I blinked my eyes open rapidly, keeping my breathing as calm as I could even as my mind struggled to free itself from the completely blank state of incomprehension I found myself in. Fear was starting to drown out most of my senses. My legs felt numb and my tongue had the taste of ash on it that could only have come from a misfired teleportation spell. My thoughts were... a bit sluggish and jumbled as I slowly but surely began to grasp the impossibly wrong situation I had ended up in. I could just barely remember what happened moments before I had lost consciousness.
Instead of teleporting back to me from the other side of the training room, being careful and absolutely focused on the task like I had explicitly instructed my daughter (about ten times, really)... Cadance had ripped open a tear in the universe. I wanted to say that it should have been impossible, but sadly, I knew better than that.
Under any other set of circumstances, I would have been very proud of such an extraordinary feat, surprising as it was... but right now? I'd rather turn back time than deal with the inevitable fallout this would bring with itself.
If only I wasn’t feeling so numb and exposed and weak and, a-and... I mentally told myself to calm down, fighting back the oncoming panic attack at being essentially trapped in my own body for the time being.
Even worse than that, though? I was unable to feel my connection to the Red Sun. And on top of that, my body felt wrong. Familiar, sure, but... different. Altered. Like something was missing from my body. It was difficult to say, but my spine was... changed... in a weird way, too. A little thought in the back of my mind insisted that I had felt like this before, once upon a time.
There could only be one answer to that, couldn’t there? It was obvious, really. I had been turned into a human again, a feeling of resignation washing over me. At least I was turned into a human and not into some sort of tentacle monster because if that had been the case, I definitely wouldn’t have been happy about this. I could live with being human, as much as I missed the comfort of my own wings.
I wish humans had wings. I certainly could use the reassuring presence of fluffy feathers to hug myself with.
Sudden (and most certainly forced) transformations never meant anything good. Because that meant I wasn’t on Equis anymore and that meant danger. Or somepony foalnapped us mid-teleportation from a tear in the universe, but that was a ridiculous thought in and of itself, wasn’t it? Nopony but Discord possessed that kind of power.
Damnit, Cadance. Where in Tartarus am I? This is your fault, petal.
Groaning, I sluggishly rolled onto my side with a significant amount of effort before I immediately felt the distinct shape of my weapon dig into my side.
Ugh. This was the worst case of pins and needles I have ever had the displeasure of feeling in over five hundred years. Probably even longer, to be honest. Sue me, I couldn't be bothered to remember correctly, who gives a flying penguin? I don't.
Anyway, moving my foreleg... I mean forearm (this is going to take some time to get used to, isn’t it?), I almost slapped my own face because of the way my body refused to obey my commands.
I felt like whimpering pathetically as I started to lose the fight against my panicked feelings. I never once got over this damnable fear in over a whole millennium and I doubt I ever would. All kinds of scenarios were running rampant through my thoughts at what could happen while I was incapacitated like this.
The crunching of boots on snow alerted me to the approach of either a friend or a foe and I desperately hoped I wasn’t about to be taken advantage of in my vulnerable state. My heart began to beat frantically within my chest in complete and utter terror. Please, please, please, don't let it be a murdery old hermit with a rusty ax!
Scared, I slowly opened my eyes as the crunch of the snow stopped next to me. Thankfully, a smallish (and very much familiar) girl with black hair and subtle red accents came into my sight and I blinked owlishly back at her as her silver eyes stared at me sheepishly, calming down my heart considerably. At least I wasn’t alone here... wherever here actually was. For all I know, this could be a world devoid of sentient life.
“Mom? I think that spell went wrong,” my daughter said, rubbing the side of her arm uncomfortably. “And we... kinda look like our old selves? Only... slightly different.”
“Uhn ah kuhl yu, Rowf,” I mumbled incoherently and cursed my numb mouth for its inability to threaten my daughter properly.
“Sorry!” she giggled nervously, clearly feeling the white-hot fury I directed her way. “I didn’t mean to do it, honest! My mind wandered to this cute colt at school and then you just had to tempt me with those cookies and I... uh... it just happened. It’s your own fault, really. Besides, Mother never promises me cookies at the end of... her... lessons... so... uh... yep. It's definitely all your fault, Mom. That's it. I was in no way thinking of asking a stallion out on a date. Totally."
“I’mma kuhl... kill you, pehal,” I growled, flopping around uselessly in the snow while glaring at her with as much disdain as I could muster. I despised being unable to move and she should know that. While this wasn’t the absolute worst situation, it wasn’t optimal, either. At least I was able to move a little bit, even if my ability to do so was severely impaired by the numbness.
Her hands fidgeted with the red cloak she was wearing and I let out a huff, causing her to bite her lip while thinking of a better apology. I mean... she wasn’t wrong but... I’m rightfully mad at her. First, I expressly forbade her from wasting her time swooning after a colt in high school, and second, the promise of cookies is never an excuse to slack off. Never. Not in my castle, at least. “Tabby would know what to do..." she said, biting her lip while wringing her hands. "At least, it seems like you’re slowly getting back control of your body, so that’s good? I think if you hadn’t shielded me from the feedback of the spell, I would be lying around numbly where I woke up, instead. We will just have to... wait, I guess?”
“Ef Lufha hew whih uf?” I mumbled, feeling frustrated at botching up my speech again so much. Most of that was the fault of the paralysis, but having a different tongue played perhaps just as much a part in that. I have no idea how humans speak with no muzzles.
Cadance shook her head and I let out a pitiful groan in despair. Well, at least Luna knows what happened to us, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for her to find us by examining the spell residue. Hopefully...
I’m never again promising my daughter cookies for a lesson well done, damnit. Stupid, horny teenage daughter. I'll find that colt and teach him a lesson to not seduce my poor Rose Petal...
“Mom?” Cadance whispered, sounding slightly afraid. Whether that was because of what she wanted to ask or how she thought I would react, I didn’t know and I simply hummed back questioningly. “Do you think we will get home? My magic feels... weird. I don’t think it is gone, though. Whatever I’m feeling, it doesn’t feel like how my magic usually feels.”
I let out a thoughtful hum and felt for my own magic only to cry out in pain as my vision went white. Cadance tried to calm my delirious self down while I writhed around in agony as I felt like my eyes had just incinerated themselves.
Not only did I feel like clawing my eyes out, but the curious poke at the odd magic brought all kinds of bad memories to the forefront of my mind. It felt like whatever it was that caused my eyes to do what they just did, it seemingly used those types of memories as fuel. The more traumatic the memory was, the more fuel was added to the metaphorical fire. And I had a lot of bad memories it could use.
Having lived as long as I have, most of those were of loss. So. Much. Loss. I’m fortunate to have my wives there with me or I would have already been driven mad ages ago. It was never easy, though, seeing ponies disappear so very often from our lives, and... we could do nothing against it.
There were quite a few ponies that I wish were still around. Most of all, Clover, Pansy, and Cookie. Starswirl. Night Fang. Mom and Dad...
I was thrown out of my sorrowful thoughts right after my eyes played havoc on my body, a distant howl echoing out in the distance. It managed to make the hair on the back of my neck stand up straight and I got a sense of foreboding that felt... dark and sinister. Evil.
“Oh, fluffy bunnies...” Cadance stammered and I heard her draw her blade shakily. “N-now would be a great time to get your shit together, Mom!”
I wanted to scold her for swearing out loud, but the panic in her voice made it hard for me to stay mad at her. Instead, I found myself forgiving her little slip-up and focused on what was really important. This would be the first time my little petal would see actual combat and I wasn’t about to berate her for her language. I wasn’t even going to let her do the fighting if I had a say in it. Wild animals fight much more differently than ponies do (or humans, in this case).
And judging by the fact that I was unable to understand what the howl meant, I could only guess what type of animal we would be facing off against. It was rare indeed for me to be unable to understand wildlife and it was always a bad sign. A very bad sign, indeed.
Understanding what animals were saying is like... an instinct, I suppose. If you had the gift for it, you just knew what they meant by the various sounds they made. A grumble could be a stoic reassurance but also a ferocious warning. It all depended on the infliction of the voice, how deep or light it reverberated through the air. The voice isn’t necessarily the only thing that mattered in understanding an animal, though. The animal's body language could also play a huge part in it.
Most of the time, understanding the wildlife around you was very much instinctual, but I also learned what to look out for over the many years I have lived in an effort to understand my gift more. Much of what I had learned would be confusing to teach to other ponies and only those with this gift would actually get what I mean when I talked about the things I had learned.
After all, even a small twitch of a feather could be part of the language of a bird, but only if it was combined with other tells of it wanting to communicate with you. Not every twitch automatically meant it was throwing insults at you (some birds really do have the bad habit of using the wrong type of language).
Philomena had the art of insulting somepony down to a tee and that was the main reason for the majority of our fights. The prettier the bird, the worse the language gets...
Yu’la’s melodic humming and chirps were much more dignified in that regard. My darling would never stoop so low as to use... that type of language. And I’m immensely glad for that. I don’t want to imagine what Yu’lon would have thought of me if Yu’la had started to adopt that kind of language from Philomena. Her being disappointed in me would have been the least I could have looked forward to.
The thing about howls, though, was that they never come alone.
Wolves weren’t the lone animals wandering through forests as you would expect them to be. A lone wolf is only on their own for so long until they find a new pack, after all. Wolves are social animals and that sadly meant that the howl we heard was but the prelude of something I would have rather avoided altogether with our current situation on our hooves... hands, damnit.
The distant howl had attracted similar ones of its kind, as I had feared would happen. Soon enough, the sound of stampeding predators closing in on our location could be heard, crunching the snow noisily in pursuit of their new prey. Whether I was ready for it or not, I would have to force my body to move despite the numbness.
My vision was still extremely blurry from my foolish attempt at using my magic to find out in which way it was different (and that wasn’t even mentioning the pitiful control I had of my limbs), but I pushed my body’s severely limited abilities past its comfort zone so that I was able to move despite it fighting back against me every step of the way. Cadance needed me, I would not fail her. Not my petal.
It says a lot about the skill level of a pony... human, I mean, ugh... when they could still fight when their body was at anything but peak condition. I have lived centuries, lived through a few minor wars here and there in order to defend our friends and allies, had my fair share of movement-impairing conditions through various (sometimes stupid) reasons, and had quite possibly come close one too many times to the dreaded alicorn-hibernation. It was no wonder that despite my current handicap (further added to by finding myself in a human body instead of having my familiar pony body), the abominations that dared threaten us were quickly cut into tiny little chunks.
I was a whirlwind, dancing around with my blade in a deadly storm of motherly fury, protecting my child from ever coming close to harm. It was exhausting to force my body to work through the sluggishness, but thankfully, it wasn’t too numb that I couldn’t move at all. Each and every move was precise and used the least amount of effort on my part to reach the maximum amount of efficiency in my quest to eradicate the threat that dared to stand against me. Some type of... innate ability was even helping me with moving around. My very soul was my aid and these monsters stood no chance against it.
What a long way I have come, haven’t I? I vaguely remembered the pessimistic outlook I had on the nature of the soul from when this crazy new life started. To think that I had believed a pony’s existence was merely their brain. Existence was so much more than the worldly coil that tethered one to the physical realm, the Realm of Ascension was very much proof of that.
One does not simply exist only on the physical plane of existence. No, that much I have learned by now and it made life so much more fascinating to me. It was like... a pony existed on multiple planes of existence at the same time, occupying the same space in each one of them, but at the same time... not really. Physical existence was only one facet of your being, the soul that existed in... I suppose I would call it the astral plane, for lack of a better word. It exists in direct correlation to where your physical self exists on the physical plane, ensuring that no soul exists in the same place at the same time. Normally, that is. There was one pony that was intent on destroying the sanctity of that link between the two planes of existence.
Platinum was the prime example of how one should not mess with the link between the physical plane and the astral plane. She defiled everything she touched and it irked me to no small degree.
Magic, too, existed much like physical things and astral things. The difference is that arcane energy suffuses all planes, and thus, doesn’t have a realm of its own. I could be wrong about that and I’m positively sure there are a lot more planes of existence besides those few that I know of. Life is infinitely more complex than what one can observe on the physical plane and that isn’t even taking the multiverse into account on top of that.
An infinite amount of universes, each one being different from each other in some way. What had once only been a theory to my sisters and me was now very much our reality. Exploring the entirety of the multiverse is practically impossible and the chances of us actually finding the version of Earth we had come from? It was abysmally small. Hope and her siblings had plucked us from one version of Earth out of an infinite amount of realities containing the planet and we sadly didn’t have the spell that they used to bring us here so we could actually hope to find it. Searching for our version of Earth would be like searching for a specific dust speck in a pile of infinite dust specks. Utterly impossible without an anchor. And even then, you have an infinite amount to go through and you could never be sure you found the one you were looking for.
Well, that is the beauty and insanity of infinite worlds, isn't it? You always find something new, and thanks to Starswirl's invention of an anchor, you can always find your way back home.
Dimensional anchors are a magnificent thing, aren’t they? If you don’t have an anchor to lead you back home, you might as well be stuck. No, not stuck, lost. Without the mirror acting as an anchor, I’m sure Starswirl wouldn’t even have considered going through with our crazy idea to create portals to other worlds. Seeing that our dimensional anchor was pretty much of a magical nature... Cadance and I couldn’t just snap our fingers without a proper understanding of how magic works in this reality. Azeroth and Equestria are quite different from this reality, it seems. On Azeroth, we could still access our magic in the ways we could on Equestria, even though Azeroth has a few differences from our own magic.
Equestrian magic came from within and the environment, from the bonds we share with others, and from our hopes and dreams. From Harmony itself, even the darker aspects of it. Azeroth’s magic wasn’t... entirely different. As far as I understood it, Azeroth’s magic came from the planet’s ley lines and was, much like Equestrian magic, influenced by strong enough emotions.
Our magic differed from that of Azeroth’s in the way that it was everywhere and came from everywhere, whereas Azeroth’s magic mainly stemmed from powerful wells and the ley lines cursing through the planet, something that our world simply didn’t have. The Equestria of the alternative Celestia, on the other... ahem, hand... was much closer to Azeroth in that regard. That's as much as I understood from what my best friend and honorary sister told me.
Magic, it seemed to me, worked in completely ridiculous ways depending on where you are. It never made sense, even though it was basically the same fundamental force everywhere. It acted on mere whims and was always different between realities, if only in the teeniest tiniest ways. One could never be certain of the true source of magic in any given reality and I doubt even Starswirl could have ever solved that mystery with the time my wives and I had available to us.
Wherever Cadance and I currently were, magic came from an unusual source. The magic in this world worked far more differently than in our Equestria or that of Celestia’s world and it is clearly closer connected to the astral plane here. If only I knew in which way...
Hmm. It almost felt like this dimension was closer to Earth than it was to Equestria...
Whatever magic I still possessed in this realm that Cadance and I found ourselves in, it was mainly linked to our souls. Heck, there was even more to it than that and I was driving myself crazy trying to figure out what it was. That innate ability that helped me move around the battlefield was... something tied to the soul but not magic. It let me move around in a way that was not unlike teleportation, so that was at least something beneficial. I don’t think this innate ability that stemmed from the soul was harmful to use.
That it left little rose petals behind told me that much. Nothing that is harmful to you could be so... beautiful...
Okay, sure, there are lots of things that are too beautiful for your own good, but this wasn’t one of them. Probably. Maybe. I hope..?
Well, so far it hasn’t actually hurt me. It can’t be that bad, right? Besides, it comes from the soul and if it was harmful, I would have noticed. Ugh, I’m worrying over this way too much again, aren’t I?
Whatever this is, it isn’t magic. It is... heck, I have no idea. Not knowing what it was made me growl internally with frustration. The only thing I was certain of was that it wasn’t harmful (I think) and that it had something to do with the soul. On top of that, there was that subtle thing within my eyes that I had somehow tapped into and unleashed without meaning to.
That eye thing felt like magic, though. Pure, unfiltered, and devastating magic. I didn’t exactly know what type of ocular magic this was, although I could tell that it felt positively ancient. Primal, even. And judging by how the brief use of it managed to attract so many of these black, inky wolves with their ominously glowing red eyes, they feared it so much they felt the need to immediately throw themselves at the source in the hopes of snuffing out the threat to their existence.
Just what effect would this magic (if it was indeed magic and not some weird obscure thing that I was confusing for magic) have on these creatures? If they reacted so aggressively just from it being used in their vicinity, then it must be powerful, right? I never heard of creatures that would willingly throw themselves at something on the off chance that they might be able to kill it before it manages to kill them.
Those monsters... what are they? The sheer malice that radiates off of their bodies couldn’t be natural. It was almost like they were... pure beings of darkness. I imagine the Devourer of Life and Death must have felt similar (if not a whole lot worse, judging by how Platinum felt). Could it be that they are somehow related to each other? The implications of that are staggering if that were to be the case...
There were a few of these wolves that had bony white protrusions from their bodies that seemed to act as some sort of armor or even weapon, more or less. Not that it kept them safe from my sword going through it like butter. Those bone plates weren’t even always in the best places to offer protection against natural enemies and so on, it looked more like a mark of age thing than anything else.
Where in Tartarus were we? I had little hope of actually finding any sort of civilization if these monsters could just throw themselves at us in numbers that couldn’t have possibly been reasonable. Did these things have no natural enemies and could just breed like horny rabbits all day long? If so, then I pitied every other species on this suns forsaken planet.
Once I was done slaughtering the mass of monsters, something peculiar happened that I had no explanation for whatsoever. As I slumped down to the ground, breathing heavily from exertion and feeling the pleasant burn of awakening muscles, the leftover pieces of these weird animals started to simply... dissipate in the wind. Dissolving into little particles of inky black ash that vanished mere moments later, not even leaving behind any kind of dusty residue as if they had never existed in the first place.
“Are you okay, Mom?” Cadance asked and I gave her a tired smile. Without my sun here to give me a boost (something I think I might have become dependent on to function normally), I would be finding myself more easily out of breath. Something to keep in mind, for however long we are trapped in this reality.
“We should find shelter,” I said, forcing myself back on my feet with a wobbly balance (partly due to the lingering numbness and the change from quadruped to biped). “At least we have some clothes (as much as I hate them) to keep us from freezing to death, but staying out here... especially with those things running around... who knows how long these bodies can last in the cold. I don’t feel my sun, so I don’t think my fiery aura will keep me safe from turning into a popsicle indefinitely.”
“In which direction should we go then? North?” Cadance asked, helping me move around by providing herself as my walking aid. “I think I heard water in that direction, but I could have mistaken it for the wind.”
“Maybe we will get lucky and find a river, then,” I sighed, rubbing at my burning eyes. “It shouldn’t be too hard to find something resembling civilization if we follow that. If there is any kind of civilization on this suns’ forsaken planet, that is.”
“I’m glad you’re here with me, at least,” Cadance mumbled, leaning into my side a bit more for comfort and warmth. “I don’t know what I would have done here if I were completely alone, Mom.”
“You would have figured something out, petal,” I smiled. “As you always do. Both you and your sister have some of the most ingenious ideas I have ever had the pleasure to witness. And that is saying a lot, coming from my old age.”
“Thanks,” Cadance smiled back, lighting up with a flustered rosy tint.
“I must say, I do like seeing you like this again. I never expected to see the old you in the flesh like that after never having found Earth,” I said, gently rubbing her side with my arm. “I’d like to see what I look like myself, but without a reflective surface, I’ll have to content myself with a description of ‘like our old selves but not exactly’.”
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” my daughter pouted. “You do look like your old self, just... as a female instead. You aren’t as tall as I remember, but I think it suits you just as well. Your hair is obviously longer, transitioning to a faint red at the tip that doesn’t look like it is dyed. It looks almost like how you had dyed it in your previous life, having that subtle hint of color, I suppose. It’s pretty much exactly how we had dyed our hair back then, only... more natural, I guess. Aside from that, there are your eyes, as well. They are a lot more silverish in color than the dark gray they had been. I don’t know what you did that made them glow like that, but they shined like friggin’ searchlights.”
“I’ll take your word for it, then,” I said with a giggle. Despite my blurry vision, I could make out her eye color quite well. “You also have more silver-ish eyes, my little petal.”
“I do?” she asked, astonished. “Can I do that thing you did, too?”
“You’d better not,” I warned her with a tiny glare directed her way from underneath my hood. “Dealing with these wolves took a lot more out of me than I care to admit. Dealing with another few hundred isn’t something I want to entertain right now. Much less so without having had time to regain some of my strength from having to shield you from the feedback of that ‘teleportation’ spell of yours. I kinda need you to be my eyes for a while until I can see clearly again, so no turning on the flashlights, okay?”
Cadance groaned in that suffering way that made me want to scold her again. “Sorry, it was just a thought,” she shot back. “Sheesh, you always take things way more seriously now than what I remember from Earth.”
“Well, that me might have been a completely different pony... uh, person, by all rights. Ponies change a lot over the years, petal,” I told her, letting go of her as I finally felt comfortable enough to move around on my own without having to fear falling flat on my face in the snow. “Now come on, I think I see the treeline up ahead.”
Cadance nodded, following after me while playing with the hem of her skirt awkwardly. To be honest, I think I would have done the same with mine if it weren’t for my need to appear strong for my daughter. I didn’t want her to worry overly much, that job was usually my own, and our current situation demanded nothing less of me than to give her all the confidence she could use (apart from the friendly teasing, that is).
Traveling through dimensions has always sort of been a hobby of mine, so I decided to treat this unwanted vacation as just that. Just another adventure to get through before finding our way back home. I’m sure it won’t take us too long to get back to Equestria with Luna working from her end to connect a mirror portal to this world.
At most, we would be stuck here for a few years... not that I think my wife will take that long to trace our location. The minimum time she would need to rewrite the access spell to this world would be a few months, and if we were a bit unlucky, Lulu might finish it in a year or so. That’s assuming time moves at the same rate between this dimension and back home.
I have enough experience in traveling the multiverse to say that could be a very likely possibility. Time is always that variable that isn’t the most 'constant' between realities, sadly. And there would be no telling if that is actually the case because once you find yourself in a different reality from your own, telling the difference would only be possible once you compare how much time has passed in your original reality. You basically become a part of the time flow of that reality as long as you stay there without going back.
Cadance hummed along as I explained this to her, but I could tell she was only half-listening to what I was telling her, probably bored out of her mind by all the theories I quoted at her. I didn’t take offense to that, I could be just as bored with it if I wasn’t interested in it, to begin with. I could have explained it in laypony’s terms and she would still have been bored out of her mind. She wasn’t a scientist like her sister or Tia had been.
Not that I was that much of a scientist, either. I dabble here and there, but I mostly stick to what I know I’m good at. Despite most of my misgivings about politics, I have to say I never thought I would excel at it so much. If I went back in time to tell my younger self that I would become a benevolent dictator that was loved by her subjects, my old self would nod dumbly along and secretly doubt the truth of that. And then call the psych ward depending on whether or not I came across my human past self (not that they would believe me that I was them and not their long-lost twin sister).
Heck, it was my plan to become a benevolent dictator since I became a princess, so I don’t think my past (pony) self would have questioned Future-Me that much. Ponies were like little sheep that needed to be guided and I was happy to play the shepherd for them. Sometimes they just... needed to be forced in the right direction to reach their happiness and it was my duty to ensure they stayed happy and healthy.
The alternative to that was eternal winter, so I don’t think anypony would be that mad about me forcing them to their happiness. Sure, there was one pony that would raise a fuss, but that pony was currently on the moon for possessing my wife. She had lost any right to have a say in the matter and I’m pretty sure that each and every pony in Equestria would demand for her head as soon as we somehow managed to separate her from Tia. And for once? I would be the first in line, eagerly waiting to take my revenge on her.
Nopony takes my wife and gets away with it. I don’t care if I fall back into that cycle of hatred, she fucking deserves a fate much worse than what I could possibly imagine. Platinum forfeited her right to live as soon as she dared to lay her dirty hooves on my wife and I would make sure she couldn’t do anything to my subjects, either. I’m their guardian and I would take that responsibility seriously. A responsibility I should have realized the significance of as soon as we met that cockroach in pony's clothing.
I should have let Luna freeze her solid and shatter her to pieces. But even that was too kind a fate for the likes of Platinum.
It was the biggest mistake I've ever made, letting Platinum get away with foalnapping our mother and offering her too many chances to better herself. To be the better mare and offer that wretched being forgiveness for causing our mother’s death. Even in the unlikely event that she genuinely had no idea what her actions had caused, I should have held her accountable for it and done something to make her pay for her crimes.
But... that didn’t mean I was going to forsake my ideals again because of that monster. It would be the last time I would let myself lust for vengeance. After that... I would absolutely never ever follow that path again. I was better than that.
Okay, maybe... maybe... if I encounter another pony as remorseless and irredeemable as Platinum would I resort to this again, but I seriously doubt that is going to happen.
In all of my years alive, I only encountered two beings that were that lustful for power and one of them sits in a cell within Tartarus while the other will get annihilated as soon as she returns from the moon.
I needed to put the well-being of my subjects first. I have to put aside my own wants and needs for the greater good of the world. If I let Platinum run rampant, my subjects would pay the price. A price that would be too steep to pay. A price that would demand hundreds of thousands, no... millions of innocent lives if I do nothing to prevent it. And not just my ponies, at that. All of the races on Equis will suffer. The hippogriffs, griffons, yaks, minotaurs, abyssinians, deer... heck, even the breezies, and they live in a quasi-pocket dimension, so they would be cut off from making their supply runs if they want to stay out of Bitchface Supreme's sight.
I like to think that a princess is nothing but a servant to the needs of their subjects. Whether or not Cadance will adopt the same worldview was up to her and I think I know her well enough to say she will be nothing less to her own subjects. I’m sure the crystal ponies will love her, she is practically the spitting image of Princess Amore. If I didn’t know better, I would even assume Cadance was Amore reborn. While that would be a far stretch, the possibility was there.
I suppose there were worse things than for your daughter to be the distant rebirthed version of one of your best friends...
Anyway, our trek through the forest came to a halt as we breached the treeline and were confronted with a wide cliff and a vast ocean. “Great," I muttered, dragging a hand through my face. "Cadance, whenever you suggest a direction, I’ll go the opposite way from now on.”
“How could I have known this would lead us to the ocean?!” Cadance pouted and I smiled back at her in that teasing manner that told her I was merely joking with her. “So, what now?”
“We go the opposite direction?” I shot back cheekily and earned myself a slap to the shoulder. “Okay, okay! No need to get grumpy, dear. Let’s see what that is, then. It looks like some sort of memorial.”
I pointed towards the slab of stone at the edge of the cliff and Cadance shrugged, seeing no point to not investigate. It was a sign of civilization, at least. And where there was a sign, there was an actual civilization not too far behind. There’s probably a town somewhere around here, wherever 'here' actually is.
“Uh, Mom?” Cadance whispered in shock and I numbly looked down on the tombstone. My vision was less blurry now, but I wasn't sure if I was seeing things correctly. “I think you missed your funeral.”
I snorted with no actual amusement. “Hardy-har-har, petal,” I said in a dry tone, throwing a mock glare her way while slowly kneeling down to brush the little bit of snow away from the tombstone. “I... I don’t know what to think of this, petal.”
“How about: ‘May you rest in peace, alternate me’?” she suggested and I sighed. The tombstone read ‘Summer Rose - Thus Kindly, I Scatter’ and had the rosebud emblem I associated with my daughter on it. I guess they made it their family emblem in this reality, then. “She could be somepony else for all we know, though.”
“No...” I shook my head, worrying my lip. “My human mother’s maiden name was Rose, and had I been born female, she probably would have also named me Summer like... like Mom did...”
“You named me after your mother’s maiden name?” Cadance asked, blushing slightly. “I... didn’t know that.”
“Have you never asked your granny what her maiden name was?” I asked, curious. “I thought you lived with her after... you know.”
“I guess it never came up,” Cadance whispered. “And we had just moved out after... well... Luna disappeared, too.”
“I’m so sorry, little petal,” I said and she smiled sadly back at me, hugging me tightly as I stood up to comfort her. She assured me that there was nothing to be sorry about. “It’s a bit ironic, seeing this tombstone. I feel like I need to apologize more for having abandoned you and your sister like that...”
“Mom...” Cadance sighed and gave me a sad glance. “We don’t fault you for that, don’t beat yourself up about this. Please.”
“That’s easier said than done, Cadance,” I muttered, once more looking sorrowfully down on the tombstone. Somewhere, in another reality, there was one that spelled out my old name and it made my heart ache fiercely. And next to it probably rested the grave of my daughter. “You know... I never thought that would be the phrase on my tombstone.”
“Why? What does it mean?” Cadance asked curiously.
I hummed. “It’s from a poem,” I answered. “One your grandmother was particularly fond of if I remember correctly. It’s a sad one, about loneliness and saying goodbye, but your granny loved those the most. I remember her once telling me that she would have named her daughter after it...”
Cadance looked up to me, her twinkling eyes begging me to tell her more. “What was it called?”
I smiled a bit wider, finding a sort of irony in it that my daughter was sure to enjoy, too. I am glad that there were some things I still remember from Earth, especially of my old family. “The Last Rose of Summer.”
“Oh, wow,” Cadance whispered and smiled slightly. “It sounds very poetic. And with our names...”
“Indeed,” I sighed, placing a tiny kiss on her forehead with a fond warmth in my heart. I looked down on the slab of rock with saddened eyes and started fidgeting with my cloak’s red inner lining. It was a bit coarse and worn out, but still in good condition over all. I still like to wear it from time to time... it reminds me of better times.
Speaking of better times... “I wonder what happened to her. Has she been summoned to another Equestria like my sisters and I were?”
“We’ll never find out without asking her relatives,” my little petal said and I grimaced at the thought of appearing before them as their dead mother. I wonder if Catherine was around here, somewhere. The lack of a second tombstone was telling enough and the thought of giving Tia’s counterpart such hope would surely crush her. And me, for that matter.
“Well, if my tombstone is here, then alternate Cath’s house can’t be too far away. Let’s see if the version of my wife in this world is in the mood of speaking with her dead wife...” I muttered, feeling dread well up in my gut. This can only go pear-shaped, can’t it? “If we’re lucky, she will faint as soon as she sees me. What a joy...”
“With that attitude, you will make her think you’re a ghost,” Cadance shot back with a cheeky grin and I pouted petulantly. “What would be the better alternative? Pretending to be this world’s Summer or telling her the truth?”
“We’re not going to lie to her so that her feelings might be spared the heartache, petal,” I said grumpily. “I can’t do that to her, as much as I would like to give her hope and spare her the pain, it would be wrong of me. And wrong to Tia, for that matter.”
The snap of a twig behind us stopped Cadance from replying and had me thinking the worst. I brandished my sword as I turned around to deal with the foolish black werewolf-like creatures, only to see another little girl with a red hood staring at me in shock and... hope. Oh, dear... this was exactly the thing I wanted to avoid.
Well, at least now we knew that there were still humans around with... whatever nightmarish monsters those wolves were supposed to be running amok in this world. I forgot how... resourceful humans could be in their need to survive. Kinda made me wish we had humans within our guard, now.
I'm pretty sure if I let loose a couple of those monsters in my world, there would be no civilization left by the end of the first decade. Not that I would ever do that, but it just goes to show how peaceful our nation had become with my wives and I keeping it safe from similarly bad monsters. We're lucky none of those have ever bred out of control, seriously.
