The Price of Citizenship

by Colgate is best pony

Prologue

        The survey ship Diligent emerged from sub-space with a violent shudder. That much was expected- her frame was hardly as sturdy as it once was, and the new sub-space drive the ship’s employers had installed before leaving Celestium decelerated the tiny vessel much faster than the previous model had. Still, it was a small price to pay, as the new system had allowed the Diligent to reach this system in only eight months. Technically, the ship’s corporate representative Mr. Rich would be remembered in the history books as the first to reach the new planet, but the crew didn’t mind. Their bank accounts were too heavy for them to worry about such trivialities.

        The ship’s computer set to the task of awaking its occupants. If it could be grateful, it would have been, as nobody had died in hibernation, and only two had woken up early. Diamond Spring, the hibernation technician, would be pulling in a significant bonus upon their return.

        Slowly, the twelve crew members began to stir from their eight month long comas. Captain Amber, as usual, made his way to the bridge first, pausing only a few times to reorient himself to zero-g. He was surprised to see Mr. Rich strapped down in the command chair. He did not gaze away from the view screen as Amber entered the room.

        “Morning, sir.”

        “Good morning, captain. I hope your sleep was enjoyable.”

        Amber swallowed hard. Had Mr. Rich been awake for eight months?

        “Yes sir, but I’m glad to be awake. The crew will be along shortly.”

        “Very good, Amber. Please see to it that they get to work straight away. The sooner we can leave this place, the better. And the sooner you all get paid, it would seem. I trust that the new engine hasn’t collapsed on itself?”

        The inflection on the tail end of the sentence was hard for Amber to judge. Did Mr. Rich think that his crew would allow something that catastrophic to happen on his watch?

        “I should think not, sir, but I will have the engineers double check everything straight away.”

        Mr. Rich finally looked at the captain. His face betrayed nothing.

        “Very good, Captain. That will be all.” He turned back to the view screen, clearly dismissing the red stallion. Amber gave a wanting glance at his chair before floating off to find the rest of his crew.

        
Diligent had been in the system for sixteen rather boring hours. The ship was equipped with some mining and survey gear, as well as a few landing craft to make use of them, but they remained stowed for the time being. Captain Amber had insisted on sending his fleet of tiny probes to scout the system for any dangers to the ship that their long range scanners had failed to pick up. I would take time, but the safe return of the vessel was Amber’s chief concern, no matter how restless his miners got. Mr. Rich had begrudgingly agreed with the decision, though, so the crew was compelled to wait for the results of the scan. Things had proceeded routinely, until a probe disappeared.

Amber hovered over his console with Mr. Rich at his side.

“I trust this will not delay us any further?”

“Well, sir, we can reroute one of the others to scan the area after it finishes its zone. It will add an hour or so, but that’s better than having a hole punched through our hull by an asteroid. Sir.”

Amber was briefly surprised by tone of his own response, but he stuck behind its content. Company bottom lines were one thing, but the safety of his ship was something else entirely. Mr. Rich seemed to understand, but there was no mistaking the frustration in his face. The two stallions remained at the console for a few minutes in silence, until another probe disappeared. It was followed quickly by two more. Mr. Rich raised his eyebrows at Amber.

“Captain, forgive my lack of surveying experience, but it would seem that your probes are not proving very helpful today.”

“Sorry, sir. I don’t know what happened. We just got these at Celestium, had to unwrap them today before launching.”

“Then perhaps there is indeed something out there that our long range scanner has missed? Or perhaps. . .”

Mr. Rich halted his sentence when he saw that Amber was no longer looking at him, but at the view screen. His jaw dropped at the sight.

Not two hundred meters from Diligent’s bow lay the largest ship either pony had ever seen. Jet black, its outline was hard to make out against the backdrop of space, but accents of a bright red emanated from various points of the ship. It hung, motionless, the dagger edge of what Amber presumed to be the bow pointing at the pony vessel’s bridge. Two equally sharp points hung below it, each vibrating the same red that covered the rest of the ship. How it had gotten there so quickly, Amber had no idea. At least the mystery of the probes was probably solved, though.

For what seemed like an eon, the two ship hung in space, nearly touching, the behemoth alien vessel looking like an ebony sea serpent ready to devour a fish in one of Home’s oceans. A bridge officer on board Diligent had the presence of mind to attempt a scan of the new arrival, but found herself blocked by some sort of shielding around the vessel. Finally, Mr. Rich broke the silence.

