//------------------------------// // 16. Spirit Guides // Story: Age of the Alicorns: Chaos Rising // by AleximusPrime //------------------------------// CHAPTER 16:  Spirit Guides Back in the royal tower, Celestia was in her room, going through her textbook one last time. “Alright, Tia, you got this.  Just one last run-through and then it’s bed-time.” She then closed her book and went over to a large mirror hanging on her wall. “AHEM!  General Leogle.  I want to apologize if our presence in your domain made you uncomfortable last time……but I am glad that you decided to return and talk with us again.” She took out a couple of notes she had written in case she forgets what to say, and looked at them real quick. “Now I know you are probably wondering about the economic status of both the Griffon Province and the Everfree City…No no that didn’t sound good.” She cleared her throat and tried again. “Now, about the conditions of the economy in both our regions…no…Now, as you may have already noticed, our economy has not been doing so well lately…eh, if I say that he’s going to think we’re blaming him.  Alright, start over.” Tia stretched her neck out, shook her head a bit and cleared her throat one last time. “General Leogle, I want to apologize for the results of our last meeting.  I am sorry if our presence disturbed you, but my sister and I are ready to talk with you in a …more civilized manner…no, a more respectful manner…” She paused for a second, and then started to look worried. “Why is this so hard?  Is there any way I can say this without offending him?  Come on, Tia, you can do this!  Alright, right where I left off.  AHEM!  Now, the economy for both our societies has obviously not been doing too well.  As a result, if you are willing to make amends and join the Equestrian government again, I would be happy to allow this.” Celestia rolled her eyes and then covered her face with one of her hoof. “UUUGGGHHH!  That sounded bad too!” She sighed and miserably walked out to her balcony where the sun was about ready to set.  As she used her magic to set the sun, she started talking to herself. “Maybe I’m not ready for this after all.  Should I tell Father we could postpone the meeting, or would that make the general impatient?  I mean I’m trying to be as persuasive as I can.  I don’t want a repeat of what happened with Grumblebog…” “What is stopping you, young princess?” said a very faint and high-pitched voice that seemed to be echoing in her head. Celestia’s ears perked up and her eyes widened. “What?!  Who……who said that?  Where are you?” She turned her head around to see if she could find the source of the voice, but no one was there. “The sun, Little One.  Look to the sun.” Celestia followed the mysterious instructions and squinted at the sun which was partly visible, and thankfully faint enough for her to not hurt her eyes.  Suddenly the sun appeared to be growing in size!  The voice started laughing a little, and the sun slowly turned around to reveal two different-sized eyes and a large grinning mouth.  It had a face!  The sun was alive! “AGH!” Celestia squealed. “Fear not, Princess, I will not hurt you!” said the sun. He then grew two little floating paw-like structures similar to the claws of a dragon or any other animal with digitals at the end of their extremities.  The technical term for these body parts was “hands”, though that was only used for primates and other similar creatures that inhabited Equestria.  Besides his hands were some sharp little feet that almost resembled shoes.  He had no arms or legs, his hands and feet just floated around his head, which was also his body.  He was engulfed in a gentle yellow flame that flickered about. “What in the wide world of Equestria are you?” Celestia said, perplexed by this strange entity. He then moved away from where the sun was to reveal he was not actually the sun; he just appeared right where it was.  He landed right on top of the rail outlining the edge of the balcony with his hands open and a big smile on his face. “I am your spirit guide, Princess Celestia.” he told her. “Spirit guide?” she asked.  “I have a ‘spirit guide’?” “Sooo, you haven’t been educated about us spirit guides before, have you?” he asked her as he walked about on the rail rather comically. “I don’t think so.  What is your purpose?” “Well Princess, we guides don’t actually come out that often, you see.  Most of us only appear in times of great peril.” “Times of great peril?” Celestia looked down, realizing that this ‘guide’ was undoubtedly here to help her with her assignment for tomorrow. “Are…are you here because I’m scared about tomorrow’s negotiations?” she asked him. The “sun” levitated and his feet moved behind his body where they could not be seen until he needed to use them again.  He continued hovering around Celestia as he talked. “Of course, my little pony.” he said.  “You appear to be rather melancholy.  Why is this?” “Well, I don’t know.  I guess all the thoughts of me failing this test are running through my head still.  I mean, I don’t know what went wrong the first two times.  I did everything by the books.  I’ve been as persuasive as possible.” “Aaaah, but perhaps that is your weakness, young pony.” “My weakness?  What, the part about me being persuasive?” “Indeed.  