17. Past and Future
Scootaloo stared as Firefly and the others landed on the far edge of the cloud, not sure what to think. Her birth parents? She knew she'd had them at some point, but she never knew who they were, or even if they were still alive. And now here they were. Why were they here? And...why did they give her up? Leave her with Candy Cane? Did...did they know what he was going to do to her? Did they care? She shivered, pulling in close against Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash glowered towards Fire Flash and Skysong. Then she glanced towards Firefly. "What do they want?"
Firefly started to speak up, but Fire Flash overrode her. "We are here for our daughter."
"I've told you-" Firefly began.
"You will speak when spoken to, commoner!" Fire Flash snapped, glaring her down. "Now that she has proved herself in First Flight...Firesong is ready to take her proper place in the family, and she will do so!"
Rainbow growled a bit at the way Fire Flash said that. "Hey, you don't talk to her like-"
"I don't recall our discussion concerning you, foundling!" Fire Flash interrupted, turning his back. "Come Firesong, it's time for you to come home."
Scootaloo blinked in shock at this conversation. They had dumped her because she couldn't fly. She saw that now. And now that she could, they seriously thought she would come crawling back to them because they deigned to accept her? "I'm not going anywhere!" she yelled out.
Fire Flash glared down at her. "Firesong, you will do as I as your father say and-"
"MY NAME IS SCOOTALOO!" she shouted in defiance. "And you aren't my father!" She clung to Rainbow. "The only parent I've ever had or needed is right here!"
Fire Flash's face twisted into a snarl. "You dare talk back to me?" He swung his hoof at Scootaloo.
Rainbow caught the incoming hoof in her own. "Touch her...and I'll break you," she said in a low whisper.
Fire Flash glared at her. "What?" he demanded incredulously.
"Like a Kit Kat bar," Rainbow whispered, her eyes practically glowing with eagerness for him to try something.
"What?" he demanded again, but backing up, a tinge of fear in his voice.
"Yo, Rainbow!" Spitfire called out, flying up to the cloud from the castle. "Was that the kid who painted the sky? How come I haven't heard of you practicing that one?" She paused as she reached the cloud, seeing the two strangers and the tense atmosphere. "These two giving you problems?"
Rainbow smiled, both to herself and to Spitfire, deciding to voice a decision she'd made a few days ago. "I think we've got this covered...Mom."
Spitfire smiled, only her training keeping her from bursting into tears and embracing her daughter after so long. She'd do that later. "Well," she said, landing softly on the cloud next to her, "just in case you need the backup...."
Skysong had fallen back at this point, but Fire Flash was apparently still stubborn. "If you think for a minute I'm going to let go of this because of a commoner, a foundling, and a mare who's no better than she's supposed to be-" he began.
As all three mares bared their teeth, ready to fight, a voice interrupted, "What's all this then, my little ponies?" Celestia landed lightly on the cloud, gazing around at everypony present.
Firefly bowed instinctively, as did Skysong. Spitfire and Rainbow nodded respectfully. Scootaloo grinned up at her, figuring that - given Rainbow and Luna's relationship - she didn't need to be to respectful to family. Fire Flash stared up at her defiantly.
Celestia turned to look at him, and her gaze spoke volumes. I know who you are, her gaze seemed to say, and the value you place on blood. You know what your blood is worth to me? The time it will take to wash it out of my coat if you vex me. So go ahead, vex me. "Fire Flash, if I'm not mistaken?" she asked politely, although her tone echoed her gaze and added some horror movie music for emphasis.
Fire Flash wilted under that gaze and tone. "Y-yes, Your Highness."
"I do not believe you have any business here," she said blandly, "or any business with those my sister has come to think of as family. As that is the case, perhaps you should return to where you have business." As polite as her words were, the message Get out of my sight underlay her every word.
Having gotten the message, Fire Flash immediately flew off. Skysong turned once to look over everypony, her eyes briefly settling on Scootaloo...and a smile crossed her face. Before anyone could comment, she had taken to the sky.
Celestia then turned to Scootaloo and Rainbow. "I take it that the sky is young Scootaloo's doing?" At Scootaloo's happy nod, Celestia chuckled. "Quite impressive for your First Flight. Although in the future, could you practice your tricks away from the palace? It startled me so much I dropped the sun for a moment as I was raising it." That got a chuckle from all four present. Firefly had slipped off unnoticed, not wanting to draw too much attention to what she'd failed to prevent. "However, it's good that you are here, Rainbow. I've called another meeting with Twilight and the others. Seeing as you are already here, do you think you could fit it into your schedule to attend?"
Rainbow grinned, remembering the last time. "I think I could manage that...Sun-butt!"
As Spitfire stifled a snicker and Scootaloo chuckled, Celestia glared down at Rainbow, who smirked up at her impudently. Then Celestia smirked. "Glad to hear it, Miss Crash."
Rainbow chuckled, following Celestia into the castle.
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As Celestia led Rainbow through the palace, Spitfire having taken Scootaloo to fill her suddenly ravenous belly and to have her over exerted wings seen to, Celestia thought back to what had precipitated this meeting, earlier that morning before she'd gone to raise the sun.
