Sent to the Moon

Our Journey to a New Land

September 17, Celestial Year 1009
11 months after Twilight's Banishment

It had been almost a year since Twilight Sparkle, the only student and personal protégée of Princess Celestia, had been sent to the moon for the crime of high treason and her family and friends had been placed under house arrest by Princess Luna. In that time several rumors had gone around Equestria stating that Princess Celestia had attacked and banished Twilight for no good reason. Other rumors stated that the Elements of Harmony had staged a coup and it had been foiled by Princess Celestia before the final plans had been put in place. Ponies in Manehattan stated that it had been Captain Shining Armor that had staged the Coup and his sister Twilight Sparkle had taken the fall to spare him a public death. The buzz in Saddle Arabia was that Princess Celestia had gone mad and in the attempt to stop her from doing something horrible Twilight Sparkle had attacked her and been banished to the moon by dark magic. Word in Canterlot was that some nobles had planned a coup and assassination of the Princesses to gain control of Equestria. When they had been found out by somepony or other they placed the blame on the Elements of Harmony to escape a trial and death at the gallows. There was also talk that the Elements of Harmony were no longer useable and the former controllers of those ancient relics and their families were soon to be banished from Equestria.

All of the rumors were fueled by the fact that the Sparkle family had been placed under house arrest by the royal guards and Captain Shining Armor had been stripped of his rank and title before being dishonorably discharged from the royal guards. The fact that the Elements of Harmony had not been seen since the word got out about Twilight Sparkle's banishment only fueled the rumors more. There was even talk of civil unrest in towns and cities where the Apple family lived.

Once news of all of the rumors and civil unrest made their way to the castle Luna knew it was time to put an end to all of the speculation by releasing a few public statements. A cover story needed to be created before things got any more out of hand than they already were. Unfortunately, a few ponies were going to be sacrificed in the process of keeping order and stability in Equestria. For the greater good Shining Armor would become a martyr to save his sister’s good name and legacy as a national hero.

It was three months after the rumors started that the castle Press Core released several statements saying that all of the rumors about the banishment of National Hero Twilight Sparkle and the supposed coup d'etat were untrue. A formal investigation had been launched and it was decided that Princess Celestia and Luna would both release public statements on the matter once the investigation into the incident had been completed.

In the weeks after the press release from the castle most of the rumors seemed to die off, all but the ones about Shining Armor's supposed coup d'etat, the nobles attempted assassinations of the Princesses and a Mad Princess Celestia lashing out at her loyal student. A Press blackout had to be called when several tabloids ran stories about Celestia attacking Twilight after some false dreams about her taking over the country. Royal guards and city peace officers had to be dispatched to break up several protests and riots that had broken out from speculators on why Twilight had been banished after the Press blackout. The fact that Princess Celestia had not been publicly seen or held a court since the start of the rumors had only made things worse and Luna was struggling to keep the nation from tearing self apart in the sea of rumors and waning faith in the crown.

June 12 Celestial Year 1010
1 Year 8 months after Twilight's Banishment

It was a year and eight months after the 'Throne Room Crashing' incident before Princess Celestia and Luna both appeared to explain what had transpired. A full Press Conference was held in front of the castle. Although Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence would be in attendance for the Press Conference they would not be speaking or taking any questions of any kind. Princess Luna would be handling the whole affair.

Luna stood in front of the podium with her prepared statement as she readied herself for the onslaught of questions after her statement. The crowd before her seemed to be a bit restless as they had been waiting for an hour for this statement. Most likely they wanted to get as much information as possible in order to get the next edition of the various papers out.

“Greeting to you members of the press, I, Princess Luna, Princess of the Night, have gathered you here this evening to finally put to rest all of the rumors of Coup D'etats, mad Princess' attacks, and the supposed Treason of National Hero, Twilight Sparkle. I will ask that you hold all questions until the end of my statement which is the Crown’s official position on the matter.” Luna told the crowd of reporters. The crowd seemed to be stirred up by this revelation and a great murmuring ran thru it before Luna silenced it by clearing her throat.

