The first thing we noticed as Starswirl led us through the sizable city of Canterlot were the stares the ponies were giving us. They weren’t fearful ones, as we had initially been afraid of for so long.
No, these were the stares of curious ponies trying to figure out what kind of pony we were. Admiring the fact that we had one of the three traits that made their own tribe unique.
I felt naked without having my cloak to hide behind. Tia could shield me from their gaze only so much, I really wished I hadn't agreed to do this now.
Rumors were already starting to go around as we passed by the general populace. Ponies were arguing about whether or not we were a hybrid of pegasus and unicorn or the combination of all three tribes.
Well, it wasn’t that obvious we also had the earthpony trait, but some of them made the point that we had to have it as we also had a more powerful build than regular unicorns and pegasi and they wouldn't be wrong about my twin. She really does show off those powerful legs with her current, slightly threatening behavior.
Strangely enough, Luna was finding all of the attention delightful, but then again, she usually drank that right up. In that regard, she was like a sponge that never got full.
At least one of us was having fun, I thought while trying to hide behind my long mane, uncomfortable with all the stares directed at us, particularly me and my sister. We were a head taller than our little sister, after all.
A lot of those stares were also directed at our blank flanks. It was weird, to say the least. Everywhere I looked I saw ponies murmur in confusion about our lack of Cutie Marks. All of these ponies already had theirs and even the few little foals running around oblivious to what was going on had theirs, too. Most of them, that is. Those still riding on their parents' backs because they were too young didn't have one yet, either. But that was to be expected, considering their age.
I felt my wings flutter anxiously at my side as I began to feel slightly self-conscious about this. Cutie Marks had never been a thing on Earth, so why was I now feeling like it was weird to not have one? Mom always said that they would come with time and we just hadn’t found what we were truly special at. Before today, they simply were pretty pictures that appeared on your flanks and I never gave it much thought beyond that.
That didn’t change my anxiety in the slightest, though. And here I always felt like I didn’t need a butt mark to tell me that I was plenty special enough, already. We were twenty and still had none to grace our flanks, it made me a bit fearful that we would never get one.
The thought of never getting a Cutie Mark frightened me to no end. It was silly, yes, but I felt envious of everypony that had theirs. I wanted to have one of my own now more than ever.
Maybe our race was incapable of getting these? But... that didn’t make any sense. Not that those things ever make sense, but in a magical way? It sure did. Somehow. It was a distinct pony thing, and we were ponies, so we should be able to get one of these for our own flanks.
Or perhaps there was something fundamentally different about our tribe that made us get them super late, or something. Ugh. I don’t know. We had actually started to brainstorm ideas for a name to give to our particular tribe with Starswirl on the way over to Canterlot, but so far we were still stuck on that, at the moment.
While we had a few ideas already, all of them sucked. Especially the one Luna suggested. It was dumb and ridiculous and stupid. Pegacorn, seriously. Sometimes, I think she just wants to joke around about everything.
That certainly reminded me of the sister of my wife, now that I think about it. She also had the stupid habit of making dumb jokes because she thought they were funny. What were the odds that she had also been reincarnated to this world? I was tempted to ask her what she thought about Earth and make it sound like I was talking about dirt but secretly mean the planet.
Knowing Luna (or Rebecca, for that matter) it would fly over her head and end up in a misunderstanding. But that could wait for another time, preferably when we were alone among ourselves. Hopefully, I won't forget to ask.
Then again, maybe I shouldn’t ask. I didn’t want to alienate her with a revelation like that. How would she react if she knew we technically were aliens? Not that I feel particularly alien-y, nor do we actually count as extraterrestrial life.
Tia's human sister probably would make a joke about aliens and eggs, wouldn't she? I kinda miss her, to be honest. While their fights over me were sometimes annoying, she was still my best friend. One that wanted to get into my pants just as much as Tia did, but still. Things just weren't the same without her.
Somehow, the dynamic between me and my wife was different, now that Becky wasn't there to make moves on me. It wasn't like it was suddenly lesser, but it also wasn't as... exciting, I suppose. It felt like a piece was missing from the puzzle.
Ah, well... I guess I'll never find out what it was that was missing (aside from the obvious, that is). As long as I still had my wife, everything would be alright. And Luna, can't forget my sweet little Moon. She was growing up so fast, wasn't she? Before long, that filly that looked up to me so much would be a mare in her own right. One that would turn a lot of heads, I'm sure.
I just have to make sure one of those heads won't be Tia's. Or some unworthy colt that wouldn't treat her like the little Goddess of Cuteness that she was. What can I say? Lulu beat me a long time ago by being the adorable ball of fluff that she was.
Generally speaking, though, I noticed that there weren't as many colts running around as there were fillies. It was a subtle thing to notice, but of those foals, the majority of them that were colts seemed to be in favor of the unicorns. Which, granted, was a given since this was a unicorn city, but still.
It might just be a difference of tribes, but I knew from Earth's horses that the age of the parents had a big part in what sex the foal would have. A younger mare might give birth to a colt more often than a filly, while those that were older usually gave birth to a filly instead of a colt. It certainly would explain why there were more unicorn colts around.
For one thing, there are still a lot of wealthy noble families around from the days of the Kingdom of Unicornia, and with that also came certain expectations among them. It was easier for them to continue on their family line since they had the money and stability, and since having a foal early meant having an heir they could easily marry off with an abundance of mares around, unicorn noble families make a lot of deals involving their own children.
Basically, stallions were nothing more than a trade object to them. I had no love for that kind of mindset and if we really were to become symbols of ponykind, I would do my best to change that. I was still skeptical that my sisters were going to change their minds, but maybe this trip to Canterlot would give them a new perspective.
Speaking of my sisters... while I was more uncomfortable with all of the attention directed our way and Luna was soaking it up like a greedy sponge, not at all caring about the calculating looks from the nobles, Celestia was in her no-nonsense mood. Previously, I would have thought she would have let her inner exhibitionist out to shine because everypony was basically staring at our rear end, but she was putting on a brave face for my sake instead. And to scare off anypony from thinking they might have a chance with us, I guess.
My twin really doesn't like strangers looking at me in that way, huh? It really showed. Her wings were flared threateningly, there was a deep scowl on her muzzle, and her glaring eyes told anypony that was foolish enough to get close to Luna or me that she would act upon even the smallest slight against her feelings and she would not ask for forgiveness if she did something painful to them.
It was sweet in a way. It showed how much she loved me, but... I wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of her being so possessive to the degree she would hurt somepony if they made the wrong move. I wouldn't want anypony to be on the receiving end of her anger because I knew she wouldn't hold back. Not when I was involved.
On the other hoof, though... I really thought it was hot, seeing her rippling muscles tensed up like that, ready to defend me and our little sister... fuck. It was hard for me to keep my tail down, watching her with more than one naughty thought of what we could do together were we alone right now. It didn’t help one bit that our estrus was practically around the corner now. We still haven’t found the time to... ahem, experiment... with 'that' spell. And it showed in the mood of my lovely (and very sexy) twin. She was slightly easier to agitate which didn't help with her protective behavior at all.
As we continued our way through the moderately large mountain city, I couldn’t help but admire how cute their buildings looked. It was like they had been ripped straight out of a fairy tale book. Or ancient history, however one wanted to look at it. On that note, our life was practically a little kid's dream come true, wasn’t it? Pretty little ponies playing around all day long, it certainly seemed like something that could have come out of some old folktale about an enchanted land on Earth.
These ponies just needed the sparkles, fairies, and elves for the picture to be complete. I’m sure my eldest daughter would have loved it here, she was kinda big on the cutesy things. My little Rose was hopelessly swooning over anything remotely romantic. I'm sure she would have shrieked happily for days if she were to see me now, and that was already an understatement of how extreme her reaction might be.
