My Return to Manehattan
I had just been transformed into an Alicorn and been named Grand Mage Starlight Glimmer the Second. I will admit, this will take some time getting used to but one thing I will always remember is that I am no better than anypony else. I have stepped out of the caves into the high mountains to prepare myself for the final part of my destiny. While I looked off to the west and said to myself that Celestia's rule over Eastern ponies will be over soon, I now cast my gaze off to the southeast, towards the city of Fillydelphia where I will make the Second Coming official.
Why did I choose Fillydelphia? I chose Fillydelphia not only because it was the capitol when Meadowbrook first took power, but because it was the city that Grand Mage Starlight Herself first settled. I made a decision. I decided that once the East is liberated, that Fillydelphia will be the capitol city. After this moment of reflection I decided it was time to go. No longer do I have to walk a great distance to Marentreal from here to go elsewhere, no longer do I have to take trains all over the country, now that I am an Alicorn I can fly everywhere! This is going to make life so much easier and cut travel times dramatically.
Before I left though, I flew over to the high meadows where I had ate so many meals and drank so much water for one more meal before I left. After all, being transformed into an Alicorn took a lot of energy and given that I am a larger pony now, I will need more to eat. Finally after an hour of eating I decided to take off. I will admit, when I saw Manehattan one part of me simply wanted to stop there and rest for the night, pushing my arrival in Fillydelphia back until the following morning but I would not even make it to Manehattan without being stopped.
Just as the skyline appeared off in the distance I felt a couple ponies kick me in the side. A dark gray Pegasus yelled, "Freeze!"
A white Pegasus yelled, "Land now and this will be easier for all of us."
I rolled my eyes and landed for the two. In the past had I been confronted by a couple Pegasi patrol ponies I would have became really nervous and likely taken their marks but since I was an Alicorn now I knew that I could easily take them out. Besides, the Starlight Glimmer they are looking for is a unicorn, not an Alicorn.
Once they got to the ground they stood in front of me and said, "Starlight Glimmer, you are under arrest for the theft of eight items, seven break ins, the murder of two police officers and the attempted murder of Princess Twilight Sparkle."
They tried to put hoof cuffs on me but I teleported out of them. I asked, "What are you talking about?" I then decided to lie hoping that they would let me go, "I haven't broken into any places, I haven't stolen anything, I haven't murdered anypony and I don't even know who Twilight Sparkle is."
The white Pegasus scoffed, "Don't you lie to us Starlight Glimmer. We were given a description of what Starlight looks like and you match her to a T."
The dark gray Pegasus interrupted, "Actually, she doesn't. Starlight Glimmer is a unicorn, not an Alicorn." He gave me a curious look and continued, "I thought there were only four Alicorns in Equestria, not five. Where are you from?"
Again I lied, "I am from the Equine Empire. I was set to meet with the mayor of Fillydelphia tomorrow."
Both the Pegasi nodded at one another while the white one apologized, "We are sorry for the inconvenience ma'am. You have a safe flight."
I replied, "Thank you. You guys have a good day."
While they headed northward I continued my journey to the south. I realized that while I may be stopped by patrol ponies, they will quickly believe that I am not the one they are looking for and if any Eastern Ponies stop me, they will immediately know who I am and likely swear allegiance to me, as Grand Mage Starlight said they would.
Thirty minutes later I arrived in Manehattan, landing near the old diner I used to work at. I swear, flying gets a pony from place to place so much quicker! This will also be something that will take some getting used to, but in a good way. As I headed into the diner there were plenty of ponies having their supper and chatting away but when they looked over in my direction the place went silent. This made me sort of uncomfortable at first but as they walked forwards towards me and bowed, I knew why they went quiet. They see me as the Second Coming of Grand Mage Starlight, the one to liberate them.
Them bowing to me made me feel incredibly uncomfortable so I grabbed them in my aura and raised them up. I asked, "Why are you bowing to me?"
An earth pony in the diner replied, "Because you have returned to save us....for you are Grand Mage Starlight Glimmer the Second, the Second Coming."
I blushed and said, "Yes, I am She but please do not bow to me for I am no better than anypony else and I would feel much more comfortable if you would just call me Starlight."
This only brought out more adoration from the diners as that is exactly what Grand Mage Starlight would have said. I looked over at the counter and there was the manager that had always been so unpleasant. He just gave me a scowl and said, "So, I see it is Starlight Glimmer. The pony who rose from waitress to university professor and now apparently to a grand mage."
This was an obvious sign that he was NOT an Eastern Pony. This caused me to head for the exit and all of his customers followed me out the door without paying for their meals. Once we were out one of the ponies asked, "Starlight, is it wrong what we did? Is it wrong that we followed you out without paying."
I smiled and replied, "No, it is not. He is of the lineage that attacked our kin over a thousand years ago and took Meadowbrook from us, he is from the West."
While the public schools across Equestria have never told of the atrocities that Celestia committed against our kind when her and Luna invaded and took over the East, apparently there has been much teaching at home as the ponies knew exactly what I was talking about and began to shout "Death to Celestia! All hail Starlight!"
We headed towards the park where I would run into one of my former students, Morning Glory. She looked at me and immediately rushed to me and gave me a hug. She asked, "Professor....I mean Grand Mage Starlight, is that you?"
I gave her a smile and replied, "Morning Glory, one of my best students!" I let go of her and continued, "Yes, it is me but you can just call me Starlight. I do not like for ponies to treat me like I am something special." I looked around and did not see the pony that was always with her. I asked, "Where is Yellow Star?"