“On October 3, of Celestial Year 1008 it was revealed that rumors had surfaced about a planned coup d'etat and the assassination of Princess Celestia. The rumors were centered around the Elements of Harmony, specifically Twilight Sparkle as the ringleader with the other five mares as patsies. A secret force of six royal guards, trained by the former Captain Shining Armor in covert investigation, were sent out to investigate these rumors. Their job was to prove or disprove the rumors, if the rumors were false they were to find the source of the rumors and bring that source to justice. If the rumors were true then they were to find any and all evidence and bring it back so formal charges could be filed against Twilight and any co-conspirators so justice could be served. It was while on this undercover investigation that supposed evidence supporting these rumors was found in the home of Twilight Sparkle by the covert team confirming crimes of planned treason.The team brought this evidence back to the castle and at the time it was deemed factual by Princess Celestia.”

“Twilight Sparkle was to be brought before Princess Celestia to answer to the charges of treason and to be questioned. It was during that process on the 5th of October that a fight between Twilight and one of the guards broke out that Princess Celestia had to get involved in which lead to Twilight having to be banished for the good of Equestria and its citizens. It was only after Twilight Sparkle was banished that one of the investigating guards had been revealed as a Changeling infiltrator tasked with casting suspicion of treason on the Elements of Harmony. The fight with Twilight was caused when Twilight found out the guard was a Changeling spy which lead to a fight where Princess Celestia was given no choice but to banish Twilight to the Moon. After finding out later that the guard that was attacked by Twilight was a Changeling spy he was taken into custody but before the spy could be questioned he ended his own life. Plans for a Changeling invasion were discovered in the home of the 2nd lieutenant Silver Shadow along with a cocoon containing the 2nd Lieutenant's unconscious form.”

“Due to this oversight in security and the fact that that a changeling had infiltrated not only the castle but the core of the Royal Guard itself since the ‘Wedding Attack’ two years ago all ponies involved in and with the Royal Guards and the castle staff had to be screened to find out if any more Changelings were hiding within the castle. Due to the need for this time-consuming screening process, the former Captain of the Royal Guards Shining Armor was stripped of his Rank and Dishonorably Discharged for dereliction of duty for not discovering a Changeling spy after revealing sensitive information to him over a period of months.” Luna stated before pausing a moment to clear her throat. She was getting a bit emotional at having to tell this pack of half-truths and total lies to save the nation from its own worries and fears. Faith in the Crown had to be restored or total chaos would reign.

“Due to Twilight’s banishment and Shining Armor’s Dishonorable Discharge, the Sparkle family along with the former Elements of Harmony and their families have elected to willingly give up their citizenships and leave Equestria as soon as preparations are complete. They have decided this due to all of the rumors that have been circulating in the last two years, this is to preserve their privacy and allow them to grieve for the loss of a family member and beloved friend. It has been found that without Twilight Sparkle the former Element of Magic, the Elements of Harmony have been rendered inert and will not be usable until they have been returned to the tree of Harmony to be recharged of their magical abilities. In time they will be recharged and usable by Princess Celestia and myself.” Luna said firmly before she lowered her note cards back to the podium.

“I will now take a few questions from the press. Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence will not be speaking or taking questions at this time. And please keep all questions on the topic of the statement and nothing else.” Luna informed the crowd before picking one of the many reporters clamoring for her attention.

“Princess Luna, I’m Factfinder of the Hoofington Post, is it true that the former Captain will not be brought up on charges of treason or possible defection to the Changeling Hives?”

“No, he will not after his discharge Shining Armor was questioned for several weeks and his past dealings thoroughly checked. It was found that the Changeling spy had gone thru the trouble of researching 2nd Lieutenant Silver Shadow to impersonate him well. The only clue that had been left to this infiltration was that the 2nd Lieutenant had gone on vacation without clearing thru his XO which was Shining Armor. If that had happened the infiltration would have been discovered sooner.” Luna informed Factfinder with a passive face before picking the next reporter.

