Chapter 6: Sol-Centric
Celestia was glowing after watching her niece and Shining Armor exchange vows and kiss to the cheers of her subjects. To say that she lived vicariously through her subjects would be an understatement, after all, living for over a thousand years tended to make one rather susceptible to losing sight of what was truly important. Her hooves clacked rhythmically against the cobblestone street beneath her as she strolled leisurely down one of the main roads of her city. Sure, she could have gone straight to the reception, but she found herself wanting to survey the damage brought forth by the aftermath of the invasion. The streets were bustling, filled everywhere with ponies who were still celebrating, they stopped briefly in their revelry to politely bow to her as she passed, all the while giving her space. She suspected that the excitement had taken its toll and that the streets would be mostly barren before the reception concluded. After all, tomorrow would be an early start, a city wide cleanup for not only an invasion but a rather extensive celebration as well.
As it stood, there seemed to be little to no major infrastructural damage she could spot. Potholes in streets as well as the occasional gouge taken out of an unfortunate building, but in the grand scheme of things they could be repaired within a few weeks. She counted her blessings that there were no fatalities and only a few serious injuries. While particularly troubled by the invasion, she couldn't be anything but relieved at the fact that it wasn't like the changelings to seriously injure potential sources of love, otherwise, today could have been much worse. Instead of being a tragedy, today would still go down as a victory, a monument to Ponydom’s perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds.
The true victory here, of course, was that of Shining Armor and Cadence’s love for one another, and yet her mood soured at the thought of her own defeat. Ponies wouldn’t hold it against her, she even doubted the story of her being promptly defeated would be anything other than a well kept Canterlot secret. It was a testament to her subject’s admiration and respect for her that they wouldn’t even gossip on their ruler's ineptitude. Still, she knew that those who had witnessed it would have their faith in her forever shaken.
She dipped her head letting out a sigh, a dozen scenarios raced through her mind about what she could have done better. Obviously announcing her attack to Chrysalis was a terrible idea in hindsight, she couldn't help but cringe at her own stupidity on that one. How many times had she mocked a villain with her sister after a battle had been won because of their incessant monologuing or an announced attack, only for her to make their own mistakes? Then there was her hubris in using a channeled attack and engaging in a battle of strength with an unknown foe. In her more than thousand years rule, she had met dozens of enemies who outclassed her in magical power, she knew literally dozens of spells she had adopted for those types of scenarios, and she hadn’t even been able to use a single one because of the nature of a channeling duel.
This is your victory as much as theirs. You persisted in the face of doubt, and your actions led to your being able to bring the real Princess Cadence back to us. Learning to trust your instincts is a valuable lesson to learn.
She felt a twinge of guilt as she remembered her words to Twilight. She knew what she had said was true about finding Cadence. The rest however never truly acknowledged her own fault for not trusting her student, she couldn’t help but feel she’d bare the guilt of turning her back on Twilight so quickly, much longer than the sting of her defeat anyways. She thought she had changed, become a better wiser pony over the millennium, and yet she had done the same thing to Twilight that she had done to Luna.
I betray everypony I care for...
Sure the scenario was different, Luna had expressed her insecurities, and Twilight had expressed her concerns. The outcome, however, was more or less the same, Celestia critically dismissing them, only for Equestria to face near tragedy because of it. Celestia wiped at a few stray tears on her cheek before she had really even realized they were there. The second she knew she was crying she became keenly aware of how quiet it was around her. Breaking from her stupor she slowly raised her eyes hoping that she was alone, only to find a packed street with easily a hundred ponies looking on in concern. Horrified at her own break in decorum she donned her regal mask and a soft smile… Judging by the pitying stares, she was doing a poor job of convincing them she was okay.
A small unicorn filly caught her attention as she broke away from two ponies she could only assume were her parents. She watched as the light orange filly with a pink mane made her way off the sidewalk onto the street towards her. The filly’s trot slowed as she grew closer, seemingly taking care in her approach like she might scare Celestia away like a small woodland creature.
“Hello, there little one. What’s your name?”
“Ambwer Wose.”
“That’s a lovely name you have Amber Rose.” Celestia said softly enough so just the filly could hear her.
Celestia was caught off guard when the little filly practically lunged at her wrapping her tiny hooves around her foreleg.
