Churning Tides

by Midnight Sky2

Lunar Princess, Rainbow Soldier

Everfree City, New Lunar Republic. 1300 Hours. Princess Luna’s Balcony
Princess Luna POV

It was a warm, gentle spring day in Everfree City. I stood on my balcony to get a breath of fresh air. Despite being Princess of the Night, I still enjoyed feeling the warmth of the sun against my dark blue coat.

I could hear many sounds emanating from the surrounding city. The honk of motor cars, ponies talking, somewhere overhead a jet propelled aircraft streaked past; the crafts destination was probably the nearby air force base. However, one sound in particular captured my interest, the sound of foals laughing.

I directed my gaze toward a small playground near the castle courtyard. There, a small group of foals were enjoying themselves on various multicolored structures, the nature of most I was unfamiliar with. They played freely, without a care, under the watchful eyes of their parents. The innocence that they possessed touched me. They were far too young to remember the brutal events that transpired during the formation of the Republic. These foals were a product of the peace and prosperity I had labored for so long to build.

For my entire life I had only desired the safety and admiration of my subjects. My dissention into darkness and my transformation into the monster known as Nightmare Moon had ruined any chances that I had at gaining the love and admiration of the citizens of Equestria, or so I thought. In the past eight years, an entire nation had repeatedly proven their love for me.

Together we had accomplished what should have been the impossible. We had succeeded in breaking away from the shackles that my sister, Princess, (now Empress) Celestia, would have us live under…but it came at a steep price. Hundreds of thousands of ponies had died on both sides. However, their sacrifices were not in vain, these foals were the proof of it. Out of the fires of war, came the beauty of a free life.

Another sound roused me from my thoughts. It was a primal sound, one that reminded me how fragile this paradise was. I directed my gaze to a field that was directly adjacent to the playground. There, a group of twenty soldiers, more than likely new recruits judging by their soft appearance, were performing hoof to hoof combat drills. They were attired in all black; on their shoulders were the insignia of the New Lunar Republic, a dark blue banner on which an upturned crescent moon with wings on each side and a single star in the centre was displayed in silver.

The sequence that they performed was designed to restrain an assailant. One pony would attempt to strike another. The pony that was on the defensive would then deflect the attack with his right hoof and bend his attacker’s foreleg behind his or her back while using his or her other hoof to push the attacking ponies head down to the ground and pin them there. The two ponies would then switch places and perform the drill again. This interested me to some extent.

After the trainees had performed these drills for five or six times, a whistle was blown. I then noticed three officers, three captains that were obviously overseeing the exercises. The one that had blown the whistle was a pegasus mare, smaller than most. Her coat was white as snow and her mane and eyes were red as fire. Her mane was rather long down her back but was shorter in front. I recognized her as Captain Silver Tongue of the NLR Air Force. To her right stood a rather large unicorn stallion. He looked to be about her age. His mane was a similar style to hers but was black as jet, his coat was a light grey color, like ash. I recognized him as Captain Carnage of the NLR Army. On the mare’s left stood another unicorn stallion. He was the same stature as his counterpart but was significantly thinner. His coat was dark purple. His mane and tail were light purple with black streaks. His mane covered the right side of his visage and ended in a point just past his chin. I recognized him as Captain Midnight Sky of the NLR Navy.

From what I understood these three officers were notorious trouble makers. Many a time I had heard an upset commander complain about their various antics. There behavior may be disruptive but most agreed that they were fine officers all the same and were extremely dedicated to our cause. However, that did not excuse certain behaviors such as taking tanks for frivolous activities. If I recollected correctly their respective commanders had assigned them to train this set of recruits as punishment. I did not understand why this task was assigned as a punishment but judging by the scowls on their faces it seemed to be having the desired effect.

It was ponies like these that gave us the freedom that we enjoyed. My sister had pushed for political, military, social, and economic reform. The policies that she attempted to enact were unacceptable, I warned her that if she did not cease her actions that I would form my own nation and take with me those that wished to live under Equestrian’s original laws.

