“And now here’s something we hope you’ll really like!”
-Rocky the Flying Squirrel
Shining snuck into Vinyl’s room, the pre-dawn shadows hiding his advancements well. He did not want to wake her, as it would only cause more trouble if she knew where he was going. Where that was exactly, was to the train station to pick up Glory and just chat with her.
He knew that Vinyl would protest it or get mopey, and he wanted no part in either of those. Instead, he elected to leave her a note saying he was busy and that she was to meet him on the Eastern Overlook of the Palace Square at seven so they could watch the inauguration together. It wasn’t every day, or even every decade that a Captain of the Guard was inaugurated.
For now, he had a schedule to keep. Glory’s train was going to be in soon, and he wanted to catch her before she went off to her home. It would probably not be a bad thing to help Glory thank Spitfire and Soarin. Also, Shining kind of wanted to see how they had done.
Placing his note on Vinyl’s bedside table, Shining exited the room and put on his armor. He had elected not to put it on before delivering the note to preserve some element of stealth. Once he was suited up, he took his bag of bits and left Vinyl’s apartment.
Outside, a bitter wind blew through the streets of Canterlot. Leaves in shades of dying green carried with them the first true signs of autumn and with it the start of the winter chill. He shook the thoughts of the coming snows away and started off towards the train station.
“Shiny?” Instinctively, his head raised and he looked around to locate the voice. Very few ponies called him ‘Shiny’ and none of them should be around or even awake at this time. But there, just across the street, was his own mother in a light gray jacket and her white and purple mane tied back in a ponytail, her ever present smile brightening up the morning a bit. “Shiny! Oh my goodness, I didn’t expect to see you here.” His mother looked both ways before crossing the street quickly and wrapping the stallion in a warm hug.
“Hi mom.” He returned the hug, but he couldn’t wipe the quizzical expression from his face. “What are you doing all the way out here? Not to mention this early in the morning.” While he did get his penchant for mornings more from his mother than father, he never expected her to be awake before the sun even rose.
“Well-” Velvet relinquished the hug. “-I went to my Doctor’s the other day and he told me that I should be exercising more. Then I remembered how you get all of your fitness activities in and decided to give it a shot.” Well Shining was impressed with the initiative, but he also wondered if his father had been informed of this and declined to join, or if this was another one of his mother’s secret things she liked to surprise Night Light with. “What are you doing up so early? I know you don’t run in that armor.”
“I have to go pick up Vinyl’s sister at the train station.” Shining shrugged. “Technically I’m on the clock, so the armor stays on.” Shining was going to get going, but he thought better of it. It would be rude not to at least ask his mom to tag along. Plus, he would like to talk to her for a period of time with nopony else around. It had been quite some time since he had done this. “Do you want to come with me? I could use the company.”
“Of course I would love to,” Velvet said with a smile. “I’ve jogged a lot today, I might as well cool down a bit.” Well now that it was settled, Shining pointed in the direction of the train station and the two got moving. “So does your friend Vinyl live in that building?”
“Yeah, she does. Why?” Shining wasn’t against his mother knowing, he was just naturally suspicious of other ponies’ motives when they asked questions. He blamed Velvet for it, she wrote mystery novels with grizzled detectives and shady characters.
“I was just wondering where my son has been spending his time. Is that alright?” Shining nodded, he couldn’t fault her for that. “It’s a bit nicer than I expected, to be honest,” his mother continued. “Not that I expected her to live in a dump or anything, I was just surprised she lived uptown and not somewhere with the pegasi or earth ponies.” Shining could forgive her rather casual racism, seeing as how he had thought it too when he first went to Scratch’s apartment. Plus, it wasn’t like there was anything wrong with living in the lower income neighborhoods, that just happened to be where the highest quantity of non-unicorns lived in the city.
“It was her parents’ before they passed. She inherited it and has lived in it ever since,” Shining explained. He wasn’t going to go too deep into Vinyl’s problems, but he could at least cover the very basics.
“Let’s not talk about your work, I can only imagine there are things that Vinyl wouldn’t want you to share with me.” Well, at least she knew when to back off from certain topics. It was a welcome change of pace from his and Vinyl’s constant probing of the other’s thoughts and feelings. “I do want to talk about you and Cadance, however.” Well nevermind, then. So much for no emotional talks. Leave it to mothers to pry exactly where you don’t want them to.
“Mom…” Shining sighed and put on his best exasperated face. Today was supposed to be a better day than yesterday, one where he didn’t have to get mad or upset at anything. Also, he really wanted to move on from Cadance. It hurt his heart just thinking about her.
