Moondancer heard it even here, at the library, where everyone could speak in whispers without raising suspicion.
"When the sun rises, Canterlot will burn."
A ridiculous statement, since the sun hadn't risen in years. Not since the Queen took power.
"This must be the new slogan of the desperate rebels." Moondancer thought to herself. "Their newest prayer to whisper as they hide and pretend that they're doing anything meaningful with their lives. Can they not see that it's much easier to just accept the change?"
Nightmare's rule had been a change of cold, and adaptation. Particularly by the plants and animals used to the daylight. But after a few months of hardship, things were basically back to normal. Some, like Moondancer, didn't even miss the sun, and were constantly annoyed by rebels trying to cause chaos and 'wake up' the people to the Nightmare's tyranny. It wasn't that they didn't know better. They did. And for some it was better to keep your head down and not get into trouble. A couple disappearances here and there didn't matter. You just had to do the right things. And not get involved with the rebels.
However, doing so had been a bit harder recently. With their new leader, some mare who’d escaped from the castle, the rebellion seemed hopeful, organized, even daring to spread symbols of the revolution all over the city, to openly conflict with the symbol of her majesty.
"It'll happen tonight," the voices kept whispering. “We'll be ready.”
"It's always tonight," Moondancer said in exasperation. She was already having a bad day, and she didn't need to hear crazy conspiracies on top of it. "All the time I hear 'things change now', only for them to remain the same, only with a lot more people hurt and businesses burned down. Don't you realize it's futile?"
Normally, the rebels would scatter before the guards were called, but this time, they stood their ground, confident that this night would be the last. "It's never futile. The Nightmare's reign must end so we can be free."
Moondancer shook her head. "Free to do what exactly? What's so wrong about Nightmare's rule? We leave peacefully. You just want war."
"We live under her oppression," the rebel countered.
"Only if you do the wrong things. If you just obey the law, which you always should, you'll be fine," Moon pointed out.
The rebel grunted and slammed his hooves on the desk he and his comrades were at. "Just obeying the law is not enough. Many of the ponies that have disappeared also obeyed the law. And they deserve justice."
"Getting yourselves killed in pursuit of an unattainable goal doesn't really strike me as justice."
"Wait, aren't you Moondancer?" One of the rebels asked, paying more attention to the unicorn's face.
"Yes, I am. what about it?"
The rebel's mood suddenly turned compassionate. "I'm sorry about Twilight Sparkle."
Moondancer felt a cold spike in her heart, and she did her best to swallow down the feeling coming from it. "S-she... I never heard of her!"
"But weren't you two enga-"
"Enough!" Moondancer took her books and left the library, wanting to return home to some deserved peace and quiet. To not think about a pony that definitely never existed. That she didn't, hadn't, loved. But, as she got onto the street and started her trot...
She saw it. Up in the horizon, rising slowly but surely. Bathing the city in its blinding warmth.
The sun was rising.
It was beautiful. She had forgotten how much she loved watching it rise in the morning and fall in the evening from the windows of her home. How good its warmth felt on her coat. How it made her feel safe and-
And then she remembered the second part.
The entire city shook as a sound like a thousand thunders resonated through the streets, sending dust and debris flying. Moondancer turned around and saw the castle collapsing in on itself, killing Celestia knows how many. Was it an attempt on the queen?
Then another explosion occurred. This one at the barracks of the royal guard. Then another. And another. And another. And now the sun wasn't the only thing illuminating the city.
Canterlot was burning.
And it was just the beginning. All around her, Moondancer saw ponies come out of their homes and businesses carrying weapons. Sharp, blunt and fire. Their eyes were filled with hope and something sinister that drove them to act. To kill for their freedom. Moondancer wanted none of it.
She ran. Diving into the alleyways and trying to make it home. She tried to run faster and faster, but the revolution caught up to her when she got into an open street and a line of royal guards cut her off, all standing in full armor and their weapons at the ready. She didn't have any insignia of the rebels. She could maybe ask for help getting home, or at least stay behind the soldiers and away from the bloodshed. That hope was dusted away when another line of 'soldiers' marched behind her. The rebels were organized, and ready for a fight.
Moondancer tried to run away, but when the captain of the royal guard ordered a charge, much more agile ponies caught up to her. And she was crushed between two sides fighting for a cause she didn't have any part in.
"This one is alive," said somepony Moondancer couldn't recognize. She had survived, somehow, against all odds. But her body was beaten and bruised. She couldn't move, and her glasses had been lost in the fight. "Who do you fight for?"
"No one..." she tried to say, but her jaw had been broken by a hoof during the fight. She could only mumble incomprehensibly.
"She isn't carrying colors," another one said. Whose colors? Nightmare's? The revolutionist's? Did it matter? "I'm not taking chances. She's surely one of them."
Moondancer could not object to that. And so cold steel met her throat.
