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Destati1,904 words
Unexpected Refugees1,982 words
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Unexpected Refugees

Shrinking Violet busily arranged the flowers in front of her shop, humming softly to herself.

“Hey there, Violet!” Violet looked up.

“Oh, hi, Morning Glory,” she said, waving at the grinning mare who trotted up to her from down the street. Glory looked up at the sky.

“Looks like rain.”

“Well, the weather team’s been behind all month. We were supposed to get showers two days ago.”

“Let me help you set up your canopy.” The two ponies erected a colorful tarp awning over the flowers, just as it began to rain.

“Would you like to come in for some tea?” Violet offered. “I only have chamomile, I hope that’s all right.”

“Well, I’m certainly not going to the bank now,” Glory said. “Why don’t we sit out here?” She sat down at the wooden table in front of the shop. “I love sitting outside in the rain.”

Violet chuckled. “Just as long as we’re not in the rain, right? I’ll be right back, I put the tea on the stove before you got here. It should be done by now.” Violet entered her shop, reemerging within two minutes, a tray with two teacups held firmly in her teeth. She placed it on the table and sat, and the two mares quietly sipped their tea, staring out into the rain.

“Hey, you hear about that mixer at Sua Rey’s tonight? Apparently half the single ponies in Las Pegasus are going to be there.” Glory raised an eyebrow suggestively. “Maybe you can meet somepony!” she said in a sing-song voice.

Violet took a sip of her tea, averting her gaze. “Yeah… I think I’ll pass.”

“Oh, come on, Violet, it wouldn’t kill you to get back out there. When’s the last time you went on a date?”

Violet blushed. “Well…”

A grin crept across Glory’s face. “Violet, you dog! Are you seeing somepony?”

Violet chuckled and looked up. “Well, actually…” Her voice trailed off as she heard the sound of distant footsteps. Her ears perked up.

“Do you hear that?” She asked, turning around to look down the road behind her.

“Yeah, what is that?” Glory leaned to the side, the side of her mane swinging out into the rain.

In the distance, the two ponies could make out the silhouette of an enormous throng of large, bulky creatures, outlined hazily by the rain.

“What are those?”

As the creatures drew nearer, they became clearer. They resembled bears, with white midsections and faces, and black legs and forearms, and black ears and large black spots around their eyes. A large number of the bears wore conical straw hats atop their heads.

“Are those… bears? Why are they colored so weird?”

The bears continued to grow closer, and entered the city. Violet and Glory stared as they approached them and stopped. The lead bear turned to them, revealing a long, beard-like tuft of white fur growing from his chin. He had an x-shaped patch of hairless scar tissue below his left eye. His piercing eyes stared at Violet, who shivered in fear.

“Ponies,” he said slowly. Glory noticed that he had a long staff made of some sort of plant in a sling over his waist. “Are we correct in assuming that we have arrived in Equestria?” He spoke in an accent that neither of the ponies had heard before.

“Y… yes,” Glory stammered.

“Very well. Which way to your capital?”

Violet wordlessly pointed down the road, still shivering.

“Many thanks, my equine friends.” He bowed his head before turning back to the road, silently marching on as the crowd followed him. As they passed, many of the bears looked at Glory and Violet in confusion, as though they’d never seen ponies before. Violet and Glory stared after them for almost a full minute after they’d disappeared from sight, mouths still agape.

“What in the world was that all about?”

O O O O

Princess Celestia sat in the Chamber of Repose, kneeling in front of the black suit of armor. She rested her head on the edge of the dais and closed her eyes, letting the memories of her past wash over her.

“Daddy, Mommy, you’re home!” The small white alicorn filly jumped up and down as her parents walked through the door, absolutely beaming.

“Guess what, Celestia?” her mother said.

“What? What?”

“You’re going to have a new baby sister!”

“Ohmigosh! I can’t believe it!” Celestia leapt into the air and hugged her parents around their necks, hanging several inches up off the ground.

“Careful now, Celestia,” her father warned, levitating her into the air with his magic. “You don’t want to hurt your mother.”

“Oh, you don’t need to be so overprotective, Sunspot,” Celestia’s mother said, brushing his black mane out of his eyes. “I’m not due for another nine months, no need to dote on me just yet.”

“I’m just being cautious, Astronomia, dear. Even we alicorns need to take it easy sometimes.”

“Have you picked out a name?” Celestia asked excitedly, running circles around her parents’ hooves.

“Settle down, dear,” Sunspot said. Celestia plopped to the ground in front of them, looking up at her parents expectantly.

“We’re going to name her… Luna.”

“That’s such a pretty name!”

“We’re glad you like it.”

“I can’t wait to have a new baby in the house!”

Sunspot frowned. “Actually, I was thinking it might be a good idea to move out of–” Astronomia cleared her throat loudly, cutting off her husband.

“Not in front of Celestia,” she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. She beckoned him to their bedroom, and they closed the door behind them. Celestia followed quietly, pressing her ear to the space between the floor and the bottom of the door.

“…just saying, with everything that’s been going on, it might be a good idea to get away from the Capital.”

