Celestia's Brothers

by CaptainSanchez

The Arrival

Celestia's heart was aflutter, she hadn't seen her brothers in so long… she almost couldn't believe
that they had both accepted! She could hardly wait to see her brothers' bright red eyes again. Terrie
was always so caring, and Nuss was always so incredibly happy! She couldn't decide if she was
happy that she'd see them again, or depressed that it had been so long. She knew that they'd
probably spend more time with Luna, both because they could relate to her better, what with her
having been on the moon for 1,000 years, and because it was Luna's birthday, after all. She just
hoped that they'd all have time to catch up. "Oh well," she thought, "I'd best get ready, they should be
here in a few hours." Celestia left the tower (she had just finished raising the Sun) and trotted
through the castle, heading towards her room. When she arrived, she went immediately to her
wardrobe, thoughtfully considering what was appropriate for greeting Princes that had been in
seclusion for two millennia. After twenty minutes of intense indecision, she realized that her
brothers would probably like it more if she just dressed as she normally did: a crown, some shoes,
and a necklace. Well, she thought, What should I do until Tessie and Nuss get here?

Nightshade still had trouble believing that this was the stallion the Princess had described. She had
told him that her brother was a kind, considerate individual with a short attention span, but the
Alicorn he was traveling with was an incredibly focused individual that seemed to harbor an intense
hatred for other ponies. "But this has to be the him! I mean, how many black and red Alicorns named
Terrestrion can there be in Zebrica?" he said without realizing it. Terrestrion looked at him, snorted a
little, and said, "Only one, Nightshade. I realize that I must seem quite different from how my sister
described me, spending a couple of thousand years alone in a cave will do that to you, but I can
assure you, I am still the Prince of the Land." At this, Nightshade laughed. He noticed
something in the distance, and pointed at it. "Your Highness," he said, "Do you see the big castle
protruding from that mountain?" Terrestrion nodded "That's Equestria's capital, Canterlot."

Aquinus and Silver Wind were much closer to Canterlot than Terrestrion, since Aquinus's island was
much closer to Equestria than Terrestrion's Cave was. Aquinus looked at Silver and said, "So, why
you?"

Silver looked back at him quizzically. "What do you mean, Your Highness?" he said.

Aquinus looked at him, and said, "Out of all the guards, my sister chose you. She's never done
anything without a reason. So why you?"

Silver laughed a little, and said, "Because I'm the guard whose personality is the most like yours, Your Highness!"

Aquinus was puzzled, so he replied with, "But you've done nothing but crack jokes
the entire trip!"

Silver laughed even harder, saying, "And you haven't laughed once! Either the
Princess doesn't remember you too well, or you've changed a whole lot!" At this, Aquinus rolled his
eyes. Tia had a magnificent memory, but he couldn't have changed that much, could he?
Silver noticed their location, and said, "Prince Aquinus, we're almost there."

Celestia was worried. For the first time in almost 900 years, she was genuinely worried. What if Ness is in a bad mood? He can be so irritable when he's in a bad mood. What if he doesn't
recognize me? Wait, I'm the only white Alicorn he knows, why wouldn't he recognize me? She
heard a loud noise, one she hadn't heard in a very long time. Could it be? She looked up. She
saw two of the reddest circles on the planet, surrounded by a field of blue. It is!

She heard her brother speak, "Tia, be honest, I was never that silly, was I?" Celestia was
so thrilled, her face lit up like, uh, a Hearth's Warming tree? She even squee'd, and Princesses
don't squee. Not. Ever.

She wrapped her forelegs around Ness, in a hug that would put even the strongest of bears to
shame. "Tia… stop… can't… breathe…"

Oh, right, I forgot about breathing. "Sorry, Ness. It's just, you never visit, you know?" she said, her face turning from alabaster to cherry in less than a millisecond.

Nightshade looked at Terrestrion, clearly exhausted. "Your Highness?" he said, "I'm afraid we'll
have to walk the rest of the way to the castle."

Terrestrion was puzzled. Now why would we have to do that? thought Terrestrion, "Is
there some kind of restriction over the town's airspace due to Lulu's upcoming party?" the crimson-
and-pitch royal asked.

"Your Highness, My wings are much smaller than yours, and we've been flying for seven
hours straight. You're clearly not tired in the slightest, but my wings can barely hold me anymore,"
said (well… panted) Nightshade.

"Ah, yes," said Terrestrion, finally getting it, "Well, this would be a good chance to meet some
citizens, then, would it not?" I'd really like to me et the parents of that guard that Nightshade said
Cadenza married. What was his name, Shiney Shield or something like that?