The Lunar Revolution

by OldDrunkBrony

Rating: mature
Tags: Adventure
Length: 16588

The Lunar Revolution is the tale of Princess Luna overthrowing a tyrannical Celestia.

This is a tale of the brave Princess Luna leading a revolution to establish a free Republic of the people and overthrow the tyranny of the sun!

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-10-13 22:42:44 UTC

Prologue

The camera film quickly flickered on and off, the hiss of the static raging violently, and finally subsiding to eventually reveal a worried Princess Luna, warringly looking left and right and then directly at the camera, and looked with concerned eyes as her mouth began to form words. "What if I told you that everything you've been brought up to believe was a lie?" She spoke in a direct tone, "What if I told you that rather than the loving and caring mare you've been brainwashed to believe was your fair princess, was actually a tyrant, responsible for the deaths of ponies everywhere, the merciless slaughterings of families, villages, livelihoods? You probably would shake your head, and call me crazy, wouldn't you. Listen, I don't have much time, because right now, as I speak, armed guards are on their way, to take me captive and to make sure I don't let anypony know about what's really going on here in Equestria. Hear me, future dweller, for I shall tell you my story....

Many years ago, after the founding of Equestria, after my sister Celestia and I had ruled it jointly for quite some time, she started to become.... corrupt, corrupt with power. I saw how it transformed her, I saw as my own flesh and blood was rotted away from the inside out, by an invisible enemy, an enemy far more evil than that of Discord, or Chrysilys.

The nursery rhymes you grew up with speak of how I betrayed the good of the world, how I had become jealous. Funny how one can stretch the truth isn't it? What had really happened, was that Celestia began to force labour on everypony. Colts, mares, and fillies alike, day after day. Celestia knew, however, that they needed their rest, and that's the only reason she let me stay for so long. One day, I had become tired of her oppression, tired of seeing my own kin forced, day in and day out, to work for a mare who had a self-lead goal, a mare who desired nothing more than power. I tried to speak out against this, I tried to make the nights longer, to give the weakened ponies more rest, but Celestia objected.

I wasn't about to let this continue. I had to do something, anything, to prove to her that the will of ponykind is not something that can ever be broken by greed or corruption. And so I fought. For what seemed like years, Celestia and I were engaged in a bloody and horrid Civil War. Ponies, killing ponies, left and right. Some for money, and some for something greater.

What pains me to say is that this fighting was in vain. Eventually those who were once loyal to me, to freedom, had been bribed, or returned to their horrid lives. I was too weak to stand alone, and so Celestia did what any tyrant would do, even to her own sister. She attempted to kill me. She had planned my death from the very beginning. And so I fled. I fled to the one place I knew Celestia could never reach... The moon.

For years after that, Celestia did as she pleased. She removed "forced" labour, because she knew that everpony in Equestria knew that objection to the will of Celestia would result in death, or exile. The parents tought their children to obey, and those children taught their children. Except they began masking one word, "obey", with a knew word, a word far different, "love". And now, in the world you're living in, it's the same story, children, adults, all practically brainwashed to love their princess. But why did I return now, you may ask.

Months ago, I saw an opprotunity, an opprotunity to return to Equestria. There were 6 ponies, each highly valued, and feared, by Celestia. I knew that if I came back in a new form, in a seemingly attempt to have them disposed of, but then fake defeat, then begging Luna for forgiveness. Celestia knew that if she killed me right then and there, that it would cause her to loose the obedience of these 6 ponies. And so I did just that. And now I'm back, to lead a new revoluition, to overthrow the tyrant Celestia. Why?

Because I believe in a day where we can safely tell our children that you must always question leadership, to always stand up to the slightest signs of corruption, or manipulation. Not a day where we're telling our grandfoals what it was once like to live, in the peaceful land of Equestria. Still don't believe me? Listen to what you've let yourself believe: Go to work. Get married. Have some kids. Pay taxes. Pay your bills. Watch your TV. Follow fashion. Act normal. And repeat after me: I AM FREE.

The time for a revolution is now. Rise up my fellow ponies, rise up against tyranny, against oppression, rise up for everything you've ever believed in. In about a year's time, I will return to Equestria, with an army. The day before I return, I will send you a sign. You will know the sign when you see it. That day, I want all of those amongst you who desire freedom, to gather on the hillside overlooking Canterlot.

Come armed, and come ready to fight, and to die for liberty. We will fight for all things that are just, we will fight for freedom, we will fight for an age old idea, we will fight for a world where thought is free. We fight for a world where nopony shall ever kneel to oppression. The days of Celestia are over! In a year's time from this day, together, we will finally end the tyranny of the sun! We are the Revolution! United we stand, divided we fall!

Just then the camera began to flicker again, as the doors in the house Luna had occupied were brutally kicked open, and the silhouttes of Celestia's royal guard could be seen boldly against the white and red walls. It was then that Luna, without hesitation, discharged a purple beam from her horn. The projected and raw magic's impact had quickly rendered several of the encroaching guards lifeless, as the warm, freshly shed blood splattered across her previously clean face. But Luna knew that this fight was desperate, that there was no way she could escape that night.

She reached out through the air with her magic, grasping the tape she had just filmed with her telekinesis, put a protective shield  spellaround it, and proceeded to fling it out of the window, with nothing more than an expression of faith befalling her now blood-stained face, into the jet black skyline of Manehattan, in the desperate hope that somepony would find it, in hopes that one day, they could all be free.

The guards relentlessly, now more numerous, began to approach Luna's cornered position, and even as Luna reluctantly lifted her hooves in a symbol of submition, the pityless guard closest to her  violently grabbed a supply wrench from a nearby table, and, swinging the makeshift weapon through the cold, night air, smacked the now pale blue face of Princess Luna, brutally knocking her unconscious, as her now ragdoll-like body slid into the corner.

Chapter 1

Luna awoke, dazed, in a cold room, nearly blinded by the darkness of the cloth bag that had been sloppily draped  overfront of her face. Seconds after re-awaking, the blunt pain of the wrench smacking her head once again rang out on the side of her face, where she had been hit the night before, or at least what she thought was the night before.

Luna listened intently to the monotone creaking of her new surroundings, the putrid stench of sewage and hatred filled the humid, sticky air. As she attempted to reach her hooves out, she found that her hooves had been tightly hoofcuffed to the chair she was sitting on. Not surprisingly, she found that the same had been done to her rear hooves as well.

A few seconds after re-awakening, she heard the slow, menacing creek of an opening door to her right, followed by the soft pitter patter of light hoofsteps encroaching unto her position. Seconds after the hoofsteps had stopped directly in front of her, the cloth bag had been violently pulled off of her head, only to reveal the angry, hateful face of her older sister, Princess Celestia. "Hey big sis", Luna spoke in a sarcastic, and challenging tone, along with an oblivious smirk, "come to spend some quality family time with your little sister?".

Celestia looked back with an unamused glare, with malice in her eyes in an attempt to pierce the unrelentingly courageous eyes of her younger sister. "Why so confident Luna?", she said with the all too common voice of an older sister annoyed by her younger sister's antics, "You're trapped thousands of feet beneath a mountain, secluded in the Equestrian countryside, you know".

Luna replied with nothing more than an even larger smirk, and but a few softly spoken, yet all too true words, "Because I know you won't kill me, and you know you can't keep me trapped down here forever. It would tarnish your reputation, and the masses, as well as Twilight Sparkle and her friends, they might all finally catch on".

"What is it you seek to gain from all this, Luna? Power, wealth, fame? It's nothing I can't give to you if you would just cooperate." Celestia bargained as she paced back and forth, now louder than ever, in front of her sister Luna, patiently awaiting a reply from the distraught mare sitting before her.

"Hm, after all this time you still can't sit back and look at the bigger picture, can you sis? Hehe, no, what I desire, my ultimate goal, is something far greater."  Luna gracefully let the words slide out of her mouth, to reach the awaiting ears of her sister. "How cute," Celestia retorted, now with a tone of anger and impatience, "But do you honestly think you can stand against me now? I have the loyalty of everypony in Equestria behind me.".

"Then why do I sense fear in your voice, big sis?", Luna fearlessly spoke with a tone that reflected her unbreakable will, "I wouldn't use the word "loyalty" so lightly. Your "loving subjects" are "loyal" to you, not because they love you, but because they fear you. You may not see it, they may not even see it, but deep down, in everypony here in Equestria, is the ultimate wish to see you overthrown."

The ensuing silence filled the already polluted air like the thick smoke after a violent explosion, for minutes, as Celestia gazed deeply into the eyes of her younger sister, her own flesh and blood, judging her, testing her strength of character, until finally, she had decided to break the silence. "As much as you may think you can overthrow me, as much as you squirm and wrench within the palm of my hand, as much as you try in vain, it will never be enough, for in the end, when both you're body and spirit have been broken, when your revolution is finally destroyed, when you're will has been crushed and you are bleeding out on the floor begging me for forgiveness and reconciliation, I will break you."The words slowly left Celestia's toungue like venom leaves the fangs of a snake.

"We'll see.", Was all Luna had to say before they were once again gripped by looming silence. It wasn't until minutes later that Celestia had finally grown tired of this ensuing silence, and staunchly left the room, leaving Luna, once again, by herself, a mistake Celestia knew that one day she'd come to ultimately regret.

