“But Tia, why do we have to work?”
The small foal’s voice echoed slightly around the sleeping chamber as Celestia got off the low, stiff bed she had been given to sleep on, which was a far sight better than anything else the two had slept on that they could remember. The bell that Haven used to keep track of time had just chimed its seventh and final note – The guards had told them that the seventh morning bell was called the ‘Wake Up Bell’ – and the two fillies were still dragging themselves into the waking world. Celestia frowned at Luna as the younger sister rolled over onto her back in bed, her head hanging upside-down off the edge of the pallet.
“You know why Lulu” She replied. “Our stay in Haven hasn’t just been given to us. We have to help out and earn our stay here. Otherwise they won’t want to keep us around.” Luna gave a gasp of shock, and a look of horror crossed her face as she leapt out of bed and almost crashed into Celestia in her hurry, a look of desperate pleading in her eyes.
“You don’t mean they’ll throw us out do you?” Celestia breathed and exasperated sigh, and wrapped a foreleg around her young sister, and pulled her into a close hug.
“If we do what we’re told, and don’t make any trouble for anypony, I’m sure they’ll keep us around. We just have to prove that we can be useful.” Luna’s horror turned to grim determination, and her face adopted a look which declared that she would do any task they set her. Celestia felt much the same. They had been given shelter and food, and had done nothing so far to deserve it.
It had been several days since their arrival in the bustling underground metropolis. The room they had been assigned was little more than a square box dug into the mud-coloured ground, braced with stone supports on the rough walls and ceiling, and contained nothing more than two pallets for beds, a low stone table cut out of the same rock as the floor – which currently bore host to a few plates and cups; remnants of the previous night’s meal – and a small side-room for a bathroom. They had been left more or less alone the entire time, with the exception being the pony that brought their meals, who was a small, brown-coated stallion, barely older than a colt, who never stayed long enough for Celestia to strike up a conversation. She wanted to ask about Haven, about The Sanctuary, about the Council; about such a huge number of subjects she didn’t even have time to decide which to ask before the pony dropped off his delivery and scampered out the door.
The complete absence of anypony aside from each other to talk to, combined with the fact that they had been told absolutely nothing about what they could and could not do in Haven, which made them scared to even set hoof outside their door, caused the sisters an immense amount of boredom. They had spent the last three days doing nothing but sit in their rooms eating the meals of dry hay and some sort of vegetable soup that were brought to them.
Celestia had finally decided that she needed to do something. Her limbs itched with the need for action, and her muscles ached from the sudden transition from constant use to sudden inaction. Her mind found itself with more time to think than subjects to actually think about. Even Luna had nothing else to say that hadn’t been said already.
Celestia had kept the continuing mentions of prophecy from her sister, as well as the strange carving she had seen on the wall near the city entrance. She didn’t even know what it all meant, nor if any of it was even relevant to them. There was no need to worry the little foal now that they had finally found a place where they could be completely safe, without the need to sleep with an eye open for danger; a place where they were given enough food, without having to scavenge dirty tubers and bulbs from the ground and still have a hollow feeling in their stomachs afterwards.
The memories of the constant empty stomach, and fear for their lives, made Celestia shudder; it was behind them now, and there was no need to worry about it anymore, unless they got themselves thrown out of Haven, which was an eventuality the filly decided she would do everything in her power to prevent; but she needed to get out and do something. Even if it was only exploring the tunnels around their immediate residence, she was determined that this day wouldn’t be another to go to waste.
She was just about to act on her burst of courage and determination, when there was a knock on the stone beside their ‘door’. Because of the incredible shortage of trees in the waste, absolutely no wood was spared for things like doors or tables or chairs, so the sister’s only means of privacy was a sheet of opaque cloth fastened over the door-sized hole in the wall, which could be unclasped on one side and drawn across to allow entry. Celestia sighed.
Just another food delivery I guess, though he’s an hour or so early this morning, she thought as she moved towards the door to greet the usual pony, but when she drew the cloth door back, she was confronted by a blue-green coated mare with an uncouth but well-kept purple mane which fell in a wavy cascade down one side of her face, and a cutie mark featuring a dark raincloud with a single beam of golden sunlight shooting down from it. The Pony was well toned, with strong muscles and a solid frame, and her steely, knowing, aqua-coloured eyes spoke of a sizeable level of intellectual strength as well. It was during the study of the visitor’s face that Celestia finally connected the dots, and gasped loudly as she realised who this pony was.
“Good morning Celestia!” exclaimed Glimmer as the white filly gaped at her. Celestia shook her head, her frazzled case of bedmane causing her hair to bounce around her face and get in her eyes. Her head clear of the haze, but her vision obscured by her mane, she dashed forward and all but threw herself at her friend, and was on the verge of tears of happiness at seeing the Sentinel again, mixed with the joy of finally having somepony to talk to. Thoughts of her sister calmed her a little; she had to be strong in front of the foal; she had to keep her spirit up, and keep Luna confident.
Her mind calmed, Celestia wrapped her forelegs around Glimmer, and squeezed her in a tight embrace. Luna held no such restraints, and Celestia barely had time to get out of the way before a small blue shape tore past, and slammed itself into the iron-hard wall of pony in the doorway. Glimmer let herself be tackled to the ground under the barely noticeable weight of the small foal, and laughed and giggled along with her as they hugged. Celestia smiled; glad to see her sister so happy again.
She’s finally acting like her old self.
She froze…
The thought was sudden, unexpected, and the filly wasn’t sure where it came from. Was her subconscious remembering something from her past? How had Luna acted before? Why couldn’t she distinctly remember anything? Scores of questions shot through her mind, each one bringing more and more uncertainties. She was so caught up in her thoughts that it wasn’t until she felt a hoof rest itself on her shoulder that she realised Glimmer was trying to talk to her.
