A World Without a Rainboom

by Mocha Star

The Rebellion Grows

"Tonight, Queen Nightmare Moon, we, your faithful children, gather before you. Please, show yourself to us!" Night Lead called to Canterlot from the base of the mountain. Thousands of ponies were with her, wearing dark cloaks and hoods; waiting silently as the moon moved quickly in the sky. In a bright flash Nightmare Moon appeared in front of Night Lead making her stumble back onto her haunches and gasp. "Queen Nightmare Moon, I, we are so immeasurably pleased to meet and to serve you." She and every pony bowed as low as they could without getting a muzzle full of dirt.

"Thou art my Children of the Night? Thou hath grown vastly in numbers, and I see loyalty is not an issue. How have thee fared since we last spoke in thy dreams, Night Lead?"

"My Queen. We're the best ponies in Equestria. Few have slept as much as us and we have your night to nourish us. How may we be of service?"

"Thy loyalty is enough for now. The battle ahead will be easily won; however I wish to know of thine history over the past 1000 years. Thou art more important to me than some meek cowardly ponies with bombs. Come, Night. Inform me of the past so I may prepare for the future."

Night called for a pony to bring their history book, and, setting it on another ponies back as a podium, she read to Nightmare Moon about their past.

---

'Delta squad,

I'm glad you have this message and I wish you the best of luck. A caravan of Zebra are making a trade offering to Nightmare Moon for sleep. Your mission is to sabotage their wagons and open a dialogue with them to see if they will join our cause. Map coordinates G159 x E25 x T309 is on their path and they will arrive by 4PM two days from now.

It has been a long month since we began our mission and we have all suffered losses of friends, family and neighbors. However, Nightmare Moon has not made the progress she wishes she had and that is thanks to you. For those that have fallen, we will fight for you in our hearts and make sure every one of Nightmare Moon’s legion knows your name!

In Celestia's light, be safe.

Leader of the Children of True Light

---

"Squad. We have our orders, we leave in seven minutes. Grab your gear and move out."

"Yes, sir!"

Lilac looked at his squad with a certain pride. He was easily the most militant of the squad leaders directly under Shining Armor, and had only one casualty: a Pegasus named Vanilla Bean who was hurt when she flew into an overhead beam in a warehouse they were stealing from. She healed fine and got a nickname she hates, but at least she's alive to hate it.

"Lookout, you're on watch. Get up there and scout ahead," he shouted to a Pegasus who shot him a dirty look.

"Yes, sir. The name's Bean, sir."

"I understand that, Lookout. Get going." With a snort, she took to the air and left the broken barn they had met in. She may hate the nickname, but in my experience she's become the glue that holds this team together. If she's hurt, they'll avenge her. If she's killed, they'll tear a dozen enemy encampments apart with their bare hooves to find the killer. If she gives a dirty eye toward another pony on a mission, that pony will wish they had never joined Nightmare Moon, at least. She'll be my second in command in a few missions if she keeps her head on.

---

"Sir, team two has achieved altitude and I don't see any Pegasi in the skies."

"Copy that team two. Team three, ground recon?"

"Team three copies team one. Ground is quiet, holding position. Keeping comms open."

"Copy team three. Team four, preparations ready?"

"Team four copies team one. Defense and offense spells charged and ready. Awaiting command."

"Copy. All teams ready and in position. This is a modified smash and grab. We blow their wheels, round them up. I tell them about the true Nightmare Moon and let them know the resistance is real and a way to contact ops, then we get the spell out." The squad chuckled at his wording. "Troops, I may be an earth pony, but my wife is a unicorn. I'm doing this for her and our twin foals at home. It's not a laughing matter to me. Remember who you joined for and why."

The silence resumed as they waited for the caravan to approach. Hours passed as they began to distract themselves with flying patterns or counting leaves. Even commander Lilac began to let his mind wander. A sudden gasp from the communication stones brought them all back into their senses as Lookout whispered, "Sergeant, I have four carts traveling south/south east at 5.2 knots. They'll be in position in 4 minutes and 13 seconds. I say again, 4 minutes to target."

The soldiers rustled and got ready for a quick take down, spells charged and weapons at the ready, they waited until the Zebra had entered the mission area. Lookout released a lightweight enchanted rock from her grip, then flew to her secondary point as the rock smashed into the ground and exploded into a blinding white flash that affected all the Zebras. The unicorns cast a spell that warped the wooden wheels on the lead cart while the other teams pushed the Zebra into a single group.

"Another successful mission!"

"Silence on the comms. The mission isn't done until we're in bed at home." Lilac directed his attention to the Zebra before him. "Do any of you speak Celestian?"

The Zebra looked at each other confused then spoke in their native language. One of them raised a foreleg, "I speak the words you need, I can help you indeed. You have taken us from our trade, I pray you have no reason to consider us for treason."

"I heard y'all were rhymers. I hope you're okay to talk with a pony that can't put three words together like that. You're going into a trap, dealing with Nightmare Moon will not end with your freedom, peace, sunlight or anything ya want."

"You say these things and they may be true, but look at her and look at you. You break our carts and burn our eyes, scare us to death and say she's full of lies?"

"Darn rhyming. Polta, get over here." A unicorn ran over and saluted Lilac. "Polac here is a mare of many skills. One of them is a level of patience I do not have." Lilac turned and paced a few lengths away and began issuing orders to the other members of the unit.

"Um, hello. I'm Polta. I guess I'm gonna, uh…. Sir, what'm I supposed to do?"

"Tell them about how Nightmare Moon is an evil witch," he snapped.

"Um, what’s your name, mister Zebra?"