I feared what her reaction to my mane color would be. As a human, my hair had been mostly black, just like my little petal. The little bit of color I had in it was the result of her dyeing it in my sleep and from there it sort of stuck around. I mean, it had looked kind of nice, so much so that she started to imitate her father in that regard, but now? With my hair totally and utterly pink? Things would happen if she were to see me and Tia right now.
It would be for the best to not get so lost in thought over what might happen with my eldest daughter in Equestria, only madness could be found at the end of that road.
Starswirl led us to the biggest building in this budding city and I could already tell that everypony around us seemed to perk up as we were brought to what was essentially their new government. I could hear the rumors already: were we here to take over their nation? Was this a coup? Could it be that they would finally get someone competent to sit on the throne instead of bickering idiots?
I didn’t want them to get their hopes up, my sisters and I were still torn about this idea that we should be leading them into a brighter future (me less so, but still). There's a lot of stuff we need to learn should we decide to go through with this and I have yet to further discuss this with Celestia and Luna.
Running a nation is a lot of hard work, something we were kind of notorious for procrastinating over. Had it not been for our mother, we probably would have never gotten anything done in the past. Now that she was also gone, there was no threat of being denied her delicious cookies to get us properly motivated.
I really missed those cookies, they were the best we ever had. She just knew how to make them so that they would come out super duper extra yummy. While we do have one last jar full of them, warded so much that it could withstand the impact of a bomb (probably) and enchanted in a way to make sure they wouldn’t ever spoil, we all unanimously decided to save them for some very special occasions.
Those were the last ones we would ever get unless we managed to somehow replicate them. Sadly, Mom never taught us how she made them so that we would be dependent on her to get them. It basically gave her the ability to blackmail us with delicious cookies, and considering the behavior of me and my sisters when we were younger (which is still 'somewhat' true to this day), I say she did it for a good reason.
A reason that took the recipe with her to the grave, it seemed. I don’t think she had written down the process of making them anywhere, she was a paranoid mare first and foremost, after all. No doubt would she have thought that if we ever stumbled upon the recipe, we couldn’t bother to behave ourselves anymore.
The cookies of my previous mother had been legendary already, but the ones Mom could bake? They were the stuff of myths. They could make gods cry and demons weep, they were that good.
It was just one more thing on the list of crimes Princess Platinum committed against us. The prospect of taking everything away from her started to sound more and more enticing now. While I was usually above petty revenge and generally wanted to forgive and forget before getting around to taking vengeance on somepony, I thought that for once I could let myself not solve everything with kindness and generosity first.
She just brought out the bad side in me, didn’t she? Platinum was of the arrogant royalty variety humans would have happily dethroned in the past, I was seriously surprised the ponies here hadn’t done so already from the stuff I have heard about her.
She was a spoiled brat that let her goons (aka the royal guard) do the dirty work for her. Not to mention, the ones currently in charge of Equestria were kinda at fault for what happened up north. I was honestly surprised it took Starswirl this long to go around looking for help. But I guess he was very busy, what with raising and lowering the suns and moon while also teaching his apprentice at the same time. And the multitude of other things he must be preoccupied with, like his research into magic and so on.
That was the sole reason we actually agreed to at least look at their situation, wasn’t it? Him being concerned for the wellbeing of the citizens of this land and the government falling to pieces around him brought us finally out of hiding. We couldn’t just sit idly by while the rest of the world suffered, even if we wanted to. Celestia might have disagreed with me on that, but she was always bad at dealing with feelings of grief.
It was the primary reason why she fled to her perverted nature, after all. At least, that was the reason why I thought that she behaved in the way that she did. I never knew her first parents and she never talked about them. The only thing I knew about her first parents was that they died quite early on in her first life, and now? The same thing happened again. While I loved even her pervertedness, I was sometimes concerned about how much she was suffering on the inside.
She never showed her weaknesses outright, though. It was one of her endearing traits I had fallen in love with, but it was a pain in the flank to deal with. It took a lot of effort to get her to open up past her shield of perverted thoughts.
That emotional shield would break at some point, I feared. When that happened, I would be there for her, no matter what. And hopefully, I would be able to prevent her from doing something extremely foolish.
Like ripping the head off of an irritating white unicorn with a gaudy crown on her head that was standing right in front of us with a haughty look.
Did I mention that she was a brat already? Because she had that self-entitled 'I steal ice cream from little foals because I can' vibes going for her. I recognized a petty bully when I saw one, and I knew pretty much instantly she didn't regret a thing. Not that I think she even knew what it was that she did. She seemed like the type that never saw fault with herself and blamed everypony else for the things that went wrong.
A narcissist of the worst kind, oblivious to her own failings as a pony, that's who she was. I doubt she could change on her own, but... I hoped she could redeem her character eventually, seeing that she was no older than we are. If not for her own sake, then for that of everypony else around her.
“Starswirl, you’re back!” a young stallion exclaimed, happily running up to him. He had a yellowish coat, an orange-ish brown mane, and a horn on his noggin. “We were worried you had forgotten what you wanted to do and managed to lose yourself in the forest! Is that them?”
“Yes, Clover,” he chuckled. “While I’m not quite senile yet, I am slightly disappointed in your lack of faith in me, my young student. A wizard does not get lost, they wander.”
“I’m sorry, master!” Clover the Clever apologized, bowing his whole body low to the ground in a reverent fashion. “You are, of course, right. I shouldn’t have doubted your abilities, master.”
“Well, to answer your question, those are indeed the young fillies the rumor talked about,” Starswirl said.
“We are not fillies anymore,” Luna scoffed quietly at my side, pouting. I giggled and embraced her with one wing in consolation.
“We are to somepony as old as Starswirl, sister,” I said. “We should at least respect his age if nothing else.”
“Quite right, my dear,” he let out a jolly laugh, turning to introduce us to his apprentice. “This is Clover the Clever, my student now for almost ten years. He has become a very fine stallion, hasn't he? I still remember the time when he used to carry his teddy bear with him everywhere. Ah. Good times, good times...”
"M-Master!" Clover stammered, blushing brightly in embarrassment.
"What?" Starswirl commented, oblivious to his student's plight. "It's true. You are very handsome, I'm sure these young fillies will be all over you."
"Can you stop it now?" Clover complained, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but here.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Clover,” I said with a giggle, a small smile gracing my muzzle. Their interaction was interesting, to say the least. Almost like the old coot was his actual grandfather. “This bundle of energy is my sister, Luna. And this stoic mare here is my twin sister, Celestia. Don’t mind her, she is still a bit wound up from... losing our only parent. We all still are. You can call me Summer.”
The archmage apprentice shifted on his hooves as his ears turned slightly down. “I'm sorry to hear that,” he said, a saddened tone in his voice. “I hope they passed away in peace?”
“You would have to ask her that,” Celestia glared at Platinum, who turned her snout up in return. Little prissy prick, she had a lot of nerves, hadn’t she? “Seeing that she is responsible for abducting our mother in the first place. It wasn’t enough forcing ponies to go through a ritual that takes away their magic, no... they had to take her by force while we had to watch her get abducted, unable to do anything.”
“That’s quite enough, sister,” I said, holding her back with a hoof before they started to rip out each other’s hair. “We don’t need to cause a scene, now. We’re guests here.”
“Yes, listen to your sister, little blank flank,” Princess Platinum sneered at us and my eye twitched. “I don’t understand why you had to bring them here, Starswirl. They obviously are too immature if they haven’t even found their calling yet. I doubt they are going to be of any use to anypony.”
“Shut your dirty mouth, you sorry excuse for a princess!” Luna roared, about to leap at her with a boost from her wings. “Has your daddy forgotten to teach you manners?!”
