Late-evening guard duty was never Ironhide's favorite activity. Not enough light to see clearly, but more than enough to play tricks on his eyes. And of course, he got stuck on perimeter guard the one time there was some action happening! He should be on that raid, not guarding the castle in the middle of the night. Leave it to the bat-freaks, he wanted to say. Of course decorum wouldn't allow it, but sometimes those creeps really got on his nerves. Whatever Luna did to them, they were freaks of nature. Beneath him. Ironhide's mental racist rant was interrupted by the sight of a single black pegasus approaching the Castle. Probably some drunk. Better call it in.
"We got a bogey inbound, coming from the southwest," he called to a unicorn in the guard booth on the southern wall of the Royal Castle. Sure, he had wings himself, he could take care of the intruder if he felt like it. But today had not really been his day, and thinking about the lesser species put him in a disagreeable mood. His job was to spot; let somepony else deal with it this time. The unicorn used a basic telepathy spell to contact the pegasus barracks and relay the message.
"Bogey spotted to the southwest. Mobilize intercept team."
In the pegasus baracks, Royal Guards were playing poker until the telepathy spell broke their concentration. Each got the message individually, but there was a group groan, both at the mundanity of the report and the use of a telepathy spell. Having their minds invaded didn't sit well with many of them, nor did the migraine that was sure to follow. Firescout, the squad leader, looked around the table.
"Fleetwing, Mac, you take care of it this time."
The two placed their hands facedown on the table and trudged out the door. Fleetwing was a Wonderbolt reject trying to work his way up and try again, and Mac, who's real name was Mackintosh, joined the Guard to escape the family business selling raincoats. Needless to say, neither was very enthused about their job. Strapping on their helmets, they took off to meet the interloper. Ironhide watched them fly over his post, then up to the approaching dark pegasus. But as soon as they confronted her, both turned tail and flew back exactly the way they came.
"That's Fleetwing and Mackintosh, right? Those pansies can't deal with a lousy civvie stumbling into Palace airspace! They're never coming back again if I get my two bits in about it. Scrap it all, I'll do it myself!"
Ironhide reluctantly took to his wings to complete the task the rookie pegasi had failed at, rising to confront the invader. When he came face-to-face with her, he shockedly recognized the pony as Nightmare Moon. Shock then gave way to cynicism.
"What is this, some kinda joke? I know you've got a unicorn somewhere making you look like Nightmare Moon, but it ain't workin', sonny. You ain't the first to try this trick, and you probably won't be the last. Who is it this time, Rhiannon? Gypsy?"
"I suppose my return would be looked upon with skepticism, but this is no deceit; I am the Sister of the Moon in the flesh. Stand aside; I have come to deliver Equestria from a tyrant hiding inside those walls."
"Give it up, foal! Nopony's fooled, you're only making yourself look stupid. Or do you want me to arrest you?"
"I see you will not be convinced, nor will you yield. How very unfortunate."
She spouted a tendril of magical energy from her mane, encircling Ironhide and holding him in the air as he was immobilized. The tendril then spouted smaller tendrils, wrapping themselves around his wings and hooves. A degree of pressure came upon him as two smaller tendrils squeezed on him, causing him to wince in pain as his wing-bones fractured. The large tendril then lifted him up into the air and flung him groundward. He tried to recover, but his wings refused to catch air in their broken state. The unicorn guard back on the southern wall watched his surly partner plummet, and with a telescopic viewing spell spied Nightmare Moon inbound. Taking her appearance more seriously, he urgently sent out a telepathic message to anypony who would listen. Which was just about everypony, since it's hard not to listen to your thoughts.
"All squadrons, scramble immediately! We have Nightmare Moon coming from the southwest, move to intercept! Code Black! Code Black!"
A hundred pegasi got a message signaling probably the worst news they would ever get in their careers. Faithful to their duty, the entire fleet leapt into the skies to fight a foe none thought they would ever see again. Nightmare Moon watched them come against her like a swarm of angry gnats, then decided on a counterattack. She quickly conjured an aerokinetic spell, then launched it as a bolt into the overhanging clouds. Seconds later, they began to dip at the exact point of her spell's impact, growing into a sharper and sharper downward cone. Winds began to swirl around the cone, spinning it into a tornado that sucked up airborne Guards and flung them back out in any which way. As the funnel cloud roared towards the castle, it ripped a gaping hole in the defensive walls, wide enough to drive two battle wagons through. But a small squadron of unicorns had assembled behind the perimeter wall, and were using their own magic to hold back the tornado. Let them, if it occupies them. Lightning bolts cracking across the sky, she soared in towards a stone balcony to infiltrate the Palace.
