A few hours later, Twilight arrived in Canterlot, and after a few minutes, she arrived at the castle. She could already feel the start of a headache this would cause, and the air felt tense. Maybe it was just her. Celestia and Luna were likely having a nice, pleasant debate. A very loud debate. In the Royal Canterlot Voice. Attempting to put the theory that 'might makes right' to the test. 'Yes. I would MUCH rather deal with two overgrown foals with enough power to move the Sun and Moon with little effort, then spend time relaxing with my friends,' she thought with a mix of sarcasm and bitterness.
The guards recognized her as she approached, and were kind enough to open the door as she glided towards it, preventing her from crashing into it. She smiled her thanks at the two guards as she glided passed them, they remained stoic and expressionless, almost like a princess flying into the castle was an everyday occurrence. She beat her wings a couple of times to keep herself in the air and continued on her journey to the throne room. She had no idea if Celestia and Luna would still be there, but it was a good place to start. She ignored the quizzical looks the guards gave her as she flew passed, and made sure to avoid knocking anypony over.
Twilight glided once she approached the doors, then flared her wings and bled her speed. She touched down gracefully, and the guards saluted her. She nodded, acknowledging the salute. "Please open-" Twilight was cut off by a booming shout, Princess Luna using the Royal Canterlot Voice, most likely. The guards were knocked off their hooves by the force of the voice however, they quickly regained their composure, and with it, their stoic expressions. Twilight sighed, lit her horn, and threw open the doors.
The shouting immediately stopped when the young alicorn stepped inside the throne room with a face plastered with annoyance. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were glaring daggers at each other, both had clenched muzzles, with their muscles easily visible. Twilight blinked when she realized both of them had their horns lit and were pointing at each other. Twilight regained her composure and trotted into the room with determination, although cautiously watching both their horns.
"Twilight." Celestia's frustration was evident in her voice, while her gaze never left that of her sister. Twilight staggered at just how mad Celestia sounded. Both the older alicorns had their wings flared, Princess Celestia easily dwarfed her younger sister, in both height and wingspan. Yet Luna was not deterred.
She recovered her composure, they called her to settle their argument, interrupting time with her friends. "Celestia. Luna. I was relaxing with my friends, and then I get a letter from you saying I'm needed in Canterlot as soon as possible. Then I come here and what do I find?" Twilight's greeting was soaked in annoyance, the two sisters were on the verge of actually getting into a fight. She had to tread very carefully with what she said next, lest she cause more problems. "You two need to calm down-"
"I am calm," Luna spat. The alicorn huffed after saying that, the lie was obvious, and the others chose to ignore it.
"Then why, are you two at each other's throats?" 'Again' Twilight mentally added. Neither of them responded immediately, instead choosing to act like foals and play the waiting game. She was content to play that game too, if only for a while.
Luna and Celestia were locking into a staring contest, each determined to hold out the longest, as an unsaid rule, the one who would break the stare would be viewed as the weaker of the two. Seconds passed, and finally, Luna spoke up without dropping her gaze.
"She extradited one of my prisoners to his homeland. He was responsible for murdering a filly." Luna's voice conveyed great anger towards her sister's judgment, while her sister simply steeled her resolve.
"He was a foreign dignitary, subject to diplomatic immunity, Luna." Celestia rebuked, "Unless you want our ambassadors to not fall under the same protection, we had to release him." Luna snorted with anger.
"He murdered a foal. She didn't even have her cutie mark yet, Celestia." Luna replied coldly.
"Diplomatic etiquette-" Celestia started to rebuke, but Luna cut her off with a spell, one which she narrowly avoided by jumping to the side, farther away from Twilight. She re-lit her horn in preparation to counterattack.
"ENOUGH!" Twilight shouted. Her voiced soaked in anger and frustration. It was enough that both alicorn sisters immediately turned to face Twilight, regardless of who won the starring contest. "You two are rulers of an ENTIRE COUNTRY. You're FAMILY." Twilight paused exasperated, "I've heard of sibling rivalry before, but this is ridiculous! Stop ACTING LIKE FOALS WHO HAVE BEEN TOLD THEY CAN'T HAVE CANDY!" Twilight paused, breathed deeply, and slowly regained her composure from her outburst. She noted that she definitely had a headache, as evidenced by the pulsing pain coming from her forehead. She'd pay for it later by ignoring it. "Why don't we try to discuss this like grown mares, and the princesses that we are?"
