General Fast Clip was tired.
He fought to keep his eyes open as he surveyed the reports in front of him. Given his personal commitment to always remain alert, he normally would have chided himself for his lack of focus. However, just like in the days of the first Changeling offensives into Equestria, he was willing to cut himself a little slack.
The past few weeks had been… hectic, to say the least. The ungrateful brats in Manehattan started raising cane about something (per the norm), the IIS attempted to arrest one of the most prominent agitators, the whole situation escalated into several uprisings across the Empire and its provinces, and now he and his colleagues were stuck with the unenviable job of dealing with the scattered revolts. And if the stress of having to make enough progress against the rebels to discourage any other potential traitors from taking up arms wasn’t enough, they also had to deal with the IIS constantly breathing down their necks. He supposed that he didn’t blame them, but…
“General.”
The voice of his attendant snapped him out of his sleep deprived stupor. He looked up at the lad, a young stallion who had come of age and joined the Army during the Continental Wars, and noticed the anxious expression on his face. The kid didn’t rattle easily, so Fast Clip sighed and prepared himself for whatever bad news he was about to receive.
“Looks like it’s gonna be another long day,” he thought.
“What is it, son?” he asked.
“Well, um…” his subordinate began. “… Lady Sunrise has just arrived with a Nova Corp division. She is waiting at the edge of camp for you right now.”
General Fast Clip was wide awake now.
“Would you like some tea, General?”
“No thank you, ma’am. I never acquired a taste for it.”
“Suit yourself. How about you, Smaug? Would you like some?”
“Yes please.”
Fast Clip silently watched the two figures before him and tried not to look as anxious as he felt. Sitting slightly to the left of his main guest was one of the most fearsome warriors that the Empire had to offer: Smaug the Brave and Glorious. The dragon, who stood nearly as tall as the Empress when raised up to his full height, took a sip of the tea that had been poured for him and gave a hum of approval. He then turned to face Fast Clip, his soft gaze immediately becoming emotionless. Fast Clip remained completely focused on the mare directly in front of him.
The Daughter of the Sun, Element of Magic, Lady Protector of the Crystal Province, Head of the IIS, and founder of the Nova Corp silently took a sip of her tea. She gave a small smile before slowly drinking the rest of the liquid in her cup. All the while, Fast Clip continued to give her his full attention. Finally, after nearly a minute of silence, she turned her attention back to him as she poured herself another cup.
“You’re wondering why I’m here, correct?” Sunrise asked while calmly gazing into his eyes.
Trying to ignore the feeling that the mare was gazing into the innermost recesses of his soul, Fast Clip nodded. “Yes ma’am, I was under the impression that you were going to help pacify the griffons up north.”
Sunrise nodded in return. “I was, and I will still do so after I finish up here, so you are correct about that. However, just as I was preparing to travel up there, I received some interesting information from my agents.” Smaug slid a manilla folder over to him and sat back.
Realizing that she wanted him to look inside, Fast Clip opened up the folder and quickly read over the intel inside. He tensed as soon as he understood what he was reading.
“You mean to tell me that the former Elements are in Manehattan?”
Sunrise nodded. “Along with my former student and her friend. They’ve apparently been hiding out in the city and working with insurgent networks for a while now. Naturally, I will be having a conversation with my subordinates about their failure to notice this… “
Fast Clip pitied the poor schmucks who let the Elements escape their notice. The IIS had been trying to hunt them down since they first went into hiding; he could not imagine how unbelievably peeved Sunrise and the Empress were about their agents having missed them up till now. Hopefully, the authorities in charge of Manehattan were simply incompetent, because that would only result in them losing their jobs. If it was discovered that they had been infiltrated by rebels… well, they’d be in for a rough time.
“… but I decided to personally apprehend my friends before they can run away again first.”
“I assume that’s what the Nova division is for, right?” Fast Clip glanced over the shoulder of his guest and at several of the soldiers she had brought along with her. The fanatical Solarites who made up the Nova Corp were small in number, but were the fiercest fighters that the Empire had to offer. Those who didn’t guard the Empress typically helped keep the Changelings and Griffons in line, and they were notoriously hard for generals to get a hold of. Of course, Lady Sunrise was the one who had turned the ragtag group of anti-Lunarist paramilitaries into a force that matched the Griffonian Knights in ferocity and battle prowess, so it made sense that she would be able to secure a division for her use in a short amount of time.
