Nuance was sound asleep and drooling all over Twilight’s leg. She kept him covered beneath a blanket and used a muffling charm over his ears to keep him from being woken up by all of the noise around them. Not far away, Fluttershy was starting to calm down after having herself a good cry, and Spike had come out of hiding to be with Corbie. Now, if only Rarity would hurry up and get here. Twilight sighed and listened to the sound of Fluttershy sniffling while Rainbow Dash wiped her nose.
Out of the public eye, Rainbow was a different pony altogether…
“Flutters, did you learn anything in your uh, discussion with Radiance?” Applejack reclined on the sofa and was holding a goblet of apple wine in one fetlock. She looked relaxed, which was amazing for the situation, but then again, she had raised Hidden Rose and Ambrosia Apple, not to mention all of her time spent with Sumac. Not much phased Applejack anymore. She was now the stoic veteran of the group, battle-hardened, cool, and cunning.
“Yes!” Fluttershy spat out the word like a bite of bad apple and her eyes welled up with tears once more. Whimpering, she crawled into Rainbow’s embrace and clung to her friend. “Radiance grew up in a horrible, horrible place.”
“Uh, say what?” Applejack’s confusion was genuine, and she began to swirl the wine in her goblet. “I done reckon my ears is messed up something awful, ‘cause I just heard you say that Radiance grew up in someplace awful—”
“He did!” Fluttershy insisted. “I asked him where he learned to be the way he is and he told me!”
“Oh.” Applejack blinked once, took a drink, and shuddered a bit from the burn. “Shucks.”
“Poor little Radiance didn’t grow up in a home… Canterlot Castle is a military base. Radiance thinks he’s a little soldier and he learned to be like this by watching the soldiers in prep camp.” Fluttershy sucked in a wheezing breath, held it for a moment, and then blurted out, “He learned this from his mothers and his father! He thinks everything can be fixed with enough hard discipline!”
“Aww… shit.” Applejack hissed out the vulgar expletive and Corbie, who was chatting with Spike, went silent. The orange earth pony mare slapped her thigh, squeezed her eyes shut, and shouted, “Consarnit, Corbie, don’t say that word or we’ll both get our mouths washed out with soap from yer Ma!”
“Nopony can deliver a dressing-down like Princess Celestia,” Rainbow Dash said while she cuddled a distraught Fluttershy. “Sometimes, she comes to the Wonderbolt’s Flight Camp and gives the newbies a little pep talk. She will absolutely rip them raw and work them to death… but she does have a knack for weeding out the weak ones that don’t belong there.”
“But Gosling is so laid back and—”
“The same Gosling that lead the charge into Ponyville all those years ago?” Rainbow eyeballed Twilight and waited for her friend to come to her senses.
Twilight reconsidered her position and thought about all of the times when Gosling wasn’t a laid back pony. He was still a pegasus and he had proven himself in combat a number of times. Rainbow Dash had trained him in hoof-fu. Gosling knew how to break bones in a lot of creative ways, and even more, he knew his way around the training yard, having learned from both Celestia and Luna.
“They’re not aware of the problem,” Twilight said to her friends, sharing the unwanted and unwelcome conclusion she had reached after a bit of pondering. The stark reality of it all only seemed obvious to those living on the outside of the problem, and with her view from the outside looking in, she had a unique perspective.
“Say again?” Applejack turned her head to look at Twilight.
“They live together in a heavily fortified military installation. This is normal for them. They live in one of the most protected places in all of Equestria, and the place where the various watches get their training—”
“The Underwatch is the most violentest of them all,” Corbie said, interrupting. “Radiance loves to watch them train and he likes to follow Mister Balister around the yard. Mister Balister knows how to sort a pony out.”
A crushing weight settled over Twilight’s back as she began to see the scope of the problem. She could feel panic gnawing at the back of her mind, and she looked over at Seville, wondering if he had anything to say. Much to her disappointment, Seville was silent. “You know, this is why I don’t want guards around my castle. I don’t want them scaring or otherwise traumatising my students. I want this to be a healthy, secure, nurturing environment… and not a military installation.”
“Hun, all of Canterlot is now a military installation, due to all them rats and Contagion.” Applejack took another swig of apple wine, leaving her glass about a third full, and then she belched as she pulled it away from her lips “The whole city has been under siege since… since I dunno when.”
“Canterlot has changed. It’s become more militaristic than Cloudsdale and we’re seeing a radical paradigm shift in tribal roles. More and more unicorns are being called into service to fight supernatural threats. The nobles, once merchants and craftsponies, are rapidly becoming the new warrior caste within our society. Many of the young are getting cutie marks for combat. The unicorns of Canterlot live under a constant state of threat with the city under siege and they are adapting, being shaped by their environment.”
“Spike?” Twilight's mouth fell open, and she had trouble believing what she had just heard come out of her assistant's mouth.
“What?” Spike looked at Twilight, blinking, and then continued, “When I go to Canterlot, I sometimes listen to Princess Celestia’s lectures that she gives in her school. She has an amazing awareness of what is going on, and right now she’s doing a signature series that warns ponies about the rise of fascism in Canterlot, just like it’s been a major problem in Cloudsdale.”
