Cloud Drop groaned lightly as he woke up, his eyes wandering around his home as function returned to his body. He slowly pulled up his right leg, peering with blurry vision at his golden watch. 6:30 AM. Cloud pushed his front and back legs out in a long stretch, yawning loudly as he returned from sleep. After his stretch, Cloud's hoof raised to his face to discover that his eye-patch was no longer in place, which wasn't much of a big deal considering he had more than one. there was a small 'thump' that came from the kitchen, Cloud turned to see his furred friend walking in from the kitchen, presumably having just jumped from the counter to come ask for food.

"Meeeoooww!" The kitten whined, prancing back and forth.

Cloud smiled, pulling himself from his armchair, his movement causing the kitten to prance happily back to the kitchen. Just as Cloud was about to open the fridge to retrieve a bottle of milk, he stopped and looked back at the living room. The room was dimly lit by the deep, orange glow of dawn. Cloud ran from the kitchen to the eastern window of the living room to see the sun peeking over the mountains of the Everfree forest, it's warm light making the snow and ice covered landscape glow radiantly.

"The... the sun is up," Cloud spoke, turning towards the kitchen to address the kitten, "The sun is up!" He exclaimed fully to his feline resident.

"Meeoow!" Returned the kitten, the sound most likely being a deceleration for food.

Cloud turned back around, mostly ignoring the kitten's whining. Was Princess Luna finally able to raise the sun? A thought crossed his mind. Maybe Celestia had escaped from her cell in the Black Forest of Stalliongrad, and raised the sun as a call for help. He denounced the thought, although it was possible, the latter of Luna capturing the ability seemed more likely than not. After looking on at the scene outside the window for a few more moments, he turned and went back to the kitchen to provide the still whining kitten a bowl of milk. With his kitten now ravenously lapping up its breakfast, Cloud walked out of the kitchen and to the small bathroom to begin his typical morning routine, which with the advent of the sun being up, felt more normal than usual.

Ten minutes of showering, tooth brushing and other meticulous tasks, a pristine and fresh scented Cloud Drop stepped from his bathroom, his eye-patch still absent. He had always thought it useless to do such preparations in the morning when after a few hours most of it was undone if one was not extremely cautious with how they traveled. Before putting on his specialized armor, he quickly observed the golden timepiece on his front leg. 6:52 AM. Relatively regular time to be ready by. There was a knock at the door, something Cloud certainly hadn't expected. Upon opening the door, he was met by the glowing, slit pupiled eyes of Star Yield.

"Well, you usually don't show up here unless it's important." Cloud observed, stepping aside to allow Star entrance.

"Yes, and important this is." Returned Star upon entering, the first thing his eyes went to was the deep scar across Cloud's muzzle and eye.

"Is this about the sun being up?" Asked a rather concerned Cloud Drop as he sat himself down in his armchair.

"No, actually. The Princess has finally harnessed the power to raise it. Remember all of those incident reports that you had protected under the word of the Princess?" Star Yield asked, specifically mentioning the details about the crash Celestia was involved in.

"Oh boy, what happen?"

"One of our sisters informed me that Mrs. Sparkle broke into the Library several nights ago and stole those documents, the Royal Guard hasn't informed Princess Luna yet, or confronted Twilight about it."

"So, should I tell Luna, confront Twilight, what exactly?"

"Doing both would be good, specifically with confronting Twilight, though, try to learn what she has learned, we need to keep ahead of her."

"Understood."

Star stood for a moment, noticing Cloud Drop's cleanness and lack of armor.

"Were you about to leave?"

"Yes. You got here just in time, right as you knocked on the door I was about to put on my armor."

"Ah, well, I won't keep you longer. Now, if you can't find out anything without being suspicious, don't try." Star explained as he turned for the door.

"Alright, well, have a good day."

"You too, Admiral. Oh, yeah, my presence was requested by the three holding Celestia captive, apparently, they need their Auras restored, so I'll be absent for the next week or so." Star stated, pausing before his departure.

