> The Gathering Storm
>  by WiskeyMikeOne
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Gathering Storm
By Carwyn Williams
Prologue







The excitement flowed through me as I listened to the instructor welcoming us to our first day of flight school. I was only a little colt with dreams of flying high and soaring through the air faster than anypony has flown before. But until then I had to pass.

There were about 30 of us on that first day in a large group in the middle of the court yard of the Cloudsdale Flight School. The cloud under my feet was hard and unforgiving, just like the structures that surrounded us. The buildings seemed enormous to a little colt and they were a little daunting at first, but I knew that if I could fly up to the top of the school tower, I could do anything.

“All right kids, find a partner!” grunted the instructor, he blew into his whistle that was tied around his neck on a well-worn piece of string. It seemed pointless as we were only two feet away from him. With the sound of the whistle still ringing in my ears, I turned to find a partner.

Looking at friends who had already found a partner made me feel a bit left out as I began searching through the crowds of ponies. I had been living in Trottingham since birth; my mother and father were Pegasi, just like me, but this was my first time away from home. I had no friends in Cloudsdale and I was beginning to think I would never find any.

“Hay Whirlwind!”

I turned to the direction from which my name was being called out. Right at the back of the crowd I could see a pale blue hoof waving frantically, trying to get my attention. I made my way through the crowd to find a pale blue pony with a rainbow mane and tail.

“Hi Dashie!”

“Hay Whirl, what are you doing here?”

“The same reason you’re here, duh.”

Rainbow laughed and beckoned me to join her. It had been a few years since I had last seen her but we remained in contact; she hadn’t changed a bit. We started talking about what had happened in both our lives since we last met. Rainbow was living in Cloudsdale whilst I was moving to different towns and cities throughout Equestria. My dad has to move a lot with work so I have no time to make new friends. The life of a son whose father is in charge of the snow in Equestria is not fun, but I do get to see many places and many new ponies. Our conversation was interrupted by the instructors whistle.

“Fall in with your partner, it’s time to see who can fly”

I froze but Dash nudged me to follow the crowd though the tall archway. As we both caught up with the rest of the group the wind picked up, gasping could be heard from the ponies out in front.

“Come on, let’s go see” said Dash as she ran into the crowd

Not wanting to be by myself I followed reluctantly, for I knew what was coming. My dad told me about what was coming next before I got on the griffin that brought all the Pegasi living on earth to Cloudsdale. The courtyard was just for show, the school was on the other side on a separate cloud with a 100ft distance between them.

“Right you kids this is the first test - team work. You and your partner must make it to the other side to secure a place in the school. If you fall, you and your partner fail and have to come back next year.”

“There won`t be a next time!” shouted a little voice behind me. 

“Calm down my little ponies” said the instructor, “I`ll catch you, and so will the other instructors.”

Flying above the gap were the other instructors, our lives were in their hooves.

“So who`s first?” asked the main instructor.

With that all the ponies backed away except Dash who stood at the front, head held high.

“And what is your name, little filly?”

“Rainbow Dash!” Quick as a flash, she took off, and made for the other side!

“Wait!” shouted the instructor.

Dash stopped and turned to face the instructor.

“You forgot your partner.”

“But I thought he was right behind me.”

The instructor looked down at me, his brown eyes beaming.

“Name?” he asked

“Whirlwind” I answered

“Ah, you're Mane Stream’s son aren’t you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well get out there, this should be a trot in the park for you”

I walked up to the edge of the cloud, looked at the school in the distance, and then at Rainbow Dash who was half way between myself and the school. She was waving at me to come and join her. I swallowed my nerves, closed my eyes and jumped off the edge. The ground was now visible, hurtling towards me. I hadn’t flown in years; when you live on earth you hardly use your wings. My wings were glued to my body, unable to spread. I could hear the sound of wings behind me.
“That would be the instructor coming to save me then” I thought to myself

“Whirl, you do realise that you are falling not flying, right?”

I looked to my left; it was Dash flying quite casually next to me but with a look of disappointment.

“Come on, Whirl, fly for Equestria`s sake. I know you can do it, I`ve seen you do it!”

Not wanting to let Dash down I nodded my head, closed my eyes and opened my wings. The acceleration took be my surprise; I swooped up just missing the tree tops of earth and shot upwards towards the school, passing the five shocked instructors who were coming to my rescue. A small cloud was in my way but that was not going to stop me. I shot through it, bringing most of it with me in my slip stream.

I landed on the cloud with the school on and looked over to the bewildered group of ponies. If their mouths could reach the floor they would have at this point. Dash landed next to me, a massive cheer came from the ponies on the other side of the gap. Dash and I exchanged a glance but she was more focused on my wings

“Err, Dashie, my eyes are here, what`s wrong?”

“Your wings… they're huge!”

I looked back, she was right. My wings were huge! Bigger than a fillies wings but the same size as adult Pegasus’s wings. All the instructors landed in front of us, their faces fixed on my wings.

“Congratulations you two, you’re in flight school” said one of the instructors

“But... but... my wings, look, they're huge!”

“We know, we can see them” laughed the instructor

“Aren’t you shocked?” piped up Dash

“No. Your father was exactly the same”

“What‽” Dashie and I said at the same time.

“Your father had adult wings when he was a colt, I should know because he was in my class. We all had a feeling that you would turn out like your dad, let’s just hope you can live up to his name”


*


Months passed, in that time Dash and I became inseparable. We did everything together and we were the best in the class. We received a lot of awards for skill, team work and perseverance. Everypony knew our names in the school, from the newest student to the headmistress, we were unstoppable. Rainbow Dash did outshine me at one stage, the time when she got her cutie mark. She was the first in the class, typical Dash, always first.

Finally I had a new challenge: get my Cutie mark. Day by day I practiced my flying skills but still nothing. Maybe my skill was not flying, it could have been anything. The summer before the last year of flight school I returned home to Trottingham, my parents were so happy to see me and so proud of my accomplishments but I was still upset about not getting my cutie mark. To cheer me up, dad took me to his workplace, at the Cloudsdale Weather Factory.

Seeing how the weather was made was fantastic. Rain, sleet, snow and, of course, the rainbows. I thought to myself “I wonder if Dashie would like this job?” My dad took me to the Snowflake Production Facility that he was now in charge of. It was nice to see my dad working but it was quite dull.

The factory was a no fly zone because the slightest breeze would blow all of the snowflakes away setting the workers back months. When the lunch bell rang I took my opportunity and took to the sky. Being inside a factory all day when you want to be flying is a nightmare. But my dad was passionate about his work. “Work is essential,” he used to tell me every day. That piece of advice will stay with me for life.

Whilst flying above the factory, I failed to hear the back to work bell. The turbines used to suck in air for the wind generators kick back into life. I was trapped in a torrent of air being sucked in to a huge turbine with razor sharp fins. I fought against the current but, being only a colt, I was too light and I was getting pulled closer and closer to the fins.

With my tail just inside the mouth of the turbine, I changed direction from flying away from current of air, to flying into it. The wind pounded my face but I kept going, if I were to stop or slow down I would be dead. I kept gathering momentum, I got faster and faster. I was getting dizzy, flying in circles for about five minutes is not good for your balance. I felt like giving in but then I heard a crash and a bang. I looked around to see the factory getting further and further away from me. The turbine was a smouldering wreck. 

“I’m in trouble” I thought to myself.

The security from the factory came to recover the wracked turbine that was now in bits. The damage was unbelievable; the air intake was smouldering, it looked like a peeled banana, the sharp fins were imbedded into the walls of the factory. "I did this? How?" I asked myself. News crews were everywhere taking photos of the wreckage and interviewing staff. I was taken to the office complex of the Weather factory where my dad was waiting for me in the main lobby with the director of the weather factory and the headmistress of my school. I hung my head in shame but all my dad could do when the guards let me go was hug me.

“Oh son, I`m so glad you’re alive” he never hugged me like this before. Our hug was interrupted by the director clearing his throat.

“Ahem, Mane Stream, we have got some questions to ask your son,”  

My dad loosened his grip on me.

“What should I tell them dad?”

“The truth.”

When the questioning was over, the director opened the door to let me and my dad out. Greeting me was my mum sitting nervously in the lobby, which felt more like an imperial coliseum than a room with chairs and old magazines on the cloud table. I walked over to her, the sound of my hooves clopping on the hard floor echoed. When I reached her, my mum leaned forward in the chair to hear what I had to say.

“Well?” said my mother trying to hold back the worry in her voice.

I mumbled a response.

“What was that son?”

Again I mumbled the same words.

“He`s just too upset to tell you out loud. Come on, tell your mother, Whirlwind” said my dad with his hoof on my shoulder. I leaned my head forward and whispered into my mum’s ear.

“I`ve got my cutie mark...” 

> Chapter 1: Flying High
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 1
Flying high




The parade ground was full of ponies. Canterlot was a beautiful city with high towers just touching the clouds overhead, but the locals were a bit snobbish. White Unicorns were the officers in the Royal guard, the white Pegasi were NCOs and the Grey Unicorns and Earth ponies, the enlisted.

I got my calling up parchment to join the Solar Empire Air Force, as did Dashie. I should have been called up months ago but I was under reserved occupation meaning my job was too important for me to leave. Somepony’s got to keep the wind in Equestria under control. I was a big shot in the Weather Factory; I worked my way up to be one of the board members and was going to the new Director when Air Head retired.

But duty calls, The Empire has been conquering lands all over the world for the last year or so. Hunger had spread throughout Equestria and we were desperate.

Other nations didn’t have our problem but refused to help us, so Celestia had no choice but to take what we needed to survive from other nations by force. I loved flying for the air force; Dashie and I had our first experience of combat in Stable Valley in the kingdom of Le Mare. Their kingdom would not share with us their vast stockpiles of food during the depression, greedy buckers. I was proud to fly alongside Dashie, fighting for the starving ponies back home.   

My flying skills along with Dashie’s, both in and out of the Air Force, did not go unnoticed. Wherever I went, so did Dashie. It was just like old times in Flight School and in Junior Speedsters flight camp. We were both offered a place in the Dawnguard but only if we passed a selection process.

The Dawnguard was for the common ponies like myself and Dashie and the Royal Guard was for the “Sons of Celestia” as they were known. They were fanatical soldiers with the task of protecting Celestia where ever she went. These weren't your ordinary ponies, they were made by Celestia’s magic.

“Hay Whirl,”

“What?” I was trying to keep my voice down

“Just like old times...”

“Yeah, you and I stick together and we will be in the Dawnguard in no time”  

“Too damn right!”

The old times seemed like a life time ago. After me and Dash graduated from flight school at the top of our class we both applied to work in the Cloudsdale Weather factory. Being both great flyers we were given great jobs; Dashie was in charge of the weather patrol for Ponyville and I was in charge of the production of the wind in Equestria.

Dashie moved to Ponyville where she made her own house out of cloud, it was easier for her to stay near earth so as to keep an eye on the low cloud that would always cause trouble. I, on the other hoof, had an office in the factory that I couldn’t leave; the wind was manufactured in the factory, I offered to not work on the turbines but deal with the paper work instead.

Dashie made new friends in Ponyville as well as a good name for herself, she became one of the Protectors of Equestria after defeating Nightmare Moon and Discord with the Elements of Harmony. We would remain in contact but it was a long time between calls; work always got in my way.


*


I’ll never forget graduation day. The parade ground was full of spectators and high ranking officials of the Empire lined the booths. I, Dashie and another three ponies that passed the course were in the centre of the ground on top of a large golden and marble podium. We were told to wave at the crowd because it looks good for propaganda. Dashie was flying overhead, showing off her fancy flying moves.

The horns of the Royal Guard came into life signalling the arrival of Princess Celestia and her entourage. This was my first ever time of seeing the princess up close. I was nervous but proud to be here. Celestia approached the podium with a few guards and aides. One of the aides was carrying a wooden box with the Imperial seal on the lid; it opened to reveal five golden medals each with our respective cutie mark on them. My tornado shaped cutie mark looked awesome in gold instead of the usual grey.

Celestia used her magic to place the medals over the head of each of us individually. I was fourth in the line. She placed the medal over my head and smiled whilst I just kept my military discipline. Celestia paused at Dash and said something to her. The sound of the fanfare and the roar of the crowds muffled what she said. “If only I could lip read” I thought. When she was done, Dashie bowed to the Princess. Celestia’s horn glowed and a stand came out of the floor with microphones lining the top of it. She cleared her throat and proceeded to speak.

“Citizens of Equestria, five ponies have answered the call to serve their country in its hour of need. You should all look at these ponies with pride. They are the best of the best; you should all challenge yourselves to be like them.”

A roar erupted from the crowd and Celestia turned to face us. We saluted and she flew back to her royal box with her guards and aides. At the back of the royal box I could see a figure; it had to be Princess Luna. She hardly ever shows her face in public, she is always in Canterlot Castle doing... actually, nopony knows what she does any more.  

The “unofficial” after graduation party was nuts. Let’s just say there was more than rainbow juice on the drinks menu. We were given the Canterlot ball room all to ourselves with free drink and food. Usually I’m not fond of parties but I felt like I deserved this. We were all allowed to bring a friend to the celebrations; Boxer brought his girlfriend, Jackhammer and Poppy brought a friend. Dashie was allowed to bring all of her friends from Ponyville. I decided not to invite my sister, not because she is a busy pony but because Rainbow might have hit the ceiling with joy.

