I recognised our landing spot. It was where my mother, Fluttershy, and I landed when we arrived to participate in the music festival. In fact, I recognised it so well that I even could tell that the guards standing... guard, were the same ones that had given me trouble. Heh, that was fun. "Remember them, Fluttershy?" I asked my wife, pointing to the metaphorically trigger happy guards.
She nodded. "They stopped us because you were different."
I shrugged. "Eh, I think it was okay; they were just doing their job, after all."
"True," Fluttershy said. "So true. Do you think Princess Celestia will come out to meet us again?"
I drew breath to say something, but it wasn't until then that I realised I didn't have an answer for that. It's not like the question was even that important; it was just a guess. Luckily, though, I didn't have to answer in the first place. My aunt did.
The great golden gates swung open quickly but majestically. Passing underneath were an honour guard of two Royal Guards. Behind them, and between, was my aunt, still as I'd left her: in her Paracorn form, her Alicorn disguise cast off as a promise to the nation. I couldn't help but let a small smile creep across my face. 'It's been too long,' I thought. A day? 'Am I wrong?' ... No. My smile grew.
I expected my aunt to greet her returning chariot pilots, or at least greet Silver Star. Instead, however, she strode straight in my direction with a look on her face that I could only describe as halfway between angry and happy all at once. I know, I know, I wasn't known for my great judge of character, but I was just going out on a limb here and saying my aunt was frustrated. She sped over to my vicinity, and yet I still was not sure if she could hear me, feel my energy, or what. It wasn't until she swatted her hand across the air in front of her did I realise: she could touch me.
My head snapped to the side, my cheek stinging like she'd branded it. "Ouch," I said with great intellect. "That... that hurt."
Silver Star, hearing this, asked, "My Princess... you can see Will?"
My aunt said nothing. She stood in front of me for a second more, her face still contorted in the strange mix of emotions. Then, the anger half vanished and was replaced with sadness. Now her face read sadness and happiness. And then she hugged me. When she wrapped her arms around me, even being careful so as to not disturb or somehow injure my wings in any way, she said softly into my ear, "Don't you dare do that to me again, Will."
To the others it must have looked like she was hugging air. But I knew better, since my chest was being constricted and all. "Tia," I gasped. "Air."
She quickly withdrew. "Oh," she said, innocently. "I... forgive me. I did not realise that, well... with you being, well..."
"Dead?"
She nodded. "I did not think you'd had any more need for breath."
I shrugged. "I guess that makes me one, then." Then I in turn hugged her. "I missed you, Tia. So very much. More than... well, probably not more than you could imagine. But I still missed you a lot."
"And I, you, Will." She turned to face Bill. "And you as well, Bill." Bill simply nodded. When she turned to Fluttershy, my wife shrunk back a bit. "I missed you, dear. I missed having Will be absolutely clueless about everything because you were on his mind."
"Oh," my wife said softly in a barely audible whisper. "Was that a bad thing?"
My aunt chuckled. "Of course not, my dear." She straightened. "I know why you all are here. Come, I will take you over to the tower." My knowledge of the layout of the castle wasn't what it could have been, I admit. It probably wasn't even on an acceptable level. However, I could recognise the sun beginning to set behind the other side of the castle, so I could easily theorise that we were already at the East Wing. Therefore, it didn't come as an entire surprise when my aunt stopped the train several minutes later. "These stairs," she said. "Will lead you straight to the antechamber within which my sister has kept herself. You will have to speak to her guard, but they both should allow access."
Before she could continue, a runner, identified by his cloth-like armour rather than the gold plate, came upon us and whispered something into my aunt's ear. She straightened. "I wish I could accompany you, but I'm afraid I am needed elsewhere. If you would please, guards, to follow me?"
And with that, we were alone. An awkward silence began to creep in, but Bill came to the rescue once again. "So, shall we?" No one answered him, but it seemed those words were all that were needed to get the four of us moving. I took the first step, but apprehension kept me from taking the lead. Silver easily and unknowingly passed me, while my cohorts stopped to check me. 'Celestia could see us...' I thought. 'What does that say about my mother?' It means she'll see you. Past that? I don't know. I sighed. 'There's only one way to find out, isn't there?' Yeah. So come on. 'Coming.'
