Another day had passed in the kingdom of Equestria. The night came quick, which nowadays was nothing new to the citizens considering their ruler was the embodiment of night itself. Equestria, or also now known as the Lunar Republic, had seen a lot of change in the last three years. Before, it was Princess Celestia who governed the land of Equestria from the capital city of Canterlot for over a thousand years. But again, much has changed.
It was the day of the Summer Sun Festival that Nightmare Moon, formerly known as Princess Luna, escaped her prison from the moon itself and descended upon Equestria. As for Celestia, she merely vanished and suddenly Equestria was without a ruler, a large role that Nightmare Moon was more than willing to fulfill. It had happened so sudden which left many confused and speechless. But who were they to argue? Nightmare Moon made it clear very early that loyalty was expected and severe consequences would come to those who didn’t get the message.
As such, change came very quickly. The former princess renounced her title, only to take on a larger one: queen of all of Equestria. From this day forth, she declared, the kingdom of Equestria would now be known as the Lunar Republic. Surprisingly, she got much support from the Council in Canterlot as well as some of the aristocrats who didn’t necessarily see eye to eye with Celestia.
Queen Moon wasn’t finished though. She had deep attachment to the old Castle of the Two Sisters and declared that the old fortress would be rebuilt and upon completion would be her place of residence which had two effects: it boosted Ponyville’s economy due to the large migration and need to expand their land, and which turned Canterlot, which now had its own mayor, into a sprawling city that would give competition to cities such as Manehattan.
But it wasn’t all good news. Queen Moon was a fierce and devoted leader, but she demanded loyalty and no one, absolutely no one was even allowed to utter the name “Celestia”. Ponies often wondered what happened to the former princess, if her sister had done the diabolical act of killing her, or if she had been banished to the moon just like her sister before. These conversations were discussed away from watchful eyes.
If Celestia’s rule was considered a Golden Age, then it could be said that Nightmare Moon’s rule was considered a Dark Age. The Lunar Guard (most of the original guard had been stripped of their rank and replaced with thestrals) had been expanded and acted as a police force for the queen herself. But it was the Shadowbolts, formerly the Wonderbolts (the queen had found the Wonderbolt shows to be a waste of money and as such stripped the program and converted them back into a military force), that one had to be mindful of. They were the ones that sniffed out traitors and had full authority from the crown to break into one’s house without a warrant if there was any suspicion of betrayal or traitorous thoughts against the queen.
It was not the ideal life most had in mind but mostly everyone got with the program rather quickly, hiding their frustration and sadness with a smile as they declared their loyalty to their queen.
It had been three years since Nightmare Moon’s coup, and Ponyville had seen much change in those last three years. While the town maintained its rustic look, the area had almost doubled in size and it still kept its reputation as a melting pot between unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi. Unfortunately, the change of Ponyville becoming the unofficial capital (the legislation had already been passed and would go into effect next year) also brought the worst of Canterlot, the kind of unicorns that always believed they were more superior to earth ponies or pegasi. Even more unfortunate was the fact that the toxic atmosphere was starting to spread among others. Needless to say, there was at least one confrontation a day in the town that would bring in most of the guard to quell the fighting and sometimes put out fires usually caused by the unicorn aggressors.
Meanwhile, all was peaceful at the Castle of the Two Sisters, which had been restored to its former beauty. Of course, the castle was practically isolated from the town due to residing in the Everfree Forest but Moon preferred it that way. There was always something mysterious about the forest, she had said once, that it was almost as if the forest had a will of its own.
Aside from the occasional howl of a timberwolf or the hooting of an owl, it was pretty quiet. Inside the castle, Queen Moon’s secretary and aide, Rarity, had just finished her lengthy inspection of the tapestries, curtains, artwork, etc. It was tiring work but everything had to be perfect for Her Majesty and considering she was given a wonderful suite in the castle in return, she couldn’t really complain.
Rarity was in her suite, where she got into a comfortable robe and undid the bun in her mane, letting it flow down across her shoulders. She had pulled out a bottle of spiced rum and was pouring a glass when a knock at her door came. Looking disgruntled, Rarity put down the bottle and went over to the door.
When she opened it, her frown suddenly switched to surprise. “Oh Captain, what a surprise!” The pony standing in front of here was a cyan pegasus with a stub of prism-colored mane on top of her head. She was wearing the standard armor of the Lunar Guard and was holding her helmet under her wing.
