“Has anyone seen Shining?” Spike asked.
Twilight blinked, looking up from the table. Luna had led everypony to the room Twilight had awoken in, in order to better organize how the next few days would be arranged. Celestia had only stayed a moment before departing, claiming that she was ‘going for a walk’. Pip had claimed to have heard the doctor calling for her several minutes later, though his comment had been forgotten after an hour of rather uneventful discussion.
“Twilight?” Spike again.
“Wha? Oh, no.” She shook her head. “Did he even come with us?”
“He did not, Milady.” Pip spoke. He stepped out of his corner to address her. “Shining Armor stayed behind to return Broken Shield’s horn to him.”
“What?!” Rainbow placed her hooves on the table, her wings flaring. “Why would he give that maniac his horn back?”
“While I was being questioned by her Ladyship, Shining conferred with Princess Celestia, who gave him permission to return the horn given that its presence had no effect on Broken Shield’s magical ability, nor would it affect the lock she had placed on his magic.”
“So what? He tried to kill Twilight! If it messes with him they sho-“
“Rainbow, dear, would you like me to clip your wings off?” Several ponies turned with wide eyes at Rarity, not the least the prismatic pony she had addressed. She had somehow maintained a slightly green complexion from her sickness after Pip’s story, and that colour deepened as she realized what she had said. “Oh, my, that sounded off, didn’t it? I didn’t mean that to sound like anything violent, dear, only that it would be a similar thing to a unicorn losing their horn. Horrible business, in any case…” she shivered. Applejack stood, walking towards the white unicorn.
“Oooo-kay, then…” Rainbow said, giving Rarity a concerned look. “You feeling okay, Rares?”
Rarity blinked, her face continuing to green under her fur as Applejack reached her. “I… I’m not sure, dear…” She made an odd gurgling sound in her throat and suddenly lurched forward, staying completely still for a moment before just-as-suddenly standing, stepping out of Applejack’s embrace and rushing for the door. It launched open in a wave of magic, and the fashionista quickly disappeared around the corner. Applejack shot a look of mixed fear and confusion at the room before hastily getting up and rushing after her lover. Everypony stared at the door for a moment before a loud retching sound echoed up the hall.
“Oh dear…” Fluttershy mumbled. Luna brought a hoof up to rub between her eyes, her horn glowing and the door closing.
“There is a bathroom attached to this room. Why did she not simply use it instead of adding to the janitorial duties?” She shook her head. “I do hope that this ‘bug’ passes by without claiming any more important ponies as Princess Cadance and the Element of Generosity.”
“Princess Cadance’s illness is likely not caused by any viral or bacterial infection, Princess Luna.” Pip stated. She gave him a guardedly confused look, and he continued. “Given my approximation of the current time and date-“
“May 21 1002 ANM.” Spike rattled off instantly. Pip gave him a blank look before continuing.
“Thank you, Spike. Given the current date, it is likely that Princess Cadance is suffering from-“
“PREGNANT!”
Everypony (including Spike, excepting Pip) jumped as the door slammed open. Shining cantered in, a giant smile across his face. He jumped on the table, rearing and throwing his hooves into the air.
“I AM GOING TO BE A FATHER!”
Everypony (and Spike) stared at him in silence for approximately thirty seconds. His expression didn’t change even as he met their stares, dismounted the table and pranced around the group in a decidedly un-professional fashion before exiting the room; the suddenness of the captain’s entrance and exit left everypony rather off-guard. Luna coughed.
“Well, that was-“
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE A BABY!” Pinkie suddenly screeched. She appeared to be vibrating with excitement. “A BABY A BABY A BABY A ROYAL BABY! That means a royal baby shower! That means a royal PARTY!” The hyperactive pink mare’s vibrations became more extreme, her bouncing actually sending shocks through the solid stone floor to the other ponies. Rainbow was grinning as well, nodding at Twilight.
“Congrats goes to you, I guess. I need to get her out of here before she explodes.” The pegasus grabbed her marefriend, lifting off and shakily flying out of the room with her excitedly-volatile payload.
Luna spoke again, some concern in her voice as she called after the pegasus. “Wait a moment, Rainbow Dash, we have still not-“ She cut herself off as she saw the other pegasus moving towards the door. “Wait, Fluttershy!” The pale pegasus stopped. “My sister specifically stated that she wanted us to remain here until she returned! We still have not fully organized the next few days’ activities!”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Princess, but I’m sure Princess Celestia wouldn’t mind us going out for just a little while, and we don’t really need to have everything on a timetable; I mean, I don’t mind if we do, but sometimes things like this just happen, and we can’t really predict them. It’s not a bad thing to have some empty time that we can use to do something unexpected.” Luna’s eye twitched, and Fluttershy sank away from her. “Oh, um, I need to go because if I don’t tell Rarity about this she’ll get really, um, not happy about not hearing about it and I’m going to go tell her now and please don’t be angry…” the shy mare rushed out of the room, closing the door swiftly and gently. Twilight blinked at the air.
