The Equestrian airship calmly soared through the air. Its giant fans and heat systems kept the huge balloon and boat aloft, with a soft breeze flowing around. With a steady, gentle strength, the ship pushed ever closer to Equestria’s land. Enjoying the bright day and the cooling breeze, Celestia sat on the deck and sipped some macha from Rikuma.
The macha was such a strong green tea that it was served alongside sweets to help balance the flavors, and Celestia’s chefs had made her petite fours to go with her drink.
Indeed, it was a strong, unbelievably bitter drink, but Celestia enjoyed the fierce taste alongside the gentle sweetness of some tiny cakes.

I wonder if Luna will like this. She prefers coffee, but maybe she’d enjoy this too. Oh well, either way, I know I’ll like showing her, ha ha, She thought to herself while taking a long, quiet sip.

Hoofsteps clacked all around her as sailors continued their duties, and the steady rhythm combined with the humming fans in a soothing din that helped Celestia relax.
She closed her eyes, allowing her mind to travel to when she’d finally be home, telling Luna all about her mini adventure. Hopefully Luna would like all the trinkets she was bringing back-- little cat statues, food recipes, and even a kimono Celestia ordered for her sister!
Oh, surely Luna would love it! It was a beautiful night sky scene, with embroidered cranes and stars and bamboo. In her mind, Celestia already saw Luna’s face lighting up as she tried it on and walked around in it for the first time.
The thought warmed her heart and made her smile.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t allowed to think for long.
That day, on the Meridian, everything would change.

“Your Highness! News from Rikuma!”

The words broke through Celestia’s daydream, and she turned in surprise, saying, “What? What news?”

The sailor Pegasus bowed, tucking his wings along his sides as he answered, “There’s been an uprising against the emperor! The translators are listening in over the radio right now!”

Once more, that deep sense of dread washed over Celestia, banishing all good thoughts. With a stoic look on her face, she said, “Take me there.”

Celestia followed the Pegasus down into the lower decks, in the aft of the ship. There, gathered around a radio, were three ponies all hunched over, taking notes on what they heard over the radio systems. Though it was a big, clunky device that took up the whole wall, the radio system was waterproof, fireproof, highly resistant to explosions, AND was powered with only a few crystals of magic. The great device was finely-tuned in to the Rikuma news stations, and over the loudspeakers came the desperate voice of a reporter.
Since Celestia was merely an amateur with Rikumese, she couldn’t hope to fully understand what the reporter was chattering out, but her ears did pick up a few lines here and there.

Royal family…

Shogun… Emperor… dispute

...god shackled.

The 'god' would be the emperor himself, who was worshipped by the populace.
Celestia’s heart panged in fear, but on the outside she remained calm and kept silent. If she spoke now, she could make the translators miss something important.
Every second that passed while the translators were writing speedily felt like an eternity to Celestia. She constantly glanced at a clock, checking to ensure it had only been a few minutes and not an hour.
At last, a Unicorn translator held up his paper and passed it to Celestia with magic, and she took it in her aura.
As she read, her facade cracked, and her eyes widened in shock.

The Shogun’s army invaded the palace, after a dispute with the emperor concerning the feudal law changes and other traditions that were undone in recent years. According to the Daimyo, this also was a dispute concerning recent bandits who attacked villages, with Equestrian weapons. The farmers still demand justice, and the emperor refused.
From what we gather, the shogun is taking Almighty Emperor Umi away to the Ryanki province.
It is uncertain where the royal family is, or who sold the Equestrian weapons to the shogunate.

“Equestrian weapons!? HOW did Rikumese soldiers get EQUESTRIAN WEAPONS!?” Celestia demanded, flapping her wings in disbelief.

“What!?” Captain Blitzmark demanded as he stomped his hoof, “Is THAT what the reporters are saying?”

“See for yourself, and investigate this IMMEDIATELY,” Celestia ordered in a cold voice as she showed the Earth Pony captain the note.

Captain Blitzmark furrowed his brows angrily, and then saluted to Celestia with, “I assure you, I will find out who did this, Your Highness.”

Turning around, the captain barked orders out to nearby sailors, but Celestia had no time to listen. Cantering away, she entered her cabin and shut the door. She snatched a quill and dipped it in her ink pot and began writing as fast as she could.

---

Twilight was sitting at the dinner table with Flash and Spike, enjoying some curry soup.

“We should have this more often,” Flash noted between sips, “It’s really unique!”

“It is a good recipe! I’m glad Rarity got it for us,” Twilight agreed, “Actually, we should go visit that restaurant again. Next time we go to Canterlot, we go there. Spike, write that down!”

“Sure thing!” Spike said as he reached for his bag.

A bubbly feeling rumbled through his gut and he inhaled quickly, then spit out a letter in a burst of flame.
He grinned and opened it, and turned to Twilight with wide, excited eyes.

“Twilight! It’s from Celestia!”

“Oh good, another update!” Twilight sighed in relief, taking it in her magic.

Flash sat up straighter at the mention of the Sun Princess, and eagerly waited to hear the letter.

Twilight,

From that one word alone… Twilight knew something was wrong.
Just “Twilight”? No, “My Dear Twilight”, or, “Princess Twilight”?
Something was horribly wrong.

Twilight,

News has come from Rikuma, over the radio.