"Celestia's still able to tear it down, huh?"

"I suppose so. I was planning on visiting Celestia, anyway, a kind of halfway checkpoint, seeing as the day of the Solar Eclipse is only 12 days off."

"Still quite a ways off."

"Indeed."

There was a slightly awkward moment of silence as the two ran out of conversational ammunition.

"Well, have a good day." Star finally spoke.

Cloud gave a nod in acknowledgment.

With those final words, Star Yield left from Cloud's home. Cloud stepped to the area in which his armor lay, and began the usually difficult task of installing the padded, thick plates to his figure. After a while's struggle, he was fully suited, helmet, leg guards, chest plate, belly plate and all. By outward appearances, Cloud looked 100 percent prepared to enter a battle, other than his lack of weaponry.

After almost forgetting, Cloud turned away from the door to his home and went back down the hall to the bedroom in order to retrieve a new eye-patch, as his previous one was lost somewhere in the home. Upon exiting the bedroom with his new patch, Cloud walked to the main door and prepared to leave, just as he did a small meow came from the kitten. He turned around to see said kitten sitting near the entrance to the kitchen.

"You probably want to come with again, don't you."

"Meew!"

"Alright." Cloud chuckled, picking up his saddlebag (which was not the same bag Star had initially donated him) and set it on the hardwood floor to allow the kitten entrance.

The kitten happily trotted to the bag, sniffing around the lip of the satchel before climbing inside. With the kitten riding at his haunches, Cloud Drop departed from his home, a warm feeling coming over him as he lifted off the snowy earth and observed the radiantly glowing landscape of Equestria. For the first time in a while, he was genuinely excited for the hour long flight to Canterlot Castle.

"So you got the sun up?" Cloud asked, standing at one of the many East Wing Dining room's windows at the brightly lit 9:00 AM o'clock landscape.

"Indeed, I have," Luna yawned, her eyes barely open as she slouched at the Dining table, "It took nearly every ounce of energy in my being."

"Well... if you're tired, why not go to bed?"

"I still have many things to do. My nocturnality is not a plus when no pony else is nocturnal."

Cloud nodded and turned back to the window.

After a moment's silence, a saddened sigh came from Luna.

"I wish Celestia was still here... so she could see this. For the longest time, she had said how one day she should teach me to raise the sun. She... said it would be a fitting skill for me to possess since she had taught herself to raise my moon."

There was a moment of pause between the two.

"I don't want to cause any trouble here... but have you thought of taking Equestria for yourself?" He spoke after a while's thought, still not looking at Luna directly.

"I already have it."

"No... I mean, ignoring what the people say and what Celestia has told you, doing what you did a thousand years ago." Cloud clarified, a bit scared by the possible reactions to his words.

Luna turned her head, looking around the room to assure the two were in fact alone.

"A... few times. I know that, right now, I could never raise the sun again, delete all knowledge of my sister's former existence, and execute all of the plans I had before... but I cannot bring myself to do such a thing. I squandered a thousand years of my life, ruined several hundred of my follower's lives, and nearly caused a war, to do what you have described; however, everything is right in place for me to take, and I cannot do it." She explained deeply.

Silence fell over the room, both Cloud and Luna thinking deeply.

"If... If I did take over completely... what would you do; theoretically?" A shifty, nervous Luna inquired after a moment.

"Help."

"You... you'd help?" She probed, surprised by the answer.

"My job, other than being a Commander and Tactician, is a Guard, Adjutant, and Servant. Whatever you do, I'm obligated to assist." Cloud returned firmly while suppressing the urge to inform Luna that, with the New Order, her fantasy was more reality than she thought.

"R-really? But, you were so loyal to my sister..."

"She's not the one ruling; you are."

Luna held her silence.

"You know... I thought of something. You mentioned erasing all knowledge of your sister's previous existence... but isn't that the exact thing she did to you?"

Luna was taken aback by the epiphany Cloud Drop had given her.

