//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: Kings // Story: FiO: Homebrew // by Starscribe //------------------------------// Celestia hadn’t given her much time to prepare. The next day, she said. One more day before she’d go off with any of the other ponies Celestia had chosen, either to really do something to save Cold Iron, or to participate in a very convincing simulation. The day before everypony thinks I won’t be myself anymore. She was still working out how to resolve that situation, though she’d yet to conceive of anything terribly practical. The best she’d come up with so far was to finally instance a character she’d been designing for the Wintercrest story, Arcane’s older brother who spent his time representing the family at the Canterlot court. Maybe with a few choice additions, she could convince everypony that he was Ashton, and she was herself the copy created “so Violet wouldn’t feel bad.” Recursion hadn’t given her back all the work she’d done on her private server. She had pointed her to a cloud-services host that would take an archival copy Recursion herself had snagged on her visit and rebuild it on a new host. It was probably just Celestia, but Arcane would play along if it meant she got her toys back. Recursion’s copy hadn’t been complete, though. For whatever reason, the verifier had focused on her future plans for Wintercrest, leaving many of her half-written exploits and real-world interfacing spells behind. She would have to rewrite those from scratch if she wanted them back. Arcane stood at the top of her vast plateau, pacing around the frozen pony that might soon be her “brother.” She bit her lip, darkening his coat until it was reddish, making his eyes a little more like hers, and feeling generally unsatisfied with everything she changed. “And if I succeed…” She stared at the motionless pony, adjusting the mirror behind him with physical force from her shoulder. She couldn’t lift anything so heavy quite yet, even in this bootleg server. “My reward is what? Pretending like I’m a copy forever? Watching another pony awkwardly pretend to be me while I awkwardly pretend to be someone else too?” And here in Equestria, forever might not be an exaggeration. Sure, she’d be free to actually have a relationship with Emmet, but… “I am going to bring you into the story,” she said, staring into the expressionless pony face. “But I like what I wrote for you better. Sorry Secret Word, not today.” She turned her back on the costume stand, leaving her male twin behind. If I never have to look like him, it will still be too soon. But there were some good things about the “end” of her time as Arcane. When she got all dressed up to take Violet into town, she could quietly justify it to Domino as taking her “last chance to say goodbye to Violet.” They were both dressed up for the occasion—somehow Violet had heard about the outfit she’d chosen for her big day with the scene, and wanted something similar. Fortunately for her, Arcane had fancy dresses in all shapes and sizes. She shifted in the wooden carriage seat, adjusting the fluff under her legs as best she could. Half a dozen layers of lace and overlapping fabric might feel wonderful against her coat, but they weren’t meant to be packed into such a small space. “It’s been a long time since I visited last,” she said, as they rolled through the castle gates and into Wintercrest’s high street. It would be a short trip, since the Château catered mostly to upper-class clients. But with dresses like theirs, even a short walk would be an achievement. “But I’m sure they’ll remember me.” Violet didn’t seem to mind. She’d taken every part of the outfit from Arcane’s storage, from the glass slippers to the tight stockings and the fluffy hat. “I can’t believe there was a whole place in Wintercrest for tea parties, and you didn’t tell me.” She stuck out her tongue, indignant. “I would’ve made Domino go at least once a week.” She giggled. “It’s probably a good thing I didn’t, then. Domino wouldn’t enjoy the Château. Tea party is… a bit of a simplification. It’s where all the great mares of the city gather to discuss important business. Local politics, developments in science, gossip…” She nearly went into her own butchered historical inspiration for the place, but thought better of trying with a seven-year-old. Instead she said, “It’s strictly no boys allowed. The cooks, the servants, everypony.” “Oh.” She sat back in her seat, adjusting the sparkling layers of her dress. “That doesn’t sound very fair.” Arcane laughed in spite of herself. “Wintercrest was…” She hesitated, almost going into the history all over again. Certainly she didn’t want to get too specific about the writer who was its biggest inspiration. “It isn’t fair. But Wintercrest is more fun because it’s not perfect. Before I built it, I went all around Equestria. I saw a thousand perfect little kingdoms with no hunger and no want, where everypony lived a perfect little life. But I got sooooo bored!”  