Trials of the Elements
Part 11
The door to Lemon Lime's apartment cracked open slowly revealing the large frame of an impressively built Earth pony. Big Macintosh held the door for his smaller friend. The yellow unicorn backed through the doorway levitating the rogue in the air behind him. Big Macintosh quietly closed the door as the little physical therapist set the rogue down on his couch gently. Big Macintosh unbuckled his saddle-bags and slipped them off, several bottles of Valiant's sleeping potion clanked quietly inside.
"I wonder how long it will take for her to recover? I have no experience with this kind of thing. I mean, I've heard of C.M.E.S. and I know about it, but only in a basic sense." Lemon Lime sighed, "Having her summoned construct destroyed may have had an adverse effect on her total magic potential. If she retains all her power, I'm no match for her. Before the fight I thought I was, but I was wrong, very wrong. I am to her, in magical ability, what a mouse is to you, in strength. In all my calculations I'd forgotten to take one big factor into account. When a unicorn is suffering from stage 3 'Caster's Stroke' it's nearly impossible to keep casting spells. She was not only able to keep using it but to do so with more raw power than I have in total. While she was suffering from C.M.E.S. her magical power kept increasing every single time she used it. I'm not sure I'm making myself clear here. She's phenomenal. I've never heard of a unicorn this powerful except in ancient Equestrian legends. At least she's asleep now." Lemon Lime paused and turned his head toward Big Macintosh, "Any idea what Dr. Mend, Valiant, Trooper, and Sea Blue are going to do with Princess Luna?"
The huge earth pony just shook his head,
"Nope." the random change of subject no longer disoriented the larger work pony.
Lemon Lime blew out an exasperated breath,
"I'll put a pot of coffee on so I can stay awake and keep an eye on her. You can get some sleep if you want. I'll wake you up when I need to go to sleep. Sound good?"
Big Macintosh yawned hugely,
"Ayup." he said over his shoulder as he made his way to Lemon Lime's back bedroom.
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Princess Luna felt her senses return to her slowly. She felt slightly cool from a gentle breeze, it was getting along toward winter after all. She felt a tiny bit fatigued. Her subconscious had taken over her magic when she had been engulfed by the chimera's flame. Her instinct had hardened the outermost layer of her skin and protected her easily from the intense heat. She had never been in any real danger. Even a dragon could little to harm an alicorn aside from making her look like she had been in an oven way too long. She opened her eyes and was greeted with three questioning faces, 'Guess the secret is out.' she thought sourly, 'Might as well explain.'
The Moon Princess raised her head slowly. Trooper lent her a leg as she rose to her hooves. Sea Blue was nowhere to be seen. Dr. Mend and Trooper bowed respectfully, but Valiant simply stood in place. He had a disbelieving look smeared so far through his face, it might have been natural. Princess Luna opened her mouth to speak, but Valiant rudely held up a hoof. He turned around and began walking away without a single word.
The Moon Princess was flabbergasted, nopony silenced her,
"Stop." she commanded.
Her voice held an air of command which nopony could easily deny. She was one of only two alicorns in Equestria; hers was a power not to be trifled with. She knew her station and even though she rarely used it to force her will, she did so then. Valiant was far out of line in even thinking to silence her, 'Who does he think he is?' Princess Luna thought to herself, 'I'll have to be careful with him. He had NO RIGHT to try to silence me, but he does deserve answers.' she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, 'Remember Luna, patience is key. He's not whole yet, you know that. Be firm but don't be overbearing. Balance and restraint, always balance and restraint.'
