A loud clang reverberated through the room as one weapon thundered against the other in a veritable blur of motion. Despite that, my eyes were keeping track of the incredible display of control my daughters brought to bear with their respective blades. Ruby’s scythe clashed once more against Cadance’s sword, parried in just the right way like I had taught her.
The start of the Vytal Festival was just around the corner now and that meant extensive training for both of them. Cadance wouldn’t be competing in the tournament, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t train together with her ‘twin’. Both of them got it into their heads that they should think of each other like that rather than the actual fact that they were more or less the same person. Well, slightly different because of their upbringing and their difference in ‘mental’ age (which really didn’t differ that much, let’s be honest here), but that didn’t make them too different from each other.
I smiled as Ruby used her semblance to ‘jump back’ in order to take a shot at Cadance with Crescent Rose. My daughter was quick to extend the mechanical marvel that was her shield to intercept the attack. She and Ruby had stayed up many a night to create a multi-functional shield that could compact itself to a more comfortable size while not in use. What they managed to create was nothing short of a miracle. At least, by Equestrian standards. Remnant has a lot of things we could only dream of achieving. In comparison to the rest of the technological wonders here, Cadance’s shield seemed almost ordinary. If there ever could exist something that Ruby made be ‘ordinary’, that is.
The shield, currently extended into its rather impressive ‘tower’ form (which was more or less a rectangular shape with a slight curve towards the lower end, it was still a kite shield by the end of the day, after all), absorbed the bullet’s impact in full without any sign of strain on Cadance’s part. Partly because she had trained herself to absorb impacts in the most efficient way possible (despite my grousing protests that she should avoid taking any and all attacks straight on) and partially due to the fact that her shield’s more advanced technology stored some of that excess energy for later use.
I have no idea how Ruby managed to create that mechanism together with my little petal at Beacon's own weapon forge (with a bit of help from their big sister, Yang, to make sure it wouldn't break after being hit by one of her empowered strikes).
The shield could basically store the equivalent amount of energy from a small to medium-scale explosion depending on how close it is (although it doesn’t absorb all of the energy at once... yet). It could then either release the stored energy in a counter-attack by splitting the lower end into a funnel not unlike a cannon, or use it to fuel a type of widespread ‘hard-light’ shield afterward (which could take on a number of preconfigured forms, either extending the reach of the shield like a wall or project it outward like a bubble shield).
As useful as it might seem at first glance, the hard-light shield can’t absorb a lot of damage. The flimsy barrier tends to break as soon as the stress of the damage exceeds the energy output it could maintain at any given point, but it does allow Cadance the opportunity to take a breather and set the battlefield up in a way that would give her an advantage, however slight it might be. And that's what she did, transforming her shield back into its compact form before activating the trigger for the bubble shield option. My Rose Petal let the bubble shield expand until Ruby had little room left to maneuver within the arena.
Ruby wasn’t so easily caged, though. I saw her take a few running steps forward towards the shield, her scythe poised to strike a gaping hole in Cadance’s temporary fortification, and I couldn’t help but smile as she transitioned over into a red blur using her semblance. Cadance was already preparing herself for Ruby’s attack, a determined frown firmly on her face.
I hummed quietly to myself, watching with rapt attention. This was certainly going to lead to an interesting outcome, wasn't it? Let's see if Cadance has improved with her own semblance, then.
The power of the soul has caused me many sleepless nights in the past few months, trying to figure out just why they granted someone here on Remnant the ability to do extraordinary things without the use of magic. The best I could come up with was the assumption that the soul is someone’s shield and weapon at the same time. You couldn’t purposely destroy your own soul using it as an extension of yourself, and much like Cutie Marks, they represented a person on a deeper, more intimate level.
I like to use swift and powerful attacks, only going into range of attacking my opponent when I knew I would land my hit with absolute certainty and could avoid being attacked back at the same time, thus my own semblance granted me the ability to move through the battlefield in the most efficient way possible by letting me teleport to the location I marked with my rose petals (of course my aura would take on the form of slightly singed, pinkish-white rose petals, go figure).
Sure, I could have used magic for that purpose, but here on Remnant? I had no way to separate my arcane energy from the silver eyes’ ocular ability of purification. And let me tell you, this little ability of mine has so far proven itself effective only against the Creatures of Grimm (in quite fascinating proportions, at that), so I wasn’t complaining about being unable to cast magic... too much.
Okay, okay! Maybe I was being a little bit too vocal about my displeasure, but it’s not like I’m going to be cut off from my magic forever. What is important, though, was the simple fact that both Ruby and Cadance were able to learn from my mistakes and could utilize their eyes just as well as I could now. It took quite the trial and error approach, but in the end, once I figured out in which way to evoke my own emotions in order to access the cheat-like ability (safely, that is), it was easy to teach my daughters how to use theirs, turning Grimm to stone left and right.
Knowing that actively thinking of sad or bittersweet memories negated the more self-destructive effect of them being used made using them a lot more bearable. Without an infinite supply of mana from my sun, though, it was more of a ‘last resort’ method, if anything.
That was one major advantage of a semblance, I suppose. The ‘soul well’ does not run dry (at least, as long as your aura stays unbroken), and thus, you could use your semblance to your heart’s content. As long as using it doesn’t tire you out physically or mentally, that is.
Ah, yes... that was another thing that had me stay up at night, puzzling over it. The soul’s own... 'energy', I guess... is practically infinite, but somehow it needs time to recharge your aura to full. For regular mortals, that is. An ascended soul functioned fundamentally differently, in completely mysterious ways even. I couldn’t even begin to understand the functionality behind why an ascended soul ‘recharged’ aura differently. Maybe the soul of a higher being was simply denser, and thus, charges the aura’s ‘reserves’ faster.
That doesn’t mean a higher being with an unlocked soul is invulnerable to damage, though. It required just a bit more... force... to affect their aura. A clash between higher beings would be no different than one between mortals, considering how their difference in power was closer to each other than it would be between mortals and higher beings.
Yes, it was totally unfair against Ruby, having to fight my daughter’s superior defenses, but it wasn’t like Ruby hasn’t proven herself to be able to power through that denser aura. I did train her to be this world’s guardian and that meant being able to deal with beings like us.
With bated breath, I watched as Ruby’s scythe collided with Cadance’s hard-light shield. I wasn’t sure whether to be proud or a little bit disappointed with the result of that clash. Cadance looked like she was straining herself as she held on to her compacted shield, pumping everything she has got into maintaining her semblance while her aura began to drain a little bit faster with each impact of Ruby’s scythe.
Ruby’s semblance was in the most simplest terms speed. In all actuality, it was much more than 'just' that. Her personality was cheerful, upbeat, happy, and whatever other word you could use to describe an optimistic and lively person. It was very rare to not see her be her positive self, the only exception being when she trained with us in the usage of her ocular abilities. Her semblance reflected that part of herself in the way that her energetic self allowed her to literally become a blur of red rose petals.
Cadance, though? Her need to protect her loved ones granted her the boon to empower anything she touched with her domain (while keeping to the whole 'rose petal' theme, making everything she empowers trail pinkish-red rose petals everywhere). Thus, the current predicament. Her insurmountable defense was pitted against Ruby’s unstoppable, lightning-quick force.
I was proud that Cadance could concentrate through everything Ruby threw at her, but it would only be a question of time before she slips and cracks would start to form. She has been doing her best to increase her ability to concentrate through stressful situations, but... progress has been slow going. I knew how hard it could be to remain calm while your body did its best to drown you with adrenalin, so I was understandably patient with her in that regard.
The slightly disappointed feeling welling up within me, on the other hand, came from Ruby’s struggle to break through. I would have expected her to power through the defense of my Rose Petal with the first hit, but apparently, she was too slow with her attack. She had given Cadance enough time to empower her shield, something that she shouldn’t have allowed in the first place. Maybe I was setting my expectations for her too high... and maybe it was a bit unfair of me to want her to surpass my expectations every single time we trained, but...
I just want her to survive in this damn world without having to worry for her safety once I returned home with Cadance. I was already worried more than enough that they would feel like the world was ending because they couldn’t visit each other every day of the week. Both of them had duties, some of them more important than others, not to mention they would be preoccupied with their respective training even after we go back to our world. Cadance still needs to learn many things about ruling a nation and I have been putting one particular topic off for quite a while now.
At one point I would have to tell her about the Crystal Empire. I wouldn’t want her to go in blind and risk something going wrong that could threaten the entire nation. Besides, turning the return of the Empire into a test would be a cruelty not only to her but also to the crystal ponies.
And I knew that once we leave for Equestria, Ruby would be too busy training with her team, and after that, working as a huntress. She would be too busy to catch up with Cadance because there was a destiny for her to fulfill. It would be a long and arduous task for her to accomplish all on her own, but... I had no doubt they would find time to ‘hang out’ with each other every once in a while. After all, you can't save the whole world in a single day, there will be days both of them can spare where they can do... whatever it is that they do, actually.
There will be even more time for them to do that once Salem was finally dealt with. Not to mention Platinum. By that time, Cadance might have to do her princess duties on a regular basis, but it's not like she will have to do it all alone (not if I can help it).
Too bad I can’t just push Platinum through a mirror and smash it afterward. I’m pretty sure she could just torture the information out of Tia in order to return to our Equestria. If she doesn’t already know, that is.
Hopefully, Cadance will be safe and sound even if we fail against all odds. She has quite literally become Equestria’s shield. Now we only need to find our sword to fight back the darkness threatening us once more.
“They have improved quite a lot, haven’t they?” Ozpin asked me, sipping from his mug of questionable content. I never knew whether it was hot cocoa, coffee, tea, or something completely different. The ass always delighted in my subtly twitching eyelid, trying to see the contents of said mug as he hid it just outside of sight. Damn my short body...
“Maybe,” I answered, not once taking my eyes off of my daughters’ movements. I was tempted to sneak a peek at his mug, intent to finally find out just what it was that he was drinking, although I restrained my curiosity. This wasn’t the time to find out. “But not enough. She should have broken through by now and Cadance shouldn’t be concentrating so much on maintaining her shield and go on the offensive, instead.”
“They are still children,” he reprimanded me and I glared balefully ahead of me, concentrating on the fight within the arena while I tried to suppress the angry retort that wanted to force itself out of me.
“Don’t you think I know that?” I asked him icily. “I know you know how much I would like to see them enjoy their childhood. But you also know just as much as I do that they don’t have that luxury. I need to prepare them to the best of my ability so they won’t die, Ozma. Sheltering them will only harm them in the long run and I hate myself for forcing them through this.”
“They could use one or two days of rest, though,” he stated and I grimaced. Maybe I have been too hard on them after... after what had nearly happened at Mountain Glenn and the break-in into Beacon. Ruby has already been exposed to one of Salem’s agents and it irked me that they got away with it. “The tournament begins in three days, they have trained enough for now, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Fine, if anything happens, I will blame it on you,” I shot back, staring impassively down into the arena at Ruby and Cadance, the latter having let go of her concentration as she succumbed to her exhaustion. It seems that this would be one more win for Ruby. I doubt Cadance could turn the fight around in her favor without being able to focus on her semblance.
The sounds of their clashing blades stalled any reply Ozpin might have had for me and we watched on as Cadance gradually lost ground against her counterpart, reluctant to use her full might to strike back a decisive blow against Ruby. Probably for the best, I mused. Even without her semblance helping her, she could have easily used enough force to shatter Ruby’s aura outright. The question was if she could limit her strength just enough to not kill her at the same time.
While we were severely limited in our capabilities here on Remnant, we were still higher beings. Our bodies could only be weakened so much by not being in our own reality. If Ruby would have been a higher being herself I would have had no doubt that she could have even killed me without any effort whatsoever. Well, as long as we had no active connection back home, that is.
That's another thing I've been getting restless over. I have to wonder how much longer it would take Luna to finally open a portal. We have been waiting for months now and I feared it would take even longer than I previously predicted. Having to wait a year or two might very well become a reality for us.
Damn, I really miss my Moon and Liz. I hope they are doing alright (and by that, I mean not drowning themselves in alcohol while they are desperately trying to open a portal to this world). Knowing my wife, she was probably tinkering on some sort of device in frustration while emptying her moonshine reserves of all that they were worth.
I know she will figure something out that will get the portal open, she's my genius sister, after all. Mom would have no doubt been impressed by how much alcohol was running through her veins by now. Or disappointed...
Eh, probably disappointed. Not that she was a great role model in that regard. Still, I doubt she would have wanted us to follow in her hoofsteps. That, or she would have asked Luna for some of her moonshine...
Anyway! With today’s training session pretty much wrapped up, I let my daughters know that they would have the next few days off from my torture. Cadance groaned gratefully to herself, dragging her abused body towards the locker room in order to put her sword and shield away. Ruby, of course, followed after her with a skip in her step, chatting with the tired form of a retreating Cadance, seemingly as happy as ever even as my daughter appeared to be not listening to her at all. They would no doubt enjoy their freedom with nice hot showers to relax, and as soon as their heads hit the pillows, they are going to be fast asleep and dream about whatever it is they dream of nowadays.
Probably about my torture... I mean training methods.
My day was far from over, though. While my daughters would surely enjoy a few days of rest and relaxation by lazing around, I would be going through everything I still needed to teach them. While I had made quite a bit of progress in teaching them everything on my mental to-do list, we have hardly made any progress at all in stealth and the like. They could utilize their environment quite admirably, but not to a degree that I felt like I was comfortable with.
It just wasn’t my forte and it showed in my teachings to them. Liz would have done a perfect job teaching them all things stealth-related. Even Luna would have been better at it than I was. As much as I gave credit to some of the teachers here at Beacon (the less said about ‘Professor’ Port, the better), they mostly taught honorable combat here, much less anything about stealth. Shade Academy would have been a better place to study things like that, although I was quite reluctant to bring my daughters over to the Kingdom of Vacuo for a semester or so for the sole purpose of teaching them something they would make little use of, anyway.
I knew both of them better than they did themselves and neither would make for a great assassin. They knew how to fight dirty but were as subtle on the battlefield as I was on a good day (meaning: not at all). The direct approach would have to do, I mused to myself.
That night, I found myself on the roof of the dorms (the one for the staff, not the students). As always, I was staring into the distance, thinking. The bright lights of the city looked nothing like what I was familiar with in Canterlot. They were... more vibrant here, I suppose. Almost like the people living there didn't care to turn in for the night and rest. It was quite a puzzling mystery to me. This world has proven itself far more tenacious than I previously gave it credit for. These humans weren’t like cattle caged within the tall walls of their kingdom. No... they were like a hive ready to defend themselves from the monsters foolish enough to come near them.
It astonished me that they found the will to live on in this world. A world whose gods had long since abandoned out of some misguided belief that humanity had been a failed project. As if they were a mere experiment to them. It irked me that they would leave their creations behind so callously. And the worst thing about them was that they were only willing to return once their creations had grown up enough in their eyes.
They were like neglectful parents leaving their children all alone without supervision. Those so-called 'gods' couldn’t be bothered to guide them into a better future and simply told them they would return once they were mature enough so that they didn’t need to raise them themselves.
What kind of parent does that? I couldn’t imagine doing that to my ponies, leaving them to fend for themselves like that. Not to mention, every little bad thing that had happened since their departure was mostly their fault.
They made Salem immortal out of spite, just because she couldn’t let go of her love. It was like they purposefully tried to turn her into the monster they perceived her to be. And they succeeded with that.
Everything Salem has done... it was because of what they had done to her. Their half-hearted attempt to fix it only doomed another soul to an eternal life of torment. The Brother Gods created this war between Salem and Ozma, they were at fault for all of this suffering.
Ozpin still believed they could make everything right again if he just fulfilled his duty. I don’t know whether or not he was right about that. I mean... I wanted to support him, if only so he could hold onto that little spark of hope and not fall back into that pit full of despair. I wanted him to succeed with his goal and believe that this world could be saved by their gods and that everything would go back to how it was before they left, but...
I knew better, though. The Brother Gods have failed in their duty as the guardians of this realm. They lost their path and were unfit for their divine purpose. Creation and Destruction, Light and Darkness, Life and Death... they should exist in balance, in harmony. And they actively defied their purpose, leaving this world on the brink of destruction.
But humanity and faunus-kind survived, against all odds. Truly admirable. I envied their will to survive in a world that did its best to bring them to their knees, to end their existence as if they had never been supposed to exist in the first place. My ponies wouldn’t be capable of that, I knew that. They needed a guiding hoof, lest they turn on each other as they had during the Era of the Wendigos.
Maybe I was at fault for that. I was so insistent on guiding them that they became dependent on it. Perhaps it was just as bad doing so as what the Brother Gods did with their creations. I took over all of the important decision-making on a national level. I didn't give them a choice in what laws would ultimately be passed since I still have the veto right for everything. I decided what was good for them and what their education should be focused on. It was I that decided which treaties and trade deals were favorable for my little ponies in the long run. The only thing I had no total control over anymore was the free press. I could still force a ruling in a court case if I saw fit to do so, but even there I wasn't above the law and the scrutiny of the public eye. Other judges could contest my decision if I was doing it out of selfishness.
Perhaps I coddled my ponies too much, and perhaps I carried the weight of the whole world on my shoulders, but my approach didn’t leave them struggling to survive. It didn’t leave them as a pile of misery, clinging on to life with everything they had. I was a servant to them, and without them, I would be nothing.
So, yes. I am better than those failures that thought it a good idea to abandon their world because of one woman questioning them and their integrity as gods. And yes, I am a hypocrite sitting on my throne, doing what I can to make my little ponies happy. I try not to control every aspect of their life, but I will put my hoof down if I think they are about to do something incredibly brainless.
It does go to show that the usual cause for my grievances are the nobles. For some reason, a lot of them seem to be missing common sense, and not just the old families, either. The 'high society brain rot' as I like to call it seems to infect up-and-coming ponies just as much. It's no wonder Liz and Luna avoid the Grand Galloping Gala as much as they do, it practically has devolved into a metaphorical dick-measuring contest.
Haah... where are the times when social gatherings were used to make connections and donate bits for a good cause? Nowadays it's just inane chatter with poorly disguised insults and ponies trying to take advantage of each other as much as they can. Why do I even still entertain these fools?
...right, because I have to keep them on track and gently remind them every once in a while to do some good with their massive wealth gathering dust in their vaults. What point was there in being rich when you do nothing but sit on your money like a duck? You are no better than a dragon hoarding shiny trinkets. More is not always better, especially in excessive amounts.
I wonder how Remnant deals with rich people being selfish. There was little to no excuse to amass wealth and not do some good with it...
