Eternal Nightmare

Chapters

ch0: Prologue
ch1: Quarrels
ch2: History Lesson

ch0: Prologue

The ruins of the old residence of the two royal sisters sure was scary. Especially since it was so dark. Twilight turned around to see the other five cross the bridge Rainbow Dash had repaired.

Though it was dark and frightening here, they were all giggling and laughing like nothing had happened. She had to smile unconsciously as Pinkie Pie explained for the umpteenth time why cupcakes were the best thing in the world. But the smile soon faded away as soon as she looked back at the half destroyed building ahead of her. The Elements of Harmony ought to be in there. And, most likely, Nightmare Moon was inside as well.

It's too dangerous for them.

Twilight had lost count on how often the same thought had crossed her mind.
But the longer she thought about it, the more certain she got that she had to do something, or else, somepony might get hurt.

Oh, what do I do? Come on Twilight, think! There has to be a way to stop them following me, even if I have to restrain them somehow! Wait...that's it!

Twilight cheered inwardly. Those hours of studying in the royal library in Canterlot weren't so bad after all. She stopped to wait for the others, letting them pass her so they wouldn't see her horn glowing as she started to cast the spell she had discovered just recently in an old book, hidden underneath a dust layer worth of at least fifty years.

When the five friends noticed that the purple mare wasn't following them anymore, it was already to late.

"Hey, come on! You'll fall behind if you just stand there! Huh? Hey Twi, what are you..." Rainbow was interrupted by a purple smoke that wrapped itself around the five ponies.
"What tha hey is this!?" Applejack exclaimed, moving closer to the others. "Ah, why am Ah feelin' so dizzy all of a sudden?" Applejack wasn't the only one. The others were feeling weaker every second as well.

The pony responsible for their dizziness was watching silently as her spell started to kick in, and one by one, her new friends fell down to the ground.

When she was sure that all of them were fast asleep, Twilight released the magic and allowed herself a short rest. The spell had taken more out of her than she had anticipated and it took a few minutes till her breath returned to normal. She walked over to the ponies lying on the ground and studied them for a while. They didn't appear to be hurt and Twilight couldn't help but to let out a sigh of relieve.
She hadn't know for sure that the spell was completely save, but looking at her friends, snoring peacefully, she managed to calm herself down.

It's alright Twilight, you've done what you had to do, so stop worrying!

According to the book, the spell would last twelve hours what gave her more than enough time to deal with Nightmare Moon.

Giving the five ponies one last look, she turned to face the ancient building, which was now much closer than she had liked it to be. She gulped as she started to tread towards the entrance and, much to her dismay, closing the distance pretty quick. After a long and deep breath, she pushed the door open and entered.

The purple mare instantly noticed the big pillar in the middle of what was once, probably, the throne room. Five arms pointed out of it in regular spaces. On each of them was an orb of maybe double the size of one of Twilight's hooves. She felt the excitement building up inside of her.

I found them, the Elements of Harmony!

She focused immediately and calmed herself down once again. She looked around, anticipating that the evil mare would jump out of any corner ore shadow. Nothing. No evil laughter, not dark blue mare that attacked her on the spot. Twilight looked back at the Elements and moved a little closer. The book in the library said that if the five first elements were present, a spark would reveal the sixth.
She had thought about this pretty long but Twilight still wasn't sure what that passage meant. The same idea came to her mind again and in the end she decided to try it.

The already exhausted mare started to levitate five the globes down one by one. After the last one Twilight had trouble in staying on all four hooves. That blasted sleep spell had used up a good amount of her still untrained magic and she started to wonder if she had made mistake. Shaking her head Twilight stared at the five spherical stones to her feet, noticing that all of them had a symbol on them. She instantly got curious about them, but shaking her had again she focused and shrugged off her curiosity. "Alright then, here I go." she thought and started to enlighten the Elements.

From the distance, hidden in the shadows, the evil mare of nightmares watched the hole scene with amusement. Though she was wondering why that purple mare had entered the old castle alone, Nightmare Moon didn't really care. They could have come with an army and still wouldn't have been able to do her, the mare that broke free from the moon's icy grips, any harm.
Her mirth grew when the mare had trouble in levitating the elements down from the pillar.

How pathetic! With such weak powers thou hope to defeat me?

Nightmare Moon decided to step in when that foolish little mare started to enlighten the Orbs.

Now thou shalt experience true power!

Twilight had a hard time keeping her magic steady. The raw magical power sleeping in her was incredible yes, but without proper training, a unicorn pony wasted far too much of it for even the easiest spell. And unfortunately Twilight never actually had any kind of training in the practical usage of magic since they learned only the theory of casting spells at the school for gifted unicorns in Canterlot.

The Elements of Harmony were already glowing when Nightmare Moon's strike came. Twilight was thrown back by at least twenty feet. She quickly got up but froze instantly where she stood. There she was, the former mare in the moon, enthroned over the five orbs that symbolized harmony. An evil grin formed on Nightmare Moon's muzzle, quickly turning into a horrifying laughter. "Art thou scared, thou insolent little pest? I suppose yes, because I can smell thy fear!"

Twilight was indeed cowering totally frightened. However, she managed to calm down and, rising again, glaring into the two dark lakes that were the evil mares eyes.