"Halt! You vicious marauders are now the captives of Second Lieutenant Trixie, and will be tried for crimes against the Princess of the Night!"
The old, irritating voice reached Twilight's ears, and as she turned around, surely enough there stood Trixie, in full navy-blue battle armor, a short sword in her hoof.
"Trixie? What are you doing here?"
"Well if it isn't the illustrious Twilight Sparkle and her oh-so-wonderful friends. Second Lieutenant Trixie is not surprised you would be among those attacking our home. When you destroyed the Great and Powerful Trixie's reputation with your magical trickery, she lost any business she had, and was forced onto the cruel Manehatten streets. But Princess Luna heard Trixie's cries of anguish through her dreams, and offered her a position in the Lunar Guard. Now, Second Lieutenant Trixie is well-fed, has a roof over her head, and is a valuable officer in a powerful army!"
"Valuable officer..?"
"The Great and Powerful Trixie's fireworks have become Second Lieutenant Trixie's signal flares. Second Lieutenant Trixie is the best signal flare maker in the entire army! And now Second Lieutenant Trixie has taken five of the enemy's most powerful soldiers captive! Songs will be sung of..."
And Applejack bucked her clean in the temple. With no helmet to protect her ("What? Cover her amazingly well-brushed silken mane? Second Lieutenant Trixie would never!"), she was an easy target.
"Never liked that stupid magician. Shouldn't we get going to Canterlot, Twi?"
"Right, AJ. Get close, girls, we'll teleport to the Royal Palace."
Twilight started probing the castle remotely for a place to land.
"That's weird... shield's up around the whole building; I can't teleport inside, nopony can. But Rainbow Dash and the Shadowbolts just left, even they're not that fast. So..."
Rarity discovered a possible conclusion.
"Did anypony see Nightmare Moon during the battle?"
"Come to think of it, no. She must've gone to Canterlot while the rest of us fought! She could already be attacking Princess Celestia! Alright, we need to get there now; I'm going to teleport us in as close as I can get, and we can go on hoof from there."
Looking just outside the limits of the magical shield, Twilight created an energy sphere around the five of them, then warped off in a flash of light.
A six-pegasus V-formation raced across the snowcapped peaks of the Sierra Neighvada range, heading northeast towards Canterlot. Nightshade screamed across the V, hoping to be heard above the howling crosswind.
"Blueball, you know this route the best! How far out are we from Canterlot?"
"Maybe 30 miles to the Palace walls! We won't be flying more than two minutes!"
"Good to know! Dash, you know the Palace and our enemies better than anypony. What's our plan of attack?"
Rainbow Dash thought back to the time she'd spent in the Royal Palace. The presence of guards wasn't overwhelming, though she supposed she hadn't been looking for them. But if Princess Luna had already arrived, they would be in a frenzy. And now that Twilight knew their plans, she and the others would be on their way.
"Twilight's gotten good at teleporting; we should expect her and the others to be there when we arrive. There are five of them and five of you; I suggest you pair up to take them out. Even if Princess Luna made a hole in the castle defenses when she got here, the whole place will be swarming with ERG. Once my former friends are out of the picture, do whatever you can to keep them from reaching the far west spire. I'd say two of you should run air interference against other pegasi. The other three need to block off as many passageways as they can to bottleneck the guards and push them back on the ground."
"What about you?"
"I'm going to find Luna. She's going to need backup to fight both Celestia and the ERG, and with my speed magic, I'm the best to do it."
Though concise in wording and gruff in tone, Stratus was easily able to make himself heard to the rest of the squadron.
"The sun's coming out too early."
It was true; though only an hour ago they had defended Camp Blacklight with no more than moonlight to see by, now the sun was almost completely over the horizon.
"Now that Luna's attacked Canterlot, Celestia probably wants to take away any stealth advantage we'd have in the darkness. But there's still enough of it for us to use," Dash shouted back.
