Three Hundred and Sixty-Five days until the next Summer Sun Celebration
Before her big break some three years ago, Vinyl had mostly done shows at house parties or maybe even seedier clubs in downtown Manehattan or Canterlot. But ever since Wheel saw one of her shows, she had been on a bit of a fast track. He and his twin brother, Deal, ran a small managing firm in Canterlot. They had helped her so much the last few years, getting her bigger and bigger gigs, her stuff had even been on the radio! And now, now she had just finished a set at the Summer Sun Celebration.
Sweat dripped down the mare’s forehead as she threw up her hooves, sending a roar through the crowd as the stage lights beat down on her from all directions. She would never get tired of this feeling, this energy. It was electric and addictive in the best ways possible. A grin plastered across her face and her eyes lit up behind her trademark shades.
“Thank you, Baltimare! Thank you, Equestria!” She shouted out to the crowd just a few seconds before the lights on the stage all died. The cheering and roar of the crowd kept going as Vinyl walked off the stage. Her knees were weak, her head was spinning a little and her mane was heavy and wet from perspiration. The afterglow of the gods.
Just behind the stage, which was set up in front of Baltimare’s city hall, the organizers had set up a makeshift ‘green room’, which consisted of a tarp tent with an industrial fan attached to the back to combat the humid summer air. It wasn’t luxurious, it wasn’t well equipped or stocked with all the amenities it should be, but it was private and cool.
Vinyl threw open the flap and was greeted to the sight of several other guest musicians. One of them, some bright blue bald pony with equalizer bars for cutie marks, passed by her to follow up her act. She moved by him and found her way to a free spot on a sofa. The fabric was hot and sticky like the air around her, clinging to her legs and flanks as she almost collapsed onto it.
“That was a killer set, DJ.” Vinyl looked to a chair across from her, where the voice came from. A bat pony stallion with a long black mane that covered and obscured most of his face was staring at her behind reflective silver shades that rested on the end of his muzzle. Vinyl recognized him, he wasn’t a friend or anypony she had toured with, but she knew his reputation. His name was just ‘E’, and he was supposedly ‘the most chill’ as one of her friends had described him.
“Hey man, thanks, that means a lot. When do you go on?” Long ago she had learned not to gush over compliments from others. When she had first started and all of these ponies with established names and reputations had complimented her, she’d sorta lost control and started rambling about her music and philosophy and it was just bad. Thank Celestia she got better about it.
“Me? No, I don’t play tonight. I’m here as an emissary.” His voice was mellow, slow and calm. Every word was carefree and said with a lazy smirk. “Here to spread the good word to my fellow children of the night.”
“If you’re peddling drugs, I don’t want any. I don’t do that stuff any more.” Primarily because Twinkle would either dump her, turn her into the guards, or both. None of those options were exactly something she wanted or ever needed to happen to her life. She liked things the way they were.
Speaking of Twinkle, where was he? He was already supposed to be in here when she was done so they could relax together with her contemporaries. Knowing him, he probably forgot where he was headed and was just wandering around now. She’d go find him in a few minutes once she cooled down.
“Drugs? Nah, you don’t get it.” He leaned forward, his glasses falling just enough for Vinyl to see a crescent moon tattooed under one of his eyes. “I went back home, to Thestralia, and I found myself.” E grinned, then stood up and produced a glass bottle from behind his chair. It was filled with what looked like water, glowing ever so slightly. “I found the things that we’ve been held back from here in Equestria, I found my culture and I wanna share it.” Okay, so he was peddling religion. Still not Vinyl’s thing really. The only god that Vinyl even remotely worshipped was Celestia, and at least the Princess had done a lot of tangible things for her.
“Ehhhh…” Vinyl replied noncommittally. The other musicians in the tent all rolled their eyes and looked away. “I mean, that’s cool and all but wouldn’t you rather share that with other bat ponies rather than regular ponies?” It wasn’t that Vinyl wasn’t curious, she just kinda didn’t care. Centuries of Equestrians not caring and even banning travel to Thestralia had left a whole indifference to the culture. It didn’t help that the notion of their culture cultivating the betrayal of Celestia, if not Equestria as a whole, was still commonplace.
“The moon welcomes all children of the night,” E responded cooly. That did not make Vinyl feel any better about the situation. “I will not push, that’s not the way. But there’s a covenant in Canterlot, you should all look into it. There’s one in Las Pegasus and Manehatten. Look into them, open your hearts and minds to the Mother Moon.” Vinyl could only roll her eyes as the stallion continued to preach to the other musicians.
----
Shining blinked and looked around. It was some street in Baltimare, far away from the festivities and surrounded by residences rather than shops and government buildings. How did he get here? He could’ve sworn just a few seconds ago he was walking through the crowd of the concert to get to…somewhere…he forgot where.
