The Untold Story of the Equestrian Civil War

Chapters

Chapter 1: DIVISION
Chapter 2: FRIENDSHIP
Chapter 3: POWER
Chapter 5: PROLEGOMENON
Chapter 6: THE THIRD WAY
Chapter 7: PLOTS
Chapter 8: RESCUE, Part I
Chapter 9: RESCUE, Part II
Chapter 4: DEBATES

Chapter 1: DIVISION

Chapter 1: DIVISION
The Untold Story of the Equestrian Civil War

“Let’s go, Spike!” Princess Twilight yelled. “We’re going to miss the train!”

“Coming!” came the answering shout. The purple dragon stumbled down the stairs. “It doesn’t help,” he grumbled, “that your new castle is so dang big!”

At this, Twilight smiled, somewhat uneasily. “Yeah, it is, isn’t it?” she said. “I still can’t believe that this is my castle, now. It’s a little overwhelming.”

“Now, let’s go! We have things to do, ponies to meet! The train to Canterlot leaves in less than five minutes! Move, Spike!”

The dragon and the pony charged out of the crystal castle and ran to the train station. They made it without incident, and boarded the train with fifteen seconds to spare. They settled into the standard priced car, with Princess Twilight ignoring the uncomfortable looks of awe that the average citizens gave her. As a Princess, she had near unlimited access to the royal treasury, and could easily afforded to upgrade to first class, or even rent her own private car for the trip. She refused, however, instead opting to not allow her newfound political power and economic wealth to interfere with her personal life. She chose to stay loyal to the principles of Equestria, the ones that allowed the three tribes to come together all those years ago, under a single banner.

The trip passed with few events of note. Soon, the screeching of brakes was heard, and the train shuddered to a halt just outside the city of Canterlot. The pristine capital of the most peaceful nation on the planet shined brightly, with the white marble making it almost impossible to look directly at in the bright noon light. It seemed as if the glorious capital, founded over a thousand years ago after the destruction of the Lunar Rebellion, had stood forever, and was untouched by the very idea of war. Thanks to clever diplomacy and the threat of the Elements of Harmony, not to mention the fact that Celestia could shroud any aggressive nation in night forever, and refuse to allow their crops to grow, Equestria had avoided any real instance of war for a thousand years.

“Princess!” came the call from a pony that Twilight didn’t know, but, based off of the tone of her voice, clearly adored her. This, of course, drew attention to the fact that Princess Twilight was walking amongst the citizens, and soon, she was surrounded by a group of adoring fans of the Princess, before she had time to fully realize what was going on.

“Princess, can I have your autograph?”

“Princess, I would be honored to have you at my dinner party!”

She even thought she heard a stallion yell, “Princess, will you marry me?!?” but couldn’t identify the source.

Thankfully, she was saved by the Royal Guard, who extracted her from the mob and escorted her to the center of the city, where the keep of Canterlot Castle, and the seat of Equestria’s government was found. One of the most well-protected spots in the entire nation, huge war machines stood on the rampants, in the off-chance anypony dared to try the might of one of the greatest superpowers in the world. The last time they were used was during the Battle for Canterlot, during the short-lived Changeling Insurrection. Before that, never. War was a foreign concept to the world, with Equestria keeping the peace.

When Princess Twilight and her friends were forced to give up the Elements of Harmony, ripples were sent throughout the stage of world politics. Suddenly, Equestria was no longer the nation that could easily end any wars. Sure, the Princesses could still shroud parts of the land in night and starve out a nation, but that was a tricky business that could end disastrously. The two Royal Sisters had called a meeting of the Princesses of Equestria to address the fouling politics between the Changelings and Equestria, among other things.

As she entered the castle, she heard elevated voices. Shocked, Twilight realized that the voices in question belonged to Princess Celestia and Luna.

“...and I’m telling you, dear Tia, that the ponies will never stand for this! They will revolt!”

“Nonsense! This isn’t a thousand years, ago, Luna. The ponies of Equestria would never revolt. They adore us. The militaristic times of Equestria have ended. War isn’t even on their minds. Revolution would be the last thing to happen to this country.”

“Celestia-”

“Luna, if I may,” interjected a third voice, one the Twilight recognized as belonging to Cadance. “Luna is right, Celestia. Think of what you are proposing! You want to station troops in every settlement of Equestria! I can guarantee that nopony of Equestria will like this. What else will happen? You have to pay and feed these troops, don’t you? Raised taxes? A crop levy? Nopony will take that lying down. On top of that, a good portion will think that this is some excuse to start to take some of their rights. Conspiracy theories will start flying. Trust me, all of this will happen.”

“Times are changing, Cadance, Luna. Things must be sacrificed for security. Surely, they will see my wisdom.”

Twilight cleared her throat as she watched this argument, causing the ponies gathered around the table to start. They recovered quickly, and turned to smile at the young Princess. Twilight thought that Luna and Celestia’s smiles looked rather forced, plastered on as if to convince themselves nothing was wrong.

“Am I interrupting?” Twilight asked, acutely aware of the incredibly tense situation that she had walked in on, but also aware that, as a Princess, she had both the right and the obligation to know what was going on with her comrades.

“Not at all, Twilight,” said Celestia smoothly, before either Cadance or Luna could say anything. “Now that Princess Twilight is here, I move to open this council. All in favor?”

All of the present Princesses raised a hoof.

“Now, first order of business…”

The meeting in session, Twilight paid rapt attention to everything said. Not that it was all that interesting, in all honesty. There was some discussion about a slight increase in the value of the bit, the neighboring buffalo tribes, and there was a lengthy report on the affairs of the Crystal Empire presented by Princess Cadance.

As she finally ended her long winded speech, the Princesses nodded and Celestia said, “Thank you, Princess Cadance, for the update in the affairs of Equestria’s closest ally.”

“Now, we turn to the final matter of business: the Changelings, and other foreign threats.”

There was a slight increase in tension around the room.

Either not noticing or not caring. Princess Celestia continued, “We have received multiple reports of increased military activity from all known Changeling hives, not just the one that Chrysalis ruled. As of now, our intelligence network is attempted to determine the reason for this increased militarization, but we do not currently know.”

Twilight felt a cold shiver down her spine, but the Princess wasn’t done. “In addition, the Diamond Dogs living belowground have also become more and more aggressive. In the past two months alone, I have received eight separate reports of ponynapping throughout the entire land of Equestria.”

“Clearly something must be done. Ever since we lost the Elements, every foreign power seems to be inclined to challenge us.”

“You have always had, and will always possess, the backing of the Crystal Empire in these affairs,” said Princess Cadance.

“I know,” replied Celestia, smiling at the pink Alicorn. “However, I fear that that might not be enough. I think,” here she looked around the table, with an air of finality, “it is time to put the past behind us and look to the future. In the past, the Elements. working in concert with both my sister’s might and mine combined was always enough to ward off potential attackers. Unfortunately, the Elements are no longer with us. Instead, they are locked away in the Tree of Harmony. This has provoked every major power with a thimble’s worth of troops to attack us. In light of these disturbing times, I propose this timetable,” here she raised a sheet of paper, covered in figures, “for the building of armies and production of arms throughout Equestria.”

There was stunned silence for a long moment. Quietly, Twilight grabbed the timetable and studied it for a moments, running figures through her head. “Princess Celestia,” she asked after analyzing the document, “where is all this money going to come from? I estimate that this proposal would cost at least twelve and a half billion bits to put into play. I mean, look at this! ‘Construction of eight military forts along the Badland border. Tripling of the Equestrian Navy. Commissioning of ten new Armies of the Equestria...One hundred thousand swords, two thousand ballista, one thousand five hundred catapults. Eight million arrows, two hundred thousand bows!... All of the above to be completed by January 1st, 1006 CYP.’” Here, she looked up at her former mentor, shocked. “That’s less than nine months from now! How in the wide, wide realm of Equestria are we going to fund all this?!?”

Princess Celestia inclined her head briefly, and said. “I planned to increase the national income tax by eighteen percent. In addition, there is ten billion bits inside the national treasury that we can use.”

“You mean the five billion bits that I, not three days ago, earmarked to improve public education, and the other five, which I earmarked for medical research?” Princess Luna asked coldly.

Celestia nodded.

“Increase the tax rate by eighteen percent? Nopony will like that,” Twilight said, shuddering at the look she could already see forming on Applejack’s face. “Isn't there some other way?”

“Not that I can see,” responded Celestia.

“Well, I must object!” said Princess Luna, rather loudly. “I promised the citizens of Equestria that those funds would be used for the public good, not to make the tools of war. I cannot go back on my word.”

“I am inclined to agree with Princess Luna, Celestia,” said Princess Cadance. “May I also add that the proposition to station large amounts troops in every settlement of Equestria, even those far away from any border, is a disturbing one, at best?”

“May I remind you, Princess Cadance,” said Celestia, the tiniest of hints of irritation in her voice, “that as the ruler of the Crystal Empire, under the terms of the Equestrian-Crystalline Alliance, you are allowed to sit and listen to the counsel of Equestria. However, you are not allowed to vote or make decisions for me.”