Unfortunately, she did not desist. However, I was no fool when it came to military strategy. I knew that is was impossible to develop military weapons with haste and have them still be affective. I was also aware of my sister’s greed whenever it came to economics. She would summon arms manufacturers from all over Equestria to compete for the honor of having their implements added to the repertoire of weapons in the Equestrian Armed Forces. However, she usually chose the most inexpensive models and had the others discarded. I, however, knew that if I had to separate the ones truly loyal to Equestria, we would require the very best and nothing less. Therefore, I consulted with the companies privately and procured the best equipment I could afford, without Celestia noticing, and had it hidden. We now had one of the most advanced militaries in the known world, even if its size was nowhere near that of the Solar Empire’s. Of course, I was not able to replace everything and The Empire and the Republic still share much of the same equipment in our air forces.

I also constructed a network of soldiers and civilians loyal to me and informed them of my plans. Unfortunately, I could not risk informing the Elements of Harmony, especially not the Element of Laughter for she would have not been able to keep her mouth shut about the matter.

The night came when I would inform my sister of my decision. The memory fills me with anguish. I feel as if I have betrayed her, but she betrayed her country and the citizens that looked upon her for guidance. I began to cry as I remembered that night. I strode nervously into her private chambers and informed her of my decision. Her reaction was as I predicted, she forbade me to carry out my plan with rather strong language and looked upon me with disgust. I left her chambers and gave the order. Thousands of ponies all across Equestria began to make their way into the north, the intended location of our new nation. I had, of course, a smaller number of ponies and would not divide the nation in half; I would only take one fourth. Everfree City, Baltimare, Stalliongrad, Nebulon Island, and the Crystal Empire. My breath came in broken sobs as I recalled what happened next. Celestia attacked us as we attempted to evacuate Canterlot. I ordered my troops to capture as much equipment as they could and run for Everfree City. So many ponies, including many innocent foals, were killed. I remember watching in horror as a stray tank shell ripped an orphanage apart.

Fortunately, my plan succeeded. Our equipment, especially our tanks, proved to be far superior. The early model of the T90 Dragon Fire proved to be no match for the M1A2 Manticore in one on one battles, however, we were vastly outnumbered and many were lost. Battles erupted in cities all across the land, and in the end, we survived. A two year civil war ended in a cease fire, no peace treaty was signed. I had protected those that wished to join me, but at a terrible price, the price of nearly five hundred thousand lives.

This four year cease fire has brought prosperity upon our nation. We have made great leaps in the fields of medicine and technology. We had the largest navy in the known world; we had made allies with nations across the ocean, including the nation of Zebrica. But we had failed to obtain the complete list of cities that I had hoped for. The Crystal Empire was now part of the Solar Empire.

But always my mind is with my sister, she has changed so much. I retreat into my chamber and throw myself on my bed in sorrow. I roll in the soft, silken covers, hoping to drown my sorrows. Celestia had lied to her citizens. She told them that I had relapsed, and transformed into Nightmare Moon once more. Her propaganda videos often depicted a desolate and dead land ruled by the night, or Nightmare Moon eating foals, or Republican soldiers killing innocent civilians. It ripped my heart into pieces to think that my sister would portray me in such a way. It hurt more than my exile on the moon. It was the most excruciating emotional pain I have ever known. Soon, my tears stopped, I had tired myself with my sobbing, sleep came quickly upon me and I entered the world of dreams.

Ponyville, Solar Empire. 1500 Hours. SU-37 Cockpit.
Rainbow Dash POV

What a rush! I pushed hard on the throttle and broke through the sound barrier leaving a sonic rainboom behind me. The acceleration threw me back in my seat. This wasn’t REALLY flying though. There was no wind in my mane; my wings weren’t doing any of the work, and I was trapped in this stupid jet. But it was much faster than me which was awesome. Empress Celestia had even given me an upgraded model SU37 and awesome custom paint job; it was blue with rainbow wingtips that matched my mane and my cutie mark on the body, just below the cockpit and on the tailfins. I was on patrol but it was all so boring, nothing ever happened on these border patrols. The NLR would not be stupid enough to start another war.

