Her time had run out, and yet the hours continued to pass.
The hastened routine of the cottage which had set in after Sweetbark's departure, something which could whittle away weeks while those within could barely spare a breath to notice -- Fleur had lost that, and she didn't know if Fluttershy would be able to manage any part of the crush without her. Some of the failed hospital discussions started when she tried to encourage her former charge towards finding another assistant after Fleur was... gone. Somepony who could help to manage the load. There had to be enough bits coming into the cottage for Fluttershy to offer a salary, and when you considered the repute to be gained through working for Kindness --
-- but Fluttershy didn't want to talk about it. Not the first time, or the fifth. Fleur's former charge wasn't about to start planning for the future until the pegasus had a better idea of what that was. And Fleur knew the plans had to start immediately because... her death would represent at least a small amount of debris. If Fluttershy was truly in love with her, then the impact would be worse, and -- it was inevitable, the chance to begin looking forward before that happened had to be used...
...no.
It reached the point where Fleur hit an internal divide: she wanted to drop the topic because Fluttershy's last memory of her shouldn't be of a fight (and the pegasus couldn't attend the execution, could not) -- but just as much of her wanted to keep going because her former charge needed to have a path forward. But all she ever got for an answer was "...no," and the pegasus seemed to feel that settled it.
Just about all of the near-arguments took place within the limited privacy offered by a drawn curtain. The evacuation's reversal had a steady trickle of ponies using the emergency bays. There was usually a gap between the time when their own situations were settled and the arrival of the discharge papers: something which left them with very little to do, not much to look at -- up until the moment when their newfound freedom to focus on something other than their own now-resolved medical issues allowed them to spot the mares.
Unless teleportation was involved, the maximum speed of a rumor's spread was somewhat slower than sound. But it had been nearly a day since the attack at the cottage: something where only a few ponies had the details of it. So much of the town had gathered at the evacuation's designated safety zones, a place where there was little to do but worry. Wait to be told when it was safe to return, try to take their minds off of what might be happening, and -- talk.
Ponies often talked when they were nervous: every escort knew that. In this case, there had been something new worth talking about, where nopony was quite sure of what the truth was and the herd had yet to reach consensus on a favorite lie. Two of the ones who had been involved were right there...
Those who had recently been complaining about a near-total inability to move tended to find their cure in the emergency bays. Some of them even picked up extra acceleration.
It didn't take long for physicians and officers to decide the mares had to be shifted out of sight. And after that, they had to wait for everypony to reenter the settled zone, for Sun to be lowered -- which at least wasn't all that long of a wait, not this close to winter -- and for the streets to empty, including any traffic flying above them. Miranda (who hadn't been spotted for hours) had apparently given orders for Fleur to be moved at a time when just about nopony would see the transfer. The settled zone didn't have a lot of teleport-capable unicorns, most of those who could manage the other definition of 'escorting' were trying to get everypony home, and the one with the greatest transport capacity was presumed to be feeding chickens: getting them back to the cells in an instant just wasn't an option.
It left them stuck at the hospital for hours. And the mares talked, but only about those scant topics where Fluttershy would allow the discussion to advance. The watchful two-eyed gaze made sure no topic was ever allowed to sneak into future or grave. But they talked a little, and...
...they touched, now and again. Just about all of it was initiated by Fluttershy: Fleur tended to shift away because that was about to be lost too.
They looked at each other. Fleur kept waiting for it to be the last time --
-- the curtain distorted, as folds of fabric were gripped between hidden teeth. Pulled back. And it was time to go back into the cell.
The trot was taken under Moon, in cold and empty silence. Something which maintained right up until darkness and overhead light turned a window into the more standard sort of mirror, and all that did was give Fleur the chance to prove that Equestria refused to honor an obvious Cosmetics Emergency. Nopony would divert the path back to her rental so she could pick up what was clearly the most essential of supplies, she was going to face the prosecutor and courtroom and her death like this...
...Fluttershy. The pegasus could go back to the cottage. Fleur had a supply there. Not the rental because Fleur would need to be present in order to get the pegasus past the security spells -- no, there wasn't a keyed entry token: the best way to avoid having a key lost or stolen was clearly through never using one -- but just go to the cottage, Fleur could tell her which powders to bring back --
-- and it was "...no," again, only a much softer one. It was losing hours which could be spent together. Besides, what was wrong with the natural look? As far as the pegasus was concerned, Fleur was just as beautiful, simply... in a different way...
That argument got them all the way back to the cell, where the restraint was reassembled onto Fleur's horn. Policy.
A second minimal floor mattress was pulled out of an empty confinement unit. Somepony offered the loan of an improved, double-capacity blanket for the night. The policy for prisoner meals on overnight stays was apparently to ask nearby restaurants for their leftovers, one place always had plenty to spare, and Fleur irritably refused anything from Mr. Flankington's because the charge was only attempted murder and besides, wasn't Equestria supposed to have a policy forbidding cruel and unusual punishment?
(They almost wound up with the Tumultuous Timothy. Fleur would have been prepared to treat that as her last meal, especially as any decently-scheduled execution date would have found it still digesting.)
The mares settled in under the blanket: something which meant they had to touch. Fleur tried not to think about that any more than she had to, attempted self-distraction through bringing the previous topics back up, and none of them could find a hoofworthy launch point in the new location.
