I stretched out my limbs happily, ruffling my wings gratefully. Oh, how I have missed you! I’m never gonna let the bad, bad mirror take them away again, no I won’t! Who are good wings? You are! Yes, you are!
Ahem, get a grip on yourself, Summer. I smiled as Yu’la flitted around me curiously, looking at all the nick-nacks scattered around Starswirl’s lab, nuzzling my side affectionately.
“Wow! How does your hair do that?” Li Li asked and I looked over at her, seeing her in her regular form. I guess the mirror only worked on humans or ponies, for now.
...or pandaren fit in just as well as they are. Which does oddly make sense, now that I am thinking about it.
But, going back to Li Li's question, I let out a thoughtful hum. “I can’t give you an answer for certain,” I told her. “But I would say it must have something to do with my connection to the Red Sun.”
As I said that, Celestia came out of the mirror after me. Li Li had already moved out of the way, so she was free to stretch out her own limbs like I had done. “Ah, it feels great having hooves again! And while I really missed the weight of my horn...” Tia said with a smile, walking over to me with a certain glint in her eyes. “I’m going to miss having hands even more...” Then, in a quiet and hushed tone, I heard my twin mutter something along the lines of it 'not feeling as great to molest Lulu and me with her magic' (because for what other reason would she complain if not for her being unable to satisfy all her perverted desires?). Thankfully, Li Li seemed to have a one-track mind exploring Starswirl's 'organized' chaos with Yu'la by her side or my sister might have just given us away.
Wouldn't be the first time, either...
Luna stumbled through the mirror next, standing on her hind legs for a moment while trying not to fall over. Once she was steady on her hooves, she went over to Tia, giving her a happy little nuzzle. She moved over to me next and I extended a wing over her back, giving her cheek a quick peck when I thought nopony was looking our way (mainly the little pandaren cub, but she was already racing over to the mirror as it rippled again).
Starswirl and Chen came through a moment later. Our mentor casually dusted off his hat like the unflappable stallion that he was while Chen tried his best not to throw up from the first-time experience of moving between worlds (with a magic 'rainbow vomit' mirror, that is). I gave him a sympathetic look as Li Li bombarded him with a veritable barrage of excited words, pointing to all the different things she found and our floating manes.
“Welcome to Equestria, Chen and Li Li Stormstout,” Celestia said, smiling serenely. “I hope you will find your stay here as fascinating as we did with our visit to Azeroth.”
“Though, I hope we won’t have to go over there again. Once was enough for me,” Luna whispered to me, sounding as exhausted as I felt. Sleep deprivation does that to you (not that I had a good reason to stay awake for so long, eh heh heh...).
I hummed, giving her a 'big sister' smile. “Aww. Don’t be like that now, Lulu,” I said, bumping my shoulder against hers. “While there were a few things I could have done without, it was a nice experience overall. Just... forget the bad things and everything will be fine, right?”
“You just want to have a mammoth, sister,” she snorted and I giggled, not arguing that point. While the idea of a mammoth was very enticing, Yu’la should be the only being from Azeroth that finds her home here, just so that the balance wasn’t upset too much. We had no idea what would happen if something from another universe stayed in ours for a longer period of time. Or how the environment would be affected.
I'd rather not deal with a frog pandemic. Or squirrels breeding out of control like rabbits. Or... just about anything else, really. While I would be uniquely equipped to handle the spread of a foreign species better than anypony else, it would still be more work than I had the time for. I can't let Tia and Lulu run the nation alone or things might happen.
Ah, well... technically, my sisters and I originate from a different universe, too. Although, one might argue that we were born here in a completely 'natural' way (insert sarcastic eye roll here). I’m sure Magic would be able to answer those questions, but I was in no mood to go ask her. Maybe Starswirl would know, seeing that he wasn’t that concerned about Yu’la staying here.
This was giving me a headache, already. The implications of dimensional travel and all its dangers were vast and we probably should make some ground rules down the road to ensure we didn’t accidentally implode our universe. Starswirl mentioned that he had reworked the mirror portals, so I’m sure he had some fail-safes already in mind. I shouldn’t worry so much about this or I will start fearing everything and anything again.
I mean, it is a legitimate fear, but... I can't fall into an existential crisis over everything, right? Or I really will start jumping at every shadow. Which, to be real, are sometimes very scary, no shame there, but I'm a grown adult pony. I drink my milk cold, shadows fear me (except when they don't, those are the nasty ones).
“Now, let’s see if I can get this right,” Starswirl muttered, lighting up his horn. Once more a wobbly portal came into existence, this time connecting his lab with our castle in the Everfree Forest. Chen and Li Li looked interestedly at the grand sight of our castle towering over the forest like a silent guardian. “I have to say, the portal spell from Azeroth does wonders on the mana requirement! And being able to travel within the universe, truly a magnificent spell!”
“Yes, well,” I giggled, glad he was so happy to have an easy traveling method (despite it looking moderately unsafe). “I’m sure it isn’t as easy as you make it sound, Starswirl.”
“Your home is huge!” Li Li commented, running over the bridge and I took flight to catch up with her before one of our guards got the idea that she somehow was a threat. One may never know with the critters lurking in the woods.
“I’m glad you think so, Li Li,” I said, setting her on my back as I landed beside her. “But you shouldn’t run off on your own. You gave your uncle a promise, did you not?”
She looked abashed, rubbing the back of her head with a paw. At least she learned from this. “I’m sorry, Princess.”
“That apology should go to your uncle, my little cub,” I giggled, nuzzling her cheek affectionately. She blushed in embarrassment and I swore to myself to fill a memory ball with this moment at the earliest convenience I got. The little pandaren was just too cute for me to forget such an image later down the line.
The guards did their best to keep their expressions neutral as they saw one of their princesses be used as a mount for a cute little cuddly panda bear. I appreciate their concern, I really do, but sometimes they just could get so protective that it got ridiculous.
It didn’t take long for my sisters and Chen, as well as Starswirl, to catch up to me and Li Li. Chen took it with humor, not the slightest bit surprised that his niece had gotten a bit overly excited to go explore our home. So, my sisters and I gave them the tour, showing them around all our favorite places and introducing them to our chefs (they were happy to learn new recipes and share their own with Chen as he left them with a casket of his finest brew). Starswirl sequestered himself in our library, muttering quietly to himself about old gods and the connection to what he saw in the smoky illusion Lorewalker Cho had shown us of our ‘ancestors’, something that wasn’t all that surprising to me. He was sort of awkward around others after a while, especially when there was something occupying his mind for some time. I don’t know, maybe it had something to do with how much he tended to be alone with only his books and scrolls keeping him company. He was an introvert deep down, through and through.
Luna had her fun with the secret passages and the 'Organ to the Outside', playing “a few” pranks on our servants and guards with Li Li. It was a good thing that Chen was so lax with his definition of behaving as well or he probably would have been running around like a headless cockatrice.
We played a few rounds of hide and seek with the little mischievous panda cub, Li Li finding places to hide in that I had no idea whatsoever how she got to them in the first place (a tree I would understand, but the rafters of our castle?!). It was fun playing around in a carefree nature, every once in a while. It reminded me of how little we had actually gotten to enjoy our foalhood after our father died. Thinking about all the missed opportunities we never got started to make me feel melancholic. We had so little time with our parents and I missed them dearly.
I let out a saddened sigh, excusing myself from Chen and Li Li, making my way to a place I rarely went to due to the fact that it always made me cry.
Summoning some flowers from my private garden over to me, I placed them gently down in front of the intricately designed headstones, a crescent moon gracing the one of our mother and a four-pointed star for the one dedicated to our father. Both were being cradled by a hooded statue of an alicorn. “Hey, Mom and Dad...”
Talking to my parents, even though they had long since passed away and were probably living a new life... it was as calming as it was heart-wrenching. I nudged the flowers awkwardly back and forth, trying to get them to rest absolutely perfectly against the stone, mumbling tearfully about all the things that had happened since I was last here talking to them.
Yu’la seemed to understand what this place meant to me and stayed silently by my side, nuzzling my leg softly. I smiled down at her comforting gesture. I was uncertain if she would ever grow up to the size of her mother, seeing that she was technically an animated statue with a part of the essence of Yu’lon breathed into her.
I stayed at the little private graveyard for a while, just basking in the solitude for a moment. My sisters eventually found me staring forlornly at the tombs, Yu’la sleeping on my forelegs as I lay on the ground without a care if I got a little bit dirty in the process.
“Li Li is asking where you are, Sunny,” Luna whispered, putting a wing over my back. My muzzle turned up into a tiny smile and I appreciated their soft kisses with a small, happy hum. I could just bask in their presence all day long. Sadly, life goes on, and being a lazy bum wasn't on my schedule anymore. “Come on, it's almost time for dinner. Let’s go back inside.”
I sighed, leaning my head against hers for a moment. Reluctantly, I put Yu’la on my back and got up. I gave a little stretch and a yawn escaped my lips before saying my silent goodbye to the graves of my parents. Smiling slightly in a subdued way, I turned to Luna and Tia. “Lead the way, sister.”
Dinner with Chen and Li Li was, as always, interesting. Chen had somehow gotten ahold of one of the bottles of Luna’s moonshine. I have no idea how she managed it, but it was essentially made of ‘distilled’ moonlight mixed with high-percentage alcohol. I gave Lulu a disapproving look and she merely grinned innocently back at me, whistling like nothing was wrong with the world as he drank a highly potent magical drink.
I swear, ever since she was allowed to drink again, my sister leaped at the chance of making her own poison. Like mother, like daughter, I suppose. While we didn’t make it a habit, sometimes we did indulge a little bit (or a lot, in Luna's case). The one time I drank one of my sister’s 'concoctions', I felt like I was dying the next day. I had no idea how she could drink the stuff like it was water and not get totally wasted from it. Tia and I never gave it another try with her special drink, not wanting to start becoming like Mom was at her worst.
At least Li Li liked the cookies I made for all of us. Naturally, my sisters were fighting over theirs while I mostly gave mine to Yu’la, unable to say no to those cute eyes of hers. The little dragon was happily munching on the crumbs I levitated over to her. If I didn't know better, it almost seemed like chocolate was similar to catnip for her (which made it really hard to say no to her once she had more than enough).
The other thing I found out about her diet (aside from her love for cookies) was that she ate a piece of jade gemstone that had previously been part of the decorations around the castle. We... uh... had one fewer gem-encrusted spoon now, I guess, but I don't think our chefs will miss it too much. It was tacky, anyway.
Ponies really love to put gems on everything, don't they? And because we’re princesses, it was almost expected of us to have the most gaudy decorations. Well, I can’t argue against it looking beautiful, but it was getting annoying that our subjects started to put us on a pedestal. Mostly Celestia, though.
We returned Chen and Li Li to Azeroth with the help of Starswirl as the day started to come to a close, telling them they were always welcome to visit us again in the future. Li Li gave me one last ‘big’ hug before following her uncle through the portal, waving at us with a little smile on her face.
“It feels like we’ve known them for years,” I sighed while smiling sadly that they were already going back home. Sure, they couldn’t stay here forever, the time difference would be disastrous the longer they stayed in Equestria, but I would still miss having them around. They had so many interesting tales of their travels, too. I look forward to the next time when they visit us. They'll have even more stories to share by then, I'm sure.
Celestia gave me a nudge toward where Starswirl kept the portal to our castle open and we went back through. Before we could go in the direction of our private tower, though, she stopped us. “Let’s go see what our agents have to report before retiring for the day,” she said. Luna nodded next to me and I heaved a sigh. I guess fun time was over, then.
We accompanied our sister over to the barracks (they weren't really barracks in the sense of a separate building, they were just located in a separate wing of our castle and that's it) in search of our spymistress. She was in charge of our intelligence agency and the dirty little secrets of the black ops kind. Naturally, only the thestral tribe came into question for such tasks as they had fewer qualms about taking somepony's life. And they were scarily good at it, even with the failed attempts at infiltrating Princess Bitchface's inner circle.
