On Getting to the Bottom of this "Equestrian" Business

by McPoodle

Chapter 26: New Meetings...

Chapter 26: New Meetings…

Butterfly was roughly awakened from her dreams by a steady knocking on the closet door behind her. She jumped to her feet and looked around her for anything she could use as a weapon. All she was able to find was the shipping container that a poster had come in. Wielding the cardboard tube like a baseball bat, she put her hand on the door. “Who is it?” she demanded.

“Butterfly, it’s me, Luna. Let us out.”

“Oh no. Sorry, Mistress Luna, but just this once I’m only answering to your sister.”

“I…I’m here, Butterfly. It’s Celestia. You can let us out.”

The maid tilted her head in confusion. “Is…is that really you, Mistress Celestia? You sound different.”

“Yes, it’s me. Could you please let us out?”

Butterfly stepped back in shock. Celestia had never used the word “please” in that tone before—a tone that suggested that she was actually free to refuse the request if she wished. After a brief prayer to the Goddess that she wasn’t making a horrible mistake, she unlocked the door and took several strides backwards, her improvised weapon raised high. “It’s unlocked,” she said in a shaky voice.

The closet door swung open, revealing two tired and bedraggled teenagers.

“You’re alright!” Butterfly exclaimed. “You’re both alright!” She rushed forward to embrace them both. “Oh! And you’re both hurt! I’m taking you both to the emergency room!”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Celestia insisted. “A little iodine and some ice packs, and we’ll be good as new.”

“Nonsense!” Butterfly countered, grabbing them both by the wrists and dragging them to their feet. “I’m giving you ten minutes to get dressed, and then we’re going.”

“Yes, Butterfly,” the two sisters answered in chorus.

With a final nod of her head, Butterfly marched out of Luna’s room, and closed the door behind her.

It suddenly occurred to her that this was the first time she had ever been able to go against Celestia’s will before. She began to think of all of the times over the past decade that the girl had humiliated her, shamed her, browbeat her into doing whatever she wanted, only to talk Father Delver and the others into thinking that it was the maid’s fault as an evil influence. After the first few times, the priest had stopped believing the child’s stories, but it still hurt.

For the first time in her life, the meek little servant allowed herself to feel resentment for her mistress.

& & &

Butterfly and the two sisters arrived at the emergency room. Luna insisted that Celestia, who had the worse injuries, should be seen to first.

Luna went around and spoke to the various patients waiting to be seen. None of them had life-threatening ailments, but all of them were scared and uncertain. She did her best to calm their fears and give them confidence.

She sat down with a sense of accomplishment. Seeing the television remote next to her, she used it to turn up the volume. It was broadcasting the news.

This whole time, Butterfly was sitting in her own corner, brooding.

Suddenly Luna stood up and pointed at the TV. The reporter was standing in Heathrow Airport, and Father Delver was visible in the background of the shot. The story was of an airplane that nearly blew up.

In a rush, Luna remembered the details of Nightmare Moon’s plan, a plan that matched up with what she was hearing. A madman had put a nuclear bomb on the plane that Father Delver, his assistants and the Guisemans were taking back to America.

Luna paced back and forth, trying in vain to see more of the airport around the figure of the droning news reporter. She thought she recognized a very upset Mrs. Guiseman, but saw no trace of the Professor, Meridiem or Gnosi.

Celestia re-entered the waiting room, her head wrapped in bandages. “What is it?” she asked, seeing how worried Luna was.

“The plane, the plane!” Luna exclaimed, pointing at the television.

For one brief moment, Celestia thought that her sister was watching a re-run of Fantasy Island. Then she remembered Nightmare Moon’s words, and rushed to join her. “Are they alright?”

“I think so,” Luna told her. “The plane never took off.”

“What do we do?”

“They’re probably on the next flight home,” Butterfly assured them, having been roused from her thoughts by Luna’s outburst. She too was able to see Father Delver in the back of the shot.

The emergency room doctor poked his head out of the door. “Luna, would you come back here please?”

“Oh, right. Tell me if anything new happens.”

“Will do!”

A few seconds later, Celestia found herself alone. It was the first time since midnight that she had time to think for herself. She looked around her nervously at the other patients—she and Luna had just jumped ahead of all of them in line when they showed up. Were they angry at her for doing that? And what about all the other times she had been so mean to them? If they found out how powerless she was now, would they gang up on her to get their revenge?

