The Equestrian

***Introduction***

Manehattan fell within the day. Any pony guards defending it were killed or driven away. Celestia was outraged. Equestria, never having fought a war in over a thousand years, had no army to fight against the Human Empire. That changed after the fall of Manehattan. Celestia assembled thousands of unicorns and pegasi to fight for her against the humans advancing south-west. The battle for Canterlot was about to begin.

***Part 1: Wavering Loyalty***

"Sir, do you really think we can trust Fives to do the job right? I mean, if this doesn't go our way, any chance of freeing our people will be lost." Major Appleton asks.

Simco sighs and looks up from his desk.

"Major, you need to have faith in me and my plans. Fives is the perfect candidate to help us bring down the Equestrian regime."

The soldier shifts his feet nervously.

"But, do we really have to execute Princess Celestia?"

Simco stands and walks over towards the Major, puts an arm around his shoulder, and pushes him to towards the exit.

"Son, I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Just trust me, alright? Everything is going according to plan. Now, go find Silvershield and prepare our forces to move out."

"Sir, yes sir..." He mutters before trudging away.

***Part 2: The Summer Sun Celebration***

"Fives, you know I trust you, but this plan is crazy. A fanatical army of humans will never lay their guns down to talk peacefully!" Twilight objects.

"Simco will. He put a lot of faith in me to see to it that Celestia can be captured. If we can get them to talk-"

Twilight growls and throws her head back out of frustration. She walks over to the window. Outside, dozens of ponies and their human property were making their way to the town hall. She then looks up at the darkening sky.

"This is going to be a long night..."

The hour was upon Ponyville, and everyone murmured to one another with excitement. The thousandth anniversary of the Summer Sun Celebration was moments from beginning. Soon, Rarity would unveil Princess Celestia, who then would lower the sun completely before raising the moon, ending the longest day of the year.

"Fives..." Twilight mutters to her human as the shuffle inside the town hall.

"Yes, Twilight?"

Twilight lowers her head and bites her lip. So much was about to happen and so much could go horribly wrong. Endless amounts of scenarios where everyone she cared about was hurt or killed flipped through her mind.

"Just stay close to me." She orders.

Fives nods, looking in the direction of the Everfree Forest one last time. He then follows her inside. Inside, they immediately ran into Applejack.

"Howdy, Miss Twilight Sparkle!" The orange mare says happily. "And howdy to you, Fives. So, it looks like everything came together mighty smoothly."

"I guess it has." Twilight says with a heavy sigh.

"Hey, Twi!"

"Waaa!" Twilight yells as Rainbow Dash tackles her.

"What's up? Looks like your hair is back to normal. Hey, just say the word, and I can spice it up for you again."

"You will do no such thing, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity exclaims as she approaches.

Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Priss. What would you know about style anyway?"

"Everything!" The white mare counters.

"Hey everybody!" Pinkie Pie greets.

Twilight groans. Of course, everyone had to be here...

"Well, I don't think you even have the slightest idea of-" Rarity began to say before Applejack stopped her.

"Y'all, shush. The ceremony is startin'."

Rarity waves her hair and trots away.

"Hmph! I need to raise the curtains for Princess Celestia, anyway!"

Fives and Spike watch as Rarity disappears into another room. Likely as staircase to take her up to the balcony. Twilight kept her gaze fixed on the moon, which was rising ever so slightly. The lights were dimmed, and several pegasus guards bearing trumpets began playing the royal fanfare. Rarity, now up on the balcony, smiles down at Twilight, Fives, and Spike. She turns to the rope controlling the curtains, grabs them with her magic, and lowers them. The curtains rise, revealing-

"AAAAHHHH!" Rarity screams, her voice full of pure terror.

It wasn't the princess, but a human who steps forward onto the balcony.

"Kind ponies and human slaves," General Simco says. "Good evening."

***Part 3: The Thousandth Year***

Every pony in the town hall was speechless. A human standing where their princess should have been was unimaginable. Simco stood tall on the balcony, grinning wildly and taking in the scene of surprised Equestrians.