“Indeed it is,” Sunrise answered.
“If that’s the case, what’s your plan? I’ve managed to keep their forces contained to the city, but the chaos of the last month has prevented me from being able to pacify it. Now that the countryside is relatively under control and we have your forces to help, I’m sure that the city will be back in our hooves within a week or-”
“Actually, I plan to have Manehattan back under imperial control by sundown,” Sunrise cut him off with a smile.
Fast Clip stared at her in shock, his mouth slightly agape.
“Manehattan is the heart of this rebellion. The longer it defies the Empress, the more bold the traitors will become. The rebellions across Equus are minor, but I’d prefer not to push our luck by letting them hold out for longer than necessary. We don’t want our rival across the sea getting any funny ideas, after all.
“In addition to those concerns, I want to ensure that the ringleaders of this mess do not escape. The less time we give them, the better chance we have of finally apprehending them.”
“B-But, my lady,” Fast Clip finally regained composure. “The rebels occupy a very defensive position and have been planning for this rebellion for years! Overwhelming them in only a few hours is simply-”
Sunrise chuckled, “You’re far too pessimistic, general.”
Fast Clip fell silent. On one hoof, he could not conceive of a way that they would be able to completely subdue Manehattan in the small window of time that Sunrise proposed. On the other hoof, if the stories he had heard about the mare’s role in destroying Vesalipolis were true, then perhaps her plan was not so far-fetched. Plus, it probably wasn’t a wise idea to question the abilities of the Empress’s right-hand mare.
“... What is your plan?” he asked.
“Me, Smaug, and our troops will break through their frontlines. Your troops just need to support our attack. Once we’ve breached their defenses, we will advance through the city and clear out all resistance until it is under our control.” She took another sip of her tea. “Just make sure that your troops will be ready to attack when the time is right.”
“And when will that be?”
Sunrise pulled out a pocket watch and glanced at it. “... About an hour from now. Will your forces be ready to attack by then?”
Fast Clip gave a stiff nod. “It shall be done, My Lady.”
“Good.” She turned to her draconian companion and said, “Smaug, make sure that our forces will be prepared to march on Manehattan in an hour.”
The dragon nodded and ran off, barking orders at the nearby NC soldiers as he did so.
Sunrise finished her tea and rose from her seat. “Prepare your troops and follow me, I’ll need your assistance with something before the attack.”
The general nodded at his attendant, who quickly scurried off after being given the okay, and followed the alicorn towards whatever destination she was leading him. If he was honest with himself, Fast Clip thought Sunrise’s plan was completely impossible. However, he put those thoughts to the side and embraced the mindset that had carried him through both the Civil War and the Great War: keep your eyes open, your mouth shut, and your nose to the grindstone. When it had appeared like the world was falling apart and that everypony but him had gone insane, that mantra helped him keep a cool head and able to do his job when others had been overwhelmed. And every time, he had made it through the situation in one piece.
Equestria had surprised him before, so he shouldn’t be surprised if it did so again.
Starlight Glimmer was anxious.
She, Trixie, and the Elements of Harmony had been planning to rise up against Canterlot ever since Daybreaker’s first radio address. She and the girls had worked tirelessly, and their efforts had borne much fruit. The Harmonic Resistance had been transformed from a disorganized group of dissenters into a coalition of anti-Solarists from all over Equus: classical harmonists, former Nightmare Moon supporters, republicans, communists, and nationalists of all stripes and races were counted among its ranks. Resistance agents had infiltrated vast swaths of imperial society in both the Empire and its territories, and the IIS had little to no leads about where its leadership was hiding. Starlight was organizing a rebellion right under Daybreaker’s nose, and there was nothing she could do about it.
And then everything went wrong.
