The Book

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It was the dark of night, sacred in its silence. The Princess of the Night, Luna, watched over the kingdom of Equestria, ever vigilant. Soaring across the sky, her mane mirroring the twinkling gems of the distant constellations, the princess sighed. It was the time of the New Moon, which normally brightened her spirits, but her enthusiasm had been lacking of late. There were many ponies whose dreams she visited, ponies who struggled daily and seeked guidance in their slumber. She gave them what advice she could offer, and many times it helped, but there were an increasing number of ponies that she could not seem to help.

She couldn't place it, couldn't name what they were lacking in life, but they were all lacking something. They all had that in common. It was as if they were trapped, but Luna dismissed that thought as soon as it had sprung up, a small smile finally gracing her muzzle. Nobody was trapped in Equestria except prisoners and asylum patients. Everyone could leave if they wanted to, the Princesses were fair and just rulers and the ponies all had a fair amount of say in their government. Why, Ponyville was practically its own sovereign part of the map, just like many other territories and provinces - so little was the will of the capital, Canterlot, enforced upon its surrounding subjects, that the kingdom might has well have been called a confederacy.

And yet, an increasing amount of ponies gave Luna the impression that they were stuck in their lives, that they longed for something that they were lacking - something that the princesses couldn't give. Luna couldn't place her hoof on a name, the concept completely foreign to her. Perhaps she would visit her sister's most faithful student, the aspiring ruler of Ponyville and Bearer of the Element of Magic, Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Normally the trip would be over within seconds as the Princess of the Night would just enter the dreams of her subject, but unsurprisingly, Twilight was up late, more than likely busy with her studies. The trip was still short, Luna's great wings and the power of the night bringing her silently to steps of the library Twilight called home. She gently rapped on the door with her hoof and a moment later, a groggy purple and green dragon opened the door, rubbing his tired eyes. He blinked at her a few times and suddenly woke up, bowing.

"Good evening, Princess!" he greeted, "Are you here to see Twilight?"

"Good evening, Spike." Luna returned the greeting, a warm smile on her face, "I have some questions I'm hoping young Twilight may have the answers to."

"Right this way, your highness!" Spike said, leading the way to Twilight's personal study. With little ceremony, the dragon assistant opened the door, "Twilight, you have a visitor."

"Not now, Spike." the purple alicorn sighed, flipping through pages of various textbooks and tomes with her magic, "I'm researching one of Starswirl's most difficult spells and half of these books only allude to it. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack." a giggle, "I'm starting to sound like Applejack."

"But Twilight, it's Princess Luna." Spike explained, opening the door for the Princess of the Night to enter.

Twilight turned suddenly, fighting the urge to bow in supplication to Luna - now that she was a princess, such an action was unnecessary. Even through her royal stoicism, Luna looked more than a little troubled. There was something in her eyes, a twinkle of doubt, though doubt in what, Twilight couldn't fathom.

"Good evening, Princess Twilight Sparkle." Luna gave a nod of her head, "We are sorry to intrude like this; I realize you must be quite busy." Luna winced at having used the "Royal We" again; she had been trying to curb her outdated behaviors of royalty for some time, but every now and then one slipped through. Old habits died hard, as the saying went.

"It's no problem at all, Princess Luna." Twilight smiled, genuine and bright, "What can I help you with?"

Luna's smile disappeared as she struggled to think of how to explain the sensation that was troubling her. "I was wondering if you could help me find out why so many of our subjects are unhappy."

"Are so many of our subjects unhappy?" Twilight seemed shocked by the news, "I-I hadn't noticed."

"It rarely shows, but it has been increasing of late." Luna nodded, solemnly, "In their dreams where their subconcious desires are at the fore, they tell me of their fears and regrets, of their wants. Yet, they cannot name what it is they seek. They seem... trapped, almost."

"Trapped?" Twilight asked, leading the other princess downstairs and into the library in search of books, "Do you mean in a figurative sense, or are they really trapped? Could it be some sort of spell?"

"It is no spell I am familiar with." Luna shook her head, "Everypony I have seen in such a way appears to long for... for a freedom, of some sort. They want control, I suppose, but of what, I am not certain."

Twilight gave a dismissive laugh that surprised her guest, "I'm not surprised. Plenty of ponies wish they had more power and control. Princess Celestia used to teach me about that kind of stuff all the time." Twilight found a book and pulled it out with her magic, levitating it towards Luna. "Actually, this was the first book I read on the subject."

"The City of Light," Luna read the title aloud, quirking an eyebrow before scanning the subtitle, "A Short History of Equestria's Misguided Idealists."

"Yep." Twilight beamed, "I didn't even know about the kinds of ideas that were in that book before I read it. They never taught us about it in grade school, but everypony in Celestia's program had to read up on it."

"Misguided idealists?" Luna repeated, "I do not recall any such figures in our history."

"If I remember correctly, almost all of the events covered in that book took place during your..." Twilight began, but didn't want to finish the sentence. She didn't have to. "It should put your mind at ease, if nothing else."

"...I suppose, at the very least, I should brush up on what's been happening since my banishment." Luna confessed, "Perhaps it will even bring me some peace of mind."

"That's the spirit, Princess!" Twilight beamed again and led Luna to the door, "Feel free to keep the book, if you'd like. I can always order another one."

"I'll be sure to return it, my friend." Luna gave a parting smile, "And if I have any questions, I hope you don't mind if I come to you with them? I don't want to intrude."

"It would never be an intrusion, Luna." the purple alicorn said, dropping their shared rank for a moment to demostrate their genuine closeness, "My doors are always open to you, you know that."

"Thank you, my friend." the Princess of the Night said with all sincerity before departing back to the security of the castle and Canterlot.

It was a quick flight, even quicker than when she had first headed out towards Twilight's home. She'd be lying if she said it wasn't because she wasn't just a little bit excited to read the book she had been loaned. Luna had been curious about what had occured during her millenium-long imprisonment upon the moon's surface, but she had never actually bothered to study it. She was surprised that Celestia had ceased using both the "Royal We" and the "Royal Canterlot Voice", for one, and only knew the gist of the happenings of the last several centuries. After entering the seclusion of her room, Luna looked at the cover of the book - simple, golden font almost worn off of the bland, drab binding.

She opened the book.

*-*

Princess Celestia awoke and was greeted by the darkness of night. Checking the clock, she could see it was the same time it always was when she awoke, 5:00 AM exactly. This was the time when Luna's night would be ebbing away and allow Celestia to raise the sun and bring the day to all of Equestria. Instead, the shining New Moon and twinkling stars were all that she could see. Suddenly worried, the Princess of the Day all but galloped to her sister's quarters, none of the Royal Guard daring to impede her path. She knocked rapidly at her sister's door and was relieved when a startled Luna answered.

"Whatever is the problem, sister?" the darker of the two asked.

"Do you know what time it is, Lulu?" the oblivious look on Luna's face answered the question, "It's time for the sun to rise, but the moon is still at its zenith."

Luna shot a look at the nearest clock and her eyes widen in renewed shock.

"My deepest apologies, sister." Luna bowed her head before using her magic to speed the night past and to the appropriate time. It was a strain, but not altogether painful. Exhausted, Luna apologized again.

"It's alright." Celestia gave a caring smile, before frowning in concern, "Is something the matter? You seem distracted?"

"It's nothing, Celestia." Luna assured her sister, "Twilight loaned me a history book and I got wrapped up in it."

"What book, if you don't mind my asking?" Celestia seemed intrigued, "You've never been a studious sort, least of all with history. Always more concerned with protecting your gaming legacy."

"No one must ever know." Luna said quickly and seriously. If Discord ever found out about her pasttime, she would never live it down.

"Of course, Lulu." Celestia laughed as she raised the sun with her magic. The burning star rose and drew back the twilight, casting long, stark shadows beneath a scarlet sky. "The title?"

"Oh yes." Luna brought the book to the two of them in an aura of starlight indigo, "It's called The City of Light, A Short History of Equestria's Misguided Idealists, though I'm not sure if I like the title; seems a little judgemental."

"I know the book well, and it is meant to be judgemental." Celestia nodded slowly, her smile having disappeared, "It was a time of great struggle and turmoil after the rise and banishment of Nightmare Moon - there were many opposed to the throne who wanted to see me cast out."

"Why, though?" Luna asked, "I read the book, but it felt like it was just an attack on these "misguided idealist" ponies. I'm not even sure what they wrote, or where to find their works."

"You wouldn't be interested in their works." Celestia said with a sudden steel that couldn't escape her sister's attention, "They were mares and stallions who dreamt of half-baked ideologies. They wanted a different utopia, completely disregarding the kingdom I strived to build for them. The kingdom we built for them."

"I'd still like to read their works." Luna confessed, "Equites was a very renowned philosopher, I remember. I can't imagine that he would have written something that would evoke so strong a rebuttal. Other authors here, who are credited as outspoken against the kingdom and prominent rebels - I've never heard of them in any of the brush-up courses I've attended."

"They're not mentioned in most classes." Celestia explained, "In fact, I prefer it if they were alluded to as little as possible. They were volatile thinkers who wouldn't listen to reason - they wanted anarchy, and after we had battled so hard against Discord, too..."

"You didn't... burn their texts, did you?" Luna asked, quietly. Celestia shook her head.

"I would never burn knowledge or history, even if it is lies and wishful thinking. All of their works survive, what could be recovered, anyway." Celestia explained, "In the highest echelons of our library, in one of our most seldom visited sections, their works are stored. Even Twilight has never ventured up that far."

"Whoa." Luna's surprise escaped her lips before she could stop it. Books Twilight hadn't even heard of?

"Please don't go there, Lulu." Celestia sighed, "Their words are sweet, like honey, but they infect the mind with a cancer."

"Celestia, be calm." Luna laughed, "I have never seen you so worked up about books before. It's just printed text. Do you fear something so simple would bring me to turn against you?"

"Words have a way of stirring the heart, Lulu." the elder sister explained, a warning tone in her voice. With that, she left Luna to her business.

*-*

It had taken a few hours for Luna to finally get to sleep, and when she rose in the twilight of evening, she decided against going out to visit her subject's dreams, too tired for such duties. Instead, after raising the night, she allowed herself a few moments rest. It was set to be a very peaceful evening, and she started with a few rounds of one of her favorite games, quickly getting frustrated as a player labelled "xX_cHaOs_LoRd-Xx" constantly beat her at every turn. She threw the headset off with a spell and turned the system off.

"Discord..." she muttered under her breath and could practically hear his snickering in the background.

Suddenly tired of gaming, she tried to find other things to occupy her time that wouldn't be as strenuous as leaving the castle - she had spent much energy rushing the dawn. Her bored thoughts drifted to the library. It wasn't as if the books were forbidden - it was just strongly recommended that she should avoid them. Even then, Luna was almost equal to Celestia. By Equestrian law, she was equal to Celestia in authority, her decrees over the night absolute. She glanced around the hall nervously, slightly excited at the prospect of disobeying her sister's request, even if it hadn't been a command.

Luna trotted into the library, the night librarian bowing in fealty to her princess. Luna gave the librarian nod of greeting and continued on her way, up the stairs and to the higher echelons of the library, where the shelves became more and more coated in dust and cobwebs. The books, increasingly devoid of detail and attention, were practically indistinguishable from blocks of grey dirt. At one point, Luna finally stopped and wiped the dust from a shelf label with her hoof.

RADICAL IDEOLOGY

Luna quirked an eyebrow at the curious name before taking a deep breath and blowing the dust away. At once the uniform grey of the shelves became alight with colorful - albeit faded - books, pamphlets and various other assortments of parchment and rough binding. Some were beautiful works, age having little effect on their immaculate leather binding, while others were little more than mismatched sheets of papers bound together with string, the print barely legible from years of erosion. She recognized a few names from the history book Twilight had loaned her:

Star Spangled,

Scarlet Banner,

Equites.

She frowned at the idea that even one of Equites' works would end up shelved in a distant, forgotten part of the library. She had known the philosopher before her descent into jealous rage. He had been one of countless Canterlot students, his works forming the basis for future Equestrian philosophy and politics. If Luna remembered correctly, Celestia was a big fan of his ideals. They had been close, though their teacher-student bond had been nothing like that of Celestia and Twilight; Equites was certainly a bright student, standing out of his peers, but Twilight was a star pupil, shining brighter than any other.

Luna glanced across the collection of works and saw that, rather than usual alphabetical system of author and title, the books had been arranged in chronological order. Equites' works took up a decent portion of the beginning of the collection, then mingled with the works of Star Spangled and other, less renowned authors - if that were possible. At very beginning, in the highest left-hand corner, sat a moderate-sized tome, decently-bound with most of the gold letting still colored in. Luna brought it down with her magic and read the title.

Republic

She recognized the book. The City of Light had referred to it as a "damning first step down the path of selfishness and disharmony" and called it the cornerstone that set the way for future radical works. With a cautious glance around, Luna made sure she was alone before opening the book.

The Pupil

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Apple Bloom blinked a few times, snapping back to reality. She had missed something the teacher had said and now all of her classmates were looking at her, curious expressions on their faces.

"Ah'm sorry, could you repeat that?" the yellow filly asked.

"I asked if you were paying attention to the lesson, Apple Bloom." Cheerilee gave a little chuckle, "I can see you weren't, however. Is something the matter?"

Apple Bloom gave a last scan of the class: the worried expressions of her closest friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo; the sneers of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon; the near-vacant expressions of the rest of her classmates, finally brought out of their own stupors by something interesting happening. Sighing, the filly searched for the right words.

"Ya ever feel like..." she struggled to express it, "...like yer stuck?"

The class exchanged confused looks as Cheerilee quirked an eyebrow. "Like on a problem?" Snails spoke up.

"No, no." Apple Bloom shook her head, "Ah mean, like... Like yer stuck doin' somethin' ferever."

"Are you going on about your blank flank, again?" Diamond Tiara jeered, earning a giggle from Silver Spoon.

"Now girls." Cheerilee warned before offering a sympathetic smile to the yellow earth pony, "Apple Bloom, we've been over this. You just have to give it time."