I can guess how Atlas does it, to be fair. Their government puts all of their money into their military as if it was the only thing worth investing in and the Schnee Dust Company was happy to take advantage of it. I've heard more than enough people speak of Jacques Schnee with disdain in their voices. Heck, even his daughter didn't seem to have high opinions of him from what I've heard of Cadance speaking about her.
Aside from her elitist behavior, Weiss Schnee was a rather model student. Team RWBY, in general, was among one of the top-performing teams in class, only overshadowed by senior years and Pyrrha Nikos. As in, Pyrrha Nikos by herself. Her teammates were a mixed bunch with their weakest seemingly being their team leader, Jaune Arc. To be fair, he was rather good at giving orders, but aside from playing defense, he was even worse than my Rose Petal at fighting back against her self-declared twin.
So far, Cadance and Ruby were the only ones to give Pyrrha Nikos trouble. And that was only due to the fact I was teaching them personally, and whatever semblance the girl seemed to be using, it was ineffective on my daughters. There’s only one explanation I could reasonably come up with, and that was that Pyrrha might be trying to affect their weapons somehow. A futile endeavor with Cadance's sword and Ruby's scythe since they were entirely loyal to their wielders, either through enchantment or Ruby's scythe developing a presence of its own.
Then, there was Yang. Yang was kind of in a league of her own once she got serious. She might even give me trouble if she didn't see her lost mother in me.
Taiyang's first child with Rebecca of all people (or Raven, as she goes by in this reality)... she was a handful, to be honest. Not only does she have a temper similar to Tia and myself, but she also has to hold herself back or risk seriously injuring a fellow student due to her one-mare-army semblance.
Haah... our family is kinda nuts, isn't it? On one hand, we have Ruby and Cadance regularly destroying their surroundings when they spar, and on the other, we have Yang getting stronger and tougher with each hit she takes. Perhaps I should consider tutoring my little Sunshine, too.
Speaking of family, I idly scrolled through my contact list on my scroll before stopping at the entry of Taiyang Xiao-Long with a hovering finger. I bit my lip, fighting my desire to hear his voice lull me to sleep, talking about anything that came to mind. I understood why I wanted to hear his voice quite well and it had nothing to do with love. It was the selfishness in me that wanted to hear his voice and pretend to hear my wife’s reassuring words, instead.
What to do, what to do..? Flying penguins, I really should stop doing this, but for some reason, I always keep repeating my mistakes. He's not my special somepony, damnit. Luna would pull my ear for this, I know it, but... I did it anyway.
As always, I gave in. I was too weak not to. I suppose a thousand years does that to anypony. And like every other time, I pretended that this call went to Tia instead of Tai, imagining myself talking with her while she was still on the moon trapped in her own mind and that this was the only link I had to speak with her instead of the puppet master behind the wheel.
Once more, guilt welled up within me. I used Tai like a... like a damn drug to keep myself from breaking down. I desperately hoped Luna would find a way here before long or I feared I would become addicted to this... make-believe fantasy. I need her to comfort me so badly, to make me forget that I was being a bad wife by giving in to this bittersweet selfishness.
A small part of me even feared falling for this illusion. That I would replace Tia with Tai. That... that I would fall in love with him so that I could live this lie and fill the gaping hole left in my heart. If I... i-if I am l-lost in this world, without L-Luna and L-Liz... I... I don’t know...
I don’t know if I could continue to live with that loss.
“Summer?” I heard Tai whisper over the connection on our scrolls and I blinked multiple times, trying to clear my blurry vision. This... it just happened again, didn’t it? I lost myself in my panic and grief, swallowed up in those detestable feelings of helplessness. Judging by how concerned Tai sounded, I was out of it for quite a while. Luna and Liz were the only ones that could get me out of my funk, and stop it before it even happens... and they weren’t here for me. They weren't here to tell me I was being dumb and that I should stop hurting myself over this. And above all else, they weren't here to comfort me and tell me that it was okay. That I didn't need to feel guilty over liking someone that was essentially a different version of my twin. A version that was admittedly handsome and made my heart race like back in the day. A version that couldn't be more different and similar to Tia at the same time. “Is everything alright?”
I almost let out a sob as he asked me that. “Just...” I breathed out, forcing my voice to be as steady as it could be. I didn’t want to worry him even further. “Some things on my mind, it’s nothing. Sorry for being so quiet.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” he reassured me, his voice sounding so warm... I wondered how he did it. Keep on living without his Summer. I knew he still held out hope for the unlikely happenstance of her return, believing with all his heart that she might still be out there somewhere.
For all we know, she could be... I certainly hoped my counterpart was clever enough to somehow survive out there in the wilds. She might still live, even if only in captivity or something else along those lines. If she truly has not died after all this time, that would be the only thing I could believe is keeping her from returning home. From returning to her loved ones.
I knew it must be so. She was just like me, after all. Slightly different, sure, but I had no doubt that she would have similar thought processes to my own. If she was even remotely close to who I am, I knew she put family above everything else. Captivity wouldn’t ever change that. And I was in quite a similar situation (if not quite so dark), wasn’t I? I was also cut off from returning home and I hoped with all my heart that Luna would come to rescue me, to bring me home.
Even if I had to endure eternity, I would wait for her. For my Moon. My beautiful Moon...
Tai hummed skeptically on the other end of the line. “Are you sure that there isn’t something that is bothering you?” Tai asked me and I bit back a quivering sigh, breathing out of my nose slowly. Don’t start sobbing like a little filly now, Summer. She will come, just wait and see. A few months was nothing in comparison to how long you have already waited for Tia. You can do this, you old hag.
“I’m sure, dear,” I said, putting on a fake smile despite being aware of the fact that we weren’t doing a video call. The first time we did that, I was immensely astonished that the connection even allowed something of that scale with such good quality. My ponies could only dream of replicating this technology, and not anytime soon at that. I’m sure I could open diplomatic relations with the four kingdoms and set up some very beneficial trade deals once I could actually go back to being a princess.
Teaching advanced combat tactics to the students here in Beacon was nice and all, but... it wasn’t what I was truly good at. I can’t believe I’m even thinking this, but I am starting to miss my daily stack of paperwork back home. Heck, I even miss hearing Kibitz be his annoying self, reminding me to do a thousand things as if it was like clockwork. I yearned to talk with the nobles about the state of our nation and maintain our relations with the dignitaries from all of the other nations on Equis. I wanted to hold court all day long for a year straight even if my hindquarters might go numb from sitting for such a long time on my throne. And most of all? I missed taking care of my overly exuberant and vivacious Red Sun.
Even here, I still find myself trying to reach out to Remnant’s sun every morning and feeling hollow when nothing happens. I couldn’t even sleep in, even if I wanted to. Habits die hard, I suppose.
I'm so used to keeping a tight schedule, I still find myself going through my routine even if it was currently useless. But that's a topic for another time, I suppose. There actually was something I wanted to ask Tai.
“Are you coming here to watch the Vytal Festival Tournament?” I asked him, trying to get all of these thoughts out of my mind. If they continued on, I might cry with him still on the scroll call. “Ruby and Yang would love to know you’re there in the seats, you know.”
“I know,” he said. “Gods know I need to get out more. But I don’t know if I will be able to get tickets, what with everyone in the four kingdoms trying to get them. The first wave of pre-orders was gone within the first ten minutes and the last sale is surely going to be sold out even faster than that.”
“You know they reserve places for the parents of the competing teams, right?” I chided him and Tai chuckled back. “So, what is the real reason you won’t come?”
“Summer...” he sighed and I waited patiently for his excuse. “I... You know I can’t sit beside you for more than an hour...”
I winced, knowing full well what he meant by that. It was the reason why I didn’t go back to Patch for the weekends. He didn’t trust himself around me for long and I was inclined to agree with him. The calls every other day were already stretching things too much for my liking, I knew I would do something I would regret later if we were constantly around each other.
“We could take turns?” I proposed. Despite my better judgment, I keep trying to substitute my yearning for Tia with Tai. I have no idea how much longer I could stay faithful with this damnable temptation right around the corner. "Or maybe we could stay on opposite ends? That way we won't, uh... do stuff. You know, like... hold hands or something."
“I suppose that would be for the best, wouldn’t it?” he laughed and I felt my face heat up at that sound. "You're adorable, you know that?"
Flipping flying penguins, suns be damned. To be honest, I was already regretting even calling him. Not only because I was... using him... but also because of my body’s damn reaction to him. Were he physically here with me, I feared I would not be content with simply snuggling.
I’m not going to be unfaithful, damnit. No cheating, Summer, I told that to myself with harsh determination and a slap to the face. Look (and hear), but no touch. Well... no inappropriate touching. Maybe a hug or two and a snuggle here and there... hold hands and, uh... other typical couple stuff I won't do because it's cheating, damnit.
If he felt anything like what I was currently feeling, it would be for the best if we stick with scroll calls, wouldn’t it?
“Yes, it would be for the best...” I whispered to myself, answering my own question and his aloud. Stupid Tai calling me adorable.
“So... how are the girls doing?” I heard him ask and I began to smile genuinely, thankful for the sudden distraction. “Still in one piece, I hope?”
“They are doing fine,” I answered, not being entirely truthful with him. To be honest, it was more like a loose definition of 'fine', considering what my daughters had gotten up to since the start of their education here at Beacon Academy. I felt a little bad about withholding the specifics of the troubles they had already found themselves in, but I stubbornly told myself that he didn’t need to know that.
Ruby and her team were quickly proving themselves to be quite the troublemakers for the teachers. Not only during their classes but also in their free time... or when they skipped classes. Cadance had tried to keep Ruby’s activities a secret as best as she could, but that didn’t mean she could have kept it away from me forever. Especially after Ruby roped her into their shenanigans.
Their little investigations had caused me quite a bit of worry. If I hadn’t gone with them on the mission to Mountain Glenn to keep an eye on them, I don’t know what could have happened. That train would have caused all kinds of havoc on Vale’s population had they managed to get it going before we got to them and their little ‘battering ram’ chock-full of bombs. Ruby was lucky I only punished her with a heavier workload, even though she was the whole reason we found out about the little plot of ramming the train’s engine through the blast gate that sealed off the tunnels from Vale to Mountain Glenn.
I don’t want to entertain the thought of losing her to a lowly thief and an insane terrorist organization. Or to the massive horde of Grimm infesting the failed expansion project of the Kingdom of Vale. I don’t exactly know how many of these abominable beasts lurked in the underground city, but I know for certain that the train would have led a far too big number of Grimm to the very center of Vale, all but ensuring civilian losses in the high thousands.
I sighed, shaking these morbid thoughts out of my mind. It was only a feeling I had, but somehow, I knew that this failed attempt to breach Vale’s security was but the prelude to something much worse. Like it had just been a small prod to test what kind of force it would take to overwhelm the kingdom and its people.
Focusing back on what I initially wanted to talk with Tai about, I couldn’t keep the worried frown away from my face. I had to hope my little petals would be ready for the future with the training they got so far. “Ruby might come over to Patch in the next two days. I gave her and Cadance some time off so they could get a chance to relax before the tournament. They are as prepared as they could be, even though I wish I could have had a little bit more time to train them. Before the tournament, I mean.”
Tai let out a hum in relief. “That’s good to hear, Summer. Sometimes you worry too much, but I am confident that Ruby and her team will make it to the very top of the tournament. You did train them, after all,” Tai said and the smile was quite evident in his voice. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that I was less worried about their placement in the tournament than I was about what I feared might happen after it (or even during the tournament). “Besides, she has Cadance there to cheer her on, they are pretty tight with each other.”
“They are, aren’t they?” I nodded, despite him not being able to see it. I really wasn’t used to talking with somepony over long distances, much less while being unable to see them. I might never get over it, to be honest. My ponies were starting to develop telephones to be more readily accessible, but I still preferred writing letters after having used them for so long. Old habits die hard, indeed.
Just like my tendency to worry over everything I possibly can. I told myself I would stop doing that, and yet, here I was doing it all over again. It wasn’t like my worries were unfounded, though. This feeling I had of the calm before the storm couldn’t leave me alone anymore, and the closer the start of the tournament got, the worse it started to become.
Without the comforting warmth of my sun, I don’t know how much help I would be in the end. My sword was pretty much drained of all of its stored power, so I couldn’t fall back on a nifty battery of solar magic. All I had were my skills with the blade and the ocular powers of the silver eyes. How much those would come into use, I couldn’t tell. Salem and her pawns seemed to like using the Grimm for cannon fodder while they wreaked the most havoc in the confusion and panic.
Numerous villages and cities were testaments to that disgusting tactic, and this time, I feared they had set their sights on the entire Kingdom of Vale. I hope with all of my heart that this was just my paranoia speaking, that I was wrong about my hunch... but the question I had to ask myself, though, was a very troubling one. Was it actually paranoia?
Ozpin seemed to be just as worried about this as I was. He knew something was coming, and judging by how one of his friends came to Vale with a veritable army, I had to wonder if such a large force was enough or perhaps too much. James Ironwood didn’t strike me as the type of man that would bring entire armadas with him if he didn’t believe he wouldn’t use each and every soldier to fight the enemy.
I wasn’t that big a fan of his methods. I preferred a small strike force, but to be honest? Back home in Equestria, I counted as an entire army by myself. Not that I took to the battlefield all that often. Those occasions had been quite rare, all things considered, and with peace reigning in our world, I doubted I would have to go back on the battlefield against another nation. Platinum and the Crystal Empire would probably be the only times I would have to get my hooves dirty again.
For more than half of my life, I bemoaned the fact that everything had become too peaceful... too easy, really... to deal with. That there was nothing that could put up a challenge for my wives and me to overcome. And now, when there actually was that challenge just around the corner, I was wishing that for once, everything was easier to deal with. Because now, it wasn’t just me that had to face that challenge.
The oncoming storm would be a test not just for myself, but for Ruby and Cadance as well. For her team and for the friends they made. For Yang, Tai, Qrow, Ozpin... everyone in Vale, really. It's not just my family and friends that will have to pay the price for Salem's machinations.
“Tai?” I whispered into the speaker, hearing him hum back at me a second later. It would be so easy to just tell him, wouldn’t it? Make him worry for the innocent lives of the people of Vale and for his daughters... only because I didn’t want to carry this burden on my shoulders by myself. I knew he would come running, too. He would do everything in his power to protect me, Cadance, Ruby, Yang... and put himself recklessly in danger so he would have that chance to be reunited with his Summer in the next life. “Do you think everything will be fine? I have this... bad feeling that something will happen and none of us will be ready for it.”
He would die if I told him just what my suspicions were. Tai would die because of the thought I had planted in his mind. He would die while fighting carelessly and it would be my fault. It would be my fault alone. “Everything will be okay, Summer. You will see.”
A tear rolled down my cheek. He sounded so certain of that, even though I haven’t told him anything. Tai knew of Salem and the war between her and Ozpin... maybe he already knew that those concerns of mine had something to do with exactly that. “You know, you remind me of Tia. Not only because of the whole ‘you from another universe’ thing, but also because you have a way of being confident about the things you put your mind into. Nothing could bring you down...”
I heard him sigh, sounding like he was frustrated and concerned. That, too, reminded me of her. “Summer, what is this really about?” Tai questioned me. His voice, on the other hand, spoke of something more. He knew. Tai has seen through me, he was aware that, with my question seemingly confessing that I feared Salem would try something very soon, all of Vale was in danger.
I gulped shakily. “You want me to say it, don’t you?” I asked back, the fingers holding the scroll to my ear turning ice cold. “Tai... I can’t. I don’t want you to do something that will... that will end badly. Please...”
“Summer,” he sighed. “You do know I know what happened at Mountain Glenn, right?”
My breath hitched, my heart skipped a fearful beat, and the palms of my hands started sweating... “I... how..?”
“They are my children, too, Summer,” Tai told me with a tiny chuckle. “What do you think I got up to with my own team during our years at Beacon?”
He... might have a point there, I reluctantly admitted to myself. He told me himself that they did whatever they wanted and never got reprimanded for it. That they got themselves into trouble time after time and that Ozpin looked the other way, never once giving them a punishment befitting of their transgressions. Kinda... kinda like me and my sisters, actually. Starswirl never gave us a harsh punishment aside from more homework. Homework that he more often than not forgot about, at that.
“Besides, Ozpin informed me of their little investigation into the White Fang and the dust thefts,” he said and I winced. Right. Of course, why wouldn’t he? Flying penguins. Tai was still a member of their secret club. I should have known he would find out all about the shenanigans Ruby got up to, trying to put a stop to the infamous thief, Roman Torchwick, and the terrorists threatening the peace in Vale. “I trust my daughters and I trust you. I know that everything will turn out just fine with you there. So tell me, what is it that this is really about?”
I hesitated, biting my lip. “I... I fear I will fail, Tai. I don’t have your confidence to tell me that everyone will make it through this. I think that Mountain Glenn was just a test and that Salem... that her pawns will try to destroy Vale during the tournament.”
“Have you talked with Ozpin about this?” Tai asked and I chuckled weakly. Of course, I had. It was everything we talked about within his inner circle nowadays. Heck, if it weren’t for him, Ironwood would have sent his whole fleet to Mountain Glenn, and who knows what would have happened then? They wouldn’t have stopped the train in time, that's for sure. Instead, they would have basically alerted our enemies that Ruby’s team had figured out where they were hiding. Ironwood was as subtle as I was on a good day, and going in guns blazing would have made them start their train as soon as they spotted the army on their doorstep.
I heard Tai breathe in slowly and I got the impression that he wanted to whack me behind my head for some reason. “Summer, I know you won’t fail and you know why?” he asked and I blinked, caught off-guard.
“Why..?”
“Because I believe in you,” he told me as if it was obvious. “You are hopeless, you know that? Do I need to beat the stupid out of you?”
“You’re being mean to me,” I pouted, hearing him chuckle at me in response. “Thanks, Tai.”
“No problem,” he shot back, his voice sounding cheeky. “Believe me, you can do this. Even without overwhelming pony sun-goddess powers. You have Ruby and Cadance there with you, and if you want, I’ll be there, too.”
I smiled, touched by the feeling of reassurance he conveyed. “You’re right, of course...” I said, nodding faintly to myself. “What can they truly do with literally four kingdoms attending the Vytal Festival? Ruby and Cadance know how to fight their way through thousands of Grimm and no agent of Salem’s would stand a chance against all three of us.”
“See,” Tai said, sounding a bit smug. “I’m always right, don’t you forget it.”
“Careful there,” I chided, smiling a bit wider. “Your ego is shining through, dear.”
“Nah, I just trust in your ability to keep this world and yours safe,” Tai said and I felt my face heat up from the surety in his voice. “You need to get back to your world in one piece, after all. I wouldn’t want to explain why their princess has died an embarrassing death.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?!” I pouted. “Just because I worry overly much doesn’t mean I will die to some lowly pawns of a deranged witch.”
