The first Dark War was a terrible point in history. Started by one of the current rulers of the empire, it was Nightmare Moon who led the first war. There was so much terrible loss everywhere - bodies piled high, but Nightmare Moon wouldn't stop until she claimed as much land as possible. Princess Celestia did little to nothing to fight her possessed sister. And with no resistance at the time, Canterlot was the first to fall.

Canterlot became the front post of the Empire. After which several prominent elites tried to fight this new rule, becoming the first form of rebellion. Led by Fancy Pants, they managed to put up some fight before finally falling to the rulers' secret weapons.

Their secret weapons were four chosen royals or the four heirs to the throne. The Royals were four ponies chosen for unknown reasons. Some suspected that they were chosen for their magical prowess.

The four chosen were given titles that represented their strength, as well as their magical expertise. Out of all who were chosen, only a few spoken their real names in public.

The ponies chosen were Princess Dead Star a.k.a. Trixie Lulamoon, Princess Fallen Star a.k.a. Twilight Sparkle, Prince Nexus Star a.k.a. Jack Nox, and the oldest and the strongest, Princess Burning Star, but her identity had always been kept a guarded secret.

Trixie was chosen for her fusion to the Dark Alicorn Amulet. After prolong use of the Amulet, it fused to her body and soul. This granted her the ability to not die, hence her title. After the first Dark War, Princess Dead Star had been put in charge of the Empire’s defense.

Twilight had been chosen because of her expertise in any and all magic. However, her title came from a point in her life where she had always felt the most shame, for it was her and Princess Burning Star who had finally hunted down and executed Princess Celestia. After the first Dark War, and a few months after the shameful execution of Princess Celestia, she left to lead the Dark Rebels.

Jack was chosen for his connections in Nox Corp, as well as the fact he was a batpony that could perform multiple forms of magic, despite being just a simple batpony. His expertise as a master of teleportation granted him the title Prince Nexus Star. After the first Dark War, he was put in charge of research and development, which was tasked with the creation of new weapons like the Alphabolts, Dark Amulets, Crystal Weapons, and the infamous Nuke; which in the third Dark War took down Twilight as well as half the rebels.

Princess Burning Star’s identity had always remained a closely-guarded secret because her power tended to be a bit wild. She was a master of fire magic as well as being just as brilliant at other magics as Twilight. She was granted her title shortly after the execution of Princess Celestia. After the second Dark War, she was put in charge of watching over Tartarus and its prisoners.

******

<Rainbow Dash and Soarin’s memories>

A cyan pegasus mare was getting through the training course, dodging obstacles and attacks left and right and taking out foes in all directions. She was trying to get through the training course in the best time, for today a pegasus would be chosen to lead the newly-formed Shadowbolts. This had become the mare’s dream when she was young. The day she performed the Shadow Rainboom when she was young, she knew that one day she would lead the Shadowbolts.

Getting through the final part, she was finished at last. Now all she needed to hear was what score she got. She hoped that it would make her the leader, but of course she had to wait for the other two pegasi mares to get done before an answer was given.

The other two mares were her old friend Spitfire, a yellow pegasus mare with a distinct orange and yellow mane and the cyan mare’s longtime rival, Lightning Dust, a light blue pegasus mare with a blonde mane.

They were getting through the course perfectly well. Not as fast as the first mare, but still pretty good. Of course, the leader would not be just chosen on speed but also maneuverability at such great speeds.

Soon the other two were finished as well. And with that, it was now time to choose who would be the leader of the Shadowbolts. An old, light blue pegasus stallion with a gray mane in an aerial uniform stepped forward. His name was Windrider. He was holding a medal that would indicate who be leading the Shadowbolts. Once it was presented to one of the mares, that mare would be the one chosen.

“Ten hut,” said Windrider as the mares stood ready. He walked around all three mares and then said “It has been decided,” he took a moment. “The leader of the newly formed Shadowbolts is Rainbow Dash,” he said as he went placed the medal on the cyan pegasus mare.

From that point on, Rainbow Dash would lead the Shadowbolts. It was the happiest day of her life. Spitfire invited her to go to the hub with her to celebrate.