As they crossed over the last of the mountains, they spotted Canterlot on the horizon. But against the backdrop of waterfalls and granite rock, they could see it was surrounded by a neon-blue force field. Charger was the first to spot it.
"You guys see that force field?"
"I see it, should've expected that would be Canterlot's first line of defense."
"What do you think, Dash? How do we get past it?"
"I think I have an idea. Nightshade, link up with me."
She grabbed Dash's front left hoof with her own right hoof.
"Now Stratus, grab her back left hoof, and Charger, grab my right!"
They did so, maintaining the V while connecting to each other.
"Now Starry, Blueball, do the same thing!"
All six of them were holding onto each other, with Starry, Stratus, and Nightshade on the left, and Blueball, Charger, and Rainbow Dash on the right. The luminescent barrier was coming up fast, less than a minute away.
"Hold tight!"
They soared towards the force field, as Dash focused herself and began visualizing. This was not readily apparent to her teammates.
"Dash, what are we doing?"
"Trust me, Nightshade! Trust me!"
Seconds later, the two formation leaders made contact with the force field... and effortlessly passed through it. The rest of the squad followed, and they quickly released each other and slowed to a hover in the shadow of an unponied guard tower on the perimeter wall.
"What was that?"
"Speed magic, Starry! Luna told me it's strong enough to beat normal magic, especially since nopony thinks it really exists. But what matters is we're in. You all see if you can find whoever's making this force field; we need it down if we want any kind of reinforcements later on. I've got to get to Luna. Let's move, Shadowbolts!"
At that moment, a shift in the force sphere down at ground level caught Dash's eye. She could see a guard letting in five familiar ponies.
"Hold up!"
Pointing them out to the others, she reevaluated her plan.
"New plan, everypony. Stratus, you've always been good at stealth. I need you to get as close as you can to those six and find out whatever you can about where Celestia is and who's making this force field. Use that oak tree for cover. The rest of us will stay in this tower; it's unoccupied and easy to defend. We'll move in based on what you find out. Now let's move, Shadowbolts!
When the Mane 5 arrived in Canterlot via Twilight's teleport spell, they found themselves facing a massive, luminescent-blue barrier, with the palace grounds on the other side. Twilight reached out and pressed her hoof against it.
"This must be the magical shield keeping us from teleporting inside. Appears physically impermeable as well."
"So howdawe get inside, Twi?"
"These shield enchantments can usually be keyed beforehoof so that only certain unicorns can raise or lower it. In this case, that would be the guards. We just need to find one to let us in."
"Ah, this calls for a feminine touch! Stand aside, everypony. Rarity will demonstrate for you how to get what you want from stallions in this world."
"Umm, Rarity, I think they'll recognize me as Princess Celestia's apprentice."
"Oh, yes, yes, of course! Silly me, why would I even think of that? We should just forget I brought up the topic, right, girls? Right..."
After an awkward stroll around the force field, Twilight was able to catch the attention of a Royal Guard unicorn on patrol, and with a quick blast of neon-green magic, he opened a hole in the barrier large enough for them to walk through.
"Twilight Sparkle! The Princess said to expect you."
"Is Nightmare Moon here?"
"I'm afraid so, but we have no idea where she is. As soon as she attacked our pegasi defense teams with a tornado, she disappeared into the shadows. We sealed the entire palace off, so she's got to still be here. No doubt she's slinking around in the castle, waiting for the right moment to attack the Princess."
"Definitely. Has anypony else arrived, particularly anypony in purple and black Wonderbolts knockoff costumes?"
"No ma'am, nopony's been in or out since we put up the shield, and that was as soon as Nightmare Moon came."
"Good. By any chance, do you know a Guard named Shining Armor?"
"Yes, ma'am. He's the one holding this shield enchantment together, actually."
"He's my brother. Would you happen to know where he is?"
"Well, your family is well-connected here in the Palace. He should be in the Hall of History with Princess Celestia."
"I know where that is, thank you! Come on, girls, we need to meet up with the Princess! Follow me!"
They took off towards the palace doors, unaware that a shadowy figure with a spiked sky-blue mane was watching and listening from the branch of a nearby oak. With valuable information gained, Stratus returned to the other Shadowbolts in the tower.
"Celestia and the Guard making this shield are in the Hall of History, and those five are going there now."
This name did not ring any bells with Rainbow Dash.
