I expected the shadow to be one or more ponies hovering above me. I totally didn't expect it to be Celestia's wing extended over my tiny body. I didn't even realize she was there, until she spoke up.
"What. Do you think. You are doing."
Let me tell you, angry Celestia is scary Celestia. I looked up from my cowering position, but could only see the feathers of her extended wing.
"Y-your highness-" the lead guard stammered.
"Silence!" she hissed. "I will personally deal with you later."
I could hear the guard ponies gulp audibly. I was playing with the thought of crawling out of my position when something weird happened. At the moment I couldn't even tell what happened, but all of a sudden, I was at a complete loss. Disoriented. I felt sick in my stomach and the world was spinning. Celestia tugged her wing back to her side and HOLY SHIT, where was I?
Not on the streets anymore, that much was obvious. The room was gorgeous, to put it simply. At least I think it was. Probably? I’m not really sure, everything was a blur. I could make out a lot of shiny things, but that was it.
"Ooooh, everything is Sparkly."
"Oh dear. First time teleportation sickness," I heard Celestia say.
I turned my head towards her and saw three heads looking back down at me. I slumped to the side, ignoring the nausea to the best of my abilities. The princess bent down to my level to nuzzle me gently as she wrapped me up within her legs.
"Are you alright, my little pony?"
"No~" I leaned against Celestia out of sheer nausea, exhaustion and fear. More tears came out of my eyes.
The princess gently rubbed my back, cooing into my ear. "Shh, shh. It's alright. Nopony is going to hurt you anymore."
"Twilight?" I asked, getting really tired all of a sudden. "Is...Twilight okay?"
"Your sister is alright. Don't worry. I'll bring you back to your family."
I nuzzled deeper into Celestia's fur. Any other time I would find this embarrassing; at the time, I needed every bit of comfort I could get. Man, that came out cheesy- arrgh, stupid feather at it again. I need to fix the spell.
We remained like this for an eternity. Eternity being, until I fell asleep. Running until I was out of breath, getting forcefully shoved away by multiple ponies and then the amount of magic I used that day, which was a lot for a filly, finally took a pole on me.
Celestia put me into a bed, her own bed I might add, before I was out like a candle.
I must have woken up and fallen asleep three times. I could have gotten up every time I woke up, but this bed! It was worth going through Tartarus just to be able to sleep in there. It was the fourth time that I couldn’t fall back asleep, because I could hear voices in the seeming distance, when actually they were only next room.
I twisted and turned a little bit around, but eventually I couldn’t take it anymore. Besides, it felt like I had slept for over a decade. My body aches from lying still for so long; but when I did finally made my way out of the bed, it ached because I was moving. Can you say bipolar? Yes, my body is seemingly bipolar. Equestria is a weird place to live in. I love it.
After falling out of the bed and lying on the carpet for a few seconds, before getting myself together. Slowly, since I was still getting used to having four legs, I got up and shook myself like a dog. Looking around, it didn’t take me long to recognize the room I was in, even though I barely saw it on the show. This was Celestia’s private study. I always thought she had an extra room that acted as her sleeping chambers. Did I remember it wrong?
But it didn’t matter anyway. The chase I recently went through was obviously still on my mind, but knowing that Princess Celestia brought me here...it somehow eased my mind. I didn’t get it either, I mean it wasn’t like we had any kind of strong emotional connection after personally knowing each other for what? A few days? And how much time did we spent together? A couple of hours? It really bothered me, but it wasn’t the priority thought on my mind right at that moment.
As fast as my body allowed, I made my way towards the door. The voices growing louder with each step. The soft carpet muffled my own steps, so nopony on the other side could hear me.
“-reason I am not further demoting you and your fellow guards is because I believe in second chances and that your worries might have had the slightest trace of legitimacy.” That voice belonged to Celestia, no doubt about that.
“B-but, your highness-”
“Enough!” Celestia almost shouted at the guard from earlier. I recognized his voice.
