//------------------------------// // Sibling Relationships are not amusing. // Story: The Godking is NOT Amused // by Zemez //------------------------------// It was a month after he had first taken the changelings under his protection. The location south of Equestria, now known to him as the badlands, was Blossoming into a verdant oasis surrounded by mountains. Luna told him that many ponies were already charting expeditions into the new Verdant expanse he had created. Most travelers apparently avoided the badlands, as there was no water on the surface and the weather was constantly scorching hot. The changelings had made their home there because of this feature, spending most of their time below their hollow mountain. Now, with the badlands hospitable, they had a new form of cover from the world, the trees and megafauna he had spawned with his magic, which he wouldn't admit to any creature had briefly gone beyond what was in his powers as a greater diety to do, and had slightly strained his backdoor on this world's law of life. After Chrysalis came back from Ponyville, he made her his champion. His first champion in fact, as he never had a reason to need one, and Veretus was unsure himself why he had given the Changeling Monarch the honor. She had returned to the hive to organize them, it took time to demilitarize a militia population, especially one which involved most of your citizens. The last time that he had trained Spike, which was yesterday, he had started the dragon on using wooden replicas of weapons. He would have to be trained in many of the mainstream weapons to a basic level so he could find what suited him the most. He had also gotten the name of the food he had eaten that day when he brought chrysalis along, cereal. The palace cooks had looked at him weird when he had requested this for the past month, but in return, he had found out that there were much more types than Spike had served him: sweet, covered in sugar, tasted like chocolate, had these odd fluffy things called marshmallows, even ones that had dried fruits. While he had indulged in this cereal craze... the diarch's relationship had soured. Before, Luna would have a conversation with him, and would always at least try to include her sister into it and Celestia would occasionally say or mumble something in response. Now, for the past few days they had eaten in silence, there was no glaring or tense atmosphere, but one of desolation. Any conversation he tried to start Luna would half-heartedly reply to, occasionally inserted some off-hand comment about her sister that he barely got the context of. This morning was one such day, Luna at least usually sat by his side during this time, but today, she had sat on the opposite end of the rectangular dining table from Celestia. Veretus wasn't in that great of a mood either, for Luna hadn't attended court and had spent the entire night within her room. Celestia, usually at least regal and composed, looked like a mess. Her usual flowing-in-the-absence-of-wind hair was dull and muted, several strands had escaped the flow and looked frayed. Her coat had several patches that seemed brushed in the wrong direction. To be fair, Luna didn't look that much better, she was missing half the regalia she usually wore. The atmosphere was one of sadness and tenseness. He tried to eat the cereal he had gotten today, filled with dried cranberries, strawberries, and blueberries, but it tasted sour and solemn. He put down the ornate silver spoon in his grasp before taking a breath. "You two are acting like foals." He said, using the correct term for the young of their species. "I cannot bear to watch this anymore, Please, Celestia, Luna..." Both of them looked at him, his voice had more emotion than it usually did, sadness and pain. "Do not end up like me and my brother..." He finished his thought as he got up, the servants would clean up his unfinished food, and left the dining room. He didn't go too far, he had settled at the first bacony he saw. He stood there, looking up at the stars of the sky that had yet to shift from Luna's night to Celestia's day. "She's put a lot more effort into the night since you came here..." Veretus was mildly surprised when Celestia's voice came from behind him. He thought Luna would be the one to chase after him. He turned around, Celestia was looking up at the sky like he was doing moments before. "I was unaware that effort was needed to raise and lower the moon." He said, looking to see if he could notice anything about the moon that would stand out, Celestia chuckled for some reason. "She doesn't just move the moon, each night she causes the stars to come out and shine, each and every one she crafts... and I must admit, during the past month, she hasn't changed the stars once..." Celestia sighed "But... what of astronomy? how would your people have navigated by the stars if she always crafted new ones?" Veretus was worried, he hadn't bothered looking at the stars since he got here, but he remembered Twilight mentioning astronomy. "She keeps guiding stars and the early constellations the same but..." celestia sighed once more and looked at him. "When Luna was just a filly, and before then, the sky had no stars and the moon, well, it was always visible in the sky. I had begun raising the sun in place of the unicorns for around three years by the time Luna gained her cutie mark..." Celestia giggled into her hoof. "She came up to me one night after I had just finished lowering the sun, all excited and happy, when she showed off her cutie mark, her crescent moon, I was happy, then I was stunned as she pointed to the sky. she didn't just place one star, she had created a messy, but picturesque expanse of twinkling lights, and she spent five minutes pointing out all the constellations she made, many symbolizing moments in our relationship..." She swiveled her head to look back up at the stars. "I do not get what this has to do with your fighting aside from being a side effect of it," Veretus stated, turning back towards the sky trying to see what she was staring at. "Almost everything... there." She said, causing him to look at her, in which Celestia had a hoof pointed up towards the sky, towards a group of stars that looked like... dragon wings... "She made that the night she challenged you... And I felt so angry, not because I hate you, but because I felt you were undeserving of a treatment she had reserved for her sister... It was selfish, and even now I want to pummel you for becoming my sister's special somepony." He turned, fully this time, to look at Celestia, he had expected a visage of anger or perhaps a black stare, instead, he got sad eyes and a small smile. "I- wait..." he began, interrupting himself in confusion. "Is that word