“I’m only teasing you,” he laughed, even more so as I grumbled angrily to myself. Here I was, worried for the safety of this world, and what does he do? Laugh. He really could be as insensitive as Tia was in her youth, sometimes.
“Hmph. You’re a jerk,” I grumbled. “A meanie. Asshole.”
“I love you, too,” he chuckled and I was back to stammering like a little filly. Damnit, he really is as bad as Tia. A less perverted Tia.
“I’m going to hang up now,” I told him with my best threatening voice.
“Already?”
“Yeah.”
“Sure, go ahead,” Tai said and I growled at his nonchalant tone.
“Jerk.”
“Brat.”
“I’m a thousand years old, you’re the brat,” I shot back, my eyelid twitching.
“You’re not acting it~,” he said and I just knew his smile was even bigger now. Despite feeling angry, I was smiling, as well. He was an insufferable idiot and it just reminded me more of Tia. Tai teased with his words, Tia with her tongue. I wasn’t sure which one was worse. Nor was I ready to find out if he was just as good with that tongue of his...
Nope! Not going there, you dumb, horny hag. Stop thinking about it, Summer. Nothing good will come from it. Nothing. Good.
Moving on! “Can you promise me something?” I asked him, feeling like I needed to get it off of my chest so I could rest with a calm mind tonight (and any other night, following this one). I need to know he won’t do something to purposefully put himself in danger. Tai hummed inquisitively, and with a calming breath, I closed my eyes and focused my thoughts on the words that would make absolutely sure he couldn’t weasel his way out through some technicality I neglected to think of. “Promise me that whatever happens at the Vytal Festival or afterward that you won’t risk your life. Swear to me that you will live no matter what.”
There was a long pause after I spoke into the microphone of the scroll (I still can't get over the fact that this thing was also a telephone). The only sound coming through the connection was his breathing and the quiet tone of Zwei whining in the background. No doubt because the little corgi sensed the sudden shift in the mood of his caretaker. Sometimes I wondered whether Tai took care of Zwei or if it was the other way around. The tiny ball of fluff in the form of a dog seemed quite intent on keeping his family happy and content.
“Only if you promise me to do the same, Summer,” Tai demanded and his voice tolerated no dissent on my part. “You have to promise me that you won’t leave me, too, Summer. I can’t bear to lose you as well. I know we aren’t... you know... but that doesn’t mean that I don’t care about you just as much. You are like a second mother to Ruby and I know for certain that Cadance still needs you. Both of them do. Your world needs you. And perhaps, this world, too.”
“Tai...” I whispered, touched. It was... heart-warming to hear him say that. That he cared so much, even though I wasn’t the one his heart longed for. “I know that Summer, your Summer, would be proud of you. I know I am."
"Thanks, I..." he responded faintly. "I appreciate it. Hearing you say that... I could hear her say it to me, too."
I smiled slightly. At least he had that comfort going for him. I don't really remember the voice of my twin before all of this happened. Before we were reincarnated...
Ah, right. I still have to give him my word, too, don't I? "Then, as Summer as well as the Princess of Equestria, I promise you on my divine purpose, on my very being as a higher entity, I will do everything in my power to do as you asked of me. I will protect those that ask it of me, I will save those that need it, whether it be here on Remnant or on Equis... I will live to keep all those close to me safe at all cost. I promise you, I won't fail.”
“Then I promise to you as well that I will keep on living,” Tai spoke, his voice equally as serious as mine.
“Thank you, Sunny Dragon,” I smiled, referring to him with the nickname he told me about. I found it cute and it kinda suited him. It could have been a nickname for Tia if I had ever thought of it before. Her temper definitely matched that of a dragon when she was mad. I haven’t witnessed Tai lose his temper yet, but I suspected he could be just as fierce as my wife. “Good night, Tai. Get some rest, will you? I know you need it as much as I do.”
“You do as well, Sunshine,” Tai replied with a chuckle. “I know how often you have been staying up at night as of late. Sweet dreams, Summer.”
After he said that, he hung up on me. For a moment, I stared at the screen of my scroll, wishing that we could have talked a bit longer about anything that came to our minds before I compacted it with a wistful sigh and stowed it away in my pocket. Whoever thought of making pockets for skirts deserved all the money in the world. It wasn’t as good as having access to your own hammerspace, but seeing that I had no other way to put things away, it was oh so helpful to have them. If I already had to wear clothes twenty-four hours a day, then they should at least be useful and look good at the same time.
With one last glance at the shimmering lights of the city in the distance, I went back into the building, already feeling my bed call out to me with the sweet promises of blissful sleep.
Too bad that, instead of nice relaxing dreams, I was plagued with nightmares. Without Luna here to dream together with me, I had to sadly fight my way through them night after night. I would have taken Platinum’s snide words instead of watching myself fail, again and again, trying to keep my daughters safe from harm.
I guess my little Tantabus was as effective with its task as ever, having found its opportunity to torment me once more with Luna gone from my dreams. I should have gotten rid of it a long time ago, but... some things are hard to let go of. Moreso when it was a good reminder to not let my temper control me.
This night was different from the others, though. This night, a shining figure of a dragon was there to vanquish my fears made manifest by the Tantabus, and for once, I was grateful that the words of Taiyang helped me find a restful night. This night finally saw me sleep with a smile on my face and it showed itself in my mood the next few days.
Especially during the first match of Ruby’s team in the Vytal Tournament. She made short work of the opposing team together with her best friends and Cadance’s voice was hoarse by the end of it from cheering so loudly. So loudly, in fact, I would have thought she used the Royal Canterlot Voice. I was proud of Ruby as well, satisfied with her performance in the fight. She didn’t take a single hit from the team competing for Haven Academy of the Kingdom of Mistral, which wasn’t that surprising to me. I did train her to avoid any and all damage.
It was the only team fight that I watched that day. I was less interested in how the other teams of Beacon Academy fared despite the fact that I was one of their teachers. I did feel a little bit guilty about that, but I just wasn’t a fan of sitting all day long in a loud crowd watching sports. That was more Tia’s thing...
I never quite understood what her fascination with all things sports was. I knew she liked roping me into it so she could grope me in public to her heart’s content, but that never explained to me why she liked going to such events as a spectator. Probably to watch all those rippling muscles hard at work... I wouldn’t even mind going along with that if it meant I could have her back at my side. Oh, how I missed her...
As I wandered back towards Beacon Tower after I decided I had moped for long enough, glad to be on solid ground instead of in the floating colosseum that had no right to stay afloat in the air, I noticed a commotion ahead of me and a crowd watching in rapt attention to what could only be a fight.
Sighing, I drew Remorse from his sheath and glanced at the red mana gem in the hilt. “Let us see what this is about, shall we?”
“As you wish, Mistress,” he replied, succinctly. No words of encouragement or reprimands came from him, so I suppose he was curious himself. That he even replied was surprising to me. He seemed awfully ‘chatty’ as of late.
I pushed through the crowd, and lo and behold, Qrow was standing there next to a beheaded military robot, his sword extended. In front of him stood someone that looked awfully like the elder version of Ruby’s teammate, Weiss. Rolling my eyes, I mused to myself whether or not I should get in between both of them as their little spar turned into a full-blown fight. It would be for the best if I stopped their childishness before someone got hurt, but I was rather reluctant to stop Qrow from doing what he was doing. Despite our differences, he was somewhat like family to me. An annoying little brother, perhaps. Which, now that I was thinking about it, might as well be the case. Qrow was the twin of Raven and Raven was... well... kind of Luna in a sense. If she grew up idolizing her shitty parents, that is.
I still can't entirely wrap my head around the idea of Lulu's counterpart in this world being Qrow and Raven, in a sense. Unless Tia and my Moon neglected to mention they had another sibling, I could only make assumptions.
To be honest, Qrow does remind me a lot of her drinking tendencies when she didn't want to deal with some of our... nastier memories. That, and my sister wasn't exactly subtle in her past life that she had wished she could have been the one to marry me and give birth to our children.
Considering Qrow took to drinking a bit more heavily these past few months, so... I could make a good guess about how he felt about my counterpart in this world.
Now there's a thought. Maybe he and Tai could... uhh...
I shook my head, focusing back on the fight in front of me. That's a rabbit hole I really shouldn't travel down. Only madness lies down that road and I wasn't that desperate to hook up with my wives' counterparts because I was lonely. Nope. Nuh-uh. Not even if that image was seriously 'blush-inducing', to put it mildly.
Anyway, I really should figure out what to do with Qrow fighting against the woman who could only be Winter Schnee, General Ironwood's second in command in the Atlesian military. Or as Qrow calls her 'Tin man's lap dog' (he was quite vocal about his dislike of how Atlas did things, leaving Mantle to fend for itself underneath the floating nation).
Ugh, why does it have to be her? Stupid Ironwood moving an entire fleet of his toy soldiers to Vale. He has caused me nothing but headaches so far. My annoying, honorary brother has been on the dot so far about everything regarding the authoritarian state. Were it not for the likelihood of me having to deal with negotiations further down the line to establish my own CCT network in Equestria, I really would have given two flying penguins about being polite with my opinions of their government the longer he stayed here with his stupidly large fleet.
Ironwood was the kind of man that demanded respect and trust from those around him while giving none in return, all while pretending he 'knows better' and could do no wrong. That he happily accepts funding and resources from the Schnee Dust Company and does nothing to protect the people laboring for those very same resources paints a very clear picture of the kind of man he truly is. He doesn't care that the majority of the aristocrats in Atlas are fascists that endorse slave labor as long as it gets him what he wants.
...as soon as I'm done with this world, I'm so gonna sic Liz and her changelings on them to correct that line of thinking. The faunus deserve better.
Starting with the Schnee family and General Ironwood. Sorry, Weiss, but your sister was kinda trying to murder my brother here... “What do you think, Remorse?” I asked my weapon, only to get a huff in response from him. I glared down towards the sword in my hands and he let out a reluctant grumble.
“You have already decided what to do, Mistress,” he responded, sounding tired as always. Hmph. He's such a lazy sword. “Why are you asking me what I think? I am meant to be wielded, not to give my opinion.”
“Fine...” I grumbled, striding forward with purpose while letting go of his hilt. Remorse didn’t fall down to the ground, though. Instead, he began to float at my side as he used the pitifully low amount of ambient mana around us to levitate. “Deal with the Schnee, I’m taking care of the idiotic bird.”
Remorse didn’t say anything and simply took my orders to his metaphorical heart, speeding off after the white-haired woman while I used my semblance to appear directly in front of the scraggly man who was quite clearly drunk. Even more drunk than usual, if I had to hazard a guess.
Qrow blinked in confusion as I stopped his sword between two fingers, giving it an experimental tug. I raised an eyebrow at him. “Summer? I, uh... this isn’t what it looks like, I swear.”
Right. He wasn't inebriated and causing a scene, then. Nor were they trying to murder each other. “And what does it look like?” I asked him, hearing the clashing vibrations of Remorse as he kept Qrow’s former opponent away from us. “Because this doesn’t look like a friendly chat between colleagues to me.”
“Pfft, that Ice Queen is no colleague of mine,” Qrow shot back, trying to free his blade from my grip with a frown. He struggled a bit more before giving me a miffed look as I stared at him with disappointment. “Ah, c’mon, Summer! You can’t possibly take Tin Man’s little lap dog’s side over mine here.”
“I’m not taking anyone’s side here, Qrow,” I told him. As much as I didn't want to, it would probably be for the best if I gave Ironwood less reason to hate me and my family more. The man was all too happy to brand people he didn't like as 'criminals'. Him finding Winter run through by Qrow's weapon, Harbinger, was not what I looked forward to explaining. Although if she was anywhere near close to his attitude... “If I were to take a side here, you know which one I would take, as you can quite clearly hear by the sounds of her struggling to break through to us. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you continue with this little squabble between both of you. I'm only looking out for you here, so don't make it harder for me than it already has to be.”
His face went through a variety of emotions before he settled on an unhappy, frustrated sneer. “C’mon, let me at her, Brat,” Qrow slurred, wobbling slightly. “She started it.”
“Oh, because that makes it right, now does it?” I shot back, glaring at him disapprovingly. “Why are you here, Qrow? I would think you would have more important things to do than picking a fight with Atlas' military in the middle of Beacon's campus.”
“Need to speak to Oz,” he mumbled. “Something about our little infiltrator.”
I let my breath out slowly through my nose, rubbing my eyes tiredly. “Then let’s not waste any more time here and get to the tower..."—I gave a whistle and held out my hand—" Remorse, come.”
“And where do you think you’re going?” the white-haired 'lap dog' interjected and I sent a withering glare her way. How typical.
“Go back to playing soldier, Schnee,” I warned her. “I am not in the mood to talk with someone that has the intention of hurting my family.”
“Hmph,” she huffed, standing in between us and the path toward Ozpin’s office. “He destroyed Atlas Military property, he isn’t going anywhere.”
My eyelid twitched. How does that in any way warrant a response with physical force? A response that clearly aimed to 'cripple first, ask questions never'? She clearly was trying to take her aggressions out on him (which, granted, Qrow was an expert in baiting people he didn't like into fights, but still).
Besides, a worthless hunk of metal wasn't worth the well-being of a living, breathing person. Unless he murders an innocent person in cold blood, she would have to go through me first before I would let her anywhere near my brother. “Take it up with Ozpin if you have to, now get out of the way,” I told her, pushing her out of the way by the shoulder, only to come face to face with Atlas’ general himself. Flipping flying penguins. I let out a sigh. “Ironwood.”
“'Princess',” he growled back, his face a mask of stoicism were it not for the narrowed eyes. It's always such a pleasure dealing with him... “What is the meaning of this?”
“None of your business,” Qrow taunted him and I elbowed the unruly man in his side with a warning glare.
“You,” Ironwood said with a low tone, stalking up to him. “What are you doing here?”
I frowned, putting myself between them, but Qrow nudged me gently to the side. “I could ask you the same thing,” he stated, and if I hadn’t poked him in his side... again... I’m sure he would have spewed out an actual insult at the general. As much as I thought the man deserved it, now wasn't the time.
Before either side could do something they would regret later, Ozpin came into view with his secretary slash advisor slash combat teacher slash second-in-command... or whatever Glynda’s role actually was. I wouldn’t be surprised if she actually brewed his coffee for him. Or his tea. Cocoa? I still want to know what it is that is in his damn mug all of the time, seemingly never running out of its contents.
“If you want to watch a fight, there is one happening at the colosseum,” Ozpin said, addressing the crowd with a placating smile. “It has better seats and there is popcorn.”
Right... sometimes I wonder if he truly is as old as he proclaims himself to be. That, or he just finds humor in situations where none was to be found. Luna would love his attitude, I’m certain. Glynda, of course, was the voice of reason, telling everyone to mind their own business in her own (more polite) words while the General took his subordinate with him toward the tower.
“Uncle Qrow!” the voice of Ruby drew my attention away from glaring a hole into Ironwood's back over to the lovable drunkard whose arm Ruby was currently clinging onto. My Rose Petal was also here with another one of their friends. More specifically, the younger sister of the woman Qrow and I had just ‘fought’ against not even a moment ago. “It’s so good to see you! Did you miss me?!”
I couldn’t keep the smile from my face even if I wanted to. The scene unfolding in front of me was just too precious that I had to snap a picture of it with my scroll. I’m sure I could figure out how to properly use this technological marvel with my hooves once I'm back home. It would be a crime to not show this adorable sight to Lulu and Liz. I just know it is going to put a smile on their faces. Humans were remarkably cute when they wanted to be. Or it was just Ruby that was this cute.
Nah, despite his gruff behavior, Qrow was also very cute, so there has to be something about humans that made them cute in situations like these. Perhaps it was cuteness that made Remnant survive in this darkness... it kinda felt like it made sense, weirdly enough. You can’t argue against cuteness, after all.
“You’ll send me that picture, right?” my daughter asked me and I smirked, feeling like I had the perfect material to blackmail her with. Oh, I would make her work for it...
“If you behave yourself,” I told her while she rolled her eyes at me, already sensing my intentions.
Cadance pouted with her arms crossed over her chest. “You’re the worst mom ever,” she said and I giggled. “Please? I’ll do whatever you want for that photo, Mom.”
“'Whatever I want', huh?” I prompted and she groaned. “Be careful what you wish for, petal. Never make a deal like that with an immortal.”
“If I have to, I’m going to sit in court for a year straight and do your paperwork,” Cadance pleaded and I hummed with interest. “And I won’t complain so much about my lessons on combat and manners anymore, Mom. Just gimme that picture, please.”
“Certainly an enticing offer, dear,” I smiled. “But I’m afraid I will have to decline. I’m still mad at you for telling Tai about ‘you-know-what’.”
“Oh, come on! Haven’t I already apologized enough for that?” she whined.
“And how many times have you actually meant it?” I shot back. I immediately felt smug as I saw her eyelid twitch in response to that. “There you have it. Be genuine and I might yet forgive you. Then we can talk about the picture.”
“I hate you,” Cadance grumbled sulkily.
“No, you don’t.”
“Maybe I should, though,” she said and I rubbed her back affectionately. Despite her misgivings, she leaned into my affections. “Why do you and Mother always tease me so much..?”
“It’s our job as your mothers, dear,” I answered. “Now run along, I have business to take care of.”
Cadance sighed before giving me one last squeeze. “Okay. Have a good night, Mom,” she said before she went back to Ruby and Weiss. My daughter, ever the diplomat, listened to the endless chattering of her other half while I followed after Ozpin, Glynda, and Qrow. Despite her age, I couldn't help but think she fit right in with them.
I guess however you turn it, my daughter never got older than she appeared to be. Sure, she was slightly more mature than her self-proclaimed twin, but next to Weiss... you could think they all grew up with each other.
It was nice to see them share a bond like that. Their friendship reminded me of the old days, spending time with Clover and Pansy reading books and drinking tea between lessons. While I was sad I wouldn't get to do that anymore, I'm happy Cadance would get to make the same experience. Once you pass your first century, it would become awkward trying to make friends with ponies several decades your junior and it would only get worse as time passes on.
Even then, the dynamic I had with Ozpin was a far shot from what I had with Clover and Pansy. There was just a certain difference in the friendship we had that gave me a feeling of shared experience but no sense of greater bond a friendship between foalhood friends could have given me.
Perhaps I really do have grown too old for it. Making friends was for mortals, it seems. I rarely get the opportunity, and then it feels different to how I wanted it to be. Celestia from the alternate Equestria was the only one I felt on eye level with as friends while there was a gap (or chasm, rather) between Ozpin and myself.
We're similar, yet totally different from each other. While we share a bond of trust, even understanding, we do not have a deeper friendship beyond surface-level pleasantries. We are colleagues, at best.
