//------------------------------//
// Negotiations and Betrayals  
// Story: The Decline and Fall of West Equestria:  Twilight's Tale 
// by StormLuna 
//------------------------------//

The train ride to Dodge Junction seemed to take forever.  While everypony else was just casually talking, I was sitting there feeling like I was going to throw up.  I knew that Starlight's power was stronger than that of any of us.  What if she had glass jars with her and took all of our marks, that would leave West Equestria leaderless and it would be easy pickings for her.  What if she was to demand even more land in exchange for making life easier for Filthy and Colgate?  By the time we reached our destination I was basically soaking wet in my own sweat.  Luna saw this and asked, "Twilight, art thou alright.  Thou art soaking wet!"  

I replied, "Not really, I'm just really worried about seeing Starlight again."

Celestia put her wing around me and said, "Don't worry Twilight, we won't let her do anything to you.  With my sister and I present, I promise you that you'll be safe."

I nodded and gave her a nervous smile.  I knew that they would protect me yet I also knew of Starlight's immense power.  Since she ascended to Alicornhood and became a Grand Mage, her power has increased significantly.  I had serious doubts as to whether Celestia and Luna could even stop her using their combined powers.   As we began walking towards the neutral site, I was a bit wobbly so Celestia put her wing around me as to prevent me from falling down.

Finally after what seemed to be forever we arrived at the structure.  While it was the place that I was released, i still got shivers up my spine seeing it.  We were greeted by one of the guards, "Greetings princesses and guests.  I take it you are here for that meeting with Starlight?"

I replied, "Yes, we are."

He said, "Well she is in there waiting.  I hope it goes well."

Celestia opened the door and we headed in.  The very first thing I noticed was Starlight Glimmer, giving me that same nasty smirk she has always given me.  I also noticed that she had two well decorated guards with her, most likely higher ups in her military.   Her smirk changed to a smile and she said, "Welcome!"

Luna, who she seems to respect more replied, "Hello Starlight, how art thou doing today?"

She replied, "I am doing quite well.  How was your trip?"

Luna said, "It was alright, just an ordinary trip."

Starlight replied, "That is good to hear your Majesty."  Her eyes then shifted to me and continued, "So Twilight, I take it these three ponies here are the ones that are being affected negatively by our economic practices?"

I replied, "Yes Starlight....."

She interrupted, "Twilight Sparkle, don't you remember that you are to refer to me as Grand Mage Starlight Glimmer the Second?"  She looked at Celestia and added, "Same goes for you TIA."

I have rarely seen Celestia get mad but this was one of those rare instances.  She shouted, "Just like I told you when I expelled you, NOPONY calls me Tia!"

Starlight frowned, "If you want me to consider easing or getting rid of these price increases, you will let me call you whatever I want."

Celestia sighed, "Fine."

Starlight pointed her wings at our guests and continued, "Would you three step forward and tell me about your situations and how it is negatively affecting your businesses."

What would happen next would shock me.  Colgate and Lyra were the first to approach her.  Suddenly they rushed to her, bowed and said, "Grand Mage Starlight Glimmer the Second!  It is so good to meet you face to face."

Starlight grabbed them in her aura and lifted them from their bow.  She said, "Please do not bow to me, for I am no better than anypony else and I would prefer it if you two would just call me Starlight."

In unison they replied, "Alright Starlight."

Starlight then began to examine the two very closely, she got as close to them as she did me in Our Town.  I knew that ponies getting too close to Colgate bothered her but Starlight doing so did not bother her.  Starlight stepped back and said, "You know, something seems different about you two.  You bow before me and I also sense a special energy from you."  She paused for a minute and continued, "What are your names?"

Colgate replied, "My name is Colgate and this pony here is my sister, Lyra Heartstrings."

Starlight said, "Well Colgate and Lyra, there is something that I must do, something that could affect your futures significantly."

The two had nervous looks on their faces as Starlight grabbed them in her aura.  I wondered why she would grab two ponies that she seems to like in her aura.  I could tell she was trying to remove their marks.  As hard as she tried, she could not unmark them.  She let go of them and smiled, "Colgate, Lyra, you two truly are special, you are Eastern ponies.  Since you are Eastern ponies, rather than face the hardships you are currently dealing with, you could come with me to Fillydelphia and I would make sure you have a job."  Her smile then turned to a look of concern as she continued, "Why didn't you two come to East Equestria when all the mass relocations were happening.  Didn't you see me on the TV, hear me on the radio or see my picture in the newspaper and know that the one to liberate you had arrived?"