“Don’ be swad Pwincess, ‘is okay.” Celestia’s heart hitched and a lump formed in her throat at the little ones cute empathy for her. Celestia couldn’t help but use her free hoof to gently embrace her back.
“Thank you my little pony, I certainly needed a hug.” When Celestia pulled from the embrace Amber reached behind her ear to pull out a small white lily before holding it out for Celestia.
“I couldn’t, it's yours Amber.”
“I want you to hwave it Pwincess.” Celestia almost chuckled at the determined look Amber gave her to accept the gift.
“Thank you, I... I’ll treasure it always.” She said, before levitating it behind the ear that wasn’t hidden by her mane. “Now get along to your parents little one.” Satisfied, Amber did a little nod before practically skipping back to her parents, obviously proud of her good deed.
“Cute kid.” Replied a presence near her. Celestia was almost startled before she remembered her guards were with her.
“Yeah, cute…” Grunted Lieutenant Swift Stroke. Deciding to ignore him she responded to the other guard.
“Cute indeed, but let's be off, I’m sure the reception will start soon and I’d rather not be the last one to arrive.”
Celestia smiled as she watched from the back of the Pavilion as the new bride and groom received well wishes from the last of their arriving guests. While not last she certainly hadn’t been first, she’d just gotten a cup of punch before taking up a spot farther in the back to watch over the festivities.
No sooner than the last guest was greeted did Shining Armor whisper something to Cadence. Whatever it was, it was met with a short nod from his bride. After seeing his bride nod her consent Shining Armor proceeded to scan the crowd before his gaze found Celestia, and the pieces of the puzzle fell into place into her mind about what was said. If she had any lingering doubts about what the topic at hoof was, the neutral mask he was wearing erased them.
Not wanting to appear overly concerned she casually sipped on her drink as he made his way through the crowd. Dodging the last of the barriers consisting of his guests he cleared his throat.
“Princess Celestia, may I trouble you for a word in private?” A few of the guests nearby perked up, no doubt formulating possible theories in their minds about what the groom could possibly want to speak to her in private about.
“Of course Shining, why don’t we make our way to the terrace.” He didn't bother responding to her as she turned and trotted to the most secluded part of the Pavilion.
They stopped when they reached the railing of the terrace overlooking the market district of Canterlot.
“So, what did you wish to speak to me about?”
“I have more than a few friends in the Guard, Princess, some of them are here tonight.”
“I’m glad your role as Captain of the Guard hasn’t adversely affected the friendships you made before your commission. But lets cut to the chase Shining, I doubt you called me out here to give me a friendship report like your sister does.” Shining Armor frowned for a second as he seemed to mull over his words before responding.
“My friends told me that you took a contingent of Pegasi out of the city.”
“Your friends are well informed...and correct.”
“And you didn’t bother notifying me?” To the amused glance, Celestia gave him he quickly amended. “I don’t mean any disrespect, but I’m your Captain. How could you leave me in the dark?” The question itself was mirrored by an almost hurt expression plastered on his face. Celestia let out an almost shuddering sigh while massaging the space between her eyes. She already knew what route this conversation would go as soon as she responded.
“I didn’t want to get you involved Shining.” If Shining looked hurt before, he practically looked like a kicked puppy now.
“Do you no longer trust me as your Captain because of today?” She reflexively closed her eyes, before letting out a breath.
“No Shining, not at all. I honestly can’t express how impressed I am with you. Few could withstand mind manipulation spells of the caliber you did for a few hours and still function. Let alone be able to cast a shield to protect Canterlot while under its influence.”
“Then, why?”
“To paraphrase something I once told Twilight, there’s more to a young pony’s life than duty.” To his questioning gaze she went on.
“If I had told you I was taking a contingent of pegasi out of the city what would you have done?”
“I would have insisted on joining you,” Shining said without missing a beat.
“That’s the problem, this day was supposed to be yours and Cadence’s. It should never have been about the Kingdom. What would you have had me do? Steal you away from your recently liberated bride? Had her and Twilight’s friends reassemble a wrecked wedding while the groom went absent in the wake of an invasion? No, you and Cadence had been through enough without adding one more thing that would detract from the joviality of what should have been and still should be the best day of your lives.” Shining paused, before shifting from looking over the city to meet her gaze.