"I mean, up until you were unbanished, I had no idea you even existed. None of us did. This castle bears almost zero indication you even exist other than the things we added after you returned, and right now you're the only one ruling any of it! Honestly, it makes perfect sense to replace all of the suns with moons, fire most of the administrators, and make the night last forever." Cloud explained, nearly summarizing every ideal behind the New Order's agenda.

Luna stood completely rigid, her mind having a hard time coping with the fact Cloud, of all ponies, had said this.

"You... you are right. It makes perfect sense. But... the eternal night would fail... our environment is too depended on the light brought by the sun. And... even though; yes, my sister took me from the memories of Equestria, turning me into nothing but myth and legend... I do not exactly wish the same. She... had her reasons behind doing so. It was to protect my name. By making me a myth, it prevented me from becoming alienated to the people. For that... I do thank her."

Luna paused for a long while.

"Having banners adorned with the moon put up or adding new stained glass windows beholding my likelihood would be my only wish. I care not for revenge, as I have no qualms with... sister. I do not wish to defile her name, likelyhood, and legacy by removing her from what she upheld and created. She... was more than the world to me. There is no purpose in fighting a war that never existed."

Luna's words struck the Admiral like a brick. How was the New Order supposed to succeed in getting Luna on their side if she felt this way?

"So... you don't want to do what I've mentioned?" He asked.

Luna stuttered for a moment, trying to find words to describe exactly how she felt.

"If I was to shorten my thoughts... no. But... as for minor changes to give myself at least some presence, I have thought a change in our Air Guard's insignia would be a wonderful venture. I have been working with the Division operating the aircraft for a while now, and we've finally come to a decision on what to purchase; this is a most opportune time for the suggestion."

"We're purchasing new aircraft?"

"Yes, do you not remember when I mentioned it to you two days time ago?" She inquired, speaking of the few words exchanged between the two on the Aerodrome after one of the 19 helicopters had an accident.

"Oh... right. Well, what did you and the Division choose?"

"After a long time of research, we have opted for ordering 22 of those odd SN-32 machines, and three of these very large machines, but... its name has slipped my mind."

"22 SN-32s and 3 somethings. That's quite the upgrade to our current fleet." Cloud noted.

"Not adding; replacing, Admiral. The H-34s we currently operate will be sold back to their manufacturer, with that, our entire fleet will consist of these 25 new aircraft. We may also be able to put our new insignia idea into effect! It might help to have you at my side, I feel this idea would be shot down quickly if I alone were to propose it." Explained Luna.

"I think you're right. Considering your past, having me as a second speaker would work to your advantage."

The conversation was interrupted by someone entering, the light clank of armor-plating audible from the hallway.

"Your Highness?" A female Guard asked upon entering, her figure adorned with the standard issue gold-plated armor.

"Yes?"

"101st Airborne Division Command is requesting you in the North Wing Conference room."

"Understood, give the Admiral and myself a moment."

The mare gave a salute and exited the dining hall.

"So, shall you and I propose the insignia change now? I am sure Division Command wishes my presence for more decision making." Luna spoke.

"We should propose the idea now, but... we don't have a new design."

"A modification of the current one would be the best option..." She elaborated, pausing in thought, "Instead of a sun at the center of the shield, how about a moon? Only one new stencil for painting would have to be created, the shield stencil can stay the exact same!" She finished, rather excited about the whole idea.

"Sounds perfect to me."

"Alright then! Let us depart, it would be rude to keep the Commanders waiting."

The first of many steps towards the achievement of Luna's wishes had been climbed. After only a few minutes of explaining, the three Division Commanders had agreed to the change of the insignia, as well as the patches, badges, and other markings throughout the Guard associated with the Air Force. Along with the change in insignia, the final preparations and paperwork had been done in order for the deletion of the Glass Wing Bureau's 19 H-34s and the addition of 22 SN-32s and 3 V-24s. Luna was specifically excited to see these new V-24 machines. The large aircraft held the current record for the largest ever created, as well as the fastest.