reserved for the same use as mate? if so, I have been clear with cadence, and during a conversation with Luna, that I hold no attraction towards either of the three of you... Seems I should have made you understand as well." "But- But you spend all night with her! Talking for ten hours is not something that normal friends do!" Celestia blustered. Veretus chuckled. "Despite your long lives, it seems you have truly spent too much time looking over your subjects. Celestia, we have millennia of things to talk about, a single topic could last days if we allowed it... and I would spend the same time with you, but you had made it clear my company was not wanted." She looked ashamed at that, looking at the floor instead of him. "Right... I- I will admit that I have been less than stellar in showing the same virtues I ask from my student... but I am-" "Stop, Celestia. I don't want your apology." He could see his words hurt her, and he had to quickly explain what he meant. "I don't want your apology because it is unnecessary Celestia. I Imposed myself on you, In the beginning, I was too angry at the ones who had sent me here to properly introduce myself, and in it, I committed several actions that I should not have." "But that doesn't excuse-" "It does Celestia, because despite everything, I understand. You have run this kingdom for a thousand years alone, it had only been two months after your sister's return, and here I was, getting in the way... I wish I could offer to leave your kingdom, find some other race to take shelter with, but I have already set events in motion." He looked apologetically at her, for he truly wasn't thinking when he decided to use the strand of life he had plucked from his reality to bond with this ones. He had taken shelter with the first race he saw, not taking into account if they could survive the retribution he would rain upon them, and he had spent all this time with Luna, forgetting that she has a sister. "I would not want you to leave anyways Veretus." she said, shaking her head. "Luna... you have truly done more for her than I could just by being able to relate... And I admit, my vision of you was clouded, for I have had terrible experiences with both kings, and gods, and kings claiming to be gods..." "Our more recent spat... had less to do with you, and more events that would unfold soon... but I must ask... what happened to your brother? You claimed you killed him, but... how could your hatred towards one another become so large that you would resort to lethal violence?" "...I never hated my brother Celestia, even now, I still love him... But he apparently never thought of me the same way. I should have seen it a thousand years earlier, I should have seen it when even as the mortals, mortals he had manipulated, closed the gates of the abyss on me and he didn't come to my aid... I should have seen it when I fought him after he had stolen the divinity of all the gods... but I only saw it after he had pretended to surrender... and strike me through the heart..." He felt the memories drudge up... the pain had disappeared long ago, but the reminders still stung. "That's... awful. I assume you are still here because of what Cadence has said about your subject's magic? Is death... painful?" Celestia hesitantly asked, her face betraying her nervousness at the answer. "I did not die from it, I have claimed true immortality multiple times Celestia, when will you understand that when I say that as long as my divinity still exists, I cannot die... But truly, dying isn't painful or sad... It is nothingness Celestia, everything about you is broken down and reused." Celestia walked up to the railing and put her fetlocks over it, looking down at the city from there. "Truly Celestia, my brother never thought of me as his, but you two... you are what I could never have..." He walked beside her, looking down as well, the railing too low for him to actually lean on, and Celestia turned her head towards him. "You can laugh, cry, even play with your sister..." "Surely you two acted like brothers at least once?" She asked with doubt. "Despite being made of the same stuff as the mortals, we were still immortal... We were rulers first and foremost, and when you make immortals with the infinite capacity for growth, but trap them in a cage of rules... I suppose we go crazy." "Is your brother's death the reason you don't seem that interested in going back? I must admit... your lack of worry over trying to get back to your friends and family was one of the reasons I have been... distant." "...I am unsure if I wish to go back, I had done nothing but sit on a throne for eight hundred years, my universe isn't that old, it is only a few thousand years older than I. When I reached the heights I did... Everything became trivial," he looked her in the eyes. "When I came here and Luna offered to fight with me... It was the most enjoyable day of my life because I had the potential to lose with no cataclysmic stakes. The world would not end if I lost to your sister, and that's what made it truly fun." "I... do not get your fascination with fighting, I have always been appalled by violence, despite seeing it sometimes necessitated." "Then perhaps my next enjoyable activity would be more your style." She hummed inquisitively at his statement, looking at him with confusion. "Later, right now it is too early for any pony to be out and about." He replied to her inquiry. "But I have court lat-" "Celestia, you care about your subjects deeply, I can respect that, but in looking after them, you forget to take care of your own matters. You will open your court for four hours, half the time you normally do." She glared at him. "You are a guest in our lands, I don't think-" "Luna has not had a petitioner for a single moon cycle." This statement caused Celestia to choke back her words. She took a moment to compose herself. "...Why has she not come to me about this?" "Because you are her elder sibling, while she knows she can rely upon you, she wants to impress you, make you proud... She loves you more than you know, despite all you were forced to do to her. But still you are blind to what ails her, neither of us blames you, for we see that you want only the best for the ponies. You solve every problem during your court, and many know they will have time to petition you tomorrow." Celestia instantly knew what Veretus was getting at and lowered her head in sadness. "And so none of them trust my sister enough to solve their problems..." "Not unless they are truly desperate or their plight is urgent." "Very well," she sighed. "I will close court early tomorrow and see what it is you wish to show me." "Thank you Celestia for finally putting aside your mistrust of me." Despite that he deserved it...