"I know this doesn't make up for all the things that your squad had to endure, General Waller, but I hope that with this, things will start to improve again." Blueblood handed a check to a bulky earth pony with silver mane and tail with black fur. Despite his advanced age showing on his face, the general resembled a more wild Nordic horse from his original world based upon how huge he looked, his muscles easily rivaling Baked Bean and the collections of scars spread all over his body, one near his snout revealing a small part of his inner jaw, completed to give the pony in question a particularly intimidating air. The Generals countenance was not helped with how he kept glaring at the prince. His armor looked old and with scratches and dings showing how it had seen lots of hard use, and his cutie mark displayed a looming brick wall with a tower behind it.
Yanking the check from the prices hooves, Waller didn't make any effort to hide the hatred he held for the prince as Blueblood remained stone-faced at this display. "You have a lot of balls coming here. After all, you've made us go through brat." Waller accused before standing up from his desk. Garra and Daga stepped forward to take up positions on either side of the prince.
"When I was but a colt, the royal guard used to mean something in Equestria. Sure, we were rough around the edges at times, but we always got the job done. The citizens respected us. The princess could sleep peacefully at night, knowing we patrolled the streets, and any hooligan thinking he could beat the law was quickly reminded of how wrong they were. And then you came around." He blew out a hot breath over his face, "With your sardonic excuses and your whining on how we should be doing OUR job—taking away our resources and forcing us to make budget cuts. Do you have ANY idea of how many good soldiers I was forced to dismiss because we couldn't pay their salary? DO YOU?!"
"I'm sorry, but I can't fix what has already happened."
"Sure you're sorry, that is why you're doing this, right? He waves the check in front of the prince. "You think all the problems you caused can be magically fixed by throwing bits at them, don't you?!"
"You want me to take my money back?" The prince inquired while regarding Waller with a raised eyebrow. The general paused for only a moment before sitting down and filing the check away. "You make me sick. You want to make up for turning the royal guard into a laughing stock? Get the hell out of my office and never come back again!"
The prince nodded and gave the general a respectful bow before leaving with his group, though Waller wasn't done as he addresses the guards he came with.
"How do you look at yourself in the mirror? Do you have no shame in being that pompous bastards show pets?"
That made the twins stop in their tracks, alerting the prince as he looked at them in worry, yet the two remain looking forward.
"The royal guard makes a sworn oath to protect Equestria, its citizens, and its royal family," Garra replied calmly before they turned as one and eyed the general cooley. "There is no shame in ensuring the protection of the Prince General." Daga finished as they both turned forward once more and escorted the prince outside the room, leaving the barracks on the far east side of Canterlot.
"Well, that is a way to wrap things up," Blueblood sighed sarcastically as he looked down dejectedly.
By the end of the day, the prince was emotionally and physically drained from having to deal with the same reaction over and over again, listening to how his previous self had ruined so many lives, he only wanted to go home and rest for a while, but he knew his guilt would make it next to impossible for him to sleep peacefully. Sensing his distress, Mist suggested that the group take a small break and enjoy the food of a local cafe she knew well and that was close by. Not finding a reason to refuse, the prince agreed, and soon everyone took a seat and waited for their order.
"Alright, how in Tartarus am I going to solve this mess!" The prince exclaimed in exasperation as he leaned on the table with his hooves holding his head, "All those poor souls, no wonder I was so hated before. How can a single pony have this kind of tunnel vision?"
"Don't stress yourself too much. Sir" Mist tried to comfort him, bringing the coffee and donuts for the entire group. "These things take time, but for what it's worth, you are doing great so far. The money you gave those ponies in need will help them at the end of the day, I'm sure of it. Also, stopping all those insane shopping sprees and ridiculous demands will put at ease the minds of those you wronged."
"Yes, but it feels like a hollow victory. I mean, I'm happy I finally found a way to spend all that extra money I had on something more worthy and cross off my list of all of these issues I needed to fix. It's nice knowing that they will not have to break their backs anymore but, I feel like I'm just throwing bits at the problem instead of fixing it." He observed dejectedly as he picked a donut and took a bite.
