The People's Republic of Twilightlicious

by GeodesicDragon

Confrontation

"You made the right choice, Princess," Raymond said, watching as Geo entered the room with his guards and stood in front of the desk. Celestia and Luna sat nearby, the looks of pure hatred on their faces being ignored completely by the Herald.

"Maybe so, Raymond, but at what cost?" Twilight sighed. "Jock is missing, millions have died and it now looks like my homeland is going to suffer the same fate as the Paradise."

Raymond laid a comforting hand on Twilight's back. "You did your best, standing up to that snake, but even you have your limits," he said. "Nonetheless, I'm sure that your deeds will be recorded in the history of our nation and the memories of its people."

At the mention of 'snake,' Twilight's ears perked up and a small smile made its way onto her lips for the briefest of moments — only to vanish when Geo cleared his throat impatiently.

"These are the terms of your surrender," he said. "Number one: your land is to be split between the Apocalypse and its allies. I told them that they would be rewarded for their assistance, and I am a man of my word. Number two: I want you to fork over every bit you've got, because I need to recover my losses. War isn't cheap, you know. Number three: You will turn over the wreckage of the Hurricane you shot down, and don't even think about trying to hide any of the pieces; I know those things like the back of my hand."

"If that's what it takes to avoid complete and total nuclear annihilation, so be it," Twilight replied. "All I ask in return is that you return control of the Equestrian Paradise to Celestia and Luna, release all your prisoners of war – including Jock – and ask your allies to end their blockade of my ports."

"First of all, Princess, Jock is not in any of my POW camps," Geo said sternly. "Secondly, what makes you think that you have the right to sit there and make demands of me?"

"You are asking for so much from me, so it's only fair I get a little in return." Twilight narrowed her eyes. "Besides, you haven't even started talking about what you really want from me."

"The portal?" Geo asked, to which Twilight nodded. "Well, yes, of course I want unrestricted access to that as well — but there are plenty of other things that we need to work out first."

Twilight stood up and walked around to the front of her desk. "You know, Raymond here described you as a snake," she said. "And I have to say that I agree with him. You coil yourself around everything you come into contact with, and now you seek to coil yourself around me. But you seem to forget just who I am, Herald, as well as misunderstand the powers that I wield."

"You're only delaying the inevitable," Geo spat. "Get to the point."

"My friends will tell you that I read a lot of books," Twilight continued. "It's a part of my character, and coming here didn't change that one bit. The libraries here are stocked with countless books about animals, technology, politics, medicine... and history."

"History?" Geo raised an eyebrow. "What in the hell does that—"

Twilight screamed in fury as her horn suddenly exploded with magic, the resulting flash blinding everyone in the room for a moment. When it cleared, Twilight had changed completely. Her eyes were blood red, her coat was completely white, and her mane and tail were awash with fire. Geo's guards gasped.

"She's a demon!" one of them said.

"KILL HER!" another yelled. "Protect the Herald!"

All as one, the men raised their weapons and fired, sending bullets flying towards Twilight, who made no attempt to move. At the last second, her magic flared again — and the projectiles disintegrated completely upon impacting the shield she had erected.

"Keep firing, you idiots!" Geo shouted. "I should have known that this would have been a trick! Captain, get a message back to the Apocalypse and tell them to prepare the nukes for launch!"

Twilight began walking towards him, blasting his bodyguards with bolts of magic that sent them hurtling into walls at high speed. The captain hurriedly grabbed a nearby radio beacon, only to cry out in shock as the device was blown to pieces. He pulled out his sidearm and took aim, but a flash of purple was the last thing he saw before his world went black and he fell to the floor.

Geo watched as his men were thrown around the room like ragdolls, helpless in the face of Twilight's fury. While she was distracted with his captain, he pulled out his knife and threw it at her — only for the weapon to be reflected back at him, firmly embedding itself in his left shoulder.

He grunted and reached up to pull the blade out, but Twilight grabbed him in her magical aura. He looked at her defiantly, not showing any emotion in the face of overwhelming rage.

"I guess I did underestimate your powers," he said. "So, Princess Twilight, what now? Are you going to kill me?"

In a flash, Twilight had returned to normal. "No, Geo." she shook her head. "All I'm doing is cutting the head off the snake. From reading the books here, I happen to know that you don't have anyone named as your successor in the event of your demise or incapacitation — so if I was to throw you in jail, the resulting power vacuum in the Apocalypse would lead to civil war... meaning that nobody would even bother trying to rescue you."

To her surprise, Geo applauded. "Very good, Princess, you certainly have done your homework," he said. "And there was me thinking that books were worthless things."

Twilight sneered at him. "Any last words before I take you to the dungeons?" she asked mockingly. "It's a really nice place, Herald... in fact, it's probably better than you deserve."

"I do have some last words." Geo smiled. "Five, in fact."

There was a pause before Twilight spoke. "Well, what are they?"