“I’m going to be an aunt?” She gave a small laugh. “This… this feels weird…”
“Yeah, and what does that make me now? Step-uncle? Cousin? Family pet?” Spike joked. Twilight laughed.
“I fail to see the importance of this revelation, Milady. Broken Shield had notified you of the existence of a foal born to Shining and Cadance several days after he arrived here.” Pip stated flatly.
“Well, yes, Pip, but-“
“EXACTLY!” Luna yelled. Twilight turned to her in surprise, stepping back slightly as she saw the anger on the Princess’ face. “This shouldn’t be exciting news! We already knew about it! Why did everypony leave if we already knew the information?!” Her glare turned on Twilight, and the purple mare shrank back. Pip moved in between the two. “I had said, Celestia had said, that we were all to remain here!”
“Princess, please, it’s not-“
“DO NOT INTERRUPT ME!” Luna bellowed, Royal Canterlot Voice amplifying an already loud command. “I AM A PRINCESS! YOU WILL HEAR ME!” Twilight winced back more, Spike coming around Pip and grabbing hold of her leg. Pip exhaled roughly through his nose, putting his forehooves slightly forward and bending his back down; Twilight was reminded of the Discorded Rainbow Dash’s behaviour when she had been brought to the ground, albeit less overtly angered. Luna continued with her tirade. “I HAVE SEEN TOO MANY TIMES MY SISTER AND PRINCESS CADANCE TREATED AS COMMON PONIES! WE ARE THE RULERS OF EQUESTRIA! IT WAS NOT SO LONG AGO THAT SUCH A TITLE AS PRINCESS COMMANDED RESPECT BY ALL WHO ADDRESSED US! NOW I AM OVERRULED BY MY SUBJECTS’ WHIMS! MY AND MY SISTER’S ORDERS DEFIED, WITH CONTEMPTUOUS DISREGARD FOR PROPRIETY! WHO AM I TO BE IGNORED?! WHO?!?” She roared this question at Pip, who laid his ears back in response to the volume. He took a breath.
“You are currently acting as the pony who was banished to the moon one-thousand and two years ago.” At Luna’s shocked expression, he turned to Twilight. “Would you wish me to find Princess Celestia and inform her that Nightmare Moon has returned, Milady?”
“PIP!” Twilight shrieked. Behind the stoic stallion, Luna blinked. She began slowly stepping backwards, moving further away from him until her the base of her tail touched the table. Her expression was a mix of shock and horror, and she slid down into a sitting position, one hoof raising and feeling along her face.
“Milady?” Pip responded. Luna began taking in shallow, quick breaths, and Twilight found herself at a loss for words.
“That... just… that was… just leave!” She waved a hoof at him. “Now! Go! Get out of here! Stay away from everypony until I call you back!”
“As you say, Milady.” The stallion disappeared; Twilight heard a quick, oiled screech and clik and felt a dull wave of air spreading from the door. Twilight took a breath before turning and observing Luna. The Princess’ breaths had deepened but not slowed, and she had two hooves up, hiding her face behind her cannons. She was rocking slightly, back and forth.
“Princess?” Twilight asked. She turned to Spike, speaking as quietly as she could. “Tell Princess Celestia to get back here as soon as she can.”
“How?” Spike whispered. Twilight facehoofed, grabbing a slip of parchment from the floor (knocked off by Shining’s activities) and breathing on it. Spike took a moment before he did the dragon version of a facehoof (Faceclaw? Twilight wondered) and grabbed the parchment, as well as an inkwell and quill. He took his load to the corner and began writing, leaving Twilight to face the Princess again.
“Princess?” She repeated. Luna looked up at her through traumatized eyes. The lunar mare stopped breathing for a moment, and words tumbled out of her mouth.
“I-I… I’m… I’m not, I’m not her, not her, no, no, no…”
Twilight immediately felt a spike of ice launch up her back. She quickly trotted over to the Princess, brushing wisps of ethereal mane back into the larger mass on the alicorn’s head. Luna jerked away from the contact.