"I am not afraid of you, Nightmare!" Twilight shouted, her trembling voice betraying herself."I will not allow you to continue and ram..." the sudden urge to leap aside probably saved her life when a dark blue beam hit the ground where Twilight had stood just a second ago, leaving a black smoking crater behind.
The purple mare stared a moment at the hole in the floor, but a sudden pain emitting from her horn and thundering through her entire body made her double hover and she let out an earsplitting scream of sorrow.

While Twilight was staring at the evil mares work, the latter hadn't hesitated and launched a blue lightning into the purple mares horn. Nightmare Moon would've continued with the torture, but a sudden outcry from the door made her stop. "Twilight!!" the called mare lifted her head and stared in disbelief to the gate of the castle. There they stood, the five ponies who should have been asleep for half a day.

Outside the castle walls, a few feet away from the gaze they lay, motionless. The sky had gotten even darker than before and the moon hardly provided enough light to see a few feet in the distance.

Suddenly Pinkies ears twitched. Slowly lifting her eyelids she looked around and immediately noticed her four friends lying on the ground. The pink mare stood in less than a second. "Hey guys, what's up? Why are you on the ground? Come one we got to teach that old meanie pants a lesson? Guys??" No reaction. Pinkie frowned at this. But then, a cheeky grin began to form on her muzzle. "Oh, I get it! You want me to get a response from you right? Alright then, get ready for some Pinkie tickling!!" and with that she started tickling all four at once. At first they didn't do anything, but soon they were all giggling and laughing so hard that they could hardly even breath.

"Please...Pinkie...stop!! We... give...up!" Rainbow Dash spit out between her laughter. Finally, Pinkie stopped and they could all catch their breath again.
"Wha' in tarnation was that for Pinkie??" Applejack exclaimed "Well when I woke up and found you all sleeping like little fillies a said to myself 'Oh, they must want me to get a reaction out of them', so I started tickling you" Pinkie answered in a single breath, with such innocence that the four ponies had hard time actually being mad.
"Wait a minute" Rarity said "'Woke up'? Does that mean we were asleep?" "Yep, and pretty deep too! Never had somepony resist my tickling so long". The ponies looked at each other, save Pinkie Pie who didn't get where the problem in taking a nap was.

"How come we were asleep?" Rarity asked curiously "and more important, where is Twilight?" the others let out a gasp as they noticed the mare was missing. "Must've been that purple smoke that enclosed us" Rainbow thought out loud "and since that blasted purple mare isn't here, I'd say it was her doing!" She concluded.

They didn't get to be angry at Twilight as they heard a pained scream coming from inside the ruins. "Was that..." "Yes, it was! Quick girls, Twilight needs help!" they cracked the door open just to see the mare lying on the ground, bending over in agony "Twilight!" They all cried.

The five ponies rushed over to Twilight. Applejack helped her up and Fluttershy immediately lost her fear and exclaimed: "Twilight, are you okay? Please, say something!!" "Girls...?" the purple mare responded weakly "But...how...why are you awake?? The spell shoul've lasted for twelve hours." "We'll have time for that later, as well as for some lecturing 'bout trust" Applejack gave back with a grim look, which turned to one of concern as Twilight let out groan of pain, even spitting a bit blood on the floor.

Meanwhile Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Pinkie Pie had placed themselves between Twilight and Nightmare Moon and gave the latter the most evil stare they could perform.
"Alright girls it's time we show that mare how Ponyville deals with ruffians like her!" Rarity proclaimed. All except for Twilight and Fluttershy, who was still to tending to the former's wounds, lined up. Rarity's horn began to glow, Applejack and Pinkie Pie were pawing with their hooves and Rainbow Dash spread her wings, ready for immediate take off. "No...wait...you will..." Twilight tried to hold them back, but Rainbow Dash cut her off "You've done enough Twilight. We'll take care of things here. Nopony hurts our friends without a proper beat up!"
Too weak to argue, Twilight let her head sink back onto the ground. "Okay everypony, charge!!" and with that, the four ponies stormed towards Nightmare Moon.

However, the latter only let out a small laughter. When the four friends had almost reached their foe, they were suddenly pushed back by an invisible power.
"How pathetic! Didst thou really think thou couldst do anything against me? Ha!" blue lightnings were following her statement and suddenly the other ponies screamed in agony just like Twilight had a few minutes ago.

Twilight looked at her friends in terror.

They are suffering because I'm too weak. It can't end like this! It mustn't

She started to gather the last reserves of magic in her. Nightmare Moon was too busy torturing her friends to notice Twilight's glowing horn. Then, when she had enough magic in her horn, she cast the teleportation spell and the six ponies disappeared immediately.

Nightmare Moon stared at the spot the six mares had just been lying. She felt a growing anger in her. How dared they fleeing just like that!
She had the sudden urge to take after those insolent little foals, but resisted and calmed herself down. She'd have plenty of time hunting them down once she was done with Equestria. The dark blue mare looked around and started to smile evilly. This place was perfect for her conquest over this land. The evil grin didn't fade away when she started to summon her minions.

Twilight's teleportation was everything but accurate as the six mares found themselves at the border of the Everfree Forest instead of her Library.
But at least they were save from Nightmare Moon's grasp for now.

Applejack was the first to make a move after their sudden transportation through time and space. Since she was an earth pony she was effected the least by the lightnings which had emitted from the dark mare's horn.
Shortly after, the others started to move again, except for Twilight. She had exhausted all of her energy and was too tired to even lift a limb. But she still could hear and understand her friends talking.