It reached the point where they were just... together. Huddled under the blanket, in the chill of the cell. Words were no longer being spoken, because none of Fleur's had worked. The pegasus didn't have a plan, she was still there, and... there was something Fleur hadn't said.
Not directly. She would be dead soon, and saying the words when she knew yellow ears were listening... she'd already hurt Fluttershy enough.
More than enough.
The last emotion before falling asleep should have been fear. Terror of what awaited her in the nightscape. But somehow, it became guilt. Fluttershy slept so much less than Fleur did, would be awake for hours with nothing to do but stare at the walls of a cell...
But feathers gently pressed against her right flank, and Fleur's eyes finally closed.
There were no nightmares. And when she awoke to find the pegasus still at her side, she initially told herself it was because the worst of it now resided in the waking world. All her dreams could do was offer a preview, and they had clearly found themselves inadequate to the task...
...no. She had been protected.
For the last time.
Breakfast was sent down early. The presence of tsoureki suggested Pinkie had been involved. The taste was fine, but... it was hard for Fleur to eat. Her body felt as if it had started to decide that food was no longer required. At one point, she instinctively tried a field massage of her own throat to make herself swallow, found the restraint blocking it, and then almost vomited.
And then Miranda was on the other side of the bars.
The dark mare was tired: enough so that a near-constant effort to appear fully alert wasn't doing much. There was a certain bend to all four knees, added to an awkward lie of the blended fur. She also smelled faintly of wake-up juice and, in the truest sign of desperation, rather strongly of coffee. And everything about her muscles came across as tense. A mare who would clearly benefit from a full-body massage, and that was never going to be from Fleur...
She looked down. The mares upon the floor padding looked up.
"The Princess issued a summons," the police chief told Fleur. "We're moving you to the palace. The air carriage is waiting outside."
Right. The international channels run directly through the throne rooms, and now that it's day again... Fleur nodded, shook off her part of the blanket and started to stand up. It seemed to be taking much more effort than usual.
"...I'm coming," Fluttershy softly stated.
Fleur's mouth opened.
Fluttershy looked at her.
Fleur's mouth closed.
Miranda managed a weary nod. "She anticipated that. There's going to be palace staff arriving at the cottage in a few minutes. They'll take over from the Bearers."
Fluttershy nodded back, flared out her wings and flapped herself upright. Fleur approached the bars.
Miranda looked at her. Up and down, and mostly up.
"We don't have a fully-enclosed yard at the back," the dark unicorn said. "So the carriage is waiting out front, and that means ponies are going to see us take off -- and it's 'us,' because I'm taking the trip. I'd rather not bring you out in a restraint, Fleur. Do we have an understanding?"
The Protoceran nodded. There was nowhere to run. Although just making Fleur go outside like this was bringing up questions regarding cruel and unusual punishment again...
Miranda's horn ignited. The jigsaw began to come apart.
One last puzzle.
Which brought back the memory of a mirror.
...I hurt Fluttershy more than just about anypony could ever deserve.
After a minute, the cell door was opened, and the police chief led them out. Both mares silently followed.
The dark unicorn's movements were no longer suggesting exhaustion. There was something wrong with the movement of her back legs. It was as if she'd recently strained something in each hip. Fleur, still feeling some of the effects from the backlash and trotting about with sealant on her left hind hoof --
-- they wouldn't even let me color-blend the sealant --
-- almost went through a small amount of empathy.
Then they were outside. The carriage was waiting: a four-pegasus team for a five-pony load, because there were two Solar Guards waiting in the passenger area. One of them was the rather pretty mare whom Fleur had seen on a warm fall morning, in the last minutes before her life had been shattered. The scant time when she'd considered herself to have won. Glimmerglow: was that the name? Her looks almost begged the question of how she'd wound up with a life in the Guard...
There were ponies on the street. Just a few, all of whom had stopped because there was a palace air carriage in front of the police station and that was a situation which seemed to call for the rubberneck level of investigation. Some of them were looking at the insignia, two were checking out Glimmerglow, and then all of them were staring at the mares who had emerged from the station doors.
Fluttershy shivered. Fleur calmly moved forward, and they boarded. The carriage took off.
It was a cold day, and the air carriage was making good time. Under normal circumstances, the passengers in the open section would have been freezing, sluiced by chill wind to the point where the ice reached their bones -- but there were pegasus techniques woven into the transport, and the temperature in the standing alcove was considerably warmer than the rest of the atmosphere. For that, the flight was comfortable enough.
But they sped east, towards the spires of the distant palace, while the police chief painfully, silently shifted her weight between hooves. It meant they had to pass over the wreckage of the mill. And Fleur's heart longed to be locked in ice.
This time, the carriage landed first.
The group was moving through the halls of gold-flecked marble, and the tall unicorn wasn't really looking at anything around her. She'd tried to keep her head up for the initial portion of the trot, but... it had been an effort, and she didn't seem to have the strength required to maintain it. She was aware of the gold flecking because she was mostly regarding the floor. But she was also all too conscious of Fluttershy's presence, and... the first time Fleur been summoned to the palace, she'd told herself that she'd won...
She'd lost.
The pedophile was still alive. Would trot free, at least once he healed enough to move again. And Fleur had lost everything.
Lost everyone.
A Guard in front of them, another behind. Fluttershy on her right, Miranda keeping the pained pace at the left. There were times when members of the palace staff passed them. Some paused to watch, and Fleur understood why. One moment found her tempted to tell Miranda that two years of celibacy had the chance to end on that very night --
-- the leading Guard stopped. Fleur looked up. They were at the Sunrise Gate. Glimmerglow glanced back.