The only place that was even remotely close to this world back home was the Everfree Forest, but that's because we kinda abandoned it to nature and only kept the borders safe from predators. The numerous warnings of 'parents are responsible for neglecting their children's safety by letting them wander into the murder forest' are there for a reason, you know. Besides, nopony is foolish enough to willingly go into there. Most ponies are kinda superstitious of nature acting as nature does (which is ridiculously hilarious, in my opinion).
Anyway, the doppelganger of my daughter got over her initial shock of seeing me alive and well, stepping closer to me in disbelief.
“...M-Mom?” Not-Cadance asked and I saw the wetness around her eyes as her tears came free. I let out a shaky breath as I felt tears of my own gather in the corner of my vision before squashing the overwhelming need to shower the alternate version of my daughter with affections. I turned to my petal with hesitation, completely at a loss as to what I should do. “Is... is that you?”
My daughter gave me a nudge while I was rooted to the ground. “Go on, give her a hug, Mom,” Cadance whispered to me and I bit my lip. The little girl in front of us gave my daughter a curious and very confused gaze as she, too, seemed to hesitate where she stood. She looked like a sad little puppy and it broke my heart. “Just look at... well, me. She needs it.”
“I...” I whispered, playing with the edge of my white and red cloak unsurely. By my sun, this was such an extremely uncomfortable situation to be in. Instead of standing around like an idiot doing nothing, I decided to heed the words of my daughter. I gave the alternate Rose a teary smile and within seconds, I had a sobbing girl in my arms. I blinked in surprise at the red rose petals fluttering away in the wind from the impossible mad dash she had just performed to get over to me. I awkwardly put my arms around her and stroked the back of her head comfortingly. “Hey there, little petal.”
“Mom..!” the little girl cried loudly, looking up at me with a face twisted with anguish, her lips quivering heavily as she bit back another sob. “I-I m-missed you s-so much!”
“It’s okay,” I whispered, shooting my own daughter a sideways glance. It was... like a replay of our own reunion happening all over again. Might as well go the whole route and destroy her hopes in one go... “It’s okay, little petal, I'm here. There's something you should know, though... I..."—I bit my lip as my heart dropped, unwilling to continue and crush all her dreams in one fell swoop—" Oh for the sake of my sun, I can’t do it! I can’t break your heart like that, damnit...”
“M-Mom..?” the girl in my arms asked confused and scared and I bit my lip hard enough I feared I would draw blood. Oh, little petal... I’m so sorry...
“Uh... this is going to sound crazy, but...” Cadance spoke up, drawing the attention of the girl in my arms away from me and over to herself. “We aren’t... really, uh..."—she blinked, stumped—" Wow, how do you explain this without sounding completely crazy?”
“Welcome to my world, petal,” I snickered. “How about ‘we are from a different reality’? I’m sorry, but... I’m not your mother, little Rose. I truly am sorry...”
“...W-what?” Rose stammered, looking perhaps even more confused than before. I would have also been, were I in her shoes right now. Well, not anymore these days, but that's only because of how often I have gone to other dimensions by now. “Mom, you’re not making any sense. Other realities? I... I'd assume you've hit your head pretty badly coming back from the dead, but seeing another me next to you... maybe I’m hallucinating? That must be it... I must have drunk too much milk recently...”
“Cadance? Tell yourself that you’re not hallucinating,” I smiled mischievously and my daughter rolled her eyes, well aware of the irony behind my request. Would you actually believe another you if they told you that you weren’t going crazy and seeing things? It reeked of madness to go along with such a thing instead of believing the actual truth because of how unlikely it sounded. As long as you’re not aware that traveling between dimensions is actually possible, that is.
“...Cadance?” Rose mumbled confused and my daughter gave me a tiny glare for confusing her alternate self so much, letting out a suffering sigh in the process.
“That’s my name,” my daughter told her, smiling ever so slightly. “Mom and I... we reincarnated into a magical land where we are... ponies if you can believe that.”
“Wait... you are telling me that you're actually ponies, instead?” Rose said, leaving my embrace to study Cadance from up close. “Can you turn back? I’ll believe you one hundred percent if you turn back into a cute little pony.”
“Believe me, I would if I could,” Cadance told her, giggling. “And Mom isn’t exactly 'little'.”
“You forgot to mention that we are also princesses, petal,” I commented and heard one excited squeal and one exasperated groan in return. Ah, being a mother had such nice perks... annoying your daughter chief among them. Especially when you suddenly have two of them in front of you. Eh heh heh...
“This sounds too good to be true,” Rose mumbled dreamily. “Either I’m dreaming and Uncle Qrow will wake me up any moment now, or this is the best day ever...”
“Uncle Qrow?” Cadance asked, confused. She gave me a look and I returned it in kind. This... wasn’t what I was expecting. Either the Catherine of this dimension never had a sister or... Lulu is a man here. Oh, dear, that image was just hilarious. “Could we meet with him?”
“Hm? Oh, yeah, sure. I’m pretty sure he will want to see you two and if this isn’t a dream, he would get all grumpy about me not bringing you to him. Is that okay, Mom? I can still call you Mom, right?” Rose rambled, looking disturbingly nervous about how ‘grumpy’ her uncle could get. I’m pretty sure what she meant was 'drunk', which... wouldn’t really surprise me. At all.
“I won’t hold it against you, little petal,” I replied, squeezing her against my chest tightly once more. “I hope we don’t impose too much. I’m certainly interested in meeting this Qrow. We should probably compare all of the differences between our families in that case...”
A little nagging thought in the back of my mind told me I wouldn’t like what I would learn and the fact that Rose was still the biological child of my counterpart in this dimension didn’t bode well for my sanity. Did Alternate-Me get together with Qrow instead of Cath, or... was Cath..?
Rose hummed happily and nodded, throwing me out of my thoughts. “I really want to hear more about you being princesses. What’s it like? Do you live in a castle? Why is my name different from where you come from?”
“It’s the name I was found with,” Cadance replied. “Well, actually, it’s an abbreviated version. My full name is Mi Amore Cadenza but I don’t like it. It’s such a mouthful...”
“That is... interesting,” Rose mumbled. “What was it before you were... reborn? What’s it like being reborn? Is dying painful? What am I saying? Of course, it must be painful... I think?”
“Uh...” Cadance mumbled, completely overtaken by the... ahem, 'Cadance-ness'... of her own counterpart. Or was it Rose-ness? My daughter turned to me, biting her lip self-consciously. “Am I like that?”
“Sometimes,” I snickered and she pouted back at me.
“Thanks a lot, Mom,” she grumbled before turning her attention back to the girl firmly ensnared in my arms. “My former name was Rose Baker and being reborn is like... I guess it's like growing up again? Dying isn’t necessarily painful, I died because of a brain tumor and didn’t wake up from surgery. I’d probably take precautions if I were you.”
“Oh...” Rose said, looking down with a disturbed and haunted expression. "That's... I’m so sorry for you! For me! For us! I, uh..."—she fidgeted unsurely—" what’s the best way to refer to... you know. You and me. Are we like... twins, or something? Are we the same person? Ugh, this is so confusing!”
“I can empathize,” Cadance said with a shared suffering kind of voice. It must be a novel experience, seeing and hearing yourself act the same way you yourself do. To a certain degree, at least. Cadance has tempered her word vomit of questions quite a bit since her foalhood days. I guess etiquette lessons with a no-nonsense aide does that to you.
“So..! Are names different from where you come from?” Rose asked and I raised an eyebrow at that question. “Because your name is... was different from mine.”
“Truly?” I asked. “What is your name then, little petal?”
“Ruby,” she answered and I felt a little smile growing on my face. It was the second choice for my little petal if Catherine would have had managed to convince me of it. I suppose it makes sense for Ruby to be named like that if Rose was already part of her name from the get-go.
“A wonderful name,” I said, letting go of her. “Now, I don’t like standing around in the cold. It feels... weird. How about we go back to your house?”
Ruby nodded before turning to Cadance with a perplexed look. “Why would it feel weird?” Ruby asked my daughter, confused. My little petal rolled her eyes and explained to her that I wasn’t exactly 'normal'. Ruby got that ‘huh’ expression as we started to go through the forest again, listening to Cadance with fascination.
It was... nice, passively listening in on them as they talked about this and that. Cadance and I learned the name of the weird wolves and their general species from Ruby as she started to gush about people that made it their profession to slay them, romanticizing them for being heroes to their people.
I felt like rolling my eyes because of course she would romanticize them... and I could already see Cadance start doing the same thing, too. Liz was right. My daughter really was hopeless, wasn't she?
Anyway! Remnant (that's the name of this world, by the way) is neck-deep in all kinds of, ahem... unmentionables. Be it the Creatures of Grimm with their normal small-fry variants like the beowolves (of which the older, more experienced ones were simply called alphas) or the criminals that still thought working against the rest of humanity was a better idea than uniting against a common foe, this world was quite literally a hell-hole of the worst kind. Tartarus looks like a playground in comparison to this and that’s me still understating the significance of how screwed up this world truly is.
I felt bad for the lone four kingdoms in this world, for they had to live behind walls in fear of major Grimm incursions. Without these huntsmen and huntresses, Remnant would have been lost millennia ago to the forces of darkness.
The fact that my little Ruby wanted to become a huntress didn’t sit well with me. She was such a bright child, looking at this world with wonder instead of despair like I was tempted to do. This, what they call 'living' here, is merely survival at the best of times. I was unable to understand how Ruby could stay so positive, faced with all of these dangers and threats to humanity that were constantly endangering their livelihoods and their very existence.
While we traveled through the forest and listened to Ruby’s explanation, she spoke with such a fervor that it gave my motherly instincts shivers of fear. At the same time, I wondered whether or not there was a meaningful and effective way to help them out with their predicament. Surely I could do something to make this world a bit more bearable to live in, right?
But... if hundreds of generations of huntsmen and huntresses couldn’t change a thing about the Grimm, what could I do? Whatever it was that allowed the Creatures of Grimm to stay so numerous despite the best efforts of these monster slayers, it had to be something more than these ‘Grimm-Pools’ (whatever those things are, they can’t be good).
My alternate self was apparently... or rather, had been... a huntress. A good one, according to little Ruby, but as I thought about it, not good enough. The actual status of my alternate self wasn’t officially declared as ‘Confirmed Dead’ (more like ‘Missing in Action’), which, after numerous years of absence, might as well have been the actual status instead. Hence the tombstone.
It was a little bit eye-opening to me. Even if Magic or some other entity hadn’t summoned me, there were still plenty of different versions of myself that didn’t have that high of a life expectancy, it seems. Well, not counting the rebirthed versions of me, that is. Then it suddenly became the opposite.
I wondered whether or not Cadance had inherited that brain tumor from me (if it was indeed something hereditary)...
Anyway, I was brought out of my musings by a loud bang right next to me, throwing me for a loop at the sudden sound that was almost alien to me. I never expected to hear high-caliber gunfire in my life, but here I was. And the reason for that left me a bit gaping at the sight of my daughter dancing around a group of juvenile beowolves...
With a friggin’ scythe.
It quickly became apparent to me that the person in front of me slaughtering the wolf-like creatures was Ruby and not Cadance. The little black-haired red-head next to me was my actual daughter while the alternate version of her let herself get thrown around the battlefield by the recoil of her weapon. A recoil that should have by all means ripped her arms off. I had no idea how her arms could even hold the weight of the massive scythe in the first place and I didn’t appreciate how... close... she got to her enemies a few times here and there.
A lot of those artful movements she made, jumping around here and there, flipping over enemies and such... they were entirely wasteful to my watchful eye. I have no idea whether huntresses in this world fight like my little petal does, so I couldn’t actually tell if it was a Ruby-specific thing or not. If it wasn’t, my opinion of huntresses just reached rock bottom.
Fighting like an acrobat was risky and quite frankly, useless. You left yourself far more open to counterattacks and such. Not to mention how quickly your stamina would dwindle by overexerting yourself like that. Fighting was an art that, much like lightning, sought the path of least resistance. At least, that's how I liked to view it. The less stamina you use to dispose of a foe, the longer you are able to fight on. The longer you can fight without tiring, the likelier your chance to survive becomes.
Suffice to say, I was mad. Not just mad, though. Majorly mad. Furious even. My sword reacted to my will and the stored mana within it made it blaze brightly with solar flames. I have had enough of this, these monsters need to go extinct. Yesterday.
Seeing the alternate version of your daughter fight so effortlessly... it made my heart weep with despair and rage. The despair of that came from the fact that she had to learn to fight monsters like these and thought it ‘romantic’, and the rage from the fact that she had become so good at it at such a young age. The world had basically forced her into such a position and it pissed me off. Perhaps most of all, my heart wept for the fact that she wasn’t all that different from my daughter in that regard.
Cadance needs to learn the art of war because of what might be awaiting her at the Crystal Empire (if my daughter doesn’t have to fight Platinum once that monster kills me, that is) and Ruby had to learn the art of war because she has no other choice but to face the threat to humanity if she ever hopes to find out what happened to her mother.
The rest of the beowolves were incinerated to ash not a second later as I dragged Ruby away by her ear, berating her for her recklessness. This wasn’t how I wanted her to live her life, damnit, but I could see the need in it. I just... it was hard to not start to coddle her like my own daughter. While Cadance was right that I was perhaps a teeny weeny bit too overprotective of her at times, I shouldn’t start to include Ruby in that, too.
But... seeing her fight so wastefully was bringing out the teacher in me and I wanted to correct her way of fighting so damn much. I don't care if it has worked out perfectly for her so far, it's going to change.
Cadance gave Ruby an apologetic smile as I started to lecture both of them on the importance of conserving as much strength as possible in a fight, lest they find themselves too exhausted to continue on.
That made Ruby argue back at me with a petulant pout, stating that with her aura unlocked, she wouldn’t have gotten hurt anyway. After a short explanation of how one could essentially unlock an aura by ‘freeing the soul’s shackles’ or something, I berated her even more for it.
Just because one has a shield (a quite useful one as far as I understood this soul aura shield thingy), doesn’t mean you are invincible. Heck, having a shield like that just makes it more important to make sure it never breaks. One shouldn’t become dependent on a shield to save their flanks in dire situations if skill alone could prevent damage in the first place.
It was as much a lesson for Ruby as it was for Cadance. I knew my daughter was a lot more nervous fighting opponents with lethal weapons and prefers playing the defensive game, but that is exactly the point, isn’t it? Both Ruby and Cadance were dependent on their little shields keeping them safe that they lost the bigger picture.
Fight efficiently and don’t give the opponent openings that they could exploit. Don’t rely on one strategy alone. Don’t become complacent. That is what both of them need to learn.
The little bit of acrobatics Ruby had shown off in her fighting style were just that, showy. It wasn’t in any way efficient and it gives your opponent too many opportunities to exploit and hurt you. Ruby relies too much on her speed and weapon as it seems. Once you take both of them away (something that can happen quite easily on a battlefield), she would be next to useless.
Speed doesn’t help you in tight confines, especially with such a large weapon. An excessively huge weapon that was more often than not a hindrance. Not to mention, I knew quite a few ways to disarm somepony of a big weapon, too (even without using magic). There is a place and time for it and you have to be aware of it. Not every environment favors every type of weapon equally. You can specialize, sure, but it never hurts to have a back-up (even if that back-up consists of your hands and anything you can find lying around you).
And then, there was the thing about complacency. Ruby was entirely too happy to stick with her way of fighting, getting up close to her enemies, even taunting them, that she thought herself safe because she hasn’t ever lost her aura in a fight (or run out of it, I was still a bit confused about that... how can one run out of soul?). The thing is, she hasn’t run out yet. That is what is so dangerous about complacency. So long as something works, so long as you think yourself safe, you don’t improve. You don’t think outside the box, trying to find new ways to defeat your opponent.
You start to rely on things that could very well cost you your life someday.
Ruby was still young and so was Cadance (thank the suns for that), so at least it wasn’t like she couldn’t still learn from her mistakes. Both of them, I suppose. I might have berated them all the way back to Ruby’s home and I might have cried a little bit, begging them to take my words to heart and... and...
By my sun, I’m so pathetic, going into hysterics over the off-chance that they might get seriously hurt while they are still in training. Heck, even if they knew everything I could teach them, I would still worry needlessly. I’m such a worrywart, I can’t help it. The future has never looked so bleak before and it brought out the worst in me, trying to keep everypony safe from even the littlest things (like a papercut, for example, which I haven't totally cried about before... nopes... eh heh heh).
While I might be justified with my criticism of Ruby’s fighting style, I couldn’t just forbid her from doing what she loves most. Judging by how complicated her weapon is, something that I am struggling with myself to comprehend the mechanics behind what makes it work, she was serious about becoming a huntress. So serious, in fact, that she would give her life to save an innocent bystander, not unlike how Tia, Luna, and I would have acted ourselves in our youth. I mean, I would still give my life for my nation, but I know by now that giving my life is only an option that I should consider if it saves more lives than if I continue to live.
Sort of like Hope, sacrificing herself for the continued existence of the universe. If I just throw my life away for a random bystander, it would help nopony if the result of that decision is more suffering. Suffering that I could have prevented by living on.
If I have to sacrifice myself to stop Platinum in order to save my nation? I would do so without hesitation. Should nothing work against her and that damnable prophecy doesn’t come to pass, sacrificing myself might become a necessity to defeat her. It was very scarce knowledge, knowledge I’m unsure of if Platinum is even aware of it, but death curses do exist...
I’d rather avoid using that sort of magic if at all possible. Death curses are incredibly sinister dark magic that taints the soul, and as the name implies, it uses the remaining life force within the body to kill the opponent (almost) no matter what. I would only resort to such methods should Platinum be about to win against Luna, Liz, and myself in the last hope of preventing her rise to power. Only then and only if it is the last thing I can think of or do. Only then...
My death would be far more preferable than seeing her succeed and ruin everything. Maybe it was my hatred speaking, but I wanted to see Platinum dead, no matter what. But... leaving my daughter all alone, though? I don’t want to do that.
I've been worried the whole time during the past millennium over what would happen once Platinum returned from the moon and in all that time... I never considered I would have to leave my daughter behind again. It always boiled down to either me killing Platinum (and with her, Tia) or dying at the hooves of that witch, killing her with my last breath. Now, though? Now I couldn’t keep worrying over what would happen afterward.
Cadance needs me. I can’t just... leave her. That was reason enough to teach her all that I can and try to find new Element Bearers. For once in all of those thousand years, I couldn’t allow myself to think Platinum will be the end of me. I need to believe that everything would work out in the way that I wanted it to. And I have to hope the Elements of Harmony would return, and with them, worthy ponies to wield them.
Still... worrying so much over my daughters (I guess I'm already counting Ruby as my daughter now, too), it’s... exhausting. I can’t keep them safe forever, as much as I wanted to do just that. At one point, they have to learn to take care of themselves (which they already obviously can, but I like to pretend otherwise...). If I can keep Cadance safe from Platinum... I would do everything that I could. Even if it does mean having to leave her again, I suppose.
Ruby and Cadance understood my worries, thankfully. It was heartwarming to see them try to calm me back down after I got so passionate with them and I couldn’t have been prouder of them.
I suppose I know what I should do with my time during my stay here, then. I will make sure Ruby is the best-trained huntress on this damn planet if it is the last thing I do. I might not have much time to do so, but... Cadance does need a sparring partner aside from myself and why not consider her alternate self for that position? They could push each other to improve themselves and if they begin to struggle with something, the other would be there to help them understand and learn.
As we entered the wooden block of a house, a little corgi all but threw itself at me, barking cutely up at me as I caught the little dog within my arms, pleasantly surprised. “Why, hello there, little one. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not the one who you have mistaken me for.”
“Zwei, get off of Mom!” Ruby squeaked and I giggled as she started to fuss over her pet. “I’m so sorry, he can get a little bit overly excited sometimes.”
“No need to apologize,” I reassured her, throwing the hood of my cloak off. “He is a gentle one, quite well-mannered. You must have taught him well.”
“Well-mannered?” Ruby asked in confusion and Cadance explained to her that I could talk to animals as we moved further into the house and I spotted the kitchen. The rest of the house seemed empty, though. Of other people, I mean. I shrugged, looking through the cabinets for the things I would need as I listened to my daughters converse about the fascinating nature of alicorns and how ‘cool’ it was that I could talk with animals.
It was neat, but it wasn’t the massively world-altering thing they made it out to be. It just... gave me more conversation partners, I suppose. Luna had honestly won the lottery with her dream-walking ability. No, I am still not jealous of her. And I never was, for that matter. Nuh-uh.
Damnit, I totally am...
Anyway, it became quite obvious to my daughters what I was doing with the mixing bowl and the mountain of ingredients as I expertly maneuvered through the kitchen like an old friend. The house does faintly remind me of the one my old parents owned, so it wasn’t all that hard finding my way around it.
Before long, the overwhelming smell of cookies permeated the whole house and my daughters eagerly watched the little treats in the oven through the glass with watering mouths. Little cookie fanatics, both of them. Can’t say I was any better than they were, though.
They probably inherited their love for cookies from me and their granny. I’m sure Mom would have also spoiled them rotten with her special brand of cookies, but I was rather reluctant to open that cookie jar we had enchanted such a long time ago. Hmm. Maybe when Tia was back and free...
“I...” a voice behind me brought me out of my musings and I turned around inquisitively as it sounded... familiar but not exactly. “Summer? Is... is that really you?”
Before me stood a tall man with blonde hair and slightly worn out clothing. The deep blue eyes catapulted me back into the past for a moment, having stared into them many times on a similar face to his that looked much more feminine and was framed by long locks of golden hair (or chocolate hair, once my wife started dyeing it). There was no doubt in my mind about who this was. Before me stood the alternate version of my wife... as a man... looking at me like he just saw a ghost...
Oh, dear.
“This is... awkward...” I mumbled, lost for words. The man in front of me was just as stunned as I was as we stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. On his right arm, I could see the same tattoo that I knew Rebecca had given my wife once upon a time and his clothing wasn’t that much different from what I remember Catherine having worn almost all the time. Well, instead of the vest she had worn a leather jacket and way shorter pants (like... extremely shorter).
“Mom, the cookies are done!” Cadance called out from behind me and I jumped a little bit startled as I felt like I had been frozen in time as the alternate Catherine and I hadn’t looked away from each other for a single moment. I really needed to learn his name, it was a bit silly to refer to him like that, wasn’t it?
“Ruby, what is... going... on...” he said and started to gape as both Cadance and Ruby came into view from his position at the door. “For that matter, why are there two of you?”
“Dad?” Ruby said, stunned. “I... uh... it’s a bit hard to explain...”
“This is so weird...” Cadance mumbled as she also stared at Ruby’s father, stunned. I can’t say I blame her, I didn’t feel any different than her and I already had the suspicion that something like this was the case in this reality. This was like the ultimate role reversal to my original homeworld and I can’t say I was liking it. Still... he does look sexy. For a man, that is.
He almost made me rethink my sexuality. I mean, damn, those muscles looked sexy~...
I have to give it to humanity, stallions don’t hold a candle to a man that works out. I... uh... I might actually be bisexual, now that I think about it... or I was just into Cath a lot. He does remind me of my wife when she was into her badass lesbian phase (which in all actuality wasn't a phase as it turns out... surprise~).
Still, seeing my wife as a man was not what I expected. That's like... if my twin had a twin in her past life without ever telling me and then finding out that he's just as sexy as her. My daughter nailed it with her comment: it was weird.
“Tell me about it, little petal,” I retorted. I gave the man in front of us a tight smile and motioned for the kitchen table. He nodded numbly as I went back to the oven to take out the cookies. My hands were strangely sweaty as I put the tray of Divine Cookies™ on the counter to let them cool off as I started to make tea with the herbs that I could find.
“So... I would like an explanation here,” he started as I set the teacups down on the table, leaving the tea to draw as I sat down awkwardly next to Cadance. I gave him a nervous glance, trying not to picture him naked (or as a female, for that matter).
Okay, let’s face it, I was craving the touch of my wife and he was the closest thing I could get to her original form which... didn’t make it easy for me. At all. Thankfully, I definitely (absolutely maybe not) wasn’t into males. If that were the case, I’m sure I would have had more trouble with trying to keep my mind out of the gutter. Like... eh heh heh... a little fantasizing couldn’t hurt, right? It's not like anything will come from it.
“Why is there a second Ruby and how come you never returned home, Summer?" Mr. Sexy Tiger... I, uh... I mean 'Guy that looks like Cath who I totally don't have the hots for' asked and I squirmed uncomfortably, feeling my heart drop. Right. The 'I'm not dead' thing I've been dreading talking about. "We searched everywhere for you! Raven... I even tried getting her help! Why didn’t you come home, Summer? Don’t... don’t you love me anymore?”
“I...” I whispered, feeling slightly hollow as I saw the tears fall from his face as he got increasingly more... angry? Frustrated? Ruby was about to say something, but I stopped her because... this was between me and him. I have to do this on my own, even though this wasn’t my ‘Catherine’. “I’m not your Summer, dear...”
“What?” he asked and I fidgeted anxiously with my cloak’s hem as he stared at me with total confusion. Ugh, I really hate breaking somepony's heart. “That... Summer, that doesn’t make any sense. What is going on? Have you forgotten me? Is that it?”
“It’s slightly more complicated than that...” I laughed bitterly, feeling like a monster as I was about to crush all of his hopes. I couldn’t pretend to be his Summer, that would be far too cruel to him. “In my reality, you’re a woman.”
“Okay... that, wow...” he whispered while dragging his fingers through his hair, utterly stupefied. “You must have hit your head pretty hard, Summer. Different realities? That is your excuse? Have you gone mad?”
I sniffed indignantly through my nose, trying to keep the sarcastic remark back as I felt a little bit insulted that he would think I would lie about something like this. Maybe Liz was rubbing off on me if my first reaction was to snark back at him. “You don’t have to believe me, Catherine. I’m sorry, but... you are making this harder for me to explain than it has to be. I don’t know what to tell you so that you will believe me.”
“'Catherine?'” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me. “Wow. That’s a stupid name.”
Ugh. “I don’t believe this...” I muttered, dragging my hand through my face with an exasperated groan. “I need my tea...”
Cadance and Ruby watched me with trepidation and a little bit of concern as I took the teapot and filled my cup to the brim, only to ex the hot beverage without a care in the world. I was perhaps a bit too hasty with that as I felt the burn in my throat and I had to cough. Cadance was at my side not a moment later and so was the male version of my wife.
“Mom!” Cadance exclaimed as I sputtered and winced with every breath I took. “Are you okay?”
“Obviously not, Ruby,” Ruby’s father commented, confusing my daughter for his for a moment. “Why would you even do something like that, Summer?! You couldn’t have hit your head that hard to have forgotten that drinking hot tea without being careful would be a good idea...”
“Dad, that really isn’t...” Ruby began before failing to finish her sentence. Clearly, she was reluctant to say it and I couldn't fault her. I've been considering her as my own, too.
Both Ruby and her father looked on in concern while my daughter fretted over me and I motioned for my sword. Thankfully, Cadance got my intended meaning and brought Remorse over to me from where the lazy bum was leaning against the wall (stupid sword ignoring its mistress). I didn’t have the necessary focus to summon him over to me and I was thankful that she didn’t wonder what I meant with my wild gestures.
Once I had the grip in my hand, I reached out to the stored mana in the gem within the hilt and felt the pleasant comfort of my solar magic, activating my fiery aura for a moment and soothing the burn in my throat like nothing happened in the first place.
“What the..." Ruby's father muttered, stunned out of his mind. "Are you using magic?! And..."—he blinked, rubbing his eyes in disbelief—" are those pony ears..?” he asked and I sighed happily as my throat healed up completely and my hair started to float a little bit through the ethereal breeze, changing to the familiar deep red color of my mane. I might have to dye it for the remainder of my stay here, it felt wrong to not see it in this color (there sadly wasn't enough mana in my sword to keep this appearance up indefinitely, as much as I liked having normal pony ears again). And, uh... I definitely need to be more careful from now on, it seems. Drinking hot tea in one go was a really bad habit that I had gotten into when I was frustrated enough, enough so that I drank it without even thinking that I didn’t have my fiery aura here by default. Let’s hope I don’t repeat that mistake again. “I... Summer, what is going on? I don’t know what to believe anymore...”
“Well, then,” I said, showing him my utmost regal posture. “Introductions are in order. My name is Summer Sol of House Luna, Second Crown Princess of Equestria, Archon of the Summer Sun, the Bringer of Dawn, the Eternal Guardian, Queen of All Things Cookies, and Deity of the Red Sun"—I gestured to my Rose Petal next—" and this is my daughter, Cadance, Heir to the Throne and Love Incarnate. Also the current holder of the Mistress of Cuteness title.” I nodded sagely.
“...what?” he asked, sounding even more confused and lost now. I wasn’t going easy on him with this, was I?
Eh, I might have gone over the top there for a bit, using the more flashy titles that my little ponies had given me (including the damn deity part, but it sounded sort of nice...), but I can show off every once in a while, right?
The Queen of Cookies title wasn’t actually a title my subjects gave me, but Liz liked to call me that since that time I had used the shape-change spell with her (I know she only does that in the hopes of getting me to make her more cookies for her without having to share them with Luna).
Cadance was happy to know she had been promoted to Mistress of Cuteness since that was an objective truth nopony could argue against. And anypony that denies the truth... let's just say 'unlucky things' happen to them.
Since it was unlikely for Luna or I to ever give birth to an heir the natural way, Cadance was also next in line for the throne now. I mean, it's not like we needed an heir, but... Platinum. I think that should be reason enough, but fat chance of me willingly abdicating my position to anypony but Cadance. The nobility would run our nation to the ground if left unchecked. Besides, if we survive Platinum's return, there won't be any need for an heir, anyway.
...aside from me wanting another foal to look after to fill the inevitable void Cadance will leave behind once she rules the Crystal Empire. Maybe I can work something out with a donation of... I don't know... a certain good-looking human?
Pfft, nah. That would be cheating. Besides, I would have to foalnap him to Equestria, make him a prince, marry him, and then turn him into an alicorn because, hah! I'm not gonna lose Mr. Sexy to old age. Not after he puts a baby in my oven.
I, uh... I'm definitely not into him and those were just theoretic thoughts of what life would be like with the possibility of being pregnant. There's no way I would ever do something like that! Aside from maybe turning him into the first male alicorn to exist and introducing him to Tia. Eh heh heh...
She would totally be on board with that, wouldn't she? Luna would roll her eyes, sure, but she actually was bisexual and wouldn't throw a fuss once she sees him. Ah, then again, there was still the matter of this world's Summer... he wouldn't be open for that unless he knows for sure there won't be another sudden surprise visit of his supposedly dead wife. Not to mention, if she was summoned to another Equestria... I... I don't want to think about what he would do to reunite with her.
Ugh. Stupid Summer, stop thinking about this. How old is he, even? Much too young, that's how old he is. Don't let his appearance fool you, he's a mortal and you're a centuries old hag. That's jailbait if I've ever seen one.
“They really aren’t from around here, Dad,” Ruby told him. “They are also ponies in their reality! Can you believe that? That’s so... cute!”