Starlight may have been proud of the organization that she and the girls had built, but she knew that they were not ready to start the kind of rebellion that would be able to challenge the Empress’s rule. The Crystal Province and New Mareland remained stridently pro-Empire despite her efforts, the polar bears and penguins were not confident enough to make any commitments, and a large percentage of Equestrians unwaveringly pledged their loyalty to the Empress. The Resistance needed more time and ponypower if they were going to liberate their home, so the rebel leadership had committed to playing the long game. Needless to say, nopony was prepared for when both the citizens of Manehattan and the IIS would force their hooves prematurely. Despite the change of plans, Starlight held out hope that she and the girls could make the current situation work to their advantage.
But when the Resistance called for their fellow Equestrians to aid them in throwing off the imperial yoke, they responded by providing intelligence to the military and selling rebels out to the IIS.
When the Resistance pleaded for the ponies of the Crystal Province and New Mareland to fight for their independence, they responded by declaring support for the Empress’s regime.
When their agents quietly begged the Griffonian Empire and River Federation for support, the only response they received was silence.
They were alone. For the first time since she and her friends had made the decision to save Equestria, she didn’t think that they could win.
“Er… Starlight?”
She looked up from the map that had been laid out in front of her. Her right hand mare was giving her a worried expression. Looking around the table, the Elements of Harmony were all giving her similar looks. Their reaction was natural; she had silently stared at the map of the city and her forces for several minutes after being asked what the plan of attack was. She gave a sigh and fell back into her seat.
“Girls…” she croaked. “... our forces are incapable of breaking out.”
Her friends grimaced, but none of them looked surprised.
“We’re low on supplies, support, and morale. Even if I personally led a breakout attempt, I don’t possess the magical power to push back the Army without enough ponypower and guns to support the attack!” Starlight took a few deep breaths to calm her growing anxiety before continuing. “The only thing we can do is hold out for as long as possible and hope that our resilience will inspire others to join our cause.”
Applejack spoke up, “So you’re saying that the only thing we can do is pray?”
Despite their bleak situation, Starlight chuckled. “Yeah, that sums it up pretty well.”
A magically amplified voice echoed through the city and disrupted their meeting.
“Citizens of Manehattan, this is General Fast Clip of the Solar Army. Your city is under siege. Your access to necessities such as food and water has been cut off, and any supplies that were heading your way have been intercepted. Our weaponry is fully capable of wiping you off the face of the planet, and you would be unable to escape. You are trapped.
“Fortunately, you will not have to experience such a fate if you follow my instructions. I have ordered my soldiers to hold their fire for the next hour; those who wish to avoid a premature death can simply walk over to our lines and surrender. The Empress is willing to offer mercy to those who give up on this futile rebellion. However, the safety of those who refuse to surrender cannot be guaranteed once we are ordered to take back your city. Please don’t throw away your lives for a lost cause.
“You have exactly one hour.”
The leaders of the Harmonic Resistance stiffened.
“Heh, there’s no way that our soldiers will throw in the towel because of a lame threat like that, r-right?” Rainbow Dash tried to lighten the mood, but her lack of confidence in her own words was obvious to all of her friends.
“We can only hope, Dash,” Starlight thought. “We can only hope.”
Sunrise Sparkle was practically shaking with anticipation.
Today was a day that she had been looking forward to for a long time. It had been years since she had seen her friends, years that had been filled with frustration and loneliness. She understood that her friends were somewhat shocked by Celestia’s ascension, but she hoped that they would eventually understand the irrationality of their fears and unite behind the Empress to drive back the changeling invasion. Days of waiting for them turned into weeks, those weeks turned into months, and those months turned into years. When they hadn't returned by the time the Solar Army raised the Imperial banner above Vraks, Sunrise finally came to the crushing realization that her friends were not coming back. After Vesalipolis burned and Queen Chrysalis was publicly executed for her crimes against ponykind, Sunrise was informed of an even more troubling truth by the IIS: her former friends were plotting against the Empire. The ponies who had helped her save Equestria time and time again had joined the ranks of those who sought to destroy it.
From her headquarters in Crystal City, Sunrise dedicated the vast resources that the Empress had given her to accomplish two goals: to hunt down her former friends and eradicate their little terrorist group. Her life became one giant game of chess against her former friends, and even though the traitors made frustratingly great gains, Sunrise and her agents quickly learned from their mistakes and brutally cracked down on their operations. However, no matter how many terrorists they apprehended, they had never managed to find where her friends were hiding. Until last week, that is.