“Sorry!” she exclaimed, jumping with surprise. “What?” Glimmer laughed, and Celestia saw that the armourless Sentinel had hoisted Luna up onto her back.
“I said; how have you been doing these last few days?” Glimmer repeated. It still took Celestia a few seconds to comprehend the question as her mind reeled with the repercussions of the thought that had come unbidden into her mind. When she finally caught a grasp on the situation at hoof, she shook her head again.
“Honestly” she replied, “we’ve been bored out of our skulls.” Glimmer released another burst of laughter, and ruffled Celestia’s bedraggled mane with her hoof. “Nopony has told us anything, other than that we have another three days with nothing to do” the filly continued. “Not even the pony who delivers our meals will stay long enough for me to talk to him.”
“Well” Glimmer began, looking down at the dejected filly with a motherly expression in her eyes. “The council decided that, after everything you’ve been through, you could use several days to recuperate.” The soldier studied Celestia from head to hoof, and noted that all the filly’s cuts, bruises and scratches were all healed, and her mane wasn’t anywhere near as horrifically dishevelled as it had been several days ago, though it was still unruly. A quick glance at Luna showed her that all of the foal’s injuries were gone too.
“You have recovered remarkably quickly little ones; we thought you would be bedridden for half a week at the least.” Celestia glanced over herself quizzically. Only having memories as recent as the past several weeks, she had no idea how quickly a pony was supposed to heal, but she had noticed that after that first decent night’s rest, she had felt marvellously rejuvenated. She had simply put it down to finally having a place to rest and be safe.
“How long are you going to be here?” Luna asked, her small voice perking up from behind Glimmer’s neck.
“Well, I’ve been given several days of time off myself” she replied, and Luna made a loud squee noise and threw her tiny forelegs around Glimmer’s muscular neck. “I’m not the kind of pony who likes to lie around and do nothing though” she continued. “So I volunteered to show you two around Haven, and teach you all the things you need to know to fit in here. Just some basic etiquette stuff, emergency contingencies, things like that.” Celestia couldn’t help but move up and hug the Sentinel pony again as they lay down in a circle, Luna hopping off Glimmer’s back to join in.
It was several hours into the day before Glimmer was satisfied enough with the sisters’ progress to let them outside. The Sentinel had instructed them on a great number of things, from how to address other ponies they had not met, to which titles to use for the Council ponies, to where they were and were not allowed to go.
“For now, you had best keep between the Great Entrance Hall and this housing block” Glimmer had instructed them. “Many other areas are not fit for an unwary filly to wander into.” Celestia had sighed at this, and Luna dropped her head. They had known there were probably areas that they weren’t supposed to go, but confining them to the huge cavern they had seen when they walked in, and their rooms? The remainder of the week was going to be a painful experience.
“What kinds of places are there that we shouldn’t be going?” Luna asked, curiosity and adventure glistening in her eyes, but Glimmer shook her head.
“A great many things from sensitive agricultural facilities to construction sites” she replied. “An inexperienced pony may accidentally ruin some of the finer experiments into food growth and water constitution, and a tunnel under construction is no place for a filly.” The excitement died in the small filly’s eyes, and Celestia couldn’t help but move over and give her a squeeze. Seeing the disappointment in her young charge’s eyes, Glimmer hastily continued.
“But, I’m going to be around to keep you two out of trouble until you’re capable of getting about Haven yourselves without causing an incident.” Luna’s ears perked up at this, and the look the filly gave the Sentinel was one of pure joy, which matched the expression in her voice when she spoke.
“Oh Glimmer, thank you!” She exclaimed, wriggling about in Celestia’s forelegs in excitement, and Glimmer smiled at the display of exuberance.
“How long will you spend with us?” Celestia perked up from behind the neck of her excited sister.
“I’ll be meeting you every morning, and leaving every afternoon up until you start your assigned work tasks.” The soldier replied. Another mention of work perked Luna’s curiosity enough to settle the filly’s squirming.
“What kind of work will we be doing?” the inquisitive foal asked.
“Well” Glimmer began, pausing for a moment to think before continuing. “I’m not sure exactly what tasks you’ll be given, but it could be anything from helping out the older ponies, to serving in the kitchens; there’s no telling what you’ll get. You’ll also probably be enrolled in magic and flight schools, seeing as neither of you have shown any inclination to even try and use magic or fly since I’ve met you.” Celestia stretched out her wings, which she usually forgot she had, and prodded her horn with a hoof.
“I’ve never really thought about using magic or flying” the while filly conceded. “It never really seemed important after hiding and finding food to eat.” The filly sisters’ stalwart companion nodded her head in understanding. She was no stranger to the waste, and while the ability to cast magic and fly would have undoubtedly helped the two fillies during their time in the harsh wilderness, it was no place for their first experiment with magic.
“Well, little ones, you’re safe here in Haven, so there’s no sense in both of you not learning to use your wings and horns.” Noticing a shuffling under her forelegs, Celestia glanced down to see that Luna had started wriggling again, the excitement of learning to cast spells and fly clearly racing through her veins as her head shook, making her light-blue mane fly in a wild halo around her head. The safety and security of Haven had clearly gone to her head.
Not that Celestia blamed the little filly for getting caught up in the excitement of finally having a place to stay, with beds to come back to every night, and food to eat when they were hungry. She was just happy that they finally had no reason to worry about beasts sneaking up behind them at night, or soulless Ponies trying to capture them. She knew that here, Luna was safe, so she was content.