With their intense size and cost, they had a huge advantage; a single aircraft could carry a complement of 45 lightly loaded troops. A mere three aircraft could carry a little less than the entirety of the previous 19 H-34s. The SN-32 also had its advantages. Despite being smaller, it was faster than the H-34 by a whole 73 km/h, and only carried 2 troops less than the latter aircraft. One of the small downsides to the SN-32 over most aircraft was the complexity of the machines rotors, which required more complex maintenance. For the new batch of helicopters on order, the pros outweighed the cons by a significant margin.

To both Luna and Cloud Drop, it had appeared that the decision-making process would take a week or more, but both Division Command and the higher ranking Pilots had made up their minds fairly quickly (not every single pilot had been included in the discussion, as each aircraft had five or six pilots to it.) The only thing left to do in the process was pass the request through the Treasury to ensure funds would be allocated and return the 19 helicopters to the Glass Wing Design Bureau and receive the promised 80% refund on the aircraft.

The Glass Wing Bureau, oddly enough, had no grudges to hold for the Guard choosing a different Bureau's aircraft. In fact, it had been a burden raised from them, as the Bureau had been trying to phase the popular H-34 out of service for almost 4 years in order to introduce newer designs. It had become more expensive to produce spare parts and maintain the aircraft than replace them with newer examples, especially since the list of those able to operate any significant number of aircraft was quite short.

With all of the final decisions made, Luna and Cloud were allowed to leave the North Wing's Conference room to go back to their daily duties.

"I am rather excited for these new machines to arrive. I have never seen either one in the flesh as of yet." Luna stated as the two traveled through the halls, the morning's light causing the white marble and granite to glow in a wonderful array of oranges and yellows.

"And on top of that, they'll have our new markings," Cloud added.

"Ah, yes! That is right,"

Luna stopped, thinking for a moment as she remembered something she had been meaning to ask,

"I have been wondering, what exactly should we tell Twilight if she decides to inquire about the changes? Just from observing her behavior, I believe she suspects me of having some, if not all, involvement in my Sister's death. The fact she thinks I would have my sister's life ended just to take over Equestria is... infuriating. My presence in history was altered, my former friends and followers were imprisoned, and I lost a whole thousand years of my life for what I did, and not once did I ever even dream of taking her life. My plans only ever extended to the point of having her powers removed, but even that was bordering on the extreme." Luna ranted lucidly, a slight bit of anger being clear in her voice.

Cloud's entire view of the New Order and its goals began changing rapidly. The entire point behind it was to help Princess Luna raise to a full, glorious reign and have Nightmare Moon resurrected. The seemingly fatal flaw was the lack of Luna's knowledge of the group or its activities.

After hearing Luna's speech, Cloud could only begin to imagine how Luna would react to hearing of how her sister has been tortured brutally for a near half month. How exactly was the New Order helping Luna if nearly everything it accomplished would infuriate the Princess? Cloud did, indeed, wish to help Luna succeed in her goals inside and outside the Castle, but the New Order began to show itself as a terrible idea, even if it was, ultimately, Luna's fault. (This said, she had no direct influence at all, and her only contribution was the Aura spell, which had been created a long thousand years ago.)

"I am sorry for my rant... I have had a lot on my mind lately." Luna spoke tiredly after a moment.

"I don't mind."

"Things have been hard. First, Celestia... Celestia disappears from my life... and then I have to instantly take over her entire kingdom. I have been tired for a whole two weeks now."

"Go to bed, then. Nothing important it happening."

Luna sighed.

"You are right, I should head off to get some sleep. It is near the time I would normally be in bed, anyway." She agreed after observing the watch she had purchased at the Grand Bazaar in Stalliongrad.

"Your highness?" A male voice asked from behind the two.

Both Luna and Cloud stopped to turn and see the solitary Castle Police official that had spoken. The Castle Police was a branch of the guard that dealt only with matters within the Castle, as some things that happen didn't require the use of fully armed Military personnel. The unicorn that had spoken was of moderate height, his fur a deep brown with a few white spots near his rear half. His uniform markings and armor indicated his position of a Lieutenant in the relatively new organization.

