Uprise

by Ems

Chapters

Prelude: Clandestine
I: Tea
II: Moon’s Insurgence

Prelude: Clandestine

(Credit to rain-gear@deviantart & dream-chan@deviantart)

“It is the privilege of those who fear love to murder those who do not fear it.”

Darkness.

It is alive only to seek, corrupt those of pure goodness.

Why do we choose to blame others, when this darkness lies within our own selves?

... And so our tale of woe begins, with the faint glow of light risen from the east horizon.

Night gently melted away. The once, empty void of atmosphere was overcome with a pleasant tepid which shimmered the world; beautiful rays of clement colors shed across the mystical land. Slumbering flowers, spring trees bloomed their sweet-smelling beauty; the cool wind carried pollen for a slight, but harmless sneeze for all Equestria. Every sightful creature woke up to see the morning star, soaring between the amber clouds and dimly-shaded mountains. Warmth filled the ambiance; the chirping of birds sung on the mellow breeze. It was a sign that, it would be a good day.

A good day, except for one mare.

Basked under the glory of sun was a tall, pristine white pony, with the horn of a unicorn, and the wings of a firmly slender pegasus. Her skyflushed mane blew through the magical aura of the nonexistent wind, prolonged through the essence of solar energy. She glowed in the sky, as the sunny disposition hit her face. Her halcyon crown reflected against the firelight, its purple diamond jewel casting a spark by the shadows.

She was Princess Celestia. Strong, beautiful, smart; she was perfect. Or, at least, what most ponies claimed her to be. But who could deny this magnificent creature? Nopony was ever as lovely as she was.

Well, argumentatively speaking, that is. “Sister?”

Spun away from the enormous sun, Celestia turned to look at Princess Luna; her younger sibling, who bared the night and was lowering the moon.

“Yes, Luna?”

“Art thou alright?” she asked. Luna coughed, then shifted the grammar structure in her tone. “You just woke up this morning, didn't you catch a wink last night?“

The little dull bags composed in Celestia’s eyes were very apparent. She could only blink so much as to sober. Just as Luna predicted, she was out all night.

“Oh ...” Celestia drowsily replied, and loosened the knot that formed on her throat.

“It ... it’s nothing.”

Luna cocked an eyebrow, clearly not buying the story. “Are you sure? I can always check on your mental psyche, in case you're going a little ... you know ... cuckoo.”

Celestia forced a laugh. She was unsure whether or not that was meant as an innocent joke.

“... Thanks, but no thanks,” she giggled, and, once more, smiled weakly. However, that scanty comment actually ticked her off.

Snipping past aside, Celestia scowled, and lifted her chin up. “And didn't we already talk about this? Not unless those doors are opened, you can't just go around snooping on ponies' dreams. Especially mine.”

At this sudden fit of action, Luna rolled her eyes. “Well chee, sorry for asking. It was supposed to be a joke, Miss Grumpy McBossaround.” She sarcastically mumbled, kicking her hoof on the marble floors for exaggeration.

A thousand years may have passed, but both sisters were still sisters. Like a normal pair of siblings, they constantly bickered within themselves. Their public image never changed the way they treated each other.

On these recurring days, however, it was rather strange that Luna acted as the mature of the two.

“But,” the younger alicorn sighed, and continued her speech. “On a more serious note, Tia; I really am worried about you. I don't mean to offend, but you seem a little ... uh ... well ...” The words tasted bile in her mouth, but Luna forced it out anyway. “... Off, than usual, lately.”

“Like I said, Luna. It’s nothing. Don't worry your petty little head over it.” Celestia shrugged, finishing stance at rearing the sun. She strode towards the balcony fence, and waved her tail in annoyance, refusing to look at the juvenile mare.

Luna frowned. "Look. I don't know what I just did that upset you so much, but if you still want to talk,

“I. Am. Right. Here.”

With the final word on the argument, a pair of hoofsteps noisily scuttled away, becoming less and less audible.

You are right there, you say?

Celestia’s pupils pulsated. She started to laugh, hysterically; like she was losing her mind.

While it was true that Luna had the special ability to warp dreams, she had no right to enter closed imaginary doors. That was a violation in personal space.

When it came to privacy, mature ponies usually preferred to keep their doors shut. There were a too many of dark secrets dwelling into an grownup's fantasies. Little foals, however, never really bother to lock their own apertures. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, for instance, enjoyed playing with the princess of night.

One door remained to be very peculiar; Celestia’s gate. It was a gigantic, golden passage, furnished through a holy edge, invariably locked piece by piece. Her older sister made very clear on protecting her solitude.

Luna couldn’t even come close as to touching that door. Sure, occasionally, she would be able to enter through Celestia’s mind, but exclusively in times of imminent danger. Visions, such as that of the Tirek incident, only came once in a blue moon.

For most evenings, the door was a radiating temptation. Luna persisted to access it.

What could she possibly be hiding there?

For centuries, the question pestered the mare. But whenever she asked Celestia concerning the topic, the older would deny it; thus, leading the problem back to the present.

Celestia remained at the balcony, for what suggested to be an hour. She was having some sort of silent rant. Poor, poor Luna had no idea what she missed.

However, while everything of this sounded ridiculously childish for two adult horses, the issue, mind you, was not at all far from being considered a small matter.

Celestia had quite been angry with Luna for a long time.

Angry because the so-called sister provoked her with so much ... pain. The anguish, confusion and suddenness swirled around into a fiery volcano through the archaic heart.

No, Luna was never just ’right there.’ Where was she, when Celestia was crying to the stars? Where was she when Equestria called? Where was she when the kingdom cowered under the murk?

It was a thousand years ago ... no matter how much, just how much Celestia tried to reason with the indignant Luna, the foal would not listen!

She was a spoiled brat. She did not appreciate the love and respect given by her sister. Instead, she grew jealous and tried to murder everypony! What did Celestia ever do to Luna that made her resent the sun so much? Enough to actually try and kill her? It was not the older princess’ fault that the citizens marveled over her morning and ignored the blatantly painted night. Celestia did not have the power to force or manipulate mentality. She could do nothing, and did nothing bad to Luna!

Yet she was antagonized as the scapegoat; she was, in the personal sense, the bad guy. It certainly was something to be angry about.

But, while not at all her faults, Celestia was punished on a millennials worth of sleeplessness. By taking the jobs of two rulers for a thousand years, things were excruciating. Not even the heart of a saint could withstand the agony. An inferno was growing inside of her.

No one seemed to suspect such a disease, however, that neither Celestia herself realized the added tremendous chances of doomsday she was keeping. Nonetheless, she could not just moue and weep on her bed chambers all day long. She had an entire kingdom to control.

So, as the cruel, yet rightful thing to do, Celestia buried these sentiments ... and became the benevolent, loving figure she could to her ponies. She ignored her emotions, not realizing that they would continue to evolve.

Basically, she was slowly going insane.

As Nightmare Moon returned from a chilliad of banishment, the burning resentment staked to be even more alive. Luna was still in the form of a nefarious, demoniac. She didn't learn. She never learned.

Who forced her to be imprisoned on the moon, really? Certainly it wasn't dear old Celestia!

