Rise of the New Lunar Republic

by Reddened Chaos

Chapter 10: Mourning and Preparations

One week has passed since the battle of Manehattan, and all of the NLR's 'Alpha team' were still coping with the loss of Red, the defacto leader of the team. Nightmare, his fiance, took the loss the worst, and hadn't left her room since she and the others made it back. The same could be said of Dawn, who was in Nightmare's room.

The others had tried to be effective leaders, but their grief prevented this.

This was the moment when Lone proved he was a leader. He took up every leader responsibility with ease, as if he had experience in this before. When Luna asked about this during team lunch, he replied by saying, "Somepony has to take up the role, and you guys still need time. Believe me, I sad he's gone too, but he did what he did for all of us, and I won't let the NLR fall because of his sacrifice meant to save it."

Luna nodded along hearing this, as she, like Fleur, Chestnut, and Barb, were all trying to cope with his death. They were working on a memorial to him at the time as well as trying to continue working.

He had organized a relief group for civilians displaced from Manehattan that were with the NLR, and had commissioned a memorial for Red, as well as the others of the NLR who had lost their lives during the fight.

Nightmare, had her own memorial...during the week after the fight in manehattan, and the week after his death, the only thing able to be recovered of his, was his lightsaber, which Nightmare, had kept, keeping it on her person at all times, granted she had never left her room after it was found, but she kept it, sitting on a display in her room, and in the off chance that she would leave, she kept it with her, effectively replacing her own lightsaber with it, as other than the ring she was given when he proposed, the lightsaber was the only thing she had to remember him by...she vowed to make Celestia pay...and she would do it with HIS lightsaber...

Fleur soon goes to check on Nigtmare Moon and Dawn, looking inside.

Nightmare's eyes had turned from their beautiful Turquoise coloration, to be something akin to bloodshot, and puffy due to crying her eyes out. her body was also looking slightly frail, due to starving herself, from never leaving the room, Fleur spoke up. "Nightmare, darling...you can't starve yourself and stay here...he would want you to keep fighting...to ensure we won..." She said, approaching and hugging Nightmare gently, who began to cry again.

"Why? He was the only one I loved, and I-I just can't go on with out him," Nightmare said, her eyes rearing up again. "Why did he leave me? Why? Why?"

"Because he wanted you to live," Lone said as he came into the door frame. He always checked to see how the others were doing, Nightmare especially.

"Why did he have to die," she said, oblivious to what he said, Dawn asleep, having cried herself to sleep.

Lone shook his head. "I can see a week not leaving your room, but starving your self?" He then walked into the room. "Fleur, get her up. Make sure she's facing me."

Fleur, though a little wary of what ever he was planning, did so.

Lone walked up to Nightmare, with Fleur holding her up. He then did something only the brace, stupid, or crazy did. He brought his hand up.

And he bitch slapped her, snapping her out of her sadness. "Look," he said as she stared at him in disbelief, "I get you miss him. I get you want to die so you can be with him. But what about your promise to make Celestia pay? What about Dawn? You are the only parent she has left. Do you want her to remember you as a coward, who took the easy way out? Because that looks like how your story's going to end if you keep this up. If you die, who's going to avenge Red at the level he deserves? I think he'd want it to be you. So, tell me, Nightmare. Are you just a shadow of the mare ponies of all ages feared, a coward? Or are you going to show Celestia and her forces why you deserve to be feared, and give Dawn a mother, give Chestnut and Aurora an aunt, to be proud of? Are you going to die like a coward, or live. Like. A. Solider?"

She glared at him for slapping her, and promptly punches him in the face. "Get out of my sight...you enigmatic jackass...." Nightmare said, restraining her anger at what he said, despite the fact that she knew it was true. Fleur also kicked him in the dick to send him on his way as she walked with Nightmare, to go and get somethin to eat now.

He dodged Fleur's kick, but allowed Nightmare to punch him, as he knew she needed a release for everything, plus he knew she was doing this for Red, at least in part.

"I'll get out of your sight when you're the mare that ponies feared," he said. "Because I know Red wouldn't want you to kill yourself over his death. I lost my brother when I was six, as well as my mom, and my father a year later. I get where you're coming from, but I didn't try to kill myself like you."

Nightmare walked off with Fleur to get some food, for Dawn, and herself, she had Red's lightsaber on her now, along with her own. She knew exactly what target they were going to attack next as well.