“Princess, I need you to look at me, okay?” Twilight said. The Princess didn’t respond, her breathing staying hard and fast. By the way her chest heaved, she was well towards hyperventilation. “Princess!” More force was with the word, and Luna actually appeared to hear her.
“I, I’m not, I can’t, she, she didn’t, I didn’t-“ The alicorn blathered. Twilight placed a hoof on the diarch, and though there was a recoil, Luna didn’t fully remove herself from the contact.
“Princess, listen to me. I want you to look me in the eyes, alright? Can you please do that, Princess?” Twilight made sure to put some subservience into her voice; Luna had been put into this mindset by an authoritarian tone, and Twilight acting like she knew better than the Princess probably wouldn’t work for dragging her out of it. The Princess jerkily nodded, still rocking back and forth but with calmer breathing. She turned her head, and Twilight was faced with the eyes again, eyes filled with an odd mix of terror and self-hatred. Twilight took in a breath.
“Princess Luna. That is your name.” The alicorn nodded again. “Not Nightmare Moon. No!” Twilight tightened her grip as Luna quailed, magicking a hold on the Princess and gently twisting her to face Twilight again. “You need to hear that name without fear, Princess. You are Princess Luna. You are not Nightmare Moon.” She carefully pronounced the name again. Luna winced, but everything else maintained. “I’m not going to pretend that I understand what you went through when Nightmare Moon was in control. I cannot imagine the horror you must have felt. But you can, and you need to remind yourself that you can overcome it, you will overcome it, and you have overcome it. You are in power, you are in control, you are a Princess of Equestria. If you hadn’t beaten ‘that bitch’, as your sister so aptly described her, then I wouldn’t be here, Spike wouldn’t be here, and you wouldn’t be here. The Elements of Harmony helped, but you beat Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna. She’s gone, all of her deception and hatred and selfishness is gone, and you – only you – remain.” Twilight took in another breath. “Okay, Princess?”
Luna stared at her, her eyes widened and wetted with unshed tears. Her hooves had lowered, as had her jaw, and her breathing had become almost normal again. Twilight heard Spike breathe fire, and she was glad that she’d managed to get Luna back to normal before Celestia had come.
That gladness was obliterated as the Princess of the Night brought her hooves to her face and let out a keening wail. Twilight actually jumped back in surprise, and stepped further back as Luna fully extended her wings, wrapping them around herself.
“Prin-“
“The wings!” Luna shrilly moaned. “The wings, you lost them and they were there again…” She shivered, the egg shape of her wing-barrier shaking and beginning to tilt forward. Twilight’s ear tipped back, the other one twitching forward.
“Princess?”
“I-in your dreamscape… you had wings… you were an alicorn again… and I didn’t tell you…” The Princess’ breath hitched, and she began hiccoughing. Several thin sounds, much like hooves hitting floorstones, emitted from under the door, followed by two muffled voices. Twilight ignored them.
“It’s, um, it’s really not a big deal, Princess, you don’t need to worry about it…” The unicorn tried to placate the alicorn. She was about to try to make up another longwinded speech when a very loud, floor-shaking voice punctured the door.
“BAR ME FROM MY SISTER AND YOU SHALL TREAT WOUNDS IN THE SEVENTH LEVEL OF TARTARUS.”
Everything went very, very quiet, and then there was a shuffling sound and another muffled voice. The door opened, quickly admitting a white alicorn before being slammed shut again hard enough to wrench the hinges. Celestia moved silently, sitting down in front of Luna’s form and wrapping her own wings around her sister. There was a moment of stillness, and then another cry and a sudden shift in shape of the alicorn duo. Luna dove into Celestia’s embrace, burying her face between her sister’s neck and wing. She sobbed, and Celestia began rocking slowly back and forth, whispering words inaudible to Twilight. The unicorn quickly grabbed Spike and teleported to the other side of the door.
“Oh, that figures…” she heard a voice say. Blinking, she turned around to find the doctor from before. He raised a hoof and waved it at the door. “See? This, this kind of thing is exactly why I wanted you away from the castle hospital. I don’t want to know what happened to get Princess Luna like this, but I need to know if she’s injured.”
Twilight shook her head. “Pi- somepony said she was acting like Nightmare Moon.”
“That is literally the exact opposite of my instructions.” The doctor deadpanned. Twilight blushed.
“Um, no, she’s not hurt physically…”
The doctor gave a sigh of relief. “Thank Faust… treating an alicorn isn’t exactly something I want to do anytime soon. The mixture of pegasus and unicorn and earth pony physiology…” he shuddered theatrically. “So the one-eyed guy did this? The one that managed to shrug off a punctured lung?”