“I need a drink...” he said and sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “This day has barely even begun and I feel like an entire year has passed...”
“Dad!” Ruby whined, hitting him on the shoulder that wasn’t covered by a pauldron. That's probably the only armor he wore fighting against the Grimm and it left my protective instincts crying in a corner. “Don’t make jokes about drinking. Uncle Qrow is bad enough with it already and I don’t want to see you like that again...”
“...has the death of my counterpart?” I whispered and I saw the sheer despair in his eyes as I asked that. I didn’t need to hear his answer because quite frankly... I knew what he would tell me. My death must have hit him quite hard and it wasn’t that surprising that he fled to the first source of comfort, even if that source was perhaps not the best choice. It was preferable to the alternative, though. I’m glad he didn’t decide to take his life instead.
I wasn't much better after we banished Tia to the moon, to be honest. That was the only time where I was drunk on a regular basis and I certainly do not wish to repeat that. I hope I won't, but... Platinum.
“It... your..."—he sighed, dragging his hand through his blonde hair—" the death of 'our' Summer hit us all pretty hard,” he said, leaning against the table with his arm supporting his head. He stared forlornly down to the ground and I couldn’t help but do the same thing as he sounded so... defeated. Or depressed, I suppose. He was tugging at my heartstrings something fierce, wasn't he? What the flying penguin was I supposed to do with him? I can't just... start falling for him. That's all kinds of complicated, even without taking his age into account. “I mean... we aren’t even sure she is dead for certain, but... after so long? Seeing you... I wanted you to be her. I still want you to be her, even though I know you have your own life as a... wait, 'princess'? How did that happen?”
“It’s... a long story,” I answered with a sigh. Stupid age gap, now I was feeling bad for him, too. He's like a poor puppy that lost their life-long mate. How could I not pity him? And from the looks of it, even he was struggling with separating me from his wife in his mind. It must be even worse for him since... well... I wasn't a stallion. “You wouldn’t even believe half of it. If I hadn’t lived through it myself, I wouldn’t believe it, either.”
“Okay...” he sighed, scratching his chin lightly. “I’ll take your word for it, then. So... what’s up with the different names? What happened to Rose?”
“Mom never had Rose as her last name,” Cadance answered, drawing the attention of the man in front of me over to her. I should probably ask for his name soon, this was getting a bit ridiculous. “And she named me after gran's old maiden name Rose before I got reborn. Both of us got reborn, so there is that...”
“Somehow that is more believable than the pony thing...” he muttered, laughing humorlessly before taking a contemplative sip from his tea (after making sure it wasn't too hot, obviously). “So... you were reborn, huh? Who were you before, then?”
“Uh...” I stammered, blushing furiously. This wasn’t what I wanted to talk about, like... at all. “Can I get your name before we get to that? I can’t just continue to refer to you as ‘Almost Catherine but not really’. That wouldn’t be fair to you or my wife...”
“Right, that ‘female in another reality’ thing. I’m Taiyang,” he said, giving me a faint smile that barely reached his haunted eyes. I wish I could give him this, but I can’t pretend to be his wife. Not only because of the whole male thing, but I also still need to return home at one point. Hopefully, Luna will get that portal up and working soon-ish. “Taiyang Xiao Long, it’s nice to ‘re-meet’ you. So... were you human before the, uh, pony thing?”
“Yes, we were,” I nodded, biting my lip nervously. “But I suppose humans are a bit different here than from where we came from.”
“In which way?” Ruby asked curiously, her eyes sparkling with that enthusiastic wonder I knew from my own daughter. I smiled at her enthusiasm to learn more about her alternate mother, it was very heart-warming to me.
“Well, for one thing, we didn’t have our auras unlocked,” Cadance said, causing Ruby to let out a gasp in horror. “And we didn’t have Grimm running around. Our original planet was also named differently. I haven’t seen a map yet, so I can’t tell if they look the same.”
“Oh! I can show you on my scroll later if you want!” Ruby smiled, fidgeting eagerly on her chair. Cadance nodded with a smile of her own, also getting excited from Ruby’s infectious mood and Taiyang shook his head good-naturedly at their behavior.
“Scroll? I feel like I’m missing something here...” I muttered, giving Cadance and Ruby a thoroughly confused look. I knew for certain that humans didn’t go back to using scrolls of all things in favor of computers...
“It is... or was a new type of smartphone on Earth, Mom,” Cadance answered. “It used incredibly advanced technology and was extremely lightweight. You could see through them! Uncle Toby worked on them, you know. He said they were decades ahead of every other company with the development of technology at Massive Dynamic and they were already working on a version that works with hard-light of all things! Can you believe that?”
“How can a phone be smart?” I asked, perplexed and Cadance groaned in that typical ‘You can’t possibly be my actual mom’ way that had my eyelid twitching. I knew my brother worked on all kinds of things at... 'that' company, but out of all the things he could have worked on, I wouldn’t have thought he worked on developing phones. Although, knowing him, it had something to do with weaponry in some way. “What? Don’t give me that look, little missy! I can still withhold those cookies from you, so behave yourself.”
“Mom!” Cadance pouted and I glared back at her.
“Don’t you ‘Mom!’ me, either,” I told her and Taiyang let out a laugh while Ruby gave Cadance a sympathetic look. “Just because I’m a thousand years out of date, doesn’t mean you can give me that look that screams you think I’m an embarrassment to your existence.”
“But I didn’t!” Cadance grumbled. “At least... not really? It’s not like I did it on purpose... that much.”
“A thousand years?” Taiyang asked and I sighed in despair. So much to explain and every answer just gives them more questions... I’d rather listen to the nobles prattle on about unimportant things for a week straight than deal with this. At least with them, I could just nod my head and pretend I was interested in what they were saying. “Sounds like there is a story there.”
“Oh, you haven’t even heard the beginning of it, yet,” Cadance snickered and I sent her a warning glare. She just gave me a mischievous smile and I could tell she had been hanging around Liz perhaps a bit too much lately. “She was a male in her previous life!”
“Cadance!” I screeched, trying to grab her as she ran around the table giggling like a maniac. “You’re so grounded! I’mma lock you in your room for the next decade! Nay, for the next century! You can say goodbye to your plans of ‘foal-sitting’, missy!”
“Worth it!” Cadance giggled, evading me by slamming the door in my face. I growled in rage and felt like ripping my hair out. Why must my daughter be so... so her? Where is the little innocent filly that I remember riding on my back? Where did I go wrong with her?
Most likely by letting her become Liz’s best friend, now that I think about it.
I smiled ruefully as I sat back down at the table in complete exhaustion and filled my teacup back up to the brim, this time not drinking it in one go (much to the relief of Tai and Ruby). For good measure, I refilled it again and sighed happily as I finally started to relax. At least somewhat.
“Male, huh?” Tai commented and I let my head fall to the table in total embarrassment. Why? Just... why? “I suppose that makes sense with the other me being female. So... what’s it like? Being female, I mean.”
Fuck me sideways. “'That' is the first thing you ask?” I groaned, shooting him a pouty glare as Ruby silently excused herself to go look after Cadance, instead. Not before she stuffed her face with some of the cookies I made, though. I wasn’t going to berate her for indulging herself, at least not when the whole house smelled so overwhelmingly of their sweet, heavenly goodness. “For your information, I was transgender. Or... am. Was? Let’s just say I realized I was meant to be female once I got reborn as a pony and leave it at that.”
Taiyang smiled faintly as he sighed wistfully. “You have the same pouty glare as her...” he commented and I winced. So much for not trying to remind him of his lost (and possibly dead) wife. “It’s cute. At least, as long as you don’t get angry. You’re perhaps even worse with your motherly instincts than my Summer had been.”
“What was she like?” I asked, feeling oddly anxious to learn more about his dead wife. I kinda wish I could have met her instead of finding myself in this awkward situation. At least then the temptation wouldn't have been so great to mess things up.
“Upbeat,” he answered and I could see a reminiscing look enter his eye. Tai smiled nostalgically as he seemingly got lost in the memories of his Summer and their time together. He looked so happy, thinking of her... “Like nothing in the world could bring her down. She would try her absolute best to help everyone, even if the missions we went on weren’t the most rewarding in payment. She was the biggest bleeding heart I have ever known and I loved and hated her for it...”
“Oh...” I whispered, feeling a painful stab in my heart as it sounded perfectly like me. Well, she was me, but also not. And it was more like the past-me that he described... before Tia was taken away from me. Before I decided to let my decision to keep what is mine utterly consume me. I wish I could go back to those simpler times, where I could... I dunno, do something to prevent all of these mistakes I made in my foolish attempt to be a paragon of kindness to those that did not deserve it. Platinum most of all. “She must have been a sight to behold...”
I would have loved being able to have a chat with her, find out in which ways we truly differed from one another. Aside from her having had the fortune to be born female from the beginning, that is. But... if she truly was my counterpart... could she maybe... not have been as happy about that?
“She was a grand sight to behold. And not only on the battlefield, at that,” Tai nodded, laughing silently to himself. “She would drag us along in all kinds of situations just to save an animal from the Grimm or other similar situations. One time we even defended a small remote village from a seemingly endless horde of Grimm, and she told us in no uncertain terms that giving up wasn’t an option. That losing against the Grimm wasn’t even in her dictionary or something. She always said she would one day save the world and be a hero. And Ozpin let us do all of this, even if the missions we wanted to do were for higher semesters than our own, without telling us off even once. He didn’t even bat an eye when we did something stupid or broke a rule or two.”
“Ozpin..?” I asked, unfamiliar with the name.
“The headmaster at Beacon Academy,” Tai answered, rubbing his arm nervously, an action that didn’t reassure me in the slightest. He looked like he wasn’t the greatest fan of the man, whether that was because Ozpin had been his teacher or something else, I had no idea. “Qrow still works with him when he isn’t busy with his actual job...” Then, he seemed to mutter under his breath about a stupid drunk bird not taking that job all that seriously.
This world's Luna has the same aversion to work as my sister had in her youth, huh? Why am I not surprised?
I hummed, absentmindedly shoving a cookie into my mouth as I stared into my teacup. Interesting, indeed... “What is it that you do?”
“Qrow and I teach at the local combat school here on Patch, Signal Academy,” he told me and I hummed with even more interest. I suppose if Tia and I had been born on Remnant ourselves, we would have become teachers, too. I mean, I kinda am a teacher, but not in the sense of what Tai and Qrow are doing. “So... you are a princess? What is it that you do as a princess?”
“Keeping my nation in one piece, mainly,” I rolled my eyes, grumbling lowly about stupid nobles. “I do teach students from time to time in the arcane arts, though. I specialize in emotions and communicating with animals.”
“Right, magic...” Tai sighed, rubbing his eye. “You should probably keep that a secret around here. There are some... unpleasant... individuals that seek that power for themselves.”
“How so?” I asked, slightly confused. He seemed pretty surprised to see me do actual magic, I would think it would be a myth in this reality in that case, but... “Do people know of magic in this reality? I mean, if the people of this world are under the assumption that it does not exist here, why would they try to steal it if they have no idea it exists?”
“Oh, they definitely know,” Tai growled. The tone he used didn’t leave much to the imagination. I’m pretty sure he had come into contact with magic before. If only by word of mouth, at the very least, I suppose. Did he know of somepony... I mean, someone... that knows magic? “And there are... not so good people that would stop at nothing to get a piece of it for themselves. Or snuff it out in a misguided attempt of getting rid of the extraordinary. Raven ran away as she got scared of something in Ozpin’s war and I retired here on Patch after you... after our Summer disappeared. Qrow still thinks he can accomplish something together with Oz, but I have to look after my daughters... I can’t leave them alone while going out on extended missions for him.”
“Is Tabby also trying to become a huntress?” I asked and Tai gave me a confused gaze. “Oh, uhm... is she named Tabetha here? How old is she even? I can’t imagine her being old enough to enter combat school if Ruby is barely fifteen.”
“I... uh...” Tai mumbled, scratching his chin slightly. “No, Yang isn’t named... Tabetha. What kind of name is that? I’m getting the impression here that your names are different from wherever you come from...”
“It’s a cute name,” I pouted, feeling indignant that he was being a little bit rude by constantly questioning the names of my loved ones. “For that matter, did you name our daughter after a part of your name?”
Tai grimaced. “This is going to be a pain in the ass to explain, but... Yang isn’t ‘your’ daughter, Summer,” he said with a nervous smile and I narrowed my eyes on him. “I... uh... before my Summer and I got together, I was... uh... I was in a relationship with another woman?”
“Tai...” I said, giving him a warning glare. I shouldn’t be getting jealous over whom the alternate version of my wife... husband, whatever... loved, but... damnit, it hurts to think that there are versions of ourselves that haven’t been together from the get-go. “Who’s daughter is Yang?”
“...Raven,” he mumbled and showed me a picture of their former team when they had been students at Beacon. I... okay. This was slightly awkward. I honestly felt like drowning myself in Luna’s moonshine. I might still do that in order to forget ever visiting this damn reality. Ugh, this reality was just so fucked up, I couldn’t even put it into words. It was like it was a friggin’ mockery of Earth, in a weird sense. I pity the humans living here in a world that was seemingly drowning in darkness.
“This is... awkward,” I sighed, feeling a little bit queasy. “She isn’t your sister, right?”
“W-what?!” Tai sputtered and I fidgeted with the hem of my skirt. Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have asked that. I wasn't one to talk, anyway. “Summer, you can’t possibly insinuate I would... I’m an only child! Why would you think... Wait. No way. You've gotta be kidding me. My counterpart has a sister and that sister is Raven?! How does that even work?!”
“Well...” I muttered. “This is an interesting difference between our realities. Of all the things that could have been different...”
Taiyang growled. “Summer, you can’t be serious,” he said, angrily stuffing a cookie in his mouth before moaning with delight at the taste. “Oh, damn... I missed these so much...”
“I’m glad you like them,” I smiled slightly, seeing him float metaphorically on cloud nine after having tasted the Divine Cookies™. The secret is the extra chocolate mixed in with the dough. “And I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I am serious about this. My Catherine has a younger sister that also reincarnated along with us. Her name was Rebecca and your last name wasn’t Xiao Long.”
“More weird names,” Tai commented and I rolled my eyes. “I suppose you guys never had the color-naming custom we have here, huh? That would make sense, I suppose. Different worlds, different customs. So, what was our last name, then? Can’t believe Raven is my sister...”
“Before we married, Rebecca and Catherine’s last name was, uh... Raven...” I answered, fidgeting awkwardly as he gave me an incredulous look. “And... oh dear, how should I say this...”
“What?” he asked, giving me a concerned gaze as I bit my lip nervously. “C’mon, Summer. You can talk to me, I won’t judge. Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad for you to be so nervous.”
I swallowed thickly. “Did your parents...” I started, wincing in fear for what I might hear. “This is going to sound a bit insensitive and probably too personal for your tastes, but... did they ever... touch you?”
“What do you mean?” Tai asked with a cautious voice, giving me a narrow-eyed look. “Summer, are you asking me if my parents... raped me?”
“I...” I mumbled and trailed off, too afraid to speak. I gave him a tiny nod instead, not trusting my voice to confirm his question.
I watched as Tai flexed his muscles angrily, seeing a slight shimmer of his aura as he pressed his nails tightly into his palms. If he hadn’t been so angry, I would have probably blushed a bit too heavily while staring transfixed at those... muscles. Ugh, why does he have to look so friggin’ sexy? It was extremely aggravating to me. They just looked so... damn... juicy~. “Summer, don’t tell me my counterpart was raped. Don’t tell me that her sister...”
“No, Luna... I mean Rebecca wasn’t...” I whispered, thrown out of my... musings... after he asked me that, and despite the topic being so somber, I was thankful for the distraction. “Cath killed her own parents because of what they did to her. Mainly her father for doing that to her...”
“This is disgusting...” Tai growled and I completely agreed with him. Rape shouldn’t be taken lightly and the fact Tia had a fetish for it... it caused me no small amount of grief. I tried rationalizing it as a weird roleplay thing whenever she had asked us to do that to her, but it always left a bitter taste in my mouth. “To think that... damn. I mean, I hadn’t known my parents for long, but to think that they could have been capable of that? I can’t even judge your wife for killing them. If I had been in her position? I probably would have done the same thing. Heck, she is my counterpart, I would have done the same thing with a smile on my face...”
“I’m glad you didn’t have to go through that,” I said, watching him reach a hand out to another cookie, munching on it half-heartedly as he bit into it. “Although, that does give me a few things I have to put into question...”
“And what would that be?” Tai asked. I hummed for a moment, trying to order my thoughts before voicing them. There was just... something not adding up here.
“If you never had a sister and this Raven had been together with you...” I started, swishing the teacup in front of me back and forth for a moment, watching the little bit of liquid within with a forlorn expression. “Were Cath and Becky even sisters? I always thought it was strange that they looked so different from each other, but I never questioned my wife why that was. I don’t know if Lulu even knows and Tia is... unavailable currently. For all I know... Celestia could have been adopted...”
“I suppose those are their pony names?” Tai chuckled. “Do you have a pretty pony princess name? Oh, wait, Summer is your name now, right? This is still... confusing to me.”
“You aren’t the only one that feels this way,” I smiled, sharing in his mirth slightly. “I have been alive for a long time. After a few centuries you get used to the difference between alternate versions of yourself.”
“That... that was actually for real?” Tai asked, astonished. I giggled, his flabbergasted look reminding me very much of my wife. Oh, how I miss her...
“I’m old, Tai,” I told him with a tiny smile. A smile that barely reached my eyes, to be honest. “And so very tired. But I still continue on. Besides, in the grand scheme of things? I’m not that old. There are far older beings out there, Tai. Beings that would make you shiver with fear and awe by just standing in their presence.”
A being like Discord, for example. Still, I had to wonder if he really was as mad as I thought him to be. He always seemed like... there was more to him. He can’t just be evil for the sole reason of being a mismatched dick noodle. Somepony like him wouldn’t do what he did just because he could. Although... perhaps it was just boredom that made him do what he did. I know I have done some weird stuff over the years because I have been bored out of my mind. Then again, Discord almost appeared to follow some sort of... agenda? At least, it seemed like he was trying to accomplish something only he knew the specifics of.
What could somepony like Discord want to do by seemingly causing chaos at random? What goal was behind his motives? I never could figure that one out, not even after a thousand years.
One might assume he did all of that to prepare us for something only he knew the specifics of. I still have the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that he did all of that to prove to us that the future could not be avoided, that there ultimately was no choice but to accept fate and face the reality of actual soul-crushing loss so that we would have been ready to... let go of each other. But... that would mean he knew exactly what would have happened after he was sealed in stone.
I doubt that that was the case, though. He wouldn’t have let himself be turned into stone if he knew he would be stuck like that for more than a thousand years. Maybe I was reading too much into things...
“I think I know what you mean, Summer,” Tai murmured, scratching his chin lightly with a sigh. I gave him a curious glance, very much interested in how he knew this feeling. Were there deities here on Remnant, as well? “I’m rather reluctant to introduce you to Ozpin, though. I don’t think it would be a good idea to let him rope you into his secret war, but he... he might be able to help you reach your home.”
“Oh?” I hummed. “It looks to me like there is more to this Ozpin than you let on.”
“He is... a complicated man,” Tai told me. “But he is a powerful wizard, so... he might know a thing or two even you might not. If there is one person that could help you get back home, he would be the one.”
Hmm. While I doubt he knew exactly how to do that... “It should be interesting enough to learn about Remnant’s magic if anything,” I shrugged. “I doubt he knows more than me, though. Not if he isn’t older than he would like to admit.”
Tai laughed deprecatingly to himself, muttering something along the lines of ‘you might be surprised’ and left it at that. We stayed silent for a while longer and I saw the sun start to slowly peek over the horizon through the window, mulling over the things I had learned so far about this world.
From what I have been told of this Ozpin, I could tell that it might not be the greatest idea to trust him with my life. But that’s the thing about leaders, isn’t it? You have to have faith in them that they won’t abuse your trust utterly. Some of my previous students had openly told me that they didn’t trust me and that was fine, I wouldn’t think any less of them because they felt like I was withholding information from them.
And they were absolutely right to not trust me. I was prone to withhold information from my students if I thought they couldn’t be trusted with the knowledge that I could impart on them (the desire to become an alicorn sadly being among one of the more common goals my students expected me to teach). Only if I was absolutely certain that they wouldn’t let it go to their heads would I show them some of the things I knew they could benefit from. Not everypony needs to know everything I could teach them, after all.
I suspect that this Ozpin wasn’t too different from me in that particular regard. Whatever secret war he was engaged in, I’m certain that there's a lot that he couldn’t tell his followers for their own safety. It might be frustrating to deal with, but sometimes it was necessary to do that in order to not lose the fight on a grander scale.
I won’t make excuses for his behavior as long as I don’t know him, though. So far, I could only empathize with his viewpoint and that's it. I can’t judge if it is actually necessary to withhold the information he is aware of or not. Not without knowing what it is that he is hiding. If it is vitally important to his cause and he still withholds information like that? I might be disinclined to trust him.
There would be little he could say to convince me otherwise. He would need a very good reason for making a decision like that because not telling the ones under your command what they should know will hurt the end-goal of your mission more often than not.
Well, at least so long as you don’t set the game-board up in your favor, controlling every possible variable. Which would be utterly impossible, ponies (and humans) are unpredictable at the worst of times, after all. Relying on setting up the stage in your favor is just asking for trouble to bite you in the flank.
There are very few reasons where I would withhold information to such a degree and all of those have something to do with the Realm of Ascension. There was nopony, not a single one, I could or would trust with the knowledge behind the process of ascension. The implications of making that knowledge public could destroy society as a whole and I’d rather not risk that. Even if that means fewer ponies living long enough to keep me company.
A few of the nobles had started to bitch about it to Luna, Liz and myself to make the process behind ascension public knowledge because they felt entitled to that information for entirely too selfish reasons. I couldn’t have completely kept the fact that ponies could ascend a secret because, quite frankly, after Cadance had earned her horn? It would have been impossible to keep that a secret. It wouldn’t have taken much research to find out she had been an orphan pegasus before her ascension and ponies would have started to question me about it anyway.
I was thrown out of my musings as a young, feminine voice called out to Taiyang with a 'Dad..?', sounding a little freaked out. “Why is there another Ruby?”
The door to the kitchen opened and a girl with long blond hair entered the room. She was still obviously wearing her sleepwear, looking like she just stumbled down the stairs in a rush. The new girl came instantly to a stop as she saw me. Her lilac eyes stared at me with disbelief and I couldn't help but to compare them to my own in my reality. To be honest, I would have mistaken her for a teenage Catherine if I hadn’t known Tai had another daughter. Well, another daughter that wasn’t a different version of my own, that is.
“Hello,” I smiled, giving her a little wave with my hand. “You must be Yang, then.”
“This is... I, uh... what?” she stammered and Tai went over to her before throwing an arm around her shoulder. “Dad, what is going on?”
“Aliens,” Tai grinned, gesturing weirdly with his hands. “They are everywhere.”
“Dad, as much as I like your jokes, this isn’t the time,” Yang groaned, dragging a hand through her face in annoyance. “Why is Mom back and why is there a second Ruby? And why did one act like we weren’t sisters, like... ever? And for that matter, what’s wrong with Mom? She can’t have hit her head that hard to have forgotten me, right?”
I let out a groan. “Seriously, why does everypony assume I’ve hit my head?” I groused, frustrated. “I’ll have you know, I take perfectly good care of my head. Perhaps it is you all that have hit your heads, instead? I can’t possibly believe there exists somepony that actually thinks Cath’s jokes... I mean, Tai’s jokes are funny.”
“Hey! I am funny,” Tai shot back and I stuck my tongue out at him with a cheeky grin. “Nobody appreciates good humor nowadays...”
The long-haired blonde gave both of us a weird look, instead. “Did Mom just say ‘somepony’?” Yang questioned and I let out a suffering sigh, readying myself for another lengthy explanation trying to convince her that I’m a magical pretty pony princess from another universe. I just know I’ll have to repeat this conversation at least a dozen more times...
And so, history repeated itself and I explained the intricacies of dimensional travel to a seventeen-year-old teenager that was bored out of her mind after the first minute of me explaining to her that yes, I am an alien in the strict sense, and no, I can’t change back into a cute ‘little’ pony without going back to my home reality.
It took me the better half of the morning to get her to believe me. Tai wasn’t helping me in the slightest by asking more questions than his daughter and my own was off doing who knows what with Ruby. Besides me explaining all of this to Yang, I finally got to see what exactly a scroll was and. Oh. My. Gosh. What else have I missed in the advancement of technology? These tiny things could do so much more than the clunky computers I faintly remember from my time alive as a human!
You could listen to music with a telephone of all things! And... and watch videos! Videos that had even better quality than I could have ever imagined! And then there were the games... I felt like I was in Heaven all of a sudden. It was like somepony took a look at the Game Boy and thought ‘I could do better than that’ and did. It was simply mind-boggling.
Suffice to say, Yang and I stayed rooted to the extraordinarily flat television screen in the living room afterward, playing every available game that they had access to. My inner nerd couldn’t stop giggling like a little filly, marveling at the capabilities of these scrolls and how utterly magnificent the graphics of the games looked.
I mean, Equestria was finally starting to develop arcade games after an unholy amount of time without anything remotely close to video games since I had last had the pleasure of gaming to my heart’s content. Luna had rolled her eyes as I giddily remodeled the recreational room within the castle into an arcade to satisfy my guilty pleasure of playing games well into the night (sometimes even losing myself in them so much that I was surprised that I had to raise the suns).
But these games? They were even better than the games that had been available to the video game consoles I remember from Earth. They were on a wholly different level compared to what I was used to. I had no idea how much effort must have gone into programming those and all I wanted to do was to learn how complicated the code was to allow these games to even exist. My past occupation as a programmer for an indie games company demanded nothing less of me. I needed to know more and I was exuberantly happy to search the internet (it was named differently but worked essentially in the same way... but faster) for what I wanted to learn after having had my fill of awesome games.
I was a gamer at heart and Remnant only provided more fuel for my addiction. Tia had been a massive enthusiast for cars and I had been a massive enthusiast for all things gaming-related (and cookies, of course). I had to wonder whether or not Earth had advanced similarly in that regard. There was no way that Remnant could just develop these when they had so many other things to worry about (mainly the Grimm).
I... I need a scroll of my own or I will be damned to let an opportunity like this slip through my hooves... I mean hands. Just thinking about all the possibilities they could open for Equestria made my heart race faster with joy. All the games my little ponies could make for me... I-I mean, for my subjects, of course. I could die a happy mare...
Anyways, after Yang and I had our fill of trying to beat each other in various games (most of them fighting games because Yang liked those the most, but we also played a few other games that were more up my alley), I stretched out my limbs with satisfying pops and went to search for where my daughter had run off to with Ruby.
It wasn’t that hard to find out where Cadance was. I just had to follow the giggling up to what I presumed to be Ruby and Yang’s bedroom. Both of them were sitting on the bed with the red pillows while one of them did the hair of the other.
“Hey, Mom. What do you think of Ruby’s hair? It looks really cute, right?” ‘Cadance’ asked, smiling towards me as she spotted me standing there in the doorframe. I could see the nervous glint in her eyes and the poorly disguised glee in my actual daughter as they pretended to be the other person.
“It looks nice, I like the style. It has that ‘huntress’ vibe that just screams danger to everything that dares stand against you,” I answered, smiling gently. If they thought they could fool me of all ponies, they thought wrong. “Although, you both might want to wrap this up. Just because we aren’t in Equestria, doesn’t mean your lessons are over, ‘Cadance’.”
“Lessons? But... Mom,” ‘Cadance’ whined and for a moment, I actually doubted whether or not I was right with my suspicion. “It’s always lessons, can’t we have a little bit of fun while we are here?”
I chewed on my lips as both of them gave me puppy dog eyes. If I had not lived for as long as I have, I might have even given in and let them have their will. Alas, I have not forgotten what my daughter had done a few hours ago and a little payback was in order to teach her that, despite me being her mother, I would not stand to be humiliated by her. Only a mother had the right to humiliate her children and that was a right that one had to earn by becoming a parent.
“No,” I answered, giving them my best unamused stare. “But I suppose we can soften up the lesson plan a little bit.”
“Oh, thank you!” ‘Cadance’ sighed with relief. I smiled mischievously and my actual daughter suddenly looked paler than before as she felt the sheer malevolence in my smile. “Anything but politics!”
“Yes... 'anything' but politics,” I agreed with glee. “And to make things more interesting, ‘Ruby’ will also participate.”
“What?” both mumbled confused and my daughter shivered with fear as I motioned with my fingers for them to follow me.
“And lessons will begin immediately,” I grinned. “From now on until we are back home, we will concentrate wholeheartedly on combat lessons.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” ‘Cadance’ smiled, lulling herself into a false sense of security. “And here I thought we would have to do boring things...”
“Ruby, stop!” Cadance whispered, tugging urgently at her doppelganger's arm while I giggled silently to myself. Aww, this was almost cute... “You don’t want combat lessons from Mom! This is worse than lessons on politics! Heck, I would have taken lessons on manners over this!”
“Pfft, c’mon, Cadance,” Ruby whispered back. “There is no way I would ever miss lessons on combat from Mom of all people! Do you know how often I have dreamed of this moment?”
“Ruby, I’m not joking!” Cadance hissed. “Look at her! She is swaying her hips! She only does that when she is giddy to do something only she enjoys or if she wants to provoke a reaction out of Mother!”
“Eh?” Ruby mumbled before pausing, most likely paying attention to how I walked, and judging by the silence that followed, she realized her mistake in assuming that I would be going easy on them and refrain from hurting them. They were in for a world of hurt and I couldn’t wait to beat them to an inch of their lives after what Cadance had divulged to Tai...
I wouldn’t actually go that far, but I had to instill some sort of existential terror into my daughter for mentioning the unmentionable. I wasn’t above petty revenge of that kind and my daughter made the biggest mistake in her life by defying me like that. If she couldn’t learn to keep her mouth shut with such secrets, it could very well cost her her life at some point and I’d rather not have that happen to her.
It was better she learned this lesson now before she might do something stupid. You know, like listening to Liz about love advice... I shudder to think what my wife could tell her to help along in the love life of my little petal. Knowing her, it would be something extremely unbecoming of a princess.
I swear, that changeling is going to be the next one on my list of targets for... disciplinary actions~. And I wouldn’t stop until I was certain I had hammered in the lesson into her thick skull quite thoroughly that she couldn’t walk for a year straight. Heck, I would make sure she couldn’t even sit properly without a grimace gracing her lovely muzzle. Once she was thoroughly disciplined, I would taunt her with having sweet, loving, and delicate sex with my little sister until she was frothing at the edges of her mouth, begging me to join in and make her feel all better... and I would deny her that request as her punishment for corrupting my daughter.
But first... I had to get that bad behavior out of my daughter and judging by how nervous the grip on her sword was, she knew she stood little chance against me. This is going to become just one of many lessons on how to properly evade your enemy, even while in an unfamiliar body. Well, mostly unfamiliar, I suppose. She still had most of her memories as a human since her rebirth was quite recent. By my standards, that is. Another decade or so and I would have expected her to struggle with muscle memory.
