The Lies We Tell Ourselves

by The 24th Pegasus

Rating: teen
Tags: Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Violence
Length: 8096

Equestria has been defeated. Nightmare Moon has won, and Princess Celestia has been banished to the moon. The ponies that fought for Princess Celestia now find themselves left with a choice: swear fealty to the Princess of the Night, or die.

After four harrowing years of civil war brought about by Nightmare Moon's return, Canterlot has finally fallen. Princess Celestia has been banished to the moon, and now a new alicorn rules over Equestria. For the supporters of Nightmare Moon, the new eternal night is a time for celebration. For the ponies who fought for Celestia, it means something else entirely. For when the war is lost and the victor demands fealty, the vanquished are given only two choices: bow low and kiss the ground beneath her hooves, or die.

Not everpony who bows does so out of love for the conqueror, of course. Some do it to bide their time. Some do it out of a sense of opportunity. Most bow merely to survive. All of them are liars. But how long can a pony tell the same lie before it becomes the truth?

And what happens to that pony when their lies are lies no more?

Edited by SolidFire. Inspired by the Nightmare Moon timeline in the season 5 finale, a particular scene from a particular show, and an entertaining game of Equestria at War.

Published 2020-01-09 23:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2020-01-09 23:00:02 UTC

Waiting for a Day that Never Comes

Three ponies sat huddled in a cellar. A single candle burned between them, casting dull, flickering light on their haggard faces. Their coats—white, orange, and yellow—were matted with dirt, mud, and half-healed cuts and scrapes. Gaunt, hollow eyes watched the flame, following the wick as it curled and crumbled with each drop of wax that dribbled down the two remaining inches of candle.

A portable radio made the only sounds that filled the room, but the ponies’ thoughts were distant, almost oblivious to the propaganda spiel playing between them. “The formal documents have just been signed in Canterlot, turning over control of the nation from the solar tyrant to our righteous liberator, the Lady of the Night,” it said, turning lies into truth and writing history with aplomb. “The Great Liberation, which had only days ago entered its fourth year of struggle against the tyrant’s cult armies, has finally come to a close with Nightmare Moon’s rise to power. Our Lady of the Night, now four years returned from her thousand year banishment in the moon, rallied the hearts and souls of our nation against the solar oppressor, and with her kind words and steely determination, brought harmony to the land. Bringing the thestrals out of hiding to aid her and build a new era for Equestria, our Lady of the Night has set forth on a path of peace and cooperation between all the pony tribes, forging a new era for our forgotten brethren of the night, a thousand years shunned for their undying loyalty—”

An orange hoof struck the radio, caving in its faceplate and smashing the sensitive electronics inside. In a splintering of wood and a shower of sparks, the announcer’s voice died, once more bringing the room to silence. Cursing, the orange pony stood up and glanced toward the barred door leading upstairs and outside. “I can’t listen to this anymore,” she murmured at nopony in particular. “Where is she? Rarity, she shoulda been back by now, right?”

The white unicorn didn’t have a response; truth be told, she hadn’t even heard the question. Rarity shuddered as an evening breeze blew through the shattered cellar window behind her, the air like a blade of icicles cutting through her tattered uniform and into her coat. It wouldn’t have bothered her as much had the building’s heaters been working, but the power still hadn’t come back yet. The town was locked in a blackout, the power station having been blown to pieces thanks to saboteurs on their way out. Here and there, shouts and high-pitched screeching broke the stillness of the night, but they were the exception, not the rule. For tonight, Ponyville had laid down its arms beneath the pallid moon, a formal surrender to a conquering foe.

“She’ll be fine, Applejack,” the quiet yellow pony offered. “She’s… just being careful, I suppose.”

“Somethin’ musta happened to her, Fluttershy,” Applejack grumbled, her weary eyes darting around the room. “Nopony actually believes those damn monsters are gonna stop just because we gave up, right? I bet them bats out there, they jumped her in the streets.”

“We just have to trust in her,” Fluttershy said, her normally frightened voice surprisingly steeled for once. Rarity supposed it must have just been the simple fact that the war was over, and the terror of days past was finally coming to an end. “She’s more than a match for a few thestrals.”

“A few? The damn town’s crawlin’ with bats!” Applejack slammed her hoof down on the table, nearly guttering out the candle. “I told ya, we shoulda left town with the Resistance. There’s a fight to be had, and just cause Celestia’s gone, it don’t mean it’s over!”

“It’s over,” Fluttershy murmured at the table. “There’s nothing we can do about it.”

“Horseapples! Long as we’re still breathin’, we can still fight!” When she didn’t elicit any further reaction out of Fluttershy, the earth pony pivoted sharply toward Rarity. “Tell her, Rarity! This ain’t over! We can get our things and head south, link up with the Resistance, and—!”

“It’s over, Applejack,” Rarity interrupted, defeat dripping from her voice. Applejack stared at her in shock, and Rarity sighed as her shoulders sagged. “Nightmare Moon hasn’t lowered the moon in a year. Equestria hasn’t been able to grow food in a year. The thestrals and the turncoats that supported her, they took Canterlot, and Nightmare Moon banished Princess Celestia to the moon. We’re cold, leaderless, and starving.”

