//------------------------------//
// Dark Spectrum 
// Story: Night Terrors 
// by NightmareDash 
//------------------------------//

"...Princess?" Rainbow Dash found herself in something of a void, surrounded by white nothing. At least, until she saw Princess Luna approaching calmly on some invisible plane. But she was in her ordinary form, not Nightmare Moon's. "What is this, Princess Luna? Are we dead? Did we lose?"

"Not at all. I have simply linked our minds within the psychic realm; this is something of a dream, you might say."

"But weren't the Elements about to attack? We don't have time to..."

"Shhh. We are linked telepathically, Rainbow Dash. Even if it doesn't feel like it, this is all happening at the speed of thought."

Rainbow Dash looked around, puzzled. "...But why?"

"I have a gift for you, and I need to prepare you to receive it so that you can use it when we are finished here."

"What gift?"

Luna started to pace, circling Dash. "The reappearance of the Elements of Harmony changed this war, and not just forcing us to bring down Canterlot. As you well know, even at full power, I could not hope to resist them. Accursed charms..."

"Five damn necklaces and a tiara, and they have more sway over ponykind than we've ever had."

"Oh, they're more than that. I believe there is some kind of guiding force behind each Element, maybe even sentience. That is how they choose their bearers, among other things. But Celestia has always held favor with these entities, and they are no more morally superior to us than she is. But that is another topic." 

"Yeah, what do the Elements have to do with this gift of yours?"

"My gift may be our last hope of resisting them. Obviously I cannot fight them, and I doubt you would fare much better on your own. But I have seen your potential, Rainbow Dash. You can use your speed to tap into a massive amount of raw magic. If that power were compounded with that of the Princess of the Night..."

When it clicked for Dash, she became very worried. "No, you don't mean...?" 

"It is the only hope, my loyal apprentice. If you wielded my power in tandem with your own, you might be able to hold your own against the Elements, even defeat them."

"But what about you?"

"I am an old mare, Rainbow Dash, and Celestia knows me too well. It is time for me to step back and lead the Republic with my mind, not my body."

"But..." This was less out of an actual concern on Dash's part, more an anxiety-driven stall tactic.

"The change is already happening. My power courses through your veins, channeled through your sword. But remember, I trained you, I prepared you for this, and I have every confidence in you, Rainbow Dash. Now you are the Defender of the New Lunar Republic..."

Her words echoed and faded, as the Princess seemed to drift away in space. Then everything went black, and the next thing Dash knew, she was picking herself up from a Canterlot street.





When Twilight felt comfortable opening her eyes, she saw a tall, dark mare standing where the sphere had been. No... how could she? But as she regained focus, she could see that this alicorn was not Nightmare Moon. No, this mare's coat was night-blue, and she wore no armor. And while her mane had the same ethereal quality, it was not like a starlit sky, but rather six familiar stripes of darkened color.

"...Rainbow Dash?"

"Uh oh..." she replied, in a voice a bit deeper and far more menacing. "Looks like somepony needs to learn some new tricks..."

"Rainbow Dash, Nightmare Moon - they've fused!" Shining Armor exclaimed.

"The Elements might have taken out Nightmare Moon, and they might've taken out Rainbow Dash, but together? No sell." She spoke with a malicious twist on Dash's cockiness and acerbic wit. 

"Again!" screamed Celestia, still embracing the former of her fight-or-flight instincts. "The Elements will not fail us now!" 

"Oh, dear Sun Queen... They already have," a small but familiar voice replied, stepping around Rainbow Dash. It was Princess Luna, but in her meekest form; her mane had lost its ethereal quality, and she was barely any taller than an average pony. But the weight and sheer contempt of her words had not been lost in her transformation. 

"Luna..." The reappearance of this old form shocked the Princess, staying her vengeful hoof if only for a moment. But it was Fluttershy, who had been scared silent by most of these events, who found her voice instead.

"Rainbow Dash, look at yourself! She's turned you into a new Nightmare Moon!

Dash seemed to pause at this, examining her alicorn body, including a newfound horn. But her reply was in a tone more power-drunk than introspective. "She really has..." With a wicked grin, she leaned back, then threw her head forward, launching a powerful blast of energy that sent her opponents diving for cover.

