Approximately fifty years had passed since the day that Celestia was broken in what came to be known as the 'incident', and the formation of the totalitarian rule of the Empire. The moment that the Empire would come to spread it's wings, it would prove utterly unstoppable in its conquest for world domination. Growing resentment to Imperial rule gradually led to the rise of various resistance movements to topple the tyrannical government, all on the verge of uniting and turning the movement into organized civil war. Celestia, however, is on the verge of making the final push into destroying the rebellion forever. It is a dark time for the Rebellion, and not many would know if it would succeed in the end. Imperial troops have driven the Rebel forces from victory after victory, although finally, one discovery was about to make a difference. One discovery that would finally tip the scale.....
Cogwheel looked over the order sheet placed in front of her by the representative of Queen Celestia who now sat across from her at her desk. "You need...another 10,000 rifles? We just fulfilled an order of 10,000 last week!" Cogwheel said in exasperation, "Are you purposely breaking the things to order more?" she asked the representative "No, not as far as I'm aware. However, the Queen has been most pleased with the performance of this new rifle model. Its capabilities finally gave us a true edge over the rebels. The rebels may have figured out how to tank bust, but now? Every soldier is essentially carrying a submachine gun!" the representative replied, "So, she wishes to outfit the entire army with this..Storm-rifle." "That will be...quite the order. The intricacies involved in the rifle make it hard to produce even a thousand a week, much less what outfitting the entire army would take!" Cogwheel replied, "I know the Queen is ambitious, but the reality is.." "That is enough, Miss Mark-" The representative started to interrupt "No, Mister 'Steel'. Tell Celestia she needs to tone down her orders. Our production lines already strain under the burden of having to produce enough weaponry as is to maintain the war effort, as well as producing enough to keep the citizens happy and content. We produce much more, and there will have to be cutbacks, and you know what that would do? Lead more to the rebellion, prolonging the conflict in a self-fulfilling prophecy. I refuse to do that for Equestria's sake. I will produce what I can, but I will not engage in any more of these absurd orders!" Cogwheel nearly yelled at the rep, before clearing her throat and sitting back "...Understood Miss Mark. I will go inform the Queen. Im sure she will understand." the representative then picked up the order sheet and left the room. Cogwheel sighed and slumped on her desk for several moments before standing up and trotting out of her office, telling her secretary to inform any visitors she shall be out of the office for a time being. She then went into an elevator and started to take the long trip down the 123 floors of the Mark Co world headquarters.
Morningstar Victory sighed. Another night, another shift as a lighthouse keeper. A part of her yearned for something more, another part of her was scared of what would happen if she abandoned her post, and a third merely wished to get the evening watch over with and get some sleep. Very few ships ever came to Seaward Shoals, unless they were seaweed ships, but even those were becoming increasingly rare, with most of Equestria's imports coming in from Manehatten's harbor, where they could be more easily examined by customs officials. Morningstar kept an eye out for any incoming ships as she lit the beacon with her horn, blissfully unaware of the destiny that lay before her...
Somewhere among the crashing waves on the sandy shore in the distance from the lighthouse, appeared to have been a pony. She was coated from head to toe in seaweed and sand, unconscious as she washed ashore. The unconscious pony in the distance appeared to be a white Pegasus....with a horn? Regardless of what happened, she wasn't moving at all. Seaward Shoals never got any visitors.....but it seemed that they got a very important one.
Morningstar, noticing the motionless alicorn, ran down the steps of the lighthouse as fast as she could, before teleporting to the shore. She panicked somewhat, worried about what would happen if she had just found Queen Celestia herself dead on the shores of town. However, upon closer inspection, she noticed that the alicorn was actually not Celestia, but rather a far younger alicorn, in an off-white shade of purple with a lavender and aquamarine mane. Morningstar used a healing light spell to awaken the young alicorn and expel the water from her lungs. "Are you alright, miss?" Morningstar asked politely, as she brushed the seaweed off the gasping alicorn's body.
The Alicorn shook like a leaf in the arms of the Morningstar, clearly cold from having been in the water for so long. She looked incredibly weak as her eyes fluttered open, looking at her saviour. "S-so...cold~" Was all she could say, feeling her head pounding and her whole body aching.