Colgate replied, "Actually we did not.  Running a dental practice takes a lot of time and paying attention to the media isn't something that we have a lot of time for."

Starlight motioned for them to go to her side of the structure.  She said, "Well, with that being the case I will make sure you can open your own dental practice and it won't cost you a bit."  She put her wings around the two and continued, "What do you say, do you want to come to your ancestors' homeland and have your own practice or do you wish to stay in West Equestria and struggle?"

Colgate grabbed her and replied, "I'm not sure about Lyra but I'm ready to return to my ancestral homeland."

Lyra added, "As am I."

Starlight gave me a smirk and replied, "I am happy to know that two more ponies of Eastern lineage are returning to East Equestria, where they belong."

I shouted, "Colgate, Lyra, how could you do this?  How could you just abandon all your patients in Ponyville?"

Colgate replied, "You're a princess, I'm sure you could entice some other dentist to go there and take over."

Lyra added, "Besides, we're going to the land where our ancestors came from.  Starlight here is the one we are loyal to."  She pointed her hoof towards Celestia and continued, "And she is the one who liberated all Eastern ponies from your rule."

While Luna seemed to have an indifferent look on her face, I gave the two a scowl and Celestia again became angry.  She shouted, "Oh, so you two are going to spit on the town that brought you so much prosperity?  You suddenly think you are so much better since you know that you are of Eastern lineage?  Well guess what, I am calling in that loan you two got from the Bank of Equestria to start your practice immediately.  You're not just going to relocate to a foreign country without paying West Equestria back first."

Starlight's horn began to glow and she interrupted, "Is that so Tia?"  She grabbed me in her aura and levitated me over to her and continued, "Well then, maybe I should take your little pet captive again and we can negotiate another generous offer for her return."

Celestia grunted, "Fine, they can go to their ancestor's homeland without paying me."

She tossed me back into our side of the room and sneered, "That is good to hear Celestia.  I knew deep down you wouldn't do anything to jeopardize your wannabe daughter's safety or freedom."

She then looked at Filthy and continued, "I take it you are the other pony who is being harmed by my economic policies."

Filthy approached her and replied, "Yes, I am the other one."

Starlight asked, "What is your name and how are my economic practices harming you?"

Filthy began, "My name is Filthy Rich and I do two things for my livelihood.  I own a general store called Barnyard Bargains and I am a stock broker.  While this has not hurt my store any, the foreign transaction fees are very costly.  They are costly enough that I have had to increase how much I charge my customers for executing trades for them."

Starlight replied, "Yeah, and?"

Filthy said, "Well I really don't like having to pass on higher transaction fees to my customers."

Starlight sneered, "Well, I would think that if a pony is wealthy enough to own stocks that a little bit of an extra fee would not harm them."

I interrupted, "Look, Mr. Rich simply does not want to have to pay an extra fee which he then has to pass down to his customers.  Unlike other wealthy businessponies, he does actually care about his customers."

Starlight sneered, "Like I said before if his customers are wealthy enough to have investments in the stock market, then they should be able to handle extra fees."  She got up in Filthy's face and continued, "OR, since you are quite wealthy I am certain you could just pay the fees and still be just fine."

I finally had enough.  I was sick and tired of her repeating herself over and over so I yelled, "Grand Mage Starlight Glimmer the Second, so what are you going to do about the issues we came to see you about?"

Starlight put her wing up to her face and stood there for a minute, giving me that nasty smirk of her's.  She lowered her wing and began, "I have decided that since everypony, rich or poor has to see the dentist, that I will lower the export price of silver to what it is trading at upon the time it is ordered."

I asked, "And what about the foreign transaction fees?"

Starlight replied, "For now, those shall remain in place.  After all, ponies in other countries have to pay the same transaction fees, so why should West Equestria be any different."

Luna, who had been mostly quiet chimed in, "Starlight dost make a good point.  If she did away with the foreign transaction fees for West Equestria, she would have to do the same with other nations."

Like I have said before, seeing Celestia get mad is rare but for her to get mad three times in one day is unheard of.  She got up in Luna's face and yelled, "What makes you say that little sister?  Do you not care about the ponies in West Equestria that have investments?  Do you not care about ponies such as Mr. Rich who have to pay extra on those transactions?"

Luna snapped, "Look big sister, we are looking at things more realistically.  Starlight obviously wants all nations to be treated as equals when it comes to things like this and we think the same way."

Everypony in the room with the exception of Starlight gasped.  I asked, "What?  You're taking her side on this?"