As we entered her office, we saw the thestral sorting through some important-looking documents on her desk while listening to a report from one of her agents. Both of them stopped doing what they were doing to face us. “Princesses!” Night Fang said, saluting us while dismissing her underling. “Just the ponies I wanted to see.”
“It’s good to see you as well, Spymistress,” Celestia smiled, taking a seat on the cushion in front of her desk. “How is Platinum? Any news on her?”
“Right to the point, that’s what I like about you, Your Highness,” Night smirked, pushing a few of the documents to the side as she searched for one in particular. “The last agent that shadowed her only got as far as the others, I’m afraid to say. But! He noticed a meeting between her and another pony in the back alleys of Canterlot. He was unable to find out what it was about, but it seemed important. That mare is one paranoid pony, it isn’t easy to get anywhere close to her. Despite being disinherited, she's got a lot of money to spare on security and shady deals.”
My sister grumbled unhappily while the feather's on her wings bristled with suppressed anger. “Did he at least see something of interest? Or were those your only leads?” she asked, disappointed. My twin had become increasingly frustrated with the lack of details coming from their combined efforts and I’m sure she is going to be grumpy for the rest of the week. She always was when things weren't going her way.
“I wish I could tell you we had anything on her, Princess,” Night Fang answered and her ears splayed back against her head as she glared at the report as if it had personally offended her. “There was some sort of exchange of a large bag of bits and a bag he couldn’t decipher the contents of. It was heavy and bulky, though, so the best guess I could give you about that is that Platinum bought some rare materials that she could only get from the black market. Something's going down and I don't like being in the dark about this any more than you do. I've got a bad feeling about this.”
"Materials from the black market?" I muttered, fidgeting beside my sister. “What would she need something like that for?”
Luna let out a thoughtful hum. “It can’t be anything good if it is from the black market as you say, Night Fang. I assume she is working on some kind of ritual.”
“As good a guess as any," she shrugged, folding up the papers neatly before placing them in a binder labeled 'Finances, July' (there were a couple more like that, labeled in a way to appear like she was our head accountant, instead). "We’ll try to get more info on that for you over the next few days. Don’t be disappointed if we return empty-hoofed again. Her home is warded so much that even a slightly misplaced blade of grass would trigger an alarm. Figuratively speaking, of course. Nothing gets in there without her noticing it.”
“And we do not have enough evidence to warrant a legal search of it, either. Ugh. I really hate the law, sometimes,” Celestia grumbled, snorting angrily. I laid a calming wing over her back, making her relax slightly. “Anything else we should be aware of?”
“A few of Her Highness' animal friends were here and had 'reported in',” she answered, pushing a scroll over to me that had what appeared to be gibberish and crude doodles on them. To any other pony, it would have been unreadable. But I wasn't just any pony, I spoke the language of critters and beasts alike (and was somewhat proficient in reading their chicken-scratch-like script... who would have guessed birds developed the universal animal code?). My eyes flitted over the chaotic letter, my eyes narrowing in concern. “So... what does it say?”
“They say something is abducting ponies,” I mumbled, trying to decipher more of the message. “It isn’t very clear about what the cause behind it is, though. Half of this is barely legible enough for me to make out the general gist of it.”
“That... is not good. Our agents haven’t noticed anything happening like that,” Night muttered, rubbing her temple tiredly with a grey hoof. “I need to have a few choice words with them, in that case. Bunch of idiots...”
“I’m sure they are doing their best,” I said gently, placing the scroll back down on her desk. “Don’t be too hard on them.”
Our spymistress sneered as she narrowed her eyes at me. “I mean no offense, Your Highness,” she began, voice dark. “But they have been slacking off. We should have gotten an agent into Platinum’s inner circle by now, and yet, they fumble around like little foals. That something like this went past our notice is not acceptable.”
“She is right, Summer,” Celestia said, a grimace on her muzzle. “We need to be better informed and we can’t always rely on your animal friends to notice something that our agents don’t.”
“Can you fault them for trying their hardest? I wouldn’t even trust my animal friends to get anywhere near close to Platinum and most of our focus is on her and her schemes. It is no wonder something slipped past our notice when you continue to try to further your vendetta against her,” I argued back. We had scarce few resources left to concentrate on other important things to ensure the safety of our nation. If it weren't for the royal guard picking up the slack in civilian matters, things might be going a lot worse for us.
Not that Tia cared much about that, she looked about ready to retort that it was ‘our’ vendetta in a snide way. We have had that argument a few times already and it always ended up with her being mad at me for having different priorities than she did. It was as aggravating as it was cute, seeing her pout to herself because she learned the hard way there were some things I wouldn't budge on. I could stand up for myself and it always managed to surprise her when I was the one refusing to be her 'yes-mare'.
I couldn't help but inwardly grin as my sister reined her temper in with a sigh and a low growl. She shot me a glare, unhappy with my reasoning, but she had enough presence of mind to get over her misgivings and realize I might be onto something. She really was too fixated on her vendetta with the former princess, it was starting to become an obsession of hers. “I'll admit, you might have a point there, Summer. It still doesn’t excuse them from failing so spectacularly. Our agents were trained better than this, and yet, after so many years, they still aren’t doing their best.”
I was about to tell her that her quest against Platinum was the reason behind them being in such a tight spot when Night Fang sighed tiredly, giving us a suffering look.
Poor mare, I felt kinda bad for her. She had to fix the messes we made and here we go, fighting with each other over something so trivial as Platinum being her usual self up to no good.
Still, Tia had to learn the lesson at some point, right? She can't just waste all of our resources on one petty mare trying to discredit us for the nth time. We all knew that whatever she was concocting up this time wouldn't work, either. It never did and never will.
Platinum was like an incompetent cartoon villain in that regard. She always tried the most childish things a bully could come up with and would later throw a tantrum when it inevitably failed to get the results she hoped for.
My twin is a stubborn mule wasting her time with another stubborn mule and it has to stop! She was riling herself up for no reason. Tia needs to take a step back and notice the rest of the nation instead of just one individual with megalomaniacal tendencies. What can I say? Wasting thousands of bits in this petty squabble was insane. Both of them were, to be honest. Princess Bitchface for obvious reasons and Tia for giving her more attention than she deserved.
“Now, aside from a few unforeseen setbacks, let's not forget about the good things, alright? The rest of the kingdom seems peaceful enough, all things considered. And I'm proud to say it's all thanks to your fair rule, my Princesses,” Night Fang said, putting an end to our argument before it could degenerate into a shouting match. It wouldn’t have been the first time something like that happened and I doubt it would have been the last. My twin calmed herself down significantly, the reminder doing her a world of good to remember not everything was doom and gloom with our nation, nuzzling my cheek apologetically but I turned my head away with a stubborn pout. Never let it be said I couldn't be a stubborn mule, myself.
Luna gave me a raised brown and I fidgeted. Ugh. Don't look at me like that! You were the one that encouraged me to be more assertive! I am doing just that! I'm teaching her a lesson here!
...which I am, right? So... why was I feeling so guilty? Or was I just being petulant? Damnit.
Who am I even kidding? I can’t stay mad at her, ever. Besides, Tia was right, too. Maybe. Possibly, but not entirely. I mean, our agents aren't entirely useless, right? They managed to get some intel, which should be enough. We knew she was buying stuff from the black market most likely and, uh... probably scheming a stupid plan to turn my mane green and laugh at me in court. I wouldn't put it past her to stoop down to that level of pettiness.
Besides, I'd probably look great with a light green mane, so it's not like it would give her much to laugh at.
All that matters is that they could do their job without getting discovered, right? No intel in the world is worth the risk to their lives, after all. Even if that intel barely amounts to breadcrumbs.
...okay, okay! Maybe I shouldn’t lie to myself like this and face the truth that our agents might not be the best infiltrators. Who can fault them for that, really? Ponies just weren’t made for this type of work. Even thestrals with all of their skills in espionage. They were good at fighting and staying out of sight, silently sneaking around and counterfeiting signatures as well as stealing fruit and bits alike, but none of that helped them blend in at social interactions. And since a majority of the thestrals in Equestria were fiercely loyal to the crown... anypony seen talking with them would set Platinum off. And, well... trying to disguise a thestral was a futile effort due to their cat-like eyes (not to mention the bat wings).
Before I could start second-guessing myself even more, our spymistress gave me a big, joyful smile. It caught me kind of off-guard as she vibrated in her seat. The emotion was so uncharacteristic and foreign seeing it on her, it was almost cute (if it weren't for what she said next). “I'm happy to report that crime is at an all-time low since the founding of Equestria if that cheers you up. And there have been no monster attacks that we know of that need handling by you, Princess Summer. Furthermore, aside from the seemingly disappearing ponies, your subjects are content with the work that you do. Everything is running smoothly within the guard and we even discovered a traitor! Eee!”
I smiled awkwardly, mildly put off as her sadistic side shined through her professional behavior. I have no doubt the hospital ward will have to deal with the blood loss of the poor fool that got caught by her agents.
Night Fang is one scary pony.
Well, I guess at least some things were going well for us. It was nice knowing our work was appreciated (even if Tia primarily got the laurels for that). Hopefully, we would get behind these disappearances as well as Platinum's schemes and counterspy actions (because why else would anypony betray us?). Neither side was getting anywhere with this stupid spiel that she insisted we play with each other. We had better things to do than entertain her.
All I want to do is to ensure that our ponies are safe and sound, allowing them to live a happy life. I can't say we were doing too badly on that front, ruling our nation. One little setback can't sour that. And neither could Platinum, for that matter.
“Focus our efforts on finding our ponies, Spymistress,” Luna said, pointing out that Platinum was way less of a threat in comparison. Celestia had to acquiesce to the wisdom behind that decision and I hoped it would get her over the constant paranoia of the former princess being up to something of a world-ending nature. Furthermore, whatever Princess Bitchface was planning, I’m pretty sure it was more along the lines of her throwing another hissy fit instead of ushering in the apocalypse. She didn't possess that kind of power and nopony sane would attempt a ritual that's more likely to kill them instead of turning them into some kind of overpowered god-like being without being worthy of such.
"Anything else you want me to do, Your Highness?" Night Fang asked, but Luna shook her head.
"I trust you to make the right decisions should anything else crop up, Night," my sister told her. "Keep us up to date on that traitor and we will keep this nation in one piece in the meantime. Until next time."
Night Fang nodded, giving us a bow as we left her office. Our way back to our chambers was spent in silence, the quiet only broken by the clip-clop sounds of our hooves. Together we lowered the suns and Luna did her thing with the night sky as we stayed on the balcony, gazing up at her magnificent work. The stars twinkled serenely up above us, and, seeing the tension in my twin from all of the stress, I started to preen the wings of my lovely wife.
...I guess Luna does have a point about her 'kiss and make up' viewpoint. I don't enjoy fighting with my twin, but... if it leads to showing our love to each other like this? I suppose I couldn't entirely dislike it. I'd prefer not to get into a spat with my sisters, though.
“Why does this have to be so frustrating?” Celestia grumbled, melting into my light touches as Luna began to work on her other wing. “It’s always something that goes wrong...”
“We can’t be everywhere at once, sister,” Luna told her, spitting out a loose feather from Tia that had come out. “And we can’t be perfect at everything.”
“What’s the point if we can’t guarantee the safety of those we watch over? I bet... mhh... I bet Bitchface is behind it...” Tia shot back, letting out a happy moan. I smiled as my twin started to relax a bit more.
“Are you doubting yourself, sister?” I asked, getting a snort out of her. “It’s not all bad, you know. Even if Platinum has a hoof in this (and that's a big if), we will find our ponies and then everything will be okay.”
