Alliance
The audience hall in Canterlot castle was completely quiet after Luna made her announcement. Princess Celestia stood there with a look of shock on her face. Her plan should have worked. Luna should have gone to see their mother, who would tell her to do the right thing. So, why wasn’t Luna doing that?
“S-Sister, I don’t understand,” stammered Celestia. Luna had, until this moment, had been looking at Celestia in a very calm manner. Like she was doing nothing out of the ordinary. But, as soon as Celestia spoke, her eyes narrowed slightly.
“Princess,” said Luna simply.
“I don’t understand,” replied Celestia.
“You will refer to me as Princess Luna,” stated Luna in a serious tone. “The mare that stands before you is a ruler of her own country and will be treated as such. Unless, of course, this is how you treat all delegates for other nations.”
“But, I don’t understand, sister,” said Celestia, earning a glare from the other mare. “Our nations should merge. Didn’t mother tell you-”
“She told me to do what is best for my little ponies,” interrupted Luna. “With your ability to plan things out for the long run, I’m surprised that you couldn’t see the problems with our two countries merging. There are just so many problems that if we did, it would only be a disaster.”
“Such as?” asked Celestia.
“First off is the way your ponies treat bat ponies and view the Republic,” began Luna. “Bat ponies are treated only slightly better than they were when I left. According to Twilight Sparkle’s report, your ponies believe that they are born thieves and scum.
“Then, there are of those rumors like drinking blood or having supernatural powers. You should also remember that I saw the state that poor filly was in. Rather than fixing the mess yourself, instead you passed it on to Princess Cadence, which speaks volumes to me. The bat ponies in the Republic will refuse to take this kind of injustice if we are to merge.
“While the view your ponies have of bat ponies is bad, their opinion of the Republic is far worse. The only time we are mentioned are in children’s books and are depicted as the boogey mare! That we come to Equestria once a year to eat foals and do horrible things. The books, that aren’t from the children’s fantasy section, say that we were the ones who set fire to Hoofshire and left to avoid being punished.
“In the end, the views your ponies have about mine are still the same. They see us as monsters! If our nations were to merge, then my ponies will eventually have nowhere left to run to. When that happens, they will fight back, which will result in a civil war, causing far more chaos than there is now!
“Then, there is the difference in our two countries’ technology. My ponies have almost perfected nanotechnology; have working anti-gravity technology, cold fusion generators, and, someday soon, inter-planetary travel. Your ponies, on the other hoof, have only recently realized that steam can be used as a power source. Not a very effective one, but still a power source just the same.
“My ponies have worked long and hard to develop what we have today. For your ponies to simply be granted access to this technology due to a merger would be a crime. You would not have earned it, and thus, have no respect for it. In the end, you and your ponies would either abuse it or be destroyed by it.
“Let’s not forget how different our governments are. You have your nobles, while I have my senate. My ponies are used to voting for their government officials. They are used to having a say in how their government is run. How do you think they will feel when your nobles take over? Once again, all I can see ahead of us is more fighting leading to bloodshed.
“Lastly, Princess Celestia, there is the simple fact that I don’t trust you. When I first came to this castle, I found out that you had done very little to fix the mess that was created over a thousand years ago. I then found out you were withholding even more information that was important to the merger. You not only invaded my country, but also my dreams. You attempted to manipulate my actions to suit your needs, as though I were a chess piece. Nor will I allow you to do the same to my subjects!
“Even now, you only see me as your little sister. For years, I ruled beside you and later built a nation, which I ruler over for the past thousand years. Yet, still you treat me like a filly, only telling me what you think I am able to handle or should know. You keep the details to your great plans a secret, never truly trusting anypony else. If that is how you intend to treat me, then this merger will defiantly not take place. I will not be shoved into a corner, as you make decisions over my little ponies that I have ruled over for a thousand years.”
As Luna spoke, Celestia hung her head in shame. Everything her sister was saying was true. There were so many differences between the two countries that just merging them together would just cause more problems than solving them. Normally, Celestia would have thought that Luna was speaking in anger, but that wasn’t the case this time. Her sister had spoken to her calmly, and in a well thought out manner.
But, was Luna right about how she treated her?
Back when they both started to rule over Equestria, Luna had no idea what she was doing. So, she had helped her sister out, gently guiding her without her knowing. Yet, as time went on, she had never stopped. She never considered that Luna, the rash and easily angered pony, didn’t always need her help. She never thought that Luna could have her own ideas that might be better than her own.
Celestia then began to think about other things. Like with Sombra and the Crystal Empire. Even to this day, Celestia believed that she made the right choice in not killing the evil emperor.
However, perhaps she should have made Luna feel like she was being heard. Or, maybe even tell her about the spies. Just the act of including her might have made her feel like she really was a co-ruler. That she wasn’t sitting in a corner as Celestia ran things.