As the metal door slammed shut behind her older sister, Luna's mind began racing, thinking of all the possible ways out of this situation. Now was the time Luna had to act, for this opportunity might be the last she'd ever receive. In the effort to use her magic, she discovered that her sister had jinxed her with the deadly-humorous toxins of the wild blue flower of the Everfree forest, a mysterious land older than that of Equestria itself.

Upon attempting to spread them out, Luna also noticed that her wings had been tightly tucked between the bars of the chair's backside. Looking up, Luna could see that there was an exit hole towards the cieling, with waste water trickling down from it into the drains below, just wide enough for athletic figure to fit through. "Just maybe" she whispered silently to herself, "if only I could free my wings."

A sewer system had been built into the side of the mountain, where her makeshift prison had been installed, with the waste water running deep underneath the bridge Luna's chair had been placed on. The room she was trapped in was cylindrical, with only a diameter of about 10 feet, sorrunded by concrete on each side.  She pondered on how she could put all of these to her advantage.

Just then, she saw how she would escape this. She knew she had but one opportunity, for if she missed this, if her calculations were just a fraction off, then she would plummet to a watery grave thousands of feet below, succesfully putting an end to the revolution before it even began. She again attempted to spread out her wings, but this time in an attempt to judge the strength of the chair's barred rear. After several minutes of this, she had made the life or death decision.

She performed a series of awkward hops, each one getting her inches and inches closer to the the edge of the bridge. Once she had reached the edge, she began rotating herself clockwise until her backside was facing the paralleled wall. She quietly inhaled a deep breath, one that could have easily been her last, and, without thinking, she jumped.

At that moment, every muscle in her body began to tense, her blood began pumping extramentally,  heat coursed through every inch of her body as she held in what could have been her last gasp of air, and closed her eyes... she could hear her heart pounding heavily against her chest, as her entire life flashed before her.

Everything she had ever done up to this point. From the founding of Equestria, the civil war, the blood curdling cries of ponies dying all around her in the heat of battle, the broken shreiks of children crying out for their now deaceased fathers and mothers, the 1,000 years spent on the moon, all passing by in a matter of seconds, as Luna felt a tear brush across the side of her face, and watched, as it flew up, away from her, as her seemingly endless descent continued.

Finally,  she recalled the dark and menacing eyes of Princess Celestia staring back into her own, as Luna's raw hatred of her sister welled up inside of her heart, and at that moment, something inside her knew that these next few seconds could not be her last, that she alone had to be the one to lead the revolution, that she alone had to be the one to face Celestia, that she alone had to be the one to restore freedom, and liberty, to the world she held so dear.

Just then, the sound of the chair's backside smashing and splintering against the side of the concrete wall filled Luna's mind, and awakened her from the trance-like state she had been in, as she quickly spread her wings, flying back upwards as fast as they would take her, into the exit hole she had spotted just minutes ago, in prayers that it would be sizable enough to utilize for her escape.

During her ascent, she noticed that her wings had almost a rustic feel to them, like the times when she would wake up in the morning only to find that she had been sleeping on her leg the whole night, rendering it numb and almost lifeless. She prayed that she wouldn't have any difficulty flying, that all of her hopes would not have been put to waste in just a short few seconds. As she hoped against this horrid premonition, she felt the wind flowing through each and every one of her individual wings, as she recalled the sense of exhiliration caused by flying. This newfound indulgence was short lived, however, as she noticed that the exit pipe she would use for her escape was growing ever closer with each passing second.

She struggled to hold her eyes open as she braced herself for what she hoped would not be her outspread wings fracturing against the sides of the concrete tunnel, knocking her back down into the hell she had just that one chance of escaping. As soon as she saw that she was just inches away from her salvation, she tucked in her wings as tightly as her body would allow, as she shot into the pipe, and emerged, almost unharmed, in hoof-high sewage water.

In the slight motion to rise to her feet, she found she had to exort effort to retain balance, likely due to the fact that she had been sitting in immobile captivity for so long, making almost no use of her legs for what she was now sure must have been longer than a single day.  Attempting to walk, she easily lost her balance several times and collapsed to the waste polluted floor, mumbling to herself each time, frustrated at her inability to do such menial a task as walking.

"The day the Princess of the Night can do little more than a mere infant", she whispered to herself, under her breath, in the likely case that somepony could have been listening. Surprised that it had taken them until now, her eyes began adjusting to the new light, a nice change of scenery in comparison to the darkness her eyes had previously inhabited for so long a time. After patiently awaiting the full adjustment process to finish, and once more getting a feel for the walking process, Luna continued her journey down the pipeway, to where she desperately hoped would be an exit.

Deeper into the tunnel, she began to pick up a new scent, a nice alternative to the putrid stench of sewage waste. At first whiff, she was unable to identify it. Deciding that she had time, and that no pony seemed to be pursuing her, she pondered on this until she was finally able to identify this odd new scent. It was apple pie!

"Apple Pie? Of all things?", she thought to herself. At first, she couldn't believe her senses were telling her that deep within the sewers built into a secluded mountainside, the scent of freshly baked apple pie had filled the previously near-toxic air. She began to break out into a full sprint as she took this new scent as a definitive sign that she must have been nearing the exit.

Trekking quickly through the water lined corridor and the apple scented air, she began to make out what she thought must have been the exit. Her pace increased, and she could feel each individual muscle tighten as excitement and anticipation coursed through her body. She ran as fast as she could and at the last second turned a full 90° into... Another room.

She let out a long sigh of disappointment as she took in her new surroundings. The pipe system had gone out of use, only to be replaced now by hallways indicated by doors, almost similar to designs found one might find in houses. This new room had a total of 5 doors leading out of it, each one in a completely different direction, but only one led to the eventual exit back into the outside world, she was sure.

She began to think on how she could find the escape route, thinking about possible patterns in shapes and sizes, until her deep thoughts were sharply interrupted by a shrill hiss being let out by the corridor directly to her right. As she made out the creature that produced this noise's shadow painted boldly against the stone metallic wall, she could hear joining in, coming from each angled possible.

Rakhgouls! The word rang out in her head as the horrifying revelation donned on her that she was sorrounded by these horrid creatures, besieged on all sides by monsteres that could kill a full grown buffalo with just one bite of their vicous fangs.

In the blink of an eye, she recalled the lessons she had received about Rakhgouls, and how legend had told that they were once ponies, a group of foals that had gone deep into the countryside in search of riches, but had become corrupt and twisted by greed. Looking at the grotesque figures slowly approaching her, she could see that their disgusting body shape hardly resembled that of a foal at all.

They had had enlarged heads, with a cranium that more than doubled the length of their body, and limbs that extended far beyond the length of any average pony, even herself. The most disturbing part, she noted, was that these foul creatures were completely devoid of any kind of fur or feathers anywhere on their bodies.

All these thoughts had run through Luna's mind in a matter of seconds as she thought about how these creatures could easily outrun her, given their long limbs and terrifingly acute sense of smell. She had no choice but to stand and fight for her life, for the security of the Revolution and for the future of Equestria.

"Funny", she thought, "how so much could be so greatly influenced by so little as a few actions committed deep within a sewer"

Luna braced herself as the Rakhgouls grew ever closer to her with each passing second, slowly, as if ready to strike at any second. She eventually grew to wonder if they had even decided to attack at all, or if all this would be over before it began. However, these hopeful thoughts had been dispelled, as the first Rakhgoul haunched itself over, and began charging towards her, as the others soon followed in suit.

The first Rakhgoul came like lightning in the night, quick and deliberate. To her own surprise, Luna's reflexes had been heightened, most likely due to the extreme amounts of adrenaline that now flowed through her. The charging Rakhgoul had managed to reach mid-pounce before Luna quickly dived downward, directly under the leaping Rakhgoul, and raised her head as quickly as she could, feeling her horn slowly impale into the gut of the disgusting creature, piercing it's soft flesh as it's putrid-smelling green and sticky blood spewed out onto her already filth-ridden body, contaminating her even further.

But she could not afford to pay any attention to such things, as the next Rakhgoul was already on it's way towards her. When the glutton was just a hooves's length away, Luna performed a quick bunny hop forward and to the right of the approaching beast, as she raised her front left knee straight into it's abdomen, rendering it immobile for a precious few seconds, as Luna rapidly performed a 90° turn, so that her flank was facing the rabid and twisted swine that had attacked her seconds ago. She raised her rear hooves, took in a deep breath, and released it as she fully extended her legs, and could feel her metallicly lined hoof fracturing the creature's frail jawbone, knocking it into the wall opposite her position.

The third Rakhgoul, this one substantially larger than the others, clumsily hobbled along the corridor, practically hurdling itself at her. A frown fell upon her face as she came to the realization that this one would be an easy kill, almost filling her with a sense of remorse, as if this creature didn't deserve it. It was a thought that she easily put aside, however as the brute flared it's teeth and let out a deeply pitched growl, moving itself towards her with the only goal being her death.