She was lucky that I wasn’t entirely used to a bipedal stance, but that only impeded me so much. Ruby quickly learned the folly of her enthusiasm from a minute or so ago and Cadance did as well for trying to deceive me with their little ‘twin’ ploy.
While I hadn’t had the opportunity to act in sync with my twin for a very long time now, I wasn’t an idiot (most of the time). I knew quite well how a twin bond worked and I wouldn’t be fooled by such a pathetic attempt. They had asked for it with their behavior and now they paid for it with pain.
I berated them for every wrong step, for every time they tried to parry my powerful blows straight on instead of deflecting my blade to the side or doing the smart thing and dodge. And most importantly, I scolded Ruby with glee as she tried to get away from me with her flashy movements despite what I had told her about them.
The whole time, Tai and Yang were watching from the sidelines, trying to cheer on Ruby and my daughter. Besides the more obvious observers, I noticed a dark bird with unusual red eyes sitting in the branches of the trees not too far away, watching with poorly disguised fascination at what was going on down on the ground.
My little torture session... ahem, I mean ‘training session’... with my daughters lasted for an hour or two until they were too exhausted to even lift up their weapons anymore. I told them to go rest up, and before they could get too excited to have their little slice of hell over and done with, I told them to be up bright and early the next morning to continue with their lessons.
All things considered, I went pretty easy on them. I only used minimal force instead of going all out. I didn’t want to actually hurt them, after all. Still, even minimal force was enough to make their muscles struggle to keep up with the assault. They did admirably, though. Much better than I had initially thought they would after having seen the disaster of Ruby fighting the wolves in the forest. Both of them were quick learners in their own right.
I accepted the steaming cup of tea from Tai and gave him a small smile as he went back in with his daughters to prepare dinner for today. I was thankful for his hospitality and gave him my promise to reimburse him quite handsomely once I had access to a portal back home. He was about to argue that it wasn’t necessary, but I gave him one of my patented stares that wasn’t of the magical variety in order to shut him up and tell him there would be no arguing against me.
So far, only Granny Smith of the Apple Family Clan has been able to tell me to ‘shove it’ with my attempts of giving her ‘unwanted donations’. One day, I swear... one day I will be successful with reimbursing her family for all they have done, as they deserve.
Now, then. How to address my little spy? Hmm. I know... “A little bird once told me the story of the infinite sky and Mother Earth,” I said while sensing the eyes of the 'supposed' bird on the back of my head. This is going to be enlightening if nothing else. Now, how did that tale go again? Ah, yes. I gently blew on my tea before I started speaking. “The traveling bird spoke of the wonders it saw in the sky but was confused to hear about what it missed on the ground. Mother Earth showed it what it missed by merely grounding the bird for a week. And in that week, the bird grew to love the honest way of life that it never learned to appreciate from up high in the sky. It learned to love the simplicity it knew of the open air and the complexity of life that Mother Earth opened its eyes to.”
“And what is this story supposed to teach?” the bird asked, but as I had suspected, it was not that what it appeared to be as it landed in front of me. “The sky is freedom, why would it not stay there?”
“Honesty,” I answered with a smile, drinking from the calming tea. I got you now, my little interloper. Do try to escape me now with Remorse in my reach. But first, let's see what they have to say for themselves... “In the sky, it never appreciated what life had to offer. It grew distant from it. Mother Earth showed it that life was something to be cherished and that living on the earth below meant that it couldn’t stay aloft of the troubles that life is constantly being challenged by. That by dishonesty, it would never reach its full potential. That it would never learn to love.”
“I fail to see how it learned to appreciate life by simply living on the ground for a week,” the bird shrugged and took the offered crumb of the cookie I had been contemplating whether or not to eat. But as my past self would undoubtedly say, sharing is what makes life worthwhile. “And certainly not how it would start to appreciate honesty more.”
“Perhaps you have a point there,” I shrugged. “I never understood birds, anyway. They swear too much for my taste.”
“That’s discriminatory against birds,” the little crow mentioned and I laughed gently.
“I suppose it is,” I nodded. “Then it is a good thing you are no bird.” I glared at it. The bird in front of me tilted its head, and, as I blinked, I was staring up into the reddish eyes of a scraggly man. He wore a white and gray dress shirt with a long tail and black dress pants. All in all, he looked like a gentleman, were it not for the way he held himself.
“How did you know?” he asked and I smiled secretively. “I’m pretty sure Tai hasn’t told you that I could turn into a crow, Summer. If that is your real name.”
“It is,” I told him. “Though, not in the sense that you think it to be. While I certainly am a Summer, I’m not your Summer. From the stories that I have heard so far, I’m afraid that that Rose has already wilted.”
The man in front of me grunted, giving me a displeased look himself. “I don’t appreciate people going around wearing the skin of my friends,” he said with a frown and I watched his fingers as they inched closer to the blade on his back. “What type of Grimm are you? Salem can’t have created something with a heart, so you must be different...”
“I am no Grimm if that is what you fear. Otherwise, I’m sure you would have already attacked me, Qrow,” I answered while going out on a limb and guessing that this was Ruby's uncle. Said man raised a brow at me doubtfully and I smiled in a disarming way. “And no, I am not a ‘body-snatcher’ or whatever nonsense you could come up with, either.”
“Then what are you? There is no way you can look like her and not be some kind of monster that lurks in the shadows,” Qrow growled. “Perhaps Oz would know, but I’m sure you won’t come with me without a fight. You think you might be clever with that sword of yours, but I assure you I'm better.”
I rose a brow at how brazenly he told me that. I suppose in a world that never had to worry about threats from the outside, one would never think it possible that there could be more. Not when you constantly had to worry about the threats on your very world, threatening you with extinction. “You wouldn’t need to fight me to have me come with you willingly. I kept my sword in reach as a precaution, I don't mean you no harm if you mean me no harm. And just to be perfectly clear here, you were spying on us.”
“No, I was keeping an eye on the pipsqueak. You weren't exactly going easy on her, you know?” Qrow corrected me and I rolled my eyes.
"That doesn't change the fact you were spying on us as a bird," I argued. "I wonder how you came by that ability."
"Not by killing a maiden, that's for sure," he said, giving me an accusatory stare. I stared blankly back at him. "Right, forget I said anything. If you are so willing to come with me, then I suppose you would also let me drag that Ruby clone of yours with you to Oz? You still haven't given me an answer. Is this some kind of genetic experiment by Salem? Is that witch trying to lull us into a false sense of security? Make us fight each other in paranoia?”
“I wouldn’t know,” I smiled thinly while keeping my eyelid from twitching in irritation. By my sun, he was starting to get on my nerves with his constant accusations. If he starts to threaten my daughter, I'm definitely going to lose control of myself and I can’t guarantee what would be left of him by the end of that. “I haven’t ever met this Salem you keep bringing up. And to be honest, she doesn’t sound like the best kind of company. Well, I suppose I know another witch that might become fast friends with her, but I’d rather see her dead than introduce her to a like-minded individual.”
“Uh-huh,” Qrow grumbled, rolling his eyes. “Sure you do. Lady, just tell me who you really are and who sent you. Then I sent your head back with a note telling them to fuck off.”
“Such uncouth language,” I remarked haughtily, smiling with disdain at him. “Are you sure you’re not related to birds? My pet phoenix would love you. Maybe you can make a little chick with her...”
“Shut your mouth, you little brat,” he growled, his red eyes glaring hotly into my silver ones. “Don’t talk down to me like you’re something better. You haven’t given me a reason to trust you yet, either, and you have the guts to belittle me? Something tells me you have a death wish.”
I snorted. “If only,” I lamented, watching his glare turn into a confused frown. It was fun teasing him while it lasted, I suppose. Serves him right for dragging my daughter into this. “You’re welcome to try and take my head, by all means. Try your luck and see where it gets you. I would prefer a peaceful solution instead of having a senseless fight with you, though. And you aren’t exactly making it easy for me to stay calm with your attitude. Could it be that you are drunk? You smell quite heavily of alcohol, dear.”
“Lady, I’m always drunk,” he grunted. He looked a bit miffed after I snidely called him ‘dear’. I suppose I could have been a bit kinder with him, but he was simply begging me to rile him up some more. It wasn’t like I had anything against him... far from it, even. Qrow already seemed like someone I would call family without hesitation and expect him to do everything in his power to defend his kin. Besides, he seemed to understand that this was only friendly-ish teasing, judging by the tiny smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. Whether or not he would start to see me and mine as an extension to his family remained to be seen, though. So far, he was rather cold and cautious and I couldn't blame him for it. I was being a 'brat' to him since he was being a dick to me. “If you really do prefer the peaceful solution, something I’m rather reluctant to believe with you, you wouldn’t mind handing me your weapon and coming to Oz with me? I'd rather hand you over to him and see what he decides to do with you and that Ruby clone of yours. Maybe you can be useful to us in some way.”
Sighing through my nose, I suppressed the angry retort that almost forced its way out of my mouth and gave my weapon a glance. Okay, maybe I was a bit too hasty into believing him to be a decent person, but then again, I was understanding enough of him to realize that he needed time to look past this clone nonsense. What I have to ask myself instead, though, was if I could trust him with my daughter? He seemed like he was the overprotective uncle in the family and wanted to get us as far away from them as he could, but my fears did not rest with him.
No. Qrow was the least of my problems. What I was more hesitant about was believing that Ozpin could be trusted with my weapon, my daughter, and myself. The knowledge I hold and what I and my daughter might represent to this world could change the very course of this world, and not always for the better. He could do any number of things with that knowledge and I feared he would see us as tools to use against this Salem, to be discarded as soon as we become a liability to him.
Him dragging Cadance and myself to an unknown person with who knows what intentions? “I would mind it very much,” I answered. “My daughter is very precious to me and I don’t appreciate you calling us ‘clones’, Qrow. Rest assured, we won’t be a threat to you and yours as long as you aren’t one to me and mine. Regarding Ozpin, though? That remains to be seen. I would like to meet him if only to learn about his type of magic and whether or not it could speed up the process of my daughter and I returning home. So, please, if it is at all possible, leave her out of it.”
“You know I can't do that," he told me, frowning (albeit reluctantly). "I have to make sure you're not a threat, and to do that, I can't leave you alone. I am willing to give you a little bit of trust if you can answer my question, brat. If you aren’t clones, what are you?” Qrow asked, giving me a stern look. I could tell he wanted to trust in my words, if only hesitantly. And as I peered into his eyes, I could see that he knew 'I' would do anything to protect those I considered family, too. I guess that's one thing we had in common.
“Ponies,” I answered with a simple smile.
He snorted and a tiny smile wormed its way onto his face. He stared doubtfully at the flask hidden in his pocket. “I’m pretty sure I’m not that drunk to have misheard you. Ponies? Are you for real? How come you look like my dead teammate, then?”
“Because I am her,” I told him with a shrug. “Not exactly her, I suppose, but I am Summer in the flesh and blood. Are you aware that your universe is just one in an infinite amount of other realities?”
“Other realities?” Qrow shot back, quirking a brow at me in disbelief. “C’mon, now I know you’re lying to me for certain. There is no way that can be true.”
“Believe it or not,” I shrugged. It was quite far-fetched to believe, wasn’t it? If your dead friend suddenly appeared on your doorstep, would you believe an explanation like that? In my past life, I don’t think I would have. I would have deluded myself into believing that I was granted a second chance. I never would have even considered that it was anything but that. “It is the truth, though. Nothing but the honest truth. I don’t wish your world harm, Qrow. I have... rather grown attached to it, as much as it pains me to admit that. Before meeting Ruby, I would have rather gone home and turned my back on this Tartarus cursed world. Now, though? I don't know. I want to help. I want to save this world from whoever this Salem is. I want to see the Grimm gone. Ruby shouldn't have to learn how to become a huntress because this world demands it of her and so many other people. It is not fair to any of you to live in constant fear. If I can do anything to help, I will.”
“Damn,” Qrow muttered, scratching his neck as more of his resolve began to falter. “You even sound like her. Massive hero complex you have got going for you there.”
“What can I say, I can’t help it,” I said, smiling slightly and he scoffed, the smile on his face finally starting to look genuine. “My bleeding heart doesn’t show itself as often these days, but I still try my best when I can. I owe it to my wife. To her, to Ruby, Cadance... you... Tai. All of you. My arrival here was an accident, but... I think that it might have been fate leading me here. I want to do what I can to make this place less dreary for you.”
“Either you really are what you claim to be, as crazy as that sounds, or you are an elaborate trap set out by Salem to catch Oz off-guard...” Qrow muttered.
"I really am not," I told him. "I might not be the most honest person out there, that title belongs to my wife, but... I am genuine. Do I look like I want to stab you in the back? Do you really take me for a monster like that?"
"I don't know," he grumbled, frowning. "Look, Lady. I'm a straight-forward guy that stabs the bad guys and that's it. I have bad luck trusting people. As soon as I turn my back to them..."—he rolls his hands, leaving out the words—" you get the idea. Tai, the pipsqueak, Yang... they are the only people I trust. I know they'll always have my back and I'll do the same for them. You, however? You come in here looking like that and telling me all these crazy things..."
"I understand," I said gently before giving him a hard stare. "But I am not crazy. I cannot prove it to you right now since I'm stuck here for the time being, but my reality is a stark contrast from this one. If you ever decide to trust me, I have much to show you. I like you, Qrow. You and your family. I really do. Let me help you. Forget about Ozpin and Salem and look me into my eyes. Do I look like I'm lying to you right now?"
Qrow did as I asked of him and he seemed to fight with himself for a moment as his internal struggle showed itself clearly on his face. “I... damn, I really want to believe you," he said, scratching at his jaw. "I have no idea what that wife thing is about, but I don’t think a clone could have come up with the alternate reality pony thing."
"That would be pretty crazy for anypony to claim, wouldn't it?" I asked with a tiny grin.
"Yeah..." he said, giving his flask a contemplative look. "Even for Salem, that would be an uncharacteristic move." He let out a sigh before taking a swig of whatever poison was contained in his hip flask. It couldn’t be as bad as Luna’s moonshine (I hope). His liver must look like her moon's craters, I'm sure.
Here’s a terrifying thought I never want to see become a reality: Qrow and Luna drinking her ‘famous’ moonshine until one of them passes out, half-dead. I certainly don't want to explain to Ruby how her uncle died of liver failure if that ever happens. One glass and he would be done for.
"Okay. You got me on that, I give it to you. You seem like a decent crazy person. Still a crazy person, though."
"Thanks," I rolled my eyes and he chuckled.
"Yeah, you definitely are 'a' Summer," he teased me with a smirk and I pouted. "But that leaves me with more questions than answers. You are similar enough to her, it's giving me flashbacks to the good ol' times. Just 'cause you are 'a' Summer, though, doesn't mean I can just ignore my instincts. I don't know you, I have no idea what you might be capable of, and I can't just let you run around without bringing you to Ozpin first. So tomorrow, we go to Beacon and have him take a look at you. If he thinks you're trustworthy, we can do the whole 'bonding' thing and go from there.”
“Fine. I guess Cadance can..." I started but he interrupted me.
"This 'Cadance' girl comes with us," he said and stopped me from arguing more. "I'd prefer not to fight with you if I don't have to. Just... make sure she behaves. If she is another Ruby, I don't want two of them causing chaos here while we're gone."
Ugh, he had a point there. I'd rather keep Cadance near me in case things do go sour with this Ozpin. Still, if we're both going, I want to set the rules of this meeting. "Alright, but your weapon stays here,” I told him and he was about to argue with me. I gave him a warning glare and stood up. It really was a bit nerve-wracking to be so short when I usually tower above everypony with Luna and Liz. “They will stay here, Qrow. No arguments, no hidden weapons, nothing. Same thing for Ozpin. If he even thinks about doing something, I'll tear you apart.”
“If you insist,” Qrow grunted. “If we are doing it this way, though, I want to hold you to the same condition. That way you can’t cause any harm, either, you little brat.”
I smiled mischievously, amused that he would think I would pose less of a threat without my blade. While I would like my weapon at hand for a possible fight only for the reason that I have no access to an overwhelmingly large mana pool (and because it is easier to fight with a sword while in human form), I am far from harmless. I might be the most deadly being on this planet, even. I had no idea how powerful this Salem was (or even Ozpin), but I was reasonably sure that, if anything, we would be evenly matched.
Okay, maybe I was a bit petty about this and didn’t like the idea of being a bit powerless while in this reality that I let my ego get the better of me. That didn’t mean there wasn’t some truth to it, though. I am incredibly powerful... just not here. And to be honest? I didn’t like it. I liked to know I could deal with (mostly) anything without much effort (if at all) and having to rely on my sword for a much-needed power boost to even heal myself didn’t sit right with me.
As much as ponies love the peaceful lifestyle my sisters and I have worked so hard to establish in our early reign, sometimes it just made them feel safer knowing that we could literally call down the fury of the suns on our enemies if we really needed to. I’m glad the need for it has not risen up as of yet, but one never knows. Lulu, Liz, and I generally preached for peace, but we weren’t so naïve to think that that was only possible because we're... ugh... 'goddesses'.
At some point, I swear... at some point, I will be successful in eradicating that ridiculous notion out of the mindset of our ponies and sleep easily. For goodness’ sake, our ponies even swear on our names, nowadays. On our names! I mean... I have jokingly sworn on my own name in the presence of those that thought I didn't hear them and hopefully get them to stop by admitting I knew what they did, but... ugh... it’s just so frustrating to deal with.
I’m glad none of them have established a church in our name yet, but it probably wouldn’t be too long before even that started... there might the possibility that the upcoming fight with Platinum will make them think we actually are goddesses and start worshipping us with a dedicated religion. If they haven’t already started doing that in secret, that is.
Although... if we are fortunate enough to be graced by the presence of the Elements of Harmony again, I might just... divert all of the attention to them, instead. It might be a little bit cruel to put them in the spotlight like that, but... I don't give a flying penguin, I don't want no part in it.
Ugh, this is such a hassle to even think about. I was driving myself crazy with ‘What if’s’ again, wasn’t I?
I... what am I going to do? I don’t want to be friggin’ worshipped, that would just... go completely against everything that I believe in. Gods... well, they do exist, I suppose, but... am I a goddess? I can’t just... accept that, right? In my mind, a god is perfect and can do no wrong. I think. Probably.
Can gods do wrong? I mean, I always thought that God (the one the humans on Earth worshipped) was pretty flawed for doing all the things that were depicted in the Bible. So... does that change anything for me? For over a thousand years, I clung to this belief so that I wouldn’t see myself as something that I felt like I’m not. But... what if I have been wrong about that?
I always try to set a good example for my little ponies, to not let myself become too aloof of life and the struggles mortals have to go through. Immortals, too, I guess. Admitting to myself that I might be a goddess? That would be anything but setting an example to my little ponies, right? By doing that, I would start to put myself on a pedestal, and then what? Would I start to rationalize things that aren’t good by stating I’m a goddess and can do no wrong? I don’t want that.
Heck, I never even wanted immortality in the first place, but over time, I started to accept that I would just... live longer. Watch ponies die while I live on. Grieve each and every pony that managed to get close to me... mourn every loss of life, be it due to old age or during the few wars I had to go through... weep for every foal that didn't survive the sickness and hunger following those... I can’t let the possibility of me being a goddess change that. I can’t let my ponies start to see me like that for fear of what it might do to me.
The simple fact of the matter was that it was most likely true, even if I didn't want to admit it. No ordinary mortal, or even immortal, can do the things my sisters and I can do. Or Liz. Or Cadance, once she grows into her powers.
We were goddesses. No denying that, I suppose. Hope and her siblings had basically told us that, hadn’t she mentioned something along the lines of our purpose being almost god-like? That we were higher beings because we were alicorns? What else is a higher being but another way to say divine entity?
But we also are regular ponies, with our own wants and beliefs. We can make mistakes, that much we have proven time after time. That was good, though. It kept us from becoming something we are not. And I wouldn’t ever let anypony change that about us. I might continue to run away from the truth because admitting it will inevitably change me. In which way I couldn’t say for certain, but I won’t risk it being for the worst.
Sometimes, I wish I could stop philosophizing about things like this. It always made me question things in the worst ways possible. Luna would say that I’m being an idiot about it and was overthinking it too much, which I suppose I was doing right now, wasn’t I?
Was I... doubting everything needlessly again? Doubting myself like I had in my youth? I wish I could visit Yu’lon and ask for some much-needed advice, even though I’m pretty sure I knew what she would say. After all, I have been helping others through their own doubts myself for longer than I care to admit.
Was I doubting my ability to keep myself grounded if I admitted to myself that I am indeed a goddess and that there was nothing wrong with seeing myself like that? I mean, I still think it would be a bit pretentious of me to call myself a goddess and that is kind of wrong.
What to do, what to do. What to do, indeed. A question I often ask myself and I never truly know the best answer to it, I could only do my best to work towards the most favorable outcome.
So... I chose the best possible answer for my little dilemma.
I am me.
I am me, and that would hopefully never change. I make mistakes like any other pony, I might be a goddess, and I am a regular pony with her own wants and needs. With beliefs that might be flawed here and there, with choices to make that might not always be the best ones, and with a family to protect no matter what.
And I am a mother that has to teach her daughter to not make the same mistakes I have done.
It was a bit relieving, reassuring myself that I wouldn’t let the knowledge of being a goddess corrupt me. That I would always do my best to keep my family safe. That I would do my best to bring Tia back and erase that monster that stole her away from me without hesitating. Only twenty or so years left for me to wait, and I would finally be able to hold my sister in my hooves again.
Twenty years... that’s a really short time to wait compared to the last nine-hundred-and-eighty. It’s a really short time to find the next bearers of the Elements of Harmony, isn’t it? No need to panic just yet, they might still get born in time for Platinum’s return.
Oh, who am I kidding? I have next to no hope of that happening. Two meager decades would mean that they would be barely old enough to go about life on their own. Would it be fair of me to send them into danger? To let them confront Platinum and hope they won’t immediately die?
Because they would, wouldn’t they? Platinum isn’t that stupid to just let them waltz up to her and use the Elements on her again. She would do her utmost to prevent them from even getting them if they haven’t been reclaimed by the point of her return. I can’t send what basically amounts to little foals out there in order to fight against a monster like her. They wouldn’t even stand a chance against her.
Maybe it was time to actually panic, then. If I am unsuccessful in dealing with Platinum and she kills me without me killing her in turn, Equestria will be doomed. By my sun, I really need that moonshine to keep myself from going into hysterics. I’m such a worry-wart. Can’t I for once stop thinking like this?! What the flying penguin is wrong with me?!
Celestia’s life rests in the hooves of foals, that is what is wrong.
But... what if? What if those ‘foals’ are actually able to do what I couldn’t? The prophecy states that only the touch of true harmony will end the nightmare. A harmony I couldn’t ever achieve on my own.
And that was the crux of the matter, wasn’t it? I am not alone. I have my Moon, I have my sucubus bug, and I have my daughter. Together, we could keep those new bearers safe, couldn’t we? If Platinum was distracted by three serious threats, would she even recognize the true threat to her existence? If she never suspected other ponies to wield the Elements of Harmony (something that might very well be a likely possibility since she has only ever seen me use them), she wouldn’t expect other ponies to wield them.
Those ponies would prove to be her downfall, I'm sure of it. She thought herself safe, didn’t she? She even admitted as much to Luna and me in the dream realm. Platinum thinks we can’t purge her from Tia because the Elements sent her to the moon and why would they work differently the second time?
That was the definition of madness. Doing the same thing and expecting a different result. But I knew. I knew because of that damnable prophecy it would work differently. In the strict sense, they wouldn’t do the 'same' thing again for one reason alone.
The first time I used the Elements of Harmony against Platinum, I used them in the wrong way. I didn’t use them in true harmony at all. Platinum couldn’t possibly know that fact, and there was no way she would know it when she returns from the moon. She would think that, if she fails, she would get another chance in another thousand years. So on and so forth.
But this wasn't a fated battle of evil and good, always repeating itself until the end of time. No. Thinking like that, she would think wrong. It would prove to be her biggest mistake and my greatest triumph over her. Perhaps me using them in the wrong way the first time around was the right thing to do. It wasn’t the 'best' thing to do, but it also hadn’t been the worst thing. If I had done nothing, that would have been the worst thing to do. And if I had killed Platinum as soon as we met her, that would have been the best thing to do.
In hindsight, it was a painful lesson to learn. To know that one little mistake has cost me so much... it was utter agony. In the end, it was my mistake and Tia had to pay the price for it. I could only hope she would forgive me for being so foolish to believe Platinum could have ever changed for the better.
Maybe I will earn that forgiveness one day, but for now... I knew what I should do. I had the perfect plan to deal with Platinum, one that she would never see coming, and I had contingencies if it failed. It all depends on the execution of my plan and I would be damned to not give it my best to buy the new Elements enough time to deal with Platinum while she will be distracted by Luna, Liz, myself, and (maybe) Cadance.
And if despite all of that, we still manage to fail and each and every fail-safe proves to be a failure... I would make sure our world at least recovers from the loss of losing its strongest guardians. I’m sure that our honorary sister in the alternative Equestria would gladly accept the refugees coming over from the fallout of Platinum somehow winning against us. I knew she would take good care of my little ponies if it is the last thing she does. As long as the Nightmare Moon in her reality doesn’t also win, that is.
I stared into the almost empty cup, frowning at my reflection. That would be another possibility that I would have to consider. I prayed for it to not be so, begging the universe... no, the multiverse... that that wouldn’t happen. As much as fate has taken from me and Luna, it couldn’t keep on taking. I wouldn’t let it keep on taking what is mine. And I would reclaim what is mine and never let it go, that I swore with a vengeance.
“So... you gonna stare into that cup for the rest of the evening or what?” Qrow’s voice startled me out of my ruminations and I looked up to see him give me an almost (but not quite) indifferent stare. Say what you want about him, but he's a big softie at heart, isn't he? Kinda reminds me of Nightmare. “I mean, you can stay out here in the cold all you want, but I’m going to get myself some food where it is warm.”
“Right...” I whispered before giving my reflection in the teacup one last glance. Enough moping, I told myself and drank the last bit of tea in one gulp. Might as well stop thinking so much about this and concentrate on the here and now. Perhaps that's something I should do more often seeing that I tend to worry overly much about things that have yet to happen (or will never happen as Liz likes to point out). Besides, I have a plan now, something that I have desperately agonized over for the past thousand years, so it was high time I concentrated more on the present time instead of 'what ifs'. “Something to eat sounds positively marvelous right now...”
“Yeah, well... don’t expect too much out of Tai’s cooking,” Qrow grunted, taking another swig from his flask which reeked of alcohol even from where I had been sitting. Perhaps I should ask him for some of that if I'm going to be stuck here for a while. Not that I was particularly keen on feeling the consequences of that the next day, I wasn't particularly keen on dealing with my emotions and troubles right now, either.
I stretched out my limbs with a sigh, causing a few of them to pop satisfyingly while also getting rid of the numbness after having sat there for so long. “Don’t worry, I’m sure his cooking won’t kill me. Not permanently, at least.”
“Right...” Qrow muttered, walking past me to the entrance of the blocky home of the Xiao Long-Rose household. I was mildly surprised that he could walk straight for someone that claimed to always be drunk. Or that he speaks this coherently, I guess.
The rest of the evening was... interesting. After the lovely home-cooked meal that Tai prepared (with a little bit of help from his daughters), Qrow and Yang were practically glued to the television playing games while Tai showed Cadance and me to the guest bedroom. Both Ruby and Cadance were happy to get an early night’s sleep after the exertion they went through earlier this day.
I don’t blame my daughter for giving me a pouty glare before succumbing to sleep in her bed as I left her alone and went back down to the living room, quietly sitting down on the couch next to Yang and her uncle as the blonde tried her utmost to win in the battle they were focused on. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of fighting games, I could appreciate the skill they were showing off with their controllers that also were their scrolls. Go figure, the greatest piece of technology this world possessed also served as every imaginable input and output device.
Once the time arrived for the sun to set over the horizon, I quietly excused myself from their match and grabbed my cloak while leaving the cozy warmth of the Xiao Long-Rose household to go watch the sunset in this world.
It was... slightly weird, seeing a sunset that wasn’t of my own doing. Or seeing the broken moon in the sky, for that matter. Luna would have had a field day, seeing the sheer horrific sight of Remnant’s moon. Heck, 'I' was having a field day, trying not to drown in soul-crushing despair at seeing what had become of this world’s moon.
How? Just how did that happen? What sort of apocalyptic event must have caused it? Nothing short of a massive asteroid could have caused it, but then again... could it? It was so utterly broken, nothing could have caused it to splinter like that. Nothing that was natural, that is.
Heck, the only thing that I could think of that could do that was god-tier magic. But to do that, one would need an absurd amount of mana. An amount that my wives and I could bring to bear if we really put an effort into it. The added ‘weight’ of having to raise Tia’s sun in addition to mine had only furthered my arcane might, slowly honing my control over my magic to an even sharper edge. While yes, it was incredibly taxing at first, it had started to become less of a burden the longer Luna and I had done this.
So... that begged the question... what, or rather, who did this? I kinda had the feeling that Ozpin knows the answer to that. If the headmaster of one of the most prestigious combat academies was truly a wizard like Tai had claimed, then surely he had at least an idea about what could have shattered the moon like that.
But... if I were honest with myself? I could probably make a close guess as to what kind of being was behind this. Only a higher being could possess that much energy, that much raw and unadulterated power, to break a moon apart in a fit of rage.
I doubt the being that cracked open the moon like an egg would have done this on a mere whim. If that were the case, they were incredibly petty and honestly didn’t deserve the power they could bring to bear. Such a reckless display of force was beyond stupid and endangered the very life on this planet needlessly. Life struggled to survive on this suns forsaken hunk of rock as it is, it was irresponsible of any higher being to put it at risk like that.
The crunching of the snow behind me brought me out of my musings and I turned around to see Taiyang leaning against a tree not too far away from me. He gave me a small smile, silently asking me if he could join me in my stargazing. I felt my face heat up unbidden at the soft and kind eyes that I hadn’t seen in an eternity, cursing the fact that my body wanted nothing more than to snuggle up to him. It was frustrating me to no end, but in the end, I gave him permission to sit down next to me with a tiny nod. Flying penguins...
“Aren’t you cold?” he asked me despite the fact that he wore something that I would expect someone to wear in the summer months. Maybe he was just... more resilient than I gave him credit for. Cath hadn’t been that much of a fan of wearing winter clothes, either. Then again, she never got cold, anyway. She basically was like a furnace since she worked out a lot.
Oh, how I miss you, Tia...
“Yes,” I answered, feeling strangely giddy at the fact that I felt cold of all things. “It has been such a long time now that I have been unable to really feel it...”
“Why is that?” Tai asked, looking at me from the corner of his eye. For a moment, a ghostly figure of Catherine replaced his appearance and I fidgeted uncomfortably. I have to get these thoughts out of my head before I do something I would later regret.
“Something to do with my eternal duty,” I whispered back, staring stubbornly up at the stars and the shattered moon. “What happened to the moon?”
“No one knows,” he answered, looking up at the broken watcher in the sky. “Legend has it that the Brother Gods did it as punishment for something the people of old did in the past. Maybe Oz knows, but getting answers out of him might be a futile effort. He isn't very forthcoming about his knowledge of the past.”