But now, it was too late and Celestia knew it. It was time for her to accept the truth. The alicorn in front of her wasn’t the same filly she used to read stories to calm her down when it was storming outside. Instead, there was a mare who had worked hard every day of her life. One who had built a powerful nation out of nothing. Standing before her was the ruler of the Lunar Republic, Princess Luna.
“That being said,” continued Luna, “we cannot leave things as they are.” When Celestia heard that, her head whipped up at lightning speed. She stared at Luna with a mixture of shock and hope.
“What do you mean by that?” asked Princess Celestia.
Luna dug her hoof into the floor for a moment before speaking. “What I mean is that if things remain as they are, it will only get worse. You saw what happened a thousand years ago, to the ponies who enjoyed my nights. After a few years, hostility began to grow. Sooner or later, the same thing might happen again. My senators believe that, for the moment, we are safe.”
Celestia nodded. “It takes a great amount of magic to travel to the moon,” she said. “It’s not something an average unicorn can do.” She didn’t bring up the teleportation spell defenses that she knew the Republic had. They had been able to redirect her spell into an anti-magic cell with ease.
However, as she thought about this, Celestia began to wonder if that kind of defenses were only at the castle. It made some sense since it would keep out anypony who might try to sneak in and cause trouble. But, if it were everywhere, then it would be a great inconvenience to other unicorns. Or, at least that was her assumption.
“But, several unicorn working together would stand a better chance,” Luna said. “I am many things, Princess Celestia. But, one of the things I am not is blind. I know how fragile the Republic truly is. If we are caught off guard, a single pony could do a considerable amount of damage.
“As I said, your ponies hate and fear mine. While I mostly blame you for that, I cannot deny holding some of that blame myself. I kept my ponies isolated in order to keep us safe. And, without the truth, the ponies in Equestria made it up themselves. This must be corrected as soon as possible.
“To do this, I will make this proposal: an alliance. It will be a small one at first. We will due light trading, as well as allow a few ponies to travel to each other’s nations. We will both be allowed to have an embassy as well.
“However, the Republic will not assist in your wars. Instead, we will provide a third party that will hopefully help avoid war. The only times the Republic will get involved is if there is a serious threat, like Discord. As time goes on, we will talk about adjusting this alliance, depending on how things either improve or get worse. Do you accept?”
“Yes!” cried Celestia happily. This wasn’t what she had really wanted, but it was better than nothing at all. In fact, having this alliance right now could really save Equestria.
“Very well then,” said Luna with a nod. “I will now be heading-”
“Before you go, Princess Luna,” interrupted Celestia quickly. “There is something that I must show you as part of our new found alliance.”
Luna eyed Celestia for a moment. While she did like the fact that Celestia was using her title, she was a little concerned. The last time she had been planet-side, she thought she had seen, as well as heard, the worst that was going on. Was Celestia hiding something else from her? Something worse than what has happening to bat ponies, as well as how her own ponies were being viewed?
At the very least, Celestia was now informing her. That was something at least. So, with a nod, Luna began to follow Celestia as she led the two out of the throne room.
-x-
“I DON’T BUCKING BELIEVE YOU!”
All over Canterlot, Luna’s voice could be heard. In the city area, the Canterlot locals, who normally walk around with their noses in the air, jumped up in fright. Many began to look around for the source of the noise, but couldn’t find anything other than hundreds of birds taking to the air. So, they did what seemed most logical to them, they stuck their noses back into the air, and continued along their way as if nothing had happened.
But, closer to Canterlot Castle, the effects of Luna’s voice could be more easily noticed. Many trees close to the royal garden had lost their leaves, and some had fallen over. The guards who were in the area had temporarily lost their hearing. Even Celestia herself was not immune to her sister’s volume as she was knocked back several yards with a ringing in her ears. In fact, the only thing that was still standing near the lunar princess was the statue of Discord, which now had several more cracks on it.
Luna herself was panting as she did her best to keep her anger in check. It had been a very, very long time since she had yelled like that. But, then again, it had been a long, long time since anything had angered her this much.
“I don’t believe this,” growled Luna. “Discord’s banishment was supposed to last for at least a few more years. How could you allow this to happen?! And, why is his statue out in the middle of a bucking garden in plain sight? What if some crazy cult stole him in order to resurrect him? And why-”
“You can berate me latter, Princess Luna,” said Celestia, struggling to stand up. “Don’t you think that patching up Discord takes a bit more priority?”
Luna snorted, but otherwise didn’t respond. She knew that Celestia was right. She turned to face the statue, and a few moments later, Celestia joined her. As soon as they were standing side by side their horns began to glow.
The two of them then began to focus all of their magic on the cracks, which began to glow either gold or blue. For several long minutes, the two princesses watched as the cracks began to shrink. Some even disappeared completely.
