Night Patrol 2 Chapter 52
By Foxgear
Skies above Canterlot 11:34 AM
The starry night sky was filled with angelic laughter as Sixes and Luna bounce from cloud to cloud, rolling through each fluffy white puff in a tangled mess of limbs. Luna’s cheeks were flush red, joyous tears fell from her eyes as she laughed, drawing closer to the warmth radiating off Sixes.
“Ah… when was the last time I’ve felt so free?” She sighed, staring at the starry sky. The white stars grew brighter with her mood. A thick sweat soaked her body from flying, and her heart was beating a mile a minute from the exercise and other reasons.
Sixes sat up, looking pleased, entranced by the starlit land. His posture the most relaxed she saw in forever. An image of Sixes from the early days of Night Patrol overlapped him. How different he was from back then. Unscarred, his eyes wide with wonder and fascination at the world around him.
“I haven’t seen you smile like that in forever.” She mused, sitting up. “It’s like a lost treasure.”
“You’re a lost treasure,” Sixes mumbled, blushing.
She smiled leaning against him, taking in his warmth once more. “I have a feeling you would have petrified yourself, whether or not any pony else joined you or not. That’s very romantic in its own way.”
“Or just an obsession. It’s not something a sane pony would do.”
Luna nuzzled his neck, “Well, it’s not entirely sane, but not in a bad way. How are you sleeping? Are things… better now?”
“I’m sure you’ve taken a look for yourself.” Sixes replied softly, hiding his face from her.
Luna averted her eyes, “Not every night, but you do seem to be doing a lot better now. Strangely well, considering the war was only two months ago. The opposite for most ponies, really.”
“How are they holding up? The GEA soldiers?”
“About as well as they can be expected. Honestly, from what I’ve observed, many of the soldiers are either blocking it out or just haven’t processed it yet. I am concerned about the spike in drinking and smoking, thanks for introducing them to that.” Fumed Luna, not liking the fact the soldiers were going to such extremes. “Besides that, your change in attitude is putting them on edge.”
“Change? I’ve done nothing different.”
“They seem to think you're nicer to them.”
“I’m only giving them their dues. They fought hard and deserve the respect that comes with that. That’s all.”
“If you say so,” She sighed, wistfully looking toward the moon. “How soon until the castle is done?” Luna asked, changing the subject. “Canterlot is fine, but I’d rather be home if you know what I mean?”
“I do. It will be a few weeks to a month and a half, but we got the barebones done. So, it’s liveable but not comfortable. Once the resident rooms are done, ponies can decorate the rooms to their liking. You’ll have to talk to Hazel Thunder about decorating your room. If you don’t hurry, you’ll end up with a Nippon style room.”
Luna blinked, “Hazel is into interior designing? Since when?”
Sixes tapped his chin, deeply frowning his brow in thought, “Since she was twelve? I don’t know, Kira might. They’re a lot closer. I didn’t exactly keep tabs on every trainee.”
“Says the pony who keeps a scrapbook of every soldier he’s ever trained. Why do you have to pretend not to care? You love those kids like they were your own, Hazel, Ruby, Octane, Platinum, and so many others. Maybe you’re not their primary father figure or even their favorite, but you helped raise them. Can’t you be proud of that?”
He sighed, sounding exhausted. “I think you’ve been looking at more than just my dreams. That aside, I’m not a great role model. I was a shitty father to Crusader, no matter what excuse I use, I should have stepped up and supported him. At least a little bit. I just couldn’t look at him that way, no matter what I tried.”
“Is that why you married Celestia?”
“A part of it. That really was a big mistake. I should have known better.”
“What were you thinking at the time?”
Sixes sagged, “Do we really need to talk about this? This is so far in the past.”
“I want to know, you don’t have to tell me Everything all at once, but I want to know about the ten years I missed after my banishment. Not just about you and Celestia, but everypony. Unfortunately, there are no books or anything else I can use to find out.”
“Fine,” Sixes replied, his voice tight. “I don’t know exactly what I was thinking, but several ponies were giving me flak about being hung up on the past. I think this was five years after that night. Fury was one of them, Celestia and Crusader were others, saying I needed to let things go. To let you go. I guess in a moment of weakness, I thought they were right, and I thought if I could replace you with Celestia. We already had a kid, so I thought having a family would change things for the better.”
“And?” Encouraged Luna, knowing there was more to it.
“I was almost crowned fucking king of Equestria!” He snarled. “Our marriage wasn’t even public! I know it should have been obvious given her status, but once the nobles found out, they got so excited. They started bothering me about finally crowning a king. As if they had a problem with you and Celestia. It got things off to a rocky start between Celestia and me too. To get away from the nobles, I started taking faraway missions. I would be gone for weeks at a time, maybe even a month. I remember…” Sixes’ voice softened, his face twisted with regret and sadness.
