(Chapter 2: Virtue… -less)
Two years before Nightmare Moon’s return
As the Princess was finishing up Day Court for the day and was about to return to the throne room in the castle, she was greeted this afternoon by Kibitz, who had some… plans regarding everything that was going on tonight. It had been a long time since she had originally adopted Phoebe and took Twilight Sparkle under her wing and in that time, both of them have grown substantially. Not to mention that they were widely expanding upon their individual talents. Yet, there was still one thing that the Princess believed that they both needed to learn that was a very… important lesson.
“Kibitz, can you call in Twilight and Phoebe please? I have a… task for the two of them.”
“Of course, your majesty.” The elderly stallion replied. He’d aged well over the years, and surprisingly had not one grey hair on his head or facial hair. He left the room to retrieve the girls.
Minutes later, Phoebe and a fully complete and operational Marquis came into the room. Phoebe had grown up a lot since Celestia first adopted the girl. Celestia had noticed Phoebe’s chest, as she grew up, developed an oddly large upper chest, and curves that no being she’d ever come across had. She wore a bright pink and gold puffy dress that didn’t match her at all, which caused Celestia to snort at her daughter's annoyed look. The one thing that she was allowed to have though was a pair of shoes that allowed for her to gracefully move along the floor without much effort since they were designed by her.
“Mother, could you fire the buffoon who made this dress? It’s dreadfully uncomfortable, and doesn’t match my eyes, hair, or anything about my features!” Phoebe said grumpily.
“Now now, Phoebe. This is only temporarily… Have you seen Twilight?” Celestia asked, only for the Unicorn to soon teleport into the room.
“You wanted to see me Princess?” She looked at Phoebe for a moment and then chuckled. “Who exactly designed that dress? It doesn’t match any of your features!”
“Some new dressmaker mother hired last week… It’s not entirely made for me, too. It has this annoying tailhole-” Before Phoebe could continue, Celestia decided to change the subject quickly.
“I believe you two are curious as to why I called you here,” She said, catching their attention for a moment. “I think it is time for another lesson… but before you object… hear me out first.”
“Go on…” Phoebe said, her eyes narrowing. Twilight nodded her head in agreement, insisting for Celestia to continue.
“Both of you have been succeeding rather quickly in your fields of study. Twilight with her study in magic and Phoebe in her study with science… I know that Science and Magic sound like complete opposites, but for this lesson, I would like you to be able to combine your talents and work together. It’s a lesson on teamwork and also to work collaboratively… do you understand?” She asked, trying to see if both of them knew what she was talking about.
“Sounds fun. We’ve never really done anything together.” Phoebe said, then looked to Twilight. “You up for it?”
“I a-am… But what exactly did you have in mind?” Twilight then asked. But before Phoebe could answer, Celestia then spoke up.
“I’ll leave that for you two to decide. Go ahead and get started, but most importantly, have fun.” Celestia smiled, allowing for Phoebe and Twilight to leave the hall and return to Phoebe’s lab in order to see what kind of ideas they could come up with… after she changed her clothes for that matter.
“So, did you have any ideas in mind?” Twilight asked as she looked around the Lab and tried to find herself a place to sit.
“Well, perhaps some form of hovering technology?” Phoebe suggested. “I’ve been having trouble with- Wait… A battle gown! Something that’s fitted with magic and technology!”
“I like that idea,” Twilight asked, before thinking of another question. “But how exactly were you thinking for it to work?”
“May I please interject in order to answer Ms. Twilight’s Question, Ms. Phoebe?” Marquis then spoke up and asked.
“Fine...” Phoebe stated, her excited tone turning flat.
“One of Ms. Phoebe’s ideas that was actually inspired from you, Ms. Twilight, was what I believed she called “Phasegate”. What if that in particular could be incorporated into the gown?” He asked, shortly before Twilight looked back at her.
“I… inspired you? And what is this phasegate?” She then asked.
“Yes, you did. The Phasegate is a teleportation device I’ve been working on, but the technology needed for certain parts may never be created due to lack of said material.” Phoebe said, looking around the lab. “I gave up on it awhile ago.”