"Ah ain't talkin' about that." Apple Bloom groaned, "Ah'm talkin' about... Ah'm talkin' about bein' trapped in our lives, Ah guess." before Cheerilee could voice her confusion, Apple Bloom stood up and walked to the window, continuing, "Ah mean, we spend all this time learnin', growin' up, earnin' our cutie marks, an' then what? We do the same job 'til we die?"

There was a sudden stiffness in everypony's backs as they exchanged nervous glances. Death was very seldom touched upon as a subject, almost to the point where none of the students had heard about it. It was almost a curse word. Cheerilee cleared her throat and stepped closer to her student.

"That's how society works, Apple Bloom." she explained, "Earth ponies tend to the crops, pegasi maintain the weather, and the unicorns-"

"-Magically raise the sun an' moon, Ah know." Apple Bloom sighed, remembering the Hearth's Warming Eve play that had taught them all the founding of Equestria. Then she blinked. "Wait, don't the Princesses do that?"

"Now they do, but back then there were no alicorns." Cheerilee explained, "The unicorns carried the weight of this burden for a long time before the coming of the Princesses."

"So what do y'all do now?" Apple Bloom asked, the question directed more at Snips and Snails than their teacher.

"Uh," Snips bawked, surprised to be the center of attention all of a sudden, "Well, my special talent is cutting - paper decorations, topiary, manes-"

"Wait, you're a mane stylist?" Diamond Tiara scoffed, clearly unconvinced.

"I don't like to brag, but I've been told I do a pretty good job at it." Snips rubbed a hoof against his torso, proudly.

"An' you, Snails?" Apple Bloom asked.

"My magic can keep pests away." Snails grinned proudly, remembering how he had earned his cutie mark while helping Golden Harvest protect her crops from a snail infestation, "And I'm also the local expert on gastropods."

"But what do unicorns do?" Apple Bloom pressed, "Ah mean, earth ponies and pegasi, as a whole, have jobs that we're suited towards - farmin' an' weather control. What do unicorns do besides decoration an' trottin' around Canterlot?"

"That's not very nice, Apple Bloom." Sweetie Belle spoke up, offended.

"Sorry Sweetie, Ah didn't mean it like that." the earth filly frowned, "Ah really am curious, though."

"I kind of am, too." Scootaloo added, a chorus of agreement from their non-unicorn classmates.

"I wish I could tell you, my little ponies." Cheerilee sighed, "All I know is that everypony has a purpose, that we all have special talents for things we greatly enjoy that determine our role in society. I'm a teacher and I love teaching all of you wonderful colts and fillies, and such a job is necessary in Equestria."

"Seems a little convenient, don't it?" Apple Bloom asked, "Ah mean, that there's never a shortage a' livin' space an' that everypony ends up in a job they love, never strugglin' fer work?"

"Well, I wouldn't say it's quite like that." Cheerilee gave a dry laugh, "There are quite a few ponies out there who struggle to find work and aren't entirely happy with their work."

"Really?" Silver Spoon asked, "I thought everypony got jobs according to their talents?"

"They do, but not every talent is one that ponies enjoy." Cheerilee sighed, "Some ponies end up doing menial work that they feel is beneath them, or struggle with responsible jobs that are too stressful for them. Others have talents that are too commonplace that they can't find work. Some ponies' talents are actually being thieves or other undesirable work that lands them in prison. Then there's all the non-pony citizens of Equestria whose jobs aren't determined by talents."

"I didn't know so many ponies were unhappy with their lives." Sweetie Belle frowned, "Isn't there anything the Princesses can do?"

"There isn't much they can do." Cheerilee shook her head slowly, "They have to deal with the raising of the sun and moon and maintaining government bodies. Most of Celestia's time is spent going over various reports during the day and signing orders, while I assume Luna takes over during the night."

"Actually Princess Luna visits ponies' dreams all over Equestria to help with our problems." Scootaloo explained with a smile, "She helped me out one time."

"I wasn't aware the Princesses worked on so personal a level with their subjects." Cheerilee put a hoof to her chin, caught by surprise.

"Well, Luna does, anyway." Scootaloo reaffirmed, "I haven't heard about Celestia doing anything like that, yet."

Before the conversations could continue, the bell rang to dismiss the class. Cheerilee tsked, but gave her students a warm goodbye as they departed.

"Remember that history reports are due by the end of next week!" she reminded them as they left.

"So what cutie marks will we be crusading for today, girls?" Scootaloo asked, excited to be out of the classroom.

"Cutie Mark Massage Therapists?" Sweetie offered.

"I don't think the spa would let us try that after the seawood incident..." Scootaloo's chuckle turned into a shudder at the memory, "How about Cutie Mark Magicians?"

"Magic isn't really my specialty." Sweetie deadpanned, earning a nervous laugh from the orange pegasus. With a smug grin, the unicorn suggested "What about Cutie Mark Wonderbolts?"

"That's not funny." Scootaloo scowled. The two were about to get into an argument before Apple Bloom's sigh broke through their thoughts. "Apple Bloom, are you alright?"

"Sorry girls, Ah'm just not feelin' like crusadin' today." the earth filly confessed.

"Oh. Did you want to play a game, instead?" Sweetie asked, "Ooo, we could set up a tub of water and bob for apples!"

"Cutie Mark Apple Bobbers!" Scootaloo exclaimed before putting a hoof to her chin, "Wait, what kind of jobs could we do with that as our special talent?"

"Sounds fun, but Ah think Ah need to be alone fer a little while." Apple Bloom said, skulking towards Sweet Apple Acres, "Y'all can just go crusadin' without me, if y'all want to."

"Aw, but it's no fun without the three of us." Sweetie whined.

"Yeah." Scootaloo agreed, "It's just not the same."

"Ah'm sorry, girls." the yellow filly apologized again, "Ah just need to think about some things. Ah need to be left to mahself fer a bit, if'n that's alright with y'all."

"Alright then." Scootaloo said slowly, "But if you ever need us, you know where to find us."

"See you later, Apple Bloom." Sweetie said tenderly as their friend shrunk into the distance towards the orchard.

The two remaining fillies exchanged concerned glances over Apple Bloom's recent behavior.
*-*

Applejack watched as her sister slunk off to the barn, head down and ears drooping. The sight of Apple Bloom acting so despondently wasn't an uncommon sight when she arrived home - she usually acted in a similar manner whenever returning from a failed cutie mark crusade. However, it was the fact that Apple Bloom was home so early that bothered the older farm pony. The youngest of the Apple siblings was almost always with her friends when not at school, the three of them doing everything from bowling to dentistry. Applejack cringed as she remembered that last endeavor.

"Big Macintosh, can ya take over fer a bit?" she asked her older brother, "Ah'm gonna go see what's wrong with Apple Bloom."

"Eeyup." was Big Mac's simple reply as he walked over to the nearest tree and gave it a single, powerful kick.

Applejack trotted back to their home, entering through the front door and calling out for her younger sister. There was no reply, so she went upstairs and knocked on her sister's door. After a few moments of silence, she heard a sigh from the other side of the door and a barely audible "Come in".

"What's got ya so down, sugarcube?" Applejack asked with an almost motherly tenderness to her voice as she opened the door slowly, "Ya didn't get in a fight with yer friends again, did ya?"

"No." Apple Bloom said, though didn't turn away from the window. She was busy looking at the sky, as if she were looking for a sign. There were none.

"Do ya wanna tell me what's wrong?" Applejack asked, "Ah'll help if Ah can."

"Ah don't think it's somethin' ya could help me with, AJ." the yellow filly turned to look at her sister, "Ah'm not even sure what's wrong. Ah just feel so... down lately."

"Ah've noticed." the orange mare noted, "If'n ya ever feel like talkin', just know that mah door's always open fer ya, sugarcube."

Applejack left her sister to her thoughts.
*-*

Luna had been busy.

The night librarian actually had to do work, for once, which at first she was annoyed with but quickly became thankful for - she had forgotten how boring it was being the royal night librarian. Stacks of old books, books she wasn't even aware existed, came flowing in and out of the library every few nights, all from a dusty section of shelves high in the most secluded part of the library. After a suggestion that wasn't quite an order from the Princess of the Night, the night librarian had reluctantly dusted the shelves, a chore that proved difficult given the amount that had accumulated there. How long had it been since anypony cleaned those shelves? Centuries?

Luna herself had worked through all of Equites' works and was jumping between various other authors and their most famous works. She even read the political commentaries that other, likeminded thinkers wrote about each other's works. There were arguments, disagreements, and a lot of confusing jargon, but as Luna continued to read, she began to piece it all together and understand - truly understand - the shared message that these various authors were trying to proclaim. It was a startling epiphany, one that shocked the younger of the Princesses to the core.

They were talking about harmony.

Out of all the pony and non-pony radical authors in the forgotten section of library, they all said the same things in several regards: everypony was equal, or at the very least, everypony should have the equal chance for success in the world; ponies and non-ponies should unite, integrate and work for the benefit of society; nopony should fear their government, but that governments should fear their ponies.

Luna was more than a little disturbed that so many ponies and non-ponies had come to view Celestia's rule as corrupt. More disturbing were the actions that many of them took, trying to stir their peers to revolt, either attempting secessions from the Equestria, or full blown revolutions and coup d'etats, all of which had failed. Even if the arguments that these radicals had were well-written, the ponies of Equestria only seemed attracted to strong leaders - a quality lacking in the intelligentsia that had penned these works; nopony wanted to turn against Celestia, even if the rumors of corruption were true. Even more disturbing, however, were the alleged actions Celestia took against the radicals. Actions Luna couldn't bring herself to believe Celestia capable of.

Censoring of printed materials was difficult enough to believe, and Luna only allowed herself to believe it because she was reading the last copies of works that were hidden away from the public. Other actions were far more draconian, especially during a period of Celestia's rule referred to by several radicals as a "Reign of Terror": the imprisonment of anypony who spoke out against the Princess, torture magic being allowed to extract information from leaders of revolutionary cells, the use of magic to invade the private lives of everypony suspected of being involved with radicals. It was a brief period of time, and even the authors commentating on it admitted that Celestia's tyrannical actions were born out of a growing fear of revolution and regicide.

Then the books just stopped. Shortly after the Reign of Terror period, Luna noticed that all the radicals simply quit writing or disappeared. The last book in the collection was titled A Compromise and Luna had skipped ahead to read its pages. It was rather dryly written, as if the author had grown weary of writing - it lacked the passion that so many other radical authors had put into their works - and spoke of Celestia's reform policies, of her sudden reembracing of harmonic ideals. Luna wondered why a work that spoke of Celestia being harmonious would be hidden away in the radical section until she read the last paragraph where all of the passion that had been lacking from the work suddenly emerged:

"We struggled, we labored, we bled, we suffered. Through the segregation of earth pony, pegasi and unicorn we united. Through gender barriers we ascended. Through oppression we tirelessly trudged forward, dreaming of a free world where everypony would have a say in how their government was ran and we would not toil beneath an undying dictator. We almost had it. We were almost free."

Luna blinked at the passage, confused. If Celestia truly had enacted a Reign of Terror and then bounced back to her old, peaceful self, then wasn't that a victory? She was reminded of Star Spangled's Don't Trot on Me!, a work written before Celestia's alleged Reign of Terror that actually predicted it, stating "Even if our Princess is no tyrant, she has absolute power. Everypony should be well aware from Equestria's brush with Discord, the Lord of Chaos with infinite power, that absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Scarlet Banner's Maneifesto, written during the beginning of the Reign of Terror, stated "Even if the Princess should revert to her former kindness and make promises of peace with her honeyed words, nopony should trust in her compromises! As long as she holds absolute power, absolute control and authority, she can always revert - can always return us to this."

Other authors throughout the eras said similar things, either attacks on Celestia for her lapse during the Reign of Terror, a call to arms for everypony to oust the Princess, predictions that having absolute rule over Equestria would eventually lead to hardship, and cautionary tales that as long as the same remains it could happen again. Then there were political commentaries of all the works, commentaries about other radicals, some with a lot of praise (especially for Equites, whose works seemed to have been the basis for many of the others), others with mixed to negative reactions (some called Scarlet Banner too radical, and even she denounced her student, the Mare of Steel, as a power-hungry oppurtunist). Luna got bored with the commentaries and arguments, seeing them as only dividing and detracting from the over all message the authors were trying to put forth.

Luna could appreciate the irony that these mares and stallions were broadcasting messages of solidarity and harmony while constantly bickering amongst themselves. If they had only been more united, they could have-

She stopped that line of thinking. Why had she almost hoped that they had been united? Why had she hoped that they'd been successful in usurping Celestia's rule? There was a wash of conflicting emotions at this realization. Whenever she read the writing of these ponies, there was a stirring in her chest - it was like the kindling of a flame, an ignition of spirit. Luna shook her head clear of the thoughts and closed the book she was reading. Looking at the clock, she saw that she still had three hours before the night was through.

It had been awhile since she helped her subjects with their troubled dreams.
*-*

It was a slow march through an arid desert. Heavy, ironwrought chains weighed her down, each one ending in stone carved from some foreign quarry. The yellow filly was drenched in sweat, her legs shaking from the strain of dragging the weight so far. She looked up, wiping the mop of her red hair from her eyes to see her destination. The bright sun, far and distant burned down with such scathing heat and light that it all but blinded young Apple Bloom. The haze that was rising off of the burning sands beneath her hooves further obscured her far-off destination into a vague, wavy rendering of what might be a city.

With a sigh, Apple Bloom trudged on, resigning to such an existence. Then something cold hit her muzzle and her eyes shot open. Several drops of cooling water landed around her, turning to steam on the sand. The too-bright sun overhead was disappearing behind a wave of merciful clouds and the sands were being tamed by a sudden rain. Almost at once, the heat abated. The haze was still present, but quickly dying down. However, instead of watching the distant city resolve into focus, Apple Bloom's eyes were drawn to the alicorn descending from the heavens.

Like an angel, dark and sacred and silent, Princess Luna glided on a gentle breeze to the muddied desert, a flash of lightning and a distant peal of thunder alighting her noble features and announcing her arrival. Apple Bloom fell into a bow after her awe disipated and she remembered her manners.