Cogwheel walked out onto the streets of Manehatten from the Mark Co building, the sidewalks bustling with ponies trotting to wherever they were heading, the streets themselves packed with Mark Co Model V-54s mostly, along with some other models that Cog cared not worry about. Behind her, two Mark Co security guards followed her as usual, knowing that to the general public, she was simply another hated face of Celestia's regime, more than that actually, she was its enabler. As she made her way towards the entrance to the underground parking garage, she couldnt help but notice the seemingly larger than normal breadth the crowds were giving her, catching sight of more than a few looks of disgust. Falling back to between her guards, she thought to herself, "They blame me for this, don't they? The rebels' losing streak, Celestia's technology advantage...If only if they knew the truth that I want nothing more than to help them..."
"Don't worry, ma'am," replied Morningstar with a smile, "You're alright now." Morningstar looked at the alicorn's shivering body. "Say... you could use some warmth," she added as light glowed from her horn, bathing the alicorn in its warming rays, drying her off in the process. "On your hooves, now," said Morningstar as she helped the now-dry alicorn to stand up.
The Alicorn wobbled on her legs as stood up, feeling her fur warmed up by the magic nearby. However, it was clear that being washed up by the ocean was having quite a serious physical effect on her. She was also an Alicorn, which didn't help if she wanted to hide at all. But it seemed that this mysterious pony was also quite an important one....one who was slowly regaining the ability to walk. "T-thank you" She told Morningstar with a weak smile. "Y-you saved my life..."
"Just doing what's right," Morningstar replied with a comforting smile. Just then, voices could be heard in the distance; very authoritative and threatening voices at that. Imperial Inquisitioners?! HERE?!? thought Morningstar, eyes widened in shock. But Seaward Shoals is a peaceful town... why would there be rebels here... unless... Morningstar's eyes widened in fear upon the realization that she may just have committed an act of treason. But she thought about it for a brief moment, remembering how oppressive the Queen could be, even if she meant well. "We need to get out of here. Now!" said Morningstar quietly.
As Cogwheel and her guard turned into the parking garage, she couldn't help but feel anxious. The crowds outside were far more distant than usual, and now her own guards were keeping her moving at a good pace. Despite that, they arrived at her armored car safe and sound with no ambushes. Upon entering the safety of her vehicle and the car got moving to leave (with a guard acting as driver with the second sitting in the back with her), she breathed a sigh of relief, "Any idea what's going on?" she asked the guard next to her. He simply shook his head, "Honestly? For once I think we're standing on the same level with knowledge of the situation, ma'am. If I had to guess, it's because the obvious. They blame you for enabling Celestia's harder and harder crackdowns on protestors and the rebellion." Cogwheel nodded, "About what I figure as well.." she muttered as the car pulled out of the garage
The Alicorn's eyes went wide and she automatically began to enter a quick gallop with her, not feeling her wings were going to be particularly useful. She looked over to try and force a smile despite the terrible situation they were in. Meanwhile, just nearby a hill, the very faintest glimpse of the Inquisition was visible. "My name is Princess Flurry Heart.....and this is the second worst day of my life." The Alicorn introduced herself before chuckling to herself. "Pleased to meet you!"
Watching all directions around her, Casserane travels alone, merely with her sattlebag, her baseball bat, and a rifle she acquired from one of the Imperial Empire's soldiers she knocked out while escaping her last encampment. She is not certain if she'll find any friendly faces with the rebellion nearly crushed. Most civilians are indoctrinated, or killed for claims of treason. This crackdown has left her with no pony to fight along side nearly. Not that she really needs help from anypony, but she does recognize that she cannot fight the increasing army that bares down on the last of the rebellion. While lost in thought however, she hears hoofsteps in the near distance. Though the sound like they are heading somewhere. As she approaches the peak of a hill, she sees a lighthouse and a town on the shore being bared down upon by what looked to be inquisitors. This was bad, those ponies must of found a traitor that the Queen wants dead or captured. She sighs, realizing it was too late for her to help. "Is there no end to the cruelty? I suppose not. Once more the poison spreads and I have to continue running." She says, knowing there were too many soldiers for her to take on her own.