“While you might have had some small justification in apprehending Twivine initially, you had neither right nor reason to put a magic suppressor on Twilight! Do you have any idea how traumatizing that can be for a young filly?! Her parents are demanding that I have you, and everypony else involved, receive a dishonorable discharge! They've even spoken of taking legal actions against each individual guard! What were you thinking? Chasing a small filly through the streets of Canterlot? Throwing stun spells every direction in the middle of a busy market street?!"
Celestia’s voice got louder at the end. For a moment I expected the royal Canterlot voice to pop up.
"Thousands of bits will be needed to repair the city from this little rampage of yours, not to mention the restitution for the merchants whose livelihoods you damaged! And the property damage is far from the worst thing you accomplished! No. My Guard. The very guards that are to protect the citizens of this country, put those very ponies into danger. Sixteen ponies were injured in your chase. Six of them are serious. What were you thinking?"
“But, she’s n-n-not an adult yet...”
“Ahh, yes,” Celestia’s voice got really quiet here. You know the tone. The one that says ‘you think you’re clever do you– think again’ without actually saying it. “You refer to the clause I added to all the laws that require a pony to reach their majority before being granted the authority of their inherited title. Did you not know that Cadance, as an alicorn princess, earned her title by her own merit rather than inheriting? As there are only two alicorn princesses in the land, I expect you to be capable of remembering us. So if Cadance tells you that Twivine is not dangerous, you leave the little filly alone. If ANY alicorn princess tells you to do something, you do it! If a three year old alicorn filly tells you to baker her a cake, then you drop what you are doing, you go to the kitchens, and you bake her a CAKE!”
I was like: Wow. Did she really just said that? Wait, does that mean Celestia is technically ruling with an iron hoof? Oh Faust, I knew it. THE CAKE IS A LIE!
I don’t know if Celestia realized how dumb what she just said was. If she did, she ignored it.
“You’re dismissed, Private! I suggest you think about your actions while you’re suspended from duty.”
“Princess.” It sounded only half hearted. He probably saluted or something. Heck, I’m surprised he could even speak. That was brutal. Two seconds later, the sounds of hoofsteps could be heard on the other side of the door.
Faster than I would have thought, the door opened, with Princess Celestia on the other side. She looked frustrated to say the least, judging from her expression. It was interesting to see her without her “mask” for once, although as soon as she noticed that I was awake she put it back on.
“Twivine! You’re awake.”
She quickly bent down on my level and wrapped her wings around me. “Are you feeling better?”
“Mhm.” I couldn’t bring any words out right then.
“Oh sweetie, don’t worry. Those ponies won’t do anything to you anymore, I promise.”
I figured. You just...wait, you called him Private and threatened to demote him even further. How’s that supposed to work? The only thing under Private is Recruit. Even I know that.
“Is there anything I can bring to you? Maybe you want a treat?”
“Uh...where is the bathroom?”
About ten minutes later, Princess Celestia was talking to a female guard. There are way more of them around than was originally shown in the show. Given the gender ratio, this is not surprising at all.
“I need a list of everypony that might fit into the role as the new guard captain.”
“At once princess. Is there anything else?” the guard asked.
“Yes, how are negotiations with the thestrals getting along?”
To this the mare in armor looked disappointed. “Not good, your highness. Preconceptions on both sides are slowing things down significantly.”
“It looks like it was a mistake to- oh. Please excuse me, Lieutenant. I need to take care of our little guest. Come to my chambers in two hours, from now on. Dismissed, Lieutenant.”
“Princess.” the Lieutenant saluted. She looked at me for a second before walking away.
I crept up to Celestia, staying close to her legs. I was fighting the instinct to hide myself between them. You need to remember when reading these words: While I may sound calm, in all actuality I was scared. The events from earlier were still slowly sinking in, you know? It’s hard to explain so long afterwards.
“So Twivine. Do you want something to eat, maybe?” she asked me.
“No, thanks.” I replied, which was a straight up lie. I could easily go for something to eat, I just wasn’t in the mood to eat.
“If you say so. But remember: if you need anything, just tell me.”
“...Princess? Am I not in trouble?”