"Rise, young Apple Bloom." Luna commanded, "I am here to help you with your troubling dreams."

"You an' just about everypony." the filly sighed, "Sorry, your higness, Ah just don't know what's got me so down."

"Perhaps if you talk about it, it'll help you sort out your thoughts?" Luna suggested before examining the heavy chains and stone, obviously dragged for long distances, "This symbolism suggests you feel... indentured?"

"Ah suppose ya could say that." Apple Bloom nodded. Luna was briefly surprised the young filly knew the word "indentured", but didn't bother voicing it. "Ah feel like Ah'm trapped. An' today Ah found out that Ah'm not the only pony that feels like they're trapped."

"Trapped?" the princess asked.

"Ah've been havin' a hard time explainin' it to everypony." the filly was clearly frustrated, "Ah just don't know the words ta express it, but it's like everythin' we do doesn't have a purpose. Ah mean, why do we do what we do?"

"That seems like a very nihilist perspective for one so young, dear." Luna frowned, "Is there anyway we- I might be of assistance?"

"Unless ya have some magic spell that'll raise mah spirits, Ah doubt it." Apple Bloom shook her head, "Ah think Ah'm just depressed, or somethin'."

Luna mulled over the filly's words for several moments, then inhald slowly. "I don't have a spell, but I know what you're going through. I too have had moments of doubt and a general lack of enthusiasm, but I have found something that gives me great comfort."

"Really?" Apple Bloom immediately perked up, "What is it?"

"Books." Luna said and watched as the filly deflated, "But not just any books. They are long forgotten tomes, manifestos of harmony and solidarity that have been left to gather dust for some time."

"Ah ain't Twilight." Apple Bloom explained, "Ah don't think books are gonna make me feel better."

"Perhaps if I read some to you?" Luna suggested. Apple Bloom thought it over and nodded, even smiling a little; being read a book by a Princess during her sleep had a certain appeal to it. "Alright. I'll start with one of my favorites. It's a long read, probably a little difficult to understand, but you are a bright filly, and I hope its words will do for you what they've done for me."

Luna used her magic to summon the worn copy of Equites' book into the dream.

"It's called Republic."

The Flag

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It had been only a few days since Luna's visit into Apple Bloom's dreams, but they made it a daily affair. Luna would come in and read from various works and slowly, in measures, the tortured dreamscape would improve. With Republic, Apple Bloom's spirits began to steadily rise. She had never known that there were alternative ways to run Equestria, never known that one was to elect leaders and put them in charge. She had always just assumed that only the Princesses could lead, and the knowledge that even an insignificant earth pony like her could have a say in important decisions stirred something in her.

When Luna read Don't Trot on Me!, Apple Bloom felt a fiery passion as the arid desert, drenched in the lifeblood of the heavens, began to bloom with grasses and saplings. After she had woken up from that dream, she got to work on her history project, the words spilling from her pen with every ounce of literary skill she could muster. She would put all of her constructive ability into this report, a report that would remind her classmates of something that had been forgotten for centuries.

When Luna read the short, but moving Maneifesto, Apple Bloom had woken up with an urge to design banners. She made many designs and patterns, even piecing together the simple red cloth of Scarlet Banner's namesake, but abandoning the design for lack of decoration. It had to be truly emotional, something that called out to everypony like her, everypony that felt like an underdog. That night, before she went to bed, she looked up at the starry sky and the moon, and she was struck with such inspiration that she got to work immediately, completing the drafting sketch and setting down the layers of fabric. With a dexterity that belied her age, she crafted a finely woven flag with fringe and hung it over her bed. She admired her work before collapsing into a deep slumber.

Yet again, Princess Luna visited her, excited to have someone to share her guilty pleasure with. She could try to discuss it with her older sister, but odds were that Celestia would lock the texts up and scold Luna for reading them. Alternatively, Luna could share her findings with Discord, but how he would react was anyone's guess, and none of the possibilities appealed to the younger alicorn. But Apple Bloom was a perfect confidante. She had an innocence about her, and was intelligent enough to understand the messages the ponies were trying to share. She was a perfect student, and Luna was proud of her.

"Are you ready for another lesson, my dear Apple Bloom?" Luna asked, "This one is called Ten Days That Bucked the World, and is about one of the revolts during the Reign of Terror."

"Sounds great!" the filly beamed, "But first, Ah made ya somethin'!"

"A gift?" Luna smiled, touched by the gesture.

"Ah don't know how dreams work, so Ah don't really know how ta give it ta ya, but Ah can show it ta ya at least." Apple Bloom explained, a folded midnight blue cloth appearing in her forelegs, silver fringes appearing at several edges.

In one motion, the filly unfolded the banner she had been making right before her sleep and Luna gasped at the elegancy of it. It was a field of the midnight blue material with a silver emblem emblazoned upon its surface. The emblem was very unique, and Luna could tell at once that she had been the inspiration: a sideways, stylized moon crescent formed the base of the emblem, a distinct, hornlike shape jutted from the middle of the moon and went through the centerpiece, a star. The entire thing was flanked by two alicorn wings, forming up almost like a wreath. Luna levitated it before her, unsure what to say.

"It's beautiful." she finally found the words, "But why?"

"Ah don't know." Apple Bloom confessed, "Ah wanted ta make a flag fer all these harmonious ideals, fer what that Equites fella called a "republic", but Ah couldn't think a' any good ones. Then Ah saw yer night sky an' it hit me! It's only fittin' it's inspired by ya; yer the one who introduced me to this radical literature, anyway."

"I suppose so." Luna said, feeling guilty at having exposed the youth to borderline forbidden politics.

"Luna..." the filly began, nervous. They had dispensed with titles awhile ago, now on close terms with one another. "Will we be free ta choose our leaders, one day?"

"Why would you want to?" Luna seemed surprised, "Isn't Celestia a good leader?"

"She is, but..." Apple Bloom cringed, "Ah mean, she turned Discord inta stone, banished ya ta the moon an' did the whole Reign a' Terror thing, an' while that all happened a long time ago, Ah'm scared ta think what'll happen if she still has all the power in Equestria."

Then with a smile, she quoted "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

"Her power is not absolute, dear Apple Bloom." Luna gave a laugh, "I am in control of the night and ruler of the land half the time."

"But doesn't Celestia do all a' the rulin'? Ah thought ya mostly just helped with ponies' problems an' raisin' the night?" the filly asked.

"Well, if Celestia ever made a decree I found immoral, I would step up to challenge it." Luna explained, then smiled softly, "But that will never happen. My sister is a very saintly mare, and whatever she has done in the past is in the past, and it was done with the best intentions."

"Well... Alright." Apple Bloom seemed a little disappointed, but otherwise put at ease, "Are we gonna start readin' that book, now?"

"How about we play some games instead?" the Princess of the Night suggested.

"Boy howdy!" the earth pony exclaimed. Playing games with a Princess? What more could a filly ask for?
*-*

It was the end of the school week again and, as usual, Apple Bloom's presentation was last. Not because of any lack of preparation, but because she had been so adamant about saving hers for last. Cheerilee didn't argue because it was clear how much effort the filly had been putting into her report. Almost everyday she was at the library, much to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo's confusion, and at night she indulged in her private lessons with Princess Luna. The report was kept under tight lock and key; not even her family knew about it.

"Do you think she's trying to get her librarian cutie mark without us, or something?" Scootaloo asked, increasingly suspicious of their friend's disappearances. The two of them were waiting patiently for Apple Bloom to show up to class and give her presentation.

"I don't think so." Sweetie shook her head, "We tried that already. Twice, in fact."

"Oh yeah." Scootaloo sighed, "Still, what do you think she does all day? I have no idea what she could be reading that's suddenly more important than finding our special talents!"

"Maybe she's reading about cutie marks?" Sweetie suggested, "I mean, that's actually a pretty good idea, when you think about it."

"Oh yeah, that is!" the pegasus smiled, but suddenly frowned, "But... why doesn't she invite us?"

Before the conversations could continue, Cheerilee trotted in with Apple Bloom by her side, toting her saddlebags. "Settle down, my little ponies!" the teacher hushed her students, "Today Apple Bloom is going to give her presentation!" turning to the yellow filly, she motioned for her to begin.

"Thank ya, Miz Cheerilee." Apple Bloom smiled, giving a respectful nod of her head, "Before Ah begin, Ah have somethin' a made fer the occasion." She pulled out the folded banner she had made for Luna the night before from her saddelbag.

"Ooo, a blanket." Silver Spoon snickered.

"To tuck us in when her report puts us to sleep, no doubt." Diamond Tiara nudged her friend and they broke into a short fit of vicious giggles.

"Girls!" Cheerilee warned before turning back to Apple Bloom, "Continue, please."

"With pleasure."

The filly at the front of the class unfurled the flag in the same deft motion that she had performed for the Princess, tacking it to the chalkboard behind her. She went to the wall and dimmed the class' lights, but rather than obscure the pattern, what little light remained only brought the silver emblem out in deeper, starker contrast to the darkness of the room. It shone like a real star upon the evening sky, dazzling her classmates - Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon included.

"This is a flag Ah made after researchin' some forgotten history an' philosophical works that..." Apple Bloom didn't want to mention Princess Luna's involvement in her education; nopony would believe her, "...a friend a' mine has been tutorin' me on."

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged curious glances. Apple Bloom hadn't told them anything about a friend tutoring her. Apple Bloom cleared her throat, hoof held to her mouth to signal that her prepared speech was about to begin. All eyes were on her, the simulated starlight of the banner reflecting onto her yellow fur and red mane, giving her a dim halo that seemed to echo the burning light in her amber eyes.

"It started a thousand years ago, shortly after Princess Celestia banished Nightmare Moon for her jealous takeover attempt," she began, the intrigue in her voice literally drawing in her classmates with interest. Even Cheerilee wasn't unaffected. Knowing she had them on the ropes, Apple Bloom smirked. "Many ponies saw Celestia's actions against Discord an' her sister as cruel and corrupt, so they spoke out against her an' wanted to erect a new regime - one where everypony would have a say in how Equestria was run, an' no one pony would hold absolute power."

"What is she, a dictationary?" Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle, wondering where a filly could pick up these words.

"Frightened over the sudden distrust from her subjects, an' worried over what they might do if they got rid a' her title as Princess a' Equestria, Celestia did the only thing she could think ta do in such a time." Apple Bloom could practically feel the anticipation from the class, the quiet so tense that one could hear a pin drop and it would sound like thunder. Immediately, the mood darkened and Apple Bloom leaned forward, her next words drawn out in a dark muttering, almost as if it were a curse to plague the hearts of ponies everywhere. "She began a Reign a' Terror."
*-*

The rest of the speech had been a masterstroke of stagecraft. Apple Bloom wouldn't have been surprised if she had earned an orator cutie mark for her efforts, but in all honesty the speech had been an endeavor of days of work, hours of research and repeating key phrases she had picked up from various authors Luna had taught her about. By the end of it, the class was dead silent and Apple Bloom was actual pleased that they were so struck by the lesson of her presentation. Even Cheerilee was stunned, almost horrified.

"Apple Bloom..." Cheerilee breathed out at last, "Where did you hear such... lies?!"

"Lies?!" the filly turned on her teacher, equally offended and surprised, "Everythin' Ah said was one hundred percent honest!"

"Celestia never censored publications or imprisoned ponies on unfounded suspicions!" Cheerilee was angrier than anypony had ever seen her, and the schoolponies already unnerved by Apple Bloom's presentation shrank back in their growing fear, "Celestia is an honest, open, goodhearted ruler and I refuse to accept your ridiculous stories! How could you even imagine these things?!"

"Ah swear ta ya, Miz Cheerilee, everythin' Ah said has a reliable source!" Apple Bloom said through gritted teeth, "Why, ya could look up half a' these authors yerself, if'n ya wanted."

"Oh?" Cheerilee scoffed, "Where would I find their works? In the fiction aisle?"

"The only book you'll find in-town that even mentions them is The City a' Light." Apple Bloom pressed, "Almost all a' their remainin' works are locked away in a secluded part a' the Canterlot Royal Library where nopony would bother ta look."

"Then how did you manage to read them?" Cheerilee challenged.

"Ah-" Apple Bloom began, but stopped, "Mah friend that tutors me has been tellin' me about 'em. She found them one day and started readin' them to me to help cheer me up."

"Why in Equestria would any book about Celestia being a corrupt dictator cheer you up?" the fuschia teacher was aghast.

"It ain't that part that cheers me up!" Apple Bloom growled, "It's the other stuff! They have a way a' writin' that just... just stirs somethin' in a pony. It makes me feel like, fer the first time in a long time, that there's hope fer us. They talk about harmony an' takin' control a' our lives, instead a' lettin' our lives control us! They write about freedom, an' choice, an' workin' towards the greater good a' all a' Equestria - no - the entire world! Their words are like nothin' Ah ever heard, Miz Cheerilee, nothin' anyone's heard in a long, long time."

"Who are these authors?" Sweetie Belle asked the question at least half their class had been thinking.

"Star Spangled an' Scarlet Banner are two that keep comin' up." Apple Bloom said, but even Cheerilee didn't recognize either of them, "But the first one that was read to me, an' the first one that mah tutor friend read, was a real famous fella named Equites."

"I know Equites." Cheerilee said, "He wrote many works that influenced Celestia's harmonious ideals and helped shape Equestrian law and government, as well as early science and magic. Not as much as Starswirl, but still..."

"Well, he wrote a couple a' books that Celestia didn't like, an' that inspired a whole mess a' other ones."

"What was this book called, Apple Bloom?" Cheerilee asked, her previous misgivings about the presentation forgotten by her newfound curiosity.

"It was called Republic." Apple Bloom said in a low voice that carried over the silent class, then added with a large smile, "An' I can get ya a copy."

The Book Reading

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Princess Twilight Sparkle was very intelligent, even for a Canterlot student. She could detect patterns a mile away, and there was definately one forming Ponyville. It wasn't as if she wasn't used to random patterns of activity amongst the ponies of Ponyville - such events tended to lead to many of her and her friends' adventures, after all - but there was something a little unnerving about this particular pattern. Perhaps it was because ponies were actually visiting the library, for once.