“I’m not doubting that,” she answered, sounding just the slightest bit insecure. “I’m just worried we will get to them too late or we won’t find them at all.”
“Moping about it won’t help, either,” Luna told her, placing a small peck on her cheek. “All we can really do is to keep doing our best.”
“That and hope for the best,” I said, nuzzling Tia softly. “We can also ask Starswirl to look into the matter. He could find something with one of his spells that our agents or my animal friends might not find. Besides, he needs to get out more, he stays in his lab and the library way too often.”
“Okay,” she hummed. “That sounds like a good plan. We can delegate this... keep this kingdom running smoothly while Starswirl and Night Fang look for the perpetrator. I hate to admit this, but... we can't do much without more information.”
“There we go,” I smiled. “Let’s go to bed, I’m "—I let out a big yawn, feeling the exhaustion catch up to me—"really tired. A good night's rest will do us all some good.”
My sisters nodded in agreement and we moved over to our large bed, discarding our regalia in a haphazard fashion (our maids would no doubt get into a fit if they saw us doing that, the dedicated chests and ponyquins forgotten and neglected). Yu’la was already fast asleep on a cushion in a drawer jutting out from the nightstand next to it (it kinda was perfect for her size to curl up in and it looked very cute). Judging by the little movements of her snout, she was having a pleasant dream of chasing after something, perhaps a mouse if I had to guess. Or a memory of playing hide and seek with Li Li and me.
Soon enough, I was also asleep with a pleasant dream of my sisters swimming next to me in the ocean. I suspected Luna gave it to me, but I couldn't really complain about the subtle message behind it. The water was nice, after all. And their wet manes... or the droplets of water running down their bodies as they strolled out onto the sandy beach to relax... a-and their half-lidded eyes as they turned to look back at me ogling their flanks...
Haah... my life was turning into one of those smutty romance books my twin liked to read so much. The kind with steamy scenes depicting a tall and bold mare dominating their meek wallflower of a friend. And by the twin suns, I liked every moment of it.
There was just a certain allure to it that being in charge couldn't give. It was exciting, never knowing what might happen next. And despite the helpless feeling, I felt more in control than I would've felt by being able to do whatever I wanted with my sisters. It was very contradictory, I know, but it was the truth. I decided how much power over me I would give them, and as long as they didn't play dirty, they would have to acquiesce to my judgment.
Ultimately, I was the one getting pleased by them. And that gave me a different kind of power over them. A power I rarely made use of, sure, but when I needed to, they had no choice but to behave.
And that's why, despite me enjoying my dream quite a lot, Luna would have to try a lot harder to get me to agree to a real vacation at the beach. My lazy ass of a sister might think she was being clever, but I got a sense of responsibility I wouldn't so easily turn my back on. Even Tia, as sex-starved as she sometimes might be, knew we had way too much work piled up on our hooves to just take a vacation after we basically wasted a whole day exploring another world and playing around in a carefree manner.
She would have to content herself with the dream realm for a while longer. We had other things to worry about for now. Things that might test us in more ways than we could imagine.
Thankfully, Starswirl agreed to look into one of those aforementioned problems for us. It didn't even take much convincing for him to concentrate on this newest mystery of missing ponies all over Equestria as we asked him the next day. Well, I say he didn't need much convincing, he pretty much agreed to do so in an instant once he was aware of the circumstances, although then again, he gave us a veritable mountain of homework we had to work through while he was gone. Just our luck.
Haah. I guess nothing comes without a catch with that stallion, does it? He really loves giving us extra work disguised as lessons. He doesn't even teach us in pony most of the time, either. It was just a matter of 'Here's a list of topics you'll need to look up and here's a sheet of tasks you need to do before I come back', nothing more.
More often than not, the research involved was scattered over multiple books and tomes, and not always in the same location. Our library was by far not small, but it paled in comparison to the one in Canterlot and other major cities.
In a way, our 'lessons' also taught us about making social appearances all over Equestria as a whole, but by the twin suns, it was exhausting in a completely different way to holding court. Holding court was primarily like problem-solving while making visits to other towns and cities was more along the lines of making social calls at parties for the sole purpose of small talk. If small talk had hidden meanings and thinly disguised brown-nosing as well as fake pleasantries as a part of it. But what was I expecting of the nobility? They were even worse in social outings than they were in court, playing 'The Aristocrat Game' as I liked to call it.
It wasn't a nice game, nor was it really a game in the strictest sense. It was a war of influence and power, a chess board where every move was calculated and every loss a major blow to your reputation. And our main opponent was Platinum and her gang of old Unicornian noble families. The kind with lots of stuffy rules and customs that looked down on 'lesser' noble families and those that couldn't trace back their lineage for at least ten generations or more. Their only language was money and how many favors you could owe them.
In the most simplest of terms, it was a minefield. A minefield of offending one party by speaking to another, by not 'laughing' at their miserable jokes of supremacist views, and earning their ire for holding more progressive ideals than their pea-brained conservative views could handle.
And all of that just because we had to complete some obscure homework our teacher couldn't deign to teach us himself anymore. After we went through the initial stages of our apprenticeship, Starswirl couldn’t be bothered to actively teach us the things we were 'supposed' to learn and made us do it instead. On top of ruling the nation, of course. I have to wonder if Clover had to do so many assignments all over the place, as well. This wasn’t teaching and whoever thought Starswirl would make a great teacher made a grave mistake.
Probably King Bullion, now that I thought about it...
Night Fang and her agents put their efforts into finding out who was responsible for the disappearances as well, but as the days dragged on, they only found vague clues that didn’t help much. Aside from that, our agents started to encounter strange artifacts of a dark origin at an increasing and alarming frequency.
I had no idea where these things were coming from, and at first, they appeared as seemingly harmless toys with only mildly corrupting effects to them. It didn’t stay that way for long, though. Sometimes it got so bad that one of my sisters or I had to step in to apprehend the pony under the influence of dark magic and get the thing away from them.
More often than not, they looked like ordinary things such as quills, books, or even jewelry. The more insidious ones posed as harmless toys for foals, making it incredibly heart-wrenching for us to take the vile things away from them. That, and the fact that the process of 'detoxifying' them was similar to making a drug addict go through rehab.
It was gruesome and I hated every moment of it. Whoever did this to our ponies would receive no mercy from me for giving these things to innocent foals. Doing so was worse than allowing a child to partake in alcohol or cigarettes, even in small amounts. It withers your magical core and risks insanity, no matter your age.
All of them promised the wielder power beyond imagination, but what they really did was ruin their lives in the blink of an eye. The infuriating thing about these horrible artifacts was the fact that not a single pony that we asked (once they regained their sanity, that is) knew where they got them from. It was like they just suddenly had them and promptly fell under their influence.
The more dangerous dark artifacts couldn’t even be destroyed without risking massive consequences in the process. It forced us to put them away in secure places within our castle as the years passed by. Luna trapped the rooms in which we put them with such efficiency that only the most foolish of ponies would attempt to steal them. If they even found the rooms in the first place, Luna was quite thorough in hiding them. To make sure that a thief couldn’t simply steal all of them at once, we stored only a few artifacts per room, no more than three to four (we didn't exactly have a lot of room for each place holding them). A vault might have been another idea worth considering, but the risk was simply too high that somepony might have broken into it for selfish reasons to take them all at once.
Foolish selfishness, but selfishness nonetheless. Even our ponies were not entirely without greed and the ambition to use any means necessary to gain power.
Our ever-loyal spymistress was having a conniption with the trouble those artifacts caused and I couldn’t fault her for sometimes snapping at us in her frustration (we were just as much frustrated as she was, after all). I wish I could have relieved her of her burden, even if it was just a slight amount, but the nobles were giving us a lot of flak for this escalating situation. Especially to Luna and myself. They somehow got the idea that 'we' were pulling the strings behind the scenes in order to get rid of Tia, which was about the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard that came out of their muzzles up to this date.
Platinum was most likely seizing the opportunity to further besmirch us as we tried our best to keep this nation together. The few times I saw her over the last fifteen years, I could tell that she noticed we weren’t aging at all past what a young adult mare would have looked like in their mid-twenties. If that pony started to outgrow every other pony in height, that is. Luna even joked about us being related to swans, which I couldn't really berate her on. My neck was feeling kinda longer than it should be even though I knew it wasn't (at least, I think so...).
Tia and I were still a head taller than Lulu but in comparison to any other pony? We had to look down to meet their eyes and it didn’t make me feel comfortable. Like... at all. Even Luna had to look down so she could speak to our subjects, and she didn't feel any better about it. Tia, on the other hoof, found it great because why wouldn’t she? She had a narcissistic streak a mile wide and it was hard berating her for it when she made the same arguments about me.
What? Being tall and slender had its own charm to it. I might prefer being small and meek but I can't say I didn't like the more mature, matronly look it gave me. My figure started to look more angelic and Luna was really into it. And, uh... it might have made me a bit more... possessive of my little ponies? Almost like they were my own children I had to protect. Which might just get worse the older I get because none of them might reach my age in a generation or two.
Granted, even the next few generations won't ever be able to, but I haven't entirely lost hope of finding another immortal pony aside from my sisters and me. There were rumors the hippogriff queen was far older than her appearance might lead one to believe, but Novo never confirmed those in her correspondence with us. King Aspen might also be long-lived, but that deer rarely paid anyone a visit, so it was a bit hard to confirm when their community stayed so secluded in 'their' forests.
Who knows, maybe the kirin shared a similar lifespan to the dragons? As far as I know, those could get thousands of years old.
Anyway! In addition to all the stress, Starswirl was still investigating the missing cases that continued to pile up more and more. He had tried to go to Khadgar for help, but for some odd reason the mirror to Azeroth lost its connection completely, and every time he tried to open a portal manually to investigate, the spell failed by literally blowing up in his face, a strange static and fuzzy feeling spreading over the area each time he tried to open a way to Azeroth with his magic.
I was saddened that I couldn’t go visit Chen and Li Li for a little reunion or ask Yu’lon for some much-needed wisdom. Yu’la couldn’t even visit her own mother and that was making me incredibly sad for her. She hasn’t grown at all in the fifteen years since she has been with me, which either meant her growth would take centuries or it wouldn’t happen at all (or it might require a similar process to how Yu'lon reincarnated, allowing her to breathe life into a successor).
Celestia even found a playmate for my darling dragon in the form of an injured phoenix chick, which we nursed back to full health. She started calling her Philomena, named after an old bird our daughters had in our previous life that they pressured us into getting for them (it was either that or a dog). The phoenix chick was way more exotic than a paradise bird and had a frighteningly high level of intelligence.
I think Philomena might have been learning all the wrong things from Luna, to be honest. She started to behave a bit mischievously the longer she stayed with us. I dearly hoped Philomena wouldn’t start to become a bad influence on Yu’la or I swear I will kill Celestia for corrupting my darling dragon through the proxy of her pet.
Aside from that, I used a lot of my free time (time that wasn’t spent on all of the problems keeping us up at night, that is) on working on another spell of my own making that proved to be way more complicated than the temporary genital transformation spell.
I wasn’t really made for mixing both emotional and rational magic, something that Luna had gotten exceedingly good at after first accessing the form of her other half. It was better left unspoken just what my experiments created with the voluntary test subjects of mice and rats and the odd few cats living in the castle. Let’s just say that a partial transformation into a different species tended to look... ahem, nightmare-inducing... and leave it at that.
My Moon had to calm down one too many of my bad dreams that she went so far as to forbid me from testing out my experimental spell until I was absolutely certain I could get it done right. She has been especially weirded out by my latest failed attempt that I dreamt about and I couldn't really fault her for that. A cat shouldn't look like a fusion between a pony and a lion coupled with a giant.
Speaking of dreaming, Celestia had a few foreboding ones over the last couple of months that were very concerning by themselves. And they all had one thing in common, too: Ponies losing their magic to theft.
