Lady of Love

by FireOfTheNorth


Discovery

Chapter 2: Discovery
Year 974 of the 4th Age

“Come on, Stjepan! Hurry!” the pegasus filly yelled, half galloping, half fluttering up the hill, “We have to get there before it’s gone!”

“It’s a rock,” the colt several years her senior said as he trotted up the hill, his wings folded at his sides, “It’s not gonna fly away.”

“It could!” the pink filly protested, “That’s what I saw!”

“Sure, Roberta,” Stjepan sighed, picking up his pace so that she wouldn’t get far enough ahead for him to lose her.

Roberta mi Amore was the youngest daughter of the local baron, but she was not welcome in the lord’s estate. It was well known that the baron despised his youngest daughter, who’d committed no offense other than surviving the birth that had taken the life of the baron’s wife and only son. He’d begrudgingly kept her around the estate for the first few years of her life but had eventually seized upon a minor transgression as an excuse to expel her from the manor.

No doubt he’d expected her to starve to death or succumb to the elements, but after the initial fear of retribution was past, the nearby ponies began to take care of the rejected filly. The village outside the baron’s estate, which was really little more than a cluster of buildings without even the benefit of a stockade, was Roberta’s home now. She spent most nights in the inn, which accommodated travelers passing between Ponieville and the Hill Kingdoms, and slept by the stove. During the days, the young lady helped out with tasks or played with peasant foals. Baron Ferdinand mi Amore seemed to have no complaint with this arrangement, and only gave her scornful looks when passing by these days.

Sometimes the baron’s guards harassed her when they recognized her, but that was uncommon. The subjects of the baron protected the filly, just as Stjepan was watching her now to make sure no harm came to her. Guards had disappeared on their rounds, and soon learned not to harass Roberta, at least not when anypony else was nearby. The steward, Donnach, was also sympathetic to the filly’s plight, and guards who’d mistreated her often found themselves assigned the dangerous duty of hunting down bandits. The ponies who cared for Roberta also occasionally found a purse of gold on their doorsteps after taking her in, and it was believed that it came from the steward, from his own salary no less, though nopony could confirm it.

As for Roberta, she didn’t seem to mind the change in her fortunes at all. She’d been young when she was thrown out of the estate, but she clearly recognized who she was and how her life should have been. She was due the same inheritance as her three elder sisters, who lived in relative luxury compared to the state she was in, but she didn’t seem to desire it. The filly’s contentment with her lot in life astounded those around her, and they doubted they’d be so forgiving in the same situation.

“Here it is! Here it is!” Roberta shouted excitedly as she found the rock she’d rushed to tell Stjepan about.

Stjepan was unimpressed; sitting on the grass was a simple stone roughly the size of an apple, shaped a bit like one too, but otherwise unremarkable.

“It doesn’t seem t’ be doin’ much, but it is just a rock,” Stjepan commented after a minute of staring at it.

“It is not,” Roberta insisted, “I know I saw it fly, we just have to watch and be patient.”

Stjepan sighed and lay down under the nearby tree, stretching his wings out on the cool grass. If Roberta wanted to stare at the rock all day, then he’d oblige her. There was work to be done at his father’s forge, more than ever with the increased number of travelers coming from the Hill Kingdoms. There were rumors that they might be annexed by the Kingdom of Manehattan any day now, the last free pegasus nation coming under the control of a kingdom whose crown prince despised everything non-earth pony, but rumors came and went, and Stjepan doubted their authenticity. It wouldn’t hurt to get away and relax some, and he even had an excuse in looking after Roberta.

The colt let himself daydream, his eyes fluttering open whenever Roberta accused him of not watching the stone, or when it was quiet for too long and he worried she’d left. On one occasion, he spotted movement, and rose from his position on the grass to investigate. Pegasi flew in ones and twos, peasants travelling in from the fields toward the baron’s estate. More earth ponies, headed in the same direction, followed the winding paths on the ground.

“Oi! What’s the hubbub!” Stjepan called out to one as she galloped past in shouting distance.

“See the banner over the manor!” was all she yelled back before continuing on, out of range now for conversation.

Stjepan was puzzled by the mare’s words and also by the actions of the peasantry. It wasn’t even midday yet, so why weren’t they still working the fields? He checked to make sure Roberta was still fixated on her rock before he flapped up into the air. They’d put some distance between themselves and the village, and he could just barely make out the banners flapping in the wind over the baron’s estate. One had always been there, the green and blue of the House mi Amore, but there was a new one fluttering with it. Details were impossible to see at this distance, but the colors gave it away. No other pony had a red and gold flag, and Stjepan would wager that that gold circle was actually a sun.

“Roberta, we’ve gotta return t’ the village!” Stjepan said as he returned to the ground.

“Not until I see the rock move again,” Roberta said, stubbornly staring at the immobile stone.

“But … Celestia is there!” Stjepan said with exasperation, “Don’t you want to see her?”

“Not until I prove that I saw this rock move,” Roberta said, scrunching up her face.