Lone, though hating to do what he did, was glad it had worked out.

He went to the war room to look over the status of the army, as Red's death had shook everypony.

Barb was trying to keep it together as well, because Red was like a father to her, she had even begun to refer to him as Dad when he had died...and now only referred to him as such.

Aurora was in the hanger with Barb, both comforting the other with stories of their past, before the war started.

"So, you're saying Pinkie actually looked like she was going to murder you all?" Barb asked, as Aurora was telling her of the incident with Pinkie's birthday during her first year in Ponyville.

Letting out a small chuckle, Aurora said, "Yeah. But it was no where near the insanity when we were sucked into the power ponies comic."

Barb chuckled "I remember, Dad liked to read them...I think he had a crush on Maneiac....cause he called her 'Maney' a lot..." She said, laughing about the story.

"Yeah," Aurora said. "I still can't believe Spike was humdrum, even though he does a lot more in real life."

"Oh," Barb said. "Who's Spike? I don't remember the others mentioning him."

"Spike was my number one dragon assistant. You know, before this," Aurora said, gesturing towards herself.

"Dragon?" Barb asked, now interested in Spike

Aurora nodded "Yes. he's a Dragon...probably close to your age I think...he's basically to me what you are to Uncle Red...being a sort of assistant but also being like my own child..." She said, smiling, thinking about him. "He stays in Ponyville still...and I'm very worried about him now..." Similar to how Barb had taken to calling Red 'Dad' since his death, Aurora, had also began calling him Uncle at that point.

"Ohh," Barb said. "What's he like?"

"Well, he always helps. One time, during my second year in Ponyville, I was having a freak out over a letter to Celestia, as I was still her student then, and cast a 'Want it, Need it' spell on my old Smarty Pants doll. If it hadn't been for Spike, things could've been worse than they were, as he told Celestia of me going nuts. He's also smart. Not like me or the other princesses, but smart."

At this point, Barb was now interested in Spike, so much so that she wanted to meet him. And marry him.

"I see.....think I could meet him some time? Dad was talking about sending me on a solo trip to Ponyville for Recon..." Barb explained.

"It'd be too dangerous,Barb," Aurora said.

"So. Recon is still less dangerous than what you and the others do. "

"Ponyville is one of THE most well fortified towns under Tia's control...." Aurora said, very worried about Barb.

Barb looked defeated as she heard Aurora say this. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Glad to see you see reason," Aurora said.

As she launched into another story, Barb was thinking of various ways to get into Ponyville, or Spike here.

"Hey, Aurora?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Celestia told Spike about you?"

"No. Why?"

"Well, instead of going there, why not bring Spike, who most likely has intel on defenses for Ponyville, at least, here, making him think he's saving you?"

Aurora thought about it "That...might just be GENIUS!"

"Well, come on then," Barb said, heading towards the main door, "we should let Lone know."

Getting up, Aurora asked, "Why Lone. Why not Night- never mind, the answer's obvious."

Aurora nodded, and went to do so.

Meanwhile, with Nightmare Moon

Nightmare, with rage and sadness obvious in her body language, made it to the lunch room where the rest of Alpha usually ate, the few ponies she came across in the halls getting out of her way as quickly as possible.

When she made it to the room, she opened the door and was met with looks that mixed surprise, happiness, and fear from the others. Luna was the first to speak.

"Well, it's good to see you up and about sister, but what has made you so mad?"

She looked at Luna, before she began to tear up sitting down with her food with Luna. "The same one that my betrothed wanted to punch....Lone....he slapped me...." She said as she told Luna about what happened.

"Why?" Luna asked, anger in her voice.

"To insult me. Call me a coward, that I wasn't the mare ponies should fear, say I was taking the cowards way out by starving myself, making Dawn have to live through the deaths of both her parents. He even went as far as to say he knows where I come from, so why would he insult me?"

Because he wants me to kill him rather than just beat him into the wall... a familiar voice said, clear anger evident.

"Red?" Nightmare asked, confused and hopeful at the same time as she and Luna looked around the room. "Where are you?"

Right here the voice said, sounding like it came from the door. The two mares looked and were surprised by a ghostly image of Red in the armor he had worn when he died.