“Yes, I am aware,” replied Cadance, with a small hint of anger that matched Celestia’s. “However, I am allowed to make recommendations to the rulers of Equestria.”

“Very well,” Princess Celestia said. “Now, Princess Twilight.”

Twilight paused for a long moment. I don’t know. On one hoof, Equestria has to do something, or we may be overrun by an enemy. On the other, though...this cost would be astronomical, and I don’t think I’m comfortable with a few hundred combat-ready ponies being stationed in Ponyville full-time, especially since Ponyville is so far away from any border…

Knowing the weight of her next few words, Twilight shifted uncomfortably before opening her mouth. Wishing that she was anywhere but there, she said slowly, “Princess...Princess Luna is right. We cannot, in good faith, force the ponies of Equestria to accept these increased taxes and security. At least, we should put it to a vote.” Her bit said, she blinked a few times, just now becoming aware of the heat in her cheeks.

Celestia blinked a few times, as if she was just struck over the head with a heavy object, several times. She seemed shocked that Twilight would openly disagree with her.

“Well,” Celestia said. “I’m shocked. I thought for sure that my proposition had some logic to it.”

“It does,” replied Twilight. “The cost is too high, though.” The other Princesses nodded their agreement.

Suddenly, Celestia had a flash of anger. Suppressing it, she said, with barely controlled sarcasm, “Well, since you run the Royal Council now, I suppose I will figure out a new proposition.”

“Princess Celestia,” Twilight said, sounding confused, “nopony ‘runs’ the Royal Council. It’s a group collaboration.”

Celestia snorted, then said, “Well, is there any more business for this council to hear?”

Nopony spoke.

“No? Then I move to close the council. All in favor?”

Everypony raised a hoof.

“Very well. This council is closed.”

Chapter 2: FRIENDSHIP

Chapter 2: FRIENDSHIP
The Untold Story of the Equestrian Civil War

Twilight Sparkle slowly walked into the room in Canterlot Castle that she and Spike were sharing. Deep in thought, she sat down near the door and mulled over all the things she had heard in Royal Council.

So deep in thought she was that when the door opened with a slight creak, she did not even notice until Spike poked her in the leg, yelling “Twilight!”

“Huh?” she started, snapping out of the trance.

“I said, how was the meeting?” repeated Spike, showing a bit of annoyance.

“Oh, fine. Just fine.” replied Twilight. “We’ll stay for the ceremony later this evening, and that will be it. We leave tomorrow.”

“Refresh me again, what’s with this ceremony you keep talking about?”

“Oh,” said Twilight with a slight blush, “it’s nothing really. Apparently, the ponies want to honor me for my clash against Tirek. They seem to be falling all over themselves to shake my hoof, ask that I attend whatever function they are planning, anything. They’re even calling my fight the ‘Great Battle of the Everfree Forest!’ It’s absurd!”

Spike snickered slightly. “Didn’t you say you wanted the fame?”

Twilight paused, then said, “Well...yeah, I did. But this is out of hoof! I didn’t even win! It was a stalemate!”

“No, not exactly...in the end, Tirek was still imprisoned.”

Twilight, as caught up as she was in her feelings, was shaken back to reality by Spike’s logic. She hesitated for a long moment, then said, “Maybe so, but I had the backing of my friends, also. Why aren’t they being honored, with me?”

Spike opened his mouth to reply, but did not get the chance, for at that moment, the door banged open and in charged five other ponies. Twilight instantly recognized them, for she would recognize her five best friends anywhere.

“Girls!” she exclaimed, jumping up. Before she could get another word in, she was smothered in a group hug.

As they slowly deattached, Twilight looked ruefully at Spike and said, “I guess that answers my question.”

He simply nodded.

“So, what’s up?” asked Pinkie. “How did the council go?”

Twilight shifted slightly in place, then said, “Well, it was...rather boring.”

“Anythin’ interesting?” Applejack asked.

Again, Twilight hesitated briefly before replying, “No, not much. ”

Twilight glanced over at Rainbow Dash, just in time to catch a look of doubt that crossed her face. However, it vanished so quickly Twilight was left wondering whether or not she had actually seen it.

“Anyways,” Twilight said, hoping to quickly change the subject, “the ceremony is in three hours. Rarity, can I assume that you are prepared?”

“Of course! I was up half the night making last-minute adjustments to our old gala dresses. They’re at the room Applejack and I are sharing. Maybe we should check them?”

“You go,” Twilight said. “I’m certain that anything you made will be wonderful.”

Rarity flashed Twilight a smile, then left with Applejack.

“Now, there’s only a few hours left until the ceremony. You girls really should get settled in, so we can get ready.”

All of the remaining ponies muttered their assent and dispersed. All except for one, though.

“Rainbow, what are you doing here? You should be moving.”

Rainbow shook her head, saying “You want to tell me why you lied about what happened at the council?”

Slightly shocked, but not completely off-guard, Twilight blinked a few times, then said, “Why do you think I did?”

“Please,” she snorted. “I know you well enough to know when you lying. You never were any good at it.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, realizing that Dash was right, and also realizing that she would not back down until she told her the truth. “Okay. You got me. Before I tell you, though, do you think the others know?”

Again, Rainbow snorted and said, “Without a doubt. But they are much less willing to confront you than me.”

“True,” Twilight said. “Well, at the council...I fear for the future. Many agendas are being pushed there. If I’m right...Equestria is about to face one of its greatest threats: itself.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened slightly at her words, then shook her head slightly, saying “Are you sure you aren’t over-exaggerating? After all, this is Equestria, ya know? Land of harmony and peace and all that good stuff?”

Twilight hesitated, then smiled slightly. “Maybe I am being overly dramatic,” she admitted. “I...I don’t know, though.”

Rainbow patted her back gently. “Just remember, we’ve got your back.” In a more pointed tone, she added, “You shouldn’t be afraid to share details with us. After all, you do draw your power from us, Princess of Friendship.”

Twilight giggled, then said, “Alright. From now on, I will be completely open with you girls. Deal?”

“Done,” said Dash. “Now, I think you, Princess, need to get ready. You are the guest of honor, after all.”

“Oh, stop that!” Twilight said. “The battle was a team effort, after all.”

“Maybe the final victory, but the core of the fighting was done by you,” Rainbow countered. “You were almost as awesome as me out there!”

“Almost?!?” Twilight replied. “I was the first that was able to resist him! You weren’t! And the battle destroyed half of the Everfree Forest! Teams from Ponyville are still repairing the damage! How is that not awesome?”

“I didn’t say that it wasn’t awesome, just that it wasn’t as awesome as me.”

At this Twilight throw up her hooves, tired of sparring with Rainbow. “Fine, whatever!” she yelled.

Rainbow snickered. “And so I once again claim victory,” she muttered, just quiet enough to slip under Twilight’s hearing. She quickly bade Twilight good-bye and left. Blinking in the harsh sun, she started back to her room when she caught a glimpse of...something.

“What...? “ Turning back, she yelled, “Hey, Twilight?”

“Yeah?” came the response.

“Was an edict passed in the council?”

At this, there were a few muffled bangs, and the door opened. “What?” said a rather surprised looking Twilight. “No. Aside from a slight decrease in tariffs for precious gems to and from Equestria, nothing.”

“Well, then why is there a huge crowd assembled?”

At hearing this, Twilight relaxed. “They may just be assembling for the ceremony.”

“Are you sure? How many adoring fans do you think would be carrying signs that read, ‘Down with the tyranny!’?”

“What?!? That can’t be right!” exclaimed Princess Twilight, thinking about Celestia’s militarization proposition. “That proposition was shot down. She couldn’t implement it…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I see them as clear as day. Whether you shot down her proposition or not, somepony did something, and the ponies of Canterlot don’t like it.”

Chapter 3: POWER

Chapter 3: POWER
The Untold Story of the Equestrian Civil War

Twilight flew over the mass of ponies, Rainbow following her closely. Looking over the mob, Twilight quickly picked Princess Celestia out of the crowd. Near her stood Princess Luna, and from what Twilight could see, saying that Luna was angry would be the understatement of the century. Celestia, of course, had her normal look of complete tranquility.

Twilight quickly landed beside Celestia, unsure of how to proceed. Before she could say anything, Princess Celestia greeted her by saying, “Hello, Twilight.”

Cautiously, Twilight stepped forward and said, “Hello, Princess. If you will pardon me, what in the name of all things under your bright, ever-warm sun is going on here?!?!?!” Having said that, she took several deep breathes, and added “Sorry,” in a small voice.

With a half-amused, half-irritated smile, Celestia replied, “Well, this is slightly awkward. Princess Twilight, I am sorry to say that I have done what has to be done.”

“W-what - precisely - does that mean?”

“It means,” replied Princess Luna, “that my dear sister has upstarted the established Equestrian Constitution and taken all of the carefully distributed power into her own hooves.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped so far that she almost felt it hit her hooves. Quickly shutting her mouth, the young Princess looked up to her former mentor and said, in a shaking voice, “You...you passed your militarization bill, didn’t you?”

Celestia nodded, saying, “I did what I had to. This bill will benefit Equestria far more than it will harm it.”

