//------------------------------// // Truth // Story: Sky Pirate Cowboys // by Ghost wolf //------------------------------// I anticipated for this moment. Not under these conditions of course; I was hoping it would be in a better circumstance, one where we all were happy and that I was on my way home. That is not the case. She should have told me about all of this; I cannot find a fathomable reason not to tell me—She would have to face me one day. Was she going to continue to lie and break it to me down the road? How long would that have been? A month? A year? Ten years? A part of me wants it to be a perilous reason, perhaps she was being threatened by someone powerful or that the moon would blow up if she told me, but it’s just wishful thinking. In the back of my mind, I knew it would be something far less than perilous. I heard nothing for a moment as Princess Luna and I waited for an answer. Eventually, the sound of steady and slow hooves made their way to us, only stopping right at the door. “Guard, it is almost peak hours of the night, what is it?” Celestial said, her usual kind and caring voice was replaced with a gruff and stern one, likely not appreciative of her surprised awakening. “It is your dear sister, Tia. I wish to speak with you about a private matter that deserves attention.” The doors opened as Princess Luna finished her sentence. “A private matter? Could this not have waited until the transition? It’s almost midnight and I’ve had a long da—“ her voice got caught in her throat as she made eye contact with my own. We stood in silence for what felt like hours, staring at one another. You can imagine the face she was making, it was quite a shock for her. I spoke first. “Celestia.” My voice came out much more venomous than I expected, but I didn’t heed it any mind. I had initially wanted to be respectful, but that was tossed aside the moment I saw her. A second bout of rage grew inside of me. She ended her shocked stare as she glanced over to Princess Luna confused. “… Sister? W-what is the meaning of this? Why is he here…?” I must have certainly put her off. “This is Maverick—or Isaac as he was once known. He is our visitor we received during our trials with dimensional dual-linking. I am sure you are well aware of this, though.” Celestia cleared her throat and gave me a side-eye before speaking. “I know who this is, yes. He has been our guest from a crossing dimension. That doesn’t answer my question though, sister. Why are you both here at this time of night?” Is she…? No way. She’s trying to act innocent. I immediately spoke up. “You know exactly why we’re here. When were you going to tell me about it?” I started to tap my claw against the ground anxiously. Wait—maybe out of anger. Celestia paused for a moment before sighing and trotting over to her bed and sat down. We followed her inside and I closed the doors. “…Maverick, please take a seat.” She pointed a hoof at the bed. Her voice was gentle now. “I think I’m good standing. Now explain to me the reasons for this whole thing, please.” I was being quite stern, not really caring about formalities. She gave a face. “Suit yourself. Listen, Maverick… Isaac. You’re right, I do know why you are here. Am I to assume you spoke with SAM-D?” I gave her a nod. “Dr. Spanner to be precise,” I say. She gave a nod back. “Before I continue, please understand my reasoning behind this. Did Dr. Spanner tell you why the project was shut down?” I gave another nod. “Yeah, said it was too dangerous or something. Still doesn’t change the fact you could have told me. It’s been months.” “Yes, well… the reason I shut it down was because of the repercussion that could have happened if we had continued. Our understanding of dimensional duel-linking is limited right now. In simple terms, we are forcefully grinding other dimensions with our own. This grinding can create tears and for that, I decided to suspend any further development and progress. “As for not telling you… I did so because I believed we could still push for the project once we have a better understanding of it. For your sake, I decided that it would be… easier if you thought everything was going smoothly. There wasn’t supposed to be such a long interim, but I had decided it wasn’t worth the risk to send you back and possibly endanger my ponies. I see now that I have made a mistake in not telling you right away, and for that I apologize for not considering your feelings. I hope you understand why I did what I did.” She ended her speech with her head down and eyes closed. That was it. That was the whole reason for this headache. To spare my feelings. What does she think I am? A little fucking kid? “So that’s it? That’s your whole reason for not writing a simple letter? Or spending five minutes of your time to invite me here to tell me? You ghosted me for weeks just because of that? No. That’s a crock of horse shit and I am fucking appalled at your approach on this. You’re like over a thousand years old, but you’re still acting like a small child!” I started to yell. She put her head back up and met my eyes. “Maverick, pleas—“ I cut her off. “No! I don’t want to hear any excuses. Don’t lie to me, or try to coat it. You didn’t tell me because you were ashamed that you couldn’t send me home after promising me that you would. You were embarrassed and thought it would be easier to forget about me. Well, fine. You can forget about me. I’m fucking gone. You can have your bits back, your fucking house back, all of it!” I grab my satchel and throw it towards her and storm out of the room. I felt the steam of anger leave my ears as I made my way out of the castle. The guards tried to stop me to ask what was going on, but I just passed them as continued my out. I only made it to the front gate before hearing the sound of flapping wings above me. Princess Luna made her way down, landing in front of me, blocking me from my exit. “Maverick, please calm yourself. I understand you are angry, but you need to control yourself.” I was tired of it. “Please, princess, just shut the fuck up. I can’t deal with any of this. I should have just stayed in Ponyville and pretended everything was fine.” “No, Maverick. You were right to come here. I am sorry for my sister’s actions, but she is honest about her apologies. Please, come back to the castle and we can discuss this matter more.” She came up to me and placed a hoof on my shoulder. I shrugged it off. “Fuck that, and fuck her. What else is there to discuss? She won’t initiate the project again, not with the dangers it holds. She can’t take back the fact she lied and kept up the charade until we exposed her ass, so what’s the point in talking? I’m going back to Ponyville, Princess. If y’all want to talk to me, you can find me there. Until then, kindly fuck off and tell your sister that she’s a fucking asshole.” I continued my way to the train station, not giving a single look back at the castle. I was mad. I was frustrated. But above most, I was just tired. “Never again. Never again will I trust a single thing out of her mouth. Never again.”