“Ooooh no,” Velvet started, giving the young stallion her patented ‘mom glare’. “I think I need to know what happened between you two.” Shining’s shoulders sagged and he slowed his pace, which prompted his mother to place a hoof on his shoulder. “I’m worried about you, Shiny. I just want to know what happened and if I can help.”
“We just-” Shining looked for the right words and the lie he wanted to tell Velvet. He couldn’t exactly tell the truth, as he didn’t know what that might do to Cadance’s responsibilities as a foal sitter. He didn’t want Cadance’s irresponsibility with magic to lead to Twily losing a friend, the little filly didn’t exactly have very many to spare. “We had a fight and I couldn’t forgive her over it. I don’t really want to talk about it.” Okay, no lie then. He was going to go full shutdown on the subject.
“Shiny, you can talk to me.” The alabaster mare looked around. “It’s only us and the dawn, nopony else is here. Nopony else is even awake in this lazy city yet, so please just talk to me.” Shining had always been closer to his mom than his dad, and this was a prime example why. His father would joke his way through this conversation, where his mother was one to try and figure a way to navigate an obvious minefield. She never took the easy way out.
“She…” Shining was going to spill the beans, let the cat out of the bag, and open that can of worms. He just couldn’t help himself, there were just those certain ponies who could just get you to talk about anything. “...she used her magic on me, alright? When we would get into arguments she would use her love magic on me so we would stop.” Shining clenched his jaw and tried not to get angry. “When she finally admitted it, I don’t know, I just felt so…”
“Violated?” Velvet offered, giving her son a sympathetic look.
“No.” Shining shook his head. “Vulnerable.” He looked up at his mother, the pieces falling into place in his head. “I hadn’t ever thought of what Cadance was outside of my fillyfriend and Twily’s foalsitter. She’s a Princess, an alicorn, y’know? She could raise and lower the sun without a problem, she can make ponies change their minds with a wave of her horn…and I was dating her.” Shining didn’t like to admit his fears or shortcoming, because it made him all the more aware of them. It showed the cracks in his armor. “I just felt so small knowing that she could make me forget it all and forgive her in an instant.” Shining had never felt truly powerless before that moment, and even now it stuck with him. There was nothing he could’ve done to fight off Cadance’s magic even if he had known about it, she was that powerful. But he had been conditioned to be comfortable around such vast amounts of magic, after all his family regularly interacted with the one creature who controlled the sun and moon every day.
“I’m sorry you had to deal with that, Shining.” There was no shock or even disappointment in Velvet’s words, just a genuine sadness. “I’m so sorry.” The pair stopped and his mother pulled her only son into the hug he so desperately needed. “You did the right thing breaking up with her, I want you to know that. Nopony, not even somepony you love, is supposed to make you feel weak or powerless. I’m glad you got out before something worse happened.” Shining wasn’t sure what his mother had in mind for ‘something worse’ but he decided that he didn’t want to know.
“Just…don’t let this get in the way of anything, alright?” Shining pulled away from the hug and looked at his mother. “I don’t want you to fire Cadance as Twily’s foalsitter because I broke up with her. The last thing I want is for this to mess up your life.” He didn’t like the thought of his personal problems interfering with his family’s.
“Shining, if I let go of Cadance-which your father and I will discuss once I get home-it won’t be because we’re getting revenge on her for you.” Velvet gave a smile. “It will be because she’s lost our trust. We trust Princess Celestia to watch over Twilight because we know the Princess knows what she’s doing…but Cadance doing something so blatantly irresponsible? That’s not easy to ignore or get over. If she would do such a thing to you for getting mad at her, what would she do to Twilight? What has she done to Twilight?” Full mom-mode was kicking in, and the worry was starting to set in for the mare. Shining had seen it all before, if he didn’t do something quick then she would start to panic.
“Thank you for listening, Mom.” A good old redirect might work, that’s how his dad always got her off of her worry train. “I really appreciate you being there for me, even when I least expect you to be. It means a lot to me.” That wasn’t working, he could see her chest starting to rise and fall quicker than normal: that was hyperventilating. So if the redirect didn’t work, then only one other thing could. “I’ll remember to put you in a good nursing home when you get older for this.” Humor! It seemed to work as well, because Velvet snapped out of her worried state and gave him a rather bemused look.
“Was that a joke?” she asked, her breathing finally slowing and her mind focusing on something other than less than likely scenarios. “I’m being serious, Shiny. Was that a joke? You’re not really going to put me into a nursing home, right?”
“Of course not, Mom,” Shining scoffed as he started to walk again, his mother following close behind. “You’ll live with Twily, just like Grandma and you.” That earned a rather cynical laugh from the older mare, one that Shining didn’t expect.
“If I ever become anything like my mother, you have my full permission to commit me to wherever you need to get rid of me.” Shining laughed at that one and shot his mother a sarcastic smile.
