Miracles

by awesomesauce4


Chapter 14 - The Scheme

One and a half hours later, they arrived in Canterlot, a squadron of both Day and Night Guards saluting as they stepped off the train. Luna had raised the moon from the train, Miracle watching with some interest as the massive lunar body sped upwards. Miracle followed the other three off the train, carefully avoiding tripping over the gap between it and the platform.

“Make way! Make way for royalty!” a Guard called out, directing the crowds around the trains away from the four of them as though he was Moses parting the Red Sea. Miracle and Clockwork cringed at the extravagant sight, but there was no time for comment, as they were quickly surrounded on all sides by a contingent of Royal Guards, spears at the ready.

“What, uh… what’s going on?” Miracle asked Luna.

Luna looked at Celestia suspiciously. “Yes, sister, what is going on?” she repeated, a hint of accusation in her tone.

“I thought we could use some extra… protection, this time around,” Celestia answered carefully.

“And what of the public? Surely they will wonder and fear as to why their Princesses are being escorted by fully armed Guards?!” Luna exclaimed.

“Not now, Lulu,” Celestia stressed, as a few Guards looked at the four of them before being shoved back into place by their neighbors. “Wait until we get to the castle, then you can lecture me all you like.”

Luna grumbled something, but decided to heed her advice.

As they walked into the castle, Miracle noted how much taller everything seemed. The murals and throne room that he had dismissed just days ago as too small now seemed grand and imposing, the door that had formerly been about his height feeling like a huge, metal-clad barricade as they passed through it.

“This place got bigger, huh?” Miracle whispered to Clockwork, who nodded as he looked around.

“Not too big, I hope?” Luna asked as Celestia led them towards her room.

Miracle shook his head, and Clockwork followed suit after some hesitation.

To Miracle and Clockwork’s surprise, Celestia led them away from her own room, instead going towards the neighboring tower.

“What’s this?” Clockwork wondered, staring up at the building.

“This,” Celestia began happily, “is your new room!” She opened the door with a flourish.

Inside, Miracle immediately noticed that the entire room was split down the middle by the flooring. On one side, the floor was made of marble tiles, while the other was carpeted. A stack of blank papers was neatly placed on a desk on the side with marbled flooring, along with Miracle’s laptop and a bunch of his other stuff. On the other, Clockwork’s stuff mirrored his, complete with the same desk. Two beds faced each other, set on opposite walls. Atop his bed, his Cutie Mark had been cut out of copper metal, and welded onto the bedframe, which also looked to be made of copper metal – or, at least, copper-colored. Clockwork’s bed was much the same as his, but made of an unidentifiable blue metal and depicting his Cutie Mark on top.

“What metal is that?” Miracle asked curiously, poking at it. Perhaps it was some kind of magical metal that only existed in Equestria?

“Tis’ blued steel,” Luna answered.

Miracle promptly felt like an idiot.

“So… do you like it? I had it made while we were at the festival,” Celestia explained.

“It’s…” Clockwork trailed off.

“Too clean,” Miracle finished grumpily.

Luna burst out laughing, and Celestia stifled a giggle. She lit her horn, and immediately the stack of blank paper on his desk cascaded to the floor.

“Better?” the princess of the sun teased.

Miracle smiled, and pulled the two Princesses into a hug, shocking both of them. “Much better,” he answered.

Once she had recovered, Luna beamed and kissed him on the forehead. “I’m glad you like it,” she whispered.

As they clambered into bed, Miracle and Clockwork paused a moment to stare at each other. In just the space of a few days, they’d gone from humans to ponies, from college students to princes, from two best friends to actual brothers. Miracle flopped backwards on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

“Clockwork?” he spoke up.

“Yeah?” Clockwork answered quietly.

“It still sucks that we’re white people,” Miracle joked.

“OH MY GOD. MIRACLE. GO TO SLEEP RIGHT NOW,” Clockwork pretended to shout, stomping a hoof against the foot of his bed for emphasis.

Miracle laughed, and rolled over, closing his eyes. Maybe tonight he’d actually get a proper amount of sleep for once.

