A Bluebird's Song

by Ardensfax


Fallen Stars

A Bluebird’s Song

~~~
It’s all so clear
We can see the madness
Perfectly from here
~~~

Fallen Stars

The three would-be kidnappers huddled together in the middle of the floor, shrinking away from Celestia’s gaze. None of them were courageous or foolish enough to attempt escape. Dusk’s horn had ceased sparking out of sheer nerves, and Spike had fallen to the floor with a bump, as had Twilight and her friends. They were all staring, transfixed, at the Princess. Her horn crackled once, and the wooden magical dampener attached to Twilight’s head cracked in two and fell away, thumping onto the floor. Twilight ran a grateful hoof over the horn, letting out a relieved sigh when she found that it was undamaged.

In the middle of the room, the three unicorns were arguing skittishly, in low voices, each speaking rapidly.

“Y-you never said royalty was gonna get involved,” babbled Frost, looking to Dusk for leadership.

“I didn’t know!” Dusk shot a glare at Twilight. “They told me Sparkle was just a student, nopony told me she could bring the Princess down on us!”

“Be quiet,” Celestia said, softly. She raised her voice, but the bickering unicorns fell silent immediately. “Dusk Tempest,” she cast a cool eye over the burly, white-coated ringleader. “You’re in with the Sunset Association now, are you? How times change.” Celestia looked over her shoulder, and called out of the open door. “Guards?”

Three pure white pegasi, clad in the distinctive golden armour of Royal Guards, entered the cottage. Dusk growled furiously as he saw them, an old anger flaring up in his eyes, but he did not dare make a move for them. “Well, look who it is,” he muttered. The Guards saluted the Princess, ignoring Dusk, and looked to Celestia for instruction.

The Princess motioned towards Frost and Dusk. “Rope these two up, and take them back to the castle. I’m sure they’ll have some interesting things to tell us later. As for you,” she addressed Swift directly, who shrank back but met her gaze defiantly. “I’m letting you go. Go back to your leaders. Tell them that the Elements of Harmony, and their friends, are under my personal protection.”

She paused, surveying him thoughtfully. “It was you who volunteered to injure Spike, wasn’t it?” A momentary surge of anger flashed in her face, and Swift broke eye contact, looking nervously at the floor. “Even after today, perhaps your organization will still think it a good idea to try and get to my student through the ponies that she cares for. If so, then I have a message for them.”

She nodded to one of her guards, who passed her a small, sealed scroll. With a spark of her horn, she levitated it across to Swift, and placed it into his saddlebag. “That scroll contains a trapped spell. It’s good for one teleportation, so you can get back to wherever you came from and tell your leaders what happened here today.”

Swift looked a little confused. He was not the most powerful of unicorns, but he was perfectly capable of teleporting himself. He looked back up at Celestia, unrepentantly, his courage somewhat back in place. “What’s this message, then?” he asked, derisively.

Celestia closed her eyes, a corona of magic forming around her forehead. For a few moments, it whirled and glowed, and then a single spark detached itself and drifted across to Swift, all eyes tracking its progress. It touched his forehead, sinking beneath the surface without a sound. For a moment, all was silent.

With a resounding snap, Swift’s horn broke in two, clattering to the floor.

He reeled back in horror, staring disbelievingly at the powder-blue cone that was even now rolling away across the floor. Frost backed himself against the wall, staring at his associate in shock. Dusk let out a low snarl of anger, but was silenced by a look from the Princess. Swift was in no pain, as there are no nerves in a unicorn’s horn, but panic dawned in his eyes as he realized what this meant. Once a unicorn’s horn was broken, there was no replacing it. He closed his eyes, concentrating with all his might, but could not summon so much as a spark from the broken base. He would have to find a prosthesis, but even then there was no returning his magic. He had, to all intents and purposes, become an earth pony.

“I am sorry,” murmured Celestia. There was no triumph in her voice, only sadness. “A clear message must be sent to your leaders. My protection of these ponies is not to be taken lightly.”

