The good of the many

by Dafaddah

Chapter 2: The Assembly

The Great Hall of the Tribes buzzed with anticipation. The representatives of the citizens of Equestria had been assembled for an extraordinary full gathering of the Equine Assembly by a decree from her Royal Highness Princess Celestia, and nopony wanted to be last to know what she had to say. Taking her place among them was Sunset Hoofing, an elderly mare with a dark red coat, a snow white mane, and eyes of the deepest black. Ponies near her showed respect and in some cases not a little fear, as she was not only Minister of Science but also head sorceress of all Equestria.

On each of three sides of the hall stood the representatives of the Pony tribes: to the east were the Pegasi, to the north the Earth Ponies, and to the west the Unicorn tribe. At the center where all sections met were set three ornate seats, one for each tribal head whom together formed the Tribal Council: Prince Blueblood of the Unicorns, Commander Weathertop of the Pegasi, and Chancellor William Pie (the elder) of the Earth Ponies. Immediately behind them were nine ponies, the chief ministers that composed the Pony Cabinet, including Minister Hoofing.

From her vantage, Hoofing had a great view of the south side of the Hall which was the domain of the ruler of Equestria, graced with a raised dais upon which sat two thrones. The throne on the left displayed the Sun Sigil of Celestia, while the one on the right had the crescent Moon Sigil of Luna, the 'lost sister' who had once shared the rule of Equestria with Princess Celestia. Upon the seat of Luna's throne was set a single red rose, as had been tradition since anypony could remember. Being over one hundred and sixty years old (even older than that upstart colt Pie the Elder), Hoofing could remember back a fair bit!

The crowd grew quiet as the Royal Unicorn Guard entered the Hall from the left led by the Royal Standard Bearer, magically holding aloft the flag of the land. Upon the banner was a view of Princess Celestia seen from the front with wings outspread, the Sun Sigil over her right wing and the Moon Sigil over her left, on a background of purest white. They took their places at attention before the two royal thrones.

A musical fanfare rang out and Celestia herself stepped from behind the thrones, coming to a stop before the Assembly as the gathered ponies cheered and clopped hooves. She smiled, dipped her head in salute and sat upon her throne, the usual signal for the crowd to quiet and sit down as well. The Princess's face became serious as she scanned the Hall, giving each pony the feeling of being the sole focus of her attention.

"Citizens of Equestria, We have called you here today to share with you a great and joyous occasion, the likes of which We have no recollection in the millennia since We ascended this throne." The hall became absolutely quiet, and then erupted in whispers from all quarters at the significance of the ruler's pronouncement. The ruler of Equestria let speculation build a moment before raising a hoof for silence.

"As many of you know, last week saw the escape from incarceration of Nightmare Moon and a subsequent attempt to take Equestria under her dominion." The whispers redoubled in volume, and Celestia had to again raise a hoof for silence. "However, let us rejoice as Nightmare Moon was defeated by the Elements of Harmony, whom We had reassembled in the town of Ponyville after years of planning and hard work."

The Assembly erupted into cheers and applause, building to a thunderous crescendo as the ponies stood - some of them even rearing up and waving their forehooves in the air to demonstrate their appreciation. Minister Hoofing glared at the more enthusiastic young upstarts around her, who quickly settled down not wanting to risk incurring her legendary wrath. Inwardly she enjoyed playing the crotchety old mare, ever more so with each passing year!

This time Celestia gave the Assembly a full minute to work off their emotions before indicating she wished to continue. She again raised a hoof and with an enigmatic little smile said: "Oh, and there is one more thing..."

Minister Hoofing grinned inwardly and thought to herself that over the decades Celestia had certainly demonstrated an obvious enjoyment of showponyship! With a reign measured in thousands of years, the immortal Princess certainly had had time to master the handling of large groups like this.

Over two hundred ponies held their breaths, waiting for their sovereign to finish her sentence. They were doubly intrigued when she rose from her seat, turned to her left and plucked the rose from the cushion on Luna's throne with her mouth. She threw it into the crowd with a whip of her neck and head. "We won't be needing these flowers anymore." Looking over her left shoulder she seemed to whisper to someone behind her, then turned her head back. Celestia looked out over the Assembly as a dark colored unicorn mare emerged from behind the thrones.

A buzz spread outward like a wave from those closest to the thrones as it became evident that this mare was not a unicorn. "She has wings!" some whispered. Others remarked: "An alicorn!"

Celestia's voice rang out over the hubbub. "Please join Us in welcoming back to Equestria, Our sister, Princess Luna, finally freed from the clutches of Nightmare Moon!"

