-Chapter 2
Haven’t found a title yet, but who cares?
The alicorn let out a sigh. She had finally finished her duties, and was done for the day. Like always, she trotted off to the kitchen to nab a piece of chocolate cake. But this time, she would take something more for the little one in her room. She did, however, wish that all was good there with the maid. She was still thinking and worrying about the child, until a baker came to her.
The baker smiled at the princess. “Good afternoon princess! Have you come for your afternoon snack?” she giggled.
Celestia looked at the baker quickly. She was a pale blue coated unicorn with a cutie mark of a bag of sugar, and a luscious but creamy beige mane. She was also a little on the chubby side, but not too much. Atop of her head, she wore a generic chef’s hat.
“Hm..? Yes, like always, my dear. But could you possibly spare me a bottle of warm milk alongside the cake?” the princess grew a soft smile as she looked at the baker.
“You don’t have to ask, your honor, you are the princess, after all.” she smiled, before she went to get what the princess had asked.
It took the baker about 5 minutes before she returned with the items she wanted. Celestia thanked her kindly, and, holding the items in a magical embrace, she walked back to her room, where she found the maid, who yawned. “Good afternoon, Princess...” she smiled at the alicorn as she walked into the room. “How have you been?”
“Oh,” the princess let out a short sigh, pausing a moment. “I’ve been fine, just a little bit worn-out from today...” she said, before she placed the cake and the milk on a small, stone end table. “... Did the child give you any trouble?”
The maid grew a warm smile, and chuckled. She pointed at the little child, who was sleeping on the bed. “About that, you simply couldn’t wish for a calmer foal, because most of what he did was sleep. Though, he did wake up once. And when he woke up, all I had to do was read him a short story, and he was asleep in a flash.”
The princess lets out a sigh, happy to know that she didn’t need to worry so much. “I can’t thank you enough for the help you gave me. So, I was wondering if you would like to become Onyx’s official foalsitter. Now, this is only when I have no other choice but to work, which is quite frequently. And, this will obviously give you a boost in your pay, and-...”
She was interrupted by the maid. “You don’t have to say any more, your highness. I accept your offer. And I’m glad you chose me.”
The princess smiled thankfully at the maid. She let out a sigh, and looked at the baby. She almost forgot to give him the small bottle of milk, so she picked it up with her magic, and levitated it over to him, lightly pecking his soft forehead. The baby’s newborn eyes fluttered gracefully open, as he laid blind eyes on Celestia. The princess began to serenade him with a sweet, soft, melodic lullaby to the baby, just as he took the bottle with his tiny, cute fingers, beginning to suckle on the nipple of the bottle, closing his eyes. Celestia continued to sing, closing her eyes, tears forming in them as she did so. Only a single tear fell from her eyes as she sung. Why, you may ask? Because this lullaby was the very same one that Celestia had sung to one of her younger relatives, who had been gone for nearly 980 years.
She looked to the maid, letting the child go back to sleep. When he fell back to sleep, she took the bottle from him. Looking back to the maid, Celestia sighed. “Miss, I do not believe I know you too well... If you do not mind my asking, what is your name? And, where do you reside?” she asked the maid.
“My name is Silver Heart, your highness. And no, I don’t mind at all, I live near the entrance of the city with my husband Crescent Shadow and my little foal of 3 months, Shadow Heart, in a little house in the Southern District.” she said. In her eyes, the princess spotted pride when she spoke of her little foal.
“But why are you here if you have a little foal to take care of?” The princess asked, raising a brow.
Silver was a little hesitant to answer, but she replied. “You see, princess, me and my husband are rather poor, and we both literally have to have a job if we want to pay for our home, so I cannot stay with him all the time. The same goes for my husband.” she said, with a tinge of sadness in her voice.
The princess looked at the poor mare, before making a quick but good decision. She smiled sweetly at her as she spoke, “Silver heart, because you have taken care of Onyx, and have not lost control, or asked for something in return...” she then went to her closet, and took out a bag, filled to the brim with bits. “Take it, Silver, and return to your family. I will need you tomorrow morning, so have a good evening.” the mare was at a total loss for words, because in the bag, there was more bits then she had ever hoped for. Tears came to her eyes, and she thanked the princess with a large hug. She rushed out of the room, and out of the castle, to announce the good news to her family.
