Chapter I: Uprising
"My spirit will rise from the grave and the world will see I was right.
-Adolf Hitler
*****2 Days After the Defeat of Nightmare Moon*****
A cold breeze gusted across the city of Canterlot, causing opened shutters to slam against their windows and the wooden merchants’ stands, closed for the evening, to creak in protest. Aside from the two Royal Guards standing watch at the front gates of the palace, the streets of the city were quiet, only dimly lit by the light of lanterns and the last rays of Celestia’s sun. Shadows danced on the walls as the candles in the lanterns flickered and blew in the wind, adding to the eerie effect of the twilight.
“Bloody hell, that wind is nice.” The other guard grunted in agreement at his compatriot’s words; despite the cooling air, the armour of the guards was trapping their body heat, which would make it a little uncomfortable to be standing watch for the next six hours.
In an attempt to make some conversation and break the pressing silence, the first guard cast about for a topic to speak on. “Say, Thunder, how’s your wife? And your colt, for that matter?”
Thunder Charge, the older guard in both experience and actual age, showed a grimace through his helmet. “Diamond is doing fine, from what she said last...they’ll be coming back as soon as the Princess lifts the evacuation order from Ponyville.” There was silence as the unicorn paused, letting the wind die down. “What about you?”
The other guard, another unicorn by the name of Arctic White, put on a nervous smile. “C’mon Sarge...you know I don’t have a wife yet.” True to his name, the younger unicorn was snow-white, with a snowflake as his cutie mark.
Shifting both his weight and his spear, Thunder Charge snorted. “You should find one...it’s better than being alone all your life, trust me.”
Arctic chuckled a bit, nodding his head. “Alright sir. I’ll do that.”
“Good.” The two ponies resumed their silence for a bit as the wind gusted again. The sun finally set, bringing a chill across Equestria as the nation settled down for the night.
Nearly two hundred leagues away, under the same night sky and in the heart of the Whitetail Woods, hundreds upon hundreds of ponies gathered around the ruins of an unfinished castle, waiting for the one who called them here to take the stage. They all knew what had happened a few days ago, and unrest and discontent was running rampant amongst the ponies; they wanted revenge.
A stallion, old but still strong, moved to the front and climbed up into what would have been the castle’s keep. In a flash of light, the unicorn teleported to the top of the scaffolding, enabling his voice to carry out over the masses. Even still, he put a charm on his voice box in order to magnify the volume of his speech.
“Fellow brethren!”
At the sound of the stallion’s voice, the mass of ponies grew quiet. A few even held their breath, not wanting to miss a single word the unicorn said. In seconds, the entire clearing was silent.
“Brothers...sisters! We gather here tonight to mourn the defeat of our great queen, the Princess of the Night, Nightmare Moon.” The stallion paused, looking up at the moon, where the imprint of their banished leader looked down on them. “Princess Celestia says she wants all of her subjects to have what they wish for, yes?! What if we want our queen to take her place?!” The collected mass of ponies murmured in agreement...isn’t that what the Princess’s policy was all about? “Celestia has ruled for millennia, with her sister shoved to the side as if she were only a figurehead...no more!” The ponies below were growing increasingly restless as the unicorn kept speaking, stirring the pot and causing their anger and passion to come to the fore. In the short time since the old unicorn had started speaking, the ponies before him had gone from being apprehensive and demotivated by the loss of their queen to being invigorated and fired up at the idea of seizing the throne of Equestria and bringing their queen back to rule the Eternal Night. “We are the only hope of our beloved queen’s revenge; together, we will enact justice upon the one who dared to strike her down.” The crowd of ponies cheered in approval of the unicorn stallion’s words; perhaps there was still a way for them to assert their queen’s rule...they just had to take the throne of Equestria and eliminate the one that had dared to banish their leader.
