Screams of terror woke Luna up first, followed by the deep pit of dread that had filled into her stomach. Rather than pitch black night, the sky itself was red and glowing. Enormous flaming balls of fire were lazily angling towards the ground and impacting with heavy thumps, despite being miles away from the palace. The terrified cries of ponies down in the city proper were an ongoing backdrop to what could only be one thing.
"Ragnarök." It could be nothing else, the natural flow of magic in the air was in ceaseless tumult. Luna proved as much when she tried to stand out of her bed and faltered, her mane limp and unmoving.
Slowly she trotted over to the window to stare, lacking in any energy to do more than that. What could anyone do at this point? The world was over. In stunned silence she felt the ground shake, a towering figure shot high up over the horizon. An enormous serpent, and the fall of its body back onto earth resulted in an overwhelming earthquake that nearly toppled Luna over onto the floor. She'd observed that Ponyville was in its path, and must have been completely flattened as a result.
The serpent wasn't the only figure to appear, and she marked the figure of Surtr in the distance. The giant was wielding his famous sword, which was bright and flaming as he brought it down in a terrible arc to the ground. More fire, but it only seemed a little thing compared to the utter conflagration dominating the horizon . The serpent and Surtr were not to be left alone, and two streaks of light appeared high in the sky while rapidly descending towards their targets.
"They're late," Luna mouthed, her mouth too dry to form proper words. For the self proclaimed protector of this world; the hammer wielding thunder god making his way to the enormous snake had taken his time. But in moments both he and Freyr were engaged with their foe of choice which began to cause even more devastation to the land with the onset battle. Too far away to make out details, Princess Luna turned her gaze down towards Canterlot.
There was nothing anyone could do, and the overwhelming weight of her failure piled upon her. Though, lifting her head and glancing towards the door she recalled there was one event still to come. Curious that it hadn'-
The sound of a wolf howling caused all her other thoughts to stop. Automatically she pressed herself up against the nearest wall, right next to the window with the world ending in earnest outside. Her wide eyes were focused on the closed door, as the castle itself trembled. There was a burst of familiar magical power, a heavy shake and then the magic went out. Her sister was dead, she could feel it as if her own heart had just been torn from her chest.
There was no time for grief though, the castle shook once more; and this time it was right outside her room. A heavy, thick animal growl sounded and then the stone wall exploded in a shower of dust and debris. Before her stood her fate, a wolf five times her own size and barely able to fit within the expansive hallway. It took a single step forward and once it did Luna let out a scream of utter fear.
"No, no! This isn't-no you're not!-This isn't supposed to happen!" She knew there was no point to begging, and even less of a point to fight.
The wolf chuckled and took another step forward. "I've been chasing after you for a long time, Moon-Raiser. Now I have found you, do you know fear?"
Swallowing, Luna tried her best to press through the wall she was against. Anything to get away, and nowhere to go. "You are not, you cannot! You...you are...from the prophecy."
By now the wolf was close enough that she could feel his foul breath wash over her. Droplets of heavy spittle landed at her hooves, his enormous maw open wide to display razor sharp teeth. "I am Hati Hróðvitnisson, the Mánagarmr. You are my meal, and I am hungry. But I can allow you a few seconds to give your last cries of terror."
Abandoning all dignity, Luna felt her resolve shatter. "Please! You do not have to do this! We-, the fate that was spoken of does not have to be anything other than our will! Do not eat me! I beg you!"
The wolf did not listen, and it reared back in preparation to bite her. Luna shut her eyes and screamed out her last breath. In a moment she had a full picture of her long, lonely life laid out in front of her in review and it seemed very much unfulfilled with the end now upon her. But her death did not come. Instead a much different, but nearly as deep male voice sounded in her room. "And that, children, is how you scare a princess. I win! Oh, your game is excellent! I wonder if I can convince others to play."
Cracking an eye open, Luna realized that her bedroom was no longer destroyed. It no longer had a wolf in it, either. Instead there was Discord and the Cutiemark Crusaders on the opposite side. Discord was grinning from ear to ear, floating and being generally rather amused with himself. The CMC, however, looked very much uncomfortable.
