The Light Shadow

by Noted Sir

The Light Shadow Pt. 1

The Light Shadow pt.1

Today wasn’t a good day to find yourself out on the streets of Ponyville. Especially if your name was Rainbow Dash. Dodging taxes wasn’t the worst crime you could possibly commit against her majesty, but it would sure lead to a lot of downtime; a fact that made Dash all the more short on breath in the wee hours of the morning, Celestia’s great sun barely peeking over the horizon.

This was her moment. This was the day each and every month. She had a brief window in which to skip town for the day, just before her majesty’s messengers would begin ringing their bells to signal all citizens of Ponyville to bring out their tribute for the month.

She saw her opportunity as the last of the Royal Guard began its flight back to the home of the recently crowned queen. Dash licked her lips, braced for takeoff, and with a twinkle unnoticeable next to the remaining stars in what once was Luna’s night sky, she was gone.

Dash was now at cruising speed. She figured it to be about noon. The time didn’t worry her though, as she was far out of view of Ponyville, and even the Royal Palace. At times like this she liked to think of the good old days. Before what many called “The Lunar Eclipse”. Before the Age of the Light Shadow.

But of course, thinking of before often led her into thinking of the events which led to that dreadful coup. Rainbow Dash was the only pony who knew what had really happened that night. On a quiet night, in fact, probably the most quiet night to ever fall over the land, fire began to fall atop Equestria. It burned forests, houses, and in the most severe cases civilians, to ashes. Thousands of lives taken by this fire that appeared to cascade from the moon.

Dash was on the highest cloud, the only one with a good enough view to see what was really going on. Royal Guards, Celestia’s own men, shooting flames to Equestria below. Celestia sent for the arrest of her sister the next morning and murdered her in cold blood for crimes she didn’t commit. There was nothing standing in the way of Celestia’s supreme rule. Rainbow Dash went to the Elements of Harmony to tell them what she had seen. All seemed to be taken aback by the accusation. Twilight Sparkle slunk back to the side of Celestia just days after.

Her friends began avoiding the pegasus pony after she shared with them her secret. She could see in their eyes after parting ways with them that they weren’t refusing to believe her. They were scared to. Apple Jack gave Dash a piece of advice which had she kept with her to this day.

“Look Sugar Cube, Ah want you to put any thoughts you have of tryin’ somethin’ out of your head. If...what you’re sayin’ is true...then there’ll be a price on your head for knowin’ the things you know. And Ah don’t want you to end up like Luna. So y’best keep this whole mess to yer’self."

And that she did.

Eight months. Eight long months she’d managed to keep quiet about this whole thing. Sometimes she thought about telling others, even flying straight to Celestia to tell her that she knew everything all along, to blackmail her. But, that wouldn't bring back her lost friends. That wouldn't bring back Luna. She thought about how it was what Discord would've done. Discord had been forced out a couple months after the execution and was reportedly still on the run. Dash chuckled a bit at the thought of how backwards things were now. How she actually found herself rooting for Discord.

Everyone was against Luna from the onset, secretly at least, always looking for a good enough reason to spill her blood. There were few others who had their suspicions, who sided with Luna. These people were bribed with government positions and wealth. Dash assumed this was what had happened to “Treasurer” Twilight Sparkle. She shrugged the idea off. Twilight had always been close at Celestia’s side. Why would she need a bribe?

Even if the Elements of Harmony were on the same page, how would they take Celestia? Let alone her entire Royal Guard?

Three hours past noon, the clocks now struck. She could hear them even from this high cloud on which she was perched. Dash could now catch her breath. She decided that she would jet back to Ponyville at the same time she had left this morning.

Suddenly, a peculiar noise caught her ear. It was as if a string of fighter jets were flying in hot pursuit. It was getting louder and louder. Suddenly her cloud disappeared from beneath her. Dash began to fall, but caught herself within a matter of seconds and began her ascent back to her previous height. Her head was on a swivel, looking frantically for whatever, or whoever, was the cause of this phenomenon.

Then she saw it. It was headed back in her direction...and it wasn’t slowing down. Rainbow Dash took off in the opposite direction, knowing that she was the fastest in all of Equestria.

Even at her extreme speeds the objects (there appeared to be three of them) were getting closer. Upon further inspection, three pegasus ponies were hot on her tail, one clearly being the leader in the middle, as this one was just faster than the other two. But who could possibly keep speed with such a speed freak as herself?

They would catch her eventually if she didn’t try something quickly. She snapped straight up into the air, flying higher and higher, then flipped back in the opposite direction.

It was to no avail. They had followed her every move like heat seeking missiles. She turned to face them.

“It’s all over Rainbow Dash! Give it up!” The voice was all too familiar to her.

Spitfire? She thought as she took a closer look at the middle pony. “What do you want?” She gasped, short of breath. “Why...are you here?”

“Well I think that’s obvious isn’t it.” Spitfire began with a smirk. “We’re here for you.”

Before Dash could bolt off again, she was overpowered by the three pegasus ponies. One of which she didn’t recognize, the other she knew, from her days at the Wonderbolt Academy, as Lightning Dust.

Dash tried to put up a struggle, but before she could do anything her hooves and wings were bound. Lightning Dust and the unnamed pony hoisted Dash up onto Spitfire’s back.

“Rainbow Dash, you are hereby under arrest for tax evasion...among...other things.” Spitfire proclaimed.

Dash immediately tried to wriggle free. The struggle stopped as her jaw was met by Lightning Dust’s hoof.

Comments

[Inquisitor-Awesome]

Why complete when the chapter says pt.1?

[Noted Sir]

Whoops! Didn't notice, gonna have to change that real quick

[defunct321]

You really need to have a better explanation. Why was Rainbow Dash the only one who saw the guards, there are other pegasi right? Why are the Mane Six so scared, when they have gone up against approximately as scary as Celestia in the past? Where is Discord? (this one is easy to fix, just add in a couple sentences somewhere about how she killed him saying he was in on it with Luna.) When did Celestia become an idiot and believe burning her country down would be the best crime to frame her sister for instead of say killing Blueblood, another rival for the throne.

[Noted Sir]

@jeray2000 Alright, I made some edits to try to clear up a few things. Thanks for being constructive!