The princess glanced at the baby, and let out a sigh. “Well, Onyx, I suppose I could read you a book...” she then took a book from the shelf near the closet, and read it to him.
After a few minutes, the princess was out on the balcony. Only mere minutes later, Celestia came back from the balcony. She had raised the moon, and now the only thing she wanted to do was go snuggle-up in her bed beside the baby, with a good fire in the fireplace.
She returned to her room, and slipped into her bed, the little prince was laying asleep beside her. She slowly closed her eyes, falling into a deep sleep.
- - - -
3 weeks passed since Celestia had found Onyx. 3 week of pure joy, she wasn’t too happy since the event with her sister, but now, she found a purpose to live. To protect her little prince, Onyx. Each day since 3 weeks ago, she got into the routine of waking up, have some breakfast that Silver Heart brought, give some milk to the baby, then the maid usually came into her room, to take care of Onyx. During this time, she does her royal duties as fast as she could, so she could return to her baby and read him a story, the very same story she read to him since the first day.
But today, Celestia was unfortunately having a bit of stress, because Silver and her got into a big conversation about how she wanted to show Onyx to everypony else, and how she couldn’t just store him away like this for the rest of his life. But ultimately, Celestia agreed that she would show him today, just a few hours before dinner. She was slightly nervous about how everypony would react when they see Onyx. She asked herself if they will see what she saw when she looked at him, which was a little baby who needed a loving, caring mother and a family, or would they see him as a monster and something that she should banish or abandon somewhere, and forget about it?... It was making her mind sore.
She was walking through the hall to go to the throne room, but she was still asking herself questions. She, by accident, bumped into a brown unicorn stallion with a blue mane and a scar over his left eye, who wore royal-grade body armor.
The princess snapped out of it. “Oh, my apologies, Captain Shield...” she chuckled.
The Captain of the guard rose up from the floor, and bowed to the princess. “No, it is my fault, your highness. I should have watched were I was going.”
Celestia give him a little smile, and began to walk away, before she got an idea.
“Strong Shield, could you come here please?” she asked kindly.
“Of course, your highness. What is it that I can do for you, your majesty?”
Celestia asked him to walk with her outside, in the royal gardens. Celestia knew that there was a good chance that not everypony would accept Onyx, and he would probably need some protection. And who could be more appropriate for such a job than her Captain? Strong Shield had never failed a mission, and before he was captain, he was one of her best guards. She remembered that quite a few years ago, she had sent a squadron of guards into the Everfree Forest to attempt to locate a filly who had disappeared. And during the mission, they found a Manticore who was about to kill the little filly. All the guards froze in fear at the sight of the big Manticore, except one guard, who threw himself in front of the Manticore to protect the filly. This is how Strong Shield got his trademark scar over his left eye, and since that point in time, each Hearth’s Warming Eve, the family of the filly signs and sends a card to Strong Shield to give thanks to him for saving their daughter.
“Captain, are you loyal to me?” she asked, quite suddenly.
The captain hid his surprise from the question, and answered with absolutely no hesitation. “To no end, my lady.”
“Are you willing to sacrifice your life to protect me, Strong Shield?” she asked with a serious tone in her voice.
“Yes your highness, but can I ask you why you ask me these questions?” he answered.
“Come with me.” she then trotted in the direction of her room, followed by a suspicious captain. When she reached her door, she ordered the two guard who guarded it to take a small break for now. Then, she turned to face Strong Shield. “What I will ask you to do, Captain, is a highly important assignment. But you may refuse it if you so wish, though, I cannot tell you what it will be before you accept it, and if you do, I want to warn you that this assignment is one that shall and will take many years to complete, and is quite difficult. So, Strong Shield, do you promise on your life that you will do everything I say when I open this door?” she asked the captain.