Celestia without thinking smacked Luna with her wing.  She added, "Little sister, what has gotten into you?  You seemed to be on her side during the negotiations regarding Twilight's release, you seemed to be friendly with her when she was returning Twilight to us and now you seem to be on her side regarding the foreign transaction fees."

Luna's eyes began to glow white and she yelled back, "How dare thee smack us big sister.  We were simply stating that our opinion in what we think is fair."

During their argument I could see a huge smile growing on Starlight's face and I knew exactly what was going through her mind.  She was thinking that perhaps this would be her chance to get Luna to defect, return to Fillydelphia, go conquer the Equine Empire and have Luna crowned as queen over there.  

While the two continued to argue, Starlight interrupted, "Stop it you two."  She gave Celestia a stern look and continued, "Celestia, is that any way to treat your sister and co-ruler of your nation?"

Celestia replied, "Well no but I am upset that she is simply wanting to give in to you and not fight for her subjects."

Starlight asked, "But did you really have to smack her?  She then gave Luna a concerned look and continued, "Princess Luna, do you two argue like this on a regular basis and does she smack you like this on a regular basis?"

Luna replied, "No Dear Starlight, the only other time she has smacked us was during our negotiations to free Twilight."

I saw Starlight's look of concern change to one of a very subtle smile.  She asked, "Princess Luna, have you ever wished that you would be viewed as an equal.  Does it ever bother you that Celestia and Twilight are more loved than you?"

Celestia shouted, "No!  You will not take my sister, she will not go with you."

I became really worried when I saw Luna's eyes begin to shine white again.  She turned to Celestia and sternly replied, "Big sister, we have long wished that we were as loved as Twilight and thee and it does upset us that thou art making a decision for us."  She headed over and stood by Starlight.  She continued, "We shall make our own decisions from now on."  She looked over to Starlight and asked, "Starlight, art thy plan for us to take over The Equine Empire still valid if we was to go with you?"

Starlight replied, "Of course your Majesty.  You, my army and myself will go over there, take it over and it shall become your empire.  Why you could become Queen Luna of The Equine Empire."

Luna smiled, "Well then, we shall return with thee to Fillydelphia and then invade The Equine Empire!  We will find being a queen most pleasant!"

I shouted, "Luna no!  Please think this through, think of who you will be associating with.  You will be associating with the pony who held me captive for more than a year AND you will be abandoning your subjects here in West Equestria."

Luna scoffed, "Not any longer Twilight.  We are abdicating as we feel we are not given the respect or power that we should have."  She gave Celestia a death glare and continued, "Tell us big sister, would mother and father wish for thou to be the primary princess?  What would they have thought about thou banishing us to the moon for a thousand years?"  Celestia tried to get something out but only got a sigh.  Luna continued, "No they would not!  They wanted us to have equal power.  We did not have equal power before we became Nightmare Moon, nor do we have it now and they would have been most angry over thou banishing us to the moon!"

Celestia fired some energy at Luna and yelled, "Fine you traitor, good riddance!"

After that Filthy, Celestia and myself stormed out of the structure while Starlight, her soldiers, Luna, Colgate and Lyra headed out of the structure.  While I could clearly see a very scared look on Filthy's face, I saw a look of anger and shock on Celestia's face.  I asked, "Princess, are you ok?"

Celestia broke down into angry tears, "No Twilight, I am not.  My sister betrayed not just me, but all of West Equestria!  Why would she do this?  How could she just let Starlight manipulate her so easily."

I replied, "I guess the thoughts of being a sole monarch appealed to her so much that it made her want sole power."

Celestia mumbled, "Well this wasn't the first time so I guess this shouldn't surprise me."

I asked, "I take it you are talking about when she turned into Nightmare Moon?"

Celestia replied, "Yes, I am."

I looked at Filthy and saw he was very pale.  I asked, "Mr. Rich, are you ok.  You look pale as a ghost."

Filthy replied, "With everything that just happened I am worried about the future and I am worried about you two.  I don't want to see your Majesties really stressed out."

Celestia put her wing around him and replied, "It is ok.  Like I said the day the continent was split, we will do what we have to do to prevent an economic collapse."

He just nodded as we began to head back towards Dodge Junction.  I couldn't help but hear laughter coming from Colgate, Luna, Lyra, Starlight and her guards.  I heard her talking to Luna about how she would become a full fledged monarch which is what she was born to be.  What bothered me most was Luna agreeing with her and talking about how The Equine Empire would become a global power and a strong ally with East Equestria.  I felt like this was another victory for Starlight, another defeat for Celestia and myself at her hooves.  I am not sure how this will affect Celestia in the long term but it will only increase my ambition to bring Starlight down and one day unite the continent under a single banner once more.