Upheaval: Reckoning

Chapter 12: The Road to Reunification

When she heard from her brother that he and Celestia were teleporting to the royal palace, Luna had immediately returned to Canterlot to greet them. After days of going from one settlement to the next, she was both glad and frightened that this day had finally arrived. It was already sunset by the time she made it to the palace and she was just in time to see the gathering gray light that heralded Terrato's teleportation spell.

The transition from Barrier Lands and Heartland to a single united Equestria now hinged on how well the next few days went. The teleportation to the palace was done in secret. Terrato's first appearance before the Heartland's ponies needed to be carefully managed. Celestia's new, depowered state merited the same thing.

The weight and volatility of the situation was the reason that her heart dropped when she saw her two older siblings step out of the teleportation spell. The two were not even looking at each other and the space between them said more than any explanation on their part would have.

Though she had recovered well physically, even traveling on somepony else's teleportation spell seemed to sap Celestia's fragile magical strength. Luna gestured towards the only royal guards so far who had been properly filled in on their princess's current condition: Pegasus Guard Captain Bright Shield, who was still struggling with the nervous tremor in his right foreleg since his encounter with the Equi Ignei, and Unicorn Guard Captain Shining Armor, who was still recovering from the disturbing things he had been hearing about his younger sister. Luna wholly believed that that was as traumatizing as hearing the alien tongue of the Eternal Herd's enforcers. It was not yet even a week since she was able to assure the poor stallion that his sister was neither a criminal nor dead. The two of them escorted Celestia to her quarters, ready to assist in case she keeled over.

With Celestia in no condition to talk, Luna approached her older brother. The guilty and annoyed look on his face only proved further that they had to talk before tomorrow's "presentation". The two of them headed on over to his prepared quarters.

"You weren't the least bit fair, big brother," Luna said reproachfully. After hearing from Terrato what had happened earlier in the day. It was all she could do to stem some of the resentment she felt. She had never met this Pyre Valor save for her encounter with Nightmare Moon's new host. Yet, even second hoof knowledge was enough to make her feel something over the unicorn's death. They had both been possessed by Nightmare Moon and they had both attacked Celestia in a rage but, while Luna was spared, Pyre Valor was condemned to a slow and painful death. She watched as her brother settled into his quarters and could tell that he had a lot in his mind. The seeming of betrayal of this Blue Moon must be difficult to deal with and the information about the Blasphemous Rift…steps had to be taken. It was likely that he was in no mood for what she had to say, but it was because of so many decisions that the three of them had to make that Luna decided to confront Terrato over this brewing issue.

When they heard that they were to set up a room for royalty, the castle's staff had tried to outdo themselves in decorations and luxury items. Terrato had reacted to the extravagance as if he had been forced to wear the frilliest dress ever sewn together. "Oh so I'm to blame in this?" Terrato asked once he sat down gingerly. "Isn't it enough that I take what she says into account when it comes to the Elements of Harmony?" The chair was the biggest one available in the palace, but he was still too big for it. His uncomfortable expression made him look even more out of place in the royal palace.

"I asked you to talk to big sister before I left for the Heartland. I was hoping that things will be better between you two when you get here. Instead they've gotten worse! She protested against that execution and you just shoved her aside!" Luna let out a sigh. "It's good that you let Twilight and the others return to their homes here but 'taking what she says into account' isn't enough. We may get to suggest things, but you still maintain absolute control of the legion and the Barrier Lands.

"All I did was enforce my laws," Terrato said angrily. "There's nothing-!"

"Your laws don't cut it anymore, big brother!" Luna interrupted. "We're done with 'your realm' and 'big sister's realm' remember?" Her frown deepened and she turned her gaze downwards. "Your legionnaires look at you through rose colored glasses because you've fought alongside the ponies of the Barrier Lands for centuries. They don't consider the fact that you're just as guilty as big sister when it comes to the existence of that barrier. If big sister was the judge who sentenced them to their fate, you were the warden that enforced that sentence."

"Are we going to throw blame around now, Luna?" Terrato asked, his voice dropping dangerously.