“Er, yeah…”
The doctor whistled. “Wouldn’t want to get on his bad side…”
Twilight blinked, thoughts mentioning an incongruity. “Did the Princesses-“
“I know all about the timeline thing. Sounds like a crock to me, but ‘Broken’ is nearly identical to Captain Armor. Just give him an extra hundred pounds, take the scars off, replace his eye and ribs…” The stallion trailed off. “Anyways, I need to get back to my watch. Please inform the Princess that we need to discuss her recovery methods and why exactly she gave the patient his horn back.”
“Would his horn be a problem without magic?”
The doctor paused at that, blinking and beginning to speak before biting his hoof. “Oh, for fucrklegerben… yes, it would, okay? It just would.”
The doctor turned sharply on his hooves, walking away from the door almost angrily. Spike gave an odd look after him, but Twilight returned her attention to the door. The sobs had mostly ceased, and it was nearly silent on the other side. Spike noticed her and walked over, putting his ear to the door.
“Sounds like Princess Luna stopped-“
The door shook several times. A loud sigh emanated from inside, and the door suddenly jerked inwards, tearing part of the wall out as the busted hinges protested the movement. Spike stepped back as Celestia entered the hall, a wisp of magic closing the door more gently. Celestia gave a tired look at Twilight before sighing again.
“I am sorry that you had to see that, Twilight. Luna is typically more controlled…”
“She didn’t do anything wrong, Princess.” Twilight quickly stated. “Pip called her Nightmare Moon because she was yelling about everypony leaving.”
“That part is what I was referring to, Twilight. I have been trying to help her adjust, but she still holds some… classical views on relations between royalty and ‘commoners’.”
“She does? She seemed okay with me when I became a Princess, and after Pinkie stopped scaring everypony she was fine at Nightmare Night…”
Celestia gave a small laugh. “I am aware. As I said, she is usually more controlled, able to recognize when she is overstepping the bounds of modern royal expectations. Tonight, however, she seems rather stressed.”
There was the sound of a bookshelf falling. Twilight and Spike both stared at the door, while Celestia didn’t respond at all.
“Is she okay in there?” Spike asked.
“Oh, she’s fine. After such events as just happened she simply takes some time to calm down.” Another bookshelf fell. “She feels to need to reorganize as a calming mechanism. It helps to clear her mind and allow her to think things through in a proper manner.” There was the very distinct sound of a chandelier crashing to the ground, and several lengths of glass shot into the door, sticking a few inches out of the wood. Celestia’s face didn’t change, though she quickly swept Twilight and Spike up in a magical aura and walked in a very controlled manner away from the room. Celestia spoke again, her voice as calm as before.
“Lulu can get a little enthusiastic sometimes…”
“I still don’t see why we’re doing this…” Rainbow Dash complained.
Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Fluttershy travelled along the path to the Everfree Castle, the morning light of Celestia’s sun giving them some comfort along the journey. They were accompanied by Pip, whom Twilight had called back to keep an eye on, and Shining Armor, whom Celestia had ordered gone to “expel some of the ecstatic energy released by the wonderful news of Princess Cadance’s pregnancy”.
That energy wasn’t openly present anymore; Shining had quickly adopted the cautious tension needed to traverse the Everfree safely. Pip was the only pony present to appear completely unconcerned.
“I mean, the Castle’s blown up, right? The Princess should be sending a construction crew, not us.” The prismatic pegasus continued. Pip and Shining opened their mouths at the same time, taking in a breath and glancing at each other, Shining in mild surprise and Pip exactly as Pip stared at anything else. The latter closed his mouth and nodded, the former speaking.
“First, we were the ponies present there, so she wants us to see if we can remember when everything started blowing up. Which buildings detonated first, which ones were standing before the bombs, stuff like that.”
“Couldn’t Pip just tell us? He went and grabbed a bunch of the bombs, didn’t he?”
“Rainbow Dash is correct; I remember the order in which the explosives detonated, and could likely place the exact times if given a frame of reference.’
“See?”
“The second reason,” Shining continued. “is that Princess Celestia wanted to investigate herself, but Dr. Shelter’s being… difficult, so she decided to have ponies who already knew what happened and that she could trust check it out; that way, there would be less of a chance of somepony blabbing to the press that a major historical landmark was destroyed while the Princess was present. The third is so that Princess Celestia could interact with Broken without him having a mental breakdown just because somepony is in the room with him. The fourth is because she wants to keep us out of Princess Luna’s mane after what happened yesterday. The fifth is because we only arranged to have you in Canterlot for a day or two, and the Princess didn’t want you to be forced to stay there doing nothing while your duties in Ponyville go unattended. The sixth-“
“Okay, okay!” Rainbow waved a hoof at the guard captain, and he smirked. “Still don’t see why AJ got out of doing this…”
“She’s sick too, Rainbow.” Twilight mentioned. “That tends to happen when you kiss and hug somepony who has the flu.” Rainbow blushed, and Pinkie began to snicker.