She could not come prepared. After seeing her heinous sister again for who knows how long, Celestia's emotions tipped on the edge and the princess could not handle it. Instead, she sent a mere unicorn in hopes of solving the problem; it worked. Not surprisingly enough, since it was a part of the prophecy. Her mother granted her the revelation's blessing.

Even after the new bearers miraculously reformed Luna from corruption, Celestia still had that feeling of doubt from the scared filly hugged under her wings.

Yes, there were tears ... yes, she legitimately did love her lost sibling. But she could not find it in herself to fully forgive Luna. The once evil mare had done too much damage to just simply be pardoned.

She received a crown she wasn't supposed to earn. She was instantaneously welcomed back to the kingdom. She restituted an old life she didn't deserve. For what? For trying to overthrow the throne? For trying to dictate Equestria into a sunless world?

There was one thing that remained unyielding to Luna; her sister's faith. Celestia trusted a student more than she trusted her own family. She would not send Luna to another quest. Especially not to somepony like King Sombra, who would undermine the naive mare.

Furthermore, Celestia knew she cared for Luna. She hated herself for loving her. The foal didn't deserve to be loved!

And now, this foal wanted to talk, when she refused to comply a thousand years ago?

Celestia took a petty knife from the royal kitchen in her magic, and marched to Luna’s room. It had been more than a few hours of sunshine already; the pony she planned to interrogate was fast asleep.

But, in the midway across the hall of the bedchamber, she stopped dead on her tracks.

What was she doing?

No ... this wasn't right. Celestia would never dare lay a hoof on her sister for her own selfish desires. All those things she snarled about, it was all in the past.

Enough.

This cold slap of reality caused Celestia to suck in proportions of the air. She needed to calm down.

Perhaps a nice cup of tea would quench her lust for these wretched notions. Although, it was not as if she could just do that; the schedule was already delayed due to her terrible deliberations. She barely had time for tea anyway.

Celestia quickly turned backwards from the hall, before doing something she would regret.

It was too easy to give in to madness.

Yet, it was the eighteenth day of this nonsense.

After trying to potentially murder Luna once, Celestia tried to do it again everyday, for the past few weeks.

Dark thoughts refused to be ignored; they were painfully havoc to listen to. However, by the time she stepped on Luna's room, Celestia would doubt herself. This, was a mistake. She would withdraw from making the attack.

But she knew she couldn’t keep up with this bullcrap either. There were two day-shift guards that policed outside the area. Of course, being a higher stage of position and related to Luna, the wardens allowed her highness to enter.

The following went on for three weeks. Sooner or later, the securities will have to check the bedroom, and realize what was really going on. Celestia had to act quickly before getting busted.

The clock stroke at five in the evening. The weeks weren’t a summer, so the moon would have to take over fairly soon. Celestia sat on the big mat near the fireplace, ripping her sinuous mane out in frustration. Luna was faintly asleep in the chamber.

Celestia stared at the knife fixed across the interwove. The demons in her head were screaming. She had thought of what it was like to be queen; said position would not be the same as a princess who ruled alone; unlike princesses, being queen meant she had the ultimate power to do everything as she wished.

The promise of superiority reared its ugly head. They danced on the tip of the alicorn’s tongue, demented things only a kooky pony would come to wish.

Although, these ambitions were too true to be denied. Without Luna, Celestia was triumphant; free to rule the land under her favored tyranny; free from the torment of her thirst; free to do anything, and everything she wanted. The offer was too delicious.

So why couldn't she do it?

... The clock chimed. It was a quarter to six, fifteen minutes until nightshift. Celestia had dizzied for too long.

Sighing, she picked up the little skewer in her magic, tucking it carefully behind her folded wings and proceeded down the hall. Celestia felt light-headed; she was not hellbent on the idea of homicide, especially to somepony family to her.

After what seemed like an eternity of walking, a gigantic set of doors with a pair of armored earth ponies were set into view. The princess stood still outside for a moment, waiting for the two guards keeping watch of the bedchamber to courteously open the doors for her. Nodding in consent, she went in the room.

The bedchamber certainly was beautiful. Regal drapes of maroon hung on the castle windows. Nightlight lanterns were naturally shaped into a branch of darker trees. The floors were carved as enchanting circles. There were diamonds placed on the cornerstones, resembling the same color of the lingering crescent moon.

But Celestia did not care for any of them. She came here to do one job, and one job only.

Luna lied dormant on the king-sized mattress. She was still asleep, but it was only a matter of time before she would have to wake up.

Celestia deliberately circled around the bed. Once again, the furniture was a very lovely piece of art, with polished black furniture bent into an orb. But her eyes focused at the dozing blue mare. The knife was pointed directly onto her nape. The sharp edge visibly poked on the bare flesh.

Nothing happened. The blade did not go any further at all; it only came in close contact with the skin, but refused to dig. There was no penetration. No blood. Empty.

Coldly, Celestia stared at the knife. A bead of crisp sweat rolled down her gleaming forehead. Pain was written all over her face. Her hooves were shaking, but she managed to restrain the impulse of cutting accidentally.

She couldn’t do it; she just couldn’t do it.

Howling a sad cry, Celestia lowered her head, a wave of shame washing over her. This was ridiculous! She loved Luna too much to be doing something as rash and vile as this. Life was perfectly well and good. Killing her sister wouldn't help matters.

It was then, a memory flashed itself on her vision.

Nothing could be a more deafening quiet. The sounds that echoed through the broken palace halls came from notorious cackling, but it resonated more as a speck of the wind. In those particular halls, passed a fainted princess, knocked out by a god-damned blast.

There was a tingle. Followed by more tingles that sent a shiver down her spine — a spine, which happened to be fractured. Not a clear insinuation described the feeling. The pain felt somewhat pleasurable, but harrowing whilst. The source came from the echo entering her sensitive ears. Standing up caused Celestia to flinch a little. Her body was still recovering and seething in agony. Nothing was broken, but her bones might have been bruised. She could bear the burden.

It wasn’t the pain that caught attention, however. Her sight was quickly redirected to the sky; and she saw.

She saw Nightmare Moon, laughing. Rejoicing over, she had assumed, was a triumphant pre-victory.

The sight of it was infuriating.

Luna almost killed her. She was underestimated. Celestia was a goddess, who could wrap heavenly bodies under a spell. She was an embodiment of unicorns, pegasi, earthlings alike, who ruled an entire nation. She, was a pony who was too perfect to die. Her, of all creatures! Underestimated!

“Oh, dear sister ...”

This cry took on a venomously darker tone. It was monotone, but sternly ... full of hatred. Nightmare Moon was too far away from earshot, but, the alicorn continued on her little speech. Not only were her pupils filled with acrimony and sadness, but they showed she was quite exhausted, after the horrendous attack.

“I am sorry,” Her voice was cracking. “But you have given me no choice ... but to use these.”

Celestia's horn glowed. She called on the magic for the ground to rise. A gateway opened away for a large piece of ancient machinery; while surging upward, it twisted roughly enough to create a raucous mechanical noise. Something — or perhaps, some things — were brilliantly shining against the moonlight. Five colorful jewels shaped like a hexagon rotated bouncily on the stoned platforms. Sparkling and filled with astonishing powers, the trinkets bared resemblance to five traits: Kindness, Loyalty, Honesty, Laughter, and Generosity. These elements were once used for protection. They were the little weapons that safeguarded Equestria from evil; the Elements of Harmony.