“You could have at least given me the chance to decide for myself what to do.” He responded quietly.
“And I have no doubt what you would’ve decided Captain. Then you would have put me into the precarious position of trying to make you stay. I doubt anything short of threatening to strip you of command would have successfully dissuaded you, and you would have pushed it to that point without a shadow of a doubt. No, I made the choice to leave you in the dark because it was the right thing to do. Because taking the matter out of your hooves altogether was kinder than embarrassing my newest nephew.” A long moment of silence passed between them.
“Can you at least tell me you got that no good Queen?” That was the one thing he had said that caught Celestia off guard. He was under the impression that her little excursion was to round up changelings.
“No… Because I didn’t leave to pursue the changelings.” Her response was met by Shining furrowing his brows.
“Then… What would make you take all of those pegasi?”
“A foreign airship was flying outside of the city. I didn’t know what to make of it, so I took precautions.”
“And?”
“As of today, Equestria has made contact with a new sapient species,” A goofy smile spread across Shining's face. “They call themselves humans.” Celestia closed the gap to lay a hoof on Shining Armor’s shoulder. “Not that I want to cut this short or leave you in the dark again, but I think your new bride is becoming impatient Shining.” Craning his neck he saw Cadence giving him a polite but expectant look.
“Guess this concludes our little pow-wow huh?”
“Indeed, if I don’t get a chance to tell you after the reception, enjoy your honeymoon Shining. Canterlot will be as good as new when you return.”
“Thanks, Princess.” With that, the two went their separate ways from the terrace. One to go enjoy the first dance with his new bride, while the other spotted Twilight and her friends to catch up with.
“So you all don’t mind staying for a few days?” Celestia said.
“Iffin you say you’ve got something important here for us to do, then I reckon we’d be happy to oblige Princess.” Applejack responded.
“Yeah, we’d never leave you hanging!” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash.
Celestia chuckled lightly before responding. “Sadly, there’s no more room in the Castle, but I know a pony I can pull a favor with to get you lodging for the night until we get some vacancy.”
“I can’t wait to hear about this discovery Princess Celestia! Are you sure it has to wait until morning?”
“I’m sure it can wait till morning Twilight.”
“Hello everypony. Did I miss anything?” Luna said after she descended on Celestia and her little impromptu group. She couldn’t help but give Luna a little bit wider smile at her arrival.
Did you ever sister.
“Blueblood.”
Her nephew practically spit out his punch onto the mare he was talking to at the sudden invocation of his name.
“A-a-aunty! What an unexpected surprise! What brings you here?” The mare quietly excused herself at Celestia’s arrival.
“Well, if I’m not mistaken this is my adopted niece's wedding.”
“Oh, oh of course! To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”
“I have two favors to ask of you Blueblood,” She could already see his ego puffing up in self-importance.
“Of course Aunt Celestia, anything!” If only he knew that these favors wouldn’t win him any brownie points in her book, she doubted he would be as eager to do them then.
“You still have a second estate you don’t use on the South side of the city do you not?”
“Of course, though I admit I don’t frequent it as much as I would like. It has a lovely view, but it is just so remote from the inner city. It’s such a shame, but busy ponies like ourselves rarely get time away from the hustle and bustle of daily life, am I right?” She left his rhetorical question go unanswered. She knew the only reason Blueblood was busy was because he spent most of his time getting hooficures and courting naive young mares.
“Would you mind terribly if a few friends of mine used the estate for the night, their lodging was irrevocably damaged for the duration of their stay.” A lie, but quicker than anything that might get Blueblood to go on a tangent.
“Of course not! I wouldn’t dream of turning away a friend of the crown, especially not while I’m apart of it!”
“Thank you Blue, so I can count on you to send word to expect their arrival at your estate?”
“You have my word.”
“Good, and the other favor nephew… In the morning I’d like you to call an emergency meeting of the council of nobles.”
“Does… Does this mean you’ll be re-instating my position on the council?”
“If you don’t embarrass me again, consider it done.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, I won't let you down!”
“Good, see you in the morning Blueblood.”
Love is in bloom, hmmm hmmm hmmm a handsome groom.
“You seem to be in high spirits sister,” Luna said as they made their way down an empty corridor of Canterlot castle.
“What makes you say that?”
