//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: For Queen and Country 
// by FoxMcCloud7921 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight Sparkle was just coming out of the shower when she saw her friend and roommate Moondancer sitting on the island in their kitchen eating a bagel while reading the today’s newspaper. “Wow, that came early today,” she said as a good morning as she went over to the fridge and got out some cereal and milk along with a bowl. “Anything good in there?”
“Oh you know…the same old same ‘alternative facts’,” Moondancer said as she kept her eyes toward the paper. Upon first glance, it looked as if she had just woken up but nowadays it was her usual look, not that she cared of course. 
Twilight managed to glance at one of the headlines on the front page that mentioned about the recent event of the Crystal Empire returning. “Hey, you mind if I look at that for a moment?”
“Go ahead,” Moondancer said, handing it over to her with her magic with a slightly disgusted look on her face. “Journalism really has gone downhill over the past few years.”
“Gosh Moony, I didn’t know you were into that,” Twilight joked slightly as she poured milk onto her cereal.
“I’m not, but come on, you can either say the media has become state-controlled or these journalists really want to lick Queen Moon’s shoes,” Moondancer replied. “Go ahead and read the top story.” Twilight looked down as she took a seat and started eating her cereal.




Crystal Empire Finally Annexed Into Lunar Republic


It has only been a year since the Crystal Empire’s return from its mysterious one thousand year disappearance, but the state has finally been annexed into Equestrian territory. A country that borders the northern country of Yakyakistan, the Crystal Empire was once under the control of the evil dictator King Sombra who enslaved and starved his own people.
Sombra had disappeared with the Empire itself as a last ditch effort to prevent his ultimate defeat by Queen Moon, formally Princess Luna. However, once the Empire did return, Sombra wasted no time in forming an army to conquer the lands of Equestria but the Republic Army had acted swiftly and with Her Majesty’s assistance, Sombra was defeated before war could even be declared. Following this, a temporary government had been set up until talks between the two countries could be reached, which just concluded last month. Needless to say, the crystal ponies have strong faith in Queen Moon as their new leader.



“Wow…you weren’t joking,” Twilight said, scrutinizing the paper. “First of all, they completely disregarded Princess Celestia’s help in that matter. It took both of them to defeat Sombra.”
“Of course it was disregarded,” Moondancer said with a mouthful of bagel before she swallowed. “They want everyone to forget what big part Celestia had in the last thousand years. They’re completely white-washing her.”
“Well, it’s not like we can do anything about it,” Twilight said, sighing slightly. “You helping tutor those foals at the school again today?”
“Yeah,” Moondancer said, smiling slightly. “They’ve come a long way and they’re really appreciative for the help. The one colt keeps trying to ask me out though.”
Twilight giggled. “And you keep turning him down?”
“He’s three years younger than me…”
“So?”
Moondancer snorted. “Like I have time for romance anyway…another day at the library?”
“Yep!” Twilight said brightly. Nothing started her day better than being surrounded by books.
“Hey, just be careful alright?” Moondancer said. “The Shadowbolts have really been active these past few weeks…”
“Oh you’re talking about the whole ‘Resistance’ thing,” Twilight said. “Don’t worry, I know better than to get in their way.” It was quiet for a moment while she finished her cereal. “So uh…what’s your opinion on them?”
“Who? Them?” Moondancer asked. “Do I look like the revolutionary type?”
“No, not really…” Twilight paused. “We probably shouldn’t be talking about this…don’t want anypony to get the wrong idea.”
“Seriously, you think our apartment is bugged?” Moondancer laughed. “Believe me, I don’t doubt they do that but I checked everywhere. We’re clean.”
“I sure hope so,” Twilight said as she got up and grabbed her bag. “I’ll be home around five. Maybe we can go to that new restaurant tonight for dinner.”
“Sure, sounds like fun,” Moondancer replied before Twilight left. Once the door closed, her eyes looked around the room and she got up as her horn glowed. “Can’t hurt to check one more time…”