“I got home this one time, and Crusader tried to introduce me to his first girlfriend. I think she was one of Celestia’s maids or mage students. I don’t think she’s the girl he married, but I remember he was so excited and she was nervous. I…” He swallowed hard. “I brushed past them. Didn’t say a word to either of them. I didn’t even answer his ‘welcome home.’ I wish I could just say I was tired, but I wasn’t happy to be back, I wasn’t glad to see him.”
“I’m guessing this was when the rift between you two started?”
“It was there before. That love poison coffee occurred somewhere in the middle of it all, but Celestia and I… we really just aren’t compatible. She looks at things from high in the sky, were reality blurs to create a pleasant picture. I was on the ground, in the mud and blood, smashing skulls and carrying my friends to their coffins.”
Luna interjected with, “Celestia is not ignorant. She’s been alive longer than even me, and has seen much blood and violence and still believes in the better side of pony nature. Scratch that, not just ponies. She believes every creature can learn the ways of harmony. That said, I think she likes to pretend things are better then they are. It’s a subject we’ve argued about for centuries now, but she still wants to carry the world’s problems herself, or if not herself, but a trusted proxy. She’s a big fan of chosen heroes. Not surprising when she’s known most of them. Maybe that’s from Starswirl’s teachings. He never did trust the ‘common’ pony to step up and face evil. He believed you had to be destined. Like the pillars.”
Sixes chuckled, “Now that was an odd group. What happened to them? They just disappeared one day.”
The mysterious disappearance of the Pillars, Starswirl’s band of oddball heroes, recruited from the four corners of the world. In a way, they were the predecessors to Twilight and her friends. Each strong in their own way, and heroes in their own right. However, unlike Twilight and her friends, the Pillars were a rougher lot. They were the top warriors, mages, and sages of their time.
“Whereas Twilight’s company is made up of baker, seamstress, farmer, stunt flyer and… whatever Fluttershy does.” Luna hung her head. She truly believed any pony could take up arms to defend themselves, but there was a proportional response. Ironic since her first recruit, Applejack, was a farmer. Of course, being a farmer is easier than in the past. There are nowhere near the number of monsters nowadays.
“What’s that? You were mumbling there at the end.”
“Sorry, I just thought the time of heroes really is over. I thought so back before my sealing, but now, in these modern times, the heroes are truly gone.”
Sixes looked at her with a complex expression, deep in thought. “Isn’t that a good thing? Those old heroes always showed up when things were dire, and there was little to no hope. Isn’t ita good thing? That an unknown champion doesn’t have to rise up to defeat some evil? I like to think it means we're doing our job.”
“Huh… I never thought of it like that. I suppose if our protectors are doing their jobs, then a hero doesn’t have to rise up. Still, there something romantic about a normal pony facing great peril and overcoming it.”
“It is romantic,” Sixes agreed. “But I doubt an upstart hero armed with a lost legendary weapon can fix today's problems. What’s your response to Prance? Are we going over there?”
“Not if I can help it,” She declared authoritatively. “Our alliance treaty stated we’d only help if Prance was attacked, not if they attacked and got slapped on the nose. D’arc has sent over five different legal advisors trying to find a loophole. Celestia wants to send aid such as food, and bandages, and I understand her reasons, but if we supply the Prance, then the war will drag on. It will be best if both nations fighting runs out of resources. It will bring the fighting to an end sooner if both sides are starved. Armies consume a lot of resources, you know, and ponies can only be asked to sacrifice so much.”
“I know,” Sixes grumbled, having experienced food shortages on the campaign more than once. The stark growl of hunger was hard to forget, as was the taste of spoiled carrots and dry grass. “But things will depend on Germane, they have a mandate after that surprise attack, but if they get too carried away kicking the Prench in the teeth, other nations might think they have to step in. Britannia is one of them. They always find a reason to intervene if things don’t work ninety percent in their favor.”
There was an unspoken agreement to not interfere in other nation's wars.
Of course, some third parties couldn’t help themselves and attacked embattled countries to gain territory, but the way they did it could cause problems down the line. Not just the sour taste of a third-party butting into their affair would cause animosity towards said nations, but the leaders would see fit to mess with established trade to punish the intruders after the fact.
There were also other reasons not to let pony nations war with each other for too long or too grand of a scale. Other races would no doubt take the chance to knock a pony nation down if they thought they could, and no creature was more likely to do that then the Dragonlords.
Usually, Dragonlords were too busy fighting other Dragonlords to waste resources on conquering pony lands, but when presented with easy prey, some just couldn’t help themselves. It was also the chance for dragons wanting to gain power but were too weak to defeat their lord. They would go and take land for themselves, thus creating their own territory. Whether they kept, it was another thing.
Right now, the chance of that was low, but prolonged war was definitely a problem to worry over.
(I hope I’m making the right decision, Dusk.)
“Say Sixes,” Luna whispered. “What would you think about this…” Her voice dropped into a whisper.
“Heh, I guess it’s a good thing I arranged for this then.” Sixes rummaged through his saddlebag, producing a small box and presented it to Luna. “I couldn’t find anything that could compare to you, but I was assured this was the closest one could get.”
In the box was a silver bracelet affixed with a shining pure white pearl.