The pegasus chuckled. “Come on Rarity, you don’t need to be so formal when it’s just us two.” She then glanced at her robe. “…Is now a bad time?”
“Oh of course not Cap-ahem, I mean Rainbow, please come in,” Rarity said, opening the door for her.
Captain Rainbow Dash, leader of the Guard, came inside and instantly plopped onto one of the small sofas. “I wish our barracks were this comfortable,” she commented.
“Well, considering you are the Captain of the Guard, perhaps you could ask Her Majesty for a small upgrade,” Rarity said as she finished pouring her drink. “Care for a nightcap?”
Dash thought for a moment. “Aw what the hell, I’m off duty anyway.” Rarity poured another glass and using her magic put the glass over to the table next to the captain. “So, what did the queen have you do today? More inspecting to make sure none of the tapestries have a spot of dust on them?”
Rarity snorted slightly. “I can’t help it if I need to make sure the castle is in pristine condition. I’ve already had to chew out two maids who somehow forgot to dust some of the mantelpieces. Honestly, is good quality hard to come by these days? But I digress…the queen’s meetings are almost constant and I’m not sure how she keeps her energy up.”
“I dunno, maybe she just functions better here,” Dash said with a shrug. “Honestly, I’m just glad its quiet here most of the time. Not so much the case in Ponyville.”
Rarity groaned. “Oh yes, that. It’s disgusting really, just because I have magic doesn’t mean I think you’re some inferior being. You can fly for Faust’s sake! I wish I had that ability sometimes…”
“To clean those chandeliers, right?” Dash joked as she took a sip of her drink.
Rarity smiled. “Very funny. Oh that reminds me…well, I’m not supposed to really mention this but…Queen Moon wanted to speak with you about something tomorrow.”
“…Okay now I’m curious…”
“Sorry, I can’t say anymore,” Rarity said. She then looked out her window towards the forest. “A lot has happened these past couple of years hasn’t it?”
“Yeah…” Dash then finished her drink in one gulp. “Ugh, this stuff isn’t bad but I personally prefer cider.”
“Would that happen to be Sweet Apple Acres cider?” Rarity asked.
“…You got some?”
“No, sorry,” Rarity sighed. “Nowadays that stuff is hard to come by. It’s been awhile since I visited Ponyville but I suppose eventually a visit is in order.”
“I remember when it used to be quiet,” Dash said as she stared out the window.
“That it was…and things used to be a lot less complicated,” Rarity sighed as she swished her drink around.
“You and Sweetie okay?”
“We’re…okay I guess,” Rarity said. “She’s not very happy about being in the castle, especially since we’re in the Everfree Forest. She misses her friends.”
“Yeah…I know the feeling,” Dash said, sighing as she got up. “Well, I think I’m going to call it a night. Hopefully I won’t hear any screams from the Doctor’s on my way back.”
Rarity shivered slightly. “You can hear them regardless of where you are. Honestly, that mare terrifies me.”
“She didn’t always used to be like that…” Dash shook her head. “Anyway, nice to see you again Rarity. Maybe whenever the next time I’m on leave and you’re not busy we can go do something together.”
“I’d like that very much,” Rarity said. She then raised her glass. “To the Republic…”
Dash nodded. “To her Majesty…”
Twilight Sparkle was just coming out of the shower when she saw her friend and roommate Moondancer sitting on the island in their kitchen eating a bagel while reading the today’s newspaper. “Wow, that came early today,” she said as a good morning as she went over to the fridge and got out some cereal and milk along with a bowl. “Anything good in there?”
“Oh you know…the same old same ‘alternative facts’,” Moondancer said as she kept her eyes toward the paper. Upon first glance, it looked as if she had just woken up but nowadays it was her usual look, not that she cared of course.
Twilight managed to glance at one of the headlines on the front page that mentioned about the recent event of the Crystal Empire returning. “Hey, you mind if I look at that for a moment?”
“Go ahead,” Moondancer said, handing it over to her with her magic with a slightly disgusted look on her face. “Journalism really has gone downhill over the past few years.”
“Gosh Moony, I didn’t know you were into that,” Twilight joked slightly as she poured milk onto her cereal.
“I’m not, but come on, you can either say the media has become state-controlled or these journalists really want to lick Queen Moon’s shoes,” Moondancer replied. “Go ahead and read the top story.” Twilight looked down as she took a seat and started eating her cereal.
