The Empire

by Mediocre Morsov

The Dawn

The citizens of Ponyville had been known for their friendliness, their openess and overall happiness. It was a common sight to see the rainbow of earth, pegasi and unicorn ponies wandering the streets of the small town, all smiles and cheer. Yet, for the last week, the only ponies in the streets were yelling speeches at the top of their lungs or cheering from the sidelines. Aggressively, the two speakers competed, arguing over one another with increasing fervor. Below their makeshift platforms, two separate crowds of ponies were cheering and jeering, very nearly attacking one another.

"Princess Celestia is the rightful ruler of Equestria!" one of the speakers rattled off, "She has always watched over us!"

"She is a tyrant!" the other speaker roared, "A dictator who has lied to us about dangers we should have been aware of! Premier Luna is the true hero of Equestria!"

The speeches continued much the same and the audience had divided into two groups - those who supported Celestia, and those who supported Luna - which jostled and spat insults at one another. The crowd was growing, but most of Ponyville's citizens remained inside, behind locked doors, frightened at this violent change in their town. A few days ago, these ponies were calling each other friends and loved both the Princesses equally. Now they were at each other's throats.

Suddenly, above the shouting and roaring of the speakers, there came a new sound. Thousands of hooves pounding against the packed earth outside of Ponyville. The speakers stopped and blinked in confusion at this interruption. The crowds approached the eastern edge of Ponyville, where Canterlot was within sight in the mountains and saw a horde of golden-armored stallions marching ahead of a massive dust cloud. The Celestia supporters let out hollers and cheers as Luna's supporters paled at the sight. Nopony had seen such a large gathering of Royal Guard before, and while it bolstered the confidence of Celestia's followers, it crushed the spirits of Luna's.

"Now you shall see the true might of our Princess!" the Celestia-speaker laughed, half-mad, "You will know who the true ruler of our kingdom is!"

The Luna-speaker turned to his supporters, all of whom were frightened and several of which were edging away from the crowd. She shifted from hoof to hoof before steeling herself and raising her head high.

"The dictator sends her forces to silence us and bind us in chains once more!" she declared, "Will we stand idly by as they flood our town and take away our rights, or will we stand firm and for our beliefs? Who will stand with the Banner of the Night and defend the Republic against the forces of tyrrany?!"

Several of the ponies exchanged nervous glances, but most of the crowd cheered. The speaker held her head up high as the Celestia supporters closed around their small group, boldened by the approaching Royal Guard and the rising sun. In the distance, faded yet still visible, was the moon and the Luna supporters drew upon it for courage.

"Now we will see the true might of Celestia!" the other speaker cackled, "Gather the traitors up and present them to Her Majesty's Royal Guard!"

"Not without a fight!" the female speaker growled.

At once, the market square erupted into violence.

*-*

Applejack eyed the walls of her cell, searching for a weak point. Anything at all. Yet, for all her know-how of carpentry, she couldn't find a weakness in thick, stone walls and sturdy iron bars. Her cell was old and unused before her arrival, but it was still well-maintained. Applejack couldn't detect a single flaw in the ancient stonework and grimaced. At least they gave her hat back.

"No need to thank me, or anything." she remembered Rainbow Dash saying, "I could've just kept the stupid thing."

"Don't do me any favors." Applejack had spat back.

In hindsight, Applejack was grateful for the return of her old stetson, and she would be lying if she said she didn't regret - at least a little - the harsh words passed between her and her old, close friend. If only Rainbow didn't have to stay so blindly loyal to Celestia. Before she realized it, a tear had run down her cheek and fallen to the floor of the cell. With a growl, she rubbed a hoof across her eyes roughly and returned to pacing around the cell.

There had to be a weakness somewhere.

*-*

"What's going on outside, Twilight?" Spike asked, "It's crazier than when Discord took over!"

"Get away from the window, Spike." Twilight said softly, "Go read some of your comics."

"But Twilight," Spike said, turning back towards the window, "Ponies are getting hurt outside. Shouldn't we do something?"

"I'm not sure what to do." the alicorn said more to herself than anypony else, "I'mm sure Princess Celestia knows what she's doing, Spike. We just need to have faith."

"Is this the Reign of Terror Apple Bloom and her friends kept talking about?" Spike asked, "Maybe Luna was right."