"Very well," Luna replied somewhat absently, still in shock at Twilight's outburst. Both Luna and Celestia trotted closer to Twilight, though they both kept their distance from each other.
"Luna, state your thoughts," Twilight commanded, leaving no room for argument.
"You already heard what caused this incident."
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Celestia cut her off. "She wanted to launch a military incursion to recapture him."
"I am talking, Celestia." Twilight snapped, Celestia clenched her jaw. "We will get to that in a minute. What was your reasoning for releasing him?" Twilight inquired, already knowing the answer. She then braced herself for the potential argument that would come from this.
"Diplomatic relations." Celestia calmly replied.
"So then, Celestia did what she had to do to preserve peace?" Twilight began formulating a plan to end this argument, and thus solve another friendship problem.
"Yes," Celestia answered with a smile.
"Your version of peace involves letting murderers run free? In that case, I would hate to see what your version of strife is," Luna coldly spat. Celestia turned to her sister to rebuke her.
"And your version of peace involves invading other countries to recapture somepony who hasn't been proven guilty!" Celestia shouted in exasperation. "Luna, your idea of peace would be a reign of terror. Racism, isolationism, and desolation would be all you would bring." Celestia stated matter of factly.
Luna's jaw hit the floor. Even Twilight recoiled at that rebuttal. Luna regained her composure more quickly than Twilight, "YOU... INSOLENT PONY!" Luna shouted at her sister, "YOU SIT HERE HIGH UPON YOUR THRONE, NEVER ONCE CARING FOR INDIVIDUAL PONIES, INSTEAD CHOOSING TO MINGLE WITH NOBLES! ONLY EVER CONCERNING YOURSELF WITH PONIES WHO HAVE BITS, POWER, OR SOMETHING YOU WANT, YOUR SO CALLED GRAND PLAN CARES NOTHING FOR THE PONIES WHO COUNT ON YOU!"
"My grand plan, as you call it, is for peace, harmony, and friendship, for all," Celestia's voice was laced with venom. Luna ruffled her wings. Twilight's mouth was agape, and she still had not recovered from Celestia's earlier comment. She had expected Celestia to rebuke Luna not to outright insult her in such a pointed way.
"Peace, harmony, and friendship?" Luna scoffed, "You really showed friendship when I needed you most, before my fall to Nightmare Moon. Thank you, thank you OH SO MUCH FOR THAT!"
"It was your duty to lower the moon, and mine to raise the sun, to bring day so my ponies could live their lives in light-"
"Your... Ponies..." Luna laughed, one that was somewhere between insane and, are you kidding me. "We'll see about that, Celestia. We'll see."
"Twilight, you may need to go get your friends and The Elements Of-" Celestia was cut off by a firm rebuke by Luna.
"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS! I WOULD NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!" Luna shouted in the Royal Caunterlot Voice. The hurt that Luna felt imbued in her words would have been strong enough to make an adult dragon take notice.
"Luna..." Celestia started, realizing her mistake, "I'm... Sorry."
Luna shook her head, shaking the barely withheld tears from her eyes, then steeled her resolve. "Sorry does not solve everything, sister," Luna softly spoke. Rage began building up in Luna's mind as she relived all the bad times between her and her sister, she clenched her eyes shut at how her sister abandoned her to her fate as Nightmare Moon. 'Never again...' Luna opened her eyes, they were filled with determination, "All the hardships we've faced... All the trials, and tribulations we've faced together... All the times you've thought less of me..." Luna spat with hatred, "I'm done." Luna lit her horn, "We will see each other again soon, Celestia. Expect my return." With that Luna teleported away.