I had my work cut out for me, trying to keep my sisters from murdering a delusional cockroach in pony's clothing. Not that I wasn’t tempted to go after her myself, but that would only manage to cause other ponies to fear us for becoming tyrants.
“Why, I never! Rein that little monster in, or I will!” Platinum said towards me and I let out a low growl, eyes narrowed in anger. She really was starting to piss me off. Nopony calls my sweet little Moon a monster. “To think Starswirl considered making you, simple farmers, the new rulers of this land! Don’t make me laugh! You wouldn't even know how to use a fork, hmph!”
“Keep insulting us, worm,” Luna growled, struggling against me as I held her enraged self back from ripping Platinum’s throat out. If that cockroach continued on like that, I might let Luna go, instead... “I’ll show you simple farmers! I’ll freeze you solid and shatter you into pieces!”
“Luna, please! We are better than that. We can’t go around calling for blood, it wouldn’t solve anything.”
“Let me go, Summer!” Luna snorted, glaring at me. “She doesn’t even care that her actions killed Mom!”
“That still doesn’t make it right, Lulu!” I argued back. “Be the better pony and don’t stoop down to her level.”
“Oh, sure,” Luna rolled her eyes as she ceased her struggle in my embrace. For a moment there, I thought she would have broken free of my grasp. “You of all ponies would offer her forgiveness, what a fucking surprise. Are you out of your mind, sister?! These ponies only care about themselves! Haven’t you heard what she said?! They wanted to make us their princesses without even asking!”
“I... but... that can’t be right. Why would Platinum say the opposite of what Starswirl said?” I asked, bewildered. “You insisted that you couldn’t make us the new rulers of this land even if you wanted to, Starswirl.”
“And that is still true, my dear,” Starswirl stated, holding up a calming hoof. “Only the ponies of this land may accept you as their new princesses, after all. They are the ones that are being ruled over here and dare I say, they are starting to see what I see in you.”
“The whole harmony between tribes thing?” Celestia asked, snorting derisively at him. “We don’t want to rule, when is that going through your thick skull, old geezer?”
“Yes, well...” he started, scratching his beard. “That may yet be subject to change. I can already tell that you and your sisters don’t agree with how the current government is run, either. These ponies need somepony that won’t be playing favorites with either of the three tribes... or won't insult everypony around them without a second thought.”
“Can’t we be... more like guardians?” I asked unsurely, feeling like it would be a good compromise. It would be way less responsibility, as well. Well, a different kind of responsibility, at least. Less risk of causing a war through politics, for one thing. “That way everypony could be happy, right? I mean, we don’t have to be princesses... even though it sounds really nice as a title only...”
“You want to keep ponies like these safe, Summer?” Celestia asked me incredulously. “Look at how they behave around us, making decisions about us already before they even brought us here! We can’t trust them!”
“Tia, they are just desperate,” I told her with a gentle tone, fidgeting slightly with my wings as I felt uneasy at the reminder. They... kinda did make a lot of decisions in advance before they even met us (despite what Starswirl told us). It was obvious Starswirl counted on the fact that other ponies would start to see us this way and it wasn’t too hard to assume he made plans based on that possibility already. But... “I can’t just leave them hanging like this. And I’m sure you couldn’t either, were you to look past these few ponies and notice the rest of them. They need us... I have come to accept that, why can’t you?”
“Celestia is right, though. They have done nothing to earn our trust yet, sister,” Luna said, glaring at Platinum as if to prove a point. “All they do is make demands, force others to do what they want, and care nothing for what we feel.”
“That’s... not true,” I shot back weakly. She was holding the actions of a single pony over the rest of them, it's not fair of her. Not all of them were like Platinum. Starswirl, for example, still gave us a choice in the matter. Even Clover seemed to be a nice guy from the looks of it. The prissy princess was the exception to the rule, how could they not see that? And... “They have asked nicely?”
“No, they have invaded our home and taken our mother away for a cause that seems already lost to me, sister,” she retorted, glaring slightly at me. I never saw her so resentful before... it hurt my heart to see her so bitter and hateful. “Stop deluding yourself that you can change them for the better, Summer. Your kindness is wasted on the likes of them.”
“But... but...” I sniffled, wiping the back of my hoof at my eyes. “You’re so mean...”
“One of us has to be to get you to open your eyes,” Luna said bitterly, avoiding my eyes. “It was a mistake coming here.”
“Don’t be so hasty to blame a whole race for the folly of a few, my dear,” Starswirl stated, a disapproving look directed towards Platinum. “Your sister’s words have merit, does her opinion matter so little to you?”
“Don’t you dare accuse us of such a thing!” she retorted angrily. “I love my sister very much, but it is clear to me that you seek to take advantage of her kindness! Don’t think that you could get away with appealing to her forgiving nature in order to force her to help you! I will not stand idly by while you manipulate her like that!”
“Oh, I’m not forcing anypony to do this. Nor am I trying to manipulate you,” he answered sagely. “I have told you so already. And I will continue to tell you so until you actually start to listen. I am not taking your choice away from you. I am merely showing you what is at stake here and the options you have."
“All I hear from your mouth are platitudes,” Celestia shot back. “I’m not letting you take away my sister, not like you took our mother away from us.”
“The hotheadedness of youth...” Starswirl let out a suffering sigh. “Do understand that I’m not the monster here, I’m trying to save this world. A world with countless innocents, something your sister has already realized.”
“Tall words from somepony willing enough to sacrifice ponies left and right,” Luna stated with a sneer on her muzzle. “Your words ring hollow to my ears.”
“Sister, please...” I begged. “Don’t fault them for this. If not for them doing this, everypony else would have died long ago. They couldn't have known...”
“Summer, they took Mom from us,” Luna said, incredulous. “Why are you defending them so much? Has her death affected you so little? Why would you take their side over... over mine?”
“I’m not taking anypony’s side and Mom’s death is not on Starswirl's hooves or the innocent ponies of this land, sister,” I said, tightening our hug a little bit. I think I got a feeling I knew what this was about. She was jealous and afraid. Afraid she would lose me and jealous I wasn't taking 'her side' over theirs. “I’m not defending them, even if it might seem so. I’m... empathizing. And we would be no better if we fall to the same hatred that caused this in the first place. So, please... listen to me. They didn't know and none of them did it with the express purpose of taking her away from us forever.”
“Sister...” Celestia said, joining in on the hug. “You have such a bleeding heart, you know that?”
“I’ve been told,” I giggled, feeling the mood starting to light up. “Can you trust me on this? I feel like we should at least help out somewhat. We don’t have to take all of their responsibilities, right? We don’t need to sacrifice our magic if we don’t want to or are you going to make us do this, too, Starswirl?”
“Yes,” Platinum said before the old pony could open his muzzle. “I’m sure whatever you are you could...”
“That’s enough from you,” a new voice said, deep and stern, and a tall stallion entered the room. “You have let your arrogance cloud your judgment for too long, my daughter. It is best you remain silent. Do not repeat the same mistakes of your foolish mother.”
“King Bullion,” Starswirl said respectfully, bowing deeply. “These are the young mares I wanted to introduce you to.”
“Hmm. They truly are what the rumors state,” the broad stallion’s voice stated gruffly. “I hope you have told them of our situation?”
“Well, yes...” Starswirl answered, coughing awkwardly into his hooves. “But they remain stubborn, besides the one in the middle.”
“A shame,” King Bullion said. “They would have made for great replacements for the throne.”
“Father, you can’t possibly...” Princess Platinum started to say but a glare from her father cut her off from complaining further.
“I do and if they accept, I will,” he stated. “I have seen where hatred can lead to, I will not allow this new land to fall like our old nation. They are the answer to the dilemma we have sought to solve. Those... what are they called?”