“Can we try magic now?” piped up Luna’s small voice from below Celestia’s forelegs. Glimmer cocked her head to one side, raising an eyebrow thoughtfully, and Celestia herself was surprised; only half because Luna was eager enough to try without a teacher. The other half was that she had not had the thought herself.
“I suppose there’s no harm in trying” Glimmer replied. “I’m no Unicorn, but I know the basics, and I know there’s nothing harmful in attempting small magics like levitation with no tutelage.” Luna’s excitement impossibly seemed to grow, to the point where Celestia was sure she was about to shed her skin. The Sentinel glanced around the room, searching, and when her eyes rested on the two clay mugs that the sisters had been using, she smiled.
“Ok, focus on your drinking mug.” Celestia complied, and turned her attention to the cup on the right. Luna crawled out from underneath her to get a better view on the mug on the left. “Now” Glimmer continued. “Close your eyes, and feel deep within yourself. You’ve both got horns, so this should come quite naturally to you. You should be able to feel the flow of energy, of magical power through your body.” Celestia, eyes closed, searched for this flow, and found it almost immediately. If she had to put it to words, she would have described it as a torrent of sparkling, blazing golden light, filling her very being. It was a euphoric experience, and it filled her with a giddy excitement and joy. The small giggles coming from beside her said that Luna felt the same.
“When you have found the flow, tap into its potential, and direct its power up though your horn. Using this magical energy, focus on your cup, and will it to lift off the table top.” Glimmer’s words seemed to echo around Celestia’s head, and she was hyper-aware of everything in the vicinity. She felt the small flaws in the stone floor under her hooves; she heard ponies talking in rooms down the hallway. She smelled the dust in their air, still not completely gone after residing in a room of such prolonged disuse.
There was also another sensation. It was a sensation she had felt only once before; when they had been attacked by the Soulless Unicorn, the Agent of Chaos, on the trek to Haven. It was different though. She still had the tingling sensation throughout her body, but absent was the nauseous feeling she had gotten in the pit of her stomach, which had warned her that the spell the Chaos Agent had been casting was hostile. She did not quite understand why she was getting this feeling until she noticed the left-hoof cup – Luna’s mug – was surrounded in a dark blue, transparent glow. Looking at Luna herself, she noticed the foal’s horn shared the aura.
“Well done Luna, well done!” Glimmer exclaimed as the cup slowly and shakily lifted itself off the table top. It rose, wobbling dangerously, to half a pace above the surface of the table before, under Glimmer’s instruction, Luna slowly lowered it again until it settled back with a hollow plonk. Luna was overjoyed.
“Celestia, I did it! I did it!” The foal jumped circles around the older sister, laughing with joy. Celestia smiled, and caught the filly in her forelegs and gave her a congratulatory hug.
“Well done Lulu, you did great.” In the back of Celestia’s mind was the tiniest hint of jealousy that her sister had achieved it before she had, but her much more dominant sensible part overrode it with a swift and harsh reprimand.
She’s your sister! Her rational side chastised. You should be happy for her. Celestia was interrupted from her inner discussion by Glimmer’s hoof on her shoulder.
“That was kind of you” the Sentinel complimented. “Letting your sister go first. You always did put her above yourself.” Celestia blushed and looked away. It had not been like that at all; her sister had managed it first, and that was all there was to it. Luna had ceased her bouncing, and was again concentrating very hard on her mug, which she was levitating through the air around the room. Again, she felt the stab of jealousy, but squashed it quickly. She was happy for her sister, and that was that.
She turned her attention back to her own clay cup, focusing on it in the same way she had before. Once more, she left inside herself, and found the light flowing through her body, and again she felt, heard, and smelled everything around her. She willed her magic to flow up her horn, and, her attention still solely attuned to her cup, willed the mug to move.
Nothing happened.
There was no glow coming from the cup, nor her horn. She could feel the magic flowing through her, but no visible effect was showing. Luna had stopped her dancing at this point, her own cup sitting on the floor beside her as she watched Celestia, probably expecting her to immediately be able to juggle both mugs at once.
Disappointment engulfed the white filly, and her head drooped as tears attempted to squeeze out of her eyes. She managed to hold them back by tightly closing her eyes. In her hyper-aware state, she felt the movement through the air before she felt her sister’s hoof on her foreleg. At the risk of her tears flowing freely, she opened her eyes and glanced down at her sister.
Luna’s eyes were full of sympathy and loving support. The overload of kindness finally forced the tears out to flow freely down her face, but it also brought a new determination. She steeled her resolve and, bolstered by the willpower given to her by her sister, she focussed again on the clay cup. She squeezed her eyes shut again, sensing the presence of the cup with her magic, rather than her sight. Suddenly, a blinding sensation bolted through her mind, and she immediately became aware of every object in the room all at once.
She knew exactly where every piece of the sparse, simple furniture in the room was. She knew the location of both the other Ponies in the room, of the two cups, of the plates still leftover from last night’s dinner. She felt things in the other rooms around them too; hundreds of objects and Ponies and everything else around her for hundreds of paces in every direction. Such an overload of sensory data shot a stab of pain through Celestia’s head, and her consciousness threatened to shut down in an attempt to stop the raging torrent of information.
“Uh… Tia…” Came Luna’s voice on the edge of Celestia’s awareness, but in her overwhelmed state, she failed to notice the concern in the young filly’s voice. She was determined though, and she focussed back on the mug, and with all her might, willed it to move.
“TIA!!!” Luna’s voice came again, but in a shriek of fear and desperation this time, and it shocked Celestia out of her state of sensory overload and when she opened her eyes, what she saw caught her breath in her throat.
Every single object in the room was surrounded by a brilliant, shimmering golden glow, the same colour as the flow of magic she had sensed inside herself. Even the table, which had been carved from the stone in the construction of the room, had been torn free from its foundations and floated in the air, and her two companions were also hovering above the ground.