For a terrifying moment, Luna thought that he might actually attack but she remembered that, even when simply arguing, her brother reflexively fell into a fighting stance. "I'm not interested in blame," she said. "What I want is for us to fix where we keep going wrong! Big sister was wrong for banishing Twilight, you were wrong for punishing Vanguard Clash and you were wrong for letting Pyre Valor burn and the Black Rose rebels hang. We can't move forward with a united Equestria if we keep falling back to the old ways we created! Now, I'm starting to think it was wrong to let you maneuver your legionnaires within the Heartland and prepare for a draft."

"What are you talking about?" Terrato asked. "The Legion needs resources, I thought you understood that! Didn't you agree when Celestia protested against it?"

"I did because I believed it was necessary to protect Equestria. Our Equestria not just yours!"

"You have some nerve of accusing me of being a tyrant!" Terrato snarled. He banged the table with a hoof, causing cracks to immediately spread out. "I never wanted to rule over these ponies!"

"But when big sister's power was stolen, you had no problem assuming some of her authority!" Luna shot back. "Yet you haven't reciprocated by sharing control over the Barrier Lands!"

"The Equestrian Legion," Terrato stressed the "Equestrian" part, "serves not just me but all of Equestria. I thought I made that clear already."

"Then prove it tomorrow," Luna insisted. At her brother's questioning look, she went on. "Give me and big sister authority over the Legion that's equal to yours so that no major decisions on their part can be accomplished without an agreement between all three of us."

"That's insane!" Terrato protested. "You think I can just wave a hoof and get the Legion to accept the two of you as its leaders?"

"Certainly not, but it's a start. Just as Celestia and I approving of you is only a start to get the Heartland ponies to accept you as a leader."

"No!"

"I may have spoken on your behalf, big brother, but I will organize a resistance with big sister if I have to. 'Your' legionnaires will have to drag their new recruits kicking and screaming to their posts and they'll have to pillage their resources instead of having them delivered."

"I thought you wanted to help, Luna," Terrato growled.

"I want to help reunite Equestria under the three of us, not under just you. That's Black Rose's goal, if I recall, and I will fight her every step of the way to prevent that." Luna put a hoof on the table right next to her brother's for emphasis. "You have no idea how to deal with the ponies here, big brother. Big sister has no idea how to deal with the ponies of your realm and I certainly can't deal with both. We need the two of you working together, not going back to your old ways. We either share in ruling this united realm or we fall apart."

Terrato crossed his forelegs and fell silent. In response, Luna waited patiently. Terrato can be stubborn and hard-headed, but she still had faith in him. Celestia had been wrong about Terrato becoming a monster, but she wasn't entirely wrong about the change. Luna had taken the time to read up on how Terrato laid down laws in the Barrier Lands. He expected unquestioning loyalty from his ponies. Questioning orders alone merited punishment. For a thousand years, the ponies of the Barrier Lands considered it a virtue on their part to never question him while those who did were severely punished. It was no wonder that he found it difficult to rule with anypony as an equal. It was becoming more apparent now that, for all his declarations of devotion to Celestia, Terrato would prefer to just place his sister on a pedestal and shower her with adoration while he commanded the mortal ponies of Equestria. At least Celestia wanted to share with her sister. The last time Terrato had tried, it was with Black Rose. 'Yet another problem I can partly lay at your hooves," she thought at the new "alicorn".

It felt like an hour to Luna before her brother finally deigned to speak. "Alright," he grudgingly said. "I will gather the Legion's high command as soon as possible and they will swear fealty to you and Celestia. I will commit to your idea of reunification, Luna. Your thousand year time-out has saved you from developing the biases that Celestia and I have. It may well be a blessing for these circumstances. " He smiled wryly. "You haven't steered us wrong yet."