Of course, that made the majority of our alarm bells start ringing in our minds. Celestia had sent a missive to our centaur allies, asking for any possible explanations, but... we have yet to receive an answer from King Vorak or his wife. I was getting mightily tempted to send out a scout to look at the situation as my concern started to rise after the continued silence. Something was wrong, I just had this feeling, and Celestia’s nervousness only made it worse.
A shadow was looming over the horizon and the question was a simple one. Are we ready to face the oncoming storm and fight for that which is worth fighting for? For my family and my nation, I would give anything. Even my life, if I had to.
The world’s fate now rested within our hooves, just as Hope and Magic had warned us. The teachings of our mentor will come into use to prevent a future without magic, and I had my suspicions as to who the perpetrator was behind all of this.
It all added up, didn’t it? The missing ponies, the missing correspondence with King Vorak, and what happened to Dusk Comet so long ago now. A queasy feeling was starting to settle within my gut at the thought of Prince Tirek having murdered his own father in a quest to gain more power.
Sighing, I stared down at the rough draft for a law the nobles pushed us into passing into the Equestrian Constitution, stating that any and all alicorns are to be considered royalty by default. There was no doubt that it was a hopeful grab for power from those idiotic fools thinking they could somehow get blessed in producing an heir that is born an alicorn. Fat luck with that, the chances of that happening are abysmally low.
I could tell Platinum had her dirty little hooves in this, there were rumors about her floating around of having a suitor that she most likely had no love for, whatsoever. She must no doubt be getting desperate if that is how she plans to get an heir back on the throne. I have received no news that she had birthed a successor, but ponies like her knew how to keep such things on the down low.
I shouldn’t let Platinum’s schemes cloud my judgment on this one, though. While most of those attempted power grabs from the snobbish portion of the nobility would find themselves under heavy scrutiny from my sisters or me, every once in a while they actually managed to get their two defective brain cells working long enough to churn out something decent.
My, my. Let's see here... this could have the potential to backfire on them in a spectacular way. They probably never thought about the possibility of a 'peasant' ascending to an alicorn or being born into a commoner’s family. Aside from that, I suppose there was merit to an alicorn being granted the title for another reason, too. One major positive of this law would be the ageless nature of alicorns, ensuring that they think about the future of the planet and its inhabitants first and foremost. The alternative wouldn’t look pretty for them.
Those elves from Azeroth had the right idea, living in trees weirdly enough. They did their best to protect nature, although I wasn’t a fan of their methods for the most part. The little tidbits I had the chance to read about them during our visit fifteen years ago gave me enough of an idea that they were... a bit conceited. They were practically the ones that attracted the Burning Legion to their planet in the first place which led to the sundering of the primal continent. It seems a little bit ridiculous, now that I think about it.
The deer would fit right in with their own attitude...
I shook my head, trying to clear away the random thoughts and focus back on what was really important. I needed to find my sisters and discuss with them the suspicions I held about the wayward son of King Vorak. And the possibility that the son... disposed... of his father.
I left my office in the usual state of organized chaos, nodding to the guards and servants going about their way, receiving salutes and respectful bows from those that weren’t carrying things around.
It had taken a while to get them to this level of comfortableness around us, previously they stopped doing whatever it was they were doing and prostrated themselves before us. Some were fearful of what we would do if they didn’t show such reverence to us, most likely a remnant of what previous rulers expected of them.
Or... perhaps they felt the need to grovel before us simply because we moved the heavens. It was... bothersome to be viewed like that and we tried our best to make them see that we were only ponies ourselves and not some... 'goddesses'.
I mean... we weren’t, right? Just because we could move the suns and the moon didn’t automatically make us infallible goddesses. We fail and make mistakes just like any other pony, there's no need to start worshiping us as something we are not. Sure, we might have a lot of magic at our disposal, but I wouldn’t go so far as to label us as goddesses of the heavens because of that. A demigoddess would still be exaggerating it, I thought with exasperation.
Damnit, now I feel like I’m desperately searching for arguments against this (again). There was a feeling of denial welling up within me and I shoved this train of thought to the back of my mind where it belonged with an un-princess-like snort. The notion of us being goddesses was simply ridiculous. A god had power unimaginable and could form reality to their whim, they had knowledge beyond a mortal's comprehension, and they were omnipresent. Not to mention the multitude of other things a being like that could do. Omni-everything.
I decidedly ignored that my sisters and I sort of fit that description, if only partially. We do have far more power than what we know what to do with on a daily basis, we had knowledge of a different life with technology that would blow an ordinary pony's mind, and we could ask our celestial objects for a peek from the orbit of this planet. Everywhere their light touched, we could perceive.
Still, I would argue we were 'demi-goddesses' at most and incredibly powerful ponies at a bare minimum. It would be pretentious to claim we were more than that. We didn't deserve worship.
Anyway! I peeked into Tia’s office first to see if she was there but came up empty-hooved, making my way to Lulu’s office next. Seeing that it was also empty of the midnight-blue mare, I looked down at my necklace and shrugged, touching it with a hoof.
“Luna,” I spoke, feeling the mana gem feed the teleportation spell with power as it linked up to the location of my sister's necklace. I took a look around the cluttered atelier of my wife, smiling at the sight my eyes were greeted with.
My beautiful Moon was sitting on a dark blue cushion with silvery-white lining and she had her tongue sticking out of her muzzle as she mixed some colors around on the palette in her telekinesis, adding some brush strokes to the canvas in front of her on the easel. Meanwhile, my twin was in a seductive pose on a velvety couch, wearing very enticing lingerie that complimented the smokey makeup on her face perfectly.
Celestia’s eyes found mine and I bit my lip as she gave a little wink. I walked up to Luna, giving her a loving nuzzle and kiss on the cheek. She smiled at me and focused back on her painting.
“How long have you been here?” I asked.
My sister shot Tia a glare as she was about to move out of place before turning to me. “Since this morning, Sunny. Tia had this idea and dragged me away before I could even get started on work. She promised me some BDSM later...”
I raised a brow and gave Celestia a look at that. I have to admit, this was most certainly worth the trouble of her work piling up. My wife smirked back at me, having noticed that my tail started to move up on its own. I had no idea how Luna could remain calm and collected while Celestia looked... like that. My mind already had me picturing how I would slowly get rid of the clothes on her body, burying my muzzle in her marehood afterward. I would eat her up while Luna used her riding crop on me... letting her bite my delicate flesh with her fangs... moaning and begging as my sensitive nub was played with... all while my twin writhed before me.
I took a deep, shuddering breath, calming my racing heart back down from my wild imagination. I didn't come here for that. “I, uh... a-aside from Tia being a pervert making you draw porn, I might have a theory about the missing cases,” I said, receiving curiously raised brows from them. “You remember King Vorak?”
“Yes, he is hard to forget, even though we haven’t seen him for twenty-five years. Summer, if you are implying what I think you are...” Luna answered, shooting me a grim look while momentarily slowing down with her painting. “What do you think we should do?”
“Go after him, obviously,” Tia commented. I could hear the sheer fury in her voice, and judging by how her eyes turned black and golden, it was enough to make her emotions start to go out of control. “If that brat of his truly is behind this, I won’t rest until I have his severed head mounted on a pike in front of our throne room. It will teach our enemies a lesson not to mess with ponies.”
“We shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” I told her gently. “And we don’t go around killing the ones responsible. Not like that and you won’t put his... his..."—my face turned ashen as I felt sick at the thought—" head on display like that, Tia. I couldn’t have lived with myself had you not stopped me from killing Sombra, so don’t go down the same path I had almost seen through to the end.”
“He drains our ponies of their magic, Summer!” she growled and I winced as a hoofprint burned itself into the cushions of the couch underneath her. “Clearly he doesn’t care for their lives, his greed might even overshadow Sombra’s!”
“Sombra wasn’t in control,” I argued weakly, although it felt hollow to my ears. Like I was lying to myself. He couldn’t have done all of those despicable things of his own volition, right? It must have been the dark magic influencing him that was responsible for that. Sombra... the uncorrupted Sombra, that is... he would have never done those things that the monster he had become had done. Of that much, I was certain. “There might be something influencing Tirek, too...”
“Alright, Summer Sol,” Celestia snorted, looking at me from the corner of her eye as she stared stoically ahead, miffed that I ‘dared’ to speak in the defense of Tirek. My ears wilted as she was genuinely mad at me. “Let’s have it your way, then. Everything that happens from here on out is on your hooves. Show him mercy with that bleeding heart of yours, I don’t give a damn. Don’t come crying to me when he tramples it with his dirty, greedy, cloven hooves while draining every last drop of your magic. You fucking deserve the lesson that not everypony deserves a second chance.”
My Moon scowled at her attitude while I tried to keep the tears at bay. I really hate being so close to crying at the smallest things sometimes. “Put a lid on those emotions, Celestia,” Luna scolded, giving her an icy glare. She always has to stand up for me... and I hated how that made me feel, too. So useless. “Summer is right, sister. We can’t play the part of the executioner as well or we will become no better than he is. If he is behind this.”
Celestia grumbled, looking away in shame. She grimaced at the ruined patterned tights she wore and at what her rage had done to the couch. Her ears splayed back against her head as she gave me a mournful, apologetic look. “I... I’m sorry, Summer. I got too angry there for a moment.”
“It’s okay, Tia,” I said, slightly teary. Despite that, I smiled reassuringly. “I understand.”
“No, it’s not alright,” she said glumly, hopping down from the couch much to the chagrin of Luna. “I’ve been naughty...”
“Not this again...” Luna sighed as Tia prostrated herself before me and I blushed heavily as she started to change into Daybreaker, trailing kisses all over my hooves as if they were, without a doubt, holy to her.
I stood there awkwardly as Daybreaker took one of my shoes off, licking the underside of my hoof at the frog with a reverent hum. I looked over to Luna for help, unsure of what I should do. This happened so rarely that it always manages to take me completely off-guard every time. Luna, on the other hoof, gave me a shrug as we stared at our sister ‘worshiping’ my hooves and the ground they walked on.
The feeling was, admittedly enough, nice. I can’t say I wasn’t drawing some form of pleasure out of this, but I still felt extremely embarrassed as my twin whispered one apology after another for having been a bad lover to me. I reluctantly took the leash of the collar she put around her neck into my telekinetic grip, holding it to the side like it would strike out at me like a snake, ready to bite me at any moment. I... I suppose giving in to this perverted desire to treat her like a misbehaving pet would be the poison of the leash if I allowed it to 'bite' me.
It was mightily tempting...
Still, this was so weird, I thought even as I felt myself getting aroused by her over-the-top submissive behavior in front of me. Luna had taken out a sketchbook as she drew frantically away with an enthusiasm I wish wasn’t there. Certainly not for something like this. She had no doubt seen an opportunity in this, me blushing profusely over being treated like the owner of a sister-turned-slave while said sister was ignoring my distress and disdain over how she wanted me to treat her. And how could my Moon not find inspiration in this? Me, a meek mare that seldom took initiative on my own, being completely in control of how I could treat my twin for any perceived offense... it was the perfect material for her dirty hobby.
Ugh. I just wanted to teleport back to my office and forget this ever happened. But at the same time... I kinda wanted to stay here and tell her to give my ear a nibble, my hooves more attention, and bury her muzzle into my eagerly waiting marehood. No words escaped my lips, though. No command to tell her to do whatever I wanted her to do. Nothing.
My heart and my mind argued over what to do and my body just stood there, still as a statue. There was no way I could tell my wife to stop, for I didn’t want her to. There was no way I could utter a command telling her to please her mistress, for I didn’t want to give in to this selfishness. There was no way I could escape this, for my body didn't react to my desperate need to flee.