“Come on everypony, let’s dance!” said the little pink pony bursting with excitement.

Without warning I was pushed into a conga line, we looked like a badly drawn rainbow; orange, purple, white, yellow, blue, green and pink. I looked over to Boxer, Jackhammer and Poppy and mouthed the words “Help me” but they just laughed.
It was well past two in the morning and I was ready to hit the hay, as were the other ponies. Except for the pink one who was still dancing to very loud music. I needed to get some air and with the drink going to my head I stumbled out on to the balcony. 

The view was breath taking. The light from the moon hit the mountains behind Canterlot; it looked beautiful. It took me back to when I was a young colt staying up for as long as I could so I could see my dad get home from work. I would always look out of my bedroom widow, fall asleep and wake up the next morning in my bed.

“Needed a break from the dancing Whirl?” asked Dash who had her forelegs folded on the balcony edge

“Yep. That pink one can dance!”  

Dash chuckled and continued looking towards the moon lit valley. I made my way over to her and stood beside her. There was a long pause as we took in the scenery. To break the silence I tried to start conversation.

“Hay, what did the Princess say to you when you got your medal?”

“Err... congratulations,” Dash hesitated

“No she didn’t. Come on Dashie you can tell me!”

“Fine.” she looked at me, “our first operation is coming up in the next few days.”

“Oh, where?” I asked.

“Don’t know, we’ll find out tomorrow”

“Ah, I see. Well, I’m off to bed! See you tomorrow!”

As I took off into the night sky my mind was contemplating what could be in the operation briefing tomorrow. I hoped it was going to be something easy; the way I was flying right now after a few glasses of Applejack Daniels was not a confidence booster. 

> Chapter 2: Inferno
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 2
Inferno



Running late thanks to a hangover, I made my way to the briefing room. Luckily the briefing was running late too and had not started yet. When I entered the room from the rear I saw Dash with an empty seat next to her. I took off into the air and made my way over to the empty seat. 

“Hay Dash sorry I’m late,” I said as I sat into the chair 

“No problem. Its Jackhammer you have got to apologise to,”

“Why?” I felt a tap on my shoulder; I turned around to see Jackhammer not looking pleased

“Why did you have to turn up? I had a bet with Poppy that you wouldn’t arrive on time!” he said with laughter in his voice 
“Well I couldn’t let you have all the fun could I?” I replied

I felt a nudge from Dashie; I looked to the centre of the room where a hologram of the world was projected from the floor. General Skyswim entered through one of the door`s on the left, followed by more chiefs of staff. We had to stand and wait to be told to sit by the General.

“Now, Gentlecolts and filly,” said the General, looking at Dash as he said ‘filly.’

It was only up until now that I realised that Dashie was the only mare in the Dawnguard and the smallest.

“Operation Phoenix is the invasion of Russhire to our north east. The Army, Navy and the Air Force will all be playing a part in this operation. But all of you have an important role in this.”

The globe increased in size to reveal more detail on the surface of the earth; one land mass was highlighted in red pixels - Russhire. The nation covered the North Pole and the north of the world, it was a large county mostly covered in snow. The inhabitants were all earth ponies.

“Why does Celestia want to invade this country? There`s just no point.” I thought to myself.

“In this operation we are trying a new tactic. As you know, the armed forces are made up of volunteers and conscripts with hardly any battle experience. That is why you will all be each assigned a flight of newcomers, you will be their leader and their instructor. Also, having an ace pilot in their squad will be beneficial to their morale.”

Skyswim took a sip of water from the glass on the table.  

“Your mission in Operation Phoenix is to provide an escort to your flight. Their job is to take out hostile artillery units that you will encounter inland of the invasion beaches. Intel says that most of their artillery will be stationed within the coastal town of Stalliongrad. The success of your mission will ensure the success of the invasion. Your call signs will be assigned to you when you are preparing for take-off. We leave at 1800 hours. Remember, the first order must not be broken. You are dismissed.” 


*


The rest of the day was spent cleaning my equipment and getting prepared for the operation. The First Order, as it was known, was set by the creator of this world to ensure peace between all ponies. For if the order was to be broken, the world as we knew it would be engulfed in fire forever, or as the story goes. The one rule that we must all abide by is “No pony’s life shall be taken by another.” In war that is easy to break but where there’s a will there’s a way. We used the unicorn’s magic as our weapons; stunning and sleeping spells to ensure on fatalities. 

It is new technology that only the unicorns, elite soldier’s, artillery, tanks and aircraft weapons have access to. The earth ponies within the army still had to fight with sword and shield. Enchanted swords were used as not to cause injuries. All pilots were issued with a blaster that can fire stun spells if they were to get shot down and were trapped behind enemy lines.

I put my flight suit on that was hanging in my room behind the door. The white and golden flight suit is a bit extravagant, but it did go with my white mane. Not really good camouflage if you’re shot down and hiding from enemy patrols but the top brass think it’s an incentive not to get shot down. I locked my room door, put my flight helmet under my right wing and made my way to the airfield.

The golden nose of Dash’s F/A-18D was sticking out of the hangar doors, as I walked in I could hear a wolf whistle from the cockpit of the F-18.

“Very fetching!”

I looked up to see Dash sat in the cockpit, the canopy open with her flight helmet on and ready to go. 

“Thanks Dashie.” 

I passed the slogan that she had printed on the nose of the aircraft, “High Speed” in bold red letters. Then I passed Jackhammer’s plane, the pin up of Spitfire, the leader of the Wonderbolts aerobatics flight team on the nose of his F-16C winking at me as I walked passed. My aircraft was third in the queue. I gave the F-16 a visual check, making sure the missiles were secured properly and there was nothing out of place. I brushed my hoof over my nose art, “Low Drag” in red bold letters. That was mine and Dash`s slogan that we came up with when we passed Flight School; so much had changed. With the checks over I put on my flight helmet, flew up into the cockpit and strapped myself in.

“Tower, this is Whirlwind checking in. Over.”

“Roger Whirlwind, your squadron’s call sign is Wildcat. You are Wildcat 3 and the flight you are leading is called Ruby, break. You are to link up with Ruby 1-1 above Ponyville and fly towards the objective Alpha. Over”

“Understood tower. Out”

Dash`s plane screeched into life. The roar of the engines was deafening so I had to close the cockpit roof which drowned out most of the noise. We began to taxi out on to the runway; the white colour of the aircraft lined up on the runway reflected the sun’s rays into my eyes. That was one of our moves; attack with the sun behind you to blind your enemies. It was pointless having white painted aircraft when the mission was going to take place at night, we would stick out like a sore hoof, but it was policy.

“All Wildcat call signs you are cleared for take-off. Over” 

“Roger that, Tower. Out”

Dash was the leader of our squadron, as directed by Celestia herself. Taxiing over, it was time to fly.


*


I eventually caught up with the Ruby flight just above Ponyville. To make my presence known I shot pass the lead plane with full throttle. 

“This is Wildcat 3 calling Ruby flight. Over”

“Wildcat 3 this is Ruby 1-1. Over”

I could sense the tension in his voice. “A conscripted, I knew it”

“Raise your altitude to 4,000m and then form up on me. Over”

“Yes... Yes sir...at once sir. Over”

Two hours later we could see the explosions from the naval bombardment through the cloud; the clouds were being lit up by the explosions. When the shells hit the ground or target, a shock wave of magic is instantly produced. That magic saves all ponies within the blast radius by transporting them to a safe zone miles away from the combat zone, usually a prison camp. Then the explosives destroy anything in their path. This concept was also used in our aircraft missiles. There were two types of munitions: Non Magical known as hard and Magical known as soft. 

We also had a 20mm M61A1 Vulcan Cannon and a 20mm M61A2 Magic Cannon used to disable targets with magic. It was always easier using the Vulcan to shoot targets, targets such as tanks and aircraft's had protective barriers against magic ordinance.  All of this technology to create a war with no fatalities and we have never failed.  

I was now bored, sure I was flying but it was in a holding pattern and at very slow speeds and at high altitude. Ruby flight and I were waiting around for orders from the top. My radio cracked into life.

“Wildcat 3 this is Wildcat 1 with Garnet flight coming up on your starboard side. Over” 

“Wildcat 3, roger that.”

Dash’s F-18 pulled up alongside me, she looked over.  I could barely recognise her. Her flight helmet covered her face and mane and the only thing that gave her away was her dark red eyes.

“Well this is exciting.” I said with as much sarcasm as I could. 

“Don`t get your mane in a tangle Whirl. I`m sure there is going to be some action soon.” 

Barely a second later the voice of General Skyswim came over the radio.

“Skyswim to Wildcat 1 and 3, we have a target for you. Ground forces are taking stuns from an artillery battery located in Red Square. Location is 3-9-7-2 by 5-10-6-6. Get there ASAP. Over”

“This is Wildcat 1, understood sir, we’re Oscar Mike to the target. Out. Hay Whirl, High speed...”

“Low drag.” I replied.  

We put our aircraft afterburners on, the acceleration was unbelievable. We would be there in no time. Ruby and Garnet flight were in A – 10s, slow and unmemorable aircraft, not good in a dog fight that’s why me and Dashie were there to support them. When we were a mile from the target, Ruby and Garnet flight descended below the cloud cover to start their attack run. Dashie and I would stay above the cloud until Ruby and Garnet called for assistance.

“I wouldn’t want to be doing what they’re doing” I said to Dashie over the radio.

“Are you kidding, that would be so awesome. Dropping bombs, dodging bullets getting into the thick of it.”

“Go and join them then,”

“I'm tempted, I’ll give you that...” 

“Remember that time over Le Mare when you were caught in the bombing run of the B-52’s flying overhead. I nearly died laughing”

“...”

“...It’s been a while. I’ll call my flight. Ruby flight this is Wildcat 3, sit rep over.” 

No response, I tried again and still nothing. Suddenly Dash`s aircraft went into a steep dive.

“Rainbow what the buck are you doing?!”

“Getting in the thick of it, you coming or what?”

“But... but Dash”

I had no choice but to follow; if I was not on her wing and she flew into trouble she could get shot down and it would be all my fault. I pitched the nose of the aircraft down and went after her.


*


The anti-aircraft fire was unbelievable: the artillery was set up in the middle of a city converted into a fortress by the locals. All the tall concrete skyscrapers had SAM sites and AA guns on the rooftops. Rainbow caught the attention of the AA guns, she was flying too high, that was the same mistake that Ruby flight made. Looking down at the streets of the city, I could see the wrecks of A-10s, one was even buried in the side of a building.

Dash was at roof level darting left and right to avoid the AA guns, I was a thousand feet above her. The night sky was lit up by the AA fire and the fires caused by the shelling. Dash was taking out AA and SAM sites with her missiles, if she kept doing that she would run out of ordinance soon, my radar bleeped. 

Four enemy MiG-27s were below me and giving chase to Rainbow Dash. I rolled my aircraft and descended to their level and engaged. I locked on to the lead aircraft and fired.

The missile whizzed past the lead aircraft wingmen and buried itself into the tail of the leader. The wingmen scattered, two going left and two going right. I flew to the two going right, I aimed and fired my cannon. The wing of one of the aircraft was shot clean off and hit his wing man. “Two birds with one stone” I said to myself.  

I caught up with Rainbow Dash, she had lowered her altitude to street level. I pulled up alongside her and looked at her under carriage, she was out of missiles.  

“Dash come on now, you’ve have had your fun.” 

“No I’m not done yet! Some artillery guns are still active, look.”

She pointed with her hoof straight ahead. I could see artillery guns in the distance firing on the invasion beaches to our left about a click away, Dash pulled away.   

“Dash you`ve got no missiles, what are you doing?”

“I’ve still got my cannon, haven’t I?”

“Rainbow! They’re only to be used against aircraft, you will kill ponies if you use your guns!”

“I DON’T CARE!”

Dash put her afterburners on and shot off into the inferno of fire- twisted metal and concrete. I had to stop her. I put my afterburners on, armed my missiles and gave chase. I would not let Dashie go down in history as the pony that unleashed hell on the world forever by breaking the First Order. Dash was in my cross hair, the tone of the missile lock-on was screaming in my ears.

“This is your final warning Dash, break off from your attack run or I’ll be forced to shoot you down!”

“You wouldn’t...”

The artillery battery was now in sight and Dash was not going to break away. I had no choice, I pulled the trigger and a missile shot forward. It dug itself into Dash’s plane’s wing. The wing broke off and flew towards me, I pulled up in time to see the wing go under me and Dash`s plane bury itself into the ground. I let out a scream for my friend, instead of stopping the order from being broken, did I break it?

I looked around and I saw her floating to the earth, her parachute fully deployed. She was looking at me but not with an expression of sorrow as I anticipated but with one of anger, I looked away and contacted base.

“Base this is wildcat 3; I had to instigate protocol 6 on Wildcat 1. She went down at coordinates 1-5-0-9-0-4-3-3. Over”

“Wildcat 1 this is Skyswim, good work we have scrambled SAR assets to retrieve her. Head back to base and be prepared for a lot of paperwork. Over”

“Roger that base. Out”

I turned my aircraft around and took out the remaining artillery guns with the last of my soft missiles and then headed towards Equestria. The invasion was a success.