“Quick Quote of the Baltimare Times, Princess Luna is true that the other five mares of the Elements of Harmony along with the entire Sparkle family were placed under house arrest by you to keep them from committing an act of treason after finding out about Twilight Sparkle’s banishment?”

“No, The former Elements were placed under house arrest as well the Sparkle family to protect them from slander and attacks from unknown ponies that believed the rumors of them being involved in a plot of treason and a Coup D’etat,” Luna answered before making a sour face. She was so getting tired of telling these awful lies but a cover story was a cover story.

“Princess Luna, Princess Luna, I’m Star Chaser from the Daily Neigh, is it true that Twilight Sparkle was banished because your sister Princess Celestia become jealous over the unicorn’s rising popularity amongst the stallions of Canterlot? Also is it true that Celestia had an affair with Twilight’s father? Is it also true that Shining Armor has divorced Princess Cadence because she’s pregnant with his father’s love child and Shining Armor is in fact already married to Queen Chrysalis?” Asked the voluptuous lime green unicorn mare in a white pantsuit, her mane and tail were both bright and styled in several bouncy curls as she holds a quill and notepad in her bright pink magic. “Please Princess, don’t leave out any of the juicy details, inquiring minds want to know the truth of it all.”

The Princess of the Night could not believe her ears at the scandalous rumors and accusations that had come out the questioning mare’s mouth. How did any of these vultures in pony form get access to some of the information they had? It should have been impossible for anypony outside of the Royal Clerk of Courts and the families involved to know about Shining Armor divorcing Cadence. So how did this chubby lime mare find out about it, Luna asked herself before she froze in front of the camera flashes. It was in that momentary pause that Luna snuck a glance at Cadence and could see the horror and shame displayed across her face at the accusation lobbed at her failed marriage.

It was in that brief instant that Star Chaser had her cameramare take several shots of the horror on Princess Cadence’s face as she held a hoof to her stomach. Moments after that Luna called the Press Conference to a close as the royal guard escorted the Princesses away with the crowd of reporters lobbing questions at them all the while. All of them except for Star Chaser and her cameramare.

“Did you get photos of Cadence holding her belly like that?” Star Chaser asked the other mare as she looked thru the discarded notes left behind by the other reporters, most mentioning something about Princess Cadence and her so-called marriage.

“Did I get them? Please, I got them and shots of the shame-filled face of Celestia when you mentioned the Twilight banishment thing. I thought she was going to break into tears when she heard that.” Snapshot replied as she changed the flash bulb of her camera. “I wish I could have got some shots of Princess Luna’s face when you asked her those questions though. That look was priceless.” The tall and lean pegasus had a tan coat with dirty blonde and amber colored mane and tail both held by rubber bands. She was dressed in a dirty common brown trench coat and cap to blend in with all of the background ponies in the crowd. Her dark green eyes told the story of how she was willing to do whatever it took to get paid, even if it meant destroying somepony with the photos she took.

“Well, that was fun and all but where to now boss mare?” Snapshot asked as she held up her camera as took a few photos of the area for good measure.

“Well since this was a wash and Luna ran before answering any real questions I guess we could try talking to few of the friends to the Sparkle family. It's not like we can get anywhere near their house anytime soon.” Star Chaser said as she stuffed a few of the notes she liked into her mane for safe keeping. After getting a shrug from the cameramare then a nod of acceptance the two mares made their way into Canterlot their destination unknown.

October 15 Celestial Year 1011
3 Years 1 month after Twilight's Banishment

The caravan of three hundred former Equestrians were several weeks into their travel thru the Wilderrun. The Wilderrun was an area in the southwest continent where the natural environment was untamed and worked on its own. The area itself was an unexplored region between the southwest border of Equestria and the northwest border of Connamaraia. So far only a few ponies and griffins had ever been to its outer edge of the region to explore it and few ever wanted to go back. Right now the exiled settlers were making camp about 20 miles into the areas deep forest for the time being. While the journey so far had been one of moderate ease the displaced ponies were getting wary of traveling. They needed to find a permanent area to make a settlement as their supplies would not hold out forever. An area with a source of freshwater, enough timber for building homes, land to be cleared for planting crops and natural mineral and stone deposits needed to be found soon. So far the scouting missions in the area the settlers were traveling had yet to yield any promising results.