“Well, what if we did incorporate it into the gown, but the device itself would be rather small and not require much materials,” Twilight replied, thinking of a possible idea in her head. “Like what if it was something on your… hands that you can easily put on when you need it and take it off when you don’t?”
“Let’s focus on getting a prototype built. I suppose magic could replace what Equestria lacks.” Phoebe stated. “We’d need materials for the gown, and someone who can sew. And finally we’d need a lot more room than my lab.”
“I can help with the prototype.” Twilight replied.
“And I can help with finding the materials and someone who can sew… while making sure they aren’t liberal arts majors.” Marquis said thoroughly, driving home the last point and being very… specific about it.
“Great, and Marquis, please don’t shoot anyone.” Phoebe ordered.
“Ugh, fine…” Marquis replied. “I’ll leave Hoodini to do the disposing.”
“No…” Phoebe glared daggers at Marquis. “I’ll let you chase Blueblood afterwards or something, just don’t kill anyone.”
“Wunderbar, I shall return soon!” The butler declared as he walked out of the room. Only for Twilight to have a raised eyebrow.
“Are you sure that having him be on his own is a good idea?”
“No, but I’m not following him.” Phoebe stated tiredly. “And this way, I see how well he follows my orders.”
“Alright I guess… Now, how should we get started?” Twilight asked.
“Well, let’s start by me showing you the original designs…” Phoebe stated as she started getting things together. It took some time to get everything ready, but soon, Phoebe had the blueprints out on the table so Twilight could look it over. Of course, she was no stranger to schematics such as these, but was quite surprised to see how much time and effort that Phoebe had put into making sure that these ideas of hers were drawn out and on paper.
“Wow… I’m really blown away by some of these designs!”
“I know, they’re amazing.” Phoebe said pridefully, her ego having been given a boost. “I’m thinking the first two and the one at the bottom should be integrated into it. What do you think?” Twilight analyzed the schematic herself, seeing the ideas that Phoebe had drawn. The First two were the phasegate idea she had in mind along with shoes that allowed her to levitate slightly off the ground for mobility. The last one at the bottom though really caught her attention upon further analysis.
“What are these Five Virtues mentioned down here? How do they work?” Twilight asked out of curiosity.
“They’re swords that hover and are controlled by the gloves and the main sword, and therefore obey the user.” Phoebe explained. “Mother told me a bedtime story about the Elements of Harmony, and the five virtues of kindness, honesty, loyalty, laughter and generosity.”
“Wow… Celestia told me that story too. I like it!” She smiled, hugging Phoebe. “I’m glad I got to work on this with you.”
“Same. It’s been too long since we did anything together.” Phoebe smiled in return.
Few days later…
Phoebe sighed contently as she looked at the masterpiece that she had finally placed the finishing touches on. “Perfect.” It took her a lot of time, and in some cases a few sleepless nights, to be able to complete the project that Twilight and her started together. Sure, she had many projects and ideas that she had tried and was mostly successful at, but this one was special to her.
Just then, a faint knock on the door could be heard as Marquis soon walked over. “Should I get the door, Ms. Phoebe? Or do you want to get it since you finished your recent endearment?”
“I’ll get it. Would you clean up and take out the trash?” Phoebe stated, standing up and limping over to the door due to her sitting crosslegged for an hour and cutting off the blood flow, while Marquis easily disposed of the trash by dumping it into the portable incinerator that was used for anytime Phoebe felt as if she needed to start over on one of her projects. Some would call it recycling… others would call it wasteful… Marquis called it ‘hobo decontamination’.
Upon opening the door, Phoebe was surprised to see that Princess Celestia was outside. “Good afternoon, Phoebe. May I please come in?”
“Of course, but it’s still kinda a mess.” Phoebe replied, stepping away from the door and allowing her inside. The mess wasn’t quite the first thing the Alicorn noticed upon stepping hoof into the room. Instead, she soon saw something to the left of the entryway before looking back at Phoebe.
“Uh… would you happen to have made a bookfort in your spare time?” She asked, pointing it out to her as the two of them noticed it. “Or did Twilight happen to spend the night here… again?”
