LEGACY: The Binds

by AppuhCobbler

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure
Length: 2829

Two years after the War for Equestria, a new crisis has arisen.

Stuff

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-05-30 08:51:33 UTC

Dreams

Oh, the alicorn had Celestia's features. She had the elegant face and Celestia's bright, lively magenta eyes. She had Celestia's flowing mane, made up of blue, green, and pink. a glossy black with flecks of gray, worn shoulder-length to fit readily under a pilot's helmet, even though she piloted far less often these days. She had the body structure of the very alicorn she knew and seen.

But she was not her mentor.

"Something wrong, Twilight?" Noticing Twilight's long gaze instead of reading her book like always.

Twilight turned to her book, stunned and

"Spike." Twilight smiled, reassuring the startled dragon. "You shouldn't be awake. We do have a guard outside the door." She hoped she hadn't waken him up by causing any noise in her sleep, but then that would have alerted her guard by her chamber's entrance. Perplexed, she asked. "

"

Growing Pains

An ocean of ponies-perhaps thousands-churned and surged around in the plaza in front of the City Hall. Luna could see a very long line of dozens of blue-armoured military police officers with riot shields and visors pulled down, forming a defensive barrier across the face of the building. It was a protest: not exactly a mass riot, given the population of Las Pegasus, but it wasn't a welcoming committee for the Queen of Equestria Proper, either. Judging by the position of the police lines, there appeared to be two hostile factions yelling abuse at each other. Pro-Confederate versus the Pro-Kingdom lobby.

Luna could hear a chant taken up by thousands of voices.

"The Nightmare's back! The Nightmare's Back! The Nightmare's Back!"

It was hard to tell whether they meant that this feeling of fear was back or were they referring to her past life. Perhas it was both. She could barely hear any chant in favour of the Kingdom and a firm government.

"Pity I couldn't stay in the front line, your highness," said Flash Sentry, grinning. Luna and Flash Sentry spotted Bridge Stone, Shining Armor's successor as . "That's the worst thing about command. Anchors you to a desk."

"I'll remain hands-on for as long as I can," Luna said. "I'd like to show my face on the blockade line. Good for morale."

"You have an office in mind, then .. ."

"Don't worry. Not yours."

"And I note that you haven't gone back to wearing Jedi robes."

Luna dusted a speck of lint from his black GAG uniform. "I don't see any point in provoking Uncle Luke or the Jedi council. I know they don't enjoy being identified with my actions."

"Ironic, seeing as the Public Affairs Office says polls indicate the popularity of the Jedi council has increased a little."

"Jedi are supposed to be beyond populism, Admiral."

As Niathal's staff airspeeder slowed to skirt the crowd, Jacen glanced out of the window and noted the new mix of species and allegiances forming the army of protesters. "Well, we rounded up the Corellians, and now their places are being filled by others." He identified various nationalities by clothing, hairstyles, snatches of language. "Look, isn't that a couple of Rodians?"

"As long as you don't see any Mandalorians ..."

The closer to the lobby that the speeder edged, the uglier the mood of the crowd appeared to become. A group of CSF officers drove back the crowd with none-too-gentle shoves emphasized with batons to let the speeder through. Jacen and Niathal got out, and he took the precaution of throwing up a Force-shield around them.

Jacen almost didn't feel danger now, not in the sense he always had. He merely took account of circumstances and reacted accordingly. As they stepped out of the speeder, a hail of stones, old food containers, bottles, and other debris flew at them. All of it bounced back from the Force-barrier, some of it hitting the upturned riot shields.

Luna turned and stepped forward into the crowd: he didn't enjoy displaying her magic powers in such a vulgar way, but there were times when they could make a point. She lit up her horn, closed her eyes, and pressed outward with her mind.

Nothing violent. Mustn't cause a crush, or a stampede. Innocent people will be hurt.

The crowd closest to her fell back a few paces, some of them looking around frantically to see what was pushing them back. More missiles rained from farther back in the press of bodies, accompanied by shouting and shoving, but they simply bounced off the bubble shield Bridge Stone set up, and Luna stood calmly staring back into the mass of people. A breathless silence spread from the line nearest to him like a fast tide engulfing a shore. Even some of the armoured officers seemed frozen to the spot.

Everyone knew about Luna, but very few outside of Canterlot had ever saw her in action-or let alone seen her in person.

"Go home," said Luna. "Just break it up and go home before I have to do something about it."

They didn't run, of course, but she had made his point; the respite gave the security forces a chance to push the rival groups apart again. Luna walked up the stairs to meet Captain Bridge Stone on top. He took off his helmet, and dispersed his shield, now that the protesters' missiles were out of range from their position.

