I watched Celestia hesitantly leave the chariot as we landed at the airport in Canterlot, scampering over to Luna and me while giving the ponies celebrating out on the streets a wary glance.
Tia frowned. “Canterlot is... a lot bigger now,” my twin pointed out and it broke my heart to see her so skittish around our own subjects. She had been like that in Ponyville, as well. It wasn’t as bad there as it was here, though. Most likely because she wasn’t used to so many ponies being around us. “Everything looks so... weird. How is it that the nobles and peasants are so loud and boisterous in our presence? Do they not respect us anymore?”
“Peasants?” Cadance asked, giving me an aghast look. “Mom! You can’t just call them peasants!”
“What..?” Celestia mumbled, shrinking away from our daughter. “I don’t understand, we always called them by their station. Starswirl...”
I sighed. I had hoped I wouldn't have to have this conversation so soon with her. It must be a massive culture shock for her. Poor Tia. “Not everything Starswirl taught us back then is still practiced to this day, Tia,” I told her as gently as I could. “Times have changed, sister. Peasants is one of those words that we don’t use anymore. The same is true for the royal we and the Royal Canterlot Voice.”
“But... how do we address our subjects then?” she asked, confused. “I have no idea how to behave around them, anymore! Everything is so... so different and confusing! What am I supposed to do?”
“For now, just try to adjust, sister,” Luna answered, placing a wing over her back softly. “There is no need for you to rush into things. Learn and observe until you feel you are ready. It is understandable that all of this frightens you. You don’t have to be, we’re here for you. And if you need help, I’m sure we can provide you with that as well.”
“I... alright, sister,” Celestia sighed, gazing to the side forlornly. A sudden flash from a camera startled her into hiding between Luna and me again, though. “What the... is that a camera?”
“That she hasn’t forgotten what those are...” Cadance muttered lowly to herself. And had Ruby not chastised her before me, I would have. I could understand her being angry at her mother for being a bit ‘archaic’ in regards to how she should address our subjects, but I dearly hope she won’t let her misgivings about almost causing my (permanent) death, unknowing and unwilling as it was, get in between them and cause a rift that I fear might lead to one of them hating the other.
“There are many things you might recognize from, well... you know...” I said, smiling down at my sister. She was giving me an uncertain look but listened with rapt attention as I told her of a few of those things. “And then, there are things that are entirely new, things that we didn’t have back on... you know.”
“Okay,” Tia nodded, giving the ponies around us another look as we got closer to the castle. “Those glowing rectangles serve a purpose then?”
“Glowing rectangles?” I blinked, momentarily taken aback that that was how she described the scrolls. “They are like telephones, only... more.”
“But... they don’t have any buttons,” Celestia muttered, trying to understand how they worked without those. Not that tiny buttons would have done any good with hooves (or teeth, I suppose).
“They work by tracking your eyes,” Luna told her with an amused smile. “If you don’t have a stylus, that is. Most unicorns prefer to use one because it’s faster that way. The newer models even react to gestures with your hoof near the screen.”
“And the pegasi and earthponies?” Tia asked. “How do they use such unwieldy devices?”
“There are hoofholds on the back you can use while either using a stylus or the eye-tracking feature,” Lulu explained with a shrug. “Some prefer the eye-tracking feature while others like using the stylus with their mouth more. I expect the hoof gestures will become more popular with the advanced version. Canterlogic is holding a showcase for the next generation of scrolls in about a month from now if you want to go and see those.”
“Interesting,” Tia hummed. “So they can take pictures besides being able to make calls? What else can they do? And why is everypony constantly staring at them so much?”
Cadance rolled her eyes. "Oh, you have no idea," she muttered.
I ignored my daughter in favor of answering Celestia's question. “They can pretty much do anything a computer can,” I told her. “They are remarkably powerful tools.”
“You just use them for games, Sunny,” Luna snorted and I felt like pouting. She wasn’t entirely wrong with that, but I do use them for other things, as well! Like... making calls. When I don’t write letters, that is. And I take pictures! Yes, that’s it, I take pictures with my scroll... when I don’t use a memory ball, instead.
Wow... I really do use them only for games, don’t I? Damnit.
Celestia let out a laugh, snorting with a bright smile on her muzzle. “Still obsessed with games, huh?”
“Shut up,” I grumbled, rationalizing to myself that it was totally okay to have an unhealthy obsession. Who cares, anyway?
“What else is there?” my twin asked, a noticeable spring in her step now. “Are there cars? Please, tell me there are cars.”
I blinked yet again. “Oh, uh,” I hummed, wondering why she felt like cars were actually important when she had wings. “Usually, ponies just use the train, but... I guess there are some being produced for cities like Manehatten. Canterlot doesn’t really have the streets for that kind of vehicle, sister.”
“How about motorcycles, then?”
“My sister has one,” Ruby mentioned, drawing the attention of my sister to her. She laughed a bit nervously as Tia grabbed her excitedly, intent on grilling her for the whereabouts of said mare. Cadance came to her rescue pretty quickly while Luna and Liz snickered quietly beside me. “She doesn’t use it here, though.”
“Besides, ponies aren’t exactly built for riding lengthy times on a motorcycle, sister,” Luna laughed silently, prompting Tia to pout. “I’m sorry, sister, but... I guess you have to find something else to obsess over.”
“I’m not obsessed!” Celestia denied, grumbling to herself. “You’re being mean to me, aren’t you? Nopony understands how relaxing it is to take care of your baby...”
Cadance snorted with a frown on her muzzle. “Getting dirty, you mean,” she commented. “No wonder Mom took care of Tabby and me most of the time.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Celestia grumbled, sending her a glare. “I took care of you plenty of times!”
