Canterlot, One Week After Twilight Sparkle Disappeared
Three ponies stood on a railway platform, an empty set tracks running just to the side of said platform. One of the ponies was facing the other two with a stupid grin adorning his muzzle.
“So… what do you think, huh?” Vladimir asked, proudly flexing his right wing.
Vladimir now had his new limb actuator installed, replacing his severed wing. And the thestral had no intention of letting the others forget that one of his wings was now metal. The titanium-fiber plating glimmered in the sun, catching the eyes of the on looking unicorn and Pegasus.
“It’ll do,” Broad Sword deadpanned.
“It’ll do!? Have you seen this?” Vladimir flexed a muscle, and several razor sharp blades extended out and arranged like feathers.
“Now it looks like a pegasus wing,” Shining noted.
“Only when the blades are extended,” Vladimir retorted in an annoyed tone, retracting the blades and showing off the now bat-like wing. “Besides, you’re missing the point! If we ever get disarmed or captured again, I have a secret weapon. Remember when Chrysalis’ drones caught us?”
“Had we not been captured and killed those changeling, things probably would have turned out for the worse,” Shining Armor pointed out.
“Alright, bad example,” Vladimir conceded. “But that was a… unique situation. It’s not every day your unicorn prodigy of a sister turns out to be a changeling.”
Shining Armor winced.
The thestral gave him a look of apology. “Ah, still missing… right.”
“What about the Equestrian Hive? Has there been any word from them?” Captain Broad Sword enquired. “We haven’t heard anything, so if anypony has it’ll be one of you royalty types.”
“Not a peep,” Shining Armor regretfully informed him. “Celestia and Luna are getting more than a little worried about them. Don’t be surprised if we’re sent to investigate soon.”
“You don’t think Twilight, well… went home? Do you?”
Shining Armor didn’t answer, knowing all too well what Broad Sword was insinuating.
“What about the ponies?” Vladimir changed the subject away from Twilight Sparkle again. “Were there any at the hive when it all happened?”
“Some were visiting, actually,” Broad Sword answered. “According to the reports.”
“Hey, I’m a Captain of the Royal Guard,” Vladimir groused. “Why didn’t I get those reports?”
“You didn’t ask for them,” Broad Sword scolded. “Too fixated on getting that damned wing, I’d imagine.”
“You try getting your wing blown off in a crash and not be eager to get a new one,” Vladimir shot back. “But back to my point, what did they have to say when they got home?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing,” Broad Sword repeated. “Because they couldn’t say anything. They never came home.”
Vladimir groaned. “Well, that’s… Crap. Things are really bad right now aren’t they?”
“When did you figure that one out?” Shining Armor stated, his voice practically dripping with sarcasm.
“Do I need to answer that?” Vladimir jokingly asked, once again displaying his limb actuator.
Shining Armor rolled his eyes, and then sighed. It was then that the sound of a not so distant whistle pierced the air; the incoming train caught his attention, and he was allowed to recall where exactly he was they stood.
The Canterlot train station was empty, only a single train was scheduled to arrive at that time. And due to the extra security beginning to rear its head again, on account of the new changeling threat, along with the train’s passengers, guards were posted all around the station. Most of the regularly scheduled trains had been cancelled until the Crystal Express arrived and left. The Crystal Express was, of course, ferrying Princess Mi Amore Cadenza to Canterlot.
Shining Armor was a little nervous, not that he showed it. Much.
The crystalline designed train sped towards the station, the train’s whistle screeching again to signal its arrival. Peaking through the windows that they could only just see through, it revealed that the majority of the train’s passengers were Cadance and Shining Armor’s Royal Guard, the rest on board being the crew of the train. At the very back was the royal car, which only had one occupant.
After Cadance had finally been able to schedule a departure from the Crystal Empire to Canterlot, she had informed them that Flurry Heart would be left in the hooves of her Crystaller, Sunburst, as it was safer in the empire than anywhere else in Equestria for the time being.
The Crystal Express steadily came to a halt, the Royal Guard quickly departing and getting on with their jobs. Two of the guards, one of whom was a long time serving Pegasus by the name of Flash Sentry, escorted the Princess out of the vehicle dutifully.