The princess used to bear only three. But now, she took it upon herself to bear every five ... and Magic to make six.

She watched the machine ascent to a full stop, before flying towards it. One by one, she picked up the precious gems in her magic. The element of magic was holed up on a circular rock, one embodied into a pink star.

She gazed at the small gem, as it motioned a rapid sphere around her body. The other elements joined in on the force, the six of them, gradually increasing their pace. Unimaginable power was strong within an arms' reach. Much, that Celestia burst into a solitary with the warhead.

There was light. Surrealistic light. Celestia was so bright, she was enough to make any creature blind. The staggering amounts of intensity waved a spectrum of sparkling rainbows, whilst, keeping the elements from moving any slower.

But something was wrong.

What was supposed to be, per se, a solid grip was futile and unstable. The elements were not as attached to the princess as they once were. Granted, it was probably because they were always handled by two or more ponies. Since Celestia used them did they become precarious. But, she wielded the virtues perfectly ... perhaps no harm could be done if things were done correctly.

With a single big flap on her wings, the princess took off to the sky, and out of the fragmented building. Nightmare Moon immediately toppled over. Their largely tall horns flared to prepare attack.

She was praying inside. She kept telling herself that, everything was going to be all right. She had to protect her citizens. What else can she do?

But, as it turns out, this was not actually the case. The princess wasn't doing this for her precious subjects.

She was doing it for herself.

Though, Celestia could not bring dignity to admit it. She further denied it. Her eyes were stung with water at this point, with more tears at an ignorant defense. Even though she was determined of what she was doing, this denial deteriorated the elements.

The grasp on the gems were weakening.

Celestia was making a sin ... the elements wanted to separate, away from this deadly disease. They wanted to be liberated! She could no longer control them.

She tried to force more magic into the gems, but that only caused them to repel even more. Luna had already shot her dagger of ray towards the unready alicorn. There was not a lot of time left.

She was left unready when the elements detected ...

... Misery ... it was all that could be heard. A frozen scream, once more, deafened the ears of a guilty alicorn. The rainbow of harmony, space-rocketed onto the moon. Another prism of rainbows exploded onto the sky.

The princess was overcome with stun. The elements lay as a pile of moldy rocks. She could no longer feel their clutches; she was disconnected off them. A layer of murky spots shadowed in the wholly moon. Identified as a dark silhouette of a unicorn head, was clearly etched on the orb.

Before, she was so full of power; so full of strength and determination. But now ... she was weak. Mentally, emotionally, physically ... every aspect of the drained alicorn was broken. Her bright mane cascaded into a lowly droop, along with the sudden rush of tears in her eyes.

She lost the elements; she lost her energy; and ... she lost her sister.

So, pray tell, what else can she do now?

Knifed.

The object was swift to lash at the nape of the blue mare. Drops of fresh blood poured out from the wound. It leaked down the bed, as a calm storm. Celestia could perceive the cracking of crippled bones beneath the flesh. She pulled the knife quickly to the opposite side; the edges soaked in clot. She did not feel anything; no sympathy, no remorse.

The blade lit into a fire. Half the steel was burned to a crisp. On the upper crust, there was a ghastly figure. It looked lurid, but very alive.

It was a white pony ... with fiery hair.

The princess jumped. The sudden descent made her hit an object. Shards of cheval glass shattered on the ground, splitting into a million different pieces. In a flail of panic, she could not contain her disbelief. Wryer copies of the pony in the blade reflected on the broken mirrors.

It was her ... she turned into her own monster.

Dislocated breathing noises bounced from behind; Luna was wide awake. Her eyes were a tightened bloodshot from the lack of oxygen. She couldn’t breathe anymore. Her lips coughed up bigger spits of blood in sync with her heavily heaving chest.

Eventually, she stopped moving. Dear sister was dead.

What had she done?

She just killed her sister.

A huge clanking sound echoed from the floor. The knife roughly caromed onto the wooden surface. Her eyes struck with pure horror. She barely comprehended what she just did. The mere alicorn had never been in a situation like this before, even with a thousand years of life. It terrified her beyond belief.

Silence ... grievous silence teased the atmosphere. Celestia’s heart responded quicker than her mind did with a severe cry. She buried her head on the blood-seeped veins of her sister, and wept.

“Halt! Who goes there?!”

She snipped to the side with a panicked expression. The guards finally arrived from all the commotion. They were already pointing their spears a lesser twelve inches away from the direction of the sobbing pony.

“Red Sword! Stronghold!” She shook. “I—it’s me, your princess!”

“Impostor!” One of the guards said, before forwarding his spear even closer to Celestia. She moved her neck away from it as much as possible. “You assassinated Princess Luna! Have you come to slay her highness Celestia too?!”

“No!” She cried. Every inch of her body writhed under fear and confusion, as she tried to gather up the courage to convince the guards. “I am Princess Celestia! Can’t you see?!”

But, of course, they could not recognize this pony.

“Whoever you are, or who you even claim to be,” The red earthling growled, giving a wider shift on his words.

“Surrender now, before you face the consequences!” The two stallions steered closer as the princess tried to back away. Her rump bumped against the wall. Dead end.

“P—please don’t hurt me!” she pleaded. “I didn't mean for any of this to happen! I’m sorry!”

I’m sorry ...

The guards ignored this blubbering and continued to invade what little space the princess had left.

The thoughts were racing — everything was happening too fast. Celestia’s heartbeat tried to keep up with the pace thumping so loud on her breast, it felt as if they were about to burst from the caging bone. The room was spinning in circles; she was dangerously confused. The guards were yelling, but their voices only succumbed along with her blurry vision. She could barely hear anything, other than the cacophany swirling in the mind.

She shut her eyes as the tears intensely trickled down her cheeks.

Her horn started to blaze violently. There was so much energy and emotion crawling through the princess that it became too much to bear. Her mane fiercely flew. The natural magic surrounding the environment was becoming highly oversaturated; everypony in the room could feel the presence of this inevitably strong aura. She was floating upwards — without even fluttering wings.

The ground shook. The two guards stumbled on their hooves and dropped their spears. They tried to take a glimpse of the convicted princess, before covering their blinded eyes; Celestia was bright as Tartarus.

For a second, it almost looked as if she was the sun. Never had she been this bright. The light continued to grow,

Until the room exploded.

Ponies in Canterlot promptly heard the reverberating outbreak. The ground shook once more; waiters spilling drinks, and bottles of cider smashed on the ground. Little children were crying, as their mothers tried to calm them down. Some were yelling hysterically at the course of the event. It was complete, and utter chaos.

Everyone stared dumbfounded at the smoke anticipating on the crumbled part of the castle. More guards ran to inspect the area, but by the time they had arrived, the place was incinerated into ashes. Celestia was gone, leaving only destruction in her wake.

They had been too late.

I: Tea

(Credit to lumelya@deviantart & evehly@deviantart)

“False face must hide what the false heart doth know.”

Word of Luna’s death and a certain, missing Celestia spread across the borders of Equestria like wildfire. The citizens could not contain their panic. With both princesses gone who would be able to perform the day-night cycle?