“Yeah, yeah…” the pegasus muttered. “Laugh it up, Pinks. You gave her a ‘feel-better squeeze’, remember?” Pinkie suddenly stopped laughing, giving a sullen pout to Rainbow. The latter mare laughed a small amount before realizing her own fate. “And then we sle- oh, dammit…”
Everypony else quietly moved upwind of the two, hiding small chuckles and mildly worried looks (save Pip, who Twilight guessed was immune anyways). There was a small silence, quickly broken by another conversation.
“Dr. Shelter is the one that swears a lot?” Twilight asked her brother.
“Yeah. You didn’t see his nametag?” The mare shook her head. “Doctor Solid Shelter, Canterlot Castle’s Chief Medical Officer. He’s a bit abrasive, but he’s got a good head and good sense on most things.”
“Broken called him a traitor.” Twilight mentioned. Pip coughed.
“Dr. Shelter refused to vacate his position when the Princesses were overthrown. He began treating injured Revolutionaries with the same competence and care that he had previously treated Royal Guards. As such, many Loyalists and other rebels we captured viewed him as being one of those who had secretly sided with the Revolution. He was in charge of medical care for prisoners as well, and was severely injured during Broken Shield's second escape from custody.”
Shining snorted, and the trip mostly lapsed into silence. Pinkie coughed, and Rainbow gave a small groan in response. Twilight started hanging back, slowing until she was walking beside Fluttershy.
“Are you okay?” the unicorn asked. Fluttershy nodded.
“I didn’t mean for Princess Luna to get mad…”
“It wasn’t your fault, Fluttershy. The Princess… she was stressed. That’s all. Pip didn’t help.”
“I’m worried about him too.” Fluttershy said. Twilight gave him a look, and she continued. “Twilight, he’s fifteen. He shouldn’t be doing things like… killing ponies. And he doesn’t even seem to realize that hurting those ponies and gryphons was wrong! I mean, I can understand that he’s very loyal to Dawn and that she told him to, but he seems to think that it’s okay just because she says it’s okay! That outlook on life, it’s, it’s very childish for somepony in his situation.”
“Might I be allowed to ask how following her Ladyship’s orders would be morally incorrect, Lady Gaia?”
Twilight jumped and Fluttershy meeped as Pip’s voice came from behind them. Twilight turned, hearing Shining mutter a curse. He gave her a look, shaking his head as she waved him off. Fluttershy was trying to stammer out a response.
“Um, I, well, ehm, um-“
“Pip, what she means is that just because Dawn or I or anypony says somepony is bad, that doesn’t mean they’re bad.”
“Why not?”
Twilight blinked. “The world isn’t black and white, Pip. Everypony has good parts and bad parts. Some ponies are not very nice, but it’s not like they suddenly become evil if they disagree with you.”
“I do not believe that they do, Milady. As you say, everypony has good parts and bad parts. But the ponies that are opposed to your Ladyship are quite clearly bad ponies.”
“What makes them bad, though? Their actions or their view?”
“Both, Milady. By opposing the Revolution, they present the view that ponies should not be granted freedom and rights that should belong to everypony. The violent actions conducted by them against innocent civilian and guard populations demonstrates their immorality.”
“But you-“ Fluttershy began. Twilight held up a hoof.
“Pip, I want you to think from the perspective of somepony who opposed the Revolution.”
“Such an action would be incredibly difficult, Milady.”
“Could you just try, please?”
“As you say, Milady.”
“Now imagine this. Instead of being against the Revolution because you hate freedom, imagine that you’re a father, or a big brother, or somepony who has ponies he cares about and wants to keep safe.” Pip nodded. “Now, imagine that a whole bunch of ponies are going around on the street, yelling about how the government, the law, everything that keeps Equestria safe and ordered, these ponies want to change a huge part of that.” Pip nodded, slightly slower this time. “Now imagine that you want to keep everything as it is, or at least you don’t want change to happen as fast as these ponies want it to. You want things to be slower, safer, so that ponies, the ponies you care about, don’t get hurt.”
“But-“
“Hold on, Pip. Do you see where I’m coming from here?”
