//------------------------------// // 52: The Age of Mending Has Begun // Story: A Clash of Magic and Steam // by law abiding pony //------------------------------// The banquet hall had become a lavish affair backed by royal coin. Gold and silver streamers lined the ceiling and the mahogany serving table was ladened with foods of every flavor on silver and gold dishes. Word had spread of the purpose of Twilight’s return long before the mare had set hoof on the train, so nobility and ponies of means had flocked to Canterlot and now found themselves here.  The guests were seated at six-pony round tables with tablecloths that were magically decorated to be the sun on one side and the moon on the other. Seated at the front of it all upon a raised platform was a straight table for the royal family, including the in-laws. Lighting everything were floating suns and moons from stem to stern.  Twilight was collecting some peach cobbler when her eyes once more drifted over the decorations. She winced at how many moons there were, and leaned into her mother’s ear. “Mom, are you sure this sort of décor is proper?  There’s only nine of us, and I feel as though I’m going to a Nightmare Night party, not an official dinner with the queen.” “Oh pish posh my dear,” Velvet moved her plate to one side so she could give Twilight a reassuring pat on the back. “The queen and Caddy are trying to make moons in vogue in light of the peace embassy.”  She leaned into Twilight’s ear while keeping an eye on those around them. “But you’re right it’s dreadfully tacky; it’s not really for our benefit, but for Luna when she and Celestia dream-visit tonight.”  Velvet leaned away as her daughter gave a nod of understanding if not approval.  “She does do that right?  The whole dream visiting thing?” Twilight was in the midst of debating if she should get more mashed potatoes and gravy when she heard the question. With a half mortified, surprised look, she turned to her mother.  “Of course she does. Wait have you been going this whole time thinking Celestia has been lying?”  Suddenly paranoid about eavesdroppers, Twilight scanned her surroundings and found no less than five ponies intently listening in. Twilight swung around Velvet and carefully used a wing to pull her further down the line. “Mother, isn’t that a dangerous question to speak so loudly?” “Perhaps,”  Velvet sighed as the scones she had been eyeing fell out of reach. “But it would do her Majesty some good to have another verify such tales. Since Luna does not visit any of us.”  Before Twilight could get a word in, Velvet moved on to the table of honor.  “Besides, dear, the fillies will love the theme.” Ultimately deciding to ignore her mother’s audacity, Twilight scanned both the two alicorns at the table, finding no children among them, then to the kid’s table nestled on the northern corner of the room.  Only a scant few nobles had brought their own children, and used it merely as an excuse to rub wings with Flurry Heart. For all the good it will actually do between five year-olds.  Of the dozen children there, not one of the twins nor Flurry Heart were present. A note of concern washed over Twilight.  She was halfway to the table now, and her eyes scanned back the opposite way, and caught sight of a familiar curly pink mane.  Focusing in, she spotted Pinkie Pie sticking her head out from the door behind the guest of honor table.  Pinkie saw her at the same time and silently and frantically beckoned Twilight over. Twilight’s worries doubled and she set her plate down, bowed politely to the alicorn and excused herself before sliding over to her sister for a quiet word.  “What’s wrong?” “This.”  Pinkie pulled Twilight inside to reveal the three fillies being distracted by a game of paddicake with Rainbow Dash. “Where are their dress-” She paused as she caught sight of Flurry and Spring’s ink covered faces. “-ses… Pinkieee!  Why do they look like they just robbed a bank?!” “Because Prism kinda tried?” Pinkie cringed at the enraged pegacorn.  “Look, I know it's a problem, but we really should be solution oriented.  I suggest inviting the foals to hoofpainting, and claim they did it to themselves, which isn’t a lie.” “Twilight,” Night Light called from the ballroom, “the speech is about to start.” A staffer stepped up and politely tried to escort the fillies to the kid’s table, only to pause at the ink. Yet the stallion acted quickly, giving Twilight a knowing nod before leading the girls away.  Twilight dearly wanted to fix the problem, but one look at Celestia was all she needed to realize Celestia was about to take her seat. So Twilight took her place a bit too quickly for the crowd of forty eight nobles waiting to eat in front of her.  So she stood by her chair with Pinkie quickly going to her own. Celestia noted the late arrival to the kids’ table first and the state of the fillies’ faces before turning her head to see her guests of honor were finally in place.  Internally, she amended her speech. “Ladies and gentlecolts, today is a day to remember. Close to a thousand years ago, my sister and I saved the known world by defeating Discord, and barely sixty years later, we tore it asunder.”  She turned towards the children and magically grabbed Flurry Heart and Spring Roll and pulled them over. She gave Flurry a calming kiss on the forehead and rubbed Spring’s cheek for the same reason.  Twilight and Pinkie were mortified that the ink was on full display, while Shining Armor and Cadence were no better and went wide eyed at the sight of it before turning to a red faced Twilight for answers. There was hardly a soul there that wasn’t laughing.  