"That's enouh of that, Spike." Twilight said with some steel in her tone, "We need to trust that Princess Celestia knows what she's doing, and that's that."

Spike looked at Twilight with some concern than back out the window, grimacing as a house was set on fire. "If you say so." he said, though his tone was even more unsure than his expression.

Twilight left the room and decided to emerse herself in her studies rather than face what was becoming of Ponyville. Sure, she was a princess now, and as a princess, Ponyville was her responsibility to govern, but she couldn't face the violence outside her door. Nopony could. There hadn't been any violence in Equestria for hundreds of years, and never any in Ponyville. Fortunately, not of it found its way to her library. Distantly, she hoped her friends were far enough away from the fighting. She knew, for sure, that Applejack was safe in a Canterlot cell, and that Rainbow Dash wasn't too far from her. Fluttershy was on the edge of Ponyville, far from the fighting, but Pinkie Pie and Rarity were probably in town and very well might be in the thick of the fray.

With a nervous laugh, Twilight opened a book Celestia had given her shortly after their botched negotiations with the Lunar Republic. It was an ancient tome, an anthology of Celestia's deeds before and after the Reign of Terror. It was comforting to read, because it gave the impression that Celestia knew what she was doing during the Reign of Terror, and that she knew things would work themselves out in the end. Not for the first time, the purple alicorn considered that Rainbow Dash had been onto something about Celestia having the bearers of the Elements of Harmony as a back-up plan. Maybe Celestia really did have everything worked out in advance.

Twilight licked her lips, anxiously.

What if Princess Celestia was omniscient? A trotting goddess among ponies. She was virtually immortal, and her power centered on the raising of the sun and mastery of the heavens, a feat that only thousands of unicorns could accomplish before her arrival. Twilight wondered about this possibility. It was what the authors of the book she was reading hinted at, but even they didn't dare suggest that Celestia was an object worthy of worship. But wasn't she?

"Is Celestia a goddess?" Twilight asked herself.

*-*

Discord watched the carnage from the edge of town. The market center of Ponyville was burning and gold-armored stallions were crushing fallen ponies underhoof. He couldn't stop staring at it. It was senseless, almost entirely chaotic, if not for the soulless precision of the Royal Guard and the rebels orchestrating against one another. Yet, for all of its disorder and chaos, it made his stomach curdle.

A thousand years ago, this would have been a great show. Foolish mortal ponies who had been friends and loved ones only hours before, ripping each other apart over something as fickle as ideology. Now, of course, he knew these ponies. He had come to think of them as friends, and helped many of them with problems. Seeing the cold, expressionless stares of immobile faces half-sunk in mud, faces he recognized, made him want to weep.

"I have to get Fluttershy away from here before she sees this." Discord said to himself. He couldn't stand the thought of Fluttershy - his dear, sweet, innocent Fluttershy - having the witness this slaughter. "I just have to."

He teleported to her front door and opened it without knocking. The pink-maned mare in question looked up from her table, surprised at first, but quick with her meek smile. The scowling rabbit, Angel Bunny, was busy eating a finger sandwich, but spared Discord a withering look at the interruption. Discord ignored him and immediately went to Fluttershy's side.

"Hello Discord." she said, sweetly, then yelped as the draconequess gathered her up in his arms, "What's wrong?"

"Something's happened in Ponyville, and we need to get out of here." Discord expained, hurriedly, "Pack whatever you need and get ready to leave out the back way. I think Zecora's hut would be a good place to stay low."

"Something's wrong in Ponyville?" Fluttershy gasped, "Oh no, I can't simply leave. I have to make sure that the girls are alright. It's bad enough that Applejack has to spend time in a Canterlot prison; I wouldn't want anything to happen to the others, too."

"Fluttershy, believe me when I say it's beyond your control." Discord said quietly, "We need to get you somewhere safe."

"Why not Appleoosa?" Fluttershy asked, "That's where Premier Luna went after our peace meeting ended badly."

"I'm..." Discord averted his eyes, "I'm not welcome in Appleoosa."

"Oh my. Did you do something wrong?" Fluttershy asked, a little too much like a mother scolding a child for Discord's taste.

"Of course not!" he said, "I tried to get Luna to make amends with her sister, and she banished me for it. Frankly, I think she's losing her mind."