“It would be my pleasure.”
----
Glory staggered off of the train from Ponyville, bleary-eyed and none too happy. The goodbyes with Lily and the girls had left everypony involved more than a little emotionally raw. That on top of what Vinyl had said yesterday, and Glory was exhausted on a very deep level that she hadn’t been in years.
The battered mare sighed as she stepped out of the station and into the maze of high marble buildings known as Canterlot. In the light of the sun, the city was a sight to behold. In the shadows of dawn, though? Everything looked so sad and dull, like the world’s painter had yet to finish up his masterpiece and color it in fully.
The absence of her daughter also made this feel very far away from home. This place, with its castles and mansions and high fashion, didn’t feel close to her heart anymore. Now her heart rested in a little cottage in the valley below the mighty mountain, and she didn’t want to be away from it any longer than she had to.
The problem was her responsibilities, her little orphans who had kept her heart with them for so long. It felt good to care for something, and it felt even better for the things you cared about to be loved and cherished like they deserved. In the end, her foals here in Canterlot came first. They were her prime concern until further notice, and when she had time she would go visit Lily and Cedar.
“Ms. Glory!” The pegasus diverted her gaze from the skyline of the city and towards the voice. Standing just down the sidewalk were none other than Twilight Velvet and Shining Armor. She had not been expecting either pony, let alone both of them at the same time.
“Hello Velvet.” She tried not to sound too surprised, after all she was Shining Armor’s mother. To that point, what was Shining doing here and was Vinyl with him? Glory just needed to speak to her, if only for a few moments. They could sort this out. She knew they could if they just had time alone together. “And good morning, Shining Armor.”
“Mom, you know Glory, she’s also Vinyl’s sister.” Velvet looked at Shining, and then back at Glory questioningly. “I know, I was surprised when I found out too. Small world, right?” Glory trotted over to the mother-son pair with a smile.
“What are you two doing out this early?” She sincerely hoped that they both didn’t come all the way out here just for her. It was far too early for anypony rational to be awake and doing things, not even the birds were out singing yet.
“Well I was coming to get you, just to walk you home and talk, and I ran into my mother and asked if she wanted to join us.” Well now Glory felt bad that Shining had pulled himself out of bed just for her sake, but it would make getting those two pegasi-Spitfire and Soarin-out of her house a little less awkward. “I thought I owed it to you to at least see you back to your home. It’s the least I can do after-” The stallion looked at his mother. “-well, you know.”
“Do you two need to talk about something?” Velvet asked, cutting into the fray. “I can get going if you two have some Vinyl-related things you need to speak about.” Glory couldn’t ask the mare to do that, it would be rude. Also, she hadn’t been able to speak to Velvet in ages, and some mature conversations would be a very welcome change of pace.
“I just need to speak with him for a moment. You are more than welcome to join us, Velvet.” That earned a smile from the older mare and a nod. “After all, I read your latest book and I have a few questions.” If there was one thing that could get Twilight Velvet talking, it was her life’s work. That mare could go on for hours about her characters and their reasonings and such.
“Okay, I’ll meet you both at the bakery a few blocks over, alright? I think they’re already opened at this time.” Both of the younger ponies nodded, letting Velvet go off towards the bakery. As she trotted away, Glory couldn’t help but admire the shape that the mother of two was in. She could only hope that she would be in as good of shape that Twilight Velvet was in her mid-life. She supposed that two foals who brought next to no worry with them would preserve the body well. Celestia knows that all of Glory’s problems had not been kind, and she was still in her twenties!
“I have good news.” Shining started as soon as his mother was out of sight. “Vinyl has agreed to speak with you-” Glory could practically feel the ‘but’ coming on. “-but I think she’s set in stone on this one.” There it was, and just as bad as she had anticipated. She had hoped that Vinyl would come to her senses after a day or two and ask to repair everything. It had been too much to ask. “But don’t worry, she’ll talk to Uncle B before getting to you. He should soften her up a little bit.”
“You don’t think she’ll change her mind…?” That was a devastating blow in its entirety. Glory didn’t have any family left except for Uncle B and Vinyl, and they both meant the world to her. Without Vinyl in the picture-and Uncle B wasn’t actively involved in her life like he was with Vinyl’s-what would Glory do? The only reason she had stayed in Canterlot had been for her family, and her orphanage could be moved anywhere with enough space. Could she leave?
“I don’t know.” Shining sighed and lowered his head. “I can’t read her on this one, but my gut is telling me that she’s not changing her mind.” Seeing as how Shining had spent more time with Vinyl in a few weeks than she had in over five years, Glory trusted his judgement on that one. “I think you can improve your chances, though. Just…try not to blame her for anything.” That wasn’t how apologies were supposed to work, the one wronged was supposed to be the one not blamed for anything. Frankly, Glory was getting tired of being blamed for everything. “Just…try to focus on the good times, the good memories. Y’know, appeal to the Vinyl you knew, not the one in front of you.”
