After a short pause, Starry Glory and Nightmare Moon resume their search. The batpony isn't paying any attention to his surroundings anymore, he is completely lost in his own thoughts, trying to figure out a way to salvage the current situation. Maybe Nightmare Moon will calm down when this is all over, but then again can he really trust on that happening? It worries him deeply, the future of all batponies rest on his shoulders, if he dies then the batponies will be forever lost. He must find a way.
Starry Glory thinks back to his youth. He was only a young foal when he learned that ponies couldn't be trusted and that batponies needed to fight for their freedom. He grew up in a small apartment in Manehattan with his mother and father, they didn't have much but they did love each other very much and that was all they needed. That was until the owner of the apartment suddenly doubled the rent and Starry's father was forced to work double shifts at the shipyard and his mother had to get a full-time job in a textile factory.
Even he himself needed to quit his school and polish shoes to help his family survive. But even that wasn't enough and soon the owner of their apartment had them evicted in favour of a wealthier unicorn family. Starry's parents would die soon after, all the stress and hardship finally taking their toll on them, and Starry Glory was left behind completely on his own.
He remembers reading the newspapers that where left around the gutter where he was living then, talking about all the wonderful things Celestia had done and was doing for Equestria. Yet he never saw any of those things. He continued working as a shoe polisher and slowly but surely he started climbing up, even tho Equestria and ponykind did everything they could to stop him. His wages would be lower than his colleagues, most of the time when he applied for a job he wouldn't even be invited inside and would be instantly send away. He couldn't even buy a proper house.
That is when he decided to become a political activist. To make sure that no batpony would have to suffer the way he did and to make sure that those responsible for these horrible actions would get the punishment they deserve. He started by just painting slogans on walls, denouncing Celestia's rule and the treatment of batponies. But after a couple of years of doing that, attending meetings with other likeminded and writing flyers for their movement, he eventually became a columnist of a small newspaper in the southern parts of Equestria.
His involvement with this newspaper was cut short tho when he was arrested for speaking the truth about Celestia and her band of thugs. A murderer they called him. Can you imagine that!? the ponies responsible for the death of his parents called him a murderer! The only thing he did was stating facts and offering a solution.
During his prison sentence he came to realise that no amount of talking and pleading would ease the suffering of the batponies. No, hard actions needed to be taken. Some time after gaining his freedom again, Starry Glory found a newspaper mentioning how Celestia appointed Luna to solve the batpony problem. Starry realised that if he could convince Luna to join his cause then he would finally be able to avenge his parents and give the batponies their rightful place in Equestria. So he took the earliest train to Canterlot.
Starry Glory's blood begins to boil, thinking back to his awful youth. But that was then, he has more important issues in the here and now. The Lunar Empire has to be saved no matter what the cost or all of his work will have been in vain. He is so lost in his thoughts that he doesn't notice that Nightmare Moon has stopped moving until he almost bumps into her.
In front of them lies a death batpony wearing Night Guard uniforms in front of a hole in the ground. Starry notices that his rifles is still lying besides him. A cold realisation embraces every fibre of his being as an idea forms in his head. As silently as he can manage he slowly picks up the rifle and checks if it is loaded, which it is. No one would know that it was him, he can just say that it where Celestia loyalists or supporters of Rarity and Stars Whirl.
Slowly Starry aims the rifle at Nightmare Moon who is still standing in front of him, completely unaware of the batpony's intention. One pull of the trigger and all of Starry Glory's problems will be gone. He already has broad support from all branches of the government for his coup against Rarity and Stars Whirl, and all of the pony members are currently under arrest. So there is no reason why he couldn't take control of the entire government.
But before Starry Glory can do anything the sounds of gunfire fills the air. Nightmare Moon instantly puts up a powerful shield around herself but Starry who lacks any combat experience can only think of one thing, running away, which he promptly does, leaving his queen to fend for herself.
Nightmare Moon sees Starry Glory running away in the corner of her eyes. After he leaves her line of sight the gunfire quickly dies down. Nightmare Moon carefully scans her surroundings, prepared to blast anyone who dares to show their face. She had fought many battles and defeated many opponents but nothing she had experienced would have prepared her for what emerged in front of her from the bushes.
"Rarity!?"
The black alicorn is completely speechless as her white unicorn friend walks towards her, followed closely by her companion Stars Whirl and another batpony who she doesn't recognise.
"I-I-I-t-t-thought that you where dead." Nightmare Moon manages to stammer out.
Rarity steps forward and embraces Nightmare Moon in a hug.
"We almost would have if we not gotten the help that we did."
A couple of hours ago
Rarity and Stars Whirl are walking through the forest with their two guards right behind them, guns pointed at their backs. Stars Whirl is hastily thinking about an escape plan but the situation is not looking good, she can't use her magic because of the restraining ring and if she tries anything the guards will just shoot her in the back. She needs some kind of distraction.