The stallion groaned and hung his head, stopping his brief trot and halting in the middle of the street. This happened too often still, far too often. It had gotten better than it was a few years ago, but not fast enough and not good enough.
“It was something about Vinyl…” He mumbled as his magic instinctively reached for a journal he usually kept in his uniform’s breast pocket. The problem being that he wasn’t in uniform and his journal was in his luggage in their hotel room. So only Celestia knows what he was doing. “C’mon, think.” He tapped his temple a few times and sighed.
“Excuse me.” A musical feminine voice came from behind him in the street. He spun around on his back hooves, only to be immediately passed by whoever the voice came from. Again, he turned to follow the pony. It was a mare in full dress uniform. Not Royal Guard, but military dress.
The dark grey uniform was one piece of clothing that stretched from a fitted collar around the neck to all four hooves and even the hindquarters, leaving only the tail and wings of the pony to show. Embroidered lines of a solid color made the seams, the color conveying the position of the wearer while other markings determined their rank. The mare’s color was a mustard yellow, and if he remembered correctly, that meant she was an officer of some kind. The full golden sun surrounded by laurels on either side embossed on her flank let him know that she was a Major. What was she doing here?
“Excuse me, Major,” Shining called out and began to walk after her. Her tail and mane were a deep pink, nearly magenta, and judging from her ears, her pelt was a warm and rich orange. She turned, looking at him with shimmering golden eyes.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I know I bumped into you, just in a bit of a hurry.” Her voice was musical and light on the air. What a mare like her was doing in the service, Shining had no idea. He had only met a handful of military ponies in his life and all of them were…hard, for lack of a better word. Impersonal and gruff.
“Shining Armor, DEqI.” He gave a crisp salute. Technically he was still part of the military, as DEqI was officially recognized as the intelligence wing of the armed forces rather than just a government body, so he could still do salutes.
“Major Parhelia.” She returned the salute, then relaxed. It was then that Shining realized that the mare, Parhelia, was taller than him. By almost a full head at that. It wasn’t often that Shining felt small, but this was one of those times. “I would ask what a spook is doing here, but you guys seem to be everywhere.”
‘Spook’ was a term used for DEqI operatives, usually the spies. Hey, if she thought that Shining was a spy, he wasn’t going to correct her. That was much cooler than his actual job. He would gladly take that upgrade.
“Actually, I think I’m a little lost, Major.” She cocked her head and looked down at him. “I’m supposed to be back at the concert area to meet with someone, but I got a little turned around.”
“I’ll say. You’re on the complete opposite side of the city, Spook.” The mare grinned and reached out to give him a playful push with her hoof. “Do you want me to take you back? I know the way.”
“I couldn’t ask that, Major. You just said you were in a hurry and I don’t want to delay you.” Shining was doing his best to remain formal and polite, even despite her not using his own name. It was his old guard training kicking in to boot.
“Yes, in a hurry to get back to my hotel and into bed.” She started to trot in the opposite direction she was headed originally and passed him for the third time. “And drop the formalities, Spook, call me Par. You’re not my subordinate and I’m not on duty.”
Shining shrugged and nodded, following the mare closely and matching her stride. There was something regal and highborn in her step and the way she held her head. It was movements that Shining had seen hundreds, if not thousands of times, before in his life. His grandmother, Cadance, Celestia. It was the walk of nobility.
“So, what are you doing in Baltimare, Maj-” He caught himself and closed his eyes, correcting himself “-Par? There wasn’t a military parade, and I don’t remember any meetings or exercises being announced nearby.”
“See, Spook, that the problem with DEqI.” She turned to him, the fabric of her jumpsuit twisting and hugging her body almost perfectly. The smile that seemed to persist through her every moment and brighten up the night around her. It was so strangely sublime. “You all think you know everything, you see every little communique that goes through anywhere.” She tapped her own head and looked at him as she trotted. “But you still can’t read our minds, even if you read our mail.”
That was still a stain on everything DEqI did, that one little program. It shamed Shining to even be part of it at this point. He was fine with protecting ponies, even with trying to get ahead of the possible dangers. But reading mail? Violating the trust that every citizen put into such a vital part of Equestria’s infrastructure? It was uncalled for and inappropriate in the grossest ways.
“I’m not proud of that. I don’t endorse it.” Shining looked away and into the night sky, studying the moon high above. It was just after midnight, judging from the positioning at least. “Everypony deserves their privacy, even if that means we can’t operate as efficiently as we want. I’d rather see the whole thing go up in smoke rather than keep going with it.”
