ intersection in the hallway, was now a giant gaping hole, that scarred the castle, from the roof, to the muddy ground below.

Luna once again, took to the air, and flew around the corner to her right, entering the long hallway. At the far end, she could see the large oak door, that stood, blocking her old private chambers from view. All along the walls of the new hallway, were black burn marks, that grew progressively darker as she walked closer to her room.

She finally reached the end of the hallway, and stood before her door, examining it. New tears formed in her eyes, fighting for space against the ones that had already staked their claim. The door was exactly how she remembered it. That must’ve been Celestia’s doing. She remembered blasting the door off of it’s hinges when she became nightmare moon.

The door was coated in midnight black paint. At the center of the door, where the doors split to open, was a full moon engraved in the door. There were words engraved on the inside of the moon, too clean to be done with a tool. Luna craned her head down to read it.

I MISS YOU

Luna felt a lump build up in her throat, so much that her neck began to physically hurt. She decided it best not to look at it too much longer, and opened the door, taking the first look into her room since one thousand and three years ago.

Everything was exactly as she remembered it. Her bed still sat at the far end of the room, directly opposite the door. The two windows that sat on both sides of her bed, were shattered, glass lying on the floor in front of them. Rain poured in through the windows, soaking the wooden floor. Luna looked down and saw her favorite giant rug, a black rug with her cutie mark in the center, lying in her favorite spot in the center of her room.

Luna stepped into her room, it seemed almost like stepping back in time. She looked around. Her oversized dresser still sat against the right wall. She smiled, remembering how she had begged her parents for it, even though she was still just a filly. She walked across the room, across her favorite carpet, and stood at the foot of her old bed, looking over the blanket. It was the same blanket she always had on her bed, even though not that comfortable, the same blanket her mother had made for her when she was born. It was a cotton blanket, that had her name embroidered in the center, surrounded by the moon in many different phases, and stars of all different types and constellations.

Luna choked at the thought of her once happy childhood. She chose to look away, as to not make herself feel any worse than she already did. She found it was a huge mistake, as she turned around, to find hundreds of drawings glued to the wall of her doorway. Her mouth fell open, but nothing was able to find its way out.

All across the wall, was the drawings that she, and Celestia had made together as fillies. Every single drawing she remembered was there, and not a single section of wall was visible.

Lightning flashed from outside her window, and light flickered inside the room. Off to the right of Luna’s eyes, she caught the reflection of another pony, and nearly jumped out of her skin. Once she had gathered herself, she realized that it was only her old full-body mirror, in the corner of the room. She sighed, and walked up to it. She hated what she saw.

Inside the mirror, was a soaking wet, dark blue alicorn mare. Her eyes were extremely red and puffy, and her mane and tail were stuck against her body. The alicorn looked pathetic. She had already pushed away her sister, and lost her brother. Now, due to her foalish stupidity, all of the rest of her friends hated her. No one liked her. She looked up at the alcorn's crown. It was lopsided, and dripping wet. Luna gawked in disgust, and threw the alcorn's crown off of her head. The alicorn in the mirror began to cry again. Even though she appeared to be soaked, Luna could still see more tears rolling down over her face. She watched as the tears flowed further down her body. Eventually one of the tears fell upon a necklace.

The necklace was black, and had a crescent moon in the middle. Luna sighed again, and pulled the necklace off of the alicorn mare. Luna sighed, “You don’t need any of this. You don’t deserve it.”

Luna grew frustrated at looking at the horrible blue alicorn. She spun around on her fore legs, and bucked the mirror. The mirror shattered into tiny pieces, and fell to the ground. Luna turned and looked back to the mirror, satisfied by her work, before she collapsed to the floor, bawling her eyes out.

She cried for hours, or at least it felt like it. She had no idea how long she had been crying, but she saw no reason to stop. Luna had no friends left. She had practically no family left, and what was left, wanted her dead. She had no friends left, they all hated her, and probably never wanted to see her again. She finally made up her mind, that the least she could do, was make the rest of her pathetic waste of a life, worth while for Equestria.

Luna rose to a sitting position, and successfully wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked around her room, and found exactly what she was looking for. In the opposite corner of her room, by the window, was an old oak wardrobe. She quickly stood, and galloped over to it. She swung the doors open, and looked all around the inside. It was completely empty, but that did not worry her. She focused magic in her horn, and pulled the bottom up out of the wardrobe, to reveal the items beneath.

She smiled slightly as her eyes came upon a black hooded cloak. She lifted it up out of the bottom with her magic, and threw it over herself, it around her neck. She looked back inside, to find a leather belt, and two sheathed katanas. She pulled the belt out, and slipped it around her waist, followed by attaching the two katanas.

Luna pulled the hood up over her head, and walked over to the broken window. She looked back inside her room one last time, before unfolding her wings, and taking off into the sky, in the direction of Canterlot.

Author's Note

This was actually a pretty difficult chapter to write. I think I did a rather good job of portraying Luna's emotions. If your wondering why I didn't follow the fear emotion, it was because she was deathly afraid of Twilight.

Love to know what you think.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Stainless

An earth pony mare stepped off of the train from the Crystal Empire, into the Canterlot train station. Stainless Heart, was a rather emotionless mare. This fact, was portrayed quite well, through her drab, olive green fur, and her dark blonde mane and tail.She always found it hard to make friends in such a happy place as the Crystal Empire. She was always thought to be tomboyish, because of the ponytail she always kept her mane wrapped up in, and her deep, but still clearly feminine, voice. Considering that she had lived in the crystal empire, she could tell when she was walking into a bad situation. That skill came from the days she spent hiding in the carriage factory, where she had worked before the time of Sombra, and hid during his reign.

She had hid successfully, until one day she felt suspicious of a guard patrol, that had passed by the front of the building. They had stopped and rummaged around the area for what felt like hours. One of the guards got the bright idea to search the ‘abandoned’ carriage factory. Her coward of a boss, was found, and was quick to throw her under the carriage, as he gave a way her hiding spot, for an attempt at freedom. Of course, they chose to kill him instead, for being a coward.

She was imprisoned in slavery, and learned that day to always trust her gut feeling. Her gut feeling, which, told her to run, as soon as she took the first glance around Canterlot. The city was gray. Buildings all around her had visible markings of an intense fire, smoke still rising above the rooftops. For whatever reason, she decided to ignore her gut feeling, and enter the city.

There must have been an intense fire. She thought, looking around at all of the buildings, charred beyond recognition.

She started to trot to the stairs to leave the station, and was surprised to turn the corner, and step into a pile of ash, coating the bottom of her hoof in white powder. She gawked at her hoof, and looked to the sky, to realize for the first time that the sky was gray in smoke, and ash fell frivolously from the sky.

What surprised her even more, was the sight of two ponies pushing down the corner post of a house, that had burned down entirely, save for the structural supports. She realized that her surprise was unwarranted, as most ponies would rebuild after a massive fire. Stainless shook her head at her silliness.

She continued down, what looked like it used to be clean, the now ash coated cobblestone road. Stainless looked around at the buildings. Most of the stone ones, were still standing, albeit scorched to complete blackness. There appeared to be a store up ahead on her right. The sign that once hung from the hook outside, was gone. Stainless approached the building, and looked in through a shattered window.

The inside of the store was a complete mess. There was black stone, and charred wood, lying all over the floor. A section of the back ceiling had collapsed, and the debris, had fallen behind, the still smoldering wooden countertop. Stainless could see what appeared to be a cash register, sitting up on the counter, just out of range of the fallen refuse. The cash register had been partially melted, and the parts of it that had melted, formed now solidified puddles on the counter.

How bad was this fire? Stainless asked herself, not able to strip her eyes away from the chaos inside the store. The exterior windows had shattered outward, she assumed from the heat of the blazing inferno. The door had been left ajar inward, she pushed it in, and the door loudly fell off of it’s hinges and collapsed on the floor of the store. She jumped backwards at the sudden noise. A cloud of ash and smoke rose out from where the door had fallen to bits, blowing all over her face, and body.

Stainless waved a hoof around in front of her face, trying to clear the air, so she could breath. Through shaky breaths and coughs, she made her way out of the death cloud, and into the store. There was no visible evidence as to what the store may have been before the fire. She sighed and continued to look around.

Stainless heard footsteps approach the outside of the store.

“Hey! What are you doing in this building?” An obvious stallion's voice asked her.

Stainless turned her head and saw two stallions clad in golden armor glaring at her. “What do you mean, ‘What am I doing in this building.’ Am I not allowed to look around?”

The first unicorn stallion that addressed her, moved to the doorway of the building. He looked around the room, and a smirk formed across his muzzle. He stepped out of the doorway, and whispered something into the second pegasus stallion’s ear. The second stallion smiled.

The first stallion stepped back into the store, and began to walk towards Stainless. “What is your name?”

“Stainless Heart.” She answered confidently.

“Okay then, Stainless. You are under arrest, for the vandalism of public Equestrian property.” The unicorn smiled, and picked up Stainless, in an orange glow of magic.

Stainless flailed her limbs about wildly, trying anything to remove herself from her captor’s magic. “WHAT?! That’s not true! I was just looking around!”

The Pegasus stallion, waved to somepony behind him. “Suuuuure you were...spy.”

The unicorn laughed, “Oh, you’re a spy now too? I’d hate to be you right now.”

“I’m not a spy! I never did anything wrong! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!”

Neither stallion said a word, as two other stallions, wearing the same armor, came into view in front of the store. The two new stallions, were pulling harnesses, that held a large wooden cart behind it. Inside the cart, was a gigantic metal cage, with a door facing the back of the cart. There were multiple different ponies sitting inside the cart. All bound, and gagged with cloth.

Before the cart could stop, the Pegasus stallion, shoved a white cloth into Stainless’s mouth. She tried to scream, but all that came out was a muffled moan. She was carried around to the back of the cart, and a large barred door was swung open. She was tossed inside, where ropes were magically bound to her forelegs and hind legs. Stainless looked back to yell her final resistance to the stallions again, but quickly found that they were no longer there, and that the cell door had been shut.

Author's Note

Hey, welcome to the bottom.

This was just a chapter introducing the new Character. Why she's here? I can't tell you. I know that her back story is pretty much nonexistent, but be patient, all will be revealed with time.

I'm trying to do better with writing setting description and what not.

I'm sure most of you have questions. I probably have answers to most of those questions. If I don't...oh well.

I'm not sure why I'm rambling. I'm certain there are more things I need to address, but I can't think of anything at the moment.

Oh well.

Anyways, Thanks for reading. Let me know what you all think so far. Not that there's much to go off of.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Forest

Twilight trudged through the Everfree forest, following the light of her brother's illumination spell. The early night had caused their journey to become much more difficult than they had originally expected. Even though the risen moon created some light for the outside world, the forest canopy ruined any chances of a reprieve. Though some small rays of moonlight had managed to slip by the canopies radar unchecked, they did little to ease the strain on Twilight's eyes.

Twilight was unsure of how long it had been since they had started their trek, she was certain it had to have been close to an hour, if not more. They had to be traveling somewhere, but as to where, she had yet to be told.

The cold darkness that flooded the forest, was only further enforced, by a bone chilling breeze, that had somehow managed to slither its way through the densely packed trees. The light purple aura that guided Twilight's trusting gaze, did little to support her uninformed hooves. She found it difficult to traverse the forest floor, finding thick mud, and stray tree roots.

Another breeze blew through the petrified forest, rustling the overhead leaves. Twilight hadn't noticed how quiet the journey truly had been. She suspected that during the night, the Everfree Forest would come alive, from its dead state it resided in during the day. This suspicion being refuted quickly, by the complete silence of the overwatching trees, and motionless bushes.