"Er, Mister Discord? You didn't have to go...that far." Scootaloo was looking up at the smug trickster while chewing on lip.
"Yeah, that was really mean." Sweetie Belle was next, and was glancing with obvious guilt her way.
"We didn't mean for him to do that, princess." Applebloom was last, and rubbing at one hoof with another while staring down.
Luna was only staring, her heart beating rapidly still. The terrible rolling of the world's magic was no longer in the air. No more screams, or the impact of meteors coming from the window. Only crickets were chirping, with the battles between gods and giants no longer raging. "It-Ragnarök is not...?"
Discord rolled his eyes at her, and at the Cutiemark Crusaders as well. With a languid sigh he hopped up into the air and floated, arms going behind his long head. "Of course it isn't. I'm all for good fun, but even I would hate to see all you cute little ponies go to waste over a little quarrel. Honestly, did you think you were the only one who could manipulate dreams? "
It'd felt so real, it had went well beyond a nightmare. She edged back a level of control, inhaling deeply and shakily standing up. "I...Discord, remove thyself from our sight."
Her command went unheeded, With Discord giving an exasperated groan of annoyance, his eyes literally falling out of his head on their next roll. "You're no fun, Luna. And here I thought you composed yourself magnificently during what you thought was the end of the world and your horrific death. I can't imagine other ponies would do better than you. That gives me an idea! I wonder what your sister would-"
Celestia burst into the room scant seconds later, Discord's words falling away at the sheer aura she was giving off. Her older sister was quite obviously furious, and glaring pointedly at the Dragonequus who had placed his eyes back where they belonged.
"Why hello Celestia, I was just talking about you! How good it is to see you again. I'm quite pleased to hear how well Twilight and all her little friends did in defusing that pesky disagreement. Those former friends of yours were always such a pain; order this and feasting that. I simply don't know how you and Luna dealt with them for so long. I mean, besides being essentially inducted into their ranks of course. So you must be rather happy that it's all over with." For once Discord sounded faintly nervous, Luna felt only like an observer at this point. The shock still only just wearing off.
Instead of yelling, commanding or even looking at Discord her sister glanced purposefully over to the Cutiemark Crusaders. Her gaze alone was enough to get the three to cower and hang their heads in shame. Celestia cleared her throat and looked towards the door. "I believe it is past time you went to bed. We will speak in the morning."
Quick as a flash of lightning, the trio of fillies were gone without a word. The tension became palpable when Celestia turned to finally look at Discord once more. To his credit, the trickster did not flash out of being. Though he was no longer floating, and deliberately rubbed the back of his neck while Celestia glowered at him.
"Look, Celestia. I can almost certainly understand that you might feel a little bit of...how should I put it? Annoyance? Aggravation? Perhaps a little bit miffed? Ah, wait! I know. You might be a bit-"
"Discord, go. Now."
And with that simple, terse command he was gone in a flash. Now only Celestia and herself remained in the bedroom, and Luna exhaled a breath she'd been holding. By now Luna was a great deal more composed than she had been even a few moments ago. The world wasn't going to end, and...well, she'd learned something very important about herself on reflection.
Celestia felt absolutely terrible, and could not help but heap blame solely on her shoulders. She'd been careless enough to mention Discord to Spike, who she'd known was in league with the CMC. They must have contacted him, sought him out to help in their seemingly harmless pranks. Discord and the word restraint together were usually prefaced with 'does not have any'. With the increasing escalation and lengths the Crusaders were willing to go she should have seen this as a logical conclusion.
Now Luna had been forced to confront something truly awful, something neither of them had ever wanted to see. "I'm so very sorry, little sister." She went to hug her sister, wrapping her wings and simply squeezing tight. "I did not mean for things to go so far."
Luna accepted the hug, and even returned it. But after a moment she cleared her throat. "N-no, it is quite alright big sister. I am fine now. Thank you for dispatching with Discord, though."
