Stars Whirl and Rarity are sitting in Selenites command post in the Everfree forest. The atmosphere is very tense, an hour ago they learned of Starry Glory's intention to stage a coup to take control of the Night Guard. Stars Whirl and Rarity are mobilising their respective forces and trying to convince others to join their cause or at least not support Starry Glory.
Rarity is frantically yelling into a radio. "Field Marshall Damiyan I don't care about the rules! You will march Army Group C south towards the Lunar Castle and you will secure it. If anyone tries to stop you shoot them, do I make myself clear!"
She turns to Stars Whirl. "Ok this is what I got. I can remove one of my army groups along the Stalliongrad border and have it support us. It is two hundred thousand strong but it will take at least seven days before they get here and that is if they don't encounter any resistance along the way. Second Tank Army can reach the Lunar Castle in four days. The Crystal Air Force can provide immediate support. I have three strategic bomber squadrons and 4 tactical bomber squadrons ready to strike against Starry Glory forces near the Lunar Castle."
while this news manages to somewhat brighten Stars Whirl's mood she is still very much concerned about the current situation.
"That is great Rarity but while my three motorised divisions can be here in five days the rest of the Disciples of the Night will take around eight days. That means that for the first couple of days we only have Selenite's tank division in the area. Considering that the Night Guard consists exclusively of batponies they will most likely fully join Starry Glory, which means that he will have around twenty thousand soldiers. And that doesn't even take into account other units that might join his cause."
Rarity notices that Stars Whirl is nervous about the situation. "That may be but we still have to try. We both know what Starry will do if he wins, we are all that stand between him and killing every pony he can get his hoof's on."
Stars Whirl smiles. Rarity is right, Starry Glory needs to be stopped no matter the situation.
Meanwhile Starry Glory is inside the Lunar Castle speaking to, Colonel Speck from the Night Guard.
"This is the plan. I have scheduled a second meeting of the counsel in the main conference room, during this meeting I will propose a new plan calling for the arrest of ponies in the area's surrounding the Lunar Castle, that may become threats in the future. This of course will be unacceptable for Rarity and Stars Whirl and they will vote against it. Then we will have our proof that they are not fulfilling the task given to them by Nightmare Moon and have therefore committed treason. You will have your guards nearby so that when I give the signal you will move in and arrest them."
Starry Glory takes a deep breath. This is the most difficult part of his plan.
"When you have arrested them you will take them to the Everfree forest where you will kill them. We will say that they tried to run away. While this is going on you will also secure the rest of the Lunar Castle and place all ministers under arrest. Forces loyal to Rarity and Stars Whirl will undoubtably try to launch a counterattack to retake the castle and we can't have member of the old cabinet running around the place wrecking havoc. Remember we must remove all pony influences to secure our future. In the meantime I will go to Nightmare Moon and inform her of our operation and I will announce the formation of my new cabinet."
"Yes sir, I understand. What forces will we have available?" Speck asks.
"We will have your regiment, but the rest of the Night Guard will surely side with us, and the commander Canterlot Airbase has pledged his loyalty to our cause, he has five fighter squadrons and one close air support squadron. But once I announce my new cabinet batponies from across the empire will rise up and join our cause."
After he is finished, Starry Glory has one of the guards inform Rarity and Stars Whirl of the new meeting before strolling towards the conference room himself.
Stars Whirl and Rarity are still inside Selenites command post when Starry's messenger arrives. When the messenger leaves again Stars Whirl turns to Rarity.
"Looks like this is it. I doubt this will be an ordinary meeting. Is everypony ready?'
"Don't worry I have your backs covered." Selenite answers.
Rarity simply nods yes.
After saying goodbye to Selenite Stars Whirl and Rarity make their way to the Lunar Castle. It takes them about a one hour hike to reach their destination. Stars Whirl's suspicions are almost immediately confirmed by the fact that there is a lot more security present both inside as well as outside the castle.
The door to the conference room is guarded by two soldiers. Rarity and Stars Whirl walk inside where Starry Glory is waiting for them.
"My apologies for the inconvenience but I have a proposal that we need to discuss." He says while looking like a cat ready to pounce on a small bird.
Stars Whirl narrows her eyes at Starry Glory, she doesn't like this but there is no turning back now.
"Lets just get this over with."
Rarity and Stars Whirl sit down. Starry stands up and takes one final look at the door behind which his guards stand before speaking.