"Hey Twilight!" a young colt that she immediately recognized as Snails greeted, his shorter friend not far behind.

"We were wondering if you had a book here." Snips said.

"I have plenty of books here, you two." Twilight gave a little chuckle at her joke and both the colts laughed a little, too, "Which one were you looking for?"

"Republic!" both colts exclaimed at once.

Twilight looked up from her shelving, trying hard not to look as dumbfounded as she felt. "You too?" she asked, "I swear, everypony in town seems to be coming in here, asking for that book, and I've never even heard of it. Is this some Foal's Day prank that Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie orchestrated?"

"Uh..." Snails tilted his head, unsure how to answer, "We're just looking because Apple Bloom mentioned it in class, is all."

"She also said something about The Mighty Town?" Snips couldn't recall the title, "Or was it The Cityscape?"

"I think it was Town so Bright." Snails suggested.

"You mean The City of Light?" Twilight asked, frowning, "Apple Bloom did check that book out along with a few other history books, but it was quickly checked out by Cheerilee after she returned it."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait for the meeting later." Snips sighed.

"What meeting?" Twilight asked, "Is Mayor Mare hosting a town meeting later today?"

"Nope." Snails shook his head, "Apple Bloom is hosting a book reading at the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse, and all the students were invited."

"We were even told to invite as many ponies as we wanted." Snips grinned, "Apple Bloom's family is going to be there, and Sweetie Belle's bringing her sister. Scootaloo even talked Rainbow Dash into going."

"So you know there's going to be a lot more ponies showing up." Snails laughed.

"Wow, that already sounds like quite a turn-out for a book reading." Twilight smiled, excited at the prospect of Ponyville's citizenry actually taking an interest in literature. "Did Apple Bloom write this... what did you call it? Republic?"

"She didn't write it." Snails shook his head, "Some old famous pony named E-quiet or something did."

"Equites?" Twilight gawked, "I don't remember reading anything even mentioning Equites writing something called Republic, and I've read all his works!"

"Apple Bloom says there's a section of the Canterlot Royal Library that they keep a lot of books hidden in." Snips explained, "Celestia was afraid ponies would rise up against her if we read them, or something."

"I'm not even going to begin pointing out how many things are wrong with that theory." Twilight deadpanned, walking past the two colts, "I'll stop by this meeting and see what all the excitement's about, though."

"You won't regret it!" Snips said as the two left the library.

The purple alicorn watched the younger ponies disappear into the town, dealing with her growing disquiet. The rumors that were floating around about Celestia these days were absolutely ludicrous! She would have to talk to Cheerilee about educating the children about how good and noble Celestia was before the rumors grew out of hoof. Another thing was Apple Bloom's sudden interest in politics. Her ideas seemed... frankly, what little bits Twilight had picked up from the visitor's to the library didn't make any sense, but all of them agreed that her history presentation had been amazing and that they couldn't wait to hear this book that had inspired such an awesome report.

Twilight tried to think back to her brief study of early, post-Nightmare Moon Equestrian history, but couldn't find much in her memories about it. She tried to think back to The City of Light to try and conceive of how Apple Bloom could have turned that into a history report, but she had only read it once so long ago, and the history of forgotten political science had been an unnecessary thing to look into, what with the study of magic and various empiracal sciences happening.

Twilight grimaced at this blind spot in her vast knowledge and resolved to fix it, even if she had to track down the alleged "hidden books" in the Canterlot Royal Library and read them all herself to do so.
*-*

"So are we trying to get our cutie marks in narration, now?" Scootaloo asked as she helped her friends set up a podium in the clubhouse. The flag Apple Bloom had made was pinned up behind the podium, creating a backdrop for whoever would be speaking.

"This is more important than cutie marks, girls." Apple Bloom said, holding an assortment of papers with small, neat hoofwriting that were well-bound in an improvised binding. Since Luna could not bring Republic to her, Apple Bloom had committed entire chapters to memory and written them down upon waking until she had the entire book together, then organized them with her usual skill in construction.

Her friends gasped in shock at what she had said, but Apple Bloom felt the gesture was a little exaggerated and certainly uncalled for.

"Just trust me." she said, placing the makeshift book onto the podium, "Y'all will understand when ya hear the reading. In fact, let's do a practice readin'!"

"Like a rehearsal?" Sweetie Belle asked, "Why?"

"Well, Ah'm not too good at readin' in front a' crowds." Apple Bloom laughed nervously, "That report Ah gave earlier? Complete fluke."

"So you want Sweetie Belle to read it?" Scootaloo suggested.

"She never said that!" the unicorn was taken aback.

"She didn't have to." Scootaloo smirked, "Even though my voice is pretty awesome, you've got the best voice among us."

"It's the simple truth." Apple Bloom agreed.

"Oh, but I don't want to read this boring old book." Sweetie whined.

"It's not borin'!" Apple Bloom was offended, but then thought it over, "Alright, so it is pretty borin', but it's also really inspirational."

"I don't know..." the unicorn continued, but Apple Bloom could see her friend's reluctance eroding. She decided to press with her ultimate tactic: puppy-dog eyes and pleading.

"Please?" the earth pony begged, kneeling before her friend and hugging her hooves.

"Alright, fine." Sweetie caved with annoyance, "Let's do this practice read."

Apple Bloom shot up, positively beaming. She pushed Sweetie into position behind the podium and took a seat before her, Scootaloo at her side. Sweetie eyed the manuscript in front of her, taking a moment to admire Apple Bloom's craftsmanship; even though it was a hastily made, improvised copy of literature, it was very well put together. Sweetie sighed in one last act of defiance before clearing her throat and opening to the first page.

"Chapter one..." she read aloud.
*-*

"I can't believe I got talked into coming to a book reading!" Rainbow Dash groaned loudly, irritating a few of the ponies that had already gathered in the clubhouse. Having arrived later than most everypony else, she hovered above the crowded pack of assorted townsponies.

"Relax, Rainbow." Applejack laughed, "It means a lot ta the fillies that yer here, even if ya are bored outta yer mind. It means a lot ta Scootaloo, fer sure."

"I know, I know." Rainbow Dash sighed, "Why didn't anyone tell me that being a big sister was so boring sometimes?"

"Boring isn't even the half of it, dear." Rarity chuckled, "Why, Sweetie Belle is almost constantly trying to get me involved in outdoor activities." she shuddered, "So much dirt everywhere. It just ruins my flawless white coat."

"I hope this book is good!" Pinkie Pie seemingly appeared from nowhere. She had enthusiastically volunteered to cater the book reading and the after party, even though nopony had mentioned an after party. Being Pinkie Pie, however, there was no surprise that there would be as many parties as they could fit in. "Of course, if it's not, I'll just have to throw a super-duper-sorry-your-book-reading-didn't-go-well party!"

"Seems like most a' us are here." Applejack smiled, "Any idea if Fluttershy or Twilight are comin'?"

"Huh." Rainbow Dash frowned, "I could have sworn Fluttershy was right behind me. I made her come along with me because I was afraid I'd fall asleep if I got too bored."

"Then we'd never be able to hear the book reading over her snoring." Rarity whispered to Applejack and the two shared a moment of snickering.

"What was that?" Rainbow Dash glared at her friends who quickly feigned innocence.

"Oh, I said-" Rarity began before pointing near the entrance of the clubhouse, "Isn't that Fluttershy over there?"

Rainbow Dash turned around and, sure enough, Fluttershy was still at the entrance of the clubhouse, making meek attempts to get through the press of ponies to find a seat. Even though the small building was far from packed, the spaces between ponies was closer than Fluttershy was comfortable crossing.

"Pardon me..." she muttered weakly, unheard by the pony she was trying to bypass. She tried another angle. "Could I get through? If that's alright with you, of course..." but yet again, they didn't hear her.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and flew to Fluttershy, hoisting her over the crowd and to the place where she and her friends had chosen to sit. After placing her down, the yellow pegasus smiled at the good company around her.

"Oh my, thank you Rainbow Dash." she said softly, "It's awfully full in here, isn't it?"

"From what I heard, Apple Bloom really made an impression with her history report at school." Rarity smiled, "All the schoolponies couldn't stop talking about it, and they just couldn't wait to hear the book that inspired her."

"Ah'm so proud a' her." Applejack wiped a tear from her cheek, "Ah wouldn't be surprised if she gets her cutie mark in public speakin'."

"Hey, aren't those the girls that pick on Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?" Pinkie asked, pointing to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, two of the few schoolponies whose parents weren't present - more than likely, they were too busy running their businesses to go to a book reading by fillies.

"Yep." Applejack grinned, "Even those two were moved by Apple Bloom's report. Powerful writin', it was."

"You've read it, then?" Rarity asked, "Oh, do tell! I heard so many things about it, from it being scathing to chilling! How was it?"

"Ah, uh..." Applejack stifled a nervous laugh, "Ah didn't actually read it, but Ah heard that everypony really liked it."

"You didn't even read it?" Rainbow Dash asked, face cracking in a wry grin.

"So you didn't hear about all the stuff she wrote about Celestia being a dictator and how she censored this book Apple Bloom's about to read?" Pinkie asked, startling the other four mares.

"Say what, now?" Applejack asked, nearly all emotion bled from her voice by the sudden concern Pinkie had raised. Before anyone could react further, Twilight managed to get beside them.

"Hello girls." she greeted.

"Hey Twilight!" the five friends replied in tandum.

"What was that ya were sayin' about-" Applejack began, but Pinkie cut her off.

"Shh!" she hushed, "It's starting!"

The lights in the clubhouse dimmed and Applejack briefly wondered when Apple Bloom had gotten around to installing dimmer switches, or how she had even learned how to do such a thing. For that matter, where was the power for the lights coming from? She quit the line of thinking as the banner behind the podium lit up, the deep blue illuminated by the blazing silver emblem imprinted upon it. Applejack felt a wave of emotion at the sight, which startled her. Then Sweetie Belle took to the podium, smiling sweetly, with an excited Apple Bloom and Scootaloo flanking the stand.

"Oh goody!" Rarity whispered, "Sweetie's reading this time."

"Mares and gentlecolts, unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies of all ages, thank you." Sweetie began, "Before we begin, I would just like to thank my friend Apple Bloom for introducing me to this wonderful book. At first, I thought reading an old book about philosophy would be boring,"

"So did I." Rainbow Dash sniggered before being shushed by her friends.

"Then I began reading it. At first, it was confusing, but the more I read, the more it made sense, and now I just can't wait to share it with all of you!" Sweetie beamed, "So, without further adieu, we present to you the great Equites' long lost Republic!"

The clubhouse fell to a hush and even Rainbow Dash caught herself leaning forward, intrigued by what could have three little fillies so intensely worked up that they would put together a presentation to share it. It almost even reminded her about Daring Doo's famous exploits hunting for lost treasure. Of course, while she personally didn't think of an old book as treasure, she was certain Twilight would appreciate the comparison. Sweetie cleared her throat and snapped the cyan mare from her thoughts.

"Chapter one..." the white filly began in earnest.

The Schism

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The clubhouse was in an uproar of applause as nearly everypony cheered and clopped their hooves against the floorboards. Several had confused expressions on their faces, either not having understood what the book was saying or finding some fault with it. Twilight was stunned speechless by the missing Equites work, while her friends were a mix of cheers and unnerved glances between each other.

Twilight knew every one of Equites' works, and she knew from his unique style that this Republic had to be one of his - there was no way Apple Bloom could have peiced together a tome of a new ideal, this strange thing called democracy, in the span of a week. No, she had definately copied it as she said she had, and it had the ancient philosopher's hoofwriting all over it. This concerned her more than the obvious approval the new ideal was receiving from the townsponies; if there was a copy of Equites' work that was kept hidden, even from Twilight of all students, then how many books - among other things - were being kept hidden? How much was Celestia really telling her?

Rarity was very proud of her little sister and gave the most polite and elegent golf clop she could manage that would still be loud enough to carry over the cheers of the other ponies. It was a marvelous reading, if she had any say on the fact, and the fact Sweetie Belle had delivered it so flawlessly and with so much passion just made it that much better. Rarity was also greatly impressed by the banner that made the backdrop of the entire speech and would have to give Apple Bloom her most sincere of compliments on putting together such a beautiful flag. Perhaps she could make a dress for Sweetie Belle based on the flag's unique design? Or better still, for all the Cutie Mark Crusaders!

Applejack was even more unnerved than Twilight over the entire reading. There were so many things that seemed wrong about what was being said, so many things that contradicted everything she had been raised to think about Equestria and the Princesses, and yet... There was something inherently right about it all, something honest and true to it. Ponies should have the right to choose - to elect their leaders. Ponies should have a voice in the government, especially when things are going wrong. How many times had it been lately that Celestia was incapacitated or too far away while some long lost tyrant invaded Equestria and nearly conquered it, only to be defeated at the last moment by the Elements of Harmony, while the rest of ponies ran around like chickens with their heads chopped off, directionless because one pony was missing? No, Applejack decided amidst her turmoil, something wasn't right about that.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help the scowl that crossed her face, so she turned from the podium before the fillies could see her expression. She had been raised on the belief that the Princesses - or rather Princess Celestia, because of Luna's banishment - was the rightful ruler of Equestria and that her rule was just and true. After all, in all of Rainbow Dash's life, nothing had gone wrong from Celestia's leadership. Sure, there were the occasional horrifying attacks by Celestia's past enemies, but they were few and far between - and Rainbow Dash and her friends always defeated them, as was Celestia's intent and planning. If anything, that just proved that the Princess had an amazing foresight that made her the right choice for leader. Rainbow Dash wasn't about to betray her so someponies who had a bad lot in life could elect somepony to take care of their personal problems.

Pinkie Pie cheered and felt the uncontrollable urge to break into song. The only thing stopping her was the fact she had no songs that fit this occasion. She would have to get on that, immediately. There was something magical about this new idea, something that deserved celebration. Elections? There could be all sorts of festivities associated with elections! One for the upcoming election, one for election day, one for the results coming in, one for the winners, and a consoling party for the losers! There could even be parties for the candidates! Pinkie's approval of the new ideal went beyond the promise of parties, of course - she liked to see ponies happy and smiling, and giving them a voice in governing Equestria and allowing them to elect their own leader to represent them was a great way to make them happy! Who wouldn't be happy?