Celestia blinked and then shook her head. The room suddenly got darker. looking up and over to a nearby window, the moon was beginning to block out the sun. Celestia grit her teeth. The moon continued on its course, and slowly the sun was returned. The message was clear.
"Twilight, we need to-"
"No," Twilight firmly answered. Celestia turned to look at her with a confused look, she opened her mouth, but Twilight shut it with her magic. "You brought this on yourself, Celestia. You were both acting like foals throwing a tantrum. You take me for granted and completely disregard my opinions. I'm not helping you... Nor Luna... She's too emotional to rule." Twilight paused, attempting to salvage her train of thought from its sudden derailment. Sadly, there were few survivors of the crash. Twilight held Celestia's muzzle closed for a few seconds while formulating a new plan. "Neither of you are competent rulers... You sent six young mares and a baby dragon to stop Nightmare Moon... And again, you sent six young mares, not the military, to stop a slumbering dragon... Again, and again, Celestia... While I can't hate you for your choices, as they are responsible for bringing me understanding the value of friendship... You are still my friend, I just don't see you as fit to rule. You ignored both our opinions." She shook her head.
"I'm sorry. Consider this a formal declaration of secession." Twilight swallowed the growing knot in her throat and forced her emotions back into check. The hurt expression on Celestia's face only helped deepen the wound Twilight felt from having to do that. Celestia had been her mentor, and despite how much frustration she had caused, she still looked up to her. At least a little bit. 'It was the right choice, Twilight.' she told herself. Twilight released her magic grip on Celestia, her jaw immediately fell agape.
"Tw... Twilight... You... You can't be serious..." Celestia couldn't fathom what was happening this instant. Her wings fell limp at her sides, the weight of the situation still not fully being realized.
The door burst open, and a guard ran in, panting. Both heads turned to see what had caused the disturbance.
"Princesses..." The guard panted, then regained his composure, "The... The moon..."
"We know." Twilight coolly answered.
"That's not all, your highness... Princess Luna was sighted teleporting to the guard barracks."
Both Twilight and Celestia's eyes shot wide open at that.
"What!?" the shouted in unison, Celestia rushed forwards, stopping beside Twilight, momentarily forgetting about what had just happened between the two.
"She's going to try to convince the guards to support her," Celestia spoke calmly. She shook her head, "They won't follow her. Regardless, we should-"
"You should." Twilight corrected.
Celestia looked away from the guard, and focused her gaze on Twilight. Her heart beat a little faster, she feared she would have no control over what happened next. She glanced to the guard. "Please leave us. Assemble my council as soon as possible."
The guard saluted, "At once, your highness." the guard quickly galloped out of the room to perform the tasks asked of him.
"Twilight, this isn't the best time for you to-"
"Princess Celestia, I assume we have a mutual grace period?" Twilight inquired while pondering all that had happened.
"Twilight... Please, don't do this... I know I messed up... But isn't that a bit extreme?" Celestia pleaded.
"Possibly, but I think I understand what Luna felt one thousand years ago a little better... You brought this on yourself. I'm not saying you're a terrible ruler, you've done a good job with Equestria... But you've made so many mistakes. I used to believe you were perfect..." Twilight looked away from Celestia and took a deep breath. After a few seconds she continued, "And Celestia, I am sorry, but I have to believe this is for the best... I believe I would be a better candidate than you for leading Equestria and with the help of my friends..." Twilight trailed off with a solemn smile.
"Twilight... Do you realize what you're doing? You must know I cannot allow you to secede from Equestria... I will be forced to fight you over this..."
"I know... I don't want that, but as a princess, I have to put Equestria before myself." Twilight looked to her hooves, "I will still consider both you and Luna my friends."
"I'd like to believe that, Twilight... But I will have to come after both you and Luna."
"You're making another mistake." Twilight stated with frustration, "We don't know what state Equestria- your Equestria will be in after today, nor do we know where loyalties of the ponies lay..." Twilight countered.
Celestia clenched her jaw. Twilight had practically scolded her, and she was right, she was making assumptions... "Twilight, I will have to come for you eventually, however."
