//------------------------------// // Chapter XXVII: Distraction // Story: Memoir of Misery // by Silvak //------------------------------// It was a quiet breakfast, as everypony present was barely poking at their meals with their forks or spoons. Even Sapphire was just sitting there, staring at her plate of pancakes with a solemn expression. Luna was also there, albeit she was struggling to stay awake. The only pony that was actually eating their meal was Blueblood, though he was glancing at all the princesses present as he wondered why he was the only one eating. Eventually, Blueblood decided to break the silence as he asked, "Auntie Luna, it's a pleasant surprise to see you dining with us. I take it that your nightly duties were lax this time?" only to flinch back as Luna glared at him. Composing himself, Blueblood said, "Sorry Auntie, I didn't mean any offe—" "It's not you, Blueblood," Sapphire interjected, drawing everypony's attention towards her. Sighing, Sapphire continued, "Luna and I discovered something important in a recently recovered memory that told quite a few things about me." As Blueblood raised an eyebrow at that, Luna ordered, "Nephew, please excuse us, for this is a matter that only alicorns should hear.” Snorting, Blueblood said, "As you desire, Auntie," before calling for a servant to collect his meal as he and the servant left the dining room. That was when Celestia lit her horn, much to Sapphire's confusion as the room's doors glowed for a brief moment. "Just placing a silence spell on the room, Sapphire. I'm certain that this is something that you would like to keep a secret, at least for now," Celestia explained, receiving a thankful nod from Sapphire. "Now... since you're not protesting, I take it you're willing to discuss what occurred last night then. Based on what Luna had told me, when you were a filly, you lost your parents to... something. This led you into volunteering to be trained in what we assume to be combat since one of your supposed teachers claimed that you will have your vengeance. Though I will say, I do have reservations about this training being completed or not, since you still la—" "Sapphire, watch out!" Luna declared as she threw a pear at Sapphire, who promptly ducked as the fruit flew over her head. "Luna! What was that for‽" Celestia exclaimed, placing her hooves on the table as she gave Luna a disapproving look while Sapphire raised her head to glare at Luna. "Isn't it obvious sister? Let me demonstrate aga—Cadance, watch out!" Luna replied as she threw a pear at Cadance. Unlike Sapphire, Cadance stared in surprise at the fruit that was approaching her, beaning her on the head as it knocked her off her chair. "How is that obvious‽" Celestia yelled in fury at the attack on her niece, only to grow even angrier as Luna simply gave her sister a smug look. "It's quite simple, sister. As you saw, Cadance and Sapphire reacted differently to having an object thrown at them. Cadance, who has no real combat training, was simply struck by the fruit. Sapphire however, reacted by dodging the attack, hinting that she might actually have some actual training," Luna explained as Celestia gave her an incredulous look. "Luna... dear... that doesn't prove anything since many ponies would react the same way. Besides, Sapphire didn't fare so well when she came across a pack of timberwolves. Now, if she had training, wouldn't she be able to fend them off by herself?" Celestia asked as Cadance climbed into her chair before giving Luna a glare. Rolling her eyes, Luna answered, "Except you said that she was in unicorn form when she was attacked. That meant that her unicorn side was more prominent while her earth pony and pegasi magic were suppressed. This would hamper her instincts and reactions, rending her combat training less effective. Furthermore, didn't you render her emotional sta—" "Alright fine, she might have some combat training, but what are you suggesting? That we should give Sapphire some combat lessons?" Celestia hastily interjected, her eyes darting around a bit as Cadance gave her a confused look. Sapphire on the other hoof, was glaring at Celestia, making her sweat a bit as she let out an awkward laugh at that. "Nay sister, for it may be pointless if Sapphire had received extensive training from her teachers. For all we know, she could be highly skilled and the mere presence of combat training could trigger her training and lead to any ponies involved being injured, or far worse. Instead, I will devote a portion of Sapphire's memory recovery towards trying to finding memories of her training sessions, with the latest memory serving as a starting point. That is, if Sapphire permits it," Luna explained as everypony looked at Sapphire. Rolling her eyes, Sapphire answered, "Sure, it's not like we were making much progress watching my younger me play games or do mundane things. It might be... unpleasant, but if this works, then I might remember something useful if I ever become endangered." Raising an eyebrow, Cadance said, "Sapphire, I know you're still upset about what you just remembered. If you want Auntie Luna to give you a bre—" until Sapphire held a hoof out to interrupt her. Taking a deep breath, Sapphire replied, "Cadance, I am upset... but I don't want to sit around and let my mind dwell on it. With Luna's way, I might even recover my memories of mourning and eventually recover from the loss of my parents. I rather just try to do something to keep my mind off things for the time being. Also... I think I would like to put off my vacation to another time... at least until I can actually enjoy it," as she turned her attention to Celestia. Solemnly looking at Sapphire, Celestia replied, "As you desire, though I don't actually have anything planned for you today. So, that being said, would you like to accompany me to a party in Ponyville today?" Raising an eyebrow Sapphire asked, "Why didn't you ask me about this sooner? Or better yet, why didn’t you bring it up when I came back?!" "Well, you displayed a distaste for being forced to going to parties, and since you were on va—" "Lousy excuse. When are we going, and is Pinkie catering?" "Princess