"Oh, shit! What are we gonna do about that blasted mare?" Rainbow Dash was close to loosing her mind, but she couldn't help but laugh as Rarity scolded the rainbow maned mare immediately "I beg your pardon, Rainbow? Please, watch your tongue! Hey, what's so funny?" it was too hilarious. They had just faced death and the only thing Rarity seemed to care about was that they didn't swear.

The five others were all laughing, even Twilight, though all she could do was a pained chuckle. It was Fluttershy who calmed down first and got serious again. "I think Rainbow Dash's question eligible. We can't do anything, can we?" "Ah'd say we'll head fer town an' warn everypony 'bout it. An' then we should get outta here quickly. There ain't anythin' we can do right now" the others agreed with Applejack. For now, their hooves were tied behind their backs.

After that, Twilight started to pass out. Her mind got number any second and the last thing she could feel was how she got lifted up and was carried away by a strong orange mare.

ch1: Quarrels

"...the most incompetent fool I've ever come across! Do you actually..." Lightning Cloak was only listening with one ear, maybe even less. It wasn't the first time he had messed up, though he had never caused such riot which was going on in the rebel's Stronghold Harmony Night. It wasn't that he didn't regret what he had done, considering the aftermath of it. But it just didn't matter if he listened or not since General Storm Breaker was always yelling exactly the same things.
Sighing inwardly, Lightning looked slightly past the General.

There was a mirror hanging on the wall, and since the young dragonpilot had nothing better to do, he regarded his appearance. His mane was cut short so that it didn't even reach down to his neck. His tail was considerably longer, almost touching the ground as it was. His mane and his tail were streaked with white lightning bolts.
However, his flank was blank. Just as everypony's flank which was blank before the Nightmare Incident. Somehow, Nightmare Moon had managed to banish the possibility of acquiring a Cutie Mark, making it impossible for Lightning Cloak to get one since he was born ten years after Equestria's doom.

Lightning's consciousnesses was pulled back when Storm Breaker suddenly let his hooves crush down on his desk. "Are you even listening!? You are in real trouble and yet, you dare to ignore what I, your general, am saying!?" Lightning cursed his bad luck. None of his friends nor him had ever listened to the General, but somehow Lightning had managed to be the first to let the snorting stallion notice the disinterest of his subordinates.

"I...sir, you got it all wrong! I really was listening!" Damn, now I'm bucked... Lightning thought when he saw the anger building inside the stallion in front of him. But fortunately he was momentarily spared when a messenger entered the Office. However, his relief didn't last long as the messenger started to speak.
"General Storm Breaker? I'm here to inform you, or more precisely you, Captain Cloak, that Commander Dash wants to see the latter of you." Buck it...If mom wants to see me after what just happened, this can only mean the worst. Right now I'd prefer to stay with the General...

Storm Breaker gave Lightning one last evil stare before he nodded, dismissing him. The black stallion saluted and left the room. When he exited the door, Lightning immediately took to the air. He knew how foolish it was to let his mother wait.

The stronghold was round, surrounded by a high and thick wall and divided into five districts, those being the civilian-district, the pilot-district, the magic district, the cavalry-district and the government-district.
Right now, Lightning was heading for the last one where the three commanders for the rebel-army were located. He glanced at the pilot-district. The ruckus the black Stallion had caused had calmed down a bit, though he could still hear the shouting of officers and stable overseers.

Looking up again his destination came into sight: The pegasi head quarters. It was the biggest building in the hole Stronghold, a huge Tower as it was. Lightning made his way right to the top where his mother had her office.

After flying through the window and landing on the floor, he trotted over to the entrance of the lion's den, as the pegasi called the commander's office. That nickname wasn't meant taunting, but more awestruck or even fearful. The rainbow maned mare in charge of every Pegasus in the rebel army wasn't someone to joke around with.

Lightning knocked at the door and after a brief "Come in!" from inside the room, he entered. "Hey Mom..." He began "how..." "Don't...Mom...me... right...now!" The commander said with suppressed rage. "Till further instructions you will call me commander Dash, Captain Cloak! Did I make myself clear!?" Lightning gulped, stood straight and saluted. "Yes, ma'am!" Rainbow Dash glared at him for a moment and then replied "Alright, we both know what happened, so do you have something to say for yourself?" "Uhm...do you...wanna hear my version of the story, commander?"
The rainbow maned mare was suddenly hardly a foot away from his snout and whispered in a horrifying low voice "How is it that you think there are more then one version of the riot you caused. Thanks to you, we now have seventeen wounded ponies, three completely destroyed stables, a dragon on the loose and, maybe the worst of all, an absolutely furious Fluttershy!" Dash's voice had grown louder and louder until she was shouting at him at full power of her lungs.

Lightning's ears were ringing and he had a hard time in not flinching."Please m... commander! Just let me..." "There is nothing to explain! You messed up big time and that's all there is to it! Understood!?" Now it was Lightning who felt anger swelling up inside him. His entire life, the mare in front of him had refused to listen no matter what happened. She cared more for some stupid report about some mistake he had made than for her own son.
Lightning couldn't contain himself any more and yelled "Can't you just listen for once! I wished dad was still here cause unlike you, he would've listened to what I wanted to say!" Lightning regretted his sudden outburst the moment it ended. His father had died seven years ago while protecting Rainbow Dash and their son. And though the prior couldn't have done anything, she still blamed herself for her husbands death.

