//------------------------------//
// Family Matters 
// Story: The Thousand Year Change 
// by Darthvalgaav 
//------------------------------//

Celestia had not left the room since Luna had left. She just sat there, staring at the bat filly while tears ran down her face. They just would not stop.

‘A thousand years and still things like this are happening,’ thought Celestia. She had thought that things had improved since Luna had left, that her subjects were making better decisions. She had spoken out against the poor treatment of bat ponies and encouraged her subjects to treat them with respect. But that was all she did. She passed no new laws nor did she set up any new organizations. She believed that her subjects would act on her words only. And with staring at the results, she could no longer deny that that what she had done was enough.

Now she understood why Luna was so upset that day.

-Flashback-

Celestia awoke early, as she always did, and moved over to the balcony where she raised the sun. As the sun rose, she could not help but marvel over the kingdom that she ruled over with her sister. Everything seemed to be so calm and peaceful. Their subjects were able to run and play all day in relative peace. Truly, Equestria was a wonderful place to live.

There was a sudden knock on her door. Before she could say or do anything it opened and in came Lord Divine Right. He was a white unicorn with a dark red mane. Normally he would never enter her private chambers like this which caused Celestia to grow concerned.

“Princess Celestia,” he said with a bow. “I bring word of your sister’s actions. She took her Night Guard and went to Hoofshire last night. She now demands that it be placed under martial law.”

“Does thou know why?” asked Celestia.

“No my princess,” said Divine. “But her actions late have caused me and my fellow nobles to wonder if she has the kingdoms best interests at heart. She treats some of us like we are common criminals. She constantly speaks to the common pony and treats their words like they were made of gold. She seeks to undermine magic with more of this, oh what’s the word, science I think. And then there is the fact that her main guards are those…those things!”

“The bat ponies are also subjects of Equestria,” said Celestia gently. “They have as much right to live here as any other pony.”

“If you insist,” said Divine in a less than thrilled tone. He then let out a short sigh. “Now than, I hope you will talk to Princess Luna on our behalf. She is still in the royal court chambers.” Celestia nodded and then proceed out of the room.

To a point she could understand what Divine Right and others like him were getting at. Luna acted far too quickly without considering other options. Their subjects needed to learn to solve their own problems from time to time. Luna had some ideas for replacing some things with her science, but Celestia felt that things were fine the way they were. What if some of the things that science created would later harm them down the road? As for the bat ponies, well she did find them sort of intimidating. Most stories that were spread about them, ones that dated back to when she was a filly, said that they were born under and evil star and would drain the blood of good, decent ponies. But despite these stories, Luna sought them out and made them part of her guard and after a time even Celestia saw that they were nothing to be afraid of.

When she reached the main court chambers, she found Luna in there pacing back and forth. Near her was a small colt sleeping peacefully. As soon as Celestia walked in Luna turned to her.

“Sister,” she said quickly. “We must place Hoofshire under martial law! There isn’t a moment to lose!”

Celestia raise a hoof to silence her. “Not before I hear the reason why.” Frowning Luna nodded and proceeded to tell her story. She told of how Starlight Sparkle informed her of the mob and that when she arrived several homes were set aflame. A shiver went down her spine as Luna told her about the father who stayed behind to try and save his wife only to die in the flames. But not before giving his son to Luna. “Thy story is…most unsettling.”

“Then you should agree that we must respond to this quickly,” said Luna hopefully. “I believe that most of the town was in on it. Marshal law will help contain the problem, allow the guard to perform interrogations swiftly, and send a strong message to all other who would do the same.”

“I…disagree,” said Celestia. “Martial law seems a bit harsh for a one time event.” Luna’s ears flattened as she glared at her sister. Seeing this, Celestia decided to elaborate. “Right now it does look like a large group did this intentionally. But what if it was only one in the crowd? Or perhaps it was just an accident. And does thou know that many ponies are buying anti-teleportation charms and placing them in their home? It is a way of keeping out unicorn thieves.”

“Then tell me, what does thou propose?” she demanded.

“You can look for evidence,” said Celestia. “But until you can bring some back, I can’t in good conscience allow marshal law. But what we can do is speak out against this tragedy. Let’s say at the next Hearth’s Warming pageant.”

“But that is two months away,” said Luna angrily as she turned to look away from her sister. “And while I waste time, the criminals could move to the next town and strike again! What then? We add them to the list of tragedies that we could prevent?!” She paused and looked at her sister. “I can’t accept that! How many fathers will be taken away from their children while we just sit on our plots? How many mothers will have to bury their children because they liked to go out at night? What will I tell them when they come to me looking for answers and hope that their leaders are doing everything in their power to stop this?”

“Luna, I know this is hard,” said Luna. “I know you feel like acting now might help. But until we find a way to stop the underlying problem then it will never go away. And that will take time. We can’t force our subjects to change.” Luna took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them, there was a look of determination.

“One of the first things I learned from mother was the reason governments were formed,” she said. “It was to protect those under them. That’s what all of our laws and soldiers are for sister. Pretty words done during a holiday won’t stop this from happening again.” She then pointed to the sleeping colt. “And I refuse to allow something like this to happen again!” She then paused for a moment as she lowered her hoof. “Tell me something. If the situation had been reversed, would you be saying the same thing?”

Celestia could not hide the shock on her face. How could Luna even suggest such a thing? Did she think that she was playing favorites? Sure, it hurt that some of her subjects were spending less time during the day and looking to Luna for advice. Sure, she might have felt a little betrayed but that didn’t mean she wanted them dead. Did she?

“No sister,” said Celestia after a moment. Perhaps a moment too long.