Fluttershy's applause was lost amidst the surrounding noise and she wore a tender smile. Even though her outward appearance was timid and reserved, she couldn't stop the swelling of some unknown emotion stirring in her chest. It was like a fire, but it didn't burn. The idea that everypony could have a say in how Equestria was run, that they could elect a leader of their choosing was simply unheard of. Fluttershy liked Celestia, and was sure that everypony would elect her as their leader again if they had a choice, but it was the gesture that mattered. Something about the quiet and shy citizens of Equestria having both the oppurtunity and the means to speak up in a world where all decisions were made by those above them, more powerful than them, made Fluttershy feel at ease. No longer would ponies who had bad lives be treated like door mats. Oh, she hoped she wouldn't be stepping on anypony's hooves with her newfound sense of passion.

After the applause died down, Sweetie Belle spoke up again.

"Thank you, everypony for coming!" she said, a wide grin plastered on her face, the expression shared by her two friends, "We hope you'll join us next week for another book reading, Don't Trot on Me! by Star Spangled!"

Another chorus of cheers and approval sounded from the various ponies, while a few wearing nervous expressions, clearly uncomfortable with what they had heard, began to back out of the clubhouse, all but unnoticed by their peers. Within the hour, the clubhouse had cleared out, only a few straggling classmates staying behind to praise Sweetie Belle's performance and thank Apple Bloom for introducing them to philosophy. Finally, even they left and only Twilight and her close friends were left with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Much to Twilight's surprise, even Spike was there and grinning at the words that had been read.

"AB, that book was so..." he struggled to find the words, "Awesome! I never knew we could elect leaders - I always thought Celestia and Luna were the only leaders Equestria would ever have."

"That's what Ah thought, an' it made me really sad fer a long time." Apple Bloom confessed before smiling, "But could ya imagine if we could vote fer our leaders?"

"I'd nominate Luna." Scootaloo said.

"Ah'd second that nomination!" the yellow filly grinned.

"And Sweetie Belle, your reading was amazing!" Spike turned to the unicorn filly, "I mean, I've never felt so... so excited from a book, before! I think I'm actually starting to see what Twilight sees in these things..."

"Thank you." Sweetie Belle said, trying to hide a growing blush at his compliment.

"Spike?" Twilight's voice snapped the dragon out of his thoughts and he turned to his caretaker in surprise, "I didn't know you were coming to this book reading."

"Uh..." Spike's eyes darted around, "I just heard it was going to be so cool, and everypony else was coming... Plus, aren't you always telling me I should be learning more?"

"Yes, but I never pegged you as the literary sort." the alicorn frowned, "You never seem interested in our study sessions."

"Twi, just because I'm not interested in how many bells were on Starswirl the Bearded's hat, doesn't mean I'm not interested in any history." Spike snorted, "Plus, this is like forbidden history nopony's heard of in centuries! Isn't that awesome?"

"Awesome?" Rainbow Dash snapped, surprising everyone, "What you guys are talking about is taking away Princess Celestia's power!"

"Only her powers of office." Apple Bloom said, innocently. The older mares quirked eyebrows at how she had learned such a phrase. "She'd still raise the sun an' everythin'."

"Don't you think everypony having a say in who the leader of Equestria would be is a good thing?" Scootaloo asked, suddenly worried about how her idol and surrogate sister viewed the ideas she had discovered.

"No!" Rainbow held her head up high, "In my entire lifetime, not a single bad thing has happened under Celestia's watch-"

"Nightmare Moon." Sweetie Belle noted.

"Discord." Apple Bloom added.

"Queen Chrysalis." Scootaloo said.

"King Sombra." Twilight mentioned.

"Those dreadful Diamond Dogs that are allowed to run around Equestria." Rarity shuddered at the memory.

"Then there's all the rampant nature that goes uncared for in Everfree Forest, including the manticores, cockatrices, foreign dragons, and the parasprites." Fluttersy finished before being silenced by a glare from her friend, "Sorry."

"If you guys had let me finish, I was going to say nothing bad's happened under Celestia's watch that we couldn't handle." Rainbow Dash finished, "And I'm pretty sure that Celestia had the Elements of Harmony and us as protectors set up long before any real dangers occured."

"What, like Celestia knew all these villains were gonna come outta left field, so she prepared fer our arrival?" Applejack barely bit back a laugh, "Rainbow, that means she would a' had ta fersee our comin' a thousand years ago."

"Can she do that?" Pinkie asked, looking at Twilight.

"I... don't know." Twilight confessed, "Even though I'm an alicorn now, there's not a lot I understand about their physiology or the extent of their powers."

"Well, I believe that Celestia has everything under control, and will always have everything under control, with everypony's best interest in mind." Rainbow Dash said defiantly, "She only wants everypony to be happy and tries so hard for us to find peaceful solutions to every conflict."

"I agree with Rainbow Dash." Twilight said, "Princess Celestia has never let us down as a leader, and even if the rumors of this so-called 'Reign of Terror' are true, that happened hundreds of years ago."

"Exactly!" Rainbow smiled, happy to have somepony agree with her.

"It could happen again, though." Fluttershy voiced what everypony else was thinking before shying away from their looks, "Sorry. It's just that, well, nopony thought Nightmare Moon or Discord would return, or that they could be reformed, and look what happened."

"An' who's ta say the same couldn't happen in reverse?" Apple Bloom challanged, "If the livin' embodiment a' disharmony can be turned ta friendship an' what-not, who's ta say Celestia won't be corrupted?"

"Traitor!" Rainbow got in the filly's face and actually snarled, startling everypony around her. Applejack immediately got between her friend and her sister.

"Now Rainbow, that's enough!" the farm pony said, coming face to face with the pegasus, "She has a point, ya know. Princess Luna wasn't beyond corruption, an' what if it ain't Celestia's fault? What if she gets brainwashed by an enemy we've never met before, or somethin'? Ya just gonna blindly follow her then?"

"I'll follow Celestia until I die." Rainbow said through gritted teeth, "It's called being loyal, something a few ponies seem to have forgotten."

"Well let me tell ya the honest truth, Rainbow," Applejack said, equally strained, "Ah don't believe any one pony, even a pony as powerful an' trustworthy as Celestia, should have that much power. Y'all have seen what happens when the Princesses are unable ta help us durin' disasters - everypony panics an' cows down ta whoever's takin' over! The only way that'll stop is if ponies learn ta govern themselves instead a' dependin' on the princesses."

"Well that's why Celestia put us here!" Rainbow declared, "We act when she can't! We're like... we're like her awesome sword of righteousness or something!"

"Her awesome sword a'..." Applejack began before shaking her head, "Do ya even realize how crazy ya sound?"

"How crazy I sound?!" Rainbow scoffed, "You hear one book reading and all of a sudden you want ponies to elect their leaders? That's crazy. A thousand years and more of Celestia's rule and nothing happens that can't be handled. If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

"Girls, girls!" Twilight got between her arguing friends, "I know that things tend to get a little hectic around Ponyville and Equestria as a whole, but I have to agree with Rainbow Dash on this - we simply can't betray Celestia. We need to trust in her judgement."

"Well, of course you'd side with Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie laughed, but there was no cruelty in it, "You and Celestia are like, best friends!"

"That's not the reason why, Pinkie." Twilight furrowed her brow.

"Really, Twi?" Applejack asked, "'Cause it seems a might bit peculiar ta me that ya'd still trust her after findin' out she's been hidin' books from everypony, even her most faithful student."

"I'm still not sure whether or not that's true." Twilight said.

"Then ask her." Applejack challenged, "Spike's right here, an' the clubhouse has paper, ink an' pens. Ya could ask her right here an' now. Ah know Celestia might hide thin's from ya, an' the rest a' us - she's done it before - but she'd never lie ta ya, Twi, if ya asked her."

Twilight looked between her friends. She noticed that Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were standing on the side of the clubhouse that Applejack, Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were on and suddenly felt the division between them. Applejack's challenge still stood and Twilight knew that she had to send the letter or lose face; to lose face here would mean she had failed defending Celestia's good name. Still, she was afraid that maybe Celestia had kept books hidden from her. It wouldn't be the first time that the Princess of the Day had withheld information from even her most loyal of subjects. Twilight stood tall, firm in her faith in the Princesses.

"Spike, take a letter." she stated. At once, her assistant pulled a blank scroll and a quill from seemingly nowhere, never in short supply on the materials. "Dear Princess Celestia, I am writing today because some rumors have been springing up around Ponyville that have left me rather confused. Several fillies have been reading a book entitled Republic by the late Equites, but I never recall reading such a work. They also tell me that there are a lot of other books, with similar messages, withheld from the general public of Equestria in the Canterlot Royal Library. I was just curious as to whether or not these preposterous allegations against you - that you would hide knowledge from the public - had even a grain of truth to them.

"Your faithful student, Princess Twilight Sparkle." she finished.

With gush of green flame, Spike dispatched the note and everypony eagerly awaited the reply. Several minutes passed and each of the mares and the dragon had taken to sitting, bored expressions on their faces.

"I doubt she'll reply immediately." Twilight said, "She is very busy, after all."

"That's true." Spike yawned, but suddenly closed his mouth, cheeks swelling. He unleashed a belch of fire and a scroll appeared in his hand. "That didn't take too long."

"Alright, let's have a look at what the Princess said." Twilight smiled as she unfolded the scroll. Everypony in the clubhouse was behind her, leaning in for a look. "Dear Twilight Sparkle," she began before her voice dropped and her smile disappeared.

"How did you come to learn of this?"
*-*

Celestia tried to bite back her frustration, she really did. This was something she could not cope with - not in the centuries since her lapse of judgement had she ever truly been able to come to terms with her actions back then, nor had she ever been able to confess fully to her oppression and the grievances she had laid bare against her own kind. Times were different a millenium ago - death was in abundance, disharmony rampant and strife a part of daily life. She took drastic measures to ensure that secession and the illusion of independence would not weaken the unity she and her sister had strived to create amongst Equestria.

Now it was out in the open. The truth she had tried to hide without burying had risen - her past was back to haunt her. The only thing she could do was damage control; find out how much Twilight and her subjects knew, come clean to it, and try to steer them away from discovering the full extent of her actions. These were dangerous times they were living in, where ancient enemies and would-be despots were rising up from the murky depths of times forgotten to once again challenge the ideals of peace and unity.

Celestia could deal with entire swathes of the population being dragged into an opposing side, even if it was of their own accord, as long as the Elements of Harmony were one and champions of Celestia's vision of the utopia she had strived for countless generations to erect upon the land. However, if even one of the Elements broke away, driven by the ideals of self-governance, independence and exaggerations of freedom these lost writers had promoted, the ponies of Equestria would be torn. The Elements of Harmony were the symbol of Celestia's vision - unshakeable, unbreakable solidarity of peace and prosperity through the ages; an honest, loyal, kind, joyous, charitable, magical union of the three differing tribes of ponies that would eventually unite the world in its image - when the time came that foreign soils were willing to accept that vision, of course.

If even one of them became enraptured with Equites' or his students' half-baked ideals and decided to break away from that which Celestia had suffered centuries, nay, millenia to build, everything would crumble. The pillars of stone she had carved the kingdom upon would become sand before the tide of a turbulent sea. Self-governance and independence would foster selfishness and give power to oppurtunists who knew how to sell their image to the public. Celestia shuddered to think how much power showponies like Flim, Flam and Trixie could garner from the herds of uninformed ponies that made up many of Equestria's backwater populations.

She asked Twilight where she had heard such rumors, though she already knew the source. Only one other pony knew of these forgotten books, for only one pony had ever bothered to look into them. Trotting into the highest, oldest tiers of the Canterlot Royal Library, Celestia was unsurprised to see the shelves, once filthy and in disrepair, having been lovingly restored and cleaned to a reflective finish. She was also unsurprised to see a great amount of the ancient texts missing from their shelves, checked out by the only one who knew about them, apart from Celestia.

With a grimace that was born of wrath, fear and a pain that is only brought about by the betrayal of a loved one, Celestia mouthed the name aloud, to herself in the lonely heights of the library.

"Princess Luna."

Chapter 6

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"What utter, loathesome garbage!" Filthy Rich ranted as he paced before the two fillies before him, "I can not believe anypony would read - much less, write - such a ludicrous idea!"

"But," the grey filly, one Silver Spoon, spoke up, "isn't it like what we're taught in school? Harmony, equality and all of that?"

"I still can't believe my tax bits go to teaching that." Filthy muttered under his breath before turning on his captive audience, "When my father, Stinking Rich, started his first store in Ponyville, we didn't become successful because of harmony, or peace, or love, or any of that nonsense." he leaned in and smirked, "We did it by being cunning."

"Cunning?" the pink filly, Filthy's daughter Diamond Tiara asked, "What do you mean, dad?"

"We undermined all the local business with our bargains - bargains we could afford through outsourcing labor to Marexico and other neat tricks - then we used our funds to gain a stranglehold on Ponyville." Filthy explained. Silver Spoon quirked an eyebrow, not understanding most of what he said, but Diamond Tiara gave a wicked smirk, understanding the ruthlessness of her old man quite well. "Our family owns the banks, the largest and most profitable store and a chain of smaller 'competitor' stores."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Rich, but what's this have to do with Apple Bloom's book?" Silver Spoon asked.

Filthy Rich regarded the grey filly with an unreadable gaze before he turned his attention out the one window in his office. He spoke slow and evenly, as if reliving a long distant memory. "The events that Apple Bloom talked about in her report, this... Reign of Terror. It happened."

Both fillies gasped in surprise. Even Cheerilee hadn't known about it, yet here was Filthy Rich - Diamond Tiara's own father - and he knew. He continued.

"So many centuries ago, long before Ponyville was founded or even mapped, Equestria was a utopia of sorts - utterly flawless, if the rumors are true. Harmony had been established between unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies, Discord had been defeated, and everypony lived happily under the rule of the Princesses. Then the Nightmare Moon incident happened, and everything changed.