Rarity lightly touched a hoof to her cheek; she could feel her skull beneath her gaunt features, and she knew if she took her uniform off, her ribs and spine had to be showing through her coat by now. “Look outside if you don’t believe me,” she said, pointing back toward the window. “Look at the craters on the moon. Look at the colors. That isn’t Nightmare Moon. That’s Celestia. She’s the Mare in the Moon now. The company of bats that flew in two days ago? They’re our military now.” Her eyes fell to the table. “We were drafted four years ago to defend Equestria. Us and Rainbow, we’re all that’s left of our company from Ponyville. And we lost.”

At the table, Fluttershy quietly nodded in agreement.

Mouth agape, Applejack slowly backed away from the table. She turned toward the concrete wall, and after a few seconds, turned around and drove her rear hooves into it. A stream of curses let loose from her muzzle, and Rarity winced as each sharp crack! of her steel-shod hooves against the concrete sent chips flying and put fractures in the wall. Fluttershy wilted, ears pressed against her skull, lip trembling as she whimpered at the noise.

A banging on the door made them all freeze.

Reflexes heightened by fear, exhaustion, and uncertainty left Rarity fumbling for her rifle, and Applejack snapped her head in the direction of the entrance. All three ponies held still in tense silence until a scratchy voice made its way through the wood. “It’s me, girls.”

Rarity let out a sigh of relief and lowered her rifle, and Applejack made her way toward the door. “Rainbow! Oh, thank Celestia, you’re alright,” she said, unbolting the door and letting a haggard blue pegasus in. All eyes fell on Rainbow Dash as she wearily stepped inside, two cloth bundles tucked against her sides under each wing. “Kill a few bats on your way out, eh?”

Rainbow sullenly shook her head. “None of the sort,” she murmured, and she stepped toward the table. Wings extending, she dropped the bags and opened them up, revealing dried fruit and blocks of hay. Rarity’s mouth watered at the sight, and her stomach growled as soon as it realized food was within reach. Sapphire eyes fell on ruby, and Rainbow averted her own. “They… they were giving out food at the town square. Hay and oats grown under the moonlight. Our new princess’ mercy.”

Applejack, who had started forward toward the food, immediately shrank back. “This is bat food?!” she shouted, features contorted into disgust. Hate replaced greed, and she speared the dried food with her gaze as if she were impaling a thestral on a bayonet. “I ain’t gonna eat any of it. Our new ‘princess’ can go sit on a hoe and spin for all I care.”

“Watch it,” Rainbow sharply intoned, and her eyes drifted toward the broken window behind them all. When everypony fell silent, hooves shifting restlessly as they contemplated the food provided by their enemy in front of them, her shoulders sagged. “Nightmare Moon’s setting up a new government in the Castle of the Two Sisters,” Rainbow finally said. “Now that she’s won, she’s looking for loyal soldiers to prove their worth to her new empire. The food is a goodwill gesture to get us to fall in line.”

As the four ponies stood around the table, food tantalizingly close for the first time in days, Applejack looked around with a stern, hard look. “Y’all can’t be thinkin’ bout this,” she said, and she willed hate to replace hunger in her eyes. “Nightmare Moon is our enemy. Just because Shining Armor gave the order to surrender—!”

“Do you really think we have a choice?!” Rarity sharply countered. Blue magic took hold of the food, and she bit into a loaf of bread before Applejack could stop her. She fell against the wall, sliding down to the floor, and hummed as it gave her stomach purpose once more. She stuffed another bite down her gullet before she took the time to talk again. “Equestria is broken, Applejack. Equestria is defeated. What choice do we have but to join the new regime?”

“Plenty!” Applejack protested. “We can go south and fight! Just because our army surrendered don’t mean that Nightmare Moon has won nothin’!” She turned to Rainbow Dash in dismay. “Rainbow, you was always loyal to the cause. You know what I’m gettin’ at, right?”

All eyes fell on Rainbow Dash, and Rarity felt her breath hitch in her throat. There wasn’t a soldier more loyal to Princess Celestia and the Equestrian cause than Rainbow Dash. When thestrals killed their sergeant, Rainbow had taken over and saved the four of them from certain death. And Rarity knew that whatever Rainbow said was final.

Rainbow, of course, sensed that as well. Hard eyes fell on the bread, the hay, the oats. Hard eyes fell on the battered and weary ponies around her. A pair of gunshots and a chorus of celebratory shrieks punctuated the night somewhere out in Ponyville, and her ears drooped at the sound. Finally, though, she bowed her head. “We’ve lost,” she said, staring at her hooves. “Nightmare Moon has won. All fighting’s gonna get us is a little ditch we can share with another thirty corpses.”

Applejack blinked and took a nervous step closer. “Rainbow… you can’t…”

“I can,” Rainbow retorted, fixing Applejack with a hard but tired look. “We don’t… we don’t have to believe in all her crap, you know? We just need to keep our heads down and do what she tells us to do. We need to think about ourselves now, not Celestia. Celestia’s gone. Nightmare Moon rules Equestria. And the longer we deny that, the worse off we’re gonna be.”

After a moment to frown at the food she’d brought in, Rainbow sighed and pulled out several deep purple sashes. Rarity’s eyes widened, and when she unfolded one, the crescent moon of Nightmare Moon’s army greeted her. “Rainbow, darling, what… what are these?”