“Oh, Sixes… you stole that from Queen Nova, didn’t you?” If that wasn’t the Sea Ponies royal treasure, she wouldn’t be able to deny it.
“No… I stole… I received it from Kira, who stole it from a Dragonlord x number of years back. So she says.”
“Well, where ever you got it, it’s beautiful.” She took the bracelet with her magic and placed it on her right foreleg. “And my answer is yes, by the way.”
Ponyville, Next Day, 6:15 AM
Applejack Abigal Apple, the ninth, woke up like usual with her body pulsing with energy like the rising sun. After a quick breakfast of oat cereal, and a Honeycrisp Apple, she journeyed out into the north orchard. The baskets she laid out last night all set in the prime position to catch her harvest.
Only all the baskets were already filled to the brim with fresh-picked apples.
This made her pause and search for her older brother, Big Macintosh. He was the only other pony on the farm that could get out of bed before her. Applebloom slept in from staying up too late, and Granny Smith enjoyed the retired life. Though the elder Apple would be awake in fifteen minutes even if she didn’t have any chores. Unless going to the local café to take to other elder ponies was considered one.
Granny referred to it as enjoying her golden years. She’s earned the right to do so after raising her kids and then them. All while managing the farm.
“So, who did this?” She wondered aloud, hearing a grunt in the distance. “Big Mac? Is that you?” She called out but received no response. A tingle of energy flowed through Applejack, and she knew who it was.
Quietly she wandered into the next row of trees, finding her ‘cousin’ Applejazz or Jazz for short. Standing in the middle of a group of trees with her eyes closed. Looking very zen. Her body engulfed in a green aura that matched her eyes. With a stomp, a wave of magic surged from her body, gently rocking the trees and making apples fall like rain.
It was terrific to Applejack, but Jazz clicked her tongue, looking displeased.
“Not good enough, AJ was much better.” Stomping the ground again, Jazz unleashed a second more powerful wave that shook the trees even harder, knocking loose the straggling apples and overfilling the buckets.
“Dammit.” She grunted, swiping the sweat accumulating on her brow. “Still not there.”
“It looks mightly impressive to me,” Applejack tentatively praised, sensing Jazz’s foul mood. “You showed me that trick months ago, and I can only shake one tree at a time, but you did… one, two…twelve! That’s amazing.”
“Applejack… my Applejack could harvest an entire acre of trees, with one stomp, and could selectively choose the ripe ones. I’m leagues away from that. Her magic control was like a finely tuned guitar. She didn’t have the largest reserves, but she was efficient with what she had.”
“And what age was she when she achieved this level of skill?” Applejack asked as Jazz tapped her lip, deep in thought.
“Her prime was probably her early thirties? I think it was after her second child was born.”
“And your eighteen? You’re pushing yourself too hard, aren’t you?”
Jazz sighed, looking disappointed. “The groundwork has already been laid ahead of me. I should be able to reach AJ’s level at twenty and then beyond by age thirty. That’s how progress is made. Stagnation is just a slow death. This farm is a good example of that.”
“I beg your pardon?” The farm mare staggered in her speech, trying to force down her anger. “We’re doing… ah… we’re doing okay. We get by.”
“Right,” Jazz shook her head. “ I know it’s not my place. I’m just a distant relative from the past, after all, but try to answer these questions. Who gets the full control of the farm when Granny Smith dies? If not one, then how will the shares be divided up? Will Applebloom get shares? What if you or Big Mac get married? Will you continue living here, or will one of you be forced to leave? If not, how will you divide the house? Will you build another house on the property? What will happen when Applebloom comes of age? Do you have answers to any of these questions?”
“I umm… we’ve discussed it in passing, but Granny’s got a few more years in her.” Applejack shook her head, growling. “Anyway, that’s our business! We’ll take care of it when we're ready! Why are you so… irritated? Is this because of the…” She couldn’t bring herself to say it. Flinching at the vivid memories that cropped back up. “If you're doing this to cope, that’s fine, but don’t go snapping at the family or me. This is what? The tenth time I’ve woken up to find you out here in the last two months? Maybe you need to see somepony.”
“I’m here because it’s too noisy at the new castle, construction, you know. It’s hard to focus. I thought I would be nice and give you a hoof since I can double it as training. I know if I can just surpass AJ the First, I could have taken one of those bastards out. She could have taken one of them.”
“Could she have?” Applejack gawked. “I mean, I don’t have a personal account, but Sombra’s children were no joke. Even the Princesses had trouble with them.”
“She could have killed Ombre easily. Okay, easily is oversimplifying it. AJ could have won by herself. Meanwhile, I could barely slow that bastard down even with Glove’s help. We should have been able to take him.”
Jazz’s expression soured even further, recalling how she’d been humiliated when Ombre ripped her prosthetic wings from her back. She’d already placed an order with Platinum for new ones, with whatever upgrades the crippled unicorn could think up. Platinum was doing some retrofitting on herself from what she heard.
