//------------------------------// // Chapter 30: Queen Luna's Reign // Story: Sun & Moon Act II: A Crown Divided // by cursedchords //------------------------------// “The reward I got for saving Equestria? One thousand years of solitude to dwell on my mistakes.” - Journals of High Princess Celestia (Vol. 3) The palace in Canterlot didn’t really have a throne room, per se; with the Senate being the originating point for law and the highest court of the land, the palace didn’t really need a place for the Princesses to sit in state. Their seats in the Senate were opulent enough to be called thrones, true, but the room wasn’t all that well-suited to private councils of the sort that Queen Luna really needed to take right now. Without any better options, she had commandeered one of the Senate’s empty committee rooms for her little conference. Luna did at least get the chairpony’s seat, exactly the same in construction as all of the others, but at the head of the table if nothing else. Also around the table were Swift, Captain Brow, Senator Stain, and a few other senators from various areas of the country. They were all looking more than a little uncomfortable in the grand chamber, and Luna knew why. The tall windows of this room looked out onto the manicured lawn of the palace, surrounded on all sides by a tall, sculpted hedge. But the sound of the protesters from the nearby square was impossible to ignore. And while Luna didn’t think that things sounded particularly agitated at the moment, she had guards watching the mass of ponies out there now, just in case anything flared up. “Reports!” Captain Brow barked from her right side, looking out over the various senators at the far end of the table. “How are things in the other reaches of the country?” A few of the senators just shook their heads, clearly uncomfortable to be bearing their news. Ink stood up to deliver the summary. “We’ve got bad news from every quarter, Your Majesty,” she began. Luna tapped her hoof on the table in irritation. Celestia had been fond of this young senator from the foothills, and while Luna had to admit that her eagerness had been helpful, she was still a politician at heart. “Ink, I told you not to call me that.” The senator stumbled for a moment, visibly uncomfortable with the lack of formality. “Luna, as you wish. Obviously there’s been no help on the weather front, not that it even really matters at this point. The Day of Reaping is almost upon us, and the fields of the country are essentially bare. Even a torrent of rain now would only give us a flood to manage.” Luna rubbed her forehead, alreadying feeling the stress that was to come. “What about foreign aid? Have we heard anything from the griffons?” Swift shook his head. “Nothing. But from what I have heard, the griffons are having just as much trouble with their crops as us. I would not expect any real aid from them any time soon.” “Indeed,” Ink affirmed, “there’s nothing we can do now except try to keep the peace over the course of this winter.” She picked up a sheet of parchment from the desk in front of her, one of a handout that every other member of the council had received as well. “Unfortunately — and understand that I am very sick of saying that word — our stores have almost run dry. Without a rationing system for the whole country, we’re likely not going to be able to make it.” Luna gave the senator a glare. “I’m sorry. Are you proposing that the government take control over the harvest? Because I thought I had already made it clear that was not a workable solution. It will only lead to conflict.” “My apologies, Your M–” Ink swallowed and started over. “Luna, if we are lucky, there will be enough of a harvest spread throughout the country to keep everypony fed, and that is if things are divided very sparingly. If the government does not step in and ensure that the food is divided evenly, then in all likelihood there will be losses over the course of this winter.” “Losses?” Ink opened her mouth, but couldn’t quite answer. It was Captain Brow who placed his hoof on Luna’s shoulder. “Deaths, my Princess,” he said quietly. “And likely a significant number,” Ink affirmed. “I know that you want to avoid conflict, but the other options are simply unworkable.” Luna stood up from her chair, so that she could look down on the whole room. “So you want me to start a war instead? Because trust me, that is where Pensive’s strategy will get us. If we send collectors into the farming country to administer the harvest, the ponies out there will resist. They will demand the right to keep hold of their own product, and to sell only the remainder, if there is any. If Canterlot decides to push the issue, I guarantee you there will be an armed rebellion! If ‘losses’ are what we’re concerned about, then we can all rest assured that path gives us at least as many as the other!” She gave the young senator another look. “You know this as well as anypony, Ink.” The earth pony nodded back at her, looking more pale with each word. “I am well aware of it. And given the range of our options, I think it’s fair to say that none of us want you to do anything right now. There are no paths left that lead to a future we’d like to imagine. But clearly something has to be done.” If Ink didn’t get any active agreement to her words, the rest of the room gave her a very tacit confirmation, which was to say that everypony else was intently staring into the table’s wood grain, clearly lacking