Tugging at the Web
It was close to midnight by the time Celestia finally got back to the residential part of the castle. Had she known that her innocuous question would lead Twilight to talk her ears off about her 'Big Brother Best Friend Forever', she likely would have chosen her words more carefully, but there was no sense in crying over spilt milk. She had been told about the young stallion in extreme detail; what his cutie mark looked like; his caring nature; the fact that Twilight absolutely adored her big brother; and last but certainly not least, the fact that the filly had been cheating off of her brother’s example when she had created her everything-proof shield.
Celestia looked over the sleeping filly on her back with a tender smile. The question on why Twilight's brother wasn't with the rest of the recruits had been met with a frown, followed by a detailed account of how he wanted to become an officer and therefor had to go to the Academy. It seemed to have been a word for word retelling of what Twilight had been told, rather than a story her addled brain had come up with, but it was clear that Twilight wasn't at all happy about it.
Stepping over the threshold and into Twilight's room, she was immediately confronted by a mess the likes of which only a filly could make. Or perhaps a determined spy... She shook her head softly while remembering Mead’s joke and made her way over to the bed. She deposited the filly onto the bed near the pillow, which Twilight immediately confiscated and turned into her personal plush hug buddy. Celestia couldn’t help the thought that she now knew more about Twilight’s brother than she did about the filly herself, nor the subsequent worry that it played a part in the failures of her lessons so far.
After giving Twilight a reassuring nuzzle when the filly let out a distressed whine in her sleep, Celestia faced a moment of indecision. She’d heard a little about foals dealing with high-stress situations tended to have more nightmares, and she couldn’t think of anything more stressful than a near-death experience.
And not just for her, Celestia thought idly. Setting the sun had been particularly strenuous, and she was beginning to believe that breaking Twilight’s everything-proof shield had taken more out of her than she had given it credit for.
She put her doubts on hold when, from the corner of her eyes, she spotted a letter. So much had happened in the last few days that she had forgotten all about it. She’d picked it up before she remembered that it had been for Twilight specifically. I shouldn’t be intruding on her privacy like this... she thought, absently opening the letter regardless. If there was one thing she had trouble restraining, it was her curiosity.
What she read made her change her mind completely.
“Rook?!” The guard stuck his around the corner and Celestia only belatedly realised that she’d shouted. With a lingering look to ensure herself that Twilight hadn’t woken up, she swiftly stepped out of the room. At least, that was her intention. A painful yank on the base of her skull was followed by a yelp she couldn't quite stifle in time. Gingerly turning her head, she found that the source of her newest problem once again lay with Twilight. Specifically, the filly's hooves, which had gotten ahold of some of her mane. Guided by a primal, subconscious, desire for warmth and safety, Twilight was trying to pull more of Celestia's mane towards herself, unfortunately, with the rest of her still attached. Slowly, patiently, Celestia pried her students forelegs open, and extricated her mane from them before making a quick escape.
Outside the room, she turned to her guard with an urgent look. “I have some important arrangements to make, but I don’t want to leave Twilight by herself tonight. Could you watch over her and bring her to me if she happens to wake up?”
Rook nodded. “As you wish, Princess. Where will you be?”
“First I need to talk to Mead about dinner plans for tomorrow, and Sunny needs to—No, wait...” Celestia closed her eyes and tried to order her thoughts, which didn’t come as easily as it should have. They had been thrown in disarray by the letter, and she felt unusually antsy because of it. “I’ll be going down to the cells to visit the reporter first, and if I’m not there, I’ll probably be in discussion with Sunny.”
“Consider it done.” Rook and Aegis shared a look. Aegis nodded in response to some unspoken question.
The meaning of it was lost on Celestia. Her head was too full of ideas, worries, and ponderings.
Twilight,
I promised myself I wouldn’t worry, but I really think I should come to see you. I heard that you were having trouble at the castle, and I need to know that you’re alright.
I have an evening off the day after tomorrow so I’ll be dropping by the castle then. Your father sadly won’t be able to make it. You know how it is with his class trips. At any rate, could you make sure that the guards know to let me in? Perhaps it’s better if you showed this letter to the princess. Could you do that for me?
Oh, and make sure you’re eating well. Actually, I’ll be bringing along dinner, so make sure you’re not too full. I’m making all of your favorites, and I’ll even bring almond-cookies but somepony needs to store those for you. I don’t want to hear about you eating yourself sick like last time.
Make sure that you keep up with your studies, but don’t overdo it! Make sure that you brush your teeth, and remember what I said about listening to the princess.
Love, mom.
P.S. Make sure you give this letter to the princess before you get back to your books. It’s very important! Don’t just put it aside and forget about it!
The most worrying revelations in the letter were the ones not explicitly stated. Rereading the thing for a second, and then a third time, did not shed any additional light on precisely how Twilight’s mother had learned about anything that had happened in the castle, or to Twilight specifically, but it was clear that the mother was worried about her daughter’s well being. No doubt she was going to have to assuage the mare’s fears and assure her that Twilight was in the best of hooves. The problem lay in the fact that she herself wasn’t entirely sure that was the case.
Focus, Celestia, she chided herself mentally. The mare won’t be arriving until tomorrow evening. You have more than enough time to prepare, and other things to deal with.
“Princess?”
Celestia glanced back over her shoulder to find that Aegis had come to a halt at the intersection and was looking at her worriedly.
“Princess, the cells are this way.”
She stared at him for a couple of seconds before nodding and starting towards him. “Indeed they are.” She passed him without another word and resumed her trek towards the lower levels of the castle.
“Are you okay, Princess?”
A sideways glance revealed that Aegis’ worries hadn’t gone anywhere, and Celestia was quick to smile reassuringly. “Don’t worry about me, Aegis. I will be fine.”
He grunted softly and looked straight ahead. “Of course. Forgive me for doubting you, Princess.”
She smiled. “Forgive me for giving you cause to worry. I understand your concerns, but as a princess I cannot simply take a break whenever I am tired or distracted.”
“Doctor’s orders notwithstanding?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
She huffed audibly. “I did take it easy yesterday, and it’s caused no end of trouble for me today. It seems like the world itself is determined to keep me running around in circles.”
“If only you’d had some ponies you could assign to worry about such things. Then you could rest and recover,” Aegis replied dryly.
Celestia followed him silently, finding that she did not have a satisfactory reason for not having appointed ponies to do just that. Surely a more pyramid-style system of government, where she would only need to worry about the biggest and most threatening problems, would do wonders for her schedule?
She snorted softly. If only it were that easy. Giving ponies power only leads to their abuse of it. The council proved that, even if theirs was merely benign neglect. The thought made her wince. They weren't the only ones who could be accused of neglect... and with that little nugget of information, her insight told her who was likely behind Twilight’s mother’s sudden knowledge. Somepony white, with a blonde mane, terrible dress sense, and a character that would send Manticores running for the hills. So how do I refute claims from a worried mother when I don’t even know which ones she’s going to come at me with?
A dank and musty smell permeated the next breath she took, and she wrinkled her nose in distaste. Looking for an answer would have to wait. They had arrived at the dungeons.
“Wait here. I’ll be right back,” she told Aegis before stepping through the portal. Only to come to a halt two steps later after the guard followed her.
“Princess?”
She looked over her shoulder. Aegis looked… antsy? No, antsy wasn’t quite it, but something had most definitely gotten under his skin. “What is it, Aegis?”
He opened his mouth a few times before closing it again, looking more annoyed each time. “Permission to speak freely?”
“Granted.”
“Princess...” He grunted in frustration and gestured down the stairs that lead to the dungeons. “This guy implied that we as guards couldn’t be able to prevent an assassin from harming you in front of a court full of ponies. Worse, he implied that we wouldn’t even know if there was one!”
Celestia placed a hoof on his withers before he worked himself up to an angry outburst. “Calm down, Aegis. You and I both know that implying something doesn’t make it true.”
“I know, Princess, but other ponies might not be as well informed.”
Celestia arched an eyebrow. “And you think that attacking a prisoner will somehow make them realise their mistake?”