Unfortunately, due to the fact I have been around for soooo many centuries, my advice may seem outdated and not recommendable for you at this…current point in time.” “Um…I’m not sure I follow, spirit guide.” Celestia said, confusedly. “What I mean is, back in my time, ponies were not too reliant on your…persuasion.” The sun spirit guide moved up close to Celestia’s ear and said the word “persuasion” in a rather sinister voice. “Are you saying persuasion is not a good thing?” the princess asked. “Well, it’s not necessarily a bad thing, per se, but have you seen what good it has done for you so far?” “But…but I wasn’t really at fault; something just seems wrong with the general and that dragon.  The general is actually willing to come back here, so I think he realizes he was in the wrong now.” “If you’d ask me, that general is not quite as strong as he thinks he is.  You don’t know him like I do; I’ve witnessed that griffon’s attitude.  He’s tough and good with battle strategies, but he’s clearly not fit for leadership.” “Well……he was pretty nasty when we talked to him.” “That’s right, Princess.  The General has reached a point where he’s going to need to be talked down to if you want to get anywhere with him.  If your last meeting is of any indication, you’d be far better off showing that old buzzard who’s boss.” “Wait, are you saying we’d be better off being forceful rather than persuasive to him?!” Celestia said with a bit of anger in her voice. “Well why not?  Have you seen how effective it’s been for your father before?” “My father?” He floated in front of Celestia’s face, and put his hands together to produce a small orb, showing flashbacks of her father in his younger years. “Your father used force in order to win that war against the ice minotaurs centuries before you were even born.  He also placed harsh sanctions on other nations that have attacked Equestria in the past.  And of course, there were times when he would take executive action to make decisions that he should have gone to the parliament on, all just to win these battles and make sure there was peace and order.  That’s kind of what you’re trying to do right now.  Is your father no different from General Leogle?” “Spirit guide, those were times when it was necessary because he was dealing with unruliness from others.  Persuasion wouldn’t work on warmongering beings like the ice minotaurs.” “Ah, but Princess, you don’t understand: you’re already facing a being who’s putting himself on the same level as the minotaurs did.  Who knows what’s gotten into Leogle but he sure showed you he means business last time.  He hasn’t changed at all.  If he barks, you bark back louder.  Show him your dominance and make him cower in fear.” The more this “spirit guide” continued to talk, the scarier his voice became and the easier it seemed to listen to him somehow.  It’s as if his wisdom was so accurate, even if it didn’t match the same wisdom that had been passed down by her elders.  Celestia was actually starting to believe him. “I…I don’t know, spirit guide.  Is it really a good idea to-“ “Do you want to grow up to be a doormat, Princess?” he asked in a very grave tone. “N…no.” “Then it’s time you start taking charge.  Your parents will thank you in the end.  You are going to be leading this country someday, and if you don’t act now you’d end up a weak leader.” “But…what about Luna?” Celestia asked him. “Oh, pfft!  Don’t worry about that little filly right now.  You saw how unprofessionally she handles her studies.  Your sister is so naïve.  This is all up to you, Celestia.  You have the power to change this country, and you’re not going to do it if you just act nice all the time.  Trust me, little princess of the sun…force…is much better…than persuasion. The spirit guide moved right in front of Celestia and spoke deeply.  His eyes began swirling around, causing Celestia’s to do the same.  For a moment, she realized she was being hypnotized and compelled to do something she didn’t want to do.  She would have snapped out of it, but then suddenly she forgot everything else and all that the spirit guide had told her seemed true.  She saw herself being a powerful and feared leader where no one questioned her, and she liked it.  She reveled in the thought of her coming out on top and being the one that nopony would dare question.  Without realizing it, a shiny aura appeared over her body and moved downward, leaving behind slightly unsaturated colors.  A wicked smile appeared on her face, and her eyes went back to normal. “Yes…you’re right, spirit guide.” she said, menacingly. “That’s the spirit, Princess!” said the little fireball jumping up and down in joy.  “That’s the kind of leader this country wants!” “I’ll do it.  I’ll make General Leogle wish he’d never spoken so harshly to me.  He has no idea what’s coming to him tomorrow morning.” The fiery little spirit guide rubbed his hands together while giggling as he flew away back to where the sun was, and by some mysterious force, the sun had already been set without Celestia’s magic. On the other side of the royal tower, Luna was out on her balcony, raising the moon.  While doing it, she began questioning her ability to handle her test tomorrow. “I really hope I do alright in those negotiations.  What if I don’t though?” she said. “What if I say something that offends the general?  What if Celestia looks better than me?  Oooooh…this isn’t good!  I’m not sure about this…” “Awww, don’t be like that, Princess!” said a voice very similar to the voice of Celestia’s spirit guide. “What?!  Who’s there?  