Canterlot. Once the second strongest city in the nation, next to the Crystal Empire. Though no longer the capital, the city was still home to many upper class residents of the Republic. What most ponies didn't know, is that the though to be abandoned Canterlot Castle serves as the base of a rebellion, or at least, it did.
It all happened so quickly. The airships appeared out of nowhere and dropped hundreds of bombs down onto the great city. Some managed to escape, others were not so lucky. The entire city was burning within 10 minutes. The Canterlot Fire Department fought the flames bravely, but were forced to retreat when buildings began to crumble and fall down the mountain. Just as suddenly as they arrived, the airships left. The Great City of Canterlot was no more than a pile of ash and burnt buildings.
The airstrike was arranged by Emperor Midnight himself. Once whispers of a rebellion based in Canterlot reached his ears, the pegasus took action immediately. A rebellion wasn't too far-fetched after all. Midnight knew himself that he wasn't popular among his subjects, and the assassination of his predecessor, Nightmare Moon, which led to his takeover of the Republic, was more than just a warning.
Unfortunately, the bombing of Canterlot took a major toll on the rebellion, which had moved into a hidden bunker inside Canterlot Mountain. One of their most important ponies had been lost.
Twilight Sparkle ran into the medical bay of the bunker, galloping straight to the bed where her brother, Shining Armor lay.
"No no no! He can't be. This can't be happening." The unicorn sobbed. She had recieved a message from one of the doctors healing those who didn't escape the bombings that Shining Armor had been struck trying to help a family of unicorns escape from their home.
"I'm very sorry, Ms. Sparkle. We've done all we could." Doctor Stable comforted the heartbroken mare. "The family he was helping managed to escape Canterlot. He died saving innocent ponies."
"He's all I had left..." Twilight buried her face into the chest of the her brother's corpse. Twilight and Shining Armor's parents were executed a few years ago for speaking out against the Emperor publicly. It was that traumatic event that led Shining Armor to begin a secret rebellion.
"I understand that this is a tough time for you, Twilight." The doctor sighed. "But you should know that you're not the only one going through this right now. I've pronounced dozens of ponies dead in the last hour."
"And you have the rest of us." An amber coated Pegasus walked up beside Twilight. He too looked downtrodden at the loss, but kept his composure.
"Flash Sentry!" Twilight stood up. "What brings you here?"
"The same reason as you. I've come to grieve." Flash replied.
"You and Shining Armor were really close." Twilight said. "He told me you were like a brother to him."
"I thought the same about him, Twilight. I joined this rebellion because I promised I'd always support him, no matter what." The pegasus sighed.
"Lieutenant Flash Sentry, please report to the Central Meeting Room at once!" A voice boomed over the intercom.
"Looks like I gotta go." Flash stood up. "I'm sorry for your loss, Twilight."
"Thank you." Twilight still lay her head on the bed which her brother was placed on.
Flash left to see what he was wanted for.
"Attention!" The voice came back on the intercom a few minutes later. Twilight looked up. "All ponies please report to the Assembly Hall immediately. I repeat, all ponies to the Assembly Hall ASAP!"
Twilight made her way to the Assembly Hall. Usually, assemblies this big were only called in a state of emergency. Twilight had only ever been to one, which took place only a few days ago when Shining Armor got word that there were rumors of the Emperor planning an attack on Canterlot. All the rebels knew now that the rumors were true.
"Thank you all for coming." Sword Strike, Shining Armor's assistant said once everyone was sitting down. "As you all know, the recent bombing of Canterlot has resulted in the death of our own General Shining Armor. We express our utmost condolences to Twilight Sparkle, his sister." All eyes were suddenly on Twilight, who was sitting in the front row.
"But we can't let Emperor Midnight believe that he is winning over us. So, as per Shining Armor has asked us to do in case anything were to happen to him, we are happy to announce that a new leader of the rebellion has been chosen, and that pony is... Flash Sentry!"
Everypony cheered as Flash came out onto the balcony that Sword Strike was standing on. He began his speech.
"My plans for the rebellion are simple. The Crystal Empire is the only part of Equestria that has yet to become a part of the Republic. So for the time being, we're going to be shifting our priorities from liberating the already Republic-controlled towns and cities, to protecting the Crystal Empire. Not only is it the largest city in the nation, the Crystal Castle's library holds the secrets to what Midnight could use to lessen the few hours of daylight we now get and bring about eternal night over all of the Republic. Dark Magic."
Twilight had heard of Dark Magic before. It was the second most powerful form of magic that existed. Though Twilight never read up on what the most powerful magic of all was.
"If we can prevent an invasion of the Crystal Empire, I think we'll be able to gain the upper hoof, bring down Midnight and liberate Equestria once and for all!"
Ponies cheered, stomped their hoofs on the ground and clapped. Flash Sentry's plan might just bring about their freedom.
In the city of Everfree, the new capital of the Republic, the Imperial Castle sat at the edge of the town. In the castle's war chamber, General Crescent Moon was making changes to the map on the wall. Each ccity of the Republic was divided up into a sector. The map was like one big puzzle, with three different pieces for every sector. One piece would have the flag of Equestria on it, which means that area has not come under the control of the Republic, another with the flag of the Lunar Republic, which meant that the area was part of the Republic, and the third, which Crescent placed on the Canterlot part of the map, had a skull and crossbones on it, which meant the area was wiped out.
The door to the war room opened. A dark-coated, black-maned and well built Pegasus walked into the room. His left eye had an eyepatch over it and a big crown was placed on his head.
"Emperor Midnight!" The general bowed. "Canterlot has been successfully wiped out, my liege. There was only one fatality reported to us.
"Only one?" The Emperor growled. "This is unacceptable. How is it that after bombing an entire city, we only claim the life of one measly peasant?"
"Well, sir, the one fatality was... Shining Armor." Crescent said.
"Shining Armor? The leader of that rebellion. Excellent." Midnight smirked. "Without a leader, or a base, the rebellion will surely fall."
Little did Midnight know, the rebellion still had both.