Two guards stepped forward, expertly tying together the front legs of the shell-shocked Dusk and Frost. They produced anti-magic cones, similar to the one that Dusk had used on Twilight, and placed them over their horns, preventing them from escaping magically. “Shall we leave now, your Highness?” Captain Gladius enquired.

Celestia nodded. “Yes. Detain these two in the castle. I will speak to them myself later.”

Gladius saluted, motioning to the other guards, who shepherded Dusk and Frost out of the door, the two unicorns unable to walk faster than a slow shuffle due to the bindings tying together their front legs. The final guard to leave closed the door behind him, after a rapid bow to the Princess.

For a few moments, there was silence, then Celestia turned to look at the ponies and dragon that she had rescued, none of whom had yet spoken. None of them had seen the Princess angry before, and although it had been fleeting, none of them felt quite brave enough to be the first to speak. Swift was still pawing at the jagged stump of his horn, grimacing as he envisaged a lifetime of attempting to use cutlery with nothing but his bare hooves.

“I’ll speak to you all in one moment,” Celestia said to Twilight with a reassuring smile. “I feel I owe you an explanation. But first, I must have a few moments alone to speak with… What was your name?”

“S-Swift Zephyr,” he replied, his voice shaking.

“Come. I must talk to you, outside.” She noticed his obvious nerves, which he was attempting with little success to hide from her. “Don’t worry. You have nothing further to fear from me.”

She led the way out of the front door. Swift looked mutinous, but did not appear to have the nerve to remain where he was, so he followed the Princess through the door, letting it swing shut behind him. His horn was still lying where it had rolled, partially hidden beneath Fluttershy’s sofa.

*

There were a few seconds of silence, in which the ponies and dragon simply looked at one another, each trying to make full sense of the last ten minutes. Twilight winced as she remembered the sound of Swift’s horn breaking. Even after what he had tried to do, it was still an unpleasant experience to watch that happening to a fellow unicorn.

Then, Spike sniffled. Running over to Twilight and Dash, he hugged them both. “Th-thanks for coming after me and Fluttershy, you guys,” he choked out. “I owe you one. More than one.”

With a little squeak, Fluttershy joined him, gratefully throwing one hoof each around Twilight and Dash. “Me too,” she whispered. “I can’t imagine what they’d be doing to Spike right now if you’d not turned up.”

Twilight and Dash smiled at each other, blushing a little at the praise. “Anytime,” Twilight replied, returning the hug.

“As for you,” Fluttershy smiled, releasing the two ponies and scooping up Spike in her hooves, “you were amazing. You stopped that big one who’d pinned me down; you were so brave jumping at him like that!”

Spike flushed, embarrassed, but smiled nonetheless, hugging Fluttershy back. “Aw, come on, ‘Shy. It was nothing, really.”

Fluttershy giggled, setting him down. “Why can’t all dragons be like you?”

Spike shrugged, smirking. “Hey, what can I say? I’m unique.” He turned to Twilight, his smile fading as he remembered something that Dusk had said. “Now, what the hay was this whole dragon-napping thing about anyway? They told me it had something to do with you.”

Twilight sighed, looking at Dash for moral support. “I guess I’ve got some explaining to do,” she replied, quietly.

“Not as much as I have, my dear student,” came a voice from the door. Celestia re-entered the cottage, looking saddened. “Swift has left now,” she added, “he used the scroll.” She looked apologetically at Twilight. “I’m sorry you had to see that. As a unicorn, it cannot have been pleasant.”

There was silence for a few moments, then, deciding to take the initiative, Twilight walked over to her. The others were still hanging back. “Thankyou for coming after us, Princess,” she said, looking at the floor.

Celestia looked at Twilight, and then around at the others, her expression was almost fearful. “You’re afraid of me.” It was not a question.

“No-” Twilight began to protest, but the words died in her throat.

“You are. I can see it in your eyes.” Celestia sighed. “Twilight, tell me honestly. Did I do the right thing?”

Twilight looked up at the Princess, in surprise. “I’m sorry?”

