Fluttershy had never been so scared to go out in all of her life. She almost rathered that a big, scary, fire-breathing dragon be sitting outside than what was going on. Or maybe not. Perhaps a manticore or a chimera. Those would be better than everypony fighting like that. True, nopony had fought anywhere near Ponyville, but they still could!

The thing about being a wallflower was that Fluttershy had gotten really good and reading ponies intentions and thoughts. And though some couldn't see it, she could already see the rift forming between her best friends in the world. She could never tell on any of them, but it pained her so badly. And she could see the pain it was causing Applejack and Rarity to not be able to go to their other friends. Those two had always been good friends but never especially close. Now they were becoming all they had.

Twilight wasn't stupid. She had noticed something coming between the friends too, though she hadn't seemed to figure out exactly why. Pinkie Pie had also noticed, and it showed in her low mood that new pervaded where once was near constant energy. She had recently spent a lot of time at Fluttershy's house, who had tried really hard to make her happy, but wasn't nearly as good at it as her pink friend.

For now Fluttershy was alone in her cottage, trying to take care of the influx of small animals now residing inside. For nearly two weeks they had been coming, all shaking scared. They were so frightened that Fluttershy still hadn't gotten one of them to talk coherently, and their numbers just kept growing. She actually had to ask the Apple family to help her build some extra accommodations outside in the yard to take them all.  

Her bet was that they were freaked out by the same thing she was. Animals had always been better at sensing when something was wrong than the ponies were. Fluttershy remembered one school teacher that once joked they knew the weather before the pegasi did. Rainbow Dash had literally laughed out loud that day in class, resulting in her fifth detention of the month. So it was also the fifth time Fluttershy went to detention. Oh she never got in trouble, but she did always keep her friend company.

Fluttershy missed Rainbow Dash with her off in Cloudsdale. She even thought about going to visit her, but just once glance at the newspaper shot that idea out the window in a hurry. It was way too scary to go home, which was a thought scary enough in it's own right.

She nearly lost her feathers when she heard a knock at the door.

"Fluttershy!" called a familiar, high voice. Fluttershy breathed a sigh and opened the door for Pinkie Pie.

"Hi, Fluttershy! Are ya doing anything fun today?" asked Pinkie, bouncing inside. "Ooooh, are you having another animal party? I LOVE animal parties!"

Fluttershy smiled and shook her head, "No, all of them are staying with me until they fell less scared."

"All the more reason for a party! Parties always get rid of the ghosties for me!" said Pinkie gleefully, picking up a surprised Angel bunny as she went along with three squirrels and a very startled turtle.

Fluttershy swooped in and grabbed the critters before they freaked out too much at being hugged by the pink earth pony, though Pinkie hardly noticed as she bounced into the kitchen.

"I'm gonna make cupcakes!" she said excitedly.

Fluttershy just giggled a little and followed her in, some of her fear temporarily forgotten.

-----

BUURP!

A rolled scroll materalized in the air among Spike's green flames, which Twilight promptly plucked out of the air with her magic. These letters were coming from the Princess daily now, sometimes more than once per day. Updates, reassurances, or sometimes just plain news, always trying to keep Twilight informed on what was going on, so she was not surprised to receive another one. Spike wasn't too happy about it.

"Uh, I can't take it!" cried Spike. "All this mail is giving me a belly ache!"

"Sorry Spike, but it'll only last until this is all over, and I'm sure that'll be soon."

"You said that a week ago!"

"And it's still true," said Twilight, unrolling the letter. It was short and to the point, and it was a letter that showed that it was quite possible to the have the best news and the worst news be exactly the same thing. The Princess said they think they have located where Luna is hiding, and they're pretty sure she is somewhere around Ponyville.

"Well then.....it should be over soon then," said Twilight before reading that last couple of sentences. Apparently Celestia was sending a platoon of the Royal Guard to help patrol Ponyville. That made her feel much better at the prospect. While she didn't feel like Luna would actually try to hurt her or anypony else here, things were so strange lately that she was glad it wouldn't be left up to chance.

"Good news, Spike. Some of the Royal Guard will be here tomorrow," said Twilight informatively.

"Really? Why?" asked Spike.