"To be fair, what you mostly did back then was taking money from those that needed the most, so returning it and ceasing with a life of excess…." Clean Breeze pointed out, moving her frontal hooves up and down like a balance "…kind of balance it out. Sure there were hardships as a result, but as far as wrongdoings, you are pretty much in the clear now, sir."
"Ms. Breeze is right, your highness." Garra interjected, "It's good to feel empathy and to wish to make amends, but you can't let goodwill toward your neighbor become an obsession over little details, sir. Not everyone will like you. That is a fact of life. Accepting it and moving on is the healthy way to go."
"Thank you, ladies, for that…that helped, and I hear what you are saying, I do. I only wish that there could be something else I could do for them. Something to prevent this from repeating itself, and in the process make their life a little bit easier, that is all."
Daga chuckled and shook her head. "I completely agree, your highness, but let's be real here. It's not like you could arrange some charity event and use your position to start a donation boot for extra bits for the needed, right?" She asks sarcastically, intending it as a joke, yet the prince froze the second he heard that and slowly turned to look at his guard.
"Can you repeat that?"
"What? A donation boot for the needy?" Daga repeated with a raised eyebrow.
"That is it!"
"Sir, I was being sarcastic."
"I know, but…but you might be onto something," Blueblood exclaimed in excitement as he started to formulate a plan. "An external savings fund ready to help when improvements need extra bits! Daga, you are a genius!"
"What? No, sir, sir! I think you are missing the point here. I meant it as a joke. You've done enough. It's time to cross the issue off the list and move into the next one," Daga insisted, yet the prince was already making plans. "Sir, please stop. You don't need to do a charity event. Do you even know how to construct one?!"
"No, but I know how to bring investors to a cause and the ponies for the job. Thank you so much Daga, you just gave me the idea I needed."
"But sir…"
"I know it was just a joke, but good ideas sometimes happen like that. You don't need to worry about anything. This will start out humble. Think of it as an experiment to see how it holds up. Naturally, you are all invited. I will not dismiss or diminish your role in developing this idea. For now, let us head back to the castle after we are done here. There are letters I need to send and favors to ask." He proclaims in a better mood.
The group thought it over but ultimately decided to concede and nodded. "As you wish, your highness," Breeze stated, still unsure but willing to give that a try.
At that moment in Celestia chambers
"A sister, all this time, and neither of us knew we had an older sister all along!" Celestia kept pacing in shock while taking the occasional glance at Luna. All while Platinum did her best to calm the Solar Princess down.
"It was quite the shock for me too, Tia, such a horrible fate to befall our sibling. I pray her sanity has survived the test of time or that she has been asleep all these years." Luna looked down in worry at the thought of the terror that being conscious during this ordeal would bring.
Stopping in place, Celestia turned to look at her aunt for answers. "Is there no way we could use the elements to free her auntie? I mean, their magic is well known to do impossible feats, like facing down chaos itself."
"I'm afraid this is beyond even the elements, dear. Your sister is a prisoner by the laws of fate itself. She exists outside existence itself. Neither chaos nor harmony can go against that. As illogical or impossible as that might sound, that is why not even Discord is aware of her existence," Platinum confessed. "I'm afraid the only thing to do is keep chipping away at this curse by remembering. The more pieces you gather, the closer your sister is to being free."
"And exactly what did you see, Tia? Was I there?" Luna wondered with a raised eyebrow making Celestia sigh and look out through her balcony and into the blue sky. "You were, but I highly doubt you were able to retain any memories. You were just a newborn back then." Celestia informed, recalling her memory while rubbing her head from the pain. "Even my memory is foggy. I saw shapes of alicorns. Our sister was carrying you. We were in front of two older alicorns. One of them hugged us I…I think they were our parents." Her eyes suddenly widened in realization. "It coming back. I think I remember now…."
All of a sudden, everything in the room faded away. Celestia found herself as a little filly, no older than five, maybe even four, wrapped in the right-wing of her older sister. At the same time, the alicorn in question held a newborn Luna with one of her hooves, as baby Luna was comfortable sleeping while sucking her right hoof. Looking ahead of her, Celestia could see the silhouettes of two older alicorns, royals by the regalia. They were wearing, cluing her that they were a king and queen.
"…Take care of your sisters Terra…." The stallion suddenly spoke up.