“I...” Aegis closed his mouth with a snap and shook his head. “My apologies, Princess. I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
Celestia smiled at him. “Don’t worry. I understand where you are coming from.” She twisted her neck trying to get a kink out of it before continuing her descent of the stairs. “Come along. Despite what I’ve said, I’m not about to go easy on him. You might have some questions or insights that I haven’t thought of.” Bringing along anypony who was as obviously invested in the fate of a prisoner one was about to interrogate was never the best of ideas. It was a mistake she had made before, and which had cost her some valuable intelligence in the past. The fact that those days had been a lot more volatile than the present, and the fact that anypony alive currently couldn’t remember any semblance of its brutality, were the only reasons she even considered bringing him along.
The castle dungeons were small, all told. Just shy of fifty cells, which were almost claustrophobic in their design, and though a combination of torches and magical crystals had been installed in key areas, most of them remained shrouded in darkness.
Celestia nodded to the warden and waved him back down when he got up in salute. “At ease, Skyward,” she told the pegasus. “We're just here for a talk with our guest.. Has he caused any trouble?”
The pegasus scratched himself behind his ear with an uncertain frown. "Who is he, Your Majesty?"
“His name is…” Celestia cast her thoughts back to the courtroom. “Actually, I don't think I ever caught his name. A stallion, average height, a bit on the lanky side. Bright yellow coat…” She let her sentence peter out when she didn't see the telltale signs of recognition on Skyward's face. “How many ponies do you have in here?”
Skyward cast a quick glance at a ledger on his desk. “Sixty-three, Your Majesty. I've had to put several ponies in a cell together since the disturbance in the courtroom.”
“Sixty-three? How did that happen?”
“I gave the order for further troublemakers to be detained for a fortnight, Princess,” Aegis said, stepping forward and nodding to his comrade in arms. “Seems like there were quite a few of them.”
“That seems a little excessive. Have they been any trouble since?”
Skyward shook his head. “A few of them have been complaining about their accommodations, but most of them have been model prisoners.”
“The guy we took in had something along the lines of spilled ink as a cutiemark, what’s he been like?”
“Oh, is that the one you were talking about?” Skyward snorted. “Guy’s in cell number seven. His name is Ink Blot. Haven’t heard a peep from him. Seems like he’s the only guy that’s actually happy to be here.”
“I’d like a word with our happy guest,” Celestia said. “As for the rest of them, I think that the well-mannered ones have learned their lesson. You can let them go around noon tomorrow, which should also solve the little housing problem we’re having.” She looked at the hallway leading down to the cells, hiding a wince when a flash of pain traveled down her spine. “The ones that were complaining... let’s have them sit out the entire fortnight to consider how their actions affect others.”
“Consider it done, Princess. Do you need me to show you the cell?”
“I believe we’ll manage, thank you.”
The warden saluted once more and sat back down behind his desk while Celestia and Aegis moved towards the jail cells.
Celestia hadn’t been down here in decades, with good reason. The castle’s dungeons saw little use, and the occasions she had to speak with a prisoner directly were few and far between. That was the advantage of a castle guard, after all. The smell was... unpleasant. She knew for a fact these cells were regularly cleaned and had all the facilities needed for the basic necessities of life, but there was only so much to be done about the fact that the dungeons were literally carved out of the mountain.
Unlike the insinuations made by the stories, the dungeons were well maintained and generally clean. Or at least, as clean as a dungeon could possibly get. But that wasn’t to say that it was a pleasant stay for those incarcerated there. Some smells simply clung to the surroundings no matter how much the stain that caused it was scrubbed away, and with only a layer of hay as bedding, the cells weren’t exactly comfortable.
She could hear a few of the troublemakers down various halls, ponies rattling cups against bars or calling out their guard to bring various comforts they’d forfeited the rights to, albeit temporarily. Along the path to the prisoner she wished to speak with, she was accosted several times by ponies demanding she release them, one even threatening to contact influential family if she didn’t comply. She made note of his cell number, deciding this one had earned a little more time to cool his temper. He backed away eventually, but only after Aegis gave him a stern look
At last they arrived at the appropriate cell number, and found a stallion who was whistling a cheery tune while he busily scribbled away in a shabby notebook. A notebook that Aegis swiftly relieved him of much to the consternation of the stallion.
“Hey, what gives?”
“Quiet,” Aegis barked. “The Princess wants to talk to you.”
Celestia shot her bodyguard a sharp look before regarding the stallion. Even in the dim light he seemed a little rough around the edges, with a mane that looked like it hadn’t seen a comb in a long time, and a coat that wasn't much better off. He was otherwise good-natured, however, and even bowed to her. “Never expected you to show up yourself, Your Highness,” he said, his smile turning into a smug grin. “Didn’t figure myself a big enough fish.”
“What made you think that making such accusations were a good idea?” Celestia asked him in turn, ignoring his off-hooved comments.
The stallion shrugged. “Bits. Somepony paid me good money to do it, and with a picture like that... how could I not?” He puffed out his chest with pride. “I run Equestria’s premier gossip column after all, and as a reporter, I consider it my duty to investigate whether such claims have some truth to them!”
“So you truly believe an eight-year-old could be an assassin?” Aegis asked him, with a voice mired in stumped disbelief.
Even in the dark, it was easy to make out Ink Blot's nodding. “Completely. I’ve seen stranger things happen. Hay... it wouldn’t even be the first time!”
“Who paid you?” Celestia asked, cutting through the useless banter.
The stallion shrugged. "I don't know, and even if I did... A good reporter never reveals his sources."
“You claiming to be a reporter is an insult to everypony in the profession,” Aegis sneered. “And another thing, the Guard doesn't appreciate you implying that we would be unable to identify and neutralize a threat in our midst. We are not as incompetent as you make us out to be."
“But you are!” Ink Blot stepped up to the bars, his smile replaced by a look of focused intensity. “I’ve done exhaustive research into the subject, and learned that the Royal Guard is less than a shadow of its former self! According to several highly reliable sources, none of the guard have seen any combat for at least the last three generations. Any actual invasion would likely end up with the castle being overrun within the hour! And even discounting that…” He paused to give Celestia a respectful nod. “The Princess herself is more than capable of meeting any and all threats to her own life, or Equestria in general for that matter, head on. It would eliminate the need for any of you, and save hundreds of taxpayer bits to boot!”
Aegis stepped forward, anger visible in every one of his muscles. Celestia was faster, stepping in between the two and glaring at the self proclaimed journalist. “Even if any of that were true, Mr. Ink Blot – and let me say first that you show an extraordinary lack of understanding on the state of the guard, the country, and myself with this claim – do you really think the solution is to pin the entirety of our defense and civil protection to a single individual? That strikes me as hopelessly naive at best, at worst, it’s downright idiocy.”
“Hmmm.” The look of focused intensity faded from Ink Blot’s face and he instead regarded the ceiling with a thoughtful one. “Perhaps not,” he admitted at length. “Though that doesn’t mean that the Guard we know now is adequately equipped to deal with any real problems.”
“That is more speculation on your part,” Celestia replied smoothly. “I trust my guards with my life, and considering that they'll be the ones putting their life on the line if something does happen, I think you should as well. They’ve sworn to protect others, and that alone should earn them some measure of respect, not derisive gossip.”
Ink blot smiled and shrugged. “Perhaps. But that is the nature of gossip. We challenge and scrutinise everything. That’s my job.” He stretched and looked around his cell. “Speaking of which, Princess, do you think you could get me out of this cell? I was hoping to be home by the weekend. I have a major article to write and deadlines don’t wait for anypony.”
“No. She’s not going to—”
Celestia held up a hoof and shook her head at Aegis, promptly making the stallion shut his mouth. “Perhaps,” she told Ink Blot. “If you can tell me who hired you...”
Ink Blot shook his head. “A reporter never—”
“Reveals his sources. We know,” Aegis cut in, glaring daggers at him.
Celestia straightened up and nodded at the captive stallion. “Then I do not believe there is anything I can do for you, and you will have to sit out the entirety of your three month sentence.”
“Three months?!” Ink Blot shrieked. “But I'm a reporter! I've done nothing but present the facts! I've done nothing wrong!”