Twilight heard thunder off in the distance, directly in their path of travel. Looking up, she noticed that the subtle rays of lunar light, were growing fewer in number, and dimmer with each passing minute.

Twilight's eye reflexively closed, as a single drop of water fell onto her eyelid. She stopped mid step, and felt another drop of water contact her right hip. Sudden realization overtook her, and she galloped ahead to her lighting guide's side.

She found it even more difficult to gallop through the immense darkness, fumbling over rocks, roots, and dense mud. She nearly tripped, stepping into a deep puddle. It took only moments, but it felt like an hour long struggle. She stepped up beside Shining, not once ripping her eyes from his revealing light. "I think it's starting to rain." Twilight looked up to the sky. "When are we going to get to...wherever it is we're going?"

Twilight finally focused her eyes on his face, trying again, to read for any signs of inner emotions. Shining's face remained mostly the same, except his eyes looked tired, and they seemed darker than usual. Whether it was due to the recent events, or just the light's angle, she was unsure. The corners of his mouth were dropped into a slight frown. His face wreaked of exhaustion. Twilight was certain.

"Hey...are you...are you okay?"

Shining must have been lost in thought. A drop of rain fell directly onto the center of his nose. Shining's eyes widened quickly, before focusing on the sudden intruder. He closed his eyes, and shook his head violently. "Uhhhh...oh, hey Twi. What did you say?"

Twilight only grew worried about her brother's lack of concentration. "I asked if you were okay."

"Oh, umm...yeah. Just a little tired."

Twilight squinted at him, showing him that the answer was not very satisfying.

"I'm just...it's just...ugh there's a lot on my mind right now."

Twilight tripped over another stray tree root, but was righted by Shining's hoof.

"Hehehe...um...thanks." Twilight said sheepishly, as they continued their never ending travels.

"You should really pay attention to where you're stepping."

"Yea I know, it's just that your light only shows so much."

"Why aren't you using your own illumination spell?"

Twilight stopped. Why aren't I using my own illumination? "I guess I just never thought about it."

Twilight lit her horn, now several feet behind the safety of Shining's light. A purple glow painted over every rock, root, blade of grass, leaf, and tree, within about five feet of her horn. Twilight chose to close the distance on her brother, and picked up into a trot.

Thunder shook the sky once again, and more droplets began to fall from the canopy. The sound of rain was becoming more and more audible from the forest canopy. It was obvious that a storm was brewing, and they were walking directly into it.

Twilight continued to follow Shining through the forest. Thankful of her own illumination, she found it easier to traverse the blackened forest. The sound of rain colliding with the forest canopy grew to an almost deafening volume. Light began flashing through the forest at random, casting various shadows, while sending light, to charge in all directions. Twilight shielded her eyes with a hoof from the rays, trying to spare her eyes from the pain of sudden lighting changes.

The canopy began to feel the weight of the constant onslaught of water, and had to release most of it to the underlying earth. Twilight gasped as the occasional, little droplets of rain water, suddenly became a viscous torrent, that instantly soaked her fur. She quickly forced more magic into her horn, and created a body length magical umbrella. She looked to see if she was still following Shining's path, and saw that he had done the same. A quick gust of wind pushed the rain to an angle, allowing some to slip under the umbrella, and hit Twilight's hooves, as well as chilling her to the bone.

Another flash of lightning, and roar of thunder, pushed Twilight's patience to its limit. Once again she galloped up to her brother's side, but was careful this time, to watch where she stepped.

"Shining, where are we going, and how much longer will it be until we get there?!"

"Calm down. Discord is up ahead scouting, and clearing a path. Once we're close enou-"

Shining was cut off by a bright white flash directly in their path. "There you two are! I was wondering when I'd finds you. We aren't that far away, only about another five miles or so." Discord stated, wearing a rain coat, and holding a matching yellow umbrella over his head.

Twilight stopped trudging, followed by Shining Armor. "Five miles?! That will take another hour! Can't you teleport us to...wherever it is?"

"Relax, Twilight of course I can, and we're going to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters."

Before Twilight could respond, Discord snapped his fingers. Twilight was slightly more prepared for it this time, unlike her previous, life rescuing teleport. She felt the warm pricks of the magic wash over her, followed by the sensation of her body being stretched and squeezed. An audible 'pop' sounded through the air, as the spell finished. Twilight looked around, and found herself in the center of a field. She wasn't certain where exactly she was standing, but confirmed it was a field, by a flash of lightning, that gave light to a field full of tall grass and weeds. To her left was Shining, and Discord was still in front of them.

Shining began to walk off, followed by Discord. Twilight chose to wait and see where exactly they were walking. Her doubts soon faded away, as another strike of lightning struck the earth. Twilight was quick to notice a dilapidated castle off towards the edge of the same field they were in. She began to follow Discord towards the castle, but stopped as a weird sensation came over her body.

The fur on her face and fore hooves stood on end, followed by the sensation of static electricity filling her body. Without a split second to react, a bright flash absorbed all of Twilight's vision. She screamed at the sheer amount of pain the extreme brightness had caused her eyes. The earth in front of her quickly exploded, sending her flying onto her back. She landed, wincing, as her wings were crushed awkwardly under her body. A massive boom soared through the resounding area, consuming all silence in its path.

Twilight groaned, opening her eyes. She was unable to see clearly, as the blur of light still burned her eyes.

"Twilight!" Shining yelled from some distance away. She could hear quickened hooves, heading for her from the sound of his voice. "Are you okay?!" Shining asked, standing right next to her.

"Y-yea. What w-was that?"

"Twilight," she could hear Discord say, "you were almost struck by lightning."

"Here, lets get you back on your hooves." Shining said, grabbing his sister's fore hooves, and helping her up.

Once Twilight was upright, she took a step back toward the castle, but found her hooves shaky, and legs wobbly and uncertain.

"Are you okay to walk?" Shining asked, concern finally altering his expressions.

"I-I-I don't know. I should be fine after a moment."

"Okay...well," Discord spoke up sitting down in the grass, "we could just wait here for a few moments."

"Sounds good to me." Shining remarked, casting a large barrier over their heads, protecting them from the relentless rain, or any more close calls of deadly lightning.

Twilight sighed, and sat down into the soaking wet tall grass. She looked behind her, and all around. The field appeared to be much larger than she had originally inspected. As flashes of electricity flew throughout the sky, the surrounding landscape was revealed.

The field they sat in, appeared to stretch on and on in the opposite direction of the castle, occupied by endless stalks of tall grass, that swayed violently in the breeze of the storm. Off to their left, was the edge of what looked like the Everfree Forest. Directly in front of that was a rather out-of-place mountain. The face of the mountain facing the field, was a straight cliff. The top of the mountain seemed to also be covered in tall grass.

Twilight's eyes continued to survey the field for as far as she could see through the random fits of illumination. She was shocked to find a tree, that she had not seen before. It sat atop one of the rolling hills of the fields. The tree seemed rather unnerving, considering it was the only tree in the field for what seemed like over a mile.

A slight gasp escaped through Twilight's lips, as an extremely violent bolt of lightning slammed down through the sky, and punctured the tree, splitting it cleanly in half. The resulting clap of thunder was monstrously deep, and prolonged. Another bolt of lightning broke down through the sky, and punched down into the ground at the tip of the cliff.

The resulting thunder was nowhere nearly as intense as the one that struck the tree, but it was just as lasting. Another cold breeze, blew through the fields and collided with Twilight's fur, eliciting shivers from deep within her body.

"M-m-maybe we sh-should go to the c-castle now?" Twilight barely whispered through chattering teeth.

"Y-yea...okay let's g-go." Shining answered, standing up, and recasting his barrier.

Discord nodded, standing as well, and began to float away toward the castle. Shining waited for Twilight to stand as well, before they continued off on their journey, albeit slower than before.

They approached the doors of the castle, drenched in rain, and chilled beyond numbness. The rain fell heavy from the sky pelting Twilight with ever intensifying, ice cold droplets. Brushing her mane off of her face with a hoof, she gawked at the sight of the decaying structure.

The gigantic wooden doors, that separated the safety inside, from the unforgiving environment outside, were warped, and splintered on the surface. The once, well recognized banner of the two regal sisters, that was embedded in the surface of the two doors, was worn to an almost unrecognizable state.

Twilight remembered visiting the castle many times before, but never remembered the doors being in this state of disrepair. Looking further up, she brightened her illumination spell so she could see. The edges of the wooden barriers were split, and in some places, large chunks of the doors were missing.

She was unable to see much further. She didn't have the energy to make the illumination any brighter. She looked back down, to see shining approach the right door, and tap a rhythm on the door's surface.

To Twilight's surprise, a response rhythm sounded from the other side of the door. Followed by three evenly spaced taps from shining. The door was quickly wrapped in a light blue magical aura. The door creaked and shuttered as it moaned to life, and swung inward. The door stopped only slightly ajar. Light spilled out from the inside of the castle, followed by the sound of hushed voices.

Twilight stood still, looking through the torrent of rain, to find any sign of who, or what was inside. Twilight felt her body relax, and Princess Cadence's head peeked around the gap in the doors.

Twilight watched as Cadence's eyes soared through the group, passing over Shining, herself, and Discord. Cadence gasped, and her eyes quickly shot from Discord, back to Twilight.

Cadence felt her heart flutter and sink at the same time. Twilight looked downright horrible. Her fur was soaked and matted, and her mane and tail drooped, and clung to her body. Her eyelids were only barely open, and what little Cadence could see of Twilight's eyes, was bloodshot. Her body was visibly shaking, and Cadence wasn't even sure how she was still standing.

Twilight didn't have a second to react, before Cadence pounced on her, hugging her with what felt like the strength of ten manticore. Cadence didn't say a word, and she picked up Twilight in a magical grip, and quickly made her way inside, followed by Shining armor, and finally Discord, who closed the door behind him, shutting out the misery of the night.

Author's Note

At long last. Here it is! The next chapter. I'm sorry it took so long to get out, but I had some real life issues that were higher up on my priority list. I honestly do apologize though for the almost two week long wait.

As promised though, I am trying really hard, to add a lot more description, and feeling to my chapters as I upload them, as well as longer chapters, that some of you have asked for. You know who you are ;). Perhaps this one had too much? Meh...It's done. Sadly to say, well not so much, you will all have to wait around just as long for the next chapter, because I will be putting all of my effort into a story medical emergency.

If you haven't read it yet, Romance Of The Seven Hearts, is the story of a very good fimfiction friend of mine. I'm going to be helping him overhaul his story. As soon as it is finished, I will let all three of you readers know, and suggest you check it out. You can check it out now if you wish.

Anywho, I worked on this chapter for quite some time on and off. I hope you all enjoyed what I composed on your computer screens!

Thanks for reading,
BattleMaestro

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 - Rising Storm

Stainless Heart slumped into the crook of the wall of her new home. She shivered in the damp chill, that permeated the stench of the room. She sat in the two streaks of darkness, that survived inside the one windowed room.

The room was shaped like a rhombus. At the two furthest corners, sat a wooden door, opposite a barred window. The other two opposing corners held nothing, save the small exhausted earth pony mare, who chose to reside in its fraudulent comfort and safety.

The moon was high in the night sky, barely visible through the heavy cloud cover. Stainless peeked an eye open. The light was quickly fading from outside. What little light that did shine through the insufferable darkness, only served to remind her of the prison cell she now called her own.

Stainless had been thrown into the cell under the assumption that she was a vandal, and spy. How she obtained the second charge was unbeknownst to her, but it only served to worsen her situation. She was to be brought before Princess Celestia at dawn tomorrow, for her trial. A trial, at which she hoped to clear any misunderstandings.