And perhaps it is for the best, considering my own plans for this world...
The elevator ride was short and silent as Qrow refused to say anything about the information he had gathered before we reached Ozpin’s office. And considering what happened earlier this past semester, maybe he was right to be so secretive. Ozpin’s office was one of the few places that was completely secure from eavesdroppers and I knew for certain no one could have hacked their way into anything here without alerting him in the process. At least, I hoped so. Ozpin had assured me multiple times that the systems were looked after by a specialist and couldn’t be accessed from the outside.
Knowing the universe, that specialist knew how to hack everything he put his mind into. Whether that was a good or bad thing, I wasn't entirely sure. The attempted security breach of the CCT network had me rather concerned.
“What were you thinking?!” the Ice Queen started (I had to give it to Qrow, she really behaved the part), glaring at the scraggly drunkard next to us like he offended her with his mere presence. Not that I blamed her, he wasn’t always on his best behavior, but that didn't mean it gave her a free pass to assault him.
“If you were one of my men, I would have you shot,” Ironwood stated, cutting off anything his (presumably) second-in-command had to say.
“And I would behead you for hurting my family,” I muttered under my breath icily. That was one thing that would never change about me, I feared. I couldn’t take such threats lightly, ever. Family is the one thing that matters most to me, even if it wasn't by blood. And I get quite vicious to those that managed to hurt the ones I cared for.
I blame Platinum for that. Without her, I would have never gotten this bad with my temper. Nor would I ever entertain these vicious thoughts, but here we are.
As if knowing I just threatened to kill him if he so much hurt a single hair on my honorary brother, Ironwood gave me a glare. One I reciprocated quite willingly. “Are you sure we can trust this so-called ‘Princess’?” he asked Ozpin as the headmaster walked past him to his desk. “We don’t know for sure with whom her allegiance lies. She could be one of her agents.”
“I trust her with my life,” Ozpin answered him before sitting down tiredly. “She is not only a powerful ally but also a dear friend.”
“Thank you, dear,” I smiled, grateful I at least had one person placing their absolute trust in me (aside from Qrow, that is). Whether it was deserved or not was an entirely different matter. “How is Amber?”
“She will live long enough for us to find a candidate but we don’t have much time,” Ozpin said, turning his eyes on Qrow who was currently chugging down whatever filth he had filled his flask with this time. It certainly smelled strong enough to give Luna’s moonshine a run for its money. “Qrow, why are you here?”
“You have been out of contact for weeks,” Ironwood mentioned angrily, staring him down. “You can’t just go dark like...”
“He wasn’t out of contact,” I interjected. “You just never bothered to contact him because you thought he had been 'compromised'.”
“I’m not one of your little soldiers, Jimmy,” Qrow threw in his two cents and gave me a nod. “The brat here at least asked how I was doing, not like you care.”
“General,” Schnee corrected him, clearly mad that he called her superior by a degrading nickname, although the drunkard simply dismissed her. It was hard to earn Qrow’s respect, and so far, not many people could claim to have done so. If I didn’t look like their Summer, well... I’m not sure he would give me the time of the day, either. I somehow managed to make him warm up to me and I was still wondering what exactly it was that I did to do that.
If only he would stop calling me a brat, though...
“You sent me to get intel on our enemy and I’m telling you they are already here,” he continued on. “And worst of all? Only Summer bothered to tell me they infiltrated Beacon already doing who knows what. Thanks for letting me know, by the way.”
“You sent him classified information?” the General growled in my direction and I rolled my eyes. “Are you trying to alert them that we know they are here?!”
“You make it sound like they don’t already know,” I shot back. “Ruby ran into them, what do you think they would think she would tell us? That Santa Claus broke into Beacon?”
“Whoever that is, they don’t sound trustworthy, either!” Ironwood snarled while I let out a suffering sigh. Right, they don’t have that little mythos here. I’m sure the red-suited man exists in some world, though. Might find one someday, even. “Qrow might be compromised and everything we tell him could be at risk!”
“I know how to work around an information leak, General,” I stated, rubbing the bridge of my nose as my patience started wearing thin. “I have been playing this game for a very long time, do not lecture me about the importance of keeping secrets. I only told him what the enemy already knows, nothing more.” Then, under my breath, I made a comment about him not lasting a day against my wife if she got serious. That earned me another glare from him.
“And how are we supposed to believe those words?” Ironwood’s second-in-command asked me. “You might fight with strange strategies and an equally strange weapon, but that does not mean you are knowledgeable about everything.”
Qrow bristled at that. “Oh and you do, huh?” he argued, butting his way into this argument with a grumbling growl. “Seriously, who invited her?”
Ozpin let out a sigh. “If we all could calm down,” the headmaster interrupted us, tired of the heated words being thrown around. “Now, Qrow, could you tell us what you have learned?”
I was glad that Ozpin was at least one voice of reason in this room. I feared that if this argument had gone on any longer than that, I would have lost my temper at some point. I was unused to being belittled like this, my words having less weight than I was used to. Maybe I had become complacent with the nations of my world and their behavioral patterns. I knew how to talk with every one of them to keep the peace but this intolerable human jerk proved himself to be a pain in the bum to deal with. I understood why Qrow had little love for this man, to be honest. He was entirely too militaristic-minded to be reasoned with in an efficient manner.
“Your little infiltrator isn’t just another pawn,” Qrow revealed, making me go wide-eyed. What? But that meant... “They are the one responsible for Autumn’s condition.”
The infiltrator was behind the attack on Amber? That... oh, dear... that made everything more dire. Not long after I started teaching here at Beacon and learned of the true nature of Ozpin’s war with Salem, one of the four... let’s say, 'blessed' people holding magic were attacked. Those four maidens as they call them here hold tremendous amounts of magic that could rival that of an alicorn at their very lowest. And that was by far not a small amount. Even an alicorn with next to no mana left was incredibly dangerous.
If this attacker was behind the infiltration of Beacon's CCT, then that meant they knew Amber must be here somewhere. They were after the rest of her magic and once they had all of it? I would be hard-pressed fighting against them without my sun aiding me. To make matters worse, Remorse had none of my solar magic left stored in his mana gem, making this even harder for me. If I hadn’t used the majority of that magic for Ruby’s scythe, I might have had a fighting chance even if they knew how to use that stolen power.
This infiltrator seeking out the power of one of the maidens had to be one of Salem’s trusted generals. No mere pawn of hers would have the ‘honor’ of landing a devastating blow against Ozpin and this definitely had been one such blow. If she achieved her goal of gaining a maiden for her own... I’d rather not think of what would follow. Mountain Glenn was one thing, but this?
“Despite what the world thinks, we’re not just teachers or generals or the rulers of the nations,” Qrow mumbled, taking a swig from his flask while he was at it. “We here in this room? The two other headmasters of the Academies? We are the ones that keep the world safe from the things that go bump in the night, keep the scary little monsters away from their closets so they can sleep blissfully away while the evils of this world move in the shadows seeking nothing but the destruction of what we hold dear to our hearts. Our families, our friends... they all know nothing of this darkness because we keep it that way. For good reasons.
“It’s why we meet in secret behind closed doors, why we work without anyone ever knowing about it, keeping everything away from them. So you tell me, James. When you brought your little army here to Vale, did you even think for one second about being discreet, or did you just not give a single fuck? This is not how we work, what we try to accomplish. What is it that you do not understand about that?!”
Judging by the impassive stare General James Ironwood gave Qrow, he thought quite differently about how this war against Salem should be waged. And I couldn’t say I was a fan of that. Yes, keeping secrets wasn’t always the greatest thing to do, especially if they were vitally important, but keeping this kind of information away from the public was entirely necessary. If they knew what was going on behind closed doors, panic would follow, and with that, the Creatures of Grimm.
“Discreet wasn’t working.” Ironwood followed that statement by placing his extended scroll down on Ozpin’s desk, a program starting to load up before casting a hologram into the air. I was still quite impressed by that particular bit of technology. What we had to accomplish with highly complex spells and illusions, they had figured out to do without using magic at all. While you could still tell that it was not real, it was something my little ponies would be unable to replicate. Only a few would have the expertise to craft illusions this detailed and fewer still could make them seem entirely real.
In the middle of the room was the depiction of General Ironwood’s fleet and the three-dimensional map of Vale and Beacon while the Amity Colosseum floated above all of that. If I would compare its size to something else, I would say it was about as big as Canterlot’s noble district and the castle combined or perhaps a sizable fraction of what I remember the floating city of Dalaran from Azeroth had been. The colosseum certainly seemed bigger in person, though.
“I’m here because this”—he gestured at the hologram—” is what was necessary,” Ironwood stated as if it was absolutely obvious to him that what he was doing here with his army was the only approach that would be effective in keeping Vale safe.
On the one hand, I wanted to agree with him. A bigger force would be able to deal with the Grimm more easily. But on the other? That force could also be the cause of unrest that would draw the Grimm here in the first place.
“Tell me,” I began, frowning to myself. “What did you intend to fight with an army that large? At a peaceful event?”
“What?” Ironwood gave me a confused frown. “Her agents, what else? We need to keep everyone safe!”
“I’m sorry to burst your bubble, Jimmy,” Qrow interjected, earning himself another glare from Miss Schnee. “But you don’t need an army to fight against one individual.”
“Did it ever occur to you that bringing an army here to a peaceful event would cause people to wonder why it is there in the first place?” I asked him, curious about what he thought the people of this kingdom would feel with such a large force here.
“The people of Vale need someone to give them the protection they need, someone that would act and not sit behind their desk, waiting for something to happen,” Ironwood answered me, conviction deep in his voice. “When they look to the sky and see my fleet, they feel safe, and our enemies will know our strength and fear it.”
“You are a foolish child, that is what you are,” I told him, moving out of the way as Miss Schnee tried to slap me in misguided rage. I rose my eyebrow at her as the General held her back from doing anything she might regret later. I see I am not the only one that sometimes lets their anger get the better of them. She tried to play it off as coming to the defense of her General, but I knew I struck a nerve with her in particular somehow. “Everyone in this kingdom looks up to the sky and sees an army ready to fight something they have no idea of what could warrant it in the first place. They will feel uneasy, thinking that there is something out there that needs such a large force to counter it. And you know what? That feeling of uneasiness will bring those Grimm right to the kingdom’s walls. I know what it feels like to let your paranoia guide you in making decisions and that paranoia of yours will put everyone in danger.”
“Don’t you dare talk to the General like that,” Miss Schnee growled. “He is the only one willing enough to do what is necessary while all of you are content to do nothing.”
“And your fleet is the solution?” I shot back, feeling a spike of anger rise up within me. I really don’t like soldiers that backtalk, especially soldiers that aren’t loyal to me throwing in their unwanted opinions. “I haven’t been idle, I have been doing my best to give you someone that will be the answer to all of your problems but I can’t do that when this city goes up in flames!”
“Our army will be enough!” Miss Schnee argued back, convinced that her General would be able to deal with any threat against the kingdom by using his methods over ours.
Qrow threw in his two bits next, coming to my defense. “Do you actually think they are scared of a few ships and tin soldiers?” he asked, a mocking tone in his voice as he laughed to himself. “I’ve been out there and I’ve seen the things she has created, and let me tell you... they are fear.”
“And fear will bring the Grimm,” Ozpin said, standing up as the room felt a lot darker just by him voicing out that fact. “A guardian is a sign of comfort.”
Then his expression got even darker. “But an army is a symbol of conflict.”
“It is important we keep the citizens from panicking,” I sighed, frustrated. “Something we can’t guarantee now. Not with an army ready to defend the entire kingdom. I know what it means to be a guardian. I have been one for a very long time, keeping my nation safe from those that would seek its destruction. This, what you are showing with your willingness to move armies, is not how you keep your people calm. They won’t look up to your fleet and think themselves safe because all they see is a future of uncertainness, of war.”
Ironwood sighed, a conflicted look in his eyes. He walked back to the desk and took his scroll, stopping the hologram’s projection with it. “So, then... what would you suggest we do?”
“I suggest we find our guardian,” Ozpin stated, looking over his glasses.
“You know my opinion about that,” I frowned, giving him a look. He returned my frown with one of his own.
“And I still have my doubts about that,” he argued. “The criteria for our successor are not so simple, my dear. If she is not compatible...”
I raised an eyebrow. “What makes you so sure she won’t be?” I asked. “Cadance has proven herself for that same potential and achieved what no other had in over a thousand years. Ruby will be able to do the same, I have no doubts about that.”
“We will see,” Ozpin sighed, moving for the elevator. “For now, this meeting is adjourned. We will talk tomorrow.”
I suppose there is no convincing him. That didn’t mean I was giving up on this, though. Ruby was ready, I knew that. She has been ready for a while now, to be honest. I only need a source of magic strong enough to trigger the process and an event large enough for her to be worthy of ascension.
I kept my thoughts to myself as I went back to my own room, opposite Cadance’s. The... emptiness... of this room only furthered my desire to see myself return to Equestria, leaving Remnant in the capable hands of someone worthy of the charge of keeping it safe. Ruby had everything in her to be that guardian and I don’t care if Ozma disagreed with me on that.
Whatever his plans were for my daughter, I had to make sure they aligned with my own interests and hers. Ruby was prepared to fight for this world, wanting to see it rise from the ashes and shine like the beautiful diamond it could be. I wanted to grant her that wish, to give her that place she could call safe and be proud of for being the driving force that made it so.
My little petal deserved so much more than what this world could give her. And it pained me so much that she told me she wanted to become this world’s hero and that the only way for that to become a reality was for her to become something I feared would lead to her living a truly lonely life. Cadance had chosen this, as well. She and Ruby shared a similar fate, but Cadance would have Luna, Liz, and me. And eventually, Tia as well.
Who would Ruby have?
“Hey, Mom,” Cadance called out to me and I turned my head, seeing her stand there in the doorway of her own room in a nightgown. “You’re still up?”
“I...” I whispered, feeling a strange feeling running through me. They were close... closer than I would have ever expected them to be, honestly. “I just got back from Ozpin...”
“Oh, uh...” Cadance stammered, nodding thoughtfully. “You need that bathroom before going to bed? I kinda drank a bit too much soda and I haven’t showered yet. Ruby and I have been watching this super cute movie and we sort of forgot the time.”
“A movie?” I asked, smiling with interest. “Which one? Better to explain it to me, I probably won’t know anything about it.”
“Umm...” she blushed slightly, fidgeting with a few strands of her hair. She had let it grow longer, not only so it was easier to differentiate her from Ruby but also because she missed the length of what her mane was like in Equestria. Can’t really blame her, I have been dyeing my hair a deep red because it felt weird to not see it in that color. “It’s about this adaptation of a book. Someone gets lost in the woods after being betrayed by their friends and loses their memory and finds their true love while trying to find out who they are!”
“How am I not surprised you’re watching something about love?” I giggled. “Well, I won’t hold you up any longer, go to the bathroom before you burst.”
“Har har, Mom,” Cadance rolled her eyes, traipsing away towards the bathroom on this floor. “I don’t believe this, why is she always...”
Her words trailed off as she rounded the corner and I could only guess at what kind of insults she was throwing my way for teasing her this time around. I looked at the open door of her room, just ajar enough to show me the television screen with a scene on pause from that movie she was talking about.
A romance movie, huh? It probably was only my imagination but a part of me wanted my fantasies to be true. It would mean my little petals would never be truly alone. But... at the same time, I couldn’t help but frown sadly. Technically it would count as incest, wouldn’t it? They were the same person. Well, almost... but that would be enough for me to feel a bit queasy about it.
Cadance would basically follow in my hoofsteps and I had no idea how I should feel about that. I really wasn’t a great role model, was I? Or perhaps it was the lingering influence of Tia from Earth. It felt weird, entertaining the thought of my daughter being interested in... well, another version of herself. That thought eerily reminded me of what Tia had done with herself as she first tried out that time-travel spell of Starswirls.
Just what sorts of morals has my little petal inherited from my beloved? This wasn’t something you just adapted, Cadance knew how frowned upon incest was, whether on Earth or here on Remnant. Even on Equis, as much as I toyed with the idea of decriminalizing it in the past. So... why did I get the impression that she didn’t care? Was it because of Luna and myself? Or that law about sisters being in the same herd being legal? By everything holy about my sun, was I at fault for her viewpoint?
I... I can’t let it spiral out of control, but... I don’t want to forbid her from pursuing the only love interest she has shown in her entire life. Not only would I prove myself to be a hypocrite all over again, but I would also doom both of them to search for their entire lives for someone to love that would stay with them and wouldn’t die of old age.
I had no intention to let Ozpin ruin this opportunity for Ruby, and if she succeeded in her Trial of Ascension, I couldn’t in good conscience prevent their love from blossoming. I know Ruby would choose to ascend if she had Cadance there with her, they were almost inseparable already... it would break them both if I interfered in their own choices.
...that law has to stay. I cannot believe I was even considering this, but it has to stay. It has to stay so that my daughters can be happy. My intuition rarely failed me, and after I saw that blush on Cadance’s face as she told me about the movie they had been watching, I knew at least one of my daughters was entertaining the idea.
Cadance was the Princess of Love, it was only natural she would seek out the only individual she could love with all of her heart and not expect it to be shattered. I didn’t need to have Liz’s ability to sense the emotions of other ponies, it was blatantly obvious to me now. I felt like hitting myself for not having noticed it sooner, but both of them had gotten a lot closer to each other after spending so much time together training.
They did practically everything together nowadays. Heck, I wouldn’t even be surprised if they shared their showers after my torture... ahem, training sessions. Despite what Cadance constantly insisted on, she wasn’t as mature in mind as she pretended to be. And Ruby was remarkably mature and understanding for her age, one would think they had to be the same age not only physically, but also mentally.
Perhaps it was the result of their different upbringings. Remnant forced everyone to grow up faster than I felt comfortable with.
This was quite a dilemma for me. In immortal alicorn standards, both of them were basically the same age and I couldn’t help but view them like that. I had to ask myself, though, whether others would see it the same way. I wasn’t concerned about anypony discriminating against them for being in a same-sex relationship, Equestria had made a great many strides in regards to that. Liz, Luna, and I made sure of that.
Even Remnant had no problems whatsoever with things like that. The people living here treated sexuality as something that was to be lived out freely. The huntsmen and huntresses were doing that especially quite frequently. One never knew how long their life would be with such a dangerous profession. To waste any time with uncertainties of their sexuality was rather uncommon here.
I should have known this would happen. Ruby treated everything huntsman-related like it was a romance ready to happen and Cadance was even worse with that.
The best course of action would be for me to stay the Tartarus out of it and let them decide what happens with their lives. But as their mother... it didn’t feel right to not do something to help things along.