"Hall of History? Never heard of that... Nightshade, didn't you say you'd studied layout maps of the Palace?"
"Yeah, Dash, but they were architectural blueprints. All that had was temporary designations, like Hall 2A, or Room 1C. I don't remember a Hall of History either."
"Dang!.. Alright, alright, let's think: where would you find history in the Royal Palace?"
"The Royal Library!" Starry exclaimed.
"It would fit, but a library has too many dark corners and blind spots to be defensible. There's no reason she'd go there. What else?"
Charger had an idea.
"Are there any memorials in the castle, like for battles fought?"
"Hmm, memorials... like tributes.... hang on a second!"
Dash remembered, from not too long ago, in fact, a hall filled with tributes to glories past. Each was immortalized in the form of an image, and that image was made in the form of stained glass.
"I know where it is! There's a hall in the castle lined with stained-glass pictures of Equestrian history. That's got to be it. And the hall leads to Canterlot Tower, where they keep the Elements of Harmony! Where else would Celestia go if Nightmare Moon came back?"
"Stained glass windows shouldn't be too hard to spot. Blueball, run a quick flyaround and find those windows."
"Wait, Nightshade, if the windows are stained glass, shouldn't we get some bleach to clean them off first?"
"Not now, Blueball, just tell us where they are!"
"As you wish. Back in a blitz!"
Blueball launched herself out into the premature dawn and zipped about the castle, examining the windows until she found a set made of colored glass. Darting over the roof, she found another set on the opposite side. She then rushed back to the tower to report.
"Found it! Close to the north end of the castle, leading to the northernmost tower, windows on the east and west sides."
"Perfect. We'll approach from the east, keep that blasted sun out of our eyes. Same formation as before, pair off once we're inside and move on my signal. Safeties off, mares and gentlecolts, this is the real thing."
Skidding towards the entryway, Twilight backpedaled to regain traction and galloped into the Hall of History, with the rest of the Mane 5 close behind. Celestia and Shining Armor were talking, and quickly turned to her.
"Princess Celestia! Shining Armor!"
"Twily!"
The siblings ran to embrace each other, partly from mutual feelings of "long time, no see", and mutual apprehensiveness.
"It is good to see you, my faithful student, particularly in this dark hour."
"Good to see you safe, Princess. Everypony, this is my brother, Shining Armor. He's second-in-command of the Equestrian Royal Guard. Shiny, this is Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie."
"Twilight, how come you never mentioned you had a brother? You know I make it a point to know all my friends' families."
"Guess it never came up, Pinkie."
"What information were you able to gather following our soldiers in the raid?"
"Not much, Princess. Everything was in chaos; the base we were attacking was much better defended than anything we'd expected. The five of us had to retreat while the battle was still happening."
"I see. Combined with Nightmare Moon's return, I worry about what true threat Equestria currently faces. What of Rainbow Dash?"
"I'm afraid she's gone over to Nightmare Moon's side. She attacked us during the battle, wearing a Shadowbolts uniform."
"Not possible. Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, has become a traitor to Equestria?"
"My thoughts exactly. Nightmare Moon's influence was strong enough to corrupt Princess Luna, but how could it so easily affect a pony selected by the Elements of Harmony to represent Loyalty?"
"Oh, loyalty is a very curious concept, Twilight Sparkle."
A familiar, ethereal voice rang from the shadows about them. Nopony could quite pin down an exact location of the source.
"Being loyal requires not only strength of character, but also the ability to make difficult decisions when loyalties conflict. For example, who is more deserving of your loyalty? Your 'duty'... or your sister?"
Every shadow in the room contracted into a single location, coming together to compose Nightmare Moon. She stood between the seven ponies and the entryway, glaring them down from the opposite end of the Hall of History.
"Nightmare Moon! What are you doing here? Why have you taken over Luna again?"
"Oh, my dear Twilight Sparkle, can you really be so dense? I do not 'take over' Luna..."
Enveloped in neon-blue energy, she instantaneously shifted to the meeker form of Princess Luna, and regained the other form's voice.
"... Luna and Nightmare Moon are one and the same!"
She quickly returned to the body of Nightmare Moon. This revelation rocked almost all of Twilight's beliefs about her enemy, leaving her with too much curiosity to ignore.
"Then why change your body at all?"