The alicorn’s head flinched back in surprise. “Why would you be in trouble, my little pony?”
“Because I attacked those guards and … I am the reason other ponies got hurt.” I replied, after some thinking. Seriously, as soon as I heard that others got actually hurt and needed to be treated in the hospital, although she never said that, I just felt bad. I wanted to bring up this issue immediately after the Princess discovered me, but didn’t came to bring it up at that point.
To no one’s surprise, the princess refuted my claims. She just pulled me in for another hug and gently stroked her wing along my back.
“Shh, it’s not your fault that you lost control. Don’t worry. I will teach you on how to control your magic. So, don’t feel bad anymore, okay?”
“Mhm.” Was my muffled reply from under her coat.
I could have snuggled with her for days, let me tell you. Sadly we didn’t even come close to it, because a hoofmaiden made herself known, by clearing her throat. We broke up immediately, upon hearing it.
“Excuse me, princess. Princess Cadance just arrived with the filly’s family. They’re waiting for you two at the lobby.”
“Ah, thank you Blue Clover. We’ll be on our way immediately. I hope you’ll enjoy your vacation.”
“Thank you, princess.” The maid bowed and was on her merry way.
“Now then, let’s get you back to your family. They’re eagerly waiting for you.”
“Umm…”
“Yes?”
“Why didn’t you bring me back to my home?” I asked, curious about why I ended up in the palace. By the way, it’s then that something in my brain finally clicked and I thought.
Oh my fucking Faust! I’m inside the palace of Canterlot!
“Ahaha. I wasn’t really thinking. On hindsight, I should have teleported us back to your home. I’m sorry.”
“SIS!” A purple blur rocketed into me, knocking me to the ground. I think my eyes even rolled in a cartoony way, because my vision was suddenly doubled. It was like looking at two TVs at the same time, with pictures rolling into different directions.
When my eyes came to a hold, I finally saw a teary eyed Twilight. She was pinning me down with her tiny hooves.
“T-Twilight? What’s wrong?”
“Twivine!” she cried out and wrapped her forelegs around my head. My fur was quickly soaked by her warm tears.
“I-I was so scared! I...I couldn’t feel my magic. And then...those ponies…”
More didn’t come out. She started to fully cry into my shoulder and it was up to me to comfort her. And don’t get me wrong, I really felt for her and was getting really mad at those guards. Still, I couldn’t help but look up a little helplessly at my parents, Shining Armor and Cadance. Spike was also there, sitting in a foal carrier, which hung down from Velvet’s neck.
Nightlight came around and took both of us into his forelegs.
“Shh, it’s alright sweetie. Everything is going to be alright,” he cooed.
“But what if….what if…” Her crying got even worse. I tried to calm her down myself by stroking her back, but it wasn’t really working.
I could hear the sounds of a baby through Nightlight’s fur. A few seconds later, Spike flew down, covered in a light purple aura. The tiny dragon was giggling, until he saw Twilight.
“Ahhh!” He stretched his arms out and reached out to her.
Velvet brought him to her, to which Twilight quickly grabbed the dragon with one of her forelegs and then pressed the reptile against both me and her. I don’t know how smart babies are here in Equestria, thinking about the cake twins right now. What he did was smiling at Twilight, grabbing her with his claws. It looked like he wanted to comfort her or make her stop crying. But it also just might have been him wanting to be close to his mother, some kind of instinct working here.
Whatever it was, I believe he wanted to comfort her. Also, at the point I realized how much ponies liked to cuddle The past couple of days I cuddled a lot, mostly with Twilight and now I was doing it again. If only the reasoning for it wouldn’t have been that stupid incident.
After ten minutes, which Velvet used to talk to the princess, Celestia I mean, she announced that we were going home. When we got out, I noticed the sun had almost set to start the night. By the time we got home, Celestia had raised Luna’s moon already with the dark goddess staring down at the planet.
Inside my stomach couldn’t take it anymore. My grumbling could be easily translated into: “Hey you fuckers! Fuel’s empty! Gimme some meat down here!”