“Oh? So you side with the leaker…or leakers?” They both stopped and turned to each other. Shining’s eyes narrowed and brow furrowed. Par blinked and cocked her head to the side again.
“No comment.” It was the easiest and most diplomatic way he could ever think about answering that question. He wouldn’t go any further on the matter.
“I see, that’s a very sore subject. I’m sorry about that, Spook.” She cleared her throat and motioned towards their destination. Shining gave a curt nod and began to trot again. “So you wanted to know why I’m here, right? Well, I was visiting my mom. She loves seeing me in dress uniform and you know mothers, I had to oblige.”
Shining smiled and let out a little chuckle. Yeah, he knew that feeling. Sometimes it felt good to be treated like a kid again, just to be fussed over and cared for in ways that only your parents could do.
“Well I hope you had a good time, Par. I hope your mother didn’t get on your nerves too much. Celestia knows my mother can frustrate me sometimes with all her questions and fussing and ugh.” Shining rolled his eyes at the thoughts of all the guff he had caught from his mom over the years. Especially the question of ‘When will you finally get married?’
“She’s a bit cold sometimes, well, all the time, and her work keeps her busy and mine usually keeps me away. So a national holiday was one of the only days both of us could actually meet.” For what it was worth, Par didn’t seem to overly phased by the distance between her and her mother. Then again, you get used to your parents and their idiosyncrasies as a child.
“So you’re on leave I’m guessing? Just for the holiday?” That’s the only reason Shining was in Baltimare. The government was closed for business for the next few days, not that he would ever complain. It gave him time to spend with Vinyl and more importantly, time away from everything his job entailed.
“I just got done with a tour in Zebbrosi, actually. I have a few months before I’m redeployed.” That was the entire reason Shining went into the guard instead of the military. He preferred being in one place, settling down and deciding his own life. Military life was too mobile for him.
“So you’re going to stay in Baltimare, then? Spend some time with the family and unwind.” He was trying to stay on the very fringe edges of personal, just far enough to keep it comfortable.
“No, I actually live in Canterlot, Spook. My mom’s summer home is here, but she’s just here on business for now.” It was a small world after all, a sense of familiarity in a place he was lost in. That also explained the way she held and conducted herself.
“Same as me and my marefriend. Both of us have lived there our entire lives.” Small talk felt good, and Parhelia was easy to talk to. Hopefully they would be able parlay this night into another in the future between friends.
----
Celestia appeared in a bright flash of light, her teleportation lighting up the darkened space around her. The princess had to remind herself that this was the dungeon of her castle no longer, it was a home.
Her old home, the castle she had shared with her sister centuries upon centuries ago, was now somepony else’s. Shortly after she sentenced Cadance to exile, she’d had the cellars and dungeons of the decrepit abode restored and remodeled. She had gotten rid of the cells and moved most of the younger alicorn’s belongings down here as well. It was very nearly home. Nearly. There was still the inescapable stench of suffering and imprisonment down here. It wasn’t ideal, too clear a metaphor for Cadance’s own tethered state. It was safe though, sturdy and covered, unaffected by the passage of time and unnoticeable to passersby. It had not been Celestia’s first choice, but it had been the safest and most practical.
“Cadance?” Celestia called out into the inky black that surrounded her. The monarch lit her horn to expose the area, showing the same scene she had left the last she had been here. The bed was immaculately made and maintained, a table with a nearby shelf full of books and a golden candelabra rested in the corner. A thick rug covered the cold stone floor in an effort to insulate against the chill that persisted even in the summer months.
Celestia did not feel good about keeping Cadance in this place, isolated in the middle of the forest with no one to talk to. She felt even worse about the long stretches of time in which she didn’t visit. It had been close to three years at this point, and that was unacceptable.
Her own duties, and her schedule under heavy scrutiny from the public and the new government, had severely diminished her free time to the point of near extinction. Now that Celestia was not just the sole monarch of all of Equestria and her territories, but also the speaker of the House of Equestrian Representatives, she just could not function the way she wanted to.
If Celestia was to be honest, it was an ideal time to bring Cadance back to Canterlot. With the storm circling around the Department and other governmental affairs, it would be the perfect political moment to slip Cadance in without much fuss. Celestia could not do that, though. Not yet.
With Nightmare Moon’s return a year away, Celestia couldn’t allow Cadance back in Canterlot while the threat of her own sister’s return loomed on the horizon. She could not put another alicorn that Equestria would need in harm’s way. Cadance would have to wait until after the storm had passed to come home.
“Cadance!” Celestia called out again for her counterpart. She was answered by the sound of hooves on old stone. Celestia turned to see the pink alicorn coming down the spiral staircase behind her.
