Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn. The younger, brought out the moon to begin the night.
Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their Kingdom and their subjects, all for different types of ponies…
One day, they all disappeared WITHOUT A TRACE!!!!!!!!!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
CRASH!!
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War was raging in Equestria. It had come without warning. The Solar Empire had decided that enough was enough with the rebellious New Lunar Republic and only a large scale conflict could determine the legitimate nation.
7 years ago, before the war, the Changeling Kingdom was acquired as a territory of the Royal Kingdom of Equestria by Princess Celestia. This officially marked the beginning of the Solar Empire. Princess Luna, Celestia’s sister, did not approve of the annexation as the two of them did not discuss the pros and cons before Celestia made her move. Luna did not believe in acquiring territories. She believed that all nations deserved the right to govern themselves and not be dominated by a foreign power.
Nonetheless, Luna did not want to pick a fight with her sister about it as doing so would upset the balance and cause major unrest in the land. So, she went along with it and actually found it quite profitable for the both of them. The two sisters fed off the changelings’ natural resources and they were forced to pay heavy taxes to the two sisters. Luna was fine with her sister’s methods until she payed a visit to the Changeling Kingdom where she found that the endless taxes and loss of natural resources were negatively impacting the changelings’ way of life. King Thorax, who was allowed to remain on the changeling throne as puppet ruler, explained to Luna that because of the taxation, unemployment and homelessness had increased, as well as rising dissatisfaction within the populace, who wished to return to the days of self-government.
Shortly after the visit, Luna confronted Celestia and found out from her that while she was away on the visit, Celestia has started devoting the Empire to the making of weapons and the building of walls, as well as creating laws mandating a species hierarchy in which wealthy, elite unicorn ponies were the master race and all other pony races, as well as non-ponies were inferior. Luna was not happy about this and resentment towards her sister grew until the final straw broke the bond between them when Celestia officially legalized slavery and the sending of non-ponies and creatures to concentration camps and/or plantations.
Following that, Luna dissolved all ties to her sister and with the help of a dissatisfied group of ponies known as the Eclipse, split off from the Empire and proclaimed the New Lunar Republic, a democratic republic that prioritized racial and species equality as well as the right to self-government and the right to life, liberty, and property. Luna was elected unanimously as the first President and she drafted the Declaration of Secession and Rebellion, a document that declared the Republic’s independence from the imperial monarchy. Celestia, now the self-declared Empress of the Empire, tolerated the Republic up until she discovered that a concentration camp had been liberated by the Republic. Celestia then decided that enough was enough and declared war on the Republic with Luna retaliating with a mutual declaration of war.
For a full 7 years, the Equestrian Civil War had torn apart the lives of ponies, whose friendships and relationships were shattered due to allegiances. Husbands and wives were separated as the stallions were drafted into either the Solar Imperial Army or the Lunar Republican Army, which was mostly comprised of Luna’s elite force of batponies known as the Night Guard. While the New Lunar Republic was more industrially and technologically advanced, the Solar Empire was stronger in numbers and in fighting tactics. Now, the Republic was engaged in a siege of Canterlot. The Lunar Republican Army’s ground invasion had broken into the city and airships were flying overhead. Captain Celeano and her pirate bird crew were handling the bombing and aerial strikes from their pirate airship, that had the rainbow sails on the sides shaped like bird wings, as the Solar Imperials were pushed back.
Leading the assault was a batpony stallion known respectably as General Hawk Nightwing of the First Legion and known familiarly as Hawk. He had been drafted into the army 6 years ago and had risen up in rank to become the highest level of general. He was commanding the ground forces to continue the attack. His military comrades shot blaster bolts at the Imperial Guards who fell dead to the floor.
“Leave not one murdering Imperial standing!” Hawk shouted orders to his comrades, “Take no prisoners, kill them all! The sooner we march on the palace, the sooner we can extract Celestia’s weapon!” They saluted him and continued the attack. A pegasus Imperial Guard stallion attempted to shoot him from behind, but Hawk sensed it and whirled around, using his spear to deflect the bullet at the Imperial, who fell dead at his hooves.
The tanks were rolling in. His close friend, Lieutenant General Owl, was leading the tank assault. The reason why the Republic was besieging Canterlot was because Princess Luna had heard rumors from Imperial defectors that the Empire had a secret weapon to end the war with in their favor. She had no idea what the weapon even was, but she immediately ordered an attack on Canterlot to find the weapon and take it back to the Republic capital of Cantropolis, which was a city modeled exactly like Canterlot and an industrial center where the Lunar Court Senate, the legislature of the Republic, was stationed in the city square.
Finally, after fighting their way through and dealing with some unfortunate civilian casualties, Hawk and the First Legion reached the Imperial Palace where they shot a cannonball from the commanding tank that blew the doors right open.
