“Whoa…” Twilight whispered before blushing, Nacreous not able to restrain a laugh. “Sorry! Just-”
“I know, I’m a big hippogriff,” the King chuckled, Celestia struggling to control her own giggles.
“It really is nice to meet you at last, I’m just glad Celestia found somecreature! I wish we had more time to chat,” the younger alicorn exclaimed, not able to resist a cheeky smile, “I’m just happy she also found someone tall enough to give her a hug!”
Seeing her mentor blush and glance over to Nacreous lovingly, Twilight couldn't keep the smile off her face.
“I know you all are really busy, but maybe we could all have lunch sometime?” she suggested, both Nacreous and Celestia nodding immediately.
“Of course, I’d like nothing more, Twilight. Thank you for taking the time to stop by. I know you have a few errands of your own. Something about running out of ink?”
“The one time I buy a ten-pack, and Pinkie finds it and ‘repurposes’ it…”
A glorious pout dawned on Twilight’s face, Celestia stifling a giggle as the other Princess grumbled, the pair hugging before she vanished in a flash of light.
“I can see why you took after her, I think a lunch sometime would be quite lovely,” Nacreous mused.
“I’m just glad she likes you. There’s such a difference, having approval from somecreature you care about,” Celestia admitted, Nacreous scooting over to run his beak through her mane.
“I know. I’m just glad I don’t scare her.”
“Oh yes, the big scary hippogriff…”
“Grrrrrrr.”
Celestia wasn’t able to suppress the snort that left her muzzle, dissolving into giggles as they parted to go (reluctantly) to their separate duties for the day.
Or at least until lunch.
Nacreous paused as he walked towards the portal in his quarters, a frown now flickering across his beak. There had been something in Celestia’s eyes, hidden and guarded, but it caused nothing but worry to the stalwart King.
Something was eating at his love’s heart, and Celestia’s abilities to hide it were waning. Something about seeing Twilight had opened up a wound.
What troubles you, Celly? I want to help…
“I’ve been having dreams,” Icait whispered, causing the Shadow’s ears to perk up.
“What? How long?”
“A few days…”
The stallion let out a sigh, shrugging as he continued to move some pebbles in front of him.
“It was inevitable, considering your progression towards relative normality. I worry this will let the Lunar Princess find us.”
Icait drew a sharp breath, clearly not having considered such an obvious fact. This only made the Shadow roll his eyes.
“It matters not. I have been having them too, but far less pleasant than those in your mind, I assume. We can only wait.”
“What do we do when she finds us?”
“Beg for mercy.”
Icait let out a half-hearted laugh, but then stared at seeing the Shadow still looking at her.
“Wait, you’re serious?”
He nodded.
“Completely. I have but a fraction of my power, and we are both still changing. We’d stand no chance against a few dozen guards, let alone the Lunar Princess. Perhaps she will be merciful. Both she and her sister will take pity on you though, so you are likely fine.”
“I’d-but what about you?” Icait whispered, to which the Shadow looked away.
“Banished to Limbo, most likely.”
“I don’t want that,” Icait continued. “You’re my friend-erm…ally…”
The Shadow’s eyes narrowed, seeming to grow almost frightened at her words.
“Yes. Ally. Not friend. I don’t have friends,” he hissed, prompting the mare to take a few steps back, head hanging sadly. She trotted off down one of the tunnels without another word, leaving the stallion to frown at the oppressively empty undergrown cavern.
“I’ve can’t have friends,” he whispered to himself, eyes softening as the Shadow looked at the two hooves in front of him. “I’ve never had friends…”
Coasting through her dream realm, Luna carefully tweaked a bubble here and there with her gentle touch. With the primary threat having faded, the dreams of ponies returned to normal, nightmares of evil Windigos being replaced by a lost sack of flour or talking pie.