Ugh. Liz corrupted me, hasn’t she? Damn her and her changeling mindset. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was her goal all along. To make me question my own morals, and have me slowly accept incest as a ‘natural’ thing despite my own fears of what those risks might bring with it. Damn her and damn that law. Damn Tia, too, for that matter. And most of all, damn me for going along with it.
Fine. If Liz and Tia were so insistent that the law stayed legal, then I would accept that. I admit, maybe I was being a bit too harsh with my mindset and was a hypocrite to boot... but that doesn’t mean I would leave the law as is. Oh no, if it stays, then it will be under my conditions. I'm going to be the one that makes the rules, not Liz and certainly not Tia.
First of all, under no circumstances ever will I make sister-brother relationships a thing, and anypony that defies my wishes will pay dearly for that. I don’t care if I have to go full dictator on my ponies, I will make sure they keep everything safe. I will not allow incest to span multiple generations in one family. If you love your sibling that much, then you can fucking adopt a foal and not risk an unborn life to an extremely volatile, magical core.
Secondly, I will increase medical research into this particular field to make sure any mistakes, intentional or not, won’t cause any problems. If they are already forcing my hooves, I will need to be absolutely certain that future generations won’t suffer for the mistakes of their foolish parents. I might have to restrict access to the sex transformation spells to make absolutely certain there will be as few incidents as there can be.
Thirdly, it will stay with sister-sister relationships and brother-brother relationships. Under no circumstances will I allow mothers or fathers to molest their children. There won’t be any mercy for these kinds of transgressions and I will deal with the offending parties myself. And by that, I mean harshly. Very harshly. Death will be a mercy in comparison. I won’t let anything like what Tia had to go through happen to anypony else.
Lastly, any and all relationships like that will have to be officially registered with the crown. If I so much suspect that they are not genuine, I will intervene. Illegal relationships in secret or forcing their siblings into it will receive the same treatment as incest has been treated for the past few millennia. It would mean Luna and I would have to confess to our ponies about what we have been doing behind closed doors, but I can live with that if it meant my ponies treated this as seriously as I was doing.
I’m sure I will think of more rules, but those will be the most important ones to me. If I am allowing this, I will make sure to do it right. And Chrysalis would be the one to make sure those rules are being followed to the letter. No. Matter. What.
Haah... we will probably have to give a public apology on top of that announcement, won’t we? I’m not so naïve to think there haven’t been cases of incest between siblings in the past or that there were none whatsoever in the present. While I rarely heard of them, I knew there were court cases where sisters or brothers suffered because they had been found out. It never happened in my court, probably because our ponies didn’t want to bring it to our attention out of some misguided sense of feeling ashamed and being intolerant, wanting to keep those cases away from their ‘infallible goddesses’.
I know I couldn’t have condoned them for falling in love with their sister, at the very least. I would be a hypocrite if I held it against them and I know for certain Amore would have dragged me away by my ear if I let my misgivings get the better of me. Cadance, too, for that matter.
My daughter is a better pony than I am, and if there's one pony that has a right to say anything about who is allowed to love whom, it is her. After all, it is her domain. I would have to have a serious talk with her and give her the chance to voice her opinion before I go through with this decision.
It would be the first major act as a princess for her, wouldn’t it? I don’t know whether I should feel proud of her for that or not. Her decision would shape the future and I dearly hope it would be the right decision on her part.
I have the utmost faith in her to do what is right, to not let herself be influenced by my opinions, and listen to her own heart. Suns know I should listen to mine more often. My heart was telling me that this was the right choice to make, and for once, my brain had no say in the matter. I trust in my daughter and in my ponies to not take advantage of this opportunity for a great and long-overdue change. A change that should have happened a long time ago, if I were honest with myself.
How much suffering had I caused with my own reluctance to accept Tia’s proposal? I couldn’t tell and it made me feel ashamed of myself. Amore had accepted us and our love for each other, and Pansy would have had, too, if I had the courage to tell her at the time. Tia was right, our friends would have most likely understood our feelings for each other and it was my fear that kept them ultimately at a hoof’s length from my fragile heart. Now, that same heart struggled to break through the fortress I built around it.
I have come so far, but in a sense, I went nowhere. My heart should have the final say in the matter, I told myself. It always knew best, in the end. So why did I distance myself from it so much? Platinum might have been the catalyst for that, but what kept me from returning my heart to its rightful place?
Tia is going to return, I knew that for certain. She wouldn’t want to see me like this. Like this bitter mare that shut away her heart out of some misguided sense of fear. Luna and Liz kept it from going entirely cold and Cadance had managed to create a crack in the fortifications I built around it. Perhaps it was because I didn’t have my entire family here with me that caused my heart to drift away into the dark corner it hid in.
But enough is enough. Let’s hope then, that with Cadance and Ruby, it could find its way back into the light. I really should practice what I preach, shouldn't I? Even if it isn't going to be easy at times, I'll try my best. If not for my own sake, then for theirs.
Haah. It feels like I've been telling myself this for years. Is it really so hard to listen to what my heart tells me? I guess change doesn't come as easily to somepony as old as me. But that doesn't mean it is impossible. That much my daughters have taught me more than enough.
Alright. Let's give this bleeding heart of mine another chance to shine, shall we? Now... if only Ozpin wouldn't make it so hard on me with his choice for the next Fall Maiden...
The day after our little fight with Ironwood and his subordinate, I kept mostly to myself. Oh, sure, Ozpin was also here, but we didn’t really ‘talk’ with one another. We were both lost in our respective thoughts and I was throwing glances his way while he stared out the window with his brooding gaze. This time I actually knew what was in his mug, though. Small victories, I guess. If only that could have cheered me up.
He had his candidate and I knew for certain it wouldn’t be Ruby he would send up to his office today. It was aggravating, waiting for him to say anything. Anything at all, really. The silence was making me antsy and my eyes kept drifting to the elevator doors.
I had sent a message to Cadance, asking her to bring Ruby with her should she notice a student go to Ozpin’s office. Let Ozpin believe I had given up on this, I will put him in the spot of choosing between his little candidate to receive Amber’s last remaining powers and mine. To me, it wasn’t even a question of whether or not Ruby was worthy of the Fall Maiden’s power. No one else struck me as worthy and prepared as Ruby and I would make Ozpin admit that.
Ozpin’s candidate... I was pretty sure which person he had in mind and I disagreed with him. Pyrrha Nikos, four-time champion of Mistral’s Regional Tournament, might appear ready for the task of being Remnant’s guardian, but I knew better. To me, she appeared insecure even though her personality was everything Ozpin could hope for.
She would break if he told her of the danger we were all in. Of what he would ask her to do. Pyrrha was too kind-hearted to go through with the procedure of transferring Amber’s powers over to her. She would balk at the implication of the exact process, being directly responsible for Amber’s death so that her powers would be Pyrrha’s to command. And perhaps that would lead to the very moment I needed, as cruel as it sounded. I knew what Ironwood intended to do with his little machine down in the basement, ripping Amber’s soul out of her body and stuffing it into Pyrrha, even I wouldn’t put Ruby in that thing. But I didn’t need to.
All I needed to do is make Ruby aware that there is someone she could save, and if not, avenge. Our little infiltrator would be playing right into my hooves, as would Ozpin. I didn’t even need to nudge the pieces into the right position, he was already doing the work for me with minimal interference on my part.
I told myself that this was for the best, desperately hoping that, when the time came, Ruby would be in the right place to put a stop to Salem’s little general. Amber was as good as dead already, the only thing keeping her alive being Ironwood’s monstrosity of a machine. A machine that should be destroyed, its purpose far too horrifying.
A machine capable of killing a higher being, or ripping out their soul at least. I don’t think any of them realize this and I had to keep it that way. If I even for one second believed we could use it against Salem or even Platinum, I would have told Ozma about it...
But for that to be possible, they would have to be as good as dead, anyway. And I’d rather not risk them learning of the possibility of creating higher beings completely loyal to them and only them. Sooner rather than later, one of them would get it into their heads to create their perfect little super soldier and I knew which one would be first in line to get their hands on something like that. The fact that said man was the one that brought that technology here in the first place didn’t sit right with me. Ironwood couldn’t be trusted with that kind of power. Nopony could.
I was thrown out of my rather dark musings as the elevator doors opened and Qrow trudged into the room with a mug of his own. Probably coffee mixed with alcohol, if I knew him. “You know, he’s making you look like a damn fool.”
“Ironwood’s heart is in the right place,” Ozpin commented and I snorted. Yeah, right. His little metal heart had so much compassion in it, he would throw his soldiers at the problem with a smile on his face. That was the only thing he could do, after all. Throw his military at the problem until it ceased to be a problem. Sometimes I wonder whether or not he is more part robot than part human with all the prosthetics keeping him alive and functional. “He’s just...”
“Misguided? An idiot? A child playing with fire?” I snarkily butted in, hearing him sigh in response. Aww, Liz would be proud of me. And Luna would hit me behind the head for letting my emotions get out of hoof again. I suppose I deserve it, too. I haven’t been entirely accommodating to the General since he got here. He reminded me of myself right after Tia’s banishment. It was not my proudest time.
He's still a dick, though. Not that he had one of those anymore...
“One has to wonder if he even has a heart,” Qrow agreed with me at least. I really should give the General a chance if Qrow of all people was on the same wavelength as I. “So... your new guardian? Who did you choose?”
I watched as Ozpin turned around with his chair, throwing me a glance before turning to look at the undoubtedly drunk man still standing against all odds. “Maidens choose themselves. I simply believe we’ve found the right candidates.”
“Candidates?” I asked, a little stumped. I’m sure I haven’t misheard him, have I?
Ozpin nodded. “I have a feeling one of them will prove themselves worthy of the task,” he said. “The question remains, though. Are we both right... or wrong?”
“That remains to be seen, doesn’t it?” I sighed. I certainly was of the opinion I was on the right track with Ruby, Cadance was very much proof of her potential. Reborn or not, Ruby could do this. I have faith in her. So much depended on this feeling of mine, not only for Remnant but also for Equestria.
I know Cadance would become very much dependent on her if their bond continues to develop between them. The earlier I am able to find a solution for them to stay together, the better it's going to be. Not only would it ensure Ruby will survive this oncoming storm, but it's also going to keep both of my daughters away from the sheer pain of loss should this little plan of mine work. We don’t need another grieving alicorn. Definitely not one I was less than certain would be able to handle the pain.
Cadance was strong, incredibly so. But so was I and I have been struggling to keep it together these past few centuries. I could only hope she would be stronger than I am if the worst comes to the worst. She has such a caring heart. Both of them do, truly. I’d hate to see theirs turn out like mine. Bringing it back to its former glory... it would be an arduous task to make sure their hearts don’t crumble to dust just like that. I don’t even want to entertain what that would mean for the return of the Crystal Empire.
I could deal with Sombra, but bringing back the light into the Empire would be Cadance’s task. If all her heart holds is despair, though...
The door of the elevator opened once more and the room was quickly filled with giggling as both my daughters stumbled out of it, a bemused red-headed gladiator following after them. Pyrrha Nikos certainly looked the part of a guardian if one imagined her being from a fairytale. The ancient warrior keeping the land safe... it could become her destiny, for all I know.
This world needed a reaper, though. Someone to rid this world of the unnecessary darkness left behind by two incompetent gods. This world needs someone that can balance the scales, returning harmony where there was nothing but strife. A person that wouldn’t let their cheery self get completely swallowed up accomplishing such a task.
It’s time Ruby stopped believing in fairytales and legends and became one herself. It’s time that my little Rose grew her first thorns to conquer this world and safeguard it for as long as she sees fit to do so. It’s time for her to take that first step to become the guardian she was meant to be.
It was a little disappointing to hear that Ruby decided to let her teammates advance through the tournament instead of doing so herself, but perhaps that was for the best. It would give her the necessary focus to come to the right conclusion once the time was right. Ozpin did his little thing with the ‘Do you believe in magic?’ speech as he coaxed Pyrrha and Ruby into a state of mind that would make the next bit a bit more believable.
Ruby already knew that magic was a thing but Pyrrha had her doubts and I wasn’t going to tell her that there were entire realities brimming with magic, lest I totally broke her mind.
Cadance leaned subtly closer to me. “What is this about, Mom?” she asked me in a whisper and I hummed, not loud enough for Qrow to overhear us. The grumpy man was leaning against one of the pillars next to us, probably trying to look ‘cool’ or whatever.
“The Trial has begun,” I simply mentioned and saw her eyes widen comically.
“What!?” she whisper-shouted, briefly drawing the attention of Qrow before he focused back on the conversation between Ozpin and Pyrrha. Ruby seemed content with the knowledge the headmaster just dumped on them, believing it without a second thought. I mean, if she believes that I’m an overpowered sun goddess pony from another dimension, why wouldn’t she believe something as simple as the existence of magic in her own realm? “Mom, are you serious?”
“Not if you continue to make a fuss about it, petal,” I shot back, shooting her a warning glare. “I believe she has the potential. We only need to awaken her to it.”
“You really mean it? She would be...” Cadance whispered and I could see the excitement in her eyes. I smiled warmly and nodded. The following surprise hug wasn’t that surprising to me, considering I expected her to squee far louder than the little happy noises she was currently making.
“Now, now. It hasn’t happened yet, petal,” I giggled, patting the back of her head as she tried to squeeze the living daylights out of me. “You know that you can’t tell her anything about it, right?”
“Right, top secret,” Cadance nodded, going back to standing next to me like nothing ever happened. “My lips are sealed, Mom.”
Any further conversation between us was halted by the arrival of the General and Glynda Goodwitch. I could tell Pyrrha was overwhelmed by what was going on around her, barely keeping her composure together after learning that they could be next in line for the Fall Maiden powers. Not that I intended to use those powers for their actual purpose.
Those powers would be the only thing powerful enough to trigger the ascension process and substituting them with dust would be far more dangerous than I would like, so I have to take my chances with the comatose Amber and the thief in pursuit of the rest of her powers. I only felt mildly bad at viewing Amber’s remaining time alive as nothing more than bait for the infiltrator to spring my trap, but... ultimately, it was all so that Ruby could come one step closer to her destiny. To that end, I could care less about a woman that was as good as dead, anyway.
Was it heartless of me? Yes, incredibly so. But on a scale of saving one life and possibly risking the soul of another, I would choose the side that would lead to the death of a single person over that of the rest of the world. It's the same dilemma I've been agonizing over sacrificing myself against Platinum for the continued existence of my own world. The choice was all but an illusion, it would take a truly selfish pony to choose the other option over salvation.
Perhaps Ozpin realized what I was trying to do and was willing to let me try my luck. The only thing he cared for was getting his guardian, and one way or another, he would get one. One he wouldn’t be able to control as much as he would like, but Ruby’s life was her own. Her choices would be hers to make and even I couldn’t force her to go along with this.
I could only guide her in the right direction and give her the option to take up the mantle of a higher being, once she masters her trial and achieves ascension. Cadance and I could enter the Realm of Ascension here on Remnant, I made sure of testing that out before I even got the idea of setting Ruby on this path. In the end, it would be up to her to accept or reject this burden. The only thing I could do is to give her all the information she could possibly ask for and give her enough time to think it over. And if she so wished, Ruby could discuss it with Cadance once she arrives at the end of the path.
And who knows... maybe Pyrrha will prove herself, too. The amount of magic a maiden possesses would surely be enough to trigger two ascensions if done right. She would have to rid herself of her insecurities if she is serious about this, though, but I have no doubt Cadance and Ruby would be able to help her with that once the process is over and done with.
Two guardians are better than one, I mused to myself as we rode the elevator down into the basement’s basement. The secret kind. I suppose Starswirl’s old laboratory counts as Canterlot Castle’s secret basement, nowadays. Maybe I should show it to Cadance at some point, she would have loved the old coot.
Not to mention what her Tabetha would do in there. But, alas... it would take a few more decades before we would see her again, provided we all survive Platinum’s return.
The ride down into Beacon’s vault took far longer than what my daughters were used to. Not to mention, young Pyrrha Nikos seemed to get more nervous the longer we took to arrive. It was also a bit of a tight squeeze with all of us in one elevator. So that probably made her fidgety, too.
Once the doors opened, revealing the tall hallways of the vault (lit only by a dim green light), Ozpin took the lead, followed by Ironwood, and then by Qrow and myself. Ruby and Cadance walked between us while my Rose Petal couldn’t help but giggle at Ruby’s eyes flitting every which way in wonder. Behind us walked Glynda, who looked after the sullen Pyrrha.
“I still don’t understand,” Pyrrha mumbled, sounding as confused as she did when all of this began. I felt a bit of pity for her. It was a lot to take in, wasn’t it? Magic in a world that had forgotten its existence, Maidens that had such tremendous power they could influence the weather of an entire nation, and questionable rules of how said powers get passed on once the one holding onto them dies? I couldn't blame her for being overwhelmed. “You said Ruby and I could be the ones next in line for the Maiden’s power. What do you mean by that?”
“The Maidens have existed for thousands of years,” Glynda answered and I mentally added that it was all because of Ozma giving up his power after his fight with Salem escalated too far. I would have berated him for doing such a stupid thing, but he was already feeling guilty enough as it was. To be honest, I was kind of glad he did so because that meant Ruby will have the chance to ascend. “But much like in nature, the seasons change. No two summers are alike.”
I snorted and heard my daughters start to giggle next to me while Qrow chuckled himself. I could tell Ozpin was amused by that statement, as well. I’m reasonably sure Glynda didn’t mean to make it sound like that, but it did manage to lighten up the mood significantly. No two Summers are the same, indeed. If my counterpart was here with us, she would probably be as amused as I was about this.
Glynda continued on, explaining that after they die, the power of a Maiden would seek out another host. If it were as simple as that in this case, I would have already run my sword through Amber’s body to release her from this torture Ironwood was putting her through with his disgusting machine. Alas, if I were to do that now, our little infiltrator would get the rest of Amber’s Maiden powers and that wouldn’t do. Not now, that is. I would have to carefully time it to ensure that Ruby and Pyrrha are in the right spot at the right time to challenge the thief. It would be easier to lure her into the Vault and that was perhaps just as risky.
This general of Salem has to have a plan, something she wanted to accomplish after she absorbed the rest of the Fall Maiden’s power. That would be the point where Ruby and Pyrrha need to thwart her plans, earning them the right to walk the hallways of the Realm of Ascension. I was basically working on conjecture here, but I had to hope I was right with my predictions.
“So...” Pyrrha looked at each of us, no doubt wanting to know... “How does this power choose?”
“Through a series of stupid and convoluted rules,” Qrow grumbled and Ruby snickered next to him while I rolled my eyes. He was basically right, but he could have worded that a little bit better, to be honest.