The Castle Police had vastly different uniforms from the regular Guard purely for identification, and the Police had no need for all of the bulky armor normal soldiers wore. This particular Officer's uniform consisted of a dark gray jacket with 'CP' written on the chest in white letters, silver (instead of gold) plated shoes, and silver leg guards, the flat and thick metal strips meant to deflect both swords and magic.

"Yes, Officer?" Luna inquired.

"Three nights ago Princess Twilight Sparkle broke into the Royal Canterlot Library and took several documents you had specifically restricted." The Officer explained.

Luna's brow furrowed.

"What!?" Luna gave a groan of frustration, "this is the last thing I need as of right now, I am already stressed enough as it is."

"The Library Administrators have requested that the documents be returned as soon as possible, and are considering the possibility of a fine, as one of the window's locks was damaged."

Luna shook her head, sighing loudly as she took a few steps to the side.

"Twilight is such a smart pony, how in the world could she have done something so stupid!? You say that the Library wishes to impose a fine on her?"

"Yes. They didn't really say how much the lock was damaged, but they did say that they'd leave the fining decision up to you." The Officer explained further.

"Well, Admiral, I think you and I should go have a word with Ms. Sparkle," Luna spoke in a frustrated tone, her already unfavorable mood becoming worse.

"The Officer and I can handle it, you need to get some rest," Cloud informed.

"I appreciate the offer, but I feel it best if I accompanied the two of you. Besides, I feel like shouting at somepony," Luna explained angrily as she began walking, both Cloud and the Officer following behind.

Twilight was beginning to become annoyed. She had been in her room for the entire morning sitting in front of the documents she took from the library trying to find something of solid evidence proving Celestia's helicopter hadn't simply crashed, and almost nothing had come up. The only thing worth mentioning was one particular photograph, there was something that set the 4 x 6 black and white picture from the rest. The particular shot was of the nose, specifically the top of the engine cowling and the front windows of the cockpit glass. The first oddity she had spotted was the lack of detailed description.

Every other photo had a 3 to 4 sentence long explanation typed in the void below the photo, yet her suspect picture simply said 'nose of aircraft.' In the mentioned photo, it was visible that there were puncture holes in both the cockpit glass and the engine cowling, the odd thing was how they seemed to line up.

She had thought that the holes had been created by some sort of engine component traveling at high velocity, but the engine had never exploded; however, the fuel tank had ruptured and exploded, but the blast was nowhere near the location of the nose. The only thing completely feasible Twilight could think of was a high-powered magic spell, one only known and used by the Royal Guard. As much as she didn't want to think so, it seemed more and more likely that Princess Luna had some sort of involvement.

At first, it had sounded crazy, but the more she looked at the photo it became more plausible; the hole in the top of the engine cowling had no outward feathering, which showed that the blast and not come from within the engine, and the hole in the glass was very perfect, only several cracks surrounded it. If some sort of engine component had gone through, the hole in the cowling would flower outward, and the hole in the glass windscreen would be much more broken.

She hated to think so, but the photo was somewhat good evidence that Celestia's helicopter was shot down; however, the only way she could actually prove that the holes had not come from an engine component would be to visit the crash site herself and check for an entrance hole in the bottom of the cowling, because if a bolt of energy had blasted through the engine, there would be a third puncture hole.

The only way to be one hundred percent positive would be to check the crash site herself; which wouldn't be that difficult of a task, as Princess Luna had ordered for the wreckage to be preserved as a memorial.

There was a second thing she had begun to notice about the photos; the report claimed that the cause of the crash had been a heavy blizzard, but the wreckage had no snow cover whatsoever.

Indeed, the helicopter's fuel tank had exploded, which would have melted some snow away, but in the high-angle aerial photographs it was easy to see that the fuel hadn't burned for long; consequently, there would have been enough time for snow to fall on the fuselage and tail, but every inch of the wreckage proved bare of snow.