Valiant obediently halted, but did not turn around. He was angry and he didn't wish to risk snapping disrespectfully at a Princess; especially the Princess who had been so kind to he and Mend when they first arrived in Canterlot. He sighed curtly, still refusing to turn around. He felt a hurricane of emotions and feelings boiling inside himself. In his mind, Evening Star was dead. He couldn't be frank and open with a Princess; he couldn't be friends with her either. It was improper to even think such a thing, 'She's an alicorn, a Princess of Equestria. She's seen countless generations come and go. We are nothing more than the blink of an eye to them.' Even if there was no romantic connection between them, his friend was gone. He hated himself for not figuring it out earlier, 'She never actually said she was a courier. She had insinuated it and let me draw my own conclusions. I should have seen it!' he thought, 'Everything was just too perfect. Her knowledge, her experience, she knew too much. Why didn't I see it? She said she didn't have any friends, she mentioned her duty. How could I have been so blind?' the answer came to him almost immediately, 'Because I trusted her.' he thought bitterly, 'I trusted her. Should I expect the same thing from Celestia too?'
Princess Luna spoke again disrupting his thoughts,
"Look at me Valiant." she ordered quietly.
Valiant turned his head toward her,
"Yes, your majesty?" he asked in the most neutral tone he could muster.
Princess Luna took a step toward him,
"I had to ensure you would discover the truth. I felt it within you and Mend when we first met. I knew what you were, even if you did not. I did what I did for the good of Equestria. There are many things you do not yet understand. If I hadn't shown you the book, you would have never figured it out; none of you would have. Celestia had Twilight's entire lifetime to mold her mind and set her in the proper direction to discover the Elements of Harmony. I had a couple of days."
She took another step and stopped,
"I cannot see the future, but I can sense souls and spirits. It is one of the fundamental differences between Celestia and I. She works indirectly, from the background. I intervene on a personal level, even if it happens to be in disguise. Our personality differences are reflected in the Elements we created. The Elements of Harmony are subtle and have far-reaching effects; the Elements of Peace are obvious and direct. The perfect balance, one to compliment the other. Nopony can deny their nature. I don't blame you for being upset, but have the strength of character to look past your feelings and think. How else could I have manipulated events to this end?" she asked.
Valiant remained silent so she continued,
"Do you presume to know better than I? Celestia and I ruled for centuries before you were born. We will continue to do so after your descendents have passed on. Ten, twenty generations is but a breath to us, however the smallest of events can have lasting effects on Equestria. We ensure that Equestria survives by whatever means necessary. Sometimes that means misleading, sometimes that means manipulating; I can assure you it is never done in malice. This is your time to decide. Do you run and hide or do you stand and face reality? Do you harden your heart, or do you look past your feelings and work toward the greater good despite how you feel?"
Valiant turned his whole body toward Princess Luna and bowed stiffly,
"I need time to think, your majesty."
Princess Luna nodded,
"Very well. When you are ready, you know where to find me." turning back to Dr. Mend and Trooper she said, "You all have done very well. When the rogue awakens send word to the Royal Palace. If you need me, you can find me in my Tower Library. Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again."
With those final words Princess Luna took to the sky and soared off toward the Royal Palace.
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Sea Blue burst through the doors of Avalon's clinic. He had been to his home and not found his daughter. Logic dictated that the only other possible place for Ev . . . Princess Luna to take her would be the clinic so she could be given a clean bill of health since her ordeal was over.
Sea Blue galloped up to the receptionist's desk and leaned over it,
"Was a little, pink unicorn filly brought in here earlier?" he asked.
The receptionist leaned her head back away from Sea Blue since his muzzle was a mere inch from her own,
"Yes. She's with Dr. Avalon right now . . ."
"Take me to her. I'm her father." Sea Blue interrupted.
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Dr. Avalon had never been particularly comfortable with youngsters, but Patch was easy to deal with. Dr. Avalon had given her a checkup and checked her records, then decided to give the pink little unicorn her booster shots. Most fillies and colts cried and screamed when they saw a syringe, Patch just sat there quietly. She hadn't said much and had gone to sleep in Dr. Avalon's office within ten minutes.
Dr. Avalon was sitting quietly at her desk when Sea Blue burst through the door. He scanned the room and spotted his daughter sleeping peacefully on Dr. Avalon's visitor chair. He snuck over to her and knelt down in front of the chair. He leaned over and brushed her mane out of her face with his left fore hoof. The little filly stirred and cracked her eyes open. She smiled and leaned over, hugging her father.