“This… this is incredible…” Glimmer commented as she looked around at the aura surrounding her, shock clearly the dominant emotion in her voice, her face slack, eyes full of wonder and thought. Celestia turned her attention to her sister, and realised with horror that the foal’s eyes were filled with tears, the expression on her face one of terror. Shouts and screams from down the hall in both directions which drifted in from outside the room attested to a similar event happening in every room in the vicinity. Glancing up, Celestia saw the shattered remains of her mug pressed tightly against the stone of the ceiling. Where it had evidently flown and smashed with the force of her magic.
Terrified, she cut off the flow of magic from her horn, and the glow around everything in the room vanished, leaving it all to drop to the floor; including the two Ponies. Glimmer landed soundly, if not gracefully, on her hooves, and Luna fell roughly onto one of the padded beds in the corner. Celestia heard more shouts of protest from the rooms down the tunnel.
Glimmer was shaking her head in amazement, and Luna was curled up on the bed sobbing. Celestia sat down with a thump, her face slack.
I did that? She thought to herself. I lifted all those things? Even down the hall... I…her thought train stopped dead at the next revelation that came to her.
I made Luna cry…
She jumped to her hooves and raced to her sister’s side, who was still curled up on the bed, although her sobbing had calmed. Celestia hesitantly put a hoof Luna’s shoulder, and the small blue foal glanced up at her, eyes full of fear.
“Lulu…” Celestia whispered, and Luna flinched. “Luna… I’m sorry…” She lay down and put a foreleg over her younger sister, and nuzzled her neck softly, her own eyes welling up with tears again.
“Tia…” Luna said hesitantly. “Tia… its ok…” Celestia couldn’t help but pull back and stare at her sister in shock. Luna was the one who was scared, and yet the foal was trying to comfort her? “Tia, really, I’m fine. I just wasn’t expecting to get lifted up as well…” Celestia squeezed her in a tight hug.
“Luna, I’m so glad you’re ok…” Luna squeezed her back, and smiled.
“Wow Tia, you lifted everything in the room!” Now that her fear had subsided, Luna gazed around the room in wonder. The two beds that had previously been their place of rest – and one of which they now lay on – had been flipped over, the straw-filled padding strewn across the surrounding floor. The lump of stone that used to be their table lay on the ground, cracked in half, debris from its rough landing scattered about the room. Bits and pieces of fired clay lay about the floor as well, the shattered remnants of the cups and plates they had been using just the night before. Glimmer was still shaking her head, staring off into space, and muttering to herself.
The blue filly perked her ears up, turning her attention away from the disaster zone that had become of their room, and listened to the uproar that was only getting louder outside. “Hey Tia, what’s happening outside?” Glimmer seemed to snap out of her internal monologue and, getting up, walked over to Celestia.
“Little one, that was incredible!” the Sentinel exclaimed. “Not only did you manage to levitate everything in the room, but judging from the commotion outside, you’ve lifted everything in half of the residential block!” Luna gaped openly, eyes wide and full of wonder.
“Tia… you… wow! You’re amazing!” Celestia blushed fiercely, and waved her sister’s compliments away.
“I’m just glad you didn’t get hurt.” She responded, and Luna snuggled against her again.
Some time later, Luna was almost asleep again, snuggled up next to Celestia on the floor, when there was a knock at the door, though the curtain had been torn clean off and was sprawled across the base of the portcullis; judging from the sound of metal meeting stone, it was a pony wearing armor. Slowly extricating herself from her sister, who did not wake, apparently completely worn out by her little experiment with levitation. As she stood to make her way to the door, Celestia staggered, and almost fell straight back down again. Her limbs felt heavy, and her breathing became ragged, as if her energy reserves were almost completely depleted. The adrenaline from her little magic stunt had finally worn off, and now she was feeling the drain of such a huge spell. Glimmer laughed.
“Take it slowly little one; after such a massive output of magical energy, I’m honestly surprised you were able to stand up at all.” Celestia grimaced, and once her knees stopped wobbling and her legs became more stable, she slowly made her way shakily to the doorway.
Immediately outside, a soldier wearing almost full Sentinel plate mail – with the exception of his helmet – waited patiently. Behind him stood half a dozen regular guards who were slightly more restless, and the shouting down the hallway from both directions became louder, though the shouts still blended together to become a harsh buzz. The Sentinel at the door gazed at Celestia with hard, steely eyes, and his face bore an expression of stern and serious business. When he spoke, his voice was deliberate and calm, though the soldiers behind them were muttering nervously amongst themselves, proclaiming them to be rookies.
“Miss Celestia” the guard snapped a crisp salute, his eyes softening a fraction as he saw the weariness on Celestia’s face. “There has been a magical disturbance in this area of the residential block, centred around this room. Do you mind if we take a look inside?” Celestia stood aside with a nod and a quiet “yes sir”, and the Sentinel and his comrades marched inside. Looking around, the heavily-armoured soldier’s eyes fell on Glimmer, and a look of confusion briefly crossed his face, before returning to his normal stern expression a moment later.
“Sentinel Glimmer?” he queried, and the teal Earth Pony perked her head up. She flashed a smile at the newcomer, and stood up.
“Oh, Sentinel Ironhooves, they sent you then?” Ironhooves cocked his head to the side quizzically, his dark grey mane falling in a cascade over one side of his face.
You have information for us Glimmer?” The teal Earth Pony nodded an affirmative, and moved over to Celestia’s side.