"That, my little pony, can be answered by my dear sister. Tell me, Celestia, can you ignore me now? Can you brush me aside? It was so easy with small, weak little Luna, but can you look down upon Nightmare Moon?"
"Sister, whatever I have done to reignite this rage in you, I am truly sorry. But if you have returned to bring eternal night to Equestria, my response shall be no kinder than it was before."
"You think my rage was reignited? The flame never died, sister! I was never sorry for fighting to remove a tyrant from power. Eternal night was never my original intention, regardless of what you've told the masses, but a thousand years alone on a barren, lifeless rock isn't kind to one's sanity. After the psychological damage was undone, I had hoped that in my absence the causes I'd fought for would have progressed over the course of time, but no. Equestria is no closer to democracy than it ever was, and the Elements of Harmony still sit as dusty relics, only a fraction of their power used against enemies of the state. A thousand years, sister, and this is all you've accomplished? If only they knew, you'd be dragged from this castle as you should've been millennia ago."
Every word Nightmare Moon spoke puzzled Twilight all the more.
"What are you talking about? What do you know about the Elements of Harmony?"
"Don't listen to her, Twilight, she'll say anything to get you on her side. She's already taken Rainbow Dash, don't let her take any of you! Since the Element of Loyalty is not present, we cannot vanquish you with the Elements as we have before. But I will not let you corrupt the Elements of Harmony into creatures of shadow!"
The Mane 5 and Shining Armor formed a battle line across the Hall, with Celestia behind them, separating Nightmare Moon from Canterlot Tower and the Elements. Nightmare Moon herself took a fighting stance, ready to face almost-impossible odds. But before the charge both parties knew was imminent, the stained-glass window immediately to Nightmare Moon's left exploded, and through the shower of glass shards, Rainbow Dash rocketed into the Hall. Twisting to face her enemies as she decelerated, she took an immediate four-point landing and skidded to the other end of the floor. Behind her, Nightshade, Stratus, Charger, Starry Skies and Blueball Blitz each made a similar landing, forming their own battle line to protect their Princess in a beautifully synchronized maneuver.
"Miss me?"
"Rainbow Dash! What has Nightmare Moon done to you?"
"What had she done to me, Celestia? I don't know, she's trained me into a disciplined warrior, awakened potential in me I never thought I had, and shown me the truth about how you've lied to the people to cover your own hunger for power and manipulated us to do your bidding against her. She's treated me less like a lapdog and more like a friend. In short, she's done more for me than you ever have. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, Shadowbolts, pair up! Twilight Sparkle is mine!"
"I'll take the Guard!" Nightshade called out enthusiastically. "I've always wanted to kill a Lieutenant General."
"Give me the redneck," Charger responded.
Blueball's eyes met Pinkie's, and it was crazy-love at first sight.
"Ooh, ooh, I want the bouncy one! I want the bouncy one! CanIhaveher, canIhaveher, pleeeaaassse?"
Dash nodded in affirmation, grinning wryly at the thought of what a battle that would be.
Stratus merely glared at Fluttershy, then smirked as she retreated in fright.
Seeing Rarity's unenthused look, Starry offered "I guess that leaves us."
"Why not?" she replied bemusedly.
With that business complete, Nightmare Moon sensed that she was in a better position than before to enact her endgame, even if Twilight Sparkle was here to defend Celestia.
"Very well then, you Shadowbolts have fun with this fight; you probably won't get a better challenge for many a moon. But I'm afraid that while four's company, fourteen's a crowd."
She then projected her gaseous blue mane into the air, enveloping herself, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and Princess Celestia. With a flash of black and blue, the four of them were gone, leaving the Shadowbolts, the Mane 4 and Shining Armor alone in the Hall of History. Though both commanding officers had left, Nightshade felt confident she had the authority to issue a single command.
"Attack!"
The four of them touched hooves on stonework so weak it seemed to crack beneath their weight. The crumbling masonry about them was is no better condition. Above, the sky was a swirl of amber and indigo as the moon moved into position to eclipse the early-rising sun. Twilight recognized it immediately.
"The Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters? Why are we here?"