Well, as the saying goes, you could have heard a pin drop! Minister Hoofing had a moment to marvel at the sight of the entire political elite of Equestria struck dumb and without a clue as to how to react - a sight she could not have otherwise imagined even given another one hundred and sixty years in order to do so! The Minister suddenly remembered that she had a role to play here, being one of those ponies who did know about these events beforehoof. She slowly rose and began clopping her hooves. She eyed the youngsters around her, who prudently followed suite, at first tentatively and then more enthusiastically, joining in the growing applause to greet the new Princess.

From Hoofing's perspective Princess Luna looked more than a little frightened as she slowly took her place before the empty throne. She gazed at the floor and seemed more likely to bolt than to rule! The Assembly was even more amazed when the normally formal Princess Celestia broke decorum and turned to the newcomer, encircling her in a fierce embrace. There was no mistaking the look of tenderness she gave her sister. She turned back to face the Assembly.

"Ponies of Equestria, for over a thousand years We have ruled alone. But that is not how Equestria was founded nor how it used to be governed. Although We have made much progress since and our numbers and happiness never cease to increase, there are challenges ahead that will require all of our combined strengths and talents to overcome. The return of Princess Luna could not be more opportune. Her wisdom, power and love for Equestria will be sorely needed, and We ask you to rejoice with Us in her return, at this our hour of need!"

The Assembly surged to its hooves and the cheering grew deafening, as ponies saw the obvious affection the white alicorn had for her sister. Celestia gently sat her sister at her throne and turned back to address the gathered ponies as the noise level receded.

"Once again Equestria will be ruled by two Princesses. Over the coming weeks and months We will work with this Assembly to bring Princess Luna back into the daily lives of Equestrians and their government. Today She will take a symbolic first step when She will for the first time in over a millennium raise the moon for all Equestrians to see as Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria!" She turned to the side to face her sister, and spoke a final time. "Dear sister Luna as a token of Our happiness at Your return to the very heart of Equestria We decree that henceforward the standard of our nation will again be the Sigil of the Two Sisters, as it was these many years ago!"

With this pronouncement, the Standard Bearer raised the Royal Standard high for all to see. The image upon it faded away to be replaced by the famed symbol from ancient times familiar to all ponies from history lessons in all the schools of Equestria: the profiles of two alicorns forming a circle, heads to tails around the Sun and Moon, also on a bed of purest white. The Assembly rose up to celebrate what would no doubt be long remembered as a key event in history, as the Two Princesses reunited bowed their heads and then left to disappear behind the thrones.

Minister Hoofing felt satisfied. It had gone very much as Celestia had both hoped and expected. No doubt there was much that needed doing ahead and that Luna's re-integration into Equestria would most likely experience a few bumps in the process. But then there was much to do anyway to prepare for the days to come.

Celestia had only hinted to the Assembly at the trouble coming. Of all her advisors only Hoofing knew the full extent of the danger to Equestria. Her mood darkened as she stood among the cheering ponies and sighed. 'Let them have their moment of joy,' she thought, 'who knows how long it will last.' She slowly turned and made her way to the exit, happy Pegasi, Unicorns and Earth ponies chatting excitedly around her. She allowed one corner of her muzzle to smile infinitesimally. 'Yes, Celestia certainly knew how to put on a good show!'

Comments

[Dafaddah]

I researched everything I could find as sources for the structure, nomenclature and symbology of the Equestrian state for this chapter. Please let me know what you think of my take on how Celestia would structure her government. By the way, more to come on why this is so in subsequent chapters, straight from the Royal pony's mouth!

VBR/Dafaddah

[Mythee]

I was wondering what Celestia meant by "time of need", and then there was subtle hinting at plot stuff. *spooky noises* Really well written chapter, I love how descriptive it is with motions and colors! Wish I could better picture the pegasus and earth pony leaders, though.

[jillswift]

Foreshadowing FTW!

[Dafaddah]

I will have more on the Tribal Council later, but this chapter was already heavy on description and I wanted to avoid slowing the pace too much.

I really like this story so far and I hope at some point Luna gets to spend some friendly bonding time with prince blueblood,likely in the timeline of after shes discovered fun in ponyville or whenever you feel like it.Keep it up

[Celestias Paladin]

I'm fairly impressed by this chapter, not many go into detail about a legislative branch of government, or for that matter the symbolism used. Hell I'm quite happy to find another person that doesn't have Equestria as a absolute monarchy/diarchy. So far you are probably the closest I have seen to my own Equestria Federation.

In the Name of Her Serene Majesty Celestia Everfree,
Celestia's Paladin: For Honor and Duty, For the Sun and Moon