Twilight replied, saying, “Princess, you know as well as I do that Equestria has a constitution that limits your ability to do things like pass laws. You can’t just up and pass such a massive bill like this without the approval of your fellow Princesses! Forgive me for saying this, but, in one decisive move, you just nullified all of Equestria’s constitution!”

“Yes, I did,” said Princess Celestia. “And you know what? If I had to choose between protecting that old, musty document and protecting the huge, diverse nation that Equestria has become, I would make the same decision all over again.”

Here, Princess Luna came up to stand beside Twilight, facing her elder sister. “Tia, please, back down. Rescind this proposition. Together, we can figure this out. Please!”

Celestia hesitated for a long moment, and it looked like she might give in. But then her eyes firmed up. “I am sorry, dear sister, but I can’t do that. I can not afford to appear weak in front of the ponies of Equestria.”

Luna snorted angrily. “If admit you made a mistake, that’s not showing weakness! It wisdom, and courage, and ponies will recognize you for it! You’re always like this, Tia! Even a thousand years ago, you simply refused to see the fact that you are not a goddess. You make mistakes.”

Twilight could see that Luna was starting to tick Celestia off. The early stages of a dark scowl were forming on her face, and she was breathing slightly heavier, as if to forcefully calm herself down.

“I’m sorry, sister, that it had to come to this,” went on Luna, “but I have no choice. The Equestrian Constitution is quite clear on this matter. If a Princess oversteps her bounds, it is my duty to inform her as such. If she fails to retract the trespassing action, I am left with but one option: I must immediately brand her a traitor and remove her from power. So I officially ask you, Princess Celestia, to retract this edict.”

At this, Princess Twilight blinked a few times. She, of course, knew of the passage in question that Princess Luna was referencing. However, the title of traitor and the immediate and permanent removal from power was reserved for Princesses that were either blatantly placing their own interests over the nation’s or an open and undeniable threat to the same. Rather, it seemed to Twilight that Celestia’s actions fell more neatly into the category of one who was undermining the other Princess’s power, with was punished by suspension and immediate arrest, until such time the Princess in question could be tried for her actions.

Suspicions starting to grow, she backed off a few steps, and whispered to Rainbow Dash “Quickly. Clear the square, and gather the others. I’m calling the first emergency meeting of the Council of Harmony. We will meet immediately after I’m done talking with the Princesses.”

Rainbow nodded, and took to the skies. If the other Princesses noticed the exchange, they gave no sign of it, instead glaring into each other eyes. Quietly, Twilight cast a hooful of spells, meant to stop other ponies from hearing what was happening between the two Princesses. She reasoned (correctly, of course) that a dispute of this magnitude might cause ponies to panic. The citizens of Equestria were not known for being the most calm, rational beings out there.

Good thing too, for Celestia said, soon after the spells were in place, “I’m afraid I can’t back down. I did what was best for Equestria, and I stand by my decision.”

Luna snorted angrily, then shot back, “Fine. I didn’t want to do this, but as of this moment, you are stripped of all of your power. Also-”

“Stop!” yelled Twilight. Surprised, Luna stopped speaking. “Luna, you’re right. Celestia has overstepped the bounds set by the Constitution. However, the punishment you are giving is too harsh. The Constitution does not allow for you to strip her of power and brand her a traitor! With all due respect, Luna, I will take it from here.” Here, Twilight turned to Celestia and said, slightly nervously, “Princess Celestia, you have overstepped your authority and undermined the power of your fellow Princesses. What do you say in response?”

Celestia let a small smirk though her mask of tranquility and said, “Oh, Twilight. Brave talk, but I’m afraid that be you and me know that it’s just that: Talk. You and I both know that you will not actually arrest me.”

Twilight blinked twice. Princess Celestia was right, of course. How could Twilight arrest her mentor? Plus, she had only done what she thought was best for Equestria. Maybe she did take drastic measures. Was that so bad?

She shook her head, vigorously. Focus, now, Twilight. Mentor or no, Princess Celestia has broken the law. Now, you must dispense the necessary justice. Taking a deep breath, Twilight opened her mouth and said, “No, Princess. Maybe I won’t. However, I’m pretty sure that if I called them over-” she pointed to the nearby Royal Guard “-and explained the situation to them, they would arrest you. After all, their first allegiance is to Equestria as a nation, not to any one Princess.”

If Twilight didn’t know better, she would say that Princess Celestia was dumbstruck. She blinked two or three times, then said, “Well. That is interesting. Unfortunately, I do not intend to spend the next six months in a jail cell. So, how about this...compromise? I will retract this bill if and only if you two give me your solemn word that we will consider some alternate to my proposition. I don’t want to upstart the Constitution, but I also don’t want to see Equestria and the citizens fall to some foreign power.” As she ended her proposal, Twilight could swear that she almost had tears in her eyes.

Which is impossible. Right?

Twilight nodded, saying “As much as I disagree with your methods, you’re right. Maybe we just needed a reality check.” Luna nodded, slightly absentmindedly.

“Now, I need to inform the Council of Harmony what has happened here,” Twilight recalled. “How about we meet back in the palace in an hour?”

“Agreed.”

“Twilight, what the hay is going on?” Applejack asked as the Alicorn burst into the hastily-assembled meeting room the Council had commandeered. The owner wasn’t too happy, but a quick visit by Princess Twilight, the great national hero she was, sorted him out.

“I must ask the same,” added Rarity. “Rainbow just nearly broke into the room, claiming that she was acting under your orders. She tore me away from my dresses! You understand that I need to work on them, right?!?”

“Oh, I hope everything is alright,” whispered Fluttershy.

Twilight took a couple deep breaths, then said, “Well, I suppose now is as good of a time as ever. As Princess of Friendship, I call this emergency meeting into order.”

“Okay, okay, that’s all good,” said Rainbow. “Now that you’ve gotten all the egghead talk out of the way, will you SPILL IT ALREADY?” The others nodded their agreement, Pinkie even sitting still with anticipation.

Twilight took another steadying breath, then said, in a voice that sounded as if it should be saved for pronunciations of doom, “Girls, there has been an attempted coup of the Equestrian Constitution.”

Each of her five friends took the news with differing levels of shock. Rarity let out her signature gasp, Fluttershy whimpered and started to curl up into a ball, Pinkie simply looked confused. Meanwhile, Applejack and Rainbow Dash both got rather combative looks on their faces.

“Who did it, huh? Who’s flank do I need to kick in?” asked Rainbow, putting up her front hooves.

“None other than Princess Celestia herself,” replied Twilight, smirking slightly as the pegasus abruptly sat down, struck dumb by the revelation. Not that she was the only one.

“Ah, you’re serious, right?” asked Applejack.

“Deadly,” replied Twilight. She then sighed and said, “Look, I didn’t tell you the whole truth about what happened at the council…”

And so she told them everything, like she should have done in the first place, going over Celestia’s bill, the implications of it, how the rest of the council reacted to it, and Celestia’s attempt to enforce it, despite the protests. As she spoke, she took careful note of her friend’s reactions, trying to gauge their opinions. As she explained how expanded the military would become, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie both looked thoughtful, but supportive of the idea. By contrast, Rarity and Applejack both had suspicion on their faces, as if the puzzle was not complete yet. As Twilight explained how much taxes would have to be raised, both Rarity and Applejack had their looks of caution get replaced by heavy scowls. Fluttershy and Pinkie looked unfazed, though.

As Twilight ended her speech, Rainbow Dash shook her head, saying, “You know, I barely had any idea of what you were saying there. Whatever you meant, though, I know that we stand beside you.”

All of the other ponies nodded...but with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

Chapter 5: PROLEGOMENON

Chapter 5: PROLEGOMENON
The Untold Story of the Equestrian Civil War

“Take me to them,” said Twilight, moving to follow the guard.

She followed him, blinking as she emerged into the harsh light. Dimly, she heard the rest of the Council following her.

As the seven ponies walked in the streets of Canterlot, Twilight became aware that a few of the ponies they walked past wore bands on their front left foreleg. Some ponies wore one that was midnight blue, and others wore a pale gold. Call her crazy, but Twilight started to feel a growing sense of dread.

“Quickly now,” she said, hastening her step. The other six matched her pace, and soon they had arrived at town square, where a vast crowd had assembled. Almost everypony had one of the different types of band on their foreleg. The gold and blue were fairly evenly distributed.

Up on an elevated platform, the two Princesses were again facing each other, glaring into each other eyes. The crowd alternated between murmuring, and jeering as the Princesses spoke.

At the arrival of Princess Twilight and her friends, a hushed and expectant silence quickly fell over the square. Twilight ignored the ponies watching her and instead ran straight for the two up on the platform.

“What is going on here?” she asked, for what must have been the third or fourth time today. “Weren’t you two under arrest? What happened to Princess Cadance?”

Both of the Princesses ignored her. At this, Twilight felt a hot band of anger start to heat up in her chest, and she exploded: “Whatever is going on here, both of you better stop acting like foals that are rebelling against their mother!”

“You don’t understand, Twilight,” said Luna. “There is no joke, no game here.”