any desire to talk about the situation. They needed some encouragement, a solid direction to look to. “We are going to do something,” she said, with as much determination as she could muster, getting the attention of them all right away. “I may not have asked for this crown, but now that I have it I am going to tell you: we will not have a civil war during my rule. We shall deal with winter as it happens, and we will do what we can to keep everypony fed. We will not sow division within the country, and we will not ask anypony to surrender the rights they have every reason to expect. Am I clear?” There was a long moment of silence, as the disconnected shouts and chants from the protest in the square echoed about the room, and Luna caught a couple of uncomfortable glances passing between the senators at the table’s far end. So help her, no matter what they said, she was not going to let anypony die in blood. Three hundred years ago, she had seen enough of that for any number of lifetimes. Finally, Brow nodded. “As you wish. What then of the crowd outside? We shall have to disperse them, so that they can go back to their homes and prepare for winter themselves.” His words precipitated more nervous glances, but at least for this Luna had an answer ready. “Leave that to me. Guardspony Swift, have our prisoner brought up.” It was about midmorning by the time that Pensive could be brought up out of his holding cell. The former senator was fully shackled, and even the single night that he had spent down in the dungeons had not done him well. He still wore the remains of the suit he had been arrested in, though by now it was stained and heavily wrinkled. Luna had the notion that this may well be the dirtiest that Pensive Prose had ever appeared in public. Well, so the better. The crowd outside needed something to direct their anger at, and Pensive would surely make a fine target. All the better too, since he was actually guilty. His mouth was still free to move though, and somehow he even managed to muster up enough confidence to give her a tired grin when Swift marched him over to the palace’s main doors. “Your Majesty! To what do I owe the pleasure?” Luna didn’t even acknowledge him. Instead, she signaled to the guards to open the doors. It took two stallions together to drag open the great oaken portal at the front of the palace, and as the door creaked open, Luna was greeted by the blistering heat of the Sun beating down on the morning, its light bright enough to make her put her hoof up to shield herself. Added to that, the sounds of the crowd were finally clear, now that they were right in front of her. The palace grounds continued on for fifty paces or so, before opening up into the massive plaza. Normally the square was reserved for festivals, important ceremonies, and as a general gathering spot for the neighbourhood at the top of the city, but now it was simply packed with ponies, a sea of colours stretching right out to the government offices that lined the far ends of the square. The Guard had formed a protective ring around the near end of the plaza, setting up barricades that kept the protestors about ten paces or so away from the entrance to the palace grounds, and it was in that space that Luna would present to the crowd their prize. The air was filled with sound, as any space in the presence of so much life must necessarily be, but here the general buzz of the group was punctuated by the occasional yelled slogan: “We won’t go home until we are fed!” “No forgiveness for hoarders!” “Unicorns deserve to eat!” Even in just the front of the square Luna could see the tensions simmering. Scattered in amongst the group right up at the front of the barricade were a number of haggard-looking toughs, exchanging wily glances with each other and heckling the guards. There was a group of unicorns all standing together just off to the west side, in a loose ring, the stallions all on the outside and keeping their back to each other. The whole scene was a powder keg, and Luna could feel it. She needed to defuse that tension promptly, and that’s why she was here. But first she had to get their attention. Leaving Pensive on the ground to be watched over by the guards, Luna flew up, only about thirty feet or so, but enough so that she had cleared the hedges that grew around the palace and everypony in the square should be able to get a good look at her. The rest she could let her voice do. “CITIZENS OF EQUESTRIA!” she began, letting her words echo long and loud over the square. It took a long time, perhaps thirty seconds or so before enough of the crowd looked to be paying attention, and the noise had dropped down enough that she could continue in a somewhat more restrained tone. “As many of you may have heard, the Senate has declared a state of emergency, and has thus dissolved. As a result, I, Princess Luna, have assumed the temporary role of Queen until our current crisis has passed.” Unsurprisingly, that little piece of administrative material didn’t make much of an impression on them, but it did have to be said. Rumours to that extent had been circulating for days anyway, and it would not hurt to stamp out as much doubt in the government now as she could. “Rest assured that I, as ruler, fully understand the severity of the current situation, and that I will not rest until a workable solution to the drought and the food shortage has been found. In the meantime, I promise to also work to ensure that any