Shining Armor was pacing back and forth in the command tent while his mother was going over the reports from the three scouting parties that had returned that evening. There was a fourth scouting party still out but that party was being led by Rainbow Dash so it would be dark by the time they returned. That mare was super loyal but being punctual was another thing entirely, something that Shining was going to have to try and correct, if she would listen to him for more than five minutes at a time.

“So any good news this time around mom?” Shining asked as he stopped his pacing to stare at his tired looking mother.

Twilight Velvet let out a sigh and she pinched the bridge of her nose before setting the papers down on the table with her magic. She couldn’t believe that she was the leader of a set of Settlers or that everypony had voted by secret ballot to make her their leader before they had all left Appaloosa. Well, the candidates had been her and Shining Armor for overall leader and no surprise there after word about what she had done to Celestia and what Shining would have done to the white Alicorn if they stayed, had spread throughout the group of exiled ponies. The votes had been close but Velvet won outright because all of the guards that had resigned from the EUP to stay by Shining Armor’s side had voted for her along with Shining who had been the one to nominate her. Now Velvet had to make decisions that affected some three hundred ponies and it was starting to wear her down.

“No, not at all.The three teams that reported in so far have all scouted three areas each, that we can make it to without using up too many of our dwindling supplies. None of the nine areas have everything we need to make a permanent town. Even in the areas that have close to what we need to make it livable we would end up using up most if not all of the natural resources before we could make any of the area sustainable.“ Velvet replied as she sat back in her chair and picked up some of the supply reports to do a few calculations.

“Well, there’s still Rainbow Dash’s scouting party. I’m sure she found something good out there. I mean her party always travels the farthest and scouts at least a dozen areas each time. I sure she will find us a place for our new home.” Shining Armor replied trying to give his mother a bit of hope, however false it may be at the moment.

Velvet sighed again, she knew that her son was trying to give her hope for the future but she just couldn’t see it at the moment. She had to be a realist right now and let her more wild and optimistic side take a back seat, at least until they had a viable site for a new home.“ I know that Shining and I hope she will bring us good news, but all of the places that Rainbow Dash has scouted so far that have had what we needed all of them were just out of the question. Many of them have been too far away for most of us to reach on hoof safely. Reaching several of those areas would have cost us nearly ¾ of our supplies and that is just too high of a cost right now. Not to mention all of the wild animals around here. Fluttershy is already working herself hooves to bone just keeping the camp safe at night when we stop. I can’t ask her to do any more than she already has. Plus it's just too much to ask all of those with guard pony training to have to work long sleepless hours protecting a slowly growing town until we could build a proper wall and defenses. I can't do that so don’t ask me to consider it.” Velvet told Shining as she waved him away with her hoof, knowing full well he was going to protest at the guards being unable to protect the town until a proper wall could be built.

“Come on mom, we could protect a town until a wall was built. I mean look at how many strong and talented ponies we have in the caravan. All of the guard ponies here are here to serve under me and follow the mare that had the courage and fortitude to stand up to the all-powerful and mighty Princess Celestia. I mean that fact alone got us half of the forty guards that joined us. The other half just happened to be in my direct unit of castle guards.” Shining said with a hopeful smirk on his face. “I know we could if you give us the chance to.”

“As much as I want to let you go play Captain of the Guards again I need you to hold all of the unicorns in the caravan together and keep them doing their part. You are the Unicorn Rep for this caravan so please deal with your section. I’m having enough trouble dealing with complaints about travel routes and supply distribution to be bothered to deal with previously pampered unicorns arguing about sleeping arrangements and showering schedules.” Velvet told Shining as she levitated several sheets of paper over to him.

“What? I thought I already dealt with all of this, what about the other two Reps and their sections?” Shining asked as he eyed the paper his mother had given him.