(I wonder what she’ll cook up.) Jazz wondered, thinking of all the new weapons the unicorn could try to jam into her legs. For a moment she contemplated ‘enhancing’ one of her own legs, but decided against it. That would be insulting to Platinum.
“Hey, Jazz, earth to Jazz! You still here?” Applejack waved in front of her face.
She gently knocked Applejack’s offending hoof from view, “I’m fine, just thinking, and so should you. You need to be more serious about the farm. Farming isn’t just planting and harvesting, you know. It may sound weird, but you need to have a proper line of succession set up, or are you planning to farm until you can’t anymore and just give it to some random relative?”
“I know we gotta get a plan set up properly, but… it’s hard thinking like that. Like I’m cheering on Granny to die or trying to get one over my brother.”
Jazz placed a hoof on Applejack’s shoulder, “It’s tough, but that’s reality. Sorry about snapping earlier. Something has been bothering me, obviously.”
“I get it.” Applejack replied, removing Jazz’s hoof. “I’ve been having trouble of my own since… that adventure up north. Things… things are different. We all saw some horrible things, some more than others. I’m still having nightmares, and I can’t talk about it with Big Mac, Granny, and definitely not Applebloom. I’ve tried talking with my friends, but most of them want to bury their heads in the sand.”
“Yes, the reports did say your little group was going through some strife.”
“Reports? Are you yawl spying on us?”
“We prefer keeping tabs. Rarity and Pinkie are throwing themselves into their work, Fluttershy basically locked herself her own home, Rainbow Dash as been sending applications to the military five times a week and Twilight… well, she’s been acting strange, but in a good way depending on your point of view. Trouble is we lose track of her for extended periods. Do you know what she’s doing?”
Training is what she told me when last I saw her. She’s like a different pony now.” Applejack shuttered. “It’s like a part of her died.”
Jazz grimaced. “Yeah… from Daring and Trifecta’s reports… don’t expect her to be the same ever again. Honestly, I’d be more worried if she was acting normal. After what she was put through, no pony or rather very few can come out the other side and not be scarred forever. Anything else?”
“Are you asking me to snitch on my friend?”
“Snitch is the wrong word, she’s not in trouble, but she is currently being monitored for mental health. You all are, by the way. Think of it as… talking to a nurse so she can get the doctor. Is there any other change in Twilight’s behavior?”
“I think she’s meeting somepony. Not the romantic way, I think, but I’ve passed by her place a few times and heard muttering over her last ‘lesson’ and how excited she was to get the next one. I assumed it was something to do with Celestia. She is still the Princess’s student, right?”
“Yes…” Jazz drawled out uncertainly. “More importantly, Twilight has been attending the Military Committee meeting, but she and Celestia have not interacted with more than a few words. To my knowledge.
The Vice commander rubbed her chin, circling around the orange mare in thought. “You think she’s taking some side lessons with somepony else? That’s interesting. I wonder if Celestia knows? Probably not.”
“Is there anything else? I got other things to do.” Grumbled, Applejack, irritated at the situation, but since she couldn’t help them, maybe it was better to leave things to Night Patrol. Not that it seemed she had a choice.
(I’m gonna lose more sleep now that I know I’m being watched.)
“There is one more thing,” Jazz said, breaking Applejack’s train of thought. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine.”
“No, I mean, how are YOU doing?”
“I SAID, I’m fine!”
“And I’m saying that’s bullshit. You just said you needed some pony to talk to. Well, I’m somepony and family, so I’m doubly qualified. Triple if you count my occupation.”
Applejack bit back whatever she was about to say, mauling over her words before speaking. “I’m done.”
“Done with what?”
“Adventuring, this saving Equestria, and elements of harmony thing. I’m done. I didn’t sign up for it. I bore with it because I thought it was my duty as an Equestrian and a friend, but I’m done. I’ve been leaving Mac huge piles of work, my little sister is running around Celestia knows where getting into trouble. Granny’s on her last leg. I’m done. I’m staying here, right where I belong. Next time adventure calls, I’m telling it to take a hike.”
“What if the Princess summons you?” Jazz countered.
“Well, she has you all. All of you seemed to want, maybe enjoy even throwing yourselves into that mess regularly. I DON’T!” Applejack was panting, she did a double-take, realizing she had been shouting in Jazz’s face. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean…”
Jazz silenced her by covering Applejack’s mouth, a gentle smile playing across her lips. “It’s okay.” Jazz cooed, embracing Applejack. “It’s okay. You don’t have to do anything like that again, because I’ll do it in your place. It’s my job, after all. You just live the best life you can.”
The damn broke, and Applejack began to cry, wailing into Jazz’s mane. Exhausting all the pent up emotions and fears, she been carrying since the war in the north. After five long minutes, Applejack quieted, laying exhaustedly against Jazz, while the red mare stroked her hair.
Jazz continued to whisper coos like her AJ did for her back in the day. She stared out at the vast expanse of trees. Her mind awed by the peaceful breeze traveling through the orchard.
(I’ll protect this place, no matter what.) Jazz vowed. “I’ll protect you and Applebloom and all the Apples. I won’t let them send you overseas to help those stupid Prench. I’ll go if I must, but I’ll be dammed if you do.”