"To help watch out for Luna," she replied quickly. She decided not to worry the baby dragon with the idea that Luna might be nearer than he might want her to be. He had already had some pretty vivid nightmares. Inwardly Twilight wondered how they had figured she was in the Ponyville area, and also why she would have come so close. Personally, Twilight had bet that the next time anypony would see her in public might of been around Cloudsdale, where the first struggles started.

Speaking of Cloudsdale, Twilight made a mental note to write to her loyalest friend that was currently serving there. She hoped her newfound fame wasn't getting to her head.

-----

It was totally getting to her head. But since just about everything positive got to her head, Rainbow Dash didn't seem or act any different than before. Hey, she represented the element Loyalty not Humility. It had been two weeks since she, Cloud Kicker, Star Hunter, and Blossomforth had arrived in Cloudsdale and had found Spitfire and Soarin, and already they had made a name for themselves.

In just those two weeks, they alone had captured or driven off nearly three hundred Lunar rebels in Cloudsdale, which dwarfed any other group on Celestia's side. They hadn't lost a single scrap, and scrapes and bruises were the highest of their injuries. The same couldn't be said for their opponents. A lopsided number of pegasi who had worn blue scarves filled the hospitals with broken bones and concussions. Among them a name floated through that made it to their companions still fighting for the streets of Cloudsdale.

Rainbow Six. That was the name that the group had been given after just a couple of days, and it stuck. They'd even been given a special uniform to set them apart, which even Spitfire and Soarin had traded their ruined Wonderbolt uniforms for. They were a butternut color that had folded sleeves on the front legs, but ended on their midriff. Also on their left sleeve was the special logo somepony had sewn on for them, which basically looked like the lightning part of Rainbow Dash's cutie mark overlaid with a black six.

Everything was going so well, that they had been given the day off, and Rainbow Dash was off to do something she hadn't been able to the entire time she'd been in her hometown. Go home. She hadn't even knocked on the door when her mother burst out of the door and hugged her. Her mom, Firefly, was pink with a messy, blue mane and a double lightning cutie mark. She didn't look much like her mom other then how she wore her mane, but she had gotten all her fire from her, and much of her athleticism.

"Rainbow. you're looking so good!" she exclaimed. "Huh, is that a new scar or an old one?"

She pointed to the pink cut on her left cheek. It was new, and the only injury of any kind Rainbow Dash had received so far, and it had been her own dumb fault. Rainbow just nodded and left that detail out, hugging her mom back.

"Well, hello my little Dashie," said the much deeper voice of her dad. Her dad had a slighly darker blue coat than she did, and his mane was shorter and spikier, but no one could mistake him with his equally shocking rainbow colored mane that his daughter shared. Her dad was much more mellow and relaxed than his wife and daughter, but Rainbow Dash had almost certainly gained her tremendous wing-power from him. Those combined with her lighter body type had led to her unmatched and now legendary speeds.

Rainbow Dash hugged him closely, glancing around hoping that no one was watching. She rarely showed her soft side, because she did have a reputation to uphold. She had never once let on to anyone that part of the reason she had sped over to Cloudsdale so fast was to make sure her parents had been out of the way and safe. Fortunately, they lived on the far west of Cloudsdale, far from where the rebels had been causing trouble.

"So you're a big-shot soldier now, huh?" asked Firefly, nudging Rainbow's shoulder as they walked inside the family home.

"Oh, you know, just kicking some serious tail," said Rainbow Dash nonchalantly. Her father just rolled his eyes and gave her a sideways smile while her mother laughed in the same hearty way Rainbow Dash does.

Inside on the table was a meal of homemade hayloaf which smelled so good it was making Rainbow Dash's mouth water just being in the same room. She was a blur in motion to the table, and had it not been for knowing the tongue thrashing she would get, she would have dug straight in. There really is no place like home.

The Rainbow family gathered for their first family meal in several years, enjoying the rare chance to be in each other's company. Ever since Rainbow Dash had dropped out of flight school and moved to Ponyville to take a weather manager job, times like this had become rare. Funny that it took a national crisis for it to happen again.

"So how goes it out there?" asked her father as they were finishing the meal.