Glynda gave him a reprimand for his behavior, earning herself a snide reply in return from him. I didn’t need to give him even more encouragement to continue on with this by voicing my own opinion of those ‘stupid and convoluted rules’ as he so eloquently put it. It was bad enough that the power chooses between those that were last in the thoughts of the Maiden or completely at random. Oh, and it was totally sexist, too. Not that that wasn’t the case for alicorns, as far as I was aware. Maybe it was actually possible for a stallion to become an alicorn, although I’ve yet to see it happen.
Considering nopony has ascended in the past thousand years or so before Cadance, it is entirely feasible that it is simply based on luck. Or the universe being a bitch, I guess. Setting up the events for an ascension was already incredibly difficult, so my money was on luck being the deciding factor. If Cadance had been born a stallion instead, I’m sure she would have ascended despite being male.
A thought for later, perhaps. I’m not going to start experimenting on my ponies. Though I really do want to see what Tai and Qrow would look like if they did...
“Why are you telling us this now?” Pyrrha asked while Ruby nodded next to her alongside her question. My little petal wasn’t as confused as the red-headed gladiator, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t curious herself why we brought them down here now of all times. They would soon find out just why time was of the essence.
If Amber dies too early, I could kiss my plans goodbye, and that wouldn’t do. So, despite my misgivings about Ironwood’s soul-leeching machine, I have to content myself with its purpose here. It kept Amber alive for long enough and that was all I cared about at the moment.
I never expected myself to sound like that. Haah. Remnant really does work wonders on your mood, doesn’t it? The first thing I will do once I am home is to raid Luna’s secret moonshine stockpile. I don’t care how long it has been gathering dust, if it has alcohol in it, I’mma drink it. And regret it immediately afterward, but that is Future-Summer’s problem.
Might even rope Luna into being my drinking buddy. Have a little fun and whatnot. Drunken sex sounds really stupid, but it’s not like anything could happen. Besides, magic fixes everything, even hangovers.
Qrow sighed next to me and I shook myself out of my less-than-princess-like fantasies, focusing back on the conversation being held around me. “Honestly?” he said, turning his head back in order to look at the nervous girl walking behind us. “We’ve run out of time. I don’t know if you have noticed, but the world is getting a lot more dangerous as of late. Not only because of the Grimm, kid. So, kiss your childhood goodbye because this peace you all have been enjoying so much? Pretty soon, that goes flying out the window and it won’t come back afterward. If it comes back, that is. Still iffy about that.”
Pyrrha hesitated. “Are you... talking about war?” she asked, her face turning pale.
“Not one that is waged between nations,” Ironwood stated, throwing me a glance. I knew I should have never mentioned the fact I was from another world around him. I really regretted the slip-up immensely. He was a suspicious man, and with me meddling in Remnant’s affairs so much, he definitely must think I was up to no good. Well... depending on how one views what I am trying to do, he isn’t entirely wrong.
I told Ozpin he shouldn’t trust me and I meant it. I was going to force Remnant to go through one of the greatest changes it has ever seen, and whether they think that's going to be a good or bad thing is up to them. Ruby was on the path to becoming a genuine God-Slayer. If everything went right (and if it was needed), she could contend with the Brother Gods over the right to be this world’s guardian, and should it become necessary, enforce that right. I was in no mood to let them walk back to Remnant and take credit for everything after Ruby was done cleaning up the mess they had created.
If her ascension doesn’t draw their attention to the Realm of Ascension, that is. I’d rather not face off against two gods on my own in a world that doesn’t recognize my true nature. Definitely not when it puts Ruby’s ascension at risk. I would stand next to no chance against them, and I’m uncertain whether or not I could convince them to kindly do a ‘fluffy bunny’ and not bother Remnant anymore.
I brought myself out of my musings as we neared the end of the hallway, looking sadly at the disfigured face of Amber through the little window of the stasis chamber she was 'sleeping' in. None of this would be happening right now if the Brother Gods weren’t such... flipping flying penguins. Ugh. It was really hard to keep myself from swearing whenever I thought of those two.
“Is that..?” Pyrrha whispered and Ozpin gave her a nod. Yes, this was just one of the latest victims in this senseless war between Salem and Ozma, paying the price for inheriting a power she never asked for. This greed for the power of others... I could only wonder what Salem’s general did to suck out her power like a leech. What sort of heinous crime did they commit to Amber that disfigured her face like that?
“She’s... still alive?” Ruby asked, going closer to the chamber currently standing upright in Ironwood’s nightmare machine. She looked back towards me with a haunted face, one that was mirrored by Pyrrha. Cadance had seen Amber already as Ozpin informed us of this, but the sight still left us uneasy. I doubt that will ever change because, for us, we could feel a wrongness permeating the air around her.
Already, I wanted to leave this suns’ forsaken place. I couldn’t stand being around her, it left my soul in anguish. Amber exuded a feeling of desecration and I have no doubt that should I find the culprit behind this, they would feel like Platinum feels to me. It was unholy. Wrong. Evil.
Nopony following this path could ever be redeemed. Once you destroy the sanctity of the immortal soul, you become an enemy of the universe itself. Higher beings like I will always recognize this wrongness and try to correct it. In a way, it is ingrained into our very core to not let this horror fester and grow.
A mortal is not supposed to exist like this. This was nothing more than a half-life. A cursed life of moving through the motions without having a feeling of one's own self. “Yes, she is still 'alive', petal,” I muttered, suppressing the whimper that wanted to force its way out of my throat. A shiver ran through me and my goosebumps got worse the longer I stayed near the current Fall Maiden. I understand why Ozpin didn’t exactly answer my question about how Amber was doing yesterday. She felt even worse than the last time I had been down here. It took all of my willpower to not summon Remorse and end her existence as it is. “To a certain degree of the definition, that is. Her condition is deteriorating, though. If we don’t do something soon...”
“She is stable,” Ironwood cut me off, most likely because he had a different opinion than I did about what counted as ‘deteriorating’. “We’re using state-of-the-art Atlas technology to keep it that way. But... there is a lot about this situation which is... unprecedented.”
“Call your technology whatever you want,” I huffed. “Because this is nothing but torture. It is wrong.”
“And you’re an expert on this now, too?” Ironwood shot back, raising an eyebrow at me.
“If this wasn’t necessary to keep her alive, I would go to war with you,” I snarled. “This is wrong and you know it. This technology is pure evil. You’re violating the rules of the physical plane and the astral plane. You are meddling in things far beyond your understanding, General.”
“And you have no proof that such a make-believe plane even exists, so don’t lecture me about this, ‘Princess’,” he growled. If we were in Equestria right now, I would have no doubt transformed into Fallen Star this instant and bared my fangs at him. He had no idea what he was doing with this thing and he had no qualms about destroying the sanctity of the soul realm. While every plane interacted with each other in varying degrees, they were never meant to be forced into contact like this.
And you know what's the best thing about his attitude? He didn’t believe a single word I said because there was no actual scientific explanation for this! He believes in friggin' magic because he could observe it, but when I tell him about multiple layers of reality, he doesn't believe me! He who knows souls are real and makes use of aura on a daily basis couldn't even grasp the concept of the Soul Realm existing hoof-in-hoof with the physical plane. Sometimes mortals just have a way to get on my nerves with their irritating opinions. Not that it happened often, but some of them just continued to spew out stupid.
Cadance rubbed my back soothingly as I quietly stewed in my rage. It took me more willpower than I cared to admit to not summon Remorse to my side so I could have a little bit of alone time with his oh-so-precious machine. It wouldn’t do if I destroyed it in a fit of anger right now.
“What do you mean?” Pyrrha asked. “Princess? Unprecedented?”
“Oh, Mom is from another universe where she is a magical pony princess,” Ruby answered cheerfully and I let out a groan. My little petal giggled bashfully, rubbing her arm while Pyrrha gave me an incredulous look. “Right... secrets. Sorry, Mom.”
I smiled tiredly. At this point, I was pretty much certain it wouldn't take long until the rest of the school would know. “It’s okay, petal,” I told her. “It’s not like everyone knows that about me already...”
My daughter looked away at that. “Sorry...”
Once a secret is out it becomes harder to keep, huh? Well, if Qrow wouldn’t constantly make fun of it, it would still be between me, his family, and Ozpin. Now basically every teacher knew it. Heck, for all I know, Salem knows it! What’s next?! The Brother Gods also know?!
It’s my own fault, but damn... I wish I could travel back in time and slap myself. Suns know my past self deserves it.
“So, why is this situation unprecedented?” Pyrrha reminded us and Ironwood explained the situation to her. We had absolutely no idea what would happen once Amber actually ceased to be alive. Her powers would either split off or they would seek out their other half. The second possibility being the most likely one, at that. A possibility that Ozpin sought to prevent with the help of Ironwood.
They wanted to transfer her aura, her very soul, into a willing host so that they may receive Amber’s half of the Fall Maiden’s power. I have no idea how they could even consider doing such a monstrous thing to her (and the one they wanted to put into that machine originally). It reminded me all too much of Platinum. I was actually counting on both Pyrrha’s and Ruby’s reluctance to go through with this. Not only because it made them better people than Amber’s attacker, but also because it meant my plan was working as intended.
Pyrrha and Ruby made an emotional connection with Amber’s situation and that would motivate them enough to do what they need to do. I could already see Cadance giving me a look that told me she wasn’t pleased with how I was planning Ruby’s ascension, but I also saw her accept my decision because she could see it working.
Besides, it was also the far more preferable method, using Amber as bait. Otherwise, it would mean Ruby could potentially go into the other pod, merge with Amber’s soul, and come out as anything but Ruby. And that's something neither of us would like to see. Neither would I want to see Pyrrha go through that, even though I barely interacted with her in class. I knew her enough from the descriptions of my daughters and from my own observations.
It would mean they would have to give up who they are and I knew Ruby wouldn’t ever want to do that, even as selfless as she could be at times. And Pyrrha would hesitate long enough until there was no more time left. Besides, I doubt she would want to leave her friends and team behind (certainly not her team leader if what Cadance has told me about how enamored they were with each other is true... as oblivious as they seemed to be of each other’s affection).
Pyrrha was understandably frustrated with the decision to keep everything secret and away from the public eye. But as soon as she understood the importance of why this information was kept secret, she knew revealing everything to the people of Remnant would bring nothing but panic. And with that, hordes of Grimm.
“I’ll do it,” Pyrrha stated grimly and my heart skipped a beat. Wait, what? No, no, no! You weren’t supposed to agree, damnit! What in the name of all flying penguins do you think you are doing?! “If you believe this will help humanity... then I will become your Fall Maiden.”
I... n-no... Ruby’s a-ascension... R-Remnant’s future... You can’t do that. You can’t, damnit. You can't... “Breathe, Mom.”
The words spoken by my daughter staved off the oncoming panic attack. Right. Panicking won’t help. Damage-control does. Have to stall her decision, somehow. Make sure she will hesitate long enough for my plan to work. Can’t let her make a rash decision, after all. Eh heh heh... “Sleep a night or two and think if this is truly what you want to do. And... if you do, say your farewells to your friends. It wouldn’t do if you go in and regret never having said goodbye to them.”
There. That should work, no doubt. Definitely. A hundred percent. I know it. Everything is going to work out how you want it to. Keep it together, Summer. Your plan isn't lost yet.
“Transferring her powers... we would have to transfer what is bound to them,” Ironwood admitted after Pyrrha and Ruby gave us confused looks for why they should say their goodbyes before making this decision. And I was pleased to say that my little diversion worked out perfectly.
“Her aura...” Pyrrha and Ruby whispered horrified. I couldn’t have wished for a better reaction, to be honest. Not only was it an appropriate one considering what the transfer implied, but also because it would only strengthen their resolve to do what is right and their reluctance to go through with the process.
It felt bad manipulating both of them to such a degree and I swore to myself that this would be the only time I would do so. Sadly, manipulating ponies was a thing one picked up ruling a nation for more than a thousand years. I never enjoyed doing this, especially with Ruby. She's family and she deserves better than this. But if she knew what I was trying to accomplish here, it would never work.
They could accuse me of being a monster as much as they want in the Realm of Ascension. With or without me, this conversation would have happened anyway, I was only working with the circumstances we've been dealt with, and whether it happened Ozpin's way or my way, the initial starting point would have been the same. I am merely going to use the situation to change the end result into a more favorable one for everypony involved. Nothing more, nothing less.
It was up to them to make use of that chance. I'd rather they make it as themselves and not as Ironwood's soul amalgamation. Knowing him, he would do everything to claim that they were Atlas Military property as soon as they used that horrific machine. It wouldn't surprise me, considering how he treats his huntsmen and huntresses as his own 'specialists'. Everything he does is for his kingdom's sake first and foremost. The rest of the world (including Mantle) comes afterward.
In a way, it was entirely necessary that none of them got a loyal weapon out of this. Ironwood for the obvious reasons and Ozpin because he was getting desperate. And perhaps I, myself as well. The only difference with me is that I care more about Ruby's and Cadance's happiness to view them as such. Aside from ensuring they would inherit an intact world worth living in, I won't force them into anything.
That does leave me with the question of what to do with Pyrrha if she goes through with this. The poor girl has already been in a position where she (more or less) viewed herself as a weapon to be used. The 'Invincible' Girl. It would probably worsen her insecurities as a person were she to ascend. She would be placed on a pedestal even more than she already was, and that could honestly be more of a detriment to her mental health than merging with Amber.
If I am going through with this plan, then I would have to teach her to rely on Ruby and Cadance. Not only that, but Pyrrha needs to rely on all of her friends to get through this. But Ruby and Cadance would share her burden, making it lighter to carry. The three of them would be to each other what my sisters and I were to each other at the start of our own vigil over Equestria.
I have confidence in them to do what is right and not forget to live a little at the same time. Whether or not something 'more' blooms between them (or all three of them, who knows) remains to be seen. They will certainly need all the comforts and distractions they could get their hands on. And for that reason alone, I hope Pyrrha can get over herself and see what is right in front of her. That happy life she sought was possible with a certain blonde knight, mortal or not (Queen Novo made it abundantly clear she could have a functioning sex life with mortal lovers and she wasn't afraid to rub it in my muzzle, so... why couldn't Pyrrha?).
My only concern was making sure they would have someone by their side to make eternity more bearable, and from the looks of it, they were all on the right track. And it's not like Remnant will be their only home. No, for Pyrrha and Ruby, Equestria and Equis as a whole will no doubt become like a second home to them. Ruby more so, I imagine, but still. Pyrrha was more than welcome to explore my world with her team if she so wished.
After all, living a life of duty shouldn't be the only thing they should do. I'm sure Pyrrha would get the wrong idea if I just let her loose on Remnant after ascending. Hence my worries about her viewing herself as a weapon. She has all the time in the world to bring justice to those that deserve it, just like Ruby doesn't have to cleanse this world of the Creatures of Grimm overnight. Playing hero is nice and everything, but it is only a job, not their entire life.
I dearly hope they won't forget to live theirs after everything is said and done with. Having a purpose was good and all, but it shouldn't be the only thing making you get up for in the morning. And perhaps this might be a great lesson for Pyrrha. Ironwood can lick his metal bum with his idea of 'duty'. Amber is not worth their sense of identity over.
Once they were aware of the full weight of what making this decision to transfer Amber’s aura into one of them meant, we went back to the elevator on our way out of the Vault. Both of them had a lot to think about and I knew Cadance would help things along in the right direction. For their sake, I really hope she can convince them that taking Ozpin and Ironwood up on their offer was a bad idea.
Later that evening, I couldn’t help but frown as I sat next to Taiyang in the audience for the first round of the single duels in the quarter-finals. Yes, I know, I told myself I wouldn’t sit next to him in the colosseum, but this was kind of an exception. Maybe.
Okay, yes, I totally wanted to sit next to him because I felt really bad about the whole Amber situation and wanted a little bit of comfort and he just looked so damn lonely, and I—... Hmph! It’s my decision, okay?! There is nothing inappropriate about this. Just two friends sitting next to each other while not holding hands and stuff. Totally normal. Yep.
Anyway! As the first single match of today began, a foreboding feeling settled over me as I watched Yang fight a student from the Kingdom of Mistral. I was about to dismiss it as my paranoia, seeing Yang win the fight while the percentage of her aura was just above the knock-out line, but then, out of nowhere, she shot the defenseless student in the leg as she was about to leave.
Something wasn’t right with this picture. Firstly, I knew Yang well enough to know she wouldn’t kick a defenseless person on the ground (or shoot them, whatever). And secondly, it didn’t seem to me like she did it out of malicious intent. Sure, she might have a little bit of anger management issues at times, but I knew what lashing out actually looked like, and that did not look like she lashed out to me.
Whatever just happened, Yang did not do it because she wanted to be unfair to him. This behavior did not match that of someone that held a grudge over the other’s behavior in their match. If anything, it was because of something her opponent said or did after the duel was over. And even then, I knew Yang had enough self-control to not attack someone out of spite. Much less in a tournament setting where every person would be able to see it.
I needed more information, this did not make any sense.
Yang was taken into custody by Atlesian soldiers while the poor student was carried out of the arena on a stretcher. I would have to ask her why she did it and I would get the truth out of her, whether she wanted to answer me truthfully or not. Tai and I would not tolerate any such behavior from her, and if she did this only because she could, she would get to hear it from us.
This day was just a mess, wasn’t it? And worst of all, they didn’t let Tai and me speak with Yang that night. She was under house arrest as if she was a naughty filly. A filly with access to guns, mind you, but she was still a child. And they were all treating her like she just murdered someone.
She hadn’t even shot him in any vital parts of his body, which only furthered my own confusion about this situation. A huntress wouldn’t shoot to cripple, as far as I know. And Yang didn’t strike me as a person who is needlessly cruel.
Anger can make ponies do a lot of things. I should know, having gone too far, far too many times. But never with the intention to cripple my unjust target. If Yang wanted to be unsportsmarelike, she wouldn’t have used her weapon to do that. A slap to the face with the back of her gauntlets would have done the job, too. So... why did she shoot, instead?
I was far too tired to think of a logical answer, but perhaps the answer wasn’t logical at all. It didn’t help my mood in the slightest that I had to wait with Tai the whole night until the next day so that we could finally get our answers from her.
But seeing that she was in custody under military supervision, I needed to get permission to speak with her. Apparently, I have to get permission because I’m not her 'real' parent and because Tai was with me, they didn’t trust his word, either. Not until Ironwood had the chance to have a ‘conversation’ with her first.
No doubt did he take delight in informing Yang and her team that they had been disqualified as a result of her assault on an innocent student. Not that it wasn’t justified, I would have just... preferred to tell her that myself alongside Tai.