“This Ozpin sounds more and more like a man I wouldn’t trust as far as I could throw him,” I said, getting Tai to laugh for a moment. He shook his head with a humorless chuckle and I raised an inquisitive eyebrow at him.
He gave me a little sad smile as he gazed at me with those haunted eyes that I couldn’t help but feel bad at. While it wasn’t me that caused such a change in his demeanor, I still felt responsible on some small level. My counterpart’s death... he must have never truly recovered from it. “Those were her words as well, you know...”
“They were?” I asked.
“Yes...” he said, gazing back up at the moon with me. “But Summer still did what he asked of her. She couldn’t sit idly by while the rest of the world suffered, and if following Ozpin’s orders managed to bring only the slightest amount of light back into the world, she would follow them to the letter.”
“I...” I sighed, worrying my lip slightly. That does sound like me, minus the ‘follow orders’ part. But I suppose that was only because I was used to giving the orders, instead. “I’m so sorry that she died, Tai...”
Taiyang gave me a soft smile in appreciation for my condolences, throwing an arm around my shoulder in a hug. “It’s okay, it’s been... a long time, now. I’m going to be okay, don’t worry.”
I hid my burning bright red face from him underneath my hood as I guiltily enjoyed being held by him. My body just couldn’t help but seek the small little bit of comfort from the gesture that I had been longing for. A comfort from Tia that I hadn’t had for over nine hundred years now, it was sort of easy to shut that complaining part within me up that nagged on that this wasn’t Tia.
“You know, you never answered my question.”
“Which one?” I asked back, confused at the sudden change in topic.
“What’s it like as a female?”
My thoughts screeched to a halt as he brought that up again. I wanted to groan and curse at my daughter for letting the fact that I had been male once upon a time slip, but the only thing I did was to sigh grumpily.
“You really want to know, huh?” I mumbled, feeling him nod in response to that. Well, might as well talk about something I never really talked about with anypony before, huh? “Just so you know, human females and pony females are very different.”
“If that is the case, then what’s it like as a pony?” Tai asked, chuckling slightly with mirth. I could tell that he thought the idea of me being a pony was still a bit ridiculous to him.
How do I even explain what it is like as a pony? I never even thought about it that much, to be honest. Why would I? “Like... I don’t know. Being a pony, I guess.”
“Smooth explanation,” Tai said and I could tell he just rolled his eyes at me.
“Oh, yeah, then how would you explain being a human to somepony, huh?” I shot back, pouting sulkily. “It’s the same thing. Do you ever think what it is like as a naked ape?”
“Naked ape?” he asked, chuckling. I felt my face heat up in embarrassment, not at all liking the fact how easily he managed to rile me up. I was more than a thousand years old, I shouldn’t be reduced to this blabbering pile of... whatever. I was behaving like a little filly around him and I didn’t like it one bit.
“It’s something we started to say in our youth...” I told him, fidgeting with the hem of my skirt. It was a silly thing and admitting it to Tai that we came up with such a degrading thing in the first place made me feel bad. How do you even explain to somepony that you only started saying something like that because you wanted to forget the majority of your last life solely based on the fact that you started hating your past self for having been ignorant of your gender dysphoria?
I hummed. “To get back to your question, what do you think it would be like as a pony? Because ultimately, I can never give you an answer that would give it enough justice."
"Good question..." he pondered, stumped.
"Yeah," I said faintly. "But... I suppose if you want to know the difference between humans and ponies, I would say that we ponies are as diverse as humans. We might have better stamina, strength, and speed, but sometimes I wonder whether or not humans don’t have it better. Humanity just has this... drive that we ponies lack. You created such wondrous things allowing you to do so many things we never thought of, and while some of us are blessed with the ability to fly, you created ways even around that. That is a very admirable thing, so much so that I am even a bit envious that my subjects aren’t such great inventors.”
“Fly? I suppose that would be great,” Tai commented, sounding thoughtful. “If I ever get reincarnated, I think it would be pretty nice to be a pony in that case.”
“I mean... there is so much more to being a pony than that,” I said, hesitating a bit before I turned my head around just enough to look him into his eyes. “But... I could show you if you want. When we get that portal working, that is.”
“It’s... Summer, you don’t have to show me your world because you feel bad about me,” Tai replied as he looked away from me. My heart ached as he tried to hide his depressed eyes from me. “Besides, I have a life here, daughters to look after, and... I dunno, keep Qrow from drinking too much.”
“You could come live with me?” I proposed. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing and I think the hormones running rampant within my body played a big part in that decision, but... would it be such a bad idea? Ruby could live a peaceful life in Equestria, she wouldn’t need to become a huntress and risk her life...
Could I ask them to really leave behind their lives here? To give up their human bodies forever? And... was I only giving him this proposition because of who he is?
“Summer...” Tai sighed, smiling ruefully down at me. “I can’t make that decision and you know why. I can’t replace her with you and I’m sure you wouldn’t want that, either. All that that would accomplish would be to make our lives needlessly miserable.”
Right... that. “I suppose so,” I muttered, looking back up at the stars as they twinkled serenely above us, uncaring as to what was happening down here on Remnant. “It would be too much to ask to abandon this world when it needs all the defenders it can get, right? I... I understand. Sorry I asked.”
“It was a thoughtful offer,” Tai said, giving me a squeeze. “So much so that I considered it for a moment. I would feel guilty, though. Getting to live a peaceful life in a magical pony land while the rest of humanity has to live in constant fear of the Creatures of Grimm..."—he sighed—" As much as I would love to know that my daughters would be safe and wouldn’t have to follow in our footsteps, I know they could never abandon Remnant like that.”
“I guess the rest of humanity needs people like Ruby, huh? People that try their best to make the world a better place,” I said, thinking about one particular pony that was also just like that. What would Starswirl think of this world, if he could see it? What would he do, for that matter?
Probably implore me to help them to the best of my abilities... but was that even possible? Saving this world?
I already thought it was a lost cause, didn’t I? It seemed so hopeless, I don’t think even Hope could have found a spark of hope in this world. But maybe that was what this world needed. A little spark of hope that could turn the tide in their favor. And maybe... just maybe... Ruby could become that spark.
She was like Cadance in that regard. I could see a great destiny awaiting her, and unlike others, I could see her changing the world for the better. It was very rare that a single pony (or person) could change history so drastically, but when I think of Ruby? I could see her become a person like that.
“So... being a female?” Tai asked, poking my side with a finger. I suppressed the giggle that wanted to escape my throat as he found a particularly ticklish spot and thought of what I should say to him.
How do you describe to somepony the difference of sensations that you would get as the opposite sex? I mean, if I really wanted to, I could cast the sex transformation spell on him and let him experience the more... ahem, 'carnal' side of having female parts (by himself... I won’t get intimate with him just because my body voiced its desires for that). That would deplete most of the mana stored in my blade, though.
Hmm. I suppose for now he will have to content himself with my description of it. Who knows what I'm going to need that mana reservoir for in the near future. I couldn’t just use it for frivolous purposes. If I have to use that mana, it has to be for something meaningful.
“I... hmm...” I hummed, having to think for a moment. This was more difficult to put into words than I initially thought. “It’s different, in the sense that you don’t have something hanging out from you? I... why does this have to be so hard to explain?! Okay, let’s make this really simple. Instead of having the sword, you have the sheath? No, that sounds too lewd...”
“Yeah...”
“Okay, let’s see here...” I said, noting that my hands were all sweaty again. Why was I so nervous trying to explain this?! Okay... Summer, there is only one way to go. Channel your inner Tia and Liz. “Imagine the clitoris feeling sorta kinda like the glans of your penis and that instead of the swelling feeling of your shaft when you get aroused, the vulva gets... excited... and you start to get wet, I suppose? Feeling needy is the best description I could give you and then there is the desire of wanting something to stuff you full... I... well... that’s what I always feel when I’m with my wives during estrus, at least. I uh... I’m not really doing this any justice, am I? There is a lot more to this than I could accurately put into words. I’m sorry, Tai.”
“I think I get the idea... as weird as that sounds...” Tai replied. I let out an awkward hum, rubbing my eyelids with a few fingers tiredly. “So... that’s the part of the sex covered, what about personality-wise?”
“Personality-wise?” I repeated, blinking. “I mean, yeah, there is the whole hormone thing that personally affects me mostly in the way that I tend to get more emotional, but that’s it for the most part. Personality-wise, everypony (or person) is unique in their own way. I already was a friendly and gentle person before my rebirth, so it’s not like my personality changed that much. I might have become overly gentle and kind with my rebirth, but my temper also tends to get more out of hoof. It’s like... I don’t know. I can only talk for myself in that regard, but I guess I tend to let my emotions affect me more easily if I’m not careful. Some of that has caused a few... uh... difficult situations where I did something that I didn’t want to do, but I don’t think that that is something that was caused by my change from male to female.”
“Sounds... interesting,” Tai said. “I guess that someone doesn’t really change all that much just because they have a different body than before.”
“Yeah...” I agreed, letting out a yawn. “I think while that is mostly true for the majority of ponies or people, some do like to distance themselves from their previous selves to differentiate themselves more. The thing is, I never realized I had been trans in my previous life, and when I suddenly found myself in the womb of my mother, I was happy that I got the chance to start over.”
“It must be hard for those that never get that chance,” Tai commented and I nodded sadly in agreement. “I can’t imagine what it must be like. To hate your body for being wrong...”
“I can...” I sighed. “But that's the thing. It's different for everypony and some are okay with it. It depends on what you are comfortable with. There are some that are entirely fine with socially being perceived as the gender they identify with while others like me... I don’t like the feeling of having a penis between my legs, it rubs me the wrong way. I even made a spell to help with that. It's not a complete fix, but it's a start.
"In our society, transgender ponies can try out many things to find the way they are most comfortable living with. It's still a steep journey to go all the way, but most ponies are encouraged to explore themselves with temporary spells before committing themselves to it. Some even prefer to walk the line in between or even completely outside the box.
"Living a happy life is heavily supported by the crown. Any psychological aid or medical health care is a basic right anypony should have access to, and I'm glad to say my ponies have come to celebrate that freedom over the last couple centuries.
"It took a lot of work on my part, but I did it. Equestria is a fine example of what acceptance can represent. It might be limited to my nation for now, but... I hope to see more of it some day. There's a lot more I have to work towards to make my nation a true paradise, sure, but it's a start. The nobles keep being a roadblock for the littlest things, I tell you. It's not even funny."
Tai gave me a stunned look, disbelief clouding his expression. “You made a spell? For that..?” he asked, amusement heavy in his voice. “Why am I even surprised by that? How did you even come up with that kind of spell?”
“I, uh...” I mumbled, blushing heavily. “Well, this is awkward...”
“Why?”
“You know that I reincarnated with my wife, right? And her sister?”
“Yeah...” Tai said, slowly tensing up. “Summer... what are you getting at?”
“I... might have left out that my wife is... my twin now?” I giggled nervously while rubbing my arm awkwardly. He is going to think I’m a degenerate now, won’t he?
“...” Tai said nothing and just breathed in deeply through his nose for a moment, before letting his breath out in one go. “Sure. Why not. Why. The fuck. Not.”
“Tai...” I said and he chuckled at me before he started to laugh in earnest. I was a bit confused as to what I should do, seeing him practically lose it.
“You know what? I don’t care! And you know why?” Tai chuckled, grinning brightly. His eyes didn’t look crazed or had that depressed look that they had before. If anything, his smile actually reached his eyes without a hint of pain in them. “I would have done the same, in your position. If I ever get reincarnated to a place where I’m with my Summer again? I wouldn’t care if she is my sister. I wouldn’t care if I would have to be her twin, be female, or whatever... I would be happy to have her back and that’s the only thing that would matter to me. So... I’m happy for you, Summer. That you didn’t have to live your life miserably alone, thinking you would never see your wife again.”
“Tai...” I whispered, not knowing what to say. What do you even say in response to that? Thank you? Wouldn’t that be rubbing it in, though? I could see it in his eyes, the desire to see his wife again, and... I got an uneasy feeling in my gut.
Did I just plant the idea into his head that he could see his wife in the next life again? That's exactly what I didn't want to do. Oh, flying penguins... have I just given him the excuse to fight more recklessly? Something that could very well cost him his life at some point? All so that he can be reborn? I didn’t want to give him that false hope, but... could I take it away from him? He desperately clung to this small spark and it brought that light back into his eyes that had been lacking.
Ugh. Was I cruel by letting him believe that? Or should I intervene as long as I still could? What do I do?!
Fuck. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that it was an abysmally small chance for it to happen to him, too. I can't tell him it's not going to happen because... I have seen it happen, time after time. With my sisters and I, with my daughter (even though that was by no small fault of mine), and with alternate versions of me. It was possible. It does happen, again and again.
It is very much possible, but also not something that's going to happen for certain. I couldn’t tell him if that wish would be granted, but I could let him live with that hope that he will see his wife again someday.
And I truly hope he will. He deserves it, even though my heart longed for him to view me like that. But I couldn't be that selfish. I was only feeling like that because I wanted my Celestia back. I desperately hoped to hold her in my arms again, to be held by her, that I was projecting these feelings onto him.
I have been hoping a lot these last few years, haven’t I? Once upon a time, I thought I had lost that ability. It was nice, having hope again. Hope for the future. Hope for the best in somepony. Hope for a wish to come true. Hope to be loved again by my Sunshine.
“Let’s go back inside,” Tai whispered before he stood up with a stretch. “It’s late and I think you need the sleep more than I do, Summer.”
I gave him a nod, smiling shyly as he offered me his hand to help me up. I guess it couldn't hurt to pretend for a little while, at least. Right?
I’m pretty sure Lulu won’t think too badly of me for allowing myself to fantasize a little bit about him. And if Tia were here with me, she would have already given him the bedroom eyes, as weird as it would be.
Now that I think about it, I should probably keep her far away from her alternate self once we have purged Platinum from her. Things would happen, I’m sure of it.
That night, after I quietly sneaked into the guest bedroom to avoid waking up Cadance, I struggled with falling asleep. Everything that happened that day... it was just too much to take in. There was just too much information floating around in my head for me to find any sleep at all. It felt like a whole year passed within the timeframe of a single day.
I suppose worlds of conflict had that effect on me. Azeroth had been no better in that regard, I distinctly remember my struggles there with a frown on my face. That was the first time I had to come to grips with a lot of things, most of them being the horrors of warfare. Remnant had me struggling with the sheer despair of a doomed world and my inability to change it. In the end, nothing short of purging this entire planet of all darkness could save it.
My mind wandered back to the vision I had seen in the Realm of Ascension a thousand years ago, burned into my mind like an after-image. To purge a world...
If a portal to Equestria opens and I was able to connect to my sun again, I could do something like that (as muddy as the connection would be, I suppose). But... I would never do something like that with the innocent people still living on this planet. Doing something like that would make me no better than the being (or beings) that had splintered the moon of Remnant. It would make me no better than Platinum.
The people of Remnant are barely living as it is, walled up in their four little kingdoms like livestock. This was a miserable existence and I wish I could do something that would give them a better chance to live a peaceful life. To not constantly have to live behind walls like prisoners in their own damn world. To be able to explore the wonders hidden by an untouched world (well, mostly untouched).
This world in which only the strongest and fittest could survive, was a prison.
A prison without escape.
A prison without happiness.
A prison that would inevitably become a mass grave.
If nopony does something, that is. I have two options to choose from here, don't I? Either I do something or I don’t. I already told Qrow I would help, but the question remained of how to do that. What do I do about the plight of Remnant’s people?
That's a difficult question, isn't it? What could a single pony do that an entire world’s population couldn’t? Well, I had some ideas, at least.
Firstly, I could help Remnant by giving them a new place to live in. An option that sounds good on paper, but was next to impossible to accomplish in reality. Not without major complications, that is. Another idea I had was to help Remnant by giving them a savior to bring about a lasting age of peace and harmony. Someone like Ruby, a person that saw even the faintest glimmer of hope as a roaring fire in a place that had lost the very sight of it. If I decide to go with the first option, it would no doubt lead to Equestria seeing a massive rise in population. A population that had no idea what to do with their bodies while they tried to adjust to an entirely new world.
The thought of bringing Tai, Ruby, and Yang to Equestria just didn’t leave me alone and I knew Tai would never consider doing this if the rest of humanity would be left behind. So, either I bring the rest of humanity back with me to my world... or I give Remnant a champion that would stand against the looming darkness and have them come out on top.
I had already decided I would make Ruby the best-trained huntress that ever lived... and despite my selfish desire to spare Ruby her fate, I'm going to make sure she becomes the person that Remnant so desperately needs. Equestria couldn’t take in hundreds of millions of people on a mere whim and my heart cried tears of despair because of that. Not only would it make both of our worlds miserable, but it would also endanger the people of Remnant to the return of Platinum. I could never go with the first option, as much as it pains me. I could never take Ruby back with me to Equestria and doom Remnant in turn.
So, I would make her my champion in this world.
I would teach her everything she needs to know in as little time as possible. Forge her into a righteous weapon to be wielded against the Grimm and every person that dares to threaten the safety of Remnant’s population. I would make her an unstoppable force. And I would have to live with that decision. I would have to live with the knowledge that I was turning Ruby into a tool to be used by humanity for the sake of their survival.
And I would hate myself for doing that to her.
Ruby doesn’t deserve this fate. My daughter doesn’t deserve to live in a world threatened by unimaginable darkness. My sweet little petal does not deserve to be turned into a tool.
It felt like ice was running through my veins as I got up from my bed. I stared numbly at my daughter, sleeping soundly next to me. Was I... was I a monster? Which option was truly the best one to take? Cadance, too, would at some point have to defend Equestria against a darkness that hasn’t been seen in over a thousand years.
I spoiled my subjects with peace, didn’t I? I worked so tirelessly with Lulu and Liz to grant them a place to live in that was safe, a place without any sort of conflict... I never thought what would happen if they came to see peace as something that was to be taken for granted. I suppose... I suppose my bleeding heart never once left me, did it? It was always there, trying its best to make me change the world into a better place. To change Remnant into a better place, too, I guess.
I wish I could turn back time and tell Cadance to not make the decision to become a princess. To spare her the destiny fate has set out for her. And the same was true for Ruby, as well. I wish I could just... snap my fingers and make their lives become miraculously better. Alas, that was a power I did not possess.
A strange sense of déjà-vu went over me as I stared at my hands. Out of wishful thinking, I snapped my fingers, not expecting anything to happen but still hoping something would. I've done this exact same thing before, haven't I? Back on Azeroth, I snapped my fingers, and yet, nothing came from it. Here I was again, expecting the impossible, hoping beyond hope to make a wish come true by merely snapping these weird, thin appendages.
They looked almost noodle-like, didn't they? I couldn’t help but snort at that thought. It was a silly thought, wasn’t it? Perhaps I need to stop thinking such dark thoughts and lighten up.
By my sun, I really need to stop doing that. I have to stop being so hopeless and pessimistic. My daughter was right, I have become way too serious and strict.
I let out a long sigh and gave the clock a glance, wincing at the displayed time. “You stupid old hag,” I whispered to myself, berating myself for having stayed up the whole night worrying over everything there was again. This has to stop, fast. I couldn’t continue on like this, always overthinking things.
How often have I told myself that exact same thing, I wonder? Way too often, I suppose. Way too often.
“This is going to be the last time,” I promised to myself, also feeling like I have told myself that way too often by now. This exact promise has been a constant companion that always went ignored in the end. But that's the thing. I couldn’t help myself, I was always worried. No wonder, considering all the problems I usually have to deal with. But this time is going to be different. No more empty promises, I decided. This time, I'm going to do something. Why hope for a miracle when you can do something yourself?
It was finally time to pony up and act. The time to worry has passed, now it is time to do things in order to put these worries behind me. Azeroth failed to break me and the same would be true for Remnant. And once the time has come, I'm going to make sure that the same would be the case for Equestria, too. Equis is my world and I won’t let my own nation become the thing that breaks me. Platinum will be dealt with and that's a promise. A promise I intended to keep even if it costs me my life.
But that's not going to happen, is it? I'm going to survive that damn promise. There would be no other alternative for me. I won’t use that stupid death curse for the simple fact that I won’t need to. I’m not the weak and pathetic mare I was in my youth who failed to save my own twin. I am more than that.
I am the Red Sun of Equestria and my wrath is unparalleled. Anypony that dares threaten what is mine will not survive to tell the tale. I will make sure Equis is safe from the things that lurk in the darkness and I will make sure that Remnant will be safe, too.
A spark within me ignited into a roaring flame and I felt a small smile begin to spread on my face. I looked down at the sword in my hand, staring into the glowing mana gem with determination.
There is one thing I could do with the stored mana in my blade. One thing I am absolutely sure will be worth the use of mana for. Silently, I left the bedroom, granting my daughter a few more moments of blissful sleep before I would wake both her and Ruby up for another training session.
I found the object I was looking for pretty fast, and, without alerting the owner of said object, took it with me down into the living room of the Xiao Long-Rose household. After searching through the drawers for a bowl and as many tealights as I could find, I began to clear the middle area of the room of everything that would get in the way of what I wanted to do.
It wasn’t often that I had to use ritualistic magic, but for my petal? I am going to do anything and everything in my power to know that she is going to be as prepared as she could be for the trials ahead. The ‘few’ candles I arranged in a circle around Crescent Rose were quickly lit and the bowl I took was placed right next to the weapon. Then, with a swift swipe of my blade over the palm of my hand, I let the bowl fill with my blood.
Blood that was faintly glowing a golden color as motes of mana began to float away from it. I would have to be fast with this before it completely dissipated, leaving it as regular blood inert of my essence. I had only so much mana that I could draw forth from my ever faithful blade and every little bit of it had to count or I risked failing the Ritual of Awakening.
“By the will of the daughter, thou shalt not betray thy master,” I spoke up in a whisper. “By the will of the sun, thy blade shall burn those of unholy origin to ashes. By the will of the mother, thou shalt protect thy wielder unyieldingly at all times. By the will of the moon, thy projectiles shall pierce every defense in thy way. By the will of the family, thou shalt sacrifice thy existence to save thy master from death’s door. By the will of House Luna, I order thee to awaken in thy master’s time of need!”
The blood within the bowl caught on fire and then began to creep over the weapon, engraving runes and magic circles all over the weapon in a golden aura. Once the fire extinguished itself, the compacted scythe almost seemed to have a presence of its own, no visible trace left of what I had done to it. It would grow the longer Ruby would wield it, of that I was certain.
“Are you sure awakening her blade was a wise idea, mistress?” a sleepy voice asked and I gave my sword a small smile.
“Yes,” I answered. “And look at who just woke up. I thought it would take another five hundred years for you to grace me with your presence again, Remorse.”
“A weapon’s duty is to protect the wielder from harm, not to converse with them,” my blade answered gruffly and promptly fell silent again. That might be true for most weapons, I thought sadly, but not for mine.
It had been a massive surprise to find out my own weapon had developed a ‘will’ of its own. The first time he spoke with me (and I was sure I wasn't just imagining things) the circumstances couldn’t have been worse than they were. The war with the griffons had me exhausted beyond belief, both in a mentally and emotionally way. I did not expect my sword to suddenly ask me if I was okay. Naturally, I panicked like a headless chicken and thought I had gone mad because I was the only one that could hear him. It was a difficult process to come to terms with the fact my sword could speak.
Lulu and I had known since we experimented with our regalia and weapons in the dream realm that they were much more special than we gave them credit for. Our regalia and weapons had become a part of us, which kind of, sort of, maybe gave them a personality? Well, not exactly, more like... an interface, I guess. An artificial intelligence? It was not exactly easy to put into words just 'what' our weapons were, but one thing was for certain: they weren’t living beings. And most of the time, they stayed dormant, too.
One could force a weapon to develop a ‘presence’ as I had just done with Ruby's scythe, or a weapon could develop it on its own given enough time with a strong-willed wielder and a little bit of magic. Its sole purpose, as Remorse had so eloquently put it, was to protect the wielder with its very existence and not 'chat with them'.
There were very few examples of weapons that were naturally like this, and all of them were incredibly powerful. The blades my sisters and I possessed developed these traits due to the mana gems within them and because we've been wielding them for such a long time now. If Ruby was to become my champion here on Remnant, she would need every advantage she could get. I have no doubt Cadance’s weapon will gain a ‘presence’ of its own, too, but she could afford to let it grow naturally while Ruby wouldn’t have this luxury.
With my work done, I cleaned my little ritual up without leaving a single trace. The last thing I wanted was for Tai to ask me why there was a mountain of burned candles and a bowl with bloodstains in it in the middle of his living room.
I gave my weapon one last glance, a bit miffed that he decided to ‘ignore’ me again, before going back up to Ruby and Yang’s room to put Crescent Rose back on the shelf that I ‘borrowed’ it from. Glancing at Ruby’s sprawled-out self upon the bed, I couldn’t help but giggle at the cute display. She truly was another version of my daughter, sleeping the night away without a worry. The sleeping mask over her face was very reminiscent of the Creatures of Grimm and I felt a little bit conflicted about how I should feel about the fact that there was merchandise for such horrible creatures.
Well... on Ruby, it looked kind of cute and harmless, I mused. There were worse things than that, right? It made the Grimm seem less threatening to the populace and with creatures that were attracted by negative emotions? The less threatening they appeared to the general populace, the better. And besides, I knew of one thing that was definitely worse than Grimm merchandise of all things.
I really, really, really don’t like Nightmare Night. That probably won’t ever change, will it? Deluding myself into believing that it was just a different version of Halloween could only do so much. I was content with simply ignoring that damn holiday and letting my ponies be happy with it as long as nopony dragged me out of the castle to celebrate it.
At least Cadance’s birthday was no longer on that accursed day...
Anyway, it was time to drag the peacefully sleeping girl out into the cold night air and torture... I mean, 'train' her. I almost felt bad about dumping her and Cadance into the snow as a wake-up call. Almost.
“Rise and shine, time for lessons!” I announced with a wicked smile on my face as both of the girls were screeching like frightened bats as they were suddenly robbed of their warmth without a warning.
“Mom!” Cadance growled, shivering in her borrowed pajamas while Ruby muttered incoherently with chattering teeth, trying to warm herself up by fiercely rubbing her arms against each other. “What was that for?!”
“You know what that was for, little missy,” I told her, making her grimace in regret. “Now, don’t bother getting your weapons for this lesson, we will begin with unarmed combat. For you, that is.”
“What?” Cadance asked, getting paler as my weapon appeared in a fiery flash. “Are you trying to kill us, Mom?!”
“No,” I answered. “This won’t hurt, dear. Come at me and try to disarm me and don’t get hit, it’s as simple as that.”
Cadance's eyelid twitched in disbelief. “Nothing is simple about that!” she retorted and I smiled in agreement. “You can’t possibly expect us to get anywhere near you while you have your weapon, Mom! There is no way we even stand a chance!”
“Get creative, dear,” I said, swinging my sword horizontally as Ruby thought I was distracted. “Nice try, little petal. Try not to make a sound the next time, okay?”
“H-h-how?!” Ruby exclaimed, stuttering as she stumbled back after she performed an awkward dodge, almost falling to the ground in the process. I was quite pleased she actually managed to avoid my weapon.
It wouldn’t have actually harmed her in any way, Remorse was quite capable of following my intent like that, thankfully. I would let them believe they were in for a world of hurt, for now. If I let them believe I was actually trying to hurt them, they would be a lot more cautious in their approach and it would keep them on their hooves... I mean, toes. Stupid human-isms.
“Think a bit about that, Ruby,” I told her. “The snow will make every step you take alert me to your position, even if I am distracted elsewhere. Now, how do you work around that?”
“My semblance?” Ruby asked and after I remembered the explanation she had given us about aura the previous day, I gave her a nod. Not the first thing I would have thought of, but then again, that was an even better idea.
Those innate abilities granted by the soul were quite the nifty advantage to have, weren’t they? Each and every semblance was unique to the person that got them, manifesting once they got their aura unlocked and after they came to a better understanding of themselves. It sounds quite similar to getting a Cutie Mark, doesn’t it?
It made sense, too, in a strange way. Cutie Marks have always been one of those few mysteries that even eluded Luna, Liz, and myself. They are obviously of a magical origin, but that's not all there was to them. Otherwise, it would be possible to give ponies their Cutie Marks with magic alone. It was also well-known that a Cutie Mark was unique to the pony that got them and that it was possible for them to be ‘kind of’ hereditary.
One such example was the Apple Family Clan or even my own family. The House of Luna always had the celestial objects in one form or another passed down as a Cutie Mark, with my sisters and I actually having them as our Cutie Marks in the purest form possible.
Of course, the exception to the Rule of Uniqueness were alternate versions of the same pony or shapeshifters that could just replicate them. While it was mostly a given that your alternate self had the same Cutie Mark, the possibility existed that that didn't have to be the case. Those differing versions were very special cases, though.
So, while Cutie Marks were mostly of magical origin, the soul also had a big part in it. How much I can’t say, and now that I knew of semblances and this soul aura shield (or whatever the actual term for it was since aura as a stand-alone description was kinda... too vague?), I had to wonder... does getting your Cutie Mark count as unlocking the soul? At least, partially?
There was only one expert about the nature of souls in Equestria and I would rather die on the spot than ask her anything in regards to that, considering the fact that she was currently possessing my wife. While I wasn’t keen on staying on Remnant for longer than I absolutely have to, I was very much interested in studying as much as I could about the soul that they had knowledge available of here.
But that's not important right now. I leaned slightly back as a red blur dashed past me, almost succeeding in touching my blade as I moved it out of reach. I was about to give Ruby some well-deserved praise for actually taking me by surprise with her swift movement when I felt a tugging on the hand that held on to my blade. My eyes widened as I saw Cadance try to pry my fingers open while Ruby gave me a little grin.
I let out a laugh as they tricked me. They hadn’t even spoken one word to each other and came to an instant agreement between them. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about that. Cadance and Ruby were excellent team players, each one of them showing qualities that would make them into great leaders in time.
While I was feeling immense pride for Cadance and Ruby, I wouldn’t so easily let go of my weapon. I lifted my arm and saw my daughter stubbornly cling on to me in an effort to disarm me of my weapon. Bringing her close to my face, I raised my eyebrow questioningly at her and all she did was grin sheepishly back at me.
I returned the grin with one of my own.
My daughter let out a nervous giggle. "I, uh... we can talk about this..?” she asked and I tilted my head for a moment. While I would praise her for considering the diplomatic approach, this wasn’t one of those times. This was meant to be a lesson for her and I won’t let it end there because she asked nicely.
With a flick of my wrist, I sent my daughter flying back to her alternate self and I returned to my relaxed stance. It didn’t take them long to get back on their feet and try a new approach. Ruby tried to brute force her way through to me and get within my guard while Cadance tried to use the distraction to her advantage.
Too bad I never said I wouldn’t fight back. Ruby quickly found out that trying to get into close-quarters combat without a plan was a very foolish thing to do. She clearly saw the fist coming but was too slow to react in time. As was the case for Cadance, although she was lucky enough to slip on the snow after her attempt to desperately dodge my sword.
I gave both of them a few seconds to get back on their feet and waited for them to try another approach. And each time they tried to approach me, they failed miserably to get my sword out of my hand. There were some very creative attempts that I honestly never expected them to come up with. Then, there were some attempts that were desperate and some that were just plain dumb. And others... others were dirty.