“The new order,” Rainbow said, glaring at the sashes in front of her. “If we switch over now, things’ll be better for us. Better postings, better commission, better treatment. Nightmare Moon wants to make a show out of ponies switching sides and believing in her cause. If we make the change now… if we’re some of the first to swear loyalty to her…”

Rarity felt like a pit had opened in her stomach. Somehow, the sight of those four purple sashes brought out a fear in her she hadn’t felt in years of fighting bats and traitors. They were a symbol of her enemy, and she’d killed ponies simply for wearing them. But now that the war was over, they represented something else: survival. After all, a different quill recorded history now. The moon wasn’t the symbol of treason; it was loyalty, and loyalty kept its faithful safe.

But Applejack, stubborn as ever, only narrowed her eyes in hatred. “I will not wear that traitor’s cloth,” she proclaimed. “I will not turn my back on everythin’ we fought for. Pinkie Pie died fightin’ the bats, girls! You gonna make her death mean nothin’ now?!”

“Our deaths won’t add any meaning to hers,” Rainbow said. “We can either run and die, or we can fall in line and live to fight another day.”

“And when does ‘another day’ come, Rainbow? Huh? Tell me that, ‘cause I wanna know!”

“I don’t know,” Rainbow admitted. “But it isn’t today.”

Silence reigned as the four mares wrestled with their consciences, each hoping one of the others would make the first move. Rarity struggled to come up with a way to reconcile the sash with who she was. Was she a soldier of Equestria? Or was she a coward, too afraid to keep fighting?

Yellow feathers surprised them all by picking up the first sash. All eyes fell on Fluttershy as she slowly, deliberately unfolded the fabric. Royal purple and midnight blue seemed to suck what little light there was out of the room, and the crescent moon in the middle practically gleamed with an otherworldly glow. Her throat bobbed, and then finally, slowly, she put the sash over her shoulder and across her chest. “It’s over,” she murmured, though whether it was to her friends or herself, Rarity couldn’t tell. “My animals… my family… they need me now more than ever… I’ve been gone so long…”

Rainbow slowly nodded and picked up one of the sashes as well. “There are ponies I need to protect,” she said, frowning at the cloth. “My parents… they’re still in Cloudsdale. They need my help. If I’m part of the regime, if I’m an officer for Nightmare Moon, maybe I can protect them. I gotta help them, I…”

A blue hoof went to the breast pocket of her uniform, and moments later a medal shaped like the rising sun clattered onto the table. Wincing, Rainbow put a leg and a wing through the sash and cinched it up close against her chest. She practically crumbled in on herself as she looked down at it, but a grimace forced the pain away. “There,” she finally said. “It’s done.”

“Girls…” Applejack whispered, watching them with dismay. “You can’t… But Equestria…” She turned to Rarity. “Rarity, you can’t be thinkin’ ‘bout joinin’ them, right? Everything Nightmare Moon and the bats have done, the endless night… you can’t side with ‘em! We fought to stop this! Now, what, we’re all gonna keel over and let them walk all over us?”

Rarity could feel all eyes on her, and she trapped her lip between her teeth. She felt faint; she felt like sweat was beading on her brow. And when her magic picked up the sash, she thought the dizziness would send her tumbling to the ground. But it didn’t, and soon that purple sash and gleaming moon hovered in front of her face. “It’s just a piece of cloth,” Rarity said, opening it up and stepping through it. Her skin seemed to crawl as she draped it over her uniform, but she resisted the urge to shiver. “Just because we wear it doesn’t mean we believe in it,” she said. “We’ll always be loyalists at heart… Celestia will always be our princess… What we wear is not what we are.” A tug of blue magic, and it cinched tight around her shoulder. “It’s just a piece of cloth. Nothing more.”

Despite all her words, she felt dirty, unclean. To wear that sash, Rarity knew, was to make the last four years mean nothing. But it also would make the next forty mean something. Her mind went to Sweetie Belle and her parents. They were still alive, too. They meant everything to her, more than fighting for some princess who didn’t know her name. And like Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, keeping them safe and secure was her number one priority. If that meant kneeling before the lunar conqueror, then she’d happily scrape her horn against the ground a thousand times over for the tyrant of the night.

But when everypony turned their attention to Applejack, the orange earth pony refused to back down. “I… have lost… everythin’,” she hissed, teeth bared and defiant green eyes pushing back against her friends’ concerned looks. “I ain’t got no parents. Granny died when the food ran out. Big Mac died fightin’ the thestrals in Fillydelphia. Apple Bloom’s been missin’ for weeks, and the bats torched my farm and harvested the withered apples left on the trees when they moved in. Nightmare Moon has taken everythin’ from me, and you three would rather bow to her than help me keep on fightin’.”

The sash across her shoulders suddenly felt like it was made of fire, and Rarity uncomfortably fidgeted with it. “Applejack, please, try to understand—!”

“I understand, alright!” Applejack shouted back. “I understand what we were, and what we are now. Y’all made that perfectly clear.” Spitting on the ground, the earth pony turned about and marched to the door.

“Where are you going?” Rainbow Dash asked her. “Applejack?”