The commander's slight anger turned to an absolute fury and before she could stop herself, she gave the Stallion in front of her a slap that made his head tilt around.
As Lightning turned his head slowly back towards Rainbow Dash, tears began to fill his eyes. Though she had been angry with him many times by now, she never had hit him before, nor any other of her subordinates. The rainbow maned Pegasus' expression changed from downright wrath to one of shock and concern. "Lightning I...I didn't..." she didn't get to finish her sentence. Her son turned around briskly and bolted out of the door.

Rainbow didn't stop Lightning when he left the room. She was too shocked about what she just had done. Bringing up her husband had caused the sadness in her to burst out and had turned into a blind rage. But that still didn't excuse hitting her own flesh and blood.
"Really Dash, I never expected to see such a reaction from you." The commander winced and spun around, ready to attack immediately. But she calmed down when she spotted a pink mare standing next to the window behind her desk and sighed. "Pinkie, can't you just use the door like everypony else instead of appearing out of nowhere an startle me?"
The pink mare looked at her for a moment and then responded coldly "I could do that, but where would the fun be?" Rainbow Dash shuddered. Though Pinkie Pie had spoken of having fun startling people she had shown no sign of mirth. The once hyperactive and always laughing mare was like this since she was sent on a mission with a few others, twelve years ago. The mission was a failure and Pinkie was the only one that returned. And although she was unharmed physically, a part of her died on that mission. Nopony ever asked what had happened. The main reason for that was that Pinkie didn't want to talk about it and, on top of that, nopony wanted to face something so dreadful as an event that could take the mares happiness away.

Now she was nothing but a ruthless assassin. There were only two things that made her smile. The first was killing Nightmare Moon's minions and the second was her daughter, Blossom Cake. Her husband meanwhile couldn't bear with what his beloved wife had turned into and committed suicide, taking fifty enemies with him.

Rainbow Dash sighed deeply. "Since you are here Pinkie, you can actually help me." she paused to see the other mare's reaction but as the commander expected, there was none yet.
"I'v never slapped him before" she continued "and I'm pretty sure that though it didn't hurt much physically, his heart is aching more than a little bit right now." Now Rainbow could see that the other mare was thinking. Finally, she answered "Well you have two possibilities." Rainbow Dash's ears shot up "Firstly, you could go and talk to him. But considering the condition of your relationship, I don't think that'll do. Secondly, and this is what I'd suggest, you can give him a break of yourself."

The interested look on the rainbow maned mare turned to one of confusion. "Give him a break of myself? What do you mean by that?" "Assign hit to a mission. Have him leave the Stronghold for a while so both of you can cool down a bit."
Dash considered the idea and the more she though about it the better the idea seemed.
"I think that might work. But unfortunately there is a problem. At the moment there aren't any assignments for pilots, and considering and considering our current problems with Nightmare Moons anti-dragon ground units, I don't think we will be able to use our dragons in the near future, unless we find a way to break through their front lines and get rid of those damn squads that give our pilots such a hard time."
Again Pinkie Pie was thinking before she replied "I think i might be able to help again. You can't know that, but your son is quite good in interacting with griffons. But well considering you once got along well with Gilda, it isn't that surprising." True. But still, Rainbow Dash heard of this for the first time, what surprised her. She knew pretty much everything that was going on in Harmony Night. She pulled back from her thought when Pinkie continued "With the upcoming negotiations with the Griffon kingdom, the atmosphere between ponies and griffons in the latter's capital is more than tense. We haven't exactly been enemies, but to say our relation is delicate would be an understatement. And that's exactly where Lightning's role is. I've seen him calm down a two extremely angry griffons by just talking to them. Because of that I think he could ease the tightness that has developed over the past years."

Rainbow Dash thought about it for a while, but couldn't come to conclusion, yet. "Hm...I don't know. It makes sense an all but still...Anyway, thanks a lot Pinkie. I'll think about what you suggest." "Always glad to help you, commander" she replied monotonously "but I wouldn't waste too much time thinking if I were you. Alright then I need to get going now. Bye." "Bye Pinkie. And thanks again." Pinkie Pie shrugged and left the room, using the the door surprisingly instead of vanishing behind curtain or something like that.

After leaving the room, Lightning leaped out of the window instantly and made his way up into the sky. Tears were streaming over his face and were obscuring his vision, but he didn't care.
He flew up until he had reached a small cloud and landed on it, curling him self into a ball. His cries intensified. It wasn't just that his mother had slapped him. It didn't even hurt that much, well at least not on his cheek. The damage the beating had done to his heart was a lot bigger.
However, the real reason for his sadness were the memories of his father swelling up inside his head. Lightning tried to get rid of them, but they just wouldn't go away. He remembered him, Tempest Bolt, all to well. And so did Rainbow Dash. Which was the reason Lightning wasn't angry at his mother. After all, he had been her husband just like he was Lightning's father and she had loved him more than most other things.

Lightning regretted bringing up his father. I wasn't fair of him, but he couldn't have helped it. Unfortunately what he had stated back in his mother's office was the truth. His father would've listened instead of just believing in some stupid reports.