“You really think that will work?” Glory responded with equal amounts of incredulity and hope. She didn’t have much faith in Vinyl letting go of things, it wasn’t exactly something she was known for. How would that change just by bringing up the past?
“I don’t know.” The guard shrugged. “Truth be told, I usually wing it when Vinyl isn’t in a good mood. I talk and just say what’s on my mind while not pissing her off, I know that’s not an easy feat but it’s a tightrope I think you’re going to have to walk if you want any chance.” That did not sound easy or enjoyable. In fact, it sounded like a way for Vinyl to punch Glory yet again. “It’s the best I can do, Glory. I can’t just make her magically forgive you, even I’m not that powerful.”
That was the problem with things like this, nopony was ever that powerful.
“I suppose we should go find your mother?” Shining nodded and stepped aside for her to go first. “Thank you for this, Shining. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for my family. Even if it all hasn’t worked out.” She could’ve sworn that she saw Shining flinch at that. Glory hoped it didn’t hurt his feelings at all.
----
It had been about a half hour since Shining and his mother had met up with Glory. The trio had successfully gotten their baked goods for pseudo-breakfast and were now just outside of Glory’s home. It was still the same old beat up abode that Shining had seen before, but at least it looked no worse for wear. That was a small plus in what seemed to be a trickle of negatives on this day.
“Who did you say was watching your orphanage, Glory?” Velvet asked, inspecting the edifice of the building critically. It made sense, it had been a while since Shining’s mother had been around this part of town. Usually it was just him and Twily coming to do some good work, his parents simply allowed them to go.
“Some of Shining’s friends.” She stamped her hoof a few times in frustration as they trotted up to the door. “Soarin and...Spitfire, right?” Shining nodded, and his mother’s eyes went wide and a smile crossed her face.
“Soarin? Oh, I haven’t seen him in ages! When was the last time you brought him over, Shiny?” Even Shining had a hard time remembering. Maybe two and a half years? It had been a while, sure.
“I’m not sure, I just called in a favor he owed me.” Shining turned to his mom as Glory dug keys out of her luggage. “I remembered he had a lot of younger siblings, so I figured he was suited for the job.” The door clicked open to an expected silence. “That’s actually a good sign.” He commented happily.
Shining and the two mares entered the house, trying to move as silently as they could. There was nothing out of place, in fact the place looked cleaner than they had left it. He gave a closer look at some of the spots where he knew scuffs and cracks were and found that they were either gone or fixed in some small respect.
When they entered the living room they found the pale blue pegasus who had been left in charge sprawled across the couch. His wings were splayed out, one hanging off of the side and dragging along the ground. His mouth hung open, with only light breathing coming out.
“I swear he can sleep like that anywhere.” Velvet commented, going over to the couch and poking the stallion. “I remember on Hearth’s Warming Eve a few years ago, he came over for dinner and afterwards he was just gone!” Velvet laughed. “Just right in the chair at the table.”
“Because it was really good…” Soarin moaned out groggily. Shining leaned over the couch and looked at his friend curiously. “Hey...both of my favorite unicorns in one place. I must be dreaming…”
“You wish, Soar.” Shining concentrated and lifted the pegasus up with his magic until Soarin righted himself. “Now get up, Glory’s here to take over for you.” Soarin landed gracefully on his hooves once Shining let go of him.
“Should’ve known it wasn’t a dream.” Soarin stretched his wings and cracked his neck. “If it was, one of you two would be on top of me right now.” That elicited an eye roll from Shining and a legitimate laugh from his mother.
“Oh, stop it, Soarin.” Velvet waved the stallion away with a hoof. “Why are you always so dirty?” Soarin and Velvet’s connection was certainly a strange one. Velvet had grown up around nobility and class, so Shining wasn’t sure why Soarin got a pass for being so crass. Sure, his father was not exactly refined, but he wasn’t as rough as Soarin. Maybe Velvet just had a soft spot for ponies who spoke whatever came to their minds.
“Did they behave for you?” Glory spoke up, her wings twitching nervously as she did. “I-I really hope they weren’t too much. I know sometimes Saguaro can be a little much, and little Sentry can get fussy-” She was stopped by Soarin’s hoof being held up.