Red begins to walk forward from the door, walking right to them, walking past the others who appear to make NO notice of him. He approaches Nightmare, and smiles at her, even reaching down and gently stroking her mane, which she was able to feel. "Hey there, Moony..."

"H-h-how?"

The ghost shrugged. "No idea. All I know is that I'm speaking with you now. I just wanted to let you know that I did what I did so you could live. I don't regret it, and though I hate Lone, I would probably do the same if it meant bringing you back to the way you were before."

"What! How can you side with him? He insulted me, called me a coward-"

"And got you back up and eating. It's a case of doing bad things with good intentions and wanting a good outcome."

"I AM going to make him pay for slapping you though Moony...make No mistake about that..." He said, being genuinely honest. "HOW, I have no idea..." He said as he gently hugged her.

Well, as best as he could, anyway, seeing as how he was a ghost.

He pulled away from the hug, and started to disappear. "Goodbye, Moony. Goodbye Lulu." As he said these words, he disappeared from their sight, tears of both happiness and sadness on the faces of the two rulers of the night.

NLR War room.

Barb and Aurora are speaking with Lone.

The two had come with him to speak about bringing Spike here. Though he thought having Celestia's personal informant for what the defenses at Ponyville were, he thought it was too dangerous.

"I'll admit," Lone said, his helmet off, "it sounds like it might work." He raised a finger for emphasis, "But it may not at the same time. If you two an come up with a plan that involves little to casualties for either side and gets him here, I'll consider it."

"Right," Barb and Aurora said, with the former sounding a little defeated.

The two left the room. As soon as they did, Lone's personal communicator lit up with a green light, indicating two of his friends were contacting him with info. He activated it, and two ponies appeared. One was Nightengale, wearing his custom gun gray armor with a wide, T like, sky blue visor on his helmet, with a gray stripe down the middle just above the visor, which was held down by his side, shoulder pads that had angular turns to protect his shoulders, a wide, rectangular chest plate, and leg armor that had additional ammo pouches on the lower legs and had a small camo pattern on the thighs. Around his waist were grenades. His knees and elbows were protected by angular, single pieces of metal.

The second, Shadow Specter, was wearing armor that, in aesthetics, resembled Lone's in general, but the exact details were different. His helmet, down by his side had a singular, vertical visor in the center, the sides of the helmet looking like they were welded on. The shoulder pieces were ovoid when viewed from the side, small, whit pieces of metal coming out from the lower half. The torso looked like a V-neck shirt with out the sleeves and ended just below the ribs. The arms had a rectangular appearance to them.

The greaves were the same. His armor was mostly forest green with accents of tree bark brown.

"Good to see you guys again," Lone said, nodding in greeting to the two.

Barb looks at Aurora "How can we get this done?"

A familar voice to both speaks up nearby "You know, you could always pose as Twilight, and send a secret message to Spike saying to come alone to rescue you from here...OR possibly tell him that Celestia betrayed them and that he must come because he's now in danger..." it said, appearing to be behind Barb.

They both turned around and saw Red, who looked like a ghost.

"Dad," Barb asked, not believing what her eyes were seeing.

"Hey there Barb~" Red said smiling at them both. "And you as well Dearest Aurora."

"Hey, Uncle," Aurora said. "How are you here?"

"Don't know," Red said. "If I had to guess, I'd say magic. I can't stay for long. Just thought I'd see how you two are doing. And I'm glad you two are doing well."

True to his word, Red's ghost began to fade away. "Goodbye, you two," he said before he faded away completely.

Barb began to tear up, seeing as how she thought she'd never see Red again.

Aurora, whose voice was chocked as if she was holding back tears, said, "Well, we might as well see what we can do about that plan he came up with, huh?"

Barb nodded, and the two made their way to Aurora's room.

Back in the NLR war room

"Good to see you too, Bro," Shadow said. His coat was the same shade of green as his armors primary color.

"Lone," Nightengale said.

"So," Lone said, "whats going on with Celestia?"

"Well," Shadow said, "she is planning on building a memorial to those who lost their lives in Manehattan. Officially, it's for her forces, but those in the guard I've talked with say it's also for Red, even if it's unofficial. Won't make Nightmare want to kill Celestia any less."

Nightengale grunted in amusement. "That just makes our job harder."