As Miracle woke up the next day, he became aware that his side of the room was still comfortably dark. It seemed the window above his bed had been positioned in just such a manner that the sunlight filtering into the room landed on the opposite side, hitting Clockwork’s bed. Speaking of which, his brother’s bed was empty, indicating Clockwork had gotten up some time ago. Grumpily, Miracle sat up, clambering out of bed as he wandered off to find the rest of his new family. Apparently, he'd actually managed to sleep late.

He found that they were in the throne room, in the middle of what appeared to be a political standoff. Celestia was squaring off against Blueblood, her stance furious and aggressive compared to Blueblood’s smug voice and posture. Miracle listened in.

“-know perfectly well that this was not the case for Princess Twilight, and you made no objections then!” Celestia thundered.

“Princess Twilight lives in that hick town Ponyville,” Blueblood dismissed callously. “As with Cadance, the Canterlot law does not apply to her and you know that.” Celestia appeared at a loss for words, and Miracle decided to step in.

“Morning, everyone. Blueblood, I see you’re embarrassing yourself as usual,” Miracle snarked.

A few of the Guards stifled chuckles, one even doing a dry spit take as his head whipped around to stare at Miracle.

“Ah, you must be Prince Miracle Matter! A… pleasure to meet you, child,” Blueblood sneered.

“You do realize I’m twenty years old, right? Calling me a child just makes you sound extremely old,” Miracle pointed out.

Blueblood appeared taken aback. “Twenty?” he queried in disbelief, then quickly rallied himself. “All the more reason my contest stands! These two must have suitors, under the law of Canterlot!”

Miracle raised an eyebrow. “A suitor?” he deadpanned.

“It means ‘lover,’” Blueblood explained dryly.

“I’m aware,” Miracle returned, putting Blueblood’s formerly dry tone to shame. “Why do we need suitors?”

Blueblood cleared his throat. “This law was passed approximately six hundred and seventy-three years after the disappearance of Nightmare Moon,” he informed Miracle, who waited impatiently for this walking trash can to finish spouting his political nonsense. “It was enacted in order to prevent the royal line of Equestria from being foalless, in a time when the population growth was significantly less than what it is now. The law states that any member of the royal bloodline who has attained their Cutie Mark must be married before their thirteenth birthday, or, if their Cutie Mark was attained after such time, precisely one year after they receive their Mark,” Blueblood recited.

“That sounds stupid and no longer necessary,” Miracle commented.

Blueblood turned up his nose. “I wouldn’t expect you to discern the nuances of Her Majesty’s political decisions-“ he began, but Celestia cut across him.

“And my word is not set in stone, Blueblood. I am allowed to change my mind as the circumstances develop,” she huffed.

Blueblood raised an eyebrow. “Change your mind all you like. I doubt you can change the Council’s mind so easily,” he shot back. “And, given that it has been a thousand years since they got their Cutie Marks, I think it will be no trouble at all to convince the Council to lower the deadline to one month from now.”

Clockwork looked at him worriedly. “Why are you doing this? What possible gain can you have from this?” he wondered.

Blueblood scoffed. “I am not doing this for gain, you simple-tongued moron. I am merely upholding the law,” he stressed. Miracle saw red.

In an instant, Blueblood found that he had been teleported into the air, the swords adorning the suits of armor in a nearby hallway having been teleported to point at him in midair. Miracle walked up to him, a furious expression.

“I don’t know what you’re after, or why you’d bother to do this,” he whispered, face inches away from Blueblood’s as the walls around him seemed to flicker and fade in and out of reality. “But I will promise you this, Blueblood. If I find you to have any ulterior motives for this, the punishment my parents have in mind will be nothing compared to the torture I will devise for you. Your existence itself will be forgotten by all who you hold dear, and you will fade to nothing but a memory in my eyes. Do you understand?” Miracle whispered, eyes glowing white with power. Blueblood nodded, terrified. Miracle released both him and the swords from his levitation spell, the blades clattering to the ground as Blueblood scrambled to his feet.