"You two." A wing gesture indicated the two unicorns. "You wait out here." Fluttershy.
Fleur glanced to the right just in time to see the pegasus' eyes going wide. Something about the pupils seemed to be coming into sharp focus --
"-- no." Glimmerglow's armored right forehoof slammed against the marble. "Don't try it. Direct orders from the Princess, Fluttershy. You sent your scrolls. All of them. She's read them. They go in, and you wait out here."
The yellow pegasus took a slow breath.
"...she's read them."
Glimmerglow nodded. Fleur managed to look at her former charge.
"...you were asleep," Fluttershy softly said. "I... had to tell her my side, before she summoned you. Because I thought that might happen. So I asked for paper and quills. And then somepony flew them out to Spike, and..." Another breath. "...I still want to speak to her, Glimmerglow. I'm not a very good writer. She has to hear me..."
"For now," the Guard quietly stated, "you've said enough."
"...if..." The smaller pegasus swallowed. "...if it -- goes wrong... can I see... can I see Fleur after --"
don't let her
"Yes."
Fluttershy withdrew. The ornate doors began to glow with a field like bright sunlight, started to open. Fleur would be visible in seconds --
-- no.
Not like this.
She had no cosmetics. No shielding layers. But... perhaps Harem had been right. There were ways in which everyone interpreted their own personalities. Created a character and sent it out into the larger story written by the world, always while keeping themselves as the protagonist...
A near-adult, asked to provide the details for a false life, had eventually written down a name (and in doing so, had lightly messed up on the formatting). Fleur Dis Lee. The mare who was destined to be the third most terrifying presence in Canterlot.
Fleur Dis Lee, when about to enter the Solar throne room, even for this...
It didn't last long: just until the sunlight shut the doors behind them. But for those scant seconds, her head was held high, her chin momentarily imperious. Trotting majestically despite the pain, with untouched, unrestored mane and tail briefly forced to do exactly what she wished.
The white alicorn watched from the throne, because ponies always watched Fleur. That was the point...
But then the doors closed. The effort collapsed. And the unicorn, suffused with what felt like every kind of pain, was merely moving towards her own death.
Celestia looked tired.
It was immediately noticeable. When you saw the Solar alicorn within newspaper photography... even those frozen images tended to have something lively about them. There was frequently a smile, added to a suggestion of a certain joy in movement. When it came to images which could be used against this particular half of the thrones, it was rare for the camera to capture so much as a single instant of open annoyance, and certain papers would run that picture until the repetition made even the angriest audience fall asleep from boredom.
But to Fleur, the alicorn seemed oddly weary. Something about the grain of the pure white fur suggested a mare who'd been awake for far too long, and... perhaps that was why the half-light of mane and tail were almost fully still. Royalty appeared to have been up all night and judging by the pile of scrolls resting at the throne's base, quite a bit of that time had been spent in reading.
The Guards took their positions. Miranda decided to stand slightly ahead of Fleur, because of course she did. Purple eyes focused on the Protoceran. A small part of Fleur's mind compared the hue of the irises to her own pale violet, then came up with the perfect cosmetic blend to set it off and decided not to mention it. The rest simply waited.
Get it over with.
The alicorn looked at Fleur. And then the huge white head briefly turned towards the left --
-- Fleur automatically followed that gaze, and saw -- nothing. An empty patch of Solar floor, beneath a hanging tapestry. One which had seemed motionless at first glance, but had to be shifting slightly within cold sunlight. At least enough to reflect a little light, because there was a moment when Fleur felt she'd spotted a twinkling glow of pale blue, doing so at the same instant when it seemed as if her horn had twinged --
-- the alicorn had turned back. Centuries of attention were focused directly upon Fleur.
Celestia took a slow breath. The huge rib cage shifted outwards, gradually sank back down.
"There are many words I could use to describe you," the alicorn steadily began, and each syllable seemed to vibrate. Barely-muted power, forced into containment within weak words. Waiting for a chance to lash out. "Let's start with 'disruptive,' because that's the most frequent term for a griffon in a new environment. And after the events of the last two days, I think I need to add another. 'Exhausting.' I can manage an international teleport. But too many of them in a short period... that's -- ill-advised."
Many things were locked inside of those syllables. Fleur was busy listening to the words which hadn't been said.
She's already been to Protocera.
Everything's arranged.
It should have been an oddly peaceful thought.
It didn't feel like much of anything.
"I asked for you to enter with company," Celestia stated, and nodded at the dark mare. "There was also another request. To not talk about a given subject, until I ordered it. And I recognize the pressure that places on her..."
Miranda remained still. Opposing muscles seemed to stretch against each other.
The giant white body took another, slower breath.
"I ask a lot of you, Miranda," Celestia quietly said. "I'm not sure that's ever going to stop. I asked you to come with them, because I knew it was going to be them. Today, I'm only going to ask for one more thing. And then I'm sending you home to sleep."
The officer managed a small nod. A huge forehoof gestured towards the patch of living darkness.
"Please update everypony here on the status of Aspartame Sweet."
Grey-green eyes blinked, with the line of sight briefly flickering towards the pile of scrolls. And then the officer took a small step forward.
"With the monster situation settled..."
There was something odd about the dark mare's voice. The tone felt normal enough, but... something about the way the words emerged suggested each had been forced into the world. Birthed from the agonies of tremendous internal pressure.