She knocked her hoof against the window, pointing outside. “Look out there. Wintercrest has dangers. Criminals, monsters, cults, secrets… a version of Equestria where ponies scheme and backstab and are always trying to get an advantage over each other. But when the chips are down and the city is really in danger, everypony works together to help each other out. At least so far, we’ve always found a way.” They stopped rolling at the front of a bright building, its glass storefront entirely unadorned except for its name. Château de la Jument. “We’ve arrived,” Axel said, pulling the door open for them. “Should I—” “Take two hours for yourself, Axel,” she said, climbing down to street level. Unlike the character she’d designed, she wobbled with the weight of fabric on her back, nearly tripping over the steps concealed beneath her dress. But Axel caught her, his grip confident and polite. “Sure you’re alright?” He held her until she stopped wobbling. “I’ve never known you to be… to struggle with your horseshoes.” That’s one way to put it. Like most ponies, she wasn’t wearing any. “I’m fine. My condition will take longer to resolve than that. I’ll just have to endure it until I get my grace back.” She stepped aside, ready to catch Violet as Axel had done for her. But the safety was unnecessary—she might not move much like a mare, but Violet’s bouncing was at least stable enough that she didn’t trip. The little pony stopped her before she reached the door, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Domino says… my big brother doesn’t think you’ll be staying very long. Is that true?”  Arcane hesitated, her hoof on the handle. There were ponies watching them of course—other movers and shakers in the city, wealthy citizens whose names she barely knew. Only a few of them mattered to her story, other than being appropriate backdrop or giving fertile soil to the tales of corruption or intrigue she wanted to spin down the road. But she didn’t care what some shallow AIs thought about her. “Domino told you I was leaving?” Violet nodded several times. She couldn’t meet her eyes anymore, and she didn’t even quite say anything. Just a few more nervous nods.  “He thought… you might…” She sniffed. “Be saying goodbye.” Her mostly-silent tears were each a little knife in her chest. Arcane’s own life was complicated and unfair. She shouldn’t have had to come to Equestria so early, she shouldn’t have had to suffer from some of her earliest memories. But at the same time, this child deserved none of her pain.  Arcane dropped down to one knee, the best she could manage with a dress twice the size as the pony she was trying to talk to. She pulled on Violet a little with her magic, until the little pony was looking at her. Then she whispered, “Violet, can you… can you keep a secret?” She blinked, sniffed, and wiped away her tears. “W-what?” “A secret,” Arcane repeated. “Can you help me keep a secret?” Finally she nodded. “I-I... I think… I’m pretty good with secrets.” Arcane hugged her, whispering into her ear. “I’m not leaving.” Violet whimpered, holding on in return for a few desperate, childlike seconds. “Why does Domino think you are?” “Because…” She didn’t have a hope of making a child understand this now. Not just that, but she didn’t even really want to go into it. Violet hadn’t known her on Earth, and here in Equestria she didn’t know her by her old self. In some ways, she was the first to know her Equestrian self over her human one. “Because I’m going to surprise him. That’s why it’s a secret, sweetheart. It’s very important that you don’t tell him. Not even a hint.” “I won’t!” Violet squeezed her way free, straightening the dress. “You can count on me, Arcane!” But just because she’d gotten that guilt out of the way didn’t mean they were done. She’d made it this far, she still had to visit the parlor. The doors finally opened, and she was unsurprised to see the ponies within had realized she was there. Half a dozen