“Are you fucking stupid or something?!”
“Sorry, Rainbow…”
“I ought to kick your fucking ass for this!”
“I’m… I’m sorry, Rainbow…”
Unsurprisingly, Rainbow busted us for the weed when she arrived back at home base early the next morning. The stuff had a particularly strong odor, and I didn’t much care to hide it. She could yell at the girl all she wanted, it would only make herself feel bad. As for me… Well, she seemed to understand what would happen if she got on my bad side.
“Sorry ain’t gonna cut it!” I sat back and observed with my arms crossed, watching Dash grab the girl firmly by the wrist. “How the hell did you even get your hands on it?”
“T-twilight gave it to me,” stammered Scootaloo, terrified of what Dash might do to her.
“I told you, I don’t give a fuck if the heavens part and God himself hands you a golden joint, you say ‘no’, damn it!” Instead of hurting her sister, Dash just shoved her away. “Get the fuck out of my face before I change my mind and ground you so hard you forget what the sky looks like.”
The girl scurried off, but not before muttering a few more apologies. When she as gone, Rainbow turned her anger to me. For about a full minute, neither of us spoke.
“Did you find apartments?” I asked flatly.
“Twilight… I get that you’re mad. I understand that you’re fucking pissed about everything that’s happened,” she said. “And if you wanna take that anger out on me, I don’t care. Do it. But don’t drag the kid into this.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t… Just, I’m letting you know that I’m over it, okay?” said Dash. “You have a right to be pissed. I dropped the ball. So, if you’re gonna punish anyone, punish me.”
“This isn’t about punishment, Dash. But I appreciate your apology,” I said. She raised an eyebrow.
“Who said that was an apology?” asked Rainbow.
“You just admitted that you messed up.”
“I never denied that I messed up. This was never about me messing up. You don’t think I hate myself for putting this kid into such a fucked up position?” asked Rainbow. “I would’ve rathered Sweetie slit my fucking throat than make Squirt do what she did. All I wanted was for you to accept your part of the mess. Just admit that you fucked up as bad as I did, and we’ll be square.”
She was right. I was being unreasonable, unfair. Regardless of what I chose to say or believe, that fiasco of an assassination went off the rails at least partially because of me. If I was faster, I could have gotten Sweetie off of Dash. If I planned things better, Sweetie never would have known. Or, if I would have just swallowed my pride and ignored Widow… Things could have been very, very different. I should admit that.
I couldn’t.
“The only part I have in your mess is cleaning it up,” I said blandly. Rainbow’s face flared with anger, then fell into blank nothingness. She dug into her pocket and tossed me a set of keys angrily.
“To your new apartment. I’ll text you the address,” she said.
“That was fast.”
“I called Rift to see if he knew a guy. He knew a couple.” I nodded, then turned to head for the door. “You’re welcome!”
“I know,” I said. As I left, I thought I heard Rainbow call me an asshole under her breath, but it could have just been the wind.
Dash had done quite well. In just a few hours, she had found me a decent studio apartment with a landlord that was more than happy to keep his questions to himself so long as I kept throwing money in his general direction. The location was fine, maybe a bit far from the library. Perhaps that was a good thing. It gave me some space from my work, which I never really had before. Maybe I’d end up enjoying it.
I arrived at my new home in twenty-five minutes, and all I really wanted was to take a nap. I hadn’t slept in days, which wouldn’t normally be that big a deal. Something changed about me and my operation since leaving Appleloosa. I felt more tired. Maybe it was the weed, but I felt so sluggish as of late.
I inserted my new key into my new lock and opened the door to the apartment, stepping into the living room. To my surprise, and mild irritation, there was someone waiting there for me.
“Hello, Ms. Sparkle,” said Celestia, her grin causing me to roll my eyes. Somehow, she managed to look past that.
“Senator,” I said, tiredly. “Why are you here?”
“My sister Luna was going to send over the documents requested, but when I found out you were hoping to find a place to stay, I decided to give it you in person.” Celestia beckoned forward for me to step further in. “And I also wanted to give you a bit of a housewarming gift.”
“Hm. I see. Well, let’s have it, then,” I sighed. I stepped deeper into my house, observing the minimal furnishings. Sofa, coffee table, small bookshelf. About what I needed.
“You’ll find a few books on that shelf that I think you’d like,” said Celestia, that warm smile of hers ever-present. “But what I truly wanted to give you is in the kitchen.”
I followed my employer into the kitchen, where she sat at a small, round table. On said table was a chess set, a dossier of some sort, two glasses, and a bottle of whiskey. She gestured toward the seat opposite of her, which I then occupied.
“You take your whiskey neat, no?” asked Celestia, very much so rhetorically. She poured out a drink for me, then herself. “Would you like to play a game? I’ll have you know, I was quite good once upon a time.”
“Sure. I play black,” I said. She nodded, as if she already knew that. It shouldn’t have surprised me that she had set the board accordingly. I looked closely at the pieces, which were gloriously ornate ebony and ivory. The tops of the pieces were inset with small gems, amethyst in the black and what appeared to be alexandrite in the white. As Celestia moved her pawn forward, I rolled my eyes again.
“Is something wrong?” asked Celestia. I took a swig of my drink, then fell into the rhythm of my game.
“With all due respect, Senator, I’m tired of… whatever you want to call this.”
“I don’t know what you mean, dear.”
“You’re trying to… Impress me? Intimidate me?” I scoffed, responding to Celestia’s move with one of my own. “Whatever your goal is, give it up, because it won’t work.”
“What gave you the impression that I was trying to anything of the sort?” asked Celestia. For the third time, I rolled my eyes. Her posturing was really starting to annoy me, and I wasn’t quite sure why.