Celestia regarded him coolly. “That's not how I see it. Not only did you disrupt court and spout some third hoof supposition as fact, you also incited anger and in some cases even violence in ponies; deliberately put the life of a young filly at risk with your statements; and slandered the name of your sovereign ruler by proxy. By implying—no, by outright telling ponies that my guards are all too stupid to recognise a threat that is literally right under their noses, you are also implying that I am so foolish as to allow them to become so complacent.” She leveled a grim smile at Ink Blot and shook her head softly. “In short, whether you are a reporter or not is irrelevant. I believe that you have a lot to answer for, and you may consider yourself lucky that I don't have more charges brought against you.”
“But I'm a reporter…” Ink Blot muttered, a shocked look on his face.
Celestia tried to present a sympathetic smile for the stallion, but found that she had no sympathy to spare. “I don't doubt that claiming to have done things for journalistic reasons has afforded you considerable leeway in the past, but I'm afraid it won't help you here.” When the stallion did not respond, Celestia righted herself and said, “I suggest you use the time to consider the ramifications of your actions. Perhaps the experience will give you a greater appreciation for your job.” She left Ink Blot to his thoughts after that, making her way back to the dungeon entrance with Aegis close behind her.
“Any luck, Princess?” Skyward asked when they came back to the guard station.
Celestia shook her head. “I’m afraid not. Our guest was not in a sharing mood.”
Aegis snorted. “Reporters like him ‘don’t reveal their sources’.”
“I want you to keep him in here for two months,” Celestia continued, ignoring her bodyguard’s remark. “Hopefully he’ll learn a lesson on endangering other ponies.”
Skyward saluted. “Consider it done, Princess.”
The hallways seemed emptier than ever before, though that was likely because of the late hour. Or it’s simply because I’m exhausted, Celestia told herself with an inaudible chuckle. Between a morning filled with a sea of paperwork, breaking Twilight’s impenetrable shield and now the letter, it was hard to believe that only a day had passed.
Aegis had so far followed along silently, but from his expression she could already extrapolate the question brewing in stallion’s mind before he gave voice to it.
“Princess? Why tell Skyward to keep that... reporter in for two months? I thought the idea was three months, if not more.”
Celestia did not respond immediately, rounding a corner that put her on the quickest route to her chambers on autopilot; her attention divided between a headache that had been a long time coming and his words. That’s a good question. Why didn’t I make it longer? she mused. Maybe because he really hadn’t done anything wrong? Am I getting soft in my old age? She chuckled softly.
“Princess?”
“Because I want to find out who hired him,” she replied belatedly. “If I tell him that I’ve decided to reduce his sentence, he will hopefully be more forthcoming with information.”
“And if not?”
“We’ll send somepony to follow him, and see if whoever it was that hired him tries to contact him again.”
It was only when the sun-emblazoned doors of her room came into view that Celestia realised she’d taken a wrong turn somewhere. Sleep was important, but there were other things, more important things she would need to take care of before going to bed became an option. With a stifled groan she turned to Aegis and said; “Aegis, I am so tired I can barely think straight. Could you canter down to the kitchens and inform Mead that we’ll be having a guest tomorrow?”
Aegis nodded and paired it with a salute afterwards. “As you wish, Princess.”
Celestia watched him take off back the way they had come, and continued on her way to her chambers. She wanted nothing more than a good night’s rest. Before she had even passed Rook, however, she remembered something. “Aegis!”
The guard came to a halt at the end of the hallway and looked back at her. “Yes, Princess?”
“Tell Mead that I would like to have tonight’s dinner to be delivered to my room.”
“Will do, Princess.” And with that he was gone, leaving Celestia with just her headache.
“Are you alright, Princess?” came the question when she clutched a hoof to her head. A reminder that she wasn’t completely alone in the hallways.
“I... I will be,” she said softly, summoning a smile for her concerned guard, though her heart wasn’t in it. "It’s just been a very long day."
Rook smirked tiredly, in the way that an old war veteran might. “The only easy day was yesterday, Princess.”
Celestia’s smile became a little more real. “I guess you’re right.” She stifled a yawn. "And I’m afraid I’ll need some sleep given that tomorrow will be even more arduous than today was. Wake me if Twilight—"
Rook saluted in time with the first words of her sentence. “As ordered, Princess.”
Celestia was grateful to have such a dedicated pair of bodyguards, and she had to fight the urge to embrace him in a bonecrushing hug. Instead, she nodded at him, and even made it into a small curtsey, which she hoped he wouldn’t take offense to. “Thank you, Rook. Goodnight.”
“Good Night, Princess.”
The doors to her room swung open silently and she kept her posture tall and proud for as long as they remained open. After they shut behind her under pressure of her magic, however, her stride became a stumble. She kicked off her horseshoes and took off her crown, placing it on the floor next to the bed before stepping up onto the thing and letting herself fall into the soft embrace of the plush pillows and comforter. Her mind reached the land of dreams mere moments after her head had found her pillow.
She knew something was off from the moment she woke up. Celestia blearily opened her eyes and, after finding nothing amiss in her immediate vicinity, dragged herself upright, opening her wings and made a few flapping motions before tucking them back at her sides after which she stretched each of her legs in turn. It felt like she had only slept for a few minutes, and wondered what could have woken her up, before wondering if it was at all possible to institute a law against waking ponies up early.
A polite but insistent knocking at the doors, followed by a muted: “Princess?” answered that particular question. She briefly considered telling them to go away and head back to bed. The only thing that stopped her from doing exactly that was the reminder of the orders she had given Rook.
His tentative call didn’t sound urgent, so she took advantage of the opportunity to behave like a normal pony. She yawned and shook herself before gathering her horseshoes and crown, and then stepped up to the doors.
The uneasy feeling returned when she looked into the hallway. It was too bright. Far too bright for midnight, or even morning. In an almost subconscious gesture, Celestia nodded to Rook in greeting while testing her connection to the sun, finding it difficult to believe what her eyes were telling her. Sure enough, she quickly found that her charge was nearing its zenith, which could only mean two things:
Either she had overslept and raised the sun in her sleep, or Twilight had finally figured out how it worked. The later was still unlikely, so for the sake of her sanity, she went with the former.
Which was still more problematic than it had any right to be. More sleep should have been a good thing for her, yet having it manifest itself in such a way would give certain ponies the impression of weakness. Aside from the fact that she did actually feel like she hadn’t slept at all, there were undoubtedly ponies that would try to exploit anything perceived weakness. Like Blueblood. Stifling a groan, she turned to Rook and asked, “Why didn’t you wake me?”
Rook, who looked like he hadn’t moved from his post in hours, had an undeniable smirk on his face, and she could have sworn she caught the normally stoic guard stifling a laugh.“My orders were to wake you if Twilight Sparkle had a nightmare,” he said, quickly schooling his expression back to one of consummate professionalism. “For the record, Aegis tried to wake you several hours ago, but after the hailstorm of pillows, and Your Highness’ expressed displeasure, we were unwilling to press the issue.”
Celestia blinked at him. “I... talked in my sleep?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Though I would say ‘shouted’ is more appropriate.”
“And Aegis?” Celestia asked, after she found Aegis’ usual spot devoid of the stallion in question.
“Aegis is accompanying Twilight on an errand.” The smirk returned. “She was quite insistent, and given what happened last time, we didn’t think it would be a good idea to leave her by herself.”
Celestia idly scanned the hallway while she mulled over Rook’s response, and found something that, unlike Aegis, shouldn’t have been there. A trio of lines, blue, red, and yellow respectively, stretched out from under her hooves and traversed the length of the hallways before disappearing around different corners. “Rook?”
Rook bit his lip and coughed. “Yes, Princess?”
“Did April Foals roll around while I wasn’t looking?”
“It’s still a few months off, Princess.”
Celestia nodded. “Then whose idea was it to paint the hallways, and why?”
“It was your student’s idea, Your Majesty,” Rook replied with an outright smile. “As for the reason... I think you should ask her that yourself.”
Celestia looked back at her soft, inviting, bed, still visible through the open doors before closing them with a sigh. Despite everything, a loose haze of exhaustion still clung to her mind, and she resolved to take a vacation at some point. A proper one. Just as soon as she made sure that the country wouldn’t fall apart if she took a leave of absence. “Very well. Lead the way.”