"Running a democratic government is probably very stressful, especially since she's going against her sister's wishes." Fluttershy said, pouring a cup of tea and handing it to Discord.

"As much as I'd love to have a tea party with you, right now isn't any good." Discord sighed, "We need to get you out of harm's way."

"Only if you promise to make sure the other girls are safe, too." Fluttershy insisted.

"Fluttershy..." Discord started.

"Pinkie promise me, or I'm not budging." Fluttershy crossed her forelegs with determination.

Discord's eyebrow twitched. He could just teleport her, of course, but then she'd be angry with him, and he didn't really want that. What was so bad with making sure the other girls were safe, anyway? He knew that Applejack and Rainbow Dash were in Canterlot, so all he had to do was make sure Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle were okay. Of course, he was pretty sure Pinkie was fine; there was something about her that suggested she could emerge from a warzone unscathed.

"Very well, Fluttershy." he sighed, "I promise I'll make sure the others are alright, but only if you leave now and don't look back."

"Pinkie promise?" the yellow pegasus asked.

"For the love of..." discord facepalmed, "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. Happy?"

"Yes." she gave a meek smile as she got up, "I'll leave through the back door and head to Zecora's hut. I hope I'm not intruding on her."

"I'm sure she'll be fine." Discord said, "Just please, hurry. I'd hate to see anything bad happen to you."

"Alright. You'll come visit as soon as you've checked on the girls?" Fluttershy asked, filling a bag with possessions.

"Of course." Discord smiled.

After the pegasus had finished her packing, they said their goodbyes and headed their separate ways. Fluttershy went out the back door, as she promised, and Discord teleported into town. Already, smoke and dust covered the town in a fog, and Discord slithered stealthily across the cobblestone streets and over the debris. A few muddy lumps stared up at him with glassy eyes, and he went around these entirely. Finally he arrived at the Carousel Boutique and teleported himself past the barricaded door.

"Who's there?!" Rarity turned from the barricade to face him. Her expression hardened. "Oh, it's just you."

Discord eyed the unicorn with concern. Her hair was out of shape and there were bags under her eyes. Her shop was in a mess, as if she had gone around throwing everything all over the place. Her eyes flitted about, anxiously.

"Rarity, are you alright?" Discord asked, "You seem... distracted."

"Oh it's not like here's riots in the streets, or anything." Rarity managed a tense laugh, "And I have no idea where Sweetie Belle is. I haven't seen her since the negotiations, and I'm sure our parents are worried sick."

"I'm sure she's alright." Discord offered, "Perhaps she went to stay with them for awhile after the talks failed?"

"Perhaps you're right." the unicorn didn't sound so sure. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I sent Fluttershy out of town, but she made me Pinkie promise to check in on all of you." Discord explained, "She was very adamant about it."

"That's very thoughtful of you, making sure she got out." Rarity offered a genuine smile, "I don't think her heart could handle what's happening here."

"I know." Discord turned to leave, but Rarity stopped him, "What do you want?"

"I'm worried about my sister." Rairty confessed, "Last I saw, Luna had taken her when she left. Could you check in on them, wherever they ran off to, and make sure she's alright?"

"I actually can't, that." Discord said with regret, "I've, eheh, been banished from the Lunar Republic."

"Banished?" Rarity's eyebrows shot up, "How in Equestria did you manage that? I always thought you and Luna were- Well, nevermind."

"That Luna and I were what?" Discord furrowed his brow.

"I always assumed you were her beau." the unicorn giggled.

"I've barely said anything to her since we fought a thousand years ago!" Discord scoffed, "Where do you ponies get these ideas?"

"Will you check on her?" Rarity changed the subject, "Somehow?"

"Alright." the draconequess sighed, "Somehow."

"Pinkie promise?"

"Again?!" Discord growled, "Fine. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. Happy?"

"Oh, thank you Discord!" Rarity began crying, "I know my sister and I don't always see eye to eye, but if anything were to happen to her, I'd be beside myself with grief!"

"Alright, alright!" Discord growled, "I still have Pinkie Pie and Twilight to check on. So... Goodbye."