The moonlight continued to flicker, as it sliced through the musk of the room. Stainless's ears twitched at the sound of a distant rumbling. Her ears twitched again, as four sets of hooves ran past the door to the hallway. A quiet din of ponies shouting, and commotion emanated from outside the window.

Unable to escape to the comforts of sleep, Stainless decided to get up, and find the root of the sudden disturbances. Rising to her hooves, Stainless Heart slinked over to the barred window, to peer outside for the first time since her imprisonment.

The moon's light barely shown through thickening layers of clouds. The sky grew darker, as she looked beyond the walls of Canterlot. Below her window, Stainless saw that there were guards scurrying about, doing various tasks.

The wall of the Canterlot Palace shrouded most of the city that lay beyond its edges. From what little Stainless could see, was burnt and smoldering. The streets were barren of life. Rubble and charred bodies lined the sidewalks. Stainless noticed something seemed off about the bodies. Most of them were burnt, but some had no burns. Those without burns, were stuck with pikes, and swords protruding from their flesh. Some even held arrows in their sides.

Stainless looked back to the sky, to be pelted on the tip of her nose, by what she assumed was a droplet of rain. Her assumption was quickly confirmed, as a streak of light soared down through the sky, burying itself deep into the mountain side. A roar of thunder powered its way through the city, and surrounding countryside.

Two more drops of rain found their way to the windowsill. A flurry of movement from the small yard below her window, caught Stainless's attention.

Three guard ponies were placing large tarps over piles of wood that laid strewn about. Two sets of four guards were pushing around cannons atop the battlements. Large torches were being lit by another guard, illuminating the yards and fortifications.

A large canvas tent was set up against the base of the wall. Inside was a square table, with two chairs, and various crates and torches. On the table sat a large, tan colored paper, with unidentifiable markings written on it.

Rain fell consistently from the ever darkening clouds in the sky. Choosing not to get drenched by the rain, that now fell freely through the window, Stainless slumped away from the window, and slid her body back into the corner of the wall.

Thunder cracked in the sky. Rain cascaded in from outside soaking the already damp floor. A chilling breeze flew in through the window, carrying more rain with it. The chill of the room found itself to be even colder.

Stainless pulled her hind legs up to her chest, wrapping her hooves around them, and resting her head in between her fore hooves. She shivered, trying desperately to ignore the bone chilling wind and rain, as she sighed, preparing herself for a sleepless night. If she was lucky, maybe sleep would be merciful enough to pull her away from reality, to the comfort of her subconscious.

A loud metallic click stirred Stainless from her half asleep state. Her body felt stiff, and her fur was damp. Her body was exhausted from a sleepless night, and the bone chilling wind and rain, that continued throughout the night, did little to help her feel any better.

The wooden door swung open into the cell, as Stainless lifted her head, and forced her eyelids open. The storm had passed sometime in the early morning, and the sun filled the room with warming radiance.

"It's time for your trial, vandal." A guard mare spat from the hallway outside the cell door.

Stainless Heart pushed herself to her hooves, now noticing the tightness in her joints. She took a moment to stretch her legs, only to find a collar being placed around her neck.

A long chain link leash was magically attached to the front of the collar in a deep green aura. The same aura enveloped the chain leash, pulling Stainless out into the hallway.

The guard, now visible to Stainless, was also a unicorn, and apparently her escort to the throne room.

The guard began to travel down the windowless corridor, trudging past numerous other prison cells. All the while tugging Stainless along with her, who stumbled along, eyes barely open. After a while of walking with her eyes closed, Stainless felt the chain begin to pull downward.

Fighting her eyelids open, Stainless barely had time to react, before seeing a spiral staircase in front of her. The staircase spun one and a half times around. Ending at a locked metal door. The guard mare pulled a ring of keys out from under her armor, and slid one of the keys into the lock hole.

Another metallic click echoed up the stairs, as she flicked the key sideways. The guard mare pushed the door open with a hoof. As the door opened, the chain leash was absorbed in a brown magical aura, and pulled Stainless through the doorway, into another hall.

Her new escort was a unicorn stallion guard. He began leading her through a new hallway, towards a small wooden door at the end of the hallway. To Stainless's surprise, this hallway, was completely empty, albeit the two doors at the ends.

The guard dragged her to the opposite end of the hallway, where the other end of the chain, was attached to a metal bracket, to hold Stainless’s chain to the floor, silencing any thoughts of escape.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, the hallway was lined with prisoners, all in the same collar leash binding as Stainless. Most of the prisoners were stallions, but there were still quite a few mares. Most of them looked utterly horrible. Dirty, wet, bags under their eyes.

"Heh, I probably look the same." Stainless muttered to herself, quiet enough to ensure that nopony heard.

Just as she looked back towards the mysterious wooden door, it swung open in a golden glow, filled by the same golden glow, that dissolved away the chain and collar, freeing Stainless.

"Enter." A voice said from the other side of the door.

Stainless stood, and stepped hesitantly through the door, into the right side of the Canterlot Palace Throne Room. She couldn't put her hoof on it, but something about the room seemed dour, and shouted gloom.

Her hooves clicked on the polished marble floors, echoing through the eerily silent room. She walked over in front of the stairs that led up to the...single throne, upon which sat Princess Celestia.

It felt like the entire world was watching, as Stainless turned to face Celestia. The feeling only worsened, as she noticed Celestia's emotionless expression. Her muscles tightened as Celestia opened her mouth to speak.

"Stainless Heart?"

"Yes, Princess."

"Ahh...good. Do you understand why you were arrested?"

"Umm...actually...no, your highness."

"Sharp Point, reported that you had illegally demolished the interior of a jewellery store, along with stealing confidential documents, pertaining to Equestria's defense. What do you say in your Defense?"

"The problem is, Princess, I never did any of that. There was clearly a fire that overtook the city. As for documents, I never had any documents. I still don't have any documents."

"Well of course you don't have the documents. We confiscated them as soon as you were arrested. As for a fire, I have no knowledge of a fire. Let alone one that could have destroyed the whole city."

"What are...are you serious? The evidence of a fire is blatantly clear to anypony."

"No fire has been reported to me, so if we're done here, we can move on to your verdict."

"Look, Princess, I haven't done anything wrong! Your guard clearly lied to you. I had no documents, and if you would simply look out your window, you can see there HAS been a fire, and upon looking out my prison cell window last night, there were dead bodies in the street! Some even had weapons sticking out of them! Your guards are lying to you."

Celestia's emotionless face, warped into a cold scowl. "You dare have the tenacity to accuse the entirety of the Canterlot Royal Guard, of lying to me, and failing to do their duty?"

Stainless swallowed hard, trying to pick up the shattered prices of her willpower. "Y-y-yes."

Celestia huffed, and frowned. "You can add treason to your list of crimes."

"What?!"

"You heard me you little wench," Celestia growled, "You are charged with vandalism, illegal trafficking of confidential documents, and treason against Equestria. You are hereby sentenced to volunteer labor."

"NO...please!"

"What's that?" Celestia gawked, holding a hoof up to her ear. "Forever you say? Okay, if you wish."

Author's Note

HUZZAH! I finally finished this chapter. It was really difficult towards the beginning, but I got it done. I know in my last chapter, I said that I wasn't going to upload a new chapter until I finished assisting lighting dash 13 with his overhaul of Romance of the Seven Hearts, but I found that I had free time, and I took advantage of it.

As always, I love to know what you all think of how the story is developing, and whatnot. I did try to improve my descriptive vices again, whether I succeeded or not, is completely up to you.

There was very little dialogue, and 'thought' for a reason. The only person that knows why is my proofreader.

Anyways...yada yada yada...

Thanks for reading,
~BattleMaestro~

Chapter 6

Author's Note

Here it is! The chapter you have all been waiting for! It took about a month to get this puppy out, granted I took about two weeks off to asses my ability as a writer, but it's finally here. I worked hard on this chapter, late at night, for quite a few days. On the positive side, I realized, that even if what I write isn't as good as I can make it, stressing, and burning out, from trying to make every single detail perfect, is just a ticking time bomb set on self destruct.

Production should be up to normal speed now. With hope, the next chapter will be out sometime next week, although the next chapter will be dificult, because it sets up the early body of the story. That's right! All these previous chapters, were only to set up the main story lines.

I hope you all enjoy this latest chapter. I hope I made your patience worth the time.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 - The Sun's Keeper

Celestia watched in blatant disregard, as the ashes of another waste of her time were swept away from the steps of her throne. The heat from a recent spell, still lingered in her horn. She yawned, looking through the nearest arched window, toward the rising sun. The last few days had been rather eventful; a bright change from her mundane lifestyle.

Having to execute a family member, and sign a death sentence for your sister, and former student, was the recipe for a rather interesting week, all things considered. Celestia smiled at her celestial body. Although not everything had gone as planned, the situation was more than under control.

Yes, five of the mane six had escaped, but she knew where they were. The only place they could go, that would propose any type of sanctuary, was the Everfree Forest. With her Royal Guard posted in every city and town, and armies patrolling the borders, there was nowhere they could go, that she wouldn't find out about.

Her thoughts were broken, by the doors of her throne room opening, once again, letting in another waste of time, only for her to ignore their pleas. To Celestia's surprise, it was not another begging pony, but instead, Fluttershy.

"Hello, Fluttershy."

"Hello, my princess." Fluttershy said, walking toward her throne. The mind altering spell, had given remarkable results for Celestia. She had managed to turn the shy, little, frightful Fluttershy, into an instrument of death, who gladly followed her every whim, and command. It also made her bolder, and much more imposing on the ponies around her.

"What reason do you have to be here?" Celestia asked, hoping for more joyous news.

"I bring word from the northern borders. There appears to be a military force gathering four miles north of our border with the Crystal Empire. We haven't received word from the Crystal Empire, on the nature of this military force, but scouts tell us that it is a force in the tens of thousands."

"What reason would Cadence have for amassing an army on our borders?"

"We are unsure, and like I said before, any kind of contact attempt, ends in failure."

Celestia stood. "Having a army positioned only meer miles from my border, is not done without scrutiny. I will send a personal letter to her. What about the search for Luna, and the others?"

"We lost them in the forest. We thought they were still in the castle, but upon further investigation, we found that they had left in the middle of the night, passing by our watch. We have no idea where they are going, or where they've gone. As for Luna, she has disappeared altogether."

"So there is an army building outside our northern border, and we have no idea where the rebels have gone?"

"Precisely, princess." Fluttershy answered with a swift nod.

"Have we initiated the plan for martial law yet?" Celestia asked, traversing the throne steps, and walking to the window, she had looked out only moments ago.

"Not yet, princess. Although, all the pieces are in order, all you have to do is give the word, and martial law will begin throughout Equestria. However, I suggest waiting a few more days."

Celestia's head snapped around toward Fluttershy. "And why should I?"

"It's only that the town of Ponyville is showing signs of revolt."

"How so?" Celestia asked, turning back to look out of the window. The little town rested far off in the distance.

"The citizens have forced out all of the Royal Guard, and soldiers that were placed there. The town has been barricaded from the inside."

Celestia huffed. "I will be heading there in a few weeks then. Until then, let the town barricade themselves, and kill anyone who tries to flee. Stop all transport in, and out of the town."

"Yes, princess."

"Is that all?"

"No, princess."

"What else is there?"

"There have been random disappearances of soldiers from checkpoints on a few major roads. Small patrols have been attacked. Some minor outposts have also been found abandoned, in most cases, evidence of an attack was present."

"The ponies are obviously fighting back. Warn all outposts, forts, and cities of these events. I want the size of patrols doubled. We can not let a few rebellious ponies cement an image. Is there anything else?"

"No, princess."