"I will dad. I promise I will make sure to teach them about us, about what our kingdom was once." The alicorn next to Celestia informed the elder pair with conviction as the queen teared up and brought the fillies into a hug "…my little fillies, my dear treasures, never forget your parents love you…."
"M…Mom?!" Celestia exclaimed in alarm before returning to the room and hyperventilating as Platinum did her best to calm her down
"Sister, what happened? You zoned out for a second there." Luna inquired as Celestia recovered her breath "T...Terra"
"What?"
"I remember more clearly now. Our sister's name was Terra, Terra the mare of the land, we were the fillies of a king and queen alicorn, but they sent us away. Terra was supposed to teach us about them. They…they were saying goodbye." Celestia looked back at Platinum. "Our home before any of this happened. Something happened to our birth home, right?"
For her part, Platinum only sighed in resignation and looked down, nodding once more. " A horrible attack that left you as the last survivors of your race, and if not for the ruler's last act of defiance against their enemy, most likely Equestria would have followed suit."
"Alicorn race? You mean to tell us that there was a time when an entire kingdom…."
"…composed of alicorns lived in a society no different than another tribe of ponies?" Luna started, but Platinum finished her question before she had the time. "Yes, that is exactly what happened. Yet unlike you, they didn't have that godlike power you and your sister inherited when we took you in."
"What do you mean?" Celestia pressed on, intrigued for what she had to say, yet her aunt shook her head and raised her hoof.
"A story for another time. At the moment, you need to keep the focus on what is important." Platinum then turned to Luna. "And you also had something you wanted to tell us, right Luna?"
"Indeed, but unlike what I just heard, this isn't something groundbreaking. I merely confirmed the suspicions I had after reading Cadence's letter. I discovered where and how they used the murder weapon, and I had been issuing instructions to our guards to find out more about it. A suit of armor acting as decoration was the implement all along. The killer must have hidden the sleeping dust inside the helmet and then, at the right hour, shot an ice arrow containing the leech tear, turning the suit into an improvised fog machine. It's as Shining Armor predicted. This was a precise and well-thought-out plan. Whoever did it knew even when the changing of the guards would occur and placed themselves in a brief blind spot. By the trajectory of the shoot and due to how Bluebloods room is facing directly at the cliff in Canterlot, it means only one thing, the killer needed to be airborne the moment they struck."
"Cloud walking spells would have left them stuck on a cloud and easy to spot, the wing spell consumes a lot of energy, and combining it with cloud walking would have left them exhausted and at borderline risk of mana burn. A levitation spell would have exposed them for how bright they would become especially against the night sky, not to mention they would have left residual magic. So only a pegasus or a species capable of flight naturally would have been able to do it without arousing suspicion." Celestia deduced
"And by knowing so much the layout of the castle, that discards the last one," Platinum added.
"So a royal guard pegasus," Celestia sighed and shook her head in disappointment, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Our memories, Bluebloods case, his upcoming meetings, and Tempo and Shooter's schemes. I don't even know where or how to begin with all of these problems," She listed off in exhaustion, thinking on how many things were falling onto her plate all at once.
"By sharing them with me, sister," Luna replied, putting her right hoof on Celestia's shoulder, "We can divide the workload between the two of us like we always have done and discuss what should take priority to solve."
"I couldn't have said it better myself. Luna" Platinum nodded with pride at her nieces. "Let me put you at ease with one. These added memories are beyond your control. The only thing you can do is wait for them to appear in their own time and piece together each fragment that comes back."
"Exactly, and we promised our nephew that we will respect his wishes and let him resolve his upcoming obligations all by his lonesome. I arranged for a practice meeting to allay our fears, Tia. Don't worry." Luna stopped her sister before she could complain about the prospect. "That leaves us with the attempted regicide and his former allies' schemes. So I propose we split the chores. Let me deal with the murder case, sister. I already have an idea of how to continue with that. Besides, you're worried about putting a stop to whatever Tempo is plotting."
Celestia thought it over before nodding. "Ok, Luna, let's do that. We will keep an eye on the other issues but maintain our focus on what needs our attention immediately."
"And if any of you require any additional help," Platinum caught their attention once more. "Know that your auntie is always here for you."
"Thanks, auntie," The sisters replied simultaneously.