“I promised myself a long time ago that I would never use my powers in anger,” Celestia said. “I fear I may have just done so, but I believe that it was the right decision. However, I need your opinion. I need outside perspective, and too few are willing to provide me with it. Please, be honest with me.”

Twilight thought for a few moments, remembering. In reality, she was surprised at the Princess’s doubt in her own judgment. She had felt the breaking of Swift’s horn to be entirely justified. The only reason she was afraid was because she had never seen Celestia truly angry before, and that fear was seeping away now that her mentor was back to her usual self.

“I think you were right,” Twilight said eventually, meeting Celestia’s eyes again. “Letting him go might have been taken as a sign of weakness. It might have made them not take your protection seriously, and you needed to make sure that didn’t happen. I would have done the same.” She paused. “Actually, after what they’d threatened Spike with, I’d probably have done worse,” she finished in a small voice.

Celestia nodded. “I understand.”

“One other thing, Princess,” Twilight added, hesitantly, knowing that this needed to be said; “yes, I am afraid of you. Of course I am, what pony wouldn’t be? But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re one of the greatest ponies I’ve ever known, and I’m more proud than I can say to be your student.”

She looked anxiously at the Princess, hoping that she had not broken some rule of royal etiquette, but then she saw a tear glinting in Celestia’s eye. Twilight quickly looked away, embarrassed. “Thankyou, Twilight,” the Princess said quietly, with a small smile.

“So,” Dash chipped in, moving forwards. The others followed suit, seemingly more at ease now that the Princess’s anger had clearly dissipated. “Who was that Dusk guy? It seemed like ya knew him.”

“I’m afraid I do,” said Celestia, gravely. “I will come to his story in a moment. Firstly, though, I owe Twilight an apology.”

“Me?” Twilight was confused.

“Yes.” The Princess nodded. “The ponies who tried to kidnap Spike are, as you have probably realized, the same ponies who threatened yourself and Rainbow Dash earlier today.”

Spike seemed taken aback at the news that his attempted capture was not the first interesting event of the day. “Huh?”

“I’ll explain later,” whispered Dash.

“They are members of a group known as the Sunset Association,” Celestia continued. “I owe you an apology, Twilight, because I never warned you about them.” She cleared her throat. “I thought they had disbanded a long time ago now, but I should have known better. I also should have foreseen this.”

“Foreseen what, Princess?” Twilight asked, nervously.

“You have an enquiring mind,” Celestia said, “I would go so far as to say that you have a great mind.” Twilight blushed a little at the compliment, but the Princess moved swiftly on with her explanation. “Did you think you were the first to question the impossible? I should have realized how likely it was that one day you would begin to wonder about pegasus flight, just as so many scholars before you have done.”

Realization suddenly dawned on Spike’s face. “So this is about that thing you mentioned to me yesterday?” he asked Twilight. “All those diagrams and notes in your room?”

Celestia nodded. “I expect so.”

“B-but what does flight have to do with anything?” Fluttershy squeaked, and then shrank back. “If… If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Yeah,” added Dash, “it’s not like it’s hurting anypony, why do they care?”

The Princess held up a hoof. “One thing at a time. Allow me to explain who Sunset used to be. Evidently, who they still are.” She looked out of the window, staring for a few seconds at the night sky outside before continuing. “Every night, the sun sets. Nothing changes that. No matter what kind of a world it’s setting on, the sunset carries on. The perfect name for an organization that existed to fight against change. Putting it simply, the Sunset Association were a group of unicorns, dedicated to protecting unicorn interests. They existed for many hundreds of years, based at numerous locations in Canterlot. They believed that the status quo in Equestria must be preserved. Specifically, the status quo between unicorns and pegasi.” Celestia looked around at the small gathering. “I’m not sure how much you follow politics, but there has long been a rift between pegasi and unicorns. It has healed somewhat over recent times, at least partially through my own political effort, but in the distant past the two groups have often found themselves at each other’s throats.”

Dash nudged Twilight, playfully. “Funny, that,” she muttered. “We seem to get on just fine.”

Twilight silently shushed her, but could not hold back a small smile.