“Slept over again. Why are you here, mother?”
“Well, I was wanting to see the progress with the project the two of you were working on,” The princess replied, using her levitation magic to take off the roof of the bookfort… to find Twilight sleeping underneath something that wasn’t a blanket. “Would those happen to belong to you, Phoebe?”
By the time Phoebe noticed, her butler Marquis was done with the task he was assigned as he joined the two of them. “Ah, pleasure to see you, Princess Celestia… Say, is that Ms. Sparkle sleeping under your design schematics?”
Phoebe’s face turned red as she seethed. “Yes…” The blonde woman tugged the schematic away from Twilight. “Stupid failed project that ran away...”
That… caught the princess by surprise. “Ran away?”
“Another type of Marquis that was designed as a children's entertainment or something, I forgot about it. Built the blasted thing and it ran off to do… Something…” Phoebe grumbled.
“Should I… be concerned?” Celestia asked.
“Not quite,” Marquis interjected. “Unlike me, this other project did not have any form of weaponry equipped because it was designed primarily for child care… almost like a ‘nanny’ if that’s the proper term for it. The name for the bot was suppose to be ‘Kid Ultra’ because of the tagline that Ms. Phoebe came up for it. “Kid friendly, Ultra dependable”.”
“And it’s not programmed to be violent, so it wouldn’t even punch a slug.” Phoebe added. “I keep the schematic in case the damn thing ends up an actual problem, or if I need an example of a failure, however rare mine are.”
“I see… very well then,” Celestia replied back, looking back at both Phoebe and Marquis. “How about you show me what you are working on as of right now.”
“Right away…” Phoebe tapped Twilight’s horn with her foot. “Wake up Twily!”
“W-what?” She said in a dazed slumber. “What is happening? W-where’s my LSBFF?”
“Mom wants to see our creation.” Phoebe answered plainly. “Thought you’d want to be awake.” Twilight yawned a little, shaking her head to make sure that her mane was straightened out.
“I needed to rest my brain. I felt like I overused it after I began studying all those other schematics since you said you would work on the finishing touches…… what?” Twilight asked, before Marquis made a logical guess and asked a question.
“Ms. Sparkle… did you happen to drink Ms. Phoebe’s coffee in doing so?” All that happened next was a blush slowly becoming visible on Twilight’s face as Phoebe looked back at her in shock.
“You drank my coffee!?” Phoebe almost screamed.
“W-what? With how fast you were doing things, I had to find a way to keep up, LSBFF!”
“I’ve heard that saying twice now. What does it exactly mean?” Celestia then asked, a little puzzled by what Twilight was trying to say before the unicorn explained it.
“It means Little Sister, Best Friend Forever… and that to me is how I see Phoebe.” She replied before hugging the blond girl around the waist. Phoebe blushed in embarrassment.
“Let’s focus on the presentation. Is it stable enough to wear… BSBFF?” Phoebe was embarrassed about saying Twilight’s nickname.
“Based on previous test results, it’s functioning perfectly,” Twilight told her in response. “Do you have Five Virtues ready?”
“More or less.” Phoebe stated, before grabbing a long metal case that has a handle on it. She then walked behind a black curtain. “I’m getting dressed, don’t come in here!” Her Butler acknowledged what she said as she turned to both Celestia and Twilight and advised them to please look away in the meantime until she was ready.
Finally, Phoebe came out wearing her new battle gown as it flowed behind her. Trims of grey and gold around her hips, the bottom half of the dress and around the shoulders along with a dark cobalt and grey cloth for the dress. Weaved together to fit Phoebe perfectly and expand if she happened to grow taller.
“Oh my… That is… rather stunning…” Celestia replied, a little shocked by Phoebe’s reveal.
“There’s more to it then that,” Twilight replied. “Phoebe, why don’t you show Princess Celestia Five Virtues?”
That just caused the princess to look back at both of them, confused once again. “Like with the previous phrase, I’ve heard that twice now… I’m very curious to know what it is.”