It was a rather long climb, but that was probably due to the fact that I wasn't sure I particularly wanted to face my mother with what I'd done. We did eventually reach the top, however, and I found that Silver had waited for us. Upon our arrival, and when I had asked her why we were waiting, she replied, "We were waiting for you, Will. Come on." With that, the door opened and I found Captain Stargazer to be the cause.
Without thinking, I tipped my head in respect and said, "Captain." It wasn't until the word had left my mouth did I realise he couldn't see or hear me. Or so I thought.
"My Prince. I am pleased to see you again." I froze in place, befuddled.
"You can hear me? How?" Bill asked.
Stargazer gave a small bow. "When you've been close to the night, you pick up a few things. Speaking of which," he turned to Bill and my general direction. I guessed that although he could hear me, he couldn't see me. "The light and the dark have a meeting with the night, I presume. I'll leave you to it. I'll be outside." With that, he took his leave to stand guard at the door.
I looked deeper into the room now, and I almost wished I hadn't. The room was tattered, about half the drapery was burnt, sheets were torn, pillows were emptied. It was as if a flaming tornado with claws had ravaged the place. But what pained me to see more was who stood in the center of it all.
My mother, Princess Luna Dresden, was a mess. Her hair was unkempt, her clothes were wrinkled, her feet bare. I noticed her crown lying upside down in a corner. Her wings... her beautiful wings were not groomed, the feathers pointing in odd directions. Her face was red, and two dark lines trailed from her eyes down her cheeks. She'd had to have been crying nonstop for the tear stains to be that ingrained. I couldn't say anything, nor could any other member of my party.
My mother spoke first, at any rate. "You..." Her face scrunched up, and I was afraid that she'd either erupt into more tears or into fury. "You..." she fell into the former case. Running at me with fresh tears streaming down her face, she barreled into me at almost top running speed. "I can't decide," she choked out. "Whether I should hit you, kiss you, squeeze you, or apologise."
Attempting to lighten the mood, I said, "Well, Tia already hit me, so I guess you could make it even." I was promptly, playfully, slapped on the cheek. "As for the other three... I think you should just do the first and last one. I don't particularly enjoy being squeezed much."
Needless to say, my mother happily obliged. She kissed my cheek, and said, "I'm sorry."
I wasn't entirely unprepared for this, so it was somewhat easy to respond to that. "It isn't your fault. It's my own selfish fault. I'm the one who jumped."
"And I'm the one who made you do it."
"Wrong again," I said, trying unsuccessfully to smooth her hair. "Blueblood made me."
"Then what am I to be sorry for?"
I smirked. "I think feeling sorry for myself would be nice for a change. Mother," I shook my head. "I didn't think this room could get this messy in a day. You've been trying."
She nodded. "I'm sorry." She patted my shoulder, and looked at Bill. "So very sorry."
Her second late husband shrugged. "Nothing to be sorry about. Some of the blame is mine, some of the blame is his, some of the blame is Blueblood's. None of the blame is yours."
Before any more could be said, however, Stargazer's voice bled through the walls. "You cannot enter. You are not permitted." A pause, then, "On behalf of her Highness Princess Luna, I order you to stand where you-" but before he could finish his order, a heavy thud resounded through the walls as the door shook from a weight.
"Captain!" Luna called. "Captain, are you alright?" Her voice became laden with worry. "Captain?" Her voice had gotten weaker.
Then a laugh sounded from outside. "I see you've put up a barrier to stop me." Another laugh. "Too bad," the voice said as the door flung open and Captain Stargazer's still body flew through. "I know its weaknesses." A two-legged creature walked through the doorway, and I instantly recognised it. I could tell Bill did as well. "Ah, my subjects. You weren't hard to find."
Styx had just broken and entered.