“When you weren’t off to who knows where winning stupid trophies, that is,” Cadance pointed out, shooting her a glare as well.
“Well, somepony had to actually feed the damn family!” Celestia shot back with a snarl. “Because your dad earned shit with his job since nopony bought those crappy games!”
“That’s quite enough, both of you,” I said, breaking up their fight before the ponies around us could take notice of it. I let my anger out with a sigh through my nostrils. I didn’t actually want to snap at either one of them, but they didn't make it easy on me with their bickering. “They sold quite well, you know? Most of that money went into our daughter's tuition, though...”
“It... did?” Celestia whispered, ears splayed back. “I’m sorry, Summer. I... I didn’t mean that. I know you loved them.”
I smiled gently and nuzzled my cheek against hers softly. “It’s okay, Tia,” I told her, though she still flinched back from me as if she had offended me. Oh, sister... “Besides, you were kind of right. It was nowhere near enough to support our family back then without your sponsorships. I’m sorry if you felt like I hadn’t been contributing that much in our relationship. Working from home hasn’t always been as easy as ponies assume. Certainly not with two curious little fillies demanding most of your attention for the good part of the day.”
“I wasn’t that much of an attention-seeker!” Cadance pouted and I laughed mirthfully while her marefriend snickered quietly next to her. “I wasn’t! Tabby was... uh...”
“Stuck in her books?” Luna prompted, making Cadance grumble to herself. “It was nice of you to look after her instead of constantly running off with friends from school, but she didn’t really need a foalsitter.”
“Where is she now?” Celestia asked and Luna and I shared a nervous glance with each other. Ah, flying penguins... “Tabetha must be here, too, right? Since Rose is here, I would assume she..." Celestia stopped as she noticed our expressions. "Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Tia, I...” I hesitated, biting my lip while I fidgeted with my wings anxiously. I had hoped I wouldn’t have to tell her of this ever, but that would be selfish and mean of me. Tabetha was her little Star, just as much as she had been mine.
Luna silently asked me if she should take over with the explanation, seeing that I was struggling with my words again. I tried to tell her that it was okay, but... well... I don’t think I could have explained it without going into hysterics, to be honest. I was abysmally bad at talking about unpleasant news to my family. It usually ends with me trying to drag things out or staying silent about it entirely.
“Summer, tell me what it is, right now,” Celestia demanded as she glared up at me. She clearly took notice of the fact that I was about to let Luna explain it instead of doing it myself. Cadance was fluttering her wings angrily as my wife confronted me, less than pleased about Tia ‘bullying’ me. My twin was rightfully mad, though, she had a right to know. I couldn’t keep what happened to our daughter away from her.
“Tabetha died, Tia,” I whispered and flinched back as she yelled out in shock. It was loud enough to attract the attention of the vast majority of ponies we passed by. Especially the journalists eager for a new story. One of these days, we really do need to build a private airport directly at the castle. Not that it will get us out of making an appearance at festivals like this. “I’ll explain when we are at the castle, I promise.”
“You better,” Celestia snarled, walking briskly ahead of us while parting the gathered crowd with a stern glare. I didn’t blame her for wanting to have some distance away from us after I told her that her little Star wasn’t exactly 'alive' anymore. Not that I did a great job of explaining it there, I suppose. I never find the right words when I need them most.
“Are you sure that it’s a good idea to tell her, Mom?” Cadance whispered, watching the guards’ reaction to my twin as she stalked her way angrily past the gate to the castle grounds, burning hoofsteps momentarily left in her wake. I could tell that they were somewhat intimidated by her attitude, my twin sometimes had that effect on others when she was letting her temper get the better of her. I had almost forgotten how easily she let it show in comparison to me.
“I think so...” I grimaced ever so slightly, thinking of the inevitable fallout. “We can’t just keep the truth away from her forever, petal. Try to think about how she must feel about all of this. It’s already hard enough for her to be surrounded by ponies she doesn’t know. A little temper tantrum or two is going to be a given with her, I fear.”
It really shouldn’t come as a surprise to me that she was acting so... immature. She didn’t have a thousand years to temper her emotions like Luna and I had. I guess I was pretty much spot on with Tia having been ‘frozen in time’ for all of this time, trapped in an eternal nightmare. She doesn’t know anything about the current day and age and it was understandably making her frustrated and fearful.
There was little I could do to help her adjust and it was breaking my heart to see her so... lonely. Out of place, even. Everything she knew and loved is gone now, replaced by a world almost completely alien to her. And it wasn't just technology that was more advanced now than what she was familiar with. Even ponies behaved a lot more differently nowadays than they had done so back in the day. And on top of all of this, her family has changed quite a lot as well.
Luna wasn’t as laid-back as she was a thousand years ago. She has outgrown her pranking tendencies and was more ‘serious’ now (when she wasn’t drinking her so-called ‘alcohol’, that is). She was still just as bad at lying, though.
While Cadance was still as optimistic as ever, she was most certainly fiercer in her need to protect her loved ones. That she almost lost me has her far more on edge than I suspect she's willing to admit, and it showed in her behavior. If she could, she would probably wrap me up in bubble wrap to keep me safe from the slightest ‘injury’. I suppose she got that from me, didn’t she?
Then, there was me. I wasn’t the same scaredy-cat I had been the last time Tia saw me. While yes, I was still excessively worrying over everything, I wasn’t going to hide underneath my blanket because I thought a burglar was in our home. I wasn't in the mood to entertain the nonsense of every pony and their cat anymore. I could care less about every little thing that was ‘majorly’ important in their eyes when it was, in all actuality, nothing more than a waste of my time hearing about what a 'travesty' it was that their egg wasn’t boiled to perfection for breakfast.