I blushed a little when everyone looked at me. Well except for Spike. The little guy had fallen asleep on the way. How he didn’t wake up from the really loud growl, well I soon learned that he’s a heavy sleeper.
“Oh, you didn’t had anything to eat for the evening, did you?” asked Velvet.
I wordlessly shook my head.
“Night, can you bring Twilight and Spike to bed? I think for once we can make an exception, and let Twivine have something to eat this late.”
“Of course hon. Come on, Twilight.”
However my sister violently shook her head.
“I...I wanna stay with” she yawned “my sister.”
I looked to her a little confused. Twilight Velvet and Nightlight looked at each other worried and confused.
“Don’t worry Twily,” Shining Armor ruffled her mane a little. “I’ll stay with you, at least until Vi comes upstairs. Alright?”
Twilight blinked a little sleepy, before nodding. “‘kay.”
She began walking towards the stairs, our big brother supporting her all the way.
“Now then Twivine. How does a fruit salad sound?”
My stomach grumbled once again.
“Yeah. I have to agree with Joanne.”
By the way, my right hand’s name is lefty.
that was so fucking fun the way tia blew up In that guards face
Thank you, I wast waiting for another chapter the whole week. I would wait for more chapters, to read them all at once, but I think I already realized, if you really like a story, then it is never enough.
nice chapter.
The name of my right hand named lefty was great.
6763329 I watched the A-Team and in one episode the crazy guy murdock calls his right hand lefty. Must have been a mistake made, while filming the episode. That's where the idea came from.
The signs were there all along.
Got SO much pleasure in Celestia bashing that guard. I assume he is the FORMER Captain of the Guard. I certainly hope the training regimen changes as a result. Heck it would be interesting to see how Shiny changes from witnessing this event.
6763365 Ah yes I watched it as well only with dubbing so I wouldn't know.
Well that's not odd in the slightest.
I fucking called that dressing-down.
Toll
I think you might be missing a word or two here.
make
After falling out of the bed I laid on the carpet for a few seconds before getting myself together.
RIP lefty...
Splendid chapter.
6763393
The signs are always there. You just need to open your eyes and see them.....
But seriously Iron Lady? EPIC
Okay, so Celestia demoted that one guard down to a Private and they now need a new Captain of the Guard... Was this guard the last Captain?
Stick stuck to them! Woot!
So did Twivine just get promised personal tutoring from Celestia before Twilight? I don't remember if we've done the Rainboom Event yet....
Keep going! ;)
6763775
The story starts right after the rainboom, Celestia invites Twilight to be her student in the first chapter.
Great job and you got a chuckle out of me for that hand joke so good job mate.
6763783 oh yeah! My derp, it's been just a little long that we forgot. Gosh, isn't it like, only the end of the third day Story-wise?
Just one word: Awesome!!!
6763395 It would be an interesting twist if Shining no longer wants to be in the guard after what they did to his sisters.
i'm sensing backstory here
reading this on my New surface pro....
Seeing Celestia tear someone a new asshole like that was hilarious.
6763891 I'm playing with the idea. But honestly? I don't really like it. But it's such a good plot twist...
6764274 I'd say go for it, then if you continue to dislike the idea weave a story that brings him back into the guard later.
6764311
hmm. It's not a bad idea, but I think it's more likely that he would see a screw up organization where he once saw his idols and decide they needed to be fixed. And make them into something actually valuable.
I may be giving him too much credt...
6764311 Actually, one could go with both thoughts.
I mean after all, he saw what they did and that might throw him off from wanting to join them... But at the same time, it may inspire him to join and set things right as it were.
6764311 Twists within twists. Now you got me thinking, and I hate it when that happens because I get story ideas, but I've already got enough projects to be working on right now without adding more to the pile...