Of course, it was possible to raise sun and moon through several unicorns, but at the same time nature was very risky. Full magic could be drained from a regular pony if forced to handle such heavenly bodies. Perhaps alicorns like Twilight and Cadance had a better chance at the task, still it inquired they needed help. Perhaps the elements of harmony could keep the system in check, although that was only in theory. There were no safer means of keeping the celestials up but with the two magically inclined sisters themselves.

The six bearers were to be gathered to find the threat. Plenty of wardens had already begun in the search. Progress was slow however, for the outbreak of the news was still fresh. Not a real piece of evidence on who or what exactly happened were traced. Only ashes that matched the DNAs of Luna and the two guards were found.

Thus, rumors started to roam around the planet. Some said that an old, or maybe even new villain killed Luna and the two guards with arson. Some said that one of the royal chefs must have accidentally caused a fire while delivering breakfast to the princess. Some said Celestia escaped and was currently in hiding, ponynapped or even dead. Despite the different stories going about, nopony considered Celestia provoking the crisis. She was flawless in their eyes, to which no sort of evil could become of her.

Only one other mare suspected her to be the culprit. Starlight Glimmer.

She had seen this before. But, only in particular hallucination. The dream where Nightmare Moon reappeared from the fabrics of space. The dream where she fell down with whispering pancakes, the faces of scary monsters. The dream where Celestia tried to stop her from going mad and,

The one dream where Daybreaker came to life.

Yes; she, the egotistical maniac, twisted, corrupted version of the most majestic mare in the universe. That demonic laugh still echoes in Starlight's head until the very day. If anything, Celestia shouldn't have been chosen to help solve the delusional issue. She didn't even know what to do. It made Starlight realize how insecure the so-called ’sun goddess’ actually was. Even with a thousand lives of experience, Celestia barely knew her personality. She was constantly focused on attaining the kingdom that she ignored her own emotional and psychological needs. That explained why she wasn't too surprised to see an evil embodiment of herself. For, she learned too well, it was too much of a likely opportunity to happen.

Twilight knew about the whole ordeal yet decided it was nothing but another friendship lesson. When the map called out to settle the dilemma it was for Starlight to fix, not the royal sisters. Everyone assumed the trouble was over when it really wasn't. Had not either of them bothered to monitor the aftermath of the map? Starlight could sense something was still up.

The problem was already there, the poison buried deeper and deeper into Celestia's skull; it was profoundly cancerous. But, the odds were, nopony, and nopony in the history of a millennia tried to at least just check on the princess.

Starlight was alone. They thought she was full of horse feathers for thinking such things. This was coming from a cunning communist who once manipulated a village, almost destroying the entire universe by sabotaging an ancient time travel spell.

But in the end she wouldn't be so crazy after all.

Heavy. The world around Celestia felt heavy. The suddenness of the event lingered on. Her guts begged to scream but Celestia would not let them. A single sound might attract unwanted attention.

She was currently invisible, on a little lake away from crowds. It was a sunny day; and it had been sunny for a longer period of time. The clock already ticked to eleven in the evening, five hours after the incident. The sun was still up. The elected authorities were probably arguing whether to hastily recruit magical users into raising the moon. They were hanging on to the hope of Celestia’s return as soon as possible. But she didn’t return, and wouldn’t.

The sun was openly scintillating heat, but Celestia couldn’t care less. Her mane was practically on fire, what’s a little shed of hot ray compared to that?

She stared at the reflection formed in the water. The pond was calm. Noises made by crickets and frogs could be heard but they added more serenity to the atmosphere. However, her reflection amidst the lake itself wasn't so peaceful. Celestia could see how much she had changed; not only did her hair and tail burn, but her cutie mark had an extra blazing inferno surrounding the regal sun. Her wings were ruffled and sharp. On a more positive note, her facial features remained the same; Celestia still looked somewhat innocent. Her teeth hadn't grown into pointed fangs, at least not yet. But most importantly, her eyes were as normal as they always were. She would've been a dead doppelganger if those purple irises turned into aurelian snake eyes, with a devilish dark orange at the back. All that would be needed was the armor and makeup, and she would look exactly the way she had feared to become.

Celestia hated it. Using a hoof she smashed the water, wishing that awful sight would begone. Instead it continued to mirror her into a more disoriented shape, due to the moving ripples.

The whole ordeal was still unbelievable. It was hatred that sprouted these malevolent new appearances. She had been infested with some sort of dark magic ... coming from within.

Celestia knew the right thing to do was to give herself up to the guards and confess; but she didn’t want to. While she felt morally obligated to do so, the consequences would be painful. Nobody just kills the princess without getting punished. One fact remained yielding to her, however.

Liberation.

She wanted this, didn’t she? She finally spat her outrage and diminished the enemy. She was free. Oh, the wonders of being the hailed and glorious queen of Equestria! First she would get rid of those unsightly and putrid moon colors ... yes, she could have the halls painted in vibrant crimson. Tapestries of the night could be torn down and not one creature should even have to remember such a thing exist. Symbols of the sun and ember will stand as the main decor in every room. The royal guard armor should redesign in fiery gold through a touch of iron smoldering. The old ceiling must shatter and replaced with new window panes portraying her prestige and grandeur. She would rule the kingdom the way she saw fit and —

She stopped right there.

Of course. How could she forget? The Elements of Harmony. Discord. Threats.

It was better she finished what she had started. This would all go to waste if she gave herself up. Maybe Celestia just needed a bit more motivation by the goal she had in mind. With the invisible spell still lingering on, she flew from the sky to see the distances. Buildings, landscapes and creatures. But she was looking for something else.

Then, her wings started to flicker faster. Like a meteor, she threw down towards the direction of area she wanted to go, her body picking up on agility. Celestia concentrated intensely on her horn. It started to pop small magical bits. Her eyes were shut tight, but the wind pierced through them from how fast she was scudding. Her descent caused a light of friction to form on her body. The light grew, and grew, until ...

... she was in Ponyville, standing next to a cottage for animals.

CLANG CLANG ... CLANG CLANG ...

The tolling of Ponyville’s clocktower bell rang by the stroke of twelve midnight. It was supposed to signal that a day had passed by and the princess had not returned. The sound barely annoyed anyone. Nopony could sleep. Besides anxiety of the international crisis, with the sun still up it was a tricky misconception to believe that it was currently daytime. Not a lot can shut their eyes through it.

Normally, this would be a time when Fluttershy and Discord would have their late-night sleepovers. It was more convenient to have Discord rest in for the night until the hour of the tea party. True, he was a powerful being that can arrive in the cottage with a snap of his claws. But he found it much more enjoyable to flicker a flashlight under a blanket and talk ghost stories with his pony friend in the night.

But they couldn't use a flashlight. With the bright sun gleaming on the cottage windows, a lit candle would be pointless. Fluttershy was surprised to see the radiant orb still hadn't gone down in turn for the moon. Immediately she knew something was wrong, and needed to act quick.

The other five girls were probably already on the move. Fluttershy counted on that fact. She just had to find them. However, before she could leave the house, she had to take care of her responsibilities.

Scrambling to her hooves, Fluttershy hastily gathered all the animals in the room and fed them. She couldn't starve them, who knows how long she would have to be gone and leave them famished? She could hire a pet-sitter but none of the little critters would eat food handled by a different pony, not even a regular visitor like Discord.

And speaking of Discord ...

