//------------------------------// // Part II - Chapter 11: Set To Rights // Story: Alicornae: The Legend of Starlit Sky // by PortalJumper //------------------------------// Alicornae: The Legend of Starlit Sky Part II - Chapter 11: Set To Rights * * * The mood outside the House of the Rising Sun was tense, and Setting Sun knew that the only thing holding the tension was everypony else's staggering confusion. The world had shattered apart and left them in a moonlit wasteland with the House itself in dilapidated ruin, and nopony wanted to be the one to say the first word. Applejack limped her way through the gathered ponies that once formed the Vox Solaris, their bodies no longer clad with their white and gold robes, and nopony made much motion to stop her from approaching Sun. She gestured for him to follow her well away from the crowd. "Was this Celestia?" Applejack asked, worry heavy in her voice. "Your guess is as good as mine," Sun replied. "I had figured that Celestia was using powerful magic to hide Sunspire, but using it to make Sunspire is a whole other tier of skill." "So Starlit did this?" "I think she might've convinced Celestia to break the spell, but there's no way she would've had enough magic to break it on her own if that's what you're asking." Seemingly satisfied, Applejack fell silent. She plopped down onto the cracked earth, looking truly tired for the first time that Sun could remember, and he quietly joined her. Together they watched the assembled Vox ponies mill about in the moonlight. Some looked worried, others upset, and they all didn't seem to know what to do with themselves. "Thank you Sun," Applejack said softly after a while. "I had you misjudged." "How so?" Sun asked. "After what happened with Thunder Lane all those years ago, when you stabbed him with your horn, it colored the way I thought about you. I had you figured for a different sort of stallion, and I can see now how wrong I was." "If it makes any difference, I'd say we were both at fault for that one," Sun replied. "I never tried to clarify what had happened, for starters." "You avoided me like the plague, if I recall," Applejack replied with a chuckle. "You had me slapped in irons, what did you expect?" Sun retorted. "For us to get all buddy-buddy, have a drink down at Cherry Blossom's after you finished processing me?" "For all the hassle you gave Thunder and I that day, I'd say a drink would've been the start of your repayment. In fact, when we get home, drinks are on you." Home. The notion hit Sun with more weight than he thought it would. Somewhere in the back of his mind he didn't really expect to make it out of Sunspire, but now he had a future to look forward to. Unless what Starlit had told him about the Princesses of old was true, which it seemed more and more likely was the case. "Applejack, I can't go home with you," Sun said. "I'm going to stick with Starlit." "What? Why?" Applejack asked, dumbstruck. "I've got a feeling that whatever her job is, it's not going to end here," Sun answered. "Celestia, Sunspire, everything that's happened to us over the last week is just the beginning, and she's going to need help." "Sun, we need you back home, I need you back home! You're a part of our community, and now that Celestia's curse is broken we'll need more unicorns than ever to help fix up the land and make it arable again." "Applejack, I know you mean well, and if I felt that didn't have to go with her I wouldn't. It's just that so much has happened between us that to part ways now would feel... it would feel like trying to say goodbye to an old friend that you knew was never coming home." "…Or like saying goodbye to a family member," Applejack added, her voice weary and resigned. "Are you sure I can't change your mind?" "I'm afraid not. I'll come back as soon as we're finished with whatever it is that her mission really is, you can put money on that, but for now I feel like she's going to need me more than you." Applejack fell silent for a moment, staring up at the stars with her one good eye. Sun noticed that they were more numerous and bright than he'd ever seen before, and the moon accentuated their shine rather than drowning it out. "Well, far be it for me to keep a stallion from his grand destiny," Applejack said. "I'll save you a seat back at Cherry's place when you do decide to come home, and the first round's on me." "I appreciate that. I'll be sure to get you a nice magical artifact while I'm away to pay for that round." Together they sat in silence once more, taking in each other's company for as long as they could. The cool night air was refreshing and the Vox ponies left them be while they sorted themselves out. It was the most pleasant night Sun could remember having, and he was almost sad when his shared reprieve came to a close. One of the Vox ponies cried out about a