“Yes, Milady, but-“
“Just hold on a moment, Pip. So imagine that these ponies on the street are told ‘no’. They won’t get the changes they want, because they want things to change too much, or they want changes that won’t work. So the ponies on the street, they don’t accept that what they wanted might not have been the best thing ever. They get angry, they start saying that the Princesses, the government, they don’t need to be changed, they need to be gotten rid of. These ponies start doing things, hurting guards, rioting, stuff like that, right near where you live. If you wanted to protect your family, what would you do?”
Pip took in a breath, staring at Twilight. “I… I would… I would… keep them away from the ponies I’m protecting.”
“Right. Good. So, imagine now that you did that. You stopped them from hurting your family and some other ponies. So now, they start trying to hurt you, to hurt your family, just because you stopped them from hurting ponies. Does that sound okay to you?”
“…no, Milady.”
“Good. It shouldn’t sound okay.” Twilight flicked her eyes towards Shining. “Now imagine that those ponies, they start saying that they’re the good guys, that you and your family are the bad guys. All you did was stop them from hurting the ones you care for, and because you did that, because you didn’t support them, you didn’t riot or hurt guards, they say that you’re a bad pony. That doesn’t make sense, does it?”
“No. Milady.” Twilight saw a similar look on Pip to the one from several nights before. She pressed on.
“So, imagine, now, that the ponies get in. They bust down your door, grab everypony, drag them out into the street. They say that you, that your family, needs to die just because you disagreed with them. And they hurt you, and your family. They kill the ponies you love.” Pip had started breathing heavier, now. Fluttershy put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, but the unicorn shrugged it off. “I want you to tell me, Pip, if you could ever support somepony who killed your family; your wife, your daughter, your father and mother-“
A hoof hit the ground, hard enough to shatter the stone beneath it into gravel. Twilight yelped in surprise, she and Fluttershy instinctively putting distance between themselves and the violent action. Rainbow flew forwards at the same time as Shining ran back, both reaching Twlight and Fluttershy at the same time. All four of them stared at Pip, whose heavier breathing had become quite audible. He was facing the ground, and as he raised his head to look at her, Twilight noticed something.
Pip was crying.
“Pip?” She quietly said. The stallion stopped breathing for a few seconds before taking in a shuddering breath.
“My family was killed in the Revolution, Milady.” Twilight felt a ball of hot ice suddenly enter her stomach. Fluttershy gasped, and Pinkie covered her mouth as she caught up to the group. Pip took in another breath. “I was a foal, and they took Mo… they took my mother and father from me. I couldn’t just, just… I wanted my parents back.” His stare flipped to Shining, and it deepened into a glare. “So I hurt the ponies that hurt them.”
In the back of Twilight’s mind, something that felt very hot and heavy suddenly broke off and fell down. It hit the ice in her stomach, crashing through it and leaving a deep, empty pit. There was a strange sound, like popping bubbles, in the back of her throat as she opened her mouth.
“Pip…”
He took in another breath, holding it while closing his eye and drawing himself straight. His face fixed itself into his normal expression, and when he opened his eye and looked at her again it was without emotion.
“My apologies, Milady. Shall we continue on to the Castle?”
Twilight blinked. “Wha… but…”
“Milady?” The stallion stared at her, the small wet line in his face the only indication of his mild outburst. Twilight blinked a few times before she nodded. “Then I shall scout ahead. By your leave?” Twilight nodded again. Pip nodded back, and he was gone.
After Pip’s departure, the trip became rather solemn. Twilight replayed the scene over and over in her head, wondering what she had been thinking to push him as she had.
You just wanted him see why some ponies were against the Revolution. There’s no harm in that.
I made him cry. I should have seen that he was getting uncomfortable, I should have listened to Fluttershy-
And if you had? Guess what, sometimes ponies need to get hurt to remember things. Remember when you grabbed the stove after Mom told you not to? You didn’t touch it again after that, did you?
Well, yeah, but-
But nothing, Princess. Sure, he might have gotten some hurt feelings, but hopefully he won’t think that Broken’s Tartarus-incarnate anymore. Sometimes ponies just need to get a new perspective, even if they don’t want to. It’s better that Pip be forced to learn that his enemies are like him than keep thinking that they’re just bad because he was told so.
But that’s wrong! Forcing somepony to do something like that won’t help them or you, it’ll just make them resentful! Pip’s probably going to come back thinking that the Loyalists were just selfishly trying to keep their own lives good at the expense of everypony else!
…is that what you think?