“It was really no problem. Seriously, all of ‘em were great for me and Spitfire. Let me tell you, she went kinda bonkers when she first saw the place. She even went out and somehow got a sander to fix your floors.” Soarin looked around, nodded like he was actually impressed. “Like, she went full tilt OCD and really did a number on the place.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” Glory looked around the room, her eyes lingering for a few seconds on specific spots. Stuff like corners and the edges of the couch, where once there had been some sort of damage or oddity that had been repaired. “So…where is Spitfire now?”
“Well…” Soarin looked out of the nearest window. “...It’s like, what, five-thirty or six or something? She’s probably out flying at this time.” Shining had no clue how Soarin had lost the guard mentality about waking up early, but it had all slid off of his back like water off a duck’s. “Anywho, you need anything else, Glory? Or are we good?”
“I think everything is okay, Soarin. Thank you so much for doing all of this, I really appreciate it.” Glory moved in to give Soarin a hug, one that he gently and politely reciprocated. That was a surprising move for Soarin, usually he would make a lewd remark or something. It was nice to see some proper respect out of the usually silly stallion.
“It’s no problem. Really, it’s been a minute since I’ve gotten to take care of little ones. It was my pleasure.” Soarin broke the hug and trotted over to Shining and Velvet. “If you ever need a pair of extra hooves, hit me up. Just send somepony over to the Wonderbolts’ barracks and tell ‘em I owe you one.”
“I will, thank you.” Glory smiled and then started to trot upstairs to check on her foals. She stopped and turned around. “Thank you too, Shining Armor. I appreciate everything you’ve done.” Shining could only smile and nod. He’d said enough already.
“Come on, you two. We have an inauguration to get to.” Shining motioned for his mother and friend to follow him as he exited the slightly less dilapidated home. His mother was right at his side while Soarin hovered at the threshold for a second. Something was definitely bothering him, and Shining was going to figure out what it was.
“Are you alright, Soar?” Shining asked as soon as the door was closed behind them. The pegasus flew just above the two white unicorns, a perplexed look on his face. “Yeah, see that look is why I’m worried.”
“Have you noticed something about Glory…?” Soarin asked, hovering for just a second before following above them. “Like...something wrong?” Shining could list a couple of different things, none of them really above anything else.
“She’s a bit skinny, but she’s always been like that for as long as I can remember.” Velvet offered her opinion. “I try to send some food with Shiny and Twily when they come over, but I think it all goes to the foals. Maybe she just doesn’t have an appetite.” Yes, Glory was a bit on the skinny side. You could practically see her ribs at some points, but she moved around and acted as healthy as anypony else.
“I wouldn’t say I’m an expert…” Soarin landed in front of the unicorns, making them stop. He held up a solitary yellow feather with his own wings. “...but I know a thing or two about wings. This shouldn’t have come out this easily, and she should’ve at least felt something when I plucked it.” Shining Armor had to admit that he knew absolutely nothing about pegasus biology, so he didn’t know how hard it was to pluck a feather. “This thing practically fell out when I touched it. Have either of you ever seen her fly? Because I bet you she can’t.” Shining Armor thought for a moment, but he could only recall one instance of Glory taking flight before and that was just one mere flap of her wings that achieved very little lift. “Seriously, this thing is rotten to the shaft. Like, how haven’t her wings fallen off yet?”
“Soarin, are you sure about this?” Velvet asked exactly what Shining was thinking. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Soarin, but it was a lot of sudden opinions and Shining didn’t know enough to verify any of the information. “Glory seems healthy enough. Just because we’ve never seen her fly doesn’t mean she can’t.”
“It’s kinda my job to know healthy wings. If we spot anything wrong we have to report it, so I have to know all of the early warning signs.” Soarin spread a wing and yanked a feather out with his teeth, at which the pegasus visibly flinched in pain. “C’mere and see.” Shining and his mother came in close so they could see the differences in the feathers.
Soarin’s feather was perfect: without frays and the right shade of blue. The shaft that went into the skin of the wing was colored a bright white with a slightly darker core. Glory’s feather was quite the opposite: it was a paler color than her coat, and the shaft was a sickly black that even Shining could tell wasn’t right.
“That’s rot,” Soarin stated flatly. “I don’t know what the technical name for it is, but we call it wing rot, and left unchecked it’s a real doozy.” Soarin frowned at the yellow feather. “I’ll show it to Spitfire and maybe somepony on staff back at the Wonderbolt’s HQ to see what they think, but I’m going to tell you right now that she needs to see a doctor…like, yesterday. This can kill if it gets to the base of the wing, it’ll just go straight to the core after that.”
“Shiny...do you think we should go tell her?” He was a bit paralyzed with this information. On a moral level, he knew he should go and tell her, but something just wouldn’t let him. Like some grand design of fate had set this all up in a great twist of irony: Glory reunites with her daughter and now he has to tell her she’s sick? Tell her she had a chance of dying because of it? Shining just couldn’t do it anymore, he just couldn’t deliver more bad news. He couldn’t take anymore negative emotions.