“The magical disturbance is nothing to be concerned over. Our young friend here was merely experimenting with her magic and got… slightly carried away.” Celestia winced, and lowered herself to the ground, shame gripping her in its talons. Ironhooves, however, looked neither angry nor disappointed. His face bore an expression of complete wonder and astonishment.
“You mean this entire debacle was caused by her?” he put a hoof to his head, and sat down abruptly. “We’ve had reports from over two hundred ponies in this block, saying that they, and everything in their rooms that wasn’t securely attached to the floor, as well as a lot of stuff that was, was suddenly lifted off the ground by magic with a golden aura.”
Celestia herself was in shock over this. Two hundred ponies? AND everything in all those rooms? She couldn’t help but shudder at this thought. So much power was not a responsibility she wanted. What do I want then? Her mind seized up at this question, and she was momentarily lost in her mind as she processed this thought.
Up until we came to Haven, everything I’ve done was to protect Luna but… now that Luna is safe… what can I do? What am I good at? What is my special talent? These and many more questions floated around her head, each and every one of them without an answer, all only serving to confuse her even more. She shook her head to clear her mind. Luna was laying on her back, passed out completely, hooves sticking comically up into the air, twitching occasionally; Ironhooves and Glimmer were having a quiet discussion with each other near the door, and the rookie guards were milling about the room, surveying the destruction, though they clearly had little to no idea of what they were supposed to be looking for. Celestia trotted over to where the two Sentinel Ponies were talking to each other.
“I’m telling you!” Ironhooves was exclaiming, waving a foreleg about, indicating the mess around them. “This is almost unheard of! If this little one is actually…” He paused as he noticed Celestia’s approach. Glimmer shot him a surprisingly threatening look, and he winced before concluding his sentence. “The council needs to be given a fully detailed report on this.” It was Glimmer’s turn to flash a grimace, though she had to have known what the fellow soldier was going to say. She turned her gaze to Celestia, and her expression surprised the filly, making her stomach flip. There was tenderness and caring in those eyes. They spoke of kindness and love, as a mother to a daughter, or a big sister to a younger.
“We cannot inform the council of too much” She finally rebuked, after several seconds of unnerving eye contact. Celestia was used to being on the giving end of that expression, used to being the protective one; to have somepony care about her the same way she cared about Luna... it was unfamiliar to her. Glimmer continued.
“We cannot be sure how they will react and I, for one, do not wish to see these two subjected to the council’s manipulations.” Ironhooves looked sceptical, his military training and loyalty to the Council too much a part of who he was, but after several moments of internal debate, he surrendered.
“Alright, fine, you win” he resigned. “I’ll let you make the full report then. I’ve got a mess to sort out.” He motioned to his soldiers, who all snapped to attention and followed as their superior officer trotted out of the room. Once the space was empty of all on-duty soldiers, Celestia turned to Glimmer, who wrapped a foreleg around the filly and hugged her.
“Don’t worry little one” she said, her soothing voice releasing stress Celestia did not even know she was carrying. “You are safe.” Celestia gave in to the comforting embrace of the older mare, and leaned against Glimmer’s rock-hard chest. It was the first time she could remember ever having somepony that she herself could lean on. It brought tears to her eyes, and she felt so wholly and completely safe and secure, that she momentarily forgot all of her earlier worries.
For several more minutes they stayed in the embrace, until Celestia finally forced the reality of the situation back onto herself and, with a sigh, pushed the Sentinel away. She looked up to Glimmer’s face, only to find tears in the stalwart pony’s eyes too.
“Hey Glimmer?” she said quietly, almost whispering, though the sound was enough to bring the Sentinel’s attention back from whatever world her mind had wandered to.
“Yes little one?” she replied, hastily wiping the moisture from her face with a hoof. Curiosity about Glimmer’s concerns with the Council gnawed at Celestia’s insides, but she was determined. She had made up her mind.
“I… I want to talk to the Council.” Glimmer did a double-take, and stared at the winged ‘Unicorn’ with no small levels of astonishment.
“Whatever for?” the Sentinel asked incredulously. She shook her head, sending her purple mane flying.
“I… I…” Celestia stuttered, struggling to find the courage to speak. “I want to start work” she finally managed to squeak, and Glimmer laughed, her expression becoming one of understanding, with a hint of respectful admiration. Celestia tried to look as determined as possible. “I’m fine now, and ever since I got here, I’ve been bored out of my mind!” The Sentinel Pony laughed again in complete understanding. As a soldier, with not much of a life outside the military, time off would be painfully uneventful for her.
“Plus…” Celestia continued. “I… I want to help… I want to be doing something!” Her voice raised an octave and a few decibels with the last six words, and Luna began to stir. Glimmer rested a comforting hoof of the white foal’s shoulder.
“Be calm, little one, I understand.” Celestia’s lower lip quivered with pent-up energy, brought on by her sudden burst of determination. Glimmer continued.
“The council will no doubt be waiting for a report from me. They will likely have already received word from Ironhooves, and will want my take on the matter. They may also want to discuss the matter with you two as well. Wake Luna, and we’ll get going.” Celestia nodded, and moved over to her little sister. Shaking her gently, she bent down to whisper in the foal’s ear.
“Lulu, wake up.” Luna stirred a little, then groggily opened her eyes. She stared incomprehensively at Celestia for a few moments before gargling out what passed for speech for a tired little foal.
“Tia… wuss… wuss gon on?” Celestia giggled at her sister’s nearly incomprehensible question. A blush of embarrassment overcame Luna’s features, so she shook her head, rolled over, stood up, and tried again.
“Tia, what’s happening?” Celestia couldn’t help but laugh again, and give the little blue foal another tight hug.
“Some soldiers came by” she replied, letting Luna go and walking over to the doorway. “They wanted to know what happened… Glimmer told them everything, but now we have to go see the Council.” There was still no need to worry her little sister, so she kept the fact that meeting with the council again was her idea.