"Good, than I shall be going."

“What shall I do about the army forming at our border?” Fluttershy asked, while she fell into step beside Celestia, as they both exited the Throne Room, through the main doors.

“Keep patrolling the borders, and if the force decides to come any closer, notify me immediately.”

“As you wish, princess.” Fluttershy responded, turning left down an adjacent corridor.

Celestia continued down the hallway. She payed no mind to the guards that lined the hallway, nor to the ignorant ponies, who tried to grasp her attention. She needed to do some checking in on her favorite scientist, for she knew that what she had, would be much more important, than whatever any of the other ponies had to say to her.

She reached the main entrance of the palace, quickly trotting down the stairs in front of her, turning left, to reach the ground floor, that followed another, larger set of stairs. She quickly made her way to the hallway she wanted. To any other pony, the hallway, would seem unimportant, possibly a passage to the servant’s quarters. However, to those with inside knowledge, the inconspicuous corridor, actually led to the science, and research facilities of the palace. She quickly rounded a sharp right turn in the hallway.

One of the disadvantages of keeping the hallway's purpose a secret, had been that it had to be small and unassuming. This brought about a hallway, that was only wide enough, for two ponies to barely pass comfortably. In this case, one and a half Celestia. Traversing the narrow passage, and tight corners, was not her most cherished compromise for secrecy.

Rounding a left turn, brought her to a dimly lit hallway with ten doors lining the walls, five on each side, allowing only a torch to rest on the end wall. Celestia quickly trotted to the end. Gripping the torch with her mouth, she pulled it back. With a loud click, it moved off of the wall, hanging by a metal bar that ran back into the wall. The door to her right, flew open quickly, revealing a bright metallic stairway, leading down under the palace.

She entered the stairway, quickly closing the door behind her. Her shoes clicked on every metallic step, as she brought herself forward, through the brightly lit stairway. Every twenty or so feet, the stairs would stop at a landing, followed by a continuation of stairs, that always led to the left. After the twenty-fourth turn, she ended up staring face to face, with a large shiny steel door. To the right of the door, was a square of nine buttons. She swiftly brought her hoof to the buttons, and pushed the buttons in a pattern.

With a heavy whine, the door slowly pushed itself inward, hinging on the left side. Celestia stepped into a room, that was encased in thick glass, save the metal floor. She walked straight ahead, toward one of the three glass walls. Looking out over the research facility, was a sight she never got used to.

Even when she was only a young mare, when she first came into rule, following Solar's impeachment, the research facility amazed her. Even though it was much smaller those thousands of years ago, it still had the same effect.

She looked out over the massive facility. It was simply a gigantic metal lined rectangular prism, that had been constructed deep in the mountain, underneath Canterlot. The ceiling was hundreds of feet above the floor, which spanned one thousand feet in all directions. The Observation Room, where she currently stood, was only a tiny smudge, in comparison to the facility.

She turned to her left, and quickly headed for the glass door, that led past two guards, and towards the facility's only floor. Walking past the guards with a nod, she began the timely journey down the innumerable steps.

It was a while before she reached the bottom step, where she was graciously met, by the one pony she had came here for. An orange Pegasus mare in a white lab coat stood at the bottom of the stairs, clipboard in tow.

"Hello, Doctor Radium." Celestia greeted with a smile.

"Hello, Princess Celestia. I assume you have come to check on a certain project?"

"Right you are. It's one of the few reasons I come down here."

"Well, if you'd kindly follow me, I can show you the progress we've made."

"Lead the way." Celestia answered, following Doctor Radium, into the maze of research.

Celestia quickly lost track of where she was, or what paths they had taken to get where they had ended up. In front of her lied two rooms, one being much longer than the other. One held some sort of metal contraption, whilst the other held a group of ponies.

She chose to go into the room of ponies that had "Spell/Combat Spells" written on the sign for the door.

Walking in, she realized that all of the ponies in the room were unicorns. "This," Doctor Radium began, "is the Combat Spell Development Research group. They are working on finding a spell, that can increase the distance, and accuracy, of the standard magical projectile shot. So far, we have found that focusing the magical energy longer before the shot, greatly increases the projectile's velocity, and accuracy at medium to long range."

"Is that all it does?" Celestia asked disappointment slightly hinted in her tone.

"It also greatly increases the impact force, as well as the damage output. One shot could kill a griffin instantly, unlike the standard magical blast, which takes around five. However, due to the amount of focus needed to perform the spell, and the increased need for magic, I calculate that only most higher level unicorns could perform the spell."

"The way you altered the spell really effects it that much?"

"Indeed it does, princess. I'm surprised nopony had tried it before."

"I feel the same." Celestia said, leaving the room, followed by Doctor Radium. She made her way to the second door, reading it's sign. "Sp. Proj. 109273." Entering the room, she found that the large metal contraption, was actually larger than it looked from outside the room.

"What did you call this again, Doctor?"

"One of the other scientists calls it Artillery. Not sure what that is, or what it means, but the name...seems fitting."

"Ah ha, and what does it do?"

"It's actually quite impressive. What this 'Artillery' does, is send a large explosive projectile over great distances."

"How does it work?"

"Well, it uses a projectile that is a two piece casing of metal. The projectile has a casing, and a warhead. Inside the casing is an explosive powder, made of various chemicals, that ignites through a magical spark. The explosion forces the warhead down the barrel," the Doctor said, tapping a long metal tube that stuck out of one end of the machine, "throwing out of the barrel, into a gigantic arch, that can stretch for miles, sending the explosive warhead down, on top of our enemies, obliterating them, from an unknown location."

"Fascinating. And, how does this 'warhead' work?"

"It's a large metal cone, that travels through the air. It's filled with either explosive, or incendiary magical energy, and upon impact, the metal breaks apart, releasing the explosive or incendiary energy, all over the victims."

"Have we tested this yet?"

"Yes, it works perfectly. The maximum range is three miles. All we need is your approval for mass production."

"You certainly have my approval."

"I thought as much. I took the liberty of beginning production in the prison workshops."

"Let's see how, Twilight reacts to this." Celestia said, under her breath.

"What was that, princess?" Doctor Radium asked from the other side of the Artillery.

"Nothing, just thinking of how we can implement this new Artillery weapon into our military force

Chapter 7

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 8

Chapter 8 - Revolution

From what Twilight could see from the doorway, the interior of the meeting room, was not exactly inviting, in any sense of the word. She felt high-strung, being exceedingly overencumbered. The future of Equestria sat upon her shoulders, bringing down a crippling weight. She felt that weight, as she took the first, anxious step into the dim lights of the torches, that barely burned on the walls. The walls themselves, were made of a damp looking cobblestones. The floor, was actually a solid wooden floor, surprisingly lacking of holes. The ceiling, although vaulted, did have a few small holes, where the night sky was completely visible from the interior of the room. There were no windows in any of the four walls of the rectangular room.

In the center of the room, rested a giant, elliptical wooden table. Positioned at even intervals around the table, were ten chairs. Cadence, sat at one end, opposite an empty seat. To her right, was Twilight's brother, Shining Armor. To her left, was Discord, followed by Fluttershy, and another empty seat. To the right of Cadence's opposing empty chair, sat Applejack, Rarity sitting on the left. In between Rarity, and Fluttershy, resided another unoccupied chair. To the right of Applejack, sat Pinkie Pie, who positioned the final empty chair, between her, and Shining Armor.

Twilight gazed around the room, quickly noticing all of the accentuating eyes that had locked onto her. Nervousness resonated through her body, as she slowly made her way through the suddenly imposing room, to the chair that resided opposite of Cadence. The room stayed silent, as she sat in the cushioned seat.

Rainbow Dash also found a seat between Fluttershy, and Rarity. Twilight could see that, for whatever reason, Rainbow was struggling to stay contempt. It only served as a minor distraction from the mind numbing lack of sound.

Everypony in the room still had their eyes locked on Twilight. The sudden realization hit her like a wall of bricks, freezing her body, while sending a capricious chill down her spine. It seemed like all of her friends searched her eyes with either worry, or confusion. She contemplated saying something, anything to end the terminal silence. She relaxed slightly as Discord cleared his throat.

"Twilight," Discord began. His usual mischievously, bubbly personality, was nonexistent in his voice. Being replaced, by a rather unnervingly solem doppelganger, "how are you feeling?"

Twilight searched his face quickly, for any signs of trickery. To her surprise, she found none. "I'm...okay."

"Okay is not good enough. I need to know for sure, if you feel one hundred percent, perfectly normal."

Twilight wasn't sure why Discord would care so much about how she felt, but only moments after he was done speaking, she could feel slight painful throbs coming from the base of her horn. "Actually, I...I have a slight head ache."

Without missing a beat, Discord responded. "Where?"

Before Twilight could respond, the headache doubled in strength, and brought about a slight dose of vertigo. Twilight, put her hooves down on the table, to steady herself. "R-right at the base of my h-horn."

"Well, that supports my theory. I have a strong feeling I know what's going on."

Applejack stood from her seat. "Quit beatin' around the bush darnit! Jus' tell us what ya think is wrong with her. We've been tryin' ya figure it out for hours."

Discord shot Applejack a slight glare, causing her to sit back down, and leaned back in his chair, stroking his beard, with his eagle talons. "That's just it. Nothing is wrong now. She's actually recovering. What I THINK happened, is a magical seizure. It's extremely rare. However, it does not yield the same outcome as a normal seizure. It only happens, when a unicorn, or in this case, an alicorn's magic, diagrees with, and fights the users body. Like I said, it's extremely rare. The magic unicorns are born with, is constructed to...fit their body, for lack of a better term. It can also happen when a unicorn or alicorn is forced to absorb extra magic that is not used to their body, or their magical signature.

I believe the cause of this was Solar's magic, being thrust upon your body. Tell me, Twilight. Did it hurt when you absorbed Solar's magic?"

Twilight was awestruck. In all her years of study, she had never heard of anything called a 'magical seizure.' It took a moment for Twilight to realize that she was sitting motionless, mouth agape. "Yea...yes, it hurt a lot. I passed out from the pain."

"That only helps my theory more." Discord quickly continued. "It hurt, because your body was forced to quickly make room, and adjustments for the extra magic."

Cadence was the next to speak. "Well then, why didn't that happen when she absorbed all of our magic, before she fought Tirek?"

"It's difficult to explain, but she didn't have any problems during that period, because she knew she was going to receive the extra magic. Her body most likely subconsciously prepared itself for the magic, and made room."

"That's not true. I still had problems controlling it, and I did have some side effects." Twilight retorted.

"Twilight," Discord said flatly, "you received the power of three alicorns. I would expect anypony to have problems absorbing that much raw magic.

"Oh. So...because Solar's magic was literally thrust upon me, without my prior knowledge, my body wasn't prepared?"

"Exactly. All of the problems you've been having with magic, have been brought about by the sudden magical war going on inside of you. Both Solar's, and your magic, are literally fighting inside of you for dominance, and control. Did you notice anything weird happen with your magic, in the moments before you blacked out in Canterlot?"

"As I was lying on the floor, I...I noticed my purple magical aura running out of my mouth as I was...screaming. I closed my mouth to keep it in."

"There is literally no doubt in my mind, that this is exactly what caused your seizure. From what I heard, and saw, during your seizure, your horn began to glow with the color of Solar's magical aura. I also saw, that your own purple aura, began to overtake his aura. It raised my suspicions, when your seizure stopped, as soon as your magic, completely absorbed his. If this is any indication, I believe his magic has made the adjustment to your body."

"Does that mean that, that seizure was all that needed to happen?" Rainbow Dash asked from the side of the table.