Celestia pulled her legs up onto the chair, curling up into a ball.

& & &

There was a message waiting for them on their state-of-the-art answering machine when they got home.

“Celestia? Luna? This is Delver.” He sounded both tired and confused. “Our flight was cancelled, as you might have heard. The thing is, Professor Guiseman, Gnosi and Meridiem all got very sick and had to be taken to the hospital. I’m afraid I can’t tell you the details, as I don’t understand them myself. We’re at the Goddess of Mercy Hospital in London, and I’ve already been informed that Archbishop Shepherd is flying over to take care of things. You two can stay in Canterlot if you insist, but I could really use you by my side. It might be quite a while and…and…we might not all be coming back. I already called Gus’ children. Just…do what you think is best.”

As soon as the message was over, Luna picked up the phone and called the hotel. “They’re almost finished packing,” she told her elder sister. “I told them we would take care of paying for the flight. Now what’s Round Trip’s number?”

Together, they booked a flight for five to London.

“Including me?” asked Butterfly.

“Of course,” Luna explained. “We can’t depend on Gloria and Gavin to be our chaperones the whole time, and Father Delver’s sure to be busy as well. Have you ever been to London?”

“I’ve never been on a plane before,” Butterfly replied. “I do want to see how Father Delver is doing, and I am rather fond of his students but…” (as she stood up straight) “…if I see him, it’s to put in my notice. I can’t take this anymore. No…I can’t take you anymore.” And she pointed at Celestia.

The girl visibly wilted. “I…I understand. I’ve been awful to you for as long as I remember. And…and I’m going to make it up to you. I read in an article that Markist maids are in high demand in the U.K. With my recommendation, I’m sure I can get you a great job. If you don’t mind moving to a new country.”

“I…I don’t know what to say!” exclaimed Butterfly. She expected anything from a tongue-lashing to a physical beating in response to defying Celestia, but a heartfelt apology was certainly a surprise. “This is all so fast!”

“Not to mention that it’s probably not going to be that easy for an American to just get a job like that immediately after crossing borders,” Luna added cynically.

“Well, you’ll have plenty of time to think it over while we’re there,” said Celestia. “And if you instead want to go back to America, we’ll pay your ticket. It’s the least we can do after all you’ve done for us.”

Butterfly nodded, too full of emotion to say anything.

& & &

There were a few other details to take care of. Luna called the editor of Canterlot’s daily newspaper, and informed him of the highlights. That should take care of anyone in town curious as to where they had gone.

After confirming with Celestia that Gnosi had no living relatives, Luna attempted to call Meridiem’s mother and step-father. Unfortunately it was the latter who answered the phone and when he was informed that his step-daughter was possibly dying, he laughed and said that she deserved it for not giving him the respect he deserved—his actual reply was far more vulgar, but that was the gist of it.

And with that, the pair was finally free to make their delayed trip to London.

---

A few hours later, the two sets of siblings and their somewhat-superfluous chaperone found themselves on layover at JFK International Airport. Luna reminded Celestia that there was probably some sort of VIP lounge they could wait in, and after asking around they found a room named after the Archbishop. And who should be waiting inside but the man himself.

“Ah, there you are,” an icy voice addressed them. Guardian Shepherd was a tall man, with piercing sky blue eyes. His skin and hair were both the color of bleached wool. “I was expecting you at least to show up sooner or later,” he said, staring at Celestia. “You just can’t resist getting yourself into trouble.”

After seeing Butterfly lead the two Guiseman siblings to seat themselves as far away from the archbishop as possible, Celestia advanced on Shepherd, trying her best to still her pounding heart. She looked down to see that Luna had taken a hand in her own, and tried to take strength from that fact. “W…ell, there obviously is some sort of trouble, seeing as you’re heading to London yourself.”

Shepherd sighed. “You know for once, I don’t think you have anything to do with this particular mess.”

“What mess?” asked Luna.

Shepherd looked over at Luna with some degree of surprise. “Luna, is it?” he asked.

“Yes, Your Eminence.”