Shining Armor resisted a gulp at the sight of his wife.
“Princess Cadance,” Broad Sword greeted as the alicorn approached. “A pleasure as always.”
“And to you, both of you,” she greeted back to both the pegasus and thestral. “I’m eager to get to the castle, I don’t like being ferried around like a noblepony’s prized poodle.”
“Well given everything that’s happening, Princesses Celestia and Luna thought it necessary,” Vladimir stated.
“I know…” Cadance sighed. “Still, I prefer making my own way around. Blame the fact that I was raised in an earth pony village.”
“I won’t.”
Cadance rolled her eyes, but then smirked. “I like the wing. Suits you.”
“Somepony appreciates it, at least,” Vladimir said with a chuckle, ignoring Shining Armor’s glare.
“Now…” Cadance’s tone of voice hardened. “Shining Armor. Heel.”
Shining suddenly seemed rather small as he slowly walked up to his wife, thinking of all the childish revenge schemes he could design for the subtly smirking captains behind him. Perhaps he would enlist the help of Pinkie Pie.
“So, you’re alright?” Cadance asked, the concern in her voice allowing Shining to perk up slightly. “I’ve been told what happened. From the events up north to Twilight’s… when she… Have you heard nothing from her?”
“No, we haven’t,” Shining Armor said sadly. “And I’m fine. I promise.”
Cadance sighed. “She’ll find her way home, one way or another. She always does.”
“If what we think happened has happened, that’s what we’re worried about.”
“We can talk about it later,” Cadance concluded gently, before her features hardened again. “Besides, we have to talk about your hitchhiking first.”
Vladimir leaned over and jokingly whispered into Broad Sword’s ear: “You realise the only reason she asked if he was okay, was because she wanted to know how many bones she had to break.”
Shining Armor heard that, and gulped, his face going pale.
“AND YOU DIDN’T EVEN SAY GOODBYE!” Cadance’s Royal Canterlot Voice stormed throughout the castle, though Princess Celestia’s tea remained perfectly steady in her magic.
“You would have thought they’d lace their room with a sound suppressing charm beforehoof,” Luna dryly commented, taking a bite out of her lunch as she shifted in her dining room chair.
“I’m fairly certain they did,” Celestia noted. “But alas, it couldn’t cope.”
“DON’T ‘SORRY’ ME, MISTER!”
“How long will this be going on for?” Luna moaned. “Tis most irritating when I’m trying to enjoy my lunch.”
“She is rather upset,” Celestia stated the obvious. “I do not envy Captain Armor.”
“He’ll live. Maybe,” Luna replied. “He’s a tough stallion, after what he’s survived, which includes marrying an alicorn - The Princess of Love at that, what must his loins be made of?”
“Luna!” Celestia scolded, almost losing her tea, but she couldn’t help but let a small laugh slip.
Luna hummed, giving her sister a small smile. “I believe that’s the first you’ve laughed all week. I do not wish to bring the mood down, but you’ve taken Twilight’s disappearance hard.”
Celestia’s smile twitched, but she forced it to remain on her face. “It’s… nice to have a brief respite.”
“What else is the purpose of little sisters?”
“Pain and torment.”
Luna flicked a small piece of food into Celestia’s ethereal mane with her magic, earning her an unamused glance. Luna only stuck her tongue out in response.
“But still, a respite will be brief,” Celestia stated. “Things are going to get worse. The Changeling Queens will come, they WILL come. And should I face Twilight, under the power of another’s mind… I don’t know if I could handle it. Should I have to fight her, could I use my full strength? Could I bring myself to damage her in any way?”
“You didn’t hold back against me,” Luna pointed out.
“That was different,” Celestia stated, trying to be gentle as she said it. “You know all is long forgiven, locked in the past where it shall remain. But you CHOSE to become Nightmare Moon, Twilight will have no choice. Her actions will be that of another. Should I be forced to strike her down, I would strike down an innocent. More than that, I’d kill the mare that I would call my own daughter.”
“It might not come to that, Tia.”