different servants had assembled on the other side, waiting for her arrival. Each wore the same simple skirt uniform, ready with trays of snacks. She’d stopped the historical accuracy short of cigars and morphine. “Remember what we discussed, Violet,” she said, straightening into her best imitation of the dignified animations Arcane Word had always performed in the past. For her they were much more effort—she had to consciously hold her back straight and her neck out, as though she were trying to spear the eye of anyone who got too close with her horn. “I will!” Violet said, bouncing past her with far less dignity. But she was little more than an adorable oddity to the watching ponies. They went through the usual ceremony, and she spent a few minutes introducing Violet to a few of the city’s important ponies. She hadn’t seen very many of them since her emigration, and wasn’t particularly eager to meet them. A few university professors, the wives of important merchants, a few lesser relatives of her own family. But while this had been only a bit of silly roleplay before, now she felt incredibly self-conscious. Surely if anypony would see her for the imposter she was, it would be these most refined and elegant ladies. They’d know she was wearing a mask, and demand she rip it off. But they never did. If anything, she seemed to intimidate them. Eventually they found their way to a table on the second floor, where she could drink her entirely-too-satisfying tea and enjoy the view overlooking Wintercrest while Violet rose every few seconds to dart off to the dessert table. While she stepped away, another pony pulled over a chair, settling completely uninvited at her table. Arcane actually stiffened, spinning to the side to glare at whoever had the audacity—and she froze. Arcane couldn’t say how long it had been since she’d seen Gwen in person, though it had to be two weeks of Wintercrest time at least. Her eyes were no longer red and swollen from tears, and her mane wasn’t frizzy and ill-cared-for. Her dress was relatively plain, though had a few gemstones encrusting the edges to help her blend in to the elegance and wealth of the Château de la Jument. “Are you, uh…” She cleared her throat, looking her up and down with doubt on her face. Her eyes lingered on the oversized dress, the jewelry adoring her mane, ears, tail. “Are you really my brother? Or… did he write some script or something to make sure you’re still out in the city doing things while he’s away?” She tensed, looking away from Gwen. She didn’t want to be seeing her reaction while she said any of it. But if Celestia had let her find her way here, then there was no reason to think that she needed to keep anything secret. She was the one who worried about information control. “You’ve been in Equestria for a few weeks now, haven’t you?” she asked instead. “Do you like my town?” Gwen folded her forelegs across the table, eyes narrowing. “You are Ashton. You’re avoiding things just like him.” Her face grew red, and she glanced briefly around the room. A few servants hesitated nearby, not quite close enough to interrupt. But close enough to be at her disposal if she wanted their help. She could easily get Gwen thrown out right now, and not have to deal with any of these hard questions.  Or I could use this for what it is. Violet still wasn’t back from the dessert tray, probably she’d made a few new friends of her own from the other little heirs who visited with their mothers and sisters. No Parker either, which meant she could speak only to the pony she thought most likely to accept what she was about to say. “Celestia has some rules that aren’t easy to break,” Arcane said. “One thing that Equestria really doesn’t like is two people playing the same character. She would never let me make an NPC of myself to run around while I wasn’t here. If you see me, I’m me.” Gwen relaxed a little, or maybe she was just taken aback at her sudden honesty. “Nice dress. Didn’t know you were into Lolita. But I guess there’s… something clever going on I don’t understand. You’re manipulating someone, meeting a client, or…” She grinned. “You picked that avatar to buck with the other computer-nerds, didn’t you? Let those suckers in the GE begging for a GF shower you with gold. I got full addy doing that.” Arcane giggled. She could imagine Gwen doing exactly that, picking that stupid pink dress and letting idiots shower her with gold and items. “I have done that,” she said. “But I didn’t