And lastly, our family has grown in her absence. Everypony around her was unfamiliar to her and she didn't like that they regarded her with caution instead of familiarity. She has taken to Liz remarkably fast, but... well... everypony does, to be honest. Liz has that aura of one wanting to be her friend around her and I suspected her pheromones were mostly at fault for that. Everypony likes to be around changelings because they give you the feeling of being around somepony that simply likes you for being yourself.
The same couldn’t be said for the hive soldiers, they are... well... kinda weird, to be honest. Thorax was more or less the exception in that he wanted to be nice to everypony while Pharynx was completely focused on eradicating every little thing that could possibly pose a threat to Equestria and the hive. Sometimes to the degree of obsessively ‘playing’ with his prey, even.
Of course, there was also the problem of Twilight being unable to remember her past life. Tia was briefly introduced to my daughters, and... well, she had no idea how to act around them. They weren’t ‘hers’ and that caused her to be shy around them because she didn’t know them like Luna, Liz, and I did. She might recognize a few characteristics here and there from Tabetha in Twilight but everything else would only confuse her.
Twilight was far less of a 'know-it-all' than what she has been like as Tabetha. She actually listened to other ponies and was interested in them instead of trying to immediately escape all social interactions, whatsoever. And she was far more chipper while in the company of her friends and sisters. Well... she was still trying to make her assignments into a work of perfection, but only because she didn’t want to disappoint us. Not that she could ever disappoint Luna, Liz, and me.
So, I did. I told her everything that happened to Tabetha (and my brother, I guess). All the while, her eyes became progressively more dull and hopeless. The anger drained out of her like a deflating balloon and everything that was left was a depressed mare on the verge of crying her heart out. I held her in my arms for as long as she needed, gently patting her back and stroking her mane to give her as much comfort as I could.
It opened Cadance’s eyes, seeing her mother so distraught over losing her child like that. Just like it had devastated Luna and me after we learned this twenty years ago. Celestia was an absolute wreck, knowing that the daughter she knew was gone forever. I could tell Cadance realized it would break her mother utterly if she continued to hold on to this silly little grudge. Not that my twin had any influence over what happened to her (or me).
A sad smile came to my muzzle as my Rose Petal joined the hug, whispering apologies to her mother in order to make it up to her. The condolences following that seemed to help at least a little bit in easing my wife's recovery from the sheer shock of the news. It didn’t make everything magically better, but... it was a start, at least. Tia hasn’t lost both Tabby and Rose, something that she desperately clung to.
So much so, even, that my sister forgot all about me and seemed to cling on to her only remaining daughter (at least, in the way of remembering her past life), crushing the dear life out of her.
I quietly told Ruby to take the rest of her friends back to the portal, knowing that this would take a while. I was grateful for their assistance, keeping everypony safe in the Everfree Forest was no small feat, and I could tell that they were about to fall asleep right where they stood. It’s been a long night and they deserved their rest, whether back home or here in a guest room.
After a while of Cadance whispering her sympathies to my twin, she began to regale her with tales of her past life that we had unfortunately missed out on, telling her everything from how Tabetha became a mad scientist to her own ‘death’ and subsequent reincarnation. As she got to the point of how she earned her horn, Tia began to genuinely smile to herself in the proud way only a mother could.
It truly was heartwarming to see them bond after the initial bumpy start between them. Cadance was finally letting go of her misgivings in favor of being there for her mother. It was a good sign that everything would eventually work out. It might take a while for Tia to fully recover, but I have faith in her that she would get through this. She has faced worse in the past and overcome many challenges. I know she can do so again with being in an unfamiliar world, and... in time, she will see that not everything is as hopeless as it seems right now.
Tabetha lives on in Twilight to a certain degree, and I hope my twin will realize that. She doesn’t have to be her daughter for her to be family, just like I knew that Cadance didn’t have to be from my womb to be family. Family, parenthood... it wasn’t defined by blood, but by the bond that we make with each other. Perhaps in a few years, Twilight and Sunset will view her as just another parent instead of a stranger from bygone ages. I can’t tell how long that might take with them away in Ponyville, and I can’t force them to acknowledge Tia like that from the get-go, but I hope they will embrace her as family sooner rather than later.
Celestia was admittedly surprised to see that most ponies treated us not with reverence but with friendly familiarity, and at most, respect (even among our own guards and castle staff). It was funny to see her reaction to how casual some of them were with us and Liz just had to bring up the reason for that again.
Thankfully, Tia was nowhere near tall enough to force her tongue down my throat (or my ears, for that matter) while in public, so that was at least something, right? Well... until she had the brilliant thought of flying while indoors, that is. Luna stopped her before Liz could egg her on further, causing far more chaos than I was currently willing to deal with. In just a few minutes, I would have to go back to work even though I really want to take a day off just so I could be with Tia the whole day.
The sunrise was... difficult, I have to admit. All of the extra power I had accumulated over the thousand years of raising both the twin suns was gone and Tia was nowhere near powerful enough after just having been released from her unjust fate. So that meant Lulu had to pick up the slack with Liz while I nudged my own sun over the horizon.
I reassured Tia that it was okay if she couldn’t take care of her celestial duty and needed us to help out, empathizing with her after I myself had to give up helping Lulu in the task of raising the Heavenly Sun. I really have become way too dependent on the power I had enjoyed for so long at my disposal, haven’t I? Things would be... 'different' from now, and not only for me but for Tia as well. It is going to take her quite some time to regain her own power, something that irked her more than it did me.