It's sideways-styled movement had caused it's leap to turn into a tackle, which Luna took to her advantage by dashing forward, and in the process extending out her right wing, so that the tip of the fully-extended wing slashed out and cleanly cut a slit straight through the clod's lightly tissued throat. She instinctively shielded herself with her outspread wing to protect from the waves of the cur's rotten-smelling blood, spewing in every direction, filling nearly every inch of the room, accompanied by a near unbearable stench.

Luna watched with horrified eyes as the monstrosity before her hissed and twitched as blood continued to pour from it's now openly exposed neck. The other Rakhgouls in the area had directly seen what Luna had done, and decided that they did not wish to partake in any sort of combat with her. As they each fled for their lives, Luna decided that the savage animals she had fought were, in fact, dead, and when she could take no more of the sickly-sweet stench of freshly deceased bodies accompanied by the putrid stench of the Rakhgoul's blood, she began to walk out of the room, into the nearest hallway available.

"Wait a second" she said aloud, as the delectably sweet smell of apple pie's once more filled her nose, and she began running down the hallway, following nothing more than what she believed must have been the outside world. She could feel her heart racing once more as the smell got stronger and stronger with each step. Childishly, her mouth began to become filled with saliva, as she could feel the sensation of a freshly baked apple pie filling her mouth with sugary delight.

After mindlessly following this smell even longer, she came to what appeared to be a closed door coupled by an unlocking mechanism mounted on it's front. As if by some divine force, the password was left still on the screen, as if to allow the next pony that came through here easy access to whatever was inside.

She quickly inputted the pre-typed password, and took no notice of the severed arm lying on the floor directly to her right, as she stepped through the doorway, into what seemed like a village sized Garage.

Directly ahead, she could see a substantially large sized pile of assorted gems lying on the ground. Walking up to them, the glittery shine they gave off put her in a near hypnotic state, as she glared deeper into the seemingly endless ruby before her. Looking into it, she could see her more than own reflection.

The longer she looked, the more the ruby told. She saw in it the many faces of the ponies that had been lost in the first Civil War. She then saw the image of the mare in the moon, what had become to her a symbol of tyranny. Finally, as if it was haunting her very soul, she once more saw the malicious glare of Celestia looking back into her own eyes, almost sending a message.

This trance was broken almost instantly, as her eyes began to widen, as she heard a deep exhale as smoke filled the air, the sudden premonition of where she was finally came to her. She took in a deep breath of air as she quickly became motionless, paralysed by fear. It was a Dragon's lair!

She then broke out into a full gallop, completely throwing aside the concepts of stealth and guile that had come to define her. Horror now filled her vains, replacing curiosity, as she could feel her hoofsteps become in sync. with her heartbeat, pushing her to the limits of her potential as she raced back to the safety of the corridor. Thoughts of the viscous dragon that made this lair it's home filled her mind, and she had become more afraid in that moment than ever before.

She turned her head downwards, as if to escape from this nightmare that had become her life. Where was she? How long was she unconscious? Would she ever escape from this hell? All she had to hold on to was the smell of apple pie, for it had become her one connection back to her life.

The second she reached the inside of the doorway, she quickly turned around, closing the door as fast as she could behind her. She collapsed to the floor, panting heavily, taking note of everything that had just occurred. Waiting, waiting for the violent roar of the dragon to fill the halls.

Noticing something out of the corner of her eye, she turned her head to her immediate left, to reveal the severed leg of a pony, a frag grenade still tightly held in the hand, as if it was still not yet ready to let go. Looking at it, she wondered about it's origins, where it came from. Mostly, she wondered why it was severed. "Most likely the dragon", she though.

She sat, for almost an hour, thinking as to how she had intended to get past the ferocious dragon blocking her salvation. Facing it head on was suicide, that much she knew. She had to figure out some way to outsmart the beast. She stood up and shook her head, starting to trot down the hallway once more, as the plan finally came to her.

Once she re-entered the room where she had slew the Rakhgoul mongrels, she approached one, and took a deep breath, as she bent down and grabbed the lifeless beast by it's nape, and began to drag it at a steady pace back to the door. She had to fight every instinct in her body to not puke and recoil in reaction to the stench her bait had started to give off, as it filled her mouth and entered her nose through her neck. Her eyes began to water, and she started to loose grip on the thing, until she realized that she was already just a yard's distance from her destination.

After gently placing the rag doll body upon the floor, she twisted her head to her right to release a spew of vomit that had welled up inside her. She returned to the severed arm she had seen before, and struggle with the corpses hand for the grenade, taking into great consideration the potential she had to set it off right there at that moment. After finally winning the precarious battle for control, she brought the temporarily harmless grenade back over to the lifeless carcass of the Rakhgoul.

Re-opening the hole she had punctured with her horn, she gently placed the grenade inside of the creature's gut, and proceeded to re-seal it using a medical kit found near the severed arm. Once she was satisfied with the results, she opened the door, and begun to drag the Rakhgoul's corpse, slowly through the dragon lair's grand halls.

Once again, as if it had become a pattern of her's, her heart began to race and beat with vigour, as the fear that rendered her near paralysed last time had returned. She once again felt the adrenaline pump through her, the life or death feel once more gripped her, holding her in it's menacing claws.

Her eyes began to drift back into her head, as she fought the overwhelming desire to fall unconscious upon the floor of the dragon's lair. Her hoofsteps began to fell ever more light and weak, as the time passed her by. Her whole body began to feel increasingly numb, darkness filling every corner of her vision, engulfing her mind to the brink of collapse, to the brink of surrender to darkness eternal.

"No!". Luna paused, motionless as the word of a million and none imperatives rang out through her mind. "I can't allow myself to stop here" the words filled her mind clear and simple as they were, followed by the words of her closest friend, the one pony who had remained at her side a thousand years ago,

"A day may indeed come, when the strength of ponies fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day! An hour of broken dreams and shattered spirits when the Age of Ponydom comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day you shall stand! By all that you hold dear that you hold dear on this good Earth, Luna, I bid you stand, Princess of the Night!"

As she heard the words spoken to her, Luna snapped open her eyes as consciousness flooded back into her mind, reminding her of the duty at hand. Secretly, she had thanked her friend. Without her words that night, Equestria might have been forever trapped beneath the iron fist of tyranny, and oppression.

Luna felt her rear hoof collide with one of the many collected skeletons of Rakhgouls kept in the dragons lair, and began to place the grenade equipped corpse alongside the bones. After that was accomplished Luna began yet another sprint towards the doorway. Before slamming it shut, Luna had leaned her head out into the hall, shouting "Hey, you slimy piece of worm-ridden filth!"

The words hung in the air as the great Dragon opened it's eyes and let out a spectacular growl, one Luna had hoped was a growl of hunger. Noticing the freshly slain Rakhgoul lying in it's lair, the oblivious dragon began walking towards it's next meal. Almost gently, it picked up the it's dinner by the leg, and, almost like a cherry, placed it inside it's awaiting mouth.

That was when everything went exactly as she had hoped. The stomach acids had indeed set off the grenade, exploding shrapnel and flame throughout the inner workings of the enraged dragon. A waterfall of blood and fire began pouring from the beast's mouth, as Luna looked away for a brief moment, until the sound of the giant sized dragon heavily collapsing to the floor had filled every inch of the halls.

She stole another glance, this time to make sure the beast was truly dead. She took it's torn open stomach and scattered entrails as a definitve "yes". Looking over yonder, Luna spotted the exit, and, once more following the scent now life-giving of apple pie, continued her journey.

The doorway opened to reveal another long, yet easy to follow passageway. And so she began to walk. She walked, for hours at a time. After walking for so long, Luna noticed that the flow of sweat had mysteriously stopped, her eyes began to dry up, and a dreadful feeling began to grow inside her. It was dehydration.

She felt as if she had just licked salt for days, as almost every area that had once been moist became dry as dirt in minutes. It had had an effect on her exhaustion too. She began to grow weak, each step becoming more and more of a challenge.

She pondered on whether or not she should turn back, and risk drinking the waste water. "No", she thought, "I'll never make it in time. I guess, sometimes, we just need to keep going down the dark tunnel, even when we can't see the light at the end."

Those words kept her alive for the next hour, wherein her life had become little more than a complete wreck. Once again, she could barely walk, or keep her balance. The last thing she had that made it all worth while was the smell of apple pie.

She laughed to herself, thinking about how the last thing she would ever smell would be apple pie. "Hm... aha... hahahaha!", she had decided that she might as well spend her last few minutes on Earth laughing. She allowed the joy of the insanity consumed her, along with the madness accompanied by the extreme dehydration. Finally, after exerting all her remaining effort into one last laugh, Luna collapsed to the floor.

Chapter 2

Axel could feel the cold, night air swiftly brushing through his coat as his descent downward onto the unsespecting guard that had been guarding the entrance to the relay fortress continued. He could feel his mane start to become tustled beneath his cowl. His eyes narrowed as he moved closer and closer to his target.

It had been just over a week since he had discovered Princess Luna's tape, lying on the floor of his apartment, providing an explanation to the broken window and shattered glass  that had been thrown across his home. The tape had inspired him, it gave him a cause, it gave him something to belong to, in a world where he had nothing.

Since as far back as he could remember, he had never had more identity than "Axel". He could not remember any parents, or any kind of life outside the orphanage. Despite being near adulthood, he even lacked a cutie mark. He had nothing, nothing except the Revolution. The very idea of no identity mocked him, haunted him even.