This took several long minutes to complete. When they were final finished, the two alicorns fell to the ground, panting. Yet, their relief was very short lived. They both heard the stone begin to crack again, and when they looked up, they saw some of the cracks that they fixed returning.
“This isn’t good,” growled Luna as she struggled to get back on her hooves. “I hoped we had at least a few years. But, by the looks of things, we will be lucky to have a few months.”
“Now you can see what we are dealing with,” said Celestia, walking over to her sister. “We must set aside our differences and work together, so we will be ready for the upcoming danger. Princess Luna, war might be in Equestria’s future. If that is to happen, Discord will be freed sooner. Bringing together the Elements of Harmony are our best bet right now.”
Luna glared at her sister. Oh, she was pissed. There was no doubt about that. But, she knew that this wasn’t the time to let her anger rule her. Grinding her teeth together, she had to admit that Celestia was right. That is, if she didn’t want to use Operation Umbrella.
“Very well, then,” said Luna. “So tell me, how do you propose we proceed?”
“We will go forward in the alliance you suggested,” replied Celestia. “I will gather my five Element holders, and have them sent to the Republic as part of a learning journey. While they are there, they can meet your Element holder, while at the same time getting to know the ponies of the Republic.
“That way, when they return, they can help change the views my ponies have of yours. While they are doing this, hopefully you can help me talk with the griffons, so that we can avoid war. Once they feel the spark of friendship, we shall bring them to where I have hidden the Elements of Harmony.”
“I have to admit, that does sound like the best course of action right now,” replied Luna. “Very well, then. But, just where are the Elements?”
“I have them hidden in our old, abandoned castle,” replied Celestia. Luna did not seem happy to hear this. A look of shock, rage, and horror appeared on her face.
“You mean to tell me that you left the most powerful objects, known to ponykind, in an old castle, where anypony can just walk up and take them?” demanded Luna as her eye began to twitch. “Not in a vault or anything like that? Please tell me they aren’t still on display where we left them a thousand years ago.” Rather than answering, Celestia looked away, causing Luna’s face to turn red. “Why the buck would you do something that BUCKING STUPID?!”
“Because no pony goes into the Everfree Forest anymore,” replied Celestia.
“That you know of!” snapped Luna.
“Princess Luna, please,” begged Celestia, pointing a hoof at the statue of Discord. Luna turned to look at it, finding there were more cracks in it.
“Fine,” said Luna through gritted teeth. “I will return to the Republic and inform Twilight what is going on.”
“Be sure not to tell her that she is the Element of Magic,” said Celestia.
Luna gaped at her sister. She figured that somepony like Celestia had a better chance at figuring out that Twilight would be the one to receive the Element of Magic, but it was still a shock to hear it.
“Are you asking me to lie and manipulate Twilight?” demanded Luna. Celestia nodded. “I refuse. Twilight is smart enough to handle this information. S-She is like a daughter to me. I trust her as much as she trusts me. I refuse to break that trust for no reason.”
“It needs to be like this, Princess Luna,” noted Celestia sternly. “Friendship needs to be forged naturally. If you tell Twilight, you risk the chance of her pretending to be their friend, just to please you. I know how much you care for her, but think about the wellbeing of all your subjects.”
Luna heard what Celestia was saying. Her subjects’ wellbeing had to come first. Telling Twilight might put them at risk. But, at the same time, she knew Twilight very well. She would never fake or lie about something this important.
Luna turned around so she couldn’t see Celestia giving her a ‘you know I’m right’ look. After she had done so, Luna noticed one of Discord’s cracked toes. After staring at it for a moment, she got an idea. Now all she needed was to wait for the right moment, for she knew Celestia would never go along with this.
“Very well,” said Luna as she walked past Celestia. “I shall do as you request. But, before I take my leave, there are a few things from my room that I would like to take with me this time.”
“Of course,” said Celestia as Luna walked past her.
-x-
About an hour later, Celestia sat on her throne. Luna had left about a half hour ago, carrying with her several small items, like her stuff teddy ursa minor. She watched as the night princess walked back out into the garden, and then vanished a few moments later.
“Am I interrupting anything, Princess,” came a voice behind her. Celestia turned around to see a unicorn stallion wrapped in a black cloak.
“Not at the moment, Stalker,” replied the sun princess. “So tell me, is there anything I should be worried about.”
“About Blueblood?” asked Stalker. “No, I have been following him all night. Right now, he’s just finishing up a late breakfast with some of the other nobles. Had to listen to them whine about how this lack of sleep will affect their looks.”
“I see,” said Celestia with a smile. “Looks like his change of heart might be genuine.”
“I guess,” said Stalker as he began to fade away. As he walked away, he could feel a large bag of bits pressing against his body. ‘Blueblood is lucky he pays so well,’ he thought with a sigh.
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Things just keep getting more interesting then ever, dang it why does this particular story have to be so good that waiting for the next chapter always drives me nuts?