Sea Blue hugged her back, holding her tightly,
"I missed you baby." he whispered, eyes leaking.
"She's fine, Sea Blue. You're both free to go home." Dr. Avalon said quietly.
Sea Blue turned his head toward the Earth pony mare,
"Thank you."
Dr. Avalon nodded uncomfortably,
"It's fine. Go on home." she said in a quiet voice.
Patch eased back on the hug and regarded her father, smiling,
"Come on Daddy. Let's go home."
Sea Blue couldn't agree more,
"Right," he said kissing her forehead, "Let's go home."
*******************************
Valiant closed up Mrs. Soothe's apothecary and locked the door. He turned up the street and headed toward Lemon Lime's apartment. He thought to himself as he walked, 'I'm glad the owner of the ice cream parlor got compensated for the damage to her shop. I'm surprised the fight two weeks ago wasn't talked about in Equestria Daily. That news paper scoops up every possible story around here. I wonder if Princess Luna had something to do with that?' the thought of the Moon Princess set his nerves on edge, 'Stop thinking about her!' he scolded himself, 'She didn't actually lie to us, but it's a slim difference either way. She wasn't truthful with us in any case. She deceived us! I can't say she doesn't care, she did save my life. I thought she was our friend. She was just maneuvering us into doing what she wanted. She was using us. Why didn't she just order us to do it? We would have done it. Why didn't she just go after the rogue herself with the Royal Guards instead of us? I have to find out. First though, it's time to deal with a long-term problem.'
Valiant climbed the stairs to Lemon Lime's apartment and knocked on the door politely. Big Macintosh opened it and let the royal blue pegasus in. Valiant's eyes went straight to the other ponies already in the front room. Trooper and Dr. Mend stood on either side of the couch, keeping watch over the rogue. Sea Blue lay in front of the couch with a pad and paper in front of him. Lemon Lime stood in the doorway that led into the kitchen leaning on the frame casually and Big Macintosh walked calmly over and stood right in front of the couch. They were preparing for the rogue to wake up.
The six stallions had discussed the scenario in great detail. They had prepared for every likely possibility. Lemon Lime had already cast a warding against powerful magic over the whole apartment complex. Simple spells would be easy to do but anything more than a minor levitation of less than five pounds would be impossible by any save for one of the Princesses. Lemon Lime had Sea Blue try several spells just to make sure. Lemon Lime had learned a new spell to gauge her power while she was asleep and had confirmed his suspicion. The backlash from having the chimera destroyed had damaged her magical potential to one fourth of what she originally had at the time. Lemon Lime estimated that he would be almost an even match for her but still didn't want to take any chances. They had discussed having a mare present to make the rogue perhaps more comfortable, but had decided against it. They didn't have Evening Star around anymore and Dr. Avalon had to work.
Valiant was in a bit of a foul mood,
"Is everypony ready?" he asked curtly.
"Ayup." Big Mac said.
"I am indeed." Trooper acknowledged.
"Yeah." Dr. Mend sighed.
"Let's get to the bottom of this." Sea Blue said.
"Get on with it." Lemon Lime said, apparently in a mood also.
Valiant nodded to Dr. Mend. Mend pulled out a syringe and injected the contents into the rogue's thigh. He removed the needle and capped the tip then put it back into his saddle-bags. The six stallions waited. They had already checked her eyes. The rogue's coloring had been back to normal for three days, they wanted a margin for error.
The rogue no longer looked emaciated, just thin. Her coat was light blue, her eyes were purple, and her mane and tail were such a light shade of blue as to almost look white. The six stallions had been taking turns keeping an eye on her. They had fed her well and she was filling back out nicely. The vast majority of the time after the first day they had been monitoring her in pairs for accountability sake. They had Dr. Avalon come in and check up on her and bathe her every couple of days. Dr. Avalon was only too happy to help.