“My goddess?” she whispered, sounding fearful. For a moment, I felt my heart stop at how she insisted to call me. One word. One damnable word and I felt hate like I never felt before. “Have I displeased you?”
Looking down at her with narrowed eyes, I felt a small part of myself get angry. Furious, even. I was no goddess, to nopony. There was no way that an alicorn could ever have the right to call themself a god, never. We were regular ponies, just a bit more powerful. Normal. That's what I told myself we are. We are normal, regular, run-of-the-mill ponies. I won’t call myself a goddess and I certainly won’t let anypony else do that. Not a stranger, not a friend, not even my twin sister. We. Are. Normal.
Before I knew what I was doing, I had already hit my wife across the muzzle with the hoof she had been licking. She flinched back, cowering before me, offering teary apologies for having caused me displeasure. I stared in horror at my own hoof, stumbling back fearfully. Luna had stopped drawing, disbelief in her eyes at what had just happened.
I never hit my wives, even when I was furious with them. I always 'tortured' them with the patented tickle apocalypse. The most I ever did was increase gravity on them with my go-to spell for naughty sisters, but I never hit them. By the twin suns, what did I do..?
“I...” I whispered, disgusted at myself. How could I do that to my wife..? How could I lash out with my own hoof? How could I hit my wife? “I-I didn’t mean to... I...”
“Summer?” Luna asked, reaching a cautious hoof out towards me. I jumped slightly as she touched my shoulder and I felt like running away from them. I felt like I didn't deserve them anymore. I was a wife-beater, I was a horrible pony, I... I didn't mean to. “Summer, it’s okay. You didn’t do it on purpose. Right?”
“...right,” I muttered, barely keeping myself from hyperventilating. “I didn’t... I... I’m such a bad wife...”
“No! You’re not, my goddess!” Daybreaker was back in front of me so suddenly that I fell back in surprise. “I deserved it! I deserve more! Hit me until I bleed, my goddess!”
“...what?” I whispered in shock, horrified. “No! Why do you even want me to do something... something so despicable?! I hurt you! You should hate me!”
“But... my goddess...” she whimpered and I suppressed the urge to shove her away from me for calling me like that again. “I need to be punished for my transgressions. I'm the one that hurt you, and I keep doing it because I'm a selfish bitch! I need to be put into my place for treating you so badly, my goddess! Treat me like the naughty pet I am! I am a filthy animal that needs to be trained on how to behave for her mistress!”
I blinked, unsure where that attitude had come from. It was strange, seeing it come from my twin of all ponies. Since when did she start to think of herself like that? “Then... lick my ear?” I asked in uncertainty, not wanting to inflict further harm upon my twin sister. She gave me a skeptical look, trying to find a reason for how that could be a punishment for her, but she ultimately did as I asked of her in order to not ‘displease’ me even more.
I hummed approvingly, feeling my nethers get wet from the stimulus I was so addicted to. By everything that's holy, I absolutely loved it when she played with my ears. There was nothing that could compare to it, I swear. Nothing.
Absentmindedly, I noticed Luna turn a page in her sketchbook, starting a new drawing as I was on the ground in front of her with my twin nibbling and licking away at my ears. I gently guided her so that her upper body was on my back, hugging me around the neck with her forelegs, and I relished the feeling of closeness I felt to her because of that.
Giving the leash in my levitation an interested and wary glance, I debated whether to tug on it or not. It was such a degradation of my sister, I felt uneasy at the thought of doing anything with it. Although, there was a certain allure to it that I simply couldn’t shake away completely.
My own sister, reduced to a misbehaving animal on a leash. For some reason, it made my insides quiver with excitement. It was so naughty...
A moan escaped my lips as I felt her nip me with a sharp fang, the little bit of pain swiftly turning into more arousal. An intense desire, even. I wrapped the leash around a hoof and decided to just go with it. For once, I stopped thinking so much about it. I didn’t give it a second thought about treating her like the filthy animal she wanted me to see her as. I would give her what she wanted, and then some.
I gave the leash a very soft tug and commanded her to bite my ear once more. To cause me pain in a gentle way. To hump against me in an almost feral way. And for the whole time, I viewed her as nothing more than a horny, misbehaving pet.
Luna continued to sketch frantically away in her quickly filling up sketchbook as Daybreaker had me happily humming, feeding my addiction of having her lick my ears and nibbling on them, as well as drawing pleasure from the little bit of pain when she bit on them. Tugging a bit more forcefully on the leash, I melted into a puddle of bliss as she bit me once more, this time on the back of my neck. It would leave a mark, I had no doubt about it, but right now, I only wanted her to humiliate me more. To be a naughty pet jumping her mistress as she was helpless to stop her from ravaging her.
Still, the ground was kinda uncomfortable, so maybe... “Get on the couch,” I told her quietly and she reluctantly removed herself from me to follow my command. Instead of the whole 'naughty pet' thing, there was another fantasy I wanted to try out that I was previously too afraid to ask for, one that would humiliate me even more. I could even chalk it up to having a secret thestral lover should anypony ask me about my 'bruises' later...
Luna watched me curiously as I stretched, sighing in satisfaction as my limbs gave a few popping sounds here and there. I went over to her so that I could ask her where she kept her riding crop. She gave me a raised brow but lit up her horn to summon the requested item to her side a moment later.
Smiling, I took the replica from the dream world into my own levitation magic. I was getting excited by its mere presence, and with a skip in my step, I went over to the couch before I hopped up on it so that my twin was trapped beneath my hooves. Daybreaker looked up at me with those golden, demonic eyes and my smile turned softer, but at the same time also more wicked. Perverted. Deranged.
Mhh. I couldn’t hold back anymore. My lust demanded of me to satisfy my own perverted desires and at that moment, it was all that I could concentrate on. I wanted... no, I needed her to hit me with that damn lovable riding crop. My body craved its forceful, stinging touch and I wanted to feel pain in the most pleasurable way that I knew of. If she was obedient to my demands, I might even reward her for her services.
All I wanted to do was to indulge myself with one particular fantasy of mine...
My beautiful sister watched as I levitated the riding crop over to her and I gave her the command to take it from me and use it on me. For a moment it seemed like she was going to protest, but she took the riding crop from my grasp as I gave her a tiny glare. She would do this or I’m going to punish her with no sexy time at all for the next few months. I knew that she couldn’t take a punishment like that, so it was an easy task for me to coerce her into doing this against her own wishes. Not that I thought she was that much against this, she was, after all, a massive pervert.
I leaned down and gave her a kiss, telling her to spank my flanks in between two kisses, and I moaned happily as she complied. Spank after spank, I felt my marehood begin to drip my juices on my twin, showering her with the heavy amount of arousal that the pain evoked in me. I had long since accepted that I might have a weird love for such a thing and what can I say? It was doing such wonderful things to my body. I couldn’t get enough of it, having her spank me.
I started to grind myself against my sister, telling her where to hit me as I moaned and panted in bliss, kissing her roughly as the warmth in my nethers demanded to be sated. Each time I made her hit me with the riding crop, I mewled out in pure ecstasy. I knew only pain and pleasure, and yet, it was not enough. Far from it.
“Hit my marehood, my pretty slave,” I whispered and tugged at her leash demandingly. Daybreaker hesitated as she felt uncertain about what I had just asked of her and I repeated myself a bit louder and more forcefully. She squirmed underneath me, screwing her eyes shut as she did what I demanded.
And just like that, my world exploded with one of the heaviest orgasms I’ve had up to that point, my vision going white as I felt my limbs go limp and unresponsive as every cell in my body cried out in bliss, shuddering with pleasure. I watched lazily as Daybreaker stared at me with conflicted eyes while every cell in my body could only voice out absolute happiness. Her eyes met my lustful, deranged ones and I giggled. I giggled because, for once, I was just as bad as she was and I loved it.
I could tell that she very much enjoyed doing this to me, but the hesitation of being rough with me was clearly present in those burning eyes of hers. She was holding herself back so much, trying not to give in to her darker desires that had caused me such fright the last time she had done so.
But, as I was starting to calm down from my high, I wanted more. My hunger was far from sated, demanding to be fulfilled. And there was only one thing that could give me that satisfaction, I thought with heavy anticipation.
My muzzle found hers, engaging her in a furious kiss. Moans and cries ripped themselves from my throat as I started to grind myself against her, faster and faster, shuddering with each little buck. I felt even more pleasure explode within me the more forceful I was with her. But it wasn’t enough. I demanded Daybreaker to hit me again, my marehood crying out in pure joy as her almost gentle strikes edged me on even further.
Yes~, this was what I truly needed. Although there could be always more, I thought with a demented gleam in my eyes. I knew just the thing, too. Something that could set me off so heavily that I was sure I would lose consciousness if she were to obey my demands.
So, grinning lecherously down at my twin, I told her to satisfy my little fantasy at last. To bite down on my neck like a vampire and drink from my lifeblood like it was her only sustenance. A small part in the back of my mind lamented the fact that it wasn’t Luna that would be doing that to me, but I could always do that with her later. I could always tie her up in our bed until she did what I asked of her.
Eh heh heh heh...
Daybreaker took a bit of convincing, though. Harsh glares and tugs on her leash quickly got rid of that hesitance, much to my delight. As her fangs pierced me and I let out a very, very loud moan, I saw her shudder with her own orgasmic pleasure as the blood hit her tongue.
And I absolutely loved the feeling of her drinking deeply and needily from me, her own hunger overtaking her. I couldn’t help but find it even more arousing when I heard Luna’s sketching get more furious. All of these things, the heavenly hits from a slightly wobbling riding crop, the vampiric feeding shenanigans I forced my twin into, and the perverted exhibitionism of having Luna watch us do this while drawing porn of us, gave me one of the most mind-numbingly good orgasms I have ever felt.
My orgasm left me in such a daze that I was completely cut off from the waking world for what felt like hours. I absolutely lost myself in this feeling of satisfaction, of utter bliss and ecstasy. Alas, I couldn’t stay in that state for eternity, as much as I wished that could have been the case. Once my body calmed down considerably from my high, my eyes lazily noted that my twin was back in her usual form, slowly caressing my sides with her wings as I tiredly nuzzled her, snuggling her lovingly.
To be honest, at that moment I could have cared less if anypony found out about our forbidden love, I just felt utterly content.
“One day I’ll get you to be a bit rougher with me,” Tia giggled, smiling as she slowly trailed a hoof over my chest. Her hoof stayed at the red crystal within my regalia and I hummed lazily in denial. Luna was snickering at me while I rested on top of my sister, finding it humorous how I resisted their attempts to get me to take the more dominant role while I wasn’t in the form of Fallen Star. Not that I was any more successful when I was her.
I couldn’t get myself into that mindset, and honestly? I never want to get into that mindset, ever. I mean, this little thing we just did was already a bit too close to that way of thinking, I was starting to feel guilty for having forced my twin into that position. Just thinking about it, me being in her position instead, doing that to her... it made me feel queasy at the mere thought of hurting her like that. I did that already and I hated it. It wasn't me.
But enough of that. There were far more pressing matters to attend to, as much as I wanted to laze around on top of Tia. “Mhh. We still have to plan out what we are going to do about our suspicions of Tirek,” I mumbled as I tiredly got up from my twin and the couch. I gave the few sketches Luna made of us a curious glance and I blushed a bright red color at how explicit they were, depicting us in various acts. Luna gave me an innocent smile and I rolled my eyes, too tired and cheerful from the orgasm to care about her basically drawing porn of me and Tia doing it in the most degenerate way possible. Of me satisfying my darkest fantasies.
“Starswirl is still investigating, is he not?” Luna said and I nodded, giving her a curious gaze, telling her to go on. “Then let us send him to find Tirek before he can start to drain all of Equestria of its magic.”