Axel... He hated that name. He always had. To him, it was only a symbol of his lack of identity. He couldn't change it now though, too many had grown to calling him by that.

A day didn't go by in his life where he didn't wonder how different his life would be if he had never arrived at the Manehattan orphanage, if his parents had chosen to keep him instead. As reluctant as he was to accept it, he knew that he was meant to be there, to find the tape, to restore freedom to his homeland. His homeland. The word stuck in his mind as he pondered on if he was even from Equestria.

Axel winced as he could hear the bones of the unsuspecting guard's back break underneath him, as the full weight of his body fell onto the guard's, knocking him face down unto the ground. He could feel his previously hidden dagger pierce the back of the guard's neck, and slide in between the vertebrae, quickly severing the jugular vein. The guard let out a slight moan before his body gave into the pain and became lifeless, blood trickling from his mouth, eyes open wide, staring endlessly into space.

It was the first time Axel had ever killed a pony. In that moment, he felt the heat of battle overcome him, gripping him and taking control of his actions, as everything that he did from that point on became pure instinct. He did discover one thing about himself that night. He discovered that he was a killer, and he knew that he was ready to kill.

As soon as the nearest guard's shout for help rang out in the air, Axel quickly performed a lightning fast front roll, so that he arrived parallel to the guard directly in front of him, the one who had yelled for help. Despite the guard's best efforts to retaliate, Axel was faster. Just as he emerged into mid-crouch, he reached for a new dagger from his belt, and, using the full motion of his body, sent it straight into the pale white chest of the guard, as his right hoof used the clock-like motion of the previous action to send the already bloodied dagger straight upwards into the soft flesh beneath the guard's jawbone.

He pulled both of the blades out simultaneously as he performed a nimble back roll, both to avoid the onslaught of blood from the recently slaughtered guards as well as to prepare for his next set of actions. He was right in doing so, for a new pair of guard's were on their way, most likely in reply to the cries for help from their now deceased comrade. Axel's mind raced as he thought on how to deal with his new adversaries.

His lightning fast instinct had saved his life that night. Almost subconsciously, Axel sent the two blades he had wrestled from the guard's lifeless bodies seconds ago flying at the two that had remained alive and were encroaching unto his position. One of the daggers had landed directly in between the eyes of the one guard, killing him almost instantly. The other launched itself in the throat of the guard opposite the first, sending him straight to the concrete floor.

Axel's enemies had been easily defeated. For now, at least. He rose to his feet, and began slowly making his way over to the entrance into the compound. He knew he had to act quickly.

After he had mounted it onto the number dialer, he watched as his sky blue code breaker typed an almost endless set of passwords. Numbers flashed, letters showed, sequences entered, all of the data scattered across the screen at Axel's fingertips. He found it funny how far beyond him the technology was, how complex it had all seemed to him.

He almost found himself hypnotized by the machine as he leaned his head closer to it with each passing second, his eyes pointlessly scanning the figures and symbols that revealed themselves before him. Even as his eyes began to water from the extensive amount of time that he had been glaring at the screen, he continued to look. He looked until it began to hurt, and then he persisted looking even longer.

The hypnosis was broken by a large jade green rectangle emerging on the screen, with the words: "Pass code entered" strewn across in a pale white. It had taken Axel a few seconds to register the fact that his code breaking attempts had been successful, catching himself still staring at the brightly-lit screen of the code breaker. He laughed to himself, at how he had allowed himself to do something that seemed so childish.

He pulled back his cowl as the doorway hissed open, to allow access into the royal database compound. Axel's black fur had blended well into the darkness of the night, granting him the blessing of stealth, a tool he used quite wisely. He was nearly invisible as he stood in the doorway, deeply gazing into the halls of the building he had just infiltrated.

As he looked further and further into the halls, he could see that security cameras had been set up to observe every angle of the building. "Hm", he said aloud, "I guess they don't bother to hide the cameras here", in reference to the fact that every single area in Equestria each had it's own set of hidden cameras, so as to allow Celestia and her accomplices to secretly observe every move of every pony at every second of the day, making sure they didn't "endanger themselves".

Walking down the hallway, Axel observed the many signs plastered to the walls, indicating the area they were in closest proximity to. He was searching for "database". His mission had been to infiltrate the compound, gather military information for the revolution, and return. It was a simple enough mission he had given himself. But he knew that nothing was ever as simple as one initially thought it was.

Turning the many corners of the building, his keen eyes searched the many twists and turns that made the compound their home. A sense of curiosity grew in Axel's mind as he noticed that none of the rooms inside the building were occupied. It was completely devoid of any workers, any life. "So then what were the guards protecting?" He asked himself silently inside his head.

He allowed the question to drift from his mind as he finally spotted the doorway marked "database" and trotted into it without hesitation. Axel could hear the echo of his hooftspes resonating throughout the massive halls of the database, sending sound waves reflecting off of the data lined walls, alerting what seemed like virtually nopony at all. The halls were void of any life but his own. Or so it would seem. He wondered if they had perhaps been relieved of duties that particular night. It was the middle of the week, and the nearest holiday was hearth's warming, and that was weeks away. Nopony should have been absent.

He tried hard to put the worrying thoughts out of his mind, as he now had to be occupied with the task of transferring the encrypted military information files onto his datapad. It was a simple enough process, but it was one that required all of one's attention to complete. He felt a slight jolt as he inserted the transfer cable into the data port located at the front of the computer, not quite hurting Axel, but surprising him enough so that he was forced to give the machine 100% of his focus, his eyes now beginning to become once more glued to an electronic screen.

There had been a multitude of individual files inside the database, causing a severe amount of confusion on the part of Axel. He was anything but a technological pony. Working on the computer that night, his faults in particular, had made him recall a time when he was much younger, growing up in the Manehattan orphanage.

"No, no Axel, you're doing it all wrong", the head mistress had yelled at him, for he had once more managed to crash himself into one of the many trees on the planes just outside Manehattan. It was a phrase he had become accustomed to by this point, as he had heard it nearly everyday for as long as he could remember. "Watch Kaila".

It was the third week of orphan flight training. Axel had failed the training for the past two years, earning himself constant mockery on behalf of the older ponies of the orphanage. All young pegasi had been required to attend, although some were given better care than others when it came to the actual training. Kaila was one of those ponies.

She was a likeable enough person, and Axel had never held anything against her personally, she was just a little "too" likeable for the good of the rest of her peers. No matter how much they said otherwise, the caretakers of the orphanage had always paid special attention to her, making sure that her needs were met before attending to the rest of them.

She had come into the orphanage only recently, having a record of only two months in her new accomadations. She never talked about it herself, but it was rumoured that her parents were killed for high treason against the Celestian regime, or as the puppeteered media would call it, a "bear attack". It was for these reasons, along with their close age amongst other things, that she and Axel had become such good friends, developing a relationship no other pony could ever quite fully understand, nor deny.

It was a friendship that had eventually grown into a partnership, when Axel discovered Princess Luna's tape that one fateful night. Kaila had always known the truth about Celestia, she had simply been to afraid to speak out, afraid for her life. Until now, at least, when Axel had given her the one thing she desired more than anything else. Opportunity.

Despite their friendship, Axel became jealous of her everytime annual flight school rolled around. She was a gifted flier, as was Axel. Kaila, however, was somepony who was easily instructable, while Axel's rebellious nature had landed him on a long list of charades, troubles with the law, and hospital rooms.

None of which ever quite managed to amuse the headmistress.

Axel had never had a good relationship with the headmistress. He secretly wondered if she had ever had a good relationship with anyone. Her angry tone still rang in his ears today, as if she had been haunting him, still correcting all his mistakes, of which he continued to make plenty of.

One day, when they were eating together, just a couple of days after she had moved into the orphanage, Kaila had asked Axel if the headmistress had ever had any kind of love life, to which Axel simply chuckled and replied, "Please, if I had a face like that, I would have sued my parents and ran away to the orphanage myself!", To which Kaila burst out laughing in reply. The fact that everybody else there lacked real parents as well, had given Kaila a sense of comfort, as if she had finally found somewhere she belonged. The same could not be said for Axel.

He had always despised the orphanage. Even though they had taken care of him all his life, he felt as if every bite he took, every second he slept in his bed, was simply them saying to him, "You need us.". He hated the very idea of such a thing. He had always been a rebellious pony, before he was even able to grasp the concept of rebellion.

He would always refuse to obey the simplest of commands, with the sole purpose of annoyng the headmistress, to prove to her that she didn't own him.

He could only imagine her reaction if the headmistress could see him now, stealing data files from an official government office, a crime punishable by death. Which, of course, wasn't saying much, in consideration that nearly everything was punishable by death nowadays. Axel had found an odd comfort in that thought. It meant that at this point, he had virtually nothing to loose, and a world to win.

He had always been fascinated by technology, even though he himself lacked any sort of technological prowess or ability. He could barely type, let alone hack into a highly advanced goverment installation database. It had become one of the few things he didn't question, in a world where nothing was true, and everything was false.

Even his own mind at times would lie to him. Sometimes, he would convince himself that he was the great Star-Swirl the bearded, or a majestic and mighty dragon. His lack of identity had allowed his mind to wander at times, seeking only a title for himself. A definition, of sorts.