"...and the citizenry coming back into the settled zone, I had to start thinking about earlier events," Miranda continued. "Such as the fact that, even with the best of medical treatment --" and the next syllables were almost bitten "-- Mister Sweet was going to potentially be in the hospital for a few moons. He doesn't have any family in the area, and... I don't know of anypony who claims him as a friend. Nopony who has a token which would let them get through his surprisingly extensive security spells. Because anypony who's going to be in the hospital that long needs a few personal items to make a bare room into something more. Everypony knows that." The next breath took place across a series of muscular stutters. "Books, blankets..."
Fleur stared at the dark mare. Celestia simply nodded.
"So... in the name of taking care of my own..." Miranda tightly forced out, "...for the sake of both kindness and generosity, while fully protected under the sufficiency clause... I entered his residence myself. To gather some of his belongings, purely for his benefit. Things which would comfort him."
...oh. Oh, you little...
...please, if there's anything which hears, anything which could care, if the world could be something other than a monster even once, please...
The alicorn's eyes closed. "And?"
The dark mare briefly shuddered.
"I found out what comforted him."
Fleur's knees began to fold --
-- the tingle hit her immediately, and the blended color coating her eyes turned the world dingy, unclean...
The officer had a surprising amount of field strength. It only took a single corona to get Fleur fully upright again, and then the energy winked out.
"Most of the evidence is in the station," Miranda steadily went on. "Some was sent ahead to the prosecutor's office: that's potentially still in transit. But there are already officers posted outside his hospital room, and when he wakes up --"
Please...
"-- -- that's when he'll be told what the charges are."
The alicorn's eyes were still closed.
"And everything will proceed normally from there," Celestia said. "Legally. Including his having the opportunity to speak in his own defense."
One of the next words was spat. "He'll get his chance to account for the trophies, if there's any excuse which could exist," Miranda stated. "But... the trial will be normal enough. I..." Her teeth briefly pressed against each other, and Fleur could see it because the mare's lips were pulled back. "...made sure we were covered there. The means by which the evidence was found is unusual, but... permissible. Legal, on technicality. But if we get the wrong judge --"
Fleur's heart almost stopped.
"I hold the Solar throne," the alicorn quietly stated. "There are certain things which come with that. Aspects which a Protoceran student -- one whose studies were completed in a less than formal setting -- may not remember." Her eyes opened, and she looked at Fleur. "I could be said to claim half of what your President holds: the executive branch, with Princess Luna taking the rest. But I have roles in the legislative portion of the government: breaking ties in the Day Court, composing bills. And if I wish to... I can claim a judge's bench. It's rare, but... there have been times when the occasion and charges seem to have called for it. I serve as required. In neutrality."
The ancient gaze briefly rested the weight of centuries upon the former escort's fur. Shifted to the officer.
"Times when the occasion called for it," Celestia calmly announced. "One of them will begin shortly after you leave this room. Thank you for your service, Miranda Rights. Sleep as best you can."
The dark mare stiffly turned towards the Sunset Gate. Walked slowly towards the gradually-opening doors, and there was a double hitch in every step. As if something within her hips was paining her. Or... upon.
The doors closed behind her. And it was Fleur and the alicorn. There were Guards, but... they were motionless. Part of the scenery, just as much as the tapestries -- except that the one hanging piece was displaying more movement than the ponies were. The lower edge seemed to be rippling...
Celestia turned to the Guards.
"Leave."
Glimmerglow inhaled.
"Princess --"
"-- I know what her trick is, I'm the stronger, and she has no intention of attacking," the alicorn stated. "Leave."
They left. And after the doors had closed, Fleur forced herself to look at the alicorn.
If this country just had enough of a death penalty...
It had to be enough for conviction. She just didn't know how many years it would cost the stallion. 'All of them' would have normally seemed to be too much to hope for -- but then, Celestia would be the judge.
She was still waiting for her own death. But there was a moment when she almost did so in gratitude --
-- the alicorn was looking at her.
Purple eyes roamed across Fleur's bare form. There was no appreciation of the unicorn's beauty in that journey, and there never would be. It was simply evaluation.
"Your charges have been filed with the prosecutor's office," Celestia quietly stated. "A grand jury was convened within the province of the Night Court, and it was agreed to bring those charges to trial. I may serve as a judge at my discretion. I seldom do. Additionally, under the law, there are only certain charges which allow it, and... most of them relate to children. Because power has to be divided. I've never met anyone who was infallible, and I've had more time than most to look. It requires the existence of a second opinion."
The alicorn had all the time she could ever wish for. Fleur's had already run out. This was just making it official.
I hurt her.
This is going to wound. She might never recover --
-- no. She's strong enough.
She never should have wanted me.
I'm...
...I'm sorry...
"Across the breadth of the law," Celestia steadily went on, "there are very few charges which allow me to serve as judge. Yours is one of them. Trying to take the life of another. But there's another consideration: the fact that you have taken a life. Something which has to be addressed -- after we settle the current case."
Two-minute trial.
(This was something of an overestimate.)
She rules. I'm being held for Protocera, so Equestria puts its sentence in abeyance. Prisoner transport --
-- don't let Fluttershy follow me.
don't let her see me die
Don't cry. Don't. Not in front of the Grimcess --
"Previously," the powerful voice began, "you told Miranda that you didn't want an attorney. Is that still true?"