I decided to have some fun and perform some awesome aerial stunts. I pulled hard back on the flight stick and the plane stood nearly straight up but it kept moving forward instead of up. This was the cobra, a move that I had invented. Of course there were other pilots that could do it, but they were nowhere near my level.

“C-c-captain Dash.” Came the whining voice of my wing-stallion. “D-do you r-really think you should be doing on a patrol?” he asked in his usual fun killing manner.

“Pipe down Rift Wing; nothing ever happens on these boring patrols anyway. It’s not like the Republic would pull anything, especially not with me around.” I said, trying to stop him from nagging me. It worked and he shut up.

We were nearing the end of our patrol. We had to fly a two hundred mile stretched of border nearest to the New Lunar Republic’s capital city. It was Empress Celestia herself that put me on this route so I promised to do my best. No NLR fighter dared to fly against me, I would crush them.

“Rainbow Leader this is control tower, you have clearance to land, over?” came the mechanical voice of the flight control officer. I was certain that mare was a robot. She never had any fun, never laughed, she never smiled, she was just so…boring.

“This is Rainbow leader, I am coming in.” I said with a smile. I was happy to have this task behind me. I gazed down at the grey buildings below. I was over Canterlot now and hundreds of ponies were moving about everywhere; they looked like ants from where I was, little, multi-colored ants.

I banked past the capitol building (the palace) at low level, Rift Wing followed. I watched as many ponies stopped what they were doing and I streaked overhead. I would have loved to show off my skills but I had something even more awesome in mind. As I banked right, past the palace, a vast expanse of grey concrete buildings, electrified barbed wire fences, guard towers, tanks, and a massive runway with about fifty hangers appeared in front of me. The base was almost two miles long and a mile wide.

I noticed several tanks training in a field flanked by APCs; they looked like giant turtles or tortoises moving across the battlefield. Smoke grenades and controlled explosions were set off as pretend enemy artillery and they kept advancing towards a row of buildings. Infantry came up behind them. I decided to have my fun with them before I landed. I dove in low so that I could see their faces and I did a barrel roll. I laughed my flank off as I saw the looks on their faces. Their eyes were wide with fear and many of them dove to the ground and covered their heads. I pulled back up and decided to pull one last prank before I finally landed. Oh, if only Pinkie were here for this!

‘C-captain, the commander said to return to base a-and that we are in BIG trouble.” whined my wingstallion before I could do anything else.

“Ugh. Fine…” I said with a heavy sigh. Commander Clover was always killing my fun. It wasn’t like I was disloyal. Why did she always have to be such a stick in the mud?

I banked left towards the runway and saw many planes being pulled from their hangers. Something was going on and I wanted to know what. “Tower, Tower, this is Rainbow Leader, I’m coming in!” I said with a laugh.

“Why don’t you ask permission like the other pilots.” came the tired voice of a mare in the control tower. She did not seem happy with me.

“Because I do things MY way.” I explained, sticking my tongue out at her, even though I knew she couldn’t see me.

“Runway 1-3” she said with a heavy sigh. I snickered because I could just see the poor old hag slamming her face on her desk and asking Why me?.

“Roger.” I said with a smile and dropped my landing gear. I lined my plane up with the white markers on the drab, grey asphalt. The really need to use brighter colors. I thought to myself. I took the plane done lower and lower. I slowed down and with a thud, a jolt, and a poof of black smoke, I was on the ground again. I was pushed forward by the force of the plane decelerating. I felt pressure across my chest as the safety belt kept me from being thrown into the controls.

After a few seconds, the plane came to a complete stop. I looked out over the grey tarmac at the other planes coming and going. I saw my wing stallion taxiing towards a hanger. My plane had just been hooked up to a tractor like thing and was pulled into my hanger. It was dark and smelled funny. The only light came from a few dim bulbs and the air vents that were supposed to keep the building cool. That didn’t work very well; it was always hot in this blasted place.