“Oh.” Was all the response Luna could manage, her mind clearly still thick and foggy from her exhaustion-induced nap. Glimmer, having poked her head outside the portcullis to check on what was happening, glanced back inside long enough to give a nod and a quick “come on then” before exiting the room completely.
The journey back to the Council Chambers was a long one, not because it was particularly far – their room was in a block that was more or less directly beside the area containing the Council’s huge meeting room – but because of the complete and utter pandemonium Haven was suffering at that time. Every single tunnel was packed to the bursting point with the amount of citizens out and about. Celestia had a hard time believing this was all because of her, but Glimmer soon brought light to the situation.
“A huge magical disturbance like that is only slightly less of a threat-scare than one of the Tyrants themselves showing up on the front door” the Sentinel explained when Celestia voiced her concerns. “Very few beings have enough raw power to have such a large influence with their magic.” Luna gazed in wonder at her older sister, and Celestia blushed. She decided to move the topic of conversation away from her overwhelming magical abilities, which she still barely believed she possessed.
“Who are these Ponies everyone keeps going on about?” She asked. “The rulers, I mean… the ones you call ‘Tyrants?” Glimmer gazed at the filly for a few seconds, not even slowing her pace, before sighing and shaking her head.
“They… are not Ponies… But now is not a good time little one” she replied, and Celestia gritted her teeth. Before she could get a word in, however, Glimmer continued.
“It isn’t a pleasant topic, and it’s not one that the ponies of Haven care to hear about. They’ve given up trying to find a way to get things back to how they were. They’ve all given up on living… Now all they want to do is exist.” There was an incredible sadness in the Sentinel’s voice, and it made Celestia’s heart lurch. She decided to drop the conversation completely, so they travelled the remainder of the journey in silence. After several more minutes, they were standing inside the antechamber outside the tunnel that led to the huge gilded doors of the Council chambers. Glimmer had a very short, quiet discussion with one of the guards before turning back to the two fillies.
“The council wants to meet with me first, so you two wait out here until I return” she instructed. Celestia sighed, but Luna nodded her head obediently, so there was little else to be done but sit outside and wait.
She lay on the cold stone floor, head resting on her forelegs, watching Luna try and talk to one of the armoured ponies standing guard by the portcullis that Glimmer had just exited through. She had to suppress a chuckle; there was no denying it, the scene was quite funny.
“Mister?” The little blue foal was saying. “Why don’t you ever move?” The only response the guard gave was a short grunt. Luna was not perturbed.
“Don’t you get bored?”
Another grunt.
“How long do you have to stay out here looking all serious?”
A grunt and a sigh this time. The guard’s composure was clearly cracking. Luna knew it too, and she moved in for the kill.
Jutting out her bottom lip, the devious little foal widened her eyes as far as they would go, and gazed up at the Sentinel with the most pleading expression on her face Celestia had ever seen. She topped it all off by whimpering.
“Why won’t you talk to me?” she whined, and the guard finally gave up trying to hold it all in. He exhaled a huge rush of air, before slumping slightly, his face bearing an expression of defeat.
“Fine” he sighed, glancing back down towards the foal who was still looking at him with an expression that could break hearts.
“Yes, I get incredible bored, I have to stay here from the time the Council gets here in the morning until lunch time, when the shift changes. And yes, looking serious is part of the job.” The pony’s gushing response was exactly what Luna was looking for, and she jumped around on the spot, smiling from ear to ear, laughing happily. Once her excitement had calmed somewhat, she sat down next to the guard, and attempted to adopt his serious expression, which looked absolutely ridiculous on such a small filly.
“Do you like being a guard?” She asked after finally realising that the ‘serious pony’ expression was not working. The guard flashed her a curious look before resuming his line of sight down the tunnel and replying.
“Whether I like the job or not isn’t important” he explained. “I’m a soldier, and I need to protect the citizens of Haven. Succeeding in that is satisfaction enough.” Luna’s face was overcome with a thoughtful expression, and she moved away from the guard to lie at Celestia’s side.
“Hey Tia?” the foal looked up at her big sister, eyes curious. Celestia bent down to nuzzle her. Luna smiled, and nuzzled back before continuing. “Tia, what are we going to do in Haven?” Celestia laughed, and ruffled the blue filly’s mane with a forehoof.
“That’s what I’m going to talk to the Council about” she replied, and Luna’s face brightened.
It was that moment that Glimmer walked slowly out of the hallway leading to the Council, tail and mane hanging limp, head drooping, and her face overcome with a worried and incredibly sad expression. Celestia hopped up onto her hooves, and trotted over.
“Glimmer?” She asked hesitantly, and the Sentinel jerked her head up, as if broken from some inner discussion. Glimmer looked towards the two, then away again almost instantly, not looking the two fillies in the eyes.
“The Council will see you now” she intoned, her voice hoarse, as if she had been shouting. Celestia tried to put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder, but got shrugged off.
“Glimmer what …” She began, but the teal Earth Pony cut her off.
“Don’t keep the Council waiting.” That was all she would say, and soon she was out of sight down the hallway.
Celestia, somewhat shaken by the soldier’s sad bluntness, lay a wing over Luna’s back, and moved down the tunnel Glimmer had just exited. Luna looked up at her, and the question was clear in the little foal’s eyes. What happened to Glimmer?
Celestia gazed back, worry for their friend throbbing through her mind, and doubtless showing on her face. I just don’t know.
Soon, the two arrived at the huge gilded doors of the Council chambers. The fine detail drawing the two young ponies’ eyes around the flowing spirals. The two Sentinel Ponies who stood alertly either side of the door remained stiff and motionless as the sisters approached. Before she could think about what to do, the massive doors swung open, and a voice boomed out from within.