and all malicious actors who would exacerbate this crisis for their own gain are fully brought to justice.” As expected, there was a note of confusion that spread on that line. “It has come to my attention,” she continued, “that one such malicious actor has been responsible for spreading vile rumours and vitriol throughout the country. We have him now on display at the front of the plaza. Pensive Prose stands before you charged with high treason against Equestria. His incitements divided our country at a time when it most needed unity, and would have ultimately sought to plunge us into a violent struggle, wherein he and his supporters would emerge as the winners. Those ponies who aided him are still out there, and we will continue to look for them. But this snake’s ability to turn us against each other is no more.” Admittedly, that last part was a bit of a stretch given the facts, but certainly close enough to reality for Luna’s tastes. And it got the message across in a simple manner. The reaction from the crowd was tough to judge, and Luna understood that it would take some time for the message to properly hit home. Pensive was a popular senator after all. But his crimes would speak for themselves, especially once they were able to have a proper trial. She was about to continue elaborating on the charges when she noticed a small disturbance in the front few rows of the crowd. The ponies there were all milling about one particular individual, a tall unicorn with one of his ears missing and with a lop-sided hat holding onto his head. “Lies!” he cried, almost drowned out by the ambiance of the square before he remembered his own magic. “I say, that is a bold lie!” he forcefully declared, looking right up at Luna with a derisive scowl. “Pensive Prose has been an honourable and dutiful senator, and he is on trial today not for plotting against Equestria, but for having the guts to speak the truth to those in power!” He turned around to look out over the crowd, climbing up onto a crate that someone seemed to have provided for him in order to get some extra height. “Was he not the one who originally proposed, nearly a moon ago, that we would have to take the food that we deserved from the greed of the earth ponies who wanted it for themselves? We were told then that such an idea was madness, but look where that has gotten us! We were told then to stand strong, but all that has done is make us live in ignorance of our problem, until now it is almost too late to stop it!” His voice rose up into a raucous yell, hoarse but with enough power to still project out over the whole of the crowd. “Indeed, we’ve been lied to, Canterlot, but this pony before us is the only one who has spoken the truth!” A loose mix of agreement answered him from the crowd, some simple shouts, others waving or stomping their hooves in support. Either way, Luna had to put a stop to that. “Do not listen to the rumours that circulate daily!” she said with as much force as she could muster. “Part of the senator’s treachery was to plant subversive agents throughout the country, in newspapers, in local firebrands, in spirited talkers just like this one! But we must stand against those who would seek to divide us! Only together shall we be able to survive this coming struggle.” They seemed good words, but the rabble-rouser down in the square was unbowed. “A subversive, am I?” he answered, lilting the words with sarcasm. “When it seems I am the only one willing to tell you the truth? When our markets and stores are empty, where has the food gone? Do you see any of those farmers here, starving with us today? I think not. Why should we suffer when they do not?” That got a more full-throated approval from the crowd. Whoever this pony was, if he wanted a debate, Luna was sorry to have to disappoint him. This was no time for division. Gathering her wings in, she dove down to his spot amongst the crowd, stopping herself at a hover about fifteen feet off of the ground. Closer up, she could see that her opponent had a two-tone coat, dark and light green splitting his face roughly in two. Besides his large hat, he was otherwise unclothed. “Cease your provocations, cur!” she shouted, her growing frustration and anger evident in her face. “Whether or not you really do stand with this traitor, you are helping his cause now! We have extra cells, if you’d like to join him.” A couple of the ponies near the fellow shrank back, knocked off their balance by the rush of air that had accompanied Luna’s quick descent. But whoever this pony was, he stood his ground. “I may welcome that,” he said, chuckling dryly. “I understand that in the palace I may find something still to eat! Perhaps you should be willing to take us all then, if you’re going to be so generous.” Luna whistled to Swift, who was still watching over Pensive at the palace gates. “You heard the pony! Take him, if that’s what he wants.” Swift nodded quickly in acknowledgment, then looked back up into the palace and gestured a few more guards forward. The unicorn before her laughed. “Shall we like to see them try?” he called to the crowd. “There are hundreds of us, and only a dozen of your toughs! I stand with Canterlot behind me, and we will not be so easily bowed by your threats of force!” Another cheer went up from the crowd as some of his followers stepped forward again, locking legs with him. They joined him in offering her a defiant glare, one that set Luna’s blood to boiling. As Swift and