This story become's better and better
I think Rainbow was cheating with wing in the long jump. The point is to JUMP; not jump, see your about to land before your competitor, and fly to a point that wins.
Every time I see this story updated, I feel like stabbing something. but in a good way. I just like stabbing things
Discord bomb, is getting preped and ready. Now just to see which side has more chaos fuel, up in the moon or in canterlot itself. Discord is basically smiling right now.
I hope they don't get away with what they are gonna do and I hope someone catches them
3478921sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/keep-calm-and-stab-stab-stab.png
3478921 3479814
I feel like we would get along.
Yay its Chaos time!
3479869
These people, are my people
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Mane 6 Comments:
Yay our other selves will get meet!
Yes Pinkie, our counterparts are likely to meet unless the other EoH are different due to the timeline shift.
How do the Princesses know the bearers?
That's a good question!?! Does that mean Celestia has some type of extreme foresight? .......
Here she goes again...
Did she just guess based on the whole Rainboom giving us our Cutie Marks?
Just let her rant Dash....
When this simulation is over I'm certainly going to find out! Uh, sorry girls....
Meanwhile in Princess Twilight's Library:
Twilight is going to be pissed as to whom the other bearers are.
an Trixie will be mad she wasn't an element as will Sunset.
and uh, yeah I've run out of people er, ponies that will be pissed.
I will say this, Celestia has a really good chance of getting assassinated soon. also, She really needs to find and make guards who are truely loyal to her rather than just picking from those she thinks can be loyal to her.
I just hope Luna can figure out a way to Annihilate the nobles from their power structure.
3478276
Agreed. Goes without saying that "to the moon" obviously doesn't mean actually into the lunar republic... then again, those prison pods interest me greatly.
Also, this story is wonderful. I spot very few spelling or grammar errors to the point where I won't really bother mentioning them as I've seen worse in books due to a printing error. It's nice to see someone portray that whole "chess game" playing side of Celestia that has always bugged me. Seriously, I can understand where she's coming from, but the way she is going about things is just utterly wrong. Playing her own sister just to prevent threats from Equestria. Sometimes being nice and lenient doesn't cut it. It just delays the problem rather than solving it.
Celestia is walking a very fine tight rope between "The Good of Equestria" and "Morals of Life Respect" while carrying a load of bricks. She's keeping from stepping over, but her balance is far too precarious and she's dropping bricks on the wrong side. As for Luna, she isn't in the full clear either, but at least she is trying and isn't just sitting back and hoping her ponies "learn" by themselves after just a slap on the hoof and a few prods of direction.
Can you get rid of the what if spell chapter it ruins the story a little bit
If the same EOH bearers are the same as OTL, then I see some issues.
1. Considering that Twilight already saw what the rest said about the Lunar ponies, then I think it'll take a lot of time for both sides to accept each other.
2. Sunset Shimmer and Trixie. Just how jealous do you think they'll be when they find out? Sunset will see it as another thing Twilight stole that is 'rightfully hers,' while Trixie...will feel betrayed due to her realization that Celestia didn't see her as Bearer material, taking her in only out of pity.
Great chapter. That idiot Blueblood is just going to put everypony including himself in danger. Because who wan't to bet his actions will help Discord.
I have to agree with Luna. Leaving the Elements of Harmony out in the open of an old, abonded castle seems like a very stupid idea.
3497188
It would have made sense if they were in either a vault in the castle or in a museum like in Manehattenverse.
Before I start reading this, I need some critical information to not lose time for something that I might not continue. I don't afraid of spoilers, so can someone tell me, who's responsible for the "romance" tag? And I don't mean author. Who's romancing in this story?
3506375
Twilight and an OC bat pony
3506454 Oh, thanks. To the read-mobile than!
sigh.. I hate finishing the incomplete stories (finishing what has come out so far). they always seem to stop when the going gets good.
well. keep the good coming, cause this is one of my favorite stories on this site.
Halfway? And here was me thinking it was coming to a close. I've got a LOT more reading to do. See you in a few months
3481169 C...CAN celestia be assassinated, and if so, by a mortal?
So many epic facepalms...
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Wus reading dis wile listening to Moonshine.
I really must disagree. I believe that she either needed therapy for her solitary confinement or Celestia just shoved her off to the side again on instinct.
Yes.
Good
You answered your own question there
God damn it Celestia, All hail Luna
4740479 Hard to say. Each author has their own views on just how immortal Celestia & Luna are exactly. I mean she WAS defeated by Chrysalis, but Celestia could have been holding back some, or Chrysalis could be a type of immortal herself.
Even then that's just the Canon, and not what this particular author has in terms of just how powerful Celestia's immortality is.
Really this just further goes to show once again how her naivete gets in the way of her ruling. This is why she should have them under powerful Truth spells or something.