“We have no name for their tribe yet, my liege,” Starswirl answered. “They do have all three traits of the pony tribes, though.”
“Then we shall call them... Alicorns,” Bullion said. “A fitting name, no?”
“Yes, of course,” Starswirl agreed. “Alicorn. All in one. How could I have not thought of that word? It is a very old Unicornian word, I have to say. I’m quite rusty in the old tongue.”
“Don’t ruminate so much over it, my friend,” the King said, laughing slightly. “It is, after all, a dead language by now.”
“Uhm... sorry to interrupt, but I think we haven’t been properly introduced to each other yet?” I interjected, going up to him and holding out a hoof in greeting. The stallion stared at my hoof in confusion for a moment and I felt the awkwardness get a bit too heavy in the room. Right, he was a king, how stupid of me.
To my surprise, though, the stallion in front of me kneeled down and placed a kiss on the end of my outstretched limb. I could practically feel the glare my twin sent his way for that. And the one from his daughter, although that one was directed at me.
“King Bullion, ruler of the remnants of the Unicornian Kingdom,” he said politely. “I have to say, you are quite beautiful, my dear.”
“Uhm... thank you?” I asked insecurely. “My name is Summer Sol, it's a pleasure to meet you.”
“Ah, the Summer Sun, named after the red sun in the sky,” Bullion said, nodding approvingly. “And your sibling is named Heavenly Sun, then?”
“Close,” I answered with a giggle. That was a good guess, though. “Her name is Celestia Sol, we are twins.”
“Hard to not notice,” he let out a chuckle. “You two look just the same, after all. So the twin suns, hmm? The Summer Sun and the Heavenly Sun, the red and yellow suns within our sky, a very fitting name for both of you, indeed.”
“I can imagine,” I replied with a small smile. “And last but not least, our little sister, Luna Nocturnis.”
“My, your mother must have loved you dearly,” King Bullion said, smiling slightly. “To be named after the celestial objects themselves, quite an honor.”
“Yes, well...” I sighed as my smile faded, feeling down. “She was taken from us. I’m sure you are already aware of the... decree... your daughter made?”
“Oh...” he sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that my daughter has caused so much grief in your family. I specifically told her if she were to go through with this, that we wouldn’t force ponies to do what needed to be done. It seems to me that she has disobeyed my orders while I was gone.”
Platinum let out a small, nervous laugh as her father turned his head towards her with a frown and a glare, steely eyes boring into her green ones as she twirled her pink mane with a hoof. My glare wasn’t any less potent than his or even the ones my sisters sent her way. Of course, she would do something like that, that little pompous bitch.
“I’ll see to it that this... mistake... is rectified,” King Bullion said, growling slightly in annoyance. “I have no idea where I went wrong with her. She was such a sweet little filly when she was younger. She takes too much after her mother and her 'ideals' now, I fear.”
“I thank you for taking responsibility, at least. Not many would do so,” I said and he nodded at me as he went to drag his misbehaving daughter away from here. I’m sure she would be plenty sorry after he was done with disciplining her.
Judging by the loud booming voice yelling reprimands at her a moment later, making the ground vibrate slightly, I didn’t want to be in her horseshoes...
“Well,” Starswirl spoke up. “With that out of the way, what do you say about accompanying me to where we are going to lower the suns and raise the moon? Perhaps that will show you a bit more of what I'm trying to accomplish.”
I nodded. “Lead the way, then,” I said as my sisters joined me by my side. Starswirl merely turned around and started leading us through the hallways and up a few flights of stairs.
“Are you certain we should trust them?” Celestia asked me. “I’m not entirely convinced this is such a wise idea, sister.”
“Don’t tell me you never wanted to be a pretty pony princess,” I snickered, seeing her face light up in a bright red. I giggled. “Now, who is the Red Nose, hm?”
I didn’t pay too much attention to the suspicious stare Luna shot towards both of us, too occupied with teasing my twin. We might want to be a bit more careful with how affectionate we are with each other while we are around her... she might get the wrong idea. Or the right one, I suppose.
“Shut up,” Celestia said, pouting. “Like you haven’t ever entertained the idea, either. Since Mom told you about her part of the family, you have been a bit more reserved and humble.”
“What can I say? I would make a very pretty pony princess,” I said and blew a raspberry at her with a grin on my muzzle. “Although, I could do without the actual duties that come with such a title. I didn’t lie when I thought we would make better guardians for ponykind than rulers.”
“Where did you even get that idea from?” she asked me, holding the door open for me as we entered a large chamber overlooking the entirety of the capital city. Before us stood a group of ten ponies, all nervous for what was about to happen.
“Well, I thought about what Mom had been trained for and what she trained us for,” I answered. “I thought, if Mom had ever been given the chance, she would have jumped gladly at becoming a guardian of ponykind instead of... you know. Kinda like a silent watcher, making sure nopony comes to harm. A Guardian of Ponykind.”
“And you think we could be something like that?” Celestia inquired, curious. I shrugged a bit helplessly. It's what I thought she would have wanted us to become had we been 'normal', I guess. Upstanding and rightful, that was something I could see her represent.
“Perhaps,” I told her. “If we have to become princesses, would you want to sit on your butt all day long or rather go on awesome adventures? Explore the world, help ponies along the way, and learn from your experiences. That would be something, wouldn’t it?”
“You know what? I think you’re right, Summer,” Luna said and I almost buckled under her weight as she decided to glomp me and have a ride at the same time. “Adventure awaits~!”
“Luna, I don’t think that is how it is going to work,” Celestia told her and I reluctantly nodded along. “If we really are to become princesses, then we have to appear regal and strong, not go around playing make-believe the whole day. While I’m sure there are going to be times where we will have our adventures and whatnot, most of the time we will have to deal with the grievances of our subjects.”
“Subjects? Must we call them that?” Luna gagged. “It sounds like we are above them. We would be no better than the old rulers. No better than Platinum.”
“Well, I’m glad both of you are at least entertaining the idea now. You seemed to be pretty against it not too long ago,” I said, looking over my shoulder at my little sister.
“While the idea of adventures excites me, I still don’t think the regular duties are worth the hassle,” she answered with a grimace. “But I can see your reasoning too, sister. Princess Bitchface is at fault for our mother’s death, not these ponies. I hate to admit it, but... you were right. I was being unfair to them and you.”
“Princess Bitchface?” I asked, hiding an amused snicker behind a hoof. “That’s... oh gosh, that’s priceless!”
“It’s true, isn’t it?” Celestia giggled. “Thanks, Luna. I think we really needed that laugh. The mood has been so somber as of late...”
“If you’re quite done yet, we would be ready to start,” Starswirl interrupted our mirth and we turned to look at the five ponies out of the group of ten that were standing beside him with their horns aglow.
We nodded at him, giving him the go-ahead to continue with what he was going to do. All of them concentrated intensely on their spellwork, supplying power to the ritual while Starswirl guided the energy with his own, shaping it into the right form.
Slowly, the two suns dipped below the horizon as all of the five ponies fell to the ground utterly exhausted, their fur seemed a bit greyer than before. Almost as if they had just aged a decade or so.
Starswirl's own beard lost a lot of its grayish color and transitioned to white. The few rare brown hairs he still had in it were entirely gone by now. He was wheezing quite a bit from the exertion, and at that moment, he looked like he was already with half a hoof in the grave, refusing to let go through sheer willpower alone.
“Are you okay, Starswirl?” Clover asked him, helping the old pony stand on his wobbly hooves.
“I need just a moment,” he answered his apprentice while my sisters and I watched him with deep concern. He wasn’t kidding when he said he wouldn’t be able to continue doing this for much longer. A month or two and he would have to stop for good or risk losing his magic, too. “We still have to raise the moon.”
