The Voices of Day and Night

by gimmick68


In Which the Bond Remains

It’d been just over a year since the Game of Canterlot, as it had become known. The city and surrounding countryside had long since been repaired and life returned to normal relatively quickly. Although there was some lingering animosity about the sisters using the city as an arena for their own amusement, there was also a consensus that they had done well to have the foresight to make sure the city could easily be repaired. There was also general approval that the Game of Canterlot resulted in no loss of life and surprisingly little in the way of serious injury. Overall, in the eyes of the public, it was a wash.
The Apples had rebuilt their barn. Again. This time they tried to make it battle proof – stronger supports and hefty reinforcements of the structure and walls. In Ponyville, Twilight never did fully recover. Although she mostly went back to her normal self she exhibited some lingering PTSD. For instance, whenever a scroll appeared directly to her she jumped and made Spike look it over first. Also, if she ever saw any of the mares involved in the competition in close proximity to each other she tensed up, expecting them to start their battle all over again.
For Celestia and Luna, however, it had proven to be a bonding moment. While initially Luna had trouble keeping her gloating to a minimum she eventually simmered and conversed with her sister objectively about the Game. They laughed frequently at some of the things they did and saw during the battle. They bonded over how much they enjoyed the thrill of the fight. They seemed to relish in the release of pent up violence and aggression. It had been going well. Had. Despite the cordiality between the sisters, tensions had slowly risen over the last year. While it was mostly sisterly banter and competition that kept their friendly adversity ever-present, it was a simple act by Luna that broke the peace. On a random idle Tuesday, on their shared refrigerator, she put up a picture she had taken during the Game of Canterlot. In it, she was battered and disheveled but wore a gleeful grin. Next to her, Celestia was in similar condition, though her head rested against Luna and she was unconscious.
It had taken a few days for Celestia to notice the picture but when she did she immediately began planning a response. She was not one to allow such unprovoked aggression from Luna go unmet. In retaliation, she put up next to Luna’s picture a page from a very old book. It was a lithograph and it depicted the moon – with the Nightmare Moon shadow on it. The caption underneath read: “The new moon, as it shall be for the next 1000 years.” Celestia was preparing breakfast when Luna noticed. The blue alicorn was beyond incensed.
This is beyond reproach!” yelled Luna.
“Can’t take a joke?” Celestia calmly asked as she spread some jelly onto her toast.
“This is no joke! This is cruel! This is a childish retort! I expect better from you!”
“And your picture was somehow a sensible action?”
“Do not needle me with your preposterous inquiries, sister!”
“Preposterous? Or maybe you won’t respond because doing so would mean you have to admit fault!”
Luna did not respond immediately and Celestia took the moment to smugly finish preparing her toast. With her magic she lifted the bread to her mouth. However, Luna swat the toast from the air. It landed on the floor with an unceremonious thwap.
Celestia’s face went from haughty delight to severe incense in an instant. She may have played a cruel joke on her sister but Luna had deprived her of her toast.
“I see how it is,” Celestia murmured. “First you insult me and now you wish me to go hungry?”
“What?”
“You should know better,” Celestia scowled as she turned to leave the kitchen. Luna angrily and incredulously followed.


*


There was a significant crowd gathered for the cookware booth. The vendor boasted new revolutionary non-stick frying pans and quite frankly the denizens of Ponyville found it all very exciting. One pony, however, was not concentrating on the cookware. She was a pony who was given a little extra space in line by the other ponies. The residents of the town were cautious around her. Not because she actively intimidated them but because during the Game she had been the one to take down Princess Luna, who had taken down Princess Celestia. Other than that she was widely regarded in town as a kind and loving pony.
From her place in line, Cheerilee glared menacingly at Sugar Belle, who snuggled up closely to Big Mac as the couple walked through the town square. For nearly a year she’d resisted the temptation to use what remained of her new powers against Sugar Belle. It’d be so easy. No pony would have to know. She’d be there one day, gone the next. So easy. Too bad Cheerilee was just too soft to actually pull off anything like that. And stupid Big Mac seemed more infatuated with that Mary Sue by the day. Idiot.
She growled at the happy couple as they blissfully trotted away. But then she stopped. Something else caught had her attention. It wasn’t in line or at the booth. It wasn’t even in the town. It was something elsewhere. Something not right. She had to go. She quickly left the line.