"Well... Isn't this just a... magical moment?" He asks. "Please, allow me to introduce myself."

The doors to the town hall burst. The ponies and human slaves alike screamed as humans in green uniforms carrying muskets stormed into the building.

"I am General Star B. Simco, leader of the People's Liberation Army. All of you are now under my control."

Two more soldiers appear in the balcony and subdue Rarity. They drag her down to the first floor to be held with the rest of the ponies.

"What have you done with our princess?!" Rainbow Dash demands.

Simco cocks his head.

"She isn't here?" He asks.

Everyone was silent.

"Celestia isn't here?!" He demands again. "Damn!"

Simco turns to the Major behind him.

"You said you were positive Celestia would show, Appleton!"

Fives flinches as Simco strikes the P.L.A. Major in the jaw. Another soldier helps the Major up, glaring at Simco. The General runs his hand through his hair and chuckles.

"No matter... If the tyrannical coward won't show her face now, maybe she will after I execute a few of her subjects!"

Fives' heart nearly pops when Simco points to Applejack.

"All owners of human slaves will pay the ultimate price..." He snarls.

"S-Sir!" Major Appleton objects. "This wasn't a part of the plan!"

"Execute that pony, or I will shoot you myself!" Simco says.

Fives immediately regretted having any faith in the General. He wasn't a leader of free people. He was a lunatic. No human soldiers moved. Simco's face was red. He looked as though he was about to explode with rage and frustration, but something silenced him. A sinister laugh echoed through the grand hall. Twilight gasps and looks out the window, at the moon. The shadow of the mare was gone.

"What now?!" He yells.

"What now?" The sinister voice repeats as a dark blue mist seeps in through the windows. "I'll tell you what is happening now, you small, hairless ape."

The black mare materializes over the crowds below. She faced Simco directly.

"It is all of you who are under my control..." She hisses.

"Nightmare Moon..." Twilight gasps.

The black Alicorn spins around and faces Twilight.

"Ah... So after all these years, I have not been entirely forgotten." Nightmare Moon chuckles.

She then turns her attention to Fives. Her menacing gaze hardens.

"What... manner of being are you?" She demands. "You do not smell as the rest of these beasts do. You reek of my sister..."

"I... I am..." Fives stutters.

"These people are slaves of the Equestrian Empire!" Simco states. "I am here to free them!"

Major Appleton noticeably rolls his eyes. Nightmare Moon sees this and chuckles. She turns back to Simco.

"Well, you have done a marvelous job of that." She mocks and turns back to Fives.

"Slaves? Is this true? Ha! My sister is far more of a dictator than I once thought."

The black mare spreads her wings majestically.

"Fear not, apes of Equestria! As soon as this land is mine, all of your kind will be free! For now, enjoy my night."

With her sinister laugh, she melts back into her blue mist-like form and flies out the window and into the sky.

***Part 4: Shattered Spirits***

"We have to stop her!" Twilight shouts as she brakes the door of the library down.

Fives and Spike follow closely behind her, shutting the nearly broken door.

"You're worried about Nightmare Moon?!" Fives demands. "What about Simco?!"

"You heard her, Fives. Eternal night in Equestria!"

Fives grabs her hoof and jerks it roughly.

"But there is a war starting now! As soon as we left the town hall, I saw Simco rallying his troops to march on the rest of Ponyville! We need to get out of here before they find you."

There is a loud knock at the door. Without waiting for a reply, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all enter the library. Rainbow Dash instantly tackles Twilight, pinning her to the floor.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Rainbow hisses. "What are you, some kind of spy?!"

Applejack pulls the blue mare off of Twilight.

"No, Rainbow Dash, I don't think she's a spy," She says as she turns to Twilight. "But you do know an awful lot about what's goin' on, don't you?"

Twilight sighs and lowers her head.

"A few days ago," She begins. "I read about a prophecy explaining the return of Nightmare Moon. I wanted to study this more, but I got so caught up in the preparations and... oh, Celestia..."

Rarity smiles.

"Come, now. Cheer up, darling. We are in a library, are we not? Surely there must be something useful here. How can we help?"