Protocol 6 was created to prevent the First Order from being broken. It allowed a pony to fire on a friendly aircraft, pony, tank or anything else if they were going to break the order. Under Protocol 6 I was protected from accusation of treason if evidence could be found to support my innocence. The built in gun cam recorded the whole event and was saved in the black box. I was in the clear but I still had to face Dashie when I got back to the base, which was the part I was dreading the most.

> Chapter 3: Redemption
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 3
Redemption  


I was only a few minutes away from the base when the fuel light came on, there was a crack on the radio, and it wasn't Skyswim.

“Wildcat 3 this is tower, we are asking you to go into a holding pattern above Ponyville. The airspace is crowded with aircraft retuning from combat.”

“Sure, but I should let you know that I’m also low on fuel so if you could hurry things along a bit that would be really helpful over"

“...”

“No response, strange”

I turned the aircraft and headed for Ponyville. I guess some ponies have no sense of humour. When I was above Ponyville air space I assumed that there would be aircraft in a holding pattern waiting to land, but there were none.

“Tower, this is Wildcat 3 what is your status on the ground, over?”

“...”

“Okay, I’m sorry for that joke before. I understand that you’re busy but I’m seriously low on fuel, I need to land now. Over”
“…Wildcat 3 the airfield is clear, you are free to land. Over”

“Thank you. Out”

I swung my aircraft around and headed for the airfield. I was just over the Everfree Forest when my HUD turned from green to red, “What?” I still had fuel, what was going on? The on-board computer spoke.

“Auto self-destruct enabled. 15-14-13-12--”

“Oh Buck!”

I reached down to pull the ejector seat cord, but it just wouldn't work. I tried to wrestle my way out of a harness but it was pulling me back into the chair, it was if it had a mind of its own.

“10-9-8-7--”

I had to act fast, I reached down to my holster to grab my blaster. It buzzed into life, I raised it and fired it at the canopy. The glass shattered into pieces, the wind hit my face. I grabbed a piece of glass and started cutting away at the harness.

“5-4-3--”

I was free, I jumped out. The shock wave of the explosion knocked me off balance, as I turned, thanks to the shock wave, I saw plane fragments go in all directions, getting further and further away from me. I was falling, no time to open my wings I was too low. The trees of the forest slowed my fall, but knocked me out.

When I came to I was in a puddle full of brown smelly water. I got to my feet, shook myself off and stumbled towards the pillar of smoke from the crash site. The trees that were in the way of the falling wreck were no splinters and I made my way over to the cockpit, what was left of it anyway. The control panels were sparking and shorting out, I reached in to grab my blaster.

“Nine shots left, I’ll have to make them count”

Luckily the survival kit was undamaged, that would definitely come in handy. The black box was unscratched; if there was a mistake this would prove my innocence. I could hear helicopters so I took cover in the forest and waited.

Three choppers came into view, two Mi-24 and one Whitehawk shining a spot light onto the crash site. The down draft of the propellers extinguished the small fires around the wreckage.  Ropes dropped out of the sides of the Whitehawk and soldiers followed.

“Buck, the Sunset Squad!”

They are the elite of the Royal Guard. They had the best equipment, NVGs, stun grenades, even blaster rifles which made my little blaster look like a cap gun.  

“Lieutenant Whirlwind, Come out with your hooves up!”

“Not bloody likely” I mumbled to myself. “Why the hell would they send the S.S.S to pick me up if it was an accident?”

“Fine if that’s the way you want it. Ponies, set your blasters to stun”

“They are.”

“Just go look for him!”

Two masked Pegasi hovered in the air, five set out on foot and three stayed behind to guard the wreck. Not enough shots to take them all out plus they’re better trained than I am, the only option was to run.  As I ran as fast as I could trying to dodge fallen tree branches, rocks and Poison Joke. It now dawned on me that my aircraft going into self-destruct mode was no accident. I thought maybe this was Rainbow getting her revenge; or was it Empire policy to silence ponies that used Protocol 6?

I couldn’t outrun them all night, I had to give these guys the slip, I had to hide and having a white and gold flight suit is not the best camouflage in a dark forest. I looked down at my suit, it was brown, maybe falling in that puddle was a good thing. The forest was now getting thick and darker, I had a hard time seeing where I was going but I couldn't stop.  Was this going to be my life now, on the run from the Empire?


*


After what seemed like a lifetime of running I found a cave. I had no choice, I was exhausted and I needed to rest. I got the torch out of the survival kit. The cave entrance was small but inside looked huge. I camouflaged the entrance with a fallen tree and went in. All that I could hear as I wondered deeper and deeper in to the cramped cave was the drip of water coming from the ceiling. The sides of the cave were slimy from the water and so was the floor. I came to a large open area and found a dry patch.

“Well, it isn’t Canterlot castle but it will have to do.” I said to myself. I sat down on the floor and opened my survival kit to see what I had to live on for the rest of my life. The usual stuff:  map, compass, canteen, torch, a full First aid kit, thermal blanket, whistle, utility knife, Iodine tablets and some food. In addition to the usual equipment I also put a few useful items in: wire wool, glow sticks, money, mirror, extra food, another utility knife, spare thermal blanket, matches, extra batteries, camouflage paint and photos to keep my morale up hidden in a secret compartment.

The first picture was of me as a colt, my sister and my parents during our visit to Appleoosa, we were all wearing cowpony hats but mine was covering my eyes. The second was of my home as a colt, the third one was of me and Dashie posing after getting our degrees at Flight School, with our catchphrase “High speed, low drag” written underneath us on a slant. Not wanting to think about Dashie I rolled up a blanket to use as a pillow and fell asleep.


> Chapter 4: Info
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 4
Info


Nine months passed and I was still in the Everfree forest, the Empire was watching the forest 24-7. Patrols would come during the day and leave at night, the night was my friend. Wild creatures hunted during the day and slept at night so that was the time it was safe. The Everfree forest was beautiful at night, when you stepped on the ground your hoof print would glow blue and then fade, the insects were all lit up, for they knew as well that it was a safe time to live.

But winter soon came. The wind blew so harsh during the autumn and the snow came down with no warning in the winter. Times were hard for me, cold and with hardly any food thanks to the frost killing every edible plant I had no choice but to venture out into Equestria and look for food. The nearest population was Ponyville; there was no point in going there at night because all the shops would be closed. I had to go during the day risking capture or being turned over to the Empire. But I was desperate, I had to go.

My spare black thermal blanket made a good cloak; it had a hood to cover my face and was long enough to cover my legs. I got some berries and used them to dye my mane and tail purple so I would not be recognised. The hard part would be slipping my way past the Empire patrols on the edge of the forest. If there were any, that is. Luck would have it there were no patrols in sight just an old tree next to a river; it looked like somepony had lived in the tree a while back but not anymore.

I followed the river into town. Ponyville had changed in the last nine months, the once bright and colourful town was a dark and sad place. Doors were shut, windows boarded up and not a pony to be seen. Hoping to get some food and for somepony to tell me what was going on, I headed to the market place in the centre of town. There was only one stall selling apples and another selling flowers. 

A small pony was asleep at the apple stand, her head on the stall and snoring loudly. I tapped her on the shoulder. “Hello?” 

The pony’s head shot up and she fell off the stool.

“Oh...I’m sorry I didn’t mean to scare you.”

The little pony’s eyes opened, her right hoof rubbing the back of her head.

“It’s all right... gee whizz! A customer!” the little yellow pony stood up.

“What ya looking for, I’ve got apple pie, apple tart, apple fritters, apple strudel, apple cake...”

The list was endless but she was so excited so I let her continue.

“So what you looking for, stranger?”

“You got any ordinary apples?”

“Humph...fine.”

She got a brown paper bag from under the stall and started to fill it with apples. With the food sorted I now had to find out why Ponyville was in this state.

“So... Where is everypony?” I asked. The little pony just looked up.

“Have you been living in a cave for the past year?”

“Something like that, yes.”

“You need to talk to my big sister, Applejack, she knows more about it than I do, she’s at the farm just past Sugercube corner. That will be 65 bits please”

“Thank you, here’s 100 bits. Keep the change” The little filly`s face lit up and thanked me. That name Applejack rang a bell, but where have I heard it before?

“Sweet Apple Acres” this must be the place. There was a large barn that was converted into a house on top of the hill, I put my bag of apples down just outside the door and knocked. No answer, again I knocked and opened the letterbox and called out to anypony who could hear me.

“What are ya doing?”

A voice came from my right which caught me off guard, I turned to see an orange pony with a cowpony hat on, I recognised her.

“Ah! Applejack!”

“Err, howdy. How’d you know my name? I’ve never seen ya around here before.”

“I... err... Your little sister told me your name”

“That’s nice; but it don't explain why you’re here?”

Her face was right in mine; it was like she was interrogating me for a crime I didn’t commit, mind you, a pony in a black cloak knocking on your door is a bit suspicious.

“I’m new in town and I was wondering why Ponyville is like a ghost town? Your sister said I should ask you.”

“Have you been living in a cave for the past year?” 

“Your sister said the same thing.” 

“Hmmm... well if you must know, after the rebellion we were all separated from each other. Pegasus to Cloudsdale, Unicorns to the Shimmering Isles and Earth ponies to earth.”

“Rebellion?”

“Are you stupid or something? Six months ago when all ponies had had enough of Celestia and the Empire controlling us?”
I was shocked. I’d been isolated from the outside world for only a short period of time and so much had happened. It was if the whole world went crazy in my absence. 

“Oh that... Sorry, but I keep myself to myself, I don’t do politics. And the town?”

“Business fell apart after the segregation and the population of the town dropped. A lot of families were spilt up, I think everypony is just sad and can't be bothered anymore.”

“And you?”

“Me and my family are fine.”

“Well, thanks for the info, I need to get going now. Goodbye.”

“See ya later stranger.”  

I picked up my shopping and trotted out of there with my mind buzzing with questions. Why? Who? When? I walked into the main part of town; there were some ponies about not looking too happy, their friends had probably been sent to Cloudsdale or the Shimmering Isles. I turned a corner to avoid them and was confronted by a wall covered in wanted posters. It was me.

> Chapter 5: Injustice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 5
Injustice





Wanted: Lieutenant Whirlwind
For treason, 100,000 bit reward.
Features: White mane and tail, green body, Pegasus, large wingspan, height 5 feet.
Do not approach, considered highly dangerous. Inform your local authority!


I was Equestria’s number one criminal; I had to get out of town now. I trotted towards the forest avoiding all the locals who came out to shop, not a single Pegasus or Unicorn to be seen. The forest was in sight, only a few more feet. Without warning a whoosh went over my head! It was the Empire. Was I recognised in town? Was I betrayed? I turned to see the chariot heading towards Ponyville.

“What should I do? Hide in the forest? Go back to town to find out what’s going on? Or turn myself in?”

I quickly forgot about the last option and headed back to town. The main square was full of ponies all gathered around a podium, an officer of the Solar Empire Army made his way up to the top and produced a piece of parchment, using his magic to hover the parchment in front of him. With a clear of his throat he began to speak.

“Citizens of Ponyville, Your Overlord and master, Princess Celestia demands that ALL families must give their sons and daughters to the empire so they can serve in the Cadet Armed Forces. National service is now in effect.”

The whole square went silent. I looked around, there were families huddled together saying their last goodbyes. Somewhat reluctantly, I decided to slowly creep out of the crowd “I doubt they would get far” I thought to myself. The officer started reading out names; the called out ponies made their way to the front of the crowd with their heads low and were instructed by the soldiers to line up. I couldn’t bear it any more, I had to look away. The crowd was getting smaller and smaller as families were torn apart.  

“And second to last, Big Macintosh. Although he is not a colt, he has not been accounted for. Where is Big Macintosh?” said the officer.

No answer, he may have had made a break for it, good luck to him I thought.

“Hold on just one apple picking minute here!”

Applejack spoke and made her way onto the podium.

“I think you’ll find that Celestia promised me that my family would be exempt from joining the Empire thanks to my services in the past.”

The officer looked back down at his list then back up and Applejack.

“It says Big Macintosh on here, are you calling me a liar, Miss Applejack?”

“Well... there must be some sort of mistake, besides Big Mac ain’t here no more, he’s in Appaloosa helping them with their harvest.”

“I see. Guards! Go to the farm and search it from top to bottom!”

The guards took to the sky and headed to Sweet Apple Acres.

“You’re wasting your time, he ain’t there.”

“Who said I was now looking for Big Mac?”

The officer showed the list to Applejack, her face sank. Then there was a loud scream from the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

“Applebloom!”

Applejack was off like a shot, she ran towards Sweet Apple Acres. I don’t know why, but I followed. AJ was oblivious of me running beside her; she was too focused on her sister. When we got to the farm two of the four guards had Applebloom by the hooves and were dragging her away from the barn, the other guards stopped us at the gate. Applebloom was kicking and screaming.

“Get off me you feather brains!”

I have to admit she had a lot of courage and she was stubborn, just like her big sister. AJ tried pushing her way through the guards but it was no use, they had probably dealt with this kind of thing before. How could they live with themselves?