As Ironwood left their room, I gave the man a look as he walked by. I don’t trust him. At all. The feeling was probably mutual as he glared back at me (ah, whom am I kidding? He hated me as much as I disliked him and his methods). The *insert kind word here* reluctantly gave me his permission to see Yang in her own room and I wasted no time unlocking the door with my scroll.
Let’s see what her excuse is, then. I opened the door and saw Cadance and Ruby sitting next to Yang. I ignored the haphazard construction they called ‘bunk beds’ in favor of giving the blonde girl a questioning look.
“He attacked me,” she mumbled back indignantly. Oh, Yang...
“Is that so?” I asked impassively and saw her look back at me with a betrayed look. Her teammate, Weiss (or tiny Ice Queen if one were to ask Qrow), quickly sprang up and stood between Yang and me.
“I believe her!” she announced as if it would actually convince me just because she said so. While she wasn’t quite as arrogant as her sister strikes me to be, I could tell she expected me to agree with her simply because she was Yang’s teammate and a Schnee. Heiress of a big corporation or not, I’d rather listen to Yang and make a decision based on that myself. “We all know she is a hot-head. She isn’t ruthless, she would never attack someone like that.”
“I agree, but it would do you well to remain silent, Miss Schnee,” I warned her, getting her to snap her mouth shut. “Yang will tell me this herself, am I understood?”
“Yes, ma’am,” she nodded, retreating back to the bed opposite Yang, sitting down next to the black-haired faunus girl (she wasn’t fooling anyone with that bow in her hair like that). Blake Belladonna studied me for a moment as if trying to decipher whether or not I would actually listen to Yang’s words. She wanted to get behind this mystery as much as I did if I read her correctly.
I accepted the chair Tai offered me from one of their desks, sitting down while studying Yang’s expression. Tai, of course, gave her a comforting rub as he placed his chair next to her.
There was no cruelty in her gaze and I suspect there had been none in them yesterday evening. So... why..? “Explain to me everything you remember about the match, from beginning to end. Leave no details.”
“Mom, we hit each other a lot, what more do you want to know?” she muttered, exasperated. “It’s not like you weren’t there in the audience.”
“Yang...” I warned her.
“Fine...” she sighed. “I told him not to go easy on me, he said he wouldn’t, then the fight began.
“As you saw, he kicked his foot forward and I intercepted his attack, we clashed some more, yadda, yadda, yadda, he fell almost from the arena but saved himself with those shoe guns or whatever they are, did a bit of close-quarter-combat, he did his thing with the tornado, and then I went mad, broke his aura, punched him in the face and that was the end of the fight.”
“And what did you say to him afterward?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. The fight itself was less important, but it's good to know nothing truly suspicious happened during the match. The aftermath was more of my concern.
I saw her fidget and began to glare at her before she succumbed to my gaze. “Okay, sheesh, Mom. I taunted him, saying he would have better luck next time. I know that wasn’t nice of me, so stop giving me that look already. He was the one that attacked me, saying there would be no next time.”
“How did he attack you?" I asked, my expression staying blank despite feeling intrigued. Now this was truly suspicious... "Describe it to me.”
“Well,” Yang sighed. “He went for the same kick attack that started the match and I turned around to defend myself. What was I supposed to do, huh? Apparently, everyone else saw a different thing and the cameras showed me just hitting him out of nowhere! What is going on, Mom?”
That does make sense. Her movements match what she told me she saw. They were meant for self-defense, not for attacking without provocation. That does not explain why she saw something different from what everyone else saw, though.
“Could it have been an illusion, Mom?” Cadance asked, fidgeting next to Ruby. Her question drew the gazes of the rest of her friends as I mulled over the possibility.
“It certainly sounds plausible, but a spell like that wouldn’t fool the cameras and everyone in the arena,” I answered, drawing everyone’s confused gazes to me, instead. “An illusion spell like that would have to work on an individual’s perception and those are unreliable at best.”
“Could it have been a semblance?” she asked back, making me blink. A semblance for illusions working on someone’s perception? An interesting idea, one that might also explain how someone could best a maiden so easily in combat.
“It would have to be highly limited,” I nodded, rubbing my chin thoughtfully. “You know how hard it is to concentrate to maintain your semblance for longer lengths of time, petal. The more minds you want to affect with your illusions, the harder they would become to maintain. The same is true for creating mind-based illusions with magic...”
Cadance hummed before her expression got darker. “Would it have limited range?” she asked and I nodded hesitantly. As far as I am aware, illusions are tied to what you can see. If your opponent leaves your sight, you cannot directly influence their mind. At least, not with this kind of illusion.
“Are you suggesting the student fighting against Yang used their semblance against her?” I asked her, only to see her shrug back at me.
“Okay, what is going on?” Weiss interrupted us in our back-and-forth brainstorming. “Mind magic? Seriously?”
“Mind semblance,” Ruby corrected her and her teammate rolled her eyes in response.
“Are you suggesting magic is actually real?” the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company asked us incredulously.
“Yes,” I simply answered, ignoring any further comments from her in favor of focusing back on my sunny dragon. “Now, when you heard him calling out to you, did you notice anything strange? Something out of place?”
“No...” Yang mumbled, confused. “Why?”
I gave her a look of utmost importance as I took her hands into my own while kneeling down in front of her after leaving my chair. “I need you to remember, Yang,” I told her. “From the moment the match ended. You said he used the same move as his opening move, right?”
“Yeah,” she nodded. “It seemed kinda strange he wouldn’t simply sweep my legs to make me stumble, instead.”
“Aside from that, can you tell me his exact words? The tone of his voice? Was there anything strange about that?” I questioned her, trying to coax her into remembering specific details. There always was something that gave away someone using mind magic on you (or a semblance with similar effects, I suppose). Your mind automatically notices something is off, so there had to be some sort of tell.
“He said something along the lines of ‘There’s not going to be a next time’ and then he came at me,” Yang told me, and I in turn told her to shush and focus. I didn’t want to know what he did, I wanted her to remember the sounds specifically. Fooling one sense might be easy, but doing so with more than one becomes gradually more difficult to do. The more senses you are trying to deceive, the harder it would be to make them seem real to the mind of your victim. The brain is just far too complex to easily fool it like that, it will notice something is going on that does not belong. It was far easier to use the victim’s imagination against them instead of forcing your own on them.
“Don’t tell me what he did, focus on his exact words,” I implored her, trying to convey a feeling of importance. Yang sighed exasperatedly and did what I told her to do, thinking for a moment. Tai gave me a questioning gaze in the meantime, but I motioned for him to wait until Yang actually remembered the exact words that her opponent said to her (and more importantly, how they said those words).
“Okay...” she finally said, rubbing her arm. “I don’t know if you will believe me, but... I think after he said ‘There’s not going to be a next time, Blondie’, I heard the ‘Blondie’ part... echo?”
“It was an illusion,” I whispered, sitting back down in my chair, relief flooding my heart. Oh, thank the sun, Yang didn’t lash out. She tried to defend herself from a mental attack, not knowing what was happening to her. “Yang, you did nothing wrong. If anything, I suspect that your opponent wasn’t even injured by your blow. You didn’t see any blood, did you?”
“No...” Yang responded, glad that at least someone was believing her. “Does that mean that he was behind this?”
“Possibly, but to pull this kind of deception off, you would need help from outside the arena,” I answered. “It would be quite hard to do something like this without any help. Not only because you would purposefully cripple yourself, or simply risk crippling yourself, but also to deal with any questions afterward. You need to have someone waiting for you to transport you away to a safe spot and make sure to lay low for a while. Whatever they are trying to do with this, they obviously want to spin a narrative against you or the whole tournament itself.”
“So, someone helped him from the outside?” Tai grunted, flexing his muscles angrily. “And they framed my little dragon?”
“I’m afraid so,” I nodded. “Tai, I need to speak with Ozpin about this. I would suggest taking her back to Patch for the remainder of the tournament, but I know neither of you would want to do that with the culprits still running around. Just... be careful, please.”
“We will be,” Tai nodded, a stormy expression on his face. He really is like Tia when he is mad...
“Good,” I smiled, moving for the door. “The rest of you, stay on the lookout for any suspicious activity. It would be for the best if none of you go anywhere alone and keep your weapons with you. Just in case.”
The girls all gave me their affirmations, seeing the wisdom in my words. Qrow almost stumbled into me as I left the room, apparently also here to have a word with his niece. At least now we know for certain that Yang was manipulated by someone within the audience, the question remained whether or not Mercury (Yang’s opponent) was actually part of this plot or not.
I gave the scraggly man a nod, receiving one in return from him as we moved past each other. “How’s she doin’?”
“All things considered, relatively okay,” I answered him. “Don’t accuse her, Qrow. Listen to her and believe everything she says to you. She was manipulated, I confirmed it myself.”
“So, not crazy, then?” he smiled and I snorted.
“Not crazy,” I replied with a smile of my own. “You might want to come with me to Ozpin, I will wait for you here if you want.”
“Might be a good idea,” Qrow muttered. “Let me talk to Firecracker a bit, I’ll be right back.”
I didn’t have to wait for long before Qrow met me back in the hallway of the Beacon dorms, and together, we made our way to Ozpin’s office. I still find myself marveling at the appearance of said room, always fascinated by the moving gears that reflected the light everywhere.
I was only mildly jealous. My throne room had his 'office' beat by a mile. And my office was a lot cozier than this empty, open space he surrounds himself with. For a semi-immortal, he sure doesn't keep around a lot of mementos.
The grey-haired man was currently watching through the various news channels, sipping from his mug with Beacon’s logo on it. “Is there something on your mind?”
“You could say that,” I said, frowning. Qrow brought over two chairs for us while I gave the various videos on display a glance. I said my thanks to Qrow before looking through the hologram at Ozpin. “Someone manipulated Yang’s mind. The signs are all there.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded with absolute confidence. “A hundred percent,” I told him. “Her movements at the end of the fight indicated not those of someone attacking out of malicious intent, but out of self-defense. She saw something completely different to what everyone else saw and she told me that the words Mercury spoke to her had an echo at the end.”
“So, an illusion?” Ozpin asked, taking another sip. His eyes moved briefly to one news station reporting about the rise of Grimm activity near Vale before they moved back to look at me. “Troubling news, indeed.”
Yes. Troubling news, both what happened to Yang and what is currently happening outside of Vale. I might have to do something about that before it gets out of control. “I’m unsure whether or not it was Mercury that cast the illusion, though,” I admitted. “He would have needed to have help in order to make the ruse believable.”
“So, what do we do now?” Qrow asked us. “From what I’m understanding here, this might very well be one of Amber’s assailants.”
“They could be,” I mused, furrowing my brows in thought. “It would certainly explain the ease with which they overwhelmed her. You said the attacker’s face was blurry? Were there multiple attackers, or just one?”
“Hard to say,” he shrugged. “It would have been no easy task for a single attacker, illusions or not. There had to be more than one and if this Mercury guy was one of them, we know who the others must be.”
“His teammates,” Ozpin said. “It could very well be them.”
“It would also explain how he got the help he would have needed for the deception to work smoothly,” I agreed. “Where is this Mercury now?”
“Apparently on his way back home to his family,” Ozpin frowned, looking at a report of yesterday’s evening’s events. “Whether or not that is true, though, I can’t say. No one has seen him since the end of the fight.”
Of course, they haven't. That would defeat the purpose of their scheme after all. Their machinations are far from over, though. And if this Mercury and his team really were responsible for Amber's condition, which was a reasonable bet to make, then I'm sure my plan to lure the attacker into the vault would come to fruition soon. I only have to work out the details of how to get them into place without risking Ruby and Pyrrha overlooking their attempt to steal the rest of the Fall Maiden's power at the same time.
“So he could actually still be here in Vale, somewhere,” Qrow grumbled. “Should I search for him?”
“I don’t think you would be able to find him any time soon,” I said while my mind was coming up with a thousand different scenarios of how I could royally screw this up. There's just too much going on that I cannot predict in a reliable way. My only plan so far with any chance of success would be to let things play out on their terms and doing that was in no way favorable in my opinion. I rubbed my eyes frustratedly. Flying penguins, I was playing chess blindfolded with real people here, damnit. I suppose it's safe to say I'll have to prevent their schemes from doing some major harm, somehow. All while making sure there was enough of a challenge to make Ruby's ascension possible. “Whatever they are planning, they would make sure he wouldn’t jeopardize their mission. It would be better to look into his teammates. Are they still here?”
“If you want to believe the news,” Ozpin began. “Then they went back with him to Mistral.”
“But we are not believing the news,” I shot back. “Have they been seen by any cameras?”
“Not that I can tell,” Ozpin told me, face impassive. Right, he was planning his own moves, too, wasn't he? Another variable to keep track of... one I might be able to use in my favor if push comes to shove.
Still... “Is all we can do to keep our eyes open and wait for something to happen?” I asked, tiredly. Flipping great.
No one said forcing an ascension would be easy. Ugh. This was bound to go pear-shaped, wasn't it? Why did I think I could do this..?
“I’ll keep an eye on the tournament,” Qrow said before standing up from his chair. “I might find something there." Yes, though probably not Mercury and his gang. I doubt they are going to be so stupid as to show their faces there of all places. "What are we going to do about the Grimm, then? Let Jimmy handle them with his little army of tin cans?”
“I’ll look into it,” I told him, standing up myself. “I might as well relieve some stress while I can.”
“Knock yourself out,” Qrow shrugged.
“Tell me if you find anything,” Ozpin said, returning to watching the news and various videos of surveillance cameras. No doubt searching for Mercury’s teammates.
I have a feeling we will need more than our fair share of luck to come out of this unscarred. I better make sure Cadance stays with Ruby and Pyrrha at all times. Meanwhile, I really do need some stress relief, and since sex wasn't an option, culling a horde of Grimm was my next best bet.
If only the transport didn't suck so much to get there. It took me about an hour of quietly suffering in one of those accursed bullheads to reach the outskirts of Vale and the sight from here wasn’t exactly a pretty one. On the news, the mass of Grimm seemed far less numerous than I first expected, but so far, they didn’t seem to be in a hurry. They gravitated towards the center of Vale, but at this pace, it would take them a few days longer to even come into viewing distance of the big walls.
That all could change if they were to suddenly stampede their way to the Kingdom. Better thin out their numbers now before they could do some serious damage to Vale’s defenses. I'm sure the culprits behind the latest events surrounding Beacon were banking on using them to distract Ironwood's forces during or after the tournament. The less havoc they could cause, the better.
Slaughtering Grimm had a strangely calming effect, now that I thought about it. Maybe it was just because they were mindless monstrosities that totally deserved extinction, so I couldn't really complain about killing for once. As long as it did some good for the people of this world, I would happily cut them into tiny little chunks. It wasn’t like they put up that much of a fight, anyway, so it was an easy task for me to move through the gathered cannon fodder.
The elephant-like Grimm were the only ones that were mildly annoying to deal with, only because they could withstand a lot before finally dissolving into black particles, vanishing entirely not a moment later.
But even I couldn’t do this for the entire day without starting to struggle at some point. Luckily, I could use my semblance to teleport myself back into the bullhead after I called the pilot to pick me up from a hard day of work.
Wouldn’t want to put my gracious taxi into danger by having them land in the middle of a Grimm migration. I would have had to make my way back to Vale on foot, otherwise.
Haah... Tia would love it here, I’m sure. Being able to fight without an end in sight... it would be like heaven for her. Luna and Liz, too, for that matter. While they aren’t the type to seek out fights, exactly, it would remind them of simpler times fighting against bandits and Discord’s chimeras. Huh. I never thought I would say things like that. Discord and ‘simple times’ just didn’t fit in the same sentence.
As I looked at the black sea of soulless abominations, I frowned even more deeply. I hardly put a dent in that number, as it seems. It might be worth considering evacuating the villages near the wall, bringing the people into the city’s shelters lest the Grimm find a way to break through to Vale in some way. They would stand next to no chance against so many if the wall were to be breached and I doubt Ironwood would consider trying to defend them while they are being overrun when it would simply be easier to just bomb everything away.
Let’s hope Ironwood’s fleet actually serves its purpose and can deal with horde after horde of Grimm or else even the city might not be safe anymore.
Once I returned to Beacon that evening, I told Ozpin of my findings and my concerns, taking the offered seat next to his as he prepared the feed for the tournament's next singles round. He had a brief call with the General while I sipped from my teacup, watching as two of Beacon’s more infamous teachers began with the pre-show. At least Professor Port made for a good commentator, recapping the past few days of the tournament with his colleague, another (perhaps just as) eccentric man who was on a constant caffeine high.
It was a good thing I put Luna on decaf or she would be just as bad as Professor Doctor Oobleck. Most of the time, the green-haired history professor of Beacon Academy was a blur talking at a mile per second and was extremely tiring to deal with. I was impressed with his vast knowledge of Remnant, though. For a mortal, the man knew a lot of its past.
I wonder how long it would take him to learn the entirety of Equis' history. That was a terrifying thought right there. Even more disturbing would be the thought of what he would do once he learns how old I truly am. He would practically drool all over Luna, Liz, and me.
I returned my attention to the live broadcast of the Vytal Tournament as the randomization process began. A student from Atlas versus Pyrrha Nikos, huh? “Let’s see how your chosen will do, then.”
“I’m sure that...” Ozpin began but was cut off by the sound of my scroll. Curious, I flipped the device open in front of us, seeing the picture of a panicking Cadance appear before us.
“Mom! I think something’s wrong!” she shouted before she had to dodge something as we saw her run through the maintenance tunnels of the Vytal festival colosseum together with Ruby. “Mercury is still here and...”
“Petal?” I asked, worried as she cut off for a second.
“Sorry, almost lost hold of my scroll,” she came back into view while Ozpin was frantically typing away on his desk, probably sending messages to the teachers currently in the floating arena. “Ruby said she saw Emerald and then we ran into Mercury in the maintenance tunnels. I think they are up to something and Emerald is the one with the mind semblance!”
“Cadance, get...” I started but had to stop myself as I watched with horrified eyes at what just happened on the screen of Ozpin’s desk. “Cadance, get back to Beacon, right now.”
“What? Hey, Ruby! Where are you going?!” Cadance asked confused, before running after Ruby. They had apparently managed to lose Mercury but I could already guess that Ruby found out what just happened in the arena’s battleground. “Oh, dear fluffy bunnies, Penny!”
The student from Atlas fighting against Pyrrha had just been cut in half by her own weapons, as it seems. Not only that, but it appeared like Penny had not been human at all. She was a machine capable of generating an aura.
“Ironwood has a lot of explaining to do,” I muttered darkly. If he used that soul-transferring abomination on one of his students, I'll..!