"Pretty much what the Cloudsdale Courier says: We got them on the run. I bet, we'll have the whole place back to normal in two days flat," bragged Rainbow Dash.

"I have no doubt," said her mother, her pride undisguised.

Rainbow Dash had initially planned on spending the night hanging out with the rest of her new squad, but decided that she spent enough time with them already. Why not spend it at home while things are good?

I should do this more often thought Rainbow Dash as she followed her parents into the living room to play their favorite board game, Monopony.

-----

Pinkie Pie scared two of the newly arrived Royal Guards half to death when she burst out of Sugarcube Corner screaming excitedly about "NEW FRIENDS!" and bounced around trying to invite several of them to a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party she was planning for that evening.

"Don't worry, you get used to that," chuckled Twilight Sparkle as she walked past the two stallions who were both holding a hoof to their chests and breathing heavily. "And if you can spare the time, that party just might be worth it."

The platoon had arrived not a half an hour before but had already began stationing themselves all over the town. Most of them were actually armed with spears and a handful of the unicorns even had swords sheathed at their flanks. She had never really actually thought that those were actually used against other ponies in the distant past when Twilight had seen them around Canterlot. She hoped they would only be used in intimidation, like more recent history, in this case.

At any rate, Twilight already felt safer herself, although she could tell that some of the ponies in town were a little uncomfortable. That was understandable. There probably had never been a significant military presence in Ponyville of any kind before then. Seeing them now probably just aggravated the seriousness of what was going on.

Applejack looked nervous as well, casting uncertain glances at every guard she passed, and looking like she was ready to jump out of her skin at the slightest provocation.

"Don't worry Applejack, they shouldn't be around too long," said Twilight, coming into step next to her friend.

"I sure hope so," said Applejack, her eyes still darting from guard to guard as they walked. Wow, she looked really uncomfortable at all this. This was a bit surprising to Twilight, seeing as Applejack was definitely one of the more steely-nerved ponies she knew.

"Hopefully, they can find Luna soon and everything will go back to normal," she comforted.

"Sure, sounds good to me," said Applejack. "I gotta run, Twillight. Lotsa work to do back at the orchard, today."

Twilight said goodbye to the Applejack as the latter trotted off at a brisk pace out of town towards the farm. Twilight had been noticing the stress piling up on Applejack lately, and she sensed that she couldn't wait for all of this to be over. Rarity had looked a little extra stressed lately too, though Rarity had said it was because she was working on a big order again.

Across the square, Twilight saw Sweetie Bell and Applebloom walking together and talking quietly. Oh no, what are they up to now? thought Twilight. The Cutie Mark Crusaders sure caused a lot of chaos for three little fillies. Scootaloo was probably off getting some outrageous collection of supplies together with her scooter and wagon. Twilight decided to walk over to see if she could head off any future disaster like the fireworks debacle at the Ponyville Days fair. Big Mac still stewed about that one every once in a while.

The two fillies saw Twilight when she was about a dozen steps from them or so, and as if to confirm Twilight's suspicions they both got wide eyes and hushed with a synchronized gasp.

"Okay, what are you up to?" Twilight asked.

"Nothing!" they said together and far too quickly.

"Sweetie Bell, Applebloom, if what you are planning is too dangerous to even want to tell me, maybe you should think of another activity to try for your cutie mark crusading."

Strangely this seemed to actually relieve the ponies for a second.

"Oh, right Twilight. You're right, I was...uh....getting tired of stunt cutie marks anyway," said Sweetie Bell with her best angelic smile, which Applebloom added onto with her own. Twilight knew she was getting buttered, but it was working.

"Ok. Go make sure you tell Scootaloo not to do...whatever it was you were going to do," said Twilight, shooing off the two friends. Total relief fell over both their faces as they shot off as fast as they could go. They nearly barreled into a couple of armored guards from watching Twilight instead of where they were going, but managed to pull a skidding turn and slipped into an alley.

Twilight turned to go back towards the library when, as if on cue, Scootaloo skidded to a halt just in front of her.

"Hey, Twilight! Ya seen Sweetie and Applebloom around?" the little pegasus asked, taking off her helmet and wiping the sweat from her mane.

"Yes, in fact, and I just sent them to tell you not to do whatever you three were planning," said Twilight.

