//------------------------------// // Clarification // Story: Kingdom of the Moon // by PheonixCircle //------------------------------// Moonprayer XV woke up in a white room. The bed she lay on was soft and she wanted to remain there a bit longer, but the commotion outside was too distracting. She stood up, going to the window where she saw the towns inhabitants walking towards the town hall. It was then that she decided to run outside and ask somepony what was happening. "The queen is back, and she is giving a speech in the town hall. Come, everypony should listen to what she has to say." That was the only answer she needed to follow the others. The queen was back! She couldn't believe that she wasn't dreaming when she saw her appear in the chapel. As she ran down the street she noticed that everypony left their houses. It was a miracle, after all. But as she ran by her own home, she saw her grandmother leaving. "Grandmother, what are you doing? You are too old to walk alone. Wait, I will help you." She knew she couldn't convince her to stay at home. She has been the priestess before, and seeing the queen was the biggest dream for both of them. "She finally returned. After a thousand years, our queen has finally returned. We will regrow in strength, and we will be equal to Equestria. Worthy allies and partners for them in the future. I can sense it, dear granddaughter. She will bring peace to our torn realm." Her grandmothers words brought tears in her eyes. Such a thing would be wonderful. ------------------------------------------ As Luna walked past the buildings towards the town hall she started to remember the town as it was in the past; brimming with life, a shining place in day as in night. It still was beautiful, but the years of conflict had taken their toll on the small village. Some houses, which were built after her last visit, were abandoned, the streets were trampled down, and the lights were dirtied. But the town hall was a different view altogether. It was as clean, shining, and lively as it was in the past. The mayor and the priestess looked after it, as they were assigned to, it seemed. Luna was happy that they haven't forgotten her after all this time. At least one town was still loyal towards her. The foyer of the town hall was lit brightly. At the desk to the left of the entrance was an old, brown pony. The quill and paper cutie mark on her side suggested that she was working here. "Is the mayor here?" Luna asked, smiling as she wanted to make a good first expression in the town hall. "I need to see her immediately. It is important." The brown pony looked up. The stern, probably trained, look on her face faded as soon as she realised that the pony in front of her was no ordinary pony. Luna gave her an asking, but still polite, look. "I... I will go and get her" was the only thing the brown pony said, before she vanished upstairs. A few moments later she returned with a grey unicorn behind her. "Who wants to speak with me?" the unicorn said, keeping her expression as calm as possible. It was apparent that she wasn't used to seeing an alicorn, but she was here to guide the town, and as such she was expected to act as noble as possible. "I am Luna, princess and co-ruler of Equestria and founder of the northern kingdom of Winterwald. I wanted to ask the mayor of this town if I could lend the auditorium of this town hall to give a speech to my former subjects." Luna said. She wasn't surprised when the mayor's eyes widened, much like the priestesses eyes did. The mayor wanted to stay something, but the door opened to reveal two white unicorns. The one from the chapel and an older unicorn behind her. "Mayor , you have to allow her to use it. She is our great queen, founder and protector of our realm. You can't decline whatever she has asked for," the younger unicorn said. "Your majesty, I am priestess Moonprayer XV, and this is my grandmother, Moonprayer XIII. We stand at your service, as far as our power will allow us." Luna couldn't resist, she just had to laugh. The look on the ponies around her made her stop, but a smile remained. "Hello priestesses, mayor , nice to meet you all. As I asked the mayor already, I want to lend the auditorium and then hold a speech to clarify a few things and ask some questions. The mayor wanted to say something. What was it?" "I just wanted to say that you can lend the auditorium. But then I was interrupted by this more than eager priestess of yours."The mayor glanced at the young unicorn" Elder, I thought you would teach her some manners. Either way, yes, use it to your content. The commotion should have gathered all ponies already, so you should be able to hold the speech in a few minutes." Luna thanked the mayor with a slight bow, before walking to the auditorium. The other ponies were let in by the mayor , after the elder has followed the alicorn into the auditorium. The ponies were fast, and as predicted, Luna was able to hold her speech in a matter of a few minutes. -------------------------------------------- "Dear ponies of Westbrucke, I have invited you to answer a few questions. First of all, yes, I am Princess Luna, the founder of the northern Kingdoms and ruler of Equestria. After a millennium of absence, I have finally returned. I have heard that the situation is dire: the four cities you founded as I wished have parted their ways, and chose their own fate. Even if I appreciate that you choose your own fate, I can not accept fights between the cities. Therefore I hereby declare the city state of Flankrium my enemy, until they accept to the terms I will cast upon them. They dared to attack the descendants of the ponies I myself chose to live in these settlements, and I will never forgive such foolish behaviour. Another case is the kingdom which took over the castle of Icewind. As far as I know, they have kept some diplomatic relations with Westbrucke, but have chosen to be ruled by a local noble. As long as the noble is ready to contract more with Westbrucke, its government shall be left alone. It will be a strong ally, and the soldiers lost in this battle would be missing in the last case. And this case is Osttor. If this town is really taken over by these strange creaturesas I was told, we are in a far worse situation than you could ever imagine. This threat has to be eliminated as soon as possible, but that has to wait until we have finished business with the other