//------------------------------// // Fading Light // Story: In the Shadow of the Moon // by DefiantPosition //------------------------------// It was cold, it was boring, they couldn't help Equestria, it was boring, she couldn't practice stunts, she couldn't prank anypony, it was boring, the Wonderbolts probably didn't exist anymore and lastly and most importantly, it was boring. Rainbow Dash was angrily stomping around. For almost a year now they have been sitting in this cave with Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Shining Armor, Cadence and Flurry Heart. According to Twilight it was so that one day they could return and set up a resistance against Nightmare Moon. But to Rainbow Dash it just seemed like waiting and doing nothing, which were the two things she hated the most, yes she did took a lot of naps but naps were actually useful, saving energy for when you really needed it. This however was just waiting for something that deep down everypony here knew was never going to happen. The last couple of days have been particularly bad for Rainbow Dash because the increase in aerial reconnaissance meant that she couldn't leave the cave at all. The cave itself wasn't so bad, everypony present helped to turn it into something that resembled a home. Twilight, Cadence and Shining used their magic to build furniture while Fluttershy, Applejack, Spike and herself went looking for food and water, Pinkie just sat down and looked in front of her, having lost the will to do anything. Rainbow Dash eventually had enough from pacing back and forth and decided to sit down. She missed Scootaloo, they may not have been biologically related but Rainbow Dash saw and treated Scootaloo like a little sister. It didn't hurt that Scootaloo absolutely adored her. Rainbow Dash hoped that Scootaloo and Applebloom were doing alright. When Celestia send them to the Crystal Empire everypony agreed that it would be safer for their sisters to remain in Ponyville. They didn't want to endanger them by bringing them along to fight a war. Applejack had continued working on the farm during the war, so to suddenly have to say goodbye was hard for her, family has always been the most important thing in the Apple family, so leaving them behind to continue the war was hard but in the end Granny Smith, Big Mac and Apple Bloom understood that it was necessary for Applejack to leave and that defeating Nightmare Moon was more important than family. The irony didn't escape Rainbow Dash, they had left to continue the war but the only thing that changed was that they had lost even more and were further away from defeating Nightmare Moon than when they left. She would never admit it but a small part of Rainbow Dash even missed Rarity. She was fun to have around even though they didn't have a lot of things in common, but that was what made it fun, they would constantly learn new things about each other and in general. Rarity also would have made sure that the cave that they occupied felt like an actual home instead of the prison that it currently felt like. But Rarity wasn't here, instead she sided with Nightmare Moon. The blue pegasus was shaking her head. How could Rarity betray them, they have been friends since they were fillies, even when Rarity opened her boutique in Canterlot she chose to remain with her friends in Ponyville. They fought together against Equestria's enemies, from Chrysalis and the changelings to Tirek, yet when Nightmare Moon returned Rarity sided with her instead of her friends. The worst part was that Rarity didn't seem to have been brainwashed or that she went crazy. For some reason Rarity had willingly chosen to join Equestria's enemies. Tears started to form in Rainbow Dash's eyes. She should have joined Rarity in helping Luna. That way she could have convinced Rarity not to listen to Nightmare Moon and continue the fight for friendship and harmony. Although looking at where they are now, maybe Rarity was right all along. Here they were, trying to continue a war that everypony involved in knew that they had lost. Nightmare Moon had won and Equestria was no more, replaced by the Lunar Empire. The rainbow maned pegasus was getting more and more tired of this war, the death and destruction that it brought upon it's citizens and the families that it had torn apart. As chief of the equestrian air force she saw firsthoof the devastating effects of the war and how Equestria was torn apart by the Lunar Empire. Maybe it was time to throw in the towel. It was difficult for Rainbow Dash, she was the element of loyalty, everypony looked at her for moral support, she was the tower of strength of all those who opposed Nightmare Moon. Soldiers adored her and posters depicting her lined the walls of barracks urging the occupants to be loyal like her. And yet she had more and more trouble staying loyal herself. Rainbow Dash found herself being wrapped in something warm. She looked up from the grey ground that she had been looking at straight into Fluttershy's kind eyes, she had wrapped one of her wings around Rainbow Dash. She couldn't help but smile, Fluttershy was just so kind and innocent. Miraculously she seemed to be mostly unaffected by the war even though she had seen her fair share of death and destruction working as a nurse. "What is wrong Dashie?" Fluttershy asked, her voice not much louder than a whisper. "I don't know for how long I can just sit here and do nothing." "Don't worry I am sure that Twilight and Cadence will come up with a plan soon and then everything will be alright." Hearing those words coming from Fluttershy was enough for Rainbow Dash to restore her faith in the future. Meanwhile Twilight Sparkle was sitting in the entrance of the cave looking at the aircraft flying overhead while making sure to remain in the shadows. It surprised her that Nightmare Moon was following the same day-night cycle as Celestia had, but maybe and hopefully Nightmare Moon had realised that an eternal darkness wouldn't be sustainable. Twilight's face contorted into a deep frown. She noticed that the amount of aircraft patrolling the Crystal mountains had increased tremendously. This could only mean one thing, that Nightmare Moon and Rarity were looking for them. The purple alicorn still hadn't gotten over Rarity's betrayal, she was the princess of friendship for Celestia's sake! How could she not have foreseen this. She had been friends with Rarity for years and she was the most generous pony she thought she knew everything there was about the fashionista, turned out she knew nothing. All those fun times she had with Rarity like the time she and Applejack came over for a sleepover meant nothing, it was never real to Rarity. How else could she abandon all her friends so easily. What she did knew was that Rarity and Nightmare Moon were reshaping Equestria in their twisted image, the magic of friendship gone. And she was powerless to stop it. When the Crystal Empire fell they had fled into the mountains hoping to continue their resistance but slowly everypony was losing hope. Except Pinkie Pie who seemed to have lost all care for what happened to Equestria, her friends or even herself. It could be reasonably said that Pinkie Pie suffered more than any other pony, wanting to spread joy to others in a world where ponies only cried. It didn't take long for her mane to deflate and her smile to turn into a permanent frown. She ate and drank but other than that she just mindlessly looked in from of her, sometimes it was even difficult to tell if she was even alive. Pinkie Pie had even enlisted into the army, fighting Nightmare Moon's forces in the fields. This only worsened her state and when Celestia send them north, Pinkie was a broken mare, a mere shadow of her former self. Twilight meanwhile spend the war as head of a magical weapons research commission. This was mostly a ceremonial function, as a princess she had to appear to be involved in the war but Celestia didn't want her to be in any danger either. The sun princess also wanted to keep Pinkie Pie away from the war and even had her placed under house arrest, but when she escaped her guards for the eleventh time it was clear that nopony could stop her. The princess of friendship looked at her oldest friend, Spike, though she saw him more as her child sometimes than as a friend. She wanted to give him a bright future, not one under Nightmare Moon's darkness. Twilight couldn't and wouldn't give up, she and her friends had saved Equestria in the past and they could do it again this time, even Nightmare Moon had been defeated before. The future of everypony in Equestria depended on their success, even her mentor Celestia couldn't stand against Nightmare Moon's might. If they failed now after successfully escaping Nightmare Moon's clutches then all the sacrifices that were made would have been in vain. Twilight Sparkle would die before she let that happen.