The rogue stirred and moaned quietly. She raised her right fore hoof and rubbed at her eyes. The stallions stayed utterly silent so as not to startle her. She cracked her eyes open, wincing at the light. She blinked several times and opened her eyes completely. The first thing she did was to look around. Six grim, serious faces starred at her in silence. Sea Blue cleared his throat quietly but the rogue spoke first.
Her tone was haughty and snide,
"The Great and Powerful Trixie demands to know what she is doing here."
Trooper pursed his lips and addressed her in a direct manner,
"You would do well to keep a civil tongue right now. We are going to ask you some questions and you are going to answer them in a straight forward manner. Do I make myself clear?"
"Who are you to dare to speak to the Great and Powerful Trixie in such a way!?" she asked.
Trooper's face darkened significantly,
"My name is Trooper. You broke all four of my legs when I saved an Earth pony mare you were levitating and threatening for her bits." Trooper pointed to Sea Blue, "You foalnapped his daughter after you gored him with your horn." Trooper then gestured to every stallion in the room, "You summoned a chimera and nearly killed us all. You were suffering from Critical Magical Exhaustive Stress. We risked our lives because of your irresponsibility! So, I reiterate. Mind. Your. Tongue!" he spat.
The so called 'Great and Powerful Trixie' kept her tone haughty but her eyes gave away her fear,
"What is it you want to know?" she asked.
************************************
"So you came to Canterlot to gain more power and learn forbidden spells just to humiliate Twilight, but you pushed yourself too hard and ended up with 'Caster's Stroke'?" Valiant asked angrily, "We nearly died because of your ego! Your wounded pride and lack of self control damn near murdered us! You've traumatized a filly, stabbed her father, caused severe injury to several ponies, AND almost destroyed half the city! What the hell is wrong with you! What were you thinking?" the wingless pegasus stomped his hooves on the floor angrily, "Are you crazy or just stupid! What kind of a unicorn are you? Unicorns are supposed to help other ponies with their magic not torment them with it! Good grief! A blind goose in a hailstorm would have more sense than you! We risked our lives to help a halfwit, idiotic, self-absorbed, egomaniac!"
Trixie opened her mouth to give a retort, but Valiant rounded on her first,
"DON'T!" he snarled, "Don't say anything! You've done enough already." he stopped and took a deep breath, "I'm leaving. I can't stay in the same room with this pathetic excuse for a unicorn anymore. She knows what she did and still doesn't care about who she hurt in the process! I'll see you back at the dorm Mend."
Valiant was furious. He felt himself welling up with rage. He knew he needed to leave or risk losing control. He had never wanted to hit something so badly in his life, 'How can she be so callous! We saved her from becoming a Vagabond and she doesn't even care! I did what I did by accident and I lost five years of my life!' Valiant broke into a gallop. He didn't know where he was going and he didn't care. He needed to let off some steam before he really lost his temper. He ran until he was exhausted.
Valiant stopped to catch his breath and looked around, 'Oh great.' he thought sarcastically, 'Exactly where I don't want to be.' He looked up at the Tower Library and snorted angrily. He blew out a heavy breath, 'You know what? Fine. Let's do this!' he thought.
Valiant walked up the stairs into the Library and shoved the right-side door open roughly. The librarian looked over at him and shushed him. Valiant motioned that she could stuff her notion of 'quiet' into an impolite place. The irate pegasus took the steps to the second floor two at a time. He spotted 'Evening Star' sitting in her usual spot next to the window. He strode up to her boldly and plopped himself down in front of her.
"Yes?" Princess Luna asked quietly without looking up.
"Since you look like Evening Star, should I address you like Evening Star or as Princess Luna?" Valiant asked shortly.
"Address me as you see me." she responded.
Valiant chuckled humorlessly,
"If I were to do that, I would say quite a number of things I would never say to either a Princess or a friend."
Princess Luna set her book down and closed it, starring at Valiant levelly,
"The way others treat you never dictates how you have to respond. That decision is yours alone. I never said you had to stop treating me like a friend. You assumed that yourself and this time I didn't mislead you in the slightest. If you can't be civil, then I don't have to listen to you."