“Sunset,” Celestia continued, “still considered pegasi a threat. They could tolerate the ‘usual’ situation, in that unicorns monopolize magic and scholarship, and pegasi stick to their territory of flight and weather control. However, they believe that pegasi are constantly seeking power. What’s worse, is that they think I am secretly backing the pegasi, favouring them over the unicorns.”

“What?” Twilight exclaimed. “That’s ridiculous. Everypony’s a subject of yours. Why in Equestria would you be biased towards one particular group?”

“They think it’s a conspiracy,” Celestia said, unable to keep the scorn from her voice. “In reality, of course, they’re just prejudiced against pegasi, but if they can justify their claims to themselves, it makes them feel better. I say a lot of things that are on record, and if you’ve got enough quotes from somepony you can make them seem in favour of anything. I don’t doubt if they wanted ‘proof’ that I was pro-unicorn, they could cobble some together somehow.” Celestia shook her head, disdainfully.

“Confirmation bias,” muttered Twilight.

“What now?” Dash raised an eyebrow.

“Exactly, Twilight.” Celestia nodded. “They believe what they want to believe. But in the end, their motives aren’t relevant. Now, this is where your experiment comes in. Like so many unicorn scholars before you, you realized that there was something very wrong with pegasus flight. Sunset are already aware of this. They know the truth, and one of their primary purposes is to keep that truth from the pegasi.”

“But why?” Dash exclaimed.

Fluttershy was looking surprised, experimentally waving her wing in mid-air, obviously trying to work out what exactly was ‘wrong’ with it.

“Magic,” said Celestia, simply. “They think that magic should belong exclusively to the unicorns. To their minds, if the pegasi realize their magical capacity, they would be at an advantage,” she said the last word with distasteful emphasis.

“Pegasi are magical?” Fluttershy looked a little excited at this news, and was hovering a couple of inches from the floor in interest.

Celestia smiled at her. “Yes, Fluttershy. I’m sure Twilight will be pleased to explain the details later.” She cleared her throat, looking from Twilight to Dash. “So, you decided to experiment with pegasus flight. Your work, evidently, did not go unnoticed. Sunset needed to silence you, although I don’t doubt they wanted to leave you capable of fulfilling your capacity as the Elements of Harmony.”

Dash’s eyes widened. “That’s what the one in my house said!”

Fluttershy and Spike both looked at her, in surprise. “They were in your house?” spluttered Fluttershy, indignantly.

Twilight was kneading her forehead. “This makes no sense, though,” she growled. “You told me that they’re an old organization, that they’re professional. You told me that they knew what they were doing. But they clearly didn’t know much about me, did they? For one thing, they had no idea that I could directly contact you, your Highness. I mean, they threw a brick through my window! That’s not exactly the mark of a professional, is it?”

Celestia nodded. “That’s a good point. I must admit, I think it was a deliberate ruse. They threw the brick through your window to make their introduction, as it were, intending for you to believe that they were simply cranks. Then, when Spike went missing, you would make the connection yourself. By the time you realized that the threat worth taking note of, it would be too late. They would already have won; they would have had leverage over you. It was simply good fortune that stopped them from getting away with Spike. As for not knowing about your connection with myself, I don’t imagine they had much time to gather information about you before moving in. They had to react quickly. For all they knew, you could have gone public tomorrow.”

Twilight sighed. “I see what you mean. So you think they deliberately tried to me make me believe they were loonies? I mean, hearing about Dash, reading that message, it scared me, sure. But part of my brain was telling me it wasn’t worth worrying about, that they were just some bunch of idiots. I still don’t know why they didn’t just get away with Spike immediately, though.”

Fluttershy spoke up, nervously. “Uhh, Twilight? One of them heard Spike tell me that he just happened to be passing, when he offered to help with my garden. They thought that nopony knew that he was here.”

“Huh. Really?” Twilight raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Spike, throwing him a look that said; what are you up to?

Spike flushed, realizing that he had told Twilight that he was specifically going to Fluttershy’s before he had left. He could not help but let out a sigh of relief, however, as it occurred to him that had he not been deliberately nonchalant with Fluttershy, the whole kidnapping would probably have been over much more rapidly. He would never have had a chance.