"I'm not blameless in this," Luna replied. "I wasted so much time because I was blind and jealous. Even when I finally returned, I didn't even have the nerve to act until Twilight Sparkle set off the events that brought us to this." She looked at her older brother and matched his smile. "What I've realized is that, left alone, the three of us keep making stupid decisions. But working together…"

Terrato stood up. "I will admit that I've had more than a hoof in how this all turned out, just as I admitted to Celestia that we were both wrong when it came to the division. I'll also admit that, lately, I've preferred to do things my way. I figured that letting Celestia make all the decisions was what caused all this trouble." He looked out a nearby window and to the night sky that Luna had just prepared. "My way hasn't been good enough. This reunification will change that." He made his way to the bed. "It's time for us to turn in. We have a lot of work tomorrow."

"Goodnight then, big brother. And good luck to all of us."

When she and her friends had gathered together for a teleportation spell from Prince Terrato, Twilight had expected seeing some differences when she returned to Ponyville. She had braced herself when the alicorn's gray magic enveloped her and her friends.

Actually appearing in the middle of Ponyville however, quickly proved to her that she hadn't braced herself enough. It wasn't just the village. It was the very land itself that felt different. The colors were so vibrant that they hurt her eyes. The fragrance of flowers was so strong that she was dazed in a minute. And the warmth…she trembled in response, she never imagined that mere warmth could feel so good. She shook her head and waited for her senses to settle.

"Look everypony! They're back!" somepony called out.

It took all of a couple of seconds for Twilight and her friends to be surrounded by nearly every pony in Ponyville. Except for Fluttershy, that is. Before anypony could come close, she was already surrounded by a horde of woodland creatures, shielding her from the others in a living wall of fur and feathers.

"Rarity!"

Sweetie Belle broke through the crowd and jumped straight at her sister. Rarity answered with a cry of joy and a tight hug. As she did so, Sweetie Belle bumped against the saddlebags she was carrying. The clink of metal was unmistakable. "I missed you so much!" the filly said between sobs.

Rarity couldn't respond. She was crying too. Just being near the loved ones she once thought she'd never see again left her unable to speak coherently. She heard a meow and felt something furry rub against her legs. Before she could look down, however, she heard her name called out by another familiar voice. Her parents made it through the gathered ponies and joined their daughters in embrace.

After some time, Sweetie Belle finally noticed her older sister's saddlebags. She nudged them and heard the metallic jingling again. "What's this?" she asked. "Did you bring back some presents from the 'Barrier Lands' Princess Luna was talking about?"

"No, Sweetie Belle," Rarity replied, "that's actually-"

Before Rarity could finish, Sweetie Belle had opened the bag and lifted out one of the mage blades with her mouth. "What's this?" she asked, her words muffled from having to speak while her teeth clamped on the leather casing. "Some kind of knife?" The casing came loose slightly and her eyes fastened on the brilliant mana crystal embedded into the slender blade. "It's so pretty…" she said in awe. "Do they give one to anypony who joins the Legion?"

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity admonished, thankful that she had taken the time to sew up some leather sheathes for her mage blades. She lifted the weapon with her telekinesis, pulling it out of Sweetie Belle's mouth and then replacing it in her bag. She didn't miss the fact that Sweetie Belle knew of her joining the Legion.

"Can you put in a good word for me so I can join?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Certainly not! You're too young! Besides, joining the Legion is a life-long commitment. You can't just join to see if you'll get your cutie mark there and then leave…"

Rarity's voice trailed off. As she was speaking, she had caught sight of her boutique from a distance. She felt some relief at seeing that it wasn't on the verge of collapse or even in any state of disrepair. Some kind pony had apparently maintained it while she was away. It was a nice sentiment, a little unnecessary, but she certainly appreciated the gesture. She looked to her sister and her parents. They were probably the ones responsible. The beautifully constructed house, her personal design, beckoned tantalizingly for her to go back to her business. But she remembered what she was saying just now.

"Rarity?" Sweetie Belle asked in concern. "Are you alright?"

Her younger sister's voice jolted Rarity out of her melancholic thoughts. "I'm fine, dear," she replied. "Let's not talk about the Legion for a while, okay? How have you been?"