She replied, "He works as an assistant to the mayor down in Fillydelphia now."
I said, "You know, I am headed to Fillydelphia tomorrow. I will make a stop by the mayor's office and tell him hi."
She replied, "I'm sure he will be happy to see you."
I decided that before I drew too much more attention to myself that I had best be going. Before I left I waved goodbye at the crowd and yelled, "Our time is coming. Don't worry, soon we shall all be free from the sun."
As I left I could hear them cheering. I felt like I was on top of the world knowing that I could win the support of ponies without having to brain wash them like I used to. As darkness descended upon the land I saw a small forest between Manehattan and Fillydelphia. I decided to land in it and get some sleep. I wanted to be well rested for my meeting with the mayor. What I didn't know though is that the mayor was going to address not just the city, but the whole nation regarding growing tensions between Eastern Ponies and Western Ponies. This could be my chance to convince Eastern ponies that live in the West to relocate to our ancestral homeland and eventually, do what I have to do to create an independent nation for our kind.
Meeting with Fillydelphia's Mayor
The following morning arrived and I was anxious wondering if I could really just go tell the mayor that Fillydelphia is the original settlement of Eastern Ponies and that I believe I should be a prominent figure in the city government. I did know that he would likely be unhappy about it, UNLESS he is a pony of Eastern lineage himself, then he will likely treat me the way other Eastern ponies have so far. Before I headed off though I decided to have some breakfast. Luckily there was an apple orchard nearby with a good pond. I was not sure how many apple orchards were located in the East but I'm sure that if there aren't any, we can get some started. Whether I am able to get us our own nation or not, I want the East to depend as little on the West as possible.
After breakfast I took off towards the south. The sun was above the horizon when I arrived in the city and I would just have to circle around the city until I found city hall. It took me longer to find city hall than it did to make the flight there from the forest. As I landed at the steps the clock tower began to sound signaling that it was 0800. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the door being unlocked and I was able to immediately head in. The employee who unlocked the door gave me an odd look and asked, "Are you an Alicorn?"
I replied, "Yes, I am. I need to speak to the mayor before he speaks."
The clerk said, "Wait a minute, I know you're not Celestia, Luna or Twilight. You look a bit like Cadence but your mane and tail aren't the right colors, you're much too big and your cutie mark is different."
I replied, "I am a visitor and friend of the mayor from abroad."
The employee was obviously of Western lineage given that he did not notice me. I asked which way the mayor's office was and he pointed off to the left. I nodded and headed on my way. As I reached his office at the end of the line I was greeted not by him, but by a pony I know. This pony bowed down and said, "Grand Mage Starlight Glimmer the Second, I am so happy to see you."
I asked, "Yellow Star, is that you?"
He replied, "Yes your highness, it is me. How are you doing these days?" He then took a closer look at me and continued, "Oh my goodness, you are an Alicorn! How did you become an Alicorn?"
I replied, "I would appreciate it if you just called me Starlight as I am no better than anypony else." I looked back into the office and continued, "Yellow Star, we may continue with small talk later on but I really need to speak with the mayor."
He said, "Of course." He took me back to the mayor's office and let him know that he had a guest. While initially he was not thrilled, he allowed me to go in.
When he saw me his mood changed dramatically. It went from one of irritation to being beyond happy. Like everypony else, he bowed to me and praised my return and like with everypony else, I let him know just to call me Starlight and not bow. We began to talk like other ponies would. He had a feeling that perhaps I could help him with the issue at hand. He said, "Starlight, I am not sure if you are aware of this or not, but ponies of Eastern heritage have long been treated like second class citizens by the Celestial West. Today I am going to address that to the nation in hopes that it will at least make it to where ponies of Eastern heritage will no longer have to hide their true lineage from their children."
I replied, "I know how that feels. For so long my parents told me that our lineage came from Vanhoover and Las Pegasus until they discovered my fascination with Eastern Unicorns. It was then that they told me that I am a direct descendent from both Mage Meadowbrook and Mage Shadowstar."
His eyes grew wide as he asked, "Really? You are directly descended from them?"
I continued, "Yes, I am. It was through independent research in a hidden bunker that I learned that I am a direct descendent of Grand Mage Starlight Glimmer the First, the pony who brought our ancestors here from the East."
At first he looked like he was going to faint and fall backwards so I grabbed him in my aura. I asked, "Mr. Mayor, are you ok?"
After a minute he came to and I let go of him. He replied, "Y-Yeah, I'm ok. I guess it is so shocking for me to realize that you are more than just the Second Coming of Starlight, but that your lineage goes directly back to her." He gave me a serious look and continued, "Starlight, I am wondering. Would you want to take part in the speech I am going to give the nation over the unfair treatment of Eastern Ponies? The speech that I hope will inspire the monarchs in Canterlot to ban discrimination against ponies based upon their origins?"
I replied, "Of course I will help you with it. I will even take part in it if you wish."
He said, "That would be absolutely wonderful. I believe that if the ponies of this country see that the great liberator has returned, that pressure will be put on the princesses to stop the unfair advantages ponies of the West get."
I smiled as this is exactly what I was hoping for. This address was going to be televised across the whole nation which meant that ponies of Eastern descent, regardless of where they live now, will know that I have returned. My biggest hope will be that they will immigrate here to the East and while I will never openly admit it, I do hope that ponies with Western lineage will head back to the west. I feel like this is one step closer to me fulfilling my destiny and while it may sound bad, it is one step closer to me showing Celestia that I was able to succeed without graduating from her precious school.