//------------------------------// // CH 22 (Truth) // Story: Accepting Change // by drFraud //------------------------------// Patchwork   I slowly trudged forward, enjoying the last of the sun rays before the evening came. I was closing on to Celestia’s castle and its massive gates. The wall surrounding it left little to the imagination as the white castle and its myriad of towers easily rose over it. Squinting my eyes, I could just about spot the pegasi patrols circling the massive building, with my diaphanous wings creating a phantom itch I wanted to scratch. I fluffed my pegasus wings instead and sped up my approach. Velvet offered to accompany me on this little excursion, but I lied, telling her that the whole trip would be short and uninteresting in the first place. But I did promise to bring her over next time. She never did ask me WHY I went to the castle in the first place. The moment I came close enough to the gates one of the guards, a unicorn, left his position to intercept me. “Reason for the visit!” He all but shouted in a gruff voice causing my ears to temporarily pin themselves against my head. I shuffled awkwardly in place for a moment, before answering, “I’m here to visit the Princess.” The guard raised an eyebrow. “I was told that I have free access to the castle at my leisure by Captain Shield Strike.” “State your name and present identification.” Was his response, and I saw some of the onlookers point their hooves at me and whisper to each other. The guard however was an unmoving statue, barely even acknowledging me with so much as a look as it appeared that his eyes were focused on a dot above me. “Patchwork,” I pulled out my identification crystal instead of Night Front one and presented it to him. His horn lit up for a split second and I felt some magic wash over the crystal itself. “Identity confirmed sir; do you need an escort through the castle?” He asked in a much softer tone, and he was looking directly at me this time. It was a welcome change. The whispers from the onlookers became much louder and I decided that it was time to leave before it became uncomfortable. “Yes, please. I honestly have no idea where the Princess even is.” I admitted. “If this is your first visit to the castle it is understandable, sir. Follow me.” He turned around and started walking at an even pace letting me catch up to him easily. The unicorn guard briefly nodded to his pegasus companion, and we entered the castle courtyard proper. The courtyard leading up to the castle was long and winding, with the garden taking up the majority of the space on the sides of the trail. I could hardly see anything on the sides from the foliage but when we finally reached the castle I was blown away. Ignoring the moat and the crystal-clear water surrounding the castle the structure was massive, towering over everything around it. It was a beautiful mess of towers, domes, and triangles with the towers themselves going in whichever way and held only by a corridor connecting them. The whole thing was predominantly white, but the roofs were a nice spiral mix of oranges, gold, and purples giving the whole thing a mystical appearance. What also stood out was the air and the atmosphere of the place. While the atmosphere of the building gave off the vibe of high class and opulence the air was almost heavy with magic making the whole structure feel like its thrumming with power. I could only guess at how many enchantments, runes, spells, and whatnot were involved in its making. Past the moat, and into the building, I was greeted with a long, lavishly decorated, hallway with a plush red carpet running down the middle. There weren’t as many doors as I assumed there would be, but there was a large ornate door at the very end, guarded by two guards. The whole trip was done in silence with only the clop of our hooves following us. The unicorn I was following motioned for me to wait while he approached an earth pony guard. They chatted for a few moments and then I was motioned again to follow. The talk was done in almost a whisper, the motions made barely any sound and I got a feeling that if I spoke I would break some sacred rule of the place. It also felt very, very awkward. Entering one of the side doors I was led down several hallways, past what looked like a busy kitchen, past several towers, and by the time we reached a giant door with Celestia’s mark emblazoned on it, I was exhausted. Not physically, but more mentally. How could she live in a maze-like this without getting lost is beyond me. “I will be leaving you here, sir. The Princess is in her private rooms, and you are expected. Have a nice evening.” He saluted me (without the smack) and left. The door itself was large and was guarded by two heavily armored and armed ponies. Neither of them moved or acknowledged me in any way and the only indication of life was a slow and deep breath both took at nearly the same time. Shrugging I approached the door and knocked. I only waited a few seconds when the door opened and there stood Princess Celestia, in bunny slippers and a pink bathrobe, with her mane tied in a messy ponytail. “Oh, my dear Patchwork, I honestly expected you to arrive a bit later.” She moved to the side and ushered me in with a wing. “I can come by later if you want, Captain never specified…” “Nonsense, you are here now, and that is that. You are always welcome in my home, no matter the time.” The room I entered looked like a private office, but with plenty of charm. The room