//------------------------------//
// Royalty 
// Story: Upheaval: Breaking Point 
// by Visiden Visidane 
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Upheaval: Breaking Point

Chapter 24: Royalty

Canterlot had stood as Equestria's heart for centuries. A bustling hub of commerce and culture, its white stone buildings, and its carefully paved streets served as a model for other cities to follow. It was the home of Equestria's rulers. Their beautiful palace, carved into the side of a magnificent cliff, saw to hundreds of visitors daily. Canterlot did not just serve as the heart of Equestria's economy, and government. It also housed the Great College of Magical Arts, and the Grand Library, making it the heart of Equestria's magic and learning as well.

And the ponies of Canterlot were proud of their city. Some ponies, especially those who lived in the rural areas, would say that it was a pride bordering arrogance. Indeed, some Canterlot's nobility did their best to serve as testaments to those beliefs.

For the past few days, the proud city found itself under a very dark cloud. Now, it was the center of a slowly simmering unrest.

It had all started with announcement of the banishment of Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Twilight Sparkle was Princess Celestia's student and confidant, the closest pony to Equestria's ruler for centuries, if not for all time. There were whispers that she was even closer to Princess Celestia than Princess Luna herself. There was also the mere idea of the punishment that befell her. Like tales of Nightmare Moon, banishment was more a method to scare foals, and sometimes adults, into behaving than an actual threat. No pony has been actually banished since Princess Luna. Now, six banishments occurred in a single day. What kind of despicable crime merited such a punishment? How could a pony so close to the princess be the one to commit such a thing?

Five days had passed since the news of banishment. On the streets, rumors were everywhere. "It was a crime of arrogance, I tell you!" a light blue pony with a white and blue mane told a few listeners. "Twilight Sparkle was so proud of her magical power that she challenged Princess Celestia to become Equestria's new ruler!" She reared up for effect, showing her wand-and-wisp-of-magic cutie mark.

A few ponies nodded. In the absence of any actual news, they resorted to theories and hearsay. An attempted dethroning would be plausible. Twilight Sparkle's crime had to be as despicable as what Princess Luna had done a thousand years ago to merit a similar punishment.

This was but one small incident in Canterlot. Indeed, throughout Equestria. Other theories circulated: the ever-studious Twilight Sparkle had delved into forbidden knowledge, Twilight Sparkle had transformed into a new Nightmare Moon, Princess Celestia was in a very bad mood and ran into an ill-timed prank by her faithful student. The stories differed with each pony and with each telling.

Regardless of what story was heard or believed, the effect was telling on Equestria's population: fear. In a few days, banishment went from an old mare's tale to a very real threat. The Royal Guard had always been a little intimidating with their golden barding, and their stern demeanor. Now, they were a fearful sight: ponies who might drag you to their princess, and watch you be banished.

Within the Royal Palace, the dark cloud that hung over Canterlot manifested at its strongest. Princess Celestia was holding audiences again, but the change in her demeanor was painfully obvious. No longer were petitioners greeted by a warm smile, and a kind word that could make even the most frightened commoner tell his tale. Instead, they were faced with a princess who was only physically present. Her distracted gaze saw things that nopony else could see, and her voice came from someplace other than where she was standing; some dark lonely place.





Despite everything, Pegasus Guard Captain Bright Shield served as if nothing had changed. He was glad that the princess was up and about now. Just a few days ago, she didn't even leave her room, leaving the Royal Guard to turn away petitioner after petitioner. Now that news had spread that she had resumed her royal duties, the ponies that had been waiting restlessly outside were allowed to come to the throne room.

Bright Shield had taken it upon himself to keep the strain on the princess to a minimum. He kept ponies with problems he deemed small outside. The guards had to deal with more than one petty noble who took umbrage over being passed over. When two nobles insisted on seeing the princess, Bright Shield had them hurled outside for their trouble. There was a particular sort of petitioner that he allowed in without any trouble, and these were the ones that had come regarding the six banished ponies.

The six's immediate families came first. Then, almost the entire population of Ponyville. There was also horde of small animals led by a particularly angry rabbit, and a cat, some well-known clothes designers, and a couple of pegasi from the famed Wonderbolts.