Phoebe pulled out a rapier that matched her dress. “This is Virtue One…” She started, before four more rapiers, slightly different to the first flew out of the changing area, and hovered around Phoebe. “And these are Virtues Two through Five… Haha! They didn’t kill me! Or mortally stab me!”
“That is… rather intriguing. I’m most curious about why you named them ‘Five Virtues’.”
“Phoebe and I came up with the idea based on the original story of the Elements of Harmony that you read to us,” Twilight beamed as she pointed out each blade with an extended hoof. “The main one she holds is a representation of loyalty, followed by laughter, kindness, generosity, and honesty. They can respond to her every motion and also are synched with both the rings on Phoebe’s fingers and the main blade she wields.”
“That’s not even the best part!” Phoebe said, waving the First Virtue from side to side like a conductor, puppeting the other blades. “I can do so much more than just hover a few blades.”
“This is a very well thought out invention I do say so myself,” Celestia complimented both of them. “But there is one thing I’m wondering about… other than the swords, what part of this outfit is based on magic?”
Phoebe looked past Celestia and held her free hand in front of her as a white sphere appeared in her palm, before opening her hand and outstretching her arm, and vanishing in a white flash. The princess herself looked around the room in a surprised state of shock before she felt something lift her crown off of her head and turned to see Phoebe on the second floor of the room while one of her swords had Celestia’s crown lying along it.
“Teleportation without a horn or magical capabilities. I know, I know, it’s a scientific advancement and wonder.” Phoebe said pridefully with a bow.
“This is remarkable! I am rather proud of both of you with being able to accomplish such a feat as this.” She replied as Phoebe came back down and the princess used her magic to put her crown back on her head.
“There’s a lot more to this, but I’m afraid I need to take care of the vomit I feel coming up…” Phoebe said as she started to turn green from her first teleportation journey. “I think I’m gonna be-” She could finish before she desperately ran to her personal bathroom.
“She’ll get used to the effects of it with time, but for the most part, we were able to accomplish everything that you set out for us to do, Princess.” Twilight spoke up to catch her attention.
“I believe that is the case… In fact, because of how successful this was, I’m considering to have the two of you work together more often,” She replied. “Now once Phoebe is done, let her know that dinner will be in two hours. Dress properly because we’re having a special guest coming over tonight.”
After a bit, Phoebe stumbled out, breathing heavily. “Much better… Uh, Marquis, would you be a dear and flush the toilet?”
“Certainly… also, the Princess is waiting on you. She has something to share with you about tonight.” He replied as she made her way back over to Twilight and Celestia.
“Alright- wait… Hey Marquis, do I have any titles like mom? I remember a Princess was usually supposed to be an unmarried or young queen if I remember correctly. Am I a princess?” Phoebe stated as she started to change.
“I address you as Ms. Phoebe since that is your name. Princess Celestia has not addressed you as such, so as of now, I believe addressing you by your name is the best course of action.” Marquis replied. “My designated function is to serve as your butler and in doing so, I address you as ‘Miss’ out of custom.”
“Damn it, I want a title to flaunt and the daughter of Princess Celestia doesn’t sound like flaunting material. I should be addressed as a princess or royalty…” Phoebe grumbled.
“Sometimes, that title needs to be earned. If you would like, I could address you by your full name if that makes you feel more… flaunt-y.” The butler offered.
Phoebe glared at Marquis. “First, f*ck you Marquis-”
“You do realize that Celestia could hear our conversation… and your language.” Marquis added.
Phoebe continued, annoyed by the interruption. “And second, if my cousin Bluefart get’s Prince as a title, I deserve princess. Not mother’s high status, but some form of royalty so that when mother forces me to go to Blood’s birthday parties he doesn’t order me to call him ‘Prince Blueblood’ saying I’m not royalty but mothers pet!” Phoebe’s right eye twitched. She took a deep breath before sighing. “I just want to have a title better than Celestia’s pet… Monkey.” Phoebe shook in anger at that last word.
“I believe you should ask the princess about that personally… and for the record, everypony that has called you as such I proceeded to shoot the daylights out of with Bindlebane.” He added on the side as Phoebe groaned a little.