“I’m goin’ south,” Applejack said, bashing open the door with her shoulder. “I’m gonna keep on fightin’. This ain’t over.” She paused halfway up the stairs and looked back over her shoulder. “There was a time we woulda died for each other,” she said, glaring at each in turn. “But I reckon treason comes easier to some than it does others.”

Rarity tried to summon up some argument, some logic that would get Applejack to stay, but her throat seized up and strangled any words she might have formed. Instead, Nightmare Moon’s three newest followers only watched in dismay as their friend stomped up the stairs and disappeared into the night.

It felt like hours later that Rarity turned to Rainbow Dash. “She’s… she’ll be alright… right?”

Rainbow only pursed her lips. “We did what we had to,” she said, hanging her head. “What we’re doing… it’s right. It’s the right thing for us to do.”

“What… what now?” Fluttershy asked, worry creeping back into her voice. “What do we do now?”

“Go to the town hall tomorrow at noon,” Rainbow said, one wing removing her cap and the other running through her sweaty, dirty mane. “Report for duty just like we would any other day. We’ll have to make an impression as loyal converts if we want to do anything to help our families. After that?” She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Rarity shakily nodded. “I… okay,” she said, and her ears twitched toward the window as a chattering of high-pitched squeaks and chirps broke out somewhere down the street. Her paranoia wondered if Applejack had already been caught, but she pushed those thoughts away. She was supposed to be a loyal soldier to Nightmare Moon now. She had to live the lie if she wanted to keep her family safe. “I’ll see you then.”

“Yeah.” Rainbow touched Rarity’s shoulder with a wing. “I’m heading home. Get some sleep. It’s going to be a long, eternal night.”

Rarity nodded, already feeling like the world was a million miles away, too distracted to focus on what was happening around her. Fluttershy opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Blue feathers draped over her back, and Rainbow slowly led the shaking mare toward the stairs. Their hooves clopped up the steps, and the door opened on dirty hinges. And then the two pegasi left, leaving Rarity alone in the cellar until the candle finally guttered out.

She didn’t sleep that night.

“This is your desk. You’ll be processing interrogation records here.”

Rarity watched as a thestral’s shaggy hoof pointed to a desk in the corner of a dark room with only a few unlit candles standing by to provide light. She’d been put away in a corner of Ponyville’s town hall, now repurposed by Nightmare Moon and her conquering armies to serve as an administration center for the Equestrian heartlands. The offices of the former mayor and her staff had all been gutted out and turned over, and now a dozen ponies dressed just like her in formal military mare’s dress sat behind their desks, lending a hoof to make sure the new Lunar Empire processed the change from the previous administration as efficiently as possible. Their purple sashes seemed to mock Rarity everywhere she looked, but she forced those troublesome emotions down. She was wearing one too, now, and Nightmare Moon was Equestria’s rightful princess. Her loyalty to Princess Celestia was easy to put aside and cover up when serving faithfully meant keeping her family safe and well fed.

Rarity glanced to her side and realized the thestral was watching her with slitted eyes, obviously awaiting some sort of response. Rarity gave it to him with a curt nod and began walking over to her designated station. “Yes, this will do wonderfully,” she said, her magic leafing through the few folders already waiting for her. She cracked one open and winced at the face of a haggard pony staring back at her, blood caked to her muzzle and her nose twisted askew and broken from a fight. “These are Loyalists—I-I mean, traitors?”

The thestral nodded, the little tufts of hair on the tips of his leafy ears waving back and forth with the motion. “Agents of the sun tyrant, plotting her return and Our Lady’s downfall,” he said. “Those folders contain their identification and their records, as well as everything we forced out of them during interrogation.”

Rarity had to do her best to keep her expression neutral; the thestral’s fangs garbled his Equiish, a language built around syllables and inflection instead of the bats’ high-pitched shrieking, and in the three months since Equestria surrendered, she’d learned to avoid drawing attention to the speech impediment that afflicted his race lest she suffer the consequences. While Nightmare Moon had decreed that ponies and thestrals were to live in harmony now, that didn’t stop the thestrals from taking out a thousand years of oppression and hatred against their race on the ponies under them with relative impunity. Even Rarity’s recent reassignment from grunt on guard detail to administrative clerk didn’t guarantee her safety if she offended any of her thestral bosses.

With that worry in the back of her mind, Rarity quietly nodded and sat down at the desk. “Do you need me to review and verify their information, then?”

“Review, verify, and close their file,” the thestral said. He put his forehooves on the front of Rarity’s desk, and the unicorn shrank back a bit as he smiled, revealing gleaming, sharp fangs. “Each of these ponies is a traitor to our princess. The severity of their treason, however, is not yet decided. They must be dealt with accordingly. It is your job to go through their files and decide their fates, whether that be six months in a reeducation facility, or six feet in the ground.”

Rarity blinked in shock. “I’m… I’m judging these ponies?”

“Judge and jury,” the thestral said with a wink. “But not executioner. Not unless you feel like getting your hooves dirty in the name of Our Lady of the Night.”

