The Story of the Lunar Republicby ChevBronyChaptersPrologue's PrologueChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Author's NoteProloguePrologue's PrologueOnce upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria there were two princesses who ruled over the land in harmony. The elder sister used her unicorn magic to raise the sun in the morning and the younger sister used hers to raise the moon at night. However, the younger sister soon grew jealous of her sister. The ponies would play and relish the day that the older sister provided, and shun and sleep through the beautiful night she brought about. One night, she refused to lower the moon. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but she was consumed by darkness and had transformed into a vicious mare, Nightmare Moon. Well we all know after that Princess Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to defeat her and then banish her to the moon. But what if the story wasn't how we thought it was? What if things were different...? Chapter 1 It has been 4 years since the defeat of Nightmare Moon and Luna and Celestia are now ruling together peacefully in Equestria. Celestia would always have her royal guards do her chores while she sat on her throne overlooking her kingdom, at times going out to the balcony to enjoy the scenery. Luna on the other hand, would stay in her room almost all day, only going out to practice magic spells. She would have her meals delivered to her by the guards. Nobody knew what she was doing inside. Rumours started spreading that she was trying to be evil again, but of course nobody could confirm it, Luna wouldn't even let anyone else in her room. Weeks passed and one day Luna felt a strong pulse in her chest, and it wasn't her heart. She knew it had to be the Element of Darkness in her. Ever since she was defeated she never felt the Element of Darkness grow active, but now it was slowly beating like a second heart in her. She immediately rushed to her sister Celestia's throne chamber. She wanted to ask what was going on with the Element in her. Why was it growing active again..? She slammed open the doors in a hurry and the guards only just had time to jump aside or have a door slam right into their faces. "Sister! Sister! There's something wrong happening, I..." she trailed off as she couldn't believe what she saw. Luna looked all around her, it looked nothing like the throne chamber. The room was now a deep orange, with red sun decorations painted on the ceiling and walls. Even her royal guards didn't look so...royal anymore. Their golden armour was now crimson-orange and their blue mane was a deep red. Some even had a red cape with a sun that looked like Celestia's cutie mark on it. The guards were all holding weapons: Swords, daggers, bows,etc. Luna was starting to feel scared. Celestia was busy hanging a banner overhead and had her back towards Luna. "Sister Celestia! What's going on? What is this?!" Luna could feel the Element pulse stronger and faster in her chest. Celestia turned her head towards Luna. -thump-thump-... "Hello Luna..." -thump-thump-thump-... "I see you've noticed the slight changes I made to this place." -thump-thump-thump-thump-thump... "How do you like it? I for one like the banners. I made it myself, you know." It was then that Luna saw the banners hanging from the pillars and ceiling. They had the picture of Celestia's cutie mark on it on a orangey-red background. At the bottom of it were three big words. It read: The Solar Empire. Luna was confused. "Solar Empire...? What?" Celestia just gave a short laugh and then flew to Luna so that she was face to face with her. "Join me, Luna. Join the Solar Empire. Together we can take over Equestria!" Luna was shocked. What was her sister thinking?? And aren't they already ruling Equestria? "Celestia, I don't understand..." Celestia snickered. "Of course, my sister, of course. But join me, and you'll soon understand that ruling in peace can be quite...boring at times. And especially when ruling in peace meant that ponies have their...freedom. They should all be serving me, the way I want them to!" Celestia grinned almost ear to ear. Luna didn't know what to do. She had never seen her sister this way before. She especially have never seen her sister so arrogant in being a ruler. Celestia was growing evil. She could already feel the Element in her beating wildly, as though it was gonna explode in her chest. The Element of Darkness was begging to join Celestia. Luna wondered if the Element of Light in her was already dead and gone... She knew Celestia was dead serious in giving her no choice about joining her tyranny in the name of the Solar Empire. She was either with her or against her. Celestia was still waiting for her sister to answer her, and she was getting impatient, the look on her face getting sterner. Luna thought hard about her decision, and she finally made her choice. Chapter 2"Oh girls, um...sorry I'm late..I had to tend to one of my animals at the last minute. I hope you all will understand...?" Fluttershy asked timidly to the other 5 ponies. The mane 6 had agreed to go on a picnic together and besides Fluttershy the other 4 were already setting up the mat and food. Pinkie Pie was gobbling up the sweets and cakes the moment they were set down on the mat. Twilight turned to Fluttershy and replied with a smile, "Oh it's ok, Fluttershy. You aren't that late anyway. Let's enjoy our picnic!" Fluttershy nodded. The mane 6 all sat down. Twilight had brought a book with her to read, Rainbow was talking to Fluttershy about her new tricks and how she managed to break her own record, again. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were cheerfully talking to each other, although there was a slight look of irritation on Rarity's face. Suddenly, a bright light was seen across the hill at the Princess' Castle. It was like a ray of light escaped out of one of the windows and flew directly up to the sky. The mane 6 saw it all and didn't know what to make of it. But they all thought the same thing: To reach the castle ASAP. "Quickly, we have to go to Canterlot right now! Princess Celestia might be in trouble!" Twilight said as she closed her book and quickly ran back to Ponyville, the other 5 ponies following closely behind. Luna sat quietly on the moon, a dark aura surrounding her. Celestia had banished her to the moon...again. Luna saw it coming, though. She knew after she made her choice she would have to flee, which was exactly what she did. But Celestia expected it, and sent out a beam of light using her magic to trap Luna in it and send her to the moon. Now Luna was trapped on the moon again, forced to fend for herself. But now she was stronger, she knew her sister's plans and she had to warn the mane 6, even bringing them to her side if possible. But now the question in her mind was: How am I going to send out a message from space to Equestria...? Chapter 3 Celestia sat on her throne, watching as her army was setting up banners of the Solar Empire around Canterlot and asking, sometimes even enforcing, ponies to join the Solar Empire. She was pleased at the sight. She knew there was nopony that would dare disobey her orders and nopony, not even her own sister Luna, could face her. She was simply too strong, and Celestia liked it that way. She even had the Solar Empire have its own anthem, soon there was nothing that could stop her...or so she thought. The mane 6 traveled to Canterlot as fast as they could but just as they reached the gates of Canterlot, they stopped in their tracks. Everything was different. The gates had banners at its side reading: The Solar Empire and the picture of the sun on top. As the mane 6 walked deeper into Canterlot, they saw that some houses were already painted a full red, with the Solar Empire's banners and pictures on it. They saw a few ponies running away as fast as they could. One pony had stopped to warn them, he had said, "Quick! Run away as far as you can from this place! Celestia's crazy, she's going to kill us all! Run!" and then ran away, never to be seen again. The mane 6 didn't know what to do, but they continued down Canterlot anyway. Soon, they caught sight of some of the royal guards, and were shocked at what they saw. The guards were holding weapons, leading some ponies out of their houses and then having them lie or crouch on the floor, asking if they wanted to join the force of the Solar Empire. Some said yes, others simply kept silent, not knowing what to say. The mane 6 quickly hid out of their sights behind a building and looked at each other in horror. "Exactly what is going on?!" asked Rainbow Dash, a look of fear on her face. "Ah' don't know, but whateva' it is, it sure ain't good. Did ya'll even see what they did to them ponies?" Applejack frightfully asked. Fluttershy was timidly cowering in a corner, Rarity at her side. Even Pinkie's mane was slowly deflating as she heard Dash and Applejack talking. Twilight then came up with an idea. "Girls, maybe we can-" She was cut off when suddenly a huge black hole opened below them, sucking the mane 6 all in before they could even register what have happened. -Earlier,- A black hole formed on the moon, with Luna using her magic to keep it open. "Oh I hope those girls will survive the trip here, and I hope it won't take too long." Luna had already seen what was happening on Canterlot through a magic scope she conjured that allowed her to see from the moon to Equestria. The royal guards were on a killing rampage, attacking anypony who tried to run away, and imprisoning those who refused to join the Solar Empire, bringing them somewhere even Luna didn't want to know, but she knew that the chances of seeing those ponies again were extremely low. Through the scope she even saw Celestia walking down the streets of Canterlot, head held high in pride, and smiling as she saw how Canterlot was slowly changing to her will. That was then when she suddenly looked straight up at Luna. Luna was quickly stepped back and closed the magical scope. 'How did she know?' Luna panicked, the sight of her own sister looking at her with tyranny and pure evilness in her eyes running through her mind. Suddenly she heard some gasping for air and turned around to see the mane 6 choking, unable to breathe in space. Chapter 4 Celestia stood on her balcony, looking down on Canterlot, which was now filled with the Solar Empire's posters asking ponies to join their cause if they wanted to live. Even as she stood on her balcony high up now, ponies were being dragged by royal guards down to the dungeons and have them trained and brainwashed for the Solar Empire. Others who refused were just thrown into cells at random and have whatever creature in there finish the job. It was horrible, but Celestia didn't care less. She didn't even lose a wink of sleep because of it. She only wanted things her way, and she would do whatever it takes for it to work. The mane 6 sat down on a couch of Luna's own fortress that she had made during her first 1000 years of banishment. She had nothing better to do all those years anyway. But now she was on the moon again and she did have something to do. She needed to gain the trust and loyalness of the mane 6 if she were to defeat her sister's tyranny at all. Luna walked up to the mane 6 and sat down on her own throne in front of them. "Forget the formalities, my little ponies, for I know you all well. You may not know so much about me, but that's ok. I have been observing you 6 and now I ask of your help. You have seen what my sister is doing. She is crazy! If you all agree to help me, we can defeat her together!" The mane 6 looked at each other in confusion and hesitation on what to say back. In the end Applejack was first to speak up, "Now what's this all about? Waddya mean your sister's crazy? What's exactly going on??" Luna raised her hoof, and Applejack quietened down. "My sister Celestia...she has turned evil." Upon hearing that, the mane 6 gasped and looked at each other in horror. "She thinks to rule Equestria in tyranny. Even as I speak now, she is forcing ponies in Canterlot to join her in her own army she calls the Solar Empire. Taking over Canterlot is only the first move of her tyranny. If we do not stop her, she will take over all the states and towns in Equestria, including Ponyville." Pinkie Pie gasped loudly just like in the first episode when she first saw Twilight, but this time it wasn't from sheer joy. Rarity stood up and said with a stern look on her face, "Now what's the catch in this?" Luna stood up too and replied calmly, "My little ponies, I do not wish to trick you in any way here. I only wish for my sister to be defeated, either with or without your help. If you choose to help me, however, I assure that this tyranny will end sooner." Rarity stood thinking about what Luna had said, and then looked back at the other 5 ponies. Twilight then spoke up. "Alright, we'll help you. But you'd better keep to your own words." Luna simply smiled and nodded her head. Celestia looked down on her army from atop her balcony. Her forces were all lined up in order, ready to attack. And soon she