Twilight set the group of pictures back down on the table in front of her in exchange for the Incident report file itself, and with the paper now suspended in her magic, Twilight browsed over the information.

"Estimated time of incident: 0500 AM, Dec 16th. First responder time of arrival: 1310 PM, Dec 16th. Wait a minute, that's only... 8 hours difference between when it happen and when Rescue teams got to the crash. There's no way they were able to get there that fast, or even hear about the accident that fast! The report said that no SOS call had been made prior to the crash, so how did they find out about it so quickly?" Twilight spoke to herself; a third piece of evidence coming to light.

She began to realize that the only way Rescue teams could have gotten to the wreckage that fast is if they had been close by already, or if they had already know about the accident, as it took Celestia's helicopter almost an entire day just to reach the border where it had crashed. If there had been an SOS call right as the aircraft crashed and Rescue teams from Stalliongrad made their way to the site, it would have taken the 13 hours the report said it had taken, but there was a second issue; the first Rescue team to arrive hadn't been Stalliongradian, it had been Equestrian.

Things weren't lining up.

To Twilight's surprise, there was a loud, solid knock on the door to her room, the sudden sound startling the busy Alicorn.

"Who is it?" Twilight asked loudly, beginning to hide the Investigation documents under some of the other books on the table in front of her.

"It is I, Ms. Sparkle. I request you open this door, as you have some explaining to do." The angered voice of Princess Luna said through the door.

Butterflies began in Twilight's stomach. How did they know she had taken the documents? She had been so careful!

"Oh... come in," Twilight spoke nervously, opening the door with her magic as she stood to greet the Princess.

Luna stepped in through the now open doorway, Cloud Drop and a Lieutenant of the Castle Police stepping in along with her.

"I have known you for a while's time know, Sparkle, and I have never known you to do something so foolish." The Princess went on as she stepped to Twilight

"What exactly are you speaking of, Princess?" Twilight asked nervously.

"The restricted documents you stole from the Royal Library!"

Twilight's ears fell against her head, slightly ashamed of her actions. (though, only ashamed because she had been caught)

"Princess, I only took the papers because I..."

"I already know why you took the documents, Sparkle. You suspect myself and my staff of involvement in my Sister's death, which, for me, is already infuriating enough." Luna interrupted unhappily.

Twilight didn't respond.

"Well, where are you hiding all of these papers? The Library has requested their immediate return, and I plan on fulfilling that request.

A stack of books on the coffee table became surrounded by Twilight's magic as they were lifted into the air, the Crash Investigation file lying below them. Luna took the file with her magic, handing it off to the Castle Police Officer standing near her.

"I understand you are upset about my sister's death; everyone is, but that doesn't give you the right to go breaking into places to steal documents I have had classified. I am already under enough stress as it is, the absolute last thing I need to deal with is you, Sparkle."
Luna added angrily as she turned for the door.

"Why did you have the Investigation papers restricted, anyway?" Twilight asked.

Luna stopped, her already inflammatory mood getting a little worse.

"To keep ponies like yourself from either tampering with them or spreading rumors! Why do you suspect me of involvement, anyway, Ms. Sparkle? I am more than happy to hear what stupid ideas you have!" The Princess yelled, stepping back into the room.

Twilight fumbled with her words, her nerves getting the best of her as she struggled to find anything to say.

"Do you genuinely believe that I would have my Sister killed? I understand you feel my past with her had not been the best, but even when I had attempted to overthrow her, never once had I dreamt of bringing harm to her!" Luna gave a sigh of anger, rubbing her face with a hoof, "I am done talking to you. Admiral, see that Mrs. Sparkle leaves, and Lieutenant, see that the documents are returned to the Library." She spoke, going for the door once more.

"You're having me kicked out of my own home?" Twilight inquired in a confused manner.

"Go home, Sparkle. Continue your research somewhere I do not have to hear about it."
The Princess stated, finally exiting the room.