"As far as I know. Twilight did say she was still having pain in her head, and as much as I'd like to write it off as a few, minor remaining magical adjustments, we can't be sure. Twilight, I highly recommend that you do not use magic, until these headaches are stopped for at least three days."

"Okay, I should be able to manage that. Are we sure that's what happened?"

"I have no doubt." Discord said, reassuring Twilight.

A visual moment of relief passed over the room. It lasted only a moment, before Cadence brought everyone's attention to the elephant in the room.

"That's wonderful, but, that's not the only reason we are meeting." Cadence said, standing up off of her chair. "We all know what needs done. We need to make a plan of action. We can't just sit around, and let Celestia ruin any chance of retribution."

"What can we do?" Rarity began. "We have very little support from the public, and we're stuck inside this forest. We have nowhere to go!"

"The country is by our side, but they have no way to support us, or join our cause. If we stay cooped up in this forest too long, nopony will support us." Twilight said, resting against the back of her chair.

"We can't go anywhere. The forest is surrounded by Celestia's soldiers." Discord stated, reminding everyone of their current situation.

"Look, it's not like we can go anywhere," Rainbow added from her seat, "but it's not like we can't get passed them."

"That's the one thing I was afraid of." Cadence said, standing again, and walking around the right side of the table.

"Its not like we have any way of avoiding it."Shining stated. It had been the first time he had spoken throughout the few minutes they had been there so far. "Celestial isn't going to just give up anything. As much as I hate to say it, we have a war starting, but how it starts, is in our hooves."

"He's right." Applejack added. "If we act first, we can gain the upper hoof. It might not be the favorite option, but we need to figure out where to go. We can't jus' hold up in this forest, and expect to win this war. We need allies to support us. Granted, the Crystal Army, is a good start, but Celestia is bound to be ruthless."

"That's not enough though." Rarity began. "Even if we do manage to break through their lines outside of the forest, where are we to go? We can't just wander aimlessly. We need a set goal in mind."

"Well where can we go?" Cadence asked, almost completing a full revolution around the table.

Twilight watched as Cadence passed by her empty seat. She seemed deep in thought. Twilight listened in on the discussion, as she waited for Cadence to come back around to her.

"We should go to the badlands." Rainbow started. "We would be able to set up a base, and have outposts, where we could see Celestia coming from a mile away. We could blend in to the terrain, and spread out too. If anything horrible ever happened, we could set up regrouping locations."

"Rainbow, as tactically sound as that may seem, the logistics are horrible." Shining responded. "How would we get food, water, what about supplies? How would we set up any kind of defense. Although blending in is good, we would have no soldiers to put at the 'outposts.' Even though we have the Crystal Army right at Equestria's northern border, how would they get down to us to support us? They can't just march a war path through Equestria, and going around would take at least a month. Another problem with that, is that nopony would know where we are. Any of the ponies left in the country would have no way to get to us. Celestia's borders are patrolled day and night, by thousands of soldiers."

Rainbow looked down at the table, and blushed, realizing how bad her idea had actually been.

"No no no! It might not have been the best idea, but you had some good ideas." Shining said, trying to console her.

It helped only slightly, but did remove the bright blush from her cheeks. Shining visibly relaxed.

Twilight checked to see where Cadence was. She wanted to know what Cadence was so focused on. Scanning the room, Twilight found that Cadence was nowhere to be seen. A sudden realization caused Twilight to look behind her, only for her eyes to lock onto a pink, fluffy, trudging alicorn behind her. Before Cadence could get too far away, Twilight attempted to get her attention. "Hey, Cadence."

Cadence stopped mid stride, quickly raising her face, searching the room with her eyes. Twilight, waved her hoof, realizing that Cadence most likely wouldn't see her behind her. It worked, as Cadence quickly found Twilight. She turned swiftly, and stepped over towards her.

"Sorry, Twilight. I was really focused there for a moment."

"That's just what I wanted to ask you about. What are you so focused on?"

Cadence sighed, allowing a scowl to creep onto her face. "I'm worried about the Crystal Ponies."

"Why would you need to be worried?" Twilight asked, clearly seeing the seriousness in Cadence's expression.

"I put my Secretary of Defense in charge of the Crystal Empire in our absence. Before we left, I put the entire strength of the Crystal Army at our border with Equestria. I warned them all about going to Equestria. Some of them were hesitant about listening to me, and chose to find out for themselves. They never returned. Even if they were only leaving for a day, they didn't come back. I know that was only a few days ago, but I haven't heard anything from my couriers. Twilight, the Crystal Ponies are like my children. It makes me sick to think of what might have become of them."

"Wow Cadence, that's...that's terrible. I can see why you're worried. I'm sure they'll be fine."

A slight smile, was the only product of Twilight's reassurance. "Thanks, Twilight, but, I'm still going to worry, no matter what anypony says."

Twilight turned back to the table. Her eyes caught a certain rainbow named mare, watching her. Rainbow quickly averted her gaze, finding the walls much more interesting.

Twilight quickly turned back to Cadence, who was beginning to slowly walk away. "Cadence, wait. I need to ask you one more thing." Twilight called.

"Hmm? What is it?"

Twilight dropped her voice to a whisper. "What's up with Rainbow Dash? She's been acting weird, and I keep catching her staring at me."

Cadence quickly looked across the table to Rainbow, and smirked. "If you ask her this, she'll deny it, but when you had your 'magical seizure,' she freaked out. She was panicking, like the world was ending. She really cares about you. All your friends do. I don't blame her for being worried."

Twilight slumped back in her chair. That must have been the reason Rainbow had been acting weird earlier. "Also, how were you able to find out about what was happening here?"

Cadence's smile grew in reaction. "What? You don't think I have spies in Equestria? I have my connections."

"Well then, why didn't you answer any of the letters we sent you?"

"Any letter that I would have sent, would have been stopped at the border. Celestia wrote to me as well. What she didn't count on, was that I knew the truth, and was already planning against her. How do you think Luna and Rainbow Dash escaped?"

"Wait. Rainbow Dash escaped? Why didn't Solar?"

"Shining said he couldn't find either of you. It's sad, but, he did what he could. I'm sorry, Twilight."

Author's Note

I am terribly sorry for anyone, who suffers, or know someone who suffers from seizures. I hope I did not offend you. Seizures are nothing to joke about.

On a brighter note, here it is folks.

The plot thickens.

~BattleMaestro~

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 - Decisions

Twilight slowly turned to face the table wide-eyed. If she were to allow the knowledge of a once possible rescue for Solar get to her, she would never be able to focus for the rest of the meeting. Solar could have been rescued, if only Shining had allotted enough time. Depression threatened to flood her heart. Knowing there was a way he could have lived, had averted the cruel pain of death, brought about emotions so intense, Twilight's chest physically began to hurt.

Noticing the sudden heavy breaths that her lungs struggled to obtain, Twilight forced herself to relax. At least, as much as she could for now. Breathing slowly, Twilight forced her mind to focus on the conversation that had developed at the table.

"What about going to a city, or even a small town?" Rarity proposed, scanning the room for reactions.

"It's better than the badlands, but, which city?" Cadence asked, as she once again, passed behind her empty chair. "It needs to be some place that's close to the Crystal Empire, or, at least north of Canterlot. We need the support of the Crystal Army, if we're to fortify ourselves anywhere."

"That eliminates Fillydelphia, and Las Pegasus. As well as Apple Loosa, and Dodge Junction." Twilight speculated out loud.

"What about Manehattan, or Baltimare?" Fluttershy asked, rather quietly.

"Fluttershy," Rainbow answered, "Baltimare is further south than Fillydelphia."

"Oh." Was the only response, from the unusually sorrowful, yellow mare.

"Manehattan or Vanhoover seem to be our two best options." Shining announced.

"Which is closer to Canterlot?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking specifically towards Twilight.

"I'm pretty sure Manehattan is closer to Canterlot. Isn't Canterlot right in the middle of the country though?"

"Not exactly." Cadence stated, walking the fifth revolution around the table. "Canterlot is a few miles more to the east than it would be if it were centralized."

"Will that even matter?" Rarity asked.

"It will, and I'll explain why." Cadence answered, stealing a moment of the silence, to allow herself to sit in her chair. "Celestia knows that she outnumbers us. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that we would need to strike fast and hard, at the heart of the country, Canterlot." Cadence paused to permit the obvious, to sink into everypony in the room.

"However, I can almost guarantee, that Celestia would expect that. It would be the only way to end this whole ordeal swiftly, with as little damage inflicted as possible. That is why, we need to wait. I don't just mean for a day, or a week. What we need to do, is go to any fortifiable location, that would be as far away as Canterlot as possible, dig in, and prepare ourselves for a relentless beating, that is sure to come sooner or later."

"We can use the Crystal Army to help us take any location we see fit. They'll also be there to help defend our position, and fight the...well...inevitable war. Like I said before, if I know anything from my time under Celestia, she will not just stand down. She will do everything in her power to crush us into submission. However, like I said, we have the power to strike first. However, I agree with Cadence. If we do anything too soon, we'll be outmaneuvered, and caught in the open. The only thing that I'm worried about now, is the fact that, once Celestia realizes we've moved, she'll be after us. I just hope we're prepared for what she's going to dish out." Shining Armor said to the room, sitting up.

A silence, once again, took hold of the room, choking out any proposals that may have been thought of. The thought of a war, had been shoved into the shadows of the room. It was the one subject everypony wanted to evade. The odds of an all out civil war steadily rose, with each passing hour.

The tension in the room lived vicariously through everypony's mind. Twilight shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "What are we going to do about our families?"

A few pairs of eyes were widened in response. Applejack swallowed hard, clearing her throat. "I...I-I didn't think o' that."

Rarity looked at the tabletop in despair, searching for answers in its worn, wooden image. "I left Sweetie Belle at home."

Silence, once more, took hold of the room. The personal risks of a rebellion, weighing in.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Shining consoled. "They'll know what to do. I trust them to be smart."

"Yea." Pinkie Pie chimed in for the first time that night. "It'll be hard, but I'm more than super sure that they'll be fine." The words that came out of the pink mate's mouth felt off. It wasn't bubbly or hyperactive. It was lethargic, and simply saddening.

"I hate to add to the mood, but, what are we gonna do? We haven't guaranteed any plan yet." Rainbow reminded everypony.

Cadence was the first to speak. "Well, we all agree that we can't stay in this forest, right?"

A slow wave of nods rounded the table.

"Okay, so we all agree with that. Does everypony agree that we need to go to a city, or a town?" Another wave of nods passed around the table. Although, it contained a few gaps.

Cadence let a quiet sigh slip past her lips. "Look this is going to have to be a majority rule. Therefore, we are by vote, going to hold out in a city. Which city though? Can we all agree that Manehattan and Vanhoover are our two best options?"

A series of quiet words of approval trudged through the room. "Okay then. Who votes for Manehattan? Raise your hooves, I want to be certain about this."

Rarity, Fluttershy, Shining, and Applejack all voted for Manehattan.

"That's four then, who votes for Vanhoover?"

Discord, Cadence, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie, all voted for Vanhoover.

"That's four too. Who didn't vote?" Cadence said, as all eyes fell upon Twilight, who proceeded to stare at the table, evidence of thought plastered on her face.

Both cities had similar advantages and disadvantages. Vanhoover was further away, and resided on the other end of a much more dangerous journey. They would have to cross the Unicorn Mountain Range, or go around it, and pass by Smokey Mountain. To get to Manehattan, they could easily go around Foal Mountain, and pass by Fillydelphia. Either way, they could follow railroad lines to their destinations.