Deep breaths, Summer. Penny can come after making sure your daughters are okay. The poor girl is already gone, don't let the same happen to Cadance and Ruby. Focus!
The screen in front of us turned red, a black chess piece appearing in front of the broadcast as a smug voice began to talk. “This? This is not a tragedy.”
I felt my rage flare up hotly as what could be none other than Salem’s general began to taunt everyone listening in. It seems I was right, after all. Using the damn tournament to sow unrest, it was such a cowardly tactic of hers. Well, then, my little infiltrator... let us see who wins this battle in the end.
“Cadance, get Ruby back to Beacon and bring Pyrrha with you,” I said. That managed to snap my daughter’s attention back to the video call on our scrolls, eyes wide. “It’s time.”
“Right, I... I’ll be right there with them,” Cadance told me, before shutting off her end of the scroll call.
“Oz!” I looked up and saw Qrow enter the office with Glynda at his side just as the sirens started to sound their alarm, an automated voice informing the population of a category nine Grimm incursion.
“Ozpin?” I asked, seeing him pick up his cane. “What are your orders?”
“Get to the city,” Ozpin answered me. “Get everyone to safety. Now.”
“What about Ironwood?” I asked, feeling the itch to confront the man so casually defiling the sanctity of the soul. There's no way he created one out of nothing, he had to have done the unthinkable.
“I’ll have a word with him,” he shot back with a glare. “Do what you can, Summer. Please.”
Fine, then. “As you wish,” I nodded, only mildly annoyed I wouldn't get to be the one to rip a new one into the General. “Remorse, get ready.”
“Yes, Mistress.”
Everything now depended on my daughters and their training. In the meanwhile, I will hunt myself some Grimm. I trust Ozpin to hold off the infiltrator long enough for my daughters to get here, I still had a promise to keep. Tai, you better survive this.
As the elevator arrived on the ground level, my sword shot through the gap of the opening doors as I stalked after it, Qrow and Glynda splitting off from me to go after their own designated targets. Seeing that Beacon was also being overrun by Grimm, I made it my mission to purge them from the school and get the students to safety. Or rather, to their weapons. The less resistance my daughters face, the better.
Dealing with the Creatures of Grimm was easy. Dealing with so many that even I started to sweat from exertion? Mildly annoying. Finding out that the terrorist splinter cell of the White Fang was purposefully bringing them into Vale and Beacon? That was starting to make me angry. Very. Angry.
To think that the once peaceful faunus rights protest organization turned violent... it was a disgrace to everything their ancestors tried to accomplish in the war and later in the revolution. That they would stoop so low as to use the Grimm as weapons was even more horrifying.
I had no qualms crippling the idiots that tried attacking me. I was done with this damn world and with these damn idiots fighting against each other instead of focusing on the damn Grimm.
What is it in this damn world that they don’t get about cooperation and peace and friendship?! Was it so hard to put behind their differences for once and work together?!
My instincts told me to dodge to the left and I narrowly avoided getting shot by an Atlesian military robot, its face glowing an ominous red. My eyelid twitched at the sight of it going rogue during a time like this. Of fucking course! Leave it to the General to fuck things up beyond recognition! I ripped Remorse out of the air and cleaved the damn thing in half, huffing angrily as more of them approached me.
“Fine,” I growled, giving in to the hatred bubbling up within me. “Come at me! I'll destroy every last one of you, and then I will take Ironwood's head and shove it up his stupid metal ass!”
Flipping penguins, I take back my earlier statement. Cleaving Grimm in half was only half as satisfying as ripping Ironwood’s toys apart. Finally, some actual fun! Fuck Ironwood. Fuck Remnant. Fuck the damn universe. I don’t care. I'm going to destroy everything.
Another robot turned to scrap. “I want to go home, damnit.”
A pile of dead dissolving Grimm joined the garbage. “I miss my fucking magic.”
A terrorist got his knee kicked in, scrawling away in pain before I stabbed him. “I miss my damn sun.”
A fucking tank on two legs was smashed through the wall, now missing its control unit as I tossed it away. “I miss Liz, damnit.”
I was about to cleave another foolish idiot in half that got in my way, no doubt seeking to 'put me in my place'. “And I miss my beautiful Moon.”
My sword was blocked straight on.
I blinked.
“Huh?” I muttered, bewildered. I felt my hair burning hotly and a ponified ear twitch before I turned my gaze to the woman in front of me. She smirked back at me, the sight of her red eyes making my heart skip a beat.
“Aww, you missed me?” she asked, her eyes twinkling back in mischief at me. Her voice was raunchy and sexy, I absentmindedly noticed as I made the connection in my brain of who the black-haired beauty was in front of me. She sounded exactly like I remembered from Earth.
“Luna!” I exclaimed, throwing myself at her and I sobbed gratefully to have her here with me. “Oh, my Moon! I missed you so!”
“There, there,” she replied, patting my back. “I’m here. Took me a while, but the mirror needed a bit of fiddling with.”
I laughed, happy that she figured it out right when I needed her the most. My little tinkerer, my beautiful Moon... I’m never leaving your side again. “How long did it take you?”
“About nine months or so,” Luna answered. “Had to build a machine that actively holds open the connection to this world and that took quite a while to get right. How long have you been here?”
“About nine months,” I told her, pressing my lips against hers. “And I’m really horny right now for some reason.”
“Let us take care of whatever is going on here first, hm?” Luna proposed and I pouted. I wasn’t really in the mood to care about the rest of this damn world right now, all I wanted was to be with Luna even if everyone saw us do it. “Where is Cadance?”
“Somewhere...” I began but was cut off as a tremor went through underneath us. “What was that?”
“You tell me, I’ve been here for five minutes.”
“Right,” I sighed. A moment later, a loud roar followed the end of the tremor.
“You just find yourself in the best kinds of situations, don’t you?” Luna asked me and I shrugged back. “I guess whatever that was is bad news.”
“Or like... majorly bad,” I pointed towards the horizon where I knew Mountain Glenn had been. As in, had been, past tense. Because now, there was a giant Grimm flying away from it and right towards us. “They come as dragons, too?!”
Luna snorted next to me. “What are these things even?” she asked while Mondlicht (her weapon) cut a Grimm in half before it got too close to us. “They are everywhere!”
“They are the Creatures of Grimm,” I answered. “Some fuck-up of a god created them and I have been trying to create a solution to Remnant’s little problem.”
She let out a 'huh'. “So, no eldritch horrors, then,” she said.
“No eldritch horrors,” I confirmed with a nod. This felt a bit like déjà-vu to me. Great, Luna really is related to Qrow in this world, isn’t she? Well... she is way sexier than Qrow and his twin combined, that’s for sure. What a difference in hairstyle could do for someone, huh?
To be honest, nopony could compete with her starry hair. It might be a bit subtle here on Remnant, but it was there. Just like she still had her pony ears (as I did, too, I noticed).
“What are we going to do about that?” Luna asked, poking me out of my thoughts with a finger.
“Kill it?” I shrugged. "It's a soulless abomination, go crazy on it."
“While everypony else in this city is being attacked by these Grimm and... are those robots attacking children?”
I turned my gaze to the students fighting for their lives and winced. Ah, yes. There was that. On second thought, forget the dragon. I’mma kill Ironwood, instead. “Let’s deal with that before we think about what we should do with that.”
"You don't have to tell me that twice," my sister said before grabbing Mondlicht out of the air, the weapon transforming into a scythe as she did so. Now she really was showing off and it turned me on even more.
Fuck, I really need to have her pin me down and buck me into next week. Preferably while drunk.
Anyway, Luna and I began to make our way through hordes of Grimm and Ironwood’s robots alike. We were ignoring the friggin’ dragon circling Beacon Tower for now. I’m sure Ozpin could deal with that. If not, Cadance should be around here somewhere with Ruby and Pyrrha.
To be honest, if this situation wasn’t so beyond fucked up, I would think this would be several times enough to trigger an ascension. Who am I kidding, if there was enough mana, we could turn every student in Beacon into alicorns with this nightmarish event.
“Take the left one,” I shouted over to Luna as I gripped Remorse tightly, taking a running leap towards the other behemoth of a robot-tank-thingy or whatever the fuck they were actually supposed to be.
Remorse glowed hotly as rivers of molten lava ran between the cracks forming in his blade and I smiled gleefully as he went through the metal like butter. Oh, how I have missed the connection to my sun, as muddled as it was through the gate leading back home.
“Professor Summer?” Weiss Schnee exclaimed, seeing me standing in between the two halves of the destroyed robot.
I licked my lips. “Fallen Star, actually,” I answered, showing off a fang with a grin. “And it’s Princess, not Professor. I didn't become a benevolent dictator for nothing.”
“What?” she asked, flabbergasted. Oh dear, I think I broke her. Poor little Weiss.
“Have you seen Cadance?” I questioned her, returning back to my regular form. It was exhausting me more than I would have thought, my mana running dry again. Wherever Luna opened the portal, it wasn’t as close as I would have liked. At least my ears were staying pony-shaped this time around.
“Uh...” Weiss stammered, trying to comprehend how I could just transform from burning-lady to not-burning-lady. I was feeling slightly sorry for overwhelming her so much, but this wasn’t the time to apologize for that. “They went with Professor Ozpin into the tower.”
“Okay,” I sighed, suppressing the brief flash of angry fear. Fearful anger? Whatever, not important. “Don’t have much time, in that case.”
“Summer, what is on your mind?” Luna asked me and I gave her a sheepish smile.
“We... might have some counterparts in this world that look like our old selves and uh...” I began, dragging her with me into the building towards the elevator. “Damn, one is going down, the other is already down there.”
“Sister,” Luna warned me and I slipped the blade of my sword through the doors of the elevator, forcing them open. “Explain.”
“Okay, basically, we have a power-hungry bitch currently on the way down there trying to murder our daughters?” I explained in a hurry, looking down into the dark abyss.
“You didn’t get pregnant, did you?” Luna glared at me and I blinked in confusion. I just told her that someone was trying to kill our Rose Petal and that's the first thing she asks?
“What..?”
“Daughters? As in plural?”
“Oh,” I laughed awkwardly. “Cadance’s counterpart, dear.”
“Just...” Luna sighed. “Get your cryptic ass down there, sister.”
“Fine,” I pouted before I jumped down the elevator shaft. Luna followed after me and one long fall later, we crashed through the elevator cabin, landing in a heap. “Ugh. Never doing that again...”
“Get over it,” Luna rolled her eyes, snapping her broken legs back in place with a wince. A moment later, her legs were already healed. If she hadn’t slowed down our fall, we might have even been dead for a while. “We’ve done more idiotic things than jumping down an elevator shaft before.”
“Please, don’t remind me of that again,” I grumbled. Luna began to grin and I shot her a warning glare.
“Bathing in acid?”
“I thought we agreed to never talk about that again,” I growled and she simply laughed back at me with an impish grin. “I had to get my bracelet out of there, somehow.”
My wife shrugged. “Take better care of your things and you wouldn’t have had to do that,” Luna told me and I let out a suffering sigh. “It’s your own fault.”
“Shut up, sister,” I moaned pitifully. Not only because of her teasing but also because setting bones is really not a pleasant feeling. My own healing took a bit longer than what it had taken Luna, but I guess that was because I didn’t have as much mana running through my body at the moment. My alicorn magic was doing everything it could and my aura did the rest.
“No time to waste,” I grunted, standing up and shuffling through the door into the vault.
“So, what is it that is down here?” Luna asked me as we picked up our pace a bit. “Why would Cadance come down here in the first place? And who is trying to kill her?”
“Look, it’s complicated and I really don’t have the time to explain everything,” I shot back, feeling a disturbance run through the halls and a stronger sense of urgency. “All you need to know right now is that there is a possibility Cadance’s counterpart might ascend any time now.”
“Truly?” Luna shot me a look and I gave her a nod. Any further conversation between us was cut off as we heard a loud scream echo through the hallway. It sounded suspiciously like Ruby.
Another shudder went through me, but this time my heart began to beat faster. “Did you feel that?”
“Yes,” Luna answered, a smile coming to her face. “Shall we go meet her, then?”
“Let’s,” I nodded, calling out to this world’s Realm of Ascension. The transition was, as always, only mildly jarring. One moment in the vault beneath Beacon, the next in a starry field of lights. All was not good, though.
“Hey, Mom,” Cadance muttered, rubbing the back of a distraught Ruby, next to them the lifeless body of Pyrrha Nikos.
Oh, dear... I slowly walked over to them, kneeling down with a saddened frown. This was not how I envisioned their Trial would go. I thought I had trained them enough...
“Sister...” Luna put a hand on my shoulder. I’m so sorry. I'm so very sorry.
“Ruby?” I whispered, feeling a hollowness spread through me. “Come, there is a choice to be made...”
“Why..?” Ruby asked me, her teary eyes finding mine. “Why would she do that?”
If only I could answer her. “I don’t know,” I told her, unsure. “Greed, perhaps.”
“What is this place? Where are we, Mom?” she asked me next and I explained it to the best of my ability. I told her what I had told Cadance when she first found herself in a similar realm. And then, we began to move through the hallway of memories, Pyrrha’s body in the arms of my wife.
“Summer?” Luna whispered, sounding strangely shocked. I turned to her with a questioning gaze, not seeing anything that would put her in such a state. “Why is she in this place?”
“What do you mean?” I asked her, confused. “Ruby completed her Trial and you know what lies at the end of this path for her.”
“Not her,” Luna said, pointing at the dead girl in her arms. “Her.”
“I...” I started before I trailed off, stumped. Why was she here? “I don’t know. By all rights, she shouldn’t be here...”
“What... what are you talking about?” Ruby let out a sniffle, giving us a pained but confused look.
“Pyrrha died in her Trial, but why is she still here?” I asked myself, wondering... “Lulu? Could you... could you pull that arrow out?”
Luna rose her eyebrow at me before she set Pyrrha down on the ‘ground’, taking the protruding object into her hand. One tug later, I watched in fascinated wonder as the wound began to close. I gave Luna a hopeful look, slowly reaching out two fingers to feel for her pulse.
There was none to be found. I felt despair grasp at my heart, disappointed that I had gotten my hopes up.
It would have been too good to be true, wouldn’t it?
I am so sorry, Pyrrha Nikos. I'm sorry for not having gotten to know you as I should have. I'm sorry for setting you on this course, thinking you could pass your Trial despite having had my doubts about it. And I felt sorry that you died because of me.
Ozpin would be so disappointed in me, wouldn’t he? Here I was, playing around with the lives of mortals even after I swore to myself I would never do so again. Pyrrha would be my eternal reminder that I was no better than the Brother Gods. That I was a manipulative being that didn’t deserve her powers.
I was a failure of a higher being.
I clung to Luna as I started to let out my own grief. It should have been me in her place. I could have been there for them if I had stayed with Ozpin until he brought down my daughters and Pyrrha into the stupid vault. Maybe if I had run my sword through Amber, this could have been avoided.
Was this truly the fate Pyrrha deserved for everything she did? For sacrificing herself? This wasn't fair. The universe... no, I couldn’t blame everything on the universe, again. I should take responsibility for my own mistakes, not run from them like a coward.
Pyrrha was dead because of me. Tia was banished because of me. They suffered because of me.
It was my fault. Everything was my fault. Mine.
I am a regular pity party, aren’t I? Where was my optimism? My hopeful outlook on life? Would everything I touch turn into dust, to be forgotten?
It was like I was starting to distance myself from my old self again, pushing her into a dark corner so I didn’t have to feel like this. Not only was I a failure as a higher being, but I was also a failure to myself. My past self would be so disappointed in me, wouldn’t she?
Ruby was still here... but... would it stay that way? Sooner or later, I would do something and she would distance herself from me, too. I was surprised she didn’t already hate me for having done this to her friend.
A gasp broke me out of my self-misery and I stared in bewilderment as vivid-green eyes looked around in a panic. I... what? How was this even possible?
Unless... she survived because she didn’t die during her Trial but after it. This realm is special, even mortals could die in here and live, being forced to go through to the end of the hallway in order to make a decision. If Pyrrha entered the Realm of Ascension, that meant she passed her trial successfully before succumbing to her wounds.
And that meant the Realm of Ascension would keep her alive, reviving her every time she would die in here. This realm was somewhere between the physical realm and the astral plane. Magic suffused this place in its entirety. Its very purpose was to judge those who wandered these halls and it couldn’t do that if they, for some reason, died in it.
Ruby was there in an instant, squeezing the living daylights out of her friend. Pyrrha was understandably confused, but I couldn’t exactly explain to her what was going on as I laughed gratefully, dancing around with Luna in my arms.
For once, the universe didn’t take everyone away from me! Hah! Take that! For once, there was no reason to cry, only to celebrate.
Right, time was of the essence. Beacon Academy was still under attack and just because we were in the Realm of Ascension, didn’t mean time stood still.
Once everyone was sufficiently calmed down (mainly Ruby, Pyrrha, and I), we explained everything to the red-headed gladiator and continued our walk down memory lane. And most of the memories we encountered were happy ones. There were some of them that weren’t, mainly memories Ruby wanted to forget after her mother went missing, but there were also ones that Pyrrha didn’t feel like explaining.
And then, there were the memories of what happened down in the Beacon's vault. The fight... it was something else to behold. Ruby did admirably, fighting with her full might against their assailant. As did Cadance with her sword and shield, and surprisingly, so did Pyrrha. They couldn’t stop the death of Amber, but they managed to fight the attacker and stop her. Together, they managed to accomplish something truly tremendous.
They brought hope to Remnant, defeating the thief with the Fall Maiden’s power. Pyrrha and Ruby were shining examples of what a hero could be in this world. They were Legends in their own right.
Once we were at the end of the path, I gave them the choice.
Become something greater or forsake their destiny to pursue their own.
Pyrrha hesitated at the last step, glancing at Ruby. My little Rose smiled back, and before they could go any further, Cadance grabbed Ruby’s hand, turned her around, and gave her a small kiss right on the lips.
“I’ll be waiting, my Shining Knight,” Cadance told her with a wink and a smile.
Seeing that scarlet blush on Ruby’s face, I couldn’t help but smile next to Luna. I decidedly ignored her amused look, not at all in the mood to hear her say ‘Like mother, like daughter’.
Then, they were gone. To a place where we couldn’t follow them. Their destiny.
“This is a sight we have not seen for a very long time,” a voice behind us spoke up and the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand up. My eyelid started twitching as I turned around and saw a golden figure next to a dark purple one.
The Brother Gods.
For fuck's sake. They have a lot of nerve, don't they? Just wait, I thought darkly. Just wait until I rip you both a new one..!
Heat surrounded me in an inferno as I told them exactly where they could take their non-existent reproductive organs and shove them up their..!