pair of ponies approaching from the west, and Sun turned to look for them. The moonlight did enough to highlight their silhouettes, showing that one of the ponies was significantly taller than the other. "Good grief, she actually did it," Sun thought with equal parts relief and trepidation. * * * Starlit and Celestia's shared trek across the Plains to the House was spent in silence. Celestia's was being caused by shock and nerves, no doubt, while Starlit was ruminating over how to get this to shake out in her favor. In the meantime Starlit savored the cool night wind and the lack of sunlight. After over a week spent in blisteringly hot conditions and dealing with constant illumination save for the precious few hours of night that Celestia's illusion would allow for, the presence of a genuine nighttime sky was surprisingly comforting. The wreck that was the House of the Rising Sun still held a certain majesty in its ruined state, but Starlit didn't have time to focus on it. The remaining members of the Vox Solaris were gathered outside of its once proud doors, meaning that Starlit had to break the silence. She motioned to Celestia to follow her behind a boulder. "Celestia, I need you to listen to me," Starlit began, turning to face her charge. "These ponies are likely to be confused and distraught by what's happened to their city, and more than likely they'll want some measure of justice against whoever did this to them." "So you wish for me to placate them?" Celestia asked, her voice soft but firm. "That would be ideal, but I doubt that it's going to happen. What I need you to do is to get them to direct their anger into another avenue than revenge. You know these ponies far better than I do so I'll leave the exact method up to you, but these ponies need an outlet for their anger and confusion that doesn't get anypony else hurt." "It's not them that I'm worried about, Starlit, but myself," Celestia replied. "I lied to them for years, took them from their families, all to prop up a facade that I myself had forgotten was one. I worry that they'll want to tear me limb from limb for what I did to them." Starlit saw the fear etched onto Celestia's face, and knew that she wasn't lying about this. "You're still their Queen, Celestia," Starlit said. "It may have been under false pretenses, but if you were able to get these ponies to kidnap loved ones and brainwash them, then they'll at least hear what you have to say." "And if they don't? If they decide that I'd be better off as a head on a spike, what would you have me do? Murder my own subjects, the only subjects that I have left? It would be an inauspicious beginning to my return to Canterlot if I had a massacre on my hooves." "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, but for now I need you to focus," Starlit replied. She gently took Celestia's hoof in her own from where she sat. It was a technique she'd used on White Eclipse many a time to get her to listen, and it never failed to get her daughter to pay attention. Like clockwork, Celestia looked down to her hoof and back to Starlit. Her face was equal parts mild confusion and shock at another pony's touch, but she didn't recoil. "You are Princess Celestia the Bright, and I believe in you." Celestia looked away when Starlit spoke, letting her head poke over the edge of the boulder to look towards the House. A single tear slid down her cheek as she looked to her subjects, and her eyes spoke what her mouth would not. Celestia would be fine. * * * Celestia couldn't remember the last time she had ever felt so nervous. If it weren't for her walking her knees would be shaking like leaves in a strong wind. If there was one thing in the world she was thankful for, it was her ability to maintain a stoic and serene appearance despite herself. The ponies who had once formed her Vox Solaris looked intimidated as she approached, as well as shocked. She soon realized that they'd never seen her without some sort of armor or other accoutrement decorating her body. With only her crown, she was positively slovenly by comparison. Starlit Sky followed close behind, but stopped short when the angry glares from the Vox started going her direction. She quickly moved around the crowd and joined her companions a few yards away, the crowd falling silent and looking up to Celestia expectantly as she did. Drawing a deep, slow breath, Celestia centered herself. It had been too long since she had had to make a proper speech. "Subjects, friends," Celestia began, "I am certain that you are wondering what has become of the city that we all called home. In some respects I, too, am wondering what happened to Sunspire. I doubt it is for the same reasons that you are, but I wonder it all the same." The crowd started murmuring to themselves, but fell silent once more when Celestia raised a hoof. "I fear that I