“Luna, I am sick and tired of your attempts to sow dissent in Equestria,” said Celestia. “I have been more than accommodating, I have been more than polite. And this, this...New Lunar Republic? Is this how you repay me? Every single day, I put up with and deflect nobles that want to punish you for what they call treason. I have spent months smoothing things over with the press and reassuring them that I am not making a mistake by allowing you to re-take power. And you turn around and stab me in the back with this.” The ponies wearing gold cheered at this.

“Stab you in the back?!?” replied Luna, indignant. “Perhaps, but only because of your grievous abuses in politics and disregard for carefully allocated powers within Equestrian government. Equestria was never meant to be a monarchal principality! At yet, the past thousand or so years, you controlled all the political power alone in Equestria.”

“I had to! You’ve seen what the nobles are like. If I allowed ponies like Blueblood to have any political power, the entire nation would have unraveled at the seams!”

“And I understand that. Really, I do. But after I was restored the throne, clearly you saw that your grasp on power was no longer necessary!”

“No. I had to make sure that the Nightmare no longer possessed you.”

“And it is clear. The Nightmare is gone, sister!” Here, Luna’s voice hardened, and Twilight thought she heard an edge of paranoia edge into her voice. “But no, what you said is not true. You know as well as I do that the Nightmare is gone. However, you seek to expand your own power with this fear mongering and political maneuvering.”

“That’s absurd!”

“All those years ago, I rebelled for traditional values,” said Luna, more to herself than anypony around her. “The Nightmare told me that the fabric of our moral society was under attack, and I believed it. Moralism, traditionalism, reactionary ideologies...these were what I raised my flag for.”

“But the Nightmare was wrong. I needed not concern myself with reactionism, for it is foolish and unenlightened! Rather, we must always look out for the ponies overlooked by the system. We must give everypony a voice in politics, great and small, earth pony to pegasus to unicorn. We must adopt the ideology of liberalism, and bring power to the common pony through a republic! For this is the only way we can insure that a government truly maintains harmony: by holding the government accountable to the governed, and insuring that the governing body is of, by, and for the ponies of Equestria!”

“Bah!” spat Celestia, her cool diplomatic mask now well and truly destroyed. “What an absurd idea! While this ‘republic’ idea sounds pretty enough when dressed up like that, let us not mistake this fool’s idea for what it really is: an attack on the moral ideas and traditions of Equestria! I have guided Equestria to victory over its rivals for over thirteen hundred years; does anypony forget the overthrow of Discord? Or the triumph in the War of the Bloodied Crystals? The solar victory in the Lunar Rebellion? What about the bloodless victory in the Griffonian Wars? Even when I was not fighting on the frontlines myself, I still organized the recent triumphs of harmony against the Nightmare, Discord for a second time, and in the Crystal Empire, again! I was the one who came up with the plan to defeat Tirek! All of these, triumphs I designed!”

“Equestria owes its very existence to me and my plans. If it wasn’t for me, the entire nation would have been conquered a dozen times over by now! We must return to the time when the sovereign was able to decide what was best for Equestria. And I am the sovereign! I am the Sun! I bring life to all of the world!!! I AM THE MOST FIT TO RULE!!!”

By the end, Celestia had reached the Royal Canterlot Voice, which echoed off walls and was heard throughout the city. She drew breath to continue, but before she could, she was cut off by Twilight:

“Do you two hear yourselves? It’s insane! I’m listening to two rambling madponies! Both of you are unfit to rule Equestria!”

She paused for a second, considering her options as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, she could only come to one conclusion.

“Guards! Arrest Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!”

Author's Note

I LIVE!!!!
Sorry that this is so short. I just felt so guilty that I hadn't updated in a while that I wanted to give you guys an update on what is to come.

Prolegomenon: noun, plural. A preliminary discussion.
Not the best title name, but whatever.

Chapter 6: THE THIRD WAY

Chapter 6: THE THIRD WAY
The Untold Story of the Equestrian Civil War

“Guards! Arrest Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!”

Many years from now, historians, attempting form a definitive historical narrative of the events of 1005 CYP, would never cease to argue over the details over what exactly happened next. They would agree that Twilight’s order ignited heated passions, nationalism, loyalty, and the like, but could never understand precisely who attacked first, the motives, and related.

Luckily, this is no history book.

As Twilight’s order rang out, the guard that brought her to the square moved to obey the command, along with about a half dozen other soldiers. But something happened that caught the guards loyal to Twilight did not expect.

A yell emerged from a difficult-to-see source. The pony rose up onto her hind legs and yelled: “Down with the tyranny! Hail Princess Luna! Hail the New Lunar Re-ack!”

A gold-bearing pony standing near her had cuffed her over the head, and she went down.

With that, the ponies wearing blue let out an outraged cry and surged forward, robbed of all logic and reason by inflamed passion. They clashed with the crowd of gold-bearing ponies, and hoof-fights quickly broke out.

The Equestrian Civil War had begun.

As fighting broke out, the Guards loyal to Twilight looked to her with confusion. Surely she did not want them to attack ponies of Equestria!

And of course, she didn’t. But to be fair, the young Princess was still trying to understand what precisely had happened. All she had done was taken measures required under the Equestrian Constitution, for pony’s sake!

“Guard, get this crowd under control,” she ordered. “But do not hurt them, or I swear to the Sun and Moon that I will have pony responsible dishonorably discharged from the Royal Guard!”

Their orders received, the ponies moved forward to dispel what could only be described as a riot.

A riot. That is a term I never thought I would use to describe a protest in Equestria.

Whatever term she used, however, she could not deny that the ponies of Equestria were so inflamed by anger and loyalty that they had seemed to have abandoned their calmer, gentler side. It was disturbing, really.

The Guard slowly started to push back the fighting ponies, using the blunt side of their spears to create space between themselves and the civilians. Slowly, the crowd’s energy was spent as the Royal Guard, disciplined that they were, had formed a solid wall between the belligerent ponies.

As Twilight watched this, she slowly felt the tension that had formed in her chest dissipate.

Of course, then all hell broke loose.

Unbeknownst to Twilight and her loyal Guardponies, two small groups of Royal Guards, each numbering about five strong, had mustered in an adjacent street. What made these guards different from the ones Twilight commanded, however, was the fact that one group carried gold bands on their forelegs, while the other wore blue.

As the crowd was slowly subdued, these other Guardponies slowly creeped into the square. Using the chaos to blend in, they slowly approached the Princesses.

By the time the new arrivals had come within two meters of the Princesses, Twilight finally noticed the fact that these members of the Guards were not in ranks. Couple that with the observation that they wore those colored bands, and she quickly put two and two together.

“Wait- Guard, STOP THEM!” she ordered, verging on panic. She also charged up her horn, preparing to knock back the traitors.

Whirling around, the loyal Guard broke ranks and left the angry mob of ponies to do as they wished. Which meant, of course, that they surged forward again.

Upon hearing that they were discovered, the traitorous Guard abandoned any attempt at stealth and ran forward, no doubt to free the Princesses they supported.

When she saw this, Twilight used the spell that she had prepared. There was a flash of lathander light, and all of the ponies near her, loyal and otherwise, were knocked back a meter or so.

This allowed the loyalists to catch up, and hoof-to-hoof combat quickly broke out. Twilight’s guards fought both Lunar and Solar supporters, but what was curious was the fact that both of the traitorous factions didn’t refrain from fighting each other. Rather, the Luna supporters fought both loyalists and Celestia supporters, and visa versa.

Twilight ran forward to join the fight, planning to use her magic to knock down the traitors. However, something stopped her dead in her tracks.

One of her soldiers let out a terrible scream, and then collapsed. The entire fight ground to a halt as everypony turned to the soldier, and tried to see what had caused such a scream.

The soldier lay on the ground, twitching. Blood, bright red and...well, bloody, was everywhere. Even more obvious, however, was the spear sticking out of his chest.

Upon seeing this, everypony in the square recoiled. Twilight herself barely refrained from throwing up, and some of the ponies in the crowd lacked the same amount of self-discipline.

She rushed forward and, despite her uneasiness, forced herself to examine the wound. It was incredibly deep, pricing at least a half meter into the poor pony’s chest. She could tell that there was no hope; the wound was far too large and deep. By her estimate, at least one lung and the heart of the pony had been damaged beyond repair, and the life was leaving his limbs.

Magic could only do so much.

And then the moment snapped.

The ponies loyal to Twilight let out a deafening cry of anger and pain, seeking vengeance for the fallen pony. They surged forward, and the traitorous Guard broke ranks and ran. But the did not run away, rather, they charged forward and each respectively went to the Princess that they supported. There, while dodging and parrying attacks from the Guards loyal to Twilight, they escorted their lieges out of the square, no doubt to regroup and plot their next move.

Angry and saddened, Twilight ordered her Guard: “Let them go.”

“But, Princess-”

Fighting back tears, Twilight yelled, “Let them go!” Still crouched over the corpse of the fallen pony, she said “I don’t want any more blood split today.”

“Princess, with all due respect, if we let them go, they will only come back, and they will be stronger!”

“Let them,” she said, now well and truly sobbing. “What does it matter?”

The pony said nothing, but merely bowed his head.

Twilight sat in silence for several beats, morning the dead pony. Quite frankly, she was still in shock that this happened.