He had tried on a wide assortment of positions in his life. He had been everything from a farmer, to a baker, to a factory worker, he had even worked in the lingerie designing line for a short period of time. He was willing to try anything and everything to find himself.

"Yourself will find you", a young filly by the name of Applebloom once explained to him as he was picking up a new cloak he had requested the previous day. "What does that mean?", Axel impatiently asked in return, confused at the young fillie's seemingly non-sensical words. "It means that the more time you waste lookin' fer yer cutie mark, the more time you're wasting finding out who you really are, just trust me.", she said as she indicated to her own flank, which also blatantly lacked a cutie mark. The young filly had been visiting her aunt and uncle Orange, who had owned an apartment just across the street from the orphanage Axel lived in.

Realising that he had no time for recollecting, his mind now drifted back to the task at hand, and that task was to acquire the data files. Axel found that the database's security system was surprisingly simple, lacking little more than a 5-character passcode to gain entrance. His codebreaker was able to hack the system in seconds, as it began searching through each and every individual file faster than his eyes could follow.

He began to feel pointless by the time the codebreaker finally found the desired set of files. Axel could feel that the screen was hot to the touch from the excess of energy it had recently been forced to use as he gently pressed the "Sync. files" button. The process seemed designed for a two-year old. The simplicity almost enraged Axel, until he realised that he himself knew little more than a two year-old when it came to technology.

The process had seemed almost too easy. Kill a few guards, walk through an empty hall, and press a few buttons. Too easy... The words floated around in Axel's head, persisting, until they came true. This whole thing had been a trap.

"Well, well", a sharp and deep voice coursed through the air behind Axel, "It's a pretty sad day when Luna sends children to do her work." Axel was paralysed with fear, remaining motionless as the voice carried on. "You see, this whole routine was carried out as an attempt to judge just what we were up against in this revolution. I must say, I'm quite impressed", the voice briskly explained, "what you have in your hooves there is, in fact, genuine military strategic layout information.I'll tell you what, "Axel", in consideration that I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to kill you yet, I'd like to make a proposition. If you decide to take the easy way out, and simply hand me the datapad, then I just may consider allowing you to live."

Axel knew whoever was the source of the voice was now smiling a wicked and twisted grin. Feeling more threatened now than ever in his life, he willed himself to rotate clockwise a full 360 degrees, until he was facing the source of the menacing voice.

His throat went dry and his face filled with frustration, as he walked towards his enemy, which was then revealed to be Shining Armour, knight-commander of the Royal Guard. His furrowed brow lined with savagery as his evil grin mocked Axel's seemingly vain efforts. Contorted and ashamed, Axel finally brought himself to pause in front of Shining Armour and his heavily armed escort.

Showing more reluctance at that moment than ever in his life, he slowly passed the jade green datapad he had been carrying from his hoof into the awaiting hoof of Shining Armour. He smiled as he grabbed the metallic object by the edge, taking the utmost of joy in Axel's humiliation. Still grinning, he met Axel's gaze, "Hm, alright then", he relented, "I don't think anyone with a strength of heart this weak will present any threat to us anyway. Enough blood has been spilled tonight as it is. Go then, return to your sad little life in shambles. Tell all your little "revolutionaries" about how I mercifully spared your life." Axel knelt down his head in a sign of submission, as he prepared to make his way out of the building.

"Are you sure about this sir?", one of the guard's spoke out, "He seems pretty dange-" the guard's words were cut short by Shining Armour's hoof violently striking his temple, knocking the now lifeless guard across the room. His bones could be heard fracturing as he collided into the hard surface of the wall, sending chills of fear down Axel's spine.

"Go then, leave", the knight commander dictated, "I've no wish to be in your disgusting presence any longer." Axel wore the face of a terrified young foal as he began galloping out of the compound, no obstacles in his path, the halls still deserted.

After emerging outside, he pulled back his cowl and allowed the cold night air to flow gently through his tussled red mane as he looked out across the landing pad, out onto the brightly lit skyline of Manehattan.

His eyes beheld each and every individual light of the many buildings. He could see his apartment complex, and realised just how insignificant it was in comparison to the rest of the city. He saw his old orphanage, and wondered if the headmistress was still working there. He felt sorry for the young foals that now lived in his old home. Confused and lost were no ways to live one's life, he knew all too well. Even from the compound suspended high above the city, he could still here the hustle and bustle of Manehattan. He could feel the heartbeat of the city  inside himself. He was a part of it. He always would be.

Manehattan was home to so many unique people. The tailor, the craftsman, the architect, the designer, the accountant, the mailman, the mayor, the popper, the aristocrat. People had come to the city from all walks of life, all classes, all positions, all livelihoods. All Manehattanites. For the second time in his life, Axel was proud to be apart of something greater than himself.

The city had a life to it, as if underneath all of the standard sounds already present, there was another. He listened intently, all his attention trained unto Manehattan. It was the breath of the city, the sounds of all the vastly different people living and striving within it.

He once more felt the wind blowing through his mane, as he watched the city before his eyes, stood upon a world at his feet, and sensed a revolution laid out before him. This was no longer a battle for Equestria. This was a battle for the fate of the age-old idea of freedom, a battle for liberty, for a posterity free of the evils of tyanny and injustice.

Axel's meditation was sharply interrupted by fierce shouting released from deep within the compound. "What the hell is this!?!?", it cried out, "Damn it all!". Axel smiled. He had given Shining Armour the Winter edition of Playbrony.

Maybe now the Solar Empire would understand just what they were up against. Laughing to himself, Axel fully extended his long and cerrated black wings that blended into the pitch black of the night sky, made his way towards the edge of the landing pad, and lept out above the city.

Air flowing through his feathers, he set his eyes and heart on the roof of his apartment complex, and dived downwards. His heart rate increased when he realised he was now being pursued by a pair of Royal pegasus guards, most likely under orders of Shining Armour. He basked in the intensity of the dive, of the adrenaline, the thrill of the chase. Life threataning or not, Axel was having the time of his life.

The guards had closed almost all the distance between themselves and Axel by the time they were nearly at the underforestry of Manehattan. The street lights illuminated Axel's thrill consumed face, as the pursuit continued. He made a sharp turn into a nearby allyway, hoping to lose his pursuers.

The attempt was in vain, as they were now even closer behind. Axel then turned a full 90 degrees until he was facing straight upwards, and began scaling the broad side of one of the many skyscrapers of Manehattan. He could see the great deal of confused faces of the ponies inside as his ascent rapidly carried on. Axel knew this city like the back of his hoof.

The cosmopolitan metropolis Axel had always made his home appeared as a maze to outsiders, the likes of which he prayed to himself his pursuers were. Otherwise, this would be a very short chase. His prayers were answered as the top of the skyscraper was now beneath Axel.

He executed a tight barrol roll downwards, knowing exactly where his destination was. The action had roughly catapulted him between two street lights outlining the local underground train station. Hoping the guards were still at the top of the skyscraper, Axel flew into the doorway of the station.

He then landed his hooves on the ground, and ran through the crowd of confused and bewildered faces, in the direction of the nearest soon-to-be departing train. As if out of a movie, he launched himself onboard the train seconds before the doors shut closed behind him.

He panted heavily as he practically fell onto the chair he had selected. An onslaught of mixed reactions bombarded Axel. The train was filled with questions of "Who are you", "What do you want", "Why are you in a hurry". Axel answered none of these, and only continued his panting even louder as the train slowly began to make it's way out of the station.

He could sense the traintrack moving underneath, the sounds of the wheels hitting the railway. It had reminded him of his childhood. He hadn't ridden the train in years. "Funnny", he thought, "I picked now of all times to remember my childhood.

Looks of curiousity came upon his fellow train riders, confused at his laughing. By now, Axel was sure they thought he was crazy. It really didn't matter all that much to him anyway.

What mattered was whether or not the guards that had been pursuing him knew the city as well as he did, and whether or not they would be awaiting his arrival at the nearest station. He looked out the windows of the train, like he would do when he was a young foal, his mind always growing ever the more curious about all asptects of life. Axel was a child at heart. He always would be.

He could the train speeding by underneath his hooves. The city had once more spared his life. Luck had become on of the many elements that Axel had always been forced to rely on. He wasn't necessarily large, or menacing for that matter, so for him, intimidation was always out of the question. Axel resembled a fox, in many ways. Mostly in terms of personality, such as his quick whit, guile and charm. Even physically he resembled the fox in ways. He had a sly stature, quick movement and deception being his ally in battle.

"The fox", he thought as the train emerged now outside of the tunnels, travelling now along a supposedly 100 year-old bridge. The very thought of such a thing fascinated Axel, just like a great many other objects and aspects of life. The wooden bridge then gave way to yet another underground tunnel, this one not illuminated in the slightest, the halls ridden with nothing but darkness. Axel found it funny that at that moment, the only thing between everyone on board and an unexpected death was the wiring in the train's headlights. Life and Death. Black and White. Light and Darkness. Good and Bad. "What do they all mean?" He asked himself silently in his mind, allowing such contrary words to float around and nag his curious mind.