"She's gone mad," Twilight declared as she stood back up. "But even the Elements can't stop her!" replied Rarity, "What can we do?"

"Wear her down," Celestia answered, the attack having shocked her back to her senses. "Then the Elements of Harmony can finish them both off."

"On it!" Shining Armor loosed a volley of energy bolts, but with lightning speed Rainbow Dash reflected each one off her sword. Rarity followed up with a telekinetic attack, launching loose bricks and cobblestones, but each one was quickly shot down, then another blast of magic hit Rarity herself.

"Is that the best you've got?" Rainbow Dash goaded. "She's right, this isn't working," Twilight told the others, only for Applejack to tap her on the shoulder. "Give me some momentum, Twi; I want a whack at her." 

Suddenly, the orange earth pony surged out toward her foe, surrounded by a glow of velvet magic. Forelegs outstretched, she looked ready to make a tackle and end this fight hoof-to-hoof. Which was all well and good, except that Rainbow Dash now had telekinetic powers of her own; she quite easily brought Applejack to a stop and held her in midair, frozen in place.

"Really? You want to go hoof-to-hoof against Nightmare Dash?" Her hoof slammed Applejack into the ground, then she picked her up, swung her overhead and drove her back down to the pavement. Then she suddenly clutched onto her prey and leapt skyward, flying up before doing a quick somersault and hurling Applejack down toward the other Elements. She smacked hard against the concrete, flopping end over end like a ragdoll until she came to a stop, where Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie ran to her side.

"Run out of tricks yet, Twilight?" Shining Armor ran across the street to the Princess, narrowly dodging a bullet of energy as he left cover. "She's too strong, too fast. And if she goes on the offensive, we're done for." 

"Agreed." Using the last of her magical strength, Celestia did her best to heal Applejack's wounds and help her back to her hooves. Soon, all six of them were gathered around her. "It has to be now. We have to use the Elements before one of you goes down for good." Twilight nodded at her, then looked at the others. The Elements began to glow, and once again the six of them floated upward, drawing Rainbow Dash and Luna's attention.

"About time!"

"Keep your guard up, Rainbow Dash..."

Telekinetically twirling her katana, Dash leveled it in front of her, tip keen toward her foes. A strategy formed in her mind, and as a polychromatic spiral of energy launched into the air, she revved her wings and watched it arc down toward her.  It was an all-too-familiar meeting of blast versus blade. Or at least it seemed to be.

"Let's dance, sunlovers." 

Less than a second from impact, Dash suddenly thrust her katana back into its sheath, and darted up and away from the approaching magical beam. Rather than confront the Elements head-on, this time her aim appeared to be to outrun them. In the long and storied history of Equestria, it was an approach that, while attempted often, had never been known to work. But then again, Equestria had never seen speed like Rainbow Dash's.

Both Celestia and Luna watched in shock as the beam adjusted its trajectory, curving skyward to follow its quarry. "It's impossible," Celestia whispered, "nopony could ever..."

"She's daring enough to try," Luna quietly answered. "And it appears that she's succeeding."

Indeed, a midnight-blue comet shot through the skies above Canterlot, its faded rainbow trail just out of reach of the coursing energy beam that followed. Rainbow Dash snaked about, never losing an ounce of speed, but her pursuer gave no ground either. Now that she knew it would work, though, she was ready to really make her move. Pulling upward into a dizzying spiral climb, she dove backwards in a tight vertical loop. Her path now went straight down, and trusting that the beam was still right on her tail, she threw everything she had into this final stretch. 

Fighting G-forces that would have crippled an average pegasus, Dash let instinct take over as she felt the lunar magic coursing through her. All that was left now was to aim. With precise cloud-diving maneuvers, she steered herself straight toward the most obvious target to be seen: a glowing orb of light, containing six of her seven enemies. The trail left behind by their attack, as dangerous as a live wire, prevented direct impact, but if she could just get close enough... 

There was next to nopony left to observe this comet streaking down toward Canterlot, leaving a brilliant rainbow trail in its wake. But both Princesses bore witness to it, and both reacted in horror. Realizing the danger she was in, Celestia braced herself and attempted to create a protective force-field, but with her magic as weak as it was, each attempt sparked out after barely a moment's existence. Luna, on the other hoof, realized the possibility that her student was going to try a kamikaze attack; one of the Lunar Guard's maxims was "Go down fighting." But all either of them could do was watch as the Lunar Apprentice cascaded ever closer to the ground, the power of Harmony nipping at her hooves.

