Chapter 12
Rebirth
The morning sun rose, the birds started singing and the morning dew sparkled on the grass in the meadow. I didn’t sleep the night before, there was too much to think about. I did what I was tasked with, to find Pegasi and scout out the land, I managed to find seven volunteers.
“Now listen up! We have been given the task to scout out this land. You will fly out and make a mental note of the geology of the land, mountains, rivers and so on. You will report back here and give your information to Scholar Ship and she will begin drawing the map, any questions?”
“Yeah, I’ve got one, why the buck are we here?” asked one of the Pegasi
“Yeah I was in Manehattan shopping then the next thing I know I’m in a field” said another
“Princess Luna will be giving a speech tonight explaining everything” I replied
“Tonight?! We need answers now!”
“Sorry, I can’t tell you, you will all have to wait until this evening”
“Buck you, we’re out of here”
“Fine! Go!”
The seven Pegasi flew back to the camp leaving me alone with Scholar Ship, a small nerdy looking unicorn with glasses and a red mane, What was I going to do? An idea popped into my head, I grabbed Scholar Ship by her tail and flew into the air. She put up a hell of a fuss but it was the only way to get this map drawn.
“Stop screaming Scholar, I won’t drop you.”
I climbed up to just below cloud height so Scholar could get the best view of the land below. I threw her up into the air and caught her on my back.
“Now, how’s this for a view...”
As I looked down all I could see was the sea, no land, nothing but the silvery shine from the water, I looked at Scholar and she shrugged. I descended a few feet and the land materialised, the barrier must have made the land invisible. Sometimes magic can be a wonderful thing.
I could feel Scholar’s quill against my back as she used me as a desk so she could draw the landscape, the land was actually an island almost forming a perfect circle with the exemptions of a few peninsulas and other smaller islands around the main land mass. Mountains in the middle of the land, forests at the base of the mountains and flat green land reaching out to the shore. I asked Scholar if she was finished but all I got back was a mumble.
I walked into the cave where the RoE and Luna were discussing what to say in the speech. I spat the map onto the stone slab that was being used as a table.
“Mares and Gentlecolts I present to you the map of our land”
The map unravelled and the delegates gasped
“Wow Scholar, incredible work”
“Thanks Mr. Rich”
“Very detailed” said the Mayor
I walked over to Luna who was sat at the bow of the table
“Are you feeling better now your highness?”
“Much better, thank you”
“You must have used a lot of magic to create that shield”
“I did yes, but Trixie helped me like she always does”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that, when did Trixie become your student?”
“Well it happened a long time ago. Trixie was humiliated by Twilight Sparkle in Ponyville. I was in Canterlot castle and I could feel her pain and sorrow so I went to her. After running away for Ponyville she was caught in a horrific storm and was taking shelter in the Everfree forest. I took her back to the castle without my sister knowing.
Trixie told me that she was at Canterlot School for gifted unicorns when she was a filly and was the favourite to become my sister’s personal student but somepony else beat her to it. When I told her it was Twilight Sparkle she went into a rage. The power that she showed rivalled my sisters, Twilight's and mine. I therefore decided to take her as my own personal student, secretly of course and we have been friends ever since”
“Ah, but don’t you find her as a bit of a loud mouth sometimes?”
“But being friends for so long I don’t tend to notice. A part of friendship is being able to accept your friends for who they are”
I just nodded in agreement; to be honest I didn’t know much about friendship. The only true friend I had was Rainbow Dash, I was always busy in Cloudsdale with work and I didn’t have time for friends; work friends in work hours yes but anything out of that was hard to commit to.
The speech would be taking place in a few hours. The speech was finished but it was still being tweaked until ourselves and Luna were happy, it had to be perfect, this speech was going to make or break the RoE. If the public didn’t agree with our plan of making a new free land away from their friends and families in Equestria then we were doomed.
“There; it’s finally finished, its perfect”
“Are you sure your highness?”
“Yes Mayor, I’m sure but there is just one thing I would like changing”
“What’s that your highness?”
“The name of our organisation, we are no longer in Equestria it needs to be changed. Any ideas?”
The cave fell silent, just the sound of hooves scratching heads and humming as we all tried to think of a name.
“Umm how about The Republic of Ponies?” said a hesitant Cheerilee
“No... How about the Republic of Friendship?”
“Grow up Bon Bon” said Rarity
“I’ve got an idea” I raised my hoof
“How about we included Luna’s name in the title after all if it wasn’t for her we wouldn’t be here”
“Great idea Whirlwind” said the mayor, her face lighting up with excitement
Another silence filled the room.
“The kingdom of Luna?” said Filthy Rich
“No, we need to be seen as the opposite of a kingdom or an empire for this to work”
“But Mayor, why do we need the Princess’s name in the title, a republic means a country without a monarchy.” said Rarity
I glared at Rarity
“You have got a point” said the Mayor
“How about this, I am the head of state and acts must have my approval before they are put into motion. The Mayor shall be known as the Prime minister”
“That could work and we must keep calling you Princess out of respect” said Nurse Red Heart
“Very well then” said Luna
“How about the Republic of Luna?” said Cheerilee.
“Maybe, we also need to show that this is a new origination build from the ground up so how about The New Republic of Luna?” I said
“No...” said a down hearted Mayor
Another silence fell over the room our heads buried deep in our folded hoofs on the stone table. Then, like a wave each head popped up with a smile on their face, we all looked at each other and we all knew what each of us were thinking. The mayor smiled.