Clover sighed sadly, coming over to us to give them the space to work with. It was clear for anypony to see that Clover was fearing for the life of his mentor.
“This has been going on for too long now,” Clover said, talking to us as we watched them slowly raise the moon. “Ever since most of the Mage Order was lost to the strife caused by the civil war and the winter that followed it, he had to do this on his own with ponies not trained for the job.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I whispered, staring sadly at the old coot. He really was doing his best for the world, sacrificing so much of himself in the process. The sight of him struggling managed to open the eyes of my sisters, too, judging by the lone tears running down the side of their faces.
To think a pony as powerful as Starswirl was struggling this much with a spell... it was honestly frightening. I knew we had to lessen his burden somehow, and... it is as he said, isn't it? He had no time, nor the energy, to make sure the government was also running smoothly at the same time.
“You don’t have to be,” Clover shook his head. “It has been the duty of the unicorn race to uphold the order of the heavens since history can remember. It has never been this bad, though. Without the training, ponies can’t keep themselves from losing their magic after a few times doing this, and doing it with the bare minimum of assistance... it has taken its toll on him.”
“Why don’t you train new mages, then?” Luna asked, looking over at him. He returned her gaze with a rueful smile.
“What do you think he is doing with me? I’m the only one that has shown any aptitude for magic over the last few years that he had been searching for replacements,” he answered. “And the process of training mages is a lengthy process. And time is a commodity we don’t have right now.”
“He does all this for nothing in return? There must be something he asks for in return, right?” Celestia raised her eyebrow and Clover shook his head.
“No,” he said. “He does this so we can continue to live our lives peacefully. All he ever wanted was a brighter future for the whole of ponykind, not just unicorns.”
“Surely he can’t be that selfless?” Luna asked. “Nopony ever does something so dangerous for so long and expects nothing in return.”
“He does,” I answered, looking at the exhausted elderly stallion. “He truly does... doesn’t he? Starswirl knows there is no greater calling in life than by making the world a better place.”
“Yes,” Clover agreed. “It was great news to hear of you and your sisters, so much so that I could see that spark of hope in his eyes again. Please, if not for Starswirl, do this for the rest of ponykind. I beg you, we need ponies like you to look after this nation.”
“I...” I mumbled, looking into his eyes and seeing the desperate hope in them that we would step up and relieve some of their burdens to keep this nation running. Clover, just like Starswirl, was looking out for the good of ponykind and not just for the unicorns, didn’t he? “What about Platinum? And Puddinghead as well as Hurricane?”
“You don’t have to worry about Chancellor Puddinghead,” Clover snorted with a tiny roll of his eyes, a small smile on his muzzle. “That crazy pony probably prepared ahead for such an event that a new ruler would be crowned and I assure you, my friend Pansy can keep Commander Hurricane in check if she really needs to. The only pony we would have to worry about would be Princess Platinum, but I think her father will manage to rein her in. Now, I have to go take care of my mentor, if you would excuse me.”
We watched as the young stallion went over to the old coot and I felt Celestia drape one wing over my back. Sighing happily, I snuggled up against her, bringing Luna in with me into the embrace. Now they saw what I saw. Starswirl is a pony that can be trusted, after all. He wasn’t the coldhearted monster they thought he was, seeing that he too was a bleeding heart like me.
“I think we should take them up on the offer of becoming their princesses,” Celestia finally said, having stayed silent for so long in our little hugging session.
“Oh?” I hummed interested. “What brought this on now?”
She had a thoughtful frown on her muzzle as she gave me a look from the corner of her eyes. “I want to do something. Something to lessen their burden, at least a little bit. If they don’t have to worry about ruling the nation on top of this, they might find more time to think of a better solution,” she answered, her voice getting slightly more passionate with each word that she spoke, a look of determination entering her pale magenta eyes. “You wouldn’t have let us walk away from here, never to look back, anyway. This right here? What they are doing for the rest of the world? It changed the way I thought about them. They aren’t as selfish as I thought, so there you have it. You were right, sister.”
“Wow, I never thought I would hear you say that, Tia,” I smiled, nuzzling her.
“If both of you will do this, then so will I!” Luna agreed with a bright smile. “They will never forget the day we became their new guardians. Even if we have to be pretty princesses dealing with boring, mind-numbingly, tedious, and boring work.”
“You said boring twice in there, Luna,” I giggled.
“Nay, I’m merely stating how excessively boring this task will be! Hmph!" she retorted, turning her muzzle up at us, causing both my twin and myself to erupt into a fit of childish giggles. Luna soon joined us in our mirth, happy that she managed to make us happy.
And so, a few days passed as we continued to stay here with Starswirl, Clover, and his friends. The apprentice of Starswirl the Bearded was actually the one to bring about an end to the endless winter together with Smart Cookie, a beige earthpony mare that was the current aide to Chancellor Puddinghead, and Private Pansy (I still felt sorry for her name), a demure light orange pegasus mare with a bright orange-red mane.
The three were way better company than the ponies they answered to. The first time we met Commander Hurricane, Private Pansy managed to avoid getting him mauled by Luna for insulting her by offering profuse apologies on behalf of the idiotic stallion.
Note to myself: never call my sister tiny.
Chancellor Puddinghead, on the other hoof, was totally off his rockers, spouting complete nonsense every few minutes about some crazy conspiracy or another that only Smart Cookie seemed to understand (and just barely at that). I wouldn’t let him go anywhere near small and impressionable foals, that’s for certain.
Our coronation was announced to be in just a few days, so together with Celestia, I decided to buy us a journal so we could record our feelings and thoughts on the topics we would soon be confronted with.
I had to get Tia to promise me not to write anything naughty in it just for the giggles that would cause. On the topic of naughtiness, our estrus still managed to elude us. We had come up with the theory that the emotional trauma might have caused us to skip it this time around or delay it.
Celestia was firmly of the opinion that it was just delayed (if that was even something that could happen). She didn’t want to miss out on extra sexy times with me but I just wasn’t in the mood for it at the moment, what with everything currently going on.
She was pouty because of that, which wasn’t really surprising to me. I could tell that she had a lot of pent-up energy in her, so I at least promised her that, as soon as I felt even remotely ready for sex, we would have a go at it when we got some modicum of privacy.
Sometimes, I swear. She was still as horny as the first time we did it in this world and the prospect of using the finished spell got her even more excited. I just wish she had a little bit more patience at times. Or restraint.
The big day of our coronation arrived sooner than what we were comfortable with. The whole thing was a massive event and ponies from all over Equestria and even beyond came to see the spectacle (I heard that even the ruler of the Crystal Empire was here to attend). This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that not many of them could pass up.
Sadly, most of the nobility were also there, souring our mood to a degree. As soon as they had learned we would be put in charge of this nation they began to grovel at our hooves like the suck-up slimeballs they were. It was annoying to deal with and I’m sure we would have to continue to deal with their stupid schemes and whatnot for a very long time, indeed.
Along with the coronation came also a crown. We insisted on something a bit less gaudy, sticking with the image of a kind and innocent princess with a tiara. Naturally, the tiaras for Celestia and me were made out of gold (not at all gaudy, I know...), while Luna insisted on hers being made from a deep black obsidian, instead.
The craftsponies that made them for us wanted to add an exorbitant amount of jewels on all of them, something that Luna was entirely against. Celestia and I made a compromise with them of one gemstone each, so we decided what color we wanted them to be.
I went with a brilliant red ruby for mine, paying homage to my namesake in the sky (and, admittedly, a little bit to my past). Celestia, on the other hoof, decided to be totally cheesy about it and went with a deep violet amethyst because she wanted to be reminded of my eyes every time she put the damn thing on.