Canterlot, Celestia’s Private Garden, 7:21 AM
It was rare for Celestia to have much time to herself in the morning. Typically she’d be swamped by yesterday's postponed meetings and appointments, but with the recent changes in delegations, her overburdened schedule finally lightened.
One of the newest changes was Cadence. Her young niece really stepped up after her marriage, filling in for her and Luna from time to time and taking an active role in ruling. After the War in the North, she went from part-time to full time for the lack of a better phrase.
Like before, there were royal officials that ponies were supposed to report to, and they’d report to her if needed. Her meeting ponies on one was more a luxury and personal preference when times were peaceful, but that peace was shattered, and she had no time for little things like before.
Hence Cadence’s new role. In Fancy Pants' words, she was the assistant general manager or something along those lines. Cadence took on the responsibilities of making day to day decisions that well maybe crucial to the pony presenting them, really didn’t need her or Luna’s attention.
It was another level of bureaucracy, but it actually worked, for now. Maybe once things settle down, they can return to the more personal meetings they’d held before, but right now, Celestia’s attention was needed elsewhere.
Which is why she found her suddenly available free time so perplexing. There was much work to do, but Time Keeper had scheduled more personal time for her than usual. He cited something about her mental well being, or the like, and told her to enjoy the garden, or something until nine o’clock. When she would be in a ‘scheduled’ five-hour meeting with the industrial committee, that would surely be much longer than five hours. They were hopeful it remained under eight.
Since it had been a while, Celestia decided it was an excellent morning to talk to Crusader. Sitting on the stone bench facing his statue, she poured herself a cup of tea and unwrapped a cupcake she stole from the kitchen. For the first ten minutes, she quietly sipped and nibbled on her treat, her entire body shaking with excitement until she couldn’t contain herself anymore.
“I finally did it.” She whispered with a smirk so vicious she could be mistaken for a villainess. “The elements are dysfunctional!”
In her private war with the spirits of the Elements of Harmony, she had found herself on the back foot, unable to truly battle against their cosmic might. However, recent events have revealed their limitations. The cursed they placed to restrict her power has all but been broken.
Her free reign of power in the War of the North was a good example. Now that could be because the Elements chose not to interfere, but the more likely reason was their vessels weren’t up to the task.
It pained her heart to distress her little ponies, it truly did. If it were any other time, she would be overjoyed by Twilight and her friends' willingness to step up and face the threats they did. She didn’t plan to break their spirits, choosing to let the dice fall where they may, but if the reports were to be believed and they were.
Most of Twilight’s friends have lost their taste for Adventuring.
Who was to say what effect this might bring in the future, but the elements were now rendered powerless without their chosen vessels in the right state of mind. Now it was only a matter of destroying them for good. The Magic of Friendship would persist, of course, there was no destroying that, nor did she want to.
It was the six alicorn spirits in the Elements that held her ire. The same six spirits thought it fair to trap Luna on the moon for a thousand years. They expected her to accept her little sister’s punishment, like it was a decree from the gods.
“Well, nowadays, most ponies consider me a god.” Celestia chuckled darkly, sipping her tea. “I know I’m nothing that grand, but I find it funny is all. Thanks to Tombina and Daring’s work, I know just how to bring justice to those obnoxious spirits that have long since outlasted their time.”
She was still in the middle of preparations, but soon the elements would go from magic stones with sentience to just magical rocks. Once that was done, she’d repair the rift in the hearts and minds of the bearers and if she couldn’t. Well, others would arise at some point, she was sure.
There was only so much she could do.
“When you live so long, it’s hard not to get… cynical. Especially when it comes to the lives of others. I give myself freely, every day, all day. I hope ponies can forgive me if I act selfishly sometimes.”
Celestia hid no bones about what she was doing. She was making her subjects, her precious little ponies suffer, for personal gain. Not even that, really. For a petty spat between her and some ancient spirits. The problem was she was so invested in it. She almost had no choice but to follow through.
“No, that’s just an excuse.” She reminded herself, looking up at Crusader's statue. She could see the disappointment in his features. “I guess even I can’t live up to myself sometimes. I wonder what you would say? Your father, Sixes, and I have spoken on respectable terms recently. Luna found out we married for a short time. She says she’s okay about it, but I doubt it. I should have known better myself, but I was so desperate to make you happy, to give you a proper family. I did things I knew were wrong, just like now.”
Celestia hunched her shoulders, bowing her head to the statue. “I met Dusk again. She’s an alicorn now. The Alicorn of time. She showed me a future. A future where Twilight was facing down an unknown enemy. SHE was there and an alicorn herself, your daughter, my granddaughter, Sunset Shimmer.”
She paused, her chest hurting. “I haven’t told Sixes about her yet, nor Luna. Twilight as well. I’m ashamed to admit, I mishandled my own granddaughter to such a degree that she ran away to another world. I’m sorry. You and Sunny Spark trusted me to look after her, and I failed. Seeing that future gave me hope, though. Hope that she would return, and I… want to leave the throne to her.”