They made their way through the hallways, following the brightly colored lines, coming across several ponies who seemed to be just as curious about the new additions to the castle floors as Celestia was. The lines lead them all the way to the main foyer where they were joined by the other colors that made up a rainbow to create a clumsy, yet surprisingly detailed circle of intermingling colors in a way that reminded Celestia of the rainbow centrifuges in Cloudsdale. Each of the colors seemed to add to its design before going their separate ways, and it was there that Rook came to a halt turning to Celestia with a small smile.
Celestia, for her part, looked around but saw no sign of either her student or Aegis. Just an endless stream of ponies all going about their daily business, and a small group which had followed them like the usual suspects, but which she didn’t recognise as such. The foyer was always a bustle, like a point where seven different rivers crossed and exchanged all that they carried with them. But despite the many ponies moving about, she didn’t catch sight of the ponies she was looking for. “I don’t see either of them, Rook,” she said eventually.
Rook shooed the few ponies who were starting to gather around Celestia away, and said: “I’m not sure which area of the castle they are working on, Princess, but with any luck, they should return here before long.”
Fortune was with them, and they didn’t have to wait long before a small cacophony made its way towards them from the hallway that held the red line. Half a dozen ponies were all animatedly talking with one another, though Celestia did not see either Aegis, nor Twilight amongst them. At least, not until the group reached them.
“Princess!”
Twilight bounded up to her with a big smile. Or at least, she assumed the filly was Twilight. She had the right height, build, and mane-style, but her coat and mane were covered in so many different colors of paint that it was hard to tell what their original colors had been. Her tail was mostly blue with a few green spots; her fetlocks were stiff with yellow; her flanks were obscured beneath a truly impressive amount of red; and her barrel held a mixture of all of those. The only part of her that was still somewhat recognisable were her cheeks, who had only been splashed with a little purple, and even that was hard to tell due to the blush of excitement the filly sported.
Aegis was not far behind, and he looked like even more of a clown than Twilight did. While the enchantment that served as part of the guard uniform turned a guard's coat white and mane blue, it did nothing to hide dirt —or in this case paint— that clung to it. His face was a colorful potpourri of reds and yellows, mixing into a dirty orange around his muzzle; his barrel was mostly blue, and the rest of him seemed to have gotten the worse end of a fight with a green paint bucket. Most remarkably, however, was his smile. It was as big, if not bigger than Twilight’s, and made him look like a young colt, rather than the professional guard he was supposed to be.
“Princess?”
Celestia blinked, pulling her thoughts back from Aegis to focus on Twilight, affecting a smile to cover her inattention. “I’m sorry, what did you say, Twilight?”
The filly pointed at the doors that lead to the courtroom. “Will you help paint the last part?” she asked, floating over a small basin filled with paint over to Celestia before smiling at her expectantly.
Celestia eyed the basin critically. It held the seven primary colors of the rainbow, which curiously did not mingle with one another in the slightest. She had an inkling of what purpose the colored lines served, but she wanted to make sure before indulging Twilight. “Why don’t you tell me what it is we’re painting first?” she asked gently, schooling her expression into a neutral smile.
“Castle-navigational-lines,” Twilight replied enthusiastically. “Color coded so that everypony can easily get to where they need to be without having to devote time to remembering the route they’re supposed to take.” The filly spun in place and began pointing at all the different colors. “The yellow line is for you, Princess. It’s the one that leads to your room, and mine. And then the red one is...”
Celestia arched an eyebrow at Aegis and his appearance while Twilight rattled on. “She was very determined when she told us about her plan, Princess,” he said sheepishly. “I thought it best to help her, or I think we would have risked her doing it by herself.”
“Where did she get the paint?” she asked softly, keeping one ear cocked towards Twilight and her explanation.
Aegis nodded towards the entrance into the underbelly of the castle. “It seems she found a merchant selling paint down in The Promenade.”
Celestia blinked. “When did she get a chance to...?”
Aegis merely shrugged and shook his head.
“And lastly, the purple one leads to the observatory,” Twilight declared, before looking up at Celestia again. “So... will you help?”
Celestia's first instinct was to explain to the filly that she would have to talk to her council and come to an agreement before anything could be done. Just before she opened her mouth to say as much, however, she realised that she no longer had a council. Better yet, she had nopony that she had to cajole into agreeing with her. "Of course I will," she said instead, turning the warm feeling in her stomach into a genuine smile.
She took the color-coordinated basin from Twilight's magic and, after looking around for a matching brush in vain, stole the one Aegis had on him. Drawing a perfectly straight line towards court took a bit of doing, but it felt more satisfying than ten years of bureaucracy combined. At the end, she even caught herself making little flourishes with the brush at the end of each stroke, and after punctuating the line with a circle, she looked back at Twilight and the others, with a happy, almost giddy pride.
Twilight all but bounced to her side, looking at the line with an awed smile. “Your line is so pretty, Princess.” Her gaze then drifted off to look at the lines she had painted herself and her smile faded. “I wish mine were that pretty.”
“It’s okay, Twilight,” Celestia replied with a soft laugh “If you want to learn how to paint, we will simply have to work on that as well.”
“Okay!” the filly replied enthusiastically. “Can we begin right now?”
“Princess!”
“Princess!”
Two depressingly familiar groups of earth ponies ran up to her, each bowing before her while glaring at members of the other, while Celestia's good mood drained as fast as they arrived.
"Princess, good thing we caught you,” a lean mare from the first group began. “Sneaky Steps was trespassing on our land again. He was trying to steal more of our crops!”
“I was not!” An adolescent colt from the other group yelled. “I was at home all night!” The second group all agreed with him to various degrees and both groups looked at Celestia expectantly before the next accusation was sent flying.
“Please, Princess,” the lean mare said. “Can you sort this out for us? That mare that runs court nowadays has no idea what she’s doing.”
Part of being a good ruler was knowing when to leverage a victory in one area into a helping hoof in another. And while it certainly wasn't risk free, an idea on how to lend Sunny's regency over court some legitimacy in the eyes of the public was the first thing that came to her. She held in a sigh and looked at the two instigators earnestly. “I’m afraid I can't help you. I was just about to—”
“But you're the princess! You always know what to do!” a voice from the crowd interrupted her.
She softly gnashed her teeth but managed to keep her voice level, if not pleasant. “I was just about to petition court myself. You should do the same. That mare you’re talking about is more capable than you give her credit for.” She didn’t wait for a reply of any kind, but beckoned Twilight to follow her before opening the doors to court with her magic and stepping inside.
Much to her surprise, the courtroom was only about half filled with ponies. A far cry from the packed-to-the-brim state of being it had when she held court herself. Sunny Scrolls was listening to a stallion explain why his small mercantile business really needed government funding, so Celestia simply sat down amongst the other supplicants, which was much to their surprise.
“Princess? What are we doing?” Twilight asked after she too had sat down. The combination of youthful restlessness and the fact that she couldn’t see what was going on made her seating temporary at best, and before long she began pacing back and forth, trying to see what was going on in the center of the room.
“We are going to ask Sunny what she thinks of your idea,” Celestia replied, treated the filly to what she hoped was a calming smile.
Twilight frowned. “But why? You’re the princess!” She looked over at the dais and the half-asleep mare on top of it before redirecting her gaze to the floor. “And Miss Sunny doesn’t like anything I do...”
“That’s not true, Twilight. I agree that she can be a little strict when dealing with things she has no experience with, but she means well.” From the look on Twilight’s face, she didn’t quite understand what Celestia meant. That was alright, however; it wasn’t as though it was important, and the notion Sunny had been listening to was summarily dismissed once the stallion began repeating himself.
“Next supplicant,” Sunny droned in an already frighteningly experienced, and exhausted, voice.
Celestia looked around and found that all of the other ponies present were looking at her. She cleared her throat and stepped forward, Twilight following along a few steps behind. “Regent, I’ve come before you today to call attention to a brilliant idea that should ease navigation, both for inhabitants, as more importantly visitors to the castle.”