"None of us want blood to be shed, but... You refused to consider my suggestions, and you antagonize Luna, you completely disregarded that we are supposed to be your equals." Twilight sighed, "You antagonized Luna a thousand years ago, and look what happened. This time? It's worse, you didn't just ignore us, you did not care enough to see what was happening."
Celestia felt the familiar pain of loss, a growing knot in her throat. She blinked, inhaled deeply, then exhaled. She was the ruler of Equestria, the protector of the pony races. She had thousands of years of experience to draw upon, while Luna had over a thousand less, and Twilight next to none. They wouldn't listen to reason, she would have to show them, prove to them that she was right. That didn't make it any easier. "I am doing what is best for Equestria."
Twilight found the frustration she felt earlier dying away. It was being replaced by nervousness and the crushing weight of realizing what was happening. Celestia's attempted justification almost caused her frustration to flare again. Almost. She could see the pain in her eyes as she said that. Celestia had felt loss, giving up of her own for the good of Equestria. Twilight wouldn't blame her for that, only her mistakes. Twilight sighed, "Well... We all have things to get to... Every moment we delay gives Luna that much more time to do... whatever it is she's doing..."
Twilight stepped forwards and embraced Princess Celestia, her former mentor, friend, and adoptive mother figure. Twilight and Celestia both hoped this was not the last time, despite how things had been going recently. They both feared it would be.
Twilight broke off the embrace and stepped back, lighting her horn.
"War changes ponies, Twilight... I've seen it before..." Celestia warned.
Twilight smiled sadly and cast her teleportation spell, teleporting to the castle courtyard. She had a lot of work to do, preparing for what was to come, she would need to build an empire from the ground up. And she was starting with next to nothing, she couldn't even be assured that Ponyville would follow her, though she knew in her heart they would. She shook her head and spread her wings, then beat them and started flying back to Ponyville.
The flight back to Ponyville seemed to last forever. It felt like all the dread in the world was riding on her back. Even the air felt wrong. Fortunately, word of what had transpired had yet to reach Ponyville, which she found unsurprising. Although there was a sense of unease prevailing the town, probably caused by the moon temporarily blocking out the sun.
But on a happy note, her headache had left her.
Upon reaching her castle, she relaxed a little, unaware up to that point how tense she had been. The castle was empty. 'Not for much longer.' She thought. "Spike! Time to make a new checklist!"
Spike sighed and quickly pulled out a blank piece of paper and quill from a nearby desk. "Ready whenever you are, Twilight."
Twilight began dictating. "Gather friends quickly to inform them about what's going on before news of the secession reaches Ponyville." Twilight paused for Spike to finish writing, "Talk to Mayor Mare about my secession. And finally." Twilight paused, and lowered her voice slightly due to nervousness, "Address the ponies of Ponyville about what has happened and my secession."
Spike wrote everything down oblivious to the meaning of secession. He finished writing; handing the checklist over to Twilight. She took it in her magic. "What'd you succeed at this time, Twilight?" Spike asked happily.
Twilight coughed, she had forgotten to tell him about what was going on, she added Spike to her mental checklist for when telling her friends about what was going on. "I'll tell you when we gather the others."
"Okay then." Spike paused and followed Twilight as she set out to find her friends while formulating a plan for telling them. "So what's this about anyway?" He asked, "Does it have something to do with the moon blocking out the sun earlier?"
"Yes... It does." Twilight answered uneasily.
Finding all of her friends wasn't an easy task, she had only found Rarity and Applejack before resorting to magic to locate them, once she had it didn't take long for her to gather them and bring them back to the castle. She brought them to the map room, and they each took a seat on their respective thrones, providing a seemingly fit location for her to tell them. The crystalline chairs seemed to shine more brightly than normally when Twilight sat down, almost as if the castle knew what had happened and approved. 'Probably just my imagination.' Twilight thought.
"So why have you gathered us here, Twilight? Something about the moon blocking out the sun earlier I reckon?" Applejack inquired after they had all taken their seats, the atmosphere conveyed unease, yet had a calming touch.