Half of the strength Fleur had left in the world went into the first nod.
"Are you pleading guilty?"
The second nod took the rest.
Celestia's eyes closed, opened again.
"Then by the full transcription of your own confession --" a tiny nod towards the sprawling pile of scrolls "-- you are found guilty of attempted murder."
An ancient gaze shifted to the left, and the tapestry rippled. Twinkled pale blue, and the alicorn stood up.
It almost felt unfair. The apex of the Solar throne was already so high up, and for the largest pony in the world to assume her full height, adding her size and mass to the gravity of that age as she stared down at the corpse-to-be...
Just say it.
Just get it over with.
Make it end.
The alicorn did, and the weight of the words pushed Fleur into the marble.
"The terms of your pardon are as follows."
...she was on the floor. She'd hit hard: the pain was already radiating up, her legs had splayed and... she barely noticed it. Cruelty, ultimate torture because Celestia knew what waited on the other side of the border, this was nothing more than the setup --
-- her skin was tingling again, and the appearance of sunlight around her body told her why. But there was something else. There was tingling, as if her entire body was falling asleep: something which would have been true of almost any active field. But with the alicorn...
...it's warm.
It's like -- spring...
The field gently lifted, pressed here and there. Got Fleur back on her hooves, and then winked out.
"You are now a registered resource of Equestria," Celestia stated. "And an agent of the palace. At need, you will be called upon to travel in Equestria's name. In cases where we feel there's sufficient circumstantial evidence to justify your involvement, and the nation needs that which only your talent can provide." The huge right forehoof shifted towards the top of the ramp. "Because there are very few pedophiles in the world -- but any number is too many. You can verify who they are, Fleur Dis Lee. But from what you said to Miranda, you can also tell when those urges are being fought against. And if you find such a person and they have hurt no one at all, when they are struggling against themselves so that none will ever be hurt... then we will give them whatever help we can."
Her ears were pressed flat against her skull. A brief flicker of sunlight raised them again.
this isn't happening.
this isn't happening
this is
"Canterlot will know you work for the palace," Celestia added, and the forehoof hit the ramp. "But not in the exact capacity. Simply that the Diarchy considers it to be both important and permanent. When it comes to those who might consider taking vengeance upon you, that makes things a little more -- worrisome." With a thin smile, "I believe that gives you sufficient protection. And another story will move through Ponyville: one with a basis in truth. That you learned about Mr. Sweet -- somehow -- did the first thing you could think of to get him away from Sweetie Belle, and then confronted him. I think the settled zone will be more than happy to believe that."
The alicorn slowly began to trot down the ramp --
-- stopped.
"I've been told that for you, this would count as an unusual silence," she casually added. "Nothing to say?"
She got her mouth to open on the third attempt.
"You said..." She barely seemed to have any saliva in her mouth, and her soul possessed what should have been a complete vacuum of hope. In spite of all experience, she somehow couldn't seem to get rid of the last waft of warm breeze. "...you said you teleported internationally..."
Celestia nodded. "Twice. Then back."
"...and you read the transcript," Fleur forced out. "You know. Protocera -- I killed my sister --"
The alicorn's head dipped. Her eyes closed, just for a moment. And then she resumed her slow trot down the ramp.
"I understand that you met Spike fairly late," Celestia softly began. "And only saw what he can do yesterday. It's... a modification of an ability which some dragons can learn. Transport flame. With proper preparation, extensive study, the right gems to fuel it, and someone who's willing to actually teach you... if all of that works, then a dragon can move their hoard to safety in a single breath. But it arrives in a predetermined location, and dragons can't send themselves into the between. They have to reach the new hiding place normally. If someone knows where that is... they can wait for it. An ability which so many long for and very few will ever use, even in desperation. Because it puts a hoard out of sight, you see. Out of their control."
The huge white mare was about halfway down.
"Spike was trained in a different manner," the alicorn added. "I played some part in that. I studied dragons and through doing so, I found a way to move something else. Paper. It helped to have it be from certain trees, and special blends of ink aided the process. There's all sorts of benefits to sending a message in an instant, even when the communication is one-way. But I usually had to know exactly who the recipient was. It helped to have met them. Without that, there was a chance for the scroll to become lost in the aether. An alicorn spoofing -- if that's the right word -- dragon magic, and not quite getting it right. I thought Spike might be able to do better."
Almost at the bottom.
"He did," Celestia went on. "Any gem will fuel his flame. And the training is for paper. He may be able to move treasure, but... I'd ask a dragon to train him in that, if I could find one." Thoughtfully, "I may have to ask Protocera for a loan. But with paper... he's better than I am. He doesn't need to have met the recipient. I don't think he's ever lost a scroll, and he can even send a message to someone identified with, let's say, nothing more than..."
All four hooves stopped on level ground, and the alicorn's shadow loomed.
"...'Fleur Dis Lee's adoptive parents'."
The unicorn stopped breathing.
"There's a spell which permits the following of a teleport," Celestia quietly said. "You have to be capable of personal teleportation, and you need to sort of -- attach yourself to the other party before the primary effect begins. I went to the library, I spoke with Spike, and... we did it before, when he was still training. To see if it could be done. It was possible. Across a room, it was possible. As it turns out, the theory just barely holds up for greater distances, and it wouldn't have happened at all if I hadn't been following Spike's trail. Along with being somewhat -- determined." With a small sigh, "I wouldn't care to try it again. As it was, I rather startled your father --"
This time, the sunlight flared in time to surround Fleur's legs. Held her up, lifted her chin.