He nervously shook his head at Twilight, mouthing; “later!” He hoped that Fluttershy had not noticed. Twilight still looked suspicious, but evidently decided not to press the matter.

“Well, it looks like today was a very lucky escape,” Celestia remarked.

Fluttershy pawed at the floor nervously, trying not to look at the pale blue horn still lying beneath the sofa. “W-will they be back?”

Celestia sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t know, but probably not right now. I told Twilight I owed her an apology for not warning her about them. The truth is, I never even realized that they were back. I thought they had disbanded at least ten years ago, when we arrested the three ringleaders. They’re still in jail to this day. I can only presume that they took on new leadership, and as for their trying to silence you again, I can have no way of knowing. You saw Dusk Tempest, the one clearly in charge of the dragon-napping?”

Twilight nodded. “It seemed like you recognized him.”

“I did. All too well,” Celestia looked saddened. “He was my Captain of the Guard, until some fifteen years ago.”

Dash and Twilight exchanged looks of surprise at this news.

“I know how rare it is for unicorns to be members of the Royal Guard, but I had him elevated specially after old Captain Magnus retired. I don’t know quite why I did so, even to this day, but there was something about him, a spark of some kind. My hunch proved correct, for a good few years at least. The Guard went from strength to strength under his command. However, he had one fatal flaw. His temper.” She snorted, quietly. “Turns out, he was quite a lapse of judgment on my part. One time, fifteen years ago, I dispatched a unit of Guards to deal with a drunken brawl that had broken out in one of Canterlot’s squares. In all honesty, he made a mess of it right from the start. I don’t know why, perhaps he was simply having an off day, but he managed to become separated from his unit. He found himself in the thick of the fighting, and was struck an unfortunate blow to the temple, knocking him unconscious. Most of the ponies involved in the scuffle escaped, and when he came to, the Guards had only made three arrests.” She paused for a moment.

“So he was demoted for messing his assignment up?” Dash asked, curiously.

Celestia shook her head, with a bitter laugh. “No. One of the detainees kept needling him while they were being escorted, kept mocking him for getting himself knocked out, telling him that he didn’t deserve to be Captain. Doubtless he was already stressed over exactly that, perhaps he was still in pain from being struck in the head, perhaps he was just frustrated. I do not know. Whatever the case, in a moment of anger he kicked the prisoner in the face with his back leg, without realizing his own strength. The detainee’s neck was broken by the blow, killing him instantly.”

The assembled ponies winced, and Fluttershy let out a horrified squeak, covering her mouth with a hoof.

“I had no choice,” Celestia continued, sadly. “He was dishonourably discharged from the guards, and was sentenced to twelve years in prison, for ponyslaughter and dereliction of duty. Two pegasi from his unit who had witnessed his outburst gave evidence at the trial. As he was taken away, he was cursing all pegasi for this perceived betrayal.”

“…A ready made recruit for Sunset,” Twilight surmised, a little queasily.

“Exactly,” Celestia replied. “I don’t doubt that they searched him out the moment he was released from jail. He probably joined in a flash when they came calling. I expect he’ll fill me in on the details when I speak to him in the castle later.” She paused, regretfully. “He was my greatest lapse of judgment.”

“So, what do we do now?” Twilight’s eyes were determined. “If they come back, we’ll need to be ready.”

“My protection is not something that they will take lightly,” Celestia reminded her. “Even so, we can’t be too careful. I’ll keep your research notes safe in the castle vault. As for you…” She appraised the group for a few moments, thinking. “I think it’s safe enough for Fluttershy to remain here,” she said at some length. “Now that they know the dragon-napping attempt failed, and that the cat’s out of the bag, they won’t have any further reason to come after Fluttershy.”

The canary pegasus gave a little sigh of relief, and Celestia turned to look at Twilight, Dash, and Spike.

“Regarding you three, I don’t think they’ll show their faces around here, at least for a while. However, just to be safe, I think it might be a good idea if Rainbow Dash were to move into the library for a while, if there’s some room. That way, neither of you is ever isolated, just in case.”

