//------------------------------//
// Interlude I: Growing up 
// Story: Love you again? 
// by Cynthrey 
//------------------------------//


~


“... the children have adapted well to the animals, Celestia even gave herself the task of naming them all, I would like to know how long it will take to lose her patience confusing the sheeps. Discord was, rather, disdain. What else could you expect that child?

His new skills alarm me.

His race was sometimes called the "Distorters", not without reason. They were able to alter whatever they wanted if it was within their abilities. There were no more than a few thousand but all there were were unique in appearance or abilities, not even the few twins who were born had similar aspects. There were those who could alter the passage of the seasons, completely ignore the laws of physics, control the passage of time. But child is different from everything he has seen or heard of his ancestry.

I have seen him make objects appear out of nothing. He does not use teleportation spells, he creates them.

It is not only his skills that concern me, but also the age at which he manifests them. That child is only a few months away from his ninth birthday and he is capable of doing things that require a spell to be performed, but his thought is enough or a simple gesture to carry them out. The best sorcerers in the world take all their lives to develop these skills and still have a rudimentary skill.

Such facts could only be made by a god.

If the power of a god does truly resides in a being as unpredictable as a draconequus, then our destiny is sealed...”


~


“... Celestia has started her fighting lessons a few weeks ago but she shows great combat ability despite her short 7 years of age. Someone on this sealed earth does not stop puffing their chest with pride every time they sees her training on her own.

Discord for his part has shown a great interest in music since he found a lute in the attic. Obviously I could not resist his request to teach him and he turns out to be a born musician.

These children have shared everything since they know each other and their knowledge is no exception. I have seen Celestia teach him the combat movements she has learned, while he teaches her how to sing and play music. She says that she trains him so that if she is not with him some day then he can protect himself long enough for her to find him and help him. He, on the other hand, says that he simply wants to see if Celestia also has a beautiful voice. Liar rogue, I know that is not his motive.

This looks like a house of erudites.

Sometimes I wonder: If we had another child, what would they highlight? Would they be a great writer? An athlete comparable only to a pegasus? A portentous sorcerer?

I suppose…"


~


“... How little head do he think I have? I know the contempt he has for Discord or, I should say, fear.

If he has decided lately to also polish Celestia’s magic abilities, it is because he fears that Discord will overcome them and she will not be able to face him.

Galaxus has many good qualities. He is brave, determined, nothing is more important for him than the welfare of his family, he is loyal in many ways, and he has never laid a finger on Celestia or me, even if he loses his temper, even with Discord he has been a little pious and only reprimands him when he has done something really serious. But he is distrustful, prejudiced and cannot leave the past behind. He annoys me.

I know the prophecy as well as he does. I know what a god writes in lartsecna will happen eventually. If only he knew

He is so blind he does not see someone can have a pure heart if they are given an opportunity or blood does not influence someone’s actions if it is corrected in time.

Discord is not like the rest of his race. Even they had a kind soul once but they took the wrong way and that led them to their destination. That brought Discord to us.

Discord is different, I know. I have seen it…”


~


“... Archery, fencing, hand-to-hand combat, Celestia has learned all this and more in just 4 years. She has also proven great dexterity and power with magic. I cannot lie, I'm proud.

Having trained she relieves me. The situation in Equestria has become somewhat unstable. Every time we go to the market we hear people complaining whether they cannot trust anyone or that we do not save them again.

I think I finally understand the reason why Father always stays away from the earthly world, far from the mortals it created.

Sometimes that same reason makes me think that maybe we should never have come to earth beyond this, but then I see my family and my doubts vanish.

Even so it bothers me that Celestia teaches what she has learned to that draconequus. I have forbidden her to do it but I know that my words have no value for her. I have seen them training in secret and every time she does it is when she only makes me feel disappointed and worried. With his powers and training for combat, only Exodo knows how dangerous that monster can be...”


~


“I have been smiling for hours, I know I look silly but why should not I do it if Nebula is expecting another child.

Celestia does not disapprove the news either?" She screamed like a possessed, jumped into her mother's arms and with the same joy burst into tears just told her she would be a big sister in a matter of months.

I lost count of how many times I heard her murmur: “I am going to have a brother, I am going to have a brother, I am going to have a brother...”, always with a huge and bright smile while her eyes were lost in her fantasies. I could not help but laugh at each time she noticed I saw her behaving that way.