The pain in her chest tightened. “I tried to find a replacement. Cadence is really stepping up, and Twilight has potential as well, but I’d be lying if I said wouldn’t prefer Sunset to take my place. I love Twilight and Cadence, I really do, but Sunset has my heart. Truly she does. She’s my last link to you, and I didn’t hold on tight enough, didn’t give her the attention she needed. I treated her like a student when I should have treated her as my granddaughter. I should have explained our relationship in full, instead of hiding it.”
Sunset Shimmer’s birth was bizarre. Her mother, Sunny Spark, had been petrified to stop the spread of deadly disease from killing her. She remained frozen for almost six hundred years before a cure was finally discovered. When she has woken up, Crusader had passed away, and it was found she was pregnant. She gave birth and held on until Sunset was three before passing away herself.
From that point on, Celestia ‘raised’ Sunset. Raised being very loose because she punted the responsibility to her maids. Never explaining Sunset’s actual circumstances. The first chance Celestia got, she placed Sunset in the dorms of magic school, labeling her as her personal student.
Looking back, it was little wonder Sunset went rogue. She was a smart pony. She placed the pieces together and come up with the most likely answer. Sunset thought she was Celestia’s daughter, born from a secret affair. Naturally, she got angry when Celestia deflected the accusation and didn’t divulge the actual situation.
Sunset’s fall to the darker path only continued from there. She looked into Starswirl’s mysterious mirror, and whatever it showed her only corrupted her more. Her jealousy and entitlement grew when Cadence arrived at the castle. She saw the pink Alicorn as a rival.
The final straw was when Celestia decided to finally put her hoof down about her behavior, but it was too late for that. Sunset already had her own ambitions and escaped into the mirror to avoid punishment.
“Not my best moment. Strange how often ponies misunderstand my intentions.” Celestia had meant to only gently explain things to Sunset, putting guards on the golden unicorn had been a mistake. Sunset perhaps misunderstood and knocked out the guards and made her escape. “I think the time is almost near, we’ll see if she’ll come home. I hope she does, though, that will throw a wrench into certain plans.”
Celestia was at a loss about what to do with Twilight. For years she has been gently pushing Twilight towards the path of ascension, hoping for the birth of a new Alicorn. She needed to set up successors now. Those that could help Luna in the future.
That might sound strange to most ponies. Afterall, Celestia’s been ruling for a thousand years, but that was the problem. She was over three thousand years old now. The pony equivalent to their late thirties. She was technically in the prime of her life. Or so, one would think. Truthfully, Celestia felt closer to sixty or older some days. Even a thousand years ago, she didn’t heal like she did before when she was under a thousand.
Proper diet, exercise, and good living helped restore her body to its peak after she got lazy, thinking she’d hit her zenith. She managed to push past her limits and reach her true peak, but Celestia could feel it now. She was on the downswing. Truly this time.
No matter what she did, tried, or whatever, she felt tired waking up. Her energy was less than before. Even the sun felt lackluster if she didn’t put enough focus on it to keep it bright and warm.
“I’m so tired.” She said aloud, yawning audibility.
Only here, in this place, could she drop all pretense and masks, her forced smile, and truly embrace what lay beneath it all. A tired old mare who desperately wanted to retire.
“Luna’s planning something. I hear murmurs, but so far, everypony is tight-lipped. I’m impressed, actually. Not that I’ve tried real hard to uncover what she’s planning. Luna will tell me when she’s ready, I’ll just have to act surprised, I guess.” Celestia smiled at Crusader’s statue, it features softer now. “Thanks for listening to me gripe again. I swear I would have gone mad, if not for these quiet moments to myself. Although, maybe I’ve already gone mad? I am talking to a statue as if it were my dead son, after all.”
Celestia laughed dryly, not really amused by her own humor, but seeing the irony in it.
“I’ll be back, next time I’ll try to invite Sixes, I’m sure he has a few things he’d like to say to you.”
Somewhere in the Everfree forest, 8:46 AM
“That’s it, Twilight keep at it!”
“RGH!”
“Come on! Do better!”
A sharp whimper filled the clearing. Twilight Sparkle mewing like a kitten well blood dripped from her nose. Her attacker merely examined the blood on the back of her claw, shaking the red liquid from the raspberry scales.
“You wanted to do this, learn how to take a hit already! A bloody nose is nothing compared to the whipping you endured!” VeeVee barked like a drill sergeant, egging Twilight to try again. The young unicorn screamed, charging with her horn forward, and her eyes closed. “STOP CLOSING YOUR EYES! LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME AND KILL ME!”
VeeVee grabbed Twilight by her horn and pressed the unicorns bloody muzzle into the dirt. “Where’s the girl that begged me to teach her CQC? HUH? Where is she? Because all I see is a future victim!”
“Shut… up…”
“Speak up! Put some emotion behind your words!”
“I SAID SHUT UP!” Twilight lashed out, almost scoring a hit on VeeVee. Almost. The raspberry rinin proceeded to brutally slam the unicorn into the dirt.
