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// 14: Town Meeting 
// Story: All Alone 
// by lunas_servant 
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The next evening I awoke to a knock on my door. I answered to find one of the servant ponies. "Can I help you?" I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"The Princess asked me to awaken you, sir. The moon is rising and we are preparing for the town meeting," answered the mare.

I looked out the window and was treated to a view of the sun sinking below the horizon. "Thank you ma'am. You may go." Without another word the servant mare bowed and walked away. I donned my armor and walked outside to greet Luna good night as she landed, having raised the moon and arranged the stars in the sky for yet another glorious night. "Good night Princess. I must say the stars seem extra beautiful tonight, I can see the love that you put into it."

"Good night Cloud. Yes, I wanted the stars to be perfect tonight," said Luna. "Tonight we meet with the business leaders from all over the town. Red Moon says they only invite the business leaders and high ranking officials because the town is too large and an assembly of everypony would require a setting greater than anything they could put together."

"That makes sense," I replied. "Do you know what you will say to them, Princess?"

"I think I will keep it concise. Let them know that appreciate everything they have done in my name and that I will not force anything on them that they do not wish. Then I will tell them what we discussed with Red Moon on the first night and let them decide what they want to do. I am certain many of them will be happy for the chance to loosen the restrictions on coming and going, if not removing them entirely."

"I am certain they will all see it your way, Princess. They have waited 1,000 years for this day."

At that moment Red Moon walked over to us. "Greetings Princess, and good night" he said, bowing to Luna. "And a good night to you as well Cloud Twist. I trust you are both ready to speak with the good people of Salvation?"

"Greetings Red Moon, and good night," replied the Princess. "We are indeed ready to speak with them."

"Then follow me, the meeting is about to start." Red Moon led us around the building to what appeared to be a side entrance. As we followed him inside we discovered it was a large meeting hall and what appeared to be every important pony and business owner in the town was crowded into the seats. Hundreds of ponies crammed into close quarters and talking with their neighbors. As I listened there was one discussion that was repeated throughout the ranks of ponies, what was going to happen to Salvation now that their Princess had returned. "I will speak first to get the ball rolling but you're the only thing on the agenda tonight Princess," said Red Moon.

"Thank you Red Moon," replied Luna.

Red Moon stepped up to the podium and called the assembly to order. The ponies all around the auditorium settled in to hear what Red Moon had to say. "As you all know," he began, "Princess Luna, Ruler of the Night, and the Moon, and the Stars, has returned to her loyal followers, the Children of the Night!" At this declaration there was a lot of loud cheering and stomping of hooves as the gathered ponies showed their excitement for their Princess. This continued for a few minutes before calming back down to a reasonable level. "I had the pleasure of speaking with Princess Luna and her companion Sir Cloud Twist the night before last when they first appeared in the city. The subject of this discussion, while not explicitly released to the public, is common knowledge. As I am certain you all know, we discussed the future of Salvation. I will turn the mic over to Princess Luna now to give you more details."

With that, Red Moon stepped down and allowed Luna to take the stand. "My little ponies, it is wonderful to see you all and to witness your unwavering support. I very much regret my decisions all those years ago, as I have caused you all such immense pain. Yet still you support me," said Luna. "I promise that from now on, my own spirit shall not waver, and I will protect my Children of the Night until the end of time itself. With that being said, I am going to allow you all to make your own decision as to the future of the town. Sir Cloud Twist and I discussed several options with Red Moon the other night. The first option is that Salvation remains as is, the protections kept intact. For reasons I am sure you can all see, this option causes complications. As much as I would love to stay here, I can not seperate myself from the rest of Equestria, as I am sure there are more Children of the Night that have yet to find their way here, and they will need me as much as any of you."

Luna stopped and looked around at the expressions of the ponies to see only agreement before continuing on. "The other options we discussed were more favorable and it is my hope that the ponies of Salvation will choose one of these options. In regards to the city itself, it could be abandoned and the ponies who live here could move into Equestria proper. I find this idea to be distasteful as I am sure many of the ponies here have lived here since birth and are likely to have an emotional attachment. We also discussed two options for the protections surrounding Salvation. They could be loosened to allow travel outside of the full moon, or they could be removed entirely. These last two options are the most viable, however the decision is yours my little ponies. I will give you some time to discuss it amongst yourselves and then we will take a vote."

Luna stepped down and walked over to where I was waiting. "You did well Princess, I am certain they will all see it your way and vote to remove the protective spells," I said. We looked around at the congregated ponies as they whispered among themselves, trying to decide what they wanted to do. After about a half hour of discussion things began to quiet down and Red Moon returned to the podium.

"You have all heard what the Princess has to say, and you have had time to discuss it amongst yourselves. We must now decide what we will do with Salvation. Remember that this decision will affect everypony in the city and as such you should consider them when you vote," explained Red Moon. "Those in favor of abandoning the town, move to Section A down here on the floor of the auditorium, those in favor of loosening the restrictions on travel outside the full moon, please move to Section B to my right, and those in favor of removing the protective barriers completely, please move to Section C to my left."

The ponies began shifting around and it was difficult at first to see who was moving where, however as they began moving from their seats it was clear many were headed to Section C, with a hoofful heading to Section B. Nopony moved to Section A. "It seems we have a clear majority. The protective barriers will be removed tonight, and travel between Salvation and Equestria proper will no longer be restricted," announced Red Moon to a cheering auditorium.

With that, the ponies were dismissed to tell their families and friends the good news. I looked up and saw Luna smiling brightly. I knew that everything was going to be okay and I smiled with her.