In the end, Lightning fell into a restless slumber. Judging from how refreshed he was, Lighting guessed he had slept about five hours, maybe even six. Yawning, he stood up and looked down from his cloud to the stronghold. After standing there a while longer and wondered what he should do now. Deciding to check on his dragon, Lightning took to the sky, making his way towards the pilot-district.
When he had reached his destination, the black stallion started do descend. He was aiming at the entrance of the stable where his dragon, namely Silver Breath, was quartered. On entering the house, Lightning instantly took in the very familiar smell of a dragon-stable.
After standing there for a moment and enjoying the sweet-sour aroma, he looked at the pile in the middle of the room. He walked over to the dragon's snout and slightly nudged him. Silver Breath lifted his head and tilted it forward slowly to his rider. As the big creature recognized who had disturbed his sleep, he was immediately awake and nudged the Lightning contentedly back, shoving the much smaller pony away a few feet.
Lightning smiled at the dragon's obvious affection. Silver Breath's species wasn't able to speak unlike others, but in return they were a lot kinder and loyal to their responsible pony. "Hey there, Silver. You alright?" the dragon snorted short and happily. Then, a sudden voice from behind made him turn around "Oh, hey Lightning. I was wondering when you would return to check on Silver." It was a rather small Pegasus with a yellow coat and a slight red mane and tail. His name was Timid Heart and he was one of Lightning's best friends and his stable-boy. Also he was the son of Fluttershy, who was the equerry of the Harmony Night stronghold and head of the dragon-breeding-branch of the whole rebel-army.

Timid Heart sat down next to Lighting and they both fell silent for a few minutes, while Silver Breath purred like cat as his pilot caressed the dragon's nose and chin.
"Do you wanna talk about what happened?" the smaller Pegasus finally broke the silence. "Haven't you heard of it? That's strange... Normally it takes only a few hours for everypony to know how I messed up this time." Lightning's answer was little bit harsher than he wanted and he immediately regretted the bitter tone in his voice. Timid Heart didn't earn such a short tempered response.
However, the red maned pony wasn't bothered at all, used to Lighting being down as he was. "I surely heard what they say, but I know better than to judge from other pony's tales. Especially since we're talking about you here. What you supposedly did just doesn't match the Lightning I know. I'm sure that you would never make a dragon angry because you think it was funny. Or am I mistaken?"

Lightning smiled but also felt a little sad. Those were the words he desperately wanted to hear from his mother.
"Alright then, I'll tell you what happened."

TEN HOURS EARLIER

After Lightning Cloak took a last look at Silver Breath, he turned around and left the stable. It was quite a commotion going on outside. The hatching of the dragon foals was always left the pilot-district in a turmoil that would take at least four hours to settle down again.
Additionally, the reconnaissance division had just reported that Nightmare Moon's main-army was falling back, which hadn't been the case since the commanders of the rebellion themselves had engaged in the battle for the southern part of the rebellion's homeland, namely Talivia.

It didn't really bother Lightning though. He had been involved in a few smaller skirmishes, but none of them had done the war any good or bad, they just took place, that was all.
Seeing the fiend on the move, especially retreating, actually made the young dragon-pilot exited and made him await orders to move out and kick the enemy's damn flank out of their home. Lightning smiled at that thought when he suddenly heard a loud lash and following it, the loud scream of a dragon in pure agony. Also there he heard somepony cursing.
The outcry had come from behind a large dragon-stable and lightning sped up from his relaxed trot to full gallop. He turned around the corner just in time to see a heavy breed-whip hit a small, crimson dragon which cowered in front of tho Pegasi, restrained by heavy shackles that were obviously to tight. Also did Lightning notice the blood dripping down from the dragons snout where the whip had hit him.

Lightning stood there for a moment, completely stunned by the brutal scene he had come across. Dragons were almost considered sacred beings to the pilots of the rebellion. Seeing one tortured like this let the anger swell up inside Lightning and before he knew he stepped in "Hey, you there! What, in Celestia's holy ass are you doing to that dragon!?" the to pony's turned around in surprise. They hadn't noticed the pilot approaching them from behind. "This is none of your business, brat." one of the torturer replied after a brief moment of recovering "Get lost."
The control over his anger surpassed it's limits. "None of my business? NONE OF MY BUSINESS?!" now it was the two pony's turn to cower in fear. Lightning's fierce eyes and his enraged voice scared them almost to death and they didn't dare to protest when the young pilot trotted past them to the dragon who tried to make himself as small as possible. Or more precisely, herself. Now Lightning was closer he could see that he dealt with female exemplar.
He shrugged it off as an unimportant yet interesting fact, though something told him that this information was somehow extremely vital.

"Don't worry girl, I'm not going to hurt you." Lightning's voice had made a total u-turn, as it now was soothing and caring. On hearing it, the dragon, raised her head and watched him now more curiously than terrified.
He closed the gap and began to undo the shackles. One of the ponies that had tortured the dragon finally found the strength to say "Hey, wait! You mustn't..." it was already too late. As soon as the last restraint was opened, the dragon bolted up into the air and let out a dreadful roar that made the ground tremor.

Lightning shut his ears whit his hooves. Sudden realization came over him. First fact: The ponies he had shouted at wore the uniforms of dragon-breeders. Second fact: The dragon was female. And finally the third fact: The dragon was about to lay eggs!
Unlike Lightning had assumed, this dragon wasn't a tamed one, ready to team up with a pony. It was still a feral creature, and since "pregnant" dragons-females always were in a pretty bad mood, especially briefly before their confinement, the dragon was totally furious right now.