I sighed, frowning slightly. “I feel like we are still missing something,” I said, a paranoid feeling in my chest. I know there must be more to it. Like... as if this was only part of the bigger picture. “If Tirek is behind all this, why is he so patient? From what we know about him from King Vorak, he was pretty impatient to get his hands on unicorn magic when he was younger.”
“Do you think there could be a third party involved?” Celestia asked and I shrugged. The possibility was there but this was all only speculation, anyway. The only clue we had were the visions that Celestia had of ponies in Equestria losing their magic. And why would she only get these visions now when this dilemma had already started fifteen years ago?
I swear, there's something fishy going on. If my feeling was right and there actually is another chess piece moving on the board that we had no knowledge of whatsoever, then what else could there be, hiding in the shadows? The problems just keep on piling up and we had no idea of how we should deal with them.
The future was starting to look bleak. On every front things were happening that could threaten the very existence of our nation, of our little ponies. The magical dark artifacts were easy to deal with but the continued emergence of those would sooner or later start to overwhelm even us. Then there was Tirek, an immediate threat if we are interpreting Tia’s visions correctly. He had a thirst for power that I wasn’t sure we could deal with without some major help. Khadgar was out of the picture since our access to Azeroth was mysteriously gone. And if there truly was a third party moving in the shadows, how are we going to deal with that? They obviously were able to circumvent our agents without a problem, how are we supposed to fight against something like that?
Three threats, all demanding attention. One of those threats was obvious, the other two were mysteries that refused to be solved. And we weren't even certain one of those mysteries existed, in the first place. It was very frustrating.
So, seeing that I was getting nowhere with these jumbled thoughts, I did the only thing I knew how to do in a situation like this. I made a list of everything we knew, ordered by their severity. Soon, even my list wasn’t enough to give me a better picture, so I moved everything to a board and started to connect the information we had with strings.
We knew somepony was making those artifacts, ponies were missing inexplicably, and Tirek was most likely on his way to Equestria or he already was. King Vorak and his wife were most likely dead, so our non-aggression pact was not going to keep us safe from Tirek’s greed for very long. Furthermore, if he is behind the foalnappings of our ponies, he could already be strong enough to overwhelm even our best-trained soldiers. Celestia’s visions weren’t reassuring in that regard, either. If Starswirl failed, what good could we do in the end? Our mentor was way more skilled than Luna and I, Celestia was the closest one out of us in reaching the same skill he had.
The more information I piled onto the board, the more obvious it became that we had to somehow contain the centaur before he could do some serious damage. We needed... a prison of sorts. An impenetrable prison with a guard whose magic Tirek could not drain. Somewhere where nopony would be close enough to stumble upon the prison and foolishly release him.
But all of that depended on whether or not he was going to come here to actually do what Celestia foresaw. I’d rather not lock away an innocent soul in the deepest pit we could find. It was already cruel enough having locked away Sombra underneath the ice of the Crystal Empire, could we do something like that to somepony else?
The answer to that came surprisingly easy to me. Yes... yes, we could. He wouldn’t be the first we did something like that to and I doubted he was going to be the last. And if I were honest with myself, I already had an idea of where to put such a prison.
The prison would also need a guard, but for that, I also had an answer. It had me crying as I thought of putting the little puppy that had grown into a literal behemoth into such a position. The little Cerberus puppy that had quickly outgrown my care would make the perfect guard dog. On top of that, we could convert the massive cavern Cerberus called his home into this prison so that he wouldn’t need to leave his new territory.
And, as I thought of a name that we could give to the prison, only one would do it justice. Cerberus had been a mythological creature back on Earth, just like so many other creatures living here, and that Cerberus served as a jailor of the damned in an Underworld called Tartarus. It was quite fitting, wasn’t it? The ultimate prison, one that nopony could leave from within, and the price of entrance would be steep.
Celestia came up with the specifics of how to create a place that would restrict every little bit of power of those that were placed within the halls of Tartarus. Runes that made sure the wearer of the chains that bound them to their cage could under no circumstance use their magic or whatever other powers they might possess. Wards that heavily restricted what those foolish enough to enter Tartarus could do with their own magic if they were not invited. And the door... the door would only react to the magic of a higher being like alicorns, opening only then. And they would make no exception in regards to who entered, not even for us. Just in case.
So, as we planned for the worst-case scenario and sent Starswirl a letter of what we suspected might happen in the near future, we enlisted the aid of all of my animal companions to start constructing a place I wish we had no need for. A place that should have never been built, in the first place.
The door was intricately designed to look foreboding, Luna having a lot of fun in making a dark red eclipsed sun pattern on it to symbolize that, beyond the tall and oppressive doors, only despair awaited those that entered the cavern. Besides that, she told me that it also represented us in the way that we, while we acted mostly in benevolence, could also act harshly and strictly if the need for it arose.
The necessity for a place like Tartarus was sadly an inevitability, as much as I hated to admit that. While yes, there were going to be sentient beings that needed to be locked away because of what they represented, there were also animals that couldn’t be reasoned with at all. I hated it when I came across those, but I wouldn’t have to... put them down... anymore. Here they could at least live out the rest of their lives without causing mass destruction.
As Celestia worked on the wards, I couldn’t help but feel like we were making a massive mistake with this. We were essentially creating the equivalent of hell, an eternal prison of suffering, just for the sake of putting our problems out of sight and out of mind.
This would come back to bite us in the flanks, wouldn’t it? Heck, with the exorbitant amount of wards, runes, and rituals put into this place, it could contain anything short of alicorns. Even then I wasn’t sure if we ourselves could escape from within the walls of the prison without completely obliterating it outright. If the doors weren’t tied to the magic of us, that would be the only way we could escape. And if we did, the consequences of doing so would be catastrophic.
Perhaps this prison was too perfect. I felt bad about leaving my little Cerberus here, so I had Tia make an exception for him. If he needed it, he could come and go from Tartarus through a specially enchanted collar that could open the lock. I doubted he would make use of this little rule all that often and Tia made me compromise that he could only do so every few years or so. He had a duty to fulfill, it wouldn’t do if he shirked that so that he could come visit me whenever he felt like it.
Cerberus had a strong sense of duty, anyway, so I doubted that would ever become a problem. He was glad to have a purpose and my teary self had to be dragged away from him once the prison was finished. I’m gonna miss him and I promised to check up on him every once in a while.
Now, the only thing we could do was wait for Starswirl. The old wizard hadn’t been idle himself, as we learned. Roughly half a year had passed since we sent him out to find out what happened to Vorak and the news he had for us wasn’t good.
But that wasn’t the only thing he had in store for us.
“There is somepony I want you to meet, Your Highnesses,” Starswirl said, smiling with his usual cryptic smile as he brought us out to the courtyard. “Or rather, somecreature.”
Before us stood a brown-furred, winged humanoid being. From what I knew of their nation, this was the second heir to the throne. The gargoyle in front of us gave us a bow and I could see the sadness in his eyes.
“Greetings, Your Highnesses,” he said, straightening up. “I come here to warn you of my brother... I...”
“It’s alright, Scorpan,” Starswirl told him gently. “You can trust them.”
Scorpan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “I can’t recognize what has become of my brother... he... he murdered our father in his sleep and I only found out recently. Starswirl was the first pony I befriended here in Equestria and I... I’d like to do what you have achieved here in my homeland. Peace and harmony, it is something I had lost all hope of, but your ponies showed me that it is achievable.”
“I’m sorry to hear about your loss,” I said, bowing my head respectfully. “We... we feared something like this might happen and had hoped that your father might have changed your brother for the best. As it stands, it was foolish of us to not offer our assistance more. We could have done something...”
“No,” Scorpan said, shaking his head. “It’s not your fault. I stood aside while my brother did all of this. He... he lost himself in this darkness and I did nothing to prevent it. You shouldn’t blame yourselves for something that should have been handled by family. I suppose the strictness of our father only further caused a rift between him and my brother.”
“Still, we will do our best to help you,” Celestia said, although I could hear a hint of fury in her voice. “Tirek will be brought to justice, that we promise you.”
“I... I only ask of you to make sure he can’t hurt anyone else ever again,” Scorpan said, his face a mask of stony resolution. “If he has to be brought down for good... I would understand. Please, do what you must.”
“We won’t kill him,” Luna told him, but I could tell she was addressing Tia more than Scorpan. “He will live the rest of his life out in Tartarus, the prison we made just for such a purpose.”
We didn’t tell him we made it for Tirek in the first place. Such news would have surely made him suspicious of us and what we actually knew. While it wasn’t much, we had basically acted on paranoia and nothing more. It would be for the best if nopony knew of the ability that Celestia possessed. If it became known... I didn’t want to imagine just what could happen as a result of that.
Riots and civil war were the least of my concerns. Tia could be taken advantage of like some sort of weapon and that was unacceptable. I won't let it come to that.
“Be careful when you approach my brother,” Scorpan said, looking gravely at us. “He is crafty. Always assume he is stronger than he is, for he might very well be. I have no idea how many ponies he has drained of their magic so far and I was unable to convince him to return back home with me. Now, I will be taking my leave, there is much I need to take care of with the... absence... of my parents. Farewell, Princesses of Equestria. It was nice meeting you..."—he tilted his head towards us before giving our mentor a glance, a small, rueful smile on his face—" Starswirl, my friend.”
“We wish you the best on your quest to better your nation,” I said, nodding respectfully toward him. He gave me a sad nod before he turned away from us and he took to the skies on his wings. Perhaps we might meet again, someday.
“Your Highnesses,” Starswirl coughed politely, gesturing towards a portal at his side. “This will take you as close to Tirek’s last location as possible. I trust you to take care of this by yourselves, don’t make me change my mind. Besides, I have... other things I should take care of. We might not see each other for a while yet.”
“Oh?” Celestia asked. “What is it that you are doing?”
“My colleagues and I have... something to discuss with Stygian,” he said and didn’t elaborate further. I sighed, shaking my head at the cryptic answer. Whatever it was, I’m sure it was nothing too important. “Don’t forget to do your assignments!”
We smiled a bit wistfully as we stepped through the portal, shaking our heads at his priorities. We were about to go fight a power-hungry centaur and all he told us was to do our homework while he was gone.
Our swords were at our side as soon as the portal closed behind us and we looked over the rocky land and fields with searching eyes. There was an extinguished campfire not too far away from where we were, so we went over to investigate.
Suffice to say, we were in the right place. The hoofprints in the dirt were a lot larger than even our own (together with our shoes, that is). Next to those were the easily identifiable prints from the gargoyle we had spoken with only moments ago.
“Alright, Summer,” Celestia spoke up, turning to me. “Do your thing and find out where he went.”
“I’m on it,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Don’t you have a tracking spell?”
My wife snorted. “And you know how good I am with emotional magic, Sunshine,” she smiled, poking my side playfully with a hoof. “That is more your forte. Without a personal object from the pony you want to track, a tracking spell with rational magic isn’t going to be accurate, no matter how hard you try.”
“As much as I love to hear you go on about magic, let’s be quiet so Sunny can search for clues,” Luna whispered, dragging Tia away by her ear. I giggled at the disgruntled expression of my twin and focused my attention back on the abandoned camp.
Tracking wasn’t really all that hard for me, most likely a side-effect of my connection to animals. On top of that, this was sort of like a crime scene, just without the crime part. Playing private investigator was always a fun thing to do, in my opinion. You always find out the most interesting things about a pony that way...
Anyway! From what I could tell, Tirek had been pacing back and forth, most likely after his argument with his brother. There were signs of scuffed earth, probably because he got angry during or after the argument. Luckily for us, the centaur kept on venting his anger as he left the camp behind, giving me an easy trail to follow. Well, the signs were spaced out quite a bit, but with the help of our wings, those weren’t that hard to find.