was oval, with a small, but expensive-looking, desk immediately on the left of the main door. The rest of the room had several pillows strewn about, bookshelves lining the majority of the walls, and a cozy fireplace on the right. There were also two doors leading into other areas, but they were closed, and I didn’t want to make guesses where they led. The room was illuminated by several mage lights that, in tandem with the colorful décor, made the room look comfortable and, above all else, expensive. “You can drop the disguise, my dear. You are free to be yourself here.” She trotted past me with a steaming cup held in her magic from which she daintily took a sip from. “I did not wish to risk it, just in case,” I said dropping the disguise. It felt good being myself again and I buzzed my wings in pleasure, stretching my back like a cat. “There was nothing to risk, I can assure you.” She took another sip from the cup, pulling two large pillows and placing them opposite each other near the fireplace. “The ponies in this castle know who you are and are under oath and a spell to not utter a word outside of these walls.” “Maybe I’m just paranoid then,” I admitted and sat down on the plush yellow pillow. “Just ‘maybe’?” She tittered lying on her pink pillow. “Now, I haven’t seen you in a while; tell me about this filly, if you would.” “I- “I faltered, “Velvet is, fantastic.” I sighed, lowering my head, “I really, really like her. She is constantly stuck in my head, and I look forward to seeing her every time.” I swallowed thickly and looked up at Celestia, readying myself for the plunge, “And that is where I have a problem.” “Problem?” She looked at me astounded, “My dear, from what I have heard and from what you just told me I would wager things are moving ahead swimmingly.” She shook her head and placed the teacup next to her on the floor. “My dear, if something is bothering you, you can just come out and tell me. There is no need to beat around the bush.” I was looking at her for a few minutes, processing what she said. Turning around I looked at the door behind me, then back at her. Swallowing dry I decided to start this with something I practiced for a few days now. “Do you know about this filly?” I asked hoarsely, pulling my strings, and transforming into Sunset Shimmer. I was so sure that the transformation was off, but her reaction proved otherwise. Celestia’s eyes were wide as saucers, her mouth hung open and even her ethereal mane froze mid sway. I even saw a few tears form at the corners of her eyes. Just as her initial reaction came, it disappeared just as swiftly; her eyes narrowed and she pursed her lips, her mane started billowing wildly and with a swift activation of her horn she cast several spells at an incredible speed. She then got up and removed her bathrobe. Lying back down she lifted her teacup and downed it like whiskey. Licking her lips and running her tongue over her teeth she focused on me, eyes drilling into mine. “How do you know about Sunset?” “What happened to her?” I asked. “She disappeared through the mirror about five years ago, we argued, she wanted something from me I couldn’t give her and she… left.” Her voice cracked at that last bit, “So, how do you know about her?” Swallowing again I decided to try another thing, transforming into Twilight Sparkle I used a bit of the nightmare prophecy, “On the longest day, after a thousand years, the stars will aid her escape.” This time Celestia audibly gasped. She didn’t react to Twilight, but the prophecy got her up on her hooves and her horn was ignited. I honestly thought she was going to attack me, but I stayed in place. She suddenly started pacing, muttering to herself all the while. She did that for a few minutes. She also left the room a few times for a minute or so. Suddenly she plopped back onto the pillow in front of me with a teacup and a book in her magic. I thought it was tea, but my nose was assaulted by the scent of wine. She downed it again without even pausing to taste it. “I can,” She started, “somewhat, somehow, put some pieces together on how you know about my Sunset. What I cannot put together, however, is how you know about a prophecy that resides deep within the restricted section of my library.” She put the book she held out in her magic in front of me and opened it. Pointing her hoof at the book I looked down spotting the aforementioned prophecy. We lay there in silence for a few minutes, me reading the whole prophecy and her doing whatever she did. It was so silent in the room that I jumped when she spoke. “My dear, I trust you. For two years I have done my absolute best with you, so please, tell me the truth: How do you know about these things?” I gave it some thought before I looked up from the book and into Celestia's eyes. Sighing I began the tale. … I didn’t tell her everything. Just enough that she could understand how I have this knowledge in the first place, and just enough to understand how I fucked up. She was silent; deathly silent. We have since moved to the bedroom and I was currently looking at Shield Strike who joined us about halfway through the tale. I had to repeat some things, but that was about it. Shield was also quiet, but unlike Celestia, she wasn’t frowning. She just kept nodding her head every few seconds like she was having the most engaging conversation in her head. I looked from Strike to Celestia who was looking out the balcony. She was still frowning, and her jaw was moving. Me, I was terrified, and