“She has enough to worry about.” Phoebe replied with a sigh. “I shouldn’t complain. After all, she taught me that a good deed is it’s own reward! And building weapons for my personal use seems to fit the bill.”
“That’s the Phoebe I know!” Marquis replied happily.
“There’s no other!” Phoebe said, covering her mouth as she giggled. Her joy faded as she remembered something. “Wait… What was I doing again? Marquis, what was I going to do?”
“You were changing your clothes in preparation for supper, Ms. Phoebe.” Marquis reminded her, stepping outside the room. “We’ll be outside when you’re ready.”
“Right.” Phoebe said.
Phoebe entered the dining hall, wearing her usual dinner clothes. It wasn’t fancy, but it wasn’t just random clothes either. She was wearing a very presentable silver long sleeved shirt, with a black pencil skirt. Ponies didn’t usually wear shoes, so she didn’t either. Which was fine to her.
But as she entered the dining room, she happened to notice somepony… out of the ordinary inside the room. A stallion with a mane that had a few shades of blue and was wearing a formal red suit to the dinner tonight. Someone that she had not had seen before previously.
“I hope I’m not late.” Phoebe said, stating her presence in the room.
“Actually, you arrived just on time,” Princess Celestia replied back before turning to the guest in the room. “First Major, I would like to introduce you to my adoptive daughter Phoebe Hemsworth IV. Phoebe, this is First Major Shining Armor of the royal guard-.”
“Shiny!!” Both of them heard Twilight shout out in glee as she raced over to the stallion and hugged him. Causing Princess Celestia to giggle… but for Phoebe to just look at the two of them in confusion, and slight jealousy.
“Who is he again?” Phoebe asked, a bit more snide than she intended.
“Shining Armor… First Major in the Royal Guard… and Twilight’s older brother.” Celestia clarified for her as she began to explain thoroughly so Phoebe could understand. “I thought I would invite him over so I can introduce him to you. I also invited Twilight’s father, Captain Night Light… but he had other priorities to attend to this evening.”
“Twilight, how come you’ve never told me you had a brother… Ever?” Phoebe asked, her eyes narrowing.
“I… forgot.” Twilight replied, looking back at her. “I always forget about mentioning him. Sorry LSBFF.”
That small statement happened to be enough to capture Shining’s attention as he looked back at her before looking at Phoebe. “Wait, I’m the one that calls you LSBFF, Twily… Is there something I’m missing here?”
“Both Phoebe and Twilight have seen each other as sisters since Twilight has begun learning under my wing. She is a really gifted individual, let me tell you that Shining.” Princess Celestia replied before looking back at everyone one last time. “Now, we should begin eating before our dinner gets cold.”
“Of course, mom.” Phoebe replied, walking over to the seat next to Celestia on her left and sat down. “What’s for dinner?”
“Tomato soup and sandwiches for tonight. It was served on the table just before you arrived in fact.” The Princess told her as they all sat down to enjoy their meals. However, the taste of envy still remained with Phoebe as she had her gaze focused on Shining Armor throughout dinner. She could understand that Twilight forgot about telling her of her brother… but what they had between them was special. But Shining and Twilight obviously had a deeper bond.
Of course, it could have just been that they hadn’t seen each other in a while. And it wasn’t like anything could possibly have effect Shining’s opinion on her.
BANG!! BANG!! “Don’t even think about trying to disturb them while they are dining, you disgusting hobo cretin!!!!” She heard Marquis shout as he had brought out Hoodini to chase after Prince Blueblood.
“Auntie Celestia, help me!!!”
Phoebe sunk in her seat, starting to feel nervous. “Ehh… Wonder what that was about...”
“AND NEVER CALL MS. PHOEBE A DISGUSTING MONKEY EVER AGAIN!!!”
Phoebe’s face turning just as red as her soup from embarrassment as she shrank even more. For a moment, she thought that Twilight’s brother would be looking down on her… but was caught off guard when she saw him… laughing of all things. Why would he be laughing at the sight of Marquis chasing after Blueblood?