To her astonishment, two new dream bobbles caught her eye. Far away from any others, they were fractured and crackling with magic. Unnatural and noisy in her realm, the dreams caused the Princess’s eyes to widen in realization as she zeroed in on the general location of the pair.
“Got you!”
Diving into one of the newest dreams she detected, Luna encased her body with armor and magic in preparation for a fight. She knew this magical signature, and if it was a fight this creature wanted, she’d give it to him!
What she did not expect was to appear in a simple, grassy clearing. The sky above them swirled upwards in a whirlpool-pattern, a black stallion sitting in the center of the grassy expanse. His form twitched ever so slightly as though he was in pain, a wince occasionally appearing.
Turning to look at her in surprise, the shadowy figure barely had time to raise a hoof in defense as Luna struck, pinning him to the ground as silver chains encircled the abomination.
“You have run long enough!” Luna bellowed, drawing out a sparkling sword and looking down at the pony-shaped creature.
“I surrender!”
Her anger quickly faded at the desperate cry, the Princess only now getting a good look at the pony she held bound. The Shadow was wrapped up tight in chains, offering no resistance. His previously black eyes now had grey pupils of which were wide in genuine fear, limbs shaking in absolute terror.
“What sort of trick is this?” Luna asked, her own dream weaponry ready to strike at a moment’s notice.
“No tricks. I have none left,” was the simple reply.
“You have no wings. A unicorn form? What games are you playing at?” Luna questioned, the Shadow shrugging as best he could.
“I do not know.”
“You don’t know?”
The stallion looked genuinely confused, no cocky response leaving his muzzle.
“Then perhaps I will question the other creature here. Their dream is also available to me,” Luna stated. “You can wait here while I question them.”
“NO! Don’t disturb her! Please!”
That made Luna pause, the Princess staring at the stallion in shock. Gone was the devious and manipulative pony that had sent her sister and Nacreous’s dreams into the dark abyss. Instead, a confused and very conflicted creature stared back at her.
“What?”
“Let her sleep. She is not like me,” the Shadow whispered, gaze drifting to the ground. “Please, let Icait be.”
“Icait?”
“Her name. That silly Windigo gave herself a name,” the Shadow murmured to himself, not seeming to notice or care as the chains began to loosen ever so slightly. “She is no threat to you. If you are to torture anyone, let it be me. Just leave her alone, please.”
Luna sat down in absolute shock; her bladed weapons still angled slightly towards the Shadowy pony.
“What are you, Shadow? What is going on here? You manipulated dreams to cause unrest in our pony, my sister, Nacreous, and now you and this ‘Icait’ are just ‘here’?”
The pony nodded, looking to his own hooves in a rather unsettling fashion, as though the stallion couldn’t voice his feelings correctly.
“I don’t know,” he whispered. “The Emissary is who summoned us here, gave me the task of disrupting harmony via dreams. She gave the Windigos intelligence, let them think for themselves. She is dead, our link to her severed and gone. With that, we have lost our drive, our purpose.”
The Shadow looked up at Luna, and the alicorn’s eyes widened as the two grey shadowy orbs began to brim with tears.
“What am I, Lunar Empress? What are we? I am not meant to feel, to exist like this. To dream and think as a single individual, it is overwhelming. My kind is from the Limbo realm. I should not exist here…and yet Icait wishes to simply live,” at those words, the Shadow huffed, shaking his head. “She’s so fascinated with you ponies. There’s an outpost near our hideout she goes to, reading your books, watching how pony’s live. She is much more innocent than I.”
“What do you want, Shadow?”
The creature looked at Luna, not speaking for a time. The question seemed to genuinely stump him.
“I want to live. I want Icait to live. I cannot return to the Limbo realm, to do so would drive me mad. And yet this existence is fracturing me. I was created with the drive to feed off hate, to spread unrest. Yet that drive has now faded,” he explained, eyes widening in horror.
“Wait…Your sister’s dream is twisted. It is not my doing; my influence faded some time ago! I have been watching to make sure my magic was gone for good.”