“That son of yours is a menace!” he spat at Luna, who had been taken aback by the sudden violence. “He should be locked up for assaulting a fellow member of royalty! I will not let this slide, colt,” Blueblood announced, though his voice shook slightly as he backed away, heading for the exit. “You have made a powerful enemy today!”

Miracle raised an eyebrow, unperturbed. “As have you,” he pointed out. Blueblood huffed angrily one last time, and disappeared.

The moment he was gone, Luna turned to Miracle in alarm. “What was that?” she exclaimed, then hastily composed herself. “Er, I mean, I can understand why you were perturbed, but-“ she stammered, but Miracle cut her off.

“Nobody gets to hurt Clockwork. Nobody,” he stressed angrily.

Luna swallowed nervously, then nodded, giving a nervous smile. “It is… good that you are so protective of your brother,” she tried.

Miracle finally managed to calm himself down, taking a few deep breaths, and sighed, giving his mother an apologetic look. “I just… I’ve seen what Blueblood does. Both in this universe, and in… others,” Miracle reminisced, a haunted look coming to his eyes as he recalled the many depictions of Blueblood in fanfiction, the vast majority of which could genuinely qualify as ‘evil.’ “I won’t let him hurt my bro.”

Clockwork patted him on the withers awkwardly. “Hey, don’t go all Sans on me just yet,” he chided.

“What, am I supposed to wait until you’re all dead, like he did?” Miracle retorted.

Clockwork sighed. “Just… promise me you won’t kill anybody,” he pleaded.

Miracle grumbled and looked away, and Clockwork continued to look at him insistently.

Finally, Miracle gave in. “Okay,” he muttered. “I won’t kill anybody.”

Clockwork nodded, satisfied.

Meanwhile, a Guard quietly slipped out of place, heading for a nearby unused bedroom. “I have news, my Queen,” he whispered urgently to the empty bedroom.

There was a moment of silence, then Queen Chrysalis materialized before him, eyes slitted. “I was thinking,” she hissed in rebuke, and the drone fell silent, terrified. “But I see your news is urgent. What is it?” she reconsidered a moment later.

The drone bowed low, its disguise slipping away in a flash of green fire. “This may come as no surprise to one as intelligent as you, my Queen. But… I have just learned that the one called ‘Miracle Matter’ is much more protective of his brother than we had initially thought.”

Queen Chrysalis snorted. “I’m well aware of the circumstances that have led him to this. But, tell me – what specific event clued you in?”

The drone swallowed nervously. “Prince Blueblood, during his attempt to force the two of them to find partners to marry-“ He was cut off by Chrysalis quite literally turning green, rage frothing from her mouth.

“HE DID WHAT?!” she screeched at the top of her lungs. The drone immediately made hushing sounds, casting a glance at the nearby door, which Chrysalis regarded with contempt. She took a moment to compose herself. “Go on,” she growled. Fearing for his life, the drone hastily complied, making a mental note to never bring this up again.

“Following… that, he made some small insult at Prince Clockwork Chronology,” the drone began. “Miracle Matter-“ Chrysalis immediately glared at him. “-my apologies, my Queen, Prince Miracle Matter immediately attacked him, levitating him and several swords into the air while threatening to erase him from existence,” the drone reported.

Queen Chrysalis mulled over this in silence. Finally, she smiled. “His overreaction changes nothing,” she decided. “And, if those awful Princesses go through with this attempt of Blueblood’s… this could actually work to our advantage,” she considered, her smile turning into a satisfied grin.

“M-my Queen?” the drone stammered, caught off guard by her satisfaction.

“Return to your post,” Chrysalis commanded. “I must return to my contemplation.”

Without another word, the drone fled, leaving the Hive Queen to her machinations. She crossed to the window, turning invisible without effort. “I have already given the order not to touch Prince Clockwork, and to protect Prince Miracle. But perhaps… perhaps I had better extend my ‘protection’ to the both of them,” she considered, grinning deviously.

The four alicorns ate lunch in silence, Luna pausing every once in a while to look over at Miracle Matter. Miracle was picking at his food disinterestedly, fully aware that Blueblood was also in the room and tense as a coiled whip because of it. Clockwork, meanwhile, was looking nervously at Miracle, perhaps wondering if he would make a scene again. Princess Celestia was glaring silently at Blueblood, seemingly daring him to make a move under her watchful eye.