Then, the craftsponies went a bit overboard because they had a lot more material to work with than what they needed in the first place and crafted us some shoes and an ornament that went over our chest and around our necks, basically looking like a heavy necklace... or like horse barding for the ultra-rich, I guess. Not that gold was exactly short in supply (seriously, even a regular penny was made out of the stuff).
Because those ponies thought it was a good idea to put gemstones on everything, whether it looked good or not, they put more of those rubies on mine and would have done the same for Celestia’s had she not caught them trying to also put a few gems on her shoes.
I really looked ridiculous in them, now. While there was only one on each piece, the overall image was still too gaudy for my tastes. Celestia loved it, though. So, like the good wife that I am, I listened to her and didn’t rip them from my shoes to appease her.
While mine had too many sparkling gemstones on them, they engraved the ones Tia had with fanciful lines to make hers stand out just as much as mine did. I actually thought they made her look more mature but decided to not go the same route with mine because that would make mine look... too crowded, I guess? Too many things on something was rather detrimental to the overall look, in my opinion.
Celestia at least was happy that I liked how they looked on her and I could tell she was turned on by me wearing mine. I guess we could add a princess fetish to the growing list of things that gets her drive going.
Luna stayed with her overly simple design choice of a smooth obsidian for her regalia and blueish silver for her slippers, stating that she rather liked it like that. Well, as long as we were comfortable with wearing those things, I guess she could do whatever she wanted with them.
And that was how we looked as we stood before the former rulers and Starswirl, a massive crowd seated behind us as they set the tiaras down on our heads and declared us Princesses of Equestria, the rightful rulers of ponykind until the day we die.
The crowd went wild with their applause, cheering for us as we put on the most regal postures that we could muster (Luna looked really cute even while she soaked up the attention with her head held high and chest proudly puffed out). Celestia and I waved respectfully, thanking them for standing behind us and supporting us with such enthusiasm.
Then, the nobles of this land swore their fealty to us, promising to stay loyal to this country and do everything in their power to make it prosper in the coming years. We, in turn, accepted their oaths and gave them ones in return, stating that we would not take advantage of their help to further our own goals.
Princess Platinum was also one of the ponies that had to swear her loyalty to us, much to her displeasure and our amusement. I guess we really did take everything away from her, in the end.
Her father didn’t trust her anymore, she had no right to the throne anymore, and she held no sway in the government any longer. She was a princess in name only now.
Lastly, King Bullion gave us a very special gift in the form of a heavily enchanted blade for each of us. The swords were of the highest craftsponyship I have ever seen. The edges were sharper than even a razor, easily slicing through any material presented to it with next to no resistance. The enchantments on them were simply astonishing, applied by a true master of their craft.
The sword my little sister held was an icy silver with a grip wrapped in red cloth and the crossguard was a very simple design while the pommel looked like a crescent moon. Set within the crossguard was something that I had never seen before with my own eyes, only having read about them in books: a mana gem. It was colored in blue and the energy contained in it got channeled out towards the fuller running down the middle of the blade.
Celestia’s sword was broader than mine, but both of them looked very alike. The main difference was the color of the mana gem set in the crossguard. Hers was purple like the gemstones on her regalia, while the color of my mana gem was red of course. While the pommel of her sword was in a simple round shape, engraved with the image of a sun, mine also held another (regular) gem in it. The energy from my mana gem traveled through the core of my blade, lighting it up from within, instead. Celestia’s mana gem provided its power in the same way that the sword of our little sister did, running through the fuller in the middle of the blade.
King Bullion told us that once we attuned our magic to those blades, and subsequently filled the mana gems with our own personal arcane power, we would never lose them as we could summon them to our side in the blink of an eye (even if they weren’t in our hammerspace). There was also no way anypony but my sisters and I would be able to wield them if we didn’t expressly wish for somepony else to hold these blades.
While these would have been no match for a mageblade, the enchantments on them made these weapons stand out on an entirely different level. A mageblade is typically only the bladed part of a sword here in Equestria, wielded within a telekinetic grip. They could cause quite a bit of devastation if wielded by somepony trained in them. Our blades, on the other hoof, could withstand the force of an impact of something falling from the orbit of this world.
Essentially, if we would drop the moon on them for whatever reason, they would stay in one piece with nary a scratch.
Additionally, they could withstand the heat of the molten core of this planet. These weapons were meant to be able to deal with anything threatening the wielder. They would absorb the force of any attack thrown at them and store the excess energy within the gemstones, as long as that attack wouldn’t exceed their holding capacity. Magic could truly do some wonders, I marveled fascinatedly.
I wept for the fool that decided it was a good idea to harm our subjects, for they would meet their maker as soon as they did so. Clearly, these weapons were not meant to be fancy ceremonial displays of wealth, but tools to keep our ponies safe from any and all threats and be a symbol of hope.
Celestia was extremely giddy to have such an overpowered weapon at her disposal and I’m sure she and Luna would love to have a spar with them. As long as they kept it friendly and didn’t try to kill each other, I would let them have their fun.
And so began our new life as the newly crowned Princesses of Equestria. The first order of business was establishing our own seat of power. Luna really wanted us to build our own castle, so that was what we decided to do (much to the chagrin of everypony else involved).
Although, the question of where we are going to build it wasn't exactly the easiest one to answer. There were so many places to choose from, we were already well in over our heads before we even started planning the overall structure. The bickering between my sisters didn’t help us in choosing a suitable place in the slightest, either.
They were already planning out how the castle should look like and Luna wanted to put all kinds of weird traps and secrets in it to make living there at least somewhat interesting. Tia, on the other hoof, felt like the castle should be simple and traditional, wanting to keep to the very image of what medieval castles were like back on Earth.
As we traveled and visited many different parts of Equestria, all of the ponies we encountered tried to convince us that their corner of the world was perfect for a mighty castle. I didn’t doubt them, they all had convincing arguments and such, but everywhere we went, as idyllic and peaceful as it looked, failed to make us feel at home.
There was just something missing, something we had with our parents. Sure, our parents were one thing that was obviously missing, but that wasn’t what I meant when I thought about it. Tia and Lulu agreed with me as we traveled from one end of Equestria to the other.
Eventually, both of them at least agreed on incorporating both of their ideas for the castle. The only things I really wanted for it were nice and tall windows, flowing carpets, and finely woven tapestries hanging from the walls so the castle looked less... empty and cold, I suppose. Perhaps a few flowers here and there, too. Oh, and a tower for the view, of course.
Perhaps I should put my bed in there? That would have the slight disadvantage of me having to climb the stairs every day, though. A balcony might be the answer to that, allowing easy access by flight...
Eh, I will worry about that when we actually begin with the construction of our new home. Nothing was final as of yet, so I had plenty of time to think about it.
Sadly, we just weren’t able to find the right spot for it anywhere. We felt that it should be remote to at least have some modicum of privacy, so we ultimately decided to return back to Starswirl to ask him for his help.
“A remote place, you say?” he hummed, stroking his long beard thoughtfully. “You say you visited every place in Equestria already? Are you sure?”
“Yes, and nothing we saw picked our interest,” Celestia explained, exasperated. “There was just this sense of it lacking... I don't know... something. It didn’t feel like home and all the ponies we met had nice arguments for their community, but we also feel that we need our privacy from time to time. Being constantly surrounded by other ponies feels... awkward, to say the least. We were on our own for the most part of our lives, it's kinda hard to suddenly deal with everypony during all times of the day. Do you understand where I am going with this?”
“Yes, yes...” he nodded, going over to one of his drawers and rummaging around in them. He returned to the table with a map of our nation. It still felt weird calling it ours, to be honest. “Hmm...”
“What about a mountain, Princess?” Clover asked, pointing out to one in the middle of the map. “Mount Canterhorn has enough space for a castle and you would have a whole city right beside it. I’m sure the ponies of Canterlot would be happy to accommodate you here. It also has a nice view of the surrounding area. You could build it further up if it is the traffic you dislike so much.”