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Within the slave barracks located in the Imperial Palace, a young light pink hippogriff slave named Silverstream was cleaning the bathrooms as ordered by her owner, Empress Celestia. She was getting the Clorox out of the cupboards when all of a sudden, a massive explosion shook the entire palace and knocked her off her claws. Silver was scared. The siege had been going on for about 4 days and the Republic was getting close.
She was only 5 years old when the war started and she was abducted from her home of Seaquestria and Mount Aris, ruled by the brave and majestic leader called Queen Novo. Imperial forces had somehow managed to invade Seaquestria and the leader of the invasion, General Swordpoint, had promised Novo that the troops would withdraw if she would sell her daughter Princess Skystar to the Empire. Novo had refused, but offered to sell out her niece (Silverstream) instead. This was partly because Swordpoint had tempted Novo with the promises of owning a portion of the Crystal Empire land. So Silverstream was taken away despite the best efforts of her family to stop the sellout.
Now, 7 years later and at the age of 12, Silver still remembered the day she was taken. It would remain in her mind forever. Her own aunt had sold her out. Now she had been beaten and tortured ever since she had first become Empress Celestia’s slave. She missed her home and wanted to see her family again. She wanted to know what it was like to be loved again.
A guard came into the bathrooms, interrupting her thoughts. She looked at him and he looked at her back. He gave her a condescending stare and said, “You better have cleaned my stall, slave, or I’ll report to the Empress that you are not doing your job.”
Silverstream nodded, “I understand. I…think I cleaned it…”
“You think?!” The guard demanded, “You THINK?!” He went up to her and kicked her with his right hoof. She cried out in pain, whimpering, “Well you better be sure you did, you incompetent little brat!”
He went into the stall and Silverstream sighed. She went out of the bathrooms and towards the throne room where she saw Empress Celestia talking with General Shining Armor.
“The rebels have entered the castle,” Shining Armor told Celestia, “They’re on their way here right now. They want the slave!”
“What use could Silverstream possibly offer to their cause?” Empress Celestia scoffed, “She’s literally worth nothing.”
“They think that she’s your secret weapon,” Shining Armor explained, “They know of your plans.”
Empress Celestia shook her head, “No, General. They don’t. If they did, they wouldn’t launch this fool’s errand. They’re right to suspect that Silverstream has a role to play as she is what keeps Novo and the hippogriffs from acting against me. As long as I have her here, they can’t do anything as I can kill her in an instant. And then…” Celestia’s smile grew wide, “Her blood will be on Novo’s claws. What an unfortunate burden to live with.” She fixed Shining with a hard stare, “By the way…go fetch Silverstream and bring her here.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.” Shining Armor saluted her and went to fetch Silver. Seeing him come, Silverstream ducked and slowly crept to her bedroom when Shining caught her. He brought her over to Celestia.
Trembling, Silverstream bowed to her mistress.
“Sneaking away again?” Empress Celestia shook her head, “You undesirable races never learn.” She stood up, grabbed a rope from a table beside the throne, and whipped Silver with it.
She cried out in pain and begged for forgiveness. Celestia laughed heartily, “Get over it. I would’ve thought you’d be used to it by now. You disappoint me, slave.”
“Please, Mistress…” Silverstream pleaded, “Please don’t whip me again…”
“Then polish my right hoof. I’ve been outside earlier before the siege and it’s filthy. CLEAN IT!!” Celestia ordered her.
“Yes ma’am…” Silverstream obeyed and began polishing it with a wet wipe she had gotten from the bathrooms.
All of a sudden, there was another explosion that knocked Silverstream off her claws. The double doors burst open and a group of batponies stormed in.
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Hawk stared at the light pink hippogriff in front of Celestia condescendingly. He glared at Owl, “This is the weapon?! A slave?! Luna must be losing her mind. She can’t possibly provide any use to us.”
Owl shrugged, “Luna’s our superior. We gotta follow her orders.”
“Then follow her orders we shall,” Hawk replied, “Against my better judgement that is. Go! Grab her!”
The young hippogriff tried to run, a look of terror on her face. Celestia’s horn lit up yellow, “THAT’S MY SLAVE!! SILVERSTREAM’S MINE!! YOU WILL NOT TAKE HER FROM ME!!!”
“In the name of the Lunar Court Senate of the Republic,” Hawk stated, “You are under arrest, Celestia, for crimes against the natural rights of the citizens and the oppression of your subjects.”
“You’ll have to catch me first.” Celestia goaded them.
A big fight ensued in which all the guards charged at Celestia, who instantly pushed them back with her magic. Owl managed to grab Silverstream, who made no attempt to resist him.
Hawk was surprised by Silverstream’s lack of resistance, but he had no time to dwell on it. Celestia charged at him and he instantly ordered a retreat. Hawk and Owl, along with the other batponies, took out a circular device and pressed a red button that caused them all, including Silverstream, to teleport.