Then, there were the Apples: Apple Fritter, Apple Pie, Apple Tart…by the time Bright Shield reached the end of that line, his stomach felt stuffed, and he didn't even touch a single piece of food. All these ponies came for the same reason; to ask why the six had been banished, and to request that they be forgiven and allowed to return home. The response was the same each time: their crime cannot be spoken of and it was up to them to return home. They tried everything to change Princess Celestia's judgment: they recited litanies of praise, they cried, some actually volunteered to take their place, or join them. Nothing worked, and today wasn't the first time they tried. They had been coming over almost immediately after the announcement had been made. Their efforts wore on Princess Celestia's fragile state to the point that Bright Shield wanted to chase them out. He did no such thing, however. It was not his place to decide where, and when the princess's benevolence ended for these aggrieved ponies.

There was only one time among those who petitioned for the new exiles that Bright Shield felt that he had to take action. Some of the Apples who had arrived were dragging a cartload of pastries behind them while they made their way to the throne room. Bright Shield and his guards stopped them halfway through.

"What is the meaning of this?" he had asked. "Do you actually think you can bribe the princess with food? Is she some pet you can lure to the bath with treats? Make your pleas, but put those away!" He had expected the ponies to be a little intimidated, and contrite. He hadn't counted on them cringing at his reproaches. 

The oncoming sunset was a reminder of another situation: Princess Luna was missing again. The moon still rose in time, but the Princess of the Night was nowhere to be seen. Princess Celestia recalled the guards dispatched to search for Princess Luna. She knew where her younger sister was, and there was no need to waste the Royal Guard's time. 

One by one, the petitioners were forced to return home empty-hoofed. Here was another unprecedented occurrence in Equestria. Never before had any pony come before Princess Celestia, and returned home dejected.

"Hold it right there!" A couple of guards restrained a tall unicorn stallion intent on forcing his way to the throne room.

"What's going on here?" Bright Shield asked.

Before the guards could reply, the unicorn cried out. "My name is Sun Gazer! It is extremely important that I see Princess Celestia!"

"I'll be the judge of that," Bright Shield muttered. "What is your business here?" This Sun Gazer had a bright yellow coat with a long, flowing, almost mare-like mane of orange. The oddest feature quickly became obvious. 

This pony had no cutie mark.

"What I have to say is for the princess only!" Sun Gazer said between pants. He sweated profusely, and took deep, ragged breaths. "Let me through. Her life is in danger as we speak!"

The bewilderment upon seeing a full-grown unicorn stallion without a cutie mark melted away. Here was something Bright Shield had never expected to hear. Since the day he was promoted to the job, he never held the illusion that he would one day stand between Princess Celestia and mortal danger. Protecting the princess was officially in the job description, but one that was never expected to be something that a guard would do. Anything that could even remotely threaten Equestria's immortal ruler would plow through any squad of guards. His job was mostly ceremonial, and administrative: giving the appearance that the princess was heavily guarded, and dealing with lesser problems not worth the princess's time. That a matter that could threaten the princess's life would actually appear was hard to swallow. That somepony who wasn't even part of the Guard would be the one to deal with it was as difficult to accept.

Still, Bright Shield wasn't the one to take chances. Woe to this Sun Gazer if his "urgent message" turned out to be a waste of time. "Let him through," he said. Sun Gazer broke past him as soon as the guards let go. The doors to the throne room opened, and Princess Celestia, who looked even worse than she did that morning, looked up.

"Bright Shield, did I not say that audiences were over for today?" Celestia asked. There was no displeasure in her tone, but Bright Shield knelt penitently anyway.

"Forgive me, your highness," Bright Shield said. "This is Sun Gazer, and he says that he has something urgent to tell you; something that would endanger your life."

Celestia leaned forward, and quickly noticed what was strange about Sun Gazer. "Where is your cutie mark, Sun Gazer?" she asked.

"Your highness, I come from a place where such things do not appear," Sun Gazer replied after bowing.

Celestia's eyes widened. "Leave us, Captain Bright Shield," she said. "I will deal with this. Make sure that nopony so much as approaches this room while we talk."