AJ was tackled to the ground, now was my chance. I pushed back the other guard and ran towards Applebloom. 

AJ let out a yell “BIG MAC!” the barn doors flew open knocking the soldiers and Applebloom to the ground. I could see why the Empire wanted him, a massive stallion double my height was standing in the barn’s doorway. I stopped in my tracks. He looked at me, I don’t often get scared but that time I did. He ran towards me, all I could do was run in the direction I originally came from.

The other guards had left AJ and were now running towards me. I jumped to the side and landed in a wheelbarrow full of apples, it was either that or get squashed by Big Mac and two Royal Guards.  

I looked up to see both guards get kicked in the back of their heads by Big Mac, he must have jumped over them. The guards were knocked out, AJ ran to her little sister and they embraced each other. I was stuck in the wheelbarrow, Big Mac gave me a hoof up.

“Thanks.”  

“No problem.”

Then there was a flash of light. Big Mac went down. It was the officer from the town square, he had jinxed Big Mac. The officer laughed then stunned AJ, Applebloom and then me. When I woke I was still in the wheelbarrow and it was now night. Big Mac who should have been in front of me was gone and so were AJ and Applebloom, who both should have been in front of the barn.

“They’re gone...”

My ear twitched, I could hear sobbing and it was coming from the barn. I pushed the splintered remains of the door aside to find AJ curled in the corner sobbing quietly to herself, her hat covering her face. I sat next to her and consoled her trying to hold back my own tears of sorrow.

> Chapter 6: Ascension
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 6
Ascension



I spent the rest of the following day with Applejack repairing the barn and trying to find out more about this new, dark world. Celestia promised AJ that as a thank you for saving Equestria twice, she and her family would be exempt from joining the military, what a lie! Applebloom and many other fillies and colts were too young to join the military but there was now a cadet force that prepared fillies for service.

I kept asking AJ about the wars that the empire was waging, what was going on, which countries have fallen and who stood up to Celestia and the Empire. It turns out nearly all ponies rebelled, the rebellion lasted three weeks then Celestia stepped in and used her magic and armies to banish ponies to the three settlements.

“Who led the rebellion?” I asked AJ.

“Princess Cadence.”

“Ah. What part did you and your friends play in the rebellion?” I asked as we both started clearing up the shattered remains of the barn door.

“Well it was only me, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rarity who rebelled”

“Why only you four? What about Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash?” I knew what AJ was going to say next  

“Oh yeah... well Twi remains loyal to Celestia as she always has, being her personal student and all, but Rainbow Dash was wounded, she was in hospital when the rebellion began.”

“Wounded?”

“Yeah, you know that pony that the empire is looking for? He was her wing man. He shot her down out of jealously, why if I ever get my hooves on him I would make him regret hurting Rainbow Dash”

“Oh...what happened to her?”

“She ejected out of her aircraft but landed badly, her left wing was busted up really bad. She can’t fly no more.”

My heart sank, I did that to Dashie. My only friend, it was my fault. Flying was her life.

“Oh yeah, I never got your name?” AJ asked me

I was hoping that she wouldn’t ask that question, I looked around for inspiration. AJ`s back was turned as she was lifting some wood to get started on rebuilding the barn door. I thought to myself Gate lock, no, wishing well, no, Apple tree, no, Cart wheel, yes!

“Cart wheel”

“That’s a nice name, judging from your accent I take it you’re from Trottingham?”

“That’s correct.”

I didn’t know what was easier, being interrogated during my training for the Royal guard or AJ asking me all these questions. Right now I would go with interrogation. Thinking on your hooves is hard and I had to remember all of this in case she was to introduce me to somepony who was going to ask me the same questions. It was now midday, I helped AJ with the finishing touches to the barn door.

“There we are, good as new” I said but Applejack was looking at the ground and crying.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get her back. And the Empire.” I turned away and headed for town.

“You, what can you do?!” AJ shouted out of frustration

“Find some ponies who want the same thing as I do. Payback.” 

I swore to myself and to Faust then and there that the Empire and Celestia will pay for what they have done not just today, but for everything. The wars, the segregation, my betrayal and most importantly to me, Applebloom and all the other ponies in Equestria and in conquered countries.  

I walked through the main square, there was nopony about. I passed the alley with my wanted posters on. In the next alley, I saw some movement in the shadows and heard whispering, I stopped to look. There were two cloaked ponies facing a wall that was covered in empire propaganda posters. The two ponies stopped what they were doing and looked at me, not wanting any trouble, I kept on walking.

The following morning I headed back into town to see how Applejack was doing. The entrance to the alley that had to two cloaked ponies in last night was packed with ponies, I made my way through the crowd. I heard some ponies talking in the crowd.

“Who would do this? Will the empire be angry with us?”

The wall of posters was vandalised, “the sun shall set, Tyrant, Open your eyes”, “down with the empire” and “ROE” were written all over the posters in black paint. Nice job, I thought to myself, but who were the cloaked ponies and who were the ROE?

“The criminal always returns to the scene of the crime” I looked around to see if anypony was looking suspicious, I could read the signs easily, all Royal Guards had training in lie detection. I started moving through the crowd, trying to get a better view of all the pony's’ faces, nothing unusual but when I left the crowd there was one pony by himself at the back. He looked at me then turned away.

“Gotcha!”

I followed him, keeping a good distance away so as not to alert him, maybe he would lead me to the ROE. I lost him near a building that looked like a carousel. He obviously went around it so I waited for him to come back around. I hid behind some old dummies that looked like they were used to design clothes, when he passed me I grabbed his shoulder and span him around to face me.

“Who are you?”

Before he could answer the sound of horns broke the air, it was the empire. The chariots flew over head and headed to the alley which was now on the other side of town. The vandal broke from my grip and ran towards the forest. He wasn't going to get away from me, if he hated the empire and so did the ROE then I was more than willing to join.

I knew the forest like the back of my hoof. The vegetation was thick in this part of the forest, even I didn't venture into this. Twigs on the floor were snapping as we ran over them, the pony turned so sharply left that I nearly over shot, he was determined to get away.

We came to a clearing in the vegetation; the pony ran into a hut that was made from a tree stump in the middle of the clearing and slammed the door behind him. The door was old and worn it felt like it would fall off if I tried to knock it so I banged on the hut itself.

“Listen I’m not here to arrest you or anything. I’m here to join you!”

The door creaked open; I hesitated for a moment then went inside. The room was in darkness when the door shut behind me. A voice came from the shadows.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Cart Wheel and I’m interested in joining your group.”

“Why?”

“Why? I think the past 24 hours are a big enough reason don’t you think?”

There was a pause before the lights came on. The room was full of ponies looking and pointing makeshift weapons at me, one pony just had a broom. There were at least twenty or so ponies all cramped into this old hut. Did I have it all wrong, were they fugitives just like me and were they here hiding from the empire?

One pony approached me; she was old and had a grey mane and tail with glasses. She looked me up and down.

“I’ve never seen you in Ponyville before?”

“I’m new in town, I’m from Trottingham”

She walked around me, looking me up and down, judging me.

“How do we know we can trust you?”

I had to think fast, all eyes were on me, I could hear whispers from the crowd. I had to tell a white lie.

“My little brother was taken away from me yesterday. My father is a unicorn and my mother is a Pegasus. Before the train took my father away, he made me promise to look after my brother and I failed. There was nothing left for me at home so I decide to leave and find my brother, wherever he may be”

“How old is he?” said the old pony

“Seven...”

The whispers now went away and were replaced with sobbing

“You will find a lot of stories similar to yours in this group, we have all been affected. I lost my husband, Bon Bon lost her best friend and Caramel lost his girlfriend and brother. I’m Mayor Mare, pleased to meet you.” We shook hooves.
“We are about to start our meeting, you are more than welcome to join.”

“Thank you.”

In the middle of the room was an old circular oak table that had clearly seen better days. Around the table were four chairs, the rest of us had to stand, there was no room to sit on the floor either. The mayor sat down on one of the chairs and so did another three ponies.

“Mares and stallions, I call to order the seventh meeting of the Republic of Equestria. Let’s begin by congratulating Bon Bon and Caramel for their successful mission last night.”

All the ponies started clapping, Bon Bon and Caramel took a bow and I now knew who painted the graffiti over the posters. “I’ll have to congratulate them later” I thought. A very brave act, if they were caught we might never have seen them again.
“Now, onto the first item on our list, Cheerilee? Has the empire issued a warrant for Bon Bon and Caramel’s arrests yet?”
“No Mayor, they are going to pretend it never happened. The graffiti has been washed off but I think we got our message across.”

“Excellent, Mr Rich if the Royal guards ask you about your missing stockpiles of paint at Barn Yard Bargains, you say?”
“There was a break in last night and two pots of black paint were stolen.”

“Good.” 

The meeting went on until sunset, I listened in to get up to date with all that was going. I found out that Russhire had fallen so did the Fillypines, technology had advanced slightly within the empire and their numbers grew thanks to the conscription and folding conquered countries armed forces in to their own. The Empire was fighting the remnants of Russhire forces that escaped and retreated to an unknown location. 

They were a major thorn in the side of the empire. That much was clear.    

But I was still thinking of poor Applebloom, Big Mac and AJ. But what was playing on my mind the most was Rainbow not being able to fly anymore. I did that to my only friend, she would never forgive me in a thousand years and I don’t blame her, I wouldn’t forgive me.

“Good, that is everything I wanted to cover in this meeting. Cart wheel do you have any questions?”

“Yes Mayor.”

I made my way over to the table. Mayor Mare was to my right, Filthy Rich to my left, nurse Red Hart to my front and Cheerilee with her back to me. All eyes in the room were now focused on me; the table was full of parchment and ink quills. I made some room to put my hooves on.

“What exactly is the ROE?”

“I thought you might ask that, we were set up after the rebellion collapsed to unite all breeds of ponies together in one group so we can communicate with each other. We are also trying to resist the empire, not fight it.” Mayor Mare stood up and started walking around the table. 

“Today was a tragedy; the empire had no right to break up families like that and in public as well. We have vandalised Imperial property before in the other sectors but not on this scale. In Cloudsdale a statue of Celestia was cut down, in Canterlot the Royal plaza was vandalised. And of course towns and villages throughout Equestria played their part too.” Mayor mare had now returned to her seat. “Up until today we were just uniting together to stay strong in this dark time. But after today we all are going to make the Empire’s life even harder, now is the time to start thinking about upping the ante.”
I took a minute to let it all sink in then I spoke.

“So let me get this straight. The ROE is a movement to unite all ponies in Equestria, now you’re turning into a resistance movement, making the Empire’s life hard. Uniting all ponies together under one faction and saying no to the Empire. Maybe what I have learned in the Solar Army might come in handy after all.”

“You were in the army? How long?” said Filthy Rich

“I only made it past basic training and then I hurt myself in an exercise preparing for the invasion of Russhire, I was discharged because of my injuries. I offered to stay on and work in an office but the empire wanted healthy ponies in their forces.”

“What happened?” asked Nurse Red Heart

“I was a paratrooper, my chute didn’t deploy. My legs were busted up but not broken. So to be on the safe side the Empire decide to let me go.”

I could hear murmuring again from the crowd, maybe the lie of being a soldier in the empire was a bad one. The Mayor spoke.  

“You can join only on one condition; you teach us what you know about combat. We need to defend ourselves.”    
“Is that it, sure, where do I sign?” 

> Chapter 7: Politics
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 7
Politics


The next year and a half went by quickly; I was busy all the time with the RoE. I offered my cave as our new headquarters for the earth division; the old hut was getting a bit cramped and nearly all of Ponyville was now part of the RoE with the exception of Applejack and a few others.

The cave was actually bigger than I thought, the passages went for miles underground, as it turns out this is where Ursa Majors lived until the Empire captured them and turned them into weapons of war. The cave was now buzzing with activity, messages coming in from all the resistance cells across Equestria and in the occupied countries, there were about thirty cells in total with about 500 members. Some sought refuge from the Empire, some wanted to communicate with their friends in the sectors and some like myself wanted to fight; but we were kept in check by the politicians.

Mayor Mare was now in charge of the Earth Resistance Cell, the Pegasus Resistance Cell leader was Cherry Bomb and the Unicorns Resistance Cell’s (which had the least members) leader was Rarity. Typical unicorns, as long as they are alright they won’t bother to help anypony.

That night a big meeting was under way, using unicorn magic we would be able to see and talk to the leaders of the Resistance cells. In the cave was a large open area perfect for an ops room. We had built offices, living quarters and barracks in the cave from whatever we could use, whether it was from Ponyville or the Everfree forest, we used it. In the middle of the large open space down some wooden stairs was a large white table with about twenty chairs around it and it was lit up by a strong spot light overhead. All the chairs were reserved for high ranking members of the Earth cell who were going to be arriving any minute.

I was already in my seat, Resistance leader: Cart Wheel was written on a little plaque in front of my seat. I cannot believe I kept this lie up for so long, hiding the fact that you are a Pegasus in an earth pony only zone was hard, not being able to fly was murder for somepony like me. The solid wooden doors opened at the top of the staircase.

“Ah, Cart wheel, you’re already here?”