towns.These creatures are unknown even to me, but I will commence my own research of these creatures as soon as I return home. Yes, I will return home to Canterlot. My sister is not aware that there are ponies living this far in the north, and I am not ready yet to tell her. She had forbidden me to create this kingdom, and I had acted against her wish. This is all I wanted to tell you about this matter at the moment. Are there any questions now? Please lift your hoof, I will pick one to ask." The speech was short, but informative, Moonprayer thought. She lifted her hoof and waited to be picked. A few did, and none spoke without lifting the hoof. They were too afraid to anger the queen. A few questions were asked about Canterlot and Celestia, the royal sister and queen of Equestria. Moonprayer knew that she would be picked last. She saw Luna looking at her several times, but it should proof advantageous. Then her turn came. "Can I ask a few questions? I seem to be the last one." Moondprayer asked. Luna nodded, and Moonprayer continued. "Okay, here are my questions. Why did you call yourself princess, and not queen? Aren't you the same as your sister? Or is she the sole ruler? What did you do the last thousand years? And why do you have to return? We need you here, as our ruler. What could we do without you" She saw that Luna was hurt, but this was how it was supposed to be. The young priestess, a filly in Luna's eyes, was exactly what Luna needed if the northern kingdom was supposed to survive. Asking the right questions. 'She might even be useful as my substitute' Luna thought. She had duties in Equestria, and ruling two kingdoms, one in secrecy, was too much even for an alicorn. "I called myself princess because my sister and I decided to take this title as ours in Equestria. We once were equal, but after my thousand years of... absence.. I have taken a step back, to reintegrate into the new ways of governing. What I did in this absence will be my secret, for now. And I have to go back so that I can return to you, and guide you towards victory in the upcoming battles. And now, I have a question. You wrote me that you were attacked. I suppose you have some guards, do you? And how many?" It was the mayor that answered: "Yes, we have guards. Fifty pegasi, mainly as lookout posts. A hundred and fifty earth ponies, guarding the only entrance. And Twenty war unicorns, our strongest defence, in my opinion. Why do you ask? Is there any importance to it?" Luna smirked, seeing that the mayor wouldn't prove a good substitute, even with the experience she had. "Naturally it is. We are preparing for battle, and we will need every pony ready for it. The guards will keep up their duty for now, but we will need more. How many ponies will be ready for battle in a few days?" It was the priestess who answered to this question: "There will be around five hundred earth ponies ready for battle, your highness. We have decided to train ourselves if we are ever attacked again. Also, there should be a hundred pegasi and another twenty militia unicorns." Luna's smile was so bright that even Moonprayer lightened up. She saw how her grandmother blushed. It was her idea, and pride was allowed in this situation. The mayor began to see a threat on her position by the young priestess. She would remember not to trust her further than necessary. "This is very good indeed. I never expected anything like a militia to be of any importance, but now it proofs to be a very useful asset you have build up here. Are there any siege weapons here?" Luna asked. She was ready to attack the republic after a few reconnaissance missions on their military. "No, there are none," the mayor said. She wouldn't let responsibility be taken from her hooves without a fight. "We never thought of using the militia as an attacking force. It was raised solely to defend ourselves. It is the same with the guards. None of them will. I won't allow it." Luna recognised that her first fight would be an internal conflict. She thought of acting now, but she had not much time at hand. She simply nodded, before ending her speech. "I will leave you now on the same way I came; through the ancient basin in the chapel. It is linked with a similar one inside my chambers. You should be able to send letters to me. But please, do not write every few days, and do not ask me for minor things. But I wish from all of you to write a letter with what happened in your family as far back as you remember, however unimportant the matters were. It is important to know how everything came to be. Farewell my friends. May the sun light you the way, and the night inspire you to beautiful arts." With these words, Luna left, followed by all the listeners of her speech. They walked across town, and when they reached the chapel, only Luna, Moonprayer and her grandmother entered. Luna lifted her hooves on the basin. "When will you come back?" The young priestess asked, her eyes wet and her voice shaking. Luna turned her head around, looking at the young unicorn from the corners of her eyes. "I will return as soon as possible. Until then, be prepared. The mayor sees you as a threat. She has noticed that I have plans which involve you, but not her. For your own safety, I will keep quiet about them." She turned towards the old unicorn sitting on a cushion near the basin. "You were the one who created the militia, were you not?" Luna asked. The elder nodded. "I, no we all, have to thank you. Your idea will save a lot of lives, and we will need as many fighters as possible if we want to suppress the enemy in the east. Farewell, priestesses. Until next time, young one." --------------------------------------------------------------- Moonprayer was thinking about the last words of the alicorn as she noticed that her grandmother was in great pain. She ran to her and noticed that age had taken its toll on the elder unicorn. She called for a doctor and one soon arrived, but it was already too late. Moonprayer XIII, the elder of the village, had passed away. She was brought into her home, and Moonprayer lay grieving over the letter she wrote to Luna, asking her to attend the funeral. She finished the letter, and lay down, crying herself to sleep. She wanted to plan the funeral the next day, after sending the letter. Her grandmother would be happy if the queen, or princess, or however she wanted to be called, attended her funeral, Moonprayer thought.