Business had boomed for the fashionista since the Game. Mares from all over Equestria wanted clothes that fit a newer, more aggressive pony. And while she gladly accepted this new direction, she currently found herself working on something closer to home. Rarity lightly hummed as she stitched away at the garment. Well, garment would be a generous term. Applejack’s overalls had finally been worn and torn beyond recognition. They needed to be repaired and Rarity would not allow her to wear them again until they were. Which brought Rarity to a peculiar thought: she’d never actually seen Applejack wear overalls. Ever. So how could these get so torn up?
Rarity stopped sewing and pondered. Applejack almost never wore anything. She had been the one to remind Rarity that ponies are not typically spotted in clothing. So, what was with the overalls? She, Rarity, had worn overalls. Once. She tingled and bristled at the memory. She examined the denim and scrunched her face in thought.
Then it hit her – not about the overalls but something else. Something was amiss – even more so than the overalls situation. Something was wrong. Somepony was in need. She had to go. She dropped the overalls and bolted out of the store.


Granny was hollering at Applejack for not bucking enough apples. Three dozen bushels was not enough in an hour’s span. Apparently, when Granny was Applejack’s age she would get through at least three times that many in the same amount of time. It didn’t help that Granny seemed to have found some vigor. Ever since the Game she’d felt years younger, much to the chagrin of her grandchildren. Every day she was out in the orchard bucking or in the barn fixing something.
She had Applebloom working overtime preparing the meals and she absolutely refused to allow Sugar Belle on the farm until the harvest season was over. Big Mac was frustrated in several ways and irritable. Apple Bloom had lost all will to do any CMC activities and Applejack was so worn out she couldn’t even produce a country-ism to describe how worn out she was. The farm had never been so profitable.
Just as she was bucking her 296th tree that day, Granny stopped. Apples fell around her but she didn’t notice. Something had gone wrong. She felt it in her being. Her body tingled and her bones rattled at the sensation. Somepony needed her help. She had to go. She threw off the bushels and ran.


Tree Hugger breathed slowly and rhythmically, almost as though she was in a deep sleep. She was not, however, sleeping. She lay flat on her back, front legs limp at her side, back legs straight out. Her head, like the rest of her, rested comfortably on the soft moss of the forest floor. Her eyes remained closed and the sunlight shining into the small clearing didn’t seem to bother her.
All was right in her world. She moved from place to place, taking odd jobs when necessary, living off the land and her wits otherwise. She hadn’t a care. She felt ultimately at ease. Since the Game she’d found a new perspective on life. She embraced her new sisters and found admiration and comradery in her opponents. She looked for the qualities of those mares in others and found her choice of acquaintances had drastically improved.
Her eyes opened. She felt it. Something was amiss. Something was wrong. She felt it in the air and in the earth. The forest moved differently, as though it was telling her to go. It was right. She had to go. Her aura swung wildly out of balance. Her chakra broiled in anxiety. She stood quickly. Where to go? She wasn’t sure which direction it was exactly but something told her the problem was to the left of her. She turned that direction and ran off into the woods.


Cup Cake glared sternly at her children. While Carrot Cake had made incremental gains in reining in the diabolical twins, Cup Cake had come home from the Game with a new resolve. There was an air of authority about her that the twins knew not to question. Whenever she was around the babies seemed to be much better behaved.
Business had boomed for the Cakes. It wasn’t just the ponies of Ponyville that flocked to their shop. No, the entirety of Equestria wanted to step inside Sugarcube Corner, if only just to lay eyes on the pony that had been crowned the victor of the Game of Canterlot. Although Cup Cake was a bit reserved about all of the attention, she certainly couldn’t say no to the prosperity it brought to her family.
At this moment she was mixing batter for some muffins. Nothing special in her eyes but they were a favorite amongst the townponies. And she loved that they loved them so much. She never felt so content as when she was making treats for her fellow ponies. She began to hum pleasantly to herself. And then she stopped. Something had gone terribly wrong. Not with the muffins, mind you, but something else. It was distant but she still felt it. She was needed. She bowled over some customers as she ran out the door.