"Go ahead then, run away. That's your option as a Princess." Valiant retorted bitterly.
Princess Luna in disguise rose to her hooves,
"I do not have to explain myself to you, nor do I require your approval. I would have thought that as one outcast to another we would have a common ground. We can still be friends Valiant, but I refuse to take insult from you or anypony else. You can treat me as an equal or as a Princess, I don't care which."
Princess Luna stopped at the top of the stairs and turned to address Valiant one last time,
"Ask yourself this question though: why are you angry?"
The Moon Princess departed, leaving Valiant alone with his thoughts.
****************************
Dr. Mend opened the door to the dorm room and stuffed the key back into his saddle-bags,
"Valiant?" he called.
The room was silent and the hour was late. The five stallions had spent the remainder of the day dealing with Trixie and the official paperwork which was included in the event of turning her over to Princess Celestia. Celestia had explained that she and Luna had discussed the whole issue with the rogue over the course of a week and Celestia had eventually agreed to keep the news from the Royal Guards. Said Guards were not happy to find out they had been left out of the loop but refrained from treating the stallions poorly. They had taken Trixie into custody and departed quickly after all the paperwork had been completed, 'Who knew Celestia already had official forms for the apprehension of dangerous ponies?' Mend wondered, 'Hmm, I don't see Valiant . . . ' he stopped as he noticed Valiant's belongings were missing.
Mend stopped dead in his tracks and looked around the dorm room. Valiant's bed had been made neatly and his desk was devoid of any personal effects. Mend saw a piece of parchment on his own bed and walked over to it. The paper was not rolled or sealed. Mend read the parchment, eyes growing wide. He turned and galloped off back to Lemon Lime's apartment with the note held in his muzzle.
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Mend read the note aloud to the gathered stallions in the apartment,
"To Mend, Live Wire, Big Macintosh, Trooper, and Sea Blue:
I spoke with 'Evening Star' in the Library after I left the apartment. She presented a question to me that I hadn't the mind to think of myself. I'm furious, but I don't know why. I spent several hours in the Library trying to figure it out but I came up with nothing. I feel this is something I have to figure out on my own. Please don't be upset with me. I just need some time to think. I won't say where I'm going and please don't come looking for me. Don't worry, I'll be back when I figure this out. I simply need some time for 'me' right now. I know it's selfish but this is something I need to do. I'll come back and do the courses when I'm done. If you speak to Princess Luna, tell her I'm not sorry for being upset, but I do apologize for being rude.
Best Wishes,
Valiant"
Sea Blue's eyebrows furrowed together in thought; he began pacing, giving voice to his thoughts,
"He repeats himself in different words several times. He's trying to convince himself, not us. He feels like he's been robbed of several years of his life because of a mistake, while Trixie seems to have gotten off free for everything she's done, even though he has no idea what her punishment is. He was looking for a reason to be angry. He probably realized that, and he doesn't want to risk taking it out on us by mistake. He feels betrayed by Princess Luna and doesn't know how to deal with it. He doesn't want to be angry with her but he still feels angry in general and she's the only one who he can be upset with right now. He's got a lot of bitterness pent up inside him, but instead of staying here where we can help him, he runs away. He feels inadequate and doesn't feel worthy of the effort. He's been acting like he has confidence, but it's all been an act so we wouldn't worry."
Sea Blue paused and turned to the rest of the stallions,
"So we have two issues here. One, he doesn't want to risk exploding on us because he's angry, he wants to protect us. Two, he doesn't feel that he's worth the effort of us helping him. I think there's one more aspect here; the root of the problem is his identity. He's been helping everypony else around him, like he's good to go but in reality he's been balancing on the edge of a knife this whole time. He spent so much time hating himself he lost his own identity. He lost it until he did something right. Once he succeeded at something, he found a temporary sense of it. He thought he was alright and wanted everypony to think that as well. He went off only partially healed and went back into the world until he encountered a big let-down . . . "
Sea Blue looked up quickly,
"He was in love with Evening Star!" he said suddenly, "No, he was in love with the thought of having somepony to love. He needed to feel loved so he could find out who he was. If foals have a solid support system they can find themselves, it's like getting your cutie-mark, but on a more profound level. He used Arabesque as his support system, but when she died, he lost that. When he met 'Evening Star', he found it once more. When she turned out not to be real, his false support system came tumbling down around him. He realized, on some level at least, that he'd been lying to everypony, himself included. The realization caused a chain-reaction of anger that he unknowingly projected outward at everypony around him who did something he saw as wrong. He knows what happened; he's out trying to find his support system again."