“You won’t protect your friends, let alone yourself, at this rate.” VeeVee droned circling around the whimpering Twilight. “We’re taking a break. Freshen up, and we’ll resume magic lessons. We’ll put CQC on hold when you have some semblance of coordination. I’ll build a training and diet regimen for you to follow. Maybe in six months, I’ll have something to work with.”
“That’s too long, I need to get stronger, now!”
VeeVee flicked Twilight on the forehead, HARD, her talon breaking skin. “You need patience! You’ve spent your childhood and teen years sitting on your ass reading books! Your not fat, but you're not in shape either. At least not in combat shape.”
“But we don’t know when the next threat will arise! I need to be ready!” Twilight protested, springing to her feet. “Please, Master VeeVee, I can continue.”
The rinin sighed, scratching her head, “Okay, first, there’s usually a lull between threats. Even if there are some villainess forces out there, they won’t act right away. Those types like to plot and plan to lay the groundwork rather than jumping in on the fly. Kind of stupid, really.”
VeeVee held up two claws blocking Twilight from replying, “Second, there are plenty of other ponies ready to defend Equestria at the moment. You just focus on being ready for the threat after the next. The path to true power is a long and difficult one, you can cheat and go the Nightmare route, but that’s short term gain with a shallow power ceiling.”
At Twilight’s confused look, VeeVee knew she had to be clearer. “Okay, you know those stories about villains using some ancient dark magic to gain a bunch of power suddenly or something like that?”
“Yeah, it happens all the time. A lot of the time actually, it’s a troupe in most literature nowadays. When you say Nightmare route, are you referring to Nightmare Moon?”
“Correct. Using Black magic grants huge amounts of power. If you were to let it take you. You could defiantly match the princesses easily in raw power. You’d just lack combat experience, skill, magical knowledge, all the while your brain is slowly being corrupted and turning you into a raving lunatic. Also, you’d have a huge weakness to Holy Magic.” Lectured VeeVee, mumbling. “I’m surprised how well those two have mastered dark magic, though, impressive.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing, Twilight, go take that break now.”
“Right, I’m gonna go get a drink from the river.”
VeeVee waved the unicorn off, and once Twilight was gone from view, the rinin couldn’t help but smile widely. “She’s coming along nicely. That said, I’m glad I have my back up plan in place. I better go check on it soon. I’ll have to balance Twilight’s social life more, it would be annoying if ponies become too worried about her.”
She patted the spot in her saddlebag where her magic wand lay, reassured by the severed unicorn horn’s weight. “Don’t want ponies to find out about you,” Mumbled VeeVee.
Whenever she taught Twilight in private, it put her on edge. The worry over being spotted was driving her to travel further and further from civilization. It was a two-hour commute today’s spot.
“Things would get… precarious if any pony found out, but we can’t keep on like this. I need a new approach.”
She risked a lot, even letting Twilight know about the wand. Sure she could probably trust Twilight’s word that she’d never tell any pony. If she was an idiot. Ponies have slipped out information over lesser things without thinking, so VeeVee took a few precautions with her student. Just a hint of mental tampering. Only a hint. Just enough that Twilight would never say a word about her wand willingly.
“I’ll have to get her to confront Celestia so they can sort things out. The last thing I need is a worried Celestia helicopter parenting Twilight.”
“Heli, what now?”
“Oh, Twilight!” VeeVee squeaked surprised. “I didn’t hear you come back. I just thought that it might be time for you to mend things would Celestia.”
“There’s nothing to mend! Everything's fine between her and me.” Twilight’s aggressive tone said otherwise, but VeeVee didn’t bring it up.
“Huh, we must have different views on that because it seems like your giving her the cold shoulder or if not outright avoiding her.”
Twilight hung her head, unable to face the truth. “I wouldn’t word it that way. I just don’t know what to say to her, after… what happened in the Empire. I saw so many things. What she did… that’s a side of her I never saw before.”
“The loving teacher is only one role she plays, defender of Equestria sounds romantic, but defending sometimes involves doing some nasty things. Right?” VeeVee found an angle of attack and fully intended to strike it. “This is the thing ways are. You’re young, you’ll learn it all soon enough.”
“Does it have to be that way, though? Was there something else we could have done? Did she have to…” Twilight gulped, unable to finish.
“Maybe we could have calmed Skaggi down and maybe contained her, but then what? We killed her father and siblings. We’d just have to kill her when she’s older and even more powerful, with who knows how many dead on our side. Celestia saved lives, Twilight.”
“But still…”
“Twilight, my best advice is to not worry about it, and if you can’t do that, go talk to Celestia. Actually, talk to her, and if you can’t do that, then send a letter. That’s my stance on the matter, and I will not address it further.” VeeVee declared firmly, hoping to push Twilight into acting.
“I understand, I’ll think about it.” Sulked Twilight, looking uncomfortable.
VeeVee patted her protegee on the head, offering reassurance and ice cream. “Everything will be fine, trust me, Twilight. You do trust me, right?”