“So…” the stallion said, drawing back the attention of the ponies in front of him. “Go, spread the word! From here to the frozen north, down to the outpost villages in the southern deserts! In two days’ time, from this very location, we will march on Canterlot, kill the wretched Princess, and seize the throne for our queen! Bring your armour, your weapons! Be ready to fight!”
Another uproar marked the approval of the crowd of ponies, who immediately started dispersing. Flashes of light indicated unicorns teleporting away, some with a few other ponies in tow. Pegasi flew into the air and sped away, some tasking themselves with spreading the news to the farthest reaches of Equestria. Within minutes, the unfinished castle was again desolate, the wind whistling through the unfinished hallways. The pony that had made the speech was the only one that remained, and he was silent as he looked up into the moonlight. ‘My queen...we WILL find a way to free you. But first, we will depose that senseless sister of yours and you can claim your rightful throne upon your return. I ask that you help us in this endeavour, for the glory of the Eternal Night.’
Dropping his head from the sky and finished with his declaration of loyalty to his banished queen, the unicorn wordlessly disappeared in a flash of light.
Author's Note
Cheers all!
This is the first time I've decided to write anything since I cancelled World War Equestria, and this topic takes me into a whole new style that I hope you all appreciate.
One more thing: This story is dedicated to the memory of the Swiss Guard that died to the last man in 1527 defending the Pope and upon whom this story is based.
Chapter II: The Calm Before the Storm
Author's Note
So, considering that I'm working on another story on a different site, have at least one class every day, and work, I'd say I got this out fairly quickly.
On the downside...this is mostly filler to pass some time before Chapter III...sorry.
Chapter II: The Calm Before the Storm
Chapter II: The Calm Before the Storm
“And this can’t be denied in the calm before the storm.”
-Judas Priest
******2 Days After the Exile of Nightmare Moon******
Storybook Inkwell sighed as he trotted through the halls of Canterlot Castle, flipping through the various documents as he walked towards Princess Celestia’s room of the castle. The evacuation of Canterlot meant that there were very few nobles that wanted an audience with the Princesses…
‘No, it’s just Celestia now, isn’t it?’ the steward told himself. He shook his head and continued his task, occasionally looking up to keep from running into anypony or anything. With the majority of the nobles absent, a number of lords and earls that had land and manors outside of the Canterlot area were piling in their petitions and grievances while they had even the slimmest chance while Canterlot nobility came back into the city and resettled.
Turning another corner and finally coming to the right corridor, the unicorn sent the papers to his office via teleportation before closing in on the doors to the princess’s room. The entrance alone was heavily guarded by six members of the Royal Guard, an imposing sight that would deter any attacker.
Entering the quiet room, the unicorn nodded at the various members of Celestia’s advisory body as he joined them by the alicorn’s bedside. The monarch of Equestria was resting in her bed, the rise and fall of her shoulders barely visible in the darkened room. “How is she?”
The medical pony, Rose Spice, if Inkwell’s memory served him well, looked up from the opposite side of the princess’s bed. “As you can well see, she’s still recovering. I said this before and am getting tired of it; she used up almost all of her magic in the fight against Nightmare Moon - it will be some time before she fully recovers.” Rose Spice snorted as she walked away from Celestia. “That said, she will most likely be awake soon. Why?”
“Because I have a list of things to go over here...some of which would require her approval.” Inkwell replied, looking pointedly at the doctor.
Rose Spice huffed and, without looking at the steward, responded, saying “Well, you won’t get it, now will you?” Grabbing her coat, the unicorn began to walk out of the room. “I must go grab something...don’t disturb the princess.” With that, the heavy oak doors shut with a loud boom, which echoed in the stone room.
“Is there anything you can approve, Inkwell?” Defiant Bastion, the head of the Royal Guard and one of the closest advisors to Celestia, looked over at the steward with an inquisitive look. As a steward, Inkwell did hold considerable sway in the royal court in cases when the princesses were incapacitated, such as now.