Time seemed to freeze as she hit the pavement, striking right between Celestia and the Elements. But the details of Rainbow Dash herself had already begun to fade away, into a murky, alicorn-shaped cloud of smoke. When her forehooves made contact, they almost seemed to pass through the stonework, as the gas seeped through its cracks and crevices. In barely a split-second the entirety of her gaseous body had passed through, leaving only a few stray tendrils of smoke behind. And that was all that was left for the beam when it impacted shortly after, releasing all its power in a massive explosion that rocked what was left of Canterlot.





Fortitude nearly lost her hoofing as the shockwave hit, rattling the cave she was leading the survivors of Canterlot through. Dust flew everywhere, and the ponies carrying Princess Cadence were barely able to maintain their grip on her. 

"What was that...?" asked Van Allen Belt. 

As she regained composure, Fortitude thought for a moment before answering somberly, "Canterlot has fallen." There was an assortment of gasps, cries and other expressions of shock, among those who still held onto hope that their city could be saved. But Fortitude knew they didn't have time to mourn. 

"Come on, everypony, we have to keep going! We aren't out of the woods yet."





"Nightshade! Nightshade!"

Blueball Blitz raced over the Everfree, panic in her voice. As she touched down in the clearing where Luna had teleported her followers, Nightshade flew over to meet her. "Blueball, where have you been?"

"You have to listen, it's so... Who's that?" she asked innocently, pointing toward a familiar older pegasus Nightshade had been talking to before she arrived. 

"That's my father," Nightshade replied quietly. "It's a long story. But what's going on?"

"Well I kinda sorta maybe requisitioned Charger's binoculars from the equipment cache, then went back toward Canterlot to see how the fight was going..."

Nightshade sighed; "requisitioning" was Lunar Guard slang for borrowing first and asking permission later. It was a habit of Blueball's that they seemed to have no hope of breaking. "And...?"

"There was a huge explosion! I think they used the Elements on Dash!"

"Oh Faust..." Nightshade swore under her breath. "Charger!"

Upon hearing his name, Charger fluttered over, regretfully abandoning the attention of some very grateful young mares. "What's up?"

"First of all, Blueball has your binoculars." He swiped them from Blueball's hoof, as she put on her biggest "forgive me" smile. "Second, she says Celestia might have been able to use the Elements on the Princess and Rainbow Dash."

"Bloody hell..." he hissed, stamping at the ground. 

"I thought the plan was to drop Canterlot out from under them before they could?" It wasn't an accusation, but there was still a note of anger in her voice.

"It wouldn't have been an immediate collapse," he explained, as more and more Republicans began to gather around them. "Not with a structure that size. The undercity had redundancies upon redundancies to keep the city stable; with what we had, I was able to take out enough of them to ensure a collapse. The others would fail under the resulting strain."

"After how long?" 

Charger quickly did some mental math. "...An hour, tops." 

"What's going on?" somepony in the crowd asked, and others echoed. "Where's the Princess?" Nightshade fluttered up above them, getting their attention.

"Everypony, Princess Luna and Rainbow Dash stayed behind to hold off Celestia's forces. We don't know how the battle is going, but we know they are both very capable warriors. The three of us have fought alongside them personally."

"But what about us?" asked another pony.

"...We have our work cut out for us. On the other side of that grove of trees is the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters; the plan right now is to use it as our base. Now the castle has seen better days, but that's where we come in. The Princess wants us to start rebuilding it until she comes back. We're going to need all hooves on deck, unicorn, earth pony and pegasus, but Princess Luna is counting on us! Are you with me, Republicans?"

Rallying around their newfound nationalism, a great shout to the affirmative rose from the crowd.

"And remember: the night is young!"

"The night is young!" they all echoed back, and started toward the grove. As the other Shadowbolts lead them along the familiar path, Nightshade hung back, to be sure nopony was left behind. But as she followed them toward the castle, she took a long look back over the Everfree, in the direction of Canterlot. 

"Come on, Dash, make it out of there! You just have to!"