I praised them for the dirty ones the most since there was nothing fair in war and each and every advantage they could get would ensure their survival. Both of them got used to the low temperature of the crisp morning air and the cold snow underneath their bare feet once we got a routine going with me deflecting everything they threw at me and them running themselves ragged trying to accomplish the impossible.
They wouldn’t be able to ever disarm me and take my sword out of reach even if they somehow managed to free it from my hand. I hadn’t given them permission to hold my sword during this exercise, after all. This lesson was designed for them to think of creative ways to come close to me without getting hit and get out of reach with the least amount of effort on their part.
While normally I wouldn’t have them get so close to an enemy in the first place, it was still a useful method to know when all else failed. Seeing that I couldn’t just teach Ruby magic on a level that would be sufficient enough for her to disarm her opponent, teaching her unarmed combat for the purpose of getting rid of the enemy’s weapon was the only alternative I had left. And... well... fighting against opponents that were armed while you only had your own limbs available to you was a valuable lesson to learn on top of that. In order to level the playing field, it was important to get close to an enemy without giving them the chance to land a hit on you. Once the opponent was bereft of their weapon, the nature of the fight would quickly change and give you much more freedom in how you could go about defeating your opponent.
One of those ways was obviously stealing their weapon in order to use it against them (as long as the weapon wasn’t absolutely loyal to their master, that is). I like to think skill alone decides who the victor in a match is from the very beginning of the fight and that having a weapon wouldn’t change that one bit.
Obviously, there were many more variables to keep in mind that could change that dynamic, but it was a good base to start working with. After all, if you are able to outplay your opponent’s raw power, it's all but a given who would win the fight in the end.
Raw power could only carry you so far. Ultimately, it is the skill of the pony that gives them the knowledge and wisdom to make use of that power in the correct way. Fight smarter, not harder. There are very few instances that I could think of where you would be unable to fight against raw power with your skills alone and I prayed Ruby and Cadance would never have to fight against an opponent like that.
No amount of skill could save someone from things like pure unluckiness, unfair weaponry, or forces that could not be countered. Like... obliterating entire landmasses with magic, for example. Something Platinum was very much capable of with her stolen power. Not that she would actually resort to that type of magic as it would leave her quite open to a counter-attack after needlessly exhausting herself (or while casting the spell, I suppose). I’m also reasonably sure she didn’t know how to do something like that without Tia’s sun helping her along. Heck, even if she had that, I doubt she would know how to direct that much mana without blowing herself up in the process. Even I would hesitate casting a doomsday spell (not that I ever would, duh).
At least Ruby won’t have to fight against a stupidly overpowered ancient goddess puppeteered by a cockroach, so I don’t think she would have to worry about facing an enemy with overwhelming power she couldn’t hope to fight against without a game-changer of her own. I’m more worried about her having to fight against unfair weaponry, to be honest.
If your enemy possessed a weapon that could just eradicate you no matter what you do, how could you expect to win against them? That aura shield was a good counter for weapons like guns, but it could only keep you safe for a short period of time. Aura and skill alone won’t ensure victory, so something else was needed to help you win that fight.
While I don’t expect the Grimm to ever gain enough intelligence to start using unfair weaponry, I also don’t think Ruby will have to fight only against the Grimm in order to bring about a better world. No... that would be too good to be true, wouldn’t it? I knew that there was some sort of secret war going on behind the scenes with Ozpin on one side, and this Salem bitch on the other.
At one point or another, Ruby will have to face opponents that won’t just be the Creatures of Grimm and I can’t allow them to lay even one dirty finger on her if I had a say in it. And for that reason alone, I need to ensure Ruby could fight against them even without a weapon. Even if they have unfair weaponry at their disposal while she was unarmed and seemingly helpless.
Her semblance is going to be that game-changer for her and I'm going to make sure she would be taking full advantage of it. A gun couldn’t hit something that you couldn’t track with your eye, after all. Well... aside from shooting around yourself aimlessly like a maniac (as stupid as that would be). That just left unlucky happenstance that could harm my little petal.
How can you fight against circumstance, against the universe itself throwing one curveball after another at you? The simple answer to that? You don’t. Nopony could just stick the universe the middle primary feather and expect it to not retaliate in some way or form. But... you could cheat, in a loose sense. I rarely came across ponies that had a talent for pure luck and were blessed with fortune, but there were things that existed that gave you some form of protection against unluckiness.
I gave one of them to Ruby already, and if the worst comes to the worst, I could rest easy knowing that there was a lucky charm that would keep her safe. It was a one-time-only thing, but that one time? It is going to prevent something that would have otherwise not been prevented in the first place. For that reason alone I awakened her weapon, and hopefully, it would be enough.
Her weapon will keep Ruby from dying in the most dire of situations simply because she was unlucky enough to get hit by something she had no influence over at all. If she were to be caught in the blast radius of an explosion she otherwise wouldn’t have survived, her weapon would instantly sacrifice its very existence to keep her alive.
I dearly hope it won’t ever come to that, though. Not only because that would mean she would have died, but also because it would take away something that would, without a doubt, become a very close friend to her (well, closer than she already was with her weapon).
At some point during our training session, we transitioned over to Ruby and Cadance fighting against each other in unarmed combat. My little challenge for them to disarm me got pointless after they realized that my sword wouldn't cut them and redirect the force away from them before they could get hurt. I was quite proud of them for how long they managed to not get hit by my sword, so I decided to go a bit easy on them and let them fight against each other instead of me. I gave them pointers where needed and observed them with a keen eye, of course, keeping everything in mind that I would have to work on with them over the next couple of weeks.
Once the sun rose over the horizon and the rest of Ruby’s family slowly started to wake up, I gave Ruby and Cadance a well-deserved break from training. They were happy to finally get out of the cold (even though it wasn’t that much of a bother to them anymore at this point) and have a shower. That, and eat some breakfast that was denied to them due to my wake-up call before the day had even properly begun.
Qrow sat down in front of me as I was nursing a cup of tea. He gave me an expectant stare while I was waiting on my daughters to return so that we could continue with their lesson. Right, I thought with a grumble. I had hoped I would have a bit more time before he would drag me to Ozpin.
“Let me at least finish my tea,” I told him, ignoring the eye roll from him and the swig he took from his flask. He wasn’t kidding when he told me that he was always drunk, wasn’t he? I hope he grows out of this habit, if not for himself, then for his nieces.
“Mom, we’re done,” Cadance spoke up as she came back down with her weapon at her side and Ruby slightly behind her. Ruby was giving her weapon a confused stare, trying to figure out what was different from the day before and I could tell that she was getting slightly frustrated over it.
I might have underestimated the bond she shared with her weapon. If she could already sense that her weapon was developing a presence, then she must be far more important than I previously assumed. She practically had destiny written all over her and I couldn’t help but feel like the universe was a cruel mistress to have chosen her to play a major role in this world. That only proved to me that it was that vitally important to prepare her to the best of my ability for what has yet to come.
“Mom..?” Cadance asked and I broke out of my musings, humming interestedly back at her. “Is everything okay? You kinda spaced out there for a bit.”
“Everything is fine, my little petal,” I said, smiling reassuringly. Or what I hoped was reassuring. I was feeling a bit nervous, to be honest. A lot depends on how this talk with Ozpin goes. “Although, we need to cut our lessons short for today, dear.”
“Yes!” she cheered and I sent a glare her way, stopping her celebratory dance before it even started. I could see that Ruby was uncertain how she wanted to feel about that little tidbit of news. On one hoof... hand, damnit... she seemed like she has been looking forward to training together with Cadance and me, and on the other, she looked like she was relieved to get to relax after what I made them go through with my instructions.
“You, little missy, are coming with Qrow and me,” I told her, putting away my empty cup in the kitchen, after which she gave me a confused glance.
“To where?” Cadance asked, confused. “And... why?”
“Somepony important, I suppose,” I answered, getting her to pout at my crypticness. It was fun, answering questions as vaguely as possible. Especially if it annoyed my daughter to no end. “We will discuss the rest on the way there, okay? And leave your weapon here, please." She did as I asked of her, giving Ruby an uncertain look. They were becoming fast friends with each other, weren't they? It's very endearing (and not that much of a surprise considering who they were). "Now, come along, Qrow is already getting impatient.”
“Okay?” she said, fidgeting with her fingers and clothes awkwardly, following after me. “If you are sure...”
“It’s better to appear as non-threateningly as possible,” I whispered in her ear, eying Qrow at the same time as he led us out of the house and down the path through the forest. My daughter got the hint and started to tense up, giving me a nervous look. “Don’t worry, he is not the one we should worry about here.”
Cadance hugged her cloak closer to herself. “Then why are we whispering?” she asked me, her voice tinged with worry.
“Because he is already suspicious enough of us and doesn’t need to hear what we are talking about. If he knew we could summon our weapons regardless of where they are, he would cause a lot more trouble for us than is needed,” I answered, giving Qrow a disarming smile as he looked warily over his shoulder toward us. I was glad I had drilled Cadance in putting on a nondescript mask for the sake of politics and situations like these or I’m sure he would have already picked up on the nervousness of my daughter.
“So, where are we really going?” Cadance whispered over to me, her eyes begging me to give her a truthful and non-cryptic answer.
“To Beacon Academy.”
“Why there?” she inquired. “What could he possibly want there that requires us?”
“Think about who is in charge there and whether or not we should trust them, petal,” I said, causing her to scrunch up her brows slightly.
“The headmaster wants to see us and for whatever reason, you think he is more than he lets on,” Cadance muttered and I silently told her to go on. “Judging by how Qrow wants us to meet him as soon as possible, he works with the headmaster on a closer basis than should be expected. Qrow isn’t even a teacher there, which means he works in secret with the headmaster, right?”
“It doesn’t have to be in secret, petal, but you are getting there,” I told her. “Go on.”
“Okay...” Cadance sighed, trying to order her thoughts in a way that gave her insight into what I wanted her to realize. “So, the fact that Qrow works in some capacity with Beacon’s headmaster means that he does something the staff there couldn’t do without being questioned unnecessarily. You didn’t outright deny that he might be working for him in secret, which makes me think he does something that is too important to be public knowledge. Am I correct?”
“You are supposed to know whether or not you are correct, petal,” I told her, smiling mischievously. “It is your duty as a princess to make the right choices for the good of your subjects. That includes seeing through those that wish you and yours harm.”
“Mom, this isn’t one of those ‘I’m subtly trying to teach you stuff you should already know’ lessons, right?” Cadance grumbled. “I know how to differentiate whether or not a noble is truthful with his words, I don’t need that lesson again.”
“Yes, you know to keep yourself aware of the desires of the pony you are interacting with,” I nodded. “But what about their proxies? Ponies that work indirectly with those or against those you should be aware of? Those secretly working for unknown parties?”
“This isn’t about Qrow or the headmaster,” Cadance stated, not asking for confirmation. “Or rather, it is about the headmaster, but not because you think he is the true threat here. Something else is going on here and it involves the headmaster in some form or capacity.”
“Oh, how I missed you and your sister’s ingenuity,” I smiled wistfully. “You truly are magnificent, do you know that?”
“Thanks,” Cadance mumbled bashfully. “I take it I’m on the right track, then?”
“Closer than you might realize,” I answered. “So, with that in mind, why am I so cautious of Headmaster Ozpin?”
“This Ozpin is a chess master, isn’t he?”
I grinned, feeling satisfaction as my daughter got ever closer to the truth. Well, presumed truth, there always exists the possibility that I might just be too paranoid. There were a few times where I had been too suspicious of somepony that was completely innocent of my conjectures, but I was reasonably sure I had figured this Ozpin out.
“If Ozpin plays on a board with a much larger scale that requires his subordinates to do their work in secret, then there must also be an opponent, right?” Cadance asked and I motioned for her to go on. “And if there is someone that works against him, that means that there is a secret war going on that has been kept from the general populace.”
“Now, think about why that war is waged in secret,” I encouraged her.
“Because of the Grimm,” she whispered, her face going pale. I raised an eyebrow at her, wanting to see what she came up with. “Something, or rather, someone is behind the Grimm, isn’t there?”
“Oh?” I hummed.
“Mom, this... oh fluffy bunnies, this is bad,” Cadance muttered, horrified. “Someone wants to use the Grimm to wipe out humanity and Ozpin fights against that person? But... why would you be so cautious of Ozpin, then? Shouldn’t we help him win this war?”
“I don’t know whether or not you are correct with that thought about the Grimm being used, but the fact remains that Ozpin and his adversary are fighting a dangerous game,” I told her. “In a secret war, what do you think is the most important part of it?”
“To keep it secret,” Cadance answered. “What are you trying to tell me, Mom? I don’t understand.”
“Yes, keeping it secret is one of those things, but what else? What about those in charge?”
“They obviously keep things away from those they fight against,” my daughter said and I nodded.
“But how do they do that?”
“Uh...” Cadance mumbled and I could see that she had an idea about that, so I gave her an encouraging smile. “By keeping the information to those that need to know? So that in the event of their capture, they couldn’t jeopardize the mission?”
“Indeed,” I said. “What would you say if I told you that being overly cautious would be counterproductive, though?”
“I would assume that Ozpin is keeping away crucial information from those that need to know it the most in order to work efficiently,” Cadance answered, furrowing her brow as I confirmed it for her. “And you can’t trust someone like that.”
“There we have it,” I nodded. “A leader that keeps his subordinates in the dark with vital information. Why can’t you trust somepony like that?”
“Because they might use you in a way that they shouldn’t,” Cadance muttered, sounding angry. “They might sacrifice their pieces in an effort to gain an advantage.”
“Yes, that could very well be a possibility,” I agreed with her. “But it doesn’t necessarily mean that they keep the information secret because they want to use you. It depends on what that knowledge is and what it is used for.”
“What do you mean?” Cadance asked, confused.
“Sometimes, keeping crucial information a secret from somepony is necessary for their own protection or their growth,” I told her. “You already know one such secret, little petal.”
“The Realm of Ascension,” she said, stating it matter-of-factly.
“Correct,” I said. I could start to make out a little city ahead of us as we neared the exit of the forest. “Every bit of knowledge regarding that place could jeopardize the growth of the pony with the potential to ascend to an alicorn. For that reason, it is important to let that pony remain in the dark even though the knowledge of the Realm of Ascension plays a big role in the grander scheme of things. It is easier for somepony to go through their Trial of Ascension if they are unaware they are going through it in the first place. If they are only motivated to get to the Realm of Ascension in the first place, their Trial has already failed before it has even begun.”
“Okay,” Cadance sighed. “What could Ozpin be keeping a secret, though? Something that could make such a big difference?”
“That is the question, isn’t it?” I muttered darkly. “Something I intend to find out. I suspect Ozpin is much older than he lets on and somepony like that has many skeletons in the closet.”
“What about you?” Cadance asked and I gave her a warning glare.
“I have done many things I would rather forget, Cadance,” I shot back, icily. “Don’t pry further than that, dear. You really don’t want to know what we had to go through in order to ensure the safety of our nation. I'm not a saint, as much as our subjects like to pretend that's the case.”
“Mom, I don’t fault you for any of that,” Cadance reassured me. “But you have to admit that it is a bit hypocritical of you to fault Ozpin for something like that. You don't even know for sure he's doing what you think he might be doing.”
“You’re right...” I sighed, giving some of the people around us a generic smile as they stared at me as if they just saw a ghost. This world’s Summer must have been well-known in their little community. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be cautious with Ozpin, dear. Don’t give him any more information on us than what is strictly needed, okay?”
“Do you think he would use us, too?” my daughter asked shyly and I grimaced.
That was the thing I was most worried about and I would be a fool to let Ozpin do as he pleases with either of us. “The knowledge either of us holds might change things in ways we could not predict, Cadance. We can’t risk it falling into the wrong hooves... or hands, rather. The knowledge of our weapons alone might bring naught but ruin to this world, dear.”
“Right,” Cadance whispered in a mumble. “And the knowledge of us being ponies?”
“I hardly think that will be of any relevance,” I giggled. “What could Ozpin gain from knowing we are cute little ponies?”
“Yeah, ‘little’ ponies,” she snorted. “That, you know, could raise the suns and moon. Surely that isn’t going to change anything.”
“Don’t you get snarky with me, now,” I warned her. She definitely has been hanging around Liz far too much lately, I thought with slight disdain. Liz really wasn’t the type of role model one should look up to too much. “Tai barely trusts Ozpin and I don’t think he will endanger the lives of his alternate wife and daughter.”
“What if either he or Ruby slips up, though?”
Letting out a sigh, I worried my lip for a moment as Qrow led us further through the town to the port side of it. I told Qrow we were ponies as well, didn’t I? The question was... would he divulge this information to Ozpin? “Do you think they would?”
“I don’t know,” Cadance shrugged. “Ruby seems very excited about it, though. She might let it slip if she isn’t careful. But then again, she would probably gush about us being ponies and not... you know, ‘goddesses’.”
“I hate that description so much,” I groused.
“Then why did you mention it to Taiyang?” Cadance asked me, confused.
I... why did I do that? “I don’t know.”
“Maybe somepony is trying to impress someone?” Cadance giggled and I glared back at her. “Come on, Mom! You have to admit it is kinda funny seeing a male version of Mom.”
“I’m not trying to impress him,” I denied. Cadance started to smirk and I growled indignantly. “I am not. Stop giving me that look, little missy. He's much too young for me.”
“Aww~. S-u-m-m-e-r and T-a-i sitting in a tree~,” she began and I barely suppressed the urge to hit her over her head like the little brat that she was as she happily skipped next to me. Damn the universe for making her the Alicorn of Love.
“One more word and I won’t make you any cookies for the next few decades,” I threatened her and that managed to shut her up pretty quickly. I breathed in deeply and let it back out slowly, slowly managing to reduce the raging flames within me to an ember of its former intensity. “I swear, if you make one more joke at my expense, I’ll send you to the moon.”
“You wouldn’t do that,” Cadance giggled nervously and I glared hotly at her. “I’ll be good! No more jokes, promise.”
Thankfully, after we came to an ‘understanding’ between us, the rest of the trip was spent in blissful silence (more or less). After we took the ferry to the mainland of Vale, Qrow led us to what appeared to be an airport of some kind. There weren’t any sky chariots there, that was for sure. Not that Remnant would have those, I suppose.
No, instead we got on a flying death-trap. Qrow said it was perfectly safe, but the pegasus side in me cried out in a desperate unwillingness of ‘Why the flying penguin are we trusting this thing to stay in one piece?’ as I followed him and my daughter into that monstrosity. Whatever made these bullheads float was unnatural and I didn’t like it one bit. The only good thing about these things was the eerie resemblance they had to vehicles from Star Wars. I might be misremembering things, though.
I was thankful to be back on solid ground and decided to ignore the eye-rolls of both my daughter and Qrow once I was free from those unholy things that had no right to stay afloat in the air. Seriously, I could not imagine a single reason why these naked apes thought it wise to stick a few glowy magic crystals in that thing to make it float in the air by manipulating the very laws of the universe, reducing gravity to their personal plaything.
Qrow adamantly insisted that these ‘Dust’ crystals were not magic, but I knew better. I could feel the perverted mana radiating off of those things, making my skin crawl at how... rigid it felt. It was like the mana had been forced to materialize into the physical plane in crystalline form and it reeked of something else that didn’t belong. Even the powdered form he showed us gave me an uneasy feeling.
Mana wasn’t supposed to feel like this and whoever did that had clearly no idea what they had done, trying to create mana gems. Or rather, mana crystals. They wanted to create a container for mana and did the exact opposite of that. Instead of storing it in a mana crystal, they made the mana the crystal. At one point, this world must have been used to pure mana flowing through it and it left me feeling sad for what must have changed something so fundamental like that. It was no wonder why these people thought magic wasn’t real when faced with this so-called ‘Dust’. Dust that wasn’t the dusty residue kind but a perversion to the mystic nature of everything arcane. Who came up with that name anyway?
I wanted to sigh and annoy Qrow a bit more about the disgusting nature of dust, all the while lecturing him about the intricacies of pure mana and the feeling it evokes running through your very being, but sadly, our little discussion soon came to an end as we entered the massive tower that was Beacon Academy’s main building, going into the elevator. I have to admit, the elevator in this tower was a lot smoother than the elevators back home that were more commonly seen in cities like Manehattan and so on.
The ride up to the top of the tower was over before I expected it, unused to such efficient elevators. The doors slid smoothly open with nary a sound, greeting us with the sight of something that was almost taken straight out of a fairy tale book. Well, a more modern take, but still very reminiscent of a fairy tale.
Massive gears turned on their axes up above, giving me the feeling that I was standing in the middle of a clock all of a sudden. Wide windows allowed the light of the morning sun to bathe the whole room in a shining radiance, reflecting off of the gears in a dazzling way. The reflecting light from the gears only added more to this mesmerizing majestic feeling Ozpin's office held. An oddly designed chair stood at the far end of the room behind a large desk that was just as strangely designed as the chair, giving me the impression that this ‘chair’ wasn’t just simply that. It felt more like a throne to me, honestly.
As we entered the office, I could see even more gears ticking away within the desk, covered by glass panes. Whatever their purpose was, I couldn’t even begin to guess. It couldn’t be a secret mechanism, the glass covering the gears all but made that possibility pointless.
Qrow came to a stop in the middle of the room, giving the man with greyish-white hair a look as he calmly sipped from a cup while staring out the window behind the desk. I could feel Ozpin’s eyes on me as he looked at me through the reflection within the window.
I felt my hairs stand up as something in me recognized his nature, subconsciously putting myself in between him and my daughter as an urgent feeling of protectiveness flared up within me. He wasn’t exactly a higher being, but something had left an imprint on him that gave off that feeling. It was a muddled feeling and there was another thing that made me keep my guard up around him. He didn’t exactly feel like any other being I have come across before, which was weirdly intriguing to me. I couldn’t put my hoof... or finger, I suppose... on it, but it felt like there was an odd feeling around his presence.
Ozpin refrained from turning around, instead taking another sip from his mug. “I must say,” he spoke up. “At first I thought Qrow was playing pranks on me telling me there was a Summer clone running around, but seeing you here... I would assume you to be her.”
“And what makes you think otherwise?” I asked him, smiling slightly with amusement. I could feel it in his presence, the fascination. The way he stood there and looked over the rim of his glasses... he felt lonely. Ancient.
He was like me.
Okay. Let’s play a game of cat and mouse, then. I look forward to who will lose first.
Ozpin smiles. “Seeing you with your daughter,” he says, turning around. “The bond you share is real. It would be hard for a clone to feel motherly feelings for another clone, wouldn’t you say so?”
“And what makes you so sure of that?” I shot back, narrowing my eyes at him, suspicious. He gave me a knowing look in turn, almost looking disarmingly harmless in the process before he sat down on his chair. It almost appeared like he was a king sitting on his throne. There's no doubt in my mind, I stood before a man that had seen many things in his long life.
“A feeling,” Ozpin answered, putting his empty mug to the side. “And your soul, of course.”
Hmm. “You are a perceptive one, aren’t you?” I stated, taking my place in a chair that Qrow brought over from a closet. I could tell the scraggly man was slowly letting his guard down around us, now that Ozpin was in the same room. Ozpin clearly didn’t see us as a threat or he would have said something to the overly cautious man already.
“It comes with time,” he told me, telling me something that I was all too familiar with. “Do you want something to drink while we talk?”
“A tea would be appreciated, dear,” I said, feeling like an opportunity was showing itself to me and I was happy to put this man to the test. We didn’t have to wait long as Qrow returned with a tea tray, frowning grumpily at the man sitting there with a calm look on his face. I could tell the perpetually drunken drunkard wasn’t pleased, reduced to playing Ozpin’s ‘maid’ for the time being. It was funny to behold, I had to admit. That begged the question, though, either Ozpin had foreseen this or he liked to be prepared for anything.
I gave him the teapot a cursory glance in interest before giving him my thanks as he poured Cadance and myself a cup of the steaming beverage.
Now then, let’s find out what the result of this little test of mine is going to be...
I hid the fact that I gave the tea a cautious sniff as I brought it to my lips, feeling a bit of paranoia well up within me. Either I’m going to wake up after a ‘little’ nap or I’m going to be pleasantly surprised. Surely a man like him would have prepared something to deal with an impostor in his nation, running blatantly around in the open without a care while in the skin of one of his deceased agents. And knowing the kind of teapot he used...
I know I would have prepared something, just in case.
There's no way he didn’t do something to this tea, but nonetheless, I drank from it without hesitation as I looked him straight in the eye. He gave me a blank look and I felt slightly irritated. Either he was the best actor in the world, or there was no poison in the secret chamber of that teapot.
Cadance gave me a subtle glance, asking me if it was okay to drink from it. All the while, I sat there waiting for a reaction from the man in front of us.
“Is it to your taste?” he asked me and I smiled thinly. Either this was slow-acting poison and I was going to die later today, or my paranoia managed to get the better of me, after all. Was this perhaps a test on his part, instead? I had no idea how to feel about that...
Who of us was the mouse and who was the cat? It was hard to tell and I wasn’t certain I liked the answer.
“Why, yes,” I answered and decided to blatantly accuse him of trying to poison me, only to see what his reaction would be. My conviction of him being someone that no one should trust began to waver and I wondered whether or not I was wrong about him and he wasn’t as bad as I initially thought. “A bit of poison couldn’t have hurt.”
“You would think I would poison you?” Ozpin asked me with a raised brow. He 'seemed' genuine, I’ll give him that. The tea was most likely not poisoned, then. Still, he seemed like he expected a response like that. I was sure I couldn’t be entirely wrong about him, perhaps a different approach was needed...
But... something in me wanted to give this man a chance. It was... strange... seeing him sit there in front of me and all I could see was somepony like me.
I... I can’t keep playing around like this, even though it was kind of fun, to be honest. Intriguing, even. It has been such a long time since I felt excited to be in a situation where I couldn’t tell what would happen within the next hour or so.
Perhaps it was better to be as straightforward about this as I could be and hope to catch him off-guard with that. Maybe he will prove to be a trustworthy man, after all. “No, but then again, you wouldn't be the first one to attempt doing so. I do recognize that kind of teapot, you know. Bringing an assassin's teapot to a diplomatic meeting is considered an act of war where I come from.”
“Oh?” he hummed, pouring himself a cup out of courtesy while Cadance gave the tea a hesitant sip. I could see she wanted to spit it right back out as she realized what I said. “I assure you, there is no poison in the tea. I keep it as a gag to pour milk into my cup." Somehow, I doubt the validity of that statement. You don't keep an assassin's teapot as a gag. "Though it seems like there is a story to that. I’m interested to hear it.”
“Let us stop this charade, Your Majesty,” I spoke up nonchalantly, hoping to see the reaction I expected to see from him. And as I had already suspected, I saw the tiniest bit of widening in his pupils as I addressed him like that, all but confirming what I knew must have been true from his presence alone. “I would think you of all people should be aware to never trust a stranger, much less foreign royalty, under such... 'unique' circumstances.”
“Who are you?” he asked me, his tone sounding a bit sterner than it was before. He was obviously wary of me now. “Clearly a paranoid person and far older than your youthful appearance lets on, but your soul feels like hers. Like Summer. And... you don’t carry around the feeling one of Salem’s minions has. Quite the opposite even, so I don’t think you are under her influence...”
I smiled cryptically. “That’s because I am Summer,” I told him, leaning back in my chair. “Though, not exactly your Summer. That drunkard over there barely believes me, why would you?”
“Try me,” Ozpin shot back, bringing his tea over to his lips, smiling slightly as we heard Qrow mutter lowly to himself at my jab. Alright, then. If he truly thinks he can’t be surprised by anything I throw at him, perhaps this will be worth a try. Whether he was trustworthy remains to be seen, though. He passed one test, how about another? How will he react to the revelation that is the multiverse?
“Are you aware that you are just one out of many...” I began with my question, only to see his eyes widen comically as he choked on his tea. I raised an eyebrow at the unexpected reaction, humming with interest as he tried to calm himself down from the coughing fit while Cadance gave me an uncertain look. I was interested in where this would go and silently told her to let me handle this situation in whatever way I saw fit. This just got a lot more fun all of a sudden...
“How do you know?” Ozpin asked with a shaking voice. “How?!”
“Whatever do you mean, Your Majesty?” I asked back, smiling behind my teacup. This wasn’t the test I had in mind, but perhaps it was just as good (if not better). The smell of secrets was in the air... and how lovely they smelled. My need for knowledge that was not mine to know crept up within me and I wanted to do nothing more than squeeze each and every last secret out of the man sitting in front of me.
“Did Taiyang tell you?!” Ozpin whispered, his eyes looking darkly at me. “Can I truly trust no one?”
“Taiyang did no such thing,” I answered simply, feeling a flutter in my chest as a bit of protectiveness reared its ugly head within me. While he wasn’t my wife, I would extend my protection to him no matter what. He deserved at least that much from me. “I only know of this Salem and that you are a wizard.”
“Do not lie to me,” he warned me. “I want to know who told you that I reincarnate! Tell me!”
“You did,” I said with a mischievous smile, not having expected that answer. Now that I think about it, if he remembers his previous lives, he would mistake my earlier question as me knowing that particular secret of his. I suspected something was amiss with his presence already, so it wasn’t like I wouldn’t have found that out in due time.
I watched as Ozpin slumped down in his chair in disbelief. Cadance gave the man a sympathetic look and Qrow shot me a glare from where he stood, leaning against the wall.
“Who are you?” he whispered, sounding afraid. I briefly felt pity well up within me and my belief in him being as bad as I was inclined to believe started to break. If he was like me, then what did that say about me? I was treating him no better than Platinum without actually knowing him, and... I felt guilty about that.
Guilty that my paranoia poisoned my thoughts once more, trying to protect my daughter from a perceived threat that was most likely non-existent. Now that I was taking a deeper look at his eyes, I saw the actual truth. Yes, he was a chess master that most likely hid many secrets that shouldn’t be kept secret, but he has a bleeding heart. He strangely reminded me of Starswirl, trying to save a (seemingly) doomed world.
Starswirl sought to protect the world from the wendigos and ensure the day and night cycle would continue even without him there. He constantly went on missions with his ‘not friends’ to ensure the safety of Equestria while my sisters and I learned to properly take care of our nation.
Ozpin... from what I could tell, he held himself like a king, looking out for the good of his people, doing everything that he can do to keep humanity safe. Apparently, he also reincarnated a lot and remembered every life he has lived. If I were in his shoes fighting against the Grimm, wouldn’t I do everything in my power to keep this world away from extinction?
“...I’m sorry,” I whispered back, feeling ashamed. Ashamed that I had played with his feelings so much. Here I was, acting like he would be a danger to my family and nation. I was paranoid he would use my world in order to win his little secret war against this Salem, and due to that, I disregarded the idea that he could be a decent man.
I had defaulted back to thinking exactly as I had as the War Princess during the war against the griffons oh so long ago now, thinking every other nation on Equis was only waiting for the opportunity to take advantage of our recovering country. We had lost our strongest princess to a nightmare and were ripe for the taking. Of course, I was paranoid back then. But that was no excuse to act like it now.