“You haven’t stopped humming that song and bobbing your head to a non-existent ‘beat’ as it ‘were’ since we left the reception,” Luna said while smirking wryly.
“I suppose I am, weddings tend to bolster my spirits.”
“And what of invasions?” Luna replied flatly, eliciting a frown from her sister.
“So you heard?”
“One tends to overhear a great many things at weddings, one would also wish to know why they didn’t get informed from their dear sister before hearing it second hoof.”
“I’m sorry, I was going to tell you. I just didn’t want to spoil the mood of the evening.”
“And yet 'tis already night, perhaps on the Equinox you would have deigned to inform me?”
“It's...It's been a long day. Please, don’t be mad at me.”
“I wouldn’t ‘dream’ of being mad at you. The one pony in the world I love, who suffered a defeat at the hooves of a villain I didn’t even know about until an hour ago. Who didn’t even bother to tell me herself.” Luna spat.
“So you're mad?” Celestia stated.
“....Yes! Of course, I'm mad!”
“I’m sorry, okay? I just didn’t want you to fawn over me like a foal who scraped her knee.”
“So it’s okay for you to coddle me, but whenever we have cause for concern it’s demeaning?”
“That’s, that’s not it sister.”
“Then what is it then?”
“I was ashamed, okay! Is that what you wanted to hear? Some Princess of the Sun I am, letting myself be so caught off guard.” A silence fell upon them as they continued their journey through the corridors of Canterlot Castle.
“Oh, Celestia...”
“Can we… Can we just not.”
“I’m sorry, it just hurts when you keep secrets from me. We were always so close. Before...Before I went away we shared everything, even our greatest shames. Here we are, together at last, and yet, it is as if the gulf between here and the moon still exists between us.” Celestia could only sigh and nod in understanding, as she shared in Luna's sentiment.
“It’s hard Luna, I was alone for so long that I forgot what it was like to be able to trust everything to somepony else like we used to. I guess what they say is true, old habits die hard, I’m so happy that you’re back but in many ways, I’m still the pony I was before your return.”
“I’m sure you’ll adjust, hopefully like I eventually will…” And just like that, the conversation died while the two alicorns ruminated.
“There’s somepony I’d like you to meet.”
“Have I not met enough new ponies today that you’d torture me with yet another?” Celestia couldn’t help but chuckle at the return of her sister's sense of humor.
“It isn’t exactly a pony per say.”
“Oh goody…”
“While I’m glad you're picking up modern vernacular, I’m not sure I like that you’ve picked up on sarcasm as well.”
“Pish posh applesauce sister. We for one like our modern colloquialisms as well as the ‘sarcasm’.”
“So about the people I wish for you to meet.”
“Yes, I’ll behave, why after all this time you still bother to familiarize yourself with the ‘lesser’ races is beyond me.” Celestia shot Luna a disbelieving wide-eyed stare.
“Luna! Lesser races is offensive!”
“But no less the truth, it's common knowledge that ponies are the superior race.”
“Common knowledge perhaps before your...Hiatus, but we have surpassed such obvious bigotry in your absence.” Celestia had planted herself on her hindquarters to use the modern air quotes around ‘common knowledge’ before continuing their walk.
“Is that so? How fared the Griffon Empire in our absence?”
“I think you mean kingdom.”
“Precisely my point, they were an empire when we left.”
“Well that’s not really fair, there were extenuating circumstances, even I thought they would bounce back a few times.”
“Then you mistook the death throes of a declining superpower for more than what they were, and the Minotaurs?”
“Again it's rather complicated, but their wars of succession took their tolls, and piracy in their waters became a significant damper on trade.”
"So you’re saying that of all the greatest kingdoms during my departure only ours remains glorious? What would that tell you?”
“That ours had an immortal ruler to steer it from the jagged edges of the abyss?”
“Perhaps….”
“Do not play Luna, you know better then what you are saying.”
“Of course I jest sister, so what manner of creature would you have me greet at this hour?”
“They are called humans,” Luna appeared to be thinking before shooting her sister a questioning glance.
“I don’t seem to recall a species by this name,” Luna muttered.
“Nor would I expect you to, after the debacle... I saw an object flying outside of the city. Upon investigation, I found five of these humans in an airship of sorts.”