"Thank you, your highness." He bowed, before lifting his head back up. "

" and Luna followed into the Senate Building and up to the Chief of State's office.

Luke Skywalker was already there, Mara sitting beside him, and he didn't look pleased to see Jacen.

"We are still not at war," Omas insisted, staring out the window at the crowds. "Does the council still support the blockade?"

"As the only alternative to full-scale war or backing down on disarmament, yes." Luke wasn't looking at Omas. His gaze was on Jacen. "How much impact is the blockade having?"

Niathal looked up from her datapad. Jacen wasn't sure how she regarded Luke; his uncle didn't feature in their conversations. "We've intercepted or turned back around seventy percent of vessels trying to enter or leave the two exclusion rings, but in terms of volume of cargo and personnel, that's nearer ninety percent. We're stopping the big vessels but losing some of the small ones. All in all-it's biting already."

"Should we revise our policy on stopping traffic movements around the shipyards?"

"Nonviolent way of leaning on the civilian population," said Jacen. "When dad doesn't come home when he's due back from the yards, it focuses families, and families lean on governments."

Luke stood up and watched from the window with Omas. "And what about these people, Jacen? You've cracked down on the Corellians. What about all the non-Corellians I see down there?"

Mara gave Jacen a careful, don't-take-the-bait look. He could feel the tension between her and Luke, and he knew it was more about Ben than about politics or personal rights. "If any other national group or species threatens the security of Coruscant or the Alliance, then I'll deal with that, too."

Reassignment

He’d believed in the Kingdom at first. He really had. He’d been ten when the Princess sent her  had come in force and spent five months clearing out the cockatrice nests that had plagued Little Lamplight for decades. Eight years later, when the recruiters had come for the war against the Griffons, he’d jumped at the chance to join such a noble group of ponies in the noblest of goals to protect his brothers and sisters. During his two years of service, he was noted for showing dauntless courage , dragging his wounded commander all the way back to the frontlines

More importantly, he was one of the few who stayed in uniform, even after losing his entire company in the Battle of Silver Springs.

Few remained in uniform after the war, fewer remained when they lost many good friends.

For his courage and doubtless loyalty during the war, he was offered a spot in the Royal Guards, he’d jumped even harder, working and sweating and praying for the chance to be

worthy of this ultimate challenge.

For six years everything had gone well. He’d served with all his heart and strength, fighting against the forces of evil and chaos that threatened to destroy Emperor

Palpatine’s New Order. And he’d served with distinction, or so at least his commanders had thought.

He pulled out his black body glove and proceeded to putting it on. He then took out several white armour pieces and began the arduous process of putting them all on. Strapping the cummerbund and belt pouch around his waist, putting on his boots and gloves, attaching the armour pieces to his knees, biceps, forearms, shoulder bells, and finally donning his chest piece. He'd take his helmet and baklava as well but he knew she didn't like it and it didn't a request for him to voluntarily remove them.

It was all very menial and time consuming to prepare for his daily routine. He missed the old days when putting on armour didn't take five to ten minutes. How was he going to protect the individual if  In fact, barely anything happens to him to te but then again, he wasn't out on the streets trying to keep order  It was light and flexible yet just seeing the thickness gave him a sense of security. But there was something Flash Sentry couldn't look past, and that was how it resembled the Griffons' battle armour. Encased behind steel plates around the body. It reminded him of the times he barely backed an inch away from the razor sharp talons of a griffon and the oppressive occupation by them toward the populace when he was behind enemy lines.

"Have you reconsidered their offer?" asked Twilight.

"Yes and no, ma'am." He replied, sounding awfully cheerful. "Yes because I have considered their offer. No because I declined it."

Twilight returned a perplexed face, just as Flash Sentry expected. "Declined? Declined the Royal Guards?"

"Hmph," he smiled, not feeling one bit of shame, "

Judgement

"Then who?" she asked. "Who can we blame for her death? If it's not Twilight being under Chrysalis' influence or Applejack and that assassin, Pryde acting on vengeance, then who do we accuse?"

"We could still blame Chrysalis. She may have been lying to Twilight."

"Her mind control only works on those she loves. Twilight Sparkle hasn't been seen with anyone else except Spike, her guardian dragon. I can assure you that she herself was far too busy during the war to hold romantic feelings. It just isn't her character as well."

"And that dragon probably wouldn't." Thundering Hooves joked, though receiving no laughter. She decided to expand on Chrysalis for those in the Council who may not know. "Shining Armor only fell to her influence because he wrongly was in love with an imposter, who he thought was his wife, Princess Cadenza.