"Many viewed Celestia's banishment of her own sister as cruel and unnecessary - they even said it was a grab for power that would see Celestia as the single, unopposed ruler of Equestria. Maybe that was the truth - maybe Celestia had been selfish for a time back then and changed; who can tell now? Ponies decided that they didn't like the idea of one pony, even if it was an immortal alicorn that raised the heavens, to be dictator for life, so they began coming up with their own governments and seceding. They ranged from petty thugs who ran bands of raiders, to organized thinkers and their idiotic new ideology-"

"Republic..." Diamond Tiara said softly.

"Exactly right, my dear." Filthy smiled at her before continuing, "They wanted to establish a government of the ponies, by the ponies, based on Equites' idea. They struggled, but eventual, under Star Spangled's guidance, they succeeded. They were hypocrites, only allowing unicorns the right to vote - Star Spangled was a unicorn and believed that only those with the capacity to turn day to night knew anything about governing, you see - but ponies had more say in their government than before. They seceded from Equestria and Celestia struck back at them in a brief, but brutal war."

"War?" both fillies asked, the word unfamiliar to them in this dark, true sense.

"It's like a fight, but more violent, longer, and ponies died as a result." Filthy explained briefly; both fillies blanched. "My ancestors made quite a profit supplying both sides with lances, arrows and all manner of weapons. Star Spangled spent his last days in a prison cell.

"There were quite a few attempts of secession and rebellion over the years, one ending in the execution of several nobles in the fancier part of Canterlot by guillotine." Filthy actually shuddered at the thought, "I hear that that was an especially nasty way to die. Finally, there was an older mare named Scarlet Banner that told earth ponies and pegasi to unite against unicorns, which she pointed out as being elitists and favorites of Celestia - both statements were true, too."

"We were talking about unicorns after Apple Bloom's report." Diamond said, "Like, what do they do? Earth ponies farm and pegasi manage the weather, but if the Princesses took over raising the sun and the moon, what do unicorns do?"

"Nothing specifically." Filthy laughed, "They're like everypony else - allowed to pursue their own careers and hobbies. If they wanted to farm, they could. But Scarlet Banner was convinced that they were favored by Celestia, and in truth - as magic users - they were. With the number of discontent ponies at her back, she succeeded in leading and inspiring a number of secessions, revolts and wars against Equestria in a union of republics, but all the republics were corrupted and turned into dictatorships eventually."

"How?" Silver asked, "Apple Bloom said Scarlet Banner's works were inspiring and talked about unity and equality."

"Some ponies like to say that they're all equals, but then treat some better than others." Filthy laughed, enjoying his tutoring session, "Pink Pots, the Mare of Steel and Crimson Sun are three of Scarlet Banner's students who took advantage of the faith of the ponies who followed her ideals, then took control of the chaotic aftermath of their revolts, enslaving everypony there. Scarlet Banner died, horrified at what she had unleashed. Eventually, Celestia's Reign of Terror became a liberation of all the oppressed ponies who had lived under the dictatorships. Celestia took back all her own harsh laws and began preaching about harmony and love, and well, you girls know the rest."

"That's amazing." Silver said, genuinely impressed with the history she had learned, "But how come you know about this when nopony else does?"

"Because our ancestors were smart. They kept records and taught every one of us down the line about those dark times." Filthy explained with a grin, "Why, if it wasn't for Scarlet Banner, our family might have been poor forever!"

"Why do you say that?" Diamond asked, not liking the idea of being poor.

"For a long time, only unicorns were in the upper class of Equestria. Even today, Canterlot is mostly made up of unicorns." Filthy explained, "But when Scarlet Banner's followers split everything up, earth ponies and pegasi found their place in the elite while pushing unicorns to the bottom. When Celestia took back control, everything had leveled out, but our family had become established well enough that my father was soon able to start his business."

"Why are you telling us this?" Diamond asked, wondering if there was a test in this. Her father liked to test her business sense, sometimes.

"Because I fear with the reemergence of Equites' lost work, we might be in for some turmoil that even Discord would tip his hat to." Filthy laughed, "And business booms in turmoil, if you know how to spin it right. All we have to do is back the right horse."

"What do you mean by that?" Silver asked, raising her glasses back into place as they slid down her snout.

"If there's another secession, we can make a lot of money working with them, or we can be destroyed as they revolt. Businesses always boom or bust during revolts." Filthy said, pacing before the fillies again, "Now, do you think this new ideal will go anywhere?"

"I think it'll go pretty far, Mr. Rich." Silver smiled. In all honesty, she kind of hoped it would go far - she liked the idea of ponies having a say in government, and she thought that it could be good for business, too. She couldn't help but voice her support of it, either. "In fact, I think it might actually work this time."

"Silv, didn't you hear daddy?" Diamond snorted, "Republics don't last."

"I know, but..." Silver inhaled sharply, searching for the words, "Star Spangled only supported unicorns, and Scarlet Banner and her students only supported earth ponies and pegasi. Apple Bloom supports all three of them. Maybe it could work if all three are working together? After all, the three tribes uniting is what defeated the windegos."

"And maybe it will." Filthy interjected, "All the more reason we need to be ready to get our hoof in the door and get in business, either with these future republicans or against them."

"Why not both?" Diamond suggested.

"That's my girl!" Filthy laughed.
*-*

"What have you done, sister?" Celestia asked with grave seriousness. Luna eyed her with a mix of anxiety and forced innocence; she knew precisely what she was referring to. It had been weeks since Apple Bloom's report had revealed the long lost history Celestia had strived to bury, but nothing else had happened. All seemed calm.

"Have I done something wrong?" Luna asked.

"You have shared forbidden works with young minds in Ponyville!" Celestia was outraged, "A youth's mind is fertile and can easily take to any dreamy idea that is put into it! These fillies might very well have taken a liking to these ideas!"

"And what would be wrong with that, sister?" Luna stood taller, putting on a challenging face. She hadn't stood up to her sister ever since the Nightmare Moon incident, "Are you afraid of what ponies would think of your lapse in judgement all those years ago? Or are you afraid of the power ponies wield when they unite?"

"I am not afraid of my subjects." Celestia's answer was cool and controlled; she had been confronted with the accusation many times in the past, and she was absolutely certain that she was not afraid of Equestria's populace. "I only fear what disinformation and dissent could spread in the wake of ponies who think they are doing the right thing."

The barb was obvious to Luna, and she frowned in response to it.

"I am doing the right thing, sister." she said, "Or are you saying hiding information from the public is good? You seem to do a lot of that, if history books and newspapers are anything to go by."

"Don't believe the writings of those ancient detractors!" Celestia scoffed, "They saw me as an evil, coniving ruler - a despot only to be demonized!"

"I'm referring to more recent events, my dear sister." Luna smirked at the surprised look on her sister's face, "You let everypony believe I was nothing but an old mare's tale for nearly a millenium. You let ponies think Discord and other ancient evils were just myths and superstitions. You let everypony live, unaware of dangers."

"That was for their protection." Celestia stated, standing at her full height and towering over Luna, "I was afraid they would overreact and panic."

"You were afraid everypony would erupt into anarchy!" Luna snapped, "You've always been afraid, ever since those ancient days when ponies dared to secede and rebel against you, you've been afraid to let them know things that they had a right to know! You would prefer them living in the dark, because if they rebelled or panicked or rioted it would disrupt your perfect little world, and you can't stand having things that aren't in your control!"

Celestia took a step back, visibly shaken by Luna's challenge. Luna saw this and her face flushed in shame.

"Forgive my outburst, sister." she said quietly, "I... I was not thinking."

"It is quite alright." Celestia finally said, though she was still quite shocked, "Please go to Ponyville and make sure this situation doesn't blow out of control. I'm quite alright with what has been shared amongst them, but no more."

"It will be done this evening." Luna bowed her head slightly in deference and Celestia warmed a little.

"I look forward to hearing about it tomorrow, then." she forced a smile, "Good evening, Lulu."

"Good evening Celestia." Luna gave her own awkward smile and the two parted ways.

Luna raised the stars and moon and immediately headed towards Ponyville before it got too late.
*-*

Apple Bloom watched the stars and sighed. Things had been going so well until all of her friends had begun to argue all those weeks ago; even all the work she had done since then, all the new stuff she had learned, could not mend what had been severed that day. Applejack was on her side on the matter - Celestia had held important information back from everypony for too long, had a stranglehold on the governing politics of Equestria and was just as prone to corruption as Luna if the Reign of Terror was any indicator.

Still, even with her sister's support, everything else had fallen apart. Big Macintosh in particular was indifferent on the matter - he agreed that ponies should have a say in government, but also felt that even with Celestia's supposed aggresive actions in the past, she was a capable leader. Granny Smith was too confused by the political jargon and simply gave up on trying to understand the whole mess.

But among her closest friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, there had been a terrible division. Sweetie mistakingly thought Rarity was in favor of the idea of a democratic republic, but Rarity crushed those dreams; all of her excitement and support that evening had been for Sweetie's performance, Apple Bloom's flag and all the dress possibilities and ideas she had dreamt up. After that revelation, the unicorn sisters got into a heated argument before both stubbornly went their own separate ways.

"Republic? Oh heavens, no! How dreadful it would be if any street rabble had a say in how Equestria is run. I'm quite fine with Celestia running the place, thank you."

Where Sweetie Belle had rebelled, Scootaloo simply caved. Rainbow Dash was outraged with the idea of a democratic republic if it meant there was even a chance Celestia wouldn't be elected as leader - though in all honesty, it was very likely that Celestia would be elected everytime. Who else could run Equestria? - and if Rainbow Dash didn't like it, neither did Scootaloo. Apple Bloom knew her flightless friend really did agree with the ideals she had discovered, but she could not disappoint her surrogate sister lest Rainbow abandon her - they had no biological ties to keep them connected, and this political schism was a good way to lose that sisterly bond. Apple Bloom regretted Scootaloo's decision, but could not blame her.

"You just don't understand. Rainbow Dash is the coolest, the most amazing pony in all of Equestria! She decided to take me under her wing and teach me everything she knows. She's like the sister I've always dreamed of. I can't go against her on something she has such strong feelings about."

Apple Bloom groaned and trotted back towards her house. She was startled to bump into - quite literally - Princess Luna. Her mood immediately brightened at the sight of her friend.

"Luna!" she cried, delighted.

"Hello my dear Apple Bloom." Luna said, and Apple Bloom could detect a sadness and reluctance in her tone and eyes. She had known her long enough to detect such small details. "I'm afraid I'm not here for one of our study sessions."

"Ah could guess that since Ah wasn't asleep." Apple Bloom nodded understandingly, "Celestia found out about ya teachin' me?"

"More or less." Luna couldn't help the ghost of a smile tugging at her lips; Apple Bloom was incredibly perceptive for her age.

"An' now yer in trouble." the yellow filly deflated slightly. Her tutor was in trouble because she had to go public with what she learned!

"Not really." Luna quickly corrected, "My sister is alright with what information has been revealed, but she doesn't want this spreading out of control. She fears everypony will establish their own republic and secede." she laughed, but even Apple Bloom could tell it was more than a little forced.

"Maybe we ought to." she challenged.

"Don't joke like that." the princess warned.

"Ah'm serious. Everypony's been lied ta all these years, an' nopony dares challenge Celestia about it. She's elevated herself ta the status a' a goddess instead a' a princess."

"Perhaps I have taught you too much..." Luna thought, but she did find truth in Apple Bloom's sentiment, "Still, I only ask that you don't stir things up anymore. Most everypony is happy with Celestia's reign. I highly doubt anypony would agree to electing a new one."

"That's where ya'd be wrong, Luna." Apple Bloom smiled. Luna frowned, suddenly worried. "Applejack's been writin' all a' our family across Equestria about this new idea, an' most a' them agree it's a great idea. They're also not too keen on Celestia's lyin'. So they spread the word an' near everypony west a' Ponyville is just excited ta have an election!"

"That's a lot of ponies." Luna gulped.

In truth, Ponyville was one of the larger cities west of Canterlot and one of its nearer territories - nearly all the western territories were small towns, roughly the size of Appleoosa, until one reached the cities along the coast which rivalled or exceeded Canterlot in population, but they more than likely approved of Celestia's rule and liked the additional order of her pervading reign that kept the usual hectic nature of a city from exploding in crime and anarchy.

"Yep! We've been organizin' a vote ta take place tamorrow, an' we have several candidates." Apple Bloom said, "Ah hope ya don't mind, but Ah put ya on the ballot an' told everypony that ya were the one who introduced me ta the idea."

"That's..." Luna couldn't even find the words and trailed off, speechless.

"If ya want, Ah can talk them inta havin' it tanight." Apple Bloom grinned, "Ever since they found out ya were the who discovered all a' this an' shared it with us, a lot a' us have been sleepin' durin' the day so we could stay up an' enjoy yer night."

Luna put a hoof to her mouth, forgetting about the political crisis that was unfurling. She was genuinely touched by the gesture Apple Bloom and her following were performing; she had feared that, aside from her personal Royal Guards, nopony cared for her night and all the work she put into it. Luna was once again reminded of the banner Apple Bloom had made for her and how dedicated she was to her. So this is what it felt like to be treated like a ruler, a leader of ponies worthy of leadership. She felt a quick pang of jealousy towards her sister, unfelt since her banishment, but it disappeared. This was the recognition she had waited for.

"I would like that very much." she said at last, "But first, I would like to talk to them, if I can."

"A' course ya can!" Apple Bloom led the way into the barn where a series of strange contraptions stood, inscribed with ancient runes Luna barely recognized. "Here we are!"

"I assumed your voters were nearby." Luna said, surprised, "What are these machines?"

"They're what Ah've been usin' ta communicate with everypony that's too far away." Apple Bloom explained, "Spike saw Ah was havin' trouble talkin' to so many ponies over such a long distance, so he showed me these old books about usin' magic cameras ta communicate one-way over long distances to a lotta ponies at once."

"You did all of that and had them delivered in the span of a few weeks?" to say Luna's tone was incredulous would have been an understatement.

"Well, Applejack an' a few other handy ponies from around town helped me out, Spike included. It actually wasn't too hard, either - the book had schematics."

"Fascinating."