"Yes, that is part of why I've gathered you all here... The full story is a bit of a long one, so I'll just start with what happened today in Canterlot..." Twilight paused and looked around, upon seeing no objections she continued, "Celestia and Luna were in another argument when I arrived... It was heated, it was probably a good thing I arrived when I did, otherwise..." Twilight trailed off, "They had a disagreement on how to deal with a criminal. Long story short, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna got into an argument, again, and all the frustration and anger that had been building for months, maybe years, came to a head. Princess Luna all but said she was seceding from Equestria..." Twilight paused at the gasps from her friends, nopony spoke up, so she continued, "Which brings us to the main reason I called you all here... After seeing what transpired, and taking into account the facts that Princess Celestia ignored my input and Princess Luna is very... Passionate... I feel neither of them are fit to lead Equestria, and as such, I have seceded from Equestria."
"You what?" Rarity dramatically fainted, lifting a hoof to her head, then falling back gently onto her throne. Suspiciously gently. Rarity was a good actor, but sometimes she could be overly dramatic. Twilight was only half sure her reaction was too dramatic.
"Oh my..." Fluttershy promptly hid in her mane.
Pinkie Pie blinked.
Applejack raised an eyebrow.
"Awesome!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she leaped into the air. Upon realizing nobody else was cheering she looked down and quickly returned to her throne and nervously chuckled, "Uh, what's that mean anyway?"
"It means she's no longer technically a Princess of Equestria, and is now an enemy of it, and that a state of war exists between her and Equestria..." Rarity dramatically answered as she straightened herself.
"Oh... Wow..." Rainbow Dash sat back in her chair to take it in.
"Woohoo! Secessionist party!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she jumped up in her throne. When she landed, she pulled out a green general's hat, decorated with a red five-pointed star on the front, and put a mustache on her muzzle, and then broke out into a smile.
"Pinkie! I'm not Josef Stallion..." Twilight raised a hoof to her head, attempting to prevent a headache from forming.
"Well of course not, silly!"
"Twilight, you sure this is a wise idea?" Applejack asked suspiciously eyebrow still rasied.
"Not completely, no." Twilight paused to look at each of her friends. "But none of you have to stand by me if you don't want to. I won't force this on you." Twilight firmly stated, not wanting her friends to possibly have to pay for her mistakes.
"Are you kidding me? Of course we'll stand by you, what're friends for?" Rainbow Dash shot over to Twilight and hugged her, followed by the rest of her friends.
"With as stressed out as you have been whenever you came back from dealing with them... And hearing about them ignoring your suggestions, you honestly think we wouldn't support you, darling?" Rarity smiled slyly. Twilight smiled back.
"So what's the plan, Twilight?" Applejack asked after the hug ended.
"I... Plan to have a plan." Twilight paused, "It's not like I've done this sort of thing before... Don't look at me like that, I've never tried to start my own nation before..." Twilight shifted her weight in response to having everypony looking at her.
"You'll figure it out, darling... But, do try to hurry... I don't want to have to worry about Celestia coming and taking you away with her army..." Rarity voiced her concern.
"Neither Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, nor I are in a position to begin hostilities yet... Luna immediately went to the barracks. The Night Guard is far more loyal to her than Celestia, so she probably took a decent force with her."
"And you didn't." Applejack noted.
"To be honest, the thought didn't cross my mind." Twilight paused and smiled at a realization, "Which isn't necessarily a bad thing... I'm not a threat currently, when Luna makes her opening moves, if Celestia lets her get that far, she will have to confront her... She likely won't be able to deal with us for a while, Luna was very, very upset.." Twilight nodded to herself and began formulating a contingency plan should this not be the case.
"So what's next then?" Rarity asked.
"I need to talk with Mayor Mare, and then address Ponyville... I plan on setting up my capitol here, and I'll need their support... And the support of as many ponies as I can get..." Twilight paused, checking her mental lists, "Well, I also need to talk to Mayor Mare and address the citizens of Ponyville before word of my secession arrives."