Luna was the first to recover from the explosion, having been the farthest away from its epicenter. Unable to gain sure hoofing as the city began to shift again, she took to her wings, watching the far edge of Canterlot dip deeper and deeper toward oblivion. But then she remembered what it was that had knocked her out, and began to shout fearfully. "Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!"

It was a few painful seconds before she received her reply. Smoke began to seep out of the pavement, slowly but surely coalescing into the powerful form of her apprentice. "Phew..." Rainbow Dash replied as she regained solidity, "how did I do, Princess?"

"Oh, my loyal apprentice, you were incredible. Using our powers in tandem to outmatch the Elements of Harmony... Exactly as I had intended."

To the sound of straining metal, Canterlot began to list again, leading Dash to take to her wings as well. "So we won?"

"See for yourself." Luna pointed up the slope, to where the Elements were lying, knocked unconscious. Celestia was in a similar state, leaning against a retaining wall that protected her from sliding any further. 

"Alright! So they're done, Canterlot's going down... time to bug out?" 

"One thing first..." With simple telekinesis, Luna reached out and pulled the Elements of Harmony from their incapacitated bearers. 

"The Elements...But what good will they do us?"

"For one, they'll be out of Celestia's hooves. But I have my own use for them, which I will explain in due time. But you're right: it's time we rejoined our followers."

The two flew away from the doomed city, as Dash created a magical portal to the Everfree. 





"Applejack! Applejack, please, wake up!"

Twilight's words were the second thing Applejack noticed as she came to, the first being the pavement she had a very good view of at the moment. The third was the hoof hanging onto hers, which looking up revealed to be Twilight's. The two of them formed the end of a six-pony chain, with Shining Armor at the top, clinging for dear life to a retaining wall. Fluttershy was just beneath, flapping her wings as hard as she could to try and help him. Then came Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Twilight, with her at the very end. She realized that Canterlot was very nearly sideways; the city was hanging on by threads.

"Can't... hold... much..." Shining Armor strained.

"Hang on, big fella!" Applejack shouted up to him. With a powerful jab at the street she was pressed against the side of, she pulled out a stone or two, creating a hoofhold. Hanging tight to it, she carefully let go of Twilight, then repeated the process with her other hoof. "Where's the Princess?"

"I'm up here!" Celestia called down from above, perched on another retaining wall across a gap from Shining Armor. She carefully stood up, then started toward the gap, hoping to leap over and help them. But no sooner had she begun her running start, the wall beneath her gave way, and she fell straight through. "Princess!" 

Reacting on kneejerk, she spread her wings, which helped her recover into steady flight. "We have to get out of here before the city falls into the gorge! Twilight, my magic is exhausted, can you teleport us?"

"Not all at once... I might be able to open a portal, send us through one by one. Hang on..."

Gritting her teeth, Twilight summoned all the magic she had left, and focused on the ruins of Old Canterlot. It took a few sparks and misfires, but eventually she was able to open a violet whirlpool of energy beneath the group, which opened up to a grassy, rock-strewn field. "Go, Applejack!" she cried, as metal audibly twisted and sheared above them. With a deep breath for courage, Applejack let go of her hoofholds and fell through the portal, vanishing with an ethereal rippling sound.

"Don't worry, I can keep it open from the other side!" With that bit of reassurance, Twilight let herself drop down after Applejack, and after putting on a "hope for the best" smile, Pinkie followed. But Rarity was more hesitant, and with good reason: the portal had started to flicker, as if its magic was wearing out.

"Oh dear, I don't think I can..." she stuttered, "What if it doesn't hoOOOLLLD?!" That was the moment Fluttershy shook her loose, forcing her to confront her fears head-on. "We better hurry," Fluttershy told the other two, before letting go and flying down into the portal.

"Now you, Shining Armor!" Celestia shouted, over the roar of entire buildings pulling loose of their foundations and sliding over the edge. He started to object, refusing to leave his Princess behind, but then he remembered that she had wings; she didn't need the portal to escape. He, on the other hoof...

"Yes, Ma'am!" 





There was a great cheer at the Castle when somepony cried out that the Princess had returned. It was followed by a long round of hoof-stamping, and another cheer as Luna and Rainbow Dash flew overhead (though some ponies had difficulty identifying which was which). They touched down in the castle's open-air foyer, which was just large enough for everypony to gather in. A joyous chant of "Luna! Luna!" broke out, as Nightshade and the Shadowbolts rushed to their ruler's side. 