The day was spent flying all over the place, the tracks left behind by the centaur suggested that he wasn’t keen on being followed, despite him leaving hints of his anger behind. I’m sure there was a pattern to it, but it continued to elude me. It seemed random at first glance, and at some points, I feared I lost track of them entirely. Fortunately, my sisters lent me a helping hoof every once in a while when that happened to be the case.
During the nights, one of us kept vigil over the land in case Tirek lit another campfire and we would be able to see the light from where we kept watch. It was during one such night that Luna shook me awake an hour or so before we had to raise the suns and lower the moon.
She pointed to the distant village with a hoof as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Celestia was squinting her eyes next to me, trying to see what our sister had seen. I wasn’t better off, the little bit of moonlight barely enough to see far ahead.
I blinked, feeling stupid for a moment, before tapping into my other half to change my eyes to a more predatory nature. The difference was like, pun fully intended, night and day (I never pretended to be funny and Tia was considerably worse with her puns, seriously). With a more focused gaze, I looked intently at the village until I noticed what Lulu had seen. I could make out the faintest glow as a silhouette moved in between a few huts and it was just as tall as they were.
Sometimes I still wonder why half of the villages in our nation still lived like primitives. The big cities like Canterlot (which was the only really 'big' city aside from the pegasus cloud cities, now that I think about it) were a bit more cultured in that aspect. Then again, those still lacked a lot of commodities like indoor plumbing (and I don't mean having a pegasus stuff a cloud into your bathroom and calling it a day). Our efforts to get sanitization up to snuff were still slow going, and honestly, we had worse problems to focus on right now.
After having almost lived for sixty years in a world that was still somewhere around the middle ages, I have (sadly) gotten used to this. That didn’t mean that I sometimes didn’t wish that everypony would take a bath with soap every once in a while. Alas, not everypony has the luxury to have a swimming pool for a bath connected to their chambers. Or a warm home with a fireplace, for that matter. Or, you know... soap.
We did as much as we could when we had the time for that, trying to improve the living standards of our ponies. The simple truth to the matter was that not everypony had the money to make such changes to their homes that they could care about taking a bath and so on. Nor did they have the money to regularly visit a bathhouse.
Not to mention, ponies (and humans, I suppose) had the bad habit of resisting change. Ponies, as we had learned, even more so. What wasn’t broken didn’t need improvement, and what one doesn’t need, one doesn’t make. It was a very weird habit of the old pony kingdoms that still managed to be around after the founding of Equestria. The best I could make out of it in order to make some sense of it was that ponies felt safer with what they knew and what they didn't was met with heavy skepticism.
Advancement meant having to change things and having to change things meant giving up a certain amount of safety to bring about that change. Losing that safety meant death, and thus, advancement had a rather low priority for most of our ponies. Sure, we did many things to change that sort of mentality, but... progress in that direction wasn’t always the fastest.
It was something that would simply have to come with time, I assured myself. Running Equestria took a lot of work, it wasn’t like we could put that aside and concentrate on less vital (but still important) matters. At least we didn’t have to worry so much about food spoiling and magic in general was pretty helpful when it came to keeping ponies healthy.
Haah. I’m spacing out again, aren’t I? Well, it seems we have found our target then. Tirek was gorging himself on the magic of our subjects and Celestia was none too happy about it. My own hatred tried to fight its way to freedom, but I told myself that I needed to keep myself calm and collected, lest I start supporting Celestia’s threat of mounting his head on a pike.
Judging by the slight glow coming from the coat of my twin, she was losing the battle against the raging inferno of her emotions. The usually collected and serene behavior of my wife was replaced with the likelihood of an avenging angel about to bring down the judgment of the heavens.
I laid a calming wing over her back, silently telling her that if she were to call down the fury of her sun upon Tirek within that village, nothing of the land would remain. It was a constant act of restraint we had to put on ourselves, lest we used so much power that we endangered those we wanted to protect from harm.
“Tia, I think you should sit this one out,” I whispered to her gently and she gave me a betrayed look. “Don’t think I’m doing this out of spite, sister. I worry that you are going to do something you would regret later down the line. So please, listen to what I'm saying, okay?”
“Summer...” she sighed. “I... I can’t just sit here on a cloud while you put yourselves in danger.”
“Then keep your distance,” Luna told her, agreeing with me. “You have been too agitated since this all started, we can’t trust you to not kill him.”
“Wow... that’s... thanks for the vote of confidence, Luna,” Celestia grumbled, a slight growl in her voice as she glared at us. “I can’t believe you’re doing this to me. The both of you! Do you know how much of a hypocrite you are being, Summer? I didn’t tell you to stay away from Sombra...”
“I know and I’m sorry,” I sighed, looking away from her while my heart cried tears of despair. “But can you honestly say you wouldn’t swing your sword with the intention to kill?”
“He deserves it...” she snorted, furious. “He murdered his own father, Summer!”
“You did, as well,” I grumbled and immediately felt bad. Celestia was gone in a flash and I wished I could have taken back my words. Luna gave me a glare and I wilted under her disapproval. Not that I can blame her. If I could, I would be glaring at myself right about now, too.
“That was uncalled for,” Luna scolded me. “I know we have our spats every once in a while, but you just crossed a line.”
“I know,” I cried, sniffling as a sob escaped me. “I didn’t mean to say that.”
“But you did,” she shot back, standing up and flapping her wings once, gliding towards the village and away from me.
So much for kindness, you stupid idiot, I told myself. Ugh. Celestia is going to hate me for this, isn’t she? How could such hurtful words even leave my lips? It was a spur-of-the-moment thing and they just came out. I only wanted her to shut up for a second and think about what she would have done if we had allowed her to come with us.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. Nothing ever came between us like that. It felt more like something Fallen Star would have said. Were we starting to blur together? Or was this purely the fault of Summer Sol? Who was I even anymore?
I let out a suffering sigh, biting my lip until I drew blood. Damnit, why did I have to go and say that?! Stupid, stupid, stupid! With a snarl, I summoned my sword and stared into the reflection with a hateful glare. I snorted as I looked at the slit eyes, and the burning golden eyes I gazed upon stared coldly back, almost cruel in their judgment of my actions. Seems my self-hatred was doing its best to kill me with a stare alone.
I shook my head and flapped my wings once, launching myself after my sister with regret heavy in my heart. I would apologize to Tia after we brought Tirek to Tartarus, that I swear, and I would beg her for forgiveness as I groveled before her hooves like the unworthy wife that I am. Whatever punishment she saw fit for me, I would accept it.
I only hope she would still want to talk to me after what I said to her. I would hate it if it put a wedge in our relationship with each other.
To add insult to injury, my sun called out to me, asking joyously to give the other half of the world her life-giving sunlight. I reached out to her with my magic, seeing Luna do the same for her moon. Sighing dejectedly, I reached out to Celestia’s sun as well, explaining to it that my sister was too distraught to fulfill her duty. Way to go, Summer, I thought bitterly. Way to go. I really was an idiot at times.
We landed behind the big, muscular centaur just as he threw a weakened unicorn to the side like a worthless sack of potatoes. Tirek noticed the sound of our wings and hooves before turning around with that self-satisfied smirk on his ugly mug and I wanted to punch his face until only a bloody pulp remained (and then some).
I forced my raging emotions down, trying to calm myself to the best of my abilities. It would do me no good to start being a hypocrite after having sent Tia away in tears. Well, I was a hypocrite already, wasn’t I? Still, it didn’t mean I should continue to be one. I was better than this...
Yeah, right, like I was to my sister? Like I had been to Sombra? Or how about that shitty griffon king that you still wanted to rip the head off of? Keep deluding yourself like that, Summer. You don’t deserve Tia and neither do you deserve Luna, for that matter. They deserve better.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, telling myself that that wasn’t the case at all. It was an accident and I didn’t mean to say those words to my wife. Hopefully, she would find it in her heart to forgive me someday. I know I couldn't...
“Ah, the Princesses of Equestria,” Tirek laughed, sounding exactly like the arrogant brat that he was. I should have let Tia skewer him and be done with it. “Though, I only see two of you. Wasn’t there a third?”
“She isn’t here,” I snarled, infuriated that he was talking about her at all. “You aren’t even worth her time, you slimy worm.”
“Hah! So fierce! That other princess must be a weakling then if she ‘can’t be bothered with me’ like you said,” he grinned, rubbing his hand eagerly. “I wonder what alicorn magic tastes like.”
“You won’t ever find out,” I shot back and fired a beam of superheated solar magic at him. He raised his hand and gave me an unimpressed look as it barely affected him. I stared at him in disbelief. W-what? That... that much magic would have incinerated the limb of a regular pony! I shook my head, not trusting my eyes. Fuck. Who was I kidding? It would have incinerated their whole body, leaving nothing but ash.
Nopony said I was perfect and me being a hypocrite was proof of just that. Maybe I did want to see him as dead as Tia wanted him to be...
Perhaps I wasn’t as kind as I thought I was if I threw that much power against Tirek after he dared to insult my wife like that. And to be honest? Maybe he actually deserved it...
With one leap, Tirek left his spot and created a small crater, tackling my distracted self away from Luna as we had thoroughly underestimated him despite what Scorpan had told us. I barely had enough time to raise my sword to block his next strike before he kicked me across the landscape like a soccer ball.
I coughed, heaving as the contents of my stomach tried to fight their way up. The whole world continued to spin as I tried to get my bearings back. Only for him to hurl my sister right into me, so we continued our roll to the edge of the forest I could have sworn was still on the horizon a moment ago.
“This isn’t how I thought this would go,” Luna muttered and I groaned, agreeing pathetically. I felt the hoofsteps before I heard them and cried out as he grabbed my tail, slamming me into the ground back and forth before Luna catapulted him away with a powerful buck from her hind legs.
“Mommy, I didn’t steal the cookies. It was Tia~...” I mumbled deliriously.
Luna snorted before she shook me slightly. “As fun as it is to see you like this, you have to get a grip on yourself, you idiot,” she told me and I moaned pathetically. I clutched my head as it continued to throb with my heartbeat, each thought sending more spikes of pain into my brain. That probably wasn’t a good sign.
Come on, Summer. Get up and fight for what is right, I thought as I forced myself back onto my hooves, summoning my sword to my side with a small amount of difficulty as I scanned our surroundings for the centaur. Luna found him first and sent a few highly overpowered arcane missiles toward him, each having more than enough force to blow a giant hole into a mountain. She nudged me urgently so I would take flight before he got close to us again and I had just enough presence of mind to follow her.
Flying was a bit wonky and I had barely enough time to dodge a red beam with crackling black lightning in surprise, almost getting hit by it. I saw my sister throw a hasty shield up in defense to save herself as she was blown back over the sky. In the distance, I saw her crash into the side of a mountain and I teleported myself to her side hastily.
I ignored the slightly singed smell as part of my mane and tail paid the price of my haphazard spellcasting, grabbing my Moon as swiftly as I could, teleporting us away before the next beam could reach us. Thankfully, my spell didn't backfire on me this time and my sister gave me a nod in thanks for the save. We both fell on top of a cloud and Lulu spat out a little glob of saliva mixed with blood, one eye swollen halfway shut. It was already healing with her moon's power accelerating the recovery speed.
“This is ridiculous,” she growled and I agreed. Our healing was still keeping up with what Tirek could throw at us, but I’d rather not risk having him wear us down slowly (as unlikely as that would be) or chance us getting knocked out into unconsciousness. We needed to find a weakness and fast.
Before I could think further on that, Tirek appeared behind us mid-jump. “There you are!” he said with a smirk. Panicking, I threw up a bubble shield around Luna and me, watching it crack almost immediately as he punched it with a fist. I poured more energy into the spell as we rocketed down to the ground. A mighty shockwave blew away from our impact, leaving us in a crater where previously a small lake had been.
I looked up and saw him smash his fist back into my shield, creating another shockwave from the force. I growled and forced most of my magic into my horn, sending him flying within a beam that dwarfed him in comparison. Fine, I told myself, he asked for it. I was done playing nice.