Twilight stared out across the crowd that had gathered for her announcement, the massive sea of ponies brought notice to the fact that everypony living in Ponyville had assembled for her speech. She looked over her shoulder to her right viewing her friends, they each gave her a reassuring smile, she smiled back weakly, her speech here had a lot resting on it. The speech she had prepared, with Mayor Mare's approval, of course, would be her attempt to rally Ponyville to her cause. She was beginning to feel heavy as if the weight of the world was resting on her shoulders. She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and slowly let it out while extending a hoof out, then reopened her eyes, feeling refreshed. She looked over at Mayor Mare, who nodded. It was time to begin.
Twilight stepped forwards to the microphone, she tapped it with a hoof, earning a high-pitched whining noise from the speakers. 'Okay, microphone's working... Check.' Twilight's eyes skimmed the crowd briefly, it was a stalling tactic and she knew it.
"Hello, everypony." Twilight opened, "I asked you all to gather here so that I may address you all with a very serious matter, involving what happened with the Sun and Moon earlier, I promise I will explain everything to the best of my abilities, all that I ask, is that you hear me out." She paused and looked over the crowd, everypony was eagerly awaiting her to continue. "Early this morning, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had an argument, the result of that argument was Princess Luna having the moon momentarily blocking out the sun, and heading to the Royal Guard barracks in Canterlot." She paused once more bracing herself for the next parts, "Princess Luna has seceded from Equestria. Both Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna are to blame for this, as a result of this, along with a long list of incidents over the years which bring into question both princesses judgment, I have declared my secession from Equestria." A low murmur flowed through the crowd. Twilight calmly raised a hoof, eliciting silence. "As such, I have come to ask that Ponyville as a whole to follow me, but I will not force anypony to do so if they do not feel like it. You all know me... I consider each and every one of you friends. You know I would never do this if I didn't think it was necessary." A murmur of agreement flowed through the crowd. Twilight looked over to her friends, they each stepped forwards.
"We all stand with Princess Twilight Sparkle." They stated in unison. The effect that the rest of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony supporting Twilight's secession was immediately noticeable, as any frowns in the crowd were instantly vanquished, to be replaced with smiles.
'It seems they have more faith in us as a whole than Celestia or Luna...' Twilight noted and hoped that their faith was not misplaced. She turned her head and nodded at Mayor Mare, who then trotted forwards.
"We will be holding a voting session, to vote on whether to follow Princess Twilight Sparkle in her secession or not. Nopony will be judged for how they vote. If you feel any objection to how the vote goes, you don't have to stay here if you don't want to." Mayor Mare quickly finished her part and stepped back, allowing Twilight the crowd's full attention once again.
"Thank you for hearing me out. And thank you for everything, regardless of how the vote goes, I will always consider Ponyville my home, and all of you my friends." Twilight smiled as she finished and trotted off away from the platform, followed closely by her friends, Mayor Mare would remain to oversee the voting.
Applejack trotted up to Twilight and put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder, "That was a great speech, Twilight."
"It didn't feel like it..." Twilight mumbled dejectedly.
"Are you kidding, Twilight? Didn't you see how everypony looked? You convinced them to follow you for sure!" Rainbow Dash's excitement was contagious, and Twilight quickly found her mood raised.
"Thanks..." She smiled and pulled her friends into a group hug. "I couldn't have done this without you girls helping me. Without you supporting me, I wouldn't have been able to go through with this..." She trailed off as she pulled out of the hug.
"Regardless of how it goes darling, we'll be there for you." Rarity smiled at Twilight, eliciting a nod from all of her friends, "Now... We just have to wait on the results of the vote... Don't worry, Twilight, they'll follow you for sure."
"We're national heroes several times over." Rainbow Dash leaped into the air, "Do you know how awesome that is?" She asked while waving her hooves around, almost as if it was the most obvious question in the world. "Plus I support you, which makes you all that much cooler." She smiled. "So of course you'll get their support." Rainbow's ego-stroking speech, while brash, had the desired effect and lifted the mood of the group.
"Thanks, Rainbow. I needed that." Twilight paused and held her head higher, "It's just so easy to fret about this..." sighing she shook her head, and locked the thought away to deal with later.