The annoyed draconequus was pouting nonstop. He couldn't care less by the emergency at stake. Of course, he could raise the moon and lower the sun effortlessly, but it was not like he had the authority to do so. It had crossed his mind that Celestia and Luna were missing or dead. Once again he couldn't care less. He just wanted to have the tea party.

“But what about me?” He whined, the way a naughty little foal would throw a tantrum.

“I’ll come back for you later, Discord.” Fluttershy answered, not even bothering to look at him. She was too busy guiding the creatures back to their personal shelters. “But right now I have an emergency on my hooves.”

Feeding the last few pieces of carrot to Angel Bunny, she galloped to the door when suddenly the draconequus popped into view, blocking the path. She tried to go around him but he wouldn’t let her.

“Discord, let me out this instant!” She asserted, stomping a hoof for effect.

“No.” Discord replied. He shook his head and folded his arms. “Besides, Celestia is probably hiding for a reason. She couldn’t be bothered.”

“That’s mean!”

The two continued to blabber nonstop. Not then did they notice a sinister figure creeping by the window sill ...

It took a while for Celestia to regain her composure. After the massive teleportation spell she just cast, the invisibility spell she covered herself with wore out. Luckily, she managed to duck behind a wall before anypony could have seen her. With a few retries, she once again successfully formed another hiding craft.

The next thing Celestia had in mind was to murder Fluttershy and Discord. They were an obstacle to the case. She couldn't be queen when someone as dangerously powerful as she was waited to attack. The Elements of Harmony would zap her up like a bug. It would be unfair, but Celestia needed to eliminate these right away, and the best way to do it was to ambush them. It was a bit cowardly, yes; but it was more on playing smart.

When Luna turned into Nightmare Moon, she did not plan her intentions carefully. She failed to retrieve the elements thus leading to her banishment on the moon. Celestia would have fallen on the same trap, if she had not acted quickly her fate would be on the spots of the sun.

Mostly, Fluttershy would be easier to deal with compared to the other five bearers. As to her knowledge, she knew that Discord constantly lounged with the filly.

She broke behind the small shelter. All the animals were inside the cottage. Celestia stole a glimpse at the window.

“My dear Fluttershy,” said a rather nutty draconequus. “Can you at least settle down for a bit?”

Discord snapped his claws, and he and his pegasus companion were seated upside-down. He motioned a gravity-defying watered cup in place of Fluttershy's lips. “Tea?”

“No, Discord.” The mare replied, pushing the cup aside before flying towards the door.

Perfect, Celestia thought to herself. She had both of them together. There was no need to spend any more time tracking either of the two down. She simply just needed to take the element of surprise. With a hoof, she discreetly stepped inside the cottage.

One creak of it, however, sent a million nerve of shockwaves through Discord. His spine wiggled uncontrollably related to a shaky balloon. Fluttershy noticed his sudden change in movement. “What is it?" She asked.

“Something’s not right in here ...” Discord brushed past aside, caressing his white beard.

Then a sinister figure ran to one side. Fluttershy and Discord snipped towards the direction only to realize it had disappeared. The critters were shaking violently — somehow, they had sensed this creature too.

Everyone seemed to have circled in the center of the room, scanning on their surroundings. Not long after, Fluttershy decided to breathe out a sigh and relieve the tension.

“I’m sure it was nothing, Discord,” She assured softly. “There’s no need to get uptight.”

“It’s not over yet.” Discord anxiously exclaimed. Through catlike reflexes, his talons stood straight up, telling him that the problem was not indeed finished. He was still very much alarmed.

The pegasus sighed. “You need to calm dow —”

At mere remark, something — or someone — immediately caught her eye. Someone very sinister. It was coming out from the sunlight that tinted on the windows, and it was going after Discord.

“LOOK OUT!”

Before the draconequus could react, he was suddenly wrapped in a blast of magic. He struggled against it, but the spell restrained him from doing so. A slight twinge of numbness filled his void. There were flakes of cement beginning to crawl over him. Discord was being turned to stone once more.

After transforming into a complete statue, he fell down on his side with a clank.

“Discord!” Fluttershy cried out, straddling on her rocky friend. But then, she had to hastily step backwards. Her eyes glimmered into the form of the character who was walking towards her.

“Who are you?” She asked, her tone horse and frozen.

The character smiled an ominous smile. At first it cackled evilly, placing its fronthoof on the still body of Discord. Its head cocked to the light.

“YOU'RE ... you’re ... P — princess Celestia?”

“That’s my name, dearie. Don’t wear it out.” Celestia posed on the shining rays of the sun. Her features became overwhelmingly apparent against the light. “Oh, but truly, I’m not the same princess you speak of, am I? Perhaps I need a better nickname.”

Celestia tapped her chin, remembering the former. However, she was forced to decide in saving the cause for later. Fluttershy was irritatingly distracting her thoughts with questions.

“Wha, what happened to you? Did you kill Princess Luna?” The small pegasus was confused and angry. A zillion mysteries roamed into her mind, and she demanded answers.

The witch laughed again. “Let’s just say that I have gone into a glamorous transformation. I look prettier, don’t I? These new changes gladly give me the power to burn anything I want.”

She continued to boast on her god-awful doings. “As for your other question, I did kill Luna. Aw, it was too easy really. The stupid foal let her guard down and I managed to cut her in sleep.”

Fluttershy hesitated for a moment. A notion itched at the back of her conscience. It would have been obvious to answer, yet she couldn’t help but ask. The whole ordeal just didn't morally make sense to her. “Why ... why are you doing this?”

“Because I want to," Celestia responded quickly, pressing her hooves on the rocky surface even harder. “I want the throne. I want to be Queen. And I can't have any of that with my sister around. Or Discord. Or you.”

With a glare of her horn, Discord’s statue began to snap. There was light inside the cracks that only continued to spread like the branches of a tree. Much to the pegasus’ horror, the statue detonated furiously. Shattered pieces of Discord sprawled on the floor. His parts would not be the same as they once were, even if somepony tried to put them back together.

Celestia squinted even closer to the smaller pony until they were practically eye to eye with each other. Fluttershy could only cower behind. “Don’t do this, princess! This isn’t you!”

“I was always like this,” She demurred. “I just didn’t have the chance to show it. Until now.”

Her eyes pulsated into narrow slits from the ulterior black magic. The animals started to pound from their cages seeing their owner get attacked. Fluttershy started to cry; she failed to activate the elements and failed to save her friend.

Now, she was going to greet the face of demise.

Twilight paced back and forth in her palace, waiting anxiously for the bearers to meet. The golden crown of magic glistened on her head, with the significant purple gem encrusted on the front. The outbreak of the news would have been a sad event, but for now, it was more of a panic scenario for the friendship princess.

“Oh, what’s taking them so long?” She muttered impatiently, frowning at the wallclock.

“Relax, Twi.” Spike hushed while mopping the floor of the hall. “They’ll be here any minute now.”

“Yes,” Twilight breathed. “I know ... but this is an emergency, Spike. Princess Luna is dead, and Celestia is missing! What would Equestria be without them?”

“Uh ...”

Knock, knock.

Spike ran towards the door and swung it open to reveal a few familiar faces standing on the sill. “We’re here!”

“Hi, guys.” Spike waved and smiled, most especially to Rarity, who gave him a little kiss and a nice ’hello Spikey-wikey.’