would send the kill order for them to go into space to wipe out Luna once and for all.... Chapter 5 "Well, we could flank them from here too..." pondered Rarity as she and the the other ponies, including Luna, were looking at a map of Canterlot. "Well yes, but we can't just send one pony there. It'll be too dangerous and risky." argued Twilight. Luna then spoke up, "It is obvious. We need a full army force to counter the Solar Empire. The more we have and the more willing our forces are then the better." The mane 6 all nodded their head in agreement. "Very well then. We shall travel down to Ponyville later and see if we can recruit anypony to join us. That is, if the Solar Empire hasn't already attacked it..." Luna's voice trailed off as she spoke that last part. The mane 6 could see that she was deep in thought, about Equestria, about the Solar Empire, about her sister... Pinkie Pie then interrupted her deep thoughts. "Hey, what shall we call ourselves? You know, cos' Celestia calls her force the Solar Empire, I thought that we should have a name for ourselves too!" she said in her own cheerful voice. Twilight just looked at Pinkie weird, Rarity raised an eyebrow, and Applejack kept silent, trying not to giggle. It was always Pinkie who knew how to bring a smile to the ponies' faces in times of sadness or troubles. Only Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash offered their ideas. "Oh I know, what bout the Night Avengers? Or...or the Dark Rebels? Or..." Rainbow Dash kept spouting out her own ideas for their name, with Pinkie listening cheerfully, a smile on her face. Fluttershy then finally spoke up, face slightly blushing. "Erm...girls...what about, you know..if you don't mind...The Lunar Republic...?" Dash's and Pinkie's face suddenly lit up and they grinned. "That's perfect! I like it! I likeitlikeitlikeitlikeitlikeit!" Pinkie started jumping around the room happily. Luna simply smiled, "Well then, we shall be called the Lunar Republic." Dash gave a loud cheer and Applejack shouted "Yeee-ha!" Fluttershy blushed and gave a simple "yay". BOOM! Just then, a loud explosion was heard and everypony turned their heads to see the gates of the fortress collapse. Royal guards started swarming in with weapons and went straight for the Lunar Republic, their eyes set on the 7 ponies. "Quick! Get behind me!" Luna shouted as she formed a magical barrier and black coloured pony constructs to fight back the guards for a while. Twilight saw the look of concentration on Luna's face and worried to herself. 'Can she really hold up all that magic for long?' Twilight didn't even hesitate to use her own magic to help Luna. She set up a magic bubble around the ponies, and just in time too. Luna's own magic barrier had fallen and her pony constructs were being easily destroyed. "Girls! Do whatever you can to hold the guards back!" The 5 ponies nodded their heads and quickly set to whatever they could do to set up a defence. Applejack found some wood and stone from where the gates collapsed and used it to build a mini yet heavy hammer. She held it in both her front hooves and swing by swing, the guards slowly fell to the floor, either unconscious or dead. Pinkie Pie, with all of her randomness, took her party cannon out and fired it at the guards. But what came out wasn't balloons or cakes, it was sweets, but not just any kind of sweets, it was explosive... Rainbow Dash flew up high in the sky and swooped down, hitting through several guards, catching them off guard and then repeating it again. Soon the guards knew of her presence and her swoop attacks were getting useless. Rainbow Dash knew she had to use a new method, and that was when she saw some rocks on the floor. She quickly flew down to pick them up before the guards could slash and cut her, and then flew up high again, dropping the rocks down below as she flew above the guards. None of the royal guards knew what to do for they weren't really trained to defend themselves against rock missiles, and so many got crushed dead. Rarity helped the ponies by using her magic to find opportunities for them to strike back. In a way she was being a tactician, and a successful one at that. Soon enough the guards were retreating back out of Luna's fortress and were now fleeing, although some were captured for interrogation. But alas, it was the Lunar Republic's first victory. Chapter 6 At that very night, the Lunar Republic celebrated their first victory. Pinkie was jumping around the room happily, and had also set up the room with balloons and punch and food. The ponies were enjoying themselves while Luna only watched them in silence. She knew they had just killed other ponies, yet it didn't seem that they were affected by it, as though killing was something they had done all their lives. But how did they really feel inside...? She quickly discarded the thought and went to join in the fun that lasted almost the whole night. The next morning, The Lunar Republic was almost complete except one thing. They needed an army to fight back the Solar Empire. They had already seen that Celestia would give no chance to them, and she would definitely not hold back, not even a second. They needed an army and fast if they were to have a chance at surviving at all. Luna had already planned for them to go to Ponyville later in the early afternoon to gather ponies to join them. She figured it would be simple since that was the town the mane 6 came from anyway. Celestia stood at her castle gates, awaiting the return of her army with news of their victory. Soon she saw the army's commander slowly limping up the hill, injured. Celestia's face slowly grew an evil smile as she saw the rest of her army closely following behind the commander. But her smile stopped when she saw that only a few hundred of them remained. From her full army force of about 1000 royal guards, now all that remained was only about 100. The commander hurriedly limped over to Celestia's side and bowed in front of her, afraid to report what she already knew. "Your highness, we...we failed to defeat your sister Luna...she had some six other ponies with her. They were too strong, we couldn't-" He was cut off by Celestia using her magic to kill him. His head exploded, leaving only his body standing. Blood spilled everywhere and his neck was still spurting out blood like a fountain. The other soldiers were shocked, but dare not say anything. Celestia was fuming mad. Firstly, she no longer regarded Luna as her sister and secondly, how could her army of about 1000 not defeat only SEVEN ponies?! Six other ponies, she