“Well, I …” Stjepan said baffled, “I’m gonna go see Celestia. I’ll come back later, okay?”

“Okay,” Roberta said in resignation, “You might miss the rock flying again, though.”

Yeah, not much chance of that. With a small bit of trepidation, the colt took off into the air. Roberta would be fine on her own; there were no beasts around, and all the baron’s guards would be around their lord while Celestia was here. She’d been just fine before she’d fetched him, after all, so she would probably stay safe. At least, that’s what Stjepan tried to convince himself of as he flew toward the baron’s estate.

Ponies were swarming around the gate when he arrived, trying to get a peek at Celestia through the guards barring their way. Some of the peasants were circling the estate, looking for gaps in the walls through which they could do the same. Pegasi hovered as close as they dared or were lying down on the roofs, peeking over the edge. Stjepan joined some of the colts and fillies his age atop the steward’s abode, where he had a good view of the proceedings.

Celestia was here indeed, standing regally while her mane and tale swayed in an ethereal breeze. There were other ponies in opulent attire around her, administrators and fellow mages, who looked with disdain at the muddy courtyard. Two other ponies stood out, one young, one old, both pegasi and both crowned. Hill Kings – they had to be. They had a gaggle of retainers around them as well, making the courtyard quite full when combined with the baron’s family and servants.

“My apologies, your grace,” Baron Ferdinand mi Amore said as he dipped his head before Celestia in a motion that was swiftly irking her the more times he did it, “If I’d known that I would be hosting you personally, I would have ensured the servants were more diligent about preparing for your visit.”

“Well, I must be there in person to accept the oaths of fealty from the Hill Kings,” Celestia said nonchalantly, the mischievous part of her reveling in the shock on the face of the baron and several other nearby ponies, “That is why I sent a letter ahead. You did tend to my request, did you not?”

“Of course, of course,” the baron replied nervously, “Here they are, just as requested.”

He stepped aside to reveal three ponies standing in a line, all of them unicorns. The one on the left was a hedge wizard from a nearby plot of land who often performed simple spells or sold enchanted charms in exchange for mead money. He looked very pale standing before Celestia and the mages of her court in his threadbare robes and coif. The wizard next to him pushed back his tall, pointed cap and the glasses he didn’t need shone in the light. He was an incredibly overvalued court mage of a neighboring lord and had been compelled to come here only through combination of threat and touting Celestia’s seal on her letter. The third individual was a woods witch who looked very uncomfortable standing before Celestia. She appeared to have been brought and had her mane washed and cut against her will for this audience, and she kept touching it with a hoof.

This is it?” one of Celestia’s fellow sorceresses said with derision, “This is the best you can give us? I was born with more magic in my blood than these three combined.”

“Well, perhaps if I’d had more time,” Baron mi Amore said as he paled, “You said to bring all with suitable magical skill that I could find, but I did not have long to do so and wasn’t able to search very far. Perhaps if I had, then I’d have been able to acquire more talented specimens.”

“Let us not be so quick to judge, Margot,” Celestia told her companion, “They may surprise us with untapped potential. Come, let us see your skill with sorcery.”

The novice mages nervously began to perform one by one before the greatest living sorceress. They showed off what they knew, which was by and large either agricultural, medicinal, or just flash to impress uneducated peasants. As the demonstrations carried on, Celestia became more and more disillusioned. Margot had been right; she would not find what she was looking for here. Wearily, she watched as the unicorns performed simple magical tasks without much in the way of inspiration or a hint of potential to become greater, at least not as great as she needed. She’d set her plans into action months earlier after glimpsing the future, but her search hadn’t yet yielded any results, and it looked like this visit would be no exception.

“You see, your grace, none of these ponies are fit to be your apprentice,” Margot Bellinford whispered in Celestia’s ear, “Stick to the old houses of Cant’r Laht, where great power is bred.”

Celestia sighed; it was an argument she’d heard far too many times from the sorceress. Margot had ulterior motives for suggesting such a thing; her family was one of the proudest in Cant’r Laht, and her growing influence in the Lodge of Sorceresses had only increased her standing. She’d been pressing Celestia on this ever since she’d shared her plan to groom an apprentice with select mages. Margot had a niece who was said to by a prodigy at magic, and she no doubt had her in mind, but Celestia had seen her and wasn’t impressed. She wouldn’t do, not for what the great sorceress had planned.

“Hello, what’s that?” Celestia said, sitting up abruptly as she sensed a surge of magical power nearby.

The woods witch paused in the act of undoing a curse she herself had cast on a nearby cat in confusion and it keeled over and died before she realized that she hadn’t completed the counter-curse. A few of the mages with Celestia also sensed the blooming of magical energy but couldn’t pinpoint it as easily as the ancient sorceress could. This was something interesting, and an excuse for her to leave the manor immediately.