Strong Shield did not take too much time to think over his answer. He knew that he would never be able to look at his own reflection if he failed or refused an assignment, or mission, from the princess. Especially one that sounded extremely important to the princess. “Yes, your majesty, I accept it and I will take all the responsibility that will come from it.”
Celestia let out a little sigh of relief when she heard the positive answer from her Captain. Then, she opened the door and walked inside, followed by Strong Shield.
”Your assignment, Strong Shield, is to protect something of utmost importance in my eyes. I’m not sure if I am positive of it, but it is quite possible that somepony will try to hurt him, or in extreme cases, kill him.” she said, approaching the bed.
The captain gulped. What could he have to protect that is so important for the princess?!
But, when she pulled off the cover, he saw it.
A little monster laid in the bed of the princess... But how could it reach this room!?! All the way coming here, they saw guards galore! And before he had come here, he saw the two guards who were supposed to still be in front of the door!
So, he did the first thing that came into his mind:
1. Protect the royalty at all costs.
2. Eliminate and remove the source of the danger.
3. If it cannot be destroyed, take a stand.
He ran, and placed himself in front of Celestia. His horn started glow, and he aimed it straight at the creature, but before he could do anything more, he feel something push him away, and saw that Celestia was now standing between him and the creature.
“Stop that immediately, Captain, he is not dangerous!”
“But Princess, how did you know if this m-... monster is really as harmless as he looks?”
“STRONG SHIELD!” she shouted in The Royal Canterlot Voice. Then, she calmed down a little. “That ‘monster’, as you titled him, is the one who I want you to protect, and is also my adopted son!’’
The guard gulped. Not only had he insulted Celestia by insulting the strange thing, but he needed to protect it, too!
Celestia calmed down, and spoke to the captain. “You see, Captain, this is the reason why I will need you. You just proved why I need him to be protected. Because later today, I will announce to the ponies that he is here in Equestria, but I do not want somepony to act just like you have, and try to hurt him, or make an attempt on his life, so I will need you to protect him.”
The captain stayed silent. In his mind, he was thinking about all the responsibility that this assignment would bring. But yes, he did not really like the fact that he had to protect a monster, but if Celestia trusted it, who he is to judge her, right?
“Your highness, I will accept this assignment, but I have one condition that I must have met.” Strong said.
Celestia raised a brow, before she let the captain continue.
“3 weeks ago, you fired two of my guards, and you know that they’re not my most important guards, but still, they have a place in the royal army. Can you allow them to retake their positions?” he asked.
Celestia waited a couple of seconds, before she whispered to the Captain...
… “Do you like bananas, Captain?”
The Captain, for some reason, blushed, and raised a brow. “P-pardon me, y-your majesty?”
Celestia smiled, and sighed before she laid on her bed, next to Onyx. “If the two guards each bring me a bag of bananas, and an apology, I will let them retake their jobs.” she then looked at Onyx, smiling more. “I do not think I will need you before I reveal him to everypony, so you may return to your business.” she said, looking back to Strong.
Strong Shield bowed to the princess, and went out of the room. He starting to walk, thinking about what he will need to do to protect the baby monster. Still lost in his mind, he reached the guard hall. He approach two stallions who did not wear the uniform. They were the two that Celestia fired. Instead of working for the Guard, they got temporary jobs... As janitors. They were in the guard hall because their lockers were there.
“Stainless Steel, Curved Bronze! You have 10 minutes to get your sorry flanks over to the kitchen, ask for two big bags of bananas, give it to your princess, and then give your apologies! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!” he yelled at the two stallions.
“SIR, YES SIR!” the two stallions saluted him as they said this in perfect unison. Then, they bolted off in the direction of the royal kitchen, accidentally tripping and falling face-first onto the ground as they went.
- - - -
Celestia looked at the scroll in front of her. She had listed all the pros and cons to keeping and banishing Onyx. In total, there were more good reasons to banish him instead of keep him.
She looked at the scroll for a moment...
… Before tossing it into the fireplace, watching it burn.
She looked at Onyx with a warm smile as he slept on the bed.
“If I want to keep you, who will stop me from doing so?”