thought...and then it hit her. "No..it can't be.." she thought to herself. If Luna had the mane 6 with her, then she would be nearly unstoppable. Celestia obviously didn't want that to happen, but yet she couldn't think of anything to counter it. She dismissed her army, their commander dead, back to their training. Her royal bodyguards quickly rushed to the dead body and went to dispose of it. That was the thing in the Solar Empire, the guards may have the best rank or excellent skills, but once they were dead, either in battle or by Celestia herself, they were deemed worthless immediately. It was cruel, but once again Celestia didn't care less. Pinkie Pie bounced around happily, she had decorated the room with balloons just for the fun of it. It seems that even with the war going on, nothing affected her. Twilight was reading a book and Rainbow Dash was taking a nap. Luna walked in the room, which was now the mane 6's living quarters, and said calmly, "Come, my little ponies, it is time to find rebels against my sister's tyranny. I am sure we can find a great many, but there is no time to waste." The 7 ponies were soon walking down the streets of Ponyville the sun beating down mercilessly on them, hoping to find ponies to join them. However, all their doors were shut and windows closed, very much like how they reacted when Zecora first tried to shop in Ponyville. Twilight saw some ponies peeking out of their windows, but immediately went into hiding again the moment anypony looked in their direction. Twilight didn't know if it was because they saw Luna with them, or simply because they were already scared from the Solar Empire. Twilight walked up to one of the houses and knocked gently on the door. Suddenly a scream came out. "No! Leave me alone! I have nothing you need! Get lost, now!" Twilight and the other 6 ponies were taken aback, but they had expected it. Twilight knocked again and said calmly, "We're not from the Solar Empire, nor do we want anything from you. In fact, we want you to go against the Solar Empire. We're the Lunar Republic and we mean no harm" There was a short pause of silence before Twilight heard hoofsteps and then the door opened slowly, an unsure face on the colt. "Against...the Solar Empire...? You mean you want to fight against them..? No...that's crazy, that's too crazy, we'll all die!" the colt quickly got scared again and was just about to shut the door when Rainbow Dash stopped him. "Look, we know we might not stand a chance against Celestia, but at least we can let her know that we do not obey her, right...?" The colt stood there for a while thinking...then finally said, a smile on his face. "Ok...I'll join you. For the Lunar Republic!" he cheered. The Lunar Republic smiled at each other for they had now accomplished what they needed to do, even if it was a small first step. The Lunar Republic now had its first soldier. Celestia was pacing back and forth in front of her room, the commander's words still in her head. Six other ponies... The mane 6... Luna... She grew angrier and angrier the more she thought about it. How was she going to defeat her and the mane 6...? She knew it would be hard to separate them, and an all out assault wouldn't work too, as she had just seen from her own eyes. She had to think of new ways to fight Luna and her pawns...and fast. The afternoon had passed and the Lunar Republic now had its own small army. 180, to be exact, as Twilight counted. Of course they were still outnumbered by the Solar Empire, but they had the Solar Empire out powered. Ponyville was already hanging with signs of the Lunar Republic, serving to the small army their very own small base, much like how Celestia had Canterlot hanging with her own Solar Empire signs. Luna knew that news of them getting an army would soon reach Celestia, and she would strike down like lightning, leaving no prisoners alive. They had to have the first blood to show Celestia just how brave and prepared they were. Soon the army of the Lunar Republic was ready for battle, and the first fight for the Lunar Republic would soon begin... Author's Note Hey fellow bronies, first of all, I'd like to say thank you to all of you for tracking my story! I really appreciate it =) However, I will be pausing progress of this story for quite a while due to me having no time and studies and such. I'm sure you bronies would understand, right? /) Apologies for any disappointment caused, but just hang on till I continue again. Thanks! =) Prologue "Give up, sister! You can never defeat me with the powers that I have now! The Element of Darkness shall grant me eternal dark strength!" Nightmare Moon shouted as she flew up into the night sky that she had brought up herself. Princess Celestia gritted her teeth and chased after Nightmare Moon. "Why do you have to make me do this to you, Luna?" Celestia thought to herself as she finally caught up to Nightmare Moon. "It's over, Luna." Celestia said as she harnessed the power of the Elements of Harmony, along with her own special element - The Element of Light. Celestia's eyes shone bright and her wings expanded as time seemed to stop just for her. Nightmare Moon looked back in shock, was she not the almighty dark Nightmare Moon? How was it that she was being defeated by mere light now...? Her thoughts came to an end as a loud 'woomph' was heard and a circle of rainbow colours emitted from Celestia. The colours enveloped itself around Nightmare Moon and a long "Nooo" was heard from her before the colours and light brightened down and all that was left in the sky where Nightmare Moon was just hovering was Princess Luna, weak and out of breath. She had no energy to let her wings support her and so she slowly fell to the ground. Princess Celestia catched her and lay her gently on the ground. Luna opened her eyes slowly and all she could see was Princess Celestia looking down on her, a worried look on her face. Soon she spoke, "Luna...are you alright? I'm so sorry..." Luna took a few seconds to register in everything that happened and then spoke back. "No, sister...it is I who should be sorry...I never should have gotten jealous in the first place...can you forgive me?" The moon lowered as she spoke, and Luna saw the sun for the first time in decades. Celestia just smiled and nodded her head. The next day, a celebration was held for the return of Luna and the two sisters ruled Equestria together in peace. But somewhere in Luna was something Celestia failed to account for...somewhere in Luna the Element of Darkness was still beating strong, waiting to be released...