Celestia was playing with Water Lily, spending time bonding with her. While other first time parents might find Water Lily's blindness a hurdle to be overcome, Celestia found it an opportunity for new forms of play. As such, she had ordered a portion of the castle sealed off, filled it with any number of obstacles, and then blindfolded herself. She then sought to reach Water Lily - who was dodging around the area - only by following her voice. So far, Celestia had managed only to make a fool of herself tripping over things, but she didn't mind. It made Water Lily laugh, and that was worth it.
having fun are you? a voice asked from nowhere.
Celestia shivered. She recognized the voice. "Entropy," she whispered in fear. "W...what brings you here?"
i left you with a choice. i was wondering if you had made a choice.
Celestia removed her blindfold. "An heir to Loyalty has already appeared. Rainbow Dash's little sister, Scootaloo, bears a Cutie Mark of the Element of Loyalty."
so you choose the dangerous path.
Celestia nodded. "I don't have it in me to...sacrifice so much. I'm...too weak for that path," she admitted.
Entropy did not respond at first. Water Lily came up, wondering what Celestia was doing. "Mommy? Who are you talking to?" Celestia privately suppressed the surge of almost uncontrollable joy and the urge to squeal and scoop her up that came every time she called her that.
...mommy? celestia, why does she call you that?
Hearing the voice, Water Lily ducked under Celestia's voice. "Mommy, that voice is scary! Who is that?" She shook, clinging to one of Celestia's forelegs.
Celestia draped a wing comfortingly over Water Lily's shoulder. "It's alright, Water Lily. Mommy will take care of it." She looked up into the air, since Entropy hadn't made himself physically present. "Water Lily is my daughter. I adopted her just over a month ago."
...adopted? ...
Celestia flinched a bit as she felt a pressure on her mind. She knew what was happening. Entropy was probing her mind for all the details of this, digging through her memories for the answers he wanted. From the feel of it, she also knew she had no way to fight back.
An unearthly roar of fury erupted in the air around her, more felt than heard, shaking her to her very bones. She fell to her knees, trying to shield Water Lily from the force of the scream with the weight of her body.
sUch A pLacE wAs alLoweD tO eXisT? unFoRgiVablE!
Entropy's voice was distorted by his fury, twisting in the ear like a knife. Then there was silence.
Then Entropy informed Celestia of what was coming, and she shook in fear.
Coming out of her memories, Celestia stepped into the throne room, where Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Spike, Applejack, and Fluttershy already awaited them. She smiled at them. "Hello, my little ponies. Thank you for waiting."
Twilight smiled. "Not a problem, Princess."
"Looks like the Princess had to drag you here personally, huh Rainbow?" Applejack piped up.
Rainbow shook her head. "Nah. Scootaloo's the one who dragged me to Canterlot!"
Applejack smirked. "You'd do anything for that little filly, wouldn't ya?"
Rainbow smiled softly. "Are you any different?" Applejack pulled her Stetson down over her face, obviously embarrassed, as she mumbled something under her breath that sounded like a disgruntled agreement.
Rarity smiled up at Princess Celestia. "Now, Your Highness, not that we mind at all coming up to Canterlot, but it is quite early for most of us. I didn't even have time to fix my mane." She shifted her shoulders slightly as a sleepy Spike seemed to find her straight-hanging mane to be quite interesting and enticing. "Behave, Spike," she muttered under breath. To Celestia once more, she said aloud, "You said this was something of an emergency?"
Celestia nodded. "Yes. Sometime within the next month - I don't know exactly when - Discord is going to break free." Everypony was distracted as Pinkie pie's mane suddenly let out a loud 'POP' of static discharge. "Pinkie Pie, are you alright?"
Pinkie Pie blinked, tilting her head and scratching herself behind her ear. "Yeah. Don't know what that was. As far as Pinkie Sense's go, that one was a new one." She blinked, then continued scratching herself behind her ear. "Wow, this feels really good. You girls should try it."
Everypony rolled their eyes, smiling. Fluttershy then spoke up. "Umm...couldn't we just, you know, use the Elements of Harmony to strengthen the seal or something? So that, we could, you know, not fight him again?"
Celestia sighed. "I wish it were that simple. Unfortunately, it isn't. I recently learned something new about Discord's nature that is...disturbing. It has long been known that he is the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony." She closed her eyes, worried how the friends would respond to this next bit. "What I've learned recently is that...he is not the only one."
Another loud 'POP' of static discharge echoed through the room, this time a result of Pinkie's tail poofing up extra thick for a moment. "Tingly!" she said happily, spinning around to chew on her tail for some unknown reason.
Celestia blinked, Pinkie's behavior managing to drain most of the drama - and thus, the menace - out of her announcements. It made things easier for her, though. "On top of that, Discord and this other Spirit are connected, two halves of a whole. When Discord breaks free...you will be facing both of them."
The gasps of shock and fear from most of her gathered subjects was drowned out by Pinkie's squeals of laughter as she rolled around on the ground, static electricity popping from her entire body. "He's back!" she suddenly shouted happily as the electricity briefly made her mane and tail straight.
"Who's back?" Twilight demanded.
Pinkie sat up, the electricity gone and her mane and tail once more poofy. "I...I don't know," she said in confusion. "I don't...know."