I was shaking. I did not care about what they would do to me after the fact, but I was utterly terrified about them cutting me off or worse. All the jokes about being my mother aside, Shield Strike and Celestia have been playing the part for most of the time of the last two and a half years. And while the idea of them adopting me did not sit well with me, I was, at least willing to admit that I viewed them as a motherly figure… one that I was always lacking as a human. My mind becoming younger also factored in. Suddenly Strike barked out a laugh loud enough to cause me to jump and Celestia to violently twitch. “Honey, I love you dearly, but what the buck was that about!” Celestia all but shouted in RCV causing my chest to reverberate as she whirled around to face her wife. “I just…” She snerked, “You are both being ridiculous.” “Excuse me!?” Celestia stomped forward and I started shying back, but a large red mass stepped in front of me. “Look at you, Sunshine.” She pointed a hoof at her, “You are so shaken up about this that you aren’t even seeing a bigger picture.” “Bigger picture? I just found out that the future of this country has been put on a tittering edge over a possibility that has been all but lost.” “You think I wanted this to happen?” I asked in a half shout with my voice wavering halfway through. “Be quiet you,” came the soft voice of Shield Strike. “But…” “Nopony is blaming you directly for this my dear, but the fact remains that your actions have set things in motion careening off some carefully laid tracks.” Celestia’s voice was stern and unyielding. “But you are blaming him!” Shouted Shield, she started puffing up her fur and I could feel the room is getting saturated in magic. I could taste red on my tongue. “Maybe not directly but you are blaming him.” “He is partially responsible for what has happened. Had we known…” “Had we have known you would have done what? Send him who knows where and kept him away from everything?” I could feel her grinding her teeth and I wanted to be anywhere but here. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but I was suddenly being ushered towards the exit by Captain Strike. She was very gentle about it, and I reluctantly let her do it. When we reached the outside hallway Strike closed the door and sighed turning to me. “I’ll talk to her in a moment, I just wanted to remove you from the shouting match.” “I could have said something, you know.” I was berating myself in my head for my cowardice. I should have done something, but the moment things have become serious I did the one thing I almost always did; I froze up and pulled away from the conflict.  “Nothing you could have said would have fixed it, believe me, you don’t get at her age without becoming as stubborn as the mountain we are sitting on.” Shield opened the door and was about to go back to clean my mess when she turned her head. “Go back to the academy, she will come to talk to you when her head is clear. Trust me, she will apologize to you. Even better, go to your filly, maybe some fun in the hay ought to help ya.” “Hey!” I protested, but she closed the door with a barking laugh. ‘What happened there?’ I asked myself. I haven’t frozen like that in a long while. Tartarus I am an adult, younger mind or not. “You guys wouldn’t know of a way to fix a mess with a mare you may or may not view as a mother?” I stupidly asked the guards at the door. As if they would answer me. “I would suggest you leave the matter to the Captain, sir. Nopony knows the Princess better than Captain Strike.” Answered a mare on the left of the door. “Worst comes to worst I suggest you come back tomorrow and apologize if you think you messed up that badly.” I nodded my head twice, thanked the good mare for the advice, and left to see Velvet, maybe Strike was right and all I needed was a loving hug. I had to double back and ask for directions.   Celestia I was lying in my bed, looking at my wife’s sleeping form. I extended my wing and gently ran it through her mane causing her to stir, but not wake. She swatted at the wing and blindly grabbed my left foreleg, pulling it towards her. I have been mulling over our argument ever since I have, reluctantly, admitted I may have handled the situation poorly. In truth I have been looking for the next element bearers for centuries, always coming close, but ultimately failing. Sunset was a potential candidate, but… In the end, to see a future possibility lost like this was a frustrating thing to learn, but I should never have let Patchwork feel the brunt of my frustration. Millenia passed and I am still that stubborn, blind, foolish filly that chased her sister into darkness. Patchwork was not at fault here. He did not arrive at this world of his own volition, he most certainly did not plan to shake the future of the country by running into a filly, and he definitively did not… ‘I am still bitter about all that I guess,’ I thought. “He does deserve an apology though,” I whispered to nopony in particular. I did not wish to chase away another… pony like I did Sunset. Patchwork isn’t her, but the fact still stands; if I don’t apologize he may come to resent me… himself, he will resent himself and it will cause him to lose something wholly precious. “Why do I keep doing this, my love? Why do I not learn my lessons?” I whispered into the room. My wife frowned for a moment and nuzzled the hoof she held. I pulled the hoof back and gently pulled her closer to me with my wings. She hugged me tightly causing me to sigh and hug her back. My mind was still too jumbled to sleep, I waited for morning thinking of the future, making plans, and thinking of the best way to apologize.   