Crystal Empire Finally Annexed Into Lunar Republic
It has only been a year since the Crystal Empire’s return from its mysterious one thousand year disappearance, but the state has finally been annexed into Equestrian territory. A country that borders the northern country of Yakyakistan, the Crystal Empire was once under the control of the evil dictator King Sombra who enslaved and starved his own people.
Sombra had disappeared with the Empire itself as a last ditch effort to prevent his ultimate defeat by Queen Moon, formally Princess Luna. However, once the Empire did return, Sombra wasted no time in forming an army to conquer the lands of Equestria but the Republic Army had acted swiftly and with Her Majesty’s assistance, Sombra was defeated before war could even be declared. Following this, a temporary government had been set up until talks between the two countries could be reached, which just concluded last month. Needless to say, the crystal ponies have strong faith in Queen Moon as their new leader.
“Wow…you weren’t joking,” Twilight said, scrutinizing the paper. “First of all, they completely disregarded Princess Celestia’s help in that matter. It took both of them to defeat Sombra.”
“Of course it was disregarded,” Moondancer said with a mouthful of bagel before she swallowed. “They want everyone to forget what big part Celestia had in the last thousand years. They’re completely white-washing her.”
“Well, it’s not like we can do anything about it,” Twilight said, sighing slightly. “You helping tutor those foals at the school again today?”
“Yeah,” Moondancer said, smiling slightly. “They’ve come a long way and they’re really appreciative for the help. The one colt keeps trying to ask me out though.”
Twilight giggled. “And you keep turning him down?”
“He’s three years younger than me…”
“So?”
Moondancer snorted. “Like I have time for romance anyway…another day at the library?”
“Yep!” Twilight said brightly. Nothing started her day better than being surrounded by books.
“Hey, just be careful alright?” Moondancer said. “The Shadowbolts have really been active these past few weeks…”
“Oh you’re talking about the whole ‘Resistance’ thing,” Twilight said. “Don’t worry, I know better than to get in their way.” It was quiet for a moment while she finished her cereal. “So uh…what’s your opinion on them?”
“Who? Them?” Moondancer asked. “Do I look like the revolutionary type?”
“No, not really…” Twilight paused. “We probably shouldn’t be talking about this…don’t want anypony to get the wrong idea.”
“Seriously, you think our apartment is bugged?” Moondancer laughed. “Believe me, I don’t doubt they do that but I checked everywhere. We’re clean.”
“I sure hope so,” Twilight said as she got up and grabbed her bag. “I’ll be home around five. Maybe we can go to that new restaurant tonight for dinner.”
“Sure, sounds like fun,” Moondancer replied before Twilight left. Once the door closed, her eyes looked around the room and she got up as her horn glowed. “Can’t hurt to check one more time…”
Later in the day at a small café in Canterlot, a small group of ponies came one by one and sat at one of the large outside tables. There were six of them, all equal numbers of pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns. They each nodded to one another, their eye’s looking all over the area to make sure no one was listening in and no one was slinking around in the area. Thankfully they were the only ones outside at the moment.
“It’s safe,” one of the pegasi said.
One of the earth ponies nodded. “Very well. I don’t think I need to go into details as to why we are all here.” The others nodded in agreement. “It’s been almost three years, three years too long for us to act now. We should’ve recognized the red flags immediately.”
“Even if we were slow to react, it’s better than to do nothing,” a female pegasus said. “Unfortunately, most of the Council has folded into Nightmare Moon’s lap.” This group, as well as many others disgusted by the Queen’s rule, no longer wish to address her by her title but by who exactly she is. “Maybe it’s because they’re scared but they’re still ignoring the fact that this is no longer a monarchy but a dictatorship.”
“Unfortunately, her little cult of followers have become quite the problem, especially in Ponyville,” one of the unicorns said. “The town always used to be a melting pot of sorts, but if I were to go there, many ponies would look at me with a hint of suspicion. If things get worse, many of the residents might move to Cloudsdale or Appleloosa.”
“The Charter is in complete shambles,” the other pegasus, a male, added. “Nightmare Moon has completely ripped away all of the policies Princess Celestia had established years ago and is writing royal order after royal order. You saw what happened with the Crystal Empire. The media may say it was a liberation effort, but now she has more territory under her hooves. I’ve spoken to the ambassadors of Yakyakistan and Griffinstone and they’re both very concerned.”