Her response was a carefully practiced one, so familiar that it slipped out of her lips before she even realized she was saying it. “Whatever Our Lady wants, I will provide,” she said, and then hastily added, “T-though I imagine there are ponies much better suited for that task.” Like Rainbow Dash, she thought to herself, and she fought down a shiver. Rainbow hadn’t made the transition from soldiery to administration like Rarity had, and had instead begun climbing the ranks in Equestria’s new army. Rainbow had never explicitly stated what her new duties in the army entailed, but Rarity could see by the look in her friend’s eyes that they were far from pleasant. Her assignments took her out into the field for a few weeks at a time, and Rarity knew that meant the bats were having Rainbow hunt down Loyalists—traitors—to bring stability to the Empire. All things considered, Rarity was relieved she’d escaped to the administrative side of things, but at the end of the day, it looked like she would be just as guilty of condemning former friends and comrades-in-arms to die as Rainbow.

“Firing squads are easy enough to form. If it were up to me, I’d shoot every night-sleeper that fought against our Lady of the Night, but Nightmare Moon has decreed that we are to cooperate with those of you that have seen the true light of the moon.” He narrowed his eyes and leaned in closer, sniffing sharply at Rarity. The unicorn recoiled in surprise, and yellow, slitted eyes fixated on her with a frown. “The stench of the solar tyrant lies heavy on you,” he said in a low, threatening growl. “Perhaps your heart is still tainted with the blighted light of the sun?”

Rarity swallowed hard and shook her head. “I had no love for the sun tyrant,” she said, willing herself to believe the lie and prove her innocence. Celestia had been a loving and benevolent ruler for a thousand years, and Nightmare Moon’s arrival and the advent of firearms and machines of war had put an end to the peace she’d known all her life. “The night the sun set forever was the happiest night of my life.”

After a few seconds, the thestral eased away and tapped the stack of folders with a leathery wing. “Perhaps so. You will have your chance to prove it soon enough. See to it that these files are on my desk by the end of the day.”

“It will be done,” Rarity said, curtly nodding. After a lingering look, the thestral returned the nod and walked off, slipping somewhere into the shadows of the building.

Sighing, Rarity took a box of matches and lit the candles, giving herself some light to work with. Then, shuddering at the touch of a Loyalists’ file in her magic, Rarity pulled over the first folder and opened it up, her eyes scanning through the contents.

NAME: DEWBERRY DROP

SURVIVING IMMEDIATE FAMILY: MULBERRY TREE, FATHER; MORNING DEW, MOTHER; COLD SNAP, SISTER

FORMER OCCUPATION: PASTRY CHEF

FORMERLY ENLISTED: YES

RANK: PRIVATE 1ST CLASS

YEARS ACTIVE: 1002-1004

CHARGE: SMUGGLING SUPPLIES AND FOOD TO SOUTHERN RESISTANCE FACTIONS

RECOMMENDATION:

The last section was blank, waiting for Rarity’s pen to determine the mare’s fate. The thought made her skin crawl. Dewberry’s mugshot made her look scared and desperate, the blood and bruises suggesting that she didn’t give up the information easily… or that the bats decided not to believe her until they had their fun. There were more pages in the file, transcripts of the mare’s testimony that left out the beatings between the ellipses. The street addresses of her parents and sister were also included in the file as well, and Rarity chewed her lip in worry. Would the bats go after Dewberry’s family, too? She didn’t know… but she had a feeling that what she put in the final box would dictate their fates as much as it would Dewberry’s.

“Oh, C—Luna,” she muttered under her breath, carefully catching herself before she could let the sun tyrant’s name slip. Thestrals had sensitive hearing, and she knew that the few dotting the hall had to have their leafy ears trained on her, watching her through the dark for any slip-ups or solar sympathies. She was determined not to give them any cause to suspect her; she knew that if they did, her face and information would end up in one of these files on another pony’s desk, and her fate would be at the mercy of somepony else’s pen.

But what would she write in that little box? She knew the bats wouldn’t want to see anything suggesting that this mare go free or get a slap on the fetlock. They seemed to believe she was a traitor helping out the resistance; surely that required some sort of punishment. Could she get away with six months of reeducation? Or would they come down on her for being too lenient?

As she wrestled with that question, another pony moved into the edge of her view. Looking up, Rarity saw a familiar pony, another mare she used to see in her boutique many times before the war. “Amethyst?” she asked, setting aside her pen. “You got a job here, too?”

“Been here for a little while, actually,” Amethyst said, shrugging. “After they got rid of Mayor Mare, I sorta stepped up to help keep things running smoothly.”

“As if they’ve been running all that smoothly since the surrender,” Rarity said with a shake of her head.

“Nightmare Moon is trying her best to help us,” Amethyst said. Her eyes flitted down to the file Rarity had in front of her, and she gave a tiny nod of understanding. Then she leaned closer to Rarity’s ear. “You want my advice?” she whispered, just loud enough so Rarity could hear but even thestrals would strain to pick out her words from across the room. “The only thing the bats want are examples. They don’t care about anything else.”

Rarity blinked as she tried to process that, and Amethyst nonchalantly backed away. “Glad to see a familiar face here in service to our new princess,” she said, and tapping the folders on the desk, she turned around and walked into what used to be the mayor’s office at the other side of the room.