Patchwork   Opening my eyes, I spotted two things that caused my heart to stop: a strange new room, and Velvet’s sleeping face inches from mine. I quickly ran through my memory from last night and breathed a sigh of relief; nothing happened. Or at least, nothing about which I should worry. While I do love Velvet, and while I would like to scratch that particular itch with another person for the first time in a while, I still held the opinion that two dates and about one month together are just passably enough. Maybe after the third official date. I gently pulled myself out of the guest bed I was given, made a note at the time, and slowly made my way out of the room. “Where are you going?” Came a gentle murmur from beneath the covers. I turned around and felt my breath hitch in my throat. She looked beautiful in the night light, mussed-up mane, soft glowing blue eyes… I wanted nothing more than to crawl back into the covers and hug her, whispering sweet nothings into her ears. But I have never missed practice, even when I got that cold a few months back. “I’m sorry, love,” I apologized approaching the bed and giving her a gentle nuzzle she eagerly reciprocated, “but I got ‘a be back at the academy by seven or I’ll get in trouble.” “’s not fair,” she mumbled, and I gave her another nuzzle and a kiss. I thought that would appease her for a moment, but she reached her hooves around my head pulling me closer and deepening the kiss. I knew where this was going, I felt her body heat up, and unsurprisingly I felt my heat start to come up. I had a choice to make, and I could feel my heart making my decision for me. “Wait here,” she broke the kiss and left the room. For a moment I considered just leaving, but I had a very dry four years. Honestly, I was tired of self-pleasure and… The door opened and closed again, and Velvet pranced over to the bed, dropping a very familiar-looking packet on the nightstand, and jumped onto the bed lying on her back. She opened her legs wide, and I about lost my mind. Note to self, I need to thank her mother somehow for the flexibility lessons. … I still can’t believe I managed to leave the house without anyone stopping me. I’m almost ninety percent sure her parents knew what was going on. Flying through the air, I was still slightly shivering from the early shower after our escapade. I made sure that I got the smell off of me. ‘Guess it’s true in a sense, eagerness trumps experience in some respects,’ I felt my cheeks heat up and I had to struggle to not bring up the memory again. Shaking my head, I landed in the training area of the academy and was about to join my mates who were starting to take positions when I spotted a very familiar white coat not far from them making observations. ‘What is Celestia doing here?’ I asked myself while making a small detour heading straight for her. I could hear a hush fall over my team as I approached her, but I paid them no mind. I ran over several scenarios in my head, and I decided that I would not take her attitude if she decided to continue from last night. “Night Front, my dear.” She gleefully approached me and gave me a light nuzzle that I returned hesitantly. I noticed that my hesitation made her wince slightly, but it was expertly hidden with a giggle. “Princess,” I greeted her back, understanding where my current situation is. Her being friendly is one thing, me being friendly back would send a whole lot of issues my way… as if this isn’t going to result in hundreds of questions later. “Come we need to talk for a bit.” She extended her right-wing and slowly ushered me to the side and away from prying ears. “I wish to apologize for last night.” She started as I turned around spotting Stiff Edge approaching and barking out orders. “Its… fine.” It wasn’t fine, but I think she got the gist of it from my hesitation. “No, no it is not.” She shook her head slowly, “I should never have blamed you for something like this, I should have never put the weight of a country’s future on your shoulders when you have done nothing to warrant it.” “But it is partially my fault…” “The only thing you are at fault is trying to… Yes, lieutenant?” “Will this take long your Highness? We need to begin soon.” I spotted the rest of my team whispering among themselves while Stiff Edge stood in front of us. “No lieutenant, this won’t take long at all. Give us five minutes and I will let Patchwork go back to his training. I might even spectate a bit, my wife has high hopes for him.” “Very good ma’am. I will leave you to it.” We watched him get back to barking out his orders getting everyone to quiet down and face forward. “Now, as I was saying, my dear, the only thing you are at fault is for trying to take the blame for something you have no reason to blame yourself for.” “But…” “No buts,” she giggled, “you are not at fault here, Patch, not now, nor ever. Not for your heart, not for your behavior, and certainly not for being here, in this world. None of it is your fault.” Sighing heavily, I lowered my head and nodded. A kiss on my forehead got me to raise my head and give a shy smile. “So, why don’t you go back to your exercise, my son.” “Oh, my stars above,” I groaned, “She told you!” I nearly shouted putting my head in my hooves. Celestia’s melodious laugh was the only thing heard across the practice yard.