"Oh, I never enjoyed Canterlot that much, even after sister dearest moved the castle there. Air too thin, climate too chilly, not to mention half the city could fall to its doom if there was the slightest engineering failure. Even now, all those bright city lights made it hard to see the stars. I always came here at nightfall to arrange them. But more to the point, powers such as we deserve privacy when we spar. The words I am about to speak are not meant for everypony's ears."
When they arrived, they had been deposited about a circle, one in each cardinal direction. Celestia to the south, Nightmare Moon to the north, Twilight to the east, and Rainbow Dash to the west.
"Leave these two out of it, Luna. Neither did anything to deserve involvement in our private struggle."
"Come now, Celestia, you know they have earned places at our sides in this moment. My apprentice would stand to lead my armies into battle. Could yours not do the same? Or is it simply because you still wish to hide the truth from her? Like how you've intentionally stifled the progress of democracy in Equestria since we came to power?"
"Democracy? I've studied that, it's when ponies vote for their leaders instead of having them appointed. Princess, you said you tried it, but it never took off. Why do..."
"You are not the first to raise such a question. While your beloved teacher was making speeches or leading the armies to war, I was left to my own devices in the Royal Library. Much like you, that is where I discovered democracy as a form of government. I thought it fair and just to common ponies, so I asked for us to begin implementing it in Equestria. And much as you were, I was given inaction and flimsy excuses in return. But why, Twilight Sparkle? Why would the infallible Princess Celestia refuse to grant some political authority to her little ponies regarding who governs them? The answer is that she'd have to let go of her royal appointing powers, and you don't like to give up power, do you, sister dearest? You'd also have to trust those little ponies to make the right decisions for themselves, and trust isn't something you're very big on, either. Over the course of time, after my exile, common scholars began to come to the same conclusions I did, so you gave them democracy on the smallest scale possible to avoid sending me company. But everypony in government above the local level is placed there by royal decree. Justify that for me, Celestia."
"Luna, I never held contempt for democracy, but ponies weren't ready for it in those days! They were ruled by greed and self-interest; they had no concept of compassion for others. Had we installed total democracy, Equestrian society would've splintered into political interest groups, each one promoting their own benefit at the cost of everypony else. Even if the group supported by the most ponies had won out, many more would be hurt by their decisions than would be helped."
"I never said total! I wanted to experiment with it on the local level, then move upward if there were no problems! That was my proposal, and you still rejected it!"
"I didn't believe ponies would be content with gradual progression. Once the ambitious ones got a taste of power, they would've assembled their coalitions and never stopped pressing until they had more. Equestria was fragile in that era, Luna, the last thing we needed was internal divisions! When I told you the idea wasn't viable at the time, I wasn't dismissing you! I wanted to attempt it later, when we'd settled our external issues and could handle internal dissent if it arose. Maybe I should've tried it sooner than I did, or learned more of your reasoning when you made the proposal. For that, Luna, I'm truly sorry. But from my years as a politician, I learned you can't win a war on both fronts."
"Maybe I would have had foresight like that had I been given a chance to rule, instead of sitting by the wayside while you lead the charge! I tried! I tried to lead us to war, but you'd never let me! I tried to preside over courts and committees, but you kept all but the least important to yourself! We were supposed to be equals!"
"Dear Faust, it was a premonition..."
"What?"
"Luna, when we fought to overthrow Discord's rule, he showed me a vision of the two of us at war. Both of us were too drunk with power to attempt reconciliation, and our war tore Equestria in two. Absolute chaos and destruction followed in our wake. Now I see that that vision was a premonition of things to come. Luna, I kept power from you because I feared you becoming so strong you could make that vision a reality. Now I see all I did was engender enough hatred in your heart to achieve the same result."
"And now that I have come back into power, your thousand years of absolute rule shall be avenged. I shall have my own time of superiority, and I shall make Equestria into the paradise I dreamed of so long ago!"
"Don't delude yourself, sister. Common ponies will see your coup as it is: a simple coup, a revenge gambit against a beloved princess by a reviled enemy. You will have no way of asserting any kind of authority over them, and even if you could, how could you expect to make Equestria a paradise?"
"With the power you have kept locked away for so long, the power of the Elements of Harmony! They have potential far beyond the weapons you take them for, the potential to create a utopia for all ponies!"
"What? How could the Elements do that?"