All alone in her corner of the room, Rarity turned her attention back to the file in front of her. “Examples,” she whispered with only the barest breath. She tried to avoid looking at Dewberry’s face as she picked up her pen again, but like moths to a candle, the mare’s frightened look drew Rarity’s eyes to her face once again.

Sucking in a shuddering breath, Rarity put another piece of paper over the prisoner’s face and touched her pen to the last box.

RECOMMENDATION: IMMEDIATE TERMINATION

I’m one of them, now, she thought to herself as she tucked the file back into the folder and set it aside. I’m killing my former comrades.

The purple sash burned like it was searing away her flesh… but that didn’t stop her from grabbing the next file and leafing through its contents.

Everything I do, I do for Sweetie Belle. For my parents. Everything. I don’t have a choice.

She repeated that mantra throughout the day until her shift ended. By the end of the week, she had almost started to believe it.

The fireworks were sure to be stunning tonight. Rarity knew that was a given; this was, after all, the first anniversary of Nightmare Moon’s triumphant rise to power. The Lady of the Night had wanted all the stops pulled out for her celebration, and her little ponies would do everything she asked of them, and then some.

Such work had kept Rarity at her office late. The clock was nearing eight by the time she closed her last files, triple-checked the procurement orders for the festival, and organized Friday’s to-do list. While the night off tomorrow would be a much-needed holiday, the wheels of the Lunar Empire never stopped churning, and she’d have to finish two nights’ worth of work on Friday before being relieved for the weekend.

Blowing out her candles, the unicorn stuffed a few trivial forms she had to review into her bag for down-time tomorrow and stepped outside the door. She dug the key to her office out of her bag and locked the door behind her, her eyes briefly flitting up to the name painted onto the glass: Rarity Belle, Chief Operations Manager. It was a well-deserved promotion after almost a year of hard work in service to the Lady of the Night, and as one of the first non-thestrals to be promoted to a managerial position, Rarity knew her future was looking as brilliant as the night sky.

Ponyville’s town hall, now long-ago formally converted into the operations center for Equestria’s heartlands, was deserted as Rarity left, apart from a few janitorial staff carefully stepping out of her way as she passed. Months ago, the way they nervously averted their eyes whenever she passed had bothered her in a way she couldn’t quite put a hoof on. Nowadays, she completely ignored them. They were simply proof that there was yet hope for some traitors to come to the protective embrace of the Lady of the Night. Really, they should be thanking her instead of fearing her wrath; she was, after all, the one who saved them from torture and execution. The thestrals would have just killed them all.

Perhaps that was why she’d leapfrogged over Night Screech, her old manager. She’d been more willing to accept Nightmare Moon’s pleas for cooperation between ponies and thestrals than most of the conquering bats. Now he worked under her.

The celebrations were already beginning to pick up steam by the time Rarity wandered out onto the streets. Colorful lamps had been strung between houses and over the streets of Ponyville, creating a beautiful rainbow of colors one hardly saw anymore in the perpetual silver light of the moon and the night sky. Crowds of ponies and bats intermingled in front of restaurants and in the parks, and a military procession marching through the center of town drew cheers and salutes from the ponies of Equestria. Rarity watched idly as she waited for the procession to clear so she could cross the street and make her way back home. A year ago, those same armies had come stomping into Ponyville and taken control of everything. Nopony had been cheering then.

How quickly things could change.

When the rumbling of the parade’s rearguard of tanks finally rolled past her, Rarity crossed the street and made her way back home. She stopped briefly to deposit her things and change out of her work attire, then set out again for her dinner plans. She’d at least given Rainbow Dash fair warning that work would keep her late tonight, so hopefully Rainbow hadn’t been holding down their table for too long.

She found Rainbow Dash waiting outside the restaurant for her, eyes turned toward the constellations above, and as soon as Rainbow saw her, the two mares shared a friendly embrace. “Took you long enough,” Rainbow said, smoothing out the wrinkles in her uniform with a wingtip. “I was wondering if you’d forgotten.”

“I told you I’d be late tonight,” Rarity said. She looked around and frowned. “Where’s Fluttershy?”

“She told me something came up,” Rainbow said, shrugging. “Probably one of her animals. You know she’s been driving herself crazy getting them adjusted to the eternal night.”

“The poor dear.” Rarity shook her head. “She should look into getting some help around her place. She’s going to disappoint our princess if she has to keep taking early leave from work to tend to her critters.”

She pushed open the doors with her magic and stepped inside, letting subdued music caress her ears and begin to push away the night’s stresses. “Work has been busier than usual.”

Rainbow followed her into the restaurant and nodded to the maître de, who immediately began to lead them over to their table. They passed by a good two dozen ponies all gussied up for the night out as he led them through the restaurant before finally showing them to a small, secluded table near the back of the restaurant. “I can imagine,” Rainbow said once they’d been left alone at their table. “We just had a big operation outside of Appleloosa. I assume there’s a lot of cleanup work that needs to be done.”

“Yes, if your battalions could be a little less efficient in taking prisoners, it would make my job considerably easier,” Rarity teased, glancing through the menu placed before her. “I was up to my neck in interrogation logs this past week. Most of the rebels are unrepentant… which is a shame.”

