What those two mares, along with the rest of Ponyville, didn't know was that at that moment, war had just been declared on Canterlot and any town that decided to align with them. Even if they had known at the time, what could they do? A war in Equestria was the last thing anypony expected to happen, weapons for war weren't even made because they weren't needed. War wasn't in their nature, they all lived in peace and harmony, and nopony could complain. How in Celestia's name then, did it happen? When the news of the war first arose, everypony thought it was a cruel prank, a bad April fools joke, it had to be, didn't it? Nothing of the sort had happened before, it was unheard of, and hard to imagine. Too bad it wasn't April first, it would have been nice to know that everything in Equestria was working out the way that it should be, but that was not the case.

The idea of a revolt started in a small town on the outskirts of Equestria, far from the social reaches of Canterlot. They were out of touch with the princess and the high-life, and it made them jealous. All they knew was the land was ruled in a Monarchy, and they wanted the life that those directly under her received. So what better way to get it than by taking it yourself?

The idea spread like wildfire; there was something about the allure of change that caught on. With the spread through commerce between towns, it started to seem like it might become a possibility instead of wishful happenings. The word was kept away from towns like Ponyville, places that are directly linked to Canterlot weren't going to be on their side. So the plan was spread as much as possible, while still being safe, and it was done perfectly. No resident of Canterlot, Ponyville, or places similar knew anything was amiss, and that was what made it so successful.

From Canterlot's eyes, a normal day turned into hellish chaos out of no where. Weapons that they didn't know existed were unleashed upon them, magical spells that they had never seen before were revealed. From the rebels point of view, it took years of careful planning. They didn't have the resources to make and invent weapons and spells, but where did, that they knew of? Canterlot. Traitors were implanted in the city with noponies' knowledge, and nopony had a reason to be suspicious. There wasn't any knowledge of something going wrong, and the word and idea of "revolt" was alien to them.

The attack was terrifying when it happened, Canterlot was attacked directly with the idea that attacking the source directly would be the best way to make a statement, and it surely did. At first there was just massive confusion on Canterlot's part, they didn't understand what was going on, and only when ponies were dying left and right did they understand they were being attacked. But by their own kind confused them, why would this happen? Why did it happen? Their own kind were supposed to live in harmony with them, the closest thing to the attack that had happened was when Nightmare Moon wanted to introduce eternal night. It felt different however, because Nightmare Moon was a pony on a scale higher than the rest of them, and her purpose wasn't murder; this however was their own kind killing them. It was so much to take in, and too much for many to understand that they were going to have to retaliate. Kill as they were being killed. Shed the blood of their own kind, because If they didn't, every single one of them would die.

As fast as the attack had started, it stopped. The rebels just wanted to make a statement, and they made a huge one at that. Out of the chaos and confusion, Canterlot didn't know exactly who they were attacked by, and what the reason was. It was executed perfectly, not a single rebel pony died, while the death toll in Canterlot was astoundingly just over a hundred. Not a huge death toll considering it was an attack that marked the beginning of a war, but that was the rebels' point. They wanted to show what they were capable of, and give the enemies time to prepare themselves. The rebels thought what they were doing was right, and they didn't want to kill too many innocent ponies.

When news started to spread about the attack, everyone thought it was just a joke, a prank that Celestia was pulling because she was bored (albeit a cruel one), or something, because everyone thought thiscouldn't be happening...why would it? After days of relentless speeches, news of some of the ponies' relatives among the deaths, the realization started to sink in. Celestia decided to tell the Element's of Harmony the news directly, making sure they realized that this wasn't a joke. After everything sunk in, Celestia asked Twilight to have a word privately, so the two took a step outside Twilight's library where they had all gathered to get their privacy.

"I know this is a lot to take in over one talk my student, but I have more to tell you directly." Twilight gave a curious look to her mentor and waited patiently for her to continue. "Twilight, I'm sorry that I have to say this, but your parents were among the deaths in Canterlot. I'm extremely sorry and I wish that I didn't have to tell you this, but it's what happened, no matter how much I wish it didn't."

Twilight's face was shocked when she heard this and Celestia gave her a few minutes of silence to let even more terrible news sink in.

"Did...did they at least die fighting back, being valiant and brave, or something?" Twiligh asked hopefully, trying to put what little good she could to the situation, but she knew the answer as soon as Celestia bowed her head and sighed.

"I wish I could say that Twilight, but I don't want to lie to you, they were sleeping in their bed as the attack was at night. They couldn't do anything to defend themselves. I'm very sorry."

Twilight let out a single choked sob before trying to stop herself from shaking and calm her nerves. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply a few times before speaking again, "Can I get a few moments to myself to think about all this?" Celestia nodded and without a further word Twilight turned around and walked back into the house. She heard Rainbow Dash ask her what was wrong and she knew they could all see that she was upset, it's pretty hard to hide how you're feeling at a time like that. She ignored Rainbow however and walked slowly up to her room and lay down on her bed.

After a few minutes she heard a soft knock on her door, but again she ignored it. Just as she expected she could hear the click of the knob as the door opened and she heard hoof-steps behind her as she looked out the window. It was Rainbow Dash's voice that she heard again, "Twi', is everything alright?"

She responded shortly, "Not really Rainbow."

A few seconds of silence occurred before Rainbow Dash spoke again, "Well, could you tell me what happ-?"

"My parents die in the attack." Twilight interrupted, "They were sleeping in their bed and their house must have been set on fire, or raided or something, I don't really even know. All that matters is they're dead. I don't even know when the last time I've seen them was, and now...now I'll never get to see them again. They're gone...just g-gone." Twilight voice started to crack and she began to stutter as she felt tears starting to stream down her face.

A couple more seconds passed and Twilight felt hooves wrap around her and pull her away from the window. She turned her body to wrap her own hooves around Rainbow and she buried her face into Rainbow's mane and burst into tears. A few minutes passed as Rainbow let Twilight mourn before Applejack came through the door and coughed to get the others' attention. Both ponies looked up at Applejack, Twilight's face covered in the tears she was crying, and Rainbow's eye's teary as well. "Celestia says she wants us all to go out to the town center for some news."

Twilight scoffed and turned away before responding, "I think I've had enough news for one day thank you very much"

"She says it's important. She said it's some new law about somethin' she called a 'draft'."