Geo looked her in the eyes. "You've passed with flying colours."

Twilight looked back at him in confusion, her magic fading and allowing the Herald to regain control of his body. He pulled the knife out of his shoulder, not even flinching, and set it on the table.

"I've 'passed with flying colours?'" Twilight asked. "What does that even mean? Are you trying to trick me?"

Geo chuckled. "Would you two show yourselves already, before this crazy mare goes full-on flame pony again?"

"Answer me!" Twilight shouted. "What are you—"

The room filled once again with a burst of magic, only this time it was a mixture of white and blue. When it faded, two new arrivals stood in the centre of the room — arrivals whom Twilight gasped at.

"Princess Celestia? Princess Luna?" she looked around the room frantically. "Could somepony tell me what's going on here?"

"Congratulations, Twilight," Princess Celestia said. "You have proven without a shadow of a doubt that you are ready to lead Equestria should Luna and I be indisposed. We sent you here to test your mettle as a leader, and to see how you would cope in a crisis."

"Indeed," Princess Luna added. "And war is certainly a crisis — but given that Equestria is a peaceful nation, we had to improvise."

"So..." Twilight was dumbfounded. "This whole thing was a test?"

Princess Luna nodded. "Yes, Twilight," she said. "We wanted to see how far you would be willing to go to defend Equestria, and we can see now that you would do whatever it takes to protect our homeland. This entire war, Twilight... has been staged."

"Staged?!" Twilight screeched. "But... but how? I've seen footage of the Apocalypse and their allies bombing cities!"

"That was just old footage," Geo said. "It was filmed during the war we fought with Insignificance and the Paradise."

"Speaking of the Paradise, you took it over!" Twilight shouted. "I was there when you tried killing Celestia and Luna!"

"Again, all fake." Geo laughed. "To be honest, though, I wasn't actually expecting you to shoot down the Hurricane I sent after them. What was supposed to happen was: the pilot would fire a few volleys of bullets and a couple of missiles, and then he'd give up and return to the Apocalypse." He paused. "Think about it, Princess, the whole region has been in on this from the start."

"And what about Jock?" Twilight demanded. "Where is he?"

Geo walked over to the unconscious guard captain and pulled his balaclava off, revealing him to be none other than Jock. "Jock is right here," he said. "He was in on it too."

Twilight gasped and flared her magic again, rousing each of the guards back to consciousness. They all stood up slowly, looking around blearily before Geo addressed them.

"The truth is out now, men," he said. "Stand down and go wait in the corridor for me while I talk things out here."

"As you wish, Herald." the guards spoke in unison and left the room, leaving Jock standing next to Geo.

"Jock..." Twilight said. "Are you all right?"

Jock nodded. "Aye, Princess, I'm fine." he chuckled. "Sorry to have scared you like that, though, but I needed a cover story. By making you think that I was a prisoner, I knew I would be able to get into Twilightlicious without arousing suspicion."

Twilight sat down on the floor, completely stunned. Luna and Celestia walked over and sat next to her, each woman putting a comforting arm around the alicorn.

"We're sorry to have tricked you like this, Princess Twilight," Celestia said. "But we felt that this would be an ideal test of your leadership capabilities. You remained strong in the face of overwhelming odds, and for that we applaud you."

"Thank you." Twilight thought for a moment. "Wait, it's going to get confusing here now that we have two Celestias and two Lunas."

"Actually, 'Celestia' and 'Luna' are nicknames," Luna said. "When we were younger, we both had an interest in astronomy, so our parents – may they rest in peace – nicknamed me 'Luna,' because I was always talking about the moon, and they nicknamed my sister 'Celestia,' because she kept going on about 'celestial bodies.'"

"So..." Twilight wondered. "What are your real names?"

"I am called Tracy," Celestia said. "And my sister is called Sandra. So, to avoid confusion, you may address us as such."

NOTE: From this point onwards, any mention of 'Celestia' or 'Luna' will refer to the alicorn, and not the human.

"Very well, I will." Twilight turned to her fellow Princesses. "But one question still remains: why would you reach out to a dictator?"

"I understand that the Herald isn't exactly the sort of individual whom we would normally co-operate with," Celestia said. "But he was the only one who could help us issue such a test, given how his nation spends so much on its military power."

"So... he never really wanted to invade Equestria?" Twilight asked.

"I only wish to visit Equestria as a tourist, not an occupier," Geo said firmly. "I may be an oppressor, but that's only because of my predecessor, demented bastard that he was."

"You mean the man you killed?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Who was he, anyway? I don't recall you ever mentioning his name."

"He called himself 'King Sombra,'" Geo replied. "A name I believe you are all too familiar with." Twilight nodded, and he laughed. "It would seem that our universes have much more in common than I thought. Anyway, I killed Sombra because he went mad with power and tried embarking on a quest for world domination. He pissed off a lot of people, and the only way to save our nation was for him to die — and I was the only one who had the balls to do it. But because he had been in charge for so long, the people had actually grown to like the maniacal buffoon. This of course meant that I wasn't too popular once I took over... but, thankfully, much of the military supported me, seeing as they opposed his plans."