"Well, I better rest a while before my shift starts again. See you at dinner, Tia."
"Rest well, Lulu." Their sisters said their goodbyes, and Luna left to rest, tired from being up this late. When Platinum's time to follow suit, though, she stopped at the door frame and looked to Celestia once more.
"Celly, before I leave, I should mention that Ms. Tempo's plan had a solid foundation." She began, catching Celestia off guard. "I know what you are going to say, and I agree. These past couple of days, I have felt like there is something…off about that mare with her sudden mood swings and all, but I spoke with her, and it turns out she seems legitimately concerned for her godchild's well-being. Something I could relate to. I agree that there is something else going on there, but maybe we could consider her proposal?"
"You want me to agree in making the wonderbolts a military force?" Celestia clarified, barely containing the outrage she was feeling.
"No, of course not. I'm just saying that maybe giving them some defensive training and just a bit of military strategy. Just in case their services are needed. That is all."
By all the stars, she is starting to sound like Spitfire
"Think about it, and don't reject it out of hoof simply because it came from that mare. You two have a bad history. Would you do that for me, sunshine?"
With a practiced smile, Celestia nodded. "I will mull over the idea, auntie. You are right. Maybe there could be something to rescue out of her proposal."
"That is all I want, that and for you to listen with an open mind when you hear her idea."
"Will do, auntie" Platinum nodded in satisfaction and left the room, allowing Celestia to let go of the breath she didn't know was holding once the door was closed.
What is going on? My aunt too? How could she convince her? She saw the birth of that team, for pony's sake! Her gaze hardened as she looks straight out the balcony once more. Crossfire Tempo. I might not know what is going on or how you managed to sway Spitfire and my aunt to this idea of yours. But I promise I will find out precisely what your whole scheme is and put an end to it before it even starts.
That Evening At Jet Set and Upper Crust's house
"Good job, everypony, that was magnificent. I quite literally shed tears in our last session." Scarlet praised the group as she finished writing down the scene before putting the book away ending their session. "I must say, I don't believe there is anything else to teach you, Jet and Crust. You have come such a long way! I will be more than happy to speak with your guardian first thing in the morning and recommend your releases as soon as possible!" She told them with a big smile, "Until then, ta-ta!"
Taking a bottle of water, Jet took a gulp when he felt a paw poking at his shoulder and when he looked to his left, he saw Velvet standing next to him with a smile. "You have come a long way, Jet. Scarly is right, by the way. That last scene in the lost temple felt authentic. You truly felt like a brave explorer ready to defend your crew from a hungry dragon."
"Thanks" They then heard a huff not too far from them and looking to their right, they saw Uru taking her own bottle of water. "Too bad the director stopped it there. I would have liked to see how much of that bravery lasted."
"Name the place and time, Uri," Jet replied with a smirk catching the dragon's attention as she smiled back. "The colt has grown a pair, careful with what you propose, Jet. I just might take you on." She half-joked, half-warned, as they both shared a chuckle until Velvet caught their attention once more by clearing her throat and Jet, notices a faint blush on her face. "Yeah anyway, for how things are going, it's clear that you will be released real soon, so I was wondering if you like…" She starts to play with her bottle of water "…I don't know, maybe you and Crust would like to grab a cup of coffee or something?" She says with a small degree of embarrassment catching the two by surprise and then slight anger from part of Uru. "Hey there, kitty cat, don't go ahead of yourself. If anyone is asking them out, it's me!" She growled out in anger as their discussion continued, with Jet trying to calm the two women.
Not too far away, Scarlet stood by, and subtlety took notes with a smile and a sense of accomplishment. Turning to her right, she could see how Upper Crust was having a similar conversation with Feral and Roxy, although theirs seemed calmer.
Oh, how I love it when a plan comes together. No evil-doer can escape the power of love, don't fight it, my friends. Just let it help you see the error of your ways and awaken the desire to improve and change your habits. I told you I will help you find members for your new herd and let no pony ever say that I don't keep my promises.
Turning to leave, she allows the group to have their privacy as she walked back home but not before stopping to look at the castle. Just wait a little longer. My prince, love will soon be in the air. She smirked malevolently, licking her lips as she continued walking, as her shadow starts to cackle silently. Independent of her movements.