A fresh tray of drinks came out, with most of the table looking at the large tray in surprise. There were mutterings of ponies asking each other if they’d ordered any new drinks, to which the answer was almost unanimously ‘no.’ Miracle, who had requested more water earlier, merely waited for the tray to come to him, as did Blueblood, who had apparently ordered a glass of wine. As the waitress approached Blueblood, she suddenly and dramatically tumbled, cascading head over hooves as most of the drinks spilled directly onto Prince Blueblood, soaking his suit and causing him to yelp in surprise. Blueblood looked up at the waitress, furious, but to everyone’s surprise she was already moving on, neither bothering to apologize nor slowing down. She set down the single surviving drink, a lone glass of water, in front of Miracle’s plate.

“Your water, sir,” she announced, and then gave the four of them a wink as she hoisted her now-empty tray atop her back once more.

Miracle grinned at her, pleasantly surprised. “Thank you,” he replied sincerely.

She nodded and smiled back, and exited the room, a small sashay of her skirt indicating just how unrepentant she was for her earlier mistake.

Miracle Matter watched her go, then turned to Luna. “Give that one a promotion,” he requested. “That took moxy.”

Luna laughed out loud, and Blueblood stormed out of the room, dripping wet and furious.

Meanwhile, Chrysalis cast the tray off to the side, turning it invisible with a flick of her horn and herself shortly afterward. She stifled a chuckle – it hadn’t been particularly helpful to her plans… but it had felt so good to see the look on Blueblood’s face.

A few hours later, Celestia exited the Royal Court of Appeals, exhausted and blue in the face.

“Any luck?” Luna immediately asked, and Celestia shook her head.

“He’s bought them all out,” she muttered. “Where are our colts?”

Luna smiled. “I occupied them in the lab for a while. Miracle is currently distilling some acetone, while Clockwork is perusing a magical textbook I picked up from the library.”

Celestia nodded in relief. “To think, we have to marry them off in a month… what is Blueblood thinking?” Celestia groaned.

Luna sighed. “Sister, you really don’t know what he’s up to?” she queried. Celestia nodded. “He clearly intends to marry them to those of lower status than he, to force them to inherit positions that he can manipulate,” Luna revealed.

Celestia considered this for a moment. “And if they are of lesser status than he, then what? It’s not like Blueblood to compromise his precious relationship with me just to put down a few relatives,” Celestia countered.

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Sister. For what purpose would the royal hierarchy matter to a politician?” she asked pointedly.

“Well, unless they were about to make a claim for a throne-“ Celestia stopped as her eyes widened. “Luna, you can’t be serious. There is no open throne for him to claim!”

Luna raised her other eyebrow. “And what of our sons? Is there no position open for them?” she rebutted.

“Well, the plan was to retire once they were of age, and leave Canterlot… to… them…” Celestia trailed off. Luna nodded smugly, and Celestia sighed. “I don’t believe this is happening… but okay. I’ll double their Guard regiment,” she decided.

“Triple,” Luna countered. “They only have two Guards apiece, after all.”

Celestia sighed in annoyance. “Very well, triple. They’ll all be ponies, none of the registered changelings, just so you know. If you’ll excuse me, Sister… I need a break.” She trotted past Luna, who looked at her in surprise.

“That Council session must have gone worse than I thought,” she muttered under her breath.

“Miracle? Clockwork?” Celestia called out, knocking on their door.

“Come in!” Clockwork called.

Celestia softly stepped inside, glancing around at the new condition of the place. Miracle’s half was already messy, papers and books scattered around the floor. Glassware had taken up much of the desk, a heating and stirring element currently swishing around a flask full of clear liquid as it boiled over into a condenser. The bed was rumpled and unmade, showing clear signs of frequent use. Clockwork’s side, on the other hoof, was spotless – not a single atom out of place. Clockwork himself appeared to have been listening to music, a pair of headphones dangling from his neck as he looked at her.