"Agreed," Lone said. "But that's not the only development. Aurora and Barb just left after coming to tell me they wanted to bring Spike here. Shadow, you're in Ponyville. Think you can stop the plan. Not because I don't see it's use, I do, but because Barb proposed it like a love sick puppy, and is doing for herself, even if it appears she's doing this for Aurora as well."

Shadow nodded. "I'll see what I can do, but I would like to point how you and I courted our wives."

"We weren't on opposite sides of a war then." It was here Lone felt a presence behind him. Turning his head, he said, "Red. Good see Harmony took you up. How are you doing?"

"Not too bad all things considered but believe me I'm gonna kick your ass..." He said his arms crossed clearly very annoyed, even though he knew it was for good..."Oh by the way, Your parents said Hello...also there's no way in hell I'm letting you stop their plan."

"Well, then I'll see you later, as we both know you're alive and Harmony's training you.

"So you aren't surprised you're seeing me?"

"No. I pulled that trick a few times my self when me and Shadow here," Lone said, gesturing to Shadow, "faked our deaths. Though like you, it was because nopony would believe us."

Red raised an eyebrow at him. before Pinkie bashed Lone's head with a very heavy hitting Hammer. "STOP RUINING THE TWISTS YOU JERK!!!" she then happily skipped away.

Lone and Red just chuckled. "Oh, if only she knew the major ones," Lone said cryptically.

"Agreed," Shadow said.

"SO, what's the next strike plan? Eh? I may not be able to exist like this for long but least I can do is try to help right?"

"That would be Nightmare's decision. What ever I came up with, she would say no."

Red laughed. "Yeah, guess so." He then started to fade. "Well, there's my cue. Goodbye, moron."

Fortunately, Lone had cast a spell on his communicator to where only he could hear and see it.

"Why?" Lone asked. "It doesn't have much strategic value, nor does it have a large population."

"What does it matter? I want...to have a place to remember his sacrifice...after all Manehattan's practically abandoned at current..."

"It is lightly guarded, plus there are reports of them being there," Nightengale said, though only Lone could hear him.

Lone nodded. "Alright then, but it'll have to wait until our memorial for the others who lost their lives is complete."

"So long as we take it," Nightmare said, nearing in on a growl.

"We will," Lone said.

"Good..." She said, as she looked to Lone. "I...saw Red...as a ghost earlier...is..there anyway I can continue to talk with him for longer?" She asked him, believing she could possibly get a form of closure.

"I'd have to look over all the spells I know, but possibly. Though one that will work, but has a fair failure rate, is focusing on him with your magic. What makes it fail is ponies become overwrought with emotion, they lose focus, and the spell ends. It will work. What is dependent is how long it'll last."

"I see..." She said "Thanks." She said genuinely as she went to leave and go to her room with her daughter.

"Keep an eye on her, Lone," Shadow said, "If she gets mad enough, there's no telling how bad that'll be."

"I know that, Shadow. Nightengale, how are code names Farmer and Blowhard due to last week?"

Nightengale spoke back "Well...AJ and Dash seem to be doing fine...though I think that regardless of twilight's, or rather, Aurora's defection to her mother's side, they seem to have taken a big hit to their confidence due to the revelation of what Celestia did...Along with Captain Zero's sacrifice..." he explained.

Lone nodded. "Right. See what you can do to help them out."

"Right."

"See you guys later," Lone said before disconnecting.

Two days later

Barb and Aurora go to Lone with their new plan.

"I can talk to Spike about how he betrayed us, and how we need to get him out of there because he's in danger. Either that, or we tell him I'm in trouble and he needs to come alone to save me?" Aurora suggested.

"How do you know he'll be able to get away. Of what my sources say, he's by the general's side at all times," Lone said

"He'll just wait until the general's asleep, then sneak out."

"And what if he chooses not to join us, because there is no way I'm going to cast any sort of spell on a dragon." Still got the burns from the first time. Mental burns, but burns nonetheless.

"Then we'll knock him out and put him in a fire proof cell then I cast a spell on that prevents him from sending messages."

Lone thought this over for a minute. "Okay, you guys are clear, but if I so much as think he's sending messages to Celestia's forces, I will stop him. By any means necessary. Is that clear, you two?"

Both looked at him dead serious "We understand but if you kill him, We'll make sure Dad/Uncle gets to enjoy kicking your ass in the afterlife." They said as they understood and went to leave.

Lone simply shook his head and left the room shortly after them, as he had something to give to Nightmare.