“Stepping out of your sister’s shadow for once, I see. Good! She needs every check and balance imaginable.” He looked between the pair judging their trustworthiness. Finally, he gestured for them to get closer to them. “One of Delver’s two students—I don’t know which one yet—somehow managed to teleport them both, plus Professor Guiseman, from the concourse at Heathrow and into the plane, where a crime team was collecting evidence. Both the disappearance and reappearance were witnessed by dozens of non-Markists.” He leaned away from them to add in a normal voice. “Oh, and all three of them are now suffering from severe radiation poisoning, but they’ve already been sent to one of the three best hospitals in the world for that particular ailment, so I don’t need to handle that problem.”

Celestia and Luna exchanged shocked expressions. “We don’t know anything about…that, honest,” Celesta said. “But if you think there’s anything I can do to help…”

“I doubt it,” Shepherd replied. He took a moment to take in their injuries. “So, what happened to you two? Did the elder sister finally cross the line with the younger?”

The sisters shared another silent conversation, before Celestia spoke. “Your Eminence, if you are unaware of the history of the Lunas, then I suppose I’ll have to write up a report for your review. Between the two of us, we managed to avert the crisis this time, but it would definitely be best if you knew the full details.”

Archbishop Shepherd raised one eyebrow.

“…After the current crisis is resolved,” added Luna.

“Very well. Now you two go off and eat some free cookies or something. I’m still working on my press release, designed to be buried by more interesting news the moment it comes out.”

& & &

A half hour later, word finally went out that their flight for London was approaching, leading the group of six to make their way from the VIP lounge to the concourse.

As soon as they arrived, the Archbishop excused himself to speak to an aging man in a brown jacket. The two were evidently good friends.

“I didn’t know he got along well with any non-Markists,” Celestia confided in Luna.

The remaining five spent the next few minutes silently people-watching.

& & &

On the plane, Celestia and Luna found themselves sitting behind the Archbishop, with Butterfly behind them and the Archbishop’s friend sitting next to him. Gloria and Gavin were some distance away, but still in First Class.

Knowing that Archbishop Shepherd’s powers of manipulation were second only to Celestia’s before she gave them up, this came as no surprise.

“This is Nicholas Meyer,” the Archbishop finally said to the sisters, after some prodding. “He’s an author, screenwriter and director.”

“Oh I know you!” Celestia exclaimed. “You were the one that got Father Delver into television.”

“That’s right,” Meyer replied. “We met at the University of Canterlot. I don’t know where I’d be today if not for him.”

“So what have you been doing lately?” Luna asked.

“This man is the best author of Sherlock Holmes stories living today,” Shepherd gushed. “I’ve been a fan ever since The Seven-Per-Cent Solution.” He waved a hand dismissively. “He’s also directed some genre pictures.”

Meyer shrugged. “The fans seem to like them.”

“Are you going to London to see Father Delver as well?” Celestia asked.

“I didn’t even know he was in London,” Meyer answered. “No, I’m transferring to another flight at Heathrow, final destination: the Netherlands. I’ve got a…delivery to make.” He patted an attaché case that was in his lap. “I’ve just finished work on a ground-breaking TV miniseries, and there’s somebody I’d like to see it before it’s going to be broadcast.”

“Oh, what is it? When is it going to air?” Celestia asked.

Meyer smiled mysteriously. “I’m sorry, but I’m not permitted to say anything at this time. Be assured, though, that when it airs, you’ll know it.”

“Non-disclosure agreement?” asked Celestia.

“Yes. Aren’t you a little young to know about such things?”

“No, they’re more common than you might think in our field.”

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Yeah, Celestia's abilities were a lot more disturbing than I'd really thought about. The consequences are coming home to roost now that she's relinquished her solar charisma. This will definitely be a good experience for her, but it'll take a long time for her reputation to recover, incarnation of the Goddess or not.
(Speaking of, I have to wonder what became of Crystal if this Celestia still exists...)

There's also the matter of dealing with the whole "Muggles witnessed Apportation" thing. That's going to be tricky. Still, a much better outcome than MAD.

[Canary In The Coal Mine]

8973525

That assumes her reputation ever recovers; she isn't exactly a leader in EQG except as a principal, and doesn't have any people fawning over her. Assuming EQG comes about, at any rate.

[Ms_Fruit_Bat]

8973597
Prinicipal instead of princess isn't bad for the price of her sister's life, and yeah, I wonder how they're going to explain that away.

[Eruantalon]

8974177 8973597 8973525 At the moment (I'm reading through this for the first time), I'm guessing Celestia's intentionally going to step back and refuse to take any greater role than Principal.

And, at least for a while, it'd probably be good for her to give up being a Principle .