“You know me Mayor, I like to be early”

Mayor Mare smiled and started her way down the stairs, there was nopony else behind her. I looked over to the clocks on the walls, Equestria, Russhire, Gallopmore, Saddleburgh, Fillypines, Le Mare, Zercoria, Cloudsdale and Unicornia. 11:50am in Equestria, Mayor Mare was early herself. She sat down on the chair opposite me that was reserved for Nurse Red Heart.
“So, Cart Wheel, what do you want to become of this organisation?”   She asked whilst cleaning her glasses with a cloth.
“Well... creating peace would be nice” I said as a joke, but she did not take it that way.

“Peace? I thought you wanted to fight against the Empire, that’s all you have been saying and doing since I first met you.”
I took a pause to think on what to say. I leaned forward in my chair    

“You have to fight for freedom, you can’t just wish for it. Actions speak louder than words, Mayor; I thought you of all ponies would know that”

Our discussion was interrupted by the doors opening and the sound of delegates chattering and walking down the wooden stairs. The Mayor glared at me, got up out of the chair and walked to hers at the top of the table.

The unicorns had trouble getting the feed from the Pegasus cell leader, being up in the clouds must have been too far away for the unicorn magic to reach, I chuckled to myself. The feed from the cell leaders was projected on the map of Equestria that we had nailed to the wall of the cave making a good smooth surface. Cherry Bomb came into view and called out.

“Hello? Anypony there?”

“Yes we can all see and hear you Cherry Bomb. Now, can we please get a move on? I’m dying from boredom here” said Rarity

“O-Okay... err Mayor Mare, you have the floor”

“Thank you Cherry. Fillies and Gentlecolts, we are gathered here today to discuss what to do next. We now have enough strength to wage war or create peace, even if some are not willing to seek peace as an option.”

I knew the Mayor was referring to me, but I just kept reading some documents on the table.

“We must look at all possibilities, I feel that negotiating with Celestia and the Empire is the best option”  

I nearly fell off my chair “Negotiating?!”

“I agree. None of us want another rebellion that's going to fail” said Rarity

Rarity. If you wanted a stereotypical Pony to represent the unicorns that was her, slightly aloof and domineering. She was nice at the Graduation party but she had changed. We all had.

“As do I” said Cherry Bomb     

“Very well then, negotiation it is then.” said the mayor sorting out her papers on the table, it looked like she was looking for one particular piece of paper but could not find it.

“Ah, here it is. Ahem. I have taken the liberty of making you all a copy of this. You will find it on page 24 of your booklet. I will give you a moment to read it”

Everypony around our table and the tables of the other cells all had a brown folder in front of them “Republic of Equestria meeting guide: issue 3” stamped with classified and eyes only on the right hand side. Typical political red tape, list of who is present, targets met, improvement suggestions and other nonsense. Page 24 was just writing all written in very small print in order to fit as much in as possible. “A moment to read it? More like an hour.”

“I like the third idea” said Rarity

“As do I. But isn’t it a bit risky?” said Cherry Bomb  

“How do you mean?” Rarity replied

“All members of the RoE to sign a petition that is to be given to Celestia. This is to show how many of us there are and to persuade Celestia into peace talks. We might as walk to Canterlot in chains.” Cherry Bomb was not playing around anymore; this was serious. I had to say something.

“I agree with Cherry Bomb, this petition could get us all banished for treason! Or worse.”

The room went quiet; all ponies were looking at me or at the mayor.   

“Thank you for that Cart Wheel. Tell me, how do you know that will happen?” said the mayor putting her forelegs on the table as if she was praying to Faust.

“How do you know that your petition will persuade Celestia to peace talks?”  I replied.

The idea of the petition was put to a vote. If 51% of a cell was against the petition, the leader would have to vote no regardless of their own viewpoint. Democracy can be unfair sometimes. The votes from the cells were in. Filthy Rich cleared his throat. He began to read the parchments that had just arrived via dragon breath.

“Earth Cell: 65% for negotiations. Pegasus Cell: 15% for negotiations. And the Unicorn cell: 97% for negotiations.”
“Well that settles it then, all ponies in the earth cell are required to put their mark on the parchment that will be outside my office tomorrow. And I will be checking to see if all of you have signed it.”

The mayor’s glare was fixed on me. I came to the conclusion that she didn’t like me very much. As if I cared, I had more important things to worry about.

> Chapter 8: Horizon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 8
Horizon


The line for the parchment signing was long. Everypony had to write their name on it. The Mayor, Filthy Rich and Cheerilee were sat behind a desk with the parchment on top of it, curling at one end because of the amount of names already on it.
“This is getting annoying now; we have been here for like, an hour” 

“Patience Caramel, not too long now.”

I was the leader of the Resistance fighters and Caramel was my second in command, a loyal pony but could never stand still. I remember one time we had to vandalise Ponyville train station with slogans but Caramel had the idea of knocking out the guards and writing RoE on their foreheads. Mayor Mare was not impressed but I stood up for Caramel, I think that  the point when the Mayor took a disliking to me. 

There was me, Caramel, Bon Bon, Berry Punch and seven others in the Resistance fighters. We all wanted to fight with a bit more violence but politics kept getting in our way. All of us were against the petition but we had to sign it. I stepped up to the table. 

“Ah, Cart Wheel, I am glad to see you here. I was wondering if I would have to force you to sign it” said the Mayor with a smile on her face. 

I said nothing, picked up the pencil with my mouth and wrote my false name on the parchment. I turned and walked back down the corridor and back into my office.

Two hours later the communication system in the cave came to life:

“Attention all staff. Our petition along with the other cells petitions will be sent to Canterlot within the next five minutes via dragon breath. All staff members are welcome to see this event in the main hall. This is the first step towards a new future for us all.”

The Mayor’s voice sounded awful in the tin can that was in the top right hand corner of my office. String and tin cans, a big difference to the comms that I had in the Royal Guard.    

The main hall was full of ponies all facing the stage, the entrance doors flew open and the petition was carried in by ponies on their backs down the middle isle. Our petition was now combined with the Pegasi and the unicorns; it gave an almighty thump when it was bucked on to the stage by the now exhausted ponies. Mayor Mare walked towards the pile of paper which now matched her in height and placed her hoof on it as she turned to the audience.

“Today is the beginning of a new era in Equestria, an era of peace”

She turned to her left and from the curtains four baby dragons walked out. All the fillies in the audience sighed at their cuteness. I studied dragons at school in Trottingham, it was my favourite subject aside from the history of flight.

All four dragons were a different species to each other. Horn Snout, Arctic Spine Back, Cave Dweller and a Welsh Red. They positioned themselves around the pile of parchment, took a deep breath and breathed fire all over the parchment. Purple, blue, white and red flames engulfed the parchment until it was gone. The whole audience let out a long cheer as the four dragons got their breath back and walked off the stage. Now all we had to do was wait for a reply. How long could that take?

Two days passed and still nothing, was it sent to the wrong address? Or did the baby dragons actually set it on fire? I’d just gotten back to my office from lunch and I sat down on my chair to relax. I was nearly asleep when a flash of light woke me up and knocked me off my chair. Hovering above my desk was a piece of parchment surrounded by a yellow hue.

“To all members of the Republic of Equestria your petition has been acknowledged, myself and the High Court of Canterlot have agreed to meet with your authorities. Royal chariots will arrive in your towns and cities tomorrow at noon, they will escort you to Canterlot castle to discuss terms and hopefully we all can lead Equestria to a better future.  Her Royal Highness of Equestria, Princess Celestia.”

I was not expecting that response, neither was Caramel who burst into my office clutching his copy of the letter. We both just looked at each other, dumbstruck.


*


Five minutes to noon. Ponyville square was packed with ponies. Mayor Mare and the delegates of the earth cell were all gathered in front of the town hall. The mayor was wrapping up her speech to the town. The crowd let out a cheer and the delegates left the town hall and made their way to the statue of Celestia in the middle of the square.

“Cart Wheel!” yelled out the mayor

“Yes?” I poked my head through the crowd   

“Aren’t you coming?”

“I’m not brave enough for politics”

“Nonsense, this is your chance to see Celestia in a different light. You and your partisans think of her as a tyrant but she is actually a wise leader.”

I just stared at her; I could think of a thousand reasons why she was wrong but I tried telling her so many times, she just wouldn’t listen. Not wanting to get into an argument, I turned away. The sound of chattering ponies was interrupted by the sound of four Royal Guard Pegasus ponies swooping overhead. 

I looked at the town clock, twelve o’clock on the dot. The carriage and the Pegasi came to a stop a few feet from the statue, the doors flew open, followed by a surly looking soldier and he took one look at the delegates and scoffed. 

“Is this all?”

“Well, now that you’ve have mentioned it, we are one short. He was just on his way to the little pony’s room. There he is, oh, Cart Wheel!”

I cursed the mayor under my breath and made my way over to the carriage. The officer looked at me, he was the one that stunned me, Big Mac and AJ. He used his magic to bring up a clipboard and a quill.   

“Name and position within the RoE?”

“Cart Wheel, leader of the Armed Resistance”

The officer raised an eyebrow.

“Delegates, please make your way onto the carriage and mind your head”

“Oh! Very polite” said the Mayor as she made her way into the golden carriage. The manners were just put on. I thought to myself. I was the last to board the golden carriage, the purple silk covers of the seats were comforting and the gems in the roof made the whole interior sparkle. It must have weighed a ton; I would never have lifted this on my own. The only seat vacant was next to the Mayor. Reluctantly, I sat next to her.

“If we get imprisoned by the Empire for being traitors I will kill you.” I whispered in her ear

“And if we don’t?”

“I’m still gonna kill you”

The carriage took off into the sky, everypony was full of excitement. For them it was their first visit to Canterlot. I was not so optimistic, neither was the Mayor. Instead of talking to the advisors about what to say or do in the presence of Celestia she just kept looking out the window and down to the earth below.

“Nervous?” I asked. 

“No not nervous, I’m just contemplating what Equestria will be like if we fail.”

She kept looking out the window, had my views finally stuck into the mayors head? Was she finally getting the message? A bit too late now.

All three carriages transporting the leaders of each cell pulled up outside the drawbridge to Canterlot castle at the same time. The Pegasi pulling the carriages were exhausted, gasping for breath and barely able to stand, the officer straightened them out with a few harsh words. I felt like hitting him. Barking out the orders as if the Pegasi were useless.

The Pegasi were not Royal Guards, they were conscripts in white overalls and thin steel armour. The officer, on the other hoof was a Royal Guard. With their solid gold armour and their magic they felt like they were superior to other ponies in every way.

The draw bridge lowered, the large chains clanked. The bridge landed with a loud bang and before us was the courtyard of Canterlot castle. As much as I hated the empire and Celestia, I have to admit that they knew how to build castles. With white walls, golden battlements, purple banners, marble statues and not a leaf out of place on the trees and the bushes.We were lead into the castle by the officer giving us a lecture on the architecture, the flowers and the statues in the courtyard. 

We approached the main door; it was huge, solid oak and varnished to mirror finish. They opened and we were greeted at the other side by the grand staircases. This is where Celestia would meet invited guest to the Grand Galloping Gala but she was no were to be seen.

“Excuse me sir, but aren’t we supposed to me meeting the Princess?” Cheerilee asked as we walked up the stairs. 

“Of course you are Miss Cheerilee, but not here. The Princess has another venue in mind.”

The staircase was endless, I wanted to use my wings so badly but I had to grin and bear it. I looked down to see how far we had climbed up. The spiral staircase went on forever and so did the officer, giving us more lectures.

“What’s the matter Cart, afraid of heights?”

“Caramel if only you knew.”

Finally we were at the top of the stairs; we were all tired. As was the officer. Before us was yet another door, if it was more stairs I swear to Faust, I would go mad. The door was solid gold with two Guards either side of it. On the door was the Royal Seal of Celestia; a seal I once vowed to protect but now loathed. The guards turned and opened the door with their magic. 
“Welcome. Please come in”

It was her. Sat on a golden throne atop a platform which had a built in water feature, the ruler of all Equestria. Princess Celestia.

I don’t know if it was fear or bewilderment that made us freeze but all I knew was that the door closed behind us and was locked. We were trapped. Celestia got off her throne and walked towards us with a smile on her face.

“Mayor Mare, good to see you again, it’s been a while”

“Yes... sorry your majesty”

“No need to apologise mayor, I’m sure you have been busy with organisation and with all of your members, I have to say I am impressed.”

“T-Thank you”

“After all, an organisation of your size is hard to maintain. Its needs a good leadership system full of dedicated ponies otherwise it would crumble and fall apart.”      

A knot in my stomach occurred, I knew it. It was a trap. But the other ponies were smiling, they fell for her lie. Celestia’s horn glowed and the floor started to rumble. The floor split down the middle and a large table rose up, it was a dinner table with all the trimmings. Plates, glasses and napkins were all arranged in a wonderful manner. We all looked up at Celestia in disbelief, she just looked at us and smiled.

Freshly cut grass, Daisy soup, Cherry juice and Apple pie for dessert. The Princess was not eating which I found odd. Every delegate had their head down feasting on this banquet of food, even the Mayor was cramming food down her throat. The last time I ate like this was when I graduated from the Royal Guard Academy. When the plates were bare we slumped back into our chairs and waited for our food to settle.