She was unable to even fulfill her own destiny, her whole purpose. I can’t even begin to imagine how hard that must be for her. Judging by how listless she was as we showed her around the castle, it weighed quite heavily on her mind.
As we reached our bedroom, Celestia was already dragging her hooves tiredly in exhaustion and I could tell she wanted to do nothing more than to fall immediately asleep as soon as she hit the bed with her head. I suppose it was understandable, being awake for the first time in a thousand years must be quite exhausting.
I really wish I could have joined her, but I knew that would only serve to destroy my sleep schedule (and get Kibitz mad at me, too). Regrettably, I have work to do. There was a whole heap of documents waiting for me to fill out and make sure Tia was still recognized legally as a Princess of Equestria after such a long absence.
It was a lot more work than I initially thought it would be and I cursed myself for not having begun with it well before Tia’s return. That’s the thing about hindsight, though. It always comes back to bite you in your flanks for overlooking something that was so glaringly obvious.
The announcement of Tia’s return went as well as could be expected. It raised quite a few questions about where she had been and why nopony knew of her for such a long time. By the time I was done with the press conference, I had a massive headache trying to kill me from the inside out and I wasn’t even done with the day.
The joys of being a benevolent dictator...
Luna had it probably worse, trying to appease the nobility and telling them that no, the world wasn’t about to end because of one little solar eclipse. It’s like they never... heard... of the concept, damnit. Ugh. How could anypony have heard of it, after all? A solar eclipse basically never happens since we don’t play around with our heavenly duties. Of course they would be frightened beyond belief that something ‘evil’ was going on.
Court was even more of a nightmare that day, I swear. The concerned citizens I could deal with all day, especially with Luna and Liz by my side, but the nobles? Or the astronomer’s guild? They were throwing a fit because we had ‘abused’ our station as guardians of the celestial objects and demanded an explanation beyond our go-to excuse of ‘we wanted to try something new for the celebrations and thought it would look pretty’.
I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow that evening after making sure my sun was ‘properly’ set (according to them). I swear, the nerve some of them have, telling me how to do my job. I've been doing it for far longer than when their however-great great-grandparents had been alive.
I didn’t notice that day that Celestia had slept the day away and stayed awake during the night, but the day after that? Or the ones following that one?
I would have thought she was trying to avoid talking with me, but Tia was happy to see me at dusk and dawn each day, talking eagerly about the things she had found out were a thing now. She made me promise to go to a Wonderbolt show with her and I gladly agreed to do so. I was less interested in seeing the show itself, but I would if it makes my twin happy.
Not everything was as it seemed, though. Celestia tried to hide it, but I could tell that she wasn’t as happy as she appeared to be. She secluded herself most of the time either in our private tower or in the Canterlot Royal Library. She was worse than Twilight, losing herself in book after book when she wasn’t being tutored about how everything worked nowadays in comparison to how it did back then.
Cadance tried to help Tia out with the topics of diplomacy and modern laws, but... well... Tia was starting to get frustrated with everything and how needlessly complicated it was to have laws upon laws regulating other laws, so on and so forth. Not to mention, Celestia was correcting the tutor meant to teach her about history, driving said tutor insane in the process (I mean, it was his fault for trying to teach her about Equestria’s founding first when... you know... she was there for the mess that the tribes had created).
The magic tutor had nothing but praise for her, though. He even learned more from Tia than she did from him, to be honest. At some point, even Professor Doctor Cold Hooves found out about my twin giving lectures about celestial magic in the library and asked her to teach at our school, instead.
It’s no wonder that the entire lecture hall was packed full a week later with students and professors alike. Celestia was a scholar at heart when she wasn't preoccupied with chasing her dreams of being a Formula One race car driver (she's still salty Equestria doesn't have super fast cars). I wasn’t surprised to see her have fun standing in front of so many ponies hanging on to her every word, though. Besides, she loved being the center of attention, and if it helped her get out of her funk, I wasn’t going to complain about one little bad habit.
And just as I was starting to believe everything was going perfectly, Liz decided that now would be a great time to dress Luna and me up as skimpy maids.
“Liz...” I sighed, giving her a deadpan stare. She and Tia were poorly trying to hide their wide grins, clearly excited to see us in the lewd outfits that were in no way actual maid outfits used by the castle staff. Aside from the fact that they don't wear old-fashioned maid outfits anymore, so there's that. “You couldn’t wait with that for another three months, could you?”
“Aww, is somepony worried about their image..?” Liz snickered and I gave the misbehaving changeling a glare. “Oh! You mean Cadance’s wedding, don’t you? Why, I do think you would look absolutely fabulous in this outfit! What do you think, Tia?”
“I love you so much,” Celestia mumbled, blood running freely from one of her nostrils. I glared at both of them, especially my sister as she gradually lost herself in her little fantasy of me wearing this ridiculous outfit while fulfilling every wish on her lips with a spring in my step. As if I would ever wear such a disgrace to the honorable maid profession, showing her teasing glances underneath the skimpy garments while in full view of our subjects while I was forced to be a friggin’ maid in my own home!
“Sister...” Luna whispered, placing a comforting, and most importantly, cold hoof on my shoulder. I let a long sigh out of my nostrils as I noticed the shimmer in the air surrounding me. “It’s only going to be for a year, we’ve gone through worse before."
"Fine," I ground out, reluctantly levitating the stockings over from my 'outfit'. Before I put them on, though, I gave Liz a look. "These aren't enchanted, are they?" I asked, suspicious.
"What would give you that idea, Sunflower?" my wife asked me innocently and I raised a brow at her threateningly. Tia wiped the blood from her nostril, nervous.