"Princess Luna, we've started work on rebuilding," Nightshade reported. She too was a bit flustered by the changes the two had undergone, but quickly put it in the back of her mind. "It will take a while, but we'll get it done."

"Excellent, Nightshade, excellent." But Luna quickly turned her attention to her new subjects. "It is good to be among you all once again."

"Princess," a mare called out, "what happened to you? And to Rainbow Dash?"

And with that, she shared with them the story of their epic battle against Celestia and the Elements, letting Rainbow Dash tell it as well in places, much to the delight of the foals among the group. She explained how combining their powers enabled her apprentice to stand against the Elements of Harmony, then how she was able to defeat Celestia and the Elements with their own attack.

"But what about the Elements?" another pony asked. "Can't they just use them again? And attack us instead of Rainbow Dash?"

"You mean these?" Luna suddenly produced the six trinkets from under her wings, to another loud cheer. "We need never fear them again."

When the uproar had quieted, another mare worked up the courage to ask, "What about Canterlot? You said the city was collapsing... Was it destroyed?"

"I am afraid it was," Luna replied somberly. "Though it was our enemy's stronghold, I realize that Canterlot was your home. And I am truly sorry for your loss." She allowed a few moments of silence, to recognize the grief many of them felt. 

"But I would ask you to look to the future: we will build new homes, here in the Everfree. Nature will provide for us while we build our new Republic. All around Equestria, coalitions loyal to our cause have formed and grown. There are entire cities that have pledged their support. They will assist us as we build our new capital. Now, I will not deny that these next few months will be difficult. We are indeed starting completely anew, and meanwhile we face an enemy determined to wipe out the ideals we stand for. But I assure you, the hardship necessary to lay the groundwork for the New Lunar Republic will leave a worthy legacy. A free and prosperous nation, for us, for our children, and for all posterity to come. And it will all begin here, in this place I now christen, Republic City!"

The quiet that followed was broken soon after by a single cheer of "For Republic City!" It was then echoed, once, twice, and so on until the entire group had joined in.





Shining Armor tumbled gracelessly onto a grassy plain, the gravity shift of going through the portal making him slightly nauseous. As soon as he regained his bearings, he climbed back to his hooves, joining the Mane 5. But then he noticed the portal sparking and spluttering, shrinking quickly before fading out of existence. 

"No! No! Princess!" Twilight cried out, trying to restart the portal but to no avail. She started to panic, teary-eyed, until her brother wrapped his foreleg around her.

"Twilight, she'll be alright! She just has to fly out..."

"...Yeah, yeah, you're right. I'm sure she'll come flying out any second now." Twilight proceeded to gallop to the edge of the plateau Old Canterlot was built on, the others in tow, until they could all see around Mount Equus, to the city of Canterlot dangling from the other side. "Come on, Princess, come on..."

"Twilight?" came an echoing reply from the mountain itself, or rather from a cave mouth in the side of it. That was where they saw Fortitude emerge, followed closely by the flock she had shepherded safely away from Canterlot. They streamed out of the cave rapidly, letting the others behind them out of the cavern, including the two stallions carrying Princess Cadence. 

"Fortitude!" Shining Armor called out. "How is she?"

"Fine, I think, she still hasn't woken up yet. Hopefully she... oh my."

Fortitude, along with many others from the group she had been leading, noticed the horrific spectacle that was Canterlot as it clung to the edge of Mount Equus. Both she and Shining Armor ran to join Twilight as it shifted even further off its precipice. 

"I can't believe it, it's actually happening... Celestia preserve us... Wait, Twilight, where is Princess Celestia?"

Twilight could only look back at the Princess' advisor and nod solemnly toward the city.

"She's still...? Oh my Faust..."

"She was supposed to fly out," Shining Armor stammered. "I don't know what..."

"Oh no!" 

Various ponies cried out at once, pointing at Canterlot, as they watched it break free of its last moorings. With a painful grind of metal against stone, the massive structure slid down the mountainside. Cries of anguish and despair arose as the citizens of Canterlot watched their glorious home fall. But then, a solitary white bolt shot out of the doomed city, up into the air, and flew toward them. As it grew closer, its details revealed it to be Princess Celestia, clutching in both hooves a terrified young earth pony, who she set down carefully on the plateau before practically falling to earth herself. 