“Yeah…” Rainbow slowly shook her head, and Rarity knew what they both were thinking. They don’t have to do this. Bow to Nightmare Moon and you’ll be safe. It was what had kept them both alive this past year, and not only survive, but to thrive. Rarity’s promotion had made taking care of her family even easier than before, and Rainbow had begun to crack into the officer ranks. Nopony would dare touch the family of one of Nightmare Moon’s rising lieutenants. Once again, she quietly reminded herself that she’d made the right choice, and the files that crossed her desk wouldn’t even be there if the rebels could just accept that the sun tyrant was gone and Nightmare Moon was here to stay.

A waitress came by to collect their orders, and when she’d finally taken away their menus, that left the two mares alone again. “Congratulations on the promotion, by the way,” Rainbow said, offering Rarity a smile. “Sorry I’ve been out of town so long lately, but duty calls.”

“It calls for all of us,” Rarity agreed. “At least you were able to be here for the celebration.”

“Yeah, I was afraid I was going to miss it.” Rainbow chuckled. “Thankfully I can pull rank now when I need to. Seniority’s a nice thing, and it’ll probably be getting even better for me.”

“Oh?” Rarity asked, cocking her head. “Whatever do you mean?”

“I’ve been interviewing with Nightmare Moon’s honor detail,” Rainbow said. “If all goes well, I’ll be taking up permanent residence at the castle. All the operations I’ve led lately have really improved my chances.”

That was a surprise to Rarity. “I didn’t know you were aiming that high up,” she said, flabbergasted. “That’s fantastic, darling! Not many ponies get to serve under her so directly!”

“I’m mostly in it for the security,” Rainbow said. “And the pay, too. I’ll be able to get my parents a nicer house closer to Ponyville. Dad won’t have to work in the weather factory anymore, which is good. He’s starting to get old enough to retire, and I’m sure he and Mom would love to see me more. I don’t really get much of a chance to visit when I’m all over the country.”

“Still, it’s quite impressive,” Rarity said, lifting her drink to her lips. After a sip, she hummed and shook her head in disbelief. “How quickly things change in a year,” she said, eyes drifting out the window to where the first round of fireworks began to crackle through the sky to the cheers of the ponies outside. “Remember where we were a year ago? How scared we all were?”

“Yeah…” Rainbow frowned into her drink for a moment before slamming back several gulps. She grimaced and hoarsely cleared her throat. “We did what we had to do,” she said. “It was the right thing to do.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Rarity agreed. “We’ve both seen enough to know what was waiting for us if we didn’t. It’s a shame some ponies still cling onto the old ways.”

Rainbow Dash slowly nodded, and Rarity felt some of the night’s relief simmer down at the troubling memories. “Do you… do you think she’s still out there?” she asked Rainbow.

Ruby eyes met sapphire. “You haven’t seen her files on your desk?”

Rarity shook her head. “No, but those are only the prisoners. The dead don’t get files.”

“I haven’t seen her,” Rainbow said with a shrug. “Another insurgency team might have gotten her. I don’t know. Does it matter anymore, Rares? She’s a traitor. You know what that means.”

“Yes… Yes I do.” White lips pursed as Rarity frowned down at the tablecloth. “It’s too late for her to come back to us,” she said. “She’ll never be accepted back.”

“I know,” Rainbow said. She put her forehead in her hoof and let her wings sag. “Stupid hick… she should have joined us when she had the chance.”

Rarity scanned the crowd around them and spotted a few leafy ears angled in their direction, so she roughly cleared her throat. “Well, that’s all on her for not joining festivities,” she proclaimed, a little louder than before. Her eyes met Rainbow’s, and Rainbow gave her an imperceptible nod. “Perhaps we’ll just have to invite her next year.”

“Yeah, maybe she won’t be busy,” Rainbow said, picking up the change in topic without missing a beat. It was a game both ponies knew how to play, and play well. The bats had their spies everywhere, and all it took was the wrong word at the wrong time to win a visit from the secret police under the black skies of the new moon. Given her line of work, Rarity was more acutely aware of that simple fact than most.

Thankfully, the waitress arrived with their food at that moment, giving the two friends a natural changing point to their conversation. “Smells delicious,” Rarity said, looking over her meal, and Rainbow Dash nodded her approval. Then, lifting up her glass of wine, Rarity tapped it against Rainbow’s. “To our princess’ first year of lunar reign!” she toasted.

Rainbow picked up her own drink in her feathers. “And may it last a thousand more.”

And both ponies drank to the usurper they now faithfully served.

“I’m going to miss this place, truth be told.”

Rarity stood outside her office, watching as a few soldiers picked up the boxes and moved them outside to where a truck was waiting. All her belongings and important files she’d assembled in two years of service to the Lady of the Night were in those boxes, bound for her new office following her most recent promotion.

Amethyst nodded by her side. “I can imagine. I don’t think I could live anyplace else. Ponyville has been my home my whole life.”

“As it was mine, but it’s not like I’m going very far away. The Lunar Castle is just through the Everfree Forest.” Ever since Nightmare Moon had moved Equestria’s capital from the city of solar sin that was Canterlot back to the castle in Everfree, Ponyville had only become busier and busier. Rarity had been integral in keeping operations running smoothly despite the influx of bureaucrats and soldiers, and now her hard work had finally paid off.