“Helm, get us out of here, if you please.”

The ship’s pilot, once nudged out of his trance by a crew mate, reached for the control labeled “full reverse.” He activated it, and the ship’s engines hummed to life. The pilot looked up at the teeth of the alien ship, and saw them glowing even stronger than before. He looked back to the Captain for instructions and reassurance.

Amber, however, was glued to his view screen. Mr. Rich began to speak, but was also distracted by the now nearly blinding energy building at the knife points of the vessel. As he reached for the toggle to polarize the view screen, everything turned white, and the Diligent ceased to exist.

        “. . . making this the twelfth diplomatic probe to be destroyed in the last year.”
        
        Princess Celestia sighed at her adviser and looked back out the window. She had just raised the sun, and her fatigue was visible, but she could not be angry at Scrollbound for his intrusion. She had, after all, gave orders to be notified about any development on the Antaran situation.

        Scrollbound continued with specifics on the missing probe, but Celestia tuned him out, her Royal countenance betraying nothing. It wasn’t as if she had nothing else on her plate, with the Griffons acting up again, a drought destroying much of Dodge City’s crops, and the nagging feeling, at the back of her mind, that very soon she would need to deal with. . . her.

        Scrollbound raised an eyebrow, the tell tale sign that he was expecting a response from the Princess. Sheepishly, Celestia grinned at her trusted adviser, letting him know that, once again, her mind was elsewhere. Without missing a beat, the unicorn repeated his query.

        “Should the question of mobilization be put to the Parliament, your Highness?”

        “I do not think this is yet prudent, Scrollbound. We have yet to see any outward aggression from the Antarans, besides the unfortunate incident with the mining fleet. But they have done nothing outside of what we believe to be their own territory. Perhaps if we leave them alone, as I have said for years, we could avoid any more conflict.”

        The adviser rose to disagree, but Celestia shushed him with a hoof. She welcomed the disagreement, and relished the times she and Scrollbound had argued over policy points, as he was one of the few to disagree with her over anything in nearly a millennium. But this discussion had run its course, and she did not want to have it repeated. Not today, at least.

“No, my most trusted adviser, we have had this discussion before. We will not mobilize anything at present.”

The stallion’s ears drooped in defeat.

“But, I trust that the. . . other plans we have made are progressing along smoothly?”

The ears perked up again.

“Yes, your highness. The whole process is being refined as we speak, but it is more or less finished. If you. . .”

He was cut off once again by the princess.

“Not today, Scrollbound. I hardly want to hear any of that unpleasantness so early in the morning. Besides, we must attend to that . . . other matter if we even want to consider our plans for Equestria.”

Scrollbound nodded in silent acknowledgement, and rose from his seat. Bowing, her turned to leave to room, but stopped at the door and turned back to the Princess.

“Highness, that reminds me of an odd report that came across my desk last week. It seems a rather peculiar unicorn mare has applied for your school. . .”

        Princess Luna had not looked forward to her first night alone. The festivals and parades throughout Equestria had taken their toll on her psyche, especially considering that she went from complete isolation to being the center of attention in what seemed like an hour. The outpouring of affection and love was overwhelming, and she had broken down in tears several times during her welcome back tour. Regardless, she had dreaded being alone again, with nothing to keep her company but the stars and her former prison, high above her old room in the Palace. Being alone was, understandably, she thought, not something Luna was very fond of. Still, she was glad to be back in her old home, and gladder still to be free of the chains her sister had placed on her all those years ago. She had forgiven her sister, and the older alicorn showed no signs of not returning the favor, but both could tell it would take many years before either Princess truly allowed the rift between them to settle.

        The moon now in place, Luna closed the bedroom window and turned into her study. The cushions felt brand new, and she took a few moments to become comfortable before beginning her ritual. The Princess’ banishment to the moon had not completely severed her ties to the world of Equestria’s dreams, but the shackles that bound her also prevented her from entering the illusions her subjects conjured in their slumber. For a millennium, she had been nothing more than a spectator, and it affected her deeply. At first, the dreams were frightful,giving her a taste of the pure terror she had inspired in the populace, but as time floated on, the prosperity of Equestria permeated the dream world as well.