"Chrysalis..." I began and she laughed, trying her best to not give away I had just caught her being naughty. "What did you put on these?"
"A self-cleaning charm?"
I narrowed my eyes on her. A self-cleaning charm sounds pretty harmless, but considering what kind of outfits these were, I knew there was a catch somewhere. "What else?"
"Uhm..." Chrysalis hesitated and Luna rolled her eyes.
"There's a sticky charm on them, isn't there?" my Moon guessed and I threw the stockings back on the pile like they were snakes. By the way Liz wilted, my sister was spot on.
"So that's how it is," I sneered, turning to leave. What the flying penguin is my succubus of a wife thinking? I won't put these on if I won't be able to take them off for a year straight.
"Summer, wait!" my idiot of a wife called after me and I stopped. I didn't turn my head, though. There's no way I will let her convince me with those damn eyes again. "I'm sorry, Sunflower. I..."
"Cuddlebug," Luna sighed and I finally turned my head around. She really looked dejected and Celestia looked even more disappointed. "You can take them off of us, can't you?"
"I mean... that would defeat the purpose of your punishment, but..." she started. Her wings were buzzing in agitation as she tried to get over her reluctance to make an exception for us.
"Chrysalis..." Luna began. "You won’t actually make us wear these for the wedding, right?" she questioned her before invoking the name of the brides. "You wouldn’t want to make Ruby and Cadance mad at you, would you?”
The changeling queen cringed, unable to keep herself from shuddering at the thought of displeasing the Rose sisters. “You... might have a point there, Moony,” Liz grumbled, looking forlornly at the outfits laid out on the bed in front of her.
“Wait, what?” Celestia whined and I felt my eyelid start to twitch as I saw her pout. “But... maid outfits! You have no idea how long I’ve waited to see my stupidly sexy sister in one of those! You can’t take that away from me! You have to wear them! Please!”
“Sister...” I growled, snarling slightly as Fallen Star tried to claw her way to the surface to... discipline... our pervert of a sister. And I was very much tempted to throw caution out the window and lay into her with not-so-nice words, but that wouldn’t have helped my situation right now. Not to mention, I couldn’t do that to Tia after what she went through. She was barely on the way to recovery, I cannot throw a wrench into that and have her regress in her progress so far, as little of that as she has made.
“Do it for me?” she sniffled and I fidgeted awkwardly with my wings as I avoided those damn eyes of hers. Of course. Why was I even surprised she wouldn’t resort to manipulating me with that dastardly ‘trick’ of hers? Why do I have such a soft spot for cute eyes, damnit? “Come on, Red Nose. I’ve seen the look you gave those outfits at the mere glance of them. I know your body like nopony else, you can’t hide a reaction like that from me. Certainly not the way you are trying to keep your tail from going up~.”
Okay, that's it. “I’m going to send you back to the moon,” I threatened her. Flipping flying penguins, I've made up my mind. My sister clearly is a threat to the sanity of my nation, I cannot let her go free and allow her to do anything her perverted mind could concoct up. I don’t care what she thought she might have seen my body ‘do’, I was not going to ruin my relationship with my daughter to satisfy my sister’s demented ‘desires’.
I really will send both her and that succubus of a changeling to the moon for being... for... oh, dear. Regret threatened to drown me in misery as I realized what I have just said to my own sister, seeing her eyes shrink down to pinpricks. I was immediately at her side as she started breathing heavily, hearing her mutter fearful words to herself as her legs gave out underneath her. “No, not there. N-not t-there again, p-please... a-anything but that, sister!”
“Shh,” I hummed, holding her tightly against me while I berated myself harshly for saying such hurtful words. I’m such a stupid idiot, sometimes. I buried my muzzle in her mane, hoping beyond hope she would believe me when I told her that... “I didn’t mean it, Tia. I'm so sorry. Please, believe me when I say I really didn’t mean to say those words to you. I’m not going to send you back to that place, I... I’m so very sorry, sister. I still have difficulties with my temper, I'm sorry. It has gotten better, but... well... somehow I keep slipping at really inopportune moments. Please, don’t hate me...”
Tia shuddered against me. “I... I d-don’t hate you. You are right, I-I... I shouldn’t force you to be my personal plaything. Definitely not w-when our daughter is going to marry so soon. I’m... I’m sorry as well, sister,” she whispered, sniffling into my chest. “I’m such a bad sister.”
“No! No, you are not,” I insisted, making her look up at me, only for her to keep avoiding my eyes. Tears came to mine as she escaped my arms, trudging slowly out of our room with her head hanging low, only to disappear into the room across from ours. Or rather, the room she keeps escaping to when she feels like being away from us when it all got too much for her. “Sister...”
“She will come around, Summer,” Luna consoled me as she threw a wing across my back comfortingly. “Eventually.”
“I hope you are right, Lulu,” I sighed, wiping the tears away with a hoof. “I didn’t mean to say those words to her...”
Luna smiled slightly, bumping her muzzle against mine. “I think she knows that, sister,” she told me before her icy gaze wandered over to the changeling currently trying to make herself as small and unnoticeable as she possibly could... by pretending to be a little foal. That idiot, I swear. “You, on the other hoof...”
“I didn’t do anything, though!” Liz complained as Luna snatched her up in her magic, her fur threatening to turn black any moment now. Scratch that. It was turning black. “Come on, put me down! This is foal abuse!”
“I’ll show you foal abuse, you little...” Nightmare snarled and Chrysalis squeaked fearfully as our wife regarded her with nothing but disappointment in her eyes. “You really don’t have any shame at all, do you?”