******

It was there that she met a light sky blue pegasus stallion in a biker’s jacket named Soarin. She had heard he had quite the stomach for cider, so she challenged him to a cider drinking contest, which she won. He asked for another challenge. She had so much fun with the cider drinking contest she accepted, and even let him choose the next contest, which was a pie eating contest. This he won, evening the score, but she was now determined to beat him. So throughout that night Rainbow Dash and Soarin did contest after contest. As the night got late, they were forced to end their little contests and head to their respective homes.

So they left the hub, however, neither of them had won the score - they were both tied on wins. That had never happened before, somepony that could keep up with Rainbow Dash. They decided to meet up again in a few days. It was supposed to be a one-time thing. However, the night would always end in a tie, and it became more than a one-time thing. She was now going to see him almost every day. She felt she had to completely win against him, though as the contests continued, it became obvious there was going to be no absolute winner.

Eventually, something started to grow between the two. They became close, really close like they almost knew each other's thoughts. Soon the meet-ups were no longer about the contests, it had become about simply just hanging out together.

Days they would go to their respective works, and nights they would meet up.

And over time they became even closer. Yet, at the same neither knew what the other's life was like outside of the hub. But that did not matter for now every time they got some time off was spent at the hub hanging out. Until finally three months into this, Rainbow Dash and Soarin had to admit they were no longer friends hanging out. They were starting to care for each other greatly.

But both always had a hard time telling the other anything about their feelings, so they tried to ignore it and just be friends. It came to the point where they finally had to tell each other. Little did either of them know on the day they chose, that day that would become their happiest yet the darkest day of their lives……

******

It was two weeks before the Second Dark War. Rainbow Dash had arrived early to the Shadowbolts headquarters for a mission briefing. She wanted to hurry up and get the mission done with, so she could see Soarin.

“Ten hut,” said Windrider, as he approached the group. They stood ready, saluting. Rainbow Dash wasn’t the only one that there early today. Spitfire and Lightning Dust were there too, as well as three other Shadowbolts. “Shadowbolts, we have brilliant news. It seems we have received Intel on the Cloud Rebels next target, as well as info that states that their leader will be there,” said Windrider as he kept walking. “This is our best chance to finally take them down, permanently.”

Rainbow Dash knew of the Cloud Rebels. They had been attacking the walls of the empire for unknown reasons. This would be her first encounter with them.

“Ha, so what is the mission?” snorted Lightning Dust.

“The mission is to go to these coordinates and take down the Cloud Rebels.”

“We accept the mission,” said Rainbow Dash, as she hoped that sooner she got this done, the sooner she could go see Soarin.

“Alright, let’s get moving,” said Windrider.

“Sir?” Question Rainbow Dash. “Are you saying you will be going with us on a mission for once?”

“Yes,” said Windrider.

With that Rainbow Dash became really happy. To do a mission alongside the legendary Windrider would be incredible. She idolized him. She thought would make her day even better.

They headed out. The coordinates led to the west wall, at the ruins of Dodge City. They arrived without any problems. Once there they took positions to ambush the Cloud Rebels.

Rainbow Dash looked from her hiding spot and saw the leader. The leader was a female griffon, and from the reports her name was Gilda. Gilda was a blonde griffon in a white shirt, brown jacket, and jeans.

Gilda was walking with two pegasi by her side. One was a light blue mare with a white mane, the other was a black stallion with a white mane. Both of them were wearing blue tech suits. They were walking to a meet up with some of their other rebels associates.

Rainbow Dash watched with Spitfire and Lightning Dust behind her, while the rest were with Windrider. They watched as a pony in a hood ran to Gilda and gave her some info. That’s when Rainbow Dash saw the perfect time to attack.

“Now!!” said Rainbow Dash as she launched a full attack on the Cloud Rebels. Her group attacked from the front, while Windrider’s group attacked from the back.

It was a quick battle and soon they were defeated, however, the hooded pony tried to get away. “Oh no you don't!” said Rainbow Dash as she tackled him. They ended up rolling down a hill, but once they stopped, Rainbow Dash was standing over the pony. She pulled off the pony’s hood while holding a knife to the pony’s throat, saying, “Okay who are you?” but as soon as the hood came off, her eyes widened in horror. It was a light sky blue pegasus stallion with a blue mane. “S-S-S-Soarin?” Rainbow Dash was now trembling.