"So ya ready to broadcast?" Apple Bloom asked, getting behind her homemade camera.

"What will I say?" Luna asked.

"Just about anythin' will work, Ah guess." Apple Bloom said, turning on all the systems, "Just tell me when yer ready an' all start transmittin'."

"Alright." Luna said. She thought it over and was surprised she had no idea what to say - public speaking had never been her strong suit. Even when she was a regular noble, equal with her sister, there had never really been an audience for her to speak to. Besides her little fiasco at Nightmare Night, she had no experience of talking to her subjects. Still, somehow the words boiled up in chest and she nodded to Apple Bloom, a signal to begin rolling.

"My fellow Equestrians," she began, "We have lived for centuries beneath Celestia's watchful gaze, cared for under her rule. Yet she has deeply betrayed us - all of us. She has withheld valuable information from us all, because she does not trust us. She believes all of you - everypony in Equestria - will overthrow her monopoly on the governing of Equestria. She does not trust you to make the right decisions - her decisions."

A pause as Luna considered her next words.
"I will not do these things." she stated, genuine and crisp, "I will gladly defer to the judgement everypony comes to and offer assistance only when asked, because I believe in the ideals of a democratic republic. I believe everypony, regardless of class or race should have a say in the run of the Equestrian ponies. I believe in you, my kinsmen, my ponies!"

She let that stand in its finality and Apple Bloom cut the feed, watching a set of smaller monitors to gauge everypony's reactions. There were cheers, applause, hollering whoops, and only a few confused or worried glances from townsponies and relatives who still disagreed with the idea of a Republic. Apple Bloom went to a switch and pressed it.

"Let the votin' begin!" she shouted, her voice enhanced by magic to transmit over speakers across Ponyville and western Equestria. The monitors cleared, everypony heading off to their local, hastily erected ballots. Even with Twilight's reluctance to be involved in the growing democracy fad, she had obliged to enchant the ballot boxes so that every slip that went in was transported to a large container in the Apple's barn. Twilight also helped a lot with the cameras, but that was more out of fascination for the long forgotten instruments than helping her friends.

Luna watched as the container filled quickly with scraps of paper and then overflowed. Her eyes widened. Exactly how many ponies were staying up at night just to participate in these elections? She watched the scraps flow over the rim of the container and couldn't help but see her name scribbled on every one of them, in thousands of ponies' hoofwriting. She was at once touched and overwhelmed. Luna knew she was becoming popular, especially among the supporters of a democratic republic, but this was simply breathtaking.

Before long, the polls were closed and Apple Bloom began sorting through the ballots - on camera just to demonstrate there were no tricks. It was several hours going, and even with all her excitement, Luna was growing bored. Then the young filly spoke up and caught her attention.

"In a landslide victory, Princess Luna has been nominated leader a' the new republic!" Apple Bloom cheered and those cheers were echoed across town and Equestria, and were met with monstrous amounts of cheers from the return feed. She raced over to Luna's side and beamed up at her. "Isn't that great?"

"It's wonderful, but I can't accept." Luna declined with some reluctance, "This all seems rushed. Where would we even begin?"

"Well, we'll help ya." Apple Bloom said, "Why, it wouldn't be much a' government fer ponies by ponies if we relied on ya fer everythin', would it?"

"That's true..." Luna agreed. She was reminded of her sister's entourage of assistants and advisors. A kingdom didn't just run itself, even to a godlike alicorn. "We need to establish a body of representatives from each town and territory that wants to participate, of course..."

"Already done." Apple Bloom winked, "Ah haven't been readin' all those books fer mah health, ya know. We've had those elections all across the board, but only the towns in an' around the heartlands want ta join in. Big cities on the coasts hate the idea, an' Ponyville is split plum down the middle!"

"You have much initiative for one so young, my dear." Luna could not contain the pride she held for her pupil, "I suppose I should make my acceptance speech?"

"An' then ya have ta be sworn inta office." Apple Bloom explained. When given a curious look, she went further, "We also all drew up a charter an' what not. Ate up a lotta time after the cameras were in place, but we finally got a rough set a laws, a rudimentary government in place, a body a' representatives an', most importantly, our new leader!"

"All in the span of a few weeks?" the princess laughed, "I'm absolutely tickled! If anyone told me this would be happening just last month, I'd say it sounds like a silly work of some deluded scribe! Still, this is no small feat for one so young. Apple Bloom, you simply must be my assistant."

"It would be mah honor, Madame- uh." the filly blanked, "Ah don't know which title ta use. There were so many."

"How about Premier?" Luna suggested, "It was the most common one, I believe."

"Alright then, Madame Premier Luna!" Apple Bloom beamed, "Make yer acceptance speech! Yer ponies await!"

Luna turned to the camera and watched as her reflection put on its most charismatic smile. The cheers from the monitors hushed, silenced in anticipation as they realized she was about to speak once more. Luna cleared her throat, so quietly and with such grace that the gesture seemed entirely different from what it ought to be. She opened her dazzling eyes which had been closed as she concentrated on her inner muse, looking for the words she knew would enrapture her subjects. Having found them, with sapphire eyes blazing, she spoke them in her crisp and educated, yet kind and caring tone.

"My fellow Equestrians!" she began.

Fight or Flight

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Princess Celestia woke up feeling refreshed and ready to face another day as co-ruler of her homeland. At least, that's what she had believed. The sunrise was ruined by the news sent to her immediately after by her student, Twilight Sparkle, and the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Several were regretful, stating that they respected and appreciated all Celestia had done for them personally and Equestria, but that they no longer recognized her as their leader. They had seceded from Equestria, along with a large portion of the heartlands of Equestria.

What made it worse was that her own sister seemed to have joined them. No, she appeared to be leading them. For a time, Celestia sat in her sister's room, awaiting her return with a calm, yet stern visage. She waited several hours until she realized that Luna wasn't going to return. Then she hit up the coffee, something she had never needed before but which now gave her an agitated energy she hadn't had in years. She strolled the great halls of the palace and came out upon the balcony where she had an unobstructed view of the mass of ponies beneath her. The majority were unicorns, students and descendants of students who had come to practice magic in Canterlot, but there were pegasi and earth ponies as well.

She eyed all of them with a neutral glare that demonstrated her utmost authority. She rarely used that look anymore, but it had the desired effect: deterring any democratic republicans in the audience while silently assuring the worried loyalists that the rumors of Luna leading secessionists would be dealt with. Straightening herself to her full, impressive height, she spoke.

"My loyal subjects," she addressed them with no small part of absolute authority and caring in equal parts, "The rumors that my sister, Princess Luna, has inspired this upstart republic in the West is true, as are the rumors that she is leading them."

A series of gasps and panicked talking rippled through the audience, exploding in questions to the Princess, but she did not answer them - yet. The only ponies who seemed unfazed by the news were the Orange family, but they were cousins of the Apple Family and likely the source of the rumors. Celestia would have called them out on a lie if she had not received reports from across Equestria, including a declaration of secession from Luna herself and a letter from Twilight insisting that Celestia intervene in Ponyville. Celestia continued.

"She has been misled by the words of long dead political theorists whose social experiments proved to be abject failures. She acts because she feels I am not privileged to hold my powers of office, powers granted to me and my lineage ages ago by the dictates of the heavens themselves!" Celestia would have gone into more detail, but didn't feel a history lesson was important at the moment, "In over a millenium of our leadership, we have been a prosperous nation. The vast majority of Equestria lives in comfort, and whatever evils rear their head are defeated before anypony suffers severe hardship. I understand that some homes and businesses are destroyed in the process, but they are quickly rebuilt and at no cost.

"Why, some may ask. Because I have established a society of peace and harmony, where one soul cares for his distant cousin. A pony in Canterlot might hear of a devestated family of strangers in Fillydelphia and would still feel inclined to help them. Yes, there are bad times under the wrathful gaze of old enemies, but we overcome them because we are united and strong. This secession threatens that unity which has made us so strong!"

A murmur of agreement and cheering swept through the audience. Celestia noticed that at least one of the ponies had one of the ancient magical cameras that had fallen out of use centuries ago and briefly wondered where they had gotten such a device. It hardly mattered - if she was being recorded and broadcast across the nation, all the better.

"I will reunite us with our misguided kinsponies." Celestia promised, "No matter what it takes, we must be joined together. We must be one Equestria, or we shall be lost."

Cheers echoed through the palace halls as Celestia walked away from the balcony, her speech finished. Even her royal guards were giving cheers and bowing as she passed, disrupting their usual stoicism. She did not mind; in fact, she drank it in. The loyalty of so many was a great reassurance to her in this time of uncertainty.

Then a chill passed through her as she heard laughter.

"Trouble in paradise, Celestia?" Discord appeared from thin air, temporarily disorienting the princess as she adjusted to his unannounced presence.

"Discord!" she shouted, then glared harshly at him, "Is all of this your doing?"

"I wish!" the Lord of Chaos laughed, "No, I didn't even know about the lost books until rumors started spreading around. When I took a look at one it absolutely bored me. What is it with you ponies trying to organize everything?"

"Why are you here if not to gloat?" Celestia asked, cautious but easing just a fraction.

"I'm just excited, is all!" Discord laughed again, "You two are going to war, and I'm not even the cause!"

"We are not going to war." Celestia stated, more as a reassurance to herself than to correct the embodiment of anarchy, "Lulu and I will talk this out and everything will go back to normal."

"You honestly believe that?" Discord challenged, "I saw Luna's acceptance speech when she was elected Premier of her new "Lunar Republic". She looked incredibly serious. Had that glint in her eye of a mare committed to something greater than herself."

"As if you would know what that looks like." Celestia could not contain a chortle of amusement.

"As a matter of fact, I do." the spirit of disharmony said, "I've seen it in Fluttershy's eyes everytime she cares for animals, and Pinkie Pie's everytime she plans a party. Heck, I've even seen it in the little runt, Spike's eyes whenever he writes down letters!"

"Alright, I get your point." Celestia conceded, "Still, why are you antagonizing me?"

"I'm not antagonizing you!" Discord seemed shock, but Celestia suspected he was mocking her, "I merely want to see how this all plays out. As you know, I have foresight over nearly all chaotic possibilities, and let me tell you - a lot of them don't end well. I may have been evil once, but even the old me wouldn't enjoy some of these outcomes."

"Is this a warning of some sort?" the Princess of Day asked sarcastically, "Or are you playing more mind games?"

"Listen, if you two don't make up, it'll end with a lot of ponies dying, and that doesn't exclude either of you." Discord was serious now, "I can't see how these things happen, but I can see a lot of misery coming out of this. Just remember to be diplomatic, is all I'm saying."

"I have nothing but diplomacy in mind." Celestia said honestly, "Luna is misguided, that is all. She tends to rush into things."

"Uh-oh. Don't start thinking like that; it's dangerous." Discord warned.

"Don't you have someone else to pester?" Celestia sighed.

"Very well. I know when I'm not wanted." the spirit of disharmony crossed his arms and pouted, "Just remember what I said."

And in an annoying flood of chocolate milk, he was gone.

*-*

Even with all of Apple Bloom's incredible help and the build-up of a rudimentary government, many things still needed to be done. There were codexes of laws that needed to be written, for one. Luna transcribed many of the laws she had committed to memory from Celestia's ruling of Equestria (which was quickly being referred to as the Old Kingdom), but many were no longer applicable and all of the hastily-appointed representatives from the new government's adopted towns had very different ideas on how the laws should be.

Luna's time was spent in tele-conferences with many of the representatives, listening as they argued their point for how laws should go for things like inheritance - which many viewed as an unfair advantage of elitists, a carry-over method from the Old Kingdom - or how to charge politicians with crimes, since royals and nobility were typically above the law or in charge of the courts in the Old Kingdom. After many hours of debate (and impassioned speeches by Luna in favor of one side or the other), the ponies were finally making progress in lawmaking. One of the biggest boons that eased the load was allowing the different towns to vote for what they wanted for most small laws that affected their areas, while big laws were decided by the representatives and Luna.

Then somepony raised a very interesting point and Luna was brought out of her boredom with this new, interesting observation.

"We don't have a capital." one of the representatives from a particularly bustling town in the heartlands stated, "I move that we vote on which town should be the nerve center of our new union!"

"Agreed!" another representative said, followed by a chorus of affirmation, "I nominate Mulchville!"

"Mulchville?!" a third representative bawked, "That ruddy little dump? I nominate New Trottington!"

"That one-horse town?" another representative snorted.

"I take offense to that." the third representative noted, clearly offended.

"Enough with the arguing, my ponies." Luna said quietly and the representatives hushed for her. Such was their respect for her, that even as she asked to be treated as equal among them, they revered her. "I have a nominee for the capital."

"Where, Madame Premier?" the first representative asked what all his partners were thinking.

"Ponyville." she answered neutrally.
"Ponyville is a disputed province." one representative noted, "It's proximity to Canterlot also makes it an incredibly... well, it's just a bad choice."

A chorus of agreements.

"It is and has always been a symbol of both the triumph of harmony and the triumph of independence." Luna explained, "From its humble beginnings mere decades ago, it has surged and exploded in industry and commerce while retaining both its small town charm and character. Its ponies are a happy, lively bunch and it embodies the very spirit of the republic."

Another chorus of agreements along with some applause. Luna briefly wondered if the representatives were genuinely swayed or just liked to agree with her.

"That raises another interesting point." a representative said, "What are we going to call ourselves? The republic is kind of bland."

"The Equestrian Republic?" one suggested.

"No. It lacks flavor..." the third representative sighed.

"If Ah could make a suggestion." Apple Bloom spoke up. She had been so silent for so long that Luna had almost forgotten the presence of her young assistant. "Ah think we should name it the Lunar Republic in honor a' Premier Luna, the mare who brought us the idea in the first place."

"As usual, Apple Bloom, you make a great point." the first representative grinned, "So it's settled? All in favor of calling ourselves the Lunar Republic?"

"Aye!" everypony said in tandum.

"And against?"

Not a single neigh.

"Then it is unanimous." Luna smiled, "You do me a great honor, my ponies."

"It's nothin', Madame Premier." the filly said, "Besides, it goes with the flag Ah made that we've been usin'."