“I’m…” Shining had no way to put it elegantly. “I’m all bad-news’d out. I just-all I do is deliver bad news and make ponies upset anymore.” Shining sighed and slouched, feeling utterly defeated. “I really just want one day where I can just enjoy things and not have to worry about somepony crying or getting upset.” Shining felt bad about saying that, really bad in fact, but the last stretch of days was doing a number on his mood. He didn’t know how much more he could deliver before he broke.
“Well…” Soarin looked at the feather. “…y’know, like I said, it might be something less serious. I’m not an expert or anything, so let me get a second opinion and I’ll go talk to her about it, alright?” The pegasus put a hoof on Shining’s shoulder. “I’ll take this one when I find out, alright?”
“Thank you, Soarin.” Velvet spoke before Shining could. “Are you going to come with us to the inauguration, or are you going to find your friend? We would love for you to come along, but we understand if you can’t.”
“I think I can tag along with you for a bit. If I see Spitfire, I’ll catch her.” Soarin slapped Shining on the side. “Now, c’mon, you don’t wanna know how busy the Palace Square is going to be.”
----
Vinyl trotted through the mass of gathered ponies, trying to make her way to the Eastern Overlook. It was early, her alarm had woken her up, and Twinkle had been missing. Vinyl was not in a very good mood this morning.
She couldn’t even care about the captain of the guard, but she was here because Twinkle wanted her to be and he had done a lot for her. She at least owed him this one little thing. So here she was, trying to push through the dense crowd to get to her destination. If she was a bit taller, or even in fancy attire they would part like noble’s mane, but nope. For Vinyl it was hard travels all of the way.
But hey, at least it gave her a bit more time to think about the things going on in her life.
Like, talking to every one of the ponies who had been on the other side of the most horrible weeks of her life. Weirdly enough, it was Uncle B that was the one she was most worried about. Their relationship since mom and dad died had been one of dueling tempers with sarcasm at the front lines. Any conversation which started with a contentious choice on Vinyl’s side was going to be met with a thick wall of anger and shouting. Vinyl didn’t know if she could stand up to Uncle B if he came at her full force. Family was one of those things she had trouble going against, especially him.
Then there were Cadance and Intrepid. Both of them were intertwined in their fates and the conversations that she needed to have with them. She didn’t really need to apologize to Intrepid or explain herself, but they needed to have some sort of conversation about what happened. They needed to share their feelings about Cadance, and betrayal, and where they were going from here.
The Princess on the other hoof…that was going to be a test of patience for Vinyl. There was still a lot of anger there, and Vinyl wasn’t sure if she could work through it. The problem had been that she already had one pony prying into her life without her consent, and Cadance had done a lot worse by messing with her head without consent. Vinyl was never going to forgive her for that, and just trying to talk it out might end with a physical altercation.
The biggest hurdle was Glory. First she had to get through Uncle B with her choice intact, and then she had to confront Glory and tell her to her face that she couldn’t stick around…again. That was another emotional dropkick she had to endure.
Life sure liked delivering those, didn’t it?
Looking up, Vinyl found herself at her destination. A set of stairs were in front of her that led to a curved landing that looked over the entire square. There were smatterings of ponies along the overlook, but for the most part it was largely unoccupied. Probably because it wasn’t close to the stage set up below, but instead one of the farthest points from it. Vinyl had to admit that it provided a nice pegasi’s eye view of the whole event, though.
She ascended the stairs and started to walk along, until she spotted a familiar white unicorn leaning against the railing. Well, actually two familiar white unicorns. Both Twinkle and his mom were there looking over the railing at the celebration below.
“Yo, Twinkle! Velvet!” She wasn’t exactly sure what to call his mom, but ‘Ms. Velvet’ felt too formal, and Twilight felt weird. Both unicorns turned around and waved her over, an invitation which she gladly accepted.
“This is gonna be fun, isn’t it?” Vinyl asked if she approached the railing and leaned on it. “I mean, literally all of the nobles are right down there in front.” She nudged Velvet with a hoof. “Think your mom could hook us up with a view?”
“We ran into her on our way up and I asked-” Velvet stated, taking her place on the other side of the guard. “-she said that it’s only for the members of the House today. Usually they would allow families, so I’m not sure what’s different today.”
“It’s a new era.” Shining stated flatly. “I have a feeling change is the new norm.”
----
Galea turned her neck sharply, eliciting a satisfying crack. The cold mare lifted her breastplate from the ground and lowered it over herself. She had it specially made for this occasion: it was a bright silver with pale blue trimming and engraving with her cutie mark emblazoned right on her chest.