Such contradictory words were never as they seemed. That night, he had discovered that nothing was completely contradictory, as most had come to believe. He laughed as he thought about how he had learned more about life aboard the train in one night than he had learned throughout all of his many years in school. Feared began coursing throughout his veins as the train began to slow, indicating that arrival at the nearest destination was now only a short time span away.

The train had pulled to a complete stop. It was a large possibility that his pursuing guards could have known the city well, and were now scanning each of the many train stations, looking to brutally slaughter their prey without pity or remorse. Without thinking twice about it. "The beasts", He thought.

The doors of the train slid open. He tensed. He prepared to leap, to strike. The thrill of the impending fight that might not even occur took hold of him. He held his breath, the cold night air flowing through his teeth as he rapidly inhaled, almost at a paint. He waited, until the doors finally slid open.

No guards. All that awaited him was a decently sized group of ponies all making their way to their places of business, as indicated by their well dressed attire and briefcases. Axel wasted no time in getting to where he needed to be.

Knowing that taking flight was the equivalent to a target being painted on his back, Axel began trotting through the busy, overcrowded streets. Manehattan revolved around the night life, that much he had known since he had known for as long as he had lived there. Now he only needed a strategy to manuever through this sheer chaos.

Bumping nearly everypony in his path, Axel began shoving his way through the thick ocean of ponies all around him. The responses he had earned himself were not exactly positive, or favourable. But that made little difference to him now. The thicker the crowd the more chance he had of survival.

He never imagined himself in this scenario. He had never imagined himself outside the orphanage, although the desire filled his mind everyday of his life spent in the "Prison of a lifestyle", he had called it. He had never imagined himself stepping out into the world, becoming a part of something greater. Making a difference.

He had always been taught that the beat of a single pegasus's wings on one side of the world could result in a typhoon on the other. It was now that he finally understood the meaning of those words. It was now that he finally had an identity, and a place to call home.

And very entrance to that home now stood in front of him, looking more inviting now than ever before. He almost decided to glare at the entrance, before realising that his very life was in danger. Slowly, he made his way up the 4-step set of stairs the composed the secluded entrance into one of the many operating bases of the revolution now dotted all across Equestria.

After stepping in, the light tap of hoofsteps patting along the wooden floor, he was engulfed by darkness. Knowing exactly where he was going, he lightly stepped through the small and narrow hallway, passing multiple apartment rooms, including his own, before reaching the supply closet.

He had always assumed that nopony would ever be able to guess what was truly hidden in that closet. Nopony outside the Revolution ever came here, and the closet entrance itself gave nothing away. Inside, however, was the gateway to a whole different world.

He lightly wrapped his hoof around the door handle, lightly twisted, and pulled the frail wood until it was just slightly past his own body, and then began his venture down the dark flight of stairs concealed within, closing the door behind him. Unlike the rest of the apartment complex, the stairway was dimly by candlelight along the walls, so as not to allow the light to be seen from the outside. The heat from the operation base down below then rose up into the stairway, giving Axel a feeling of hospitality, and the feeling that he was finally returning home.

He stepped down onto the dirt floor of the headquarters. It had been quite a while since his hoof had felt the powdery sensation of dirt. He earned himself several curious glances as he rubbed his hoof lightly around in the grainy substance.

"Uhm, sir?", his close friend, Esellbuck inquired as he stood in front of the doorway, very little light shining through as they were now behind a massive curtain, "Your speech is ready".

"Very good.", Axel hastily replied, embarrassed at his fascination with dirt, "Pull back the curtains".

"As you wish", Esellbuck said in return, now spinning the mechanism belonging to the curtains' movement systems.

Axel couled feel the initial breeze of the warm dry air upon his nearly frozen black coat. The first crack of light began to show through, and then did nothing but continued to widen. Axel, at first, squinted his eyes to hide himself from the blinding light. But, he knew he had a duty to accomplish, and wasn't about to let a little bit of light to stop him.

The curtains had now been fully pulled back, and before Axel stood the many patiently awaiting and anticipated faces of the Manehattanite revolutionaries. Each now awaiting from their leader a great speech. One that would be heard through the ages and written in the annals of history. Axel, however, hated public speaking with a passion.

Sweat began dripping down the side of his face as worry and fear overcame him. Something inside him knew, however, that this simply had to be done. He shakingly leaned his head closer to the mic., licked his lips, took a deep breath, and began to speak.

"My fellow Manehattanites, Equestrians, businessmen, warriors, scholars, and patrons. Today we are gathered deep below our fair city, united by a goal. A cause, if you will.", he said with conviction, taking long breaths and pauses, "And I'm sure you are all well aware of what that is. It is often said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step... This belief can be no more evident, then at this very moment. For it is in this grim hour, that the dim of light of hope shines upon us.", Axel took a deep breath, and swallowed a small portion of spit that had gathered in his mouth, and carried on, "For a shimmer of hope has now reached us. I have with me, in my hooves, a datapad containing military layout information of the Celestian royal army. This document is a symbol of what one pony can do if they put their mind to it. From this, our revolution will grow, so long as there is determination in our hearts, the undying belief that freedom is the most precious thing we have left, that all ponies are born to live free. The history of Celestia is a long and ancient history of grievances, oppression, slaughter, betrayal, concealment, propaganda, and violence. For too long have we lived under the iron hoof of her reign! It pains me to say that the rest of Equestria reminds blind, and in some cases, it is a blindness provoked by the hatred against our revolution by the ruling classes of Equestria. As well as others, some sadder and more despicable, it is the product of the dazzling glitter if mammon. But we stand united, awakened. So long as the concept of sovereignty exists as the prerogative of nations and of independent peoples, as a right to all, we will not accept the exclusion of our peoples from that right. So long as this world is governed by those principles, so long as the world is governed by those concepts that have universal validity because they are universally accepted and recognised by all peoples, we will not accept the attempt to deprive us of any of those rights, and we intend to renounce none of them. If they are unwilling to accept the spirit of our revolution, that liberty is ever more sacred than blood, then there must come a time when we must stand together and declare that we don't want them! That we don't need them! All we need to begin with, is a dream, that we can achieve more. All we need to have is faith, and that dream will come true. All we need to do, is act, and the time for action is now! So I say to you, Celestia, that so long as our blood still flows, so long as our hearts still beat for freedom, for liberty, and a future no longer held by your bondage, then our knees will never bend to your tyranny! For now, in this hour, all of you who are ready to fight and to die for this cause, I bid you stand!"

Mammoth cheers erupted from the audience, as the heads of over 5,000 ponies rose up like a wave engulfing the crowd. And now Axel was done. He had performed what was necessary, and no longer had any wish to remain behind the podium.

Making his way off the stage, Kaila had approached him from a nearby hallway connected to the back of the stage area, where Axel's room had been located.

"I guess this is why your our leader", she said to him as he walked past, tired and weary.

"I suppose so", he mustered sloppily, exhausted from all that had occurred that night. He was done for now.

He slowly opened the door to his room, which at that point was a complete and utter mess. Old food and clothes strewn across the floor, stains on nearly everything stainable. None of which Axel cared about.

After reaching it's edge, he practically fell into his bed. He was nearly swallowed by the extreme comfort. He then gently rested his weary head upon the goose feather pillow he had been given by Kaila last Hearth's Warming.

His eyes managed to stay open just long enough for him to cast his stare outside his bedroom window, into the night sky. The bright white of the moon shone brightly against the pitch black sky. Axel knew that so long as the moon still shone, that Luna was still out there. That she was still alive, fighting, living for the cause.

And with that thought supplying him a sense of comfort, Axel slowly closed his eyelids, and fell to sleep.

Chapter 3

"Drink", the voice dictated, "Slowly now, blue one". The echoing voice spoke as if it were addressing every being in the room at once, although Luna knew whatever it was, it was speaking directly to her. The cold feel of the water sliding across her toungue had almost made her throttle the jug from it's supplier and drink it all at once, however, she lacked the energy to do so. She even found struggle in the once semiconscious task of regulating her own breathing.

          Just when she took in her first breath of air once more, there it was. The scent of apple pie. She was now on the outside, somewhere on the outermost plains of Equestria. Had she any strength left in herself at that moment, she would have smiled. But there was nothing, she could not even muster the energy to hold her eyes ajar.

          All the indication she had was the voice. She found a strange sense of comfort in it, even if she had no idea whatsoever as to whom it might belong to. "You need your rest", it reminded her, still sounding as if addressing the invisible audience. However, such rhetorical declarations were of no importance to her by that time. After she had been supplied the meagre amount of hydration, her eyes once more slowly navigated to the back of her head, as she again passed into unconsciousness.

          "Is the armada prepared?", a stern and impatient Admiral Hoofsly asked as he stood on the deck of the massive aerial vessel that comprised the RCC Marauder, looking out on the peaceful grasslands of Germaney.

          "Yes sir," the engineer hastily replied, "We will be in position for a full aerial bombardment within the hour. If all goes as planned, of course."

         "See to it that it does", Hoofsly threatened, although he himself believed that at this point, there was very little that could have gone wrong.

         As the now frightened engineer scurried off back into the halls of the Marauder, Hoofsly remained looking out on the deck, almost feeling a sense of pity for the many Germanians that were about to be mercilessly slaughtered. In the end, he cared for none of them.