“Thank Celestia!” Twilight turned around to welcome her friends inside. She froze. Saying her mentor’s name, for some reason, compelled her to feel guilty.

The girls walked in the gigantic aperture. But this led Twilight to stay dead on her tracks even more. She blinked once, and could only see four mares jaunting inside. She shook her head.

“Where’s Fluttershy?”

...

The others looked expectantly at each other, assuming at least one of them had an answer.

“Ah’ ain’t got no clue, sugarcube.” Said Applejack. “Maybe she needed to talk to Discord for a bit. Ah’ heard they were s’posed to have one of their fancy tea parties.”

“OOOh, I just saw her this morning,” Pinkie was bouncing, as usual. “She dropped by Sugarcube Corner to buy eight pieces of yummy-triple-fudged ice cream oreo-sandwich cookies! But I haven't seen her after that!”

“That ... is rather strange, is it not?” Rarity enunciated eloquently. “Fluttershy is always regularly on time. Unless she is unavailable of course, but she would take the utmost care of arranging the matter with us. I wonder what happened?”

Pinkie gasped. “What if she got abducted by slimy green intergalactic aliens who made her the queen of their sad and lonely planet? Or no! What if she was turned into an orange ... wait that wouldn’t work ... hmm, how about an apple tree? Yeah! An apple tree! And AJ chopped down that apple tree who happened to be Fluttershy and —”

Rainbow Dash shoved a hoof over Pinkie’s mouth to shush her. “Or, Fluttershy’s just a tad late today. I mean, come on, she always has her hooves full with birds and whatnot.”

Everyone in the room nodded. “Well, whatever it is ...” Twilight added.

“I'm sure she’ll get here — soon?”

The lavender alicorn gawked into the red aura outside the window. Seeing their friend’s prospect, the girls looked distantly over the open doorway. The clouds had disappeared and, just as Twilight observed, the sky was a bright crimson. There seemed to be a commotion in the streets.

“What’s goin’ on?”Applejack asked, as all six of them galloped out of the entrance. Citizens gathered around in confusion, staring at the demeaning atmosphere.

“I — I don’t know,” Spike said, hugging behind Twilight’s leg. “But it doesn’t look so good.”

There was a figure soaring on the sky. The figure kind of looked like a star, but ... brighter. The aura of its fire enveloped the town in dry humidity. It started toying around ponies as if it were about to claw them bare. They fled in all sorts of directions.

“What is that?” Rarity asked.

“Is it a fire-breathing dragon?” Pinkie guessed.

“No, it doesn’t seem to be a dragon.” Twilight's eyes peered over the figure. Somehow, it looked familiar. To her revelation, she did notice the cutie mark. That left her completely baffled.

It ... it couldn’t be; she rapidly shook her head for what seemed like the fifth time. But, based on the events of today, they had pointed to the worst possibility.

The figure decided it had enough playtime, and descended onto the ground. Everypony gasped.

Just like how Fluttershy reacted, it was shocking to see how much Celestia had changed. But what was dumbfounding at most were her eyes; the once lovely purple irises the princess wore were replaced with aggressive, blazing predator ones, accompanied by a darker red at the back.

For a moment, the crowd was exchanging looks with one another on what to do. Nobody knew how to react to the princess’ transformation. Despite the turbulence, the only thing they could think of was bowing down to her as often. They lowered their heads skeptically to the taller mare.

But Twilight did not move. Her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their skull. She could not comprehend what she was seeing; she was starting to hyperventilate, palpitating the sweat forging out of her. Although she was taller than most, Twilight was hidden amongst the crowd. Her four friends stared at her in concern for a second, before turning their ears on Celestia’s booming announcement.

“Good evening, my little ponies ... or, well, good morning.” She chuckled, not so much in a friendly manner. “As all of you may have noticed, I have raised the sun despite being a supposed midnight, but I stand before you in honor of a new regime.”

The crowd looked bewildered. The girls stayed on their ground, anticipating to hear the rest.

“In the days leading up to this fateful event, I have been gone missing.” She spoke briskly. “As it has probably already been reported to you, Princess Luna is dead. But ...”

Celestia cleared her throat. “I murdered her. It is also worth noting that I have killed the bearer of the Element of Kindness and the Lord of Chaos.”

"You WHAT?”

Another wide gasp escaped from the populace. Celestia irritatingly snipped to the direction of the voice's owner. At the back of the crowd, she could see six mares gaping in horror.

“You killed Fluttershy?!” Yelled a cyan blue pegasus, flying over the crowd. Rainbow Dash’s face wrinkled in pure resentment. Her jaw was clenched into a tight lock and her pink pupils were shooting daggers.

Celestia cringed for a second, but remained her nonchalant composure. “Indeed I have.”

“Why ...?” Another face appeared, this time a purple alicorn princess.

The sight of Twilight Sparkle caused Celestia to wince even more. She sneered. The answer was clear, and obvious: both Discord and the elements were potential menaces to her rule. But she could not say that in front of all these ponies. She didn’t want to look vulnerable.

So, under gritted teeth, Celestia mocked. “Because, I am Queen now. And I don't want some stupid little busybody snooping in on my business.”

She spun towards Dash, and resumed her cruel insinuations, sharing the same disgusted scowls they tolerated with each other. “She was just pathetic, truly. The foal did nothing but weep and kiss on my hooves. Discord was at least more bearable, and this is coming from the king of annoying.”

“Why you little!” Rainbow Dash had enough. She plunged towards the tall mare with her hoof and was about to punch her. “Take ... THIS!”

Celestia simply flew to one side, which caused Dash to slide over her.

“Whoooooa ...!” She stumbled, flailing around until she eventually crashed onto the ground. Speed didn’t matter at the moment.

The white alicorn watched the scene for a bit, before flapping her wings above the crowd for one last announcement. “From now on,” She loudly spoke, and snarked to herself. “All of you shall address me as the Queen —

“Daybreaker.”

Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky at morning, sailors warning.

It was such a deliciously notorious name. This is what she had in mind when she interrogated Fluttershy. No wonder Starlight Glimmer’s dream had preceded to use that alias. The splendor of the sun peaked finest through the daybreak. No more of the night would beknownst to ponykind. The morning would be all that they would have, and everyone just needed to be contented by it.

With that, the once former Celestia cackled like a maniac. She swept up into the air, and bluntly disappeared.

Everypony panicked. Some blabbered with each other over what happened, while some were running here and there. Similar to the incident in Canterlot, Ponyville was in total pandemonium.

Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Spike and Twilight rushed over to their remaining pegasus friend, who was sore all over the ground.

“Rainbow Dash, what in the hay were you thinkin’?” AJ scolded, as she and the others pulled Dash off the ground.

“Well, you can’t blame me, guys!” Dash protested. “Don’t tell me you wouldn't have acted the same way I did!”

“It wasn’t very smart of you to just jump like a deranged pony, though.” Rarity commented.

“I don’t care!” Dash yelled, swinging her hooves around the air. “She killed Fluttershy! She deserves to die! And if nopony is going to do that, I’m going to do it myself!”

All of them had to grab Dash before she could fly away into nowhere. “Rainbow Dash! Darling, please calm down!”