Vanhoover was a much more secluded city, unlike Manehattan. Also, being closer to Canterlot, with a much higher population count, Manehattan seemed like the perfect city to initiate a revolution. Manehattan, was too obvious a choice. Although they'd be further away from Ponyville, and Canterlot, in Vanhoover, it was a much better option for digging in, and fortifying, both logistically, and geographically. Being on the opposite side of a mountain range, would make any movement of a large scale army toward Vanhoover difficult, and would surely slow Celestia if she were to strike.

Another reason, is that having less of a constrained population, would make any attempts of besieging, or infiltration much easier, due to a lower guard count. With the Crystal Army only miles away, they would be well within range of the city to fortify it. To Twilight, the choice was clear.

"We need to go to Vanhoover. It's the best option we have right now."

"Then it's settled." Cadence announced to the room. "We will head to Vanhoover."

"When will we be going?" Rarity asked, with slight doses of energy added to her audible mood.

"Hopefully, as soon as possible." Shining answered, shifting in his chair. "The longer we stay here doing nothing, the higher the chance will be of Celestia attacking us first."

"The only way we can even hope to get out of the forest, is to punch a hole through Celestia's surrounding forces. They'll be in our way every step of the way. We'll have to be careful." Cadence added.

"What will we do if we are attacked before we get to Vanhoover? We don't have any...well...weapons." Rainbow Dash asked hesitantly.

"We'll have to find supplies in the castle before we leave." Shining responded.

"I think we all have enough on our minds as it is. Let's call it a night. Tomorrow, we'll begin looking for supplies, and packing. We can only bring what we can carry, so we'll have to pack light. Goodnight everypony."

Everypony in the room continued to sit, as Cadence left the room, followed closely by Shining Armor. A few moments later, Rainbow Dash got up and left the room, along with Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. Another minute passed, bringing the departures of Rarity, and Applejack.

Twilight was left sitting at the table with Discord. She looked up, catching him staring at her inquisitively. They stared into each others eyes, for what seemed like an eternity. Both passing mutual fear and angst, to the other.

Discord said nothing, instead, standing, and slowly walking out of the room, hands clasped behind his back. He looked disturbed by something, but Twilight couldn't pin it down.

She took a deep breath, inhaling the musky night air. She sat back in her chair, staring up, and into the night sky. Never in her life, could she had ever thought that a war would come to bear. Let alone, with her being one of the many causes.

She looked at the twinkling stars, in the cloudless black of night. She sighed. This isn't what she wanted, this isn't anything like how she assumed her life would be like. Becoming Celestia's student, becoming an alicorn princess, being at the forefront of a revolution, none of it was what she once thought her future was.

This war would be long and gruesome. Even if it only lasts a week, it will be devastating to Equestria. Devastating, for so many ponies. It didn't wait for ruining its first victim's life, Luna.

Luna had only just come back from the moon a few years ago. Struggling to cope with society. The one pony who she sought forgiveness from, sentenced her to death. Essentially ruining the rest of her immortal life.

"Oh Luna," Twilight sighed, finding the moon, through one of the many holes in the ceiling and roof, "please keep yourself safe. We need you. I don't know if we're doing the right thing. I don't know if any of this is worth the pain it will cause. Please don't bring more punishment to those who need you. Don't abandon us, Luna."

Author's Note

I apologize for the shorter than normal chapter. This chapter was a struggle to write, but I hope you all enjoy it just as much. To figure out the locations I reference in this chapter, I used the mlp wiki map of Equestria.

I hope you all enjoy,
~BattleMaestro~

Chapter 10

Author's Note

Warning: The gore gets heavy in this chapter. If you don't want to read it pm me and I'll tell you the basics of what happens.

This is the fastest I've ever written a chapter. Two days. That's an academy record or something. This chapter, although 2k words, is fast paced, so it goes kind of quickly.

Enjoy!

Chapter 10

Chapter 10 - Making Her Life Worth It

A cool evening breeze weaved its way through the leaves of a small bush, forcing the leaves in a multitude of directions. The evening had been a peaceful one. Most ponies were asleep in their beds or cots, and those awake were navigating to their homes, in search of slumber. One of those ponies heading home, was Golden Strike.

Golden Strike, or 'Strike,' as he was known to his friends, and family, was an ironically silver coated pegasus stallion. His spiked yellow mane, was his most distinguishable feature, next to his deep golden eyes. He wanted nothing more to do, than to get home, and pass out in his bed. This feeling grew ever more present, as he flew through the air, desperately trying to lose the three pegasus soldiers, that chased after him frantically.

There was no reason for the pursuit, at least to Strike's knowledge. All that had transpired within the last few minutes, had him baffled. He had been walking down the path towards Canterlot, from his job in the weather office, that resided outside of the city. Somewhere a while back on his hour long trek, he had walked past a patrol of soldiers, that had been heading in the opposite direction. While he passed, he noticed that the captain, at the head of the patrol, had been eyeing him suspiciously.

Choosing to ignore it, wound up having Strike followed, by three pegasi soldiers. After some time, he realised that, as he began to walk faster, nearly galloping, the soldiers would do the same. Once he picked up off the ground, and began to fly, the pursuit began.

Witnessing the whole confrontation first hoof, Luna charged through the forest, and undergrowth, keeping herself hidden from both the pegasus, and the soldiers. She kept pace with the silver pegasus. There was no obvious reason for them to chase the innocent pegasus. She chose to wait in the shadows, to see how the situation would transpire.

The silver pegasus was by no means a slow flier. In fact, he was gaining distance from the soldiers. Luna speed through the forest in amazement, as she saw the silver pegasus dodge through hills and large rocks, in a desperate attempt to break contact. All of his attempts failed.

Luna looked forward, down the path of the four pegasi. Noticing a large open straightaway, brought about a sting of nervousness. She wanted to react, to jump out and halt the chase, but she chose it best not to interfere, at least until it was necessary.

Her unexplained nervousness received its purpose, as the lead pursuing soldier rounded the final obstacle, pulling a large chain out of a side pouch he had been carrying. As he pulled it out, Luna could clearly identify two apple-sized iron balls, that sat attached to the two ends of the three foot long chain.

It was not an unfamiliar device to Luna's eyes. It was known to most royalty and military personnel in Equestria as the 'amputation chain.' Its purpose, although rather gruesome, was extremely effective. It was designed to be thrown by a strong pony. The chain would travel through the air at a high velocity. It was used to target limbs of fleeing, or escaped criminals. Contrary to its name, it was not designed to actually amputate appendages. It's purpose was to break the strong hind leg bones of running ponies. The metal balls would keep the chain wrapped around the victim, holding them down, after the excruciating injury.

Due to the gruesome nature, it had been outlawed for use in openly public areas. This mountain path, however, was more than well secluded. Luna winced, and shuddered, as she realised what was about to happen before her eyes. The chain was used on strong leg bones, not nimble, and fragile pegasus wing bones.

The soldier released the chain, and it plowed through the air. An audible whistle was picked up in Luna's ears, from the chain's raw speed in the air. The chain reached its victim at the perfect time. Both of the pegasus' wings were perfectly vertical, with the chain colliding at an all too perfect perpendicular angle.

A bloodcurdling scream rang out through the hills, and mountains. Luna looked on in fear, as she watched the silver pegasus' body plummet to the ground. It didn't take long for contact to be made with the ground. The speed that the chase had accelerated to, made it only that much worse for the silver pegasus, as his body audibly crunched, followed by bouncing, and skidding along the gravel path. Luna stopped running, and dove into a bush, watching the scene unfold, with wide eyes, maw gaming open.

The soldiers that had given chase, flew lazily toward their target. As much as she wanted to, Luna couldn't take her eyes off of the Silver pegasus. She could hear him weeping, as he struggled to stand. Somehow, Luna felt horrible for not helping the pony, but in all honesty, she had no idea why he was being chased. He could have been a well known criminal.

The silver pegasus was able to pull himself up to his hooves. The chain hung loosely around his back, wrapped around two wings, that now hung limp at the sides of his body. She watched as he took his first step, only to scream out again, as his right hind leg knee joint, bent the wrong way. He collapsed back to the ground, in a bloody, bruised, weeping mess.

The three soldiers all landed around the silver pegasus. Luna focused her hearing, so that she could make sense of the situation. They had essentially formed a pseudo circle, around the broken pegasus. They all stood still, looking down at him with various looks, combined of either victory, and self affirmation, or disgust, and depreciation.

The stares lasted quite a few moments, as the silver pegasus quivered and shook helplessly, lost in a world of anguish, and pain. The guard that had thrown the amputation chain, stood in front of the collapsed Pegasus.

"Why did you run from us?" The soldier asked, in a chillingly calm tone.

"B-Because you w-were...chasing me." The crippled pegasus answered, between panting breaths, and sobs.

"We chased you because you ran." The soldier to his right spat.

"I was only going home!" The pegasus yelled, somehow finding a reserve of courage.

"The only place you're going, is to Princess Celestia." The soldier at his head answered, picking up his face. The soldier looked into his eyes for a moment, before pulling back and punching him across the face.

The pegasus was dropped to the ground, as blood began to drop from his mouth. He proceeded to spit out a tooth. "No! Please don't take me to Celestia! Didn't you see what she did to her own brother?!"

"Ya know what? I'm not sure if I remember exactly what happened. Can you fill me in on the details?"

"Are you serious?! She publicly executed her brother in Canterlot!"

The guard to his right laughed. "Wow, you must really have a death wish. Don't you know that she ordered all Equestrian military to immediately kill anypony who speaks out against her?"

"Wait! WHAT?!" Was the only response the pegasus could mutter, before receiving another blow to the head. He didn't have time to react, as multiple punches came crashing down onto his face.

The beating stopped only momentarily, so that he could cough up blood, and moan as blood also began to drain out of his nose.

The guard that had been standing on his right rolled him over on his side, only to kick him in the stomach.

The pegasus choked, as his eyes shot open. He coughed and gagged, desperately trying to get air in his lungs. The same soldier wasted no time in kicking his chin, forcing him to see another kick come down on his forehead.

The pegasus' body went limp. After a few moments of inspection, the guard that had landed the knock-out blow began to laugh. "Hahaha. I thought he would last longer than that."

"What a pathetic waste of time. Hey, Private Shield. Why didn't you help out?"

Luna gawked, she hadn't noticed that the third soldier had stood there the whole time doing nothing. He hadn't said, or done anything.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. You can kill him." The same soldier said, pushing a knife into his hooves, before walking off, followed by the other soldier.

Luna watched as the silent guard, supposedly 'Private Shield,' positioned himself by the head of the silver stallion. Luna sprang into action, dashing out of the bush, charging the surprisingly small soldier.

The private barely had time to turn, and utter the words "What the?" Before he was launched across the path in a flailing mass from Luna's push.

The knife clanged as it hit the ground, allowing the other two guards to turn around, and come charging back, weapons drawn.

Luna smirked, and pulled one of her katanas out of its sheath. She charged toward them, ready to strike. She jumped over the front soldier's horrible attempt at a slice with a sword. Angling the blade in her mouth downward, she locked eyes with the second, now wide eyed, and skidding to a stop, soldier. He barely had time to react, as the katana came crashing down onto his face. As Luna landed, she turned quickly, sparing herself just enough time, to see the soldier's body fall lifeless to the ground. She did not hesitate to make direct eye contact with the first soldier. She smiled, as she could see him swallow a lump in his throat, before foolishly charging again.

This time, however, Luna stood her ground, holding her katana in a defensive horizontal grip. She waited for the soldier to swing down to her head, before pulling the katana up, performing a successful parry. The soldier's sword went crashing down into the ground, burying itself in the path. Luna moved swiftly, plunging the point of the katana into the face of the soldier, burying the blade inside his body, clear up to the hilt. The soldier made a few quiet grunts, before falling limp, and sliding off of the sword. His body fell to the ground, leaving a blood coated katana in Luna's maw.