"Shake if you need to," the alicorn softly continued. "Continue to cry, because you've needed to do so for years. Scream if you must. But you will listen. The charges against you in Equestria will be fully resolved before you leave this room. I have spoken to your parents, and I have been in contact with the current iteration of your government. Of the two, the former was more important. I left Equestria following a scroll, and I came back carrying a message. Because Protocera saves its harshest judgments for crimes against children --"
they know
they know
they hate
"-- and what greater crime is there," Celestia gently asked, "than the lifelong imprisonment of an innocent soul?"
Fleur's ears slammed down --
"-- LISTEN."
The world turned into a reverberating instrument, and sound seeped in through the unicorn's bones.
"They committed that crime every day," the alicorn told her. "They wouldn't let her leave a body which had become a prison. They were giving up everything for a cause which had already been lost, everything, and then..."
The unicorn closed her eyes, felt tears running over fur which was already saturated, and the alicorn didn't force them open again. It meant she only heard the little swallow.
"...and then they lost both of their daughters. One had been gone for moons, and the other had been neglected. Submerged in the swamp of their own denial, and then -- a corpse in a nest, and a mourning box gone missing. A child gone, the second one, and... they begged me to carry a message, once the tears finally stopped. Once they understood that you were alive, and knew how much of the burden you'd chosen to carry. How much you're still carrying. They wanted you to know..."
don't
don't
please
please let them
"...that you freed her. That in what they see as their shadowlands, she flies again. She laughs in freedom, she hunts in joy, and she will be the first to greet her sister when the one who released her enters with honor. There are no charges against you in Protocera. There are only a reeve and tiercel who want you to come home. So you will travel, on Equestrian business. Cross a border in the spring. Until then, Spike is waiting for you at the library. To let you reach out to them. But the meeting will wait for a few moons, because everyone needs some time to prepare, and... even with the escort network -- the other escorts -- in play, you'll need to arrange for the cottage to be watched for a week or two." With a soft sigh, "They were rather insistent that you bring her. It's... a cross-species reaction. Almost universal. Tell anyone that they might become grandparents..."
...and she was crying and shaking and the alicorn released her in stages, let her sink down to fast-warming marble as she sobbed, as her breath caught in her throat over and over again.
Sound echoed strangely, with the marble at work. There were heartbeats in which she felt as if her own sobs were all she could hear. Others had her seemingly catch distorted echoes from another part of the room. But the alicorn backed away a little, gave her sunlight and space, and she cried.
The room was, in its way, a box. Just about all of them were. It made things easier.
She mourned for two lives lost, for a home abandoned, for years burnt on a pyre of sacrifice. For everything which could have been.
But in time, she remembered what was waiting outside of the throne room. Who. And she forced herself to her hooves again.
The Princess flared giant white wings, flew back to the throne. Fleur stood among the flow of her own tears, and tried to look towards a future.
There were more questions. Because there was a Princess involved, they were followed by more orders.
"Did you mean to kill her?"
The marble had been wiped dry: the excess cushions around the throne were good for that. Fleur had been given water.
"I..." She still needed three efforts to bring forth one word. "I knew what Putaverunt Dolore did. And I... knew she wouldn't want to be like that. To be -- trapped. But I... I wanted a miracle." Most of her mane seemed to have fallen in front of her eyes. She didn't know how Fluttershy managed. "I thought it would prove she was still there. It would... wake her up. The pain was worth that. And if she didn't... then she was..."
The Princess slowly nodded.
"Trying to get someone back," the alicorn said, "when you thought they were lost forever."
Fleur's head dipped again. Something which meant she never saw what kind of expression accompanied the calm, dry, dark words.
"I've done worse."
And by the time she looked up, it was too late. There was only an alicorn upon a throne. Gazing down at her.
"Letting someone go." Celestia slowly shook her head. "Even if the full circumstances were explained to them, there are thousands of ponies who wouldn't understand that. But, just outside the Gate..."
It was a very small sigh, especially compared to the size of the body which had produced it.
"You remain a blackmailer," the Princess evenly observed. "Do you now understand why what you did was wrong?"
All of her secrets had come out. Every last one had been used against her...
"...yes."
The half-tangible tail of near-light slowly swept across the cushions.
"A griffon in a completely new environment," the Princess quietly recounted, "doesn't understand how the local chain works. They feel disoriented. Desperate. They need to find out where they stand. So they try to see what they can get away with. There are thousands of ways to dominate, and a griffon for every one of them. Pushing the boundaries, trying to find out who's capable of stopping them, and those people will be on the links above theirs. But..." Just a little more softly, "...who ever said 'no' to Fleur Dis Lee?"
The alicorn took an exceptionally deep breath.
"The same mare who says 'no' to Discord." Steadily, "You will go over your full blackmail list with the palace. I am not asking for everypony's secrets: as you noted to Miranda, quite a bit of this was just about things which ponies found embarrassing. There are ponies to whom you owe apologies and with Fancypants, you will make them personally." A slow head shake. "Asexual. I've been trying to tell him that it doesn't matter. But he has been feeling alone for --"
"-- there's at least two others in Canterlot."
The Princess stared at her.
"I..." Fleur swallowed. "...it's their -- secret. They weren't important enough to... I just let them be. If I tell him, or introduce them to each other, then I'm..."