“Potions are amazing aren’t they? They go with everything. Even food...” said Celestia.

I stared down at my plate, my vision was getting blurry. I looked around the table, some of the delegates had their heads on the table and some were in my state of dizziness. I looked towards the Mayor who was next to Celestia, she was staring at me, lifeless with cherry juice dribbling from her month and on to her shoulder. I turned to Celestia who was laughing. My eyes were getting heavy, if this was my last breath I would make it worthwhile.

“Damn you... Celestia...”

> Chapter 9: Incarcerated
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 9
Incarcerated


I awoke with the worst headache I have ever had, my face was on the cold wet grey stone floor, and my vision took some time to focus. It was now obvious that we weren’t dead, just knocked out by the potion. I could hear sobbing. Still with my vision out of focus, I got to my hooves and headed towards the sobbing. I was stopped by vertical bars

“Prison.”

“Hay! Who’s there?”

“Cart Wheel is that you?”

“Mayor...you okay?”

“I should have listened to you...this is all my fault”

As much as I wanted to agree with her I thought now was not the best time so I just said nothing. My vision was now back, three cells in one room in a circle, a wooden door to my right, the mayors cell in front of me about six feet away and an empty cell to my left. The room was lit only by a single candle above the door. The cell wasn’t much, a small window with bars in it with no glass, a pile of hay for a bed and a bucket in the corner.

I felt under my left wing for my blaster, it was still there. And the black box from my aeroplane was under my right wing, good thing I remembered it after all these years, the guards must have forgotten to search us. A bonus but not much use in a 4x4 prison cell. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of keys. The door to the cell room opened up, three figures cast a shadow onto the floor. The empty cell door glowed blue and flew open. Rarity was thrown into the cell and the door slammed behind her.

“How dare you! This is no way to treat a lady! I should report you!”

The cell door slammed shut, nearly extinguishing the candle above it. Great, I thought to myself, being imprisoned for a life time with the two ponies that get on my nerves the most, I would have preferred being dead. Rarity was going on about her treatment, I didn’t pay any attention. My mind was still trying to come to terms with what the mayor said a moment ago. “I was right” I never thought I would hear those words pass her lips.

“What do you think she will do to us?” said the Mayor talking over Rarity   

“Banishment probably, she is bound not to break the first order the same as we are”

“But what if, Cart Wheel, what if...”

At this point the Mayor had her head pressed against the bars, tears streaming down her eyes, her glasses cracked and off centre. At this point I realised she was just a pony trying to bring peace to Equestria. And by trying to achieve that she sealed her own fate and the fates of others. I now understood why she didn’t like me, I was the one trying to bring hate and violence into RoE which she was completely against.

“I promise you Mayor, we will be fine. Trust me.”  

The doors to the room flew open and so did our cell doors, all three of us were grabbed by our throats by an unknown force, magic can a cruel weapon sometimes. We started to hover out of the cells; there were no guards to greet us, only other ponies in the same predicament as us hovering only a few feet off the floor and all being drawn in the same direction down the long stone corridor.

I recognised all of them, they were all the delegates that came with us to the castle. When the tightness around our throats gave away we all fell to the floor, there was a lot of muttering and whimpering from the delegates but the sound of their muttering echoed in the darkness, therefore I knew we were in a large room.

Sun light shone down on us from up high and then descended, it then filled up the room. My predictions were true, a large room almost like a coliseum with pillars and stands full of ponies all dressed in white and golden cloaks. Princess Celestia was where the sun light lowered to, she was on a podium almost like a judge at a court case, two other ponies were with her, but they were too tall to be guards or Stallions. One was in plain sight, the unicorn had a dark purple mane and a light purple body covered in golden armour. The other pony was in the shadows, however, I was more interested in the purple unicorn standing to the left of Celestia “I’ve seen that pony before but I can`t remember where”.

“Members of the Republic of Equestria, You all have been charged with treason against the Solar Empire and Princess Celestia. How do you plead?”

“Not guilty!” I replied to the purple unicorn   

“And you are?”

“Cart Wheel”

“Ah yes, the mayor told us a lot about you”

The wind was knocked out of me. I turned to look at our betrayer, as did most of the delegates.

“Oh she didn’t mean to. Magic can be very useful in the art of torture.”

I looked the mayor up and down, she was battered and bruised. I said nothing and just nodded and she replied with a nod, I think she got the message “It’s not your fault”.

“The High Court of Canterlot will now come to their decision, guilty or not guilty?”

The whole room erupted with just one word, guilty. I turned around, looking at all the ponies shouting the one word at us, some shaking their hooves at us and some using them to amplify their verdict. The delegates were now cowering in a group in the middle on the room. I was the only one standing.

“ENOUGH!” I shouted at the top of my voice, the whole room went quiet, “Don’t we get a say in this?”

The purple unicorn looked at Celestia; Celestia just waved a hoof in agreement.

“Let them, it will serve them no good”

“Very well your highness. Proceed, Cart Wheel”

“Thank you. Members of the High Court of Canterlot, we, of the RoE want freedom. Freedom to be with each other, freedom to live with each other and freedom to live our lives! We have had friends, even families taken from us when the purge took place. Harmony in Equestria vanished on that day and we have been living a life of sorrow and misery ever since. The RoE was formed to unite ponies from all sectors. We have done nothing wrong!”

“Well if I’m not mistaken Cart Wheel, the information that we received from Mayor Mare is there was a resistance movement within the RoE trying to disrupted Imperial affairs. Now who would be the leader of that group, hmm?  

“I would rather die standing on my hooves than live a life on my knees” I replied.

“So you admit it. You are the leader of the resistance movement within the RoE that has caused damage to Empire property and has caused the Empire to use resources that would help on the front lines?”

“Yes. But you shouldn't punish all of these ponies for what I have done and ordered my men to do. Punish me instead... I’m the one to blame...not them.”

“Cart, what are you doing?” whispered Caramel

I just turned and winked at Caramel

“You would sacrifice yourself to save the others?” said the purple unicorn

“Of course I would”

The purple unicorn turned back to Celestia. There was some muttering but I couldn't make out any words. The adrenalin was surging through me; I was shaking internally but calm and focused on the outside. Suddenly Celestia swooped down and landed right in front of me, the ground shook with the impact that she gave. She looked down her nose at me, and then with a spark from her horn my cape was ripped off.

The whole court room gasped, my wings were free. The black box and the blaster fell to the ground, I looked up at Celestia and she said one word.

“Gotcha!”   

> Chapter 10: Exodus
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 10
Exodus


With no hesitation I reached down for the blaster, my hoof went through the holing compartment and it buzzed into life, it was more of a glove than a gun. Celestia just laughed.

“Go ahead, shoot. General Sparkle will just reverse the spell”

That moment the purple unicorn landed next to Celestia

“Wings on a unicorn, that’s not possible!” I said

“It is, with the right amount of powerful magic” said Celestia

“Hello Whirlwind.”

“Twilight?”

It was a standoff: Me, Celestia, Twilight. A moment of rage came over me, I aimed the blaster at Celestia’s face, the armour on her body would have protected her from any blast from a gun or stab from a stun sword. Even if I fired, Twilight would bring Celestia back to consciousness in a second. There was no point, I lowered my weapon.

Instantly Twilight's horn glowed, my blaster was ripped from my hoof and brought sharply to my face, I fell to the floor in a daze.

“Oh what’s this?”    

Twilight used her magic to pick up the black box.   

“It’s the black box from my aircraft; on it you will find evidence of my innocence that I acted accordantly to protocol 6 of the Solar Empire.”

“Oh I see.” 

Before the last word from her lips became an echo the black box was crushed in front of me by Twilight’s magic, I somehow expected that to happen but I had to try. Years of trying to keep that thing safe and now it was crushed on the white marble floor.

Twilight's hoof pressed down on my throat, her face was now an inch from mine her eyes full of rage and spite.

“Rainbow Dash was a good friend of mine and you hurt her!”

“Enough Twilight, you will get your revenge soon” said Celestia

Twilight reluctantly took her hoof of my throat, I gasped for breath and then I was kicked back into the group of delegates. The Mayor and Caramel helped me up.

“I’m so sorry Cart...I mean Whirlwind”

“Don’t be, Mayor”

Guards now circled us, their swords at the ready, one slash of a Stun Sword could make any limb go numb but a stab would knock a pony out forever or until the spell was reversed by the  unicorn that created the spell which, of course, was Twilight.
“For treason and harbouring a fugitive, I, Princess Celestia banish the whole of the Republic of Equestria, forever!”
“Where to?”  Said Caramel

“The moon.”

We all gasped, Celestia’s horn glowed yellow and a ball of light started to form above her head. The Mayor clutched my hoof hard. We all braced ourselves for the inevitable.

“WAIT!”

I looked up, the third pony that was with Celestia on the podium swopped down and landed between Celestia and myself.
“Sister, I beg you to see reason.”

It was Princess Luna, her wings blocked out the glow of Celestia horn. Her shadow was like a shadow of an angel coming to save us.

“The moon is a harsh and unforgiving place, furthermore there is no air on the moon. They will die within seconds.”
“So be it. Now stand aside sister!”

“No!”

Celestia’s horns glow faded, she was stunned at what her sister just said, so was I but the thought of Celestia wanting us dead sent a cold shiver down my spine and up my wings.

“No?”

“Yes my sister. Our Mother created the first order and we are bound to obey it, do you want hell to rise from the ground and engulf the word in fire for the rest of time?”

“Do not question my will little sister. Now stand aside or I will be forced to banish you again!”

Luna looked at her sister then turned to us and smiled.

“Princess, behind you!” I shouted   

Celestia had cast the spell when Luna had her back turned. The golden bolt shot towards Luna. Luna’s eyes glowed white and her horn glowed black, she turned towards her sister and fired a black bolt of magic into her sister’s spell.
The two were locked in a battle of magic. One side of the room glowed yellow and the other was encased in shadow. By now all the ponies on the stands had fled. Luna was winning the battle, “Guards!” shouted Celestia. The soldiers guarding us drew their swords.

I reacted, I grabbed the guard closest to me, and I disarmed him of his sword and used it on him. He fell to the floor paralysed the look of shock on his face was humorous. Caramel had the same idea as me; already there were two guards on the floor. The last guard charged towards me using his magic to hold his sword, he lunged at me with the golden sword.
I flew up into the air, landed on top of him and sank my sword into his back. No blood, no wound, no death. Just temporary paralysis. Sometimes magic can be a good weapon. Celestia was still losing the battle, more guards had now arrived so we carried on fighting them off.  

“Twilight!” Celestia shouted

I turned to see Twilight’s horn glow and shoot a bolt in to Luna’s “Two against one isn’t fair!” I ran towards Twilight, sword in my mouth enabling me to run faster. Luna was in trouble, I heard Luna scream.

“Trixie!”

A puff of blue smoke appeared to the right of Luna and a pony emerged, she immediately engaged Twilights spell with her own, forcing Twilight's spell out of Luna’s and Celestia’s. Now there were two battles.
“Trixie! It’s been a while.”

“Not long enough Twilight!”  

Soldiers poured into the room, Caramel and I were fighting them off and so were the other members of the RoE using whatever they could. We had to end this now, it wouldn’t be long until the Royal Guard showed up and it would all be over. Luna was faltering.

“You see Luna, I was always more powerful than you.”
Celestia’s beam inched closer and closer to Luna, sweat was pouring down her face, even I could see she was not going to win. The whole room was engulfed in light as Celestia’s beam hit Luna.

> Chapter 11: Exile
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 11
Exile


A gentle breeze blew through my mane and my feathers, the smell of flowers and grass filled the air. My eyes opened and a flower was directly in front of my face, it was dancing in the light breeze. I’m no expert but I’m sure the moon doesn’t have flowers, let alone grass and air.

I got to my feet “Was this heaven?” I expected my grandmother to be waiting for me but there was nopony around. The tall grass obstructed my view of the surroundings and all I could see was a large pointy mountain that I was in the shadow of. I needed to find out where I was and the mountain offered a good viewpoint.

I got to the base of the mountain and started to climb, then I realised “I’m a bucking Pegasus!” I spread my wings to their full span and took off like a shot. The wind in my mane, the adrenalin, I was back in my element, flying. The peak of the 
mountain was covered in cloud; I didn’t recognise the mountain or the flower back down in the meadow “Was I even in Equestria?”

The cloud was thick; I had to see where I was. I flapped my wings and the cloud blew away, what lay before me was another meadow full of colour. Blue, pink, green, purple, white, yellow and all the colours of the rainbow. But they weren’t flowers, they were ponies.

I swooped down and flew above the large crowd of ponies; they were talking and hugging each other. I was looking for the Mayor or Caramel but finding them in this crowd would be like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. I didn’t recognise any of these ponies from the RoE.

“Whirlwind!”

I stopped and looked towards were the voice came from, it was Caramel waving frantically in the middle of a group of ponies. I landed next to him and by his feet lay a very pale looking Luna.

“Is she okay?” I asked

“Don’t know. She is breathing, but it’s very shallow”

I lent my head against her chest, her heart was beating but it was faint. Her shining grey armour was cracked and scuffed, it had saved her.