“Serves him right… I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, princess, but we have been receiving a lot of complaints from Prince Blueblood over the most pettiest of reasons. Most of them being over not doing whatever he likes upon request…” The unicorn replied, looking at her and Princess Celestia. “We’re suppose to be the royal guard and protect everypony, not be his personal lackeys… But I am curious about something… Ms. Phoebe?”
“Yes Captain?” The inventor asked.
“I’m… a little curious about something… Did you create that… automaton on your own? It looks like years beyond Equestria’s current technology and… I have to say, I’m quite impressed by it.” The royal guardspony replied.
“Indeed I did,” Phoebe stated pridefully. “It took me a time before I was able to even start, since many of the materials that were in my head didn’t exist here, so I had to make those from scratch.”
“I see… Ms. Phoebe, can I please talk with you about this after dinner? I have something on my mind that I think you may be interested in hearing about.” The unicorn asked her. Now she was rather curious as to what he wanted to discuss with her. The suspense was killing her throughout dinner in fact and by the time that everypony was done eating was when Shining had finally decided to continue with what he was saying. “I’m going to guess that you already know a bit about the Royal Guard around Canterlot?”
“Of course, mother taught me a bit about how it worked.” Phoebe said calmly.
“Well… If I am to be honest with you… the times back then have changed from how they are right now. A lot of our equipment is old and outdated, plus anytime that we do have to use it for some reason, we get scrutinized for using lethal force on civilians…” Shining Armor told her, sighing a little. “There’s nothing in the royal guard’s arsenal right now that could be used as a non lethal alternative to some of the gear we have currently like swords and crossbows.”
Phoebe turned away from Shining. He was confused at this action. However, Phoebe didn’t want the guard to see her devilish grin. See turned back to him, a polite smile adorned her face. “I believe I can assist. But I’ll need some ponies to mass produce whatever I develop.”
“Would you also need some ponies to test the equipment as well? If that is the case, I can talk to the captain and we can get the help you’re looking for.” Shining Armor suggested. “I just would like to know what ideas you had in mind.”
“I was thinking… How do I explain it to a… Normal pony?” Phoebe said, attempting to not be too bluntly rude to the stallion. “Sticks that stun, shields that are made up of energy and suits that protect the body far more better than your brutish armor.”
“You mean batons?” Shining asked for clarification. “I like the ideas, but when it comes to convincing dad… he likes to see it rather than be told about it… When do you think you can get the earliest version of them done by? Like… what’s the word… a prototype?”
“Yes, a prototype. I can have one by the end of the month.” Phoebe said.
“Thank you very much. I am really appreciative of you helping us.”
“Don’t thank me yet, I might get bored doing someone else's work!” Phoebe said with an evil grin.
“I understand. Thankfully, I’ve been stationed here while dad’s doing the new recruit initiation out in the Badlands. It’s a nightmare… but once you get through that, it’ll get easier-.” He stopped speaking just as he heard the door open and another set of hooves echoed throughout the room. Surprising enough, the pony in question was another alicorn. However, unlike Celestia, she had pink fur on the outside and her mane was multiple colors and did not flow with the wind like Celestia’s.
“Oh… hello Shining.” She spoke lightly. But before Phoebe could say anything, Twilight pounced at the alicorn. Squealing in joy and… also making Phoebe both confused… and jealous once again.
“I’m not even going to ask…” Phoebe stated sourly.
“Phoebe, dear,” Princess Celestia spoke up as she looked back at the young girl. “I would like for you to meet Mi Amore Cadenza-.”
“Aunt Celestia, I thought I asked for you to address me by Cadence,” The other alicorn interjected. “It makes remembering my name easier for other ponies.”
“Right… Phoebe, this is Cadence… your cousin. Cadence, this is my adoptive daughter Phoebe.” Celestia corrected herself and introduced her to the pink alicorn.
“Why haven’t I heard about this… cousin of mine?” Phoebe asked venomously.
“She had visited a few times, but if I recall correctly, they were while you were hard at work at finishing Marquis and also during the time that you and Twilight were working on your project together.” Celestia explained to her. It was then that Marquis tipped his hat to Cadence out of courtesy… and when Cadence planted a kiss on the side of Shining’s face.