“When we met, you kept trying to show just how much you knew about me. And you’re still doing it.” Celestia just kept playing, as if she had no idea what I was talking about. “You picked books I’d like, which I’m sure I’ll love. You know I like my whiskey neat, and this is my favorite brand. The chess set is exactly my style, just to my taste. You knew I’d play black, and you set the table with that in mind.” I turned my bishop over in my hands before moving it forward. “The gem in the piece is the most blatant. My birthstone. So, I ask you again, why are you trying to intimidate me?”
I was very annoyed when she started laughing. That damned grin of hers returned full force, pissing me off to no end.
“I’m not trying to intimidate you, dear! Oh, what a waste of time that’d be. If I wanted you intimidated, I can promise you this, Ms. Sparkle,” chuckled Celestia. “You would know that to be my intention. No, not intimidate, not impress. I want to earn your trust.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I find that, in my experience, trust is far more valuable than just about anything, and I want to earn yours.”
“And you think that you can earn my trust by being really good at 2 Truths, 1 Lie?” I asked.
“I know a lot about you, Ms. Sparkle. I’ve known you for quite a while,” said Celestia. “So you should trust me when I say I have nothing but our mutual interests at heart.”
“There are less condescending and controlling ways of doing that.”
“True. But, based on what I know about you, I am willing to wager that this is what you would do if you were in my position. Am I correct?” I didn’t answer, which Celestia took for a “yes”.
“You wouldn’t be the first to try that,” I said. “If you wanted me gone, you could have had me eliminated a long time ago, it’s all very classic. But all I’m hearing is threats for the future. Because when we butt heads, and we will butt heads, you still have all that information to use against me. You’re just threatening me on layaway.” I placed down my rook, putting her in check. “I don’t like threats.”
“No, dear, that’s not my intention at all. You are too proud, intelligent, and talented to be controlled. Manipulating you would be far more trouble than it’s worth,” said Celestia, dodging my check in stellar fashion. “I don’t want you as a minion or a goon or a hired hand. I want you to be my friend.”
“Friend…”
“I’ve been trying my hardest to protect you from the moment I found out about you. The Historian was an old ‘friend’ of mine,” she said, putting heavy air quotes around the word “friend”. “When he informed me of his problem, I inserted Mr. Rift, who I felt certain would refrain from killing you.“
“I outsmarted Rift. I am alive because of my Crew’s quick thinking and my own skill,” I said, my eyebrow raised.
“That is what it looked like, I’m sure. But I promise you, I paid him good money not to kill you. He likely would have found a way to let you escape with your life,” promised the Senator. “And then, when Shining Armor came around… I gave you a prime opportunity to kill him, when I tipped the FBI off to the swords in the hangar.” She could see my anger flare for a second, and immediately went to rectify the situation. “I had no idea he was your brother at the time, of course. If I did, I would have picked a more discreet manner of dealing with the issue.”
“So you’ve just been my little guardian angel, haven’t you?”
As it turned out, yes. Celestia had been looking out for me for a very long time. Every stroke of good luck was thanks to Senator Regal. Widow’s assassination of Fancy Pants was orchestrated by Regal. She was the one who informed AJ about the armored truck. If I hadn’t acted so quickly, she would have puppeteered a way to kill Widow for me.
I didn’t like the fact that she was in the shadows, guarding me from harm. It made me feel weak, stupid. As if I couldn’t take care of myself. She was right, of course, but that was far from the point. Who the hell did she think she was?
“Like I said, Ms. Sparkle, I want to be your friend,” said Celestia. “And, as your friend, I would like to offer you some advice.”
“Advice,” I repeated. I fixed myself another drink, then downed it immediately. “Sure. Why not?”
“Some dogs are only loyal until you pull the muzzle off,” she said. “And Ms. Rainbow Dash is slowly learning to pull off that muzzle.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means that you need to make a decision in regards to your little protege. I saw the way you treat her, the way you pressure her and lambast her. And though that may have worked in Canterlot, and perhaps even in Appleloosa, it will not continue to work with Spike absent to counterbalance your personality.”
She wasn’t wrong. Dash was starting to run wild, her anger clashing with mine to create a situation where neither of us benefited. If I wanted to continue along my path, I’d need to make a change. And, though I didn’t like what Celestia had to say, I felt a genuine desire to help in her voice. Maybe she wasn’t as full of crap as I thought. Maybe I should be a bit more accepting to her attempts at helping. With Spike gone and Rainbow fighting me, I could use a friend.
“What do you recommend?” I asked.
“The way I see things, Twilight, you have two options,” said Celestia. “You can change your attitude, swallow your pride, and stop stepping on Ms. Dash’s toes.” She set her rook down, swiping my bishop out of place. “Or… Cut her loose. Whatever that means is up to you.”
I took another drink at that thought. There was truth in her words, regardless of how overall unpleasant the situation was. If what Celestia said was correct, I needed to act, one way or another.
“What you said about dogs. Some are only loyal until you pull their muzzles off,” I said. “Do you really think Rainbow is one of those dogs?”
“I think that, given your past involving betrayal, it would be a needless risk to find out.” Celestia looked down at the board, an amused grin spread across her face. “Would you look at that. It appears that we are at a stalemate.”
I looked for myself and, just as Celestia said, the game had hit a stalemate. I could not move without putting myself in check. It was a draw.
“Hm. Maybe you’re right,” I said. Celestia nodded her agreement, then reset the board. I lost track of time as we played game after game, chatting and getting to know each other. I couldn’t confirm how much of what she said was true, but I didn’t care. I just enjoyed being able to talk to someone who seemed firmly on my side.