The stable next to where Lightning was standing caught fire as the dragon started to spit golden flames. Two others were soon ablaze as well and hearing the cries of other ponies around him, Lightning could only watch the consequences of his foolish and hastily action unfold before him

"About five hours later, I was called to General Storm Breaker's office. After a few minutes of yelling at me, a messenger barged in and told me that my mother wanted to see me immediately." Lighting Cloak swallowed. He finished his story in tears at the memory of Rainbow Dash slapping him.
Timid Heart was shocked. Though he knew harsh the commander sometimes could be, she had never harmed a pony that belonged to the rebellion personally. Of course she sometimes let a pony get lashed for a crime, but Timid Heart didn't count that in since the lashings were always pretty well deserved.

"Oh, what do we have here" the sudden voice made the two ponies sitting side by side wince. In the entrance stood a rather small pony with a yellow coat and a pink mane and tail. On her flank where three butterflies. It was Fluttershy. And she looked pretty upset.
Before any of the two stallions could say something, the mare continued "You actually have the guts to come back here after what you have done? I'd might consider it brave, however right now it's not just foolish but totally insolent for you to come here! Now tell why I shouldn't teach you some manners right here and now?" The equerry's voice hadn't raised a bit, but when angry, every word from Fluttershy seemed like a rolling thunder to the ones that caused her rage.

Timid Heart, used to his mother being so intimidating, looked at his friend. He was clearly in no condition to give a proper answer, trembling from his sobs and fears as he was.
"Mom, please wait! Let me explain!" Fluttershy raised an eyebrow but stayed silent. Timid Heart continued and told her what had transpired here earlier, though he left out the part of Lightning's "lecturing". After he had finished, Fluttershy had obviously calmed down and was now frowning over what she just had been told.
"Alright, it seems like I can't fully blame you for what happened. I can't judge since you aren't my property. But I shall make sure that those stupid breeders get a proper punishment. They might have had good intentions, but beating up a dragon like that may not be allowed. Not as long as I am in charge here." Fluttershy looked at at her son. "I will talk to Rainbow Dash about what you've told me, son. It'll surely make things easier for your captain. As for you," she continued, turning towards Lightning Cloak " you should probably get some sleep an brace yourself for your punishment."
Timid Heart frowned at his mother's last remark. Lightning had made quite a mess this time, and he would be lucky if he'd just get away with only a few lashes. Even more than before, he was worried about his captain. For Timid Heart, Lightning was more a brother than a superior.

ch2: History Lesson

Walking down the gloomy path, the little filly looked around fearfully. It was dark as always in the Everfree Forest and the poor foal had to force her hooves to move, making every step difficult like she was wading through limb-deep water.

But her mother had told her to leave the house and go into this dreadful place, full of claw-armed trees with teeth that only seemed to wait for the little filly to come closer so they could eat her.
Though the filly was scared to the death, she continued treading slowly forward, an obedient child as she was. But it wasn't just the hostile wood land surrounding the small filly that filled her heart with fears and made her shake like a hole pile of leafs in a storm. It was the image of her mother from a few minutes ago that refused to leave her tortured mind.

The filly had woken up due to a sudden twitching pain in her small horn. When she walked down the stairs from her room to their kitchen, she had seen her, the trembling heap the filly recognized as her mother. Next to her had stood her father wearing a worried face that made the foal even more anxious than the sight of her mother.
As she stepped down the last stair and the planks beneath the filly's hooves groaned, the two ponies looked up, shocked to see her daughter. "Oh...Um...Sweetie, listen I think it's for the best if you..." "RUN!!!" the filly stumbled backwards at the sudden outburst of her mother. "Leave and run into the forest, you'll be save there... GO!!" she again shouted the last word, seeing that her daughter was still standing there, totally paralyzed. "Mommy what...MOMMY?!?" now the little filly cried out as her mother suddenly spit out a huge amount of something black, that reeked terribly.
"Mommy, are you alright?" She took a step forward but stopped immediately as her mother shot her a pleading glance "Please, Sweetie, leave!"
Tears began to flow down the filly's muzzle. With a last look at her mother, she bolted out of the house.

A shiver run through the little filly. During Moon-Shine, when the big silver sphere was fully aglow, the forest wasn't that bad. But now, at Moon-Absence, it was so dark that one could hardly see clear thirty feet far.
After a few minutes more of tired and dreadfully walking, the little filly's limbs were completely tired out and she decided to sit down and rest at a small clearing were she could stay away from those nasty trees.

Just as as she sat down and started to wonder when she could return home, a bloodcurdling scream came out of the direction of the filly's home. She recognized the voice immediately, though it was a few pitches higher than usual. It was her mother, filled with obvious anguish.
After a few moments that seemed like an eternity, the scream suddenly broke off and deadly silence, once again, took over.

It took a while for the filly to move again. But when she did, there was no more hesitation in her steps. As she stood, the filly immediately sped up to full gallop, fearing for her parents.
When she emerged from the forest, she realized how close she had been to the house. She had walked about half an hour into to forest, but made it back in hardly more than five minutes. When she reached the door, she stopped dead on her tracks.

The magic lights didn't burn anymore so there was not light. But the stench the filly had smelled before had intensified and she had a hard time not to puke right away.
"Mommy? Daddy?" She slowly made her way towards the kitchen. When she reached the door and was about to enter, she slipped when she trod on something wet, and just a step further she stumbled over something.
The filly fell to the ground. After picking herself up, she turned around, curious about what was lying on the ground. But when she realized what it was she backed away in disbelief. Though she was only ten years old, she had already seen ponies dying. Because of that, it didn't take her long to realize why her mother was lying there so calmly.