Twilight’s mind hit a wall trying to answer her own question. Wha- but, no, no!
Then where did ‘selfishly’ come from? ‘At the expense’? You haven’t even heard what his Equestria was like and you’re already judging them! He’s told you about the start of the Revolution, and suddenly you’re an expert on everything that went on there?
Just hold on-
“Twilight?”
Twilight jumped in surprise, scrambling as her hooves slipped out from under her. A rope of magic caught her and placed her upright, and she gave a grateful nod to Shining.
“Are you alright, sis? You looked… thinkingy.”
“’Thinkingy?’”
“Whatever that word is for when somepony’s thinking about things so hard they start looking angry.”
“Pensive?” Twilight suggested. Shining nodded. “No, I’m fine, Shining. I was thinking, but you don’t need to worry about it.” She flicked an ear back. “How about you? You’re going to be a father sometime in the near future.”
“That? I’m bucking ecstatic. And terrified.” The stallion shook his head. “I mean, it’s still sometime around ten months away, but that’s a damn close time compared to when I didn’t know.” He gave a small laugh. “Cadance was kind of mad that I knew before she did.”
Twilight’s eyebrows raised. “You did? But-“ She blinked as he gave a guilty grin. “It was Broken, wasn’t it.”
“Yeah. He said something about it, then I went to check with the doctor that had checked Cadance, and she confirmed it with us.” Shining paused for a moment. “When I went back to see Broken, Dr. Shelter accosted me about giving him his horn back. Apparently when a patient suffers such a ‘severe trauma’, the doctors are supposed to see if they even can reattach it first.”
“And could they?”
“Didn’t need to. Broken reattached it to his head seamlessly, which means he’d have to have used magic somehow. That freaked the doc right the feather out, the idea that he could use magic without a horn and under a lock…” Shining chuckled. “So he ran off to see if he could find the Princess again and left me with Broken.”
“All of that happened in the three minutes between you leaving the room and Princess Celestia arriving?” Twilight asked incredulously.
“I know, weird, right? Dr. Shelter grabbed me right after I left, dragged me down to the hospital wing, and ran all the way back to catch up with Celestia. Probably tore something given how angry he looked when he came back.”
“He might have teleported…”
“Not that I saw.” The stallion snorted. “In any case, Broken just kind of looked at me before rolling over and going to sleep. That look knocked me out of my blind happiness, so I took a look at him, and…” Shining drew in a breath. “He has rope scars on his neck, Twilight. He’s been hanged at least once.”
Twilight blinked at her older brother. She felt something in the back of her mind tell her that this was horrible news, but somehow she accepted it as if she had already known. She managed a shrug. “That’s… not good.”
Shining blinked back at her. “No, it isn’t.”
“I don’t mean that I don’t care, it’s just… it makes sense. He’s been caught at least twice, by Pip’s count, so why wouldn’t Dawn try to kill him?” She shook her head. “If I went crazy and took over, I’d try to get rid of you as fast as possible, kill you or turn you to my side or something like that, I guess. I’m not really good at the whole ‘dictator’ thought pattern.”
“Did you think about taking over? When you were a Princess?”
The question took Twilight aback. She stared at her brother, his eyes not as a sibling but as a guard. “Are you interrogating me?” She asked.
“No. Just covering my bases. Broken might not be all there, but something happened to him that sent him mad, and his and Pip’s testimony point to Dawn, which means a megalomaniacal version of you. The Princesses want to ensure-“
“Ensure what? That I’m not going to go crazy and try to overthrow them? Don’t they trust me?!” Shining’s mouth drew back, and Rainbow gave the two a cautious stare from up the road as Twilight’s voice rose.
“-they want to ensure that they can govern effectively enough so as to avoid any viable justification for a Revolution. The other Celestia seemed a bit… controlling, and Broken doesn’t give me good feelings about their justice system compared to ours. Princess Celestia and Luna simply wish to account for their citizen’s wishes – Luna’s already arranged Court days, and nights, where only commoners are allowed audience. Since you’re the closest to a commoner that’s sat on the throne, they want your perspective on what they could improve on.”
“Oh.” Twilight said simply. “Sorry.” Shining gave a small smile, and Twilight continued. “I mean, letting mares marry mares, and stallions stallions, would be the first thing. We have enough couples that there’s a significant deficit-“
“We’re aware of the statistics, sis. Celestia’s working on it, but some of those bloody bluebloods are being pissy. It’s coming soon enough.”