"Huh?"

"Don't play innocent. Applebloom and Sweetie Bell have already promised to find something different for your crusading today."

"But I haven't-"

"No buts about it, Scootaloo," cut off Twilight, wanting to firm.

Scootaloo saw she wasn't getting anywhere, so she strapped her helmet back on and started to flap her wings to push her along.

"I was trying to say I haven't even seen them all day," muttered Scootaloo, and it was just loud enough for Twilight to hear, as she scooted off towards the Apple farm.

It took a moment for the dots to connect in Twilights head that Sweetie Bell and Applebloom had flat out lied to her. Twilight briefly considered flying after them and lecturing them, but then decided it would be much better to tell their older sisters. Applejack and Rarity would probably have a much scarier impact on both of them.

She was so flustered that she never paused to wonder why they had lied in the first place.

-----

Two guards carrying a flashlight and a spear each patrolled a dark street that ran near Sugarcube Corner. It promised to be a clear night, especially because the pegasi had been too busy dealing with the dwindling crisis in Cloudsdale to work on the weather. Luna's moon was just under a half moon, giving off some light but not quite enough to see clearly by.

The two had been given orders to watch for anything suspicious and of course, to report any sign of Princess Luna. They were vigilant and alert as they strutted down the street, trying to see into every nook and cranny they could. Other teams were milling around the town and nearby forest as well, all with the same objective. The residents of several cities across Equestria would be able to see the same sight on their streets on this night.

A noise like tumbling cans drew their attention towards a dark alley, which was lit up by the two flashlights. In the alleyway was a trash can used by the neighboring restaurant, and it was being rooted through by a stray cat. The cat hissed at them, before jumping off the trash heap and scurrying back and out of sight. The two guards exchanged a passive glance of slight annoyance before continuing their patrol down the street.

At the next alleyway, they heard another rattling sound. They looked at each other again, silently betting on whether it was a cat again or not, before slowly turning their lights. The one closest to the alleyway didn't know what hit him. It was a back hoof that connected with the side of his head and knocked him out cold, sending him stumbling into his partner. The second guard tried to react, or at least to see who or what had hit his partner, but he was floored by another impact of something heavy to the side of his helmet. It sent him sprawling to the ground, dazed but still conscious. He watched with stars in his vision as two pony figures stepped into the dim light. They wore skin-tight, black outfits that obscured everything except their eyes and their tails. Both tails were a matching, dark blue that glimmered in the light of the flashlights now laying on the ground, though one was curled and the other was bunched at the end.

He saw one, who was a unicorn and whom he assumed had been the one who hit him, light up her horn with the unmistakable glow of magic. He groggily wondered what she was doing, when he realized that the weight of his spear was gone, and glancing up saw that indeed she had picked up both spears.

He tried to get to his feet. These two were obviously Lunar rebels, and it was his duty to stop them.

"Ah, dern it! You didn't knock 'im out!" said the disguised earth pony. He tried to react as the mare approached, but was so dazed the most that he did was a feeble swing of his front hoof that hit nothing but air.

"Sorry," said the mare, and she smacked him once again in the head, knocking his helmet off and this time sending him into unconsciousness.

"Sorry, I suppose I did not throw the pan hard enough," said the unicorn, blinking her blue eyes at her companion, whose green eyes rolled.

"'S okay. Let's just hurry and get back to the hideout. I reckon that the others should be getting their jobs done soon, and I wanna be able to help anypony that hasn't," said the other, picking up the two guards helmets with her teeth. And with that, the two stole into the night.

-----

There was a pounding knock on the front door that woke Rainbow Dash with a start.

"Rainbow Dash! There's a problem!"

That was Star Hunter. What was he doing here at her parents house? She burst out of bed and was at the door in a flash.

"What's going on Star?"

"The Lunar Rebels! Suddenly, they're just...everywhere!" said the dark pegasus.

"Where's everypony else?" asked Rainbow Dash, reaching back on a coat hook for her uniform and sliding it on.

"Just waiting for you at the Rainbow factory. We gotta hurry!"

"Right."

Rainbow Dash quickly leaned inside the doorway, where she caught a glimpse of her parents peaking out of their bedroom.