“What’s up?” he asked, and Celestia sighed.

“Court was a nightmare. Would you mind if I relaxed here for a moment?” she asked politely.

“No problem, make yourself at home,” Clockwork offered with a smile, and Celestia’s heart melted. Her son was just so perfect sometimes. She really would have to send Claire a gift basket or something, at this point.

“No luck changing that ‘getting married in a month’ thing, huh?” Miracle shrewdly guessed, not taking his eyes off his distillation.

Celestia sighed again, laying down on the floor. “Not in the slightest,” she groaned. “Every single Councilmare has been bought out by Blueblood, it seems.”

Clockwork raised an eyebrow. “Is that legal?” he asked curiously.

“He managed to do it in technically legal manners, so... yes,” Celestia sighed for the third time, taking off her regalia.

“Why do you think he’s really doing this?” Clockwork asked curiously, taking a seat beside her as Celestia immediately placed a comforting wing over him.

“Perhaps he is trying to assert his dominance, in his own odd fashion,” Celestia answered tiredly.

“Hey, let’s talk about something less emotionally draining,” Miracle offered.

“Such as?” Clockwork asked curiously.

“Well, we could always work on bridging our laptops to play games together,” Miracle offered.

“Do you… know how to do that?” Clockwork asked hopefully.

Miracle grimaced. “Eh… I only remember it vaguely, I only had to do it once,” he reluctantly admitted. “Still, I think I have the required software around here somewhere. Let me see…” he muttered, poking around his desktop screen.

An hour later, they were playing a game together. “Sucks that there’s no multiplayer in this world… or Internet,” Miracle remarked, shooting yet another zombie.

“Look out, there’s one behind you,” Clockwork called. “And yeah, maybe we can invent something like that? Take the blueprints for a cell tower or something from Earth, and copy it over to Equestria?” he wondered.

“It would be quite the undertaking,” Celestia noted. “Also, this game is very… dark. I can’t really see it catching on with the populace.”

Clockwork shook his hoof in a so-so manner. “It’s one of the more comedic takes on a zombie apocalypse. But yeah, I guess all the blood and whatever wouldn’t go down so well with ponies…” he trailed off in thought.

“You know what game really needs to be released in this place? Pony Island,” Miracle remarked deviously.

“Miracle. NO. Don’t you dare,” Clockwork viciously rebuked, and Miracle burst out laughing.

“Pony Island?” Celestia inquired. “What is the game about?”

Clockwork sighed. “It pretends to be a cute little game about ponies jumping over fences, and that’s all I’m going to say about it.”

Miracle snorted. “Trust me, you don’t want to know,” he added.

Celestia pouted. “Well, now I do want to know,” she muttered. The three of them fell silent once more, returning to the game as climactic music started to play.

“So, if you’re the Princess, can’t you just overrule the Council?” Miracle asked a while later.

Celestia smiled thinly. “This is part of the reason why we stated that being a prince is not, in fact, all about politics. As alicorns, the vast majority of our job is keeping Equestria safe. In terms of actual political power, it depends on how popular we are. I might have been able to overrule the Council before Luna’s return, but ever since then Blueblood has been stirring up all sorts of rumors about our royal bloodline… which, in some interpretations, extend to me,” Celestia explained.

“And… I’m assuming… us,” Clockwork added after a moment.

“Indeed,” Celestia confirmed. “They will do their best to disgrace you. Miracle, you have likely gotten away with your earlier act because of Blueblood’s notorious unpopularity among the public, but I would ask that you not attempt as such again, lest he sway even more of the nobility to his side. He may have the Council, but I shudder to think of what would happen should he get the support of the rest of the nobility as well.”

Miracle nodded solemnly. “I won’t,” he promised.

A while later, Miracle had resorted to taking a nap out of boredom, Celestia having left to resume her royal duties.

“Aren’t you going to finish your distillation or whatever?” Clockwork remarked irritably, poking him.

“Nah, it’s already done, the dessicant's in there and everything,” Miracle mumbled back sleepily.

“Well don’t just lay there! We’re in Equestria! Go out and enjoy it!” Clockwork demanded.