Later in the day at a small café in Canterlot, a small group of ponies came one by one and sat at one of the large outside tables. There were six of them, all equal numbers of pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns. They each nodded to one another, their eye’s looking all over the area to make sure no one was listening in and no one was slinking around in the area. Thankfully they were the only ones outside at the moment.
“It’s safe,” one of the pegasi said.
One of the earth ponies nodded. “Very well. I don’t think I need to go into details as to why we are all here.” The others nodded in agreement. “It’s been almost three years, three years too long for us to act now. We should’ve recognized the red flags immediately.”
“Even if we were slow to react, it’s better than to do nothing,” a female pegasus said. “Unfortunately, most of the Council has folded into Nightmare Moon’s lap.” This group, as well as many others disgusted by the Queen’s rule, no longer wish to address her by her title but by who exactly she is. “Maybe it’s because they’re scared but they’re still ignoring the fact that this is no longer a monarchy but a dictatorship.”
“Unfortunately, her little cult of followers have become quite the problem, especially in Ponyville,” one of the unicorns said. “The town always used to be a melting pot of sorts, but if I were to go there, many ponies would look at me with a hint of suspicion. If things get worse, many of the residents might move to Cloudsdale or Appleloosa.”
“The Charter is in complete shambles,” the other pegasus, a male, added. “Nightmare Moon has completely ripped away all of the policies Princess Celestia had established years ago and is writing royal order after royal order. You saw what happened with the Crystal Empire. The media may say it was a liberation effort, but now she has more territory under her hooves. I’ve spoken to the ambassadors of Yakyakistan and Griffinstone and they’re both very concerned.”
It was quiet for a moment. The thought of a world war was terrifying but even worse, they couldn’t predict Nightmare Moon’s behavior. “Something’s changed in the last few months,” the first earth pony said. “Nightmare Moon has become more…paranoid for lack of a better word. She’s slowly becoming less forthcoming and she only seems to leave her palace only a few times a month.”
“It has to be the Resistance,” the second unicorn said. “I’ve heard that Moon is recruiting more and more members for the Shadowbolts due to them being stretched thin across Equestria, while the Resistance’s numbers continue to grow. Once they get enough resources, its only a matter of time before they strike.”
“So where does that leave us?” The group looked to the earth pony, the apparent leader of this group. “As council members, we have to abide by the law and while we condone the practices Nightmare Moon has taken, we can’t reduce ourselves to terrorist actions. We need to speak to our fellow members, gather as much support as we can and then we need to make it known to Equestria that we serve country first, not a queen.”
“Even if we got full support, what would that do?” the female pegasus said. “The queen could easily dissolve the Council and then we’d all have targets on our backs. I have a husband and daughter and I will not put them in danger.”
“Your concern is understandable,” the earth pony nodded. “And there is that chance that the Council will be dissolved, but once word gets out, it’ll only hurt the queen. And if that’s the case, perhaps our only hope of saving Equestria lies in the hooves of the Resistance.”



Rainbow Dash fidgeted slightly outside the doors to the throne room, something that wasn’t common with her. Considering she was the Captain of the Guard, she should’ve been expressing more confidence and her resume proved that. However, considering it was the Queen that wanted to speak with her, her confidence and ego had quickly left the castle.
Finally, she knocked three times on the door. It was only about a second before the voice inside said, “Enter.” Dash pushed open the door and walked inside patiently, trying to keep her nervousness hidden.
Nightmare Moon sat upon her throne, flanked by two members of the Lunar Guard. Dash tried to keep her attention but she noticed someone else was in the room. By the queen’s side was a pegasus with an orange mane and yellow body. She was currently wearing a navy blue uniform with matching tie. Finally, Dash made the connection: there stood Spitfire, Captain of the Shadowbolts and one of Dash’s former classmates in flight school.
“I’m glad you could finally join us, Captain Dash,” Nightmare Moon said as she got up to her feet. 
Dash bowed as soon as she stood before her queen. “You wanted to see me Your Majesty?” For a moment, she thought she heard her voice crack.
“Ah yes, Captain Spitfire and I were just discussing that,” Nightmare Moon said. “As you know, your resume and title speak for themselves and I must say you’ve performed your duty as captain without exception. However, while being Captain of the Guard is no small task, I feel as if your potential is being…wasted.”
Dash could only stare at the alicorn in confusion. “I’m sorry?”
“You’re a mare of action, to quote Captain Spitfire here,” Nightmare Moon continued. “Therefore, I spoke to her and we’ve both agreed that perhaps your talents belong elsewhere…such as with the Shadowbolts.”
If it had been anyone else, Dash would’ve quickly retorted with a simple “Are you serious?”. However, she knew the queen wasn’t one to joke very often. “I…I don’t know what to say.”
“If I may,” Spitfire suddenly spoke up. “Dash, we were in flight school together and between the two of us, it was very competitive, we both know that. The truth is, we need all the help we can get and you’d be most welcome among the ranks.”
Dash had to take a moment to process all of this. “So…if I do say yes, then am I giving up my title as Captain?”
“Not at all,” Nightmare Moon replied. “Consider it a temporary post, one you can choose to keep or if you’re not satisfied, you can always return to the Guard. As such, if you do say yes, you will keep your title as Captain and be working together with Spitfire.”
“The Resistance is growing,” Spitfire said, trying to ignore the look the queen made when she said the name. “And we’re being spread thin so again we need all the help we can get. What do you say Captain?”
At first, Dash felt like she was being demoted somehow (she wouldn’t have expressed that out loud of course), but now she was somewhat tempted. She had been cooped up in the castle for awhile and she really wanted to stretch her wings. “Alright,” she finally said. “I accept your offer.”
Spitfire grinned as she went up to Dash and the two shook hooves. “Welcome to the Shadowbolts Rainbow Dash.”