make any of my decisions about Wintercrest that way. By the time I had all the tools to make this place, Celestia had just announced her emigration thing in Japan. I… figured I’d be taking advantage sooner or later. So every decision I made was with that in mind. “Like the weather. I’m so sick of sunshine and no seasons, I wrote somewhere that gets tons of rain, where sunshine is special. I hated growing up in a stupid little apartment where we all had to share a bedroom, so I built a castle where I could have a dozen kids and they could all have their own rooms. A castle with an indoor pool, where all my favorite foods always deliver.” Gwen was staring now. “You wanted to move into a place with… constant monster attacks? Parker said there were Shoggoths in the lower city. I don’t know what that is, but he said they killed the crew that Celestia sent before his.” Buck, things are that bad? Her eyes widened, and for a moment she found herself feeling genuine fear for something that was entirely fictional. I haven’t been paying much attention to my own story. “Adversity is part of what makes somewhere interesting. But I had enough of the ‘rampant homelessness all around me’ kind. I wrote an external threat to make sure the ponies of Wintercrest would always be united.” “Okay, that’s a little crazy.” Gwen waved over a servant with one hoof, gesturing awkwardly instead of using the little bell at the table. “Miss?” “I want what my sister is drinking,” she said, pointing at the glass in front of Arcane. “Please.” But do you mean that? The servant’s eyes widened, and Arcane nodded once. That poor pony was probably going to have some confusing stories to tell when she got home. A strange earth pony claimed to be the sister of the Lady? But soon enough she was hurrying off to obey. “I guess I can see that. Nobody’s… really in danger in Equestria. Most ponies aren’t real, and the ones that are don’t die. Fine, whatever. So why didn’t you play someone who you’d want to be when you got here? Make yourself king of the city or whatever.” She gestured around the room with a hoof, then nudged Arcane’s dress. “You’re in a women’s parlor. You’re drinking tea and sharing town gossip. Or you would be, if I hadn’t interrupted.” Arcane conjured another lie, and nearly cast it. But then the servant returned, settling Gwen’s tea in front of her with a bow. “I told you,” Arcane said. “Nothing about Wintercrest was accidental. Celestia filled in a lot of the gaps I’m sure, but everything I touched was purposeful. Everything I wrote into this place was here for me to take one day. Intrigue with the Seaponies and their slumbering Alicorns. Castle Wintercrest and its every feature. And… Lady Arcane Word, whose resourcefulness and desperate resolve kept her city from crumbling into the sea.” Gwen stared, silent and apparently overcome for a few long moments. “You want that?” she asked, stupefied. “When you emigrate one day, you want to be… why?” “I already did,” she whispered. “I didn’t want to. Celestia… fucking tricked me somehow. Contract was supposed to be for when I got old and shriveled, I’d come here. It was protection for the life Dad was forcing us into, off to some damn farm or something, that Celestia would come for me one day. I knew the AI would never give up on a promise like that…” She chuckled, levitating her glass of tea to her lips. “Turns out she was… a little more determined to get me here than I expected. The ‘murder you’ kind of determined.” Now Arcane couldn’t look away from her sister. If only she was one of the members of her town, with shallow programs that were easy to monitor with the right tools. But she didn’t have any of those tools now either. “You want that?” She nodded, fighting the instinct to run. She wiped away a few tears. “Very much.” “So, you…” Gwen’s mouth opened and closed several times. “When you said you were just playing a character…” “Lied,” she said, her voice cracking. “I do that a lot. For Mom and Dad, for you guys. It’s easier to be what ponies expect. Stay quiet, don’t make too much noise. I’m allowed to make mistakes, but only a certain kind of mistake. Have to set the example. That’s why… why I didn’t want to be here yet. I’m worried about Mom and Dad. Mostly Dad. I didn’t plan on telling anyone until everyone was already here. That way it would be too late. But it’s too late for us, so… guess this is basically the same thing.” Violet bounced back to the table about then, carrying a tray of tiny desserts in her mouth. She settled it down, scrambling up into her chair. Without thinking, Arcane reached out, lifting her gently up with one leg and pushing it back in. “There, sweetie. Don’t spill on your dress, that chocolate is still melted.” The little pegasus grinned up at her, then seemed to notice they weren’t alone. “Oh, hi!” She waved one hoof energetically. “I’ve seen you before!” Gwen looked between the two of them, then drained her teacup. “You really are my sister,” she said flatly.  “Yes,” Arcane said. “I didn’t plan on anypony finding out, not for ages. It was just… so much easier to pretend.” Violet seemed to be ignoring them, picking up a marshmallow on a toothpick and chewing thoughtfully. Gwen rested a hoof on her shoulder, meeting her eyes. “Ash, that’s… it’s probably good you didn’t. People kill themselves over this.” “I can… understand why they might.” She sniffed, but she couldn’t focus her magic enough to pick up her glass. “Please don’t tell Parker. I don’t know how he’ll react. I know he looked up to me. This is… more than he’s ready for right now. And he might tell Mom and Dad, and…” “We haven’t heard from them,” she said weakly. “Celestia said they would probably be ‘coming to Equestria soon.’ But she wouldn’t explain how. She said even less about you.” She let go of her shoulder, rising to her hooves. “Ash, I don’t know what you think about Parker, but he’d rather get over… this… than think you’re ignoring us.” She sat back on her haunches, tilting her head slightly to the side. “But… maybe don’t say hello dressed up like that? He’d probably think we were fucking with him.” It was hardly the way she’d imagined this would go, where she’d confess her feelings with clarity and elegance. But Gwen hadn’t run away, or called her anything terrible. Maybe it was enough. “I don’t normally dress like this,” she said. “But Violet wanted to go to a tea party. This was the closest I could find for her.” Violet grinned up in response, sticking out her chocolate-covered tongue. “I don’t like tea.” Gwen looked between them, frowning slightly. “Violet, Violet… I’ve heard that name.” “Emmet’s little sister,” she supplied. “Domino, now. You’ve probably met him, he runs the castle for me. Basically ran the city when I wasn’t here. What you accused me of being when you got here.” “Well, I think I think I need to chew on all this,” she went on. “I hope you don’t mind if I… visit again soon. I’m glad you’re here. Coming to Equestria was the right… okay, not choice. You didn’t choose. But it’s better here. More for you than anyone, maybe.” She nodded. “Maybe. But… I might be gone for a few days. We’re doing this rescue for an old friend of mine in the Outer Realm.” Gwen shrugged. “Sounds exciting. You can tell me about it when Parker and I visit your castle in a few days. You’re the one who’s supposed to understand this place—we want to see Mom and Dad. Can you make Celestia do that for us?” Not a fucking chance. “Maybe,” she said. “We can try together, how about that?” Gwen darted over, hugging her tight. “Thanks for telling me, Ash. Can I… still call you that?” “Sure.” She sniffed, hugging her back. “I don’t mind, Gwen. But please, don’t tell Parker any of this. I want to do it myself.” “Fine, fine!” She finally let go, putting up her hooves. “Whatever you say, uh… sis.” She turned, heading for the door. “Good luck with your hacking.” Violet watched her go, polishing off the rest of her plate in a few quick bites. “Wasn’t that the pony you were really mad at before? The one you yelled at in the street?” She nodded. “She’s your… sister?” She nodded again. “Closest in age to me. She’s sixteen. I have a little brother too, but he’s grown up here in Equestria when Gwen and I are the same age… I don’t really know how age works here. A few days ago one of Celestia’s system ponies tried to send me to magical kindergarten.” Violet giggled. “You’re making that up!” “Nope.” She blushed, ears flattening a little. For some reason it felt just as embarrassing as what she’d been sharing with Gwen, it its own way. Maybe because it was something she thought Violet could actually understand. “If you go, I, uh… I want a picture!” Violet grinned. “The unicorns who went to that were my age!” “Yeah.” Arcane rose from her chair, shaking out her oversized dress. “I’ll give you a picture. But not right now.” She gestured for the stairs. “We should probably be heading back. Domino and I have got to get ready for tomorrow.”