"Canterlot has one more survivor."





"So it really is you?" Nightshade asked. She and Rainbow Dash had taken leave of Republic City for someplace more private, namely a quiet walk in the Everfree.

"Yeah... I know I look different, and I definitely feel different, but it still feels like me. If that makes sense at all."

"I think I get it..." But suddenly Nightshade turned and leapt onto Dash, hugging her tight. "But don't you try to pull a 'lone hero' stunt like that ever again, do you hear me? Once was enough."

Dash nuzzled her back, in spite of the newfound height difference. "You got it, Shade. Wingponies." They held that embrace for a few seconds, before Dash gently set Nightshade down, and they started back toward the castle. Upon arrival, they found Princess Luna supervising the construction work; with unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies working together, putting up log cabins for shelter was a relatively easy task.

"Ah, there you two are! I was just looking for you." 

"Just out for a walk, Princess," Nightshade offered. 

"Come with me, I have something to show you. And these capable ponies seem to have the job well in hoof." 

Leaving the construction team to their work, Luna led them into the castle, collecting the other four Shadowbolts along the way. She took the group through a winding maze of crumbling stone passageways, into a kind of sanctum deep within the castle, lit only by her magic. Inside, she gathered them into a circle, then produced the Elements of Harmony.

"You all know that Rainbow Dash and I recovered the Elements of Harmony from the fall of Canterlot. What I have not told you is why we went out of our way to do so."

"I don't suppose they'd work for us like they would for those other ponies?" Starry asked.

"I'm afraid not. But there is something they can do for us. Long ago, when I was researching the Elements and studying their power, I came upon a theory that there was a guiding force behind each one, a personality even."

"So the Elements are... alive?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"In a sense. As you see them now, they are only bits of jewelry. But obviously they are much more than simple tools, for anypony to use against anypony else. For example, how do they choose their bearers? Or decide what punishment to mete out? Why did they banish me to the Moon, but turn Discord to stone?"

"These personalities," Nightshade ventured. "They're the ones who are really in control. We get to them, we control the Elements!"

"The theory believed them to be immensely powerful beings, inhabiting the psychic plane, well outside the reach of ponykind. But these gems are their "tethers", if you will, which connect them to the physical realm."

"Princess, respectfully," Stratus spoke up, "that is an interesting theory, but what do we do with it?"

"Practical as ever, Stratus." Luna picked up the Elements and began to arrange them telekinetically, in a careful hexagon pattern on the floor. "That interesting theory was based on a pre-Equestrian ritual ceremony that predates even myself and my sister. Its name roughly translates to "Communion". According to the archaeologists I appointed to the project, the ancients believed that one could use the Elements themselves to communicate with the beings guiding them. I'm sure you can imagine the implications of us resurrecting such a ceremony?"

"We could talk them into helping us!" Charger began. "And use the Elements ourselves!"

"Or at the very least, persuade them to stop assisting our enemies," Luna answered. "As I told Rainbow Dash before, Celestia has always held favor with these entities, most likely because she was the leading force in using them to defeat Discord. But were they to hear my side of the story..."

"Princess, I should be the one to talk to them!" volunteered Rainbow Dash. "I'm a convert myself; nopony could be more persuasive than me!"

"No, my loyal apprentice, I suspect they may be a bit cross with you for outmatching them in Canterlot; these beings are not at all used to losing. I will be the one to enter into the Communion ritual. Committing my mind to it will not deprive us of my power as well, now that it is in your hooves, Rainbow Dash."

But this time Nightshade spoke up, alarmed. "But Princess, we need your leadership here! To help us defeat Celestia!" 

"You do not give yourself enough credit, Nightshade. Your training and experience has prepared you well; I am confident you will make an excellent commander in my absence."

The young Shadowbolt was hesitant, but knew her Princess spoke the truth, both about the Elements and her. "I won't let you down, Princess." 

"I know you won't, my dear. And do not worry: I will stay around long enough to help our forces regroup and organize before I begin this task." She turned to the rest of the Shadowbolts. "I will keep you all informed as our stratagem advances. But now, I think I should make one last speech to our supporters before we settle down for the night, and I would have all six of you at my side."