have not been honest with you, and the time has come that I need to be honest with you. Sadly, I am without my speech-writer, as I'm sure you've noticed that many of our friends and fellow citizens are no longer here. What I say now comes not from another pony's quill, but from my head and my heart." "Sunspire as you knew it was never real," Celestia continued. "It was a grand illusion of my own creation, from the tallest tower to the most insignificant insect, designed to provide safe haven for my subjects while the real thing was rebuilt." The crowd broke out into shouts and cries of despair, as Celestia knew that they would. They were outraged, despondent, and every sort of emotion between the two. She sneaked a quick glance to where Starlit stood, who gave her a subtle gesture to continue. "You lied to us?!" a mare cried out, a sentiment shared by many in the crowd. "Yes, I lied to all of you," Celestia answered, raising her voice to be heard over the din, "as I lied to your predecessors in the Vox Solaris going back centuries." The shouts of accusation and cries for some explanation were all too familiar to Celestia. The memories they brought to the surface of her mind were ones long buried, but now would be their time in the sun. With a flick of her horn a wave of golden energy spread over the crowd. It was purely theatrical with no actual effect embedded into it, but it got the fevered crowd to calm down somewhat. "I wish I could tell you that there was a good explanation for why I trapped you all in my fantasy, but there isn't. I was selfish and in denial of my failings when I made the illusion, and over time I simply forgot about it. You and your ancestors suffered for my transgressions, as have the ponies of what were the Verdant Plains, now scorched by the very sun that once sustained them." "I know that I cannot keep you here any longer, nor will I try," Celestia continued, her stance growing slightly slumped as she spoke. "You had lives and families before I took you from them, and if you so choose I would return you to them. It is the smallest recompense I can offer for what is an unforgivable crime." The crowd was silent for a moment before a few ponies spoke up. The vitriol in their voices was tempered by Celestia's offer, which gave her some small comfort. "What about those of us that have been here for decades?" an older pegasus asked. "What lives do we have to go back to?" "An astute question, and one that I am prepared to answer. If you would all look to the west," Celestia added, directing their gaze to the ruins of her palace With another deep breath she turned with the crowd, focusing her magic to her horn. She was having to recall a very old piece of magic that she never thought she'd have to use again, much less in reverse. The lines of her horn glowed with her golden magic, her mane and tail fluttering faster and faster as a golden glyph circle appeared under new hooves. "Terrescia Vas Nictus," Celestia intoned in the language of her people. The magic from her horn shot into the sky, a thin bright streak of gold cutting through the darkness. It traveled the miles to her throne room before coming down with a flash of light and a great rumbling of the earth. Celestia fell to one knee as the glyph circle dissipated, due only partially to the quaking of the ground beneath her. The crowd grew panicked, and a few ponies began to run for cover befor they were transfixed by the sight on the horizon. A dome of golden magical energy cracked through the dry desert dirt, shielding within it her first kingdom, her first palace. The minarets were decayed, and the city was tiny compared to her illusion, but the sight of it gave Celestia the first pang of real happiness she'd had in centuries. As it rose her throne room buckled and crumbled, and Celestia smiled at its collapse. As the stone slid and tumbled off of the domed shield, Celestia turned back to her startled subjects. She glanced over to Starlit and her companions to find them equally shocked at the resurfacing of her kingdom, and was pleased to see that Starlit wasn't completely unflappable in the face of adversity. "Fillies and gentlecolts, I give you Nova Solis," Celestia announced. "It may not be what you've grown accustomed to, but the society that has flourished there despite my best efforts over the centuries is welcoming and hospitable. Just ask Starlit Sky and Setting Sun." The crowd turned to look at Starlit and Sun, who looked back with an expression that neatly toed the line between abject horror and childish embarrassment. It was all Celestia could do not to laugh at the scene. "For those who I trapped with nowhere else to return to, I would ask you to travel to Nova Solis, or Undersand as the locals refer to it. Tell them of what happened on this night, the good and the bad, and tell them that the