The young unicorn nodded, “Of Course, VeeVee. You’ve taught me so much since I met you. Your one of my best teachers!”
“Better then, Celestia?” VeeVee inquired, earning a decisive expression from Twilight. “I kid, I kid, Twilight. Don’t be so serious. Celestia will always be number one in your book, I’m sure. I have no desire to usurp her.”
“Well,” Twilight drew out the word, looking very conflicted and very quietly said, “You might have already…”
VeeVee embraced her student, stroking her mane like a mother comforting a child. “That makes me very happy, Twilight, though I know it must be hard for you.” Twilight buried her muzzle into VeeVee’s mane, completely missing the vicious smirk of satisfaction the rinin wore.
A rustle from the trees made VeeVee break her embrace and conceal her naked smile. Her mask firmly in place, she greeted the trio of ponies that happened upon them. Or more likely tracked them down.
“Ha, so this is where you two were. A secret little training spot, how fun.” Kira said, observing the scorched trees and upturned earth. “Lots of interesting things going on, I see. Don’t you agree, Sake, Hazel?”
“Yes, indeed Lady Kira,” Hazel said earnestly. “Have you been helping Celestia’s student learn magic, VeeVee?”
“Why state the obvious when you can see for yourself, Hazel Thunder? I do have a magic degree from Canterlot University, its a thousand years old, but my degree still holds water. And how is the little runaway princess? Have you gone mute from being chained down finally?”
Sake shook her head, “I’ve nothing to say is all. My liberty is currently withheld from me thanks to these anti-magic chains. Which I’ve stated multiple times in the last two months are unnecessary, Great Mother.”
“And yet, you’ve tried to run away several times already. You might as well get used to them. They’re staying on until Kiri and Kaki arrive to take you home. Once you’ve properly explained yourself to your parents, you will be free to roam if you so choose to.” Was Kira’s reply to her plea. “Now Twilight, would you like to skirmish with Hazel? Practical training is important too. And a change of opponents does a lot of good.”
Twilight looked to VeeVee for guidance. “Go for it,” The raspberry rinin encouraged. “She’s not wrong. Besides, if you're looking for a combat teacher, Kira is literally the best. She trained Hazel there, High Octane, and Ruby Blaze and many others.”
“Yes, come on! I want to see what Celestia’s student of this era can do!” Hazel whinnied, rearing up with excitement.
“It’s Twilight, Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight bit out irritably.
“So you say,” Hazel grinned, lighting her horn with lightning. If you manage to get a hit on me, I’ll consider remembering your name, Celestia’s student!”
“RGAH!” With a high pitched scream, Twilight charged, horn blazing with magic, shooting missiles, and then igniting a mana blade.
VeeVee could only shake her head on the sidelines. “She’s baiting you! We covered this! Keep a cool head, Twilight! Great mothers, how is a bookworm so hotheaded?”
With the noise in her ears blocking out VeeVee’s coaching, Twilight charged right into Hazel’s reach and soon found herself sliding along the ground on her back. Her hair on end as cracks of electricity sparkled around her. Hazel standing over her victoriously.
“Care to go again?”
Twilight replied with a hearty battle cry, Hazel laughed delightedly, easily sidestepping the unicorn’s amateur attacks.
“She has potential,” Kira stated, settling down next to VeeVee. “A little molding and that girl will probably be the mage of the century, if not something more.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for,” VeeVee said as Twilight got thrown into a tree. “But she’s got a long way to go still.”
Kira laughed, “Indeed, but that’s okay. I’ll leave you be soon enough. I have to be back in Canterlot this evening. Apparently, Luna has a big announcement planned.”
“Oh? What’s the occasion?”
“Don’t know, but she said it will be for the future benefit of Equestria, so it must be important. I guess. It's not my concern.” Kira quickly changed the subject to something more aligned with her interests. “What weapon do you think would suit young Twilight, VeeVee?” Kira asked, watching Twilight like a sports recruiter. “Axe is out, she needs something simple, and easy to wield, maybe a quarterstaff?”
“I think you just answered your own question, Kira. I bet you already have a training regime in mind? You fine with poaching Celestia’s student from her?”
The Nippon Goddess grinned mischievously, “Well, recently I got quite the ego boost, and I’m not poaching, I’m rounding out young Twilight’s education.”
“Well, can’t argue with that, I guess. Speaking of rounding out educations, I think I could use some retraining myself. Being a medic doesn’t give me much chance to put my CQC skills to the test.” VeeVee looked at the elder Rinin with what could be described as puppy dog eyes. “Unless you have an age limit for students?”
“None at all.” Kira laughed, checking the time. “I better get going and see what Luna wants. You two want to come along?”
The two watched Twilight get tossed into yet another tree. “I think Twilight’s had enough for today,” VeeVee noted, seeking to save her student from Kira’s training.
For today at least.
“Hazel! Wrap it up! We’re leaving! Twilight, you're coming too!”
“Okay…” Twilight’s muffled voice affirmed. Falling face-first in the dirt.