Slowly, she raised a helmet that mirrored the same style and put on her head. She was lucky enough to not have to use her own mane as a plume and had an artificial one made for her helm. It was one of the little benefits she got to enjoy as Captain.
One of her favorite things was her latest addition to her ensemble. She lifted it from a nearby rack and examined it. The sheath of her new sword was adorned with the same color as her armor, it even had her cutie mark, the beautiful crossed icicles, dotted across the shimmering metal.
“Interim-Captain Galea.” The mare blinked, she had completely forgotten that Trip was in the room with her. The intoxicating aroma of freshly forged armor had went to her head and made her lose her place for a second. “It’s almost time for us to depart towards the Palace Square. Princess Cadance requested you to arrive early to discuss ‘The Nobles’ as she put it.” Yes, not even Galea would tell her assistant about the business. It was to take all of Canterlot by surprise.
“Of Course, Triplicate.” Galea straightened her posture, strapped her sheath to her side and and turned around. Briefly she felt like a fresh guard in full armor, but then there was a sense of power that came rushing over her. It was mixed with responsibility that made the armor much more than simple guard attire. It was a symbol of her authority. “I believe I’m ready to go now.”
Galea marched out of her office, looking back at her newly installed armor and weapon rack before closing the door behind her. Knock Out’s things had finally been moved out entirely and now the office was hers. It was all hers now.
She trotted through the halls, various servants and worker bees giving short nods and proud smiles as she passed. When they could, they would address her by her new title and congratulate her. Finally, after all of her hard work, she was being properly recognized and rewarded. It felt right.
It was a short walk from her office to the main floor of the palace, where Princess Cadance and Princess Celestia were waiting. She approached the monarchs and gave a bow, which the two alicorns returned with simple nods.
“Captain Galea.” Celestia smiled. “Are you prepared for your moment? Do you have your speech?” Galea did not return the smile, but chose to keep her neutral expression to favor professionalism. She was not going to start her career as Captain by being emotional, she wanted to be known for her stern nature and adherence to the rules.
“I have my speech memorized, Princess Celestia. I’m fully prepared for the inauguration, yes. As ready as I could ever be.” Galea looked back to find her assistant still floating around. “Triplicate, you may leave us now. I will not be needing your assistance further.”
“Yes Ma’am.” Triplicate nodded and left the group, leaving Galea alone with the royalty.
“About the Nobles, Captain.” Cadance spoke up, and raised a piece of parchment with a diagram of the celebration on it. “We have guards ready to move in when you give the orders. We’ve explained the basics to them and they will remain silent until the time comes. We’ve put them in armor opposite yours: blue with silver trim.” Galea did not like ponies going behind her back, not even the Princesses. She was supposed to be clued in to everything going on with her guard.
“Good.” Galea lied through her teeth. “I’ll issue the order and they’ll move in, cutting off any escape routes.” Galea tapped the section right behind where the nobles were slated to be. “Have we set up some kind of barrier to stop them from fleeing into the crowd?” That’s what she was worried about, the slippery ones that would try to run and use their money to slip out of the city.
“The crowd itself.” Celestia responded. “We’ve made sure to force the bulk of the crowd into the area behind the nobles. We’ve even declared the area a no-fly zone to force the pegasi into the area as well.” At least the bases were covered, that reassured Galea a little.
“When do we begin?” Galea changed the topic of conversation and looked to the door that lead to the Square. “I apologize for my urgency, I just want to get this over with as soon as we can. The smoother this goes, the better.” Galea did not feel like apologizing, but it was the proper thing to do in context.
“Whenever you want, Captain.” Cadance spoke quietly. “The crowds are just waiting on Celestia and I to begin the ceremony.” Galea thought for a moment and collected her thoughts, she was as ready as she would ever be. She stepped aside and bowed, signalling for the royalty to take to the stage.
The Princesses nodded as they moved to the door and opened it. A wave of cheers washed through the opening, deafening any other sound in the room. To Galea it was the noise of an unruly populace who needed a stern hoof put down, but the little filly deep in her core knew it was for her.
Luckily Galea had ignored the little filly’s voice for decades at this point. So it was easy to see it as the former and forget the latter. This city needed a large dose of order with a helping of legitimate results. She was going to make that happen whether the city thought they needed it or not.
The Princesses were going through their spiel: telling everypony how the death of Knock Out had left the city reeling but how Galea had stepped up and served as a beacon of order and strength to the city. They intimated how proud they were of her taking responsibility and how she was deserving of this position.
Finally they called her out to join them.
Galea took a deep breath, straightened her posture more than she thought possible and took the steps outside. As she did, her eyes adjusted and she was met with the sprawling crowd before her. Ponies of every color and race filled the Square, most likely from all over Equestria because there were more ponies packed into the Palace Square than there were in Canterlot.