I swore to myself I wouldn’t ever think like that again, but here I was doing it. Did I not just promise myself to be better this very night? To return to that kind and generous mare I had been before my beloved had been taken from me? To stop this endless cycle of hatred, paranoia, and mistrust? Was I truly this weak that I couldn’t even keep a simple promise to myself?
“I am truly sorry, Ozpin,” I said, looking up at him from my lap. He looked back at me, barely having recomposed himself after he had played right into my hooves... or hands, rather. I’m never going to get used to this, am I? Hopefully, I won’t have to stay like this for too long. It's already getting on my nerves. “I shouldn’t have judged you before we met. I can see it in your eyes, you aren’t a bad man.”
“I... thank you?” he responded quietly, confused.
“You shouldn’t thank me,” I laughed hollowly. “I played with you like a toy, trying to find out everything there is about you without even thinking how you would feel about it. I am far from the kind and generous mare I was in my youth. I've lost so much, stopped caring, and mistrusted anypony but me and mine... but that ends now.”
"Anypony? Mare?" he asked, but I ignored him for now.
“I, Princess Summer Sol of House Luna, hereby offer my sincerest apologies,” I said, standing up and bowing my head to him. “I hope you can forgive me for my transgressions, Your Majesty. I am willing to answer any questions you may have for me in an effort to make amends with you.”
“Please, no formalities,” Ozpin sighed. “And what did you mean with ‘mare’? A princess? Clearly, you are one strange individual. From where did you come from..?”
“Oh, you don’t even know the beginning of it,” Cadance muttered and I grumbled a weak warning to her. I was tired of reprimanding her. Sadly, it was a futile effort on my part. “Sheesh, Mom. I won’t say anything, calm down.”
“One never knows with you, petal,” I sighed. “Anyway, let us return to what we originally talked about. You wanted to know who I am, right? I am going to answer that question with the absolute truth, but first, I need to explain to you my earlier question that you interrupted with such haste.”
“I feel like I won’t ever figure you out, but please,” Ozpin said, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “Do enlighten me.”
“Since you mistook my question earlier for something different, let me elaborate,” I said. I still wanted to know more about that reincarnation thing that he let slip, feeling a sense of connectedness with him over that, but that could wait. “Are you aware that you are but one version of infinite other versions of you? That your very universe is only one among uncountable others?”
“You are talking like that is a fact,” Ozpin commented, staring into my eyes as if searching for something that would tell him whether or not I was lying to him.
“I am and it is,” I smiled. I could already tell he was intrigued by what I was saying. “It is an absolute truth that I am telling you. Because, believe it or not, I am from another universe. A magical one.”
Ozpin sat back against his chair, studying me with scrutinizing, skeptical eyes. “And you have proof of this?”
“I do have proof, but this isn’t something I can easily divulge to you unless I know one thing for certain. If I show you what my world is capable of, can I trust you with that knowledge?” I shot back. While I was very much inclined to believe he wasn’t a bad man as I had first thought, I still hesitated to entrust the safety of my realm to him. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, extend a little bit of trust, and hope that he won’t betray my expectations of him. If he truly was a righteous man, he could become a friend.
It has been such a long time since I made friends... Chen and Li Li sprang to mind and a painful twinge went through my heart in sorrow. We never found out what severed the connection to Azeroth in the first place, and by now, I had little hope of it ever reactivating. They most likely had a fulfilling life, so I wasn’t too sad, but I wondered what had become of Azeroth. Was it still struggling with conflict? I do hope Yu’lon had a chance to rebuild the statue that would have become her successor.
“It is up to you to decide whether or not you want to trust me enough to tell me this,” Ozpin said, looking down at the cup as he slowly swished around the liquid within. “I wouldn’t...”
He looked so sad, but I could see the determination in his eyes. He was determined to keep this world safe.
“Then promise me one thing,” I spoke, my voice filled with authority that gave no room for argument. Ozpin waited for me to speak my terms and I gave him a steely look. “Promise me that once you learn this, you won’t take advantage of this information.”
“I...” Ozpin hesitated, thinking for a moment whether or not he could promise me that one thing. “I want to say yes, but such a decision... I don’t know if I can promise that to you. If it can help against Salem, I would ask you not to fault me for wanting to use that information against her.”
I narrowed my eyes, gripping the armrest of my chair tightly in frustration. “I won’t let you drag my subjects into this war against her, Ozpin! Answer me with a clear answer or I won’t tell you anything. I have a duty to my subjects and I won’t betray it out of a sense of guilt. So, please... I have to know that you won’t drag them into this. I do not owe you anything.”
“Subjects?” he smiled, though I suspect he already had a feeling he wasn’t the only member of royalty in this room. My posture alone gave that impression away, so I wasn’t too upset about him finding that one out.
I nodded. “They are very dear to me and I would do anything to know them safe,” I told him. “As I know you would do the same for yours. I won’t allow you to bring them into this conflict under any circumstance, Ozpin.”
“Very well,” Ozpin sighed. “I won’t endanger your subjects, that I will promise you.”
“Will you swear an oath on that?” I asked, hoping he would understand the significance that such a thing would hold. I saw him glare at me for a moment before he considered my question.
“What’s this about, Oz?” Qrow interjected, curious why this oath was so important to me. Judging from the reaction Ozpin gave me, he understood quite well what I meant. An oath sworn by magic must be abided or the offending party will be severely punished for breaking the oath.
Ozpin gave Qrow a sign that there was nothing to worry about and that was all the drunken drunkard got from him. Qrow gave me a frown but resumed his relaxed stance leaning against the wall, watching us attentively. Cadance fidgeted next to me, unsure what was going on while I continued to stare at Ozpin with an unrelenting intensity. My hand found hers and gave it a tiny squeeze and I noticed her starting to relax (at least somewhat) from that gentle reassurance.
“I swear on my being that I will not put your world willingly in danger or abuse your trust under any circumstance,” Ozpin told me, holding his hand over his chest. “Never shall I bring injustice upon that oath.”
“An honest man,” I smiled, happy with how he worded that oath. “My sister would like you. Let me give you an oath in return, then. I, Princess Summer of Equestria, Guardian of Ponykind, will offer my home to those that seek peace. Under the circumstance that they would otherwise lose their home, they will be granted safety within my nation. Heed my words, Ozpin of Remnant, I won’t let the people of this world invade mine for selfish reasons. Harmony must be maintained.”
Ozpin gave me a grateful nod as he accepted my oath in turn. “That is more than I could ask for.”
“You wished for proof,” I changed the topic back to what sparked these promises. “And you shall receive what you asked for.”
With a brilliant flash, my sword answered my call, causing Qrow to reach for his weapon, only to find it not there as per our agreement. Ozpin, on the other hand, merely stood up in shock at the unexpected appearance of my weapon.
There was a pitifully low amount of mana left in the mana gem after I sacrificed a majority of it to cast the ritual on Ruby’s weapon. But there was just enough mana left for me to access my hammerspace and bring out a small item. Thankfully, that was all I needed to honor Ozpin’s wish to see proof of my claims.
Within my hand appeared a clear globe of glass that quickly filled itself with a colorful cloud. I never stopped carrying these around with me in case I needed to fill one with a new memory.
“Are you familiar with these?” I asked, seeing Ozpin lean in closer to the orb in order to study it with quiet fascination. Seeing that I wasn’t going to use my sword to bring harm to his employer, Qrow started to relax hesitantly. I had to giggle in amusement, finding it humorous that he thought he would be able to stand a chance against me. Still, I’d rather avoid a fight with him. Cadance could easily get caught in the crossfire, and that was something I couldn’t allow.
If only I could have spared Cadance this life. Maybe I should have tried harder to discourage her from making the decision to become an alicorn, but... would that have changed anything? She still bore the mark of the Crystal Empire on her. Her life would have eventually led her there and then what? Would she have fought Sombra without being ready for it? Without me there to protect her?
The possibility of losing her to that monster would have devastated me, of that, I had no doubt. Damn it, I’m doing it again, aren’t I? Worrying about the future when it hasn’t even arrived yet.
“I can’t say I am,” Ozpin answered, throwing me out of my musings. He held his hand out, silently asking if he could hold the memory ball, and grateful for having been brought out of my troubled mind (I really need to get a grip on myself, these days), I placed the little sphere in his palm. “What is it?”
“It’s a memory ball!” Cadance explained to him, giddily standing up next to me. “Something that Mother invented a long time ago. She and Mom have a whole tower filled with those!”
“A curious thing,” Ozpin noted, turning the memory ball around in his hand. “How do you use it?”
“Well...” I mumbled, rubbing my neck slowly, feeling embarrassed that I couldn’t exactly... answer that. Not without appearing very silly. “Normally, we would hold it to our horn and focus on the memory. I have no idea how you would go about it, though.”
“Focus on the memory, you say?” he muttered, placing the ball against his forehead. It looked a bit comical, to be honest. The cloud within the memory ball started to swirl around, though. A moment later, the face of a beautiful woman came into view.
She looked back at the viewer with kind eyes and on her lips was an (admittedly) cute smile. I could tell that she was someone that had been dear to Ozpin, but the sorrowful eyes that currently stared into the orb told me that there was more to this than first met the eye.
“You said you reincarnate?” I whispered, watching him as he sat heavily down on his chair. He gave me a hesitant nod, sighing deeply as he rubbed his eyes, probably to get rid of the tears that threatened to spill. “I know how it feels to reincarnate. A past love?”
“Something like that...” Ozpin admitted, choking on his breath for a moment.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I said, my heart aching with sympathy. “It must have been hard to live on while she didn’t.”
“It’s not like that,” he denied in a weak whisper and I wasn’t able to hide my confusion at his statement. “Her name is Salem. She... isn’t like how she used to be...”
“Oh...” I whispered. What could I say to that? I’m sorry you and your wife are locked in an eternal war? I still didn’t know the reason behind the war, but clearly, this Salem had become a person whose cruelty could only be matched by Platinum from what I have heard so far. Perhaps even worse than that monster. Ugh, I need more information...
“Qrow...” Ozpin said, glancing at the man that was in the process of emptying his flask of every last drop it was worth. I couldn’t help but frown, put off by his behavior in front of his superior. Obviously, Ozpin was used to the behavior of his field agent, as insulting as it was. My sister never was this blatant with her alcohol consumption... “Could you leave us for a moment? I need to... discuss something with Summer in private. If you see Glynda, could you tell her to meet with me later?”
“Sure...” Qrow grumbled. He had been curiously eyeing the memory ball and what was depicted within, I could tell he was reluctant to leave him alone with us and that he wanted to know why his superior was so sullen after looking at the memory, but nonetheless, he moved towards the back of the room where the elevator doors swiftly opened after he pushed the call button. “Anything else you want me to do, Oz?”
“For now you are dismissed, Qrow,” Ozpin stated, sighing heavily as he leaned back in his chair, turning the glass ball around in his hand with a pensive look. “Amber’s lessons aren’t scheduled to start up again until spring, so you have some time to be with your nieces and Tai a little bit longer.”
“Okay, then,” Qrow said, glancing back at us with contemplative eyes. “At least, with these two running around, things won’t get boring. I’ll see you two later, don’t do anything to get on Oz’s bad side or I’ll kick your asses from here to Atlas and back.”
“I’d like to see you try,” I smiled, curious about how good he was with his sword. If I had to guess, that weapon could shift around like Ruby’s, which would make things even more interesting. “But you don’t have to worry. I don’t think he and I will be at each other’s throats.”
Qrow rolled his eyes, and before he could retort with a witty remark that I wouldn’t stand a chance against him, the doors closed on him and he was on his way back down.
“Can I trust you?” Ozpin asked once he was absolutely certain there were no eavesdroppers that could potentially overhear our conversation.
“It depends,” I shrugged, ignoring the look my daughter gave me. I could tell she took pity on him after having seen him so distraught and I was inclined to help him wherever I could (as long as he wouldn’t use us in any way). Perhaps I really have become too paranoid as of late, there was next to no chance he could actually manipulate me into doing anything for him if I didn’t want to do so in the first place, so why was I putting my guard up so much around him? “Let me be honest with you, Ozpin. I barely trust anypony to do what is right without me forcing them on the correct path. I’m a hypocrite sitting on my throne, preaching for peace but being quick to bring down any idiot stupid enough to think they could exploit my nation. I’m a hypocrite that doesn’t trust anypony else but my family to be in positions of power because I know those idiots would abuse their positions while quite clearly abusing my own.
“If you want to trust somepony like me? Do so at your own risk. I won’t guarantee you that I will help you with anything as long as I will be suspicious of you planning something behind my back. You said I’m paranoid and that is true, but I also care. I care a lot about this world only because of Ruby and Taiyang. Tai doesn’t think too highly of you and my counterpart didn’t either. I want to know why and if you give me an honest answer, I might consider giving you my trust. I would like to consider you a friend, I truly do, but as long as I'm unsure whether or not you do the same, I cannot give you an answer. Don’t abuse my trust and I won’t abuse yours, it's as simple as that.”
“I see,” Ozpin said, looking back into the memory ball. “You are a hard woman to figure out, Summer. I... I don’t know what to do, in more ways than one. On one hand, you seem so much like me, it’s hard to give someone like me my trust and don’t expect them to trample all over it, but... on the other hand? Knowing that you are familiar with struggles so akin to my own? I can’t say whether that makes you more trustworthy to me or less.”
His words couldn’t be more true, could they? “Trust is such a fickle thing, isn’t it? You won't ever know you placed it with the wrong pony until they break it.”
Ozpin smiled at the pony-ism but nodded, nonetheless. “Wise words,” he said. “I want to trust you, Summer. I truly do...”
“Then what is holding you back?”
Ozpin adjusted his glasses with a strange frown. “It's a silly thing. For once in such a long time... I fear what others would think of me. Blame me for the things that I know but have no influence over,” he explained. “Making friends? I never truly get the chance to do something like that. Either because they would be dragged into this war with me or I would outlive them inevitably. I have to live with a terrible burden each and every time I reincarnate. I don’t want you to think I’m some sort of monster for giving the people of this world... hope, I guess. All the while knowing that that hope is nothing more than a lie.”
Hmm. That was... kinda sad, wasn’t it? It sounded almost like he had resigned himself to being alone for eternity. And because of the knowledge that he kept to himself out of fear, he thought he would stay alone forever if that secret would become public knowledge.
“Giving hope to those around you...” I muttered to myself, my heart crying desperately out in an attempt for me to listen to it for what I felt was right. “Perhaps it isn’t them that need that hope... but you.”
He gave me a look. “What do you mean?” Ozpin asked with his guard up.
“You are just going through the motions, aren’t you?” I asked, not waiting for him to respond to my question. “This war with Salem... you don’t think you could ever win against her, do you? If there was a way to stop this war, to end this conflict once and for all, wouldn’t you have already found a way to do just that during your long life? You are at a stalemate...”
Ozpin raised a brow at me. “And what gave you that idea?” he asked. I smiled while looking pointedly at the woman in the memory ball. His eternal nemesis. His love for her was still strong after all this time, as much as he tried to deny it to himself. It pained him that they were at odds with each other and it made me want to give him that light back. The light he lost so long ago. If there ever was a time to embrace my heart again, this was it.
“How old are you really?” I wondered, staring into his eyes. Eyes that looked young but did nothing to hide the ancient being he truly was.
His eyes were drawn back to the memory ball. “I don’t know,” Ozpin answered, uncertain. “It is difficult to keep track of time when so much of it passes between my reincarnations.”
“Is it truly that far-fetched to assume you are at a stalemate, then?”
Ozpin let out a humorless laugh, sounding more like a scoff. “You might have a point there,” he admitted.
“Alright," I sighed. "Let me tell you a story, then. A story of much heartache, of loss, and... of hope,” I proposed, gently taking the memory ball back from him. Cadance gave me a nervous glance as I smiled sadly at the magical artifact, bringing it to my forehead. “There once was a family living peacefully on a planet called Earth...”
I proceeded to show him the image of my old self standing next to the brightly smiling woman that my sister had been in her previous life. My little Rose was standing in front of us hugging her little sister, Tabetha. They were such bright children at the time and so innocent. I missed those times, being able to live a carefree life. A life without worry. A life sheltered from the horrors of the world. A life in ignorance, really.
“That peaceful life was not meant to be, though,” I continued on melancholically. “For another realm sought new defenders to keep it safe from a darkness only rivaled by the most vilest of beings.”
Without giving him time to study the memory for long (what can I say, one thing I definitely didn’t miss was my old body and I’d rather avoid hearing him ask questions about that), I changed the picture and from there, I showed him the young and optimistic fillies that would later set out to create a nation that, through dedication alone, would become the envy of the rest of the world.
“Wife and husband, now twin sisters, soon lost their father to the cruel greed of raiders scavenging for food in a world plagued by icy spirits of hatred,” I said, trying to suppress the quiver in my voice. “Having to take care of a newborn sister from that point on, one that had once been the sister of said twin, and a heavily depressed mare lost in her grief over losing her husband, they set out to find a land far away from the conflict that ravaged their previous home.”
Skipping forward a few years, I showed Ozpin and Cadance the event that changed our lives forever from that moment on. Platinum’s haughty look almost seemed childish to me now. If only I had known that immature reluctance to accept the fact her days as a princess were destined to end would turn her into such a monstrous abomination that would willingly corrupt herself in a petty attempt to seize the throne from us.
“Unwillingness to let go of something that would never belong to her, a young and foolish former princess, unfit to rule because of her inability to show compassion, sought to sabotage each and every effort of the orphaned mares to improve the lives of those under their care in a nation that had suddenly formed in the land they fled to.”
From Platinum to Sombra, I rapidly changed the memories to those few adversaries that stood out to me in all those years we had built up our kingdom from practically nothing.
“Others came and went, challenging the young princesses that wanted nothing more than to create a peaceful nation and reunite with lost family. Each adversary taught them valuable life lessons, and soon, they grew into wise and kind rulers that would do anything to protect their subjects from harm.”
As everything seemed to work out just fine after everything we went through, I changed the memory one more time to the moment I wanted to change the most about the past.
“But after they finally achieved their first milestone and managed to prove themselves against those that tried to bring ruin to their nation, one mare, still alive against all odds, seized the opportunity to enact her dastardly plan and possessed the eldest with magic most foul.”
From the swirling cloud within the ball of enchanted glass emerged the image of Platinum’s Nightmare Dream form. I glared darkly at the one that dared take away my love, wiping away the tears that threatened to spill.
“The vilest abomination that ever called herself a pony took away the eldest sister and paraded around in her body, fighting the younger sisters that reluctantly defended themselves, and, after everything began to fall apart, the twin of the possessed mare resigned herself to the duty she had to her nation, using a magical weapon she only had a partial bond with in order to bring a stop to the usurper.”
Lastly, with a sob, I changed the image one more time. The shadow of a head on the moon could now be seen in the background as my past self raged in denial, spouting insults at the petrified Elements of Harmony.
“A thousand years her sentence would be, trapped within her own body on the moon, leaving behind two mourning mares that sought comfort in the only way they could. Abandoning their home, they began to prepare for the return of the one they loved, not knowing what would ultimately happen once the sentence ends. Without their greatest weapon at their disposal, hope began to crumble until only a little ember remained of its former glory.”
I smiled sadly, emotionally spent. It hurt, talking about it, but I could see Ozpin give me a look filled with empathy. My daughter was holding my hand, and, seeing her sit there in a silent seething manner, I didn’t know whether to feel glad that she held no love for the one that took away a part of her family or... to feel saddened that she started to feel such dark feelings. Clearly, murder was on her mind as I had seen her stare at the image of Platinum with barely concealed rage, and as her mother, I felt worried.
I was worried that she would fall to the same depths I was willing to go to. To utterly erase Platinum’s wretched soul from existence. To deny her soul from ever reaching the Shadowlands, the Realm of the Dead, the Machinery of Death. I would rip her soul from the cycle and ensure she would never get the chance to be reborn. I didn’t trust whatever being was in charge of cleansing the taint from the souls that passed through the Shadowlands to do the job correctly.
Platinum’s soul was irredeemable. It is as simple as that. I don’t care if I am biased and shouldn’t get to decide that, she deserves nothing less. And as long as I had a say in it, I would keep Cadance pure and innocent. I won’t watch her get consumed by this darkness... this hatred... that I was feeling towards Platinum.
“The thousand years are almost over, aren’t they?” Ozpin asked quietly and, once I calmed myself down from the emotional high I just went through, I gave him a nod. “Your twin, I assume?”
“Yes,” I whispered, grateful for the tea that he refilled into my empty cup. “She's my twin. My... wife.”
“That must have been agonizing to see. To witness her be taken in such a way,” he stated and I sipped at my tea, a strange hollow feeling going through my insides. The beverage did nothing to reassure me.
“Yes...” I nodded (if only barely). One could hardly tell if I moved my head at all. “But I have hope.”
“...you do?” Ozpin asked slowly as if he thought there was none to be found in my tale. How could he think otherwise? It did seem quite hopeless, all things considered. So many uncertainties. So many unknown variables. To the rational mind, everything pointed toward a bleak future.
My heart knew better. My poor heart. My damn bleeding heart. I was almost certain of it. No... I was certain of it. The prophecy will fulfill itself, it has to.
“In the darkest times, we always could count on our family and friends to see us through,” I said, seeing my daughter smile brightly back at me as I gently squeezed her hand. “A prophecy foretold the impending doom that would befall one of us, but it also foretold the event that would come to pass once the prison’s chains would break. I intend to find the ones that will bring me back my beloved... and once she is back in my arms? I won’t ever let her go.”
“I wish I had something like that,” Ozpin muttered, staring into the memory ball that still displayed the last scene I showed to him. “A prophecy that tells me everything would turn out alright in the end.”
“You don’t need a prophecy for that,” I told him, causing him to look up at me with a faint glimmer of disbelief clouding his ancient eyes. “Hope alone... it helps to see you through even the most suffocating darkness, in the end. A wise serpent once told me that hope never truly dies. That it is our belief in it that does. And that belief? It is easily rekindled when you need it the most.”
“I...” he hesitated, looking at me with that desperate want for my words to be true.
“You don’t need to trust me, Ozpin,” I said, my voice filled with total conviction. “Frankly, you shouldn’t base trust on words. Rather, you should base your trust on actions. Those that prove to you their will to stay by your side... those you should trust. Trust in the people closest to you and trust in that glimmer of hope just waiting for you to believe in it again. I know I lost my belief in hope for a very long time. It is time we change that, don’t we?”
“Were those also the words of this 'wise serpent' of yours?” he chuckled, a light entering his eyes that hadn’t previously been there. “What a strange world you must inhabit. A fairy tale world with sentient ponies and serpents...”
“No, those weren’t her words,” I answered while blushing the faintest red that he would think so. Those could have very well been her words, couldn’t they? They just... tumbled out of my mouth. “And Yu’lon is... was a heavenly cloud serpent of another realm. A realm perhaps even more dangerous than this one, I fear. I dearly hope she is still out there, somewhere.”
“This still boggles the mind, truly,” Ozpin remarked. “Different realities... I would have never thought it possible to actually speak with a being from another world, let alone from another reality.”
My daughter giggled. “Once you get used to the idea, it opens up so many possibilities,” Cadance commented. “Just thinking about it makes you wonder what else could be out there. My mom and mothers have seen so many different worlds using the mirror portal, you wouldn’t even believe where they have been!”
“So... is polyamory a legal thing in your nation?” Ozpin asked with a curious eyebrow wandering up his forehead.
“Well, herding is,” I giggled nervously. “Incest... not so much.”
“You are breaking your own laws?” Ozpin smiled, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Oh, he was definitely teasing me now, wasn’t he?
“Nah, Mom has a stick up her plot,” Cadance said and I made a choking sound as my daughter of all ponies dared to say that while in my presence. “There is actually a law that allows sisters or brothers to be in the same herd as long as there's no chance for a pregnancy. Something about foals being more prone to severe magic surges if they are conceived through incest.” She shrugged.
“Wait, what?” I asked, hearing that little bit for the first time. I never made that law. Wasn’t that a thing only practiced in ancient times from even before the wendigos? Something purely survival-related? Since when was there an actual law for that?!
“Oh, yeah! It’s like... a really old law,” Cadance shrugged and my previous misgivings about her saying I had a stick shoved up my... well, 'there'... were completely forgotten. “I think it even predates the founding of Equestria, that’s how ancient that law is.”
“I... never knew that there was a law like that,” I admitted, feeling all sorts of strange feelings well up within me. That... I need to look into that law as soon as we are back in Equestria.
After I drowned myself in alcohol to forget this whole ordeal, that is. I really need something to relax and I didn’t care that I would get that through enormous amounts of alcohol that would kill an ordinary mortal. Then again, I probably need more than that to deal with this... nonsense law. I shudder to think what sort of nightmare I would unleash upon the world by trying to fix a mess that should have been fixed a long time ago.
“Wait... I thought you knew about it?” Cadance asked, giving me a confused look. “I mean, Mom had signed it to make it an official Equestrian law sometime after you became princesses...”
“She did that, huh?” I said in a deathly quiet whisper, my eye twitching madly. Tia... once you are back, I’mma kill you. I’mma kill you so dead, you will beg me to kill you again. And once you are dead dead, I’mma kill you one more time for good measure.
“How did you even come across that law, little petal?” I asked, trying not to give in to the urge to throw things around in a fit of rage. To think my wife went behind my back and made incest (partially) legal...
“It was in one of those dusty old tomes in the Royal Archives,” Cadance explained, shrugging helplessly. “I went to look some things up for one of my assignments from you, so I thought you were aware of it... I mean, you are in a herd with Mother, so... I just assumed you knew.”
“Does Luna know about this?” I whispered, gripping the armrest of my chair tightly. “Or Liz?”
“I, uh... I don’t know?” Cadance giggled nervously, prompting me to narrow my eyes on her.
“Cadance...” I warned her, not at all in the mood for this. “Do. They. Know?!”
“Maybe?” she admitted, shrinking back from me. “I don’t think Luna does, though. Mother would have told you, right?”
“I’mma kill Liz, too,” I grunted, breaking the chair’s armrest. “I will kill her and Tia. To think they would... those little... perverted... idiots...”
“Mom?” Cadance whispered, sounding afraid. “Are you... okay?”
“Oh, I will be,” I said, smiling devilishly. “Once I have sufficiently punished that perverted bug. Eh heh heh~...”
Both Ozpin and my daughter gave me a nervous look as I laughed to myself. Liz really had it coming for her now, that stupid idiot. Let’s see how she likes no sex for a decade or so...
I could make a good guess why she didn’t tell me and it only made me angrier with her. She probably didn’t think it was such a big deal, did she? I will hammer it into her thick skull and tell her that nothing good could possibly come from a law that made incest legal in any way. Once ponies thought it acceptable for siblings to be together in that way, how long would it take for them to think a sister-brother relationship would be okay?! What would happen then?!
I... I can’t allow this to spiral out of control. The possible implications of that were just... staggering. Nothing good could come out of this. Nothing. Nothing good.
Breathing in slowly, I let the air back out without giving in to the urge to scream like a banshee. The law could wait... I’ll talk with Lulu and we can fix this mess, no problem... Just breathe, Summer. Breathe.
Flying penguins, I really need that alcohol now...
Liz better have a good reason why she never told me about that law (if she does know about it). Chances are, she knew as soon as she entered our herd... probably. She literally has thousands of changelings at any one time that could do her bidding, there's no way she doesn't know about that law.
Not only did she corrupt my daughter, my sweet, sweet daughter, but she also withheld this from me. She will be lucky to get any action at all for the next decade.
Maybe a decade wasn’t even enough. Maybe a century would teach her a lesson. And I'm going to make sure she won't have any fun with Luna, either. She was a bad changeling and bad changelings don’t get sex...
This time, I definitely won’t go easy on her. She could beg me with her adorable eyes as long as she wants, this time I won’t let her get away with it. Definitely not. Absolutely one-hundred percent not.
...I’m going to go easy on her again, won’t I? Ugh. Those damn eyes of hers. I just... can’t resist them.
No! This time... this time for sure! No way, no how. I won’t let her manipulate me into going easy on her again. I won't!
“As... interesting... as this has been, I think you are trustworthy despite what your own opinion about this is,” Ozpin said, bringing me out of my mental ravings. I mentally told myself to not forget my promise to punish Liz and focused back on the man sitting in front of me. Hopefully, I won’t forget to actually go through with it. “Perhaps I can trust you to not think too badly of me when I tell you my own tale.”
“You don’t have to trust me just because I told you about my past,” I gently told him. “I just wanted to see that little bit of hope return to your eyes. You don’t owe me anything.”
“Summer, I would like to consider you as a friend,” Ozpin sighed while turning the memory ball around in his hand. He didn't look exactly happy about sharing, but it seemed like he made his mind up. “Let me tell you this if only so I could have a confidant to talk to. Someone that understands my own pain.”
“If you insist,” I reluctantly agreed. Just this morning I was eager to learn this man’s every secret, but now? I don’t think I even deserved to know the smallest detail about any of those. “Would you like to talk completely in private? My daughter, while certainly more trustworthy than I, doesn’t have to be within earshot if you don’t want to share your story with both of us.”
“It’s fine,” he said, receiving a smile from both Cadance and myself. “I don’t think I have to fear anything from your family and she seems quite mature for her age.”
Cadance pouted while crossing her arms in front of her chest. “I’m almost forty, you know,” she said. I rolled my eyes as that argument got brought up again. She barely was an adult in mind and her body still had a long way to go until she was mature enough to be considered an adult by alicorn standards. She has spent both of her lives growing up so far, her age really wasn’t that much of an indicator of her maturity.
“That is quite young,” Ozpin smiled, getting me to laugh and Cadance to pout even more. “Anyway, the tale begins in a land ruled by two gods...”[1]
Ozpin held the memory ball up and filled it with a scene of a breathtaking castle in the distance and a young man on his way through what looked like guards defending it.
“Seeking righteousness, a young man braved the challenges laid out in a tower that only held one thing: A young princess secluded away from society, for her father was a cruel one and did not allow her the outside world.”
He changed the picture to that of both of them, free at last in a world ruled by many kings and queens, filled with magic and wonders. A hero and the damsel in distress, standing there looking at each other with nothing but love in their eyes. I knew something would happen to change that and felt apprehension build within my stomach at what it could be. Nothing good, that’s for sure.
“But the blooming love between the two was not meant to last,” Ozpin continued, his voice heavy with emotions. I watched with wetness in my eyes as he changed the scene from their happy selves to that of the man on his deathbed and the woman mourning over his weak self in sadness and grief. “For a sickness soon took root in the young man and took him away from the one he cherished most.”
The next memory was in a land of foreboding shadows and dark creatures prowling around. The same woman held the panicking and quite clearly resurrected man in her arms, two figures standing at opposite ends locked in what appeared to be an argument. Those... those were no ordinary beings. There was no doubt, those two were higher beings. Actual Gods, even.
They were also obviously forces of light and dark and I held no love for those two. My mind wandered back to the shattered fragments of the moon, convinced that they had something to do with that. There was no other way how that could have happened.
“The Brother Gods soon took exception to the deception that led to his resurrection, irked that a mortal would dare to disrupt the balance of life and death,” Ozpin said. “And they punished the woman accordingly for deceiving the younger brother, having tricked him into doing that which his elder had refused to do.”