Twilight and Dash exchanged a knowing grin. “I think we can live with that,” Twilight said.

“I’m definitely alright with it,” laughed Dash.

Celestia raised an eyebrow, smiling at Dash. “You seem remarkably enthusiastic. Have you taken a liking to reading recently?”

“Ehh,” Dash noticed Twilight was blushing a little, which set her off too. “You could say that.”

Celestia looked from pegasus to unicorn, a hint of gleeful realization forming in her eyes. “So, was I mistaken? Is it perhaps the librarian rather than the library that you find so appealing?”

Spike slapped a claw to his head. “Why did I even try to keep this quiet?” he muttered to himself, under his breath.

Fluttershy was smiling widely at the expression on the Princess’s face. Twilight and Dash were blushing violently, but finding it difficult to keep straight faces. To both of them, the unpleasant evening had given them both a sense of perspective. It hardly seemed to matter who knew about them. It seemed pointless to keep it a secret any longer.

“Okay,” admitted the red-faced Twilight. “We’re… We’re together.”

“I’d say so,” nodded Dash, gently nuzzling Twilight’s cheek to emphasize the point.

Celestia was grinning broadly. “Oh, this is wonderful! I’d never have expected this. You ponies never fail to surprise me. Might I ask how long?”

Twilight and Dash looked at each other, each waiting for the other to reply. “Two days,” Dash said, at last, her head resting on Twilight’s shoulder.

“Oh no!” Twilight suddenly exclaimed, spinning around to face Fluttershy. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy! You didn’t know, did you? I didn’t mean to spring it on you like this! Are you alright with us… being…” Her gabbling trailed to a halt as she noticed the reassuring smile on Fluttershy’s face. A careful observer might have noticed that Spike was no longer in plain sight. A still more careful observer may have noticed the quivering tip of a purple tail protruding from behind a squashy armchair, a few feet behind Fluttershy.

“Don’t worry, Twilight,” Fluttershy said, gently. “I don’t mind at all, in fact I’m really happy for you.” She let out a little high-pitched noise of delight. “You two are so cute together!”

Twilight let out a sigh of relief. She remembered now that Dash had already mentioned her feelings to Fluttershy, and assumed that this was why the yellow pegasus did not seem at all surprised. She was not the only one seemingly relieved. As if reappearing from nowhere, Spike was suddenly standing nonchalantly in front of the armchair again, trying very hard to look as if he had been there the whole time, and surreptitiously wiping a bead of perspiration from his brow.

Celestia’s horn glowed suddenly, and she magically swept up the splintered, powder-blue horn from the floor, and stowed it carefully beneath her wing. She addressed Twilight directly. “I’ll be in touch when we know more about what Sunset’s game is,” she said, still smiling delightedly at the news about Twilight and Dash. She managed to return her tone to a businesslike one, obviously with difficulty. “I’d best return to Canterlot, I need to set an investigation in motion.”

“What about my research?” Twilight asked.

“I’ll have a copy made, and return the original to you.” Celestia looked curiously at Twilight. “It’s not for me to say if you continue your work on pegasus flight or not. That must be your decision to make.”

Twilight looked across at Dash, who nodded almost imperceptibly. “I’ve already made my decision,” she said. “I promised I’d help Dash, and this might be the perfect way to go about it.”

Celestia smiled at the pair of them. “Alright. Remember; contact me straight away if you come across any leads.” She walked to the door, and then turned back in the doorway to look at them. “Well done tonight, all of you,” she said, warmly. “The Elements made their choices well.”

With that, she left, closing the door behind her. There was a soft glow from outside the window as she spread her wings, rising away into the silent night sky. For a few moments, there was silence inside the cottage. The three ponies and one dragon all looked at each other, an aura of something between relief and late-onset shock hanging in the air between them.

“This has been a really weird day,” Spike remarked, reflecting the general mood.

Fluttershy’s eyes brightened a little, as she voiced that eternal solution to so many of life’s problems. “Um, would anypony like a cup of tea?”