Fives steps back as the five strangers from the other day surround his mistress, offering their help. He didn't know what to do.

"My book on predictions and prophecies told of a weapon used to defeat Nightmare Moon before. It was called the Elements of Harmony. We should find some information on that."

***Part 5: Betrayal***

Fives looks out the window and gasps. Outside, a dozen royal guards dressed in a dark green armed with a camouflage pattern. They were a part of Simco's militia. With them was-

"Silvershield..." Fives mutters.

Silvershield was waving to Fives, motioning for him to come outside.

"Did you say something, Fives?" Twilight asks, not looking up from her books.

Everybody in the room was concentrating hard. None of them noticed Fives skip out the door. Once Fives was outside, he bolts towards Silvershield. He arrives in front of the former guard seconds later.

"What in the hell do you want?" Fives demands. "Did you hear what Simco said at the town hall?"

Silvershield nods.

"Oh, yeah, Fives. We heard every bit." He answers.

"Then, you know we have to stop him, right? I mean, another war would destroy us all!"

Silvershield nods in agreement.

"You are right, Fives."

The human doesn't see it coming. A hoof makes its mark right on his face, knocking him to the ground.

"To bad for you, Fives." Silvershield chuckles. "Total war is exactly what the good General wants. It was his plan all along."

"W-What?" Fives asks, completely shocked. "What do you mean?"

Another good knocks him in the chest, sending him flat on his back.

"Simco never cared about the 'freedom of mankind'. He only wanted Celestia out of the way so he could control the human race himself."

Fives was coughing up blood.

"You... You won't get away with this!" Fives tries to scream.

The renegade guards circle around the crippled human.

"Oh, Fives... We already have."

Silvershield races his hoof to crush Fives' chest.

"I've killed you once. To bad Celestia isn't here to resurrect you again. This is too much fun!"

One of the guards chuckles and shakes his head.

"Alright... That's all I needed to hear." The guard says.

He jumps into action, bucking both renegades on either side of him. His horn flares to life, and he begins firing bolts of magic at the rest.

"What in the hell is this?!" Silvershield cries.

Silver dives for cover as the mystery guard is tackled by renegade, and they both go rolling down the road. With one swift punch, he knocks the renegade unconscious. The mystery guard finally turns to fire a bolt of magic at Silvershield, but the coward had escaped.

"Damn!" He curses, turning his attention back to Fives. "Fives! Are you alright, bud?"

The human was still dazed and confused. His vision was beginning to blur as the mystery guard leans over him.

"Hold on!" He says. "You're gonna be alright! Just hold on!"

***Part 6: Obey***

Fives groans as his eyes flutter open. He felt this was was starting to get redundant. Eight pairs of eyes looked down at him.

"Tw-Twilight?" He asks, turning his attention to the guard in green, camouflage armor. "Who are-"

The guard chuckles as he removes his helmet, his dark blue mane fell freely.

"Shining?!" Fives gasps. "You-You saved me..."

"Just in the nick of time, too." The stallion says gleefully. "I wasn't about to let that bastard kill my favorite human, again."

"Then, you heard what he said?"

Shining nods.

"Every word. We need to find the princess. She's the only one who can stop all of this, now."

"But Nightmare Moon has taken her!" Rarity points out.

"Rarity is right." Twilight agrees. "We need to stop Nightmare Moon. Then, we can deal with Simco and Silvershield. Big brother, can I trust you to keep him here?" She asks.

"Of course, Twilight." Shining says, placing a hoof on Fives' shoulder. "He's not going anywhere."

Fives looks at his mistress in disbelief.

"You... You're going after her? I need to go with you, Twilight!" Fives says.

"No!" She objects. "No, you will stay here with Shining and Spike. I don't want you getting hurt any more than you already are."

"But-"

"No, Fives!" Twilight shouts as she shuts her eyes and turns away. "As much as I hate to do this... I am ordering you to stay. As your mistress, I order you to stay here. You are my property and you have to do what I say. Please, just stay here... I can't see you die..."

Fives felt as though he was going to cry, but his mistress had given him a direct order. He could only obey.

***TO BE CONTINUED***