“But it could,” Celestia retorted. “And it is an eventuality that I must prepare for.”
“I WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD!”
“She’s still going…” Luna noted.
“She will be for a while, I feel. I must say I don’t think I’ve ever heard her shout like this before. She sounds a little like you.”
“I do try to show restraint.”
“You ‘try’ and fail.”
“You’re not funny.”
Celestia didn’t answer, and only took another sip of her tea.
“But back on topic…” Luna continued on. “You’ve faced situations like this in the past. You told me all about Sunset Shimmer.”
“And yet she is fine,” Celestia stated. “Living in another world. I am happy for her, the thought that I failed that mare haunted me so. But it’s still not the same.”
“Isn’t it?”
“You know it isn’t,” Celestia snapped. “Sunset Shimmer was… is, a friend. Twilight is more. I practically raised her for the later part of her fillyhood.”
“I know,” Luna remarked. “Why did you take her on so young? You could have waited, even after the incident with her entrance exam. Waited until she was more mature, around the age of your other students.”
“No, I couldn’t,” Celestia factually stated. “Had I waited, you would have returned and the elements would never have gathered. The mark on her flank told me all I needed to know, she was a way to save you. Or to stop you, if necessary.”
“That was all? A tool?”
“A means to an end,” Celestia guiltily admitted.
“That is most unlike you, Tia. You don’t think so coldly, so calculating. You may play chess, but not like that.”
“A thousand years was almost up, and no new bearers came forth,” Celestia explained. “And then six fillies all get their cutie marks at the same moment on the same day. Of course I led them all to Ponyville from afar, but she was different. That mark on her flank set her up as the centre of it all, the Element of Magic and spark. And, beyond that, she had power beyond any normal unicorn.
“She is a royal changeling,” Luna pointed out.
“But we didn’t know that then,” Celestia responded. “I had to take special care with her, I had intended to forge her into what I needed.”
“And you did.”
“Thankfully, not as I had originally intended.”
“Oh?”
Celestia sighed. “You try singing a filly to sleep after she suffers a nightmare, and tell me you can ever see her as a mere tool again. Try spending every day with her, and loving it. Teaching her, caring for her. Experiencing what it is like to be a mother. How I had originally seen her the day we met, it repulses me.”
“We all got to dark places in times of desperation,” Luna said in understanding. “You’ve never told me that before, or anypony I’d say.”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Not even her?”
“What would I say?” Celestia retorted. “Hi Twilight, you know I love you but I used to see you as a tool and nothing more!”
“Perhaps not so bluntly. Just tell her in the same words you said to me. I’d imagine there would be tears, and then lots of hugging. She loves you as much as you do her, you know.”
“Mother knows why.”
“You know perfectly well,” Luna sternly responded. “That time you spent with her wasn’t a one way thing.”
“I know.” Celestia sighed. “I just… Sometimes I wish she was my filly. By blood, I mean. Her true mother is dead. I don’t want to be a replacement.”
“You’re not,” Luna assured. “Recall Twilight Velvet. Another mother to Twilight Sparkle. “Two of you raised her, one of you was biological and went to extremes to protect her. She loves all three equally, and all three love her back in equal measure. Even with Chrysalis gone. It’s not a typical family situation to be sure, but I don’t think she has ever cared.”
Celestia finished her tea, sighed, and then sat back in her chair. “Maybe you’re right. No, you are right. I already knew all that, sometimes I just need to hear it I suppose.”
“You’re hopeless,” Luna joked.
“Oh yeah?” Celestia smirked. “So, are you ever giving me a niece or nephew anytime soon?”
“With the right mare or stallion,” Luna stated. “And you’re not flipping this around so easily!”
“I’M YOUR WIFE FOR PONIES SAKE!”
Luna growled. “Oh for the love of… CADENZA! THE WHOLE CASTLE CAN HEAR YOU, SHUT UP!”
Silence responded, and they could just picture the heavily blushing pink alicorn. At least they cut Shining Armor’s scolding short.
‘A respite, huh?’ Celestia mused to herself. ‘Let’s enjoy this while it lasts.’