The dispatching hadn't even begun, Celestia swore to herself. He'd be lucky not to be returned to a statue after she'd had a chance to personally address to him how her family or their past were absolutely not to abused ever again. Pulling away, though, she refocused on the immediate concern of whether Luna was okay.
Her sister did look more or less alright, with a small frown and a contemplative look on her face. Her eyes were still distant, her attention drawn away and far outside the palace to inner thoughts. Celestia could only guess what Discord's...interpretation of Ragnarök had been like, but the magic had seemed unimaginably powerful and dark. Luna's scream alone was still haunting, echoing in her memory again and again. "Luna...everything will be alright now. The Elements convinced both sides to no longer fight."
That caught Luna's attention, and her eyes regained much of their focus. "But how? We both heard the prophecy about our fate and the rest of what was to come."
Nodding grimly, Celestia had her own moment of inner thought. Thinking on times long ago when they were far, far younger and played their part in the ever shifting politics of the distant worlds. "Twilight and her friends were able to get to the heart of many of the specific grievances. Ultimately it appears that Mímir was lying to the Allfather, and lied to us as well."
"Lying?!" Luna's eyes grew very wide and jerked back immediately at the news. "That wretched, dishonorable talking head was speaking false prophecies to us? To provoke the war? And our part that we were to play was-"
"False," she confirmed with a nod. Celestia was no less happy to learn about the deception than her sister. But in thinking about it, the flow of what was to be their foretold end appeared to make sense in that context. Regardless, it was now over and done with. Now there was the fallout to deal with. "The Elements will be back in Canterlot tomorrow."
There was a long pause, as Luna appeared to have no immediate answer. It was getting very late now, and Celestia wasn't sure she was going to be able to get very much sleep tonight. Not after having one of her plans come crashing down upon her head like this.
Finally Luna did speak, glancing out towards her window. "We learned something of ourselves in the moment we believed our end was nigh," Celestia could hear the contemplative tone even as her sister slipped back into her more archaic way of speaking.
It was a curious thing to say, though. "Learned something?" Celestia sat directly next to her, settling down and ready to listen.
Another brief pause followed, and then Luna nodded at last. "We-I did. We, and I mean you and I, have let the threat of the end drive our actions too much. I have been hiding away from the changing world, merely observing and largely keeping myself separate from our subjects. I can adapt, learn and change and still remain Luna, Princess of the Moon."
That was, in fact, what Celestia had been hoping would happen for her sister. It was why she had set the Cutiemark Crusaders upon her to interact with, even if Celestia could not have anticipated it would have happened this way. If this revelation was true then she could absolve herself of just a little bit of guilt, if Luna proved to be happier ultimately because of it.
"I think that is an excellent lesson to learn, little sister." Celestia could feel the smile return now. Genuine warmth, more like relief, flooded through at last. Perhaps things really could return to normal, or even better than normal. Her two projects had come together and been resolved as satisfactorily as she could have hoped, even if they hadn't gone entirely smoothly.
Luna was looking at her from the corner of her eyes now, and was not sharing in the smile and warmth. "Yes, we agree that is an excellent lesson to learn. Have you learned...?" Luna stopped herself suddenly, though she hadn't needed to finish for Celestia to guess at what she was meaning.
Though it was only a limited guess, she knew for certain what the general subject was. "Yes, I have also learned a few lessons myself. You were more right than I had first thought, Luna." Her sister was genuinely surprised at that, Celestia was entertained to see it play across Luna's face and by the sudden turn to face her more fully.
"You have learned that-?"
Celestia cut her sister off. "I have learned that perhaps," she licked her lips and considered the next word carefully, "companionship is not such a bad thing to have." There wasn't much more to say, that she was willing to say anyway. The idea of pursuing romance was difficult enough to consider on her own, let alone to discuss the specific way she was intending to go about it. So many tight, uneasy emotions along with mountains of uncertainty.