“We need to get her into shelter now!”

“There, on top of the mountain” said a random spectator

I looked up at the mountain; there was a cave about half way up.

“It will have to do, come on help me lift her up” I said

Caramel and I struggled to lift Luna; she was twice the size of me after all, some spectators helped us. We carried her above our heads to the base of the mountain, now was the tough part.

“How do we get her up there?” said a blue pony

“Pegasus” said Caramel

Caramel and the others ran into the crowd and I took to the sky to get a better view of the crowd. There had to be at least five thousand ponies in the meadow, way more than what there was in the whole of the RoE. “Where did the rest come from?”

Now with about twenty Pegasi we all lifted Luna to the cave. When we arrived Mayor Mare and other delegates were at the entrance to the cave, we passed them with Luna on our backs, some were bowing there head out of respect for Luna, but some had their eyes on me.

A bed was made quickly out of grass and placed in middle of the cave, we laid Luna down. Hopefully all she needed was some rest and nothing more, otherwise we would be stuck.

As I saw Luna lying on the grass bed I took my time to say thank you, it was obvious this was not the moon and if it wasn’t for her we would be there now and not in this paradise. I bowed and left the cave. Standing at the entrance was the Mayor and Nurse Red Heart. Red Heart passed me and headed towards Luna.

“How is she?” asked the Mayor

“No idea, let’s just let her rest for the moment. What do we do now?”

“I was hoping that you would come up with that answer” replied the Mayor

I took a minute to plan what to say; now my priority was the ponies in the meadow. The sun was just setting over the horizon; it was going to get dark and cold very soon.

“Shelter, warmth, food and water those are top priority. Look”

I gestured to a forest to the right of the meadow

“We can get fire wood from there and shelter from the elements and probably some food. We will have to share. There must be a stream or a river nearby; that will be our water source for now...”

“Did you learn all that in the Dawnguard survival training?”

I just looked at the Mayor; she stared back at me then walked into the cave.

The night came fast and the temperature dropped, I was sat on the edge of the cliff just outside the caves entrance. The RoE held an emergency meeting in the cave, to which I was not welcomed. Luna was still out cold, her heart beat was back to normal but she was still pale. Nurse Red Heart kept me up-to-date on Luna’s condition. The meadow was full of sleeping ponies all huddled around fires and using large leaves from the plants as sleeping bags.

The meeting was heating up behind me, they were all debating what to do next and trying to figure out were in the world we were. I left the politicians to do what they did best, argue. I heard a noise coming up the cliff face; I looked over to see a pony climbing up, I offered my hoof to help them up but they just hit it away.

“The great and powerful Trixie doesn't need help!”

She finally made it to the top, exhausted and out of breath. Her blue cloak and hat ripped and scuffed.

“Where is the princess?” she asked

“She’s resting at the back of the cave.”

She pushed past me and headed for the cave, no word of thank you or an introduction. I knew who she was but it had been a long time since anypony had last seen her.

I sat back down on the cliff edge admiring the scenery, the sea to my left, the meadow below, the sun setting over the horizon in front of me and the forest and mountains to my right it was almost breath taking. I remained there for a few hours; my mind was spinning with what had happened. Banishment, Twilight, Trixie and Rainbow Dash, it was now night and the moon was at its fullest hanging above us in the sky.     

“Hay, can you help us?”

I turned my head to see Trixie and the RoE carrying Luna out of the cave above their heads, I flew over and gave them a hoof. We set her down just outside of the cave I was confused.

“Why have we bought her out here?” I asked Filthy Rich

“Sssshhhh, look.”

I looked down at Luna; she was glowing blue, the moon light was regenerating her. We stood back but Trixie remained next to her. Luna’s body rose up above our heads, when she was in front of the moon there was a bright light originating from the moon itself, as well as from Luna’s eyes. She then she descended back down on to the cliff.

“Trixie my faithful student, is thou well?”

“Yes your highness but my main concern is you, are you okay?”

“I am well. Where are we?”

“I was hoping you would know, your highness”

Trixie helped Luna up. Luna turned around to look at the meadow and gasped

“I’m back...”

“Back...back? Where are we your Highness?” said Trixie

“This is where I and Celestia use to play when we were fillies; we use to spend many hours playing in the meadow. Mother use to get cross at us for staying out for too long but we couldn’t help it, we had so much fun. Before Celestia’s spell hit me the only thing I could think of was this place. I tried to remember the good times we had, before she changed.”  

“Are we safe here your highness?” said Rarity

“For now. Celestia will think we have been sent to the moon, but when she figures out that we are not there she and the empire will come looking for us.”

Luna turned to face me and the members of the RoE, I could have sworn I could see tears in her eyes.

“Mayor Mare, art thou and the other members of the RoE okay?”

“We are your highness, thanks to you”

Luna looked puzzled, she looked at us then down to the meadow then back at us again.

“Are there this many members in the RoE?”

“Well not quite your highness, you see there weren't a lot of names on the petition of peace we sent to Celestia, so we forged quite a few of the signatures”

“How many?”

“Three thousand”

I think I was just as shocked as the princess, two thousand innocent ponies all going about their lives then suddenly transported to this place.

“Mayor I understand your heart was in the right place but you endangered a lot of lives”

“Sorry your highness, it won’t happen again”      

Luna smiled at the mayor then turned to me

“Whirlwind, is it?”

“It is your highness”

“You showed great courage in the court room, offering yourself to be punished instead of your friends was a very noble act. You should be proud of yourself”

“Thank you, your highness...”

Once again a meeting was held in the cave without me, Luna insisted to the others that I should join but they were reluctant to let me. Even with Luna praising me for my bravery, the RoE felt it was my fault that we were going to be banished to the moon. With nothing to do, I flew to the camp below to see if I recognised anypony.

Small groups of ponies were huddled around fires trying to keep warm in the coldness that night brought with it, I found Caramel lying wide awake next to a fire.

“Can’t sleep?” I asked him

“Nope”

“Neither can I. Too much to think about.”

I sat next to him but he kept his gaze towards the night sky, I was starving and the grass I was sat on looked very tasty, I hadn’t eaten since the poison buffet. I grabbed a large clump of grass and yanked it out.

“Don’t eat the grass” said Caramel      

“Too late...” I replied with a mouth full of grass

“You like it?”

“It will do.”

After swallowing the clump of grass I realised why Caramel told me not to eat it, the after taste was horrible. Swallowing my meal and my pride I turned to Caramel, I knew there was something bothering him.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing...”

“Don’t give me that crap; I haven’t seen you this depressed since that time the canteen ran out of Caramel slices. So what’s wrong?”

“She isn’t here”

“Who?”

“Sea Breeze, my girlfriend”

“Well that explains a lot”

“What do you mean?”

“That time at Sugarcube corner, when those two mares were looking at you and me.”

Caramel said nothing. I could see he wasn’t in a laughing mood right now which is unusual for him so I left him alone. As I wandered through the camp my thoughts turned to the RoE. I couldn’t believe that they had kicked me out of the group after everything that I had done for them. I couldn’t take it anymore; I took to the sky and flew back to the cave.   

When I arrived all the delegates were sat around a fire in the middle of the cave whilst Luna and Trixie were at the back talking. The conversation had stopped when I entered.

“Whirlwind, something wrong?” said the Mayor

“Well, actually, yes. When the purge of Ponyville happened, I swore revenge, the empire has become too powerful and it had to be stopped, the famine that gripped the world has long gone and still the empire wishes more. More land, more riches and more power; this organisation was set up to say no to the empire and Celestia. From the start, I put my heart and soul in the organisation and now you have cast me aside! How did all of you know that Celestia wasn’t going to send us to the moon anyway?”

“Actually Whirlwind, Princess Luna has just told us that Celestia was going to banish us to the moon anyway regardless of you.” said Cheerilee

“That is true Whirlwind, when my sister received the Partition of Peace she went into a rage. I tried to reason with her but she wouldn’t listen; her mind was made up and nothing I could say or do would make her change her decision.”
“So Whirlwind, we are all so sorry for ignoring you now and before, we should have known that it would have been a trap.” said the Mayor  

“T-Thanks”

“We were just going to send for you, come and join us we have a lot to get through”

Politics was not my thing, but not wanting to be rude I sat down next to Rarity.

“Now, how do we explain to the ponies in the meadow what has just happened?” said the Mayor

Everypony started umming and arring thinking of what was the best way to break the news to all the ponies.

“How about we make a speech to them all explaining what happened?”

“Good idea Cheerilee, whoever makes the speech will have to deal with the crowd’s reaction. They’re bound to be upset; we need somepony who is a good speaker and has some authority. Your Highness, could you deliver the speech?”
“It would be a pleasure Mayor”

“Excellent, now, Whirlwind, can you gather up some Pegasi and do a recce of the land?”

“Sure, no problem”

“Excellent, if we are banished here forever we might as well know where we are banished too. Any other business? No? Well then, meeting adjourned”

The mayor’s hooves tapped the ground and we all headed out of the cave. I caught up with the mayor. I was just hovering next to her as she made her way down the cliff.

“You seem upbeat given the circumstances” I said to the happy Mayor

“Think about it Whirlwind, Princess Celestia has no idea that we are here so that means we can start over again”

“What?”

“Imagine it, a community where eveypony is free to live together in harmony and not threatened by the Empire. It’s exactly what we all wanted. Instead of trying to take on the Empire in Equestria we could live here in peace.”

“I like the idea mayor but there is just one problem, Celestia will stop at nothing until she controls the world. She will eventually deploy her forces here and we will be caught.”

“On the contrary Whirlwind, I think we will be fine here”

She walked passed me head held high, I felt like saying “You’re ignoring me again!” but I thought I’d better not. It had been a long day and it was time for some rest.

I headed down into the meadow looking for somewhere to sleep and trying not to disturb the sleeping ponies. Eventually I found a spot; I curled up next to a fire and closed my eyes.

A couple of seconds later there was a flash of blue light, I awoke and so did many of the sleeping ponies. The whole meadow lit up with the blue light, the beam of light hit the moon and a dome forming above our heads in the sky. The beam was coming from the cave at the top of the mountain

“Luna”.

When the light faded the Mare in the Moon was present on the moon’s surface and the dome became clear as if nothing had happened. I wasted no time I flew to the cave like a bat out of hell. On the cliff edge just outside the cave was Luna looking rather pale again and Trixie not looking too good either.

“What happened? Are you okay?”

“We are fine...” said a weary Trixie

I rested Luna’s head on my hoof, she was berating.

“What did you two do?”

“We are now protected...”

With that Trixie passed out, I propped her up with my free hoof so that she wouldn’t fall onto Luna. By now, some ponies made it up the cliff; they came to my aid and took Luna and Trixie back into the cave to rest, I took a minute to catch my breath. Now that the delegates had made it up the mountain.

“Whirlwind what happened?” asked an out of breath Filthy Rich      

“Um...Trixie just said that we are now protected. It must have something to do with that dome that formed overhead”

“Protected from what?” asked Rarity

“The Empire” said the mayor  

“Luna thought my idea of a free society was brilliant, so I asked her if she knew a spell that will keep us hidden from the Empire if they came to this land. That is what Luna and Trixie were discussing at the back of the cave when our meeting was being held, that dome should keep us safe for now.”

“And the mare in the moon?” said Cheerilee

“To make Celestia think that Luna and ourselves have been sent to the moon”

“So we’re invisible?”

“Yes Whirlwind, yes we are”

> Chapter 12: Rebirth
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 12
Rebirth


The morning sun rose, the birds started singing and the morning dew sparkled on the grass in the meadow. I didn’t sleep the night before, there was too much to think about. I did what I was tasked with, to find Pegasi and scout out the land, I managed to find seven volunteers.

“Now listen up! We have been given the task to scout out this land. You will fly out and make a mental note of the geology of the land, mountains, rivers and so on. You will report back here and give your information to Scholar Ship and she will begin drawing the map, any questions?”

“Yeah, I’ve got one, why the buck are we here?” asked one of the Pegasi

“Yeah I was in Manehattan shopping then the next thing I know I’m in a field” said another

“Princess Luna will be giving a speech tonight explaining everything” I replied

“Tonight?! We need answers now!”

“Sorry, I can’t tell you, you will all have to wait until this evening”

“Buck you, we’re out of here”

“Fine! Go!”

The seven Pegasi flew back to the camp leaving me alone with Scholar Ship, a small nerdy looking unicorn with glasses and a red mane, What was I going to do? An idea popped into my head, I grabbed Scholar Ship by her tail and flew into the air. She put up a hell of a fuss but it was the only way to get this map drawn.

“Stop screaming Scholar, I won’t drop you.”

I climbed up to just below cloud height so Scholar could get the best view of the land below. I threw her up into the air and caught her on my back.

“Now, how’s this for a view...”

As I looked down all I could see was the sea, no land, nothing but the silvery shine from the water, I looked at Scholar and she shrugged. I descended a few feet and the land materialised, the barrier must have made the land invisible. Sometimes magic can be a wonderful thing.

I could feel Scholar’s quill against my back as she used me as a desk so she could draw the landscape, the land was actually an island almost forming a perfect circle with the exemptions of a few peninsulas and other smaller islands around the main land mass. Mountains in the middle of the land, forests at the base of the mountains and flat green land reaching out to the shore. I asked Scholar if she was finished but all I got back was a mumble.