Perhaps he had teleported out of there a little too quickly, but Rarity's drama was beginning to bring him down even more than the warzone outside. Snaking along the streets and avoiding the marching columns of the Royal Guard, Discord managed to find the Cakes' shop. Unfortunately, Sugarcube Corner's doors were broken in and its windows burnt out. The Cakes themselves were sitting on the porch, cradling their children and largely unscathed, fortunately. They were weary, and had more than a few scratches, but managed to smile at their sleeping babies.

"Have either of you two seen Pinkie Pie, by any chance?" he asked as he approached them.

"The Royal Guards took her away." Mrs. Cake explained, "Along with a bunch of other townsponies."

"I don't see why they had to tear our shop up to do it, but they quit bothering us once they had her." Mr. Cake sighed, "Just look at our store..."

"Why in Celestia's name did this happen?" Mrs. Cake shook her head.

Discord left the Cake family behind and made his way to the library. Although he couldn't help Pinkie, he was sure she was fine - even arrested by the Royal Guard, she was technically out of harm's way. That only left Twilight Sparkle, princess of Ponyville. Judging by the carnage all around, Discord couldn't imagine what she was princess of anymore. Ruins, maybe? With a snap of his fingers, he teleported himself beyond the door and into the living room of her house.

Books were stacked up around Twilight. More books than Discord figured she owned, since the shelves were crammed to bursting with their own books. He picked one up and saw it was a history book. Most of the stacked ones were. With a shrug, he moved closer to the hunched figure of Twilight, almost hidden behind her furled, purple wings. With some concern obvious on his features, he tapped her shoulder.

"Twilight?" he said, "Are you alright?"

"Never better, actually." Twilight turned towards the draconequess and he was startled to find her entirely calm and composed. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Discord said, unsurety evident in his tone, "You seem completely at ease, given the circumstances."

"I am. Everything is going as it must, you see." Twilight said in a tone that was almost lecturing. Discord quirked an eyebrow. "Everything is going according to Celestia's great plan."

"Great plan?" Discord was aghast, "Twilight, ponies are-" he choked on the word, so unheard of in the ages of peace and prosperity Equestria had known for so long. "Look, you need to put a stop to this. The Royal Guard will listen to you."

"I did put a stop to it." Twilight explained, "I ordered the Royal Guard to take prisoners and quit being so aggressive. Soon, the rebels will be brought to heel and we can start rebuilding Ponyville."

"Twilight, you need to let the prisoners go." Discord said, "It isn't right what happened here."

"Celestia did what she must, as she has always done." Twilight breathed the words out, almost as if they were a catachism. "We just have to trust her."

"Trust her?" Discord scoffed, "I think Celestia's even further off her rocker than Luna is! Have you looked outside?!"

"Do not question her." Twilight said, voice sharp as a blade, "She knows what she is doing. We just need to have faith."

"Twilight, I think you're in denial." Discord reached towards her, wanting to pat her shoulder, but a painful shock came from her horn and he withdrew his hand with a hiss.

"I think you'd better leave before the guards return, Discord." Twilight returned to her books.

Discord blinked as he realized their conversation wasn't going any further. With a scowl, he looked around the library in frustration. He should teleport a bucket of ice water over the alicorn's head, try to snap her out of whatever delusion she had worked herself into, but he found he didn't have the energy. With heavy resignation, he teleported himself out of her library, out of Ponyville altogether, and near Zecora's hut.

Fluttershy ran out to greet him, suddenly worried by the lack of expression on his face.

"Were they alright, Discord?" she asked, "What's wrong?"

"They're fine, Fluttershy." he said, though without much conviction, "They're just a little stressed, is all."

"Would you like to talk about it over some tea?" Fluttershy offered, "Zecora has quite a wonderful collection of teas and she helped me make some finger sandwiches that are to die for."

"Sure." Discord managed a smile, "That sounds nice."

Tiredly, he followed Fluttershy into the hut and played tea time while the world burned around them.

Author's Note:

I didn't really want to, because the show's supposed to be sweet an innocent, but yeah... ponies die in war.

Also, I'm not sure this fic will be as good as the last. Kind of gets crazy, compared to the last one. Might be some OOC happening, so my apologies if and when the story goes wonky.

Comments

[Cpt Jake Hoofness]

Already off to a great start. I was worried when I finished the first one that that was all we were getting. Then I noticed this and now I get to watch three princesses lose their minds. Yay.