After years of bloodshed and despair, she would finally see her friends again.
“Excited?” said the armored figure beside her.
Sunrise gave the dragon a smirk, “Don’t try to tell me that you aren’t just as excited as I am.”
He grinned, “You’ve got me there.” Smaug’s happiness suddenly faded.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, concern lacing her tone.
“It’s just… our friends have done so much evil. For example, Starlight was one of my best friends, but she’s been trying to undermine the Empire’s stability for years. I’m afraid that their false views of harmony have twisted them beyond redemption.”
She placed a comforting hoof on his back. “Don’t worry Spi--Smaug!”
Smaug gave the alicorn a quizzical look.
“Sorry, it seems that old habits die hard even after all these years.” She cleared her throat. “Now, as I was saying, there’s no need to worry. It’s been proven over and over that friendship and harmony overcome all obstacles. We’ll show them the error of their ways and get our friends back!”
He smiled. “You think so?”
“I know so,” she replied with conviction.
“Of course,” he turned to look in the direction of Manehattan, “we’ll have to crack a few skulls before that can happen.”
Sunrise scoffed. “I wouldn’t worry about Starlight’s riff raff. They’re nothing but a bunch of washed up former Lunarists. Compared to what you and I have faced in the Changeling Lands and Nova Griffonia, this will be a walk in the park.”
“My Lady!” a soldier ran up to Sunrise and gave a salute. “The last of the defectors have made it to our lines, and General Fast Clip says that his soldiers are ready to attack on your signal!”
Sunrise nodded. “Very good. Go tell him to attack immediately.”
“Yes ma’am!” he said before sprinting away.
She turned to her companion. “Ready?”
“Whenever you are.”
“Then let’s take a walk.”
Smaug spread his wings and raised his clenched fist above his head, signalling to the column of soldiers behind him that the attack was now underway. All along the column, mages lit up their horns and collectively covered the division with a forcefield. At the same time, Sunrise cast protective spells on both her and her assistant. Once that was done, the mare and the drake began to walk forward, followed closely by the warriors behind them.
Sunrise took a deep breath and smiled. In only a few hours at most, this madness would finally come to an end.
The Great and Powerful Trixie was trying her hardest not to panic.
Almost exactly an hour after General Fast Clip’s announcement, Imperial troops began swarming the city from all sides. Any hopes that the defenders would be able to repel the attack were squashed when a column of Novas marched into the city’s main entrance and viciously tore through the opposition they encountered. Once their defenses were breached, Fast Clip’s forces quickly broke through the rest of the perimeter. Imperial troops displayed the brutal efficiency they had learned in the Great War and Continental Wars as they cleared out resistance street by street. Organized resistance had all but collapsed before the girls could attempt to intervene; even now, they could hear the sounds of combat rapidly drawing near their headquarters in city hall.
They didn’t want to believe it, but they all knew that they had lost.
“What do you mean you can’t teleport us out of here?!” Rainbow Dash shook the de-facto leader of the Resistance as she yelled.
Starlight could only choke out a sob in response. In spite of the spells that the Solar mages cast to prevent unicorns from teleporting out of the city, Starlight had reassured the girls that she would be able to whisk them away to safety if the need arose. She would definitely be exhausted after performing the spell, she said, but she knew she could do it. Multiple failed attempts during which she had been aided by both Rarity and herself swiftly crushed all of those hopes. Starlight had failed, and now they were trapped.
“LET STARLIGHT GO, DASH!” Trixie used her magic to wrench the panicking pegasus off of her best friend.
“Don’t you understand?!” Rainbow Dash retorted, hysteria evident in both her voice and eyes. “If we die here, the Resistance dies with us!” The pegasus mare then lost all touch with reality and began muttering to herself. Trixie couldn’t make out what the former Wonderbolt was saying, and she didn’t care much about finding out. Instead, she pulled her wailing friend into a tight hug. Looking around, the rest of the Elements weren’t faring much better than Rainbow and Starlight. Fluttershy and Rarity were crying their eyes out, Applejack was pacing around the room and swearing loudly, and Pinkie Pie stared at the floor and didn’t make a sound.