"I want to propose a new directive called Directive 07."
The irony of that number is not lost on Rarity and Stars Whirl. 1007 was the year that Luna turned into Nightmare Moon and the civil war began.
"The directive goes as follows. The capital continues to be under threat by ponies loyal to Celestia and the ideology of harmony. Because it is impossible to govern our country without our capital being secure, this threat must be stopped. To achieve this the Night Guard will detain and resettle all pony inhabitants within a one hundred mile radius of the Lunar Castle. These ponies shall be resettled in camps until their allegiances can be ascertained. So what is the counsels decision?"
This is not a difficult question for Rarity and Stars Whirl and they resolutely say no. This is the moment Starry Glory has waited for, het gets up from his seat and looks at the door.
"Then for sabotaging the Night Guard and committing treason against Nightmare Moon and the Lunar Empire I place you under arrest!"
The doors burst open and several armed soldiers storm inside. Rarity and Stars Whirl surrender immediately, they realise that trying to resist is useless, everything depends on Selenite now. The soldiers attach restraining rings on their horns and they are escorted out of the room. As they walk through the castle Rarity notices that they are not the only ones being arrested. There are ponies being locked up in rooms everywhere.
Unlike the other prisoners the two unicorns are being taken outside. Rarity asks where they are being taken but the soldiers refuse to answer. Stars Whirl doesn't need to ask, she already knows what is about to happen to them. They are going to be murdered. The only thing she wonders is wether or not she should tell Rarity the truth. Should she take away her last hope? She decides not to tell Rarity.
As this is happening Starry Glory is making his way to Nightmare Moon. He finds her in front of her office yelling at a soldier.
"What do you mean you don't know! You have ten seconds to explain yourself!"
Before Nightmare Moon has a chance to harm the soldier Starry Glory gets between them.
"Allow me to explain your highness." he says while leading Nightmare Moon back into her office.
Nightmare Moon is fuming with soo much anger she wonders if she isn't secretly Daybreaker. She is just sitting in her office ruling the Lunar Empire and suddenly she hears yelling and creatures being arrested and no-one is telling her anything. If Starry Glory doesn't give her a satisfactory answers she might just throw him out of the window.
"My queen, a group of ponies led Rarity and Stars Whirl have committed treason against you and all of batpony kind. In order to protect you and further our cause I have ordered to Night Guard to arrest these traitors. Instead of surrendering, Rarity and Stars Whirl decided to resist and they where killed during the fighting that broke out."
The news hits Nightmare Moon like a bullet. Her best and only friend is dead? She narrows her eyes at Starry and speaks without even trying to hide her anger.
"What do you mean they committed treason?"
This is not the reaction Starry Glory anticipated. He knew Rarity was close to Nightmare Moon but surely she knew the danger posed to their plans.
He nervously shuffles his hooves before answering.
"Well... They kept sabotaging our plans to improve the condition of the batponies in the empire. And when they forced you to create this counsel for the Night Guard I knew something needed to be done to guarantee the security of the Lunar Empire, so I decided to act."
A single tear escapes Nightmare Moon's eye as she thinks about Rarity's bullet ridden corpse laying somewhere like a piece of trash. Worst of all the reason she is dead is because this no-good buffoon thought it was in her best interest. She stands up and spreads her wings to their fullest, towering over Starry Glory.
"I created the counsel because I wanted you to work together!" Nightmare Moon yells using the full force of the royal canter lot voice.
"And don't you dear tell me it was to further our cause because it was Rarity who stood with me from day one. I kept you around because you said you knew what the batponies wanted and needed. I put my faith in you because you helped me create the Lunar Empire. But if this is how you repay my trust then I am not sure if you are worth keeping around."
Starry Glory gulps. This is not going according to plan
"b-b-b-but they committed treason. I was only doing what I thought you wanted."
He immediately regrets saying that as Nightmare Moon moves the tip of her horn dangerously close to his face, a light blue glow emitting from it.
"The only thing I ever wanted was to build a better world and to be among friends. Since YOU made the last thing impossible here is what is going to happen. You are going to take me to Rarity's corpse and then I will decide how important you are to the Lunar Empire's future and adjust your fate accordingly."
Starry Glory freezes under Nightmare Moon's fierce gaze. He knows he has no other option than to do what she says.
"y-y-y-y-yes m-m-m-my q-queen, follow me" he stammers before quickly moving away towards the door with Nightmare Moon right behind him.