If he wanted to die so badly, I will grant him that wish without complaint. I'd rather return home alive than give him another chance to attack us.
I poured as much mana into this attack as I possibly could, almost sending him into orbit as the beam continued on well into the atmosphere of our planet. I didn’t care that my surroundings were literally set on fire as my body was consumed in solar flames. My sun happily lent me a portion of her power.
Only as I felt the fatigue set in and the cool touch of my sister’s hoof on my shoulder did I stop the attack, slumping to the ground utterly exhausted.
There was no way he could have survived that attack, right? I’m so gonna hear it from Tia later once she finds out that I friggin’ vaporized Tirek in a moment of weakness. If she even wants to talk to me ever again, that is.
“Take it easy, sister,” Luna told me, gently stroking my cheek with a hoof. “I will take it from here.”
As she said that, I nodded weakly. Rest sounded nice and I’m sure she could take care of Tirek’s... dead body. It felt strangely weird that I felt no remorse at all for doing that to him. I mean... he must be taken care of before he could drain each and every pony in Equestria, so this was the better alternative to that horrible fate.
That was what I told myself in my deluded delirium, wheezing exhaustedly as I felt the trickle of mana that my sun sent over to me increase to a stronger flow in order to rejuvenate me. I didn't realize I spent so much, even with her assistance...
Haah... flipping flying penguins, I shouldn’t have to feel bad for something that needed to be done, suns damnit. Not everything could be solved with kindness and generosity, right? I did the right thing, didn't I?
Fuck. It felt like I was betraying my very ideals just by thinking that. I didn’t want that and that was the only thing that made me feel bad. I swore to myself to never ever let that happen to me, to never ever betray my ideals of kindness and generosity, and to never ever lose the hope in me that made me look for the best in others. If I lost that part of myself, would I still be... me?
If I forsake my ideals, would I start to search for reasons to rationalize to myself that killing was acceptable? Like... like I had done on Azeroth if I were absolutely honest with myself? I knew I had to do something... but was it absolutely necessary that I resorted to taking a life? It wasn’t even just one life that I had taken back then. War... I never wanted to experience something like that ever again and now, fighting against Tirek, it felt eerily similar to that one time.
Like we were fighting a war against each other, just without the soldiers.
I watched my sister stride purposefully out of the crater, waiting until she could see Tirek again. Sadly, and much to my surprise, the centaur wasn’t dead. If anything, he looked eager to get back into the fight.
With a single flap of her wings, Luna launched herself at him, her sword glowing with icy light. And like a baseball bat, she swung it at him, sending him speeding away into the distance. Another flap and she was back at his side, swinging her sword down at him.
Tirek’s body was sent to the ground and I felt the world shake from the impact, all the way to where I had been left by my sister. Once more, they clashed, empowered fist versus magical sword, and both of them were sent flying in opposite directions by the resulting shockwave. Luna towards me and Tirek back to where we started our fight. I winced as he crashed through the homes of our ponies, crying as some of them were most likely heavily injured or even killed by the impact.
This... I... why? How could this have gone so horribly out of hoof? This wasn’t what I wanted at all... this senseless violence was disgusting and deplorable. Totally and utterly despicable.
It was nothing but wrong.
Pointless.
“Lulu? I... Oh, Lulu...” I whispered as I nudged my sister after I limped my way over to her, finding her completely out cold but still breathing, much to my relief. So much for that, I thought uneasily. I tried to call up enough mana to teleport her to safety but winced at the headache that split my head as soon as I attempted to do so. Perfect, just perfect.
I guess not even alicorns were immune to the blasted curse that was mana exhaustion. Despite my sun helping me recover, it did nothing for my overtaxed horn. Without a good night's rest, I wouldn't be casting anything anytime soon. That's what I get for throwing highly destructive spells around like it was nothing.
Sadly, Tirek wasn’t out of the fight as I saw him shake off the rubble of the destroyed buildings. If there ever was a cause to panic, this was it. With my remaining strength, I started to drag Luna away from where we were as he sent another beam of crackling red and black magic at us. It became quickly apparent I wouldn't be fast enough, though. It was far too large to dodge at my tempo.
Just... just how much magic had he absorbed that he could throw these around like nothing?! And why the flipping penguin was he no worse for wear?! This wasn't even remotely fair!
Resigning myself to my fate, I screwed my eyes shut before the blast was about to hit us and throw us who knows where. But as I waited for the attack to connect with us, nothing happened. Confused and with hope rising in my chest, I chanced a peek from behind my eyelids and saw a golden barrier absorb the entirety of the magical attack.
“Can’t do anything without me, huh?” my twin asked and I looked behind me to see her devil-may care-smirk. I blushed as I was reminded just how badass my wife could be. “Saw that pillar of radiant solar magic, by the way. It was gorgeous~.”
“Tia... I...” I whispered, sorrowful tears coming to my eyes. “I... I-I’m s-so...”
“Shh,” she said, placing a gold-clad hoof upon my lips. “Let me take care of that sorry excuse for a sentient being first, okay?”
I nodded, a wavering sob leaving me as I wanted to throw myself at her mercy and beg for her forgiveness. She strode past me with a certain casualness to it that I thought she was actually invincible. It made me feel safe and my heart gave a little quiver, falling even more in love with her.
Celestia’s mane glowed more vibrantly as the aura around her horn increased, the spell she was about to unleash taking a lot longer to cast than what I was used to seeing from my twin.
But then, as she finished her spell, I understood why she needed a bit longer to cast it. Hundreds of golden spheres shot away from her, trailing bright lights behind them as they flew in an arc toward where Tirek was standing. And each one of those exploded into his face, sending him back and forth in brilliant explosions.
A fiery flash at the side of my twin signaled her calling forth her sword. The last few orbs sent Tirek like a rag doll towards her and with a heavy swing, she hit him with the flat side of the blade on the forehead.
I stared at the unconscious form of the centaur as he landed in between me and Celestia. I cautiously poked his head with a hoof, afraid he was only faking his state of being unconscious.
Thankfully, he didn’t move in response to my prodding and I felt relieved to hear that he was still breathing. Avenging blood with only more blood... I can’t have us continue that cycle. Not... not without very, very, very, very good reasons.
Celestia gave me a blank look, watching me check his vitals. “Didn’t think I’d let him live?” she asked and I fidgeted awkwardly.
“Tia...” I said, even though my voice was barely loud enough to qualify as a whisper. I was uncertain whether or not it was even intelligible in the first place with how much it quivered with my emotions. “I...”
She sighed through her nostrils, muzzle hard as stone. “I can control myself, you know. Just because I sometimes let my temper get the better of me doesn’t mean I’ll start killing the ones threatening my family and nation,” she said, causing my ears to splay back. That last part sounded more like me at my worst. It was me that was that vengeful if the lives of my wives were threatened. I was the one that couldn't rein herself in when angry.
“I’m s-sorry, Tia...” I sobbed, crying ugly tears. “I-I’m so, so s-sorry f-for doubting y-you.”
“It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean what you said, Sunshine,” she told me, a tiny smile gracing her muzzle. It didn't quite reach her eyes, but there was no hate in them. Only understanding and disappointment. “It hurt so damn hard, but it’s not like I haven’t done worse to you...”
“But you never...” I argued and she gave me a glare, shutting me up immediately. I had no idea how she could still smile in a situation like this.
My wife snorted. “What? I’ve never insulted your family before? We both know I have done that plenty of times before,” she shot back in defiance. “Like your brother for example. How often have I bitched about his arrogance while you argued against me? How often have I told you to go fuck yourself with a cactus for defending him like that?”
“He isn’t that bad...” I weakly said, fidgeting with my wings.
“Dear, Tobias worked for Massive Dynamic. If that doesn’t already give away how soulless he is, then I don’t know what would,” she snorted and I wilted, painfully reminded that, yes, he had been working for that company. I’m sure he felt bad about it, though. He was just... easily tempted by the promise of power. And what else would give him more power than the respect he earns in his company for developing and selling the ‘future’ of weapons technology that could generously be called biological warfare? The government certainly seemed to think so. All so that they could get ready for some obscure, far-off war that was based purely on paranoia. That company was owned by none other than the devil in mortal form and had no morals, whatsoever.
Okay, maybe... maybe my brother had his flaws (like having divulged the secrets of his work to me and my wife while he was drunk, for example), but... Toby is still my big brother. Or was, once upon a time. He was just... deeply misunderstood. He even tried to be a parent, so he can't be all bad.
Okay, maybe Tobias wasn't the most caring person since he was married to his job, his son only an afterthought by the end of the day, but... he does care. A lot more than one might be led to believe at first glance. He was just... bad at showing it. Toby didn't trust people easily and saw them more as a nuisance than anything, judging them by their use rather than their personality, and he might seem a bit harsh here and there, but past all of that was a deeply scared person that only wanted to keep their loved ones safe.
Toby always protected me from harm. Despite his flaws, he always looked out for me. Even when it meant sacrificing parts of himself to keep me safe.
“Can... can we change the subject, please?” I whispered, not in the mood to continue with this argument. It was bad enough she was dragging my brother through the mud again (even if he might, maybe, perhaps, possibly deserve it for the things he did) and refused to listen to my apologies. Every time I tried to say something to convey how much I regretted what I had said to her, she stubbornly told me it was okay.
I could tell, though, that it wasn’t. I had hurt her like I never had before and I swore I would make it up to her. Somehow.
“Bring Luna home once you feel well enough to fly, please,” Celestia said, taking the limp body of Tirek into her magic. He almost looked frail like that, and in a sense, he was. Tirek wasn’t going to walk away from this fight with his freedom intact and honestly... I held no sympathy for him anymore. If I ever had any sympathy for him in the first place. Tartarus would be a kindness to him... “I’ll see you soon, sister.”
“Tia...” I whispered and she gave me a curious look as I awkwardly rubbed my forehooves against each other. I went in for a small kiss and looked away to the side once we broke it. “I’ll accept whatever punishment you deem fit for me for speaking out of turn, whether you give it to me or I make Luna give me one. I truly am sorry.”
“Summer, stop apologizing already, I’ve had enough of it,” she snapped. “Let’s forget it ever happened, okay?”
I watched her go and sighed sadly. “Something like that isn’t forgotten so easily, though...”
I was starting to get concerned for my twin and I agonized over the thought that she was bottling things like that up as if they would simply disappear if she never thought about them again. It wasn’t healthy and despite her wishes, I would follow through on my words until I felt I had repented enough.
Or maybe she was right and I should simply forget that I had compared her involuntarily to Tirek. I certainly didn’t mean it like that and I hoped she didn’t think I did. And I definitely didn’t fault her for what she had done to her human parents. Heck, if I had the opportunity, I probably would have done the same thing.
...okay, probably not exactly the same thing, but I would have still done something to bring them to justice.
Honestly? I would have most likely tortured them for doing that to my wife, even if she hadn’t been my wife at the time. No one hurts my wife and gets away with it. If there was one thing, one thing only, that I could never ever under any circumstances ever forgive, it was that.
At least Tirek was dealt with, that was something that would hopefully help us rest a bit more easily now.
Still... the question of the mysterious dark magic artifacts remained. Who was behind them and for what purpose were they ruining the lives of seemingly random ponies, regardless of their age, race, or gender? What did they hope to gain from such an action?
One thing kept nagging me at the back of my mind, though. Tirek didn’t seem like the type to abduct ponies, he would have been a lot more subtle in that case. If he wasn’t behind the abductions (like I had hoped he would be so we at least had a face to put the blame on), then who was really at fault? A mystery for another time...
Haah. One battle was won, how many more would we have to fight? A vacation does sound nice, but... there was much to be done before we could allow ourselves to truly relax.
Until then, I'd remain cautious. It is the only thing I could do, really.