Show yourself!” Luna said, as if ready to fight. “Now, now, Little Princess, I mean you no harm.” Luna looked around until she saw the moon standing right on the rails of her balcony, as if it had already been brought up.  It had a face with two asymmetrical eyes and a large smiling mouth, with some hands and feet floating around it. “EEEEK!”  Luna fell backwards with her legs in the air.  She looked back up to see it was not actually the moon, just a creature that resembled it: a glowing stone-like orb.  The real moon was up in the eastern horizon where it belonged. “What are you?  What do you want with me?!” she yelped. “It’s alright, Luna.  Like I said, I’m not here to harm you…” The little moon-like being jumped in the air and landed slowly on Luna’s belly as she looked at him. “I am your spirit guide, and I am here to help you!” he said. “You’re here to help me?  With the negotiations, I take it?” “Of course!  I couldn’t help but notice you were a little discouraged, so I thought I’d drop in and see what the trouble is.” He jumped off her belly and landed on the ground walking around.  She got back up and watched him. “Does Tia have a spirit guide too?” she said excitedly. “Let’s not worry about Celestia right now, let’s talk about you.” “Oh, um…okay then.” “You seem to not think you’re not ready for this test just yet, and that you have no hope of passing it. Is that correct?” “Well, I guess you could say that.” said Luna with her ears down.  “Maybe I should sit this one out and let Tia do all the talking or something.” “Oh, Princess, nonono, you MUST go to that meeting tomorrow!  This is your big chance, don’t you see?” The spirit guide got up close in Luna’s face and she stepped back a little. “Well, okay, but how do I know I’ll do well?” “You see, Princess, you have been taught all your life that persuasion is better than force…” “Yes?” “…and all your elders have stressed how good it is to be a persuader rather than being aggressive…” “Uh-huh……go on.” “…yet you have tried that already with both General Leogle and that dragon and they ended up winning.” “Uh………well, I suppose you’re right.” “Yes, so doesn’t this mean that perhaps force would be the better option on the general tomorrow?” “Well…I guess that makes sense actually.  I never thought of it that way…” “Of course it makes sense.  Everyone who has told you otherwise is only doing so because you’re young and they are afraid you’d grow up to be a tyrant if you take the advice I’m giving you.  But since Leogle is already so harsh himself, wouldn’t it be more logical to treat him the same way?” Luna thought hard for a minute and started to look serious.  Due to how young and naïve she was, she started to believe this spirit guide even quicker than Celestia did. “You’re…you’re right, spirit guide.” She said. “Yeeees.” said the “moon” as it started rubbing its hands together. “But…but what about Celestia though?  She’s older and wiser than I am, I can’t just do this on my own…  Accord himself said that we need to work together on this.” The moon looked worried at first, but he was determined to convince this headstrong little filly.  He floated up in front of her again, speaking in a more sinister voice, as his sun counterpart had. “Your sister is too sure of herself, Luna.  She’s smart, I’ll give her that, but she’s clearly overworked herself.  She’ll have her chance to shine again some other day, but now is your turn.” “Um…you’re sure I’m destined to work better without her?” “For right now, yes.  Don’t worry about Celestia.  If anything she’ll learn from tomorrow’s meeting and follow your example instead.  Figuratively speaking, YOU will become the big sister, Luna.  It’s all up to yoooooou.” The moon-shaped spirit guide then started swirling his eyes around and put Luna in the same trance Celestia was in.  She saw the same vision with her being the wise and powerful leader, the fearless alicorn princess of the moon who ruled without opposition.  No Celestia, just Princess Luna, the indisputable.  The aura ran down her body till all that was left was a pony with less color than before. “Yes……yes.” she said with a determined look on her face.  “I can prove my worth.  I’ll show them!  Just because I’m young doesn’t mean I can’t assert myself!  They will all fear the mighty Princess Luna!!” “My work here is done.” said the moon moving back to where he came from, inside the real moon which had already fully risen without Luna’s magic. Celestia and Luna both walked into their rooms with the door in the partition already closed.  Neither of them knew what the other was doing.  They began walking about while taking some fabric and sewing utensils to make some clothes to properly appear before the general tomorrow.  They started to sing of their plans to dominate those negotiations and strike fear into the griffons. (((SONG IN PROGRESS))) As they finished singing, they both blew out their candles and finally went to bed without even needing anymore practice from their textbooks.  They were not nervous at all now.  They finally found the answer to all their problems.  The confidence in them was strong enough to make them fall asleep very fast.  Tomorrow would be their day. Back in Accord’s attic, the shutters were opened and a telescope was visible.  The shutters then closed.  Accord closed the door behind him and walked down the steps into his bedroom with the candle still burning. “Well now…” he said.  “It sure has been a while since I moved any celestial bodies with my magic like that.  Then again, is there anything impossible for me these days?”