“Still, castellan of the Lunar Castle? That’s amazing!” Amethyst flashed Rarity a grin. “Lucky you, getting to work directly under our princess.”

“Lucky Luna, getting to have me keep things running smoothly for her,” Rarity joked. “Our princess is many things, but an excellent administrator is not one of them. She has a great talent at making whatever she wants her own, but she is less skilled in taking care of it once she has made it hers.”

“Then she will be lucky to have you.” As the soldiers removed the last box from Rarity’s old office, the two unicorns shared a quick hug. “I’ll do my best to fill your shoes,” Amethyst said. “Hopefully I don’t muck it up too much.”

“Oh, please, darling,” Rarity said, shaking her head. She patted Amethyst on the shoulder and smiled at her. “You’ve been here longer than me, and I wouldn’t even be moving on as Nightmare Moon’s castellan without your help and advice. You’ll be perfectly fine here. A natural, even.”

A soldier approached the two mares, saluting when he was about ten feet away. “Your car is ready for you, Miss Belle,” he said, lowering his forehoof.

“I’ll be out in a minute,” Rarity said, dismissing the soldier with a wave of her hoof. She turned to Amethyst long enough to give her companion a nod of support. “Take care, Amethyst. I’m sure I’ll be in town often enough.”

“So long as work doesn’t keep you permanently confined to the castle,” Amethyst said. “Make sure you and Rainbow Dash get out and breathe every once in a while, you know?” Then she bowed her head. “Good luck, Rarity.”

After double-checking her office one last time and saying her goodbyes to the rest of the staff, Rarity made her way outside to where the military truck and a black sedan were waiting. The truck had been loaded up with her boxes and other supplies that were needed to prepare for her arrival at the castle, and a thestral waited by the car for Rarity to enter. He saluted as she approached, and she put him at ease with a nod. “Miss Belle, I trust you are prepared for the move?”

“I am,” Rarity said, letting her eyes wander over the ever-expanding administration grounds she’d gotten to know so well in the past two years. The streets around the office were busy with military trucks and personnel, making the center of Ponyville look more like a military base than an administrative hub. As she watched, a truck rolled up to the office with dozens of ponies crammed into a steel cage welded to the bed, pleading with anypony within earshot to let them out. Rarity peeled back her lip in disgust. Traitors, the lot of them, fighting for a banished princess who never knew their names. They were probably on their way to the firing wall to pay for their treason, and the driver had to collect the records from the office before he reached his destination.

It wasn’t something Rarity particularly cared to stay and watch; she’d seen it so many times before. Instead, she opened the door to the back seat of the sedan with her magic and set her briefcase inside, mentally triple-checking her list of things she needed before following suit. Before she stepped inside, however, a voice from the truck snapped her attention away.

“Rarity!”

Blinking, Rarity looked left toward the parked truck. She looked for the pony who called her name until her eyes settled on a haggard orange figure pressed up against the steel bars. Her eyes widened and she took a step back as the orange pony reached a hoof through the bars toward her. “Rarity, it’s me, it’s me!” she called, reaching desperately for the unicorn. “Please, please, you gotta help me! Rarity! Please!”

The thestral next to Rarity narrowed his slitted eyes. “Do you know this pony?” he asked her, giving her a sideways glance and raising a brow.

Rarity’s throat bobbed as she swallowed hard. “I…”

The pony tried to jam her face through the bars, as if exposing herself more would help Rarity recognize her. “It’s Applejack, Rarity! You know me! We fought together, please, help!”

Rarity shivered, and her hoof touched the purple sash over her dress. The driver of the truck exited the office with the files in his magic and hopped into the driver’s seat, and the diesel engine rumbled to life once more. Applejack’s bloodshot green eyes widened in desperation, and she hammered on the bars with frantic fury. “Rarity, they’re gonna kill us, please, please! Do somethin’!”

Chewing on her lip, Rarity locked eyes with Applejack. She could order the truck stopped, she knew. She had the authority. She could have the truck stopped and the prisoners released. All it would take was a word.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the thestral watching her, the tips of his fangs just barely visible between his lips.

“She’s a traitor to our princess,” Rarity said, abruptly turning around and sitting down on the back seat of the car. “She gets what she deserves.”

The thestral nodded and shut the door for her, blocking out Applejack’s dismayed cries. Moments later, the sedan set off down the road, leaving the trucks behind it, along with Rarity’s last tie to the old regime.

“Damn traitors, the lot of them,” the thestral said from behind the wheel, making idle conversation as Rarity stared blankly at her hooves. “At least the last cell’s finally been crushed. Finally, two years after the wars over, our princess can relax and admire a job well done.”

“A job well done...” Rarity murmured, and she turned her forehooves over, letting the silver moonlight reflect off the silver shoes. Of course it was a job well done; she’d made sure of that. She and Rainbow both, even Fluttershy, they’d all played a part in it. Two years ago, the three swore to do whatever they had to to protect themselves and their families. Two years ago, Rainbow had told them all to lie their way to safety and live to fight another day.

Only now, that day would never come. They’d all made sure of that. And only then did she realize that the lies she’d told herself for two years, the lies she’d told to blend in, to escape suspicion, to live and fight another day, were lies no longer.

They were the truth.