“R-R-R-Rainbow Dash?” said Soarin as he was also now trembling.

“Soarin, you’re a Cloud Rebel?”

“Rainbow Dash, you’re a Shadowbolt?”

The two were just frozen upon realizing it. They had fallen for the enemy. But things got worse as Windrider walked up with news. “Wonderful news we have captured Gilda,” he then noticed that Rainbow had caught somepony as well, “Well, good work Rainbow Dash, you caught the runaway. Now, execute him.”

This snapped Rainbow Dash and Soarin back to reality. “What?”

“You heard me, kill him, now!”

Rainbow Dash and Soarin just stared at each other. Their minds were racing at a mile a minute. ‘What should I do?’ she thought, ‘I idolize Windrider, and I don’t want to disappoint him, but I don't want to kill Soarin,’ her mind raced. Soarin’s mind was racing the same way. But finally, it was him that stopped their mind race.

“Rainbow Dash if you’re going to kill me then tell me, did you feel anything for me when we were together?” whispered Soarin.

Then it started to rain, hiding the tears on Rainbow Dash’s face. “Yes, Soarin I did,” she whispered back.

“What are you doing Rainbow Dash? Kill him already,” shouted Windrider.

“No,”

“What was that?”

“No.”

“I gave you an order, NOW KILL HIM!!”

But Rainbow Dash just stood there realizing, that if she kept disobeying him, she would no longer be in the Shadowbolts. And that no longer mattered to her now. She did not want to hurt Soarin. She cared for him, greatly, and now she felt it was time to know if he felt the same.

“Soarin,” she whispered.

“What?” he whispered back.

“Do you love me?”

“Yes, I love you,” he stated back without hesitation.

“And I love you,” she said as she dropped her knife.

“Fine then, if you won’t do it, I'll do it myself,” said Windrider as he walked over with his blade out. The two didn’t even hear him. They were lost in each other. It was their happiest moment. But seconds later came the darkest moment of their entire lives as a grenade landed between them and Windrider. <BOOM>

******

Rainbow Dash woke up in pain. “Oooouch, what happen?” said Rainbow Dash, as she slowly got up. She had found herself several feet from where she was. She didn’t remember much after the explosion.

While still in a daze, she tried to move. She felt a great pain in her left shoulder. But she didn’t care to look, she was too busy trying to see where Soarin was. “Soarin, where are you?” she said, but no answer. “Soarin!” she yelled, again no answer. “Soarin!!” she yelled even louder, but still no answer.

There was nopony anywhere. Rainbow Dash just broke down and began to cry. Then “Don’t you….. dare start crying…... over something as stupid as this…..” somepony spoke. Rainbow Dash perked up her ears. ‘Soarin’ then she lifted her head. “The Rainbow Dash I know would never give up that easily,” said Soarin, as he coughed from under some rubble.

“Soarin,” said Rainbow Dash, racing over to the rubble. She cleared some of it off and found Soarin. He was covered in a few bruises but looked fine. “Oh, Soarin you’re alive!” she was so happy to see him alive.

But Soarin looked at Rainbow Dash with horror. “Rainbow Dash, your wing?”

“Yeah, what about my wi--” Rainbow Dash stopped mid-sentence as she looked to see her left wing was gone. “No. No! NO!! My wing is gone?!?” Rainbow Dash was in complete shock. Her wing was gone and with it were all her dreams.

“Rainbow Dash, I don’t mean to add more salt to the wound, but we got more problems,” said Soarin, from where he lay, unmoving.

“What is it?” said Rainbow Dash, noticing he still hadn’t got up yet.

“I can’t feel my legs.”

“What?”

Rainbow Dash pulled him out and away from the rubble so she could get a better look. She looked him over and found the problem. Her eyes widen in horror. It seemed during the explosion, Rainbow Dash’s knife had stuck itself into Soarin spine. He was now paralyzed from the waist down.

******

Rainbow Dash pulled Soarin over her back, as they tried to find some help. But instead, they found the Shadowbolts. The Shadowbolts surrounded them, “What is it? What’s going on here?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Well it seems you have betrayed us,” said Lightning Dust.

“What are you talking about? I would never betray the Shadowbolts.”

“And yet, it was your grenade that went off.”