“No! I won’t calm down!” Dash thrashed around, trying to break free from her friends’ grips. “Let me go! I just want to see the look on Daybreaker’s ugly face once I beat her! I just want to punch her with my bare hooves! I just want to kill her! I just want to —”

... She stopped thrashing.

The girls looked confused. Then it became very apparent to them that there were tears trickling down Dash’s cheek.

“Oh, who am I kidding?” She cried, lowering her head in defeat. “I ... I’m no match for somepony like Daybreaker. But ... it’s ... I ...

The red sobs on her face became too much to bear. Her colorful mane drooped into monochrome. “I just want my best friend back.”

There was a moment of silence. Everyone was too blank to comprehend what Dash had said, only to watch her sympathetically. Eventually, Pinkie started crying heavily.

“I — I admit, I h — haven't been a goody-good friend to Fluttershy,” The pink mare sobbed. "I was such a big meanie weenie. A — and now, it’s ... it’s too late for me to say sorry.”

“M — me too ...” Applejack gained a few sad hiccups, which took the others by surprise. She was muttering something sour under her breath.

“First mum and dad get taken away from me ... an’ now Fluttershy is gone ... a — an’ Discord ... too.” She tried to wipe the tears that were forming on her eyes, but she couldn't keep them from coming out. She grabbed her hat and scrunched it in her hooves by her chest. “Ah’ ... ah miss all of them!”

The depressing realization of the situation struck in. All six of them huddled and started crying together. Tears mixed up in other tears, with cold hugs after hugs, apology after apology. The screams of other ponies only came by as a distant blur in their minds. It was a messy sort of party, but, it was very therapeutic, to say the least. They all loved Fluttershy, and forever being separated from her was a harsh slap. Everyone felt bad that they hadn’t been there for the yellow pegasus when she died. Though, they couldn’t be blamed. They tried.

Twilight sprang up, and shot a commanding hoof. “You know, Dash has a point. I say we avenge our friend!”

“But how?" Spike asked, breaking apart from the group hug. “There’s only six of us ... and an army of her.”

“I have just the rebellious idea.”

II: Moon’s Insurgence

(Credit to CosmicUnicorn@deviantart)

“Every revolution begins with a spark.”

The sunlight was hard to ignore.

It had been a week since Daybreaker took over the kingdom. There were a whole lot of adjustments being made to the palace, with anything that was related to the night being ripped down and replaced with something more daylike. Luna’s room, while Daybreaker found disgusting, was removed of its precautionary crime scene tape and renovated into a staff room. Nopony wanted to enter it though; the thought of a former murder accounting in that place caused goosebumps.

But what feared the hearts of all was the queen herself. Daybreaker did this much treachery and chaos under everyone’s nose. She prowled and used the hopes of the citizens to her advantage. They let their guard down.

The windows in the bedroom brazenly gleamed on her face. Daybreaker pulled the blankets away to stand up. The servants already asked for her permission to leave breakfast by. No point in staying by the bed any longer; she had duties to take care of.

She stepped out of the chambers only to be greeted with an appetizing smell. A unicorn mare in a maid outfit was strolling a food cart by the hallway. She stopped on her tracks when she saw the queen.

“Is this the food for the occasion?” Daybreaker asked, pointing at the silver lid on top of the cart.

The unicorn said no words; she seemed to have been sweating in a frenzy. Daybreaker cocked an eyebrow.

Finally, she snapped out of her frightened trance. “Oh ...! Um, yes, yes ... this food is meant to be served for the gala today, Y — Your Majesty. It will be recooked an hour before the event.”

The servant mare levitated the lid to let the queen see what was inside the platter. There were batches of sandwiches needing to be toasted. Daybreaker hissed, but not at the food.

“You expect my gala to be served with dreary silver lids? Take these away and get the blacksmith to furnish some gold ones. Now!”

The mare got even more startled at this command. She stumbled on her hooves, and accidentally moved the food cart a bit before she grabbed the whole set with her magic. She ran with the cart, not daring to look back.

Daybreaker sighed. While it was nice to be feared sometimes, it was annoying to have ponies constantly writhe at the sight of her when they can just talk normally. Though, she couldn't blame them; she feared herself with a first glance at the mirror. With the amount of terror she had inflicted, Daybreaker figured no one would try and undermine her.

The halls were already decked with decorations. After her announcement in Ponyville, the queen planned to throw a party in honor of her new reign. She asked the officials to celebrate, but refused to send an invitation to Twilight Sparkle and the rest of her remaining friends. That would be trouble.

She crossed into the corner of the hall to reach the throne room. Ponies were working here and there, preparing for the event. Unicorns fixed the long table with a large tapestry, pegasi draped curtains, and earth ponies scrubbed floors. The walls were painted in vibrant crimson, and the single throne chair was scaled to a bigger size, so much so you could see it from outside. The stained glass windows replicated notorious features of the sun and the queen, ponies worshipping and bowing to her in fear.

The throne room may not have been finished yet, but it bared resemblance to the burning Tartarus; to Daybreaker's eyes, it was perfect.

“See? I told you, it was her all along!” Exclaimed a light pink unicorn, trailing behind her mentor the princess.

“Fine, fine; you were right. You don’t need to remind me for the hundredth time.” Twilight scoffed in irritation. Starlight looked disappointed.

“Well, I kind of expected more from you than that ...”

Twilight sighed, and placed her appendages around the mare’s shoulders. “Look, Starlight ... it’s not that I don’t trust you, but I just couldn’t bring myself to betray Princess Celestia at the time. She was both my friend and teacher, and it’s hard to believe she was secretly under all of this.”

They walked out of the old barn. All of her friends, with the exclusion of Fluttershy, stood by the open fields of Sweet Apple Acres. Granny Smith was more than eager to allow Applejack to host the event here. Rainbow Dash was patrolling the air for any disturbances, Pinkie was securing the back, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were on lookout in their treehouse club. Cadance was there, along with a bunch of other close unicorns like Moondancer. They seemed to be arranging something from above.

“Is it done?” Twilight asked.

“We are just about done, darling,” Rarity replied, and turned the magic off her horn for a while. She pointed a hoof into the sky. “Oh, this will be the most beautiful warning sign to have ever existed in this universe.”

The purple alicorn nodded. She cleared her throat, and spoke as loudly as possible.

“Thank you for coming, everypony. It means a lot that you guys are willing to help for the sake of Luna’s and Fluttershy's deaths. As all of you may know, what we’re about to do is not only risky to our own magic, but stands as high treason against the law. We are about to enter a dangerous world, where we fight against the Queen Daybreaker. Fluttershy once told me that in order to be kind, we have to stand up for ourselves sometimes. We cannot let our nation befall, restrained into the clutches of the pony we once considered our friend. We need to help our fellowponies. We will not stand to be tormented by the queen. We will not perish into the light. We will defend ourselves, and protect all that we have left.”

Twilight spread her wings. “So are we ready?!”

A booming mix of cheers and yes filled the air. Apple Bloom shot a signal, only to be piled on top of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Rainbow Dash waved another signal, and so did Pinkie; Rarity was the last to clear her assignment. The purple princess smiled triumphantly.

“Let’s begin.”

Twilight and Cadance made their way to the center, taking the lead. Five other unicorns followed behind, them being Starlight, Sunburst, Trixie, Moondancer and Rarity. Their horns lit, as all seven of them could feel the presence of the sun and moon being wrapped around their magic.