“What happened?” Cadance asked, fearful. He smiled sadly at her and changed the picture to a scene that felt almost... surreal. As if living beings had no right to look upon it.
“The God of Light punished her with eternal life,” he explained. “And, once the young princess had tried everything, she despaired at being unable to join her beloved in the afterlife. In the end, she brought an army to their doorstep and tried to convince them by force. And this is where everything took a turn for the worst. For the gods declared their world a failure and left. Leading to this moment.”
I suspected that, should a mortal look upon this scene, to peer beyond the veil of life and death into the Shadowlands, they would feel even more queasy than I was. In it, the man was seen in a strange place with the God of Light in front of him. I was uncertain if this place was somewhere within the Shadowlands or in an entirely different plane of death, altogether. Perhaps it even was their own personally crafted afterlife, ruled by the Brother Gods and none other.
“He explained to the young man that his love traveled down a dark path and that he was needed to set things right. Ozma was told that there would come a time when humanity would be judged, and should they be worthy of it, be whole again. Have their gods walk among them once more, granting them access to a power that was all but lost to them. They would have time to come to peace with one another and live in harmony.
“Ozma, tasked with preparing humanity for that time, agreed once he knew Salem, his love, still lived and would never reunite with him in the afterlife, thinking that his love couldn’t have changed so drastically as he was led to believe. He would always reincarnate with a like-minded individual to ensure he stayed true to his righteous ways, and thus, would never be truly alone.”
Ozpin (or should I say Ozma?) changed the scene to the first time he reincarnated. And... what I saw made my skin crawl at what had become of the woman he loved. Both of them were seated at a table on a porch of a tiny little hut within the woods, their love for each other rekindled by their reunion. But... I could tell it would not last long. Salem... she looked twisted and wrong. She looked like a mockery of her former self.
Her skin was almost a sickly pale white while her eyes... they held a cruel darkness within them. A look I was all too familiar with. Although, where mine still held a semblance of kindness within them, Salem’s eyes stared back with poorly disguised malice. I had no idea how Ozpin could have ever thought to look into those eyes with love, ignoring the danger that lurked within them.
Perhaps the saying was true, after all. Love makes ponies blind to the truth. Or humans, I suppose.
“Reunited at last, both thought their lives would finally find that everlasting happily ever after,” Ozpin resumed telling his tale after a heavy pause, struggling with his voice as he gave the picture of his lost love a mourning look. I wish I could empathize with him in some way, but what he went through... it was far more tragic than what happened to Tia, wasn’t it? Tia hadn’t willingly chosen to become a puppet to dark forces and I had no idea how he must be feeling, seeing Salem start the slow descent into the horrific being she must resemble by now (a darkness only rivaled by Platinum, I fear). “Holding secrets from each other, they tried to unite humanity. But both of them had different ideas on how they should go about doing that, and once Ozma confessed he was to prepare humanity for the return of the Brother Gods, Salem and he could not agree on a... peaceful solution.”
The picture within the memory ball was changed once more by him, and this time, a scene most tragic greeted my eyes. A scene that could have only been a colossal battle between archmages unfolded before me, and in the middle of it all were four little girls. Ozma’s past self ushered them out of the castle that had been their home, only for their beautiful castle to become a battleground in their little ‘disagreement’. Salem quite clearly held a grudge against the creators of this world and would rather see herself in their place than bow down to them.
I felt conflicted about this argument between them. On one hoof, I would never trust those so-called 'gods' to do anything right after they cursed a foolish woman in a petty fit to eternal life, and from what I understood, they also (mostly?) eradicated the human race because they didn’t turn out like they would have liked.
What's up with gods and apocalyptic events, anyway? It sure does go to show they didn't deserve their position.
Anyway, I understand why Ozpin tries so hard to bring humanity together in a peaceful way. My sisters and I had accepted our positions as princesses only because we wanted to see Equestria united in a way that had never been seen before. To bring unity and a sense of safety to ponykind, we became a symbol for each tribe, and through a few trials here and there, we achieved our goals. We brought peace and prosperity to our nation. I want to see Ozpin be successful with his own vision of a united world. Because to me, it seemed ridiculous that a single race was so divided when they shared so much in common.
Well, maybe not exactly quite like that. I have seen the odd few people with animal parts on my way here with Qrow and something told me I wouldn’t like what the rest of humanity thought of those.
“In the end,” Ozpin sighed, staring darkly at the image within the memory ball. “That was the start of their war against each other. Two people, once having been so close to each other you would have thought them to be soulmates, locked in a bitter fight for control over the relics left behind by their creators. Each one struggling to make their own vision of how this world should look like become a reality while denying the other the victory in a game that shouldn't have ever existed in the first place.”
“And... with every reincarnation that Ozma went through, he became less the man he once was and more of a mix of those he has been. Always struggling to keep the world from falling into darkness, doing what he could. A fight that could never end for his opponent is unable to die. Immortal in every sense of the word, Salem would inevitably win the fight through attrition alone, should the man that had once been lauded as a hero falter in his fight to unite humanity and lose all hope...”
Ozpin leaned back against his chair as he left the memory ball in the center of the table with one last picture, a picture that was no memory in the ordinary sense. In the memory ball was a memory that showed each of his incarnations up to his current one standing next to each other in a blank space.
“Do you see now?” Ozpin asked, tiredly. “How can I ever feel hope to win this fight, this damnable war of beliefs... when I can’t ensure she won’t destroy everything that I work so tirelessly to achieve? Like a coward, I let my followers believe that they can, one day, bring an end to this when it is utterly impossible...”
“If it is impossible, why do you keep going?” I shot back, daring him to come up with some excuse he knew he didn’t truly believe. I knew he could win this in some way, nothing was impossible. I just have to make him believe that.
“I don’t know,” he told me, frowning sadly. I wanted to wipe that look from his face so badly, it didn’t suit him. At all. So hopeless, so defeated... he was barely holding on and it was such a pitiful sight to behold. He reminded me of myself at my lowest, overthinking mere possibilities out of fear. “I guess I keep on going because I owe it to those that I have already failed to protect from her. I owe it to people like our Summer. I keep going because otherwise, everything I have worked for would have been for nothing.”
“There is always a solution, Ozma,” I said. “It might not be obvious and it might not be the solution you would prefer, but there are ways for you to still win this and keep this world safe. Bring peace to it and... at some point, you can make it a place where your people don’t have to fear the Grimm anymore. You can reclaim this planet without relying on the whim of two inadequate gods.”
“And how do you propose I do that?” he grunted, rubbing his face in frustration. “What could I do that I haven’t already tried to do?! There is nothing that would put an end to Salem, she would only get stronger with everything I throw at her. Damn it, Summer, all of my agents that have tried to challenge her in a foolish attempt to prove to me that Salem could be killed are gone!”
“Is that how my counterpart died?” I asked, raising a brow. “Was she one of those 'foolish agents'?”
“I... no. I don’t know,” Ozpin sighed. “I told her not to risk it and she accused me of being a coward, content to play the waiting game. She knew full well she would never be able to best Salem...”
“She is right,” I stated, causing him to look up at me with betrayed eyes. “You are a coward.”
“Mom...” Cadance muttered in shock, unable to believe I would say those words to Ozpin after everything I did to make him have hope again. I smiled thinly back at her, standing up from the ruined chair. “I’m so sorry, Mister Ozma, I’m sure she didn’t mean it like that.”
I shook my head. “Oh, I did mean every word of that, little petal,” I disagreed with her. “He is very much a coward. But that is in no way meant as an insult.”
“What..?” Ozpin whispered, thoroughly confused.
“The weak, the cowardly, those that think they know they can’t fight and expect to win...” I began. “They are the strongest. They dare to imagine the impossible, they continue to hold on to hope. They think things through, considering each and every potential outcome of their actions. They try to find ways to outplay the opponent in the most efficient way possible, without ever having to take up arms. You said my counterpart knew she couldn’t possibly defeat Salem, right? Tell me, what words did she say to you when she went out to confront her?”
Ozpin frowned. “That she would stop Salem...” he answered. “Summer, I don’t understand. What are you trying to tell me?”
“Did she say she would kill Salem?” I asked, ignoring his demand for an explanation.
“Mom, now isn’t the time for one of your cryptic lessons,” Cadance interrupted Ozpin before he could answer my question and I rose an eyebrow at her. “Can’t you for once just say what is on your mind?”
“She never said she would kill Salem,” I explained. “Now, tell me, my Rose Petal. What did she mean by ‘she would stop Salem’?”
“I...” Cadance mumbled, rubbing her arm as she was suddenly put in the spotlight instead of the headmaster. “I mean, stop doesn’t necessarily mean kill. If Salem can’t be killed, wouldn’t it still be possible for her to be stopped without taking her life? Banishment comes to mind, it would be like what you did with Platinum, wouldn’t it?”
I smiled, satisfied. That was the solution to the problem, wasn’t it? If Salem was somewhere where she couldn’t try anything to sabotage Ozpin, he would be free to heal Remnant, in a sense. He could bring humanity together in a way like my wives and I had done for Equestria.
“You think I never tried something like that?” Ozpin laughed mirthlessly, gripping the armrest of his chair tightly. “She is too powerful to be contained like that. I would only be playing for time...”
“I hear that the moon is a lovely place,” I shot back with a mischievous smile. “But there are ways to negate the powers of even the most powerful of beings, aside from banishment.”
“And those would be?”
“If I had access to the Elements of Harmony, we could have tried to point them at her and hope for the best,” I said with a shrug. “But seeing that they are broken beyond repair, I suppose that would have to wait until I find a way to make them whole again, as impossible as that task seems to be.”
“Great,” Ozpin grumbled with a roll of his eyes. “So far, you are ruining all my hopes, you know that?”
“Don’t get pouty on me, dear,” I giggled. “I didn’t say those were the only things that could be effective against her. Besides, I don’t think you would like to petrify your former love, so another solution will have to do.”
Ozpin sighed. “I can see why your daughter doesn’t enjoy your style of teaching,” he said, giving me a pointed look. “Could you get to the point?”
“Dear, I’ll have you know I’m a great teacher,” I pouted. Although... he might have a point there. I have been enjoying my cryptic responses a bit too much as of late. “There are other ways to achieve similar goals. One thing I can think of would be to simply trap her in an environment she couldn’t escape from. The moon would be perfect for an immortal like her, but a simple room would do the job too, I suppose. Of course, the room would be anything but ordinary.”
“Okay,” Ozpin nodded slightly in thought. “How do you propose we make that room able to contain an immortal being? One that, might I add, could rip it apart with magic?”
“I would obviously need access to a few things,” I admitted, nervously rubbing my arm as I was sure he would call me crazy for... how expensive the amount of resources would be to construct a ‘cage’ like that. “I... uh... I don’t suppose you have access to large amounts of orichalcum and adamantium? Perhaps a little bit of star steel? Maybe mithril?”
Ozpin gave me a blank look. “I have no idea what those are,” he told me and I gulped heavily. Great. Ugh.
“Celestia will hate me for this,” I shuddered, not at all in the mood to go beg her for a chunk of star steel from her vaults. On top of that, nopony even knew how to forge with that metal. I could probably figure it out with enough time. Then again... I’m certain it would take me at least a few centuries to do so. If all else failed, using it in its raw and unrefined state might work, too. It wouldn’t be ideal, but it would be a start. “But I suppose if it helps a friend out, she won’t be too mad. Let’s hope the portal to her universe will be... amenable and not refuse to open. I swear, that mirror has a worse attitude than Luna in the morning.”
“I take it this Celestia isn’t your Celestia?” Ozpin asked and I simply nodded. Well, it wouldn’t be too much of a loss if she has none available... it's only going to make the cost of that cage end up even more astronomical. Heck, it would be way easier to create a rocket capable of space-flight from scratch, instead.
“Say...” I began hesitantly. “Have you ever tried reconciling with Salem? Maybe reforming her might be a valid plan instead?”
He raised a brow at me. “She would rather force me to give her the relics and kill me afterward,” Ozpin deadpanned and I winced. Okay, then... the cage it is. Let’s hope Luna won’t kill me for spending an exorbitant amount of resources on this, then...
Or maybe... maybe we could come up with a better solution to that. If I could create an alloy with the properties I’m looking for that are similar enough to those of adamantium and orichalcum, I wouldn’t need extreme amounts of those.
“It might take a while for me to create a cage that would ensure nothing breaks out of it. It’s doable but might be very, and I mean very, expensive. So expensive, you would think me mad, in fact. If we don’t come up with different ideas, that is,” I told him with a nervous smile.
“How expensive are we talking about here?” Ozpin asked me with narrowed eyes.
“Enough to buy an entire kingdom or two?” I admitted with a wince.
“Summer, I can’t ask something like that of you.”
“Ozpin, you are my friend now,” I said. “And an Equestrian Princess doesn’t go back on her word when she offers her help. I will find a way to help you.”
“Mom, maybe we don’t need a new cage,” Cadance interrupted us before we could continue this argument further.
“I..." I blinked, thinking for a moment. "Huh. Oh, wow. Cadance, you are right!” I said, smiling brightly as I grabbed her and held her tightly in my embrace. “Oh, look at you! So smart!”
“Thanks?” she squeaked, struggling to get enough air into her lungs. Not that she would actually die from a lack of oxygen. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have to worry about Platinum so much. Would have been nice to know she suffocated on the moon and couldn’t revive herself until her sentence ended. Still, breathing was nice. Couldn’t hold a conversation without breathing, after all.
And, on top of that, it was really unpleasant to substitute oxygen with mana. As much as it was a nifty little trick, it was absolutely, without question, an awful feeling. Bordering on torture, really. The constant feeling of suffocating while substituting oxygen with mana could drive any mortal insane.
As long as you don’t have a fetish for that, I suppose...
“Right! Where was I?” I said, feeling extraordinarily happy.
“The prison?” Ozpin reminded me and I nodded, beginning to pace back and forth in front of his desk.
“We could use Tartarus if we really need to. It should hold her without problems. Probably.”
“Probably?”
“Uh... I mean, I don’t really know her capabilities, and if she is as powerful as... say... Platinum, then that could prove to be a problem,” I explained, trying not to panic as that plan sounded like it was doomed for failure. “She could probably, maybe... blast her way out of there?”
“That would indeed be a problem. I take it this Tartarus is a prison of sorts?” Ozpin asked. Now that we were talking about actual possible ways to solve his problems, he seemed a lot more collected and hopeful again.
“More like... the prison of prisons,” Cadance answered him with an excited grin on her face. “Mom made that prison to hold the most dangerous creatures that have ever existed.”
I blushed. “Tia did most of the work,” I said, not comfortable with how my daughter made it sound like I was the only pony to create Tartarus. And it's not exactly something to be proud of, anyway. “Without her work, it would be nowhere near secure enough to hold the monsters incarcerated there.”
“It seems your own realm is quite a bit more dangerous than I was led to believe,” Ozpin remarked with a raised brow. “Monsters? Sounds like you could use a few huntsmen and huntresses of your own.”
“Luna, Liz, and I are quite capable of keeping our nation safe on our own,” I argued back. “I’d rather not risk the lives of my subjects should they get it into their heads that hunting monsters is something they are capable of.”
“If you say so,” he said, clearly thinking I was being too protective of my little ponies, sheltering them from every little thing (not that he would be wrong assuming that). If he knew what kind of monsters made Equis their home, though, he would probably rethink that thought. “What else could we do if Tartarus won’t be able to hold Salem for long?”
I hummed, thinking for a moment. That was the question, wasn’t it? If all else failed, we could still go back to the idea of creating a cage tailored specifically to her. I’d prefer not having to spend a fortune on that, though.
To be honest, the idea of using Tartarus made me feel queasy, anyway. I’d rather not house another supervillain in there. One that could, if worst comes to worst, break out of it without too much difficulty. If Salem was on the power level of an alicorn, Tartarus won’t hold her for long. A century at most, probably.
Too bad we couldn’t send her to the moon or petrify her with the Elements. I don’t even know if the Elements would work in a different reality, which would also put the new wielders needlessly at risk (once I've found them, that is). Something tells me I won’t just get lucky and stumble across their path.
What else was there that could ensure Salem can’t interfere with Remnant ever again? Sure, reforming her would be great, but I wasn’t sure if she could be redeemed. Maybe devouring her soul? I... no, that isn’t going to work, either. Not with me being so weak in this dimension.
Assuming this immortality is of divine origin, it would be an even harder task to accomplish. In Equestria, my wives and I might stand a chance of destroying her divine core, but at what cost that would come, I couldn’t possibly predict. I’m also pretty certain her immortality isn’t a malicious curse that was placed on her by a dark artifact, so breaking that in order to kill her is out of the equation as well.
Ugh. Perhaps this actually was as hopeless as Ozpin made it out to be? Aside from ruining every plan Salem comes up with, I can’t think of anything that would put an actual stop to her machinations. It seems like the only viable option was going to be that cage and I have no idea how long it would take for me to gather all those materials to craft it. Not to mention the time I would need to actually design and build it. It could take me decades if I was honest with myself.
Heck, it would be easier to just shove her through a mirror and call it.. a... day...
By the twin suns, it can't be that easy, can it? Holy flying penguins, how did it take me that long to come up with an ingenious plan like this? It should have been obvious from the beginning.
“I... I might have a solution,” I said, breathlessly. Never let it be said I can't have a stroke of genius in my old age. Hah! This dusty old brain of mine still does the unthinkable from time to time.
Ozpin frowned curiously. “I’m all ears,” he said, motioning for me to go on.
“I told you that there are countless other versions of you out there, right? That within the multiverse, your reality is only one among infinite other realities,” I began, getting him to slowly nod and I could see that the light in the eyes of my daughter had caught on to where I was going with this. It was heartwarming to see her work it out so fast, I was so very proud of her at that moment.
“Now, tell me... if you were to try and travel through the multiverse, how would you go about doing it?” I asked him, seeing his eyebrows grow closer together in thought.
“You said you use mirrors, right?” Ozpin inquired, stroking his chin with a few fingers. “Those are some sort of gateway, allowing you to create a path to another universe? A bridge of sorts?”
“Exactly,” I nodded, beginning to grin with giddy anticipation. “What you described is essentially the functionality of a mirror portal. You can travel back and forth along that bridge, basically ensuring you never get lost within the multiverse. The mirror acts as a type of anchor for those two dimensions to stay in close contact with each other. What if I told you that the mirror is not the only method to do it?”
“I would assume that there would be another method that would allow you to travel between dimensions without getting lost,” he responded and I nodded slowly.
“Right,” I breathed out, excited for what was to come next. “Starswirl actually developed one such method. A portal that doesn’t need a mirror. The downside to that is, you would need something else to guide you back home. A signature, if you will.”
“Do you have a signature like that?” Ozpin asked and I nodded again.
“Well, I can’t use it without access to a large mana pool, but luckily for me, I have an incredible wife that, without a doubt, is currently working on connecting a portal to this dimension after examining the residue of the spell that brought us here,” I explained.
“I’m glad you aren’t stranded here, then,” Ozpin smiled and I returned it with one of my own.
“Thank you, dear. Anyway, the point is, without a signature like that; a beacon, if you will,” I began, promptly getting an eye roll from Ozpin and my daughter at the pun of his prestigious academy. “You are essentially lost forever. There is next to no hope of ever finding your way back to your original world because of the sheer magnitude of the multiverse and the multitude of similar universes to your own.”
“Right...” Ozpin hummed and I could see that he got the same idea I had. “And without a bridge or a signature, Salem won’t be able to get back to Remnant. The only thing we would have to do is to somehow trick her into going through one such portal.”
“Indeed,” I nodded. “I will leave the details of that to you, I have two daughters to train. Their lessons aren’t over, yet.”
“In combat?” he inquired and saw my daughter gulp at the mention of lessons and combat.
“For the duration of my stay here, yes,” I said. “Suns know Ruby needs lessons in unarmed combat.”
“You are training the counterpart of your daughter, too?”
“More like torturing us...” my daughter grumbled and I glared at her while Ozpin raised an intrigued eyebrow.
“If it isn’t too much of a bother, I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine; Glynda. Is that acceptable to you?” Ozpin asked and now it was my turn to raise my eyebrow at him.
“Go ahead, we don’t have anything secret to discuss anymore. Right, Mom?” Cadance told him, looking back to me for confirmation. I merely nodded, interested in what Ozpin wanted this Glynda here for.
Considering where I currently was, I could make a guess and be reasonably certain that I would be correct in assuming what it would be that Ozpin wanted. He wanted to rope me into teaching combat here, didn’t he?
Well, if he truly wished for me to torture... I mean, ‘train’ his students, who was I to deny a request of a new friend? Hmm. This might just get interesting, too. And it's not like it won't be useful to me, either.
After all, gaining access to the technology used here to train new generations of huntsmen and huntresses would surely prove useful for Cadance and Ruby’s training. Eh heh heh...
Our wait for Beacon’s combat instructor and vice-headmistress wasn’t long at all, and once I saw the ‘young’ lady, I definitely knew this proposal they had for me was worth my time. Glynda was a rather strict woman, appearance-wise. If I was honest with myself, she would have been my type once upon a time. She just screamed sexy seductress to me.
Ahem! Anyway, once I stated my terms to them under which circumstances I would teach here, I was quite happy with the results. Most importantly, I was a very happy owner of a scroll of the newest generation and couldn’t help but giggle joyfully as I skipped back to the flying deathtraps they call transport here in this world, ignoring my daughter’s sulking pout as she walked beside me.
Qrow was already there waiting for us, having refilled his flask at some point. As I was already pretty much accustomed to his behavior, I ignored the way he greeted us with indifference and settled myself in a seat furthest away from any windows, quietly suffering the journey back to Vale. My scroll could only keep me so much distracted from the unnaturalness of this Bullhead’s engines. At least I could buy myself as many games as my heart desired from now on.
Haah... I don’t look forward to returning with those dastardly things tomorrow morning with Cadance and Ruby in tow, though. Well, as long as Ruby actually wants to accept this offer Ozpin gave me (much to the disgruntlement of Glynda, who thought him crazy to allow my daughters to attend classes there with me as their primary teacher). I don’t think she would actually say no to attending Beacon a bit earlier than her seventeenth birthday.
Cadance wouldn’t actually be part of any team due to the fact we had to return to Equestria soon. Until the spring semester actually begins, both of them will continue their private training with me. I’ll have to adjust the lesson plan a little bit to ensure Ruby doesn’t neglect her other school subjects in the meantime, teaching her everything she would have learned in her last two years of Signal Academy.
My little petal, of course, had no other choice but to attend Beacon, and thus, subject herself to my specialized combat training. I would make sure she and Ruby will be able to fight efficiently with every imaginable weapon for the rest of their lives, even if they might never take any other weapon into their hands again. I will only be satisfied with their training once they can kill Grimm with their toothbrushes. Cadance will, without a doubt, want to rely on her defensive strategies, but I'm going to make sure she will be as deadly with that as she will be with an offensive approach.
As much as I have berated her for being too passive on a battlefield before, I know a good defense is just as important as a good offense. While sometimes it is true that the best defense is going on the offense, having a good defense shouldn’t be totally neglected. My little petal liked to use shields, perhaps a bit too much, so I would just have to work with that.
Using a shield, whether through magic or ordinary physical shields, might prove to be her greatest strength even. If I could teach her to use those as weapons, too? She would literally turn into an unstoppable force. The question, on the other hoof, was what kind of shield would be the best in that case? Probably some sort of bladed kite shield...
I might be able to convince Ruby to craft Cadance a shield that (like her scythe) could shift into something with more offensive capabilities without sacrificing its defensive ability entirely. Knowing Ruby, she is going to be very enthusiastic about helping Cadance with this task.
Ruby does love weapons to an obsessive degree, doesn’t she? What would she think once I open her mind to the possibility that a shield can be used as a weapon as well? Now that I was thinking about it... she would probably drool happily while coming up with crazy schematics. Hopefully, we could come up with a design that would also work for Cadance back home. I would hate for Ruby’s hard work to go to waste.
Once we were back at the Xiao Long-Rose household, Ruby couldn’t stop gushing about how ‘cool’ it was going to be attending Beacon Academy together with Yang and Cadance while I would be teaching there. Tai was happy for her, but I could tell he was sad to see both of his daughters leave the nest earlier than he expected.
Not that I was feeling any different in that regard, just for other reasons. This would mean she would start her journey to become Remnant’s savior even earlier and I was worried whether or not I could prepare her enough. To make sure she is ready for everything this world could throw at her. With two fewer years of education, it was even more important to get her up to speed with those that already had that time.
I don’t want to be the cause of her being bullied for her special treatment. There will be those that are going to allow their jealousy to cloud their judgment and mistreat my little petal, no doubt. Both of them, for that matter. Her status as a princess won’t save Cadance here from that kind of treatment because, for all intents and purposes, her title had little to no meaning here. On top of that, Cadance is physically younger than Ruby, and... I worry for her. Others will look at her and see a little child and feel like she hasn't earned her place.
I couldn’t allow anyone to take advantage of that, and to ensure that, I would have to be even harsher with them in their training. Not only because it would help them more in the long run, but also to dissuade anyone from thinking they got it easier than them. If anything, it would be quite the opposite case.
I will have to keep in mind that, while for Cadance this wasn’t meant as an actual school experience, they are going to need social experience, as well. That's even more important for Ruby. She is still very much a teenager in every sense of the word (while quite mature for her age, she does goof around a lot with Cadance in the short time they have been around each other). She needs friends, genuine ones. Thus, Ruby will have to go through Beacon Academy’s entrance exam once the semester starts and I need to prepare her for that as well.
Quite a long list of things to prepare for, isn’t it? The entrance exam, the missing two years of education (which in and of itself is a long list of things I have to go through, as well, teaching her everything in a far too short amount of time), her missing skills in unarmed close-quarter combat, the need to teach her how to wield almost anything and everything as a weapon, preparing her to defend herself from jealous students (because there will be some of those that are going to try something foolish with her, I could almost guarantee it), creating a shield-weapon hybrid for Cadance and possibly improving her own weapon while we are at it, and to top it all off, I will have to continue teaching them advanced combat lessons during all of that.
Things like teaching Ruby to use her semblance to its fullest potential, using the environment to their advantage, cheating like no tomorrow, and strategy on such a high level, both of them could analyze the battlefield in their sleep (metaphorically speaking, of course). I would also have to teach them how to disarm someone of their weapon and other things I, myself, am not an expert in. Like, say... stealth. I wish Luna was here to help out with that part, but my limited knowledge would have to do. I’m not the most subtle pony on the battlefield and prefer the direct confrontation to be as short as possible (through overwhelming force most of the time, I admit).
And for all of that, I only have a meager two to three months' worth of time. Way too short to accomplish everything on my mental to-do list, but thankfully, I won’t have to do everything in that time. The most important thing was to make sure Ruby knows everything she needs in order for her to start her first semester at Beacon Academy successfully. For the lesson plan of Ruby, I could prioritize most of those things based on their importance for now. That left me with what to do for Cadance in the meantime.
I already know the first priority for that, don’t I? She wants to use shields, so that’s going to be our main focus for now. Shields, unarmed combat, and whatever else comes to my mind while we train. Once Beacon begins, we can concentrate on all the good stuff.
While we were doing that, I couldn’t sit idly by myself. I have to research everything I can about the soul, not to mention the things I need to teach Ruby that I have no knowledge of, whatsoever. Aura and Semblance Mastery I could combine with my own research. Grimm Biology is probably going to be close enough to what I already know about animals and their bodies, so I don’t think I will have to waste a lot of time on that. What I was more concerned about was Dust Studies and Herbology, as well as History and Remnant's politics.
I could hardly teach her magic theory and expect Ruby to know what I’m talking about, so I have to study the workings of dust first (without going mad, preferably). The same is true for the plant life of Remnant, it would only needlessly confuse her to teach her about Equis-specific plants when they don’t even exist here. Our history would be equally useless to her (unless she wants to visit Equestria, I guess), so I would have to go through Remnant’s history as well. And, well... politics is always good to have a solid understanding of. Don't want to piss off whatever constitutes the nobility in this world. That, and Ruby will have to learn how to conduct herself in official huntress business, as well.
Tai and Qrow were thankfully helpful enough to explain the basic things from Remnant’s history and the rest I could research in Beacon Academy’s library. And as I had already predicted, I didn’t like Remnant’s recent history. At all. It sounded way too close to what I remembered from my time on Earth and Cadance remembered a lot more of that than I did. We both unanimously came to the conclusion that our Earth had been influenced by this world. To what degree I couldn’t say, but there were clear similarities between both of our worlds. Well, our former world, I should say.
One such similarity was the Great War that had raged for several years on both worlds for similar reasons. Not everything was quite the same, though. One thing that led to the war was the right of expressing yourself through creativity. The Creatures of Grimm played a major role in that decision here, though, instead of a general hatred for art out of what could have only been immature jealousy. If the Grimm couldn’t sense your emotions at all, they would never attack, right? Too bad it doesn’t work like that. Without creativity, you might as well be dead. All that would be left of you would be an emotionless husk, an uncaring machine in the form of human flesh. That can’t ever be called living and insisting otherwise was just as abominable as killing the people yourself.[2]
Another reason that was similar to the Great War was the fight over land and resources, of course. Earth had seen its fair share of that during our Great War which had left countless nations as nothing but ruins by the end of it. Remnant, on the other hand, though? They had the Grimm to deal with on top of the squabble between the four nations.
And nothing good ever came from those fights. Their war was apparently more important than leaving soldiers behind in their nations to keep the Grimm at bay and I don't even have to guess what happened because of that. Frightened villagers, entire settlements of despairing citizens... all wiped out. Thousands upon thousands of people lost their lives because they couldn’t leave behind their greed and petty hatred.
But the end of the Great War on Remnant wasn’t easily achieved. One last battle was fought and the King of Vale was the one to end it (almost single-handedly, at that). Ozma had tried his best to reach peace without having to fight, an admirable trait, but like me, he had little patience for stupidity.
The Great War was the single stupidest thing that has ever happened on both Earth and Remnant, but both of them also brought out the best in humanity (and faunus, the people with animal traits... they had it even worse than how some countries on Earth had treated their ‘unwilling citizens’). Ozma brought about a lasting peace for the kingdoms, not by forcing them under his rule, but by granting them mercy. An alliance was forged on neutral ground and the first huntsman academies were founded, all thanks to the former king.
To be honest? I was astonished Salem hadn’t taken advantage of the war to eradicate humanity and faunus-kind from Remnant. Ozma kept true to his righteous self and brought the world back from the brink of utter destruction, never losing his faith in the people of this world, even when they were at their lowest. That he continues to fight for them... he deserves to be praised for that, at the very least.
He might lie to his agents to keep them from falling into despair, but could I really fault him for that? His heart has seen so much suffering, I shudder to think what would happen if the truth were to come out that Salem was the one behind the Grimm, using them like stolen lap dogs from a failure of a god.
This world has seen too much death, it is high time that changed. Harmony must be restored to this world and that can only happen without Salem. I will help Ozma with Salem, and hopefully, he can rest easy once she is dealt with. Once this world is finally free of those vying for control over it, there will be a guardian left to ensure harmony won’t be disturbed to such a huge degree ever again.
Yes. This world needs a little red reaper. After all, only she can be trusted with such a burden. To be the Guardian of Remnant.
Let us get to work then, shall we?