Sunny looked up from the scrolls she had been perusing at Celestia’s proclamation, and immediately blanched. “P-Princess?” She hopped off of the dais and closed the distance between them before softly asking: “What are you doing? You promised that you wouldn’t come to court unless I asked you to.”
Celestia lowered her head a little, just enough that they could speak without being overheard by the public and smiled innocently. “I promised I wouldn’t take over without being asked; I never said anything about trying to help in other ways.”
Sunny narrowed her eyes but didn’t say anything more. “Humpf.” She returned to the dais and sat down, a lot more alert, and a lot more like the regent Celestia hoped she would be. “Very well, explain your brilliant idea to me, if you would.”
“Actually,” Celestia replied, taking half a step back, leaving Twilight standing in front of her. “Twilight Sparkle came up with the idea, and I would rather let her explain it.” She got a dirty look from Sunny, and a scared one from Twilight, but simply lowered her head to the filly and smiled encouragingly. “Don’t be afraid, Twilight, just tell her about your idea.”
The positive reinforcement didn’t do a whole lot for Twilight’s nervousness, but she nevertheless stepped forward. “I uhm... I came to live at the castle a few days ago, but... uh... I kept... I kept getting lost. It was very annoying, and I thought that if I just painted lines on the floor, I wouldn’t get lost anymore and... I uh...”
“She came up with the brilliant idea of having different colored lines leading to different places of importance within the castle,” Celestia finished the sentence for her. “I wanted your approval on the matter, since she began her project without realizing she should ask permission for such a thing.”
Sunny cast a furtive glance to the doors behind them before asking, “So you mean to say that she has already finished her project?”
“Not as such, but several hallways have already gotten a few helpful lines,” Celestia answered her, adding in another deferential nod when she said: “I am very fond of the idea, but I will take full responsibility for her actions and will personally help clean it up if you think that such an execution is less than desirable.”
Their conversation, if one could call it that, fell silent after that, although that by no means meant that the room was silent. All around them were murmurs and softly held conversations, speculating about the Princess’ reasoning and what it meant that she, as ruler, would run her decisions by somepony that was technically in her employ. In short, it was exactly what Celestia had been hoping for. Now if only the second gamble pays off as well... she thought while looking at the mare on the dais.
“While I am not quite sure if such a thing is a matter to bring to the courtroom,” Sunny began after a prolonged period of silence. “I think that such an idea would be beneficial to the castle and to its inhabitants, and see no reason to oppose it, on the condition that it is done professionally.”
In the silence that followed, Twilight looked back at Celestia with an uncertain look, which Celestia replied to with a wink and a smile. “Consider it done, Regent Scrolls.”
Twilight was already at the door before Celestia had even turned around, apparently happy to be leaving the room in which she was being scrutinised by ponies once again. As they left, activity in the courtroom picked up, as one by one the entire room found their voices, and with that, their requests. Where previously they had to be goaded into doing so, now they had to be organized by the guards lest they trample each other. It was just like Celestia remembered it, only now that she had made it happen, she wasn’t entirely sure Sunny would appreciate it.
Redrawing the lines to be straight and more professional was going to take more work than Celestia would've thought possible. That Twilight wouldn't draw the straightest of lines was something she had thought a given, but surely it should have been a little less crooked than the mess she saw before her. From a very reasonable start at the center of the given hallway, the line went back and forth like a drunken sailor in a rocky storm, to the point where she wondered how much of an influence Aegis had actually had on the overall execution.
“Sorry, Princess,” Twilight's voice came from in between her forelegs. “I knew it wasn't really straight, but my brush broke, so I had to use my tail.” She flicked her tail back and forth, drawing attention to the colors that had soaked through most of it.
“Why didn't you use Aegis' brush?”
Twilight giggled. “I couldn't.”
Celestia quirked an eyebrow. “Couldn't?”
“He was being weird,” Twilight answered with another giggle. She stepped in front of Celestia and turned sideways, showing off her withers. It required a second look to really make out, but when Celestia did, she finally noticed the strange little smiley face that adorned Twilight's coat. “Whenever I wasn't working, and even one time when I was, he would chase me around and try to paint all kinds of weird things.” She smiled. “On my coat rather than the walls.”
Celestia returned the smile with one of her own and shook her head. “Well, at least you didn’t make a mess of the walls then.” There was a moment of silence, during which Twilight’s smile turned sheepish, and that in turn made a cold chill run down Celestia’s spine. “You didn’t make a mess of the walls... did you?” she asked hesitantly, hoping against hope that the answer would be a resounding ‘no’.
“Not if we don’t go to the observatory?" Twilight replied with an increasingly guilty-looking smile.
A mess of the most extravagant proportions unfolded itself in Celestia’s mind’s eye. If both Twilight and Aegis had returned looking like they would fit into an extremely wacky circus better than in everyday castle life, she shuddered to think about what the area they had ‘fought’ in looked like. She cast a glance at Aegis through narrowed eyes and motioned for him to take the lead before turning back to Twilight. “Then it is probably best if we start there, wouldn’t you agree?”
From the look on Twilight's face, it was quite easy to infer that she would rather not, but she nevertheless followed along obediently when Celestia set a course for what would no doubt be a disaster area.
After a brisk trot, already made easier by the purple line that Twilight had explained led to the observatory, they came to to site of what must have been a truly epic paint battle. The walls were covered in so many a color that it resembled Cloudsdale's color-research lab more than a simple hallway. The two statues on opposite sides of the hall had respectively been painted blue and yellow, evidence of them having been used a as cover; there was a stained glass window which was either a picture of a horrific monster too hideous for the mind to comprehend, or it hadn't been stained glass before; and even the line itself had been obscured by reds and greens.
Twilight at least had the decency to look guilty in the face of the mess she’d made. Aegis' face, by contrast, split into the biggest grin Celestia had ever seen on him.
“I take it you enjoyed yourself then?” she asked him none too subtly. "Depending on your answer, I may punish you in accordance with the mess you've helped cause."
Aegis stiffened for the briefest of moments, before he saluted. The smile never left his face, however. “Yes, Princess,” he replied without a shred of remorse. "I enjoyed myself immensely."
She conjured a mop, a bucket, and a cleaning apron from a nearby storage closet, and floated the lot over to him. "Very well. You may begin your penance immediately." Aegis donned the apron with only the barest hint of an embarrassed blush when Twilight giggled at his appearance, and set to work straight away.
Satisfied, Celestia turned around to the second perpetrator. Twilight was looking around in earnest, half of the giggle that Aegis'd had to endure still lingering on her face. “Do I have to clean up as well?” she asked, sounding surprisingly less upset by the notion than Celestia would’ve expected from a nine-year old.
“Yes, Twilight. Your idea for colored lines in the castle is a very good one, but...” Celestia indicated their surroundings with a hoof. “I doubt that everypony will appreciate your... artistic talents.”
Twilight nodded. “Are you going to make me stuff to clean with too? Can I have an apron like the one Aegis has? I really like the hearts...”
Celestia smiled, but at the same time shook her head. “No, Twilight. I actually wanted to take this opportunity to teach you another lesson.”
Twilight beamed, her smile cranking the happiness up to eleven. "I'm ready, Princess! What kind of lesson is it?" She cast a glance at Aegis and the mess. "Is it a lesson about diggleating?"
"Delegating, Twilight. And no, it's not." Celestia picked a particularly beleaguered section of wall and lit up her horn, separating the paint from the stone. Only then did she remember that both she, and probably Aegis as well, would need a bucket or two to keep the discarded paint and cleaning water in. Fortunately, that was a problem easily solved. As soon as she had put the buckets in place, she made the paint do a little walk over to them, much to Twilight’s delight.
“Did you do that with levitation?” the filly asked, walking around to the bucket the paint had sprung into and peering inside as though she half expected it to be alive in there.
“Not quite. Animation is very similar to levitation in that you’re making an object move, but much more difficult in that you make the object move by itself. It can be useful for a number of things, but can cause problems if you don’t know how to handle the spell.” Even as she talked, Celestia was beginning to realise that a spell the likes of which she was talking about was almost certainly out of Twilight’s league. Levitation was hard enough for the filly, never mind the more intricate spell structure of animation that required runes, and subtly heating up the paint to make it let go in the first place. Upon seeing Twilight’s gleeful expression, however, she decided that a little demonstration couldn’t do any harm.