Discord was also glad for the news, but I feel his joy is due to Nebula’s. He has never seen Celestia as a sister and I doubt he sees the new child differently, he just sees my wife as his mother and her happiness is enough reason to provoke the same feeling to him.

As much as I hate to admit it, he loves her. For him she is his mother and if she is happy, he is too ...”


~


“... last night he went to the cave and returned as if he had seen how much horror the outside world could offer, even, no, more so.

Celestia also worries me. Since this morning she has acted distant, the brightness of childlike wonder that shone in her face just by looking at the sky has vanished, not even with Discord has she shown, what I believed, her eternal joy. I tried to talk to her but she only excused herself with a task she had to do. Discord had no better luck, not at all. He told me trying to get an answer all he could earn was a scream from her side, an almost desperate scream that was soon succeeded by a disheartened weeping that Discord hardly managed to stop.

My sun, my love: What makes you so tormented?...”


~


“... I wish I had bitten my tongue today. I asked Galaxus for a reason for his recent behavior, since he did not give me an answer I threatened to use my vision to know what had happened and in a matter of seconds he stopped me looking at me with terror.

“Please, forgive me. I would tell you everything if it was not a risk, if I knew some way to soften this that torments me and make it less painful, then I would tell you. But you see what it has done me to know what I know. If something happened to our child or you because of my indiscretion, I would never...”

He could not continue from that point, tears did not let him. The last time I saw him cry for the happiness Celestia's birth caused to him, this was the first time I saw him cry out of fear and helplessness. I sang to him to calm him down until he fell asleep. I never imagined seeing him like that, so weak, helpless and insecure, now that I have seen him my fears have increased.

What could he have seen to be in that state?

I want to help him, but if truly my intervention can only bring more harm than good.

He is already too broken, hurting it more would be a cruelty worthy of Armageddon...”


~


“... Right now I have so many things in my head I am almost glad that boy is here.

Celestia's mind is as full of thoughts as I have mine, but that draconequus has managed to distract her either by entertaining her like a jester or by annoying her with her jokes. He also entertains Nebula singing to her, playing music, dancing or the three of them unanimously.

That was the original purpose of his race. Bringing joy to those around them was their reason for existing, until they found their own fun in the suffering of others.

Unlike my wife and daughter, I have no appreciation for that draconequus. His dark destiny is not my main concern.

It is someone else's fate that worries me.

Father, please...”


~


“Luna. That is the name we chose for our new daughter.”


~


“Why did not I destroy that damn prophecy as soon as I saw it? Because I did not want to accept it? Because I did want to find a method, whatever it was, to avoid it?

I simply do not have forgiveness for that decision.

If I had just ignored that denial, if I had only erased that torment, then she would not have to suffer in this way...”


~


“... I did what I should have done months ago: I destroyed the engraving. I will not let that prophecy cause my family more pain.

I still cannot forget her crying. It was horrible. I saw less devastation when the draconequus went mad than with each tear fell. Meanwhile I was there, hugging her, unable to do anything to calm her down.

Why should I be so impotent when I want to help my family? I caused that pain and I can not do anything to appease it? To comfort the woman I love and who I would walk barefoot through the most horrible abysses of Tartarus?...”


~


“...Equestria does not seem to have a minute of peace. Only a little over a decade has passed since the last conflict was resolved and now a new evil is rising.

In the markets has spread the rumor of the rulers who are in our search to put an end to this new conflict. If the search intensifies they could not only find us but also our home.

We live in Earth Heaven because it is impossible for us to return to the next plane, and our daughters could not have even gone because they were born with a body besides their soul. If we had stayed in Equestria or in Old Land, we would have had to live wandering around praying they would not find us...”


~


“... I have spent days searching for an answer to what this new evil could be and once again the remedy has ended up being worse than the disease.

I had already seen these beings when we lived above all with Father. They are being like us, without a real purpose, that was the reason for their corruption, not having a reason to exist since their creation led them to form their own objective, which seems to be to take over the world they were born in.

I fear I do not understand that desire for conquest. Is it that they feel so empty inside they believe taking what belongs to others will be completed? What will they do if they discover it did not fill them?

Beyond this small land maybe the children are spoken of us as angels, reigning beings, who sit next to the Creator as a son sits next to his father, with a castle of gold walls and diamond windows with enough servants to make a town. Nothing further from reality. Here we are not different from many farmers and workers, we have nothing which can be considered of great value and yet we are happy.

In this small land is what I love most in the universe, they are my purpose, I do not need more...”


~