It was only meant to be a gesture of loyalty, a display of her Element.
To wish Princess Twilight off to Canterlot where she would rule over Equestria with her mentor.
But it had gone wrong, all wrong, and there was nothing Rainbow Dash could do about it; not that she really wanted to, anyways. Why should she care about her friends anymore? Her heart was no longer the faithful one it once was. None of the other ponies wanted to do anything about it either. Fluttershy's kidness had spoiled and rotted, and the twinkle in Pinkie Pie's eyes had been put out like a candle in a rainstorm. Now you could never trust Applejack to tell you the truth. And Rarity, she stopped selling her clothing altogether and hoarded more than a dragon.
The only pure one was Twilight Sparkle, it seemed. Ironically enough, she had not been affected by the brain-frying Sonic Rainboom performed for her, but still she grew faint. Her magic was that of friendship, just like Cadance's was love and Celestia's was the sun. Twilight's friends had all abandoned her now, and she was left to fade in Canterlot Castle's behemoth library, with only her teacher to keep her company. No, not even Celestia. There were more important matters on her mind, more demanding things than a silly young alicorn dying.
It was Luna who needed to be followed and watched, Luna who was plotting something. She had gone back to employing the royal Canterlot voice, addressing herself as "we" and the ponies below her as "our subjects". It seemed as if her Nightmare Moon alter-ego was shining through once again, and Celestia would not have that; not for the ponies of Equestria, but for her own power. The Elements of Harmony were gone now and Celestia alone was not powerful enough to banish her once more, not powerful enough to protect her throne from jeopardization.
The sun cast a warm glow over the castle as it did every morning. Luna resented its heat, shunned its golden shine. She hated the sun and hated her sister for raising it each day. Why couldn't she skip her duties for just one day? It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair about how the Canterlot Royal Family worked. "Our sister claims to share the power," Luna growled to herself, "but that is a lie."
She sighed, stretched her shapely legs, and crawled out of her featherbed. Though she'd rather not face the light of day, she had no real choice if she was to get done what she wanted. Luna checked the calendar on her wall. There were no events going on today, no important ponies gracing the castle with their meaningless presence, and she smiled. It was an evil, malicious smile, one not unlike that of Nightmare Moon. Just as she was about to open her trunk to look for an old relic of hers, a head popped through the doorway.
"Good morning, sister." It was Tia, come to check on her younger sibling.
"Greetings, eldest sister. We are just trying to find our better pair of slippers," Luna responded, kicking her trunk into a corner and making her way to the large door.
"Eldest sister? I'm you're only sister. Speaking of which, do you love me, my kin?"
The other alicorn stopped dead in her tracks. "Why... yes. We do love thee. Why would you ask us such a strange and prying question?"
"Oh, no reason- no reason at all. So you wouldn't want to overthrow me, or take over my kingdom, right? Because you love me, right?"
Celestia had asked an awkward question, and had put her sister in an uncomfortable position. As far as Luna could tell, there was no truthful and good way to answer her. "Well, we never would try to do either of those things. We do not want to govern thy frilly land." It was, in its own way, a solid answer, and didn't reveal much about Luna's plot. With that, she turned and began to lift up her haunches. "Now, if thou wilt leave us be..."
The buck never reached Celestia's fair skin.
"Yes, yes, I'll be off, sister," the elder alicorn called from down the hall. "Stay out of trouble, please!"
Luna's mouth corners raised into yet another smile. No, not a smile– smiles were sunny, caring. They were her sister's domain. After all, Luna rose the moon each evening and lowered it when the daytime rolled in. She ruled over the darkness; she was darkness. What her muzzle formed as no smile. It was a sneer, a smirk, a grimace.
Maybe describing the darkest princess's expression took quite a while, but her traveling back to the chest did not. Her horn and the trunk were both enveloped in a blue aura. As the latch came loose and the top flipped up, she immediately was on the lookout for her old shoes and helmet. Telling Tia that she was searching for "her better pair of slippers" was not a total lie, though there was some omittance. Her Nightmare Moon slippers brough out the best in her, or rather, the worst. Yes. Luna's old armor gave her an air of power, of importance. Just what she would need if she was to lead the New Lunar Republic.
Ponyville's cyan sky was sliced down the middle, cut short by a rainbow-hued knife. Finally free of her fettering loyalty element, Rainbow Dash was able to fly across the sky all day and do whatever she wanted. Her friends didn't want to be with her anyways, if they could be called "friends".
"Hello up there, Rainbow Dash. How are you today?" There was a pink mare standing on the road below. The airborne pegasus began to descend.
"Oh, hey, Pinkamena. I'm just practicing some moves. 'Sup?" She had no reason not to chat with the ponies who she was once devoted to. Pinkie, or Pinkamena (as she had taken to calling herself now), wouldn't want to talk long. After the Sonic Rainboom, she became trapped in a lethargic depression. Dash would be able to get back to her flying soon.