"Love ya guys! Lets go Star Hunter!" she called, taking off in a roar of wind.

As the two pegasi streaked off into the night, her parents came to the door to watch their daughter fly off.

"Well he looks nice," remarked her mom.

"If he tries anything I'll break his wing," said her father in a deadpan voice, to which his wife collapsed in a fit of laughter, incoherently jibbering something about how her dad had said the same thing.

-----

Rainbow Dash hadn't been in Cloudsdale when it had all first started, but she was pretty sure that this was much worse. There were ponies everywhere; yelling, flying, punching, screaming. There were blue neckercheifs mixed in with khaki uniforms on seemingly every corner.

"Dash! Over here!"

The other four members of Rainbow Six flew up next to Dash, all still a little bleary-eyed from waking up and very much shocked.

"I thought they were almost gone!" complained Cloud Kicker. Rainbow Dash's shock hardened back into an expression of anger.

"Well, apparently not. Let's get down there!"

The six dived into the fray, scattering several panicked pegasi with their wind shear. Rainbow Dash zeroed in on a mare with a blue neckerchief tied around her head, and tackled her full force, yelling a cry that made everypony for a couple blocks get the chills.

-----

Across Equestria, the crisis which up til then had seemed small and confined had exploded across the country. In some places like Ponyville, Apploosa, and Seaddle, guards were simply overpowered and their weapons and armor stolen, and in most of those cases most residents were none the wiser until it was morning. In other places, like Rainbow Falls, Dodge City, Maneapolis, and Cloudsdale, it was all out revolution. Ponies dressed in all sorts of blue ensemble ranging from simple bows or headbands to full uniforms and armor suddenly surged en masse, driving the surprised and overwhelmed Solar forces before them.

-----

As the morning sun crested over the hillside, yet another pony was woken up by pounding on the door. And a cranky dragon.

Twilight wandered bleary-eyed over to the door and opened it with a sleepy, "yes?"

"Your Highness, we have bad news," said a Royal Guard at the door. Twilight opened her eyes fully and looked around the edges of the doorframe. She was surprised to see dozens of royals guards all over the couryard, and most appeared to be nursing injuries.

"What happened?" she asked, trotting outside to see better. It looked as if the entire platoon was there, and at least half of them had some sort of bandage around their heads, and some had more than that.

"I'm afraid they were all attacked last night by Lunar rebels," said the Guard.

"What?"

"Nearly all of them have the same story. They were jumped while patrolling by either two or three ponies disguised in black outfits with blue tails. We think it was probably dozens of different ponies working together."

"How do you know?"

"There were different combinations of ponies in each case."

"B---But Why?"

"They were after our weapons. Every guard had their spears stolen, and some even had their armor taken," the Guard reported, motioning to some who were missing their helmets or were simply without armor all together.

Twilight's mind was spinning now. This had happened in Ponyville of all places!

"Do we have any idea exactly who did this?" asked Twilight, dreading what he might say.

"Not for sure, but I'm afraid that so far it points to it being unknown local ponies," said the Guard.

Twilight's newest worst fear had come to pass just moments after being born in her mind. Some of the friends she had made here probably had turned against Celestia. Against her! Another horrible thought crossed her mind. What if some of her closest friends were....

No, that was ridiculous. All the same, she wanted to talk the them. She really needed help thinking clearly right now. As if on cue, she spotted Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie trotting side by side along the edge of the courtyard. Fluttershy cast terrified looks at the scene before them and picked up her pace, which an unusually concerned-looking Pinkie Pie matched. Both had saddlebags and they had a small entourage of small animals riding on her back.

Twilight galloped to catch up them just as they were reaching their destination: the train station.

"Fluttershy! Pinkie Pie! Wait! Where are you going?" asked Twilight, huffing from her run.

"The Crystal Empire," said Pinkie Pie in one of the saddest voices Twilight had ever heard her utter.

"Why?" was all Twilight could blurt.

"My animals haven't had a good nights rest in nearly three weeks, and I just can't handle all of this ridiculous fighting with ponies hurting one another! I'm going to the one place in all of Equestria that hasn't gone crazy!"

Nopony had ever heard nor imagined Fluttershy could talk like that. She was nearly crying the whole time, but there was no mistaking the frustration and anger.