Applebloom had not been far behind Sweetie Belle when the crowd parted a bit. She raced straight towards Applejack. The other Apples were making their way through the crowd as well. In Big Macintosh's excitement, he bowled over a few ponies who were too slow in getting out of his way.

Applebloom reached Applejack first, jumping up and then wrapping her forelegs around her older sister's neck. Big Macintosh came up and then swept both of them up in his forelegs in a crushingly tight embrace. "AJ!" the stallion cried out joyously, his eyes already watery.

"Hey, big brother," Applejack said as soon as she had managed to loosen Big Macintosh's grip a little to keep him from choking her. She closed her eyes returned her siblings' embraces with one of her own, enjoying the familiar warmth and the scent of home.

"You missed the harvest, young'un!" Granny Smith said in a mock stern tone.

Applejack's lips split into a wide, sheepish grin when she heard it. "Sorry, granny," she replied. "I'll make it up to you somehow."

"You darn tootin' you will!" Granny Smith walked over and then gave Applejack a hug of her own once Big Macintosh set both his sisters on the ground. Her forelegs were trembling and it was not just due to exertion. "Double the work for you once Winter Wrap Up and the spring planting starts!"

The grin all but disappeared on Applejack's face.

"Go then. I'll give you a couple of weeks."

"I'm sorry, granny…" Applejack said softly. "I'll be headin' out before spring gets here." Watching the joy on her siblings' faces wane at her words broke her heart.

"But why?" Applebloom asked angrily. "Ain't what you did for this Legion enough?"

"I'll take your place, AJ," Big Macintosh offered. "I can't let my little sister go out there and fight monsters for a living!"

"I can't just quit," Applejack replied. "I signed up for this and I ain't going back on my word." Her siblings looked even more downcast after that. She didn't bother mentioning that she couldn't even if she wanted to. Leaving the Legion was considered treason and she had plenty of opportunities to see what the Legion did to its traitors.

Granny Smith seemed unfazed. "Well then, let's make good use of your time here then. First of all, let's get you fed. Land's sakes, girl, what are they feeding you over that Legion you joined? I can see your ribs! And what's that chain you got wrapped around your neck? Some kind of fancy-pants, big city jewelry?"

"No, granny. It's some sort of magical lasso. Now that you mentioned it, I'd really like to talk to you about it…"

Pinkie Pie was jumping up and down the moment she noticed everypony in Ponyville gathering around her and her friends. In her excitement she ran over to the crowd trying to hug as many ponies as possible. Several were happy to return the hug even if it meant being squeezed in with other ponies in her giant embrace. A few patted her back reluctantly, unsure if this was the same Pinkie Pie who had disappeared during that fateful day.

"Pinkie!"

Pinkie whirled at the sound of her name being called. The Cakes stood at the edge of the crowd, unable to push their way in as Cup Cake was carrying their two foals. She jumped over several ponies and rolled under a few more to reach the two of them. "I missed you guys so much!" she exclaimed and then drew both of them in a hug. She then focused on Pumpkin and Pound Cake. "Especially you two," she said affectionately, playing with their forelegs as she did so. "You've grown since the last time!"

Both foals cooed with delight and happily grasped at Pinkie's front hooves. Pumpkin Cake noticed Pinkie Pie's saddle bags gave it a curious look. Before anypony could notice, her horn began to glow and the bag's front flap opened. By the time Pinkie Pie noticed what she was up to, the bag's content was already beginning to float out. "Oh no!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Pumpkin don't-!"

Pumpkin Cake had telekinetically lifted a strange stone tablet from Pinkie's bag. It was covered in strange markings and gems. All of a sudden, the gems glowed briefly and sparked. The magical glow around the tablet disappeared, causing it to fall inside the bag again. Pumpkin Pie cried out in pain and grasped her horn. Her eyes watered and she started to cry loudly.

"Oh no…" Pinkie said worriedly. "I'm so sorry, Pumpkin Cake, I should have stopped you faster."

Cup Cake inspected her daughter worriedly, taking a look at the foal's horn. When she could see anything wrong, she concentrated on comforting the crying foal. "There, there, Pumpkin, it's alright."