It was still very odd to see Cadance without the proper royal vestments. The crown, the chestpiece and hoof ornaments added so much to presence and demeanor. The alicorn looked smaller than she had before, her coat dull and lacking the usual healthy sheen. Even now, almost a decade later, Celestia could still feel her own magic overpowering Cadance’s and tying her here. It was strong and potent.
“Tia…?” Cadance squinted her eyes, then widened them in recognition. In an instant she was across the room and hugging the monarch as tight as she could. Celestia gladly returned the embrace with the same warmth she would’ve years ago. She could feel Cadance’s tears staining the fur of her own chest.
“Tell me, how are you doing, Cadance?” She spoke softly, letting her hoof stroke the long and unkempt mane of the smaller royal.
“H-how I am doing…?” Cadance pushed away from the hug and looked up at Celestia, a little less sadness and a little more fire in her eyes. “I’m alone. Like I’ve been for the last seven years. I’m hurt and lonely and left with only myself. Why would you even ask that?”
“Cadance.” Celestia put a hoof on the other pony’s shoulder and met her eyes. Celestia didn’t want to get into the loneliness argument again. It would be as protracted and pointless as it always had been on her previous visits. This brief time, in the grand scheme of things, would be a blip. Something she would forget. Instead of arguing, she would just go with it for now. “I am sorry. I wish I could have visited, I truly do.”
“Please, I don’t want to hear apologies.” Cadance sighed. “I want to go home, Celestia. I have spent two-thousand six-hundred and twenty-two days here, thinking and stewing in what I did wrong. I know I misused my power, I know that I lost control, but do I deserve this? Do I deserve this suffering?” Cadance sat on her haunches and hung her head, letting her mane cover her face and the ends fall to the floor. Celestia looked down upon the pitiful pink pony and sighed.
“This is nothing, Cadance. A formality, at best. This is nothing for our lifespan, a moment, something you will forget in a century.” Now she had to try to set this straight. Celestia had to attempt to give Cadance perspective. “I was alone for much longer, and it is so unbelievably inconsequential now.” Again, Celestia reached out and touched her counterpart’s shoulder, but she was pushed away.
“I’m not you,” was the first bitter reply she received. “I-I’m not as old as you, as smart as you, or as cold as you.” That last part stung, it hurt to be called cold or cruel, especially when she tried so hard to be the opposite. “Maybe everything you went through, I don’t want to have to be alone for decades or centuries. I don’t want to suffer like you. I don’t have to suffer everything you’ve suffered, I want to be different.”
“Cadance, you do not understand-”
“How old are you?” The interruption, and the content of the question, caught Celestia off guard. She tilted her head and thought for a moment. “You don’t even remember your age, do you? The date of your birth?” Celestia’s words, her chiding tone, caught in her throat. She couldn’t, not really. The last time she even celebrated her own birthday had to be who knows how long ago. The equine memory, even that of alicorns, was fallible. Cadance rose to her hooves and finally met Celestia’s gaze again, a very familiar and dangerous fire burning behind her eyes. “When was the last time you were normal?”
----
“Well, Spook, I hope you have a good night.” Major Parhelia bowed her head a little, that effervescent smirk still present and beaming. “Try not to get lost anymore, all right?” A little smack to Shining’s shoulder was met with a light grunt and the smile returned.
“I’ll do my best.” He gave her a simple nod and a half-hearted salute. “Stay out of trouble, Major.” They were both situated just at the outskirts of the concert venue, the beats and sounds pulsing rhythmically in the distance. It had taken them a while and had given them the opportunity to get to know each other. Shining could say with pride and certainty that Major Parhelia was a good pony to her very core.
“Before you go, Spook.” The Major pulled a notepad from some interior breast pocket, her elongated horn glowing with magic as she also produced a pencil. Hastily, she scribbled something down and tore the page from the pad. Shining took it when offered and looked at it. “My address. Don’t go thinking I’m asking you to commit any infidelities, either. I want to take you and your mare out for drinks sometime. I want to see what kind of pony can put up with a DEqI operative in their home.”
“Thank you, Par. I’ll take you up on that offer.” With that, and a sly wink from the Major, the mare turned and trotted away. Inwardly, Shining lamented how he seemed to be around the same strong type of mare. Vinyl, his mother, Parhelia. All a far cry from Cadance and the delicate nobility of the capital.
“Twinkle! Where the hell have you been?” Shining blinked and was tackled by his marefriend. He stood tall, Vinyl hugging his side. “Celestia, I’ve been worried about you. I really hate when you wander off like that.”
“I know, I know.” Shining returned the hug and planted a kiss on her cheek. “But the good news is that I made a friend and had a little bit of an adventure.”
“Is your new friend hot, at least?” Some things never changed, and Shining was more than okay with that.