“So another nation has caught up to our more unorthodox methods of air travel? Interesting, but I get the feeling you're leaving something out. Like why I haven’t heard of them before, and more importantly from what land do they hail?”
“Unlike our airships, theirs uses no magic, in fact, they had no real concept of magic. I had to convince them that magic was real.”
“No concept of magic? I find that very hard to believe, no matter how far-flung a species we’ve met, they all use or at least have seen magic in some way shape or form. Again, where exactly are they from?”
“Do you recall Starswirl’s research into theoretical rifts?”
“Why must you beat around the bush?" Getting no reaction Luna continued, "Very well, how could I not, he threw his twilight years away on the idea. In the end, he only made that one mirror to another plane before deeming any further research into the subject too dangerous.”
“Well, I believe our human guests came here through a natural rift that connected our two worlds.” Luna let out a loud snort.
“Starswirl’s journals’ suggested that he never found a natural rift in our world large enough for even a bit to pass through, what you're suggesting would be an extremely unlikely anomaly, not to mention a rift that large would be highly unstable.”
“Perhaps you’re right, but nevertheless I’m certain they’re not of this world Luna. Retrieving Starswirl’s research into rifts might at least help us in finding them a way home, if not a reason for them ending up here.” Celestia said as she guided Luna through a side passage.
“Something to be looked into I suppose. I’ll hold my own reservations for now about their potential alien origins, one of us should at least attempt to remain objective, lest we open ourselves up to deceit. In the very least, I’m looking forward to meeting this new species.”
“Great because we're here.” Interjected Celestia as she nodded to the two guards stationed outside the door to the humans quarters. Making no show of it Celestia rapped her hoof against the door. Celestia waited patiently as she heard muffled sounds from behind the door followed by a shout of ‘be right there.’
Celestia listened to the plodding of an occupant of the room moving towards the door, followed by the metallic clink of a lock being undone. Swinging the door open revealed Chaos standing behind the doorframe with Co staring in her direction seated on a couch.
“Hey Princess was beginning to think you forgot about us,” the lack of formality and casualness in his tone caused Luna to raise an eyebrow. She was used to new dignitaries being unnecessarily… pompous.
“Sorry Major, I sort of lost track of time at the wedding. I hope it wasn’t too much of an inconvenience,” to this Chaos simply let out a ‘pffft’ noise while rotating his hand, not on the door in a small circle.
“No worries there, Struggle may not be happy but I and Brad have enjoyed the downtime.”
“Brad?” Questioned Luna who had decided she wanted in on the conversation. Chaos who hadn’t noticed her looked to her before turning to Celestia.
“Who’s your friend?” Which elicited Luna to mutter ‘friend’ just loud enough for Celestia to hear.
“This is actually my sister, Princess Luna,” Celestia said as she wrapped a foreleg around Luna pulling her closer to the doorway.
“Nice to meet you, Princess Luna,” he said as he extended a hand. Luna regally and delicately placed a hoof in the proffered hand before Chaos shook it once before letting go.
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance Major.”
“Please, just call me Chaos,” his name caused Luna to shoot a quick glance to Celestia before her sister simply shook her head signaling everything was okay.
“So I take it we’re still up for that little chat?” Chaos said.
“Of course,” responded Celestia.
“Then please come in,” Chaos said as he moved away from the door to allow them entrance. “You know it’s a bit odd inviting someone into a room they own.”
“I appreciate the gesture nonetheless,” Celestia chuckled. The Solar guards at the door attempted to follow inside behind the duo before Celestia noticed. “Would you mind waiting outside gentlecolts?” Celestia saw them nod before making their way back to their previous posts, she almost felt bad since she knew they probably just wanted to sate their own curiosity. Following their entrance to the room Chaos quietly closed the door behind them.
“Right, so I imagine we have a lot to talk about,” Chaos stated once he turned from the door.
“Indeed we do,” Celestia said before her gaze flicked across to Co sitting on the couch, “although I had sort of hoped we could converse in private.” Taking the hint Chaos turned to Co.
“Just as well, go relieve Struggle, Brad.” Co shot a glance out of the opened windows into the night sky, seemingly unhappy about his impromptu night shift.
“On it Major.” Sounded Co in a defeated tone before making for the door. Silence lingered while Chaos focused on the two princesses before him, before hearing the door shut behind Co.
“Alright let’s talk.”