Hey, lookie here, an update of Resist! Who'da thunk it. Acutally, the only reason this is getting updated is because someone specifically asked for it, so here it is. I'll try to keep the updates more normal from now on. But in the mean time, grab a cup, can or bottle of your favorite beverage, sit back, read, review and enjoy.

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I glanced nervously at the golden armored guards around me, they all seemed to look exactly the same and they never seemed to talk.

Creepy.

"So... are you all like, identical twins, or is a spell of sorts?" I asked as we walked along.

"It's a spell anchored to their armor," Twilight explained as she lead us deeper into the palace. After a little bit of talking, Twilight, as Not-Dawn's name turned out to be, decided to take us to see someone named Celestia, saying that she would better understand just what was going on. Dawn and I had agreed on the basis that, while we were surrounded, nopony seemed overtly hostile and we didn't really have any better ideas. "It allows them to protect the Princess, yet still be able to live normal, anonymous lives outside of their service."

Dawn asked a question about the logistics of the spell and I let my attention wander as they both talked shop. The palace was beautifully decorated, I had to admit. All marble and gilt and plush red carpet. I felt like I was lowering the property value just by being there.

I wanted to take to the air, maybe look around a bit, but the unspoken agreement seemed to be that the guards wouldn't stop us from leaving, as long as we didn't try to leave.

There was a rustle of wings and the blue pegasus settled to the ground next to me, Rainbow Dash she'd said her name was.

"How did you do that?" she asked without preamble. "That dive thing, I mean. You should've splattered against the ground."

"I don't know," I shrugged. "It's easy, you just have to move your wings, and move them like this" I extended my wings and demonstrated. "And turn your downward momentum into forward momentum. Then all you have to do is worry about keeping your balance."

Rainbow Dash extended her own wings, the pale blue feathers a stunning contrast to my own, so black that they seemed to possess deep blue highlights, and tried to mirror the movement and then winced as it twisted her muscles in a odd way.

"It takes a lot of getting used to," I said. "Your wings aren't really meant to twist that way, but it's worth the work."

We chatted a little bit the guards led us deeper into the palace, mostly about flying. She was going on about something called the Wonderbolts when we passed through a large arch and entered what could only be a throne room.

I drew up short, my mouth hanging open. The room was huge, the walls lined with beautiful stain-glass windows while a thick red carpet rolled away across the marble floors, ending at an ornate throne that sat on a raised dais. Behind the throne was a circular window of clear glass that perfectly framed the moon.

But this wasn't the sickly, bloated thing that hung over Dark Moon City. This moon was tiny, the size of a bit, and gleamed a beautiful, calming silver.

It was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen.

An on the throne, bathed in the moon's serene light, was an alicorn. She was every inch a ruler, cool and regal, flowing blue hair falling over a silky black coat. All around us our escort fell to their knees, bowing before the alicorn. Dawn just nodded and I did my best to look unimpressed.

"Twilight Sparkle! It is good to see you again Please, stand, all of you. I will not have you standing on ceremony on my account," the alicorn called as she descended from the dais. "I've sent one of the Rainbow Guard to rouse Celestia like you asked, but what is so urgent? Your letter sounded positively frantic."

Not-Dawn, or Twilight I suppose her name was, replied, but I was to busy staring in shock at the alicorn's flank...

No, not like that. Shesh, get your mind out of the gutter.

What I was staring at, was her cutie mark, a splash of blue stamped with a single crescent moon. The face was different from the one I'd seen on t posters pasted all over the city, but there was no mistaking that cutie mark.

It was her.

It was the Empress.

Dawn let out a cry as she noticed it too, and her horn flared to life. I leapt into the air as several of the guards reacted immediately, leaping at this sudden threat. I lashed out with my hooves as I hovered over Dawn's back, trying to hold the disguised Artemi away long enough for Dawn to do whatever it was that she had in mind.

Twilight was shouting for everypony to calm down, but I was too busy kicking an Artemi in the face to listen. From beneath me I heard the sound of magic and the Empress was yanked into the air, surrounded by a nimbus of silver light that was slowly contracting, squeezing her to death.

I struck out, left and right as the guards tried to swarm over Dawn, but eventually I was borne to the ground, kicking and bucking.

"Stop!"

A voice cracked out across the throne room and everypony froze, even me. There was just something about the voice, as if it not only wanted you to obey, it expected it. A second alicorn stepped into the room, her hooves clicking sharply on the marble.

"Release my sister," she said, glaring at Dawn. "Or I will kill you myself."