"What is that thing, you got there?" Carrot Cake asked in concern.

Pinkie lifted the piece of slate to show them and returned it to her saddlebag. "It's some weird device those weird 'True Earth Ponies' gave to me before I came back here," she said. "They said it would help me with something…" Her mind went back to that odd meeting she had with the True Earth Ponies just before she went to the audience hall to meet up with her friends and go home.

"Legionnaire Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie turned at the sound of somepony calling her. She found herself staring at the two ponies she had met earlier during the march to FangBreaker Fortress. "Oh, it's you 'True Earth Ponies' again!' she said cheerily. Even as she did so, however, she backed up a step. Sharpfangs and his wife, Tailwind, didn't like these ponies and, the truth be told, they were a little scary. Still, suddenly running off when it looked like they only wanted to talk would be rude.

The pony in the funny-looking stone pony mask turned toward his younger companion and said something. The younger stallion listened intently and then shifted his attention to Pinkie Pie. "We did not get a chance to properly converse the other day, Legionnaire Pinkie Pie," he said. "We would like to correct that."

"Huh?"

The younger stallion looked taken aback. He paused for a while and then tried again. "We would like to speak with you," he said.

"But you're speaking to me right now!"

The masked stallion leaned over to whisper again and then handed something to the younger stallion. Pinkie recognized the object. It was the same piece of slate she had seen with the two during their last meeting. "Please take this," the younger stallion said. He handed the bejeweled slate to Pinkie, who took it as if it might turn into a snake and bite her if she wasn't careful.

"Uh…thanks? What do I do with this though?" Pinkie tried to make sense of all the markings. When that didn't work, she tried pressing on the gems. As a last resort, she bit into the stone. Except for hurting her jaw, she accomplished nothing with the strange piece of slate.

At the sight of Pinkie trying to eat the slate, the younger stallion nearly panicked and stepped forward. The masked stallion held him back and whispered something else. "When you begin to channel ley energy instinctively, the device will react," the younger stallion explained. "Once it does, you will learn much from just observing it. We are confident that, once you notice this, you will seek us out to learn more."

"Okey dokey lokey," Pinkie replied. She had thought that these strange ponies would ask her to do something that her friends wouldn't approve of but carrying a piece of stone around sounded reasonable. Besides, these two mentioned "channeling ley energy" again. She had no idea what that meant, but from what Cold Forged had mentioned earlier, it might be some form of useful magic. The prospect of having something useful during an emergency was too good to pass up.

"One more thing," the younger stallion added.

"What is it?"

"We are aware that you are good friends with a pair of goats,"

"Goats? I don't recall meeting any goats in these lands."

"We mean the purple one and the white one who marched with you after we last spoke."

"Purple one and white one marching with me…you mean Twilight and Rarity? Oh, you silly! They're not goats!"

The younger stallion frowned at this while the masked one shifted slightly. "Regardless, make sure that they do not try to use their magic on the device. It will react badly."

"Okey dokey lokey!"

Pinkie looked apologetically at the Cakes for making their foal cry. "I'm sorry," she said. "I should have put my bags away first."

"That thing looks dangerous," Carrot Cake said. "Maybe you should just get rid of it."

Pinkie looked at her saddlebag and considered it. Maybe she should just get rid of this stone. It hurt ponies and it might continue to do so. She suddenly remembered the fight in Bastion City again, cringing behind Twilight and wishing that all her friends would be fine… "Sorry," she said. "I think I still need it."

While her friends got swarmed by ponies, Rainbow Dash took to the air, barely dodging a large flock of birds and other flying creatures that were heading for Fluttershy. She had missed Ponyville and she had missed everypony who lived in it. But, somehow, she couldn't bring herself to go among them and try to reconnect with her home. She should be glad to have this break. Instead, she felt agitated and restless. Home was important, but she just felt that it just wasn't the right time. It was as if she was in the middle of a sporting competition and then asked to sit it out so she could relax. The sense of urgency just wouldn't go away not matter how much she tried to convince herself to calm down.

"Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow looked down and spotted a small, orange-coated pegasus filly standing directly beneath her. Scootaloo looked up at her happily and expectantly. Despite herself, Rainbow flew down and landed. "Hey, pipsqueak," she said. "How've you been?"

"Things got really boring here without you around! I'm so glad you're back!"

"Well, don't get used to it, I'll be flying off in a couple of weeks!"

Scootaloo saddened at this, but she quickly perked up again. "Princess Luna said that you joined the Legion. Is it great being in the Legion, huh?" She hopped up and down in excitement.

"It sure is! You get to fight for Equestria's sake, fly into battle and shoot at the bad guys! It's pretty awesome!"

"Wow! Is it more awesome than joining the Wonderbolts?"

Rainbow halted dead in her tracks. Joining the Wonderbolts…that was her life-long dream when she stayed in the Heartland. All the training and practicing was so she could join that team of elite flyers. Yet, all that training and practicing now felt like a long dream and reality had just caught up with her. She suddenly realized that, even if she wanted to join the Wonderbolts now, it was probably impossible. She knew a lot about the Legion's draft, probably more than any of her friends after asking around about it in her flight. The Wonderbolts were Equestria's best flyers. They were likely going to be absorbed into the Legion like the Royal Guard once drafting began. Logistics would break them up and divide them among the various flights.

"Y-yeah…" Rainbow answered with barely a fraction of the enthusiasm she had a few moments ago. "It is. The Wonderbolts are awesome and all, but they focus more on air shows and racing. The Legion gets up to a lot of hardcore stuff."

"Awesome! I should really join the Legion then!"

"Hey, wait! You can't!"

"Why not? You just said it was awesome and Princess Luna said that they were looking for members."

"It's also really dangerous. A lot of bad things can happen to you!" Memories flashed through Rainbow's mind: a giant wolf's paw slamming into her, a bloody Applejack lying motionless on the snow-covered ground…"A lot of bad stuff," she reiterated.

"You just said the Legion was awesome. Now it's bad?"

"It is awesome…and bad stuff happens and…" Rainbow shook her head and began to hover. "Sorry, Scootaloo, I uh…I need to think alone." She flew off in a hurry, leaving her friends and everypony else to take shelter in a cloud. It was a mistake to come back to this place. Out in FangBreaker, everything was clear and straightforward. She just needed get better at being a legionnaire, beat Scarlet, and then rise to the top of her flight. Coming back to the Heartland just muddled things up.

While all her friends met up with loved ones, Twilight found herself dealing with the citizens of Ponyville in general. Somepony had mentioned that Spike wasn't around, making her remember that her assistant was still somewhere in the Western Barrier Land being tutored by a kirin. She wanted to head on to Canterlot so she could see her family, but she didn't want to go ahead of her friends.

"Twilight Sparkle, is it true that you are a member of this 'Equestrian Legion'?" Mayor Mare asked.

"Yes, it's true," Twilight replied.

"Then you would know what they're really like!" somepony from the crowd said. "Can they be trusted? What do they really want?"

"The Legion seeks to protect Equestria," Twilight replied. She remembered that Princess Luna should have come here to allay their fears. That they were still asking these questions was worrisome. It meant that they have yet to completely trust the Princess of the Night despite the time she had spent here before. "They can be trusted," she said as reassuringly as possible.

"What about this Prince Terrato?"

"He's Princess Celestia's brother. He may be scary…and rude…and violent…and always in a bad mood…"

The crowd started to look even more worried as Twilight continued. She stopped herself, realizing what was going on. "But he means well," she finished with a sheepish grin. The crowd looked a little mollified, but not enough for her to feel sure about them. She looked up in time to see Rainbow Dash fly off.

All of a sudden, Twilight realized that this homecoming will have nothing to do with relaxation or reconnecting. She and her friends may have just come here to see the last vestiges of their old lives be consumed by the Legion. Night had completely settled by this time. The familiar lights of Ponyville did little to take the edge from her worry.