Prologue's PrologueOnce upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria there were two princesses who ruled over the land in harmony. The elder sister used her unicorn magic to raise the sun in the morning and the younger sister used hers to raise the moon at night. However, the younger sister soon grew jealous of her sister. The ponies would play and relish the day that the older sister provided, and shun and sleep through the beautiful night she brought about. One night, she refused to lower the moon. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but she was consumed by darkness and had transformed into a vicious mare, Nightmare Moon. Well we all know after that Princess Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to defeat her and then banish her to the moon. But what if the story wasn't how we thought it was? What if things were different...?
Chapter 1 It has been 4 years since the defeat of Nightmare Moon and Luna and Celestia are now ruling together peacefully in Equestria. Celestia would always have her royal guards do her chores while she sat on her throne overlooking her kingdom, at times going out to the balcony to enjoy the scenery. Luna on the other hand, would stay in her room almost all day, only going out to practice magic spells. She would have her meals delivered to her by the guards. Nobody knew what she was doing inside. Rumours started spreading that she was trying to be evil again, but of course nobody could confirm it, Luna wouldn't even let anyone else in her room. Weeks passed and one day Luna felt a strong pulse in her chest, and it wasn't her heart. She knew it had to be the Element of Darkness in her. Ever since she was defeated she never felt the Element of Darkness grow active, but now it was slowly beating like a second heart in her. She immediately rushed to her sister Celestia's throne chamber. She wanted to ask what was going on with the Element in her. Why was it growing active again..? She slammed open the doors in a hurry and the guards only just had time to jump aside or have a door slam right into their faces. "Sister! Sister! There's something wrong happening, I..." she trailed off as she couldn't believe what she saw. Luna looked all around her, it looked nothing like the throne chamber. The room was now a deep orange, with red sun decorations painted on the ceiling and walls. Even her royal guards didn't look so...royal anymore. Their golden armour was now crimson-orange and their blue mane was a deep red. Some even had a red cape with a sun that looked like Celestia's cutie mark on it. The guards were all holding weapons: Swords, daggers, bows,etc. Luna was starting to feel scared. Celestia was busy hanging a banner overhead and had her back towards Luna. "Sister Celestia! What's going on? What is this?!" Luna could feel the Element pulse stronger and faster in her chest. Celestia turned her head towards Luna. -thump-thump-... "Hello Luna..." -thump-thump-thump-... "I see you've noticed the slight changes I made to this place." -thump-thump-thump-thump-thump... "How do you like it? I for one like the banners. I made it myself, you know." It was then that Luna saw the banners hanging from the pillars and ceiling. They had the picture of Celestia's cutie mark on it on a orangey-red background. At the bottom of it were three big words. It read: The Solar Empire. Luna was confused. "Solar Empire...? What?" Celestia just gave a short laugh and then flew to Luna so that she was face to face with her. "Join me, Luna. Join the Solar Empire. Together we can take over Equestria!" Luna was shocked. What was her sister thinking?? And aren't they already ruling Equestria? "Celestia, I don't understand..." Celestia snickered. "Of course, my sister, of course. But join me, and you'll soon understand that ruling in peace can be quite...boring at times. And especially when ruling in peace meant that ponies have their...freedom. They should all be serving me, the way I want them to!" Celestia grinned almost ear to ear. Luna didn't know what to do. She had never seen her sister this way before. She especially have never seen her sister so arrogant in being a ruler. Celestia was growing evil. She could already feel the Element in her beating wildly, as though it was gonna explode in her chest. The Element of Darkness was begging to join Celestia. Luna wondered if the Element of Light in her was already dead and gone... She knew Celestia was dead serious in giving her no choice about joining her tyranny in the name of the Solar Empire. She was either with her or against her. Celestia was still waiting for her sister to answer her, and she was getting impatient, the look on her face getting sterner. Luna thought hard about her decision, and she finally made her choice.
Chapter 2"Oh girls, um...sorry I'm late..I had to tend to one of my animals at the last minute. I hope you all will understand...?" Fluttershy asked timidly to the other 5 ponies. The mane 6 had agreed to go on a picnic together and besides Fluttershy the other 4 were already setting up the mat and food. Pinkie Pie was gobbling up the sweets and cakes the moment they were set down on the mat. Twilight turned to Fluttershy and replied with a smile, "Oh it's ok, Fluttershy. You aren't that late anyway. Let's enjoy our picnic!" Fluttershy nodded. The mane 6 all sat down. Twilight had brought a book with her to read, Rainbow was talking to Fluttershy about her new tricks and how she managed to break her own record, again. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were cheerfully talking to each other, although there was a slight look of irritation on Rarity's face. Suddenly, a bright light was seen across the hill at the Princess' Castle. It was like a ray of light escaped out of one of the windows and flew directly up to the sky. The mane 6 saw it all and didn't know what to make of it. But they all thought the same thing: To reach the castle ASAP. "Quickly, we have to go to Canterlot right now! Princess Celestia might be in trouble!" Twilight said as she closed her book and quickly ran back to Ponyville, the other 5 ponies following closely behind. Luna sat quietly on the moon, a dark aura surrounding her. Celestia had banished her to the moon...again. Luna saw it coming, though. She knew after she made her choice she would have to flee, which was exactly what she did. But Celestia expected it, and sent out a beam of light using her magic to trap Luna in it and send her to the moon. Now Luna was trapped on the moon again, forced to fend for herself. But now she was stronger, she knew her sister's plans and she had to warn the mane 6, even bringing them to her side if possible. But now the question in her mind was: How am I going to send out a message from space to Equestria...?