"But why not just use us and his friends back in Ponyville?" Mend asked, "We're here for him too."
Lemon Lime's eyes popped open wide,
"If he feels that he can't trust the pony he loved then maybe he thinks he can't rely on us either. In his mind we might let him down just like she did."
Sea Blue nodded and continued,
"That makes sense. He lost his identity when he became a Vagabond. When somepony took his cutie-mark, that compounded the issue. He got a small part it back when Rarity tattooed it back on him, but he's still missing something. He has no sense of his original identity because nopony here has a true sense of who that was. A type of love is what destroyed him in the first place. He wants love, but a type that he doesn't think we can give him. He wants the love of a family. He's only known one family in his whole life . . . Haysburg! He's gone back to Haysburg to find the love that he lost! The whole village was his 'family' and they rejected him! He wants that back! Instead of using us to find that love and support, he went back to the first ponies he saw as family! That's it, it has to be! They loved him for . . . what, fifteen, twenty years? He has a stronger connection with them than he does with us! The disappointment may have been greater, but one instance vs. two decades of acceptance is a big difference."
Big Mac's face drained of all color,
"Ah don't see that reunion ending well."
Trooper agreed,
"Neither do I. If they treat him poorly though, wouldn't he come back to us because we didn't abandon him?"
Sea Blue shook his head,
"Nope. Not if he doesn't trust us. What we need to do is gather everypony who cares about him and find him. We have to convince him that he can use us as his support system. We have to show him that we're his family now. Once he sees that he's already loved, he'll be able to come around."
Lemon Lime was the first one to break the silence,
"I have to go pack."
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Trooper landed on the draw bridge of the Royal Palace, it was considered extremely rude to fly over the threshold. Earth ponies and unicorns had to go in on hoof so equal treatment dictated that pegasi do the same. Trooper trotted up to the two Royal Guards who stood flanking the huge wooden doors leading into the Royal Palace.
Trooper cleared his throat,
"I would like to request an audience with Princess Luna as soon as possible."
The two white pegasi in golden armor didn't move a muscle so Trooper repeated himself,
"Excuse me. I would like to request an audience with Princess Luna please."
The two guards remained still as statues.
Trooper bristled,
"Look, she knows me. Just tell her that Trooper is here to see her. She said we could visit her. This is important."
The two guards still didn't move.
Trooper was starting to become rather upset,
"I say, you two blighters are not the least bit helpful at all are you?" Trooper sighed heavily, "Look gents' I am one of the bearers of the Elements of Peace and I need to speak with Princess Luna immediately."
The guard on the right of the door suddenly spoke,
“We’re not stopping you.”
Trooper blinked, dumbfounded, and strode right up to the doors. He looked left and right. The guards hadn't moved. Trooper shrugged and pushed the doors open and strode inside closing the doors behind himself.
Trooper marveled at the interior of the Royal Palace. It was beautiful. High vaulted archways made for wide open corridors, all made of white marble or covered with golf leaf. Trooper had no idea where to go so he just kept going in a straight line. Up ahead of him was another pair of double doors, these seemingly made of solid gold and inset with extravagant patterns of jewels. Trooper pushed open the doors and entered a massive throne room. Princess Luna sat on the throne on a raised dais at the far end of the chamber.
Trooper trotted up to the base of the throne and observed the two Royal Guards standing motionless on either side of the stairs leading up to the throne. He opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly realized that Princess Luna had descended to meet him face to face.