“Wait, why would you want to retract your magic?” Luna asked, extending her magical senses to probe the dream realm to confirm such words.
The Shadow’s brow furrowed, shoulders slumping in defeat.
“It felt better than to continue my original purpose. I will remain here for every night. I will not stop your efforts to torture me at a later date, if that is to be my fate.”
“Torture? We do not perform such things,” Luna replied with a huff. “I prefer this method of information extraction. As long as you are willing, I will not take further steps, nor enter Icait’s dreams for now. You have given me a lot to think about, Shadow.”
“Onyx.”
Luna froze, hearing the single word leave the Shadow’s mouth.
“What?”
The creature’s mouth parted in the smallest of smiles, fangs showing out from underneath his muzzle in a tentative display of confidence. Even though his eyes were fixed on his hooves, the Shadow seemed to brighten in demeanor ever so slightly.
“I’ve decided that is my name. That silly Windigo kept asking me about it,” he whispered. “Highness, you must go. Your sister….”
Luna nodded, leaving the shadowy pony alone as she wrapped herself in magic. On entering her dream realm fully, magical alarms began to swarm around her body all pointing to a single dream.
“Oh no, Celly.”
The dream bubble was black, white lightning crackling across its surface. Luna braced herself and dove in, not entirely sure what to expect.
Her vision went white, and then as dark as a moonless night. It was only a moment but Luna’s heart stopped on seeing something lunge towards her. Fangs bared, the rotten outline of an alicorn snarled, soulless eyes locking onto Luna’s.
“No! Stay away!” it shrieked, powerful magic tossing Luna back into her own realm.
What horror is this?
Celestia’s dream stayed locked tight, refusing even the most tentative touch from Luna’s magic.
Sister, what have you been hiding from me? From yourself?
It only took a moment to decide, Luna darting to Nacreous’s own dream. Gaudi waved at her, expression darkening on seeing the Alicorn’s expression.
“Nacreous! It’s Luna, something is wrong!” she called out.
Luna stepped into a familiar office-like room, Nacreous shaking water off his feathers as he walked through the door.
“Princess Luna? What-”
“It’s Celestia. I don’t…” Luna began, shivering slightly. “Something is horribly wrong, Nacreous. She’s blocked me from entering. It’s a nightmare, but more severe than anything I’ve ever seen before. I can’t help her, but you can.” She then smiled sincerely, even though the gesture wavered. “I know she’ll let you in.”
Nacreous nodded, armor cloaking his frame as he activated one of the spells Luna had created weeks ago.
“Thank you, Luna.”
“Help my Sister, Nacreous,” Luna whispered, gesturing towards the portal that began to open. “Please.”
Nacreous wasn’t sure what to expect as he walked through the dream portal. His claws and hooves squished into the swampy ground as the first few steps were taken. The starless sky still somehow lit up the scene with an eerie, moon-like glow.
“Celly? Where are you?” he called out, trotting down a path-like opening between half-rotted trees and muddy puddles.
What is this place?!
“Stay away.” a voice hissed, the sound coming from every direction.
“Not a chance. I’m not leaving here without you in my arms,” Nacreous proclaimed.
“So you say...”
The Paladin forged onwards, following a path until the trees began to open up. On hearing a few branches crack behind him, the hippogriff whirled around. The only thing he saw was a glimpse, a flicker of a form before it was gone.
“Nacreous…?” the voice carried on an unnatural wind.
He turned to look again- and now he stood on the edge of a massive tar pit. The surface bubbled and swayed, swells of dark waves heaving this way and that.
When he saw an alabaster hoof extending up from it, the Hippogriff didn’t even hesitate to lunge forwards.
“Gotcha!”
Pulling on Celestia’s extended hoof, the Paladin smiled as two half-open eyes breached the surface, the Alicorn coughing up sludge.
“There you are,” Nacreous rumbled, pulling her fully out of the pit and onto semi-dry land.