“I don’t think we want to live near a big city, just yet,” I commented, feeling nauseous at the idea. “And really? Princess? I thought we told you to not call us that...”
“Very well, Your Highness,” Clover grinned with amusement and I groaned, hitting my head against the table in annoyance. Might as well get used to this nonsense, right? I should have taken the side of my siblings and not agreed to... this.
“You have lived your whole life surrounded by a forest on a farm, haven’t you?” Starswirl mused and I watched as his eyes traveled towards a particular spot on the map. “There is this forest here that would give you an isolated place and I know of a ravine that could provide some natural barriers for you, Your Highnesses.”
“That sounds perfect!” Luna exclaimed, bouncing up and down in her chair. I couldn’t fathom how she could be so... upbeat even with them using our titles. “Where is it?”
“Here...” he said, his hoof landing on a spot that wasn’t even that far away from Mount Canterhorn. “The Everfree Forest. It has some exotic beasts in there, but I’m sure they won’t cause you any trouble. They generally tend to stay away from too large crowds of ponies or buildings.”
“Truly?” I asked, perking up. My interest has officially been picked, do not disappoint me you old coot. “What kinds of animals?”
This was my forte, ever since I found out I had this special bond with animals. Maybe I could even make some friends among them. As long as they weren’t big enough to swallow me whole... or bigger than a house in general, that is. I don’t think I would have the courage to go talk and make friends with something like that.
There's just this sense of fear next to a fearsome dragon when you know you are a prey animal and they a predator not even humans would have stood a chance against without heavy artillery. And, well... they can spew fire that makes napalm look tame in comparison.
“What I have observed so far would be timberwolves, hydras, and manticores,” Starswirl stated, not at all assuaging my fears. “Those are the more common beasts, though I don't think you will run into a hydra within that part of the forest. They tend to stay in the bog area, just like most of the cragadiles and giant toads. I also don’t think you would have to worry about coming across lumber bears, they mostly tend to stay in the northern regions of Equestria. You might still find one or two of those in that forest, though, so I would recommend being careful when you find one. They are very territorial.”
“Okay, that sounds very dangerous,” I said, fidgeting on the cushion I sat on. “And I don’t even know what some of these are...”
If those lumber bears are what I think they are, I definitely don’t want to run into one of them after having had a bad experience with timberwolves already. I suppose those cragadiles must be some sort of crocodile then, something I would rather avoid, too.
“Oh, you wouldn’t have to worry about those, they are quite easy to deal with,” Starswirl reassured me. I was rather skeptical if they were truly as easy to deal with as he made it sound... “Even a small flame should be enough to make them think twice before attacking. What you should be wary of, are the rarer beasts. Those are the ones you should stay far away from, lest you risk ending up as their meal.”
“And what kind of beasts would those be?” Celestia asked, narrowing her eyes at him. “If this is some ploy to get rid of us already...”
“No such thing, my dear Princess,” he laughed heartily, a small smile on his muzzle. I nudged my twin with a hoof, giving her a look that told her to not go around accusing ponies willy-nilly again. “I doubt you will run across one of them, but it is better to go in prepared than to lack crucial information. The first beast you shouldn’t ever get fooled by is the insidious cockatrice, its gaze alone has the ability to turn you to stone and no amount of magic will save you from that fate. If you ever see the head of a chicken in there, be very wary.”
“And the other beasts?”
“A dragon, for example, but for you to come across one in the Everfree Forest, you would have to go looking for them on purpose. The last one I have only heard rumors of, so take this with a grain of salt,” Starswil said, leaning forward towards us with an ominous look. “There exists a cave that is said to house a beast made out of the very essence of the night sky. A star beast, to be exact. Pray you never come across one, even only a baby.”
“Why?” Luna asked skeptically. “They can’t be as deadly as you portray them to be, can they?”
“Oh, my dear Princess Luna,” he chuckled as he levitated a monster compendium from one of the shelves over to us. “This... is a star beast.”
On the page that he had opened was a reference picture of several different kinds of animals that I wouldn’t have thought to give a second glance to, were it not for the scale of a large building as a comparison next to them.
They entirely dwarfed anything made by a pony. They were so enormously big that I doubted any ordinary cave could house them. I could probably stand on my hind legs within one of their nostrils and try to reach up to the top of it with my forelegs and I wouldn’t even come close to touching it.
“Are you sure this forest is safe?” I asked, uncertainly.
“There is a reason why I recommended the location near the cliff,” Starswirl said, eyes twinkling with a cryptic shine. “There is a small cave there that holds something quite... extraordinary. You will be safe there.”
“Well, if you say so,” I said, shifting out of my chair and levitating the map off the table. “Could we take this with us?”
“Go on, I don’t need that one, anymore,” he nodded, motioning with his hoof in a shoo-shoo notion. “Let me know if you want to build there and I will let the craftsponies know you’re ready to begin.”
“Okay, thanks,” we said, leaving his study to go look at this forest. The flight over there was a short one, not surprising seeing that we were practically a stone’s throw away from it.
We had no trouble navigating the map towards the spot where Starswirl told us to go. It helped that we had the power of flight on our side. This would have been a major pain in the flank if we had to trek our way through the forest on hoof. Seeing it from above made the ravine look kinda small, but up close we learned just how massive it was.
There was a slope traveling down to the bottom of it and not far away from that was the entrance to a small cave that had a strange glow coming from it. So, we decided to investigate a bit further and landed just at the opening with a small clop sound as we touched down.
“This is so exciting!” Luna giggled, already galloping ahead of us like the impatient filly that she was. We called out to her to wait up for us and followed after her.
“You really should be... more... careful...” I began to say but my breath got stolen away by the sight before us. There, at the very back of the cave stood a massive, shimmering, and sparkling tree out of some kind of crystal. It emitted a soft blue glow from the very core beneath its bark.
“What manner of tree is this?” Celestia asked, just as much in awe and wonder as I felt. Luna trotted slowly over to the thing, slipping one of her hooves out of her shoe in the process. Hesitantly, she reached out to touch the tree with her bare hoof.
“It’s warm,” she noted, smiling back at us, coaxing us to come over to her. “There is no doubt, it is alive.”
“A crystalline tree? And it is alive?” I asked, astonished. “This is unlike anything I have ever heard of. How do you think it ended up here?”
“No idea,” Luna answered and Celestia also shook her head in puzzlement. “What do you think those mean?”
What she pointed at was even stranger than the fascinating nature of the composition of the tree. There, along the trunk, were stylized depictions of the suns, the moon, and one big star. They looked like they had been naturally grown with the tree and not just carved in after it was big enough.
“I have no idea,” Celestia said, flying up to them to take a closer look. “Do you think this tree could somehow help Starswirl with the ritual to move the heavens? He said it's the reason why this part of the forest is safe...”
“I’m not sure,” I retorted. “I don’t think we could move it away from here. And Starswirl was already here, judging by the way he mentioned this cave having ‘something extraordinary’ in it.”
“Hmm...” she let out a thoughtful hum. “What about those crystals on the branches? What do you think they could be?”
“I would say fruit, but I don’t think they are meant to be eaten,” Luna joked. “They could be some kind of artifact?”
“An artifact? But what would their purpose be, then?” I asked, intrigued.
“Maybe Starswirl knows?” she shrugged. “Perhaps they are able to be used as some kind of defense?”
“What? Like an invisible force keeping the big bad boogeymare away?” Celestia snickered. “Oh no! Stay away from me you big mean monster, I have little crystals! Eek!”
“Haha, sister,” Luna deadpanned. “Obviously they are magical in nature, so it stands to reason one could use them somehow in some way.”
“It was funny,” Celestia pouted cutely. “Right, Summer?”