Dawn hesitated, and then dropped the Empress. I took the opportunity to kick free and take back to the air, taking up position over Dawn's back. The situation was about to devolve back into violence, but for now everypony seemed content to wait and see what would happen next.

"You may stand down," the new arrival told the guards, ignoring their protests. Her eyes fell on Twilight and she frowned. "Twilight, just what is going on here?"

"I'm not really sure, Princess," Twilight admitted nervously. "I was kind of hoping you could help us find that out..."

I was understandably reluctant to 'sit down and talk' and it took the persuasive abilities of both Dawn and Twilight to talk me around, even after Celestia had sent away her guards. But finally, I concede and we all adjourned to a small room connected to the throne room.

While the throne room had been all gilt and marble, this room was cozy, done with soft, warm fabrics and comfortable old wood.

"I suppose we should start with introductions," the princess said once we'd all taken a seat. "I am Princess Celestia, and this is my sister, Princess Luna. You've already meet my student, Twilight Sparkle, and her friends, Rainbow Dash and Applejack."

"And I'm Dawn."

"And I'm Weaver."

Celestia nodded. "From Twilight's note, I take it you two are not from Equestria?"

"No, we're from Equestria," I replied as I kept an eye on the door, just in case. "Just... not this Equestria. The moon is all wrong, and everything feels... different," I shrugged, at a loss for words.

"I think I might know what happened," Dawn said slowly. "But I'll need to check a few things before I commit to a single hypothesis. Is there a library I can use?"

"Twilight can show you to the Royal Library. I'll let the librarian know that you are to have full access."

"Thank you."

"But before you go and start studying, I'd like to figure out just what is going on," Celestia said, stopping Dawn as she started to get up from her seat. "Apparently you were attacked by a pegasus in Ponyville?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "He was an Artemi."

"Yew said that several times now, sugarcube," Appljack said gently. "But ya haven't said just what an Artemi is."

"An Artemi is a member of the Artemis League, a group of ponies sworn to protect the Empress by any and all means necessary," Dawn explained. They hunt down and punish revolutionaries, and dig up plots against the Empress."

"And the thing about plots and revolutionaries is that, even if there aren't any to begin with, if you look hard enough you'll find some," I interjected helpfully.

Dawn nodded. "Nopony is above suspicion, everypony lives in fear of coming home to find it empty, their families and loved ones gone and knowing it was just a matter of time until they came for you too..." Her voice broke and I pulled her into a hug, gently stroking her mane. I'd been with her when she'd come home that day, I knew what she was going through.

She looked up at me, her eyes full of tears and I leaned closer until our snouts were just inches away. My heart quickened as the moment stretched into eternity and we moved inexorably closer. Just a few more inches and...

"But why where they after you?" Rainbow Dash burst out impatiently. I shot her a glare that could've melted steel and then sighed when I realized the moment had passed and Dawn had buried her face in my shoulder, her body shaking with emotion.

"Because when you've got nothing left you're willing to risk it all," I said. "We were part of a revolutionary group. The Artemi raided the meeting and we tried to escape, but they had us boxed in so we had to take a gamble. Next thing we know, we're in a broom closet."

Celestia nodded slowly, as though I was making perfect sense. The rest of us, including Luna, just looked lost.

"There's just one more thing I need to know," she said. "Why did you attack my sister?"

"Because of her cutie mark," Dawn replied, her voice still thick and shaky from crying. "It's the same as the Empress's."

Twilight and her friends frowned while Luna started to look a little panicky. "Do you think-" she began, but Celestia cut her off.

"I don't know, but we'll do everything we can to find out," Celestia assured her sister quietly before standing up. "Twilight, if you'd take Dawn to the library I'll have Weaver shown to their rooms."

"I'd rather stay with Dawn," I said quickly. "And, uh, help her with research..."

Celestia accepted that without comment, but made us promise to alert her the minute we found anything. After that, Twilight and her friends led us to the library.

It was going to be a long night...

Several hours later we were heading back to Celestia's throne room and I felt like a wreck, having spent the last several hours flying back and forth grabbing books for Twilight and Dawn as they discussed the kind of magic theory that has left numbers behind, passed through letters, and could only be represented by nonsense squiggles.

Still, it could've been worse. Applejack had managed to scrounge up a plateful of apple muffins for everyone, and I could already feel the coffee she'd found me kicking in.

The guards pulled open the double doors and we hurried inside.

Or at least tried to. The doors swung open and I stumbled back, Dawn crying out beside me. My vision went white, and the pain almost drove me to my knees.

"What is that?" I managed to scream, but there was no answer.