The filly's cry filled the surrounding terrain.

"MOMMYYYYYYYYYY!!!!" the outcry was loud enough to make the foundation walls of Canterlot tremble, had it not been so far away. After it had ceased, it left back a panting Destiny Blaze, sitting in her bed and full of icy sweat. She calmed down rather quickly, but she couldn't quite get the nightmare out of her head.

Sighing, Destiny crawled out of her bed and looked out of the window. Seeing that it was almost time for the Moon to shine, she decided to get ready for the day.

Soaked with sweat as Destiny was, she made her way out of the house to the small stream that was passing by her house. When she passed the door of her aunt's and uncle's bedroom, she stopped and glanced inside. They hadn't come home yet from visiting some friends in Fillydelphia, which was also the explanation that they hadn't rushed to her side when Destiny screamed.
As she reached the slow flowing water, she didn't hesitate and jumped in. She let out a short grasp when her overheated body hit the cold water, but the relief the coolness brought was much bigger then its discomfort.

With her head cleared, the distraction from her dream was missing as well, unfortunately.

It had been eight years since the Moon-Absence during which she had lost both of her parents. The villagers of Ponyville had heard Destiny Blaze and her mother scream, and soon, the guards arrived at her home and found Destiny sobbing over her mother's dead body.
Shortly after, the guards also found her father. It was obvious that he had killed his wife, though nobody could believe it at first. They had been such a lovely couple that it was an unthinkable act of cruelty. But it was soon revealed that Destiny's Father had completely gone mad and when the guard ponies tried to arrest him, he attacked them instantly and the guards had no other choice but to kill Destiny's father.
After that, she moved to her aunt and her uncle who lived only about half a mile away, at the outskirts of Ponyville.

As Destiny started to tear up again, she quickly plunged her head into the cool water she was standing in. The chill cleared her head once again. She held as long as she could and pulled her head out when her lungs started to protest.
Stepping out of the water, Destiny shook the water of her coat and mane and after that, she entered the house and made her way towards the bathroom. She turned on the light, took the comb and started to groom her mane and tail.
Her aunt always told Destiny she should bind her mane back so one could see her emerald-green eyes with their golden and silver dots in them.
But Destiny preferred to let her mane and tail hang loose, a few strands actually covering her eyes. She couldn't say she had been bullied for her rather strange eyes. But to say everypony was friends with her or wanted to be was just as wrong. They had avoided her as long as she could remember, a few even looked at her in fear, which was hurting even more than outright hatred.
Because of that, she hid her eves as good as she could, but unfortunately, her mane, tail and horn, even her coat didn't make things better, more likely, they made them worse. The mane and tail resembled the eyes, only that they were streaked golden and silver and were dotted emerald-green. Her horn was also of a golden and silver hue, twisting up to the top. The coat was the only thing that didn't match the color of her other parts, but with its bright, almost shining, crimson, it was just as odd. Most ponies today were born with a rather dark coat and their mane and tail was always of a dull color.

So it was only natural that Destiny stood out like she was wearing a pink dress at a funeral.

Destiny finished grooming just when her stomach let out a massive grumble.
She went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. There wasn't much left. Destiny would have to go to the grocer's shop later in the day if she wanted something to eat this evening. Finally, she took out an apple and some hay, put them on a plate, trotted into the living room and sat down on the couch.
She didn't have to rush. School would start at nine o'clock, which was still two hours away as the clock said.
After finishing the last bit of her apple, she put the plate away and lay down on the couch and immediately started to daydream about all kinds of things. She liked making things up, like her living in Canterlot as a Princess or, sometimes when she felt a bit more adventurous than usual, she imagined she was a heroine, saving innocent people from frighting creatures. Slowly, her eyelids closed and a few seconds later, she dosed off into a light, dreamless slumber.

The loud cuckoo coming out of the clock pulled Destiny back to consciousness. She blinked tiredly and glanced at the source of the noise, still half as sleep. All doziness was blown away when she realized where the little hand of the wall clock was pointing at.
It was nine o'clock! Destiny silently cursed. She had completely forgotten that the clock was partly broken and didn't make the slightest noise from two in the morning till nine. Now she was going to be late...again! She rushed into her room and grabbed her schoolbag. Luckily, Destiny always readied it in the evening before she went to bed.

She dashed down the stairs, bolted through the open door and slammed it shut behind her. Destiny wanted to keep her tardiness as small as possible, so she fell into the fastest gallop she could pull of without falling onto her face. It took quite a few misdoings to make miss Cheerilee, her teacher, mad. But being late multiple times in a short time was the perfect way to succeed in that.

The school came into Destiny's view, so she sped up a little more. Finally she reached the door and burst in. All eyes turned towards her, most of them bored, but Destiny also heard a few mischievousness snickers. Miss Cheerilee looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Why hello there, Destiny Blaze. It's nice that you decided to attend school today. Please, sit down so I can delight you with my wonderful speech." Sarcasm from miss Cheerilee. Yup, she definitely was angry, and not just a little bit.
With her head hanging low in shame, Destiny cantered over to her seat and pulled out her math-stuff. She looked at the clock. twelve past nine. Damn, she had never been this late before.