Before Celestia had fully shaken off the tar however, her eyes opened fully and met Nacreous’s.
“You…are here…?” she whispered, starting to shiver. “No. You can’t see.”
“I’ve seen plenty of sides of you, Celestia. One more isn’t going to change that,” Nacreous retaliated.
Celestia’s form fragmented into pieces of parchment, swirling around to coalesce behind the Paladin as a sinister voice chuckled.
“Are you sure about that?” the voice asked.
Turning around, Nacreous sidestepped a halfhearted strike from the dark creature, the gesture seeming aimed to push him away rather than inflict damage.
“Yes, I am.”
Hugging the strange form, Nacreous heard the creature whimper, the alicorn fading once again.
“Come on, Celly. Which one are you?”
“Here.”
The soft, fearful whisper drew Nacreous onwards down a small side path between the swampy trees. They opened up into a small clearing with a few scattered boulders. In the moonlight, a familiar form stood, bracing against an invisible weight on their shoulders.
Celestia’s head barely lifted to look at her Paladin, pinpricks of violet light shining from a black abyss. Her wings were tattered, leathery patches replacing her feathers as they lifted partially off her back. The alabaster fur was gone, now replaced with a brittle, smooth porcelain that cracked and flaked, exposing an interior of shadows flecked with red embers. Her mane and tail lacked any luster, falling over her face as the Princess struggled to still stand. Even now a piece cracked off Celestia’s neck, falling to the ground with a muted fizzle.
https://www.deviantart.com/backlash91/art/Porcelain-Princess-738027141
(Used with Permission, created by the talented Backlash91)
“Celly…” Nacreous whispered, taking a few steps forward.
“I can’t do it anymore,” Celestia whispered, hind legs giving out as she sat down, head hanging in exhaustion. “I’m so scared.”
“What is this about, Celestia? Scared of what?” Nacreous asked.
“They’re going to die, Nacreous.”
“Who?”
Celestia lifted her gaze, tar-like tears tracing out from where most of her eyes would be.
“Everyone. The guards. My subjects. T-twilight…C-cadence…Y-you.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Celestia!” Nacreous growled, taking a few steps forward to slowly close the distance.
“I ignored the possibility. You’re ageless, so I assumed that of course you’ll be around…b-but then I almost lost you,” Celestia added. “Three weeks ago. I almost lost the one creature I loved more in this world than anything. N-nacreous, that day nearly broke me,” she whispered. “Do you have any idea what I was prepared to do to bring you back? Laws meant nothing; limits were but a challenge. I would have burned the veil between life and death to yank you back.”
Nacreous took another step forward, a tender smile growing on his features as the armor faded from his body.
“Do you think I would do anything less for you?” he asked, prompting Celestia’s head to snap up, a few more pieces of porcelain falling to the ground.
“You don’t understand. I didn’t realize how close I came that day to losing you, how much you truly meant to me…and what I would be willing to do to prevent such a thing,” Celestia replied, limbs starting to shake. “I’m so afraid of losing you, Nacreous. I never understood how much until that day.”
“Is that what you’ve been hiding these weeks? That fear? The same fear you helped me conquer months ago?” Nacreous asked, another few steps taken.
“Yes. But that weakness, I can’t appear like that to my ponies, like t-this,” Celestia whispered, a crack forming across her cutie-mark. “I have to be strong for them. I c-can’t fear. Or be in pain. Or w-worry, or b-be af-afraid…”
“No, you can’t,” Nacreous agreed, crossing the final few steps to stand nose-to-nose with Celestia. “You are their ruler, and everycreature looks up to you. But Celly, you’re forgetting one thing,” the hippogriff put a taloned hand gently on Celestia’s cheek, rubbing it with a claw to wipe away a few tears as his own eyes watered. “You can be all those things with me. I want you to be yourself with me. Especially if it means you’re afraid, cracked, or hurting.”