Miracle shrugged. “Uh… alright,” he agreed, surprising Clockwork as he got out of bed. “I gotta pick up some stuff anyway. Want anything?” Miracle offered.

“Where did you get money?” Clockwork asked suspiciously.

Miracle shrugged. “Luna set up some kind of tab for me. Seems like we all draw money from the same royal account.”

Clockwork raised an eyebrow, thinking. “In that case, no, I’m fine,” he dismissed.

“Suit yourself. See you in fifteen, assuming I don’t decide to wander around for a bit,” Miracle called, exiting the room.

“Bye,” Clockwork called.

Two hours later, Miracle wandered the streets of Canterlot, noting that he'd somehow managed to slip past every Guard in the castle. Occasionally he’d stop to autograph some little colt or filly’s toy, still kept from the festival just a few days earlier, but for the most part he just kept to himself, examining Canterlot life as he meandered any which way. He was already laden with yet more scientific apparatus and chemicals, carefully moving so as not to disturb the glassware inside his saddlepacks.

He wandered past an alleyway, and stopped as he heard a distinct chitter from within. He looked over curiously, and noticed a lone changeling, sitting on the sidewalk with a sign that said “Please give love, we are starving” on it. Without another word, Miracle laid down his saddlepack beside the changeling, and hugged him, trying his best to feel affection for the random stranger in front of him. The changeling drone appeared shocked, but quickly began feeding on his love, leaving Miracle much less dizzy than usual.

“Thank you, friend!” it chirped once it was done.

“Are there any more of you that need help?” Miracle inquired.

The changeling nodded. “We are back here,” it answered, springing up with enthusiasm as it led him into another alleyway.

I’ve really got to stop following strangers into dark alleyways, Miracle pondered.

“And when you’re done, you need to-“ a changeling was lecturing, in a very familiar form. It was Jade Heart, Miracle realized, looking at the mare in some surprise. So she was a changeling? Interesting.

“Brought food friend!” the changeling next to him called out, and Jade Heart whirled around, stopping to stare at him in shock and horror.

“Heya,” Miracle called out.

“I – I, um, this isn’t what it looks like-“ Jade Heart hastily stammered, but Miracle simply rolled his eyes.

“Relax, I don’t mind that you’re a changeling,” he dismissed.

“You’re… you’re not mad that I lied about who I was?” Jade Heart questioned disbelievingly.

Miracle Matter shrugged. “I kinda get where you’re coming from, honestly. Besides, ‘studying the emotions of the brain’ kinda tipped me off once I thought about it,” he explained.

Jade Heart appeared speechless for a moment. “Oh… um… okay…” she trailed off.

“So, you hungry? I have plenty of love,” Miracle offered.

Jade Heart blushed. “I, um… yeah?” she answered, a slightly hopeful tone in her voice.

Miracle held out his hooves, and she slowly stepped forward, the other changelings moving out of the way respectfully as she closed the distance. She stepped into his outstretched hooves, and he gently hugged her, closing his eyes and breathing in her sweet perfume as she drained his love.

“Wow… you’re a lot hungrier than the other ones… you okay?” he asked, slightly woozy as he stumbled away.

“Sorry! I forgot… how hungry I was,” Jade Heart finished lamely.

“Eh, that’s okay. I’ll be stopping by tomorrow to make sure you get enough,” Miracle casually answered.

He spent the next thirty minutes feeding the rest of the changelings, each of whom seemed surprised that he was paying such attention to them. That done, he said his goodbyes and returned to the castle, lost in thought. If Chrysalis was supposed to be making some kind of move on him, as he indeed suspected she was, where did Jade Heart play into things? Was she one of Chrysalis’ drones, sent to infiltrate the castle? Or was she just running her own thing, trying to get her gaggle of drones to get enough food? She certainly seemed to be in charge of them, at any rate. Miracle decided not to tell his parents. With their prejudices against changelings, they’d probably just forbid him from visiting altogether, even if it was for good intentions and good for changeling-pony relations. Screw that, I’m going to be nice to them, he thought snarkily. What could possibly go wrong from being nice?