Chapter 3 Celestia sat on her throne, watching as her army was setting up banners of the Solar Empire around Canterlot and asking, sometimes even enforcing, ponies to join the Solar Empire. She was pleased at the sight. She knew there was nopony that would dare disobey her orders and nopony, not even her own sister Luna, could face her. She was simply too strong, and Celestia liked it that way. She even had the Solar Empire have its own anthem, soon there was nothing that could stop her...or so she thought. The mane 6 traveled to Canterlot as fast as they could but just as they reached the gates of Canterlot, they stopped in their tracks. Everything was different. The gates had banners at its side reading: The Solar Empire and the picture of the sun on top. As the mane 6 walked deeper into Canterlot, they saw that some houses were already painted a full red, with the Solar Empire's banners and pictures on it. They saw a few ponies running away as fast as they could. One pony had stopped to warn them, he had said, "Quick! Run away as far as you can from this place! Celestia's crazy, she's going to kill us all! Run!" and then ran away, never to be seen again. The mane 6 didn't know what to do, but they continued down Canterlot anyway. Soon, they caught sight of some of the royal guards, and were shocked at what they saw. The guards were holding weapons, leading some ponies out of their houses and then having them lie or crouch on the floor, asking if they wanted to join the force of the Solar Empire. Some said yes, others simply kept silent, not knowing what to say. The mane 6 quickly hid out of their sights behind a building and looked at each other in horror. "Exactly what is going on?!" asked Rainbow Dash, a look of fear on her face. "Ah' don't know, but whateva' it is, it sure ain't good. Did ya'll even see what they did to them ponies?" Applejack frightfully asked. Fluttershy was timidly cowering in a corner, Rarity at her side. Even Pinkie's mane was slowly deflating as she heard Dash and Applejack talking. Twilight then came up with an idea. "Girls, maybe we can-" She was cut off when suddenly a huge black hole opened below them, sucking the mane 6 all in before they could even register what have happened. -Earlier,- A black hole formed on the moon, with Luna using her magic to keep it open. "Oh I hope those girls will survive the trip here, and I hope it won't take too long." Luna had already seen what was happening on Canterlot through a magic scope she conjured that allowed her to see from the moon to Equestria. The royal guards were on a killing rampage, attacking anypony who tried to run away, and imprisoning those who refused to join the Solar Empire, bringing them somewhere even Luna didn't want to know, but she knew that the chances of seeing those ponies again were extremely low. Through the scope she even saw Celestia walking down the streets of Canterlot, head held high in pride, and smiling as she saw how Canterlot was slowly changing to her will. That was then when she suddenly looked straight up at Luna. Luna was quickly stepped back and closed the magical scope. 'How did she know?' Luna panicked, the sight of her own sister looking at her with tyranny and pure evilness in her eyes running through her mind. Suddenly she heard some gasping for air and turned around to see the mane 6 choking, unable to breathe in space.
Chapter 4 Celestia stood on her balcony, looking down on Canterlot, which was now filled with the Solar Empire's posters asking ponies to join their cause if they wanted to live. Even as she stood on her balcony high up now, ponies were being dragged by royal guards down to the dungeons and have them trained and brainwashed for the Solar Empire. Others who refused were just thrown into cells at random and have whatever creature in there finish the job. It was horrible, but Celestia didn't care less. She didn't even lose a wink of sleep because of it. She only wanted things her way, and she would do whatever it takes for it to work. The mane 6 sat down on a couch of Luna's own fortress that she had made during her first 1000 years of banishment. She had nothing better to do all those years anyway. But now she was on the moon again and she did have something to do. She needed to gain the trust and loyalness of the mane 6 if she were to defeat her sister's tyranny at all. Luna walked up to the mane 6 and sat down on her own throne in front of them. "Forget the formalities, my little ponies, for I know you all well. You may not know so much about me, but that's ok. I have been observing you 6 and now I ask of your help. You have seen what my sister is doing. She is crazy! If you all agree to help me, we can defeat her together!" The mane 6 looked at each other in confusion and hesitation on what to say back. In the end Applejack was first to speak up, "Now what's this all about? Waddya mean your sister's crazy? What's exactly going on??" Luna raised her hoof, and Applejack quietened down. "My sister Celestia...she has turned evil." Upon hearing that, the mane 6 gasped and looked at each other in horror. "She thinks to rule Equestria in tyranny. Even as I speak now, she is forcing ponies in Canterlot to join her in her own army she calls the Solar Empire. Taking over Canterlot is only the first move of her tyranny. If we do not stop her, she will take over all the states and towns in Equestria, including Ponyville." Pinkie Pie gasped loudly just like in the first episode when she first saw Twilight, but this time it wasn't from sheer joy. Rarity stood up and said with a stern look on her face, "Now what's the catch in this?" Luna stood up too and replied calmly, "My little ponies, I do not wish to trick you in any way here. I only wish for my sister to be defeated, either with or without your help. If you choose to help me, however, I assure that this tyranny will end sooner." Rarity stood thinking about what Luna had said, and then looked back at the other 5 ponies. Twilight then spoke up. "Alright, we'll help you. But you'd better keep to your own words." Luna simply smiled and nodded her head. Celestia looked down on her army from atop her balcony. Her forces were all lined up in order, ready to attack. And soon she would send the kill order for them to go into space to wipe out Luna once and for all....