“What? What do you mean?” Rainbow Dash felt around her belt. Indeed there was a grenade missing, ‘Damn it, it must have been pulled off during the tackle down the hill,’ Rainbow Dash just lowered her head.

“Rainbow Dash, we have worse news than about your wing,” said Spitfire, as she walked over with some chains. “It seems your grenade killed Windrider.”

“Yeah, so apparently you’ve committed treason,” spouted Lightning Dust.

“What?”

Well, let’s see you killed a commanding officer, and now you’re rescuing your Cloud Rebel coltfriend.”

Rainbow Dash just stood there. She was losing everything she had worked so hard to get. It was all gone with that grenade. But then hope appeared, as two of the Shadowbolts turned their weapons on the other Shadowbolts. “What's going on here?” said Lightning Dust, as out of nowhere a flash of light ran past each of the Shadowbolts removing their dark amulets.

“I'll tell you what's going on? You Shadowbolts are surrounded,” shouted a pony on top of the hill. Rainbow Dash looked to see a lavender alicorn mare with a navy blue mane standing on top of the hill. The flash of light stopped moving beside her and revealed itself to be a yellow pegasus with a blue mane and massive wings.

Rainbow Dash knew from the reports who these ponies were. Princess Fallen Star a.k.a. Twilight Sparkle and the one beside her was her loyal guardian Flash Sentry. So, indeed, yes, standing on top of the hill were the leaders of the Dark Rebels. Twilight was clad in purple armor and wielded a blood red katana, while Flash was clad in blue armor. He didn’t need to carry a weapon. From the reports Rainbow Dash heard, Flash could use anything as a weapon.

“Ha, what do you mean surrounded?” spouted Lightning Dust. “All I see is four of you.”

“Really check again,” said Flash, as out of the nearby ruins popped out several ponies, griffins, and even a few minotaurs. Rainbow Dash knew right then and there these were the Dark Rebels.

“Now I suggest you surrender,” said Twilight, as she pulled out her katana and pointed it right at them. “Or do I need to call more back up?”

The Shadowbolts knew that the Dark Rebels were the biggest rebel faction of all, so they surrendered. Rainbow Dash and Soarin took to the Dark Rebel’s headquarters - the Sky Sanctuary.

*******

The Dark Rebel’s doctors did their best to heal Soarin and Rainbow Dash. And although Rainbow Dash got a prosthetic wing, Soarin was forced to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Once Rainbow Dash was well enough, she left the infirmary to go thank Twilight and her group for saving her and Soarin. But when she got to the briefing room, she saw Twilight and Flash talking with a brown earth pony and with Gilda of the Cloud Rebels about a plan of some sort.

“Are you sure about this plan? Twilight,” said the brown earth pony stallion in a brown tuxedo, black tie, and long brown coat.

“Doctor Whooves, Celestia’s notes show that with all of this evil moving about, he will wake up. We need him on our side,” said Twilight.

“But how do we get inside?” asked Gilda. “It’s not like we can just walk in the front door.”

“We have to. The draconequus would make a powerful ally,” said Flash.

“Yes, but how do we get in?” said Doctor Whooves.

Finally, Rainbow Dash stepped forward, “Well, I can get you in.”

“What are you doing here? This is a private meeting,” spouted Gilda.

“I can get you in,” said Rainbow Dash as the group calmed down. “I was the leader of the Shadowbolts, so I know the walls inside and out.”

“Do you think we can trust her Twilight?” asked Flash.

“Hmm, I guess, but I’ll have to go talk with ‘F’ first. He should know what to do.”

“That old one always does.”

******

Rainbow Dash left and went back to the infirmary room to see Soarin. He was still in his wheelchair. She looked at him from behind. Sadness shown on her face. “This is my fault,” she said as she stood there.

“No it’s not,” said Soarin as he turned in his wheelchair to look at her. “It’s not your fault, Rainbow Dash.”

“Of course it is. It was my grenade that took my wing, it was my knife that took your legs,” she said as she walked to him. “I’m sorry Soarin,” she bent down to him. “I’m so sorry. You probably hate me, don’t yo-- ” He stopped her.

“Don’t you dare say that!” said Soarin, as he pulled her close. “I love you.”