"Understood, your highness," Bright Shield said. He left, and closed the doors behind him. He had his guards line the hallway just out of earshot of the throne room while he put himself in the middle of the hallway to make sure.





Celestia stared at the pony before her. It was only a few minutes ago that she felt that somepony had broken through her barrier. Surprisingly, this one had arrived in the palace.  "You are from the Barrier Lands," she said. "Why, and how have you come here? My brother will execute you for this."

"Your highness," Sun Gazer replied. "For Equestria, I will risk even Prince Terrato's wrath. I came here through this." He placed a large, spent mana battery on the floor. Celestia scowled at the contemptible thing. At the root of each terrible incident, these things were always there. "I stole this mana battery so I can warn you."

"What do you mean?" Celestia asked. She struggled to keep her breathing steady, and her legs still. A prickling sensation ran up the back of her neck. "Warn me of what?" She already had an ominous feeling that she already knew.

"Of your brother's plans! Your highness, even as I speak, your brother's plan to overthrow you goes on! He has conspired with Princess Luna to acquire the Elements of Harmony so that he can storm your realm, and banish you to the moon!"

For a moment, Celestia simply stared at Sun Gazer as if his message was a bolt of lightning. The words had flashed before her, but their meaning was still rolling in. "You're lying," she whispered.

Sun Gazer looked up, and quailed. Celestia's legs trembled uncontrollably now. Her face at the moment was not the sort she would show any petitioner. "Your highness…" he said.

"You're lying!" Celestia's voice thundered across the room and reverberated through the walls. "Take back your lies, or I will punish you myself!" 

"I do not lie, your highness!" Sun Gazer said. He raised his forelegs in supplication. "Prince Terrato has allowed the wolven to penetrate the north so you would allow him to send troops through the Heartland. Once his ponies have entered your realm, he plans to attack you with the Elements of Harmony by his side, and rule all of Equestria!"

Celestia pressed a hoof against her head in a futile attempt to stem the tide of unwanted thoughts. "Terrato and Luna are my beloved siblings," she said. "They would not turn on me like this!"

"Your highness, I beg your forgiveness for saying this, but…" Sun Gazer hesitated. "Your sister has just recently returned from a millennium of exile. Your brother has been ruling the outskirts of Equestria for even longer than that. A thousand years is a long time…even for immortals."

"You know nothing of how my siblings, and I perceive the centuries!" Celestia snarled. "The love between us is outside time; a constant that sustains us throughout our rule!"

"I cannot explain to you your siblings' motives, your highness, only what I have learned. Prince Terrato has planned this for a long time. He has convinced your sister to aid him, tricked her perhaps, and he has done the same with the Elements of Harmony. If his ruthless ambition is not stopped, he will bring all of Equestria under his hoof."

Celestia glared at Sun Gazer. "Why do you tell me this?" she asked suspiciously. "Do you not serve my brother as well?"

"I belong to a small group of loyalists in the Barrier Lands, your highness," Sun Gazer said. He puffed his chest up. "We, the Order of True Equestrians, consider ourselves ponies of Equestria, not just the Barrier Lands. Thus, we are loyal to Equestria's ruler above all else, not just the commander of its army."

"What proof do you have of this treachery?" Celestia asked. "I will not suspect my siblings on the word of a few ponies."

"I carry no physical proof with me, your highness," Sun Gazer said. "Look upon recent events, and see your brother's hoof in them. All my group has are the notes of what our spies have seen and heard. Nearly all of the Barrier Lands support your brother. If we had done more, we would have revealed ourselves, and we would all have been hanged for treason."

Celestia's eyes narrowed. "You want me to believe that my brother and my sister have turned upon me without any proof?"

"Yes. This is all we can offer, your highness. For your sake, for Equestria's sake, we have risked so much just so I can be sent here. Please! You must believe our warning!"

"I will confront Terrato about this," Celestia said. "If you are lying, I will give you to his judgment. If you are telling the truth then…" Her voice quivered. "…then I will take steps."

Celestia's horn glowed briefly, and the throne room's double doors swung open. "Captain Bright Shield!" she called out.

The Pegasus Guard Captain trotted forward, and knelt. "Yes, your highness?" he asked.