Chapter 5 "Well, we could flank them from here too..." pondered Rarity as she and the the other ponies, including Luna, were looking at a map of Canterlot. "Well yes, but we can't just send one pony there. It'll be too dangerous and risky." argued Twilight. Luna then spoke up, "It is obvious. We need a full army force to counter the Solar Empire. The more we have and the more willing our forces are then the better." The mane 6 all nodded their head in agreement. "Very well then. We shall travel down to Ponyville later and see if we can recruit anypony to join us. That is, if the Solar Empire hasn't already attacked it..." Luna's voice trailed off as she spoke that last part. The mane 6 could see that she was deep in thought, about Equestria, about the Solar Empire, about her sister... Pinkie Pie then interrupted her deep thoughts. "Hey, what shall we call ourselves? You know, cos' Celestia calls her force the Solar Empire, I thought that we should have a name for ourselves too!" she said in her own cheerful voice. Twilight just looked at Pinkie weird, Rarity raised an eyebrow, and Applejack kept silent, trying not to giggle. It was always Pinkie who knew how to bring a smile to the ponies' faces in times of sadness or troubles. Only Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash offered their ideas. "Oh I know, what bout the Night Avengers? Or...or the Dark Rebels? Or..." Rainbow Dash kept spouting out her own ideas for their name, with Pinkie listening cheerfully, a smile on her face. Fluttershy then finally spoke up, face slightly blushing. "Erm...girls...what about, you know..if you don't mind...The Lunar Republic...?" Dash's and Pinkie's face suddenly lit up and they grinned. "That's perfect! I like it! I likeitlikeitlikeitlikeitlikeit!" Pinkie started jumping around the room happily. Luna simply smiled, "Well then, we shall be called the Lunar Republic." Dash gave a loud cheer and Applejack shouted "Yeee-ha!" Fluttershy blushed and gave a simple "yay". BOOM! Just then, a loud explosion was heard and everypony turned their heads to see the gates of the fortress collapse. Royal guards started swarming in with weapons and went straight for the Lunar Republic, their eyes set on the 7 ponies. "Quick! Get behind me!" Luna shouted as she formed a magical barrier and black coloured pony constructs to fight back the guards for a while. Twilight saw the look of concentration on Luna's face and worried to herself. 'Can she really hold up all that magic for long?' Twilight didn't even hesitate to use her own magic to help Luna. She set up a magic bubble around the ponies, and just in time too. Luna's own magic barrier had fallen and her pony constructs were being easily destroyed. "Girls! Do whatever you can to hold the guards back!" The 5 ponies nodded their heads and quickly set to whatever they could do to set up a defence. Applejack found some wood and stone from where the gates collapsed and used it to build a mini yet heavy hammer. She held it in both her front hooves and swing by swing, the guards slowly fell to the floor, either unconscious or dead. Pinkie Pie, with all of her randomness, took her party cannon out and fired it at the guards. But what came out wasn't balloons or cakes, it was sweets, but not just any kind of sweets, it was explosive... Rainbow Dash flew up high in the sky and swooped down, hitting through several guards, catching them off guard and then repeating it again. Soon the guards knew of her presence and her swoop attacks were getting useless. Rainbow Dash knew she had to use a new method, and that was when she saw some rocks on the floor. She quickly flew down to pick them up before the guards could slash and cut her, and then flew up high again, dropping the rocks down below as she flew above the guards. None of the royal guards knew what to do for they weren't really trained to defend themselves against rock missiles, and so many got crushed dead. Rarity helped the ponies by using her magic to find opportunities for them to strike back. In a way she was being a tactician, and a successful one at that. Soon enough the guards were retreating back out of Luna's fortress and were now fleeing, although some were captured for interrogation. But alas, it was the Lunar Republic's first victory.
Chapter 6 At that very night, the Lunar Republic celebrated their first victory. Pinkie was jumping around the room happily, and had also set up the room with balloons and punch and food. The ponies were enjoying themselves while Luna only watched them in silence. She knew they had just killed other ponies, yet it didn't seem that they were affected by it, as though killing was something they had done all their lives. But how did they really feel inside...? She quickly discarded the thought and went to join in the fun that lasted almost the whole night. The next morning, The Lunar Republic was almost complete except one thing. They needed an army to fight back the Solar Empire. They had already seen that Celestia would give no chance to them, and she would definitely not hold back, not even a second. They needed an army and fast if they were to have a chance at surviving at all. Luna had already planned for them to go to Ponyville later in the early afternoon to gather ponies to join them. She figured it would be simple since that was the town the mane 6 came from anyway. Celestia stood at her castle gates, awaiting the return of her army with news of their victory. Soon she saw the army's commander slowly limping up the hill, injured. Celestia's face slowly grew an evil smile as she saw the rest of her army closely following behind the commander. But her smile stopped when she saw that only a few hundred of them remained. From her full army force of about 1000 royal guards, now all that remained was only about 100. The commander hurriedly limped over to Celestia's side and bowed in front of her, afraid to report what she already knew. "Your highness, we...we failed to defeat your sister Luna...she had some six other ponies with her. They were too strong, we couldn't-" He was cut off by Celestia using her magic to kill him. His head exploded, leaving only his body standing. Blood spilled everywhere and his neck was still spurting out blood like a fountain. The other soldiers were shocked, but dare not say anything. Celestia was fuming mad. Firstly, she no longer regarded Luna as her sister and secondly, how could her army of about 1000 not defeat only SEVEN ponies?! Six other ponies, she thought...and then it hit her. "No..it