his squad of pegasus guards closed in, Luna saw uncertainty on a few of their faces. “Come, guards!” she said to them. “Do you expect us to tolerate such lies and malcontent within the population? We have cells to fill yet! Now get that stallion! I’ll even help you if I have to.” Swift waved her off. “That won’t be necessary, Your Majesty,” he said, as professional as always. “You stay out of harm’s way.” He turned back to the crowd of protesters, the group by the leader still standing in boisterous defiance. “All right, you,” he said. “You’ve had your fun. Time now to come with us.” The squad descended quickly, hitting the ground with enough force to clear themselves some space. The leader and his defenders were momentarily standing alone, outmatched by the five armoured pegasi. Then, the two-tone unicorn yelled out again, “Do we stand apart or together, Canterlot? They cannot take us all!” There was a moment of almost serene silence as the words echoed around the square. Then, the tension broke, and all hell came with it. With a shout of vigour, the crowd closed in on Swift and his squad. They barely had enough time to get their hooves to their scabbards before they were enveloped by the crowd, a mass of ponies pushing and shoving, grabbing at whatever their hooves could find purchase on, and stampeding over anypony that fell. The guards managed to hold their own against the initial onslaught, falling back into each other, but they were surrounded and held down. And all the while Two-Tone and the rest of the crowd in the vicinity was yelling encouragement and curses against them. Luna knew what she had to do. To hell with staying safe herself. She called up her magic, and came down right in the middle of the squad with a wave of purple force, throwing everypony back from her, guards and civilians alike. Everypony went into the press of bodies and more than a few of the civilians disappeared under the hooves of the crowd, but at least it gave Swift and his fellow guards a chance to escape. Rather than let them come to their own senses, she hurled them all into the air with a burst of magic before the mob could regroup. That only left her staring down Two-Tone and his cadre of followers from the ground. She let another spark fall from her horn. “Will you come readily, or shall I pry you out myself?” Even in the face of this he still remained unbowed. “You who told us to stand united, Queen Luna?” he said in a mocking tone. “If you intended to take me by force you would have done so yourself already. Or will this day still come to blood? Tell us, Your Majesty, have you come to feed us food, or only more lies to stop us from seeing the truth?” “DO YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT I’VE COME TO DO?” Luna cried, her voice one of thunder, its own force pushing back on the ridiculous hat that was perched atop his head. “I did not rescue Equestria from Chaos so that I could see it torn apart by the likes of you! If it’s blood that you want, then you may have it yet!” “Do your worst!” he called back, completely unflinching despite the superior force before him. “If you strike us down more will rise. We see the truth now, Queen! If you will not feed us, then we will go to the countryside and see to the matter ourselves! But let us see first, whether this fight will start today!” Luna grit her teeth and summoned up her magic again. If a fight was what Two-Tone wanted, then that was what he would get. She had been trained as a fighter, and knew enough magic to take him down easily. Him and all those who stood with him. However many followers or supporters Pensive had, she would deal with them, the whole crowd if she had to. Then, just as she was about ready to let go, Swift was in front of her. “Stop, Luna!” he cried. “Do you want the war to start here? You said that no matter what no pony was going to die in blood during your rule!” “Step aside, Guardspony!” she answered, barely even hearing him. “I will show him blood, if that’s what he wants—” The interruption came as a hard blow to the side of her head, solid enough to make the square in front of her swim lazily in her eyes for a few moments. And in that instant, the world became silent. It took a few moments for Luna to register that Swift had just punched her. When her vision cleared, she was airborne, Swift carrying her back toward the palace doors. “Guardspony!” she said, still angrily, struggling for a moment in his grip. “What is the meaning of this insubordination? Will I have you in the stocks too before today is done?” “Your Majesty, stop,” he said firmly. “Did you want to see the civil war start today? If you had taken that stallion, the whole city would have been in arms by noon. Never mind the riot in the square that would have followed.” She shook herself free. “Well, what else do you expect me to do? We cannot allow such subversion to exist in the population! How could we ever find a reasonable end to this crisis if we do?” Behind them, jeers were rising from the crowd as Two-tone lauded his apparent victory, and it was almost enough to make Luna turn around to go after him again. Swift looked at her solemnly, his face ashen. “Your Majesty, I’m not sure if there are any reasonable ends to this crisis anymore. But if there are any, they don’t start with us battling civilians in the city square.” Something in that last sentence finally got through to Luna’s mind, and she realized what she had almost done. Here in