         The "Marauder" seemed an appropriate name now more than ever, as it sat much like an eagle does the moment before it strikes, haunched over, beak opened, ready to kill. Perched in it's post just a few miles above the atmosphere, it was just out of sight of the Germanians. Their death would be swift and deliberate, their occupation, absolute.

         Although some of his colleagues might see it otherwise, Hoofsly had always been a loose cannon, and the very aspect of him being given the task of the Germanian occupation surprised both him and his peers, although they were all quite confident that he would eventually make that one bad decision which would compromise the whole mission. It wouldn't be out of the ordinary for such a pony as Hoofsly.

         Despite an initial shock, he took the duty without the slightest sign of doubt or fear. A flaw of his, though, was that he had always put a rather exceedingly high amount of fate within the power of machinery, so he was told by Shining Armour, who had recently been given control over the entire Celestial military. Holding his vessel in such high esteem, he believed the Marauder, much like his own command over the crew, to be infallible.

          For all it was worth, his crew hated the admiral. "Let them hate me, so long as they fear me", he would reply whenever reminded of the obvious issue. Cadence, however, took a personal favour to the stallion. Some said that it was because the two were both superlatively overconfident in their power. Those people were not usually heard from again.

          He paced back and forth along the deck of the ship, in an effort to briskly pass the time along. The flatlands below yielded to them a sort of peacefulness, which could be seen reflecting even in the ponies of Germaney, for they were, most of the time, a relatively peaceful bunch of ponies, who never willingly waged war upon another nation unless having a rightful reason for doing so. They were not even aware of the Celestial armada which now stood prepared to bring forth genocide upon them.

          Far down below, in the city of Flankfurt, a very young colt, no older than a year at the most, was gently passing along a rather stout round ball he had received upon reaching his 1st birthday the month before. His sister simply played along and smiled, their mother and father watching happily as their children frolicked about in content, blissfully unaware to the fact that their lives would soon reach their brief ends.

          Hoofsly reached into the loosely stitched pocket at his side, and proceeded to pull out the voice log he had been recording his affairs aboard the Marauder with since given command of the vessel. Wetting his lips, he lifted the small device up towards his mouth, and began documenting.

          "Admiral's log, day 153. We're growing ever closer to finalising the invasion plans of Germaney. They have absolutely no idea of our approach or plans of occupation. Within the hour, our bombardment shall begin, and Solar rule shall be brought down upon them."

          He would have continued his report, however, he was interrupted by the engineer who had left his presence just a few seconds ago, and was now returning.

          "Direct order from Princess Celestia, sir!" the cadet excitedly proclaimed, "we are to temporarily halt our plans."

         "What is the meaning of this!?!?" the admiral outraged.

         "Luna has escaped, ma'lord" the cadet whimpered, "We are to delay the plans until tomorrow."

          Hoofsly might have killed the cadet right just then, had it not been for the sense of shock that now violently gripped his mind.

          "Very well then," he relented, "I'll be in my cabin. Make the crew aware that I am not to be disturbed for the remainder of the evening."

          With that, the admiral angrily cantered off to the rear deck of the ship, superlatively displeased at the rather startling news. His eyes glowed red as he walked, likely a sign of his flusterence reaching a boil. Sickeningly enough, he was like a young child impatiently awaiting to receive a new toy when it came to war. Genocide especially. He took great delight in the art of slaughter, practicing it to the extent at which, to him, it became sheer routine.

         At that moment during his canter, the holopad strapped to the side of his leg began to ring its 3-tone dial which indicated a message was imminent. Not necessarily stressed by work at that moment, he brought his leg, which had on it now a varicose ulcer, upfront his face, and gave the command for the message to begin relaying. In a flash, the pale blue holographic image of Princess Cadence arose from the holopad, her face plagued by disappointment, which Hoofsly prayed was not directed at him.\par

         "Hoofsly!" she shouted, "Report!".

         "Your majesty," he replied shakingly, "It is with a heavy heart that I regretfully inform you that... That our invasion plans have been delayed. Orders of Celestia herself."

           Despite being a tyrant over his own crew, Hoofsly's spirit was nearly made transparent when confronted by his superiors, always trying ceaselessly to impress them. Cadence, especially, took a particular liking to the stallion. The same, of course, could be said in return for Hoofsly, although he was much too shy himself to ever admit it.

          "I'll have a word with her about that. In the meantime, make sure that all else remains so until the invasion. It's imperative that you do NOT screw this up. Do I make myself clear?"

          The piercing gaze of Cadence was enough to make even Hoofsly instilled with both fear and admiration.

         "Yes Madam." he ensured her, "All will be well for the occupation of Germaney, I can assure you."

         With a slight grunt that seemed to say 'We'll see', Cadence logged off the holopad, and her image disappeared just as quickly as it had arrived.

         It was as if the world was lifted from Hoofsly's shoulders. He was confident now that he could at last retire to his quarters free of disturbance and interruption. For the night at least. He loudly slammed the metal door shut behind him, so that all aboard the ship would be made aware that he was retiring for the night.

         Even the hard material of the mattress, which he often complained about, seemed inviting. He attempted to put his frustration aside for the time being, almost causing more frustration to arise in the effort to do so. Despite his violent nature, though, he found himself asleep in minutes, not to awake until the morning after, when the day he had hoped for for months was to finally arrive.

        The cold snow and frost raging violently atop the peak of Mount Kaefos blew across Luna's tussled fur coat, catching the many whispers of her mane and thrashing them about restlessly. Here was where she had been instructed to await her consul with King Talios of Griffoniik, king of the Griffon race and the United Principality of the Griffon Kingdoms, whose position at the time was faltering.

        She had decided that the first course of action should be to gather a list of allies, the likes of whom have had a long and untrustworthy history with Equestria, and who might aid in the overthrow of the Celestial regime. The Griffons were the first of these peoples, the great Griffon-Pony wars of the Twelfth Age leaving a scar between the two. One that Luna, of course, hoped to use to her own advantage.

       The princess was first made aware of the possibility that she might find help from the Griffons shortly after her unconscious body had been found and discovered by Chief Thunderhooves, high commander of the Buffalo tribes of the west (which, of course, provided an explanation for the scent of apple pie). He had explained to her how they had followed the sound of laughter into a narrow cave, where they had discovered her unconscious and deprived of water. Once she had recovered, she was told that the Griffon Kingdoms were on the verge of a civil war. Although she wasn't given the direct causes, it was made clear that it did indeed have relation to the reign of Celestia.

       Upon her entry into the Griffon kingdoms themselves, however, it was revealed that the violent political conflict which enveloped the country was a result of the monetary tribute and military limitations Equestria had placed upon them. Many felt that this shamed their people, while others felt that they simply didn't have the tools to do anything about it at present. Whatever the case, Luna hoped to rally both sides of these people so as to bring about the downfall of her sister.

       And so it was that the very second she was able to do so, Luna had requested a meeting with the present ruler, King Talios, do discuss further plans of actions. Such a thing would normally take months to be put through. Although, it was hastened rather quickly do the fact that Talios, being afraid of the loss of his own power, saw to it that any way in which the political violence could be stopped by a manner in which both sides of the conflict could agree to was of the highest priority.

       "Well..." the king said to her as he approached her position between the two columns on the outermost edge of his Pantheon, "Here we are. Let's try to make this quick"

       "Your majesty," she began, hesitant to address any other royalty equal to her own, "we share a mutual interest in seeing the ultimate downfall of my sister. I trust you are aware of the cause I am currently leading?"

       "I am indeed." the king replied diligently, as if proud of being so, "Being on the outside looking in, I can truly say that I believe your cause is a just one. One, if I were to be an Equestrian, would stand behind with pride. Though... I am not sure I would be able to do so at present. But, I suppose that is why we have met here. I was told you have a proposition of, 'mutual interest'?"

       "Yes." Luna carried on, excited that the king was at least willing to listen to her proposal, "You see, keeping the both of our interests in mind, what would you say if I offered to you an alliance, the two of us working aside on another to bring about the end of Celestia? Once that is complete, I will end the tribute and arms limitation placed on your kingdoms, and perhaps a future alliance might be possible. I believe that such a thing could unite your people, considering that all sides of the argument would be satisfied with the outcome."

       "That is..." the king paused once more, taking in all that was just said to him, and braced himself to make the decision upon the fate of thousands depended, "Quite a lot to take in. Maybe if things were as they once were, I would not hesitate to accept to these terms. But you simply must understand that as much as it shames all of us, we simply do not possess an army that such a monumental task would require. If I accept to these terms, it would put the future of my kind in cataclysmic danger. I am sorry."

       "I understand. Thank you, Talios, for giving me this time, at least. I suppose now I will be-"

       "Although," the king cut her off, smiling at his own quick whit, "If, however, you do receive assistance from the Empire of Tapiria, I will re-think my stance on the matter. I just hope my people do not meet civil war by then."

      Luna smiled back at the king, greatly relieved that she could seek alliance and friendship in the time at which they were most valuable to her.