Curse them, she thought to herself. This is their fault. Celestia and Luna brought this upon us.

Slowly starting to re-gather her thoughts, Twilight closed her eyes briefly, counted to ten then opened them again. After completing this exercise, she asked in a shaky, but passable voice, “Does anypony know this brave soldier’s name?”

All of Twilight’s guard indicted a negative.

But the crowd, which had been still and silent up to this point, opened up to reveal a single mare, slowly walking up to join Twilight. The mare was a earth pony, middle-aged, more or less average height, and had a purple coat with a dark grey mane and tail. Most prominently, she wore a gold band on her front left leg.

The mare walked forward as if she approached her doom. Every step was slow and painful, while her face was marred with dread. She took one look at the body, and whatever mental defense she had built up against her sadness broke down instantly. The pony promptly collapsed and started bawling like a little filly.

Deciding to ignore the gold band, Twilight stepped forward, put a hoof on her shoulder, and tried not to start crying herself. Hoping that she sounded at least slightly reassuring, Twilight asked in a semi-soothing voice, “You knew him.”

In between sobs, the violet pony nodded and said, “Y-yes, Your Highness. He was my colt.”

Twilight felt as if she was just sucker-punched. Of course, it made perfect sense, but the logic of the situation did not stop Twilight from feeling a redoubling of her grief.

“...I wish there was something I could do,” said Twilight, lamely. Even in her own mind, it sounded pathetic. “Surely I could have done something else different…something better-”

But the mare shook her head. “No, no. ...Princess, this-this is all my fault. I am the one...I supported Celestia. How could I? I brought this upon myself the second I put on this” - here, she violently ripped of the gold band - “This stupid band!” She threw it to the side. “And now, my son is here, dead, and I, his mother, killed him as if I stabbed him myself!” It was too much for her, and she quickly broke back down in tears.

Suddenly, however, her tears stopped, and she looked to Twilight with a fervor that somewhat scared the young Alicorn. “You-you can stop this, Princess! You must stop this!”

“What? I-”

“Princess Twilight, I want to help you restore harmony to Equestria. And you must!”

“Me? Restore harmony? But there is only one of me against the inflamed passions of the entire city, possibly the nation!”

There was a long pause, then the Guard that had led Twilight to the square said, “With all due respect, Your Majesty, that’s not entirely true.” He then laid the spear he carried horizontally in front of him, knelt, and said, “I pledge my spear to Princess Twilight Sparkle. I renounce my former allegiance to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. I renounce my position on the Day Guard, and I pledge to serve Princess Twilight Sparkle, the true Defender of Harmony, in any way she sees fit. I pledge that I will not rest until harmony is restored to the land of Equestria.”

He was not the only one to do. All of the other loyal Guards followed suit.

Twilight took an involuntary step back, for she was not exactly confident in her ability to lead a fraction of ponies in the complicated political crises Equestria now faced. Taking a look around, she saw that at least a quarter of the ponies in the assembled crowd near her were taking off the bands that they had donned, and looked to Twilight with the same look that they had usually reserved for Celestia, before this mess.

“...I-I suppose I accept,” said Twilight, trying not to panic too much. “If I alone lead you now, then my first order is to insure that this pony,” she indicated the fallen warrior, “is buried with full honors. He died loyal to the principles of harmony. Let us make sure he is honored as such.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Looking around, Twilight felt as if something was out of place, but she could quite put her hoof on it.

Discarding the feeling for now, she spoke to the pony that had led her to the square. “You said that Princess Cadance had gone missing?”

“Yes.”

“Well, then where did she go? She was in the same room as Celestia...and...Luna…”

“Huh?”

Is it possible? “Guard, is it possible that the traitors took Princess Cadance captive?

“No...why would they? What would they stand to gain?” The pony didn’t sound certain, though.

“I don’t know, but we cannot ignore the possibility,” replied Twilight. She hesitated for a moment before continuing.

“If that is the case, then we must deal with it as it comes up. For now, however, we need to regroup and figure out what precisely is going on with the other two Princesses.” Twilight took a deep breath. “Also, I cannot believe that you seven are the only Royal Guards to take the side of harmony. Do not draw attention to yourselves, but see if there are other ponies that will join us.”

“If a pony wants to know the name of our faction, what do I say? I mean, Celestia has the Solar Empire, and Luna calls her following the New Lunar Republic. We don’t even have a name, never mind one with such a good ring.”

“Tell them…” Here, Twilight’s voice and mind trailed off as she considered the options. After a moment, she had found it.

“Tell them that you serve Equestria United.”

Author's Note

Wow, the past few days have been...productive. :pinkiehappy:

Can't promise this speed in the future, but consider this my apology for the slow speed of the last update.

Chapter 7: PLOTS

Chapter 7: PLOTS
The Untold Story of the Equestrian Civil War

One day later...

While Twilight had founded Equestria United in the square of Canterlot, not all or even many ponies outside town square even knew that the new faction even existed, much less the ideas upon which it was founded.

Princess Celestia knew this, and was also acutely aware of the potential impacts such a faction could have on the Solar Empire. Surely, the peace-loving ponies of Equestria would flock to the banner of a faction proclaiming to be the reasonable, peaceful ones who only wanted to discuss their differences. And she had no illusions about her followers, as well. While she did have a few fanatics, ponies who would fight for her at any cost and any time and against anypony, the vast majority of the Empire would, without a doubt, defect if word of Equestria United spread.

This is a tactical weakness, she thought. One that must be remedied as soon as possible.

She would have been interested, but not surprised, if she heard that her sister was thinking similar thoughts.

“Any word?” asked Princess Twilight.

“I have managed to recruit another dozen and a half of the Royal Guard to your banner, Your Highness.”

“Our banner,” corrected Twilight.

“Pardon?”

“We are Equestria United, not the Principality of Twilight. This faction is not mine, rather it belongs to us all.”

The guard - same to the one that made Twilight privy to this whole crises and brought her to the fateful incident in the square - hesitated for a moment, then bowed his head. “As you say.”

“Continue with your report.”

“As I was saying, I have managed to recruit eighteen members of the Royal Guard. As for the general population, the city of Canterlot seems to mostly favor the Solar Empire.”

“Makes sense, I suppose. Canterlot is where Celestia has ruled for, as far as anypony is concerned, time immemorial. It’s also the home of the aristocracy, which would have the most to gain from an absolute, imperial government.”

“Attempts to recruit local ponies have met with mixed results. A sizeable portion of the population have been clammering over themselves to join us, while other portions of the citizenry, particularly the followers of the New Lunar Republic, are more skeptical.”

“Again, logical,” observed Twilight. “Common ponies do stand to gain political power and other benefits from the establishment of a republic, after all.”

“Indeed. As far as we can tell, Celestia has taken sole control of Canterlot Castle. She has fortified it with at least seventy-five Guards, and shows no sign of leaving.”

“What of Luna?”

The guard grimaced. “I see Republic recruiters every now and then, but have yet to see or hear of Luna herself.”

“And of Cadance?”

The pony paused for a moment, then said, “You’re not going to like this, but...according to a squad of Celestia’s followers I eavesdropped on, she is being held in Canterlot Castle.”

Twilight groaned loudly. “And being held there by seventy-five Imperial guards, not to mention Celestia herself.”

“Yep.”

“Very well. And…”

“Your friends?” asked the pony. It was about a half hour after the first conflict that Twilight had finally noticed that her friends had gone missing, and she asked the guard to attempt to find them.

“Yes. What of them?”

“I saw Rainbow Dash walking the streets, also attempting to recruit ponies to Equestria United, so she is on our side.”

“Excellent. And the others?”

The guard stared into Twilight’s eyes for a moment, then said, “I am sorry...According to my intelligence, Applejack and Rarity have defected to the New Lunar Republic.”

Twilight felt tears brewing in her eyes.

“Also, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were spotted accompanying Celestia as she retreated to Canterlot Ca-”

“Stop,” said Twilight, turning away. It was too much for her to bear.

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

Twilight looked through the window of the building she was in and out to the sky, and stared in the general direction of Celestia’s Sun. Of course, she was not foolish enough to look directly at it.

After a moment of quiet reflection, she lowered her gaze, and put thoughts of her friends outside her mind. “Our priority,” she said, “should be the rescue Princess Cadance. We must have the backing of the Crystal Empire to attempt to defuse this crisis before it spirals out of control. And the last thing we need is somepony sympathetic to the Solar Empire or Lunar Republic to be installed on the Crystalline Throne. That will be the death of Equestria United.”

“But, Your Highness, the Princess is imprisoned in Canterlot Castle, which is protected by seventy-five guards. We have barely twenty-five trained followers as it is. Not to mention the fact that if we openly move against the Castle, the Lunar Republic will surely see what you are trying to do, and take advantage of it.”

“I am aware of the strategic situation,” replied Twilight, scratching her chin with a hoof. “But nevertheless, it is vital that we stage this rescue.”

“...If you are intent on this, Princess, then I will go scout Canterlot Castle. Perhaps there is a weakness we can exploit.”

“Do it,” ordered Twilight.

The guard turned around and started to walk away.

“Wait!” called Twilight, for a thought had just struck her.