"I heard from the Crystal Empire that they are staying neutral from all of this mess, so I'm going there," said Fluttershy. "Pinkie Pie said she would come with me."

"None of this is fun. Not even a little bit!" said Pinkie Pie sadly.

Twilight had heard that the Crystal Empire had announced that a couple of days before. Apparently the ponies, who because of the curse of Sombra, had had enough of conflict when they fought to overthrow him. And on top of that it had resulted in them being cursed and thrown out of the time continuum for over 1000 years. All the same, since Shining Armor was a former Captain of the Royal Guard and both him and Cadence were natives of Canterlot, it had surprised her that they had decided not to just back Celestia.

"What's goin' on?" asked Applejack, who walked up behind Twilight. "Yer leavin'?"

"Yes, Applejack, I just can't take it anymore," said Fluttershy tearfully.

"Right now!?" asked Applejack in alarm.

"Train leaves in 30 minutes," said Pinkie Pie, pointing to a clock. She even pointed sadly. Applejack looked at the clock, and then bolted, saying she would be right back.

Twilight spent the next 25 minutes trying to convince her friends to stay but to no avail, with Rarity trying to help her for the last 10 minutes or so. About then Applejack showed up again, carrying a bushel of apples.

"Fluttershy, Pinkie. I sure don't want ya'll to go, but if you do, you're gonna need some snacks for the trip," said Applejack, bumping the bushel from her back to the ground in front of Pinkie. "Looks like you won't be alone, though. I ran into to Derpy and Doc and they're going up there too."

"Really?" asked Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie in sync, peering around Applejack. Sure enough, the Hooves were both trotting up with saddlebags towards the train station.

The couple glanced at the group of friends before boarding the train. Applejack gave them the slightest of nods as they boarded that no one else saw.

"That's a nice flower, Derpy," said Fluttershy as the pegasi walked past. There was a beautiful blue and white flower that Derpy was wearing above her ear.

"Thank you," said Derpy loopily as she followed her husband onto the train.

"Well, it's time to go," said Fluttershy. "We'll come back when it's all over."

"Yeah, and we'll make sure to write," said Pinkie Pie, her hair drooping as she hugged the three friends she was leaving behind.

Six minutes later they were onboard and the train bound for the Crystal Empire pulled away.

Twilight couldn't help but feel that her world was coming to an end.

-----

Somewhere near the deserts, a group of about seven ponies hid behind rocks, bushes, and clouds that surrounded a railroad. The night was young, and their target was coming into view.

The group had named themselves the Night Raiders. Last night had been their first raid, on a wagon train of soldiers where they grabbed several dozen weapons. This time they were after a food shipment on-board a train. They could go after any train of the day as all of them had food supplies. This one was just unlucky.

Their leader was a turquoise pegasus with a golden mane, her cutie mark a lightning bolt with three stars. She stared out at the approaching train, crouched over a fallen log with a light blue unicorn beside her. Both wore the dark blue neckerchiefs that had essentially become the uniform of the Lunar Republic.

The train approached steadily. Around her, the leading mare saw her team tense for their impending raid. But something caught her eye, and she immediately raised her hoof to signal them to hold.

"What is it Lightning Dust?" asked the unicorn.

"I think I see something, just let me check," she replied. She reached into a knapsack on the ground, and pulled out a pair of binoculars. She scanned the train until she found what she was looking for. She saw a brown stallion who was leaning partially out of the window, one hoof hanging down the side of the train. Around his hoof was a blue neckerchief tied tightly. Next to him on the train sat three other ponies, including a gray pegasus that had a blue-white flower in her mane.

"We'll wait for the next train," announced Lightning Dust, and the team relaxed but looked quizzically at their leader. "I spotted a friendly signal."

"Oh darn. It'll be at least an hour before the next train comes," said the unicorn.

"Oh well, gives us more time to rest, Trixie. We'll probably break records when the next train rolls down the tracks," said Lightning Dust with a mischievous grin.

"And maybe a couple of bones," said Trixie, sending small sparks from her horn.

END OF CHAPTER. I decided to include pictures of the member of Rainbow Six you might not know:

Cloud Kicker

Star Hunter

Blossomforth

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