I walked into the cave where the RoE and Luna were discussing what to say in the speech. I spat the map onto the stone slab that was being used as a table.

“Mares and Gentlecolts I present to you the map of our land”

The map unravelled and the delegates gasped

“Wow Scholar, incredible work”

“Thanks Mr. Rich”

“Very detailed” said the Mayor

I walked over to Luna who was sat at the bow of the table

“Are you feeling better now your highness?”

“Much better, thank you”

“You must have used a lot of magic to create that shield”

“I did yes, but Trixie helped me like she always does”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that, when did Trixie become your student?”

“Well it happened a long time ago. Trixie was humiliated by Twilight Sparkle in Ponyville. I was in Canterlot castle and I could feel her pain and sorrow so I went to her. After running away for Ponyville she was caught in a horrific storm and was taking shelter in the Everfree forest. I took her back to the castle without my sister knowing. 

Trixie told me that she was at Canterlot School for gifted unicorns when she was a filly and was the favourite to become my sister’s personal student but somepony else beat her to it. When I told her it was Twilight Sparkle she went into a rage. The power that she showed rivalled my sisters, Twilight's and mine. I therefore decided to take her as my own personal student, secretly of course and we have been friends ever since”      

“Ah, but don’t you find her as a bit of a loud mouth sometimes?”

“But being friends for so long I don’t tend to notice. A part of friendship is being able to accept your friends for who they are”
I just nodded in agreement; to be honest I didn’t know much about friendship. The only true friend I had was Rainbow Dash, I was always busy in Cloudsdale with work and I didn’t have time for friends; work friends in work hours yes but anything out of that was hard to commit to.

The speech would be taking place in a few hours. The speech was finished but it was still being tweaked until ourselves and Luna were happy, it had to be perfect, this speech was going to make or break the RoE. If the public didn’t agree with our plan of making a new free land away from their friends and families in Equestria then we were doomed.
“There; it’s finally finished, its perfect”

“Are you sure your highness?”

“Yes Mayor, I’m sure but there is just one thing I would like changing”

“What’s that your highness?”

“The name of our organisation, we are no longer in Equestria it needs to be changed. Any ideas?”

The cave fell silent, just the sound of hooves scratching heads and humming as we all tried to think of a name.

“Umm how about The Republic of Ponies?” said a hesitant Cheerilee

“No... How about the Republic of Friendship?”

“Grow up Bon Bon” said Rarity

“I’ve got an idea” I raised my hoof    

“How about we included Luna’s name in the title after all if it wasn’t for her we wouldn’t be here”

“Great idea Whirlwind” said the mayor, her face lighting up with excitement

Another silence filled the room.

“The kingdom of Luna?” said Filthy Rich

“No, we need to be seen as the opposite of a kingdom or an empire for this to work”

“But Mayor, why do we need the Princess’s name in the title, a republic means a country without a monarchy.” said Rarity
I glared at Rarity

“You have got a point” said the Mayor

“How about this, I am the head of state and acts must have my approval before they are put into motion. The Mayor shall be known as the Prime minister”

“That could work and we must keep calling you Princess out of respect” said Nurse Red Heart

“Very well then” said Luna

“How about the Republic of Luna?” said Cheerilee.

“Maybe, we also need to show that this is a new origination build from the ground up so how about The New Republic of Luna?” I said

“No...” said a down hearted Mayor

Another silence fell over the room our heads buried deep in our folded hoofs on the stone table. Then, like a wave each head popped up with a smile on their face, we all looked at each other and we all knew what each of us were thinking. The mayor smiled.

“All those in favour of changing the name of our origination from the Republic of Equestria to the New Lunar Republic. Raise their hooves”

Without a second thought we all raised our hooves. We turned to face Luna; she had her hooves up as well.


*


The crowd of ponies started massing under the cliff; Luna was getting ready in the cave. She had to address 3,500 ponies that wanted answers to what has happened, this could either go really well or really badly. Luna’s queue would be when the sun set below the horizon that was behind the crowd, the unicorns within the NLR would then use their magic to light torches around the cliff side so Luna could be seen.

“5 minutes to sun down” said Rarity

“Good luck your highness”

“Thank you Mayor, oh and Whirlwind don’t wonder off, I may need you. You might need to say a few words as well.”

“Um...yes your highness”

Luna smiled at me then turned toward the cliff, the sun had just set, the unicorn’s horns glowed, the torches lit up and Luna was revelled to the crowd. Although most of the crowd were unhappy, the sound of clapping hooves on the ground could be heard.

“My fellow citizens!”

Luna’s Royal Canterlot voice shattered the quietness of the night  

“I stand here not as your princess of the night but as your equal. My sister sought to banish The Republic of Equestria to the moon which I could not allow, for it would end with their deaths. I pleaded to my sister to reconsider but she then branded me a traitor. A battle then ensued between myself, the RoE and my sister. Unfortunately her powers were too strong and I lost the battle.

But before we were banished I remembered this land from when I was a filly growing up with my sister, that last thought saved us all from a terrible fate. But that doesn't explain how ponies that are not members of the RoE were also banished here. The RoE sent a petition to Celestia with all members’ names on it but with only five hundred members the list was too short. In order to make the list larger and to hold more significance, the RoE forged signatures, your signatures to be precise”

There was murmuring and booing from the crowd

“But fear not my brave citizens, for this was a blessing in disguise, my sister and the empire will believe that we are on the moon and not in this paradise. What you all saw last night was my attempt to hide this land from the empire so we can live in peace and harmony. As I address you I cannot help but notice Pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies standing side by side as they should be and not segregated. I felt your pain and sorrow during that dark time in our history and now I feel happiness and warmth”

The crowd were now hanging on Luna’s every word. As I looked down into the meadow I could see ponies hugging, only now did they realise how bad their lives were without each other in the segregation. I looked at Caramel who was next to me, he was looking in to the night sky, he was obviously thinking of his girlfriend.

“Citizens, I shall know present to you the leader of the RoE, Mayor Mare”

Luna backed off from the cliff edge to give the Mayor some room. There was not a sound from the crowd.

“Fillies and Gentlecolts I stand before you seeking your forgiveness, I was the one who allowed the forgery of your names and for that I am sorry. I could not have foreseen what Celestia would do, but I took the chance, even though some ponies begged me to reconsider I thought if we showed our peaceful side Celestia would consider our proposal of a free Equestria and a free world”

The crowd applauded the Mayor, I thought her fogginess would take some time but maybe the crowd saw sense in her madness. The Mayor bowed her head in humility and left the cliff. Luna then made her way to the cliff edge once again.
“The RoE has now reorganised itself into a new organisation. It is now called The New Lunar Republic and this land shall be our new home!”

The crowd erupted in cheering and applause.

“I now present to you a very special Pegasus that was branded a traitor to the empire for trying to keep the first order intact. A Pegasus that would willingly sacrifice himself in a bid to save others, a Pegasus who is courageous, loyal and devoted to what is right. Whirlwind!”  

I froze; a silence fell over the crowd. Luna turned to look at me but I didn’t move out of fear. Bon Bon pushed me from behind and now I was next to Luna.

“What do I say?”

“I have faith in you Whirlwind”

Faith in me? It should have been the other way around. I swallowed my fear and walked over to the cliff. No applause just the sound of one pony in the crowd coughing.

“My fellow ponies”

A good start...

“Some of you may know me from Cloudsdale and some of you may know me from the wanted posters in your towns”
I paused for a laugh from the crowd, but nothing

“If Celestia and the empire should ever discover us here they will try to take away from us what we have been blessed with, I for one will not allow that. I would rather die on my hooves than spend a life on my knees. If we are threatened we need to defend ourselves whether it is from land, sea or air. Let us not let this fall into the hooves of the empire!”

The crowd erupted in cheering and applause, I felt like Commander Hurricane addressing his troops before they went in to battle against the Griffin kingdom and won; that was over one and a half thousand years ago now. I turned to the princess who just smiled; I went back to where I was standing before I had to make the speech. The Mayor stood next to me as Luna finished off her speech.

“You should go into politics Whirlwind, that was a very impressive speech”

“Like I said before Mayor, I’m not brave enough for politics”

We exchanged a laugh. The Mayor seemed at ease now as if a large burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
“When you meant defend ourselves what exactly did you mean by that?”

“Pardon?”

“Will you create a security force to keep is all safe in this land or an army for all-out war?”
I took a moment to think of what to say next.

“If Celestia and the Solar Empire want a war, then I will give it them. But for now let us enjoy this”

By now Luna’s speech had finished and the crowd was cheering for their new leader, she lifted her horn up high and it started to glow. The ground and the cliff started shaking, the mountain face above us started to brake off in large chunks they were being carried to the ground and placed carefully down in neat rows behind the crowd. The trees in the forest were being plucked out of the ground like flowers and placed next to the rocks.  

The side of the mountain had how transformed into a castle which almost resembled Canterlot castle, it was grey and black, a very sinister looking building protruding out of the mountain. The rocks that were lined up in the field also changed into small houses, if my mouth could hit the floor it would. We all just stared at Luna, not even the mayor was expecting this.

> Chapter 13 : Renewal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 13
Renewal


The castle entrance was breath taking; the stone floor was polished to almost mirror finish, it was a copy of Canterlot both on the inside and outside. The doors closed behind me and the delegates. Trixie was laying on one of the banisters leading up the stairs to the right.

“Pretty sweet huh?” she said

“Yes very, both you and Luna did this?” said the Mayor

“Of course we did who else would?”

Trixie’s pompous attitude was interrupted by the arrival of Princess Luna; all the other delegates cleared a path for her and bowed as she walked passed.

“This is now your new home”

“Pardon, Princess?” said a confused Mayor Mare   

“You will all find a room for you in this castle on floors 6 through 9”

“Thank you your highness” said Rarity

“It’s my pleasure. Come. I will show you where the rooms are”

We all followed Luna up the grand staircase, I obviously used my wings. I hadn’t used them for so long and it felt good to use them when ever needed. All the windows leading up the staircase were clear whereas in Canterlot they were stain glass portraits of famous ponies throughout history, maybe we had to fill them?

The princess personally showed us to our rooms. The three floors were in a circular tower, each floor had 10 rooms and a staircase leading up to the next floor in a spiral. The doors had our names engraved in the middle of the wooden doors on a golden plaque. The rooms were very nice, an oval hall with a door to the left and right of a large fire place in the middle.
We became fewer and fewer as each pony got their room, now it was just me and Luna. As we walked up the spiral staircase I plucked up the courage to talk to her.

“So your highness”

“Please call me Luna when there is nopony else around”

“Okay...Luna. How did you create this castle?”

“I thought you were good at history Whirlwind?”

“I am, but not of castles”

“My mother granted me and my sister a spell to create our own castle, one day time and one night time. But I and my sister decided to rule the land together and not as rivals, so we created a small castle in the Everfree forest known as the Castle of the Pony Sisters to which we could rule the land together. But after Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon along with myself I think the pain of living in a castle built for both of us was too much for my sister to bear so she created Canterlot Castle and the city.”

We now arrived at my room which was at top of the tower. I opened the door and instead of a fire place was an open balcony, I was so relieved. In my excitement I ran out on to the balcony and took a deep breath of clean fresh air.

“Happy?”

“Oh yes your highness, very”

“Well I thought keeping you in a room with no windows would be harsh, since you love to fly”

I was too busy looking at the room, bedroom behind the right door and a bathroom behind the left door.

“It’s perfect your highness, thank you”

“My pleasure Whirlwind, now get some rest, I get the feeling you need it”

“Once again you’re correct your highness, how come you know so much about us?”

“I and my sister all have an emotional bond with all ponies; we can tell if somepony is tired, scared or happy, wherever they are in the world”

I looked at Luna with concern

“Don’t worry, the barrier hides our emotions from Celestia; there is no way she can find us here. But if she does I will need your help”         

“My help?”

“Yes, you were in the Dawnguard so you have a better understanding of military tactics than all of the ponies on this island put together, I need you and others to protect this land and what we have been blessed with. Can I count on you?”
“Yes your highness...”

Luna smiled then closed the door behind her with her magic, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I walked out on to the balcony and took in the scenery, the moon was full and casting a glow onto the land below. This place was truly paradise; I could see why Faust gave this island to Luna and Celestia to play in.

This island was worth defending but I had nopony else to protect it with. Maybe Caramel and a few others but that wouldn’t be enough to stop a whole battle hardened army, not to mention a navy and an air force. Still, even the armies of history had to start somewhere, they all had to start from the bottom but there is one thing they all had in common, a great leader.
Celestia commands an army of conscripts who were torn away from their families and forced to fight. If we could not defeat them on the battle front then maybe we could beat them on the home front. I gave another yawn, all this decision making had to wait until morning I was tired and ready to hit the hay.

As I lay my head down on my soft white pillow, my final thoughts turned to the ponies that we had left behind in Equestria and to Rainbow Dash, my only friend; would she ever forgive me if we were to meet again? Would she ever speak to me let alone look at me? I couldn’t afford to lose her, not again.


The End



 The Gathering Storm II: Fires of Freedom