Rarity meanwhile is simply thinking about everyone who relies on their protection against Starry Glory and how many of them will die because of their failure. The only answer she can come up with is, too many.
After several minutes of walking the two unicorns are ordered to stop. One of the guards throws two shovels on the ground. Stars Whirl and Rarity both know what this means and grab the shovels and begin to dig. It takes all of Rarity's strength to stop herself from breaking out in tears and begging to guards to show mercy, if she is going to die she can at least die like a lady, with dignity.
Stars Whirl doesn't have such problems, as a soldier she always knew that dying was a distinct probability and had made peace with that a long time ago. The only thing that bothers her is that she will be executed like a criminal instead of dying in on the battlefield like a soldier. Still she can't help but looking at her surroundings for something that can help her escape. One of the guards is standing close enough for her to hit him with her shovel but then the other guard will just shoot them.
Then when all hope seems lost they suddenly hear a female voice shout.
"Drop your weapons!"
Immediately the guards ignore the order and begin to shoot in the direction of the voice. Stars Whirl doesn't need to think twice and hits the guard closest to hear with hear shovel, knocking him out instantly. The other guard tries to run away but is shot in the back by an unknown shooter.
"I told you I got your backs." Selenite says as she emerges out of the woods followed by a dozen or so soldiers.
"You sure like taking fashionably late to a whole new level don't you?" Stars Whirl teases.
Selenite quickly removes their restraining rings and the knocked out guard is tied up and taken away.
The trio decide to use Selenite's division to surround the Lunar Castle instead of immediately storming it. If they want to avoid Starry Glory panicking and ordering the killing of all his prisoners. But when they reach the castle they see Nightmare Moon and Starry Glory entering the forest. Rarity immediately begins to follow them and urges the rest to follow her.
Present
"We wanted to just capture Starry Glory but when I saw him point his weapon at you, drastic actions needed to be taken." Rarity finishes her story.
Nightmare Moon only partly payed attention to Rarity's story, she is still overjoyed with her friends survival. However this joy is steadily making place for anger and hatred directed at the coward responsible. The reunion between Nightmare Moon and Rarity is cut short by Stars Whirl
"I am all for happy reunions but right know we have slightly more important business to attend to."
On that everyone agrees and Nightmare Moon teleports everyone to the castle.
By this point all of Selenite's forces are in position around the castle. Nightmare Moon doesn't want to take any risks, if given the chance Starry Glory will surely order the execution of his prisoners and possibly her sister. Stars Whirl and Selenite decide that the best course of action is to have their tanks blast holes in the walls and then storm the castle from all directions.
Inside the foyer of the Lunar Castle Starry Glory is speaking towards a large crowd.
"We where cowardly ambushed by thugs loyal to Rarity and her criminal band of Celestia loyalists. Nightmare Moon bravely fought against the horde of pony ambushers but unfortunately there where just too many of them and she was shot in the back by one of them. With her dying breath she urged me to escape and to continue her work."
Before he can continue his speech there are several large explosions and one of the walls bursts open and dozens of Selenite's soldiers storm inside, the sounds of shouts filling the castle. Despite being ordered to defend the castle till the end, the guards decide that they are not willing to die for Starry Glory and surrender immediately.
Starry Glory is thrown on the ground, when he looks up his blood begins to boil, his Night Guard soldiers are surrendering without even firing a shot. Cowards! apparently he cannot even trust his own kind to do what is necessary. However when he looks at the front door his blood immediately turns to ice. In front of him are standing: Nightmare Moon, Rarity, Stars Whirl and Selenite. Especially the last one shocks him greatly, how can one of his own kind betray him? That the rest hates him he can understand but not another batpony.
He is engulfed in Nightmare Moon's magic and brought before his queen. Her gaze almost piercing through his soul.
"Did you really think you could betray me and my country and get away with it?"
"No one has ever become popular by doing right thing. No matter what you do to me, the truth will come out one day and you shall be cast aside like Celestia." Starry proudly states.
Selenite can't take it anymore, this maniac ruining the reputation of all batponies. Before she even knows it her hoof hits Starry right in the face.
"You are an absolute disgrace! You complain about all the prejudice against us, yet you make all those stereotypes come true. Because of the likes of you, ponies are afraid of us. But now with you out of the picture we can finally build a better nation than you ever would have, and we will do it together Because we are better than you think we are!"
Nightmare Moon smiles, at least now she won't have to waste her breath at this garbage filled meat sack. She simply hands Starry over to Selenite's soldiers, she will come up with a suitable punishment for him later. Right now she is just tired, both emotionally and physically, all the chaos of the last couple of days have really taken their toll on her. She says goodbye to her friends and heads off to bed, falling asleep immediately.