A loud scream drew Luna's attention up the path. She looked up, to see the 'Private Shield,' galloping away up the path. Luna cursed under her breath, before charging after him. It didn't take her long to catch up to the soldier.

Lunging at the soldier, she talked him, knocking him onto his back. She stood on top of his body, and swung her head around, preparing to sink the blade of the katana into his throat. Midway through the swing, a realization struck her. This was the soldier that had not done any harm to the pegasus. In a split second moment of curiosity, she pushed her head forward slightly, choosing to force the katana into the ground, only a fraction of an inch off of the soldier's neck.

"Why didn't you beat, and berate that pegasus?" She asked quickly, grabbing the katana with her magic, allowing her to speak.

The soldier opened his eyes, only to stare in a frozen state of fear.

"Do not waste my time. I will not hesitate to kill you." She glared into his eyes, hoping to force an answer out. The soldier continued to be unresponsive. "Fine, have it your way. Death does not discriminate."

Luna pulled the katana up out of the ground, and hovered it vertically over the soldier's face. Closing her eyes, to keep blood out of them, she powered up her magic for a heavy stab. She pulled the katana back, preparing to bury it deep in the ground beneath the soldier's head.

"WAIT!"

Luna looked down to see the soldier preparing for the stab. Noticing that it did not come, he opened his eyes. Seeing that she had stopped, he took the opportunity.

"I didn't do it, because it wasn't right." He said as fast as he could.

"How am I supposed to believe you. You were going to strike him dead, were you not?" Luna asked incredulously.

"Only because I was ordered to!"

"You say you did not beat him, because it wasn't right. I need more of an answer than that."

"I never wanted to hurt him. I knew he was innocent. It felt wrong to even think of doing something like that."

"Well, why didn't you stop the other two?"

"Princess Celestia said she would kill anypony, and their family, if they didn't follow orders. We were ordered by the patrol captain to murder that pegasus. I don't even know why."

"Why not just quit? Or leave the military?"

"Same rule. Anypony who tries to quit, or abandons their post, gets their family executed."

"Do you have a family?"

"Yes. My mother, and two younger sisters."

"What of your father?"

"Executed, for speaking out against Celestia."

"Where is your family?"

"In Canterlot."

"What district?"

"The middle district."

"Address?"

"Fifth, on South Berry Street."

"Do you want to quit the military?"

"Desperately, yes."

"Good. Stay here, and protect this pegasus. If he wakes before I return, keep him calm. I'm going to get your family, and bring them back here. If you lied to me, or if I come back and you're not here? I will personally find you, and cut your body apart, piece by piece, starting from your hooves. Stay here, understand?"

The soldier gave a simple, slow nod. With that, Luna climbed off of him, and allowed him to get up. She began to gallop in the direction of Canterlot. After a second, she paused, and turned to face the soldier. "What is your name?"

"Private Aegis Shield."

Luna nodded, and took off into the now night sky, in search of Fifth, South Berry Street, in the Middle Canterlot District

Chapter 11

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 12

Chapter 12 - Slavery

Stainless climbed the final wooden flight of stairs, into the living hell she had only just come to know. The city was known to others as Canterlot, but the name held a much more haunting impression to those who still remained within its heavily fortified walls. It held no resemblance to its former regality. The slums were all that was left of the few free ponies who lived inside. A desolate wasteland, covered the rest; a breeding ground for hatred and desperation. Wooden poles stuck up out of the ground, scorched too blackness. Bricks and shattered glass lay strewn about in heaps, creating gigantic mounds in the places of once tall, luxurious buildings. Very few remnants of Canterlot’s former glory remained.

The air was thick with dust, ash, and smoke, creating a horrible smog. Grayness covered the sky, coating the land with the same impermeable dust. The ash, and dust was so prevalent at times, that even the color of the guards' armor could barely be seen beneath the silver powdered coats that encased their bodies.

Starvation gripped the city, leaving little mercy for those who fell under the whips and chains of Celestia. Dead bodies littered the few distinguishable streets left of the former city, meandering throughout the landscape. All of the structures of the old city-buildings, parks, fountains, roadways-had all been destroyed by orders of Celestia. Any kind of civilization that had once been obvious to those outside the city walls was now almost completely indistinguishable.

The air reeked of death and burnt bodies, and undoubtedly carried disease from the decaying corpses. Not even Celestia's royal guard were untouched by the grip of cruelty. Within the last week, it had become widely known to all of the city's inhabitants, that the guards had it just as bad.

They received little to no food, even though it was substantially more, than anything scrounged up in the ruins. If any of them dared speak out against Celestia, they would be butchered wherever they stood. Rank held little importance. Even the nobles were not above reprisal. Some of Celestia's closest advisers and generals, had all been publicly humiliated, and executed. Their heads stood tall on pikes near the Royal Palace. A gruesome reminder of what would befall those who lashed out. If any lower ranking guards, or slaves spoke out against Celestia, they too would be slaughtered, along with their families.

If any of Celestia's guard tried to leave, or escape, they would be captured, and interrogated, followed by the seemingly standard humiliation and execution.Even those who lived in other cities, were held by the same rule.

Stainless lifted herself into the gray light of day. It was early morning, but no difference could ever be made between any time of day. The only reason she knew it was morning was from the rude awakening she had received on her bunk in the underground bunker.

She had been deep asleep, only to be woken by chains being attached to her hooves, dragging her off the bed, and roughly onto the floor. She and the rest of the prisoners had been chained together, and were quickly being herded up the stairs.

Now outside, Stainless couldn't help but squint, as the smog burned her eyes. She found herself at the tail end of a maroon pegasus stallion. His tail and mane were brown, but his mane had a single distinct streak of white hair in it.

She ignored the pegasus, and chose to instead take in the daily surroundings. There were multiple groups of ponies digging through rubble, digging trenches, or building unknown structures, all of which were being watched closely by their 'officers.' Officers being the sugar coated term. They were more like slave drivers, whipping those who were slacking at their daily quota.

Her attention was ripped from her surroundings, and quickly pulled to the maroon pegasus before her, as her face proceeded to make contact with his plot. She found herself stopped. The whole line was stopped. Irritated at the sudden embarrassment, she leaned to the right to see why they were stopped.

Up ahead a rather small unicorn mare, had tripped over the blackened corpse of a small filly. Being that the entire line was chained together by collars, she had succeeded by stopping the entire train of slaves.

It didn't take long for the officers to notice, to which they promptly surrounded her, and began to unhook her chain from the pony in front of her. They didn't even give her time to stand up, before they violently drug her off to the side using her collar to pull her.

The train was reconnected, but didn't continue. They continued to stand there, waiting to be given the order to move.

It had come to Stainless' attention that the mare was sobbing horribly, nearly wailing. It only took a matter of seconds for a chief officer to arrive. They were too far forward for her to hear the conversation. Only the horrified screams of the mare could be heard, followed by the cracking of a whip.

The train began moving again. As Stainless moved forward, the mare came back into sight, as well as two officers who were whipping her hard enough to cut grooves into the ground around her body. The screams coming from the mare were deafening. She tried desperately to protect her body, by covering herself with her hooves, but she was already bleeding profusely.

She could find nothing else to look at, except the same charred remains of the filly the mare had tripped over. The filly’s mane and tail were both burned away, but her mouth was left gaping, as if her corpse were screaming.

Stainless felt a burning heat rise in her chest. It was unusual, but she was furious. There was no real reason to be. She didn't know the mare, or the filly, but what had happened to both enraged her. They didn't deserve these injustices. She didn't deserve her punishment either, and yet she was enslaved for life. Just like all of the innocent ponies around her.

She was not going to stay here. She would not let herself be forced into this murderous world. She would escape. However, now was not the time.

She continued to follow along with the train. It became ominously quiet, even the screams of the mare couldn't be heard. Stainless only noticed it for a moment, before a thunderous boom sounded through the city. The slave train stopped, everypony looking for the source of the monstrous explosion.

It didn't take long, for the entire train to be set back into motion. They were getting closer to their destination. Stainless could tell from a few certain landmarks she had picked up over the last few days that they were heading straight for one of the city's outer walls. The towering barrier grew as they marched closer.

The train was stopped for the final time. All of the chains were detached from one another, as the ponies were all sent into their designated trenches to begin their daily routine of digging.

It wasn't a difficult task for her. She had always been strong for a mare. Digging was no problem, but doing the same hard work for days straight, sunrise to sunset, was extremely exhausting.

She quickly made her way to her assigned trench, and quickly found a shovel. She found the place she had stopped the day before, and resumed the monotonous task of shoveling dirt away to create the outer facing wall.

She shoved the end of the shovel deep into the dry soil. Pulling it out and down at the same time, causing a decent amount of dirt to fall out, and land on the ground.

Stainless looked at the pile of freshly removed dirt, and decided that it was too little. Shoving the shovel back into the wall, she repeated the process. Once again, a decently sized pile of dirt fell from the wall. Annoyed that it still wasn't enough, Stainless repeated the process. Once, twice, three times. She was becoming frustrated. Not enough dirt was being removed. She was going to be stuck at this same section all day.

She decided to pick up the pace. Shoveling away more and more dirt. Faster and faster she shoveled. Dirt was falling so fast it was nearly a constant stream.

"Hey, are you okay?"

The wall wasn't cooperating with her. The same anger she had snuffed out only moments ago, was returning quickly.

"Hey, I asked if you are okay."

The rage continued to build inside her chest. She could feel her heart beating hard. Her breathing felt heavy and labored.

She was caught off guard as a pair of maroon hooves wrapped themselves around her, stopping her arms, and encasing her.

She stood there, shaking. She was so mad. So mad at everyone. Nopony deserved this punishment. Nopony deserved to be put to work in these conditions. That filly didn't deserve what happened to her, neither did that mare, but they were here. It was cruel. It seemed all so cruel.

"You're okay. Everything's alright."

With those words, Stainless felt as if her heart had broken, shattered into a million peices. She lost control, and cried like she hadn’t had in years.

The maroon hooves gripped her tighter, offering slight comfort.

"It's okay, we'll get through this."

"N-no. We're going to die here." Stainless sobbed quietly.

"Shhhhh. No we won't. Don't you know that there's a rebellion going on outside the city?"

"No."

"Well I know for a fact that the rest of my team is trying to break me out of here."

"What team?" Stainless asked, slight glimpses of hope reappearing in her voice.

"I'm part of a group of rebels from Ponyville. We devised a plan to send me in here, so we can rescue as many people as we can from the inside."

"Really?" Stainless couldn't help but suddenly feel doubtful. "How exactly do you plan to pull that off?"

"I can't tell you, unless you want in."

"Of course I do. I don't want to stay here."

"Meet me at my bunk tonight an hour after the door closes.. I've already risked a lot, just telling you about the basic plan."

"Okay, I'll try."

With that, the maroon pegasus nodded stiffly, and went back to work, placing wooden planks on the dirt floor of the trench.

Stainless couldn't help but stare at the pegasus. He knew nothing about her, but just risked his own life, to save hers and probably countless others if what he said was true. Her eyes seemed to be glued to the white streak in his mane. It seemed so out of place.

She decided it better not to question, and went back to work, filling in the giant hole she had accidentally dug into the wall.

Author's Note

Yay the next chapter!

Hope everyone liked it. I found a new proofreader: Symphonicdysonince!
Be sure to go to his page and thank him for fixing all of my butchered writing!

Thanks for reading,
~BattleMaestro~

Chapter 13

Chapter 13 - Ponyville

Celestia stood in a large field on the outskirts of Ponyville. A gentle breeze flowed around her, forcing her ethereal mane to swoosh with a tad bit more fervor. She inhaled deeply, taking in the smell of the crisp air, which smelled rather clean for the deprived town that stood upwind.