The area around Nacreous’s touch began to glow softly, the porcelain shifting to become familiar, soft fur.
“Just as you need to remind me that the whole ‘being a King’ secret isn’t held against me, it seems I need to remind you of this,” Nacreous whispered, leaning forward to rest his forehead against the Princess’s. “I’m not one of your subjects. I’m not a mortal, some creature inexperienced with the pressures of royalty and rule. I am also a King, and while I may not understand completely, but I can come a lot closer than you realize, Celly.”
The glow began to spread, the porcelain beginning to shatter as fur grew out from underneath it. Nacreous scooted forwards to wrap Celestia up in a hug, the alicorn burying her head into his shoulder.
“I love you, and I’d do anything in this world to make you happy. If that means sitting in your room with you and holding you in my arms for hours on end, then so be it. Meetings can be rescheduled, and nobles can wait,” Nacreous continued, resting his head against Celestia’s neck. “You mean everything to me, and that includes how you’re feeling. I just wish you had told me this earlier, for I’ve had this same fear.”
The remainder of Celestia’s porcelain shell finally fell in a cacophony of sound, a familiar warmth replacing the ice-cold material.
“I guess I’m still rather boneheaded after a thousand years.”
Celestia pulled back to look at Nacreous with a tearful smile, violet eyes sparkling with the love for life he so loved to see.
“Celly?” he whispered, the hippogriff suddenly being yanked into a tighter embrace, Celestia’s lips occupying any words that he left unsaid. The swamp around them vanished, replaced by a sparkling ocean as far as the eye could see, the pair sitting on the edge of a seaside cliff.
The alicorn finally let her hippogriff breath with a smirk, the tears in her eyes matching the light reflecting off the water down below.
“Thank you, Nacreous,” she whispered, leaning into his arms once again. “I got so wrapped up in my own head, the exhaustion, the fear, I just couldn’t-” she paused as Nacreous’ claw gently touched her nose.
“How about next time, we’ll talk before it gets that bad?” he suggested with a grin. “As lovely as that swamp was however.”
“I think that’s a fantastic idea,” Celestia sighed, then darting forward to hug him close once gain. Her love held her tight, Nacreous affectionately nuzzling along her cheek and neck, then ending in a tender kiss. She didn’t say anything for a time, letting out a relieved breath.
“As much as it may help to talk with you, I may need a bit of encouragement from time to time, however,” she admitted.
She felt the hippogriff hold in a chuckle, the extremely smug and rather cheeky grin on Nacreous’s face quickly making her wings snap out, as the Alicorn’s cheeks immediately burned a bright crimson.
“I d-didn’t- you-I mean-”
Nacreous casually let her go, definitely showing off his wings as he sauntered a short distance away. It was quite clear what sort of encouragement that grin meant…
“I didn’t say aaaaaanything!” he chortled, then trotted forwards to press his cheek against Celestia’s briefly. “It is good to have you back, Sunspots.”
Celestia smiled, the mirth flickering however.
“I doubt that is the last of them, though. The nightmares…”
“Then I’ll be here whenever you need me. This isn’t a one-time deal. Last I checked, I’m here for a long, time,” Nacreous replied confidently, reaching down to hold Celestia’s hoof. “A very, very long time.” Another kiss, and the hippogriff gave her shoulder a nudge. “Now time to sleep, goodness knows you need it.”
As the Alicorn’s face began to twist in uncertainty and a hint of fear, Nacreous made sure the pair of eyes he adored were fixed on his own.
“And if you need me, I’ll be right here. Always.”
Relaxing in his arms, Celestia sighed happily, letting herself doze off even within her own dream, so great was her exhaustion.
“I’d like that….” she mumbled, Nacreous settling down next to her as the depleted Princess curled up underneath his wing. A smile flickered across her face as a tender talon brushed some bangs off of Celestia’s face, a familiar heartbeat thudding in her ears.