“Okay then…” Twilight trailed off. “I didn’t really see much as a Princess, but the whole ‘voice of the ponies’ and couples’ recognition were the two major things. Honestly, I think it’s working well other than that.” She thought for a moment. “The poorer areas could probably use some development, but that’d drain the coffers, which would mean more taxes, which would get everypony riled up. Same with security increases to lessen crime.” She shook her head. “If Dawn was me, then she’d know that these things are-“
“Milady?” A voice from behind her. She quickly turned, finding Pip. “My deepest apologies for the interruption, Milady, but there appears to be an incongruity in the structure of the Everfree Castle.”
“What do you mean, incongruity?” Twilight asked. Shining stepped beside her, watching the stoic stallion.
“Several of the structures that I witnessed to have been destroyed yesterday are no longer destroyed, Milady. The tower that you confronted Nightmare Moon in, the first to be destroyed in Broken Shield’s act of terrorism, is in particular without damage.”
“Are you sure?”
“Completely, Milady.”
Twilight sighed. “Good job, Pip. How far are we to the Castle?”
“Approximately three minutes at the pace taken before this stop, Milady.”
“Thank you. And Pip?”
“Milady?”
“Are… are you alright?”
“I am unsure as to my apparent injury, Milady.”
“But it was-“
“Twilight.” Shining said. She turned to look at him, and he gave her a soft stare and slowly shook his head. The unicorn looked back at Pip before sighing.
“Nevermind, Pip. Nothing to worry about.”
“As you say, Milady.” The stallion stood until Twlight started walking again, taking a spot to her left at around the same distance as Shining was from her right. Twilight quickly told the other three of Pip’s findings.
“How in the hay did that happen?” Rainbow asked.
“I’m not sure. The Everfree’s weird, but not that weird.”
“Um, I have an idea.” Fluttershy said. The others turned to her, and she shrank back a bit. “Oh, okay, um, Pip?”
“Yes, Lady Gaia?”
“How did you know that we were at the Everfree Castle?”
“I didn’t, Milady.”
“Then why did you show up there?”
“Your last orders were to obtain Discord’s preparatory status for a ‘picnic’. I attempted to do so, but the draconequus did not appear to notice my presence. After a large period of time, he turned towards the Everfree, gained a grin, and began flying towards the Castle. I followed him to the best of my ability, and when I reached the Castle I heard Broken Shield threatening her Ladyship. My duty as First Guard overrid my orders to obtain Discord’s picnic preparatory status.”
“So you’re saying Discord led you there?”
“In a way, yes, Milady.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Thank you, Pip.”
“It was no difficulty, Milady.”
“Waitaminute. You think Discord reset the Castle back to normal? The God of Chaos making things orderly again?” Rainbow scoffed. “Sorry, Flutters, but-“
“Lady Gaia’s belief holds merit. Given Discord’s animosity towards Broken Shield from the latter’s threatening harm on Lady Gaia, I would imagine that Discord would be petty enough to reconstruct the Castle in an orderly manner simply to cause Broken Shield discomfort or anger. If we were to report back not only that explosives had no effect, but that the documents Broken hoped to destroy were unharmed, Broken would likely become very angry, eliminating any satisfaction he may have retained from the Castle’s ‘destruction’. Broken’s anger would likely benefit Discord as well, given Broken’s propensity to cause mayhem when stressed. That, and I would imagine that the expressions on your faces when you would have seen the undestroyed Castle would be quite amusing to him. Am I correct in that presumption, Discord?”
The group stiffened and turned, almost as one, to stare at a long, goatheaded creature floating not three feet behind them. The draconequus leaned down, his head going between Twilight and Shining, glaring Pip in the eye.
“Well, you’re a bit of a buzzkill, aren’t you?” Discord growled. He snapped his claws, and a large cart of books and scrolls appeared behind him. He glanced at Shining and Twilight simultaneously. “There’s your records and histories and what-have-you. As whatever-that-thing-is said, I want to piss that little pissant off as much as I can. Rub his face in them for me, will you?” The physical god pinched the bone between his eyes, grimacing before gaining a sick grin. “I’d love to come, but I need some chaos or I think my brain might just try to elope with my gall bladder. Perhaps I’ll introduce the seaponies to the concept of breathing air. Sorry for missing the picnic, Fluttershy dear.”
Discord gave another snap, and he vanished in a pink cloud. Pinkie squeed, though she quickly deflated back to her normal bounciness as the cloud dissipated without a drop of chocolate rain. The mare flicked her eyes between the cloud’s former spot, to the stoic Pip, to the wide-eyed everypony else. She opened her mouth, thought for a moment, and took in a breath.
“What’s a gall bladder?”