“All those in favour of changing the name of our origination from the Republic of Equestria to the New Lunar Republic. Raise their hooves”
Without a second thought we all raised our hooves. We turned to face Luna; she had her hooves up as well.
*
The crowd of ponies started massing under the cliff; Luna was getting ready in the cave. She had to address 3,500 ponies that wanted answers to what has happened, this could either go really well or really badly. Luna’s queue would be when the sun set below the horizon that was behind the crowd, the unicorns within the NLR would then use their magic to light torches around the cliff side so Luna could be seen.
“5 minutes to sun down” said Rarity
“Good luck your highness”
“Thank you Mayor, oh and Whirlwind don’t wonder off, I may need you. You might need to say a few words as well.”
“Um...yes your highness”
Luna smiled at me then turned toward the cliff, the sun had just set, the unicorn’s horns glowed, the torches lit up and Luna was revelled to the crowd. Although most of the crowd were unhappy, the sound of clapping hooves on the ground could be heard.
“My fellow citizens!”
Luna’s Royal Canterlot voice shattered the quietness of the night
“I stand here not as your princess of the night but as your equal. My sister sought to banish The Republic of Equestria to the moon which I could not allow, for it would end with their deaths. I pleaded to my sister to reconsider but she then branded me a traitor. A battle then ensued between myself, the RoE and my sister. Unfortunately her powers were too strong and I lost the battle.
But before we were banished I remembered this land from when I was a filly growing up with my sister, that last thought saved us all from a terrible fate. But that doesn't explain how ponies that are not members of the RoE were also banished here. The RoE sent a petition to Celestia with all members’ names on it but with only five hundred members the list was too short. In order to make the list larger and to hold more significance, the RoE forged signatures, your signatures to be precise”
There was murmuring and booing from the crowd
“But fear not my brave citizens, for this was a blessing in disguise, my sister and the empire will believe that we are on the moon and not in this paradise. What you all saw last night was my attempt to hide this land from the empire so we can live in peace and harmony. As I address you I cannot help but notice Pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies standing side by side as they should be and not segregated. I felt your pain and sorrow during that dark time in our history and now I feel happiness and warmth”
The crowd were now hanging on Luna’s every word. As I looked down into the meadow I could see ponies hugging, only now did they realise how bad their lives were without each other in the segregation. I looked at Caramel who was next to me, he was looking in to the night sky, he was obviously thinking of his girlfriend.
“Citizens, I shall know present to you the leader of the RoE, Mayor Mare”
Luna backed off from the cliff edge to give the Mayor some room. There was not a sound from the crowd.
“Fillies and Gentlecolts I stand before you seeking your forgiveness, I was the one who allowed the forgery of your names and for that I am sorry. I could not have foreseen what Celestia would do, but I took the chance, even though some ponies begged me to reconsider I thought if we showed our peaceful side Celestia would consider our proposal of a free Equestria and a free world”
The crowd applauded the Mayor, I thought her fogginess would take some time but maybe the crowd saw sense in her madness. The Mayor bowed her head in humility and left the cliff. Luna then made her way to the cliff edge once again.
“The RoE has now reorganised itself into a new organisation. It is now called The New Lunar Republic and this land shall be our new home!”
The crowd erupted in cheering and applause.
“I now present to you a very special Pegasus that was branded a traitor to the empire for trying to keep the first order intact. A Pegasus that would willingly sacrifice himself in a bid to save others, a Pegasus who is courageous, loyal and devoted to what is right. Whirlwind!”
I froze; a silence fell over the crowd. Luna turned to look at me but I didn’t move out of fear. Bon Bon pushed me from behind and now I was next to Luna.
“What do I say?”
“I have faith in you Whirlwind”
Faith in me? It should have been the other way around. I swallowed my fear and walked over to the cliff. No applause just the sound of one pony in the crowd coughing.
“My fellow ponies”
A good start...
“Some of you may know me from Cloudsdale and some of you may know me from the wanted posters in your towns”
I paused for a laugh from the crowd, but nothing
“If Celestia and the empire should ever discover us here they will try to take away from us what we have been blessed with, I for one will not allow that. I would rather die on my hooves than spend a life on my knees. If we are threatened we need to defend ourselves whether it is from land, sea or air. Let us not let this fall into the hooves of the empire!”
The crowd erupted in cheering and applause, I felt like Commander Hurricane addressing his troops before they went in to battle against the Griffin kingdom and won; that was over one and a half thousand years ago now. I turned to the princess who just smiled; I went back to where I was standing before I had to make the speech. The Mayor stood next to me as Luna finished off her speech.
“You should go into politics Whirlwind, that was a very impressive speech”
“Like I said before Mayor, I’m not brave enough for politics”
We exchanged a laugh. The Mayor seemed at ease now as if a large burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
“When you meant defend ourselves what exactly did you mean by that?”
“Pardon?”
“Will you create a security force to keep is all safe in this land or an army for all-out war?”
I took a moment to think of what to say next.
“If Celestia and the Solar Empire want a war, then I will give it them. But for now let us enjoy this”
By now Luna’s speech had finished and the crowd was cheering for their new leader, she lifted her horn up high and it started to glow. The ground and the cliff started shaking, the mountain face above us started to brake off in large chunks they were being carried to the ground and placed carefully down in neat rows behind the crowd. The trees in the forest were being plucked out of the ground like flowers and placed next to the rocks.
The side of the mountain had how transformed into a castle which almost resembled Canterlot castle, it was grey and black, a very sinister looking building protruding out of the mountain. The rocks that were lined up in the field also changed into small houses, if my mouth could hit the floor it would. We all just stared at Luna, not even the mayor was expecting this.