can't be.." she thought to herself. If Luna had the mane 6 with her, then she would be nearly unstoppable. Celestia obviously didn't want that to happen, but yet she couldn't think of anything to counter it. She dismissed her army, their commander dead, back to their training. Her royal bodyguards quickly rushed to the dead body and went to dispose of it. That was the thing in the Solar Empire, the guards may have the best rank or excellent skills, but once they were dead, either in battle or by Celestia herself, they were deemed worthless immediately. It was cruel, but once again Celestia didn't care less. Pinkie Pie bounced around happily, she had decorated the room with balloons just for the fun of it. It seems that even with the war going on, nothing affected her. Twilight was reading a book and Rainbow Dash was taking a nap. Luna walked in the room, which was now the mane 6's living quarters, and said calmly, "Come, my little ponies, it is time to find rebels against my sister's tyranny. I am sure we can find a great many, but there is no time to waste." The 7 ponies were soon walking down the streets of Ponyville the sun beating down mercilessly on them, hoping to find ponies to join them. However, all their doors were shut and windows closed, very much like how they reacted when Zecora first tried to shop in Ponyville. Twilight saw some ponies peeking out of their windows, but immediately went into hiding again the moment anypony looked in their direction. Twilight didn't know if it was because they saw Luna with them, or simply because they were already scared from the Solar Empire. Twilight walked up to one of the houses and knocked gently on the door. Suddenly a scream came out. "No! Leave me alone! I have nothing you need! Get lost, now!" Twilight and the other 6 ponies were taken aback, but they had expected it. Twilight knocked again and said calmly, "We're not from the Solar Empire, nor do we want anything from you. In fact, we want you to go against the Solar Empire. We're the Lunar Republic and we mean no harm" There was a short pause of silence before Twilight heard hoofsteps and then the door opened slowly, an unsure face on the colt. "Against...the Solar Empire...? You mean you want to fight against them..? No...that's crazy, that's too crazy, we'll all die!" the colt quickly got scared again and was just about to shut the door when Rainbow Dash stopped him. "Look, we know we might not stand a chance against Celestia, but at least we can let her know that we do not obey her, right...?" The colt stood there for a while thinking...then finally said, a smile on his face. "Ok...I'll join you. For the Lunar Republic!" he cheered. The Lunar Republic smiled at each other for they had now accomplished what they needed to do, even if it was a small first step. The Lunar Republic now had its first soldier. Celestia was pacing back and forth in front of her room, the commander's words still in her head. Six other ponies... The mane 6... Luna... She grew angrier and angrier the more she thought about it. How was she going to defeat her and the mane 6...? She knew it would be hard to separate them, and an all out assault wouldn't work too, as she had just seen from her own eyes. She had to think of new ways to fight Luna and her pawns...and fast. The afternoon had passed and the Lunar Republic now had its own small army. 180, to be exact, as Twilight counted. Of course they were still outnumbered by the Solar Empire, but they had the Solar Empire out powered. Ponyville was already hanging with signs of the Lunar Republic, serving to the small army their very own small base, much like how Celestia had Canterlot hanging with her own Solar Empire signs. Luna knew that news of them getting an army would soon reach Celestia, and she would strike down like lightning, leaving no prisoners alive. They had to have the first blood to show Celestia just how brave and prepared they were. Soon the army of the Lunar Republic was ready for battle, and the first fight for the Lunar Republic would soon begin...
Author's Note Hey fellow bronies, first of all, I'd like to say thank you to all of you for tracking my story! I really appreciate it =) However, I will be pausing progress of this story for quite a while due to me having no time and studies and such. I'm sure you bronies would understand, right? /) Apologies for any disappointment caused, but just hang on till I continue again. Thanks! =)
Prologue "Give up, sister! You can never defeat me with the powers that I have now! The Element of Darkness shall grant me eternal dark strength!" Nightmare Moon shouted as she flew up into the night sky that she had brought up herself. Princess Celestia gritted her teeth and chased after Nightmare Moon. "Why do you have to make me do this to you, Luna?" Celestia thought to herself as she finally caught up to Nightmare Moon. "It's over, Luna." Celestia said as she harnessed the power of the Elements of Harmony, along with her own special element - The Element of Light. Celestia's eyes shone bright and her wings expanded as time seemed to stop just for her. Nightmare Moon looked back in shock, was she not the almighty dark Nightmare Moon? How was it that she was being defeated by mere light now...? Her thoughts came to an end as a loud 'woomph' was heard and a circle of rainbow colours emitted from Celestia. The colours enveloped itself around Nightmare Moon and a long "Nooo" was heard from her before the colours and light brightened down and all that was left in the sky where Nightmare Moon was just hovering was Princess Luna, weak and out of breath. She had no energy to let her wings support her and so she slowly fell to the ground. Princess Celestia catched her and lay her gently on the ground. Luna opened her eyes slowly and all she could see was Princess Celestia looking down on her, a worried look on her face. Soon she spoke, "Luna...are you alright? I'm so sorry..." Luna took a few seconds to register in everything that happened and then spoke back. "No, sister...it is I who should be sorry...I never should have gotten jealous in the first place...can you forgive me?" The moon lowered as she spoke, and Luna saw the sun for the first time in decades. Celestia just smiled and nodded her head. The next day, a celebration was held for the return of Luna and the two sisters ruled Equestria together in peace. But somewhere in Luna was something Celestia failed to account for...somewhere in Luna the Element of Darkness was still beating strong, waiting to be released...