“If this is about Cady’s wedding, I...” Liz began, but Nightmare snorted disdainfully back at her, interrupting her before she could come up with her ‘defense’ that would have no doubt insinuated Cadance would have actually been fine with us dressed like... that. While I was sure Cadance would have loved to see us humiliated like this, I don’t think she would have appreciated Liz doing that during the most important day for centuries to come for her.
“You know what I’m talking about, you stupid bug,” Nightmare muttered and Liz gave me a hopeful look, most likely thinking I was going to save her chitin from being chewed out by our wife. Not that I would ever get in between Nightmare and her target of ire. Sorry, Liz, but you brought this upon yourself. “Tia is barely even coming out of her room during the day, we don’t need you to encourage her bad behaviors.”
“Come on, the girl clearly needs to get laid,” Liz huffed, crossing her legs in front of herself as she continued to float around in Nightmare’s magical aura. “Sex always helps. At least, it does with you two when you’re in a funk~.”
“Liz, she needs time, not sex,” I pointed out as I let out a dejected sigh. “And I just made everything worse...”
“No, I... I guess I did fuck this up more than you did, Sunflower,” Liz lamented, changing back into her regular form. “I’m... not good at this whole ‘guilt’ thing. I don’t know what to do. I want to help her just as much as you do, believe me, but... I’m making things worse, aren’t I? Encouraging her like that will only lead to her shutting herself away behind a barrier of perverted thoughts. You told me she did that before to cope with some bad trauma, but... I didn’t think. Like always.
"I latched onto the first thing that made us connect with each other and went all in. I should have realized that what I was doing wasn’t the right thing to do. Heck, I’m the empath here. I should have known that encouraging her to indulge that part of herself was a way for her to avoid dealing with everything that happened to her. I knew something was up when...”
“Liz...” I said, interrupting her tirade as I bit my lip for a moment. “It’s okay. I’m glad she has you around to help, as well. She needs all the support she can get right now. Tia is... a complicated mare. She always tried to hide the things that bothered her the most from us. All so that she didn’t end up making me worry. She never let that ‘strong’ façade down for my sake.
"But... the thing is, I’m not that meek mare anymore, and it breaks my heart to see her act like this each and every time. Even now she always thinks of those around her first, even when it is to her own detriment. I forgot how frustrating it was to try and break through those shields she constantly puts up around her heart, so... please, don’t beat yourself up about this. Just keep in mind your reason for being... well, you... isn’t the same reason Celestia is a pervert. She...”
“I killed my parents because they did things to me nopony should do to their child...” a voice from behind me spoke up and I turned my head fearfully around to see Tia standing in the doorframe of our bedroom. Her eyes looked... tired. Weary. Listless. Almost dead, even. “And I liked it...”
“Oh...” Liz whispered, horrified. “By the Weaver, that’s... holy fucking shit.”
“You have no idea,” Celestia muttered, smiling thinly. “It’s okay, I know you were just trying to help me by being there for me when I... when I felt like...”
“You don’t have to say it,” Liz insisted as she directed a nervous glance my way and I started to realize what they were talking about even before Tia said those dreadful words out loud. “Please... don’t...”
“Kill myself?” Tia said it and it felt like the floor gave out underneath my legs. I had hoped it wasn’t the case, but I should have known that she had those thoughts. How could I have been so blind? Oh, sister... why? “Don’t worry, I won’t. Not when I finally have my freedom back. There are so many things I want to experience and learn. I just... I don’t know what to do. Ponies look at me with fear now and not... not how they used to, with admiration. The only ones that don’t are the ones at your school and they only care about the things I can teach them and not... well... me.”
“Tia...”
“It’s not your fault, Summy,” my sister smiled sadly, a little sparkle entering her eyes as she lifted my head up by the chin. Even when she was half my size, she could still treat me like I was smaller than her. As if she needed to comfort me instead of the other way around. “It’s my fault only. I am the one out of place here, and I understand why they fear me. You know, I’m not stupid. I’ve seen what that little celebration is about. It’s funny, really. I'm the boogeymare of entire generations...”
“Nightmare Night is not about you!” I growled, my mane bursting out into flames. “Platinum is the one that...”
“It’s alright, sister,” Celestia interrupted me, cupping my cheek with a hoof as she looked up at me with a hopeful look. “It’s not like I don’t understand that. I’m going to show them the real me. That way, they don’t have to fear me anymore, right?”
My flames instantly died down as the anger drained out of me. I cannot fathom how she could be so optimistic after all that she went through. “Sister, please,” I said, afraid that she was trying too hard. I don’t want her to get hurt. I have to protect her. It was my fault it even got so bad in the first place. “I can...”
“What?” she snorted as she frowned up at me. “Force them to like me? You wouldn’t ever do something like that, sister. I know you. Perhaps not as much as I thought I did, but you would never go against that bleeding heart of yours. I will be okay. I... I can deal with this on my own, I don’t need you to mother me.”
“I...” I gulped thickly. Was I being too overprotective of her?
“Don’t think I didn’t notice the looks you’ve been giving me. You and Lulu,” Celestia said. “I’m not made of glass, you know? And I don’t need your pity. It wasn’t y-your fault that I was p-possessed b-by her. I have a lot to make up for...”
“No, you don’t...” Luna said. A dark scowl was on her muzzle. “You of all ponies shouldn’t feel bad about what happened. We were the ones that failed you, sister. We should have known that ignoring the prophecy would have had consequences. We...”