He stopped.

“I feel embarrassed for never asking this earlier, but...what is your name?” asked Twilight, ashamed that she had never asked the name of what was probably one of her most loyal followers.

“I am Steel Shield,” replied the guard. After a few moments of hesitation, he added, “And I am honored to be in your service, Your Highness.”

Twilight Sparkle hesitated, not entirely certain how to respond to that. After a moment, she said “And I am honored, to have ponies such as you following me.”

“Princess Twilight!” said the guard outside the building that they had commandeered. In a irony of fate that Twilight did not fail to notice, it was the same building that the Council of Harmony had held its first - and last - emergency meeting. Turns out that the owner was a fan of the idea of Equestria United.

“Yes?” replied Twilight opening the door. The question was redundant, however, for it was answered as soon as she saw the cyan-coated pony accompanying the guard.

Without a word, Twilight jumped forward and tackled Rainbow Dash with a hug, bringing the surprised pegasus to the ground.

“Ah! ...Good to see you too, Twilight,” said Rainbow, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Also feeling slightly embarrassed, Twilight slowly stood up, allowing the pegasus to do the same.

“Dang, Twilight. It’s almost like you haven’t seen me for weeks.”

Twilight grinned somewhat sheepishly and said, “It almost feels that way.”

Rainbow grinned in a awkward way. “So, where are the girls? We need to plan our next move. From what I can tell, we need to move quickly if we are to stop Celestia and Luna!”

“You...you haven’t heard?” asked Twilight, feeling stricken.

“Haven’t heard what?” asked Rainbow Dash, eyes narrowing.

“...Well,” said Twilight, unsure of how to break the news. She stood for a moment, awkwardly, until the guard decided to step in.

“What my liege is trying to say,” said the guard, with sympathy in his voice, “is that the ponies known as Applejack and Rarity have defected to the New Lunar Republic, while the ponies known as Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie have joined Celestia in the Solar Empire.”

Rainbow Dash hardened at the words, and looked Twilight flat in the eye. “Is it true?” she asked, though deep in her heart of hearts, she already knew the answer.

Barely holding back tears, Twilight nodded confirmation.

“Damn them!” Rainbow exploded. Heaving deeply, she slowly said, “Well, if that is their stance, they can expect me to no long count them as friends.”

Hearing this broke Twilight’s heart, but Rainbow’s mind was made. And honestly, she could understand the feeling of betrayal.

Taking a deep breath, Twilight said, “Regardless of any betrayal, we still have a country to save from anarchy. And things only get worse from here. Come in, I’ll tell you about the situation.”

Leading the way in, Twilight closed the door behind Dash.

“...and, finally, we believe that Cadance is being held in the Castle. I have decided that our next move is to liberate her, and hopefully damage Celestia’s center of operations.”

Rainbow Dash sat still for a few minutes, then shifted position.

“Canterlot Castle is heavily fortified,” she pointed out. “I’m not saying we can’t them ‘em, but we shouldn’t just attack head-on.”

“Indeed,” agreed Twilight. “I have a pony out, scouting Canterlot Castle now. Hopefully, he can find some weakness.”

There was a knock, followed by the call “Your Highness! I think I found something!”

“Speak of Discord, and he will come,” muttered Twilight. “Come in!” she called.

The door opened, and Steel Shield entered. Closing the door behind him, he said, “I have an answer to our problem.”

“Excellent! Let’s hear it.”

Steel hesitated for a moment, then said, “You’re not going to like it, Princess.”

“Regardless, I want to hear it.”

“Very well,” said the pony. He hesitated for a moment, then said “How do you feel about sewers?”

Author's Note

Note that when the story says Canterlot Castle, they are referring to the tower that holds the throne room, with the connected buildings.

Chapter 8: RESCUE, Part I

Chapter 8: RESCUE, Part I
The Untold Story of the Equestrian Civil War

“When we are done here, remind me to either give Steel a metal or banish him,” said Twilight, trying hard not to breath in through her mouth.

“Got it,” said Rainbow Dash in a muffled voice.

“I am inclined to favor banishment,” came the words of the guard at point.

“That’s enough, now.”

It had been a day since Steel Shield had found the weakness of Canterlot Castle. In that time, Princess Twilight had gathered a squad of six ponies, including herself, to infiltrate the castle and free Cadance. And now, Twilight was trying hard to not think about what this tunnel had recently been occupied by.

“So, if the whole ‘secrecy’ part of this plan goes south, what do we do?” asked Rainbow.

As the six ponies were grossly outnumbered, their plan relied on secrecy and surprise to liberate Cadance, with a fair helping of luck, to succeed.

“I told you already, Rainbow,” sighed Twilight. “If we are discovered, one of us has to make it to the doors to the castle, and open them. I have stationed twenty of our followers out there in case things go wrong.”

After a moment, she added as saw the end of the tunnel come into sight, “Remember, everypony, our mission is the safe rescue of Princess Cadance. Everything else is secondary.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Shh, we’re almost out.” After a minute or so, the party found themselves next to secret door.

“Good luck, ponies,” Twilight whispered, and eased the door open. Peeking her head out, she looked around.

This particular hall was empty.

“Let’s move!” exclaimed Twilight softly, and the other five ponies crawled out of the tunnel, into the castle.

“Split into pairs! Rainbow, you’re with me. If you find the Princess, get her out. Don’t worry about us, we will find our way out.”

The ponies nodded.

“Move out, then!”

As Twilight’s followers started their search, Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight.

“Alright, Twilight. Let’s do this!”

“Let’s,” said Twilight, and closed her eyes.

“Wait-what are you doing?”

“Quiet,” she ordered. “I’m trying to find Cadance’s life-force.”

“Oh.”

Twilight immersed herself in the familiar rivers of magic and cast her mental probe outwards, searching for minds of others. She found the other ponies of her squadron without any effort, but, for some reason, all the other minds in the tower where hidden from her sight.

Frowning, she expanded her search.

Then, once again, all hell broke loose.

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!!! I KNEW YOU WOULD COME!” came a powerful yell that made Twilight’s very bones vibrate. What was odd about it, however, was that is lacked a definitive source, but instead seemed to come from all around them.

“That isn’t...” started Rainbow.

“AND YOU BROUGHT SOME OF YOUR ‘FOLLOWERS’ WITH YOU. HOW CUTE,” continued the voice. There was no mistaking it.

“It is,” confirmed Twilight. “She knows! We need to move! NOW!!!”

Grabbing Rainbow in her magical grasp, she ran down the nearest available corridor.

“Dispatch as many guards as you need,” ordered Princess Celestia, while sitting majestically on her throne. “I want their little ‘raiding party’ brought before me! Now!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

“And...now as a good as a time as any. Let us see how our two...special recruits...fare against Twilight’s little friends. Bring them to me, in case our visitors break through our lines of defense.”

“Are you sure that’s wise, Your Highness? After all-”

“Just do it!”

Twilight heard the clamor of many hooves as she ran forward. Slowing down, she braced herself, quickly reviewing the hooful of combat spells she had bothered to study. Selecting a few of the non-lethal ones, she dropped Rainbow Dash onto her face, and awaited the onslaught.

A second or two later, a dozen or so Imperial guards turned the corner. Seeing her, the guards lowered their spears, and, with only a second or two worth of hesitation, they charged.

Twilight took a second to sigh, for she was hoping that the guards would not have the mental ability to attack.

Closing her eyes, she chose one of her non-lethal spells, and quickly “glanced” over the structure of the spell in her mind’s eye. Noting a mistake in the structure, she quickly amended the spell by adding an exception.

Observing that she had very little time left, Twilight quickly did what was referred to as ‘packing’ a spell, which is the final step before releasing the spell. Once that completed, she released her hold, and the spell took action.

It should be noted that the time from Twilight’s sigh to casting of her spell was just over one and a half seconds.

The spell that Twilight had composed originated right next to her fur, and raced outward in all directions. When the lavender light impacted the Imperial guards, the ponies were thrown backward like so many rag dolls. They were unconscious - but not dead - before they hit the ground.

The spell dissipated a meter or so after hitting the Imperial guards.

Twilight felt a small wave of weariness flow over her, as the spell took its toll. Shaking it off relatively fast, she looked down and smiled at Rainbow Dash, who was not rendered unconscious, thanks to the last-second exception Twilight added.

Rainbow got up slowly, and looked at the fallen guards. In a somewhat shaky voice, she said, “Heh. I could have taken ‘em.”

Twilight chucked, then ran onwards, the pegasus right behind her.

As the two ponies continued to run through the halls, they encountered several other, smaller Imperial squadrons. Most of them, Twilight knocked out with her refined combat spell she had recently used. The others, Rainbow disabled them with a few fast punches.

“Where are we?” asked the pegasus after one such scuffle. “I mean, do we even know where Cadance is? And how did Celestia even realize we were here?”

“I...I messed up,” Twilight admitted. “When I conducted my scan for Cadance, I fell into a trap laid by Celestia. She knew almost immediately.”

“This trap…” mused Rainbow.

“I didn’t get a very good look at it,” confessed Twilight. “But from what I could tell, it was an incredibly complex design. Not one that Celestia would normally have up at all times.”