"I move we break here for today." the first representative suggested, "We've covered a lot of ground today."

"Agreed." the second representative said, shortly followed by the others.

Luna left with Apple Bloom in tow, off to enjoy a rare moment of free time to reflect on how fast they were establishing the Lunar Republic. It was impressive how developed they were in so short a time period. Luna herself found it difficult to believe. After all, even the founders of such ideals confessed to the burdensome problems with running a government where everypony had a say. Then again, Luna reminded herself, ponies were far more open-minded and tolerant nowadays than hundreds of years ago.

"We sure got a lot done today, right Luna?" Apple Bloom asked.

"We certainly did." Luna nodded, "Still, one thing troubles me."

"What's that?"

"Ponyville."

The town was neutral. Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Twilight were rallying against secession along with a large portion of the townsponies. Luna desperately wanted it to be the capital for the Lunar Republic - it was a perfect candidate, after all. The town was technically in the hoofs of Mayor Mare, but her powers of office were coming into question ever since ponies began to wonder as to when she was last elected; mayor was an elected office, wasn't it? Even with the mayor out, Twilight was technically the leading authority in Ponyville, and yet none of the democratic republicans acknowledged her status as Princess. No, the town was torn between those behind Luna and those behind Celestia, Twilight and Mayor Mare.

Luna assured herself the situation would be resolved in time if both sides could sit down and talk it out. Twilight was a rational mare; she would see reason and come to admire - maybe even support - the Lunar Republic. Yes, everything would go swimmingly. Why, the Lunar Republic and the Old Kingdom could even be partners, trading agricultural goods for industrial goods. They could coexist in harmony, and ponies could choose whether to live in the Lunar Republic or under the rule of Celestia and all would be good.

"Madame Premier!" a member of Luna's Royal Guard - now Republican Guard galloped towards her, stopping and saluting before continuing, "It's Princess Celestia! She requests an audience with you at once!"

"Come Apple Bloom." Luna said, all but devoid of emotion, "Let us see what my sister has to say."

*-*

If the tension in the air were material in anyway, Apple Bloom was certain she could cut it with a knife. It wasn't just between Luna and Celestia, either; Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and Rarity and Sweetie Belle all seemed to be holding a grudge. In fact, the only pony who seemed as uncomfortable as Apple Bloom was Twilight, standing ever faithfully at her mentor's side, the mirror of Apple Bloom in many respects.

"You will stop this now, sister." Celestia commanded, her tone brooking no argument.

"I will do no such thing." Luna stated with the utmost civility, "To do so would be treason to the republic."

"And to rebel is treason to both Equestria and the throne!" Celestia shot back.

"You betrayed our trust." Luna stated quietly.

The room grew disturbingly cold at the comment and Apple Bloom could see the look on her own sister's face. It was the dishonesty and shadow games Celestia had played with them for so long that had really hurt Applejack. After all, to withhold information ponies had a right to know was bad enough in of itself, but it was also a statement that Celestia questioned the trustworthiness of everypony, including Applejack. Celestia symply didn't trust them. The ponies on Celestia's side were visibly outraged by the remark, save Scootaloo who carried on equally stoic and reluctant.

"Princess Luna-" Celestia began, but her younger sister cut her off.

"Premier Luna." she demanded, "I am the elected leader of the Lunar Republic; not a tyrant born into office."

"Where is this coming from all of a sudden?" Celestia gasped, "Millenia ago, you betrayed me and our ideals of unity, and now - after I have forgiven you, no less - you do it all over again?"

"I do not betray our ideals of unity, sister!" Luna stomped a hoof down in defiance, "I stand for it! What is more harmonious than ponies coming together and electing their leaders? what is more unifying than all of Equestria coming under the banner of oneness that is democracy? I do not champion unity above all else, as you do my dear sister, but also the ideals of truth and freedom!"

"Truth and freedom?" Celestia's brow twitched, "What truth do you offer that I do not? What freedom do you grant that nopony has been given under my reign?"

"I do not hide knowledge from our ponies because I fear they will throw me out of office." Luna challenged, "Nor do I forbid the power of voting on important issues from the common pony. They deserve a voice in their governing."

"We can compromise." Celestia began, "Surely if they create a forum to voice their opinions-"

"Compromise?" Luna scoffed, "A thousand compromises will never give us the victory we want - the victory all of Equestria deserves!"

"Hear, hear!" Applejack let out a whistle, quickly joined by a cheering Pinkie Pie. Even Fluttershy gave a small "yay".

"This is treason!" Twilight gasped, "Princess Luna, surely you realize how dangerous all of this is? Applejack? Pinkie Pie? Fluttershy?"

"Sorry Twi, but Celestia has been lyin' ta us fer too long." Applejack frowned.

"And, I'm sorry if this isn't alright with you, but the idea of a government run by all life in Equestria for the benefit of all life in Equestria just sounds too good to pass up." Fluttershy said, quietly.

"And just imagine all the political parties!" Pinkie laughed.

"Luna, if we don't come to a compromise, then I fear Discord's premonitions might unfold." Celestia warned.

"Discord?" the Princess of the Night gasped, "He's been talking to you?"

"Yes..?" Celestia quirked an eyebrow, "Why do you ask?"

"No reason." Luna furrowed her brow, "What did he say?"

"He told me that if you do not cease this foolishness, very bad things would unfold." Celestia stated.

"I call shenanigans." Pinkie Pie said.

"I agree; Discord confides everything in me and he has never mentioned anything bad happening because of Luna's republic idea." Fluttershy said.

"Perhaps he was trying to protect you, darling." Rarity chimed in, "After all, you don't take bad news well."

"Whatever the future holds, we will weather it in solidarity." Luna affirmed, "Ponykind will be free from tyrrany."

"I can't let you do that, Luna." Celestia said softly, "Guards! Arrest these traitors, gently."

"Hay no, ya don't!" Applejack hollered, getting between Luna and the approaching guards. Luna's own guards were by her side.

"Princess! Isn't this a little unnecessary?" Twilight asked.

"They simply won't see reason, dear." Rarity sighed.

"A few nights in a cell will cool their heads down," Rainbow shrugged, "Then maybe they'll listen."

"Then maybe you should try it!" Pinkie blurted, followed by agreements from the republicans.

"Enough of this!" Celestia bellowed, "Guards! Restrain them!"

"Over mah dead body!" Applejack turned and bucked one of the approaching guards away from them. He tumbled backwards, collapsing at the hooves of the princess. "Premier! Take Apple Bloom an' git! We'll hold off these flashy guadsponies!"

"This way, Apple Bloom!" Luna levitated the young filly and her friend, Sweetie Belle, before either could protest.

"But mah sister!"

"There's nothing we can do now, Apple Bloom." Sweetie said with a sigh.

The rest of their flight was in silence.

The Dusk

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"Why'd you do it, Applejack?" Rainbow Dash asked, pacing the interrogation room.

Applejack sat quietly, one cheek bruised and swelled, an eye blackened, but her gaze steeled with the resolve of a pony committed. Her hat had been confiscated from her, and some of her mane had been torn out in the scuffle, but she remained largely unharmed.

"Why are ya standin' by a pony that's lied ta us since before we were born?" Applejack countered.

"Because she's the Princess!" Rainbow snapped, "I thought you would understand how much loyalty meant to me."

"Ah always figured you'd be loyal to somepony who was loyal to you," the farm pony spat, "not a tyrant who doesn't trust you enough to tell the truth."

"Sometimes you have to have a little faith in ponies, AJ." Rainbow sighed, "Celestia has her reasons for keeping secrets - not everypony needs to know everything."

"It ain't just the lyin'!" Applejack said, "It's the fact that everytime somethin' gets out a' hoof, everypony quits bein' able ta function without the Princesses!"

"We've been over that!" Rainbow scoffed, "We're Celestia's back-up plan! We're the reason nothing ever goes horribly wrong!"

"So Celestia's plan is to have everypony dependent on us instead a' themselves?" Applejack laughed, "That's plum silly!"

"I thought you, of all ponies, would see the truth of things, AJ." Rainbow sighed, "I guess I misjudged you."

"Ah reckon ya have." the farm pony said, every word dripping with finality.

Rainbow left her friend in the darkness of the interrogation room.

*-*

Luna paced the halls of her de facto palace - Appleoosa's town hall - deep in thought. Outside, Braeburn and Apple Bloom were getting the pioneer ponies and even a few of the buffalo riled up over Applejack's kidnapping, but this was one of many problems currently far from Luna's mind. What was on her mind was what Celestia had said regarding Discord.

"Why would he tell her, and not me?" she asked the empty room.

"Because I thought she'd see reason." Discord said. Luna spun to face the draconequess with equal measures surprise and caution. "From what I've seen, Celestia always proved to be the more... mature and level-headed of you two."

"You can add that to your list of misjudgements." Luna said.

"Indeed I can." Discord said, a touch of sadness in his voice, "I never thought she'd try and imprison you, and now poor little Applejack has been taken prisoner."

"You almost sound sincere." Luna chuckled gravely, "And yet, even you can't hide your excitement. You're loving this."

"Revelling in anarchy and enjoying it are two separate things." Discord explained, "As a spirit of chaos, I take a measure of... comfort in situations of turmoil, it's true. But even I would not wish what is about to unfold on Equestria."

"What is to unfold?" Luna asked.

"You don't need prescience to see where this is going, Luna." Discord frowned, "Suffice to say, nothing pleasant. Please, make amends with your sister and compromise."

"Certainly not!" Luna shouted, "I cannot believe you are taking her side! I always thought-" she cut off, sharply.

"Thought what?" Discord blinked.

"I always thought that you and I were... kindred spirits, of a sort." Luna explained with a shrug, "I believed that you would confide in me over my sister."

"Are you jealous?" Discord managed a grin.

"Only a little." Luna confessed, "I feel almost betrayed that you would tell Celestia about your... premonitions, but not me."

"Luna," Discord sighed, "Celestia is the ruler of Equestria-"

"We are the rulers of Equestria!" Luna shot back, "Together! We were supposed to rule together! Yet, all anypony sees is Celestia, the ruler! I am just as much a ruler as her! And now I have ponies who will back me, and support me, and worship me!"

"Luna!" Discord blinked, "This doesn't sound like you. Why in Equestria would you want ponies to worship you?"

"Leave this place, Discord!" Luna demanded her voice becoming a thunderous tremor, "You are not welcome in the Lunar Republic!"

"Luna, please!" Discord clasped his hands together, pleadingly, "If you stay down this path, it'll only lead to heartache and disaster!"

"LEAVE!" Luna bellowed in the Royal Voice, throwing Discord to the ground, "AND NEVER RETURN!"

Discord blinked, startled by how sudden Luna's mood changed. Steeling himself, he gave Luna one final, withering stare before snapping his fingers and vanishing in a puff of smoke. Luna stood there, visibly shaken by her own outburst. She blinked away tears and returned to pacing. First her sister had turned on her, and than Discord. Or had Discord turned first? Had he ever really been on her side? Had anypony?

*-*

Celestia watched the moon lower and night ebb away. At least Luna was keeping up with her duties rather than fighting her. Below her, standing in rank and file were hundreds of stallions in gleaming, golden armor that reflected the waning moonlight. They stood surefootedly, in precise rows and columns, eyes hard and waiting. Waiting for her.

Celestia felt some trepidation. She could not recall a single instance in the last five centuries where she had ever needed so many guards in one place. It surprised her that she even had several hundred guards within Canterlot as reserves. No, she had far more in reserve. Thousands, across Equestria - and tens of thousands more, if she only asked for them. With a sigh, she gathered herself and ascended with the sun.

It rose, brighter than anything on the surface of the planet. The stars dimmed and faded with its arrival, even their majesty feeble in comparison with this lord of the heavens. Celestia felt her powers grow stronger in its light. The sunlight glinted from the polished gold of the assembled guards and Celestia radiated in all of the glowing fire of the star. Her cutie mark blazed, as lively as the sun itself. The guards stomped their hooves in salute to their Princess of the Day, and she reveled in it. Such power at her command. It was better than old times, for there was no question of loyalty here; not here in her own palace.

"Stallions of the Royal Guard," Celestia began, voice as fluid and passionate as liquid fire, "I call upon you this day to defend Equestria from her enemies. My sister, Luna, has once again betrayed her oaths to all of Equestria, and resists all talks for peace. She has taken control of several cities and turned her own bodyguard into an army poised against us. We must take action, swiftly and without mercy, before this spreads out of control."

The guard stallions were still, their hard eyes on her face alone. They were surprisingly grim beneath the blazing gold of their armor, though Celestia could understand that. She was sending them to battle - something that none of them had faced more than a few times. Not only that, but battle against other ponies, ponies they had known as comrades only a few weeks before. Celestia felt the icy tendrils of doubt enter her mind at the thought. She shut it out before it could take root.

"You will go to Ponyville and take it back, in the name of Equestria!" Celestia declared, rearing onto her hind legs, "You shall ride the dawn's light and bring illumination to the citizens of Ponyville!"

A few of the guards' eyes widened as she talked, and Celestia could tell she had struck some sort of chord with many of the soldiers. There was something in their expressions, something in their eyes that seemed to glow brighter than the sun behind her. A spark she had seen in Luna's eyes, and in the eyes of her supporters.

Zeal, she thought, but the word didn't quite fit. No, it was more than zealotry. It was something much deeper and truer than that. Celestia slammed her hooves back into the marble of her balcony.

"Now, my ponies!" Celestia said loudly, her voice carrying over half of Canterlot, "Ride! Ride and bring truth to the deceived in Ponyville!"

With a chorus of cheers, the guards departed in a great gallop. She could still hear their cheers - and the cheers of everpony watching them - as they exited the city's gates. The walls were packed with ponies of every stripe, whistling and cheering long after the Royal Guard, in their hundreds, disappeared over the horizon.

Celestia blinked as she realized what it was she had seen in the eyes of the Royal Guard when she had spoken to them. She indulged in a smile at the thought.

Faith.

The Republic

by Mediocre Morsov

The Book

The Pupil

The Flag

The Book Reading

The Schism

Chapter 6

Fight or Flight

The Dusk