“It wouldn’t have changed anything,” Celestia snapped back, glaring at her. “She summoned me right into her damn trap and kept me confined like a fucking animal. I tried breaking out, only for those chains to tighten even deeper into my soul. I’m sorry, sister. I really didn’t want to do that to you, but... I couldn’t fight against those commands she gave me to hurt you like that.”
“I don’t blame you for that, Tia,” I smiled ever so slightly, nuzzling her softly. “We tried searching for a way to free you, but nothing we could think of worked. I’m so sorry you had to wait for so long, sister.”
“I know,” she said, leaning her head against my chest as her gaze wandered to the ground. I gave Luna a worried glance as Celestia let out a sad sigh. “I won’t lie, I resented you for doing what you had to do, but... I don’t blame you for that. I would have done the same thing in your position."
She let out a humorless laugh as she continued on, "Platinum tried to poison my thoughts of you to bring me over to her side. It was your voice that helped me keep out her maddened whispers, so thank you. Without you... I fear things would have gone differently, sister.”
“You actually heard me?” I whispered, a warm feeling replacing the dark thoughts that had kept piling up, trying to drown me in guilt.
“Both you and Luna,” she admitted. “Each and every night, I knew you were thinking of me. I did, too.”
“Sister...” I said, touched. She smiled up at me with genuine happiness in her eyes and drew me in for a gentle kiss.
“You know... one good thing did come from all of this...” Celestia said after she broke the kiss between us. I hummed in confusion, sharing a glance with Luna as the smile on our sister's muzzle grew more mischievous. “Aside from the fact that I’m the little sister now...”—she let out a snort at that and I giggled in amusement, too—” I haven’t had a single vision since my return.”
“You haven’t?” Luna asked, astonished. “Sister, but... that means...”
“I know!” Celestia laughed delighted. “No more future knowledge! Isn’t that great?!”
“Right...” I gulped nervously, sharing a look with Luna. “No more future knowledge...”
Celestia’s little celebration slowly died down to a hesitant smile as she watched us fidget awkwardly in front of her. “Aren’t you happy for me?”
“I am! I’m glad you won’t have to live with your curse anymore, sister... but...” I sighed and nibbled on my lip, afraid to tell her that we weren’t entirely in the dark about what would happen in the near future (more or less). Not to forget, we have gotten news that the Storm King was back on the move again, this time further to the south. I was worried about what he was going to do there as only one nation came to mind that might be his potential target this time. While I was sure the hippogriffs could handle it just fine (seriously, the Storm King was a fool to try anything with such fierce warriors protecting Mount Aris), I worry he had some trick up his sleeves to overwhelm even Queen Novo and her royal guard.
“Sister, what aren’t you telling me?” Celestia asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
“There’s a lot we have to tell you, sister,” Luna frowned, a stormy look in her eyes. “And perhaps, a confession we have to make.”
“Tell me you didn’t...” Celestia gulped, backing up fearfully from us. “Please, Lulu...”
“No, we haven’t used prophetic magic ourselves, Tia,” Luna smiled sadly. “Which doesn’t mean we haven’t come across some... 'interesting'... news over the past few years. One individual, in particular, has been the cause of a lot of heartache, not only because of his rather unorthodox behavior, but also because of what we ourselves were at fault at.”
“What do you mean, sister?”
“It’s all our fault, Tia...” I admitted, looking away in shame. “We are the ones at fault for the prophecy existing in the first place. It was our fault that our family was ripped apart for so long. Without us causing a bootstrap paradox, we wouldn’t even have known about what would have happened to you in the first place.”
“I... I don’t understand,” Celestia mumbled. “Sister, nothing would have changed had we not known of that prophecy. It was my ‘gift’ that led to my downfall and not that silly thing. You do know that, right?”
“I... what?” I blinked, stumped.
“The dream I had before I fled would have come to me one way or another. The prophecy simply gave us an early warning,” Celestia explained, rubbing her leg with a hoof. “Without the prophecy, who knows what would have happened otherwise? I’m glad you didn’t demand this individual to change what happened. I’m assuming this pony could travel through time if a paradox is involved?”
I nodded slowly, honestly impressed that she was this insightful about what happened. And here I thought she would hate me for that. It seems I underestimated my sister. It wouldn’t be the first time, to be honest...
“You blamed yourself so much for what happened to me when it wasn’t even your fault, didn’t you?” Tia sighed, smiling ruefully. “How typical of you. You have changed so much but not at all, Red Nose. When will you ever get it into your thick skull that sometimes things just happen the way they do without you being able to change a thing about them?”
“I can’t help but worry over everything needlessly, sister,” I answered, shifting my wings ever so slightly.
“I know,” she grinned teasingly back. “You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t.”
I laughed mirthfully. “I suppose that’s true, isn’t it?” I hummed before grabbing her into a tight hug. “I’ve missed you so much, sister.”
“I know,” she mumbled, a happy sigh escaping her lips. “You know what I’ve also missed..?”
“What?”
“Teasing you to orgasm,” she giggled and I sputtered with a bright red muzzle while Luna laughed her flanks off next to us. “And seeing your muzzle light up like that, my little Red Nose Reindeer.”
“I hate you so much...” I grumbled, smiling despite my misgivings. “I will show you who the little reindeer is here...”
“Oh?” Tia smiled up at me. “You would take advantage of my reduced size? What else would you do with me, hm?”
“If you don’t watch your tone, little missy, I might just put a collar around your neck,” I threatened and grinned as I saw a blush erupt all over her muzzle, going all the way down to her neck, a perverted gleam entering her eyes. “But the worst thing? I’d make you sit in the corner while I molest my wives to my heart’s content.”
“Wait, what?” she blinked, giving me an aghast look as I began to laugh with mirth. “You’re joking, right? Please tell me you’re joking.”