Without warning, Celestia spread her impressive wingspan and jumped into the air, quickly flying over the estate’s roofs, scattering pegasi who feared they’d been caught spying on the alicorn. The baron watched in shock before turning to look at Celestia’s companions, who seemed just as surprised by her sudden departure. The guards on the ground struggled to free themselves from the crowd of ponies around the gates, but they quickly succeeded as everypony turned to follow Celestia.

Stjepan joined the others and picked up the pace when he saw the direction that Celestia was headed. He’d only been able to hear snatches of the conversation in the courtyard and had no idea why Cant’r Laht’s Matron of Sorceress had suddenly taken off. She was definitely headed in the direction where he’d left Roberta, though, and he hoped she wasn’t in trouble. He’d never forgive himself if something happened to her.

Celestia landed outside of the village, having only flown a short distance to clear the buildings and the crowd, and the pegasi following her landed as well. It seemed impolite to fly over their sovereign while she trotted along the ground. She spoke to nopony as she carried on toward the hill where Roberta was, and the peasants kept a respectful distance, moving aside as the baron and Celestia’s companions tried to catch up.

Celestia slowed and the crowd pressed against itself as she reached the bottom of the hill and slowly approached to top, with its gnarled tree. Sitting in front of the tree, staring in the opposite direction, was Roberta, wings extended and shaking slightly in the breeze. Around her in a circle spun a dozen stones, their orbit shifting up and down in a rhythmic pattern. Roberta ceased her humming as somepony in the crowd stumbled into somepony else, and the stones dropped to the ground. Slowly, the filly turned around to face the crowd.

“Stjepan, did you see? I told you the rocks could fly!” she exclaimed, completely ignoring everypony else, including the nearby alicorn.

“Uh … uh-huh,” Stjepan replied, astounded as a hundred eyes turned on him.

“My child,” Celestia said matronly as she approached Roberta, “How did you learn this?”

“Learn … this?” Roberta asked in bewilderment, coking her head to the side, “What do you mean?”

“You were using sorcery to levitate the stones,” Celestia explained, and the filly’s eyes lit up, “Do you think that you could do so again?”

Roberta bit her lip and turned back to the fallen stones. At first, nothing happened, just as when Stjepan had waited around with her earlier, but now that she knew she had been the one controlling the stones’ motion, Roberta picked it up more quickly. Slowly, the stones ascended one by one into the air and began to spin as the filly hummed a tune. They dipped and dove in time with the melody, and she became more adventurous after they were in motion, forming a dance with them in complex patterns. Celestia closed her eyes and felt the magical energy flowing around Roberta, also in tune with her humming.

“Remarkable,” the sorceress said as Roberta returned the stones to the ground, stacking them into a pyramid, “What is your name, child?”

“I am Roberta mi Amore,” Roberta introduced herself, rising and doing a curtsey, before adding, “Your Grace.”

“Mi Amore?” Celestia said questioningly and turned toward where the baron was standing.

“My youngest daughter,” the baron said with embarrassment. This could quickly become very bad for him if Celestia decided to punish him for how he’d treated Roberta. If she didn’t find out, though, this could be very good for him. She was obviously interested in the child, and though he still despised her, he might be able to advance his status through her.

“And why was she not with you upon my arrival?” Celestia asked sternly.

“I fully intended to present her to you, of course, but she slipped away,” the baron lied and laughed uncomfortably, “Foals will be foals, you know.”

“Indeed,” Celestia said, not looking entirely convinced, but not pressing the issue, “Well, she is obviously very talented with magic and has the potential to become a truly great sorceress. I would like very much for her to become my apprentice.”

Celestia’s advisors were shocked, and Margot looked like she’d been mortally wounded. All their work to try to convince her to take a suitable noble unicorn apprentice from Cant’r Laht had been undone by a pegasus foal who looked more like a peasant than a lady. Baron Ferdinand mi Amore was beyond stunned, and the gears in his head were working furiously to calculate how he might take advantage of this turn of events and how he ought to react to keep from losing his head.

“Roberta, would you like to come to Cant’r Laht to be my apprentice?” Celestia turned and asked the foal directly, completely ignoring the crowd of nobles stunned speechless and peasants quickly spreading the news through their ranks.

“I would learn how to do more magic?” Roberta asked, looking at the pyramid of stones.

“Yes, that is right,” Celestia answered, “I will be your personal teacher, and I hope to impart all my knowledge to you.”

“Then yes, I would like that very much,” the filly said, beaming.

“And is this acceptable to you, your lordship?” Celestia said, turning again to face the baron, “I know it must be troubling to lose a beloved child, even to so grand a fate.”

“I will find a way to manage,” Ferdinand replied, not picking up on the sarcasm in Celestia’s words, “I can find comfort in knowing that you will be able to provide for her much better than I ever could.” And having the personal protégé of the Celestia as a daughter may prove useful one day, especially since she seems to harbor no grudge toward me.

“Then it is settled,” Celestia said with a smile, “Roberta mi Amore, congratulations. You are the first apprentice I have ever taken on. I have high hopes for your future.”