All of Ponyville's streets had been barricaded, stopping all transportation in and out of the small town. Further inspection by her guard showed that the town's only food supply, a rather capacious apple orchard, was stripped bare of fruit and abandoned. She assumed the ponies had stored the apples inside the town, but there was no honest way of finding out.

As for the town itself, it had been barricaded about one week ago. All routes in and out of the city had been closed, a magical shield covering any entrance from the sky. The barriers were all easily dismantled through Celestia's eyes. She could have the shield and walls down in seconds. Her small force of two hundred soldiers would then quickly storm the town and reclaim it on her behalf, but she chose against it.

Through the sound of clanking metal she looked to her celestial body. It burned brightly in the midday sky. It wasn't that she didn't want to take back the town, it was more than that. She wanted them to willingly submit to her, to take down their own shield and barricades. She wanted them to confirm within themselves that she was and will be the only Princess, no, Queen of Equestria.

Whatever she had to do to have them understand that fact, Celestia would do without hesitation. Even if they refused to accept her, they would only need swift punishment to...convince them all.

Celestia turned her attention back to the small town of Ponyville. The town was completely surrounded. There had been multiple pseudo-ambassadors that had attempted to make an agreement, but all of them were denied. It had come to the point where it was now or never. The crisp breeze flowed around her body as she stepped closer to the village border. The grass crunched lightly under her hooves as she navigated the field of anxious soldiers.

The soldiers separated themselves to make a pathway for Celestia. Over the last few weeks her motherly personality had shifted drastically. She was no longer seen as a caring leader, but a harsh and cruel dictator. They avoided her not out of respect, but fear. She knew how they felt, but she didn't see any reason to change it. As long as the obeyed, they would be fine.

As Celestia approached the barriers that blocked her path, ponies began appearing above the barricades. They looked like curious squirrels, peaking from their home at a passerby underneath their home. She scoffed at their simple-minded nature. It appeared that word was spreading inside the town of her approach, as the rate of peeking heads doubled.

Celestia stood only a step away from the barricade that rose at least twice her height above her. She glared at it, as she would any unruly subject. Only this time it had a deeper meaning. It not only blocked her path, but also blocked the way to her ponies who were clearly confused and would only need a little persuasion to see things her way.

This pitiful barrier dared to stand in her way. This barrier had the insane gal to stop the queen of Equestria, and prevent her from doing her judicial duties. She simply would not stand for this.

The flimsy barricade erupted into a plume of smoke, debris, and ponies. A large fire burned down the rest of the resisting wall, setting fire to the buildings it rested on, and the ponies who still clung to its pitiful heights for safety. Screams came from the town as Celestia walked through the gaping hole she had blasted through the wall.

She certainly felt better about the situation now, actually something felt very different. Stopping to look at her reflection, Celestia peered into the window of a passing house, and smiled with glee.

Her once ethereal mane and tail of the brightest colors, was now on fire, raging about atop her head and in place of her tail. It was not that her mane and tail were on fire, rather, they were fire themselves. Her alabaster coat was now a bright yellow-orange, and her regalia, instead of being golden, was now red, the same red as the fire that swarmed on her head. Her golden shoes were now red as well, leaving a small spot of fire wherever she stepped.

"Oh how it feels to be free, to no longer put up that facade of being the generous, benevolent, understanding princess. Being just never accomplished anything for me. No, fear is the only true way to rule. No pony stands up to intimidation. No pony ever becomes brave, staring into the face of death." Celestia spoke to herself as she sauntered down the street toward the center of town.

What are you doing?

"Who said that?" Celestia asked the surrounding area.

I did.

"Who are you?" Celestia asked, looking about frantically, trying to see if her mind was playing tricks on her.

Oh, so you think I'm a prank? Some sort of joke?

"You can read my thoughts?!" Celestia barked frantically, quickly becoming infuriated by the invisible menace. Celestia chose to not lose her mind, and ignored the voice, continuing with her original plans.

She began to blaze the path once more into the center of the small town. It was clear to her that ponies were watching her from their houses, and the alleys that lay in between. She could feel the scowls,looks of pure hatred and disgust pierce her body. It was something she had grown accustomed to over the past days. It was a feeling she loved. Not so much the hate, but the fear. She could feel their fear as well, and fear was something she could use as a weapon against them.

Not shortly thereafter heads began peaking out of windows, and around street corners, and from behind barrels and carts. It brought a smirk to Celestia's face, knowing that they truly did fear her from the bottom of their beings. The fear was even detectible physically. The town was silent, so much so, that the wind could be heard rolling through the streets and over the rooftops. A wind chime sounded somewhere across town, emphasizing the stillness of Ponyville.

The soft gravel and dirt road crunched under her flaming hooves. Celestia felt a fit of laughter come upon her, and she entered the town center. It was completely barren. There were no ponies within sight, all choosing to stick to their hiding spaces. All of the homes and shops that she could see from where she stood, had their windows boarded, signs removed.

Of the four other main roads that led to the separate sections of town, two of them had the buildings dismantled, and reconstructed into defensive walls, and barriers. She walked into the center of the area, and looked around at the decrepit town.

“Is there nopony in this pathetic town that will stand against me?!” Celestia yelled. Infuriated, that nopony would even dare talk to her.

Silence was the only response from the town, except for her echo that bounced through the streets.

“Really? Is that how you want to play it? How would you like to explain the walls and shields to me, then? Would you like to make a defense for yourself, or would you all rather I just burn it all to the ground now?!”

Still, silence remained thick in the air.

“No! What are you doing?”

Celestia turned herself quickly, as a hushed voice came from behind her. She expected some sort of attacker. To her surprise, all she saw, was an orange pegasus filly with purplish hair, running at her as fast as her legs could carry her. The filly came charging up to her leg, and began furiously punching it.

“Hmmm, just what do you think you’re doing?” Celestia asked, truly perplexed by the bravery of the small filly, who was less than a fourth her size.

“I’m saving Ponyville. I don’t want you to do anything to it, or us. So i’m gonna beat you up, ‘till you stop.”

“Haha….HAHAHAHA.” Celestia burst out into a hysterical episode of laughter. She picked up the small filly with her magic, who quickly squeaked in surprise. “This. Haha. This young filly is what you cowards send to stop me? You don’t even think of diplomacy? Would you like her to die first?” Celestia asked, shaking the orange filly, in her magical grasp. “Is that really what you all want?”

“Stop, please!” Celestia’s attention was once again pulled in a different direction, where a large red earth pony stallion stepped out from behind a makeshift wall. He looked tall and strong for his age. He ran up to her, but kept a good distance for protection. “Stop torturing poor ol’ Scootaloo. She may be brave, but she doesn’t act all that smart.”

“So what are you going to do then?” Celestia asked him.

“Look, Princess-”

“Queen.” Celestia interrupted. “I am the Queen of Equestria now.”

The red stallion gave her a look of disbelief. “Look, Queen. We don’t like what you’re doing with Equestria. ‘N frankly, It’s downright despicable. How can you go round killing ponies, like they mean nothing to ya?”

“What on earth do you mean? They were traitors, and disobeyed my direct orders. I was doing my rightful duty and punishing them.”

“By killin’ em? That’s hardly just if ‘n ya ask me.”

“It’s the only way to get anything done in this nation. The nobles got in the way of my plans, so I removed them.” Celestia giggled slightly at that. “And besides, fear gets things done. Fear doesn’t question motive. Fear doesn’t disobey. So what else is there than to instill fear?”

“Anything! I could think of twenty different ideas that make more sense!”

“Look I didn’t come here to discuss motives. Why are all of you refusing my rule?”

“Because you’re an insane murderer, and we refuse to be ruled over by somepony like that.”

“Didn’t you get any of the message from my ambassadors?” Celestia asked.

“Yes, all of them.” The stallion replied.

The wind once again rushed through the town.

“So you absolutely refuse to have me as your queen?” Celestia asked, glaring at the stallion.

The stallion clearly gulped, nervousness wracking his body. “Yes. And nothing you can do will change that.”

Celestia was silent for a few moments. She looked down at the ground, sighing. “I see.” She looked toward the sun, which was now slightly entering the western sky. “Well than I see no other option.”

It was impossible to see to anypony else, but Celestia was furious. How dare they reject me! She thought to herself. After everything I did for them. I gave them this land, and this is how they repay me. These filthy, putrid, ungrateful swine! I’ll just take all the land back myself.

Keeping the filly in her magic, Celestia jumped into the sky and flew straight above the town. The filly, apparently named Scootaloo, began screaming. Celestia could feel the flames on her body grow more intense as her emotions boiled inside of her. By the time she was properly in the sky, she was grinding her teeth, and her eyes had turned white. The feathers on her wings had also now become fire, which somehow continued to keep her aloft. She raised the filly up to her eyes, and could see tears streaming down the filly’s face.

Celestia increased the magic in her horn. She turned the filly toward the sun, as the sun began darkening, not in luminosity, but in color. Instead of being a bright yellow, it was now a deep orange. The town below her erupted into a cacophony of screams. “Do you see this Scootaloo? Do you see the sun?”

The sun continued to darken, somehow changing the sky as well, becoming a shade of orange-yellow. “This is what happens, when you disobey a queen. This is what happens when you disobey me.”

Scootaloo was now audibly crying, almost to the point of hysteria. The sun was now a deep red color, nearing the shade of blood. “This is the fate of you, and all of Ponyville.”

She turned Scootaloo around so they could see each other eye to eye. “It’s a shame your bravery and courage only got you so far, my dear filly.”

Those were the last words she said to Scootaloo. She release the magic from her horn, letting the small filly plummet back down toward the ground. Within a split second, a beam of pure heat, and fire slammed into Ponyville. Celestia could feel the heat around her. It must have been around ten thousand degrees, which was a little cooler than she was hoping for, but it would do just the same. The beam had completely engulfed the town, obliterating all in it’s path. After a few moments, the beam finally ended. Celestia looked down. All that remained were blackened, stones. Anything flammable, was completely gone. The town now rested inside a charred circle, with fire quickly rising at its edges.

“It’s sad. It truly is. When will they learn.” She said, as she flew back down to the ground, to meet with her band of soldiers. It only took a moment for Celestia to realize that some of the ponies had escaped out of the sun ray, before it could strike. She landed behind a small mint-green earth pony mare, who had been stopped by a wall of spears.

“So these,” She smiled, “must be the new additions to our work force from Ponyville.”

Author's Note

Woah woah woah...I uploaded something?! I know, it's crazy right?

I know, I'm sorry. I have been trying to get this chapter done for quite a long time, and I every time I sat down to work on it, I just felt so disinterested. Thankfully, or maybe not, depending on who you are, Pandora played a really good song, that got my mind exploding with creativity. Thus, the chapter was finished.

I felt dirty writing the Scootaloo parts...very dirty. So much so, that I still feel the need to wash my hands, and scrub my brain with a pressure washer. I'm sorry for doing it, but it had to be done.

If any of you haven't noticed, I began a romantic story. Music and Emotion. I really like writing it, but I'm finding it difficult to decide which story to write for, because I want to write this story, because it's essentially my child, and I owe most, if not all, of my followers to this story, so as you can probably understand, I feel obligated to work on it. On the other hand, this new story is fun, and it's unfamiliar territory for me. Plus, I like the characters, and I feel like it's good practice for my writing and creative content. I don't know, I'm just rambling now.

Anyways, new story, I finally uploaded something, blah blah blah.

Let me know what you all think of the story so far. It would be appreciated.

Thanks for reading,
~BattleMaestro~