It was quiet for a moment. The thought of a world war was terrifying but even worse, they couldn’t predict Nightmare Moon’s behavior. “Something’s changed in the last few months,” the first earth pony said. “Nightmare Moon has become more…paranoid for lack of a better word. She’s slowly becoming less forthcoming and she only seems to leave her palace only a few times a month.”
“It has to be the Resistance,” the second unicorn said. “I’ve heard that Moon is recruiting more and more members for the Shadowbolts due to them being stretched thin across Equestria, while the Resistance’s numbers continue to grow. Once they get enough resources, its only a matter of time before they strike.”
“So where does that leave us?” The group looked to the earth pony, the apparent leader of this group. “As council members, we have to abide by the law and while we condone the practices Nightmare Moon has taken, we can’t reduce ourselves to terrorist actions. We need to speak to our fellow members, gather as much support as we can and then we need to make it known to Equestria that we serve country first, not a queen.”
“Even if we got full support, what would that do?” the female pegasus said. “The queen could easily dissolve the Council and then we’d all have targets on our backs. I have a husband and daughter and I will not put them in danger.”
“Your concern is understandable,” the earth pony nodded. “And there is that chance that the Council will be dissolved, but once word gets out, it’ll only hurt the queen. And if that’s the case, perhaps our only hope of saving Equestria lies in the hooves of the Resistance.”
Rainbow Dash fidgeted slightly outside the doors to the throne room, something that wasn’t common with her. Considering she was the Captain of the Guard, she should’ve been expressing more confidence and her resume proved that. However, considering it was the Queen that wanted to speak with her, her confidence and ego had quickly left the castle.
Finally, she knocked three times on the door. It was only about a second before the voice inside said, “Enter.” Dash pushed open the door and walked inside patiently, trying to keep her nervousness hidden.
Nightmare Moon sat upon her throne, flanked by two members of the Lunar Guard. Dash tried to keep her attention but she noticed someone else was in the room. By the queen’s side was a pegasus with an orange mane and yellow body. She was currently wearing a navy blue uniform with matching tie. Finally, Dash made the connection: there stood Spitfire, Captain of the Shadowbolts and one of Dash’s former classmates in flight school.
“I’m glad you could finally join us, Captain Dash,” Nightmare Moon said as she got up to her feet.
Dash bowed as soon as she stood before her queen. “You wanted to see me Your Majesty?” For a moment, she thought she heard her voice crack.
“Ah yes, Captain Spitfire and I were just discussing that,” Nightmare Moon said. “As you know, your resume and title speak for themselves and I must say you’ve performed your duty as captain without exception. However, while being Captain of the Guard is no small task, I feel as if your potential is being…wasted.”
Dash could only stare at the alicorn in confusion. “I’m sorry?”
“You’re a mare of action, to quote Captain Spitfire here,” Nightmare Moon continued. “Therefore, I spoke to her and we’ve both agreed that perhaps your talents belong elsewhere…such as with the Shadowbolts.”
If it had been anyone else, Dash would’ve quickly retorted with a simple “Are you serious?”. However, she knew the queen wasn’t one to joke very often. “I…I don’t know what to say.”
“If I may,” Spitfire suddenly spoke up. “Dash, we were in flight school together and between the two of us, it was very competitive, we both know that. The truth is, we need all the help we can get and you’d be most welcome among the ranks.”
Dash had to take a moment to process all of this. “So…if I do say yes, then am I giving up my title as Captain?”
“Not at all,” Nightmare Moon replied. “Consider it a temporary post, one you can choose to keep or if you’re not satisfied, you can always return to the Guard. As such, if you do say yes, you will keep your title as Captain and be working together with Spitfire.”
“The Resistance is growing,” Spitfire said, trying to ignore the look the queen made when she said the name. “And we’re being spread thin so again we need all the help we can get. What do you say Captain?”
At first, Dash felt like she was being demoted somehow (she wouldn’t have expressed that out loud of course), but now she was somewhat tempted. She had been cooped up in the castle for awhile and she really wanted to stretch her wings. “Alright,” she finally said. “I accept your offer.”
Spitfire grinned as she went up to Dash and the two shook hooves. “Welcome to the Shadowbolts Rainbow Dash.”