“Then I will do you a favor sister,” said Luna as she began to walk out the door. “I will make sure that you never are faced with the same situation. I shall speak with those who dwell during the night. Together we shall find a route that will not lead to a civil war. And I shall do this without your delayed help.” And with that she left Celestia alone.

-End Flashback-

That was the last time the two talked as co-rulers of Equestria. Now, staring at this child, Celestia realized that she should have put her hoof down a bit more. She could have tried to do something other than speaking out against this racism more than once in a while. She knew about the problem but was waiting for her own subjects to figure it out on their own.

Celestia heard the door open slowly. The sun princess raised her head to see that it was her sister who was looking a bit nervous.

“Hi,” said Luna slowly as she walked into the room. A moment later she sat next to Celestia. “Um, I was thinking of contacting one of my doctors on the moon. We have technology that would speed up her recovery.” But Celestia said not a word. “Well then, I guess I better tell the senators about what happened.”

“Luna,” said Celestia as her sister got up to leave. “You were right.” Luna’s ears stood up straight and her eyes went wide. She turned to face her sister with a look of shock. This was the first time in her entire life that Celestia had ever said that.

“S-Sister?”

“I didn’t want to believe what you were saying was true,” continued Celestia. “There was a time when my words alone could cause our subjects to listen to reason. But as time went on they stopped hearing my words. They still listen, but they do not hear. Then they began to ask my why bat ponies were so different, but I had no answer. And when I couldn’t they made up their own reasons. I tried to tell them it didn’t matter but to them it did. And now I am looking right at the results of everything I haven’t done in the last thousand years.”

For a while, neither spoke.

“I will tell you right now sister,” began Luna, “you messed up. Part of me wants to leave in disgust while another part of me wants to stay only long enough to collect those who wish to join the Lunar Republic.” Celestia’s tears began to fall even faster as she heard this. “But there is a small part of me that…still wants to help you. To give you one last chance.” Celestia turned her head to look at her sister so fast that it might have snapped off. “But it will cost you sister.”

“Yes, of course,” cried Celestia happily.

Luna pointed a hoof at the filly. “First off, you start dealing with this. I want it over as soon as possible. Second, I will be in charge of the military as well as overseeing all technology from the moon. It will fall to me to decided what goes to Equestria and when. And finally, I want half of your nobles replaced with my senate until their term ends. Then we can have a more proper election and slowly replace the nobles.”

“T-That seems a bit too fast,” began Celestia but a glare from Luna caused her to stop. “But very well. It is good to have you back sister.”

“Do not get the wrong idea,” said Luna. “I am only coming back to fix this mess you have made. I am still very angry at you. It will take a long time for me to trust you again. And if I find out that you are hiding or plotting something I will leave.” Luna then got up and began to head to the door. “Now to get a real doctor in here.”

-x-

Applejack grumbled as she walked into the kitchen. A few minutes ago the unicorn from Canterlot had finally shown up. Once she did she looked over the food, made several snide remarks, and told her to redo everything by morning. If she were any other pony, Applejack would have bucked that Trixie girl in the head.

As Applejack opened the oven to pull out some pans, Pinkie Pie jumped out of it with several balloons.

“Hey there Applejack!” yelled Pinkie as Applejack stumbled backwards.

“Pinkie Pie, what in tarnation are you doing in there?” yelled Applejack as she got up. Pinkie just grinned.

“I’m here to invite you to a party,” she said. Applejack, despite herself, grinned back. What pony didn’t like a good party.

“Well that’s nice,” she said. “Who’s it for?”

“Three ponies who just got into town,” said Pinkie. “Twilight, Shadow, and Trixie.” Applejack felt the color drain from her face.

“A party for them?” asked Applejack with a raised eyebrow. “You sure? Twilight seems nice and all but that Trixie is a real character. And that bat pony-”

“Oh, you mean Shadow?” said Pinkie as she tilted her head to the side. “Are you upset that he doesn’t sparkle to?”

“What? No! Don’t you know what they say about bat ponies?” asked Applejack. Pinkie shook her head no.

“Oh don’t worry, she’ll be there,” came the voice of Granny Smith. Applejack turned around to see her grandmother standing at the door of the kitchen. “Applejack, can ah see ya for a moment.”

Applejack nodded and went to follow her granny. Pinkie Pie just shrugged as she bounced out the door. In the next room Granny pulled out an old photo album.

“Ah probably should of shown you this years ago sugar lump,” said Granny as she turned the pages. She stopped on a page showing the family farm back when she was just a little filly. Applejack looked at the photo, trying to see what Granny was trying to show her. It was just the family and what looked like a farm hand. But after a moment, she noticed that the farm hand had bat wings.

“G-Granny what’s a-” began Applejack, but Granny placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Back when the farm was gettin’ off the ground, my pa needed an extra set of hooves,” said Granny as she looked fondly. “It was back when the first crop of apples came in. He was a drifter, flying around the country where there were no towns, foraging for food. He saw our farm and asked to work for food. My ma uneasy around him but my pa said we needed the extra hoof. He stayed with us for two years until the town began to form. Pa said he could stay as long as he wanted but he declined. Said he liked us too much to let us go under just because ponies didn’t like him.”

“Because he was most likely a thief,” said Applejack. Granny, oddly enough, nodded.

“He admitted to me once that he stole a couple times in his life,” she said as she put away the album. “I asked him why and he said that nopony would hire him. I asked why and he told me he only stole because no pony would hire him. It’s a vicious cycle. So please sugar lump, give a pony a chance before ya pass judgment.” And with that, Granny Smith left the room.