Fortunately, miss Cheerilee was still discussing homework, so Destiny hadn't missed something important. She was good at school in all subjects, but she still couldn't afford missing something that might be important for an upcoming exam. If she wasn't so lazy, Destiny could easily outshine everyone in the class. But the only subject she was really interested in, was magic.
Ponyville had only one teacher and one school, so the different classes were scattered across the day. A filly who lived here started school with eight years and finished it with nineteen, so with her seventeen years, Destiny had two and a half years of school left.
Because of that, unicorns were put together in one big class and had three lessons in magic at Saturday after-noon. The same went for the pegasi with their flying lessons. Those three lessons were always the best thing in the hole week, and it was the only subject were she actually practiced and learned more than necessary for exams.

Though Destiny didn't dislike math, she was glad when it was over. In her opinion, it was a total useless, overrated and, most importantly , boring subject.

After a short break, the history-lesson began, and Destiny now paid much more attention than before. Not because she thought it was more important than math. In fact, it was even more useless. But they'd had an exam two days ago and though she didn't really care about the subject itself, she took exams serious.
Because of that, it was a bit shocking when miss Cheerilee began to speak with a sad expression "Alright class, we'll discuss the exam from two days ago. Unfortunately, your results are the worst a class has ever had in that exam." A wave of shocked whispers could be heard, but miss Cheerilee continued anyway. "I don't know how this happened. Since I don't want you to have a bad education and certificate because of this exam, we will repeat the subject and have a second exam in two days." The hole class was silent for once, a rare occasion. "Take out your books and open them at page two-hundred-and-fifty-one. We will start with 'The Tyranny of the Sunempress and her Fall'. I'll be sharing out your exams meanwhile. Take the time to look at your mistakes."
Destiny opened her book at said page and waited anxiously for her exam. When miss Cheerilee came to her table, a small smile seemed to adorn her muzzle, but Destiny wasn't sure. She took the paper and slowly turned it around. A-. Her eyes widened. Destiny had worried for no reason it seemed. She glanced had her answers to make sure. She had made only a few mistakes, all of them minor.
Great relief spread through her body and she relaxed. She looked around to see what the others had. And decided to just put her exam away. She spotted a C-, D+, even an E. She hadn't even known that mark existed! "Please read the first two pages. We'll discuss them afterwards." Destiny lowered her eyes and began to read:

The Sunempress ruled Equestria from an unknown point in time to the year 1647. She was an alicorn, just like our beloved Princess Luna. But unlike the kind and caring princess, the Sunempress was a heartless tyrant that dominated Equestria with harsh hooves.
Pony's that went against her regime were hunted down and executed in public to make an example for coming generations. When her sister, Princess Luna, couldn't bear the cruelty anymore, she tried to talk some sense into the Sunempress. But instead of listening, the latter turned against her own flesh, and banished our beloved princess to the moon. That was in the year 647.

What followed was a rather brutal and detailed description of the many cruel things the Sunempress had done, and Destiny decided to skip that.

Then, a thousand years later, Princess Luna finally managed to break free of her prison and again attempted to convince her sister that what she was doing was wrong. But unfortunately, the empress didn't listen, and princess Luna had no choice but to defeat her sibling.
After a fierce battle, the mighty tyrant was finally beaten. But she didn't want to accept it and with her last power, she destroyed herself and the sun.

Destiny was done with reading when most of the others hadn't even reached the second page. When the others finally caught up, she was bored to death, and the upcoming discussion wasn't going to make it better.

Destiny yawned. The bell had just rang, signaling the end of her school day. After history came Equestrian language, which was even more boring than history.
She was packing her belongings when miss Cheerilee approached her. "Destiny, please stay here for a few minutes. We need to talk." Destiny simply nodded and sat down again.

When the other students had finally left, Destiny stood up and trotted to miss Cheerilee, who sat at her desk. "You wanted to talk to me, miss Cheerilee?" the asked sighed deeply and looked up. "Please Destiny, sit down." Destiny obeyed and eyed her teacher anxiously. After a few seconds of silence, miss Cheerilee continued "Destiny, this can't go on like this. You might be the best student I've ever had but today you were late for the sixth time in the last two weeks. What's wrong?" Destiny shifted awkwardly "I...don't know, miss Cheerilee. I just don't sleep so well. Sorry, I didn't mean to make you angry." "I'm not angry. I'm just a little bit... disappointed I think. After all, you are my favorite student, though I'd never say that to the others."

Disappointed? I Destiny's eyes, that was even worse. She liked miss Cheerilee. A lot actually. And not just because she had a similar coat color. She was also the only pony at school that didn't treat her like she was some strange creature.
Miss Cheerilee regarded Destiny for a few seconds longer and sighed again.
"Alright. I'll let you off the hook this time. But please, be on time from now on." "Yes miss Cheerilee. Oh, by the way, I've got a question." "And what would that be?" miss Cheerilee smiled. "You were already born when the Sunempress reigned. So I was wondering...Was she really that bad?"
The smile faded from miss Cheerilee's face and was replaced by a deep frown. Destiny waited patiently, but her teacher didn't answer until they reached the open door. "Well..." the red coated mare started "I...You...I think it's for the best if you leave now." "Oh..." Destiny replied sadly. This reaction was unexpected. "Alright miss Cheerilee, bye. See you tomorrow." She began to trot away when her Teacher spoke up. "I can't tell you how it was exactly. But remember this: History is always written by the victor." and with that she closed the door and left back a confused Destiny Blaze.