"Dear Twilight Sparkle, did you not read about it in the reference guide? Of course you didn't; Celestia had that information struck from any record there may have been of it. But leaving me alone in the castle all those times was a mistake more grave than you realize, sister. You took a Princess full of resentment and bitterness and left her alone with access to the greatest supply of knowledge in Equestria. What did you think would come of it? The Elements were a particular curiosity to me at the time. It was simple enough to acquire them; the blood-magic enchantments you made to protect them responded to me as well. Then I simply had to set up the proper tests. What I found was that the Elements were a wellspring of power, begging to be directed and applied. With concentration, I could use them to make crops grow overnight, to make ordinary structures invulnerable to damage, even transmute matter from one element to another. Then I discovered the greatest power the Elements of Harmony could offer: they could alter pony physiology. The original spell I used to give my Guards their fearsome appearance was powered by the Elements. The one experiment I never dared attempt was to change a pony's race; from a unicorn to a pegasus to an earth pony and back. It may even have been possible to create alicorns."
"You mean like you and Celestia?"
"Exactly, Twilight Sparkle. My sister has probably never told you this, but she and I are the last of our kind. During the age of Discord's reign, he recognized the danger immortal and immensely powerful alicorns posed to his rule, so he led a purge of all of them. We were the only survivors. But I thought that would no longer need to be the case. Think of it, Twilight Sparkle, the single greatest act of genocide in the history of Equestria undone. The return of alicorns to Equestria, righting an ancient wrong with the power of the Elements. Would you not do it if you could?"
"I... I..."
"I am afraid my sister speaks the truth about Equestria's history, faithful student. That was truly our darkest hour, and the fact that she and I survived at all is nothing short of a miracle. But the past cannot be undone, Luna, and the alicorn race cannot be restored. What would ponies do if they realized we had the ability to make them so powerful? How many would kill or die to gain that power? And if such a heart drove them to gain it, what would they use that power for when it was theirs? Luna, it would be too great a lure for us to keep it from them and maintain order in Equestria. There is a precious balance between earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns that Faust herself guards; that balance is not for us to tamper with. And even if we did create a new race of alicorns, we could not grant them immortality."
"What? How do you know?"
"I know because I tried, sister. Less than a year after you left, I examined your notes and experiments with the Elements, and thinking much like you did, I tried to gift a trusted unicorn general with wings and immortality. But the spell backfired; instead of gaining wings, he became a living gas, and his heart became blackened with hatred. With the power I gave him, he took over the Crystal Empire. Now the Empire is gone, the crystal ponies are missing, most likely dead, and it's all because of me."
"Impossible! You must have gotten the spell wrong!"
"No, Luna, what happened to Sombra happened because I tried to meddle with powers beyond my control. But a decade ago, I started having dreams that told me another alicorn was needed in Equestria. I worked up the courage to try your spell again, but I knew I could not risk the power corrupting whoever I gave it to. So I selected the daughter of a close advisor. By no means was she an ideal leader or warrior, but her heart was pure and driven by kindness. Your spell worked, Luna, and it gave us Princess Cadence. But while she is an alicorn, she does not possess the gift of immortality; she will age and die like any other pony. But what I learned is that if Faust wants another alicorn to be born, she will cause one to be born. But at any other time, our attempts will only result in disaster."
"But what of the other powers of the Elements? I know they work perfectly, I proved that myself!"
"Luna, you assume too much goodness on the part of common ponies. It is true the Elements could give Equestria great things, but how long would we enjoy those gifts before our eyes turned outward? We would have the power to run roughshod over foreign nations, and how many power-hungry ponies would be all too eager to do so? I have always tried to keep Equestria away from imperialism, but if the true power of the Elements was discovered, the call for conquest would be too great."
"What of the possibilities without military application? What harm would there be to ending hunger in Equestria?"
"History shows that when there is an increase in food supply, the population increases at an equal rate. Even if we made enough to feed everypony in Equestria, we simply don't have the infrastructure to handle that kind of a population boom! The point is that every good thing can be taken to dangerous excess. Luna, ponies have never been as well-meaning and idealistic as you assume and I'd like to assume. They do not work for the common good, they only care about their own interests."
Rainbow Dash had had enough of being silent.
"They might prove you wrong, Celestia, if you'd give them a chance!"
"Stay out of this, Rainbow Dash. The less you interfere, the more inclined I'll be to show mercy when this is all said and done."