"They might benefit from meeting each other," the Princess suggested. "But as you said -- it is their secret. However, I will tell him that there are two. So that he might feel a little less unique. And we'll talk about it more on another day. That isn't the purpose of going over your blackmail list. I want to know if there are any out there inflicting pain. Hurting others, when it's more than a one-day oddly pleasurable stinging and consent isn't given. Anypony playing on the borders of the law."
She thought of one, and nodded.
"You will also be attending citizenship classes." Which was when the alicorn snorted. "We can make it dual: most griffons want to retain their ties to the homeland. But as an agent of the palace, you will hold Equestrian citizenship. We're going to make that part of your fiction real." And the first snort was followed by a louder one. "I recognize that you only dealt with the paperwork through intermediates, and don't know who was on the sending end. But now I have to go through the entire Registry to see if there's anyone selling documents. Hopefully it was someone I cleared out after the invasion --"
The terminal syllables struck her as odd. "Someone?"
"Equestria," the Princess tightly said, "is a multi-species society. And I mean that in a way other than 'three different pony races.' But we're only about two percent non-ponies. I have longed for extra immigrants -- but in this case, I mean that we had to clear out a number of changelings. They put themselves in the best position to help the rest of the hive. Citizenship classes, Miss Dis Lee. And at some point, you are going to add veterinary instruction to your course load --"
"-- I don't have the mark."
The Princess squinted at her.
"Fluttershy manages."
"She has communication," Fleur argued. "It makes up for a lot of it, when you can just ask where it hurts. I can't --"
"-- no," the Princess agreed. "You can't. All you have is intellect, determination, and what I suspect is the drive to make your second place into something stronger than another's less-educated first. At the very least, I expect you to be better than Sweetbark -- yes, that was in a scroll." She inclined her head towards the pile: two specimens used the opportunity to roll partway across the floor. "Fluttershy sent about twenty of them. She felt I needed the whole story. At some point, you are going to speak with Sweetbark. But it won't be for a few moons. I had somepony check on her: she's in Vanhoover, safe with her family. Reevaluating. And there may be a settled zone which needs a kennel. Or... she might find the strength, and if she does, somepony will be sent north. Asking her to return." The next look told Fleur exactly who that pony was going to be. "But you -- you're willing to push. It's just a matter of giving it direction. And you're hardly afraid of blood..."
The Princess trailed off. Unfolded her right foreleg, looked at the hoof for a moment. Tucked the limb away again.
"...or to kill," she finished. "I am not forbidding you from defending yourself, or another. If you find another pedophile -- you can report, and I will listen. Spike allows you to make contact quickly, and Miranda will believe you now. But if you use that aspect of your trick again -- you had better be able to prove it was the only way. And if your own attacker lives to complete his sentence, you will trust the law to watch him. You are being given a chance, Fleur. One chance more than most ponies ever see. Waste it, and you could lose something. You might lose her. Do you understand?"
The nod seemed insufficient.
"Citizenship classes," the alicorn repeated. "Veterinary courses. Seeing a therapist. You could undoubtedly try to write a book about pony sexuality on the side, but the nearest editor is Twilight and there's a chance of seeing her self-barricaded in the library's basement for a year. With all lighting devices turned off, finding her way by blush. And since all of this is going to take some time, I will personally place a vet in Ponyville and speak for them, to take the pressure off the cottage. Even with the rail line, it's too large a settled zone for a single practice. That can be arranged by the end of tomorrow, especially since there's an empty office --"
It felt like the Princess was wrapping up. Fleur could be dismissed at any minute...
"-- how much did you know?"
The white head tilted slightly to the right.
"You'll have to narrow that down."
"When... you sent me to Ponyville," Fleur quickly tried. "About -- where I was from. About... everything..."
The alicorn's expression was a curiously mixed one. There was some degree of open contentment -- but it had been blended with regret. Weariness. A soul-deep exhaustion...
"You're too memorable, Fleur," the Princess softly told her. "You should have picked a larger settled zone for your pretense, or claimed to have been from one of the few families which survive in the wild zones -- yes, there are a very few. Drayton is small. Something which made it exceptionally easy to research that part of your life. It took less than an hour for the lie to fall apart. Nopony in Drayton remembering you? That was impossible. So I knew you weren't born there. You'd done something with your paperwork."
And you'll never say whether you were waiting to use it against me.
"But..." This snort was much softer. "...you put on a very effective mask, even for encounters of moderate length. I knew you weren't from Drayton. I still felt you were Equestrian. It can take some time, for the true predator to come out..."
The alicorn sighed.
"I haven't met very many Protoceran ponies," the Princess quietly admitted. "Even considered across the span of centuries. But for the few I did speak with... there was often a degree of species dysmorphia. A griffon's heart would question the absence of wings. They would feel somewhat awkward in their own flesh. The mind insisted that the body wasn't proper. Didn't match."
And the next words were a whisper. Something where Fleur barely saw the alicorn's lips move, and would spend hours wondering if she'd heard anything at all.
"I understood..."
She had less than a second to initially consider those words, and then the alicorn spoke again.