Trooper bowed deeply and waited to be acknowledged,
"Rise Trooper. What is it you wish to talk about?" she asked.
Trooper rose and addressed her politely,
"Your majesty, what is the proper manner with which to address you?"
Princess Luna chuckled lightly with a wing to her mouth,
"You may be informal since we are already friends."
Trooper nodded politely,
"Valiant's gone. We think he went back to Haysburg."
"I knew he would. I saw it in him when we last spoke. I must change the subject though. Tell me Trooper, why do you still consider me a friend?" Princess Luna asked.
Trooper gave the question some serious thought before answering,
"In all truth, it is rather difficult to consider you a friend. I first knew you as . . . somepony else, then I discover you are in fact . . . who you are. It makes it difficult to relate to you."
Princess Luna cocked her head,
"What do you mean? I've never treated you differently nor have asked for you to treat me differently. You have to learn to take me at my word. I may mislead sometimes, but I do not lie. I don't want any of you to treat me any differently then when you knew me by another name. Do you understand what I mean?"
Trooper nodded,
"It is still difficult to think of you as anything other than a Princess. The simple fact is that there is a difference now. You are an alicorn. Not a single pony knows the lifespan of an alicorn; leastwise not that I have ever heard. That fact alone makes it nearly impossible to relate to you. You have nearly infinite magic and you have wings. You can suffer the most terrible injuries and apparently shrug them off as if they were nothing. You are a goddess for all intents and purposes. How can a mortal possibly relate to an immortal?"
"Neither Celestia or I are immortal, but I'll thank you to keep that to yourself. Trooper, we share the same needs as regular ponies: air, food, water, sunlight, and a place to live. The only real difference is that we have a few more natural gifts and we chose to watch over regular ponies." Princess Luna paused briefly, "I initially thought you were here to ask about what Celestia and I did with 'the Great and Powerful Trixie'"
Trooper scratched his head,
"Now that you mention it, I have been wondering."
Princess Luna smiled mischievously,
"We decided that a large dose of the proverbial 'humble pie' would do her some good. We set her to work as a janitor cleaning the entirety of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. She is free to leave at any time but we placed a nullifier collar on her horn to limit the amount of magic she has access to. If she faithfully works in the school for one full year we will review her progress and consider lifting the collar off her horn. She knows that if she tries to remove it by herself or have somepony else do so it will nullify her magic entirely until one of us restores it to her. I think she'll do well and I see her having it off in one year. She's not nearly as confident as she acts. She feels the need to belittle other ponies to make herself feel better when she's actually quite talented. I have to admit she developed a great deal of finesse and control over what magic she was born with and her current potential is quite good. She'll never equal Twilight but neither will Live Wire and he deals with it just fine."
"So what should we do about Valiant?" Trooper asked.
Princess Luna put her right wing over Trooper's shoulder,
"You already know the answer, you're just second-guessing yourself. Have some faith, Trooper. Follow your heart, as cliché as that sounds. You've followed your heart thus far in life and while you don't have your cutie-mark yet, you will find it. You did the right thing when you saved that mare from Trixie and you will do the right thing now."
Trooper nodded as if he had been expecting her answer,
"Thank you Pri. . . Thank you Luna. Till next we meet." he finished with a flourishing bow.
"Till next we meet Trooper." Princess Luna said, inclining her head slightly.
As Trooper galloped out of the throne room, Princess Luna sat back down on the throne,
"And good luck to you Valiant. We will meet again someday, my champion." she whispered.
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Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I am afraid I have yet to make your acquaintance, but rest assured I am a friend and we also share a mutual friend. Valiant has disappeared but we think we know where to find him. I am of the belief that we should meet in Ponyville as we have much to discuss, not the least of which is the location of our, afore mentioned, friend. I am being accompanied by four stallions and one filly all of which, I believe, will end up taking up residency in Ponyville on a long-term basis. We will arrive in seven days and we wish to meet you and the other Elements of Harmony as soon as possible afterward. We look forward to meeting you in person.
Sincerely yours,
Trooper