“Spike, what I can I say… I am impressed.” Twilight watched Spike almost smile, and then the little dragon shrugged.
“You taught me to strive for self-improvement. So I do.”
There was a groan from Seville Orange, who closed his eyes and allowed his head to sag. Turning her head and casting him a sidelong glance, Twilight could see the pain on his face as these realisations sank in. There were some hard truths that had to be dealt with, and Seville was just as much one of the Royal Brood’s parents as Gosling, Celestia, and Luna. Her heart went out to him, and she wanted to go to him, but doing so would disturb Nuance.
“I’m gonna fix dinner,” Pinkie Pie announced and she bounced up from where she was sitting. “We’re having pancakes!”
Grunting, Twilight pushed her sticky, empty plate away. She had eaten far too much and now, she was going to pay for it. Pinkie’s pancakes sat in her stomach like a lead cannonball and Twilight had… indulged in a few too many sweet toppings. How Applejack was still eating was anypony’s guess, and how Applejack stayed so trim was still a mystery for a mare her age.
Fluttershy hadn’t eaten much of anything, and had only nibbled at some of the fruit on her plate. She looked distraught, out of sorts, and thoughtful. Twilight was absolutely certain that Fluttershy was trying to think of a solution to this problem. Short of moving the Royal Family out of the castle and into a regular home, Twilight couldn’t think of one.
“Where’s Rarity?” Spike asked.
“I’m sure she’s on her way,” Rainbow replied. “She might have had to wait on a train or there could be a problem we’re not aware of. The telegram was sent though, so she’ll be here.”
“Nuance likes Rarity,” Corbie said while she rubbed her tummy. “He says he’s gonna marry her someday.” The filly began to giggle hard enough to make parts of her jiggle and she smacked her sticky lips together. Her square-framed glasses had maple syrup and whipped cream on them, and she was a total mess.
Hearing this, Spike blinked once and then just stared straight ahead in silence.
“And who are you gonna marry when you grow up, you little scamp?” Applejack leaned over and squinted at Corbie, who stopped giggling. “Well?”
Batting her eyelashes, the filly clopped her two front hooves together, and she now looked quite timid and shy. All of her youthful exuberance and gaiety had fled. “I’m gonna marry my Daddy when I grow up.”
Twilight was shocked that nopony laughed. The silence that now filled the room was serious and without mirth. Corbie was still squirming in her seat, and she banged her front hooves together with muffled clops. Even though her own memory of it was hazy at best, Twilight could remember thinking the same thing when she was very small. She thought of how safe she felt when her father held her, the sound of his voice, and she could even remember how he smelled. Without warning, she felt a few tears crowding the corners of her eyes, and she wiped her face with her foreleg.
“You know,” Applejack said, breaking the silence, “I’d be more worried for the little filly that didn’t want to marry her pa when she grew up. In my not so humble opinion, that’d be a sign of something being wrong. The kinda stallion a filly’s father is determines the sort of pony his daughter will take an interest in.”
“Yeah… my Daddy is kinda special.” Pinkie’s blue eyes blinked—a sign of struggle to contain the coming flood—and her smile quivered. “He’s the best…” Turning her head, she glanced over at Seville, and then just sat there, staring, making no effort to hide it. “Hard working, quiet, dedicated, and a fabulous dancer…”
Just as Twilight was about to say something, Spike beat her to it. “Nuance and I have something in common. At least now, we have something we can talk about.”
Tonight would be the night. She had already sent a summons for Trixie, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and Sumac. Once the little ones were put to bed, Twilight figured that tonight would be as good of a night as any to spill her guts and reveal the ink. It was only a start though; she still had her parents, her family, the princesses, and others that she owed the truth.
Spike was inadvertently assisting her plans by wearing Corbie out with ice cream and treats before bed. Nuance continued to be almost charming, coming around just long enough to demand something before nodding off once more. Twilight felt a growing fondness for him that wasn’t there before and she found herself being affectionate with the little colt.
Rarity had arrived, smelling of soot, smoke, and appearing as though she had fled an active war zone. Frazzled, whining, she had vanished into a bathroom in the guest wing and had not been seen since. For all of her drama, Rarity was still a unicorn, and she could take care of herself in times of trouble. Diamond dogs, harpies, changelings, rats, Rarity had stared down all manner of threats, emerging both fabulous and victorious.
Today was a trying one, no doubt, but some good had come out of it. She had learned things, important things, and these things put everything into perspective. It could also be reasoned that if she could deal with all of this, then it was reasonable to assume that she was ready for motherhood. But to do that, she needed partners. Co-conspirators. Oh, she was in no big hurry, or maybe she was, she had been waiting for eons after all, but she could wait a little longer if necessary.
Twilight suffered a distressing thought; how old was she now?
She didn’t have an answer. She didn’t know. Try as she might, she couldn’t come up with an answer, either. How many times had she made a mistake and had to go back to the beginning of the book? She couldn’t recollect. The years had piled on and she hadn’t noticed. Time became an insignificant thing, devoid of meaning, and she was pretty certain that she had a better understanding of her mentor, Celestia.
Twilight herself was now one of the Celestials of Project Eternity.