Meanwhile, back in Canterlot, Daybreaker sneered in dismay. She was sitting on her now gigantic-sized throne, with the room practically empty as a ghost town. The gala had started hours ago, and nopony came. They were all too chicken to meet her.

At this point, Daybreaker was going to lose it. She wanted to incinerate the castle into ashes, but restrained the impulse; it wasn't worth it. She was about to write a letter to the officials saying they were denounced of their ranks, only to sense a strange shift in the environment.

The atmosphere took on a colder change. The volatility seemed to have come from the air, seeing how the colors of the sky had changed from golden to dark purple. She felt the powers of the sun and moon being tugged, since both heavenly bodies were attached to her energy. She watched the sun lower down shockingly in turn for the night.

Abruptly, Daybreaker galloped outside to take hold of the orbs. She tried to put the moon down and raise the sun up, asserting as much strength as she could muster. The other side that was also pulling made it more difficult for her.

It was a dangerous tug of war on celestial bodies.

Daybreaker gritted her teeth. She could tell the other side was using some sort of strategy. They were pulling one at a time, steadily enough. The other side was probably hoping the queen would collapse eventually. Daybreaker resented this thought.

The sun and moon wobbly shifted, wrapped in a colorful assortment of magic. The golden aura she placed was blinking in and out. The queen's strength was failing; it would only be a matter of time before she would pass out. If she could just get it right, she might be able to lift the sun all the way and drown the moon while at it.

While stancing her hooves carefully on the ground, Daybreaker suddenly let go, and instead zapped a bare spell into the ball of hot gas. The sun shook violently, becoming unstable with the magic shot on it. The closest conduct of energy it could find was the one holding it, which led the spell to electrocute those who were on the other side.

Sparks from the sun turned into a line of lightning, stretching in the outskirts of the horizon. After the sun and moon were free of grip, Daybreaker took over. She finally managed to drop the moon below and elevate the sun with ease. She smirked to herself for beating the punks that tried to reverse the system.

However, her smug expression was quickly replaced with a frown when she took notice of ... something. In the sky, there was an alignment of stars that seemed to read a text. While sinking the white orb down, the message was read wide and clear:

THE LUNAR REPUBLIC SHALL RISE.

Daybreaker immediately sent a horde of royal guards to find the perpetrators. She realized it must have either been Twilight and her friends, or a random group of unicorns. To her dismay, the wardens reported through quick letter that the purple alicorn princess was not in her diamond castle. Cadance and her citizens had abandoned the crystal empire as well.

Daybreaker rubbed her forehead with her front hooves, suppressing a growing headache. She didn't think she had to deal with this, and would have much preferred to enjoy the power of being queen than being used against said title.

Even though the news was still fresh, ponies were suddenly making a new batch of rumors about it. Almost half of Equestria knew what had happened based on the constellation stars of words. The theory of Luna being alive made Daybreaker chuckle at how stupid it was, at least.

The castle was locked, as ordered by the queen, just to keep herself protected. She wasn't going to host parties any time soon. Security was upgraded, with threefold guards forced to watch the kingdom. Daybreaker could fend for her own, but before they can get to her, the pawns needed to be sacrificed.

Twilight and the other unicorns were still passed out on the ground of Sweet Apple Acres, throbbing in pain. The strong, fiery thunder that came from the sun almost killed them.

“Come on sugarcube, wake up! We have ta' move!” said a raspy voice. The purple alicorn could recognize it was of a mare, her blurry eyelids slowly opening up to see an orange pony. Her mouth was dry of anything to say.

The pain was something she had never felt before. It was overwhelming, to the point where she couldn't even bear to feel her nerves and instead came to accept. She couldn't feel her wings or horn. Her head was spinning into a thick haze of bright light from the zap.

Applejack had to yank Twilight's mane just to put her left hoof around her shoulders. Pinkie and the others assisted the fainted unicorns and alicorn, while Dash hustled the group to a direction.

“I just saw the guards investigate Twilight's castle from here. Next thing you know, they'll be ravaging every home in Ponyville.” Dash explained. “We need to go to the refuge camps, fast!”

Everyone walked towards the route of the woods. It would take longer for them to get there with all the electrified ponies slowing them down, not even beginning to add the large numbers they had to hide. Dash continued to lead the way, motioning whether or not it was safe to flee yet. Because most of their magic was drained, none of the unicorns or two alicorns could protect themselves with invisibility. Guards searched and ransacked some of the homes; most of them were empty.

The slightest bit of noise was enough to make everypony shiver. The bridge was the hardest to cross, which they had to crawl through one by one just to avoid the wardens' gazes on the other side. Occasionally someone would trip, but there were plenty of helpers to assist them.

After dodging and keeping quiet for some time, the Everfree was finally amidst. The forest was much more unnerving than usual; daylight shone on their tracks, but bugs and other sorts of creatures were creeping up on them. The trees were hauntingly deformed into scary monsters which fought for whatever nutrients they could find from the unyielding sun. Everypony knew they were close after seeing the blue flowers on their trail. Finally, relief washed over them once the group spotted a black and white-striped figure by the distance.

“Welcome to my humble abode, has the rebellion been exposed?” Zecora chanted, waving past the others. Applejack gently set Twilight on the ground, before being nudged by somepony.

“Shining ... Armor ...” the purple alicorn exclaimed, unable to stand on her hooves. The stallion hugged her by the soil, but was forced to attend the other alicorn as well, who was limping next to him.

“Twily, Cadance, I saw the lightning! Was it bad?” Shining said, sharing the same looks of concern with his little sister and wife.

Cadance coughed. “We got zapped, but other than that we're alright, honey. At least we made it out of there alive.”

“I’ve never even heard of such a spell,” Twilight muttered. She shook her head, reminding herself of the risks they would be taking in having to oppose the queen. This was Daybreaker they were dealing with, a goddess with the knowledge of probably the beginning of time itself. They had to stay strong and keep their heads up.

“Is the barrier working alright?” She asked, though her vision was wary, she recognized the light aura shielding off the base.

“It’s working nicely. I cast two invisible and non-detecting spells on it so the queen wouldn’t be able to locate us.”

The alicorns nodded their head. Their voices sounded ill. “Good. Now is everypony okay??” Twilight did a finishing headcount with the total number of ponies, reassured to know that all of them safely got out. The rest of the girls organized the troops into their places. She breathed a sigh in contentment and entered the biggest tent, one with a gigantic full moon stitched on the fabric. The burning sensation in her ribs was slowly fading; time would heal her and the rest of the unicorns.

Behold, was the resistance camp. Under the care of Zecora and the provision of Shining's barrier, things were careful around here. None of Daybreaker's guards would be caught dead looking in the Everfree Forest, and even if they were, the camps would go unnoticed.

Above the smaller huts were symbols of Princess Luna's cutie mark, as well as a memoir of Fluttershy and Discord. The rebellion was built on their heroism and sacrifices; a Lunar Republic, where Twilight and her friends were preferably appointed to be leaders. Monarchy was not the basis of their philosophy. It was up to the leaders to speak for a punishment if someone blew their cover, in charge of what ponies to send on operations. Being a chief required labor and immense dedication.

All was safe, for now.