“Thunderlane already stopped by with his report and complaint claims and took care of all of it before heading off on patrol for the afternoon. Big Macintosh showed up with Thunderlane but he hasn’t come back with his paperwork yet. If Big Mac is anything like his sister Applejack he should be back any minute with his section of the caravan in order, unlike some stallions I know.” Velvet told Shining Armor as she was looking over the latest maps of the area looking for a better route to take thru the thick forest.

Shining Armor was going to give a retort to his mother’s insinuation of him being lazy when Big Mac along with Rainbow Dash walked into the command tent. Shining immediately got his mother’s attention as soon as the others showed up. Velvet's expression seemed to relax a bit at the sight of a smiling Big Mac and smirking Rainbow Dash.

“Tell me you both have good news?” Velvet asked as she stared at the two ponies in front of her workspace.

“Eeyup.” Big Mac said as his smile grew wider.” Thanks to the help of some fillies trying to get their cutiemarks we have found a natural spring so we can refill all of our water supplies in a less than a day. I even talked to Thunderlane and he can spare a few Pegasi from patrols to collect water and store it as cloud material be used to refill any water we deplete or as building material for the Pegasi.”

Velvet let out a sigh of relief as the water rationing measure she was going to implement soon wouldn’t have to be considered now. Since there was a fresh source of water nearby that the caravan could stockpile now it made traveling farther a bit easier.

“What do you have to report Rainbow Dash?” Velvet asked then stopped the cyan mare before she could speak. “I know how excitable you can get Dash so I want you to remember I’m the leader here and this is serious business.” Velvet said with a firm tone before allowing Dash to speak.

“Yes, ma’am,” Dash said as she saluted with her wing, “I’m here to inform you Caravan Leader that the fourth scouting group has found a place for the caravan to settle. It is about a week’s trip to the west of our current location. The area has everything we need and it's partially inhabited.” Rainbow Dash informed the room full of ponies while she wore a serious look on her face the whole time.

“Partially inhabited? What do you mean by that Rainbow Dash? Please explain yourself a bit more?” Velvet asked not sure of what to make of the new information she had just been given.

“Well, it's kind of hard to explain it really but I will try,” Dash said as she started to pace back and forth as she tried to remember all of the details. “Well had just searched the area near the jagged mount we spotted two days back but that was a no-go because of the dense terrain in front of it. Well, the scouting team were broken up into three pony formations and circling the area looking for everything on the checklist when Cloudchaser fired off a green flare signaling she had found the perfect spot. I told the rest of the party to keep looking as I checked it out for myself.” Rainbow Dash explained and she quickened her pacing. It seemed to help her think, or so everypony else thought.

“After I hooked up with Cloudchaser and the two members of her search team Cloud Diver and Stormfront the four of us explored the site in greater detail. It was few miles from the mountain and the area seemed pretty quiet. There weren’t too many large or dangerous animals around, there were three separate rivers running into the area from different directions before connecting to each other and heading straight for the jagged mountain. The geographic profile was mostly flat with a lot of pockets of densely packed trees. It was while we were doing the deeper survey that we spotted a set of houses in a large cleared area just a mile and a half from where the rest of the scouting party was. I sent Cloud Diver and Stormfront back to get the others while Cloudchaser and I took a closer look. On our way to get closer to the small town we were greeted by pink pegasus or what we thought was a pink pegasus.“ Rainbow Dash said before she came to a stop in from of the table as she tapped her chin with a hoof.

“What do you mean you thought it was another pegasus?” Shining asked as he stared at Dash in shock. All the reports on the Wilderrun had said it was uninhabited by any race. It was largely unexplored so how was there a small town way out in the unknown region?

“Well she looked like a pegasus from a distance but we then noticed she had tail feathers like a bird over top of the long dragon-like tail that ended with a tuft of hair when she got closer to us. She had pony features like a pegasus but she also had set of horns on top of her head like a dragon and some scales on her legs, shoulders, neck, and cheeks. When we asked if she was a pegasus or something close to that and the mare answered us no, not exactly but it was a close guess. So we asked if she wasn’t a pegasus, what was she really. She answered that she was a dragon pony, a Pyrin to be exact. Her name is Belle Starling and she told us if we were new to the area that we should stop by New Town if we needed help. After talking to Belle for a while she took us to see the town leader, a Diamond Dog named Rex O'Malley.”