"My day is terrible, as usual. I may as well continue on my way to Sugarcube Corner, I'm making crepes today. No more cupcakes or cookies for me; don't want to end up with diabetes," Pinkamena sighed. "Oh, right. I heard Princess Twilight would be dropping in today. She's becoming frailer each day, a reminder of how death comes to all of us."
Rainbow Dash wasn't used to Pinkie being so grimdark. None of the ponies really were. The Rainboom had happened only a few days ago, and the changes were hard to become accustomed to.
"Princess Twilight, really? Eh. I don't want to hang out with her. She isn't cool enough for me. Anyways, nice seeing ya, Pinkamena." With that, she rocketed off into the sky. Pinkamena skulked off to the far too cheerful gingerbread-house building of Sugarcube Corner, and disappeared through the door.
Dashie pulled a few loop-de-loop tricks, flew laps, and even dabbled in a little bit of air-ballet. If only Rarity was generous enough to give up some of her time to see how graceful the pegasus could be... Fluttershy would give her an ego boost (if she was still kind, that is), and Applejack would tell her how to do it better. Alas, none of the other elements were the same, nor would they ever be. Rainbow Dash would've liked if she could lose her element, and her friends would retain theirs. Of course, they probably wanted the same thing. Each element tied down the ponies. Kindness forced you to lie, honesty forced you to be unkind. Loyalty and generosity both required you to give up your own time to be with your friends, and laughter made you stupid. Being an Element of Harmony was tough, the prismatic pony said to herself. I'm just glad it's finally over.
Returning from her train of thought, Rainbow Dash flew with astounding speed and cleared some impending clouds. Today would be a sunny day, in retroactive celebration of her liberation. "Hey, wait a sec!" There was an ominous blue cloud headed straight towards her, dotted with silver stars and translucent around the edges. "What in Tartarus is THAT thing?!"
"Hello, Rainbow Dash." Before the cloud and pony could collide, the cloud took the form of a shapely young alicorn. "It is us, Princess Luna."
"H-hey, Princess. Oh man, you surprised me there, ha... ha..."
"We have been told by Princess Twilight Sparkle that thou art the fastest flyer in Equestria. Are we misinformed?"
It was finally time to show someone important how great Dashie really was. The Princess would probably go tell the Wonderbolts about her speed and agility— yes, she could see it now. In her mind Rainbow Dash perceived herself standing before Spitfire and Princess Luna, receiving her uniform and taking a bow in front of cheering pegasi.
"So what if I am?" she queried, taking off once more at top speed and returning to the princess's line of sight.
"We want thou to be part of the Lunar Air Force. Correction, we would like you to be the General of said Air Force."
The pegasus snorted. "That doesn't even exist. The only 'air force' is the Royal Guard's aerial division."
"Thou art quite astute. Our Lunar Air Force does not exist at this time, but we would like thee to create it. You will have honor, Rainbow Dash. Honor and power." Sensing Rainbow Dash's confusion, she drew closer and spoke in the soft voice which had been taught to her by Fluttershy. "Our sister is a tyrant. We are breaking off and forming our own great republic."
In a similarly quiet way, leaning in for optimal audibility, Dashie responded, "Great. I'm in."
"We thank thee, General. Thou will be fighting alongside Fluttershy, who we will appoint Lieutenant General. We will leave thee free to choose the rest of thy forces and their rankings." Before the other mare could make a comment, Luna evaporated once more and floated off towards the Everfree Forest, leaving Rainbow Dash to ponder some things.
"I wonder if being a cloud gets ya places faster than wings?"
"Oh, Angel, would you like a carrot?" Fluttershy stood over the white rabbit, her pink hair tickling the top of its head. Her fluffy companion nodded his head as she began to lower a root vegetable in front of him. "Well, too bad!" Fluttershy flung the carrot over her head and sent it flying quickly. Angel began to whimper. He was so used to his caretaker's kindness and love. He was used to being able to push her around. Angel realized it was not the loss of her kindness that saddened him so much, but rather the loss of his power over her.
"We see thou art not as kind as thou once were. We are pleased by that."
"Too bad for you, isn't it? Being rude is a lot more fun than being a pushove–" she turned and looked at the princess, who had just entered the cottage "–r. Oh, um, hello, Princess Luna." Fluttershy hadn't recognized the booming voice of the princess, and thus was taken by surprise. "Whaddaya want? Can't you see I'm busy here?"
Luna chuckled. Perfect, she said to herself. Fluttershy cares not for the feelings of others. A key trait for a ruthless Air Force Lieutenant General. "Well, Fluttershy, we are here to recruit thee as Lieutenant General of the Lunar Air Force. Thou will be fighting under General Rainbow Dash's instruction. But fret not, my child, for thou will have control over many subordinates yourself.
"Now, before thou ask us, 'But I thought there was no Lunar Air Force!', let us explain. Our eldest sister Celestia has taken all the power in the kingdom of Equestria. We feel as if our old jealousy has bubbled up once again, and we enjoy it. Now, with thine Elements of Harmony gone, our Sister has no way to stop us. In short, we are breaking off to form the New Lunar Republic, and we want thou to join us. Wilt thou accept our offer?"
Fl