“Sure...” I laughed awkwardly. “Very funny, sister.”
“You’re mean to me again, aren’t you?” she snorted, her ears hanging back. “I can be funny. You just don’t appreciate my humor.”
“At least Mom managed to make you stop with those atrocious puns,” I muttered silently, making Luna snicker to herself. “Those were the absolute worst ones to ever be uttered by a pony...”
“They weren’t that bad,” Celestia pouted and Luna and I sent her a glare that told her that they were that bad. “Why does nopony appreciate a good pun anymore these days...”
“Regardless, let us get out of here and look at the clearing up above,” Luna stated. “Then we can go ask Starswirl about this tree and hopefully get a non-cryptic answer from him.”
“You know just as well as I that that is a foolish thing to hope for with the old geezer, sister,” Celestia shot back, following Lulu back out of the cave with me at her side.
“Maybe we will get lucky?” I mused. “Although, he does seem to love his cryptic answers a lot.”
“We will see,” Celestia merely said and we continued on with our original task. The clearing up above was quite large, but for the maximum amount of space, we would have to cut down a few trees. That wasn’t really the problem, though. The transport of tools and resources was. It would be a difficult undertaking to get the stone from a quarry all the way through the forest to this spot.
It would probably be easier to take the resources we needed directly out of the forest. Then again, it would be a lot more dangerous, too. A road we could keep safe, but scavenging for places to get things like stone and wood from while not entirely destroying the forest in the process would prove to be a very big problem.
Either we go with option one or two, both would prove to have advantages and disadvantages. Luna and Celestia were for the safe option, and I wasn’t inclined to disagree with them. It would take us longer to finish, but at least we wouldn’t needlessly endanger the lives of our subjects.
“I like this place,” I said, once we all agreed on what course of action we should take with getting the resources here. “I say we build here, no need to search for any other place.”
“Indeed, it almost seems too perfect,” Tia said, smiling as we settled down on a cloud. Luna was writing in our journal while my wife and I imagined what our castle would look like from our vantage point. The thought of living within a fancy castle was starting to excite me more and more.
We decided to sleep on the cloud that night before we went back to Starswirl. While it was a bit chilly, we stayed close together sharing our body heat with each other. Luna squeezed herself happily in between me and my wife, preventing us from cuddling.
Sometimes, I think she did this on purpose. At least she wasn’t glomping down and chewing on my ear in her sleep. I don’t think I would find it even remotely enjoyable, not like I would if Tia were to do it. My twin would probably enjoy it, though. She kinda was into everything and if she got the chance to start a harem, she would.
That wasn’t something I wanted to entertain the idea of, especially not with my baby sister. The thing is, I’m pretty sure we could make a law that would make it legal, too. A harem, that is. Or polygamy... no, polyamory was the thing I was thinking about, wasn't it? A harem was one-sided in favor of the... stallion, I guess. A polyamorous relationship was mutual between all ponies involved, right?
I mean, if the stallion-to-mare ratio is as skewed as I perceived it to be from my observations so far, then it would make sense to make it the primary type of marriage by law, wouldn't it? I’m not sure if ponies would appreciate us making incest of all things legal, though.
Not that I would appreciate Tia doing that, either. She would get an earful from me if she ever let her desires get before the wellbeing of our subjects. There was a good reason why that was forbidden in the first place (other than the obvious reason of it being immoral to force your sibling into it). We had responsibilities now and I would be damned to let this position corrupt us.
At least we could keep each other in check, each one of us held the same amount of authority in Equestria. There was no way that we would allow one of us to let this power go over our heads. Luna would keep Tia and me in check and Tia and I would hopefully make sure Luna didn’t do anything stupid, either.
We couldn’t just do whatever we want without good reasons. At least, we couldn’t do anything like that without expecting our ponies to start calling for our heads, instead. Making incest legal is one of the things I would never do, even if it would mean I could show my affection for Tia openly.
The position of princess means that we have to act with responsibility and with the wellbeing of our ponies in mind. Incest is the farthest thing from that and even if Tia thinks it would be okay, I would threaten her with another tickle apocalypse. Maybe something even worse. There is no way I would allow my wife to become a selfish ruler if I had a say in it.
I can’t risk losing her to such... desires. I’m not the most assertive pony, but if it concerned my family I would screw up the little bit of courage I had. We had lost so much already, we didn’t need to lose each other, too.
I don't know too much about genetics, but even one generation of incest is too much of a risk for me to even consider it. I'd rather be on the safe side and minimize the effect it could have if it got out of hoof.
We went back to Starswirl early the next morning, so I put those thoughts away and focused on the here and now. Besides, I’m sure we wouldn’t have to worry about one of us doing something stupid like that. We were better than that, I hoped.
Tia, Lulu, and I explained what we had come up with over a cup of tea for what we wanted to do with our castle, and Luna drew up a few sketches in our diary for the few things she wanted to incorporate into our castle.
I had no idea why she wanted to make a hallway full of dismembered hooves holding torches, it seriously creeped me out. I mean, the secret passages were kind of neat, not gonna lie, and the hidden escape behind our thrones would definitively become useful at some point. But the dismembered hooves? That was icky.
Then, we asked Starswirl about the tree that was in the cave below.
“That, Your Highnesses,” he started with a secretive smile. “Is the Tree of Harmony. It will lend you strength and keep you safe.”
“The Tree of Harmony?” Celestia asked giddily and I looked at her in confusion. How did she know about this? Who am I kidding, she probably read about it from one of those dusty tomes she couldn’t get enough of. Sometimes, I swear, she married her books instead of me. “You mean to tell me that that is the actual legendary tree?”
“That it is,” Starswirl nodded. “The exact location has been kept secret from the general populace, for obvious reasons. It is a very powerful magical tree and if it were to fall into the wrong hooves, I fear what they would do with it.”
“We will keep it safe,” I said, smiling reassuringly. “Don’t worry, we will literally be just around the corner, nopony could sneak up on it while we are watching over it.”
“I’m glad to hear that, dear,” he said. “Now, let’s get your little project started, hmm?”
We nodded at him and together we started to make preparations. He introduced us to a lot of ponies that would be helping us make our plans for the castle become a reality. While the forepony was admittedly surprised at all the ideas Luna, Celestia, and I had cooked up, he just shrugged and let us have our fun with it.
The forepony was a polite middle-aged stallion and was all too happy to assist us with any questions we had. He also told us what was possible and what wasn’t. He wasn’t entirely sure Luna could make the 'Organ to the Outside' work in the way that she wanted it to, but he was up for the challenge.
Tia was happy that she would get her secret reading room in the library and I was sure she would stuff it full with porn. I wasn’t opposed to the idea of the room, though. It would surely become a nice retreat for both of us when we wanted to be alone. Not the sexy time ‘alone alone’, but the cuddle-while-reading ‘alone alone’.
I also got them to plan in a small hidden garden that could only be accessed through a hidden switch while an illusion would hide it from the outside. It would no doubt become my own little sanctuary away from everypony else. Even from Tia. There were times I actually wanted to have a little space away from her.
It was a normal thing for a healthy relationship, I think. If we were to be constantly around each other, we would eventually drive each other crazy. And with our duties starting as soon as we actually got our place done, a place to retreat and relax would surely be invaluable.
Luna insisted on having her own observatory, which would also act as an atelier. She was actually very talented with art and I would have thought she would have gotten her Cutie Mark for it by now.
Strangely, those kept eluding us for some reason. Well, I’m sure we will get them at some point and if not, it's just going to be like that. Starswirl wasn’t concerned about us not having one of those, either. So why should we be?
Let’s just hope nothing bad happens to the ponies working with us over the coming weeks. I wasn't entirely comfortable with the monsters living close by in that forest...