“I am, sister,” I smiled gently down on her, rubbing her sides with a hoof. “Although, if you want me to, I might follow up on that promise with the collar.”
“Okay, now I know something’s up,” Celestia snorted. “You never were that assertive, what changed?”
I hummed, thoughtful. “A lot, I suppose. We have much to catch up on, sister. But, for now, I think it’s time we get ready to do our duty.”
“Right...” Celestia nodded hesitantly, looking out of our balcony doors in trepidation. “...that.”
“Don’t worry, sister,” Luna said soothingly, nuzzling the top of our ‘little’ sister’s head. “Your sun won’t stay mad at you forever, you know how stubborn she can be.”
“I just wish she would talk to me...” Celestia sighed. “I don’t know what I can do so that she will trust me again. I mean... I didn’t abandon her because I wanted to. What will it take for her to believe me?”
“Perhaps there’s nothing that you, in particular, can do,” Liz mused, furrowing her brows in thought. Then, she noticed my miffed look. “Oh, come on! Don’t give me that look now, Sunflower. What I mean is, maybe her sun just needs to realize what she is doing to you, Celestia. Sometimes, all it takes is a bit of time and a realization that she isn’t the only one depending on a caretaker. I... I’m not explaining this all that well, am I?”
“No, I think I get what you mean, Chrysalis,” Celestia muttered, kicking her hoof in frustration. “For her, it seems like I abandoned her, so now she’s giving me the cold shoulder to get back at me. Once she realizes that I didn’t do it on purpose, I hope she might reach back out to me. I really miss her presence.”
“I’m certain she will talk with you again soon,” I said as my gaze wandered to the two setting suns on the horizon. Gleefully, my Red Sun asked for my assistance, and like always, I was quick to reach out with my magic to help her along her path.
I watched with pity as Celestia’s horn blazed brightly with magic, only for it to sputter out as she slumped to the ground, breathing heavily while my Moon and Liz picked up the pace for her. “She won’t even let me touch her...”
“It’s going to take time, sister,” I sighed. “If you try to force it, it will only take longer for her to accept you back.”
Celestia grumbled to herself for a moment, glaring at the spot where her sun disappeared off to, before giving us a reluctant nod. And as I watched her gaze wander back to the horizon (this time towards where the moon rose), I saw her narrow her eyes and wondered what she must have thought at that moment.
The marks were gone on its surface, but I was sure that marks of an entirely different kind had been left behind. While they were invisible to the casual observer, I knew that a storm was brewing. Luna was still hard at work to rid the dream realm of the chaos left behind by Platinum and I fear without their ‘Nightmare Queen’, the corrupted nyx would cause even more havoc if left unchecked. There was only one pony that came to mind that could reverse the damage done to the once innocent little dream creatures and she currently bore far too many scars for me to even think about giving her such a task.
Welcome home, indeed, sister. I dearly hope your struggles won’t break you. I know you’re strong, stronger than anypony might realize. I’m sure you can get through these coming challenges, as much as I wish I could shield you from them. And I will always be here for you, no matter what.
Whatever you might need, however difficult the coming days might get... I will be your rock from now on, I promise.
This new day and age is going to confront all of us with challenges none of us are prepared for, I'm sure of it. Who knows what surprises might await us and what we might learn? About us and each other. About the world. And, perhaps, even about unsolved mysteries.
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Mount Aris
“My Queen,” a drone spoke up, bowing deeply (and most importantly, fearfully) to the figure gazing at the foggy red glow coming from the capital of those ‘pesky pony birds’ with a sinister smile stretching her muzzle wide in glee. She didn’t acknowledge the fool daring to interrupt her in her celebration but did take note of his scent to... punish~... him later. She would most certainly enjoy having fun with him and giggled to herself in anticipation. Who knows, she might not break him utterly in the process. Not immediately, that is. “M-My Queen, I...”
“Hush,” Ocellus snarled, irked that he would dare to speak up again without her giving him permission to do so. “Clearly, I’m enjoying the moment, or are you too blind to notice that?!”
“N-no, My Queen,” the drone whispered back with a whimper, flinching back as her eyes turned to regard him, instead. “I’m s-sorry, My Queen. It won’t happen again, My Queen.”
“Oh, it won’t,” she grinned, licking her lips hungrily. “So..?”
“Uh...” the drone blinked, rooted to the spot as he was unable to look away from the enchanting glow coming from her cyan eyes.
Ocellus growled, striking the idiot over the head. “What is it that you wanted to tell me?! And make it quick, lest you anger me more than you already have.”
“O-of course, My Queen,” he gulped nervously, hastily searching through the pouch hanging from his side by a thread of changeling silk. “Commander Cordifera reported back that about two hundred hippogriffs have been captured before their Queen used that pearl to escape with the rest of her subjects a-and... uh... t-this came in, Your Majesty.”
“Only two hundred?!” Ocellus snarled, snatching the envelope from the cowering drone away while buzzing her wings angrily. “I swear, I’ll skewer that hornless bag of rotten emotions upon my horn! I explicitly told her to not let Novo out of her sight!”
With an impatient rip, she tore the envelope in half and levitated both pieces of the message in front of her. A cruel smile replaced her previously angry grimace. “Oh... this will be good...”
As the mad changeling queen began to cackle in delight, the two pieces drifted slowly to the ground, illuminated by the distant fire. Drone Number Two-Hundred-Seventy-Four blanched as he read the flowery text, fearing for Equestria’s safety. He gave a quick prayer to the Weaver, hoping that his mad queen wouldn’t truly do what he feared she thought about doing.