He made his way to her room and knocked on the door and waited for her to open the door. When she did and saw him, her look took on a neutral appearance. "Lone," she said."What are you doing here."

"Just thought I'd give you something the recovery teams found in Manehattan yesterday," he said pulling out an amulet.

She looked at it, and took it, it made her think of Red instantly. It was a beautiful amulet, which was made of a silver chain, and as the actual amulet charm, it was a gold medallion of sorts, which had the engraving of a Dragon's foot print, Not like Barb or Spike's footprint, but something from a different kind of Dragon all together.

"Thank you....Now please Leave..." She said shutting the door, and walking back sitting on the bed looking at it.

Dawn was out with Fleur and Chestnut. Chestnut had taken Red's death hard, as he was one of the first ponies to treat her like a living thing. Which meant she was all alone in her room. She decided she may as well try the technique Lone had told her would allow her to talk with Red.

Nightmare concentrated her magic into her horn, and could feel the energy. After five minutes, though, she had to abandon the spell, as she felt the spell draining her energy. She was definitely going to speak with Lone about this.

Hilariously though, the spell seemed to work as Red faded in "Somepony come calling? I felt a familiar tug..." He asked looking to her, knowingly.

"Hello, beloved," Nightmare said. "Why didn't you appear when I first called?"

"Simple. It's your first time casting the spell, so it stands to reason that it would take a while for it to work.

"Whilst it may be very taxing, after a while it'll be easy to cast." Red said, as he sat by her, giving her a hug, as even though he was a ghostly form, he was able to use his own magic to interact with them, such as stroking her mane, or touching her.

"I suppose that makes sense," Nightmare said, happy that she was able to speak with Red.

Red nodded "at least, it seems to make sense to me.....I miss being around you...I love you so much Moony..."

"As do I, as well as Fleur and Luna, and Dawn and Chestnut, but at least we can speak with one another."

"I just wish you were alive," Nightmare said, sorrow in her voice, and her eyes tearing up again.

Red gently stroked her cheek, smirking "I am alive.....I'm recovering right now...I don't know when I'll be able to return but I swear to you I will..." Red said to her, as he looked deep into her eyes, and gave her a kiss.

Nightmare was surprised at the news he was alive. "Y-yo-you're alive? But I saw the suit explode. How did you get away?"

"I'll explain that later. For now, I just want to stay here with you."

Red nuzzled her "I will stay by your side no matter what Moony...perhaps I should try to check on Fleur, and Chestnut soon though....I imagine little Chestnut took it very hard.....as did Dawn..." he said looking for her.

"Well," Nightmare said, "Hopefully you will be back just in time to see us take Fillydelphia, which I'll rename Star city for you, my love."

"I'm honored...I'll take that renaming...though I ain't exactly dead yet..." He said nuzzling her close. "heh. Who knows, maybe I'll be back in time to finish that fight huh?" He said giving her a playful kiss on her cheek.

"That would definitely help you show up Lone," Nightmare said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I guess so." Red started to fade. "Well, looks like the spells fading. Goodbye for now, Moony," he said, kissing her on the lips.

Red smiled as he faded off "See you soon, I hope." He said as he faded away, and Nightmare just began to smile, looking forward to when her love would return.

Park section-meanwhile

All things considered, Fleur was having a good day. Chestnut and Dawn were having fun, playing tag in the park with other fillies and colts, a few of which were thestrals, which helped Chestnut, as she was still nervous around other ponies that weren't thestrals.

Soon enough Red's ghostly form appeared next to Fleur "They are so cute, aren't they?"

Fleur jumped at hearing him, not to mention the suddenness of it.

"Red?" she asked.

"Hi!" he said smiling and kissing her, snickering.

"What are you doing here," was all she could say, due to her surprise. "How are you here?"

Before he could answer, Dawn and Chestnut came running over, both screaming, "Daddy!!"

Red smiled "How about I explain later okay?" He asked Fleur as he gently reached out and hugged the two girls. "Hey girls...Daddy can't exactly stay long..."

"Why not?" Chestnut asked.

"It's complicated, sweetie," Red said. "How are you, though?"

Chestnut nuzzled him, crying lightly "I've missed you so much daddy...it's so hard...to stay fine...when I lost you now..." she said crying. Dawn soon joined in hugging her cousin and her father.