An explosion that was FAR too close for comfort caused the full weight of the situation to come crashing down on her. She was bucked. Her friends were bucked. The Harmonic Resistance was bucked. Everything was bucked.
A young resistance fighter slammed open the door and interrupted Trixie’s oncoming panic attack. The stallion looked terrified, and while that wouldn’t normally concern her considering the situation that they were in, something about the unbridled fear in his eyes sent a chill down the mare’s spine.
“Sunrise and her dragon, they’re here!” he gasped.
All of the mares, Trixie included, instantly stopped what they were doing and gave the stallion a look of mute horror.
“We need to get you out of here before they get here! Quickly-”
Whatever the stallion was about to say was cut off by a gunshot, and the young rebel collapsed into a lifeless heap. Trixie and the others could only stare as two familiar figures calmly rounded the corner and turned to look at them. The first figure, an armoured dragon who held a still smoking rifle in his claws, gave a triumphant smirk as he surveyed the gaping mares. The second most feared mare in Equestria, however, gave them a smile that could only be described as maniacal.
“Starlight Glimmer, Trixie Lulamoon, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity.” The alicorn’s voice was eerily calm in spite of her facial expression. “In the name of Empress Daybreaker, Matriarch of the Solar Empire, you are all under arrest for crimes against the state.”
Oh, they were so bucked.
Starlight tore herself from Trixie’s hooves and fired a powerful beam of magic at her former teacher. Without even breaking a sweat, Daybreaker’s pupil launched a beam that effortlessly tore through Starlight’s and sent her former student flying. Trixie and her friends sprung into action, but the alicorn immediately ensnared the mares in her telekinetic grasp. The last thing Trixie saw before being rendered unconscious was a flash of magic from her former rival's horn.
The former leaders of the Harmonic Resistance awoke to the sound of a familiar voice.
“...-ank the general for his update and tell him that the Empress will surely reward him for his outstanding leadership.”
They heard a door shut, followed by an excited giggle.
“Wow, you sure are excited, aren’t you, Twi--Sunrise!” The masculine voice chuckled. “Looks like old habits die hard for me too.”
“It’s alright Smaug, we just have to make sure that it doesn’t-” the mare gasped. “Smaug! The spell has worn off, they’re finally awake!”
The mares groggily looked up at their former friends, both of which looked absolutely ecstatic to see them. They all wished that they could feel the same.
“T-Twilight, Spi--” Starlight began.
“Those names no longer have any meaning for us,” Sunrise cut the former leader of the Resistance off with the same cheery voice. “Now, while I’d love to catch up on lost time with you girls, I’m afraid that will simply have to wait for later.” With a flash of her horn, her former friends’ mouths were magically sealed shut.
“You girls have caused a lot of problems for Her Majesty with those mouths of yours, so you’ve lost your speaking privileges until you prove that you will not use them to spread slanderous lies.” Smaug explained in a tone of voice that made it sound like he was talking to disobedient children rather than captured insurgents. His gaze then changed from stern to soft. “Don’t worry, girls. Once you’ve seen the truth and sworn loyalty to the Empress, you’ll all be free mares. Then we can all go back to being friends, just like we were before all of the wars. We can’t wait for that. Despite what your propaganda might imply about us, we aren’t heartless monsters. We’ve missed you girls, haven’t we, Sunrise?”
The mare in question enthusiastically nodded in response.
The series of loud knocks sounded at the door to the jail cell that they had been placed in.
Sunrise's smile widened, which the girls didn't even think was possible, “Looks like the Empress has finally arrived!" The restrained mares paled as Sunrise practically skipped over to the door. “I can assure you that Her Majesty has been just as eager to speak to you all as I am!”
Sunrise opened the door and revealed the visage of the embodiment of everything the girls hated, the alicorn who had taken everything they loved and twisted it all beyond recognition.
The Empress Mother eyed the captives like prey as she sauntered in. “Good evening, my little ponies. You've all been causing a lot of trouble, haven't you?”
Author's Note
If there are any questions about the story, feel free to ask them.