"Take Sun Gazer to one the guest rooms," Celestia said. "Make sure that he is comfortable. He is not to leave his room, or talk to anypony about anything. Not even to you and your guards."

"Understood, your highness," Bright Shield replied. The two of them left at once.

Celestia closed her eyes tightly. She refused to believe a word of what Sun Gazer said, but scattered events began to piece together regardless of what she wanted to believe.

There was the nameless unicorn who had succeeded in entering her realm centuries ago. She had sent out the Royal Guard to intercept him, but he had managed to escape. The guards reported that the unicorn had been severely wounded when they saw him, and had used one final spell to disappear somewhere. Word of the Barrier Lands had not spread since that time, and she assumed that this poor pony had died of his wounds somewhere.

This event would have been a mere isolated incident if Twilight Sparkle had not acquired a mana battery from what was presumably that unicorn's remains. Now, suspicions began to arise. Was that unicorn really a fugitive, or had Terrato sent him on a suicide mission to bury a seed within the Heartland? A method for somepony within her realm to discover the Barrier Lands accidentally? The idea was far-fetched. The mana battery could have been consumed by some other spell. It could have destroyed an unskilled unicorn who triggered it, or it could have never been discovered. But Terrato had ages to wait. He could have sent more triggers as time passed. Perhaps he already did.

There was Twilight's failed memory block. She had received a trigger from somepony. Now, that somepony could well have been Terrato himself, secretly sabotaging his own spells to "accidentally" spread information about the Barrier Lands. There was also Luna's secret meeting with him. Luna's reasons were now suspect. Even now, Luna had gone over to the Barrier Lands to aid their brother. Was that orchestrated as well? Was everything going according to Terrato's wishes? The wolven's recent success, Luna's departure, Twilight Sparkle's defiance…there were so many things happening at the same time. So many things that conspired to bring down everything she tried to build. Were they all mere coincidences?

'I'm becoming paranoid,' Celestia thought. 'Terrato is violent and ruthless, a source of concern for a long time, but he is still my brother, and he has sworn to defend Equestria. What happened to Luna was a thousand years ago. We've put that behind us. The three of us are…the three of us…'

"I am your defender."

Terrato said those words often in the past. He sounded so confident each time, dramatic even. He loved being dramatic, and he loved showing off. All that time, it could have been all for show. How long could he have held a grudge? Did he seethe within his realm? Did he even feel worse than Luna? 

"I don't see why we have to watch over these short-lived, mortal ponies, dearest sister. Their bodies are soft, their minds are weak, and their hearts are frail. What is the purpose of caring so much for them anyway?"

That was so long ago, around the time they decided to rule Equestria. Terrato's expression softened when he shifted his gaze from the ponies that had been placed under their care to Celestia.

"Personally, I'm not jumping for joy over it, but, if it makes you happy, I will defend them."

And he did. Terrato hurled himself at their enemies with a reckless abandon that Celestia could barely understand. It wasn't long before the influence of all those battles on him concerned her. Not only that, he was sharing that influence with Luna. She had to make a decision.

"I agreed because big brother agreed, and he agreed because he'll agree to anything you say."

Through one sentence, Luna took away support that Celestia had thought she had throughout the centuries. Sun Gazer's words began to make sense. Perhaps a thousand years were long enough even for her siblings. Worse, perhaps she never even knew them as well as she thought she did from the start.

The Royal Palace felt large and empty. Not just the palace as well. All of Equestria felt empty. What if it was true? What if her dear siblings, and her faithful student had all turned on her? She laid her head down on the cold, stone floor. She was all alone here in the Heartland, reigning over her little ponies by herself.

Celestia raised her head, and hardened her gaze. She was going to hear this from Terrato himself. If he had indeed decided to betray her, she would face him head on instead of closing her eyes, and waiting for the end. It was time for her to see what has been happening in the Barrier Lands herself.

But what if Terrato had been waiting for such a move from her? Had he prepared a trap? Was she caged within her realm without even realizing it? Terrato could be watching her realm this very instant. He had all the weapons he needed and he could attack at his leisure. Celestia stood up. She was going to have to confront her siblings, but steps had to be taken first.