"I missed you too, Chestnut. And how are you doing Dawn?"

She just sniffles. "I'm just glad your back Daddy..." She cooed.

He smiled, saying, "That's good." He then looked to Fleur. "And what about you Fleur?"

Fleur began to tear up. "I missed you, just as much as Luna and Nightmare. We thought we'd never see you again."

Red smiled and responded "I know....it's gonna be alright..." he said, as he told her what he told Nightmare "Tell only Luna, Aurora, and Barb...I've already told Moony....Lone knows this too. but I'm actually still alive...I'm a little busy, recovering...I don't know when I'll be back...but I promise you, I WILL return..." he told her.

He then began to fade away, much like with the others. "I'll see you soon."

Meanwhile-Canterlot

Celestia was in her personal chambers, looking over the progress of the memorial for those who died in Manehattan. Though her ponies had become accustomed to the atrocities war always brought, this was the first use of a nuclear device in the history of the planet, and a memorial was in order for those who died in the battle, even if the most heroic one was unofficially remembered in it.

She owed it to her sister however, to make sure that the most heroic one, None other than their own Enemy, Zero 'Red' Star, was officially remembered in it. It might make her own troops mad, but, her sister Nightmare, and Luna both deserved to be given this much...after everything she had done to them...take away their daughters....change Luna's memories, and now, taken away the very one who loved them just as much as she did, if not more so, who intended to marry Nightmare Moon...they deserved for their beloved to be officially remembered, she got up and went to the ones making the Memorial to tell them. After all, it was thanks to the heroic Captain that even SHE was alive...much less so many more in Manehattan....the town may be currently condemned due to nuclear Fallout, but, it was thanks to him that the town's citizens were saved...minus the loses but the fact that he saved them all, spoke the most.

When she arrived at the area where the memorial was being constructed and told the crew to add him to the rolls, they were understandably mad, and she had to order them to add his name, and even then, they were reluctant to do so.

"Its thanks to him that I'm even alive, not to mention the majority of the citizens of Manhattan now PUT HIM ON THERE." She demanded, even using the Royal Canterlot Voice to get the point across.

Her use of the Royal Canterlot Voice was enough to make the workers put Red's name on it. After this, she went to check on Shining Armor, who was cleared fit for duty just after Manehattan, so long as he renounced all his previous ties with anypony in the NLR, which he did once he was told to do so, about Aurora, as only she, the family Aurora had as Twilight, and her friends knew what had happened. The only exception was Spike, who was still in Ponyville.

"Shining Armor...how do you feel?" She asked, observing him seeing him renounce all those previous ties, to his 'sister' and to his wife...

"Good, Ma'am," he said. "And may I say that I will personally make sure Cadence and Twilight, or whatever her name is now, pay for betraying you?"

"You need not say it, general. I simply hope you have the wisdom to not kill them."

Shining Armor's face promptly locks up as he ends up feeling something kick him in the crotch as a familar voice rings out "You know I figured you'd betray Cadence, and likely Aurora once she found out the truth and went back to her mother but I'm apalled that you would even consider killing them, General jackass." it said as Shining Armor went down in pain.

As Shining was rolling on the floor, Celestia gasped due to her recognizing the voice. "Red?"

"That's 'Zero' to you, Celestia," Red said as his ghost appeared.

"Sheesh just how low must you sink? Considering everything you did to your sisters. Not to mention your own nieces...."

"How are you here?" Celestia asked. "You were caught in the nuclear blast."

Red laughed "Simple. I'm a ghost! I'm here to haunt you. MURDERER!!!" He souted pointing at her accusingly

"Why are you calling me a murderer, when it was the NLR who wiped out an entire innocent town?!" Celestia asked

Red began to laugh wildly "What are you talking about Apploosa? We never did that, we never even WENT there. We don't slaughter innocents.. No no no, there's more to the situation than you know, Tia."

"What do you mean?"

Red looked at her, a scarily determined look on his face. "There's more to this war than you think Celestia. We will win, and reveal the truth."

Red smirked at her. "There is far more than you know....All will be revealed, In time..."

He then began to fade. "Don't think I'm done with you yet, Celestia."

Celestia now began to mull over this new information "More to it than we know? What could he mean by that...?"

"Why should we care, Princess?" Shining asked, still in pain. "He died as a member of the rebels, and he's probably trying to further their cause by confusing you."