Radiant Queen will trouble them no more. I can't be forgiven for what I've done here, but I can work to fix my mistakes; I would simply ask that you all give me the chance" With her speech concluded, Celestia dissipated the shield surrounding Old Sunspire, eliminating any stray debris as she did. The wait for her former subjects' reactions was agonizing but ultimately rewarding when a cherry red stallion walked to the front of the crowd. "Your Majesty," Big Macintosh began, his voice surprisingly meek for his size. "Please, just Celestia from now on, Macintosh," Celestia interjected. "I think we can both agree that I've lost the right to any honorifics I once laid claim to." "Then, Celestia," he continued, "if it wouldn't trouble you too much, I'd like to go home. I've been in denial about my mistakes as well, and it's high time I rectified that." Celestia gave him a soft smile as they both turned to look to Applejack. She glowered at both of them in turn, and Celestia had the impression that she'd have run over to kick her brother in the face were it not for her broken leg. "That can be arranged," Celestia replied, flicking her horn as she did. A shimmering golden portal opened next to her, large enough for several ponies to walk through. "This will take you to wherever you wish to be, be it your homes or Nova Solis," Celestia said to the crowd. "The experience may be disorienting, but it will work without fail. All that I ask in return is that you live well, in spite of what I've done to you." Seeing the portal open, Big Macintosh stepped forward and crossed its threshold. It took a few minutes before the next pony stepped forward to take her offer, but slowly the crowd filtered through the vortex until only Celestia, Starlit, Sun, and Applejack remained. * * * Starlit was the first to approach after everypony else left, and for the first time she could remember since she left home she was genuinely smiling. It felt nice to have something to be unabashedly happy about again. "That went… far better than I expected," Celestia said with a sigh. "Do you think I apologized too much?" "Celestia, I don't think you could ever apologize enough," Starlit answered, "but you did apologize correctly. There's a scarce few ponies that know how to do that, so count yourself lucky in that regard." Starlit turned to look at the recently surfaced Undersand off in the distance, and her smile faded as she thought about Cherry Jubilee. "I will personally speak with Cherry Jubilee and the other leaders in Undersand, to let them know why they suddenly find themselves on the surface," Celestia said, again answering Starlit's question before she asked it. "I doubt that I will be welcome there for long, but they have a right to know what became of their loved ones, and what you did for their city." Celestia and Starlit stood in silence for a time, staring out at the horizon and relishing in their accomplishments. After having suffered so much at her hooves, sharing a moment like this felt unsettling, but not unwelcome. "So, I take it that you're going to return to Twilight and report on your success?" Celestia asked. "It depends on if your portal will take me there," Starlit answered. "I didn't really think much about how I was going to get back to her, if I'm being perfectly honest." "It should be able to get you within the general vicinity of her tree, but you're going to have to make it the rest of the way there yourself. Twilight was an exceptionally accomplished sorceress in her time, and I'm certain that age hasn't dulled her skill." "It certainly hasn't dulled yours," Starlit said. "You just raised a city from the dirt with a thought and some words." "And I saw Twilight lay one low with less than that," Celestia interjected, her voice regaining some of its edge. "While you may work for her, do not trust her;Twilight was always the crafty one." Starlit looked back up at Celestia, her countenance having regained its stoic facade after such a harrowing evening. Starlit thought to ask for clarification, but decided that now wasn't the time. "Then this is where we part ways," Starlit said. "I'd say it was nice to meet you, but if I'm being honest with myself you did kill me once." "Another thing I need to apologize for, I suppose," Celestia replied, "although were it not for that rock around your neck you wouldn't have been able to show me the failure I had become." Celestia looked down at Starlit with an expression of utter seriousness. Her gaze looked like it could cut through iron, and Starlit resisted the urge to back away for fear that she would burst into flames. "Starlit, protect that necklace with everything you have," Celestia warned. "I don't know its exact abilities, but I have seen it used before and the power it wields is terrible indeed." Celestia didn't wait for a response from Starlit before