Several ponies came running towards the place with all sorts of black and grey hoses. They were all dressed in grey uniforms with grey caps. The caps had the imperial crest on them, Empress Celestia’s cutie mark in gold over a red shield. Their shoulders had their assigned unit and job on a white patch with black print. Rarity called them fashion disasters but the Empress only let her design dress uniforms for the military.

A ladder was pushed towards my cockpit so that I could climb out. As if I needed it. I pressed my hooves against the canopy and slid it backwards; I unfastened my safety belt, took off my oxygen mask and helmet with a click, and rocketed out of the plane up to the ceiling of the hanger under my own power. It felt great to stretch my wings after being cramped in that plane for two hours.

“Good afternoon Captain.” sounded the thick, Cottish voice of the ground crew chief from below. His name was Sergeant Grey Clover. He was an earth pony stallion and was smaller than most, about the size of the average mare, but he was tough as nails. His mane was short, spiky, and a dark green and his coat was steel gray. I looked down to see him smiling warmly at me, a brown clipboard in his hoof. He tilted his cap at me. “Uneventful flight?” he asked, still grinning at me. I think he had a crush on me but I wasn’t completely sure.

“Hey guys” he said with a wave of my hoof to the ground crew as they scurried around and refueled and disarmed my plane. “Unfortunately it was uneventful; I want to see some action!” I said pouting, floating in midair like I was sitting in a chair. I was really bored with these patrols, I want to shoot down some enemy planes, become an ace, prove

“You’ll get er soon enough lassie.” he chuckled and went back to supervising the other ponies “If ya scratch even one part of this plane I’ll make ya paint the whole ting over again!” he barked at two of the six ponies working on my plane. They were having trouble with the fuel hoses; they couldn’t seem to connect them in the right way. They nearly jumped out of their skins and started working like crazy to try and fuel my baby up. I couldn’t help but laugh, it was priceless, absolutely priceless. If only they could have seen the looks on their faces.

“Rainbow Dash!” growled a voice that caused ME to jump to attention. I was so surprised that I darted up like a bullet and smashed my head against the ceiling. That was painful! I gritted me teeth and heard the crunch of my skull against metal. I almost blacked out for a second and ended up falling down to the floor with a thud. I was now sore from head to hoof. I sat upright and rubbed my aching head and felt a rather large knot where I had made contact with the reinforced ceiling. My vision was blurry and I could have sworn that I saw stars floating around my head.

A loud snap near my rear legs brought me back to earth. I looked up and smiled sheepishly at the pony before me. The mare had a scowl on her face fierce enough to make a dragon run in terror. Her emerald eyes seemed to pierce my soul. She had a grey and green mane and a solid grey body, like ash.

“Hehe, hello Commander Clover.” I chuckled nervously with a huge nervous smile on my face.

“Can it!” she ordered. She was never in a good mood but this time she was seriously pissed at me. “You interrupted a training exercise and nearly damaged your bird. Do you have any idea how much that thing costs?!” she roared. My ground crew had since run for cover leaving me to face this monster alone. Typical. But she insulted my skills as a pilot and I wouldn’t let her get away with that, no matter what rank she was.

“Hey!” I shouted, getting up and leaning against the nose of my plane. “I would never do anything to damage Loyalty!” I felt the anger rising in me. Who did this punk think she was telling me how to fly my plane? She wasn’t even a pilot!

She raised an eyebrow at me, still glaring at me. “Loyalty?” she asked with a sneer.

“Yeah, Loyalty” I spat. “That’s what I named her.” I turned and looked at the decal of my cutie mark that my head was next to; one of two on either side of the nose.

Commander Clover rolled her eyes and snarled. “Just don’t do it again or I’ll put you UNDER the runway, got it?” she threatened. But I was an element; she couldn’t AFFORD to lose me.

“And take this.” She said, tossing me an envelope. It had Twilight’s seal on it, her cutie mark in red ink. I caught it in my teeth and used my teeth to tear it open. A large piece of paper with the words “Top Secret” written across the top fluttered out of it and onto the ground in front of me. I was shocked and disappointed upon reading it.

“What?” I said aloud. “The navy?”

END Chapter 2