Cogwheel heard a smack next to her, her head whipped to the side to see a large crack in the window next to her head. Before she even had time to react, she felt herself getting thrown down to the floor of the car and a guard throw himself on her, "Drive drive drive!" the guard barked out, cogwheel now able to hear indistinct shouting from outside the car as she felt the force of acceraltion pushing her and the guard back into the seat a bit. "Whats going on?!" Cogwheel demanded "Riot ma'am. Ponies finally broke and started to throw things at the car." the driver guard informed her as she started to hear indistinct sirens, likely heading towards the rioters
"Nice to meet you as well, Flurry," said Morningstar as she kept galloping, though not too fast as to make sure Flurry could keep up. "Name's Morningstar Victory." The two ponies galloped for their lives, while the Inquisitors followed in pursuit. Eventually, after a while, Morningstar ran out of breath. With no way to keep the chase up forever, Morningstar knew what she had to do. "Hold on!" she told Flurry. Morningstar's horn glowed a bright golden color, and after a flash of light, the two ponies vanished. Just as the Inquisition would have caught up to them... ---- The two ponies appeared at the top of a hill outside of town, to the noticeable surprise of another mare nearby.
"Hmmph... stupid guards..." A stallion said to himself as he walked out of the town, using a hoof to clean the cloack he had on. The cloack was covering pretty much all his upper body, head and face. The only thing poking out were his muzzle, legs and tail. There was also the sound of metal coming from him. It seemed he was armed, but the wapons were clevery hidden below his cloack. "Now... where to go...?" He asked himself a moment later, thinking what to do? He had been on the run for the past few days, and this town seemed peacefull enough. Of course, there was always the usual patrols walking around, but they never bothered him, but this time was different. A patrol asked for him to take off the cloack, and show him his papers. Of course, since he was not form the town, he didn't had any, so he quickly ran from them. After a small persecution out of the twon, he was able to knock them out and ran back to town after a rather long while, where he was at this same moment, going up a hill. Just when he was about to turn to the road, he saw a bright flash comming from nearby. There was already a mare going up the hill, but now it seemed that there were more ponies than be- was that a freaking alicorn?! "Crap..." he said to himself at first, but decided to press forward and keep walking up...
Casserane caught the flash and readed herself as she face the direction the flash came from. She cocked and readied the rifle, aiming at whoever was over there. To her surprise, it looked to be a unicorn and a... Alicorn?! She knew that this was a problem, as she is aware that all alicorns are birthed of royal blood. It's possible she was found by a scout and a close servant of that tyrant, Celestia. "Hold it right there!" Casserane yells. "Who do you serve? Are you Imperial Agents or are you civilians?" She says, figuring the unicorn could possibly be a civilian, as not all unicorns that live out here away from Canterlot are necessarily servants to the Imperial Empire regime. That Alicorn, on the other hoof, is not trustworthy at all as far as she is concerned.
Morningstar hated to admit it to herself, but she was a little scared. Having a firearm aimed in her face was not a pleasant sight, especially for somepony who had already escaped death. "I... I... I'm just a lighthouse keeper!" she said desperately. "I only wanted to get this pony to safety... she washed up on the shore and the Inquisitors were looking for her! Please, you have to believe me!" Morningstar covered her mouth with her hoof, fearing that she may have said too much.
Flurry looked into Casserane's eyes with a rather confident yet arrogant smirk on her face. Either some sense of royal arrogance and superiority over the other pony, or perhaps some factor that wasn't worth mentioning, was why she was smiling. "Threatening an innocent civilian with a loaded gun and a member of royalty? That's the equivalent of a life sentence back in Canterlot." She boasted. "Or execution.....so I suggest that you put the gun down because we aren't Imperials."
After several tense moments, Cogwheel's car got to a safe area, now under police escort before finally making its way to the main train station of Manehatten; Grand Canter Station, a project her mother funded almost entirely out of her own pocket. Cogwheel sighed as she passed the entry sign welcoming ponies to the station, as her mother's name was stamped out in bold letters on the marble sign underneath "Grand Canter Station", making her heart ache. Last she heard of her mother, it was when she was only 23, when Snow finally gave full control of the company to her. After that, her mother said her goodbyes, then disappeared. Cogwheel felt deep down her mother was still alive, but merely left Equestria, unable to bear what it had become any longer. "You okay ma'am?" one of her guards asked as they made their way through the crowded ornate marble terminal. "Yes...Yes. Just being here reminds me of my mom, is all" Cogwheel responded almost meekly "Ah. Right." The guard replied; while he was too young to have even remembered Snow, Mark Co buildings everywhere carry her name, and it is no unknown factoid that she was a major force behind Equestria's industrialization. Plus, Cogwheel was her daughter The trio boarded a train to Celestia in silence, having the front, most fancy car to themselves. The two guards would stay out of her way as Cogwheel prepared to meet Celestia, she felt she needed to explain to Celestia herself the reality behind the supply situation for the war effort. With the speed of the line of train she was on, getting to Canterlot should take no longer than 12 hours