Fleur punched feverishly at the punching bag. She gave it a few good kicks and a couple of solid bucks. In the time since the Game of Canterlot she had been so ashamed to have been the first contestant knocked out. Initially she had been proud to just be part of the event. But the Canterlot elite had been particularly hard on her for so poorly representing them. She was chided and laughed at and not invited to some of the biggest parties in the city. Her social standing had plummeted.
A few friends remained. A few agencies still requested her for photoshoots. A couple of stores still gave her discounts. And of course she maintained contact with her fellow Game participants, especially her teammates. But it wasn’t like it used to be. She desperately wanted back in. The only way to do that was to be ready for next time, assuming there was a next time. But even if there wasn’t, she was out to prove herself, one way or another.
She continued to punch, imagining that the punching bag was any of the Canterlot elites that had snubbed her. Each punch a satisfying rehearsal for what might come to pass. But then she stopped. Her heavy breathing was the only sound in the room. She gasped and held her breath. Something had gone wrong. Somepony was in trouble. To Tartarus with the elite, this was more important. She had to go.


*


“You always do this!” cried Luna, following Celestia into the garden. “You think you can get away with anything just because you’re ‘mommy’s little princess’!” she sneered.
“Oh, stop it with that!” Celestia spat, trying to stay ahead of her sister. “That’s your excuse for everything. ‘Ooo, look at me, I’m dark and brooding because mommy didn’t love me. Ooo, I’m going to try to kill my sister because mommy didn’t love me!’ Pathetic.”
“Enough!”
“It’s true. And what’s more, you always seem to forget dad. So what if mom liked me more, you know you’re his favorite. I don’t complain about that.”
“Father did not pick favorites, sister. He is too noble of a stallion for such a trivial notion. If he didn’t like you it was because you earned it.” She stuck out her tongue.
“That’s it!” Celestia rounded on Luna, stopping the younger alicorn in her tracks. “I’ve had it with your attitude. I thought it would have changed by now but clearly I’ve been mistaken. Maybe a little timeout will help,” she chided, glancing to the moon.
You wouldn’t dare!” Luna bellowed, taking a step back. “I will not allow it!”
“You certainly allowed it last time,” Celestia stated with an evil smirk.
“Mother and father would not allow it!”
“They did last time, too.”
Luna was visibly shaking with rage. Her eyes darted in every direction as she searched for a retort. “You…You…You…”
Celestia smiled smugly down at her sister.
“WRETCH!”
Celestia stopped smiling.
“You…you are a pustulous boil on the delicate complexion of my soul! You are a stain of excrement on the silken sheets of my existence. You…you…you…” – she was winding up – “you smug, pompous, heartless, rotten, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, garbage-sniffing, spineless, hopeless, gutless, lecherous, two-timing, horse-faced, bug-eyed, cockatrice-loving, worthless sack of monkey feces!”
Celestia was shaken. Never had Luna strung together such a string of insults. Aside from being impressed she was incredibly hurt by the barrage of degradation. She held a hoof to her chest. “I…I…”
“Now, now, do you think it appropriate to treat your sister so cruelly?” came a voice from behind Celestia. The princesses turned to see Cheerilee step up to Celestia’s side. “I do believe an apology is in order.” She used her best teacher’s voice.
“Apology?!” chided Rarity, appearing next to Luna. “For what? Defending herself against such brazen belittlement? I think not!”
“Quit the chin waggin’!” Granny commanded, stepping up next to Rarity. “Discipline gots to be dealt swift-like.”
“’Sup, elder,” Tree Hugger lazily greeted, sauntering up to the other side of Celestia. “I sensed my sister was in danger,” she said, turning her attention to Luna. “That is something my soul will not allow.”
“Sorry, dearies,” huffed Cup Cake, taking her place on the other side of Luna. “I came as quickly as I could.” She looked over to the opposing mares. “Oh dear, are we having a disagreement?”
“More than that,” corrected Fleur di Lis, now standing next to Cheerilee. “We are clearly having a prelude.” She looked at Celestia and nodded. Celestia smiled and returned the nod.
“It seems as though another Game is in the making,” Celestia stated, glaring at Luna.
Luna huffed. “So it would seem.” She looked over her teammates. “Three days, at sundown,” she stated, staring at her sister.
“Sunrise,” corrected Celestia. “We started at sundown last time.”
“Fine,” Luna huffed.
“So be it,” countered Celestia.
“Very well,” scoffed Luna.
“Indeed.”
“So it shall be.”
“Quite.”
“We have an accord.”
“Yep.”
The teams slowly backed away from each other but never took their eyes off their opponents. Glares and sneers were exchanged until each team had reached opposite ends of the garden. They slipped out of sight. A cold wind swept through the garden and then, for the time being, all was quiet.