“It’s mostly nonsensical things from nobles outside of the area...money grant petitions and the like. But, you know I can’t technically deal with internal matters.” The other ponies in the room chuckled at the words of the steward before quickly quieting down. They all observed the sleeping alicorn before them somberly, before, one by one, the ponies all left, leaving none but the steward in the room.
Moving to the window and watching as the appointed group of unicorns began raising the sun to start the new day, Inkwell sighed again, a million thoughts running through his head as he stood and appreciated the miracle of being able to see another sunrise.
Outside the walls of Canterlot Castle, a Hazy Skies watched as the most recent returning citizens of Canterlot began to filter into the city, carrying with them saddlebags and wagons of their personal belongings. From what he could see in the long line stretching out of the city, these made up almost all of the missing population of the capital city.
The pegasus shook his head as he returned indoors, not at all delighted. The silence and peace had been a nice break from the everyday crowds and the sounds of the market just outside his windows. Not to mention he didn't have to put up with the snob-nosed nobility that looked down upon the military. ‘Perhaps at some point I should ask the Princess for a grant of land away from here.’
Hazy Skies smiled at the thought of owning his own land and being able to pass it down to any offspring he may have. Of course, that brought up thoughts on finding a good mare and settling down with her. Doing something like that wasn’t exactly easy for a Royal Guard, as he had always busy protecting the Princesses and various delegates to and from other nations. ‘Maybe someday.’
Groaning as he stretched and got the weariness out of his bones, the pegasus began getting ready for the day as the streets below began to fill with ponies.
Far north of Equestria, in the frozen wastes the cartographers had named the ‘Frozen North, a hooded pony stood inside a tavern, appealing to the patrons within. It was common to find escaped convicts and refugees of the law in the frozen wastes, and this pony hoped to gain their support for the cause and for his queen.
“What would it take for you to join us? Can you not see this is the opportunity of a lifetime!” The pony, an earth pony stallion, turned to one of the patrons who had gathered. “You, ma’am? Are you a criminal?” The mare nodded, a hard look in her eyes as though she had an issue being called out.
“What is it you did?”
Looking around, the mare said “I stole some medicine from the royal palace for my mother is all. But Princess Celestia decided that was an offence punishable by a decade-long sentence!” A round of boos and hisses came from the gathered ponies, aside from some of the more stoic ones. These, the earth pony figured, were the true criminals, ones that had committed serious crimes.
“But…” the mare continued. “...even worse than that, I was regularly abused by the Day Guard and other prisoners, tortured at least once a week for ‘trying to steal medicine for those who actually need it’.” The room grew quiet at the mare’s words as she went on, her voice growing more vehement with each sentence. “So, after two months of that horrible treatment, I sent an appeal to the Princess and asked her to bring justice upon those horrible guards. But I never recieved an answer!”
By now, the mare had stood from her seat and was walking forward, her voice loud and angry. This was exactly what the hooded pony was looking for...people who had been wronged by Celestia. Even if they didn’t support the true cause of the Queen of Eternal Night’s followers, their numbers would add to theirs and bolster the amount of ponies that would storm Canterlot.
“Do you want revenge?! Would you fight against Princess Celestia?!” The mare, along with almost every other pony in the tavern, nodded. “Then join us! I am from a society of justice, one that will topple Celestia from her throne and get rid of the nobility of Canterlot! Join and fight with us! When we take Canterlot Castle, all your crimes will be forgotten, for we will establish a new government, with a new leader that our society has chosen!” Cheers filled the tavern as almost every pony within expressed their support for this ‘society’ and their plan. If it would down the princess and clear their names, then that would mean that they no longer had to live in constant fear of capture or, in some cases, execution.
All across Equestria, in taverns, shops, hideouts, and the like, the followers of Nightmare Moon petitioned the criminals and disenchanted ponies of Equestria to join them as the nation began to awake and revel in the light of Princess Celestia’s sun.
