Sunrise

Ponies Of Significant Talent And Leadership

A unicorn with a pale lavender coat galloped down a seemingly empty hallway. Her mane was held in place with an obsidian band as she dodged around the invisible castle guard constantly patrolling the main thoroughfare to the Empress' audience chamber. They paid her no mind as she passed, save for the occasional lecherous glance at her flank. Reaching the double doors at the end of the hall, the unicorn paused, catching her breath and making sure her gown and mane were unruffled. Knocking thrice lightly in an even beat, the door slowly parted as guards on either side pulled their respective halves inward.

"Presenting Lady Twilight Shadow," came a voice from nowhere as the mare stepped into the soft glow of the magical lamps festooned about the chamber. She stood proudly, her horn polished to a mirror shine. Her mane and tail were immaculate, styled conservatively with the dark purple and light pink stripe sitting just next to her horn in her otherwise deep blue mane. Her cutie mark was proudly on display, accentuated by the gown she wore, a six-pointed star with several smaller stars dancing around it. The mare entered the chamber and approached the dais upon which her Empress' sat in regal repose.

On approach she lowered her head until it touched the ground, spreading her forelegs as she lowered herself to the floor. Her hindquarters raised in the air with her tail submissively limp between her legs, "I report as summoned, Mistress." the mare said in perfectly enunciated Olde Equestrian.

Nightmare Moon gazed down upon the pony who had entered her presence with a critical eye. As always, her prize's form was perfect. A smile graced her lips as she a ran a hoof through the tempest of night she called a mane. Dark cat's eyes narrowed as she finally spoke, "You may rise, my little pony."

Twilight rose to her feet, still keeping her gaze averted from the Queen of the Night. She approached to the very base of the dais and paused there, waiting.

"Leave us!" The Nightmare commanded. Every guard, visible or otherwise, vanished from the large chamber, leaving the two mare's alone.

As she sensed the last guard vacate the premises, the unicorn raised her head and smiled, "Mistress. How are you feeling today?"

The alicorn on the dais fluttered her wings slightly and flicked her tail, "I must admit I am disturbed. Tis why I have summoned you."

Twilight's smile turned to a frown as she levitated herself up to her leader and nuzzled at her neck, "I will do what I can to help, of course, Mistress."

Nightmare nodded and pulled slightly away from the display of affection, "I have heard rumors of a rebellion building in the wastelands to the east. A group of Zebrican sun worshipers again, no doubt, however... Something that reached my ears draws particular concern..."

The young mare next her simply looked quizzically, "And you would like me to find out the truth of these matters?"

"As always, Twilight Shadow. Take a small team with you. No more than 10 ponies, I should think. Root out this rebellion, destroy them, and bring any information and their leader back to me. If you cannot bring back the leader alive, simply bring their head. It has been a while since I have had the pleasure of torturing a dead soul..."

"As you wish, Mistress. I will need three nights to prepare."

"Very well, my prize. Report to my chambers tonight as usual."

Twilight gave the queen a lustful smile and hopped off the dais, retreating from the audience hall with all the ceremony required of her position. As she left, she noticed somepony hovering just out of sight, "Commander Dash, I presume?"

A cyan pegasus with a mane of pure silver landed next to the unicorn and kept pace, her one good magenta eye glancing around the hallway. The white orb and lengthy scar on her other side spoke of battles long past, "Lady Shadow. I presume you will have need of me?"

"Word travels fast."

"It is not every day you gallop to the Empress as if Spike had lit your tail on fire again."

"You are right, of course. I would like you to pick three of your strongest, and loyalest, pegasi to serve as my personal guard during an upcoming mission. You will be attending me as well."

The pegasus nodded, "Of course, Lady Shadow. When must we be ready?"

"In three night's time," she said aloud before leaning close and whispering softly into the pegasus' ear, "I would have you tonight, Moonglow, before the Mistress has me."

"As you wish, Lady Shadow," the commander said, trotting forward and flicking her tail seductively across Twilight's nose before taking off and returning to her barracks.

The unicorn smiled and returned to her quarters. Inside she began to pick the rest of her team from the limited pool of ponies that were trustworthy, loyal, and skilled enough to undertake such a mission. She had herself, of course, the most powerful unicorn in Equestria. Commander Moonglow Dash and whichever of her elite squad she would pick. Levitating a stack of folders over to her desk, she sighed. Many of these ponies had been killed, defected, or were no longer capable of action. Sorting through the remaining files left the mare with barely a hooful of candidates.

Elusive, a unicorn mare of great social standing within the elite circles of Lunopolis nobility. She also had a particular knack for eliciting information from anypony via drugs or seduction. White coat, purple mane. Cutie mark of three diamonds. A definite asset to a mission where the subtle gathering of information would be key.

Next on her list was Pinkamena Diane. Earth pony with a pink mane and coat. Cutie mark is a trio of blades attached to strings. This mare was a highly sought assassin and torturer who worked in a butcher shop as cover. She did a brisk business with the resident dragon and griffon population.

Having both ends of the information spectrum covered, she moved on to other possible issues during travel and extraction. Fluttercry, a pegasus mare in service of the crown's military hospital would cover the medical needs of the group and any wounded rebellion members they needed to keep alive. They had worked together in the past, and Twilight knew that this particular mare and Moonglow often shared a bed.

That left muscle. There was only one pony on the list that caught her keen eye. An earth pony by the name of Applejack. She'd built herself up from being a slave on one of the outlying apple orchards into a tough gladiator and from there had caught the eye of the Empress. Currently, the mare was serving as one of Nightmare's enforcers and regularly competing in the games that were held. Despite never using a weapon, the pony had over one hundred kills to her name in the arena with only minor injuries.

Having determined the members of the team, she set about writing a summons to each, "Spike!" she yelled in sharp command.

Appearing out of a shadow, a young dragon with an evil glint in his eye appeared on the table, "Yes, my lady?"

"I would have you send these writs to their intended. Make sure they go where they are meant to."

"As always, my lady," the dragon said, picking up each scroll as they were finished and breathing his green flame onto it, magically speeding it to its intended destination.