"My name is long and fair, but I will say it's Angel, so there. Why do you speak for the stallion over there, does he not have the guts to bear?" Lilac grunted in their direction but didn't move. His expression was as grizzled and firm as ever during a mission.

"He's a really great stallion, and if he represents all ponies, then you're in the best hooves in Equestria. You see, ponies here are really scared and some have had it worse than others. Do you sleep anymore?"

"Sleep is the reason for this trade, we have not slept well for days. Many have gone crazed with madness and to sleep one night will bring them much gladness."

"We're the same here, Angel. The whole world is at odds right now. Only ponies are affected by nightmares and the only way to be free of them is to join Nightmare Moon’s army. What she won't tell you is that she'll enchant you and take over your minds so you won't ever sleep again." The zebra gasped and spoke among each other. "I thought you couldn't speak our language."

"I said we cannot speak, not we cannot hear. Why do you think we wear these in our ears? Often ponies speak as though we are not knowing we always hear. Many fear what they don't know, and we listen so we can show."

"Show?"

"Show that we… can be different, Polta. Rhyme is the... way of our... people and... culture. I... have learned... to not rhyme so I... don't insult you, or Nightmare Moon. We, in my land, are... fearful, of... hurting more. We are sent here to... beg for mercy."

"Angel, you can't beg a witch and expect gold. We won't stop you, rob you or hurt you, we're going to leave now, actually. The choice is yours to join us, or her. Here, take this, it's a way to contact us if you want to join us."

"It would be tragic if you gave us this and it needed magic," Angel rhymed.

"It's a basic spell scroll. You can use it twice and only the receiver will know you've activated it. Sometime after you've used it we'll contact you with a location; questions?"

"What if... we betray you? You would… trust us…. with this?"

"Angel, stick to rhymes. It's easier to understand you that way. May Celestia's light guide you." With that, the squad scattered and regrouped. "Sir, I think that went better than we hoped it would. Their loss was four wheels and we may have saved their lives. 'uh, um, wha-'," Polta laughed. "And 'Polta?' Sir, couldn't you make up a better name?"

"Tulip, I love you honey, but don't question me on the battlefield," Lilac smiled and laughed with the rest of the squad, "Okay, let's go home and hope we don't hear of a contingent of Zebra joining Nightmare Moon’s ranks. Mission complete. Fallout."

---

Shining Armor sat in the back of a covered wagon with Cadence by his side as they looked at a lantern before them swaying, held in place by magic. "Shining, I heard we have a new faction forming in the castle walls," Cadence said quietly.

"I know. I keep trying to stop them but they are too ambitious. They'll be caught and join her before the day is over. Fools, driven mad by nightmares. I can only pray they are released peacefully."

"Shining, there is also a report from Alpha squad..." Cadence hesitated.

"Well? What is it? More bad news?"

"Well, there are reports of a resistance in Ponyville based out of the Everfree Forest. That's all I have so far, but if it's true they have the perfect place to hide. The forest is the culmination of millenniums of curses and enchantments that make it defy all the laws of nature and weather we know. If they don't die from something in there and have found a safe place then we could have a stronghold."

"Don't get your hopes up, honey. We can't afford such hope when we're just beginning to make headway. This is the part of any battle where the attacked become aggressive. She'll try to find us, me, by any means until she slows our mission, since killing me would turn me into the martyr Celestia couldn't be she won't risk that. What she'll do is try to find my cohorts, friends, and family first. Then-"

"Enough talk about war, let's talk about our wedding. I hear Maneapolis is a nice place, or some town near there. It's a bit chilly but I don't mind that; the ponies are supposed to be very skilled in many different things, that may prove useful when we build a house there."

"Hey, I never said I wanted to move there. I'm still captain of the guard, why can't we live in Canterlot? Plus all my friends and family will be back there once this is over."

"Yes, yes. Celestia will perform the wedding and blah blah blah. All that matters is that our families are there and well rested."

"Ah, I can't wait for a full restful sleep. I think I'll take a nap at lunch for a few days once Celestia is in control again. In the southern lawn, with the squad leaders. I think a promotion is in order for all of them and their troops."

"Have you heard from Twilight lately? It's been almost 6 weeks, I'm a little worried."

"Cadence, I haven't contacted anypony since this began. I know she's in an inn in Ponyville and she's safe. That's all that matters."

"Shining, send her a letter at least letting her know you're alive. She must be worried sick by now, and your parents were with her too, right? Send one letter saying 'I'm alive and well,' just so they know."

"You know, you'd make a terrible soldier."

"But I make a great everything else, so do it," she scolded him with a look that burnt to his heart.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied smiling but with frustration in his voice. "You can't always do that to me."

"Yes I can, because I love you and you love me. That's why you'll win."

---

"MOMMY, DADDY! I got a letter from Shining Armor!" Twilight screamed as she looked through the mail. "He sent it last week; it says..." She almost ripped it trying to open the letter. "I'm fine. I love you all. I miss you all. Stay safe. -Shining Armor P.S. Find a fillyfriend before I win or I'll find one for you." Everyone laughed and hugged as they looked at the letter. "Even at war he's teasing me. Thank Celestia he's okay!"

Walking down the hall a pony passing by heard the shouting and commotion and galloped from the inn to the local guard station. "The reward is 1,200 bits for information leading to Shining Armor? I'm here to collect!"

Comments

[IMNOTHERE889]

Day 1: holy heck. Shining Armor, prepare your ass, because you better get Ready to Die! you better get ready to kill
Also, Zebras speaking out of rhyme. Must be really hard. I mean, what if they say orange??