"There is a salary, incidentally," the Princess smoothly changed the topic. "For being an agent of the palace. You might not consider it a particularly impressive one, but... with the cottage's bills paid, palace-backed repairs about to be under way, and what should settle into a profitable level of client traffic, I imagine the two of you can earn enough to raise a family in some comfort. Before trying for book sales." Almost casually, "I was told that you never got around to bed shopping. And unless you find an overlooked mission-related expense, the invoices to the palace will stop. But I'm willing to give you one more. The ultimate goal remains children, and a comfortable bed will help with that. The Cumulus company does ship to Protocera, along with selling to our own griffon citizens. And the mattresses can be customized. Yours won't be the first request for a cloud in the shape of a nest --"
Her charge was now the guardian. But the nature of the relationship had changed in other ways
this can't be real
it can't be
any minute now, any second
and that meant certain obligations remained.
"You never paid them." And it felt so good to let the fury rise, temporarily burying twisting confusion in a tide of rage. "They've risked their lives over and over, and you don't even pay --"
"-- cottage repairs and improvements," the Princess cut in, "plus every invoice you'd filed to date, added to the considerable expense of a Cumulus -- should just about settle what Fluttershy is owed."
Fleur blinked.
"I intend to have somepony check my math," the alicorn added. "But yes, Fleur... I didn't pay them."
Mane and tail stopped shifting along their borders, and the colors assumed faint tinges of brown.
"I try to move with the centuries," the Princess said, and the words were weighted. "To gallop in pace with the moment. But there have been no Bearers for... a very long time. An era when there was no economy, barely any medium of exchange other than barter. And I fell into that trap, because it was the only example I knew. They were the Bearers, and... that was the reward. I had to be kicked by a very local party before that part of my mind caught up to the present. Fluttershy's account is being settled. I'm still trying to find ways of catching up with the others. But there will be a stipend from now on. I can promise that much."
The alicorn stood up again, very slowly. It was possible to feel the power radiating from every muscle. And then she stared down.
"I didn't think that you might have been Protoceran," Celestia stated. "Not at first, not when word of your actions initially reached me. I was trying to learn more about you, but that possibility hadn't arisen. But I had to place you quickly, and... I'd thought of another answer. One which seemed to fit."
Her wings spread. Flapped once, and the temperature in the room soared.
"I thought you were a monster."
Fleur couldn't move. Everything about her was pinned to the air by the rising heat, unable to react, to escape --
"I told myself I'd learned that much," Celestia evenly continued, even as the room began to blur with heat haze. "A monster. And once you decide somepony is a monster -- it's so easy to stop there. To tell yourself it's all you'll ever need to know. But the same age which occasionally digs pitfalls... it gives me experience. The ability to look more closely. And when I did... I felt as if I was still looking at a monster. But even now, it could never be from seeing a griffon in a pony's skin. You seemed to be a monster made of emotion. Pain and anger. Rage: I know you have that. Sorrow, buried under all of it so you wouldn't have to feel again. And fear. Always, always the stench of fear, driving you on. You were very scared. I almost wondered what had happened, to make you so afraid. And then I told myself there was time in which to learn. But I knew what the task was. Something which almost needed a monster. And..."
The temperature began to drop.
"...Fluttershy has... a rather strange way with some of those who might be seen as monsters," the giant mare quietly said. "She makes them want to not be monsters any more."
She slowly shook her head.
"You asked what I knew," Celestia continued. "Some would ask what I had planned. Believing that I had full knowledge of everything happening in the settled zone, and had simply placed a single new piece on the gameboard. But this is about the nation. The world, and its future. All of it begins with making Fluttershy happy, and -- you are what makes her happy. Think about what we went through to learn that, and then... consider how reluctant I might be to try again."
The wings folded, reluctantly entered the rest position.
"What did I know?" One last deep breath. "I knew there was a predator in Ponyville. I sent her there." The purple eyes closed. "I... should have thought more about what she might catch. There's a washroom through that side door. One of mine. Splash your face, dry and comb your fur. Make yourself presentable for a good lunch in the Heart, paid for by the palace. Go to her. Take a few minutes, and then somepony will meet you for the debriefing on your list. You'll need to fill out some paperwork. Go out to eat after that. And when you're both ready... go home."
She barely felt the water on her face. The heat of the dryer seemed such a small thing, compared to what had radiated from the alicorn. There was a part of her which was having trouble acknowledging movement or heartbeats, let alone that time existed in which to feel anything.
That... it was real.
That she could go home.
That there were two homes.
Her parents were waiting for her.
Waiting to meet...
She spent most of her sleeping hours in galloping through nightmares more solid than reality. She was awake and alive, and it felt like an ephemeral dream.
She didn't believe.
So she walked out of the washroom, and it felt like her presence inflicted silence. There had been a soft dual undercurrent of sound at the moment she'd started to open the door, and then it had stopped. There was just an alicorn on a throne. Alone.
Fleur slowly trotted towards the Sunrise Gate --
-- turned. Looked back and up, pale violet directly into purple.
"How do you know it's not a con? That I didn't trick her into falling in love with me? I could be lying about how I feel --"
A tiny smile played across Celestia's lips.
"I don't know," the oldest alicorn said.
Pale blue rippled under the hanging tapestry. And then the other alicorn stepped through the illusion screen.
The pink forelegs crossed the line first. They were quickly followed by the tips of a multihued mane, wings where the flight feathers were a different color than the fur, and then eyes which almost matched Fleur's own were calmly gazing forward. Meeting those of the unicorn on a nearly-level plane, even as the shocked Protoceran found her hooves scrabbling against marble. Trying to reorient in the face of what should have been impossible.
"I do," Cadance peacefully told her. "Good luck, Fleur."