she walked over the where Sun and Applejack were sitting. Starlit absently reached up to the amulet; it's surface was cold, but it thrummed softly in her hoof. A gleam of golden light pulled Starlit out of her own head, and she turned to see Celestia weaving magic around Applejack and Sun. It dissipated as Starlit approached, and she saw that they were both fully healed from their wounds. "Thank you, Celestia," Sun said as he shook his legs out. Applejack didn't reply, only standing back up and walking towards the portal. Before she crossed its threshold she turned back to face Starlit, deciding to come back and speak with her. "Starlit, I don't think I'll ever be able to repay what you've done here," Applejack said, "but I'll do my best for everypony back home. I just need a favor from you to help seal the deal." "Sure, anything you need," Starlit replied. "I need you to take care of Sun for me," Applejack said with a low voice. "He's made the fool decision to join you on your quest to save the world, and I want him to come home in one piece. Think you can manage?" Starlit made a double-take between Sun and Applejack. Sun smiled meekly back at her as Celestia stood by. "I already tried to talk him out of it," Applejack continued, "but he's stubborn as a mule; once he gets an idea in his head there's just no changin' it." Starlit looked back at Sun one last time before turning to face Applejack. Her face said she was fine with Sun's decision, but her eyes told a different tale. "You have my word Applejack," Starlit said. "He'll come back safe and sound at the end of all of this." "That's all I ask," Applejack replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a brother that needs some chores assigned to him. He's got about three years worth of back farm work to catch up on and I aim to collect on that debt." Applejack and Starlit embraced one last time before Applejack waved goodbye and passed through the vortex. A small pit in Starlit's stomach lifted as she left, a weight that had sat inside her since she'd promised Apple Bloom to bring her sister home. It seemed like a lifetime ago that Starlit had comforted a crying child in a run-down saloon. "Well, shall we be off?" Sun asked as he sidled up next to Starlit, causing her to jump. "Sun, if you're going to be in this for the long haul then we need to establish some rules in regards to sneaking up on me," Starlit chided playfully. "Maybe a bell around your neck?" "As a former cat owner," Celestia added as she joined them, "I would say that a bell would do wonders." "See, the Princess thinks it's a good idea," Starlit added. "Just you try to get a bell on me, see what happens." Sun retorted. The three of them shared a laugh at the impromptu silliness, with the sun rising behind them just in time for Starlit and Sun's departure. It's rays were warm and gentle, a sensation that Starlit had missed more than she thought she would. "Starlit, Sun," Celestia said, "I can't thank you enough for what you've done for me and my subjects. I hope I can be the ruler that Equestria needs me to be, but for now I think I'll see some of the country before I make my return to Canterlot. Being cooped up in an illusion for centuries has dulled my knowledge of the outside world and I need to catch up." With a brief bow of the head, Celestia took to the air on her shimmering wings. The sunrise behind them accented her ascent and gave her the radiance that, to Starlit, was what she had been trying to achieve all along. "Starlit, do you think she'll be alright?" Sun asked as the pair walked to the portal. "Sun, I think she'll be better than alright." Starlit answered, stepping through the portal as she did so. * * * The trek back through the forest was largely uneventful, save for Sun tripping over the occasional root and incessantly chattering about all the plant life. Starlit allowed him his excitement given he had never seen this much foliage outside of Applejack's orchard, but was thankful when she finally found her way back to the fog wall in front of the Golden Oak. Hoping that Twilight had added her to the ward's enchantment, Starlit pressed her hoof against the wall and found that she could pierce through it. The cloud dissipated as she stepped forward, allowing Sun to enter the clearing as well. The Oak was as majestic as she remembered it being, with the morning light only adding to its grandeur. Ignoring Sun's proclamations and awestruck wonder, Starlit walked to the front door and rapped on it sharply. After a few minutes there were sounds of shuffling coming from the other side of the door, and the Twilight that greeted her was groggy and far less regal than the Princess Starlit remembered meeting a week ago. "Starlit? Is that you?" Twilight asked as the realization began to hit her. "Twilight, we need to talk," Starlit answered. * * *