        Recently, though, the nightmares had been returning. For nearly a decade, the dreams of her former subjects were bathed in subtle fear of the unknown, as whispers of a violent force from the other side of the galaxy crept through Equestria. As Nightmare Moon, she had relished this trepidation, but Princess Luna allowed it to horrify her. She could hardly blame her subjects. Even she, the Princess of the Night, had reacted to the new neighbors with some shock. The populace, it seemed, took the revelation that they were not alone even more poorly. She silently promised herself to do anything in her power to allow her subjects peace in the night, even if she couldn’t promise the same during the day.

        She didn’t know how long she had been wandering the dream world when the door to her study opened. Unsure of what to say, Luna opened her eyes and turned to the intruder. Celestia, absent her royal regalia, stood in the doorway.

        “Sister.”

        “Highness.”

        Celestia chuckled, and walked in to the study, sitting across from Luna.

        “Luna, you know you don’t have to address me like that. You and I are equals, the way it was meant to be. You also don’t need to keep on with the Royal Canterlot voice, you know. That went out of style quite a while ago!”

        A small smile crept across Luna’s face. “Forgive me, Tia. It is just so strange to be back among you all, as you can imagine.”

        The older sister continued to smile. “I can certainly imagine that the last few weeks have been hard for you, Luna. And I know that you must require some solitude to fully process what has happened, which I have surely robbed you of since your return. But there is something I must ask of you first, if you would do me the honor.”

        “Of course, sister.”

        The smile was gone now, replaced by a blank face that Scrollbound would mistake for blankness, but Luna knew masked deep and troubling thoughts.

        “You know of the Antarans, I would guess.”

        “I do. Your. . . our subjects seem to be most frightened of them. Their peaceful slumbers are often terminated at the claws of an alien. Even tonight, I have saved more than a few ponies from gruesome fates. I trust you have something in mind to remedy this, no?”

        Celestia stared off into space, not meeting Luna’s inquisitive gaze.

        “Sister?”

        The Sun Princess sighed and turned back to her younger sister.

        “I do have something in mind. It has been on my mind for a millennium, and had the Elements of Harmony failed against Nightmare Moon, I would have used it to combat her. But now, Equestria is threatened by something far worse than Nightmare Moon, and the ancient plans must be awoken. Streamlined or this modern era, of course, but basically unchanged.”

        This was new information to Luna, who was, of course, not privy to the plans Celestia had made against her and Nightmare Moon. She could tell that the sharing of this information, which could enrage a lesser pony, or remind her of past sins, meant that things were quite serious.

        “I understand, Tia, but what do these plans entail?”

        Celestia told her. Luna listened intently, silently, her countenance betraying nothing. The elder sister finished and waited for a response.

None came. The silence hung between the sisters for some time.

Celestia continued.

"Of course, the foundations must be laid sooner rather than later. Ship construction, weapons research, the like. . ."

Luna finally interrupted.

        “Tia, you know what this means, do you not? Our sacred oath to Equestria requires us protect the rights of our subjects. Going to war violates our contract with Equestria. Under dire circumstances, of course, but actively planning for war? Decades before we are even capable of waging it? This is wrong, Tia, and on too many levels.”

        Celestia snapped back at her younger sister. “Do you think I do not know that, sister? Do you think that I would not even consider this if all of Equestria, all of Home even, were not in dire peril? Even with you returning, we together are not strong enough to fight this. And we will need to fight, I can assure you. These creatures are not to be reasoned with. If we want to fulfill our oaths and foster the growth of ponydom, we need to take action. Waiting to be struck will do no good for anypony. And I need you, Luna. I need you to help me. Equestria needs both of us.”

        The younger Princess contemplated this. She was loathe to agree to such a plan, but despite her inner fear and anger, Luna understood. She knew that her sister would not resort to such measures if she didn’t feel that they were needed, and it was obvious that she had spent many years in deep thought. That she had waited for Luna's return to begin preparations also spoke to her need for assistance. Luna could guess what Celestia had in mind for her, as well.

        “Alright Tia. I will trust your judgement, and I trust that you will not abuse your powers.”

        “That is why you are here, Luna. Together, we can keep each other from betraying the trust our subjects have placed upon us.”

        Luna rose and walked to her window, the deep blue of her magical aura silently opening it. She stared at the stars, once her only companions, and sighed.

        “And I gather that you require my services to. . . suggest to our citizens why our their safety will require such measures? A subtle nod in the night, perhaps?”

        “You know me too well, Luna.”

        Luna looked back to the sky and closed her eyes. Life as half of Equestria’s regency never got dull, at least.