“Uhh… what was that about?” Twilight asked in confusion, tilting her head a little.
“Oh… right. Uh, Twily, Cadence and I are… dating now.” Shining explained, a little embarrassed in the fact that he forgot to tell her sooner.
Phoebe groaned as she leaned on her palm. “Mom, why do I have so many cousins that just bother me?”
“Phoebe, unlike Blueblood, Cadence is a lot different in personality. Trust me on this one.” Celestia said as Marquis was holding his hat as Hoodini popped out. It startled Cadence, but she soon was amazed by the fact that Marquis and Hoodini were beings that were entirely mechanical. Something that had not been seen before in Equestria’s time.
Cadence was about to say something, but that was when Twilight had an idea. “Ooh! Phoebe! How about you bring out your gown and show Shiny what we made together!”
“Ugh, fine…” Phoebe groaned at the prospect of going back to her room to change… Again. But when she did put it on… it did give her an idea of making her return more… dramatic. As she was preparing to return, she overheard Cadence asking about one particularly touchy subject.
“Uh, Aunt Celestia… forgive me for sounding so bold, but what exactly… is Phoebe?”
“I was going to ask the same thing during dinner, but I didn’t get the chance.” Shining Armor then mentioned. “What is Phoebe, Princess?”
“Well-.”
Phoebe appeared in between Shining and Cadence, and asked them in a dark tone. “Why don’t you ask me yourselves...?”
“Holy-!” That had Shining startled as he fell backwards on the floor. Cadence just sighed as she cleared her throat for a moment before speaking.
“My apologies, I thought you had left the room.” The alicorn told her. “I didn’t mean to offend you, so let me rephrase my question to you then. What is your kind, Ms. Phoebe? And how did you arrive here so suddenly?”
“To answer question two would give you a headache. To sum it up, I duplicated a teleportation spell with science.” Phoebe stated proudly.
“That is… fascinating!” Cadence complimented her, amazed by her battle gown and also the floating swords behind her. “I apologize for sounding… rude, but you didn’t quite answer my first question.”
Phoebe looked away awkwardly. “My species is gone. I’m the last, so really it doesn’t matter. They’re dead, I’m not, and that’s all that matters to me.”
“Oh… I’m sorry if I brought up a touchy subject.” She then apologized.
“No, really? I haven’t even told mother what I am no matter how much she probes me, so what chance do you think you’d have?” Phoebe dared her.
“Is that suppose to be a challenge?” The alicorn asked Phoebe with a raised eyebrow. “Because I only asked so that way I don’t insult you after I heard what happen to Blueblood for the last dozen times already.”
“I’m Phoebe… Celestia’s daughter- adopted, but nonetheless family. I make things better than you catch air, and that’s all you need to know about me, Hearts and Hooves Day candy reject.” Phoebe said venomously.
“Right…” She replied, taking to opportunity to change subjects. “Speaking of which, I’m pretty impressed by your gown. I take it that you designed it to teleport yourself without the use of magic?”
“Well…” Phoebe looked away. The teleportation was mostly magic with a few of Phoebe’s ideas, so really she didn’t make that. “Yeah… But that didn’t work…” She grumbled the last part under her breath.
“We worked on it together!” Twilight beamed as she appeared by Phoebe’s side and looked at Cadence. “Even her swords are based on the Elements of Harmony!”
“Science was the real benefactor here though…” Phoebe muttered.
“And I’m most certainly surprised by it… I’m really impressed by both of your talents. Twilight with her magic and Phoebe with her technology and science. I expect to hear great things about both of you in the near future…” Cadence said as she noticed that Shining Armor was in a stunned daze. “All while Shining here is still trying to process how his little sister has grown up so fast.”
“I…… think you broke big brother, Phoebe.” Twilight giggled.
“How?” The blonde asked.
“He gets startled rather easily…” Cadence giggled. “Trust me, he did the same thing once Twilight teleported out of nowhere to tell him the news of being Aunt Celestia’s student.”
“So! If me showing off is done now, I’ll be heading back to my room to work on those military stuff.” Phoebe announced, making her way back to her room and closing the door behind her.