"So, basically... you are only oppressing your people because they hate your guts, and would rather have someone like Sombra back in power?" Raymond asked, to which Geo nodded. "Wow, and there was me thinking you were just a crazy son of a bitch."

"Oh, I am a 'crazy son of a bitch,' don't you worry about that." Geo grinned. "Besides, it was my ancestor who founded the Apocalypse in the first place. I was merely taking back what is rightfully mine, whilst making sure to tie up a few loose ends along the way." He walked over to Twilight. "But, yes, Princess, I was contacted by Celestia and Luna here to help teach you a lesson. And they are right when they say that Equestria would be perfectly safe and content in your capable hooves, should the situation call for it."

Twilight glanced at Raymond. "Were you in on this too?"

Raymond nodded. "Everybody was, Your Highness." he let out a chuckle. "Honestly, you have no idea how hard it was to keep the truth concealed until we felt you were ready to hear it."

Geo looked at the still bleeding wound on his shoulder. "In all honesty, I was going to tell you the truth when I 'accepted your surrender.' But when you attacked me – which I don't blame you for, given all you thought I'd done – I knew I had to come clean."

Jock took a bandage from one of the pouches on his belt and applied it to the injury. "You are quite a capable opponent, Princess Twilight," he said. "I should be lucky that you only knocked us out."

"In Equestria, we don't believe in taking lives unnecessarily," Twilight replied. "I do know offensive magic, but I would only ever use it as an extreme last resort; an example being that somepony had me pinned down and was hell-bent on ending my life."

"I understand." Jock finished applying the bandage to Geo's shoulder. "There you are, Herald, good as new."

"Thanks, Jock," Geo replied. "Now, I guess the next order of business is for me to withdraw my forces from all 'occupied' nations, and formally return control of the Equestrian Paradise to Sandra and Tracy." He grinned. "Did you like the name change?"

Sandra giggled. "It was quite amusing," she said.

"We weren't expecting you to go that far," Tracy added. "But I can't fault you for trying to make things look convincing."

"Where do we go from here, though?" Twilight asked. "If my test is over, then that means I will need to leave Twilightlicious and return to Equestria. But... who will lead the nation?"

"Well..." Raymond coughed. "I have a confession to make, Princess. I'm not an 'advisor' by any stretch of the imagination. Before we renamed this country in honour of you coming to lead it, it was called 'New Britannia...' and I was its leader."

Twilight gasped. "So that means..."

"I'm not just 'Raymond,' Twilight." Raymond laughed. "My full name and title is actually 'President Raymond Bullock,' and I must say that I am very pleased with what you have done to my nation. The people are happier than they've ever been, the economy flourishes and our trade is booming." He bowed. "I am honoured to have served both alongside and under you, Your Highness."

Twilight returned his bow. "The honour has been all mine, sir," she replied. "You have been a good friend to me, and I will not forget the kindness you and your people have shown."

Raymond nodded and sat down at the desk. "In recognition of all that you have done, the name of our nation will not be changed back after your departure," he said. "We will continue to proudly call our nation 'Twilightlicious,' in honour of one of the best leaders we have ever had; somepony who came to us and led us through what could have been a dark point in our history."

Twilight blushed. "I'm honoured," she whispered. "Thank you."

Geo applauded. "Well done, Princess," he said. "Now, I would very much like to talk to you, Celestia and Luna about visiting Equestria at some point; I have a lot of holiday time that I need to use."

"As long as you leave your army at home, Herald, we'll be happy to accommodate you." Twilight smiled slyly. "Shall we?"

"Not even one division?" Geo asked. "I have one-hundred and fifty-eight thousand of them, so I can spare one to..." He trailed off as he noticed the raised eyebrows on all three alicorns. "All right, fine, I'll just bring a few of my bodyguards."

Twilight giggled as the Herald followed her, Celestia and Luna into an adjoining room — happy that she had succeeded in her test, as well as the fact that friendship had prevailed once more.

Author's Note:

Surprise! The war was faked!

Surprise! Raymond is actually a King President!

Surprise! Geo isn't as bad as originally thought!

I told you there was a twist coming; I guess I should have used the plural.

EDIT (21/07/16): Someone else in the NationStates region where Twilightlicious is located raised a very good point — 'why does a Republic have a King?'

With this in mind, I've changed Raymond's job title.

Comments

[Amethyst Blade]

I knew something was fishy..

[Daralyn]

ech still dont know
Interesting concept but for me this was weird story
I would proly make this end twist differently
(In mind comes something like it is partial canon to geoverse where this game is really a virtual game made by Dr. Sorou exactly for this occation and Geo is actually a second player who immensly enjoys playing a badass dictator bacause it is fun to be a badass dictator)
But hey, not my story after all.