“Enter.”
The voice was strong, clearly female, and sounded too loud to be made by a regular pony. The tremors that ran up Celestia’s body told her that the voice was being enhanced by magic.
Entering the room, she saw a scene that was identical to when she had first come before The Council four days previously.
The same six ponies, two Unicorns, two Pegasi, and two Earth Ponies, one male and one female of each, sat arrayed around the crescent moon table. There was a magic aura dispelling from around the Unicorn mare’s horn.
Glimmer had taught them how to behave around the Council. Looking back, Celestia realised how shockingly rude they must have thought she was at their first meeting. She and Luna both gave small, appropriate bows to the Ponies arrayed out in front of them.
“I am citizen Celestia” she said, in a strong, but respectful voice, and Luna repeated the same with her name. This was also customary when speaking to the Council. It was polite to introduce yourself first.
The Council-Ponies never introduced themselves; it was simply assumed that everypony knew them before they entered the room, so Glimmer had told the two sisters their names too, as well as what each was of their responsibilities in Haven were. From left to right they were:
Stronghoof and Dancing Light, the Earth Pony stallion and mare on the council; Stronghoof was a military stallion through and through. He was muscular, blunt, and extremely straightforward. His coat was brown, with a nearly stark-white mane, and an antique soldier’s helmet for a cutie mark; he oversaw the citizen workforce of Haven, and all the jobs the civilians saw to.
Dancing Light, on the other hoof, had a far slimmer frame, but the strong, confident way she held herself, as well as the muscle barely hidden in her limbs, bespoke military training as well. Her lavender-coloured mane, which hung in contrast to her white coat, was familiar to Celestia, but the filly couldn’t figure out why. Her cutie mark was a pool of water, with light shimmering and sparkling on its surface. She was solely in charge of the Sentinel division of The Sanctuary in its entirety, which fully explained her soldier’s physique and posture.
Next were the two Unicorns, High Bar and Rose Prism; High Bar was headmaster of The Sanctuary’s magic school. He was a wrinkle-faced stallion with kind eyes, and was clearly the oldest Pony on the Council, his short, completely grey mane sat tussled atop his greying turquoise head, which sported knowledgeable blue eyes. His cutie mark was several stars arranged in a constellation that resembled a paper scroll and quill.
Rose Prism, who was much younger, but still not youthful in comparison to most other ponies Celestia had met, organised The Sanctuary’s Research and Development sector. This was a massive job, Glimmer had explained, because the Research and Development team worked on a huge number of things, from food growth, to defense and weapons development, and the hundreds of other items in between. She was a fit Pony for the job though, with a stern expression, and wise but steely eyes, framed by a deep crimson mane which complemented her light red coat. Her cutie mark was a large, deep-red ruby, with sparkling white swirls surrounding it.
Finally, at the right-hoof end of the table, were the two Pegasi Councillors, Sky Fire and Snow Blaze. Sky Fire was a rash stallion, and was known to jump into things unnecessarily quickly, but his tactical knowledge and organisational skills put him into position as the coordinator of Haven’s general guard. The guard itself was really more of a military, but the Council insisted that the veritable army of soldiers was solely for security purposes. His cutie mark, a crisp red flame, stood out on his white coat. His fire-red mane stood in a carefully arranged tangle above his glinting turquoise eyes.
Now that Celestia was seeing the Council without having her sight disfigured by the haze of fear and exertion of the waste, she saw why Glimmer had said that Snow Blaze caught the eye of every single being, pony or otherwise, that came before the six Council-Ponies. The Pegasus mare was stunning. Her pristine coat shimmered with a blue that was only a few shades off being pure white, and her ocean-blue mane was neatly trimmed and fashionably short, curling around her forehead and down her neck in spirals that Celestia’s eyes couldn’t hope to follow. Her sharp, cyan eyes were the only part of her that gave away her age; they had a depth and wisdom that could only be obtained through long experience. Her cutie mark was a glinting diamond surrounded by particles of ice. The beautiful Mare was spokespony of Haven, and handled all relations between the three Pony races and The Sanctuary.
The six Ponies arrayed out at the table stared at the two sisters for several moments, as if mulling over recent events, before Stronghoof spoke up, his hard voice booming around the chamber, making the two fillies flinch.
“Do you two have any idea how big a deal such a large magical disturbance is in Haven?” Celestia lowered her head.
“Yes Councillor” was all she managed to squeak, and the Earth Pony stallion sighed, but before he could continue, High Bar intervened, his wise eyes radiating knowing kindness.
“What Councillor Stronghoof is saying, is that very few have such power, and it causes quite a stir when two hundred ponies and their belongings are suddenly lifted off the ground by an unknown magical aura.” Celestia’s head was almost touching the ground, her knees bent, feeling extremely sorry. The Unicorn stallion continued.
“However, you are young, and clearly have extreme raw magical talent, and that is nothing to be ashamed of. This event has caused us quite a lot of work, however while the responsibility of this power is yours to carry, the blame for the event is not.” Celestia jerked her head up, and couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed at the Unicorn.
“Y – You mean… I’m not in trouble?” She stammered, and smiles appeared on the lips of a few of the Council-Ponies.
“No, little one, you are not.” The sing-song voice of Snow Blaze was as crystalline and refined as her appearance, and Celestia could not help but relax a little. She heard Luna breathe a sigh of relief next to her, and was touched that the little foal was worried about her.
“This event was an accident” continued Snow Blaze. “You two are guilty of nothing but rash experimentation, which I believe, judging from the report from Sentinel Glimmer, and the apology written all over your face, you have chastised yourself enough over.”