“So, you got nothing on Cadance?”

“No,” she replied. “Though, I imagine that if I was Celestia, I would hold an important prisoner such as Cadance close to me, where I could keep a close eye on her.”

“So...the throne room?”

“Yep. Which is more likely than not the most heavily guarded area in this building.”

“Yipee.”

After two more skirmishes, Twilight and Rainbow found themselves in a long, wide corridor. At the end of the corridor, there stood the two doors that undoubtedly belonged to the throne room.

“Let’s move!” exclaimed Twilight, hoping against hope that Celestia was outside the room, overseeing some other part of Twilight’s raid.

Charging up her horn, Twilight then selected another spell, this one targeted at the doors to the throne room. Letting it loose, she sent a ray of lathander light at the doors.

With a loud bang, the doors flew open.

Casting another spell, Twilight used her magic to attempt to kick up dust and the like in the room, to shroud the view of any guards that may be in the throne room.

The dust, guided by the purple light distinctive to Twilight, flew up. However, after rising for only half a meter, it encountered a more powerful barrier of pale gold, which wasted no time in overpowering Twilight’s purple and forcing the dust back to the ground.

“Uh-oh,” said Twilight, as there were only two ponies that she knew of that could outright best her in that manner. She was not eager to speak with either of them.

“What?” asked Rainbow, oblivious to the contest.

“Stop!” she ordered. “We can’t-”

Too late. Within a second, the counterstrike had enveloped them, and a powerful magic pulled both of them into the room, and slammed the doors closed behind them.

“Welcome,” said Celestia, dryly. “I have been expecting you.”

“Oh,” said Rainbow. “Crap.”

Chapter 9: RESCUE, Part II

Chapter 9: RESCUE, Part II
The Untold Story of the Equestrian Civil War

“AND YOU BROUGHT SOME OF YOUR ‘FOLLOWERS’ WITH YOU. HOW CUTE.”

“Buck!” exclaimed one of Twilight’s followers, a pegasus. “Secrecy is gone. We have to break open this castle. Let’s go!”

The two ponies quickly ran in the direction of the castle doors, only to be stopped by squadron of six Imperial guards.

“Great,” said the pony, readying his spear. He had never entered any actual combat, but that was not about to stop him from trying to serve Princess Twilight.

“Well, well,” said Celestia, sitting regally on her throne. “Look what I caught.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Rainbow Dash, dismissively. “You caught us. Well done, and all that.”

While Rainbow was trading insults with Celestia, Twilight glanced around the throne room. She quickly noticed Princess Cadance, for she was tied up and under guard near Celestia.

Averting her eyes, Twilight blinked twice, refocusing on the Prin- no, she refused to think of Celestia as a true Princess of Equestria anymore. Not after all that had happened, thanks to her.

Of course, this was hardly the end of this political crises, but whatever.

Returning to the moment, Twilight took the moment to ask Celestia a question. “Why did you take Cadance prisoner? What purpose would that serve, other than to antagonize the Empire and the ponies within it? After all, you have no guarantee that in her absence, Shining Armor would be sympathetic to the ‘Solar Empire.’”

“Shining Armor? Really, are you so ignorant to the politics of the Crystal Empire?” Celestia sighed. “It wouldn’t hurt to enlighten you, I suppose. If the Princess of the Crystal Empire is indisposed, imprisoned, overthrown, dead, or otherwise unfit to rule, power is temporarily transferred to the next-of-kin of the sovereign. In this case, Shining Armor, Prince-Consort of the Empire. In the meantime, a council of the most prestigious families in the Empire deliberate on who to name the next Emperor - or Empress - of the Crystal Empire. The process is known to take months, even years. And in the meantime, the acting head of the Empire finds his power very limited.”

“And you plan to use this period of inactivity to your advantage.”

“Of course!” she smiled. “At least you have some grasp of my plans. Maybe you aren’t hopeless yet.”

“When word gets out about your actions, the ponies of the Crystal Empire will demand action!” replied Twilight. “They will not allow you to abduct their Princess!”

“Perhaps that is correct,” replied Celestia. “But you’re assuming that they will ever learn that I was the one who abducted her. Perhaps blame will be shifted onto...somepony else…”

Twilight grimaced at the implications of this.

“Of course, in order for that to work, you and your companions may never be allowed to leave.”

The fight was not going well. That was clear to all of Twilight’s supporters. For every Imperial guard they disabled, two more took his place, just around the corner.

And now they were starting to take their own set of casualties. One of them had gone down under the onslaught, and, unfortunately, the others could not afford to stay and fight over his unconscious - or maybe dead - body. Two others had been wounded, one badly enough that he could no longer fight in any meaningful way. This left only two ponies capable of fighting, again, one had taken a minor injury.

But they were making progress, at least. Slowly but surely, they advanced through the corridors of castle, fighting their way to doors of Canterlot Castle.

The question remained, however, if they could make it before they were all killed.

“Move! Move! Move!” A lull in the fighting had opened up, and two of the guards ran through. They took a left at the next intersection of doors, and saw the great doors that separated Canterlot Castle from the outside streets. With renewed hope, the two ponies charged.

Smashing the doors open, both of the ponies yelled, “Ponies of Equestria United! To arms!”

There was a battle cry, as ponies of Equestria United took up weapons that they had concealed for most of the day and ran to Canterlot Castle. The Imperial guards within the Castle were taken completely by surprise and found themselves in rout, the loyalists driving them back in fight after fight. It should be noted, however, that most of the fighting involved a lot of holding back. Neither side really wanted to kill their opponents. Not yet, at least.

That would come later.

“To the throne room!” shouted one of the guard. “Liberate Princess Cadance!”

The army of the loyalists let out a mighty cheer as they surged forward again. Shattering the tired and battle fatigued Imperial lines, they charged through the throne room doors.

As they did, Twilight quickly encased Princess Celestia in a magic-dampening spell. It would not last for long, but maybe just enough for them to get out of the room before she retaliated...

The guards with in the room were caught by surprise, and the entire room was thrown into disarray. The loyal ponies used this as cover to break Cadance’s ropes and ferried her out of the room first, in accordance with Twilight’s orders.

However, not everypony made it. As they escorted Twilight and Rainbow out, the Solar Princess broke free from the damping spell with a yell, and quickly cast three spells to stop them from escaping.

Twilight saw this, and cast several counterspells, again trying only to stall for long enough to break the line of sight between Celestia and the party. The spells allowed Twilight and Rainbow to get away, but the two ponies bring up the rear of their party were not so lucky as they were roped back into the room.

Using magic, Twilight quickly reached out with her mind to as many of her party as she could. Counting some twelve minds and herself, she called that close enough and cast a risky teleportation spell, bringing as many of her followers as she could to their headquarters, the room the Council of Harmony had had used earlier.

When the teleportation spell concluded, Twilight quickly collapsed as the spell absorbed her energy, and she past into the soothing hooves of darkness.

“Come on Twilight, you can’t sleep forever,” came the words.

Groaning, Twilight opened her eyes and looked up. Rainbow Dash was standing over her.

“How long was I asleep?”

“Almost three hours,” Rainbow replied.

“Anything happen?”

“You could say that,” she said, glancing over her shoulder.

Twilight became dimly aware of hustle around her, as ponies around her were arming themselves. She quickly sat up and asked, “What’s happening?”

“The Lunar Republic is happening…”

Author's Note

"buboniczarz added The Untold Story of the Equestrian Civil War to Ongoing amazing storys"

Wow, how flattering!

Getting back into this, so take this.

Chapter 4: DEBATES

The Untold Story of the Equestrian Civil War

Twilight threw open the door to the palace, panting slightly. Running back and forth, attempting to stop a crisis, can put a lot of strain on a pony.

The sight Twilight saw was eerily similar to the one she saw earlier the same day. Princess Celestia and Luna sat in their places around the table, each one with a rather intense look on their face, as if somepony was attempting to pry something precious away from them. Between them sat Princess Cadance, who managed to pull off looking both worried and annoyed at the same time. The tension around the table was so high, Twilight could feel waves of it pouring over her, threatening to drown her if she wasn’t careful.

There is so much power here, it would be too easy to accidentally cause a catastrophe, Twilight thought to herself, then shook her head and plastered a fake smile on her face.

“Hello, all,” she said, walking over to her spot at the table. “We are assembled to discuss potential military reforms to be made to the Principality of Equestria. I would like to call this meeting to order.”

“Before we begin,” said Celestia, “I would like to ask Princess Luna how this ended up in the streets of Canterlot.” She flourished a slightly torn and tattered poster that depicted an emblem that was colored deep blue. In the center, a crescent moon with its points turned up was prominently displayed, with a lighter shade of blue wings attached to it. In the middle of the moon, a line was drawn up to a solitary star. This poster was captioned Resist Tyranny: The New Lunar Republic.

With a falling feeling, Princess Twilight turned to Luna and raised an eyebrow. “I would like to hear that story as well,” Twilight said. New Lunar Republic? What? How much moonshine has this pony been drinking?