“A Dragon Pony and a Diamond Dog? Okay, this is getting weird and I don’t know what to think about it. Rainbow Dash are you sure you didn’t eat any weird berries again?” Shining Asked as he eyed the cyan mare with a curious look.

“Okay, first off, the berry thing happened a couple of weeks ago and I learned my lesson that time. Second, if you don’t, believe me, you can ask any member of my scouting party and they will tell you the same story.” the rainbow maned mare shot back at the white stallion as she jabbed him in the chest with her hoof.

Before it could break out into a full-blown argument between the stallion and mare Big Mac stepped between Shining and Dash. “That’s enough you two. This ain't the time ta be squabblin’ like some chicken over a hoofful of feed.”

“Big Macintosh is right you two. Stop acting like foals this is a serious matter. Rainbow Dash please continue with your report and Shining Armor please save all of your questions and snarky comments until the end.” Velvet told the others.

Rainbow Dash gave an angry sigh before glaring at Shining Armor, who just glared back before she turned back to Twilight Velvet and continued her report. “Well, we waited for the others to catch up with us before the whole team went to the town. New Town was rather small maybe 60 inhabitants total with Rex acting as the Mayor so to speak.The town was a mix of races, there's Diamond Dogs, Sheep, Griffins, Dragon Ponies of three types, Kirins, Pyrins, and Arrins. Everypony in the town was very nice and welcomed us. After a big greeting at the town entrance, we were taken to see Rex O’Malley at the town hall. Rex explained that the town was created by the outcasts of several other countries that couldn’t find a place in their former homeland or were exiled for one reason or another so they created a new town with other like-minded races.The whole town has extended an offer for us to come join them or if we like can share the land. The okay with us being as long as we are willing to trade with them from time to time if we don’t want to join them. Rex even sent back an offer for you and the Caravan section leaders to come tour the town and sit down with him and the town’s council to work out if we will join with or gets some of the lands for ourselves and will trade with them from time to time. I urge you and the section leaders to consider the offer since the next area for us to explore is some forty miles in truth some pretty rough country.” Rainbow Dash said before placing papers from her saddlebags on the table for Velvet to look over.

“Thank you Rainbow Dash, you have done a good job. Please go shower, eat and rest up as you may be needed to lead us to this New Town in a few days. Please send Thunderlane to me when you see him as I need him for a major discussion of what we will be doing as far as finding a new settlement for this caravan.” Velvet told Dash before dismissing her.

Dash saluted Velvet before turning to leave, as she was leaving she gave Shining Armor another glare to which he just smirked back at her before Dash left the command tent. After Dash was gone Big Mac punched Shining Armor in the shoulder before giving the white stallion a warning glare.

“Hey what was that for Big Mac? I was just teasing her. I mean she knows I don’t mean any harm.” Shining said and he rubbed his shoulder.

“Ya know what that was fer. Ya’ll know Ah don’t like when ya mess with a mare like that. ‘Sides Shining you're a grown stallion so act like it.” Big Mac told Shining as he shook an angry hoof at him.

Before the white stallion could argue with his larger red stallion friend Thunderlane entered the command tent and stared at the two stallions squaring up for a fight or at least a shoving match. Once Velvet spotted Thunderlane she put a stop to the squabble between Shining and Big Mac making them save it for later during the guard training exercises. After putting that to rest Velvet began their meeting over the offer given to the people of New Town. For the first time in the last three years, Velvet smiled. Finally, they might be a hope for her to achieve the plans she had been working in that last three years, the plans to save Twilight from losing herself after she got her justice. If all went well with the people of New Town Velvet would finally give a way to leave some memories of the Sparkle family and the Elements behind for her beloved daughter, Twilight Sparkle. Yes, the future would have infinite possibilities with just one small step, with just one small thing a new possible will blossom into a future of everlasting hope.

One Small Step brings Infinite Hope…