"And YOU chose to abandon your own wife and sister even if the sister's life was a complete lie made by me, Just because you liked me more...Quite frankly Shining Armor, I'm surprised you chose to marry Cadence, and didn't try to marry me instead." She said walking away to try and think over the revelation.

She made her way to the gym to help work off the stress, as well as to think as to what Red had meant.

When she arrived, she wasn't surprised to Applejack and Rainbow sparring, as their rivalry had increased with them getting their energy sword.

She smiled a bit as she was approaching some of the workout gear and gets to work.

The princess went to the punching bag first, as it helped her get rid of the stress that she builds up in the course of a day. She was there for the better part of an hour. After that, she went to the treadmills to help think on what Red had meant.

When she was done an hour later, she was more confused than she was to start off with. The only thing that she could reasonably guess was that the third party that Striker had mentioned was involved in that there was more to the war than she thought.

She ends up finding Red lounging on her own chair, his ghostly feet kicked up on the desk. "And hello again. Tell me Tia, is there ANYONE you love truly? Other than your sisters considering we both know you LOVE them OH so much..." He said, showing clear sarcasm when he mentioned Celestia loving Luna and Nightmare due to everything she had done to them.

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "And I assume you are haunting me just to try to unnerve me?"

He laughed. "That is the main reason, yes, but seeing the current circumstances, I don't see why we can't at least talk to each other. Now, how about that answer?"

Celestia remained silent, thinking over her answer as he spoke again.

"After all your General Shining Armor, has no iota of love in his cold heart at all, considering he betrayed Cadence, AND Twilight, his own wife and sister. even if she was never his sister to begin with."

"What are you saying?"

Red shrugged. "Just that I'm thinking he only married Cadence for the prestige, and her because he saw her on an almost dialy basis, what with her foal sitting job. So I doubt you'd have your eyes on him."

Red then leaned forward looking at her. "So I'll ask again. Is there ANYONE you love at all in that heart of yours? ANYPONY? Don't you truly love your sisters? Cause I've got questions for you anyway. Like why, in the blue blazes you took Luna's daughter Aurora away from her, and then effectively wiped her memories like that...and altered Luna's own...even lied to her as well...Shining Armor has no love in his heart...what of yours? Do you truly love your sisters? Is there ANYPONY you love?"

"I do love my sisters. I took Dawn away from the moon and revived her. I put her inot a coma so she wouldn't have ot live throuh one thousand years on not knowing her mother. The reason I showed up at the old castle when I did is because I was going to retrieve Dawn, but Aurora and the other Elements were able to defeat her quicker than I thought, so I brought her into my Personal care, and had Cadence take care of her after she and the others had taken care of Sombra." Tears were rolling down Celestia's face now. "As for Aurora I put her into a coma much like Dawn. The only difference is that she became younger, physically, but her mind was intact. I didn't want her to know her mother had become a monster."

"If you love them, then why do you keep the war going. If you truly loved them, you would have tried to come up with a peace treaty to end this war. But that still doesn't answer my question: Do you love anypony with all of your heart, and I don't mean Luna or Nightmare."

"........Yes....there's....one....the...same one.....you both killed...and prevented from killing all of us..." She said.

"Shadow Strike? Red asked.

"Y-yes," Celestia said, more tears coming from her eyes and streaming down her face.

Red gently got up, and approached her, giving her a hug, as he whispered "Would you like some good news now?" He asked her, looking deep into her magenta eyes.

Celestia nodded.

"Both me and him are alive and recovering. The reason we haven't tried to kill each other since Manehattan is that we agreed that where we were staying would be considered neutral ground while we were both there, and we stay out of each others way when possible."

"And why are you telling me this?"

"Because," Red said, "we are planning on returning soon."

Red smirked as he began to fade "Gotta go...but you promise me One thing.....When Shadow gets back to you...Tell him the truth...about your feelings for him...Next time I see Moony and Luna, I'll tell them what YOU told me...even Aurora...MAYBE it might keep them from killing you...I don't know...but if your lucky, they may agree to talk to you about something You can do for them when the war's over to make things right..." He said as he slowly began to fade. "Promise me, that when he returns, you'll tell Shadow Strike the truth about your feelings."

Sobbing, Celestia said, "I will."

Red simply nodded, then he faded away completely.