“Yes, I am very sorry” Celestia said hastily, offering another bow to the Council. The six nodded, pleased. Councillor Dancing Light spoke up, her strong, commanding voice ringing several bells in Celestia’s mind, but again the filly could not place why it was familiar.
“We have gotten the full report from Sentinel Glimmer.” The rest of the Council nodded, clearly content to leave it at that, but the Earth Pony mare continued. “However, I would like to know how you came across such magical knowledge. A spell such as that is complex, and even an uncontrolled outburst should not be able to produce such widespread results.” Celestia cocked her head to one side, thinking the question over in her head.
How had she done it? She had just really wanted to lift the cup, but had ended up spreading her attention to everything else… she did not know how she had done it. It had just happened.
“I don’t know how I did it.” She said, eliciting a raised eyebrow from the questioning Mare. “I’ve never tried magic before, that I can remember, but Glimmer was teaching both of us about magic and…” she stopped mid-sentence as a thought occurred to her.
How had Glimmer known so much about magic? She was an Earth Pony, not a Unicorn, and only Unicorns were supposed to know magic, weren’t they? It was a question that she knew she would not be able to answer on her own, so she resolved to ask her Sentinel friend about it later. Turning her focus back to the Council, she finished her sentence.
“And it just happened” she concluded. This did not seem to satisfy Dancing Light much, but the rest of the Council was impatient, and before the topic could be discussed further, Sky Fire spoke up.
“We’ve all heard the reports Councillor Light, we need to discuss what happens now.” There was a murmur of agreement from the other Council-Ponies, and Dancing Light sighed defeatedly, and then gave a nod of submission. Satisfied that they could continue, Sky Fire continued.
“It has been decided little ones, that you will both be sent to magic and flight schools. You are both old enough to begin the basics of flight, at any rate, and Glimmer’s report makes it clear that you are both more than capable of beginning magic tuition.” Celestia gaped openly at the Council-Pony. Luna was wriggling beside her again, making small squee noises, excited by the prospect of learning more magic, and how to fly.
“S-School?” was all Celestia could stutter. The idea had excited her when Glimmer had mentioned it, but she never thought the Council would order it. “What about the work you said we would be doing?” She knew she shouldn’t be complaining, but she just wanted to help out around Haven. It was High Bar’s turn to speak up this time.
“You will both be assigned other tasks, fear not, but your schooling is of a higher priority.” The old Unicorn’s soft voice soothed Celestia’s nerves somewhat, but only seemed to make Luna more excited.
“So you’re going to teach us magic? What kind of magic will you teach us? Will it be hard? Will we…” Celestia cut her sister’s bubbly ranting off by shoving a hoof in her mouth, and grinned apologetically at the council. The old Unicorn merely laughed understandingly.
“Your questions will be answered when you begin your lessons tomorrow. I will also brief you on the sorts of chores you will be doing.” Ironhooves sniffed disdainfully, as if he wanted to see them work labour in the tunnels, but said nothing.
“Thank you, Councillors” Celestia said with a bow. Sky Fire held up hoof, however, and Celestia got an unpleasant feeling in her stomach. She somehow knew that, whatever he was about to say, she was not going to like.
“We have also decided…” the fire-maned Pegasus paused, and Celestia held her breath. Luna gazed up at her, eyes tinted with fear and worry. Celestia put a reassuring hoof on the foal’s shoulder, before turning back to the Council when Sky continued.
“We have decided that you will be trained as a soldier, Celestia.” Celestia let her mouth fall open with shock. “You will start at the training academy in the morning. Your sister is not yet old enough, so, while you train in the morning, she will work for Councillor High Bar at the school. Then, you will both have an hour for lunch and rest, before you start your lessons, which you will attend for the rest of the day.” For several moments, Celestia couldn’t speak. Thoughts flew in a hurricane around her mind, and she stood there gaping. Luna was in a similar state of silence, though she was gazing worriedly at her big sister.
“B-b-but… what about…” she began to stammer, before Dancing Light interrupted her.
“Your work?” Celestia shut her mouth and nodded, and the Earth Pony Mare sighed. “Little one, you will barely be able to find the energy for cadet training and school, let alone work on top of it all. No, you will find yourself thoroughly occupied as it is; and besides, guard training is a public service in and of itself. You are learning to defend the Ponies of Haven; learning to defend your sister.” Celestia was trapped at that point, and the Council knew it.
Celestia was so caught up in her mind’s internal workings; she didn’t see the look of intense sorrow that passed across the Earth Pony Council Mare’s face, before her expression flashed back to steely resolve. After a few moments, Councillor Light cleared her throat, and Celestia was snapped out of her reverie.
“You have been briefed on the situation, little ones; you have the rest of the day off, but Sentinel Glimmer informed us that you were growing restless, so you will start tomorrow.” Celestia nodded, her anxiety only partly belayed by the excitement of finally doing something productive. The Council-Pony continued. “Celestia, you will report to the guard training academy at the ring of the seventh morning bell to begin your training. Luna, you will meet Councillor High Bar at the magic school at the ring of the eighth bell to start your chores. A map of Haven will be provided to you, so you will not become lost. You are both now dismissed.”
As Celestia took a moment to process the situation, the Council turned to several discussions amongst themselves.
A guard, who had quite silently entered the chamber, cleared his throat, making Celestia jump. She glanced down at Luna, who was still gazing worriedly at her, so she wrapped a foreleg around the small foal’s neck, and followed the guard out the door.
As she was leaving, Celestia’s set her face in a look of grim determination. She would become a soldier, so she could protect the Ponies of Haven. She wouldn’t be helpless again.
She would protect Luna, no matter the cost.