"Maybe you won't be the one showing mercy. I know I won't be asking for it. But what neither of you have is the opinion of an average pony. Like it or not, both of you are as far from "average" as it gets, but what you do affects millions of average ponies across Equestria. I think it's time we got our say in."
"Rainbow, do what she..."
"Shut up, Twilight! You've been Celestia's lapdog your whole life, you don't get to call yourself "average". And you definitely don't give me orders."
Though she was smaller in stature than either Princess, Rainbow Dash had found her voice, and that was all she needed to have a commanding presence.
"Now, Celestia, I'm sure we're all very grateful that you saved our ancestors from Discord's rule, and I'm sure Equestria back then was a dangerous place that needed a strong leader to keep order. But that time has come and gone! Yeah, there are trouble spots now and then, but we the ponies can do pretty well for ourselves on a day-to-day basis without royal interference. It's not like you ever help us that much! Every day, you rest your pasty-white flank on a polished golden throne in the nicest building in the nicest part of the nicest city in Equestria, so blissfully unaware of how the rest of us survive. While you sip imported champagne from a silver goblet, ponies across the nation break their back just to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head. I should know, my parents lived that life! They were Cloudsdale factory workers from the day I was born, and they were Cloudsdale factory workers until the day they died. It was a leak of overconcentrated fog, not that you'd care."
Rainbow Dash was never the type to bear her soul, but if it gave Celestia a reality check, it was worth it. Besides, it was time somepony knew about this, Twilight especially.
"The work didn't pay too well, but it was enough for the three of us. They were saving to put me through college, but that meant forgoing hot meals once and a while. It wasn't like they were wasting what they made; neither of them had any issues or addictions to feed. They were probably the most honest, hard-working ponies you could've asked for, so explain to me, Celestia, why they had to struggle and sacrifice so much just to give me a chance at a decent future?"
"There have always been problems with the higher edu..."
"Let me stop you there. I never said I went to college, I said they were saving to send me to college. When they died, the factory and the Equestrian Revenue Service made up enough debt in their name to take everything we had. The apartment, the furniture, the life savings, everything! And I was sent off to a state orphanage for ten years. If it wasn't for a family friend who owned a summer house outside of Ponyville, I'd probably still be on the streets today."
"But Rainbow Dash, look at you now! You have a successful career, a good house, a chance with the Wonderbolts, and a town full of friends! What more do you want? You're the Element of Loyalty, for heaven's sake!"
"I never wanted that, Twilight! I never asked to be a part of Equestria's last line of defense when things go bad. I never asked to stick my neck out to fight some of the most dangerous enemies in the world. When you came to Ponyville, I was nice to you because you didn't give me a reason not to be. I went into the Everfree Forest with you because I thought you'd need help. I was right, and everything I did that night, I did because it was the right thing to do, nothing more. I had no idea some ancient artifact would choose me as its user. But if I'd known then what I know now, I would've bugged out the moment I saw you."
That remark stung Twilight Sparkle worse than anything else that was said that night.
"You like to think things out, Twilight, so think this out with me. Aside from forcing me to become the go-to risk-your-life defender of the nation, the Element of Loyalty has also ruined my chances with the Wonderbolts. They don't want me because they know I could be called away at a moment's notice if there's trouble. And being the weather manager of Ponyville isn't a very high-paying job; it's local government work. And since Fluttershy is too much of a sweetheart to charge fairly for her veterinary work, I have to help her pay the bills in addition to my own needs. Where does the money come from, Twilight? I'll tell you, I get it from working the street racing circuits! Ponies pay top dollar to watch fast pegasi race around each other. But even that's starting to fall through, because the Element is making me too visible to keep racing."
Now, Dash began sidestepping to return to Nightmare Moon's side. Twilight matched her and did the same towards Celestia.
"But not anymore! Under our new Republic, the army will be strong enough to handle any threat. As Field Commander, I'll make sure of that. It's time for me to step out from behind your shadow and make my own name."
"Well said, my trusted apprentice. Now sister, will you yield, or must we remove you by force?"
"You know the answer, Nightmare Moon. This ends tonight."
Twilight, Celestia, and Nightmare Moon each lowered their horn and began channeling magical energy. Dash, lacking such an option, instead drew a katana blade over her right shoulder with her mouth. Weapons readied, both parties charged.