Canterlot, the very place where Equestria had come together after Discord’s rule, she had very nearly shattered that centuries-long peace, first by pitting the government against the population, with the fight between the cities and the farmers only shortly to follow. She hung her head. “I’m sorry, Swift. I let that whole situation get away from me.” As they passed through the gate and into the castle grounds, the rest of the detachment formed up behind them, a few staying behind to keep an eye on the rowdy protesters. At least they had managed to keep a hold of Pensive, and he was looking properly terrified at what had just happened, for once bereft of a smart remark. Swift nodded in understanding. In the fight down on the square he had picked up a gash above his right eye. “I almost wanted you to do it myself. But you made a decision, and now we’re going to stand by it.” The doors to the palace clanged shut behind them, finally muffling the sound of the crowd outside. The air in the palace was plenty cooler too, and that helped jolt Luna’s mind back to the matters at hand. “But what are we going to do, then? It sounds as though those ponies are willing to start Pensive’s war even without his law. And there’s nothing we can do to stop them.” Swift settled down onto the floor with her, and signaled the guard detachment to take their prisoner back down to the dungeons. “I know that you hate to be reminded of it,” he said, “but I’m afraid that you are our Queen now. I don’t think that anypony can tell you what it is that we’re going to do. But say the word, and we will follow.” He snapped her a quick salute, and then turned on his hoof and marched off after the rest of the detachment, leaving Luna alone in the cavernous entrance hall. He was right, of course. Nopony could figure out what Equestria’s future was going to be right now except for her. But there still had to be another way besides letting it come to war. She would not allow herself to let that come to pass. Maybe by tonight she would think of something else. The Sun was setting over Canterlot, and Luna was watching it dejectedly through the square windows that illuminated the Senate chamber. The room was empty except for her and her thoughts, and with the chamber disbanded, most of its members either back out in the countryside or else in their dwellings in Canterlot, it was now one of the quietest places in the whole palace. She had thought that maybe something in the detailed frescoes and friezes depicting pony history would spark an idea in her mind. Instead, all they had done was serve as bitter reminders of how much was at stake. Proud Manehattan at its confluence of rivers, industrious Fillydelphia where miners and prospectors found and lived their dreams, tall Canterlot resplendent in its finery, living reminder of three centuries of peace and prosperity. All of it she and Celestia had taken upon their shoulders, all of it they had vowed to protect, and all of it now was going to come crashing down, ground to dust by the relentless wind and the harsh Sun. The painting of the Chaos Storm on the ceiling she found particularly distasteful, the purple maelstrom a reminder of the last time that Equestria’s fate had hung in the balance. And yet, despite the bitter memories, there was a part of her that longed for those days. Things had been much simpler back then, when there was a well-defined evil to fight against. Discord, of course, but also Seraph and Terraria, each looking to hijack his defeat to their own benefit. On that day she and Celestia had won the victory, they had solved the problems, and they had embarked on their own three hundred year journey. “Is this how that journey ends?” she mused to herself, looking out over the room. It couldn’t be, she wouldn’t let it be, and yet everything else that she knew kept pointing her to a conclusion that said it had to be. The worst part of it was that she didn’t even know whose fault it was that things had come out this way. Pensive was of course still locked up in the dungeons, waiting for the proper punishment once things settled down, but as much as he had made the situation worse, Luna knew that he hadn’t created the drought. Even without his help, she still would have had to face this decision eventually. As she came slowly down the stairs and into the centre of the room, her gaze found the two thrones that were set against the inner wall. They were identical golden seats, yet Celestia always sat on the right, and Luna on the left. All of her inquiries had still not turned up anything as far as her sister was concerned. “Where did you go?” she asked Celestia’s seat absently. “And why? Why leave me with a decision like this, without even any guidance or advice? You know that I’m not as clever as you, that negotiations and subtleties aren’t what I’m for!” Her voice rose along with each word, tumbling up the register as she let them go. “By the stars, I almost killed a pony today, and I would have too, just for speaking up to me.” She tried to imagine her sister sitting elegantly in that seat, mane fluttering smoothly in some imperceptible draught, eyes serenely surveying the problems that lay in front of her. What would Celestia say if she were here right now? Don’t worry, Luna. I’ve got a plan. Thousands of years ago there used to be a spell to make rain, and with your help we should be able to cast it. Only there had never been such a spell; the pegasus Windcasters had taken care of