Well, here it is anyway (In no way is this me telling the Author what to write. My mind's gotten off on a tangent and won't shut up until I get it out...):
Shining leaves the Guard training program to figure things out, but his talents lie in protection so he still goes into something where he can do the most good while exercising them to the fullest (Maybe a few adventures along the lines of Daring Do or mercenary work protecting merchants in far away lands). Several years later he returns, older and wiser, after an incident that makes him once again question what he's doing with his life (it could almost be anything, really, so long as it's consistent to the story) and approaches Celestia with a few ideas based on things he's seen during his travels on how to improve the effectiveness of the Guard and prevent future incidents like what happened to his sisters. Instead of being Captain of the Royal Guard he's brought on as a Civilian Consultant tasked with finding and shoring up weaknesses and loopholes in guard training, procedure and emergency response practices. Being a Civilian Consultant also means that he could be provisionally called upon to "assist" with incidents where the guard could make use of his skills, but being largely outside of their chain of command means he would have much greater operational freedom in his own responses.
Given the right maneuvering in the plot with this scenario and you could still keep things fairly close to Canon for the beginning of the Canterlot Wedding, with the exception of his post as Guard Captain, as there's nothing in here that would exclude him from picking his relationship with Cadance back up when he returns, or even continuing it Long-distance while he's away.
Some of the lines in this chapter and earlier chapters make me think the relationship between Celestia and Twivine might be deeper than either knows. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but Celestia seems to be acting very maternal towards Twivine.
6763891 Yes it would. Either he quits the training or he pushes forward to ensure it doesn't happen again.
Great story! Very glad I took the time to read to this point. Some grammar confusion at times but otherwise I love it! I look forward to seeing where you take this.
6763891 Or you could go with the "change the guard from the inside" approach.
Must... have... MOAR!!!!
The cakelestia cameo .......the burns if non-sublty!!!!!!!!!!!
Celestia showed who's boss! Though that incident would probably traumatize Twilight and Twivine. Can't wait for more!
33.media.tumblr.com/a27291bdf527e2e773e79e8fce5b65f5/tumblr_noh9is4gEc1tev2dto1_250.gif
6766003
*Pats you comfortingly on the back*
This is just too good, I can't help but want more.
Also, Right HAND is named Lefty?
6766003 The author has the rest of it. Just be patient.
Very nice work, well done.
Also:
If that is not foreshadowing I don't know what is.
I... BLOODY... LOVE... THIS... CELESTIA
She's motherly, yet doesn't take any guff from anyone.
Not like those namby pamby whining little pricks you usually read about.
I love this story, please continue writing more
Really dig this story. I would also love to see more of this alter ego/overlord persona that our Twivine seems to have. I also can't wait to see what happens on her first day of school.
And is it me or do I smell chocolate milk with a touch of chaos?
6764274 When is the next chapter coming out?
Well Celestia did make a bit of a gaff with the three year old alicorn comment, but you have to go to extreme exaggerations to drive in the point. Especially when you are yelling at someone who screwed up as monumentally as they did. I mean yeah a lot of the destruction was Twivine, but even if she is mentally an adult it is mainly their fault. Mainly because she was running on a fear instinct that blots out your intelligence. Plus seriously the guards were seen throwing spells randomly into a crowd viciously a child after putting a traumatizing item needlessly on another. For those who are supposed to be protection for the populace that is bad PR. I say they got off easily, hopefully this reinforces Cadance's authority.
6786352 You know why they got off easily? I tell you two names. Starlight and Discord.
6786399
Yeah, that is true. Though Discord maybe because of his use was given less punishment to avoid fractured views . These guards on the other hoof are extremely detrimental. They lack discipline, are the cause and faces of the destruction of the good faith for the guard, plus are proven to be rash and stupid. I see that Celestia is forgiving, bit these guys are terrible.
I think this is the first "HiE" I have liked, and I really like it. Hmm, I wonder what will happen on Shinings wedding since Twivine knows about Crysalis taking Cadence place...
Also, WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND PUTS A MAGIC DAMPENER ON A FILLY!? Does that guard not realize this!? I'd like to see Shing become a guard to prevent this in the future.
I don´t think "to baker" is a thing or did you mean "to bake".
You are missing a dot there.
6764068 FUCK YEAH