“We can’t just pack up and leave! Especially not now!”

“I’m just saying, it’s getting awfully dangerous. Ever since that race traitor joined the King–”

“Shh! You never know who might be listening!”

“Anyway, all I’m saying is that it would be better to raise a family in safety. Away from this city.”

“But all of our family and friends are here!”

“I was talking to Starswirl and his family the other day, and they’re leaving tomorrow night.”

“Well, that’s good for them,” Astronomia said huffily. “But we are staying.”

“Fine.” Celestia heard her parents walking for the door, and quickly ran to her room.

“Princess?”

Celestia picked her head off of the dais, snapping back to attention. She left the Room of Repose and walked through the Hall of Memories to find Sunbeam waiting for her outside.

“You’ve been spending an awful lot of time in there lately, Your Majesty.”

“I see your wing is all better,” she said, changing the subject.

“Yeah,” he said, flexing it. “Back in the day, I would’ve been back in the sky a couple days after a sprain like that.”

“Time marches on,” Celestia said. “You were calling for me?”

“Oh, yes,” he said, standing at attention. “I received an urgent message from the city gates. And quite frankly, I don’t know what to make of it.”

“Yes?”

The Admiral scratched his head. “Apparently there is a large group of creatures at the gates. Some hundreds of them.”

“Hundreds? What creatures?”

“I’ve never heard of them before, Your Majesty. They call themselves… pandas?”

Celestias eyes widened. “P… pandas?”

“They look like white bears, according to my messenger. But with black–”

“Spots and stripes, yes.”

Sunbeam raised an eyebrow. “You… know these creatures?”

“Hold them at the gates for the time being, but have them send an emissary to be escorted to the throne room,” she said, turning and walking away purposefully.

“Princess, I–”

“Now, Sunbeam.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.” Sunbeam did a quick salute before zooming off in the opposite direction.

Celestia sat in her throne, alone in the room. She stared at the imposing double doors opposite her. She suddenly shifted in her throne, to a pose she thought seemed more intimidating.

Within ten minutes, the doors opened. A panda with a long beard, facial scar and straw hat walked in, flanked by Admiral Sunbeam and another pegasus guard. The Admiral walked up to the Princess and stood at her side, while the other guard took several steps back.

“You are Princess Celestia?” the panda asked, slowly and deliberately.

“I am. I must admit, I’m more than a little surprised to see the Eastern Pandas here in Equestria.”

“I have no doubt you are,” the panda scoffed. “After all, you Equestrians kicked us off of our land over a thousand years ago, did you not?”

“Show some respect!” Sunbeam bellowed. “You stand before the most powerful pony in Equestria!”

“It’s all right, Sunbeam,” Celestia said. “I have little doubt that this is the ruler of the pandas, which would place him on equal footing with me.”

“Emperor Swiftpaw.”

“Well then, Emperor Swiftpaw, I expect you know that I restored your land to your people when I came into sovereignty?”

“While true, it is the actions of the Equestrian ruler before you that drove many of my people to their deaths.”

“Need I remind you that the ruler before me was not of ponykind?”

“Be that as it may, you still owe our people.”

Celestia sighed. “I can’t imagine you’d bring an army for simple negotiations.”

“Army? Hardly. The bulk of my army remains at home. I have brought with me mostly women, children and elderly.”

Celestia was slightly taken aback by this, though she retained her calm and detached demeanor. “Why have you left your army?”

The Emperor sighed. “I suppose there’s no use in beating around the bush any longer. The truth is, Ursaxia is under attack.”

“Attack? By whom?”

“I believe our enemy to be the Heartless.”

Celestia’s eyes widened. “Oh no.”

“It is not yet a large threat,” the Emperor continued. “They have yet to claim even a single life. But they are becoming a nuisance, destroying crops and terrorizing my provinces. The Imperial Army is kept busy destroying them, yet they continue to appear. I have evacuated the major provinces as a safety precaution, but much of my population remains behind. They have the protection of the army, but if history repeats itself, the Heartless will only grow bolder in number and in action.”

“So you and your people seek refuge within my kingdom.”

The Emperor sighed. “Yes. If I had been told a year ago that I would soon be asking for aid from the Equestrians, I would not have believed it.”

Celestia was silent for a moment before turning to Sunbeam.

“I want you to put up the pandas in the lower levels of the Capital. The Emperor and his family will stay here in the castle.” She looked back up at Swiftpaw. “Do you find this acceptable?”

“I do,” he said. “And, I must admit, I am both surprised and grateful for your generosity.”

“The Heartless would destroy everything in their path. Regardless of past differences, we must stand together now.”

Swiftpaw nodded, grunting affirmatively. “It is good to see the ruler of Equestria is one so wise as yourself.” He turned and left the room, the pegasus guard following him.

“After you’ve found accommodations for the Emperor and his subjects, I want you to send a transport for the Keyblade bearers and Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia said to Sunbeam.

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Sunbeam said, saluting before leaving the throne room. As soon as the doors closed, Celestia sighed, letting her shoulder sag.

The war is starting.

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