"So some of us want the farmer tried for her collaboration with the assassin, the other half doesn't have anyone to blame, and no one wants Princess Twilight in trial. If you ask me, that friend of Twilight's isn't looking really good here." Dalian said, worryingly. "The angry mobs aren't just going away if we tell them we don't know who's behind her killing."

"Or we could just disperse them." Thunder Hooves suggested. "Why aren't we using our powers to stop them? They're attacking our soldiers and city police and yet we do nothing?"

"Because more violence doesn't solve the problem." Cadence explained

"You know we can't just strip her of her title and put her on trial." Luna retorted.

"You've all already decided, haven't you? This trial is just a formality!"

School

Cloudsdale

As Rainbow Dash settled more and more into her role as flight school instructor, her bad habits started to return and she began rearranging things to suit herself, to better her comfort and what she likes to think, improve her efficiency in the position.

One of the most common bad habits to return was her tardiness, since she liked to take naps during the day.

"And you," Rainbow Dash said, "should not mock Rainbow Dash, hero of the Great War."

"I'd never... 'Cuz i was mocking Rainbow Dash, supreme egoist and my lousy flight instructor."

"Now you'll be flying triple times the amount of laps tomorrow."

Scootaloo laughed at her.

The Council

It. She was lucky it was a flower pot . She saw another body be dragged out from the front lines to a stretcher and a new security trooper taking his or her place. She swayed her head in dismay. The whole day, since the p . The army and Royal Guard stood behind them in case they finally broke and the protester. Sometimes she wish they did.

"What we need, Gentry, isn't security, but order." Gentry and the rest listened. "We have all the security you and Luna are providing. We have well-over enough security forces to , we even have the army and Royal Guards assisting us. They're throwing rocks

"Please, Chief Rocksteady." Gentry began, unmoved and frowning. "Are you telling me that your security forces and the military can't handle bottles, rocks, or insults in the streets?"

"So you're asking me to stop the riots but you're unwilling to disperse them yourself?" asked Gentry.

Rocksteady violently got off his seat and pounded on the table. "I've had my mares and stallions be sent off to the hospitals, Chancellor!" He snapped. "When they're getting bombarded with projectiles and missiles from dawn till dusk, of course they'll be exhausted and quite possibly lower their guard down just like the ones in hospital now. I can't believe you just want us to sit and wait till the demonstrators are out of rocks from ." He slumped back into his seat, still disgruntled and defiant.  "And I thought you were unlike your father."

"Don't you dare bring up his name, you coward!"

Luna decided to step in now and spoke her mind on the matter. "I... have to agree with Commissioner Rocksteady." Gentry turned to her and found himself taken back a bit by her siding against him. He too went back onto his seat to allow her to continue. "The police and military are holding on lines but they're being put to waste if we do nothing with them but wait. Everyday the protests become more larger and dangerous. Everyday cities are brought to a standstill because no one is around to take it back. We have the numbers and means, fellow delegates.

"Rocksteady," Luna announced, "You've been instrumental in keeping the peace for two years after your successor. You've helped build the security force we know today here in Canterlot. We all appreciate your involvement. But I think it's best that we pick some one else to spearhead this operation. Some pony that would be able to be

Rocksteady began laughing hysterically for a brief moment. "Y-You think I'm too much of a coward to stop them, don't you?"

"No, Roc-"

"

Upbringing

Unlike most veterans from the war, even if they deserted or fought on Chrysalis' side, Applejack and her family received no compensation for her service or damage to their homes. The Apple Clan, the very group of family relatives, also did not chip in to help one of their families. The Mayor of Ponyville, one of the most compassionate and generous mares she met and worked with, even turned down to help her family. Applejack liked to think it was due to her prioritizing thecenter of the ravaged town first then expand, but she wasn't sure.

She spent the last two years, tirelessly labouring on the field to earn the money back. But to feed her family and livestock, plus buy or repair tools she would always end up with keeping about 30% of what she made in her usual quotas. Apple Bloom had another few years until she was of age but at this rate, Applejack wasn't sure.  She wasn't fortunate to go . Her family gave everything o Equestria would be able to fend off the Griffon Empire. They donated nearly all their scrap metal, offered food with no price attached, . In many ways, Applebloom was right to feel angry at Granny Smith. Because of the war, she threw everything the farm meant to us to those who her sister off with her friends

Applejack instinctively placed the glass back onto the waitress' tray before Applebloom even noticed.

"Applejack. I know why you do this."

Applejack's eyebrow raised.

"You do this 'cause y'think you're responsible for all of this." Applejack's heart trembled but Applebloom continued. "If you hadn't abandoned me and the rest of us with that pony, Granny SMith wouldn't have died in vain."

"I'm- I'm sorry I left you during the war."

"You left me the day you went off to the Frozen North, Applejack."