I could make a cruder version of the spell... She hummed softly while making another patch of paint drag itself over to the bucket for Twilight’s enjoyment. Would certainly require a lot more power... but that wouldn’t bother her much, would it? At the very least it would require a little less from the filly in the ‘finesse’ department.
“Princess?”
She inclined her head and found Twilight looking up at her. “Yes, Twilight?”
“What if it’s too difficult? What if I can’t do it?”
Celestia smiled. “Don’t worry. We’ll start out with something easy, but first, I need some time to prepare.” She pointed at Rook who had positioned himself at the end of the hall, facing away from his colleague. “Why don’t you and Rook go get us some snacks in the mean time?”
Twilight looked at the guard over her shoulder for a moment before nodding. “Okay. What would you like, Princess?”
With half her mind already having gone back to the question of how to simplify the spell, it took a moment for Celestia to respond to the question. “I’ll have a few Moonlight lily stalks,” she said, trying to think of something else. “And perhaps some of Mead’s mead,” she added a few moments later with a small smile. Note to self, talk to Mead about slipping Twilight alcohol.
“Okay!” Twilight skipped over to Rook, and, after a soft exchange of words, skipped off towards the kitchens, unafraid of getting lost now that she had colored lines to follow. Rook shook his head and looked back at Celestia, who absently waved him off, before following the filly in her latest escapade.
“Princess! We’re back!”
Celestia let out a deep sigh. She had come up with a spell that was sufficiently simple just in time. Without the runes, supplementary patterns, or indeed, many of the more intricate hoops the spell was supposed to go through, the power requirement had gone up more than tenfold. Despite that, Celestia was quite sure that Twilight would be able to successfully get the spell to work.
She hastily erased the notes she had drawn on the floor in paint, and was presented with a plate full of Moonlight lily stalks before she could even turn around to return Twilight’s greeting. Twilight was one big proud smile, holding not just the plate in her magic, but three big mugs of mead, and a smaller plate with a piece of cake on it as well.
“I carried it all by myself,” the filly proudly declared. “And I didn’t even drop anything.”
Celestia took the plate with an appreciative nod, shaking it a little when she tried to move it and found that Twilight’s magic was still holding it. It lasted for all but two seconds, but indicated that Twilight’s mastery over her levitation, while most definitely improving, was still shaky at best. “Thank you, Twilight,” she said, pretending not to notice Twilight’s short-lived frown. “It looks delicious.”
After Twilight had brought Rook and Aegis their cider, they all took a break to enjoy the snacks. It gave Celestia a little more time to define the spell she wanted to show Twilight, stripping out one more rune that was more than likely a redundancy of sorts while she consumed the lily stalks.
Twilight was already pacing back and forth by the time Celestia looked up from her plate. The filly had borrowed the mop she’d given Aegis, and was apparently trying to see how many colors she could mix before it turned into a brown slurry.
Celestia coughed politely, more out of habit than anything, and said, “Okay, Twilight. Shall we get started on your lesson?”
The mop was instantly forgotten and Twilight skidded to her haunches only a few feet away in seconds. “I’m ready to begin, Princess!”
“Very good.” With a smile, Celestia used some of the paint to create a picture she’d come up with during the deconstruction of the spell. It was a diagram of sorts, explaining what individual changes the spell made, and how it interacted with the paint. “Let’s start with the theory. The spell I used is an adaption of a spell called Liquid Animation, which provides the affected liquid with basic motor functions and an increased viscosity. There are other variations of the spell for solid matter and gaseous states, but that is for another time. Normally this particular spell only works on bodies of water and things that are similarly already in a liquid state. However, because the paint here has already dried up, I—” She stopped mid-sentence when Twilight raised her hoof like a filly in class. “Yes, Twilight?”
“Viscosity?”
“It’s a word that tells you how thick a liquid is...” Celestia put a hoof to her chin when Twilight merely looked confused with the explanation. “Basically, the more viscosity a liquid has, the easier it stays together.”
A few moments of silence passed before Twilight asked, “Like jello?”
“Yes, jello would be an example of something with high viscosity.” Celestia hadn’t finished her sentence, or Twilight already had her hoof in the air again.
“Is it the same spell you used to make the ball of water float in the baths?”
Celestia shook her head. “No, I only used levitation, although using this spell could have made it easier to keep such a sphere afloat.” When no new question emerged from the bottomless well before her after that, she continued. "As I was saying, because the paint has already dried up, the spell needs to accomplish one of two things: either it has to draw moisture from the surrounding air, or heat up the paint itself, in order to make the substance malleable again." She pointed at the next part of the diagram that showed the paint leaping from the wall. "The second part of the spell tells the paint how it’s supposed to move. A very simple form of animation if you will.”
When Twilight did not immediately shower her with questions again, Celestia wondered if she was explaining the theoretical ideas behind the spell in too much detail. Perhaps all she really needs is some practical experience. She ran through the spell once more in her head, and then nodded.
“Why don’t you give it a...” She let her sentence peter out when she found that Twilight had taken her lesson to heart and was already sticking out her tongue while she tried to make the aforementioned spell happen.
Twilight’s first three attempts ended up not accomplishing much of anything; her horn sputtered a little, and paint she was trying to move stayed put, silently judging her. The fourth was a failure as well, though she did manage to make a small droplet wobble a little. When she finally did get it right—after half a dozen more times and just as Celestia was about to give her some pointers—she succeeded. The small blotch that had smugly been sitting next to the line, taunting her with her failures, got up and obediently deposited itself in the bucket next to the ones Celestia had already sent there.
Seeing that her student was having little to no difficulty, or at the very least getting the hang of the spell, Celestia moved over to where Aegis was scrubbing the floors in a much less flashy, though much more efficient way of cleaning.
The stallion did his due diligence and then some, still wearing that almost ludicrously large grin like it had been plastered onto his face. He looked like quite the fool, even if Celestia knew him to be a serious stallion... most of the time at any rate.
“So tell me, Aegis,” she began, choosing a clean spot on the floor and sitting down next to him in a spot from which she could observe Twilight while talking to her bodyguard. “How did your ‘fight’ with Twilight go?”
He chuckled. “It went well, Princess, though she will likely tell you that she was the victor in the end.”
Celestia shook her head softly. “I wanted to hear about it in a little more detail. Could you tell me more?”
Aegis stopped scrubbing and let his mop lean against the nearby wall before stretching each of his legs. “I ‘attacked’ her after we had painted most of the castle. She’s very... focused when there’s something she wants to do and...It just a silly flash of whimsy, really. I told her she was being too serious and she told me that ‘serious was what grown up ponies did’, and that she was a grown up pony.”
He fell silent and watched Twilight happily hop back and forth while she magicked more paint into the bucket with a smile.
“And then?”
Aegis chuckled again. “Then I painted a smiley on her barrel, and told her that adults can be silly as well... and she took it as a declaration of war.”
The imagery brought a smile to Celestia’s face as well. “A whimsical idea, hmm? Good to know that my guards haven’t forgotten what the meaning of fun is,” she quipped. “You’ll have to remind me what it is like sometime.”
“As you wish, Princess,” Aegis replied before letting out sigh. “Although... it wasn’t just whimsy. Though she didn’t exactly say anything, I got the impression that she was worried about your reaction.” He shifted his gaze from Twilight to Celestia and managed a smile. “Fortunately it seems she still has enough ‘filly’ in her to have forgotten about that fear during our paint fight.”
Celestia was baffled. She knew that Twilight had fears, seen them first hoof even, but she had never expected those fears to reach beyond the immediate. At least... not quite so quickly. She’d hardly known what to do that first time around, and she wasn’t sure if she could have calmed Twilight down again if a similar situation had occurred. Her heart swelled with gratitude and her smile grew brighter. “Thank you for helping me take care of her, Aegis.”
The stallion grunted, as though the mere thought of receiving thanks for it was akin to an insult. “It’s the least I could do, Princess. I might not ever have kids of my own, but helping you with Twilight is close enough.”