Celestia took a little pleasure in rotating the children to distract them so the three parents were the only one dying from embarrassment. “Like these silly fillies, we too ended up with ink on our faces that miserable day.”  She floated over some cookies and when the kids grabbed them she floated them back to the kids’ table.  “Unlike those fillies, our failures have cost all of us dearly.” Impassioned speech or not Cadence couldn’t help but to shoot Pinkie a stern eye. I don’t know, dealing with a half-shaved child isn’t exactly going to be fun either. Celestia pressed on, ignorant of the annoyed couple on one side and the two nervously embarrassed sisters on the other. “This constant warfare between ponykind must stop!”  The force of her declaration gave her honored guests a welcome distraction. “So it is with great satisfaction that Luna and I will be exchanging peace envoys on a permanent basis. This small seed will grow in the sunlight of Harmony. With this act, I declare the Age of Strife has come to an end.”  She raised her glass up high for all to see. “May there be peace in our time!” The crowd joined the toast and started cheering Celestia’s name with a boisterousness that could rival a stadium.  Later that night, Twilight was reading a bedtime story for the twins.  Spring Roll was already fast asleep and Prism was hugging her tightly and was moments from drifting off as well.  As precious as they were to her, Twilight still cringed at Spring’s stained face. I suppose it’s too late to claim she’s a pinto.  She sighed in defeat. I'll have to have her shaved sometime tomorrow. Gentle hoofsteps pulled her attention to the door. Pinkie Pie waved from the door with Cadence poking her head out from behind. Neither wanted to wake the twins, a sentiment Twilight shared, so she quietly stepped out into the hallway and shut the door. She found the hallway was bereft of staffers.  Cadence began everything with a half amused, half annoyed snort. “I’ve been meaning to take a holiday, and tonight was as good of a reason as any.” With her ears down in apology, Pinkie expected a lecture from Twilight at some point. “At least the dinner went well.  I never knew Celestia was such a good orator.” Deciding that Cadence had probably laid into Pinkie enough, Twilight decided to have mercy and change the subject. “Indeed.  Where’s my brother?” Cadence however, had no such inclination of mercy. “He has Flurry under a sleep spell so he can shave her. That aside though - I have to share Celestia’s sentiments. I’m glad the Sisters want peace. Even if Luna’s really only doing it so she can colonize her new territory.” Giving a sympathizing grin, Twilight glanced to the east. “Luck willing, by the time we’re done digesting it all, any calls for reconquest will have withered away.”  She returned her gaze back to her family. “I still can’t believe that Rarity of all ponies is going to be your envoy.” Cadence hummed in agreement. “I know what you mean. But she wants somepony she can trust implicitly to keep from stirring the pot.  Rarity’s handling of your countrymares in the Mirage is what led to her decision.  Now the only question is who will take up your side of things.” Pinkie took a deep breath. She had steeled herself to withstand one heated argument today, and that had been spent on the dye fiasco. “I am.” “What?!” Twilight cried out in somewhere between astonishment and panic.  “Pinkie, I need you with me back home!” While her ears went limp, Pinkie kept an apologetic smile and braced her sister with a hoof. “Twilly, it’s only going to be for a year. After that I’ll rotate back home.” “For what it’s worth, I think it is a grand idea.”  Cadence met Twilight’s withering gaze with a flat one of her own.  “Who better to assure everypony Luna is serious if not the Voice of the Empress herself being the first?” “Eclipse could have worked just fine,” Twilight countered weakly. The moment the words left her mouth she knew she was being selfish. The guilt of that instantly tore at her.  Pinkie nuzzled Twilight’s neck, taking comfort from the familiar touch. “I need to do this, Twilly. You’ve always been good to me, you gave me a chance to be more than a servant, but after seeing how your parents were…”  Pinkie pulled back, her usual good cheer failing and her hair going straight. “Enstripement left us all damaged, Twilight. The scars may be more obvious on ponies like me. I still have times when I wake up feeling the stripe’s ghostly pull on me. But there are scars here too. Self-inflicted though they may be, they are no less destructive.” Cadence leaned in with a heavy heart. “Suicide rates skyrocketed after the Red Pronouncement, and that’s just part of the trauma. You remember how ubiquitous it all was. For most, it was like being told eating carrots was a cardinal sin all along. The common pony, the aristocracy, everypony could finally see what you, I, and every abolitionist movement had from the very beginning.”  Cadence stepped in a bit closer. “A society can’t just walk away from that.  The cheer I saw in that room tonight was probably the most I’ve seen combined in the year prior. I think of all ponies, a former servant is the perfect candidate to allow us to heal.  I say more should take her place once her rotation is complete.” “I had no idea…”  Twilight sank onto her rump, and her eyes staring off into the void. “I was so focused on my work and whatever tasks Luna gave me.”  