the weather. Rediscovering that art had been her job. It was the thing that she was supposed to have been good at, the chance that they had to end the crisis once and for all. In her mind, Celestia’s eyes grew disappointed, and Luna hung her head. All that she had accomplished up in the mountains was only to almost get Swift killed. And all that she had accomplished down here was only to bring the crisis to its head. So much for that hope. So much for anything that she had done so far in trying to stave off this disaster. The soft clip-clop of hooves outside caught her ears, and after a moment there was a click as one of the room’s doors was unlatched, and swung open to reveal Ink standing meekly on the far side. Unsurprisingly she looked haggard, but more importantly she wasn’t smiling. “If it’s not good news, I don’t want to hear it, Ink,” Luna sighed, making no attempt to sound civil. The young senator took a step back upon hearing that, but Luna waved her in anyway. “What is it, then?” The earth pony stopped at the first ring of lecterns, across the room but just barely out of the shadows. When she cleared her throat, the sound echoed throughout the space. “Our accounting of the nation’s stores is finished,” she said. “I’m afraid that the situation is worse than I feared. Even with proper rationing, we can expect to last little more than two months. Not long enough for anything new to grow.” “So what then?” Luna answered, numb to this news. “Nothing good happens no matter which path we now choose.” Ink remained silent at that, stealing a nervous glance back over her shoulder. Eventually, though, she found her voice. “Only you can decide that.” “Of course only I can,” Luna muttered. “First Swift told me that and now you. I’m starting to understand why ponies got rid of their kings and queens; it’s honestly a pretty lousy job to have!” She gave Ink another look, and then another wave to come forward. “Come on. I know it’s my decision, but I want to hear from you. What do you think about this situation?” The young senator looked startled at the question, but to her credit she turned it over a few times in her head before answering. “I learned about the history of the Unicorn Kingdom in school,” she started, measuring her words. “I assume you’re familiar too?” Luna nodded. “My sister is the expert, but I’m familiar enough to know that it’s what we’re trying to avoid. The tribes broke apart, the government evaporated, and the nation pretty much ceased to exist.” “Well, sort of,” Ink said, showing a little more confidence than before. “The nation fell apart, but ponies did recover, didn’t they? They came south, and they founded Equestria. And even that nation fell apart under Discord, but you and Celestia brought it back again.” “Your point?” “You’ve probably heard it already,” she continued, “and likely you’ve already thought about it yourself, but I think any attempt to stop this conflict isn’t going to work anymore. We are simply too far gone for that. But maybe that isn’t enough reason to give up hope. Because at least on the other side something of us will still remain. I think that maybe right now we should start thinking of how we intend to protect that something.” Luna looked back at the thrones again, filling her head with the memories of three hundred years ago. “But we were supposed to be something different. We were supposed to be the end of all of that.” She let out a long breath. Again, so much for that. “Those are wise words coming from a senator. Maybe the wisest I’ve heard from anyone in Canterlot.” Ink smiled and shook her head. “I’ve been a lousy senator. Pensive made me play his game, and he beat me every round. But he’s not going to get to decide what Equestria looks like when the dust settles. We can, if we act on it.” Reaching behind her shoulders, Ink pulled out a roll of parchment, and set it down on the lectern next to where Luna was standing. Seeing the looped script on the document’s first line, Luna looked away in disgust. “Pensive’s law? I thought I had every copy of that destroyed.” She looked back to see that Ink had now laid a quill down on the desk, and had opened the roll up to its last page. The former speaker’s own signature was already there on the bottom, meaning that this was one of the amended copies that had passed the chamber only to be vetoed. A blank line waited for either her signature or Celestia’s. She looked up at Ink in bewilderment. “You’re not actually suggesting that I–” “Pensive was a villain, a coward, and undoubtedly a traitor,” Ink interrupted. “But somehow despite all of that he was no fool. From what I’ve heard in the square, soon enough a crowd of angry unicorns are going to march out into the country and torch any earth pony who stands in their way. With this, we can at least stand between the two sides, and hopefully keep things as calm as we can. It’s not good, but somehow it’s become the best option that we have.” Luna could only grimace. As much sense as that made, she couldn’t bear to ever admit to Pensive that he had actually been right all along. But of course, it wasn’t just him. It was Ink, it was Swift, and it was even Celestia, even if she hadn’t said it, who were all right too. She was the one with the power to make the decisions, and if there was anything to be salvaged out of the current situation, then it started with them gathering up what remnants of the harvest they could. With a heavy heart, she signed the parchment.