My worst fears have been confirmed: the shogun has risen against the emperor, and attacked the palace. I don’t know the full details, but I'm certain the royal family is in danger. Surely anypony who tries to stand on the Emperor's side will be cut down. The citizens grave 'justice' and I'm sure you know how that goes down. Just read any history book.
As for the emperor, he sent away the royal family, but he himself was defeated in battle and is being taken away to the Ryanki province.
Worst of all, someone illegally sold Equestrian weapons to the shogunate.

If this escalates further, we could be dragged into this. This could mean war.

I’m sorry this update is so grave, but I had to tell you. I don’t know when the news will spread to Equestria on its own, and perhaps it won’t, but you need to be aware of the situation.
I am fine. This all happened after we left.
We all should be home in another week and a half. Please take care of the citizens until I return.

--Celestia

“Twi, what’s wrong?” Flash asked, leaning forward and trying to see the letter.

“There’s a civil war in Rikuma. The shogun has attacked and kidnapped the emperor,” Twilight murmured, barely believing it.

Spike and Flash exchanged a quiet, dazed look.

“Civil war? But… a-are you sure that’s what she said?” Spike asked, hoping that maybe, just MAYBE, Twilight was wrong.

Twilight showed him the letter, and he gulped quietly and nodded in defeat, “oh… it IS what she said.”

“Did she say anything about herself? Are her troops all right? Is she close to home?” Flash asked, twitching his wings nervously.

“She’s fine--this happened after she left,” Twilight explained, “Spike, show him.”

Spike passed the letter over, and Flash read it gravely.
From the stand where she watched, Owlicious blinked slowly, and gave a worried hoot.
Though he couldn’t speak to animals, Spike sighed in agreement, “Yeah, Owlicious, it’s bad.”

“Okay… so she’s all right…. Well… I guess for now we just… carry on. Maybe this won’t affect us,” Flash murmured as he passed the letter back to Twilight, “What do you think?”

Twilight stared at her golden-colored soup, pondering what to say.
It was a tasty soup all right, but her appetite was gone.
"I... I don't know."

Over the next days, word spread of the uprising, across the seas, by the boats traveling around, warning others of the day Saikyo burned and the sea around Rikuma became still.
From city to city the news darted and sparked and grew, until eventually it reached Equestria proper, and Twilight had to give her best speech to calm the crowds.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much she could say, really.
Far, far away, other leaders heard, and were wary, including Malik Karam of Saddle-Arabia.

He stared at the news bulletin that he held in his golden magic, reading it over and over and over again.

“This is the most recent news you have?” He asked in the native Arabic.
“Yes, Sire. The most recent,” The messenger camel said as he lowered his long neck and bent one leg in a bow.

Karam nodded, reading the report a FINAL time, trying to glean as much information as he could from the scanty news.

In the days after the emperor was taken, over two thousand citizens were killed in the street-to-street fighting that ensued between those loyal to their emperor-god and those loyal to the daimyo. On top of that, three thousand of the emperor’s loyal soldiers were slain alongside only five hundred of the shogun’s soldiers. Furthermore, fires spread across the land.
Most of Saikyo burned for three days, and the port city was officially closed.
In the end, the shogun declared Prince Aito as the new, supreme monarch, and vowed to “properly serve his true god, and be a faithful regent while the new emperor was still young and being educated.”
So far, that meant burning foreign books, destroying foreign trinkets and killing any foreigners living in the nation, young or old.
Indeed, it was a grim time.

“Inform the army to be prepared.” Karam ordered with a wave of one of his wings.

The camel nodded and trotted away to deliver the order.

Feeling the wind gently breathing around him, Karam turned and looked out the latticed windows of the hall to the courtyards below. His eyes studied the statues and bushes in the garden behind the palace, and slowly moved up until he could see beyond the outer walls, to the city all around. If this shogun-regent hated foreigners, odds are he'd find an excuse to make war. Who would he choose? Either Equestria or Saddle-Arabia, the last two national leaders he met. It would be a wise choice. Surely this shogun could easily pin the blame on this civil uprising on one of those nations. The people would be so desperate they'd listen to anything. In this dark time, the nation NEEDED a reason to unite, no matter how far-fetched or absurd that reason would be. Logically, a war would unite everybeast, and give the shogun more excuses to gather more control.
Of course, Shogun chose the nation known for peace--Equestria. They had an 'army', certainly, and a 'navy' and other forces, but none of them had truly endured battle. Occasionally there was a minor skirmish here and there, some pirates that had to be killed, but that was it. For a millennia, Equestria had been sitting on prosperity and the sun's glorious warmth. The shogun was very, very wise to blame Equestria. Rikuma would be ready for conquest, and Equestria would have no idea what to do.
Of course, Saddle-Arabia had a problem now: should they stand with Rikuma, or Equestria? Technically, Saddle-Arabia and Equestria both were allies of the now-gone Emperor Umi. Perhaps the shogun would just declare war on both of them. That would be foalish though. Only one major nation at a time. It would start with Equestria.
However, Saddle-Arabia's ties would soon become confusing, and chaotic. No matter what Karam did, there would surely be an uprising against him in Rikuma, which would make things worse.

Was Karam worried? No.

Unlike Celestia, Karam was a warrior. For a millennia, he had battled many neighboring nations, conquering much land, and protecting his border from Ippeia, pirates, and the occasional revolt.
Saddle-Arabia was ruled by a sandstorm, ready to blow away all who dared to set hoof down against him. For now, though, he had to arrange a meeting with his other allies, in other nations.

Next Chapter: Chapter 10: To Avoid the Worst Estimated time remaining: 14 Minutes