She blinked as she realized something. “Luna never said a word of this to us.” “I’m not surprised. Celestia didn’t want Luna feeling compelled to agree to this out of pity. She believed it would undermine the envoy’s mission away from what was on the tin.” “I wish you had told me sooner,” Twilight declared with raised ire. “I may be Lunarian, but I remember where I came from. I could have convinced Luna to do this sooner.” “I wanted to, but Celestia forbade it.”  Cadence sighed heavily and shook her head. “We all have hills we’ll die on, and this was Celestia’s. She keeps looking long term and big pictures. I have to constantly remind her that the big picture is a mosaic made of little pictures.  Small forces here and there can move mountains.”  With a begrudgingly amused snort, Cadence waved a wing towards the sleeping fillies. “The foolishness of three fillies gave Celestia a chance to change her speech for the better. Her words, by the way.” Pinkie giggled at the ink, even if the embarrassment still weighed on her. “See, some good came of it.” At first, Twilight gave the comment an exasperated sigh. “More like adapting to a situation.”  Then the longer she stared daggers at Pinkie, the quicker she realized she couldn’t stay mad. “We have a big week planned, and you and make it up to me by being the one to shave her.” It was early afternoon the next day when Twilight found herself in a carriage with Pinkie and her parents. They were going through the busy streets of Canterlot headed towards an apothecary for some fur growth ointment.  Twilight was looking out of the window, watching the various buildings move on by. Pinkie Pie was leaning against her and watching the streets as well, searching for changes since she was last here. Twilight’s wing was wrapped around Pinkie in an absent minded hug. Velvet was doing much the same thing with Night Light, only her attention was on her daughter. “It all just looks so strange.” Raising an eyebrow, Twilight realized the statement was directed at her and turned her head, an act that made Pinkie sit back. “What do you mean?” Velvet fished around in her purse and withdrew a picture and gave it to Twilight. It was a birthday party with Twilight receiving a new dress with Pinkie diligently standing close by holding two others she had already received. “That was your nineteenth birthday.  And you haven’t aged a day.” Holding the picture in close, Twilight might as well have been staring into a black and white mirror. “I suppose so. It’ll be a long time before I see wrinkles.”  It was only then that she focused on the old Pinkie, and then looked at her sister. There wasn’t much of a difference, Pinkie was still a fair bit off from thirty. But she could see it now.  Twilight was older by a year, and yet now she looked like Pinkie was noticeably the older sister. A surge of unease washed over her now more than ever with Pinkie leaving for a year.  For her part, Pinkie Pie tried to ignore the stripe in her old reflection and focused on the event itself. “I remember this one, you got that ugly sour green dress and shoes as a mean joke. Sour Milk gave it to you, I think.”   “Yes, I think it was her if memory serves,” Night Light added with a derisive huff. “Never did like the nag.  What Rich sees in her I’ll never understand.” The carriage came to a stop in front of the first apothecary on the list. The two elders moved to depart when Twilight spoke up. “Mom, dad, go on ahead, we’ll catch up.” While Night Light saw nothing out of the ordinary, Velvet got a feeling the unease in her daughter was because of the picture. Frowning at herself for causing distress, she resolved to make it up to her later. “Okay, dear. I love you.” “Love you too.”   Pinkie watched the doors close before giggling. “Are you thinking of a bit of revenge?”  Her train of thoughts were derailed when Twilight grasped her in a bear hug, almost squeezing the air out of her lungs. “Twi?” Her humor changed once she saw her sister was crying. Pinkie was quick to hug her back. “Come on, the dress was ugly, but at least you never had to wear it.” “Please stop aging.”  The pain in Twilight’s voice was doubled as her mind knew it was an impossible request, even as her heart begged for it to be real.  Trying to defuse the tension, Pinkie nuzzled Twilight’s mane, even if it meant she’d have to comb it again. “Come on, Twilly, I don’t even have any gray hairs yet.” “But you will!”  Twilight didn’t want to let go for fear of possibly seeing a piece of gray Pinkie could be ignoring or didn’t notice.  Adopting a sympathetic expression, Pinkie gently pried Twilight’s forelegs and wings off of her, and held her hooves in between them. “Twilly, do you really think I would let something like death keep us apart?” Confusion muddled Twilight’s sniffles. “What do you mean?” Waggling an eyebrow, Pinkie became more animated. “When my time at Terra’s wheel comes, I’ll find my way back to you. I’ll march right up to him, and say ‘sir! Put me back in whatever life you must, but only one from which I can return to my sister!’” Twilight couldn’t help but to laugh at the absurdity of it all. “And you think Terra would agree?” “I can be very persuasive,” Pinkie countered with a knowing grin before she shook Twilight’s hooves enough to rock her sister entirely. “I may not remember this life, or even why I belong at your side, but rest assured, I will always find you again and again until we both see Terra together.” A weary smile crossed Twilight’s muzzle as she pulled a hoof free to wipe her tears away. “You really think you can do it?” “I pinkie promise. Now let’s go, we still have this life together, and there’s no point in fretting such things.”