Sapph—" "You too? Really?" Sapphire asked as she stood next to Princess Celestia, interrupting Twilight who was starting to have a panic attack at her sudden appearance. The trio were standing out in front of the Sugarcube Corner, where the two guards that pulled what Sapphire called the 'Princess Chariot' were setting themselves up by the sides of the front door. "Sorry Sapphire, force of habit," Twilight replied with a mild smile that only caused Sapphire to raise her eyebrow in response. "That implies that you've been calling me that a lot lately, you know," Sapphire countered, causing Twilight to sweat a bit before Celestia let out a chuckle. "It's an honest mistake Sapphire. Besides, wouldn't you rather be inside enjoying the Cake's cooking instead of griping about your title?" Celestia proposed, causing Sapphire to give her an annoyed look before letting out a sigh. "Fine, you win this round," Sapphire conceded as she walked past a confused Twilight and into the bakery, where she saw half of the Elements along with some of the town's residents who were milling about. Spotting the dessert table stacked with sweets, Sapphire made a beeline towards it as she noticed that Applejack was sitting near it as well. "Well, there goes all the food," Applejack joked as she saw Sapphire approaching the table. "Relax, I had a big breakfast before I arrived. Though it is nice that you're not calling me by my honorifics like Rarity and Twilight," Sapphire replied with a smile as she took a chocolate pie and started to eat it slowly. After eyeing Sapphire's eating pace, Applejack shook her head as she stated, "Well shoot sugarcube, ya were a good friend before turning into an alicorn, and I already knew that ya weren't the kind of mare for such unnecessary talk." "Yeah, I hear enough of that from all the no—" Sapphire started to say till she was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a plate stacked with pastries that was at a height that even rivaled Celestia's own height. "Hi Sapphire! Hope you're enjoying the party!" Pinkie exclaimed before disappearing in a puff of pink smoke. While Sapphire was blinking at the sudden display, Applejack just rolled her eyes as she commented, "Well, I reckon that we have plenty of food now for everypony." Shrugging, Sapphire said, "Yeah, so that means..." before she started to stuff her face with food, causing Applejack to snort in amusement. As Sapphire watched Celestia and Twilight walk into the bakery with Celestia bringing a birdcage along, Applejack replied, "Well, that's the Sapphire I know. Though... unless my eyes are foolin' me, it looks like ya grown a bit taller Sapphire." "Well, I am an alicorn, and since Luna and Celestia are bigger than most ponies..." Sapphire said with a shrug as she stuffed an apple fritter down her throat. "The doctors think that I'll keep growing until I reach a comparable height to match th—what is Rarity doing?" Sapphire asked as she noticed that Rarity was in the dress she made for the gala while keeping her distance from some ponies. "Oh, Rares just want to impress the princess with her dress, which is silly since you're a princess and practically lived with her for some time. Which, incidentally is startin' to get some tourists that wanted to see one of your former 'abodes'. Even your house is getting some visitors as well," Applejack stated as she looked at each of the dishes before her. "Peachy, just peachy," Sapphire mumbled as she stuffed a few cookies into her maw. "At the very least, the guards keep them from hounding me at the palace. I'm pretty certain that if they followed me around twenty-four seven, it would have driven me nuts. Anyways, how are things been for you and the rest of the girls?" "Oh, nothin' much. Just that Fluttershy quit her job as a model cause she just didn't like all the pressure that came from it. Then there was a trip to some family down to Appleloosa that got a tad bit messy," Applejack answered as she lingered her eyes over some kind of salad. Noticing Applejack's hesitation, Sapphire just shook her head she asked, "Why can't you make up your mind about what you're going to eat Applejack?" Blushing as she looked at Sapphire, Applejack answered, "Well... I don't know what I should be eatin' first, and I don't want to disrespect Princess Celestia..." Cocking an eyebrow, Sapphire countered, "Applejack, you're eating next to me." Blinking, Applejack blushed a bit more as she replied, "Ya got a point there sugarcube. Seems a tad bit silly to worry about table manners since ya don't give two hoots about that," before she started to tear into the food. Shaking her head in amusement, Sapphire was moving onto a cake when she noticed Pinkie right by her side, a curious look on her face as she stared at Sapphire. This prompted Sapphire to ask, "What is it Pinkie?" "Oh nothing, just trying to figure out how old you are since you're an alicorn so that when you remember when your birthday is, I can give you the right number of candles on your cake. Or cakes if we miss one or two of them!" Pinkie answered with a smile. Waving a hoof off, Sapphire stated, "Bah, it's nothing to be too worried about. I'm probably around your age, so no worries," as she was about to stuff the cake into her mouth, only to be stopped by Celestia making an announcement. "I'm sorry everypony, but I have to take my leave. The mayor has requested an audience with me, but don't let my departure mark the end of your party since Princess Sapphire is still here to attend to it," Celestia declared as she got up and made her way towards the front door. As Sapphire grunted before finally taking a bite out of her cake, Celestia paused right in front of Pinkie as she turned her head to look at her. "Oh, as to your curiosity, the doctors actually have an estimate of Sapphire's age. Turns out that she's probably in her early thirties, not early twenties like you Pinkie Pie," Celestia stated, causing Sapphire to spit her food out at the unfortunate pony to be standing in front of her. Which so happened to be Twilight, who promptly let out a shriek of surprise as she was now covered by partly chewed strawberry cake chunks.