“Ponies!” Galea lit up her horn to activate her own vocal projection spell, making her voice echo across the entire Palace grounds. She stepped up to the podium, which was adorned with a banner of Celestia’s mark, and stepped up to meet it. “Citizens of the great city of Canterlot and beyond!” That elicited a cheer from the masses, one that filled Galea with the motivation she needed. “I am proud and honored to accept the position of Captain of the Royal Guard. It has been a goal of mine since I was just a little filly to help this city, to make sure that it is safe and well protected. I aim to accomplish that act, starting as soon as I’m sworn in.” Another cheer went up through the crowd that spurned Galea’s sense of authority. Galea turned and nodded to the monarchs. “Your Majesties, you may proceed.”
Celestia and Cadance both moved to Galea’s side and produced a jewel studded golden box. Celestia held it out for Galea, who put her hoof on the object. Galea focused on Celestia’s mouth, knowing she was going to have to recite the oath which she spoke.
“Repeat after me.” Celestia took a deep breath. “I, Galea, solemnly swear-”
“I, Galea, solemnly swear-”
“-to uphold the office of Captain of the Royal Guard to the full extent possible.”
“-to uphold the office of Captain of the Royal Guard to the full extent possible.”
“I will allow the principles that made Equestria great to direct my actions. Kindness will guide my hoof when a punishment is delivered, Honesty will help me be true to myself and the ideals that drive Equestria, Loyalty will keep my goals true to the country and crown I serve, Laughter will keep me light-hearted and hold me back from cruelty, and Generosity will allow me to be charitable in my dealings.” Celestia finished the oath, and Galea repeated it the whole way. She did not dwell on the words, but instead focused on getting through them. The next step was the most important.
The cheer went up from the crowd and Galea took to the podium once again, a fire lit in her belly. She looked down to the crowd of nobles that stood at the front of the mass of ponies. This was going to hurt them more than it was going to help her, and she was fine with that.
“I want you all to know that I am true to my word. I said just minutes ago that I would help this city as soon as I was sworn in and I aim to do so.” Galea looked out to shocked faces in the crowd, they were not expecting immediate action. “First, I know that some of the citizenry has been concerned with my mass-punishment of the guard, and I want you all to know that I do not want our Guard to be ineffective in any manner. Starting immediately I am rescinding the ban on Thestrals joining the guard.” Another gasp and murmurs from the crowd. “For too long they have been punished for something their ancestors did one thousand years ago. No more! THey shall join us in protecting their city, their royalty once more!” Galea glanced at the Princesses from the corner of her eye. She saw the sly smirk on Celestia’s face and the shocked expression on Cadance’s. Good, even the monarchs were capable of being surprised.
Galea had been keeping that one up her sleeve. It had been on her agenda for some time to allow the Bat Ponies back into the fold of Guards. They were good at what they did and offered unique opportunities to Galea’s operations. Considering how it was the Captain who had full say on who could join the guard and who couldn’t, all it took was her word to allow them back in.
“Second, I have seen the corruption that has plagued the upper echelon of this city. I have seen bits flowing freely from the corporations and lobbyists right into the accounts of those who control the very government you rely on to provide!” Galea straightened up and pointed an accusatory hoof at the section of Nobles up front. “I have spent the last five years investigating the House of Nobles and have found the majority to be guilty of corruption on the highest level!” Again, a gasp from the ponies below. “We cannot allow this kind of corruption to infiltrate our city, we cannot allow them to line their pockets and rule only in their best interests!” Galea slammed her hoof on the podium, fire burning from her eyes and replacing the usual ice. “Guards! Arrest those accountable!”
The crowd went ballistic as guards in silver and blue moved in on the nobles and picked out over three-fourths of the ponies inside of the Noble’s area. Some wept gently as they were put in magic bonds, others fought the guards as they went down and were dragged away by the guards. Good, the fighters made them look all the more guilty.
“It is obvious-” Galea continued. “-that mere ponies cannot be trusted with such power no longer. They are too easily corrupted and bent to others’ will.” Galea looked on as the ponies below clamored about the shocking revelations. “Instead, I propose that we bring back the diarchy that served us so well in the past! We moved away only because we were reduced to one Princess, but with Princess Cadance’s help we can restore Equestria to it’s former glory! In order to do this, we need to abolish the House of Nobles and allow our Royalty to rule once again!”
Galea looked down to the Noble’s cordoned off area and saw Twilight Satin glaring up at her, hatred filling her eyes even more than usual. Galea had done it, she had outplayed her blackmailer and removed any power she once had. Galea had won.
For the first time since she took the podium, Galea smiled.