      "We thank thee greatly, Talios. We shall seek diplomatic negotiations with them at once!" the delighted mare accepted, still smiling. Luna had quite possibly never been more content in the whole of her life than she had been at that very moment. The light of hope burns brighter in darkness, as the saying went. How had she not thought of that earlier? Such ingenious, such brilliance! With the military assistance of both the Griffons and the recently formed Tapirians, the overthrow of Celestia was in view! Of course, she mustn't become carried away so soon, before even speaking with the Tapirian emperor.

     "We suppose then, that you have much business you need to attend to. We shall take our leave of your palace then, as there is no further between us to discuss." She hurriedly spoke, afraid that at any second the king might alter his thoughts, "Thank you Talios, we wish you the greatest of luck!"

     And with that, Luna leapt between the two great pillars of the mountaintop pantheon, and out into the vast skies of the Northern Mountains, home of the griffons, and was wrapped in the envelope of the vast aerial landscape. The normally large structure of her body was made almost minuscule amongst the vast and epic size of the clouds which seemed to go on forever, yet the edges were always visible.

     She experienced no difficulty breathing, even as the size of the ever-extending mountain belt below her grew ever smaller as she herself arose further and further. The only aspect of the flight which shortened her breath was the sheer beauty of the mountain countryside of the north, the vast planes of grass the likes of which flourished unhindered in the deep caverns betwixt the mountains and extended far beyond her sight range.

     The magnificent ocean of green rippled with the wind below her, so much that she could nearly swear that the sound of the rustling was still audible, despite the incredulous amount of distance in between her and the surface of the Earth. The seemingly painted canvas of the surface nearly glistened in the many rays of sunlight dancing about. All of it, such beauty. A shame, she thought, that this land was made hidden to the ponies of Equestria.

     After flying for just over an hour, Luna landed herself atop one of the many cliffside hovels found all throughout the mountains. Isolated and far away from the chaos the rest of the world endured, Luna rested upon the soft frailly swaying grass, and stared out onto the beautiful sunset. It was time one more to raise the moon, and bring about night to the world.

     King Talios sat majestically, as rulers usually do, upon his golden throne, the fires of the hearth behind him still burning passionately. The essence of Luna, of the night, still lingered in the air, as he sit in deep thought, plagued by the choice that he must soon make. The choice which itself would send a tremor through the hearts of all Griffons.

     With the option proposed, he considered, perhaps the griffons may one day regain their former pride, free to recruit and spend as they wished, despite the wishes of Celestia. The con to this, however, was that he would endanger the future of the Griffon Kingdoms rested in the balance if all he hoped for was not, in the end, successful. All that he had worked so hard to build could wind up being in vain.

     The fire crackled even louder now behind him, the flames marching towards the ceiling which towered forever above them. He sat upright, straightening his posture, then reached out towards the nightstand sitting just next to his bed, and grasped the wine chalice, shaking it gently as he raised it toward his mouth.

     Shortly after placing the chalice back to its original place, the wife of Talios, Queen Eitilte, entered the Pantheon from the right, taking graceful yet heavy strides toward her worried husband.

     "I ask you, my dear," Talios went on, "What is but one griffon to do at a time such as this?"

     Eitilte stood motionless, pondering on the question, worried that if she were to say the wrong reply, her husband's will might fail.

     "Instead ask yourself," she replied as philosophically as she could, "What can a free griffon do?"

     "Celestia!" Cadence shouted in rage, "Why has the invasion been halted?!?"

     The Royal Halls of Canterlot gave the aura as if they were rattling with every word of the enraged Cadence.

     "Luna presents much more of a threat than the whole of the Germanian army, Cadence." Celestia reasoned, "The entire war with Germaney would be put to waste should Luna gather an army capable of challenging us."

     "I can ensure you that NO army upon the face of this Earth is capable of challenging ours!" Cadence boasted vigorously, "I have made sure of that myself!"

     To this, Celestia merely stared back at the younger princess with a look of disapproval, overtly disappointed with her overconfidence.

     "I have known Luna far longer than you can imagine, Cadence." Celestia raised her voice, "And if there is one thing I have learned, it is that Luna is not  a pony who is to be underestimated."

     "Be that as it may, there is no reason that Hoofsly cannot be given command of the armada." Cadence retorted, "I believe him to be more than capable of the task."

     "Hoofsly? That pony is an untrustworthy one. He is un-predictable and reckless." Celestia drew a smile at what she was about to say, "Perhaps that is why you take a favour to him. He and you are very much alike."

     Cadence made the face of a child who had not gotten what they wished and complained for, and instead threw a tantrum. Realising argument was pointless, the younger alicorn gently trotted out of the room, still attempting to give off a royally graceful air, yet simply making herself look ridiculous in the process.

      For all her power and authority, Cadence had not never learned how to follow. Celestia looked upon Cadence more or less of a younger sibling. Not, however, in the way she viewed Luna. With Cadence, Celestia resembled more of a sister whom unwillingly took responsibility for her younger sibling.

     After Cadence had long since left the halls, Celestia beckoned her personal courier to begin relaying a message to the impatient admiral Hoofsly aboard the Marauder.

     "Admiral Hoofsly, under direct royal command, you have my permission to begin the invasion at your earliest convenience."  Celestia, realising that those initial few words were enough, shut down the relay device and placed it back unto the pedestal to her left.

     Now was the time in which she must lower the sun to give way to the night. Despite being at constant conflict, the two sisters, in the form of an unspoken agreement, had carried on with the standard process of transfer between night and day. Looking out through the coloured glass window of Canterlot, the already brightly lit skyline seemed to glow ever the more intensely.

     Majestic shades of purple danced alongside luscious dashes of orange, the light of her magnificently raised sun gliding through in perfect harmony and concordance with all else. The ever emotionless face of Celestia grew tired as the final outline of the sun itself slipped below the dark green edge of the horizon. All seemed well in the sky, for unlike the world it was suspended above, it was at peace.

    Somehow, whether it be through a sort of divine force or simple guesswork, she knew that Luna was gazing up at the same sun in that moment, the same tidal wave of emotions washinng over her as well. Love became anger, and anger became hatred, although Luna's hatred was far more subtle, like how a fox might hate a wolf. It was not the will nor desire of the fox to hate the wolf, it was simply an emotion which had grown of the constant conflict between the two, and that the hate simply came to become an undeniable instinct.

     "So..." Hoofsly admonished as he and his first mate walked abreast toward the command deck of the Marauder, "The invasion may now commence?"

     "Yes sir. Orders from Celestia came just this morning." The cadet battered out the words nervously. Despite being the Admiral's firs mate, he was still scared to death of Hoofsly, "We are to begin when ready"

     "Good, good." The joyous admiral went on, "You know, I almost feel sorry for all who are about to die. Almost."

     'A letter adressed to the ruler of Equestria and goddess of the sun, Princess Celestia: Upon this document, I write out the unanimous and un-disputed declaration of independence, proclaiming that the Island of Tapiria, and all those that closely neighbour it, are the sovereign territories composing and belonging to the People and the Senate of the Tapirian Empire.

     Your history, princess, has been a long and interminable one, consisting of a great ordeal of debtors and trespasses upon the ponies of these fair islands. It is for these reasons, coupled with a vast list of others, that I, Emperor Titus Equius I, on behalf of the ponies of Tapiria, do solemnly proclaim our independence, as the united Empire of Tapiria.'

     Equius stared down at his document and found himself in fascination that the few words he had just written, which, until delivered were pointless, would have such a massive impact on the future of the world.

    "My lord," his pro-consul warned him, "do you fully realise the whole concept of the turn of events which you have just set in place?"

    The emperor paused for a moment. Until now, he genuinely hadn't thought of the consequences that would now befall them. Nor did he ever stop to think about what it would mean if their freedom was once again taken.

    "Oh, my dear friend," Equius thought on the subject, "I can see before me, all the horrors of war and that we must endure in order to maintain this declaration. The barking of dogs, the blood curling screams of dying ponies left and right. I can see crops burned, and I can see families destroyed. The shouts of cannon fire now ring in my ears, and the massive armadas can be seen flying overhead. I see the children screaming in our streets and a whole culture of ponies under invasion from the forces of tyranny and injustice. But above it all, at the very end of the terror and bloodshed, I can see that the end justifies the means."

     Far to the North, along his family's hay farm, the young Germanian boy danced about alongside his just slightly older sister through the amber waves of grain which blew with the ripple of the wind.

     "Hey Mum!" He called out to his mother who was sitting astride her husband on the front porch of their barn house, "When are we gonna go to see uncle Esellbuck again?"

    The mother simply smiled at her child's innocence, and how he was completely oblivious to the fact that they were probably never going to see Esellbuck again.

    "I don't know, deary." was all she could say, "Maybe when Hearth's Warming comes about."

    Fact of the matter was that Esellbuck had no intentions of ever returning to Germaney again, not after all that he had done. Upon returning, he would have been branded a traitor for speaking out against their Equestrian allies to the East. The alliance was un-breakable. It was not yet fathomable to think that Equestria would even consider breaking it.

    "Wha'eva you say." the boy absent-mindedly agreed, "Whas for dinna? I'm starved, I am. It betta not be peach cobbla again."

    "Very well." the admiral decided

    Hoofsly, finally, with all the satisfaction in the world, gave the order.

    "Wipe this pathetic nation from the face of the Earth!"