As the first transport airships appeared on the evening horizon, sent from Whinneapolis to evacuate the survivors of Canterlot, Celestia gathered the Elements around her, separate from the rest of the group.

"I suppose you've realized by now that we have lost the Elemental gems."

"Do you know what happened to them?" Twilight asked. "Did they fall off while we were unconscious?"

"I doubt it. More likely, my sister recovered before we did, and stole them before returning to their hideout."

"We have to get them back!" exclaimed Shining Armor. "They're our only hope against Nightmare Moon's forces!"

"I'm afraid that will not be an easy task. While Nightmare Moon may not be able to use the Elements against us, she knows them well, as well as how important they are to us. Wherever she is keeping them, it will be incredibly well-protected."

"So what are we to do in the meantime?" asked Rarity. 

"First things first, we need to regroup with friendly forces. Now that Canterlot is destroyed, we will need to establish a new headquarters for the government and military, as well as help all these ponies find new homes."

"What about Nightmare Moon?" Fluttershy asked.

"I suspect the changeling invasion forced her to play her hoof earlier than she intended. She and her followers were operating out of Canterlot as well, so they will also need to regroup. But I fear her insurrection was not limited to a single city; after we destroyed Camp Blacklight, her rogue Guard probably dispersed throughout Equestria. Obviously they were able to penetrate the Royal Guard, and there were reports of growing sympathizer cells in Manehatten, Fillydelphia, Cloudsdale especially."

Twilight pieced together a logical conclusion. "But that would mean... an Equestrian Civil War!" Celestia only nodded in reply, before looking to the approaching airships. 

"The transports are almost here; I want to talk to these ponies before we leave."





As night fell on Republic City, Princess Luna and her Shadowbolts flew up to the top of the main gate, where everypony could see them. The carpenters returned from their work in the Everfree to the front lawn, and those helping restore the castle gathered in the foyer. When she could see they were all together, Luna began to speak.

"Citizens of the New Lunar Republic, today you have proven yourself. You proved the strength of your character by leaving behind that tyrant, Celestia, and joining me in the creation of this new democracy. And you have proven the strength of your willpower in the progress you have already made. Even in the wake of all the trials you faced in Canterlot, I have seen you work tirelessly to build a new home."





Celestia called together all of Canterlot's survivors into a large group around her, as she stood against the backdrop of Old Canterlot.

"Everypony... I will not mince words, today has been traumatic. It has been a day of immeasurable loss, loss of life, loss of home, and loss of Harmony. It is only right that we mourn... But mourning must not be all we do. Today has passed, but tomorrow is to come, and I promise you tomorrow will be a brighter day. These ships will take you to Whinneapolis, and from there we will do whatever is necessary to help you find someplace to live."





"The great work you have done must not be in vain. I will need the help of each and every one of you to secure the future of the New Lunar Republic. As you know, we face a powerful enemy, who will not rest until she has stamped out the very ideals we champion! She would keep all of Equestria under her iron hoof, but we will not let her! We defy her tyranny! Remember: the night is young!" This familiar rallying cry was echoed throughout the camp.

"Even now, Celestia thinks we are just another petty rebellion, to be put down, then forgotten about by history." Luna's words rang with personal conviction. "But we are nothing petty! We are proud, we are strong! We are the New Lunar Republic! And we promise you this, Celestia:





"But hope is not all I would ask you to kindle. Let today's losses spark a fire inside you, burning with indignity, with outrage at the evil that has been done to us! The Harmony we have cherished for generations has been attacked! Equestria's greatest city has been laid waste!" Tears in her eyes, Celestia pointed down to the foot of Mount Equus, where what was left of Canterlot lay in ruins, nearly upside down as a consequence of its violent descent.

"Look down there, at what they did to your homes! That was my home too! I stand beside each of you in your grief, and I would hope in your righteous anger as well. But I swear, on all that I hold sacred, these rebels, these terrorists will not go unopposed! Nightmare Moon will not triumph, and her rebellion will be put to an end! She has brought Equestria into its darkest hour, but I promise you, dawn is coming! She may have won today, but hear this, Nightmare Moon:





This war has only just begun!"