“Is there something wrong with your...?” Celestia coughed. Such things generally weren’t spoken off in conversation, and even if they had been, it was hardly proper to pry.
Aegis smiled, however, and shook his head with a laugh. “Not at all, Princess... It’s just...” She could read the mirth on his face, from the forward pointed ears to the little wrinkles under his eyes. “My job doesn’t leave me with a lot of time to meet many mares, let alone court them.”
That, moreso than anything made Celestia flush with embarrassment. Of course he wouldn’t have time to achieve anything romantically. He and Rook are busy watching over your fat flank all day. “I—I could...” she shook and composed herself. “If you feel strongly enough, I think I could convince everypony that matters that I need a few more guards. It would give you some more time and opportunity if nothing else.”
Again, Aegis shook his head. “Can’t accept that, Princess. Rook would never forgive me. Guarding you is our responsibility and I don’t think I’d be able to relax, much less socialize if you changed our schedules at this point, Princess.”
“Speaking of Rook, where—”
A piercing shriek cut her off whatever she had been about to say, and made both Celestia and Aegis jump into a defensive posture. Locating the source of said shriek was no difficult task; right in front of them was a multicolored blob of paint—predominantly yellow and green— which was about the size of an adult pony. It chased Twilight around the corridor, leaving behind a multicolored trail that undid any and all of the cleaning work they had accomplished thus far, while Twilight’s screams shattered the relative peace like so much glass.
“Twilight!” Aegis rushed forward and Celestia was only a step behind.
Fast as they were, however, they weren’t fast enough.
The slime caught up to Twilight and glomped, knocking Twilight to the floor and moving in for the kill. From seemingly nowhere, it split in half, revealing a mouth that, while not possessing any teeth, held a slimy, transparent, tongue which it used to lick Twilight’s face. Two was the number of licks Twilight had to endure before the creature closed its mouth in confusion. It swelled and bloated before exploding, spraying the entire area with the paint it had been made out of.
In the aftermath, the only sounds remaining were Twilight frightened wails, and Celestia's nigh frantic reassurances. “Shhhh. It's okay. You're okay now, the monster is gone,” Celestia told her student, the light of her horn dying down now that the threat had quite literally dissipated. When it appeared that her words had little to no effect, she scooped Twilight up and held her close. It felt like the right thing to do, even if her mind told her that physical distance should've had no impact on Twilight's state of mind.
"Hey, Twilight? I think that we should just have a water fight next time," Aegis said in a happy tone of voice like the entire situation hadn't happened. "Next time, I'll win for sure, and we won't even have to clean up afterwards!"
She wanted to chide her guard for being so insensitive. Twilight needed comfort after an experience like that, not some half-assed bet on when their next fight could happen. Strangely enough, however, the filly's crying slowed once she internalized what Aegis had said. She sniffed once, twice, and then shakily replied: “Nuh uh.”
“Yeah uh,” Aegis said in turn.
Celestia watched the back and forth with a mounting sense of understanding. If what Aegis had told her before held true, this could very well be the answer to the problem at hoof.
“What in the wide world of Equestria is going on here?! Twilight? Oh my stars, Twilight, are you okay?”
Celestia's ears swiveled around just a tad faster than the rest of her at the shrill screaming that echoed through the halls, only to then plaster themselves against her skull when she saw who exactly the voice belonged to.
An angry and scared Twilight...Velvet? The mare's name had slipped Celestia’s mind, though that didn't stop the mare from storming towards them, followed closely by Rook. Celestia stifled a groan. Aegis' quick thinking might've solved one of her immediate problems, but she doubted that anypony would be able to help her with this one.
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When the 'animation' spell was mentioned, was I the only one who first pictured this?
Thank you for such a delightfully cute chapter!
I'm sorry to hear about your depression. You don't know me, but I do hope that you find happiness in your life, You deserve it, everyone does.
If you tug at the web the spider comes.
6256251
In this imaging, you were not alone!
6256251 No, you're not. Nobody wants to say anything because it's too obvious.
6256251 I was humming it quite loudly. Better question: Was there anyone who didn't think of the Sorcerer's Apprentice?
6256518
Fun answer: I didn't when I wrote that particular paragraph
Huh...Considering myself very lucky XD That was awesome now let's see how Tia deals with this~
Oooooooh, Momma Twi has arrived....
That pleases me almost as much as this chapter did.
Sorry to hear you've been/are depressed. Hope you'll feel better soon.
Haven't finished but when I hit the letter I had thought I was at the end of the chapter.
wow poor twilight ... i wonder if things get better when she get spike and goes to school ?
Very sorry top hear about your depression. Please do take care of yourself, get any help you think you need.
Yet again another wonderful chapter!
Ugh, why do you have to do that to me? On the one hand, everything I've read from you so far was pure gold and I can't imagine having more of it could hurt in any way (and it's Twilestia--who doesn't love Twilestia?). On the other hand, less updates for the stuff I already love you for. I want to cry and laugh and the same time.
Don't overdo it to make everyone happy. You're the author and you give us your stuff free of charge; we have no reasonable grounds to demand anything from you that you don't want to do by yourself. Keep yourself happy first, then your readers.
when the paint slime tackled twi, i was like: "awww, it wuvs u!!"
The lines made me think of Enders Game but there at least a couple more books that have them as major plot points.
Oh yes, always glad to have more of this wonderful story.
don't work for others to the point where you yourself are not happy.
To much Generosity can hurt more than to little.
Commence read.
Now to deal with the wrath of a Mother. Wonder how much of that she caught.
Glad to see everyone thinking of that animation spell.
6257081
I concur. Don't force yourself if you're really struggling on our accounts; your physical and mental health is most important; so please do make sure you're getting the support you need (while I have no personal experience, I know depression can be very nasty). If writing ponies helps, that's great and I can certainly say that what you put out is well worth the wait. If you have to take a break, if I may be so bold as to speak for beyond myself, we'll still be waiting when you get back.
This was another excellent chapter, and I shall look forward to your other works.
So Celestia does internment now?, Seems a bit OOC.
I guess that was The duchess Blueblood who hired that ''reporter", damn, I really want Celestia to punish the family BlueBlood, but I know than that would be complicated, but somehow they should pay for their insolence.
Now Celestia is gonna face the anger of a mother, this give some hype xD
I hope that you feel better now, depression is a serious threat D:
Get better bro :D
Don't worry, Celestia! Twilight will leap to your defense.
...
This might not be a good thing.
On a side note, Twilight making a giant blob monster was hilarious.
I'm guessing the chapter title has to do with Celestia figuring out who's out to sabotage her and her guards image through the tabloid guy...
Paint monster pony thing was confused because Twilight did not, in fact, taste like grape.
Well, I don't know if I can call it a nitpick, but I'd personally spell the vocalization of Aegis's reply "Yeah huh".
Depression, eh?
Well, just keep in mind that life sucks for lots more people!
You can always be thankful you don't live in North Korea! I find the thought somewhat comforting... then maddening as I imagine that fat little bastard and his stupid haircut...oh I want to slaughter that piggy soooooooo much!
That brings up another glorious method of madness. And that would be madness. Find your own, make it yours, merge with it!
Then you will become like meeeeeeeeeee...
Another great chapter and ended with a nice cliffhanger too! I've been anticipating this moment for awhile. I can't wait to see the interaction between Twi's mom and Celestia. Oh boy, this is going to get even more interesting.
I'm curious as to how much Twi's mom saw. And how will she feel about another mare cuddling her crying filly? Celestia is gonna have a lot to explaining to do.
It's also going to be interesting to see how Twilight will interact with the both of them. I hope Celestia doesn't display too much of her motherly nature with Twilight around her mom. Ok, I lied -- that would just make the chapter even better.
I just don't think Twi's mom will take kindly to feeling replaced; even if by a princess. And again, oh boy... *rubs hands together* 
I'm thankful for you faithfully updating this story, Karrakaz. But please make sure you take care of yourself first. I speak for myself when I say that I can wait and will wait faithfully for the next update; whether that be a month or six month. You come first in your life and we'll take the left overs of the time you have left to share. Don't overwork yourself.
Guessing Velvet has a spy network set up?