Luna squirmed uncomfortably, then said, “Well, I didn’t to bring this up, but, since we are showing scandals about each other, how about this one?” Here, she also pulled out a poster, this one with a gold emblem. It was somewhat similar in design to the New Lunar Republic’s, but the wings were folded in and instead of the crescent moon piece, there was a yellow sun in a red border. It was captioned Loyalty to the Solar Empire.

Princess Cadance took an expression similar to that of Twilight. That is, her jaw hit the table. “Solar Empire?!?!” she said, sputtering. “Are you two drunk?”

“I agree with Cadance,” added Twilight. “What, in all the name of all things under the sun and moon, is going on here?”

“It is clear what is going on here,” Princess Celestia said. “My dear sister here is inciting rebellion against the proper government of Equestria!”

“Me? Inciting rebellion?” shot back Luna. “Preposterous! No, what is going on here is my sister is undermining my authority! Having to share power isn’t her style, so she’s going to take it all for herself. Watch out, Twilight! She’ll be after you next!!”

Celestia, who by now had lost her mask of calm, began to yell at her younger sister. Of course, Luna simply started to yell back, and the whole council began to devolve into anarchy.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Both parties quickly shut up as Princess Twilight put down the gavel that she had quickly summoned from a nearby courtroom. “Enough!” she yelled, despite the fact that she already had their attention. “Now, let us act like grown-up ponies that lead a world superpower and at least pretend to get along, shall we?”

The Princesses didn’t acknowledge her statement, but they didn’t dismiss it, either.

“Good. Now, I never thought I would I be acting like the mother to the two near-goddesses of Equestria, but it appears there’s a first time for everything. So, let’s start from the top.”

“It appears you both have been spreading false rumors about each other,” Princess Cadance observed. When both Celestia and Luna opened their mouths, Cadance raised a hoof and said “No, don’t lie to me. I know that you didn’t do it in reaction to the other’s ‘false rumors.’ Just how stupid do you think Twilight and I are?”

Neither side responded, but rather eyed each other warily.

“Right,” said Twilight. “Clearly, something is going too far. This is absurd! What do you ponies think you are doing?” When they both opened their mouths, Twilight quickly held up a hoof. “No, don’t answer that.”

Princess Cadance spoke up again, saying “Princess Twilight, it appears to me that they are presenting a clear and immediate threat to Equestria. And through Equestria, also the Crystal Empire. I hate to suggest this, but the Equestrian Constitution is clear…”

Twilight grimaced. “I know. Right now, I’m trying to find a reason to not brand them traitors right this instant.”

“Well,” Princess Cadance said, looking off into the distance, “I’m no legal expert, but isn’t your power derived from your friends? AKA, the Council of Harmony?”

“Yes…” said Twilight, unsure of where this was going.

“Well, if that is the case, shouldn’t you consult the Council and reach a conclusion before doing anything...drastic?”

“Of course! I must consult them first!” said Twilight, hoping that the legality (or otherwise) of this decision wouldn’t come back to haunt her later. She quickly stood up to leave the hall, but stopped just as she reached the doors.

She turned to the two guards and said, “Sirs, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are under arrest, on charges of causing division amongst ponies.”

If the guards were surprised or shocked, they hid it well.

Sighing, Princess Twilight said, “Please, do not tell anypony of this except your fellow guards. Also, do not allow either Princess to leave the room, except under my authorization.”

The guards saluted firmly. Taking that as an acknowledgement, Twilight turned and ran towards the exit. As they watched the young Princess leave the building, both guards smiled slightly, and reached for banderas in their armor, which they strapped on. The right guard had a pale gold one, and the left, midnight blue.

Again throwing open the door to the Council of Harmony, Twilight instantly thought something was wrong. Both Applejack and Rarity were standing in one of the corners, not looking at Pinkie and Fluttershy, who were in the exact opposite corner and mirroring their pose. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash stood leaning against a nearby wall.

“What is going on?” asked Twilight, slightly suspicious.

Before either party could speak, Rainbow seized the initiative and said, “They’ve been debating almost the whole time you’ve been gone.”

“What about?”

“This and that and the other thing,” replied Rainbow Dash. “They keep returning to that bill you told us about, though.”

“Well, I have news. Apparently, both Celestia and Luna have been conducting smear campaigns against each other. They’re forming factions, for pony’s sake!”

This got the remainder of her friend’s attention. However, as they came back to their chairs, Twilight noticed that they didn’t seem very surprised. She raised a mental eyebrow, but shook her head and said, “These two factions are pushing each other around and spreading false rumors of each other!”

Again, her friends did not seem very surprised. Tentatively, Applejack spoke up. “We didn’t want to make you worry,” she said, “but we know.”

Here, Rarity took over. “The posters have been circling around Ponyville,” she added. “You didn’t notice because you were too busy moving into your new castle, but most of Ponyville has already picked one side or the other.”

Fluttershy and Pinkie nodded.

Twilight was shell-shocked. “How did I miss this?” she muttered. Speaking up, she said, “Well, as the Princess of Friendship, I will not allow this to happen! The line has to be drawn somewhere, and quickly, before it’s too late.”

The members of the Council looked amongst themselves, as if each member was silently weighing their own chances of success. After an uneasy moment, Applejack said, “Well, it seems to me that the best course of action is to throw our support one way o’ the other.”

Twilight blinked twice. “No,” she said. “That will not happen. I plan to ask both Princesses to disband their factions and work this out like civilized creatures. If they don’t, I will have no choice but to declare them threats to Equestria, and thus, traitors.”

All five members of the Council started at this. Quickly, before anypony else could speak, Rainbow Dash spoke up, saying, “Well, as tricky of a situation as this is, I know that my loyalties are with you, Twilight, and this circle.”

Twilight smiled, trying to convey the gratitude she felt towards the pegasus in the simple smile. It’s good to know that somepony is backing me up, she thought.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Council didn’t seem to be buying it. Applejack and Rarity looked at each other, then looked across the table at Fluttershy and Pinkie, who had mirrored their actions. Then, Applejack said, “I’m afraid that Rarity and I can’t support that.”

Rarity nodded.

Hoping against hope, Twilight turned to her two other friends.

Before she could even open her mouth, Pinkie, unusually somber, shook her head, while Fluttershy avoided Twilight’s gaze.

After a moment, Twilight said, in a hollow voice, “You all have already picked sides, haven’t you?”

None of her friends answered. They didn’t need to, though.

“Why? How has this happened?”

“Well, think about it, Twilight,” drawled Applejack. “Celestia has overextended her power one too many times. We have-”

Pinkie jumped up. “Overextended her power?” she yelled. “She’s just doing what she feels is necessary, silly! That shouldn’t be pun-”

“Doing what she feels is necessary? Doing what she thinks is necessary?!?” Rarity interjected, nearly sputtering in rage. “Maybe she should stop taking all the power for her own use and consult us citizens! Even if-”

“STOP!!!” Twilight and Rainbow Dash yelled at the same time. Both sides seemed to snap out of it and looked to Twilight.

Twilight sighed, then said, “Don’t you see what’s happening here?” She would have said more, but was cut off.

“What’s happening here isn’t important,” said Rarity. “It’s what’s happening out there that matters.”

“Yeah, the Princess is trying to protect us, and all you meanies want is to overthrow her!” said Pinkie, provoking Applejack into responding.

“No, all I want is to be asked before this kind of bill is put into motion! Do you know how hard this will be on the farm? I can barely make ends meet as it is! If twenty percent of my profits go to the government, I might be forced to shut down Sweet Apple Acres! Don’t even get me started on the inevitable crop levy!”

“Don’t forget the boutique!” added Rarity. “Materials for my dresses are far from cheap, and under this, the price will go up! It will be a huge disaster! Plus, I’ll be forced to make those dreadful uniforms! Pinkie, you’re a small business owner, too. Why don’t you see the dreadfulness of this whole thing?”

Pinkie paused for a split second, then said, “Oh, money? I’ve never had much of a problem with it. Everypony around Ponyville showers me in the stuff whenever I throw them a party. It’s great, really. Plus, the safe everypony is, the more they’ll want to party!”

Everypony’s attention turned to Fluttershy. She gave a visible quiver, but when she spoke, her voice had an underlying note of conviction. “I...I think that Celestia is right. We...we have to do som-something. As hard as it is, we have t-to protect Equestria.”

Twilight was shell-shocked. Fluttershy, of all ponies, taking a stand supporting a faction. If she supports one side, then who else will?

Before Twilight could think up something to say, though, Rainbow Dash stole the show. She stood up and said, “Come on, no way. This is all one massive joke, right? ...right?”

When nopony said anything, Rainbow’s face hardened. With an angry posture, she flew up a few feet and said, “I...I don’t know what is going on here. What happened? Doesn’t loyalty meaning anything here?” When she said this and nopony answered, her face got darker, and she said, “Well, I know one thing for sure. I’m not about to allow your little betrayal make me break my bonds of loyalty.”

“We didn’t betray-”

“Yes, you have. Only traitors put stupid political differences before their friendship.”

There was a firm knock on the door, causing the entire circle to jump. Quickly, Twilight jumped up and answered it.

“Your Highness, news from the Palace,” said a somewhat nervous-looking guard. “Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are making announcements. Also, Princess Cadance has disappeared.”