“And I love you, but-- ” He wasn't going to hear any more doubt as he pulled her in for a kiss. They wrapped their arms around each other and the next move they made was out their control.

******

Rainbow Dash and Soarin stayed in each other’s embrace. Later, Gilda walked in. “Ehm,” This pulled the two lovers back to reality. “Soldier, when did this happen?”

“Sorry boss,” said Soarin.

“Rainbow Dash, Twilight asked ‘F’ and he has agreed to let you help, so get ready, we are heading out in an hour.”

“Alright, I'll be there.”

“Hm, right?” Gilda gave a questionable thought and a smirk. “You know what? I'll go tell her to wait two hours. Just clean yourselves up when you’re done.”

“Wait, what?” Asked Rainbow Dash, as Gilda closed the door. Just then Rainbow Dash and Soarin just realized what position they were in when the griffin had walked in. Rainbow Dash was sitting on top of Soarin’s lap. Their faces went the brightest shade of red.

Then they looked at each other. Soarin kept a relatively calm face. “Well it seems we got two hours,” said Soarin.

“We?” “What do you mean w--” he kissed her again. “Oh, we,” as she returned the kiss.

******

<Bonus: Windrider’s Memories>

Later in the dungeon under Fallen Canterlot, in a lab, lay a pony.

“Uhmm,” the pony woke up. “Where am I?” the pony asked.

“Well, what’s the last thing you remember?” said a dark purple batpony with a gray mane. He was standing over him.

“I remember a grenade, and then a bla--- ” he stopped as he realized that he was strapped to an operating table. He then saw half his body was gone.

“Yes, you were the closest to the grenade, but don’t worry I’ve stopped the bleeding.”

“Who are you?”

“You can call me Night Fright.”

Suddenly he saw a grotesque pony behind Night Fright starting to move erratically in his own straps. “And who is that?”

“Oh, just something Princess Dead Star wanted me to work on, something about her coltfriend messing up. She's hoping I can make him more obedient.”

“And what do you want with me?”

“The rulers want me to ‘fix you’, but don’t worry. The pain will only last so long,” said Night Fright as he grabbed out some tools.

“What are talk ab--Ahhhhhh!!!” he screamed as the tools dug into him.

******

Rainbow Dash, Soarin, Twilight, Flash and a few Dark Rebels broke into Canterlot using the info Rainbow Dash gave them while Gilda and a few Cloud Rebels went to attack the west wall, as per the original plan.

They headed towards the ruins of the old main castle and from there to the garden. It was there they found him, still in stone. “Is that him?” said Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah, according to these notes, this is ‘SS’ a.k.a. Discord.”

“‘SS’, what kind of name is that?”

“I don’t know. All the notes gave on his real name is his initials.”

“Okay, Big Macintosh you're up,” Flash said to a tall, well-built red earth pony stallion.

“Eeyup,” said Big Macintosh as he went over and lifted the statue.

“Alright let’s get moving,” said Twilight.

******

<Present time>

“And that’s how I got pulled into this craziness,” said Discord as the three ponies and the draconequus sat around a fire. They had been telling Twilight about their past shortly after Twilight had told them the truth about her.

“After I broke out of my imprisonment, they told me what I missed and after that, I been helping them ever since. I helped during the second Dark War where we teamed up with Queen Chrysalis and her changelings, as well as a group called the ‘Cult of Light’,” said Discord.

“But that war didn’t end well either, it wasn’t as bad as the first Dark War, but we lost a few good heroes in it, like Gilda,” said Rainbow Dash. “She was captured during that war and sent to Tartarus along with Chrysalis. After that, I had to take over the Cloud Rebels.”

“Okay, well that answers some my questions.” Twilight was still trembling from several parts of the story. “I think I just need to get some sleep before I figure out what to do next.”

Twilight was taken somewhere to sleep. She fell asleep pretty fast. She didn’t know what was she going to do tomorrow, but the truth was she should've been worrying about tonight, as she drifted into dreams.......

******

Author's Notes:

Now the memories of the First Dark War. You may have noticed, that both parts are as one. As I said two original chapters per new one. Well that will actually change after this. Less chapters after this will be combined. However more changes will be in these later chapters. The most changes will be in the three parter of Spike and Rarity's Flashback.