I look forward to the next update - this is well written and enjoyable.
6256518
Humming? You must "doot DOOT doodley doot de doot de doodley doot de doot de..." etc, when doing that song!
And that is why you don't get rid of runes that you think are redundant, Celestia. Jeez, you would think they covered that in magic 101. Everything has a use. I assume magic is like coding in that regard.
bringing
or
to bring
____________________
Indent
________________
I'll give you the same advice that I got in my support group last time I went.
"Life happens in waves, you have you're good and bad. But when it peeks, and things seem at your worst. Just know that it'll get better. You just need to ride it out."
And that bit of advice has always been helpfull for me at least. That and a big thing they did was take me and the group out to public places and got us to socialize. Since if you're by yourself, or not near anyone you can talk to. Its easy to get bogged down by all the crappy shit in life (pardon my language), or see only the bad in life. But getting out and about, or being with others who you can talk to helps.
Seriously wish you the best, and I look forward to the next chapter. Hopefully the Blueblood's get put in their place and Twilight pwns them horribly.
6260071
It's not internment. Well depending on the definition you mean.
One definition is to confine in a prison. And as with any prison you could call that internment. The other definition is only for foreign entities, combatant (suspected or otherwise), or opposition into a confined area.
What she did, was have them arrested for a crime that she as a Princess witnessed. In her home. In front of her and her Royal Guards [Soldiers, Police Force, and Peacekeepers all in one]. Who were inciting a riot, and threats of violence against a minor under her care. Which technically is attempted child abuse / endangerment (with how some of them were acting), a fortnight is so much less than 1 - 20 years in jail [depending on what state / level of abuse ... with them out for blood. A fortnight is perfectly fine).
And the dungeons are when everything is said and done. A jail in a castle. They did an illegal act. In front of the final arbitrator of the law [thus why Court exists. So she has final say in all things]. And were more than willing to follow through on their bloodlust / want to kill a foal under the context of "child assassin".
Inkblot is lucky that it's two months rather than life for purposefully inciting violence against a child under the context of "freedom of speech" and "journalistic integrity".
So no. It's not internment (at least not more than any other prison is internment), and it's In Character since even though she could have done a lot more, and a lot more worse. Showed kindness / forgiveness. Even though she was legally in her rights to go with a much more harmful punishment.
6271238 There was no trial, The definition of internment is imprisonment without trial, Celestia just sentenced 63 people to prison sentences with no jury, witnesses, lawyers, or anything resembling a trial, just by saying ''You're going to jail because I'm a princess, DEEL WIF IT FAGET'', very fascist, very OOC.
6271238 Best not to argue the point.
6271499
That's not internment. Not the definition by far.
And they didn't need a trial. Unless you're forgetting. The whole point of Day Court is for Celestia to pass judgement and her word is law. So with the way their law works. Celestia is the law. As for no witnesses, that's super stupid of you. Especially when it was done in Court. In a very public place.
Stop using words you don't know. Like Fascist, and Internment.
As for "I'm the Princess!" Well.
1) Constitutional Autocracy. Not Democracy.
2) The Court exists for Celestia to pass judgement. And since it was in Court. It has plenty of people there to take notes, give her council, and act as witnesses.
3) All those people were there in the Court. Since the whole thing happened at Court. With other petitioners, members of the court, and to the Sovereign Ruler of Equestria.
6271546
*Shrugs* Just pointing out that it wasn't OOC. And in context was within her legal right. Still it's a great story.
6271561 I know that, you know that. Our friend the Crimson King is unlikely to let go of his beliefs.
6271597
Ah true. Wizard's First Rule and all that.
6271551 That is the definition of internment, I even looked it up on wikipedia to see if I was wrong, (which is unlikely seeing as fascism, communism and 20th century Irish politics are on the Irish school curriculum, those subjects have a lot internment, and I studied them for three years) but the even the first line said
As for the fact that it was in court, yes it was, But no trial took place, none of the defendants that we saw were given a chance to defend themselves, call lawyers, or have any rights that a person facing jail time would, no witnesses were called to testify either, despite the fact that there were many, and Ink Blots sentencing even took place inside his own jail cell, without a jury, we never saw any trials despite the fact that it would have been a big deal in the castle and would have been mentioned to the reader.
Therefore, Celestia having 63 people sent to the dungeons without trial, despite the fact that it could be in her right, is a pretty far cry from the kind hearted ruler we usually see, and therefore OOC.
But whatever, I don't want to debate politics with some guy on a magic horse site.
6271689
Cotton picking a definition doesn't make you right.
And you're being an idiot to ignore the big point. All the rulings Celestia's ever made in day court has never been a trail, nor has it ever been in a jury of ones peers. She makes a decision it is law.
And you're only using only one definition of internment. Anyways, I'm done here. There's no point arguing with the blind.
6271805 Fuck the big picture, she made a bad decision, I pointed it out.
Anyway, have a nice day, friend.
um, hey mate, i'm noticing more and more that it's no longer acknowledged that Celestial lowers or raises the sun, and i figure we can granted it and all, but how can the sun be at it's zenith if Celestial wasn't awake to raise the sun? is there some mechanic not explained?
6272072
I was a little curious over that too. Was the sun "stuck" in place until she was awake to get it moving again? If she wasn't awake, does it just sorta wobble to and fro, not quite making it to sunset/sunrise position? I suppose that ponies are used to it however. If somepony has to consciously move the Sun and Moon then one should expect that the mover (the Princess) won't have a perfect record. Even I had to use a few sick days in the last 15 years at work-- just 2 mind you.
6272072
6272161
Sorry about the confusion, it was something I had outlined but eventually omitted somewhere around the third rewrite of that particular scene. I'll be adding it to the chapter a little later, the gist is that she raised the sun in her sleep.
6272246
In her sleep? Dang, that's some dedication to her job. Then again I do wonder if anypony would notice if she painted "eyes" on her eyelids and propped herself up for a nap during court?
6272246 ah okays, good to know.
also, i wanted to point out a missing end quotation in dialog
the next thing i noticed, Celestia requested mead, but instead the narrative states
so wait, did the guards request cider? or did they buy their own cider when they went with Twilight?
i hope you had a good day though Karrakaz, my day kinda sucked though
my friend got arrested with an OWI earlier, that isn't going to end well, his license was suspended already...
on top of that, i have been getting a bit depressed and anxious about my future lately. but it's being able to read stories like this that help keep me sane, a little bit at least
like that one Saosin song "you're not alone, there is more to this, i know, you can make it out, you will live to tell"
6271689 Just to weigh in here, not all imprisonment even requires a trial. If you start a riot, and the police round you up, you can expect to be thrown in a cell until they have time to deal with you. Most of those ponies were released within a single day, with only the troublemaker's having their stay extended. Ink Blot in particular, being the primary instigator, was extended longer. As for making a bad call, sometimes an example must be made. It's hardly Gitmo we're talking about.
6273895 Semantics. They are in time out for bad behavior.
6273681 That said, something as serious as breaking into the castle requires much more looking into and far more investigation than just what Celestia did, I'm not saying they shouldn't have been punished, but I think a much larger scale investigation and sentencing should have gone on.
6274209
That isn't what got them into the prison in the first place. What got them there was basically rioting or unruly behavior in the court. Well minus that first guy. He got in for instigating a riot, slander, inciting violence against a minor and a few other things. Rioting in a court room will get you thrown in jail. Like others said too the only ones who had their stay extended past a day or so we're the ones who were being unruly.
Onto the actual content. I am not really surprised about Twilight making a Resident Evil or Silent Hill like paint monster. Overcharging the spell probably caused it. Overcharging a spell she barely really knew was how the all-blocking shield happened. Still Twilight Velvet is gonna flip hearing all that her daughter is gonna tell her about. Though Celestia is hilariously stupid in how she is teaching Twilight. She keeps skipping the fundamentals and keeps teaching her advanced stuff she really can't handle for hilarious results. Still poor Celestia, momma Twilight is gonna be pissed
.
Digglett dig, digglett dig...
what, I'veread it all? NOOO! there *has* to be more!
*spends two more seconds in denial.*
make another chapter soon, please?