A bright smile had appeared on her sister's face at last. "We are overjoyed to hear that you have made such a resolution, big sister. Perhaps it is for tomorrow that such resolutions become fully realized?" A tiny push for more information, but not an unreasonable one.
"Perhaps," she answered. It was as far as she was willing to allow. She did have a plan, and one that was likely to be simple to execute. Now that the safety of the world was secure, as well as the safety of her sister, Celestia could briefly entertain more personal projects. Tomorrow promised to be exciting; the start of a new, better world.
"We're really sorry, Princess Celestia." The three fillies in front of her certainly did look sorry as they chorused their apology in unison.
Celestia had selected a personal antechamber near the dining hall to hold this small wrapping up of last night's events. Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had arrived as duly summoned and held their heads low. Spike had been here a few minutes ago and had received his far more stern reprimand than he had yesterday, with the young dragon far more sincerely apologetic for his involvement. Big Macintosh was also present, having already heard the full version of events from his little sister and their friends in the morning.
This wasn't a particularly enjoyable part of her job, but there was no room for growth if ponies did not learn their lessons. "You should not be apologizing to me, my little ponies. I would think your apology is more owed to Princess Luna, and I hope you do take the time to do so before you leave today."
Applebloom had looked up and then nodded vigorously "We will, Princess! But we reckoned cause you'd invited us out here and all we oughta apologize to you too. On a count of we've been right rude guests."
That was likely taken from Big Macintosh's personally given lecture, judging by how he was sternly glaring at his sister at the moment. Since he'd already done the more harsh portion of letting the three fillies know exactly what they'd done wrong it was probably better to move into the learning phase.
"And have you learned just what you're apologizing for?" There, and now she'd given them a chance to show that they understood.
Sweetie Belle was first, sounding the most downcast of the three. "That we shouldn't think it's okay to do whatever you think you need to in order to win. That games are suppose to be for fun for every pony, not just us."
That was more or less the main 'point' to their lesson. The constant and increasing escalation may have made sense from a game perspective, since Luna had refused to be frightened by anything less than the possibility of her own death, but that didn't mean you had to go and actually cause that to happen. A lesson definitely useful for the future.
Applebloom was next, a glance to her older brother didn't seem to give her any encouragement that she was out of the woods as far as punishment. "It was also wrong for us to keep trying to guilt Princess Luna into playing with us. We were kind of being bullies about it, since we shoulda known better."
Also an excellent lesson, and one Celestia filed away partially for herself. She'd played her own role in egging her sister on to play; with the excuse that Luna hadn't been legitimately uncomfortable until the end. It was also hard to have predicted just how serious the CMC would take their own game. Maybe even they hadn't realized it.
There was a significant pause, with eyes falling onto Scootaloo. The young pegasus filly perked up from her downward gaze, suddenly realizing that there was an unspoken expectation for her to round out the group lesson. "Oh uh," she fumbled, looking to her friends who were unavailing in helping her come up with a moral. "I guess it was wrong to try and summon a monster from Tartarus. Oh, and we shouldn't have asked Discord to help either."
Yes, technically that was a lesson to learn. In the grand scheme of things it wasn't likely to have much application, but Celestia could bend enough to allow it. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom had already taken the main points. "Very well," Celestia nodded and accepted the three's self recrimination. A palpable weight of relief seemed to lift of the trio of filly's shoulders and they were finally able to meet her gaze off from the floor. "Your sisters and the rest of the Elements of Harmony will be returning in the next few hours. I suggest that you pack your belongings and prepare for the journey home."
The three departed slowly, with a distinct note of solemness hanging over them. They weren't speaking to one another, and possibly wouldn't until they were well outside of her sight and hearing range. That was well enough, and hopefully they hadn't taken their reprimands harder than they really had too. It had been difficult not to gently bring the three young girls back up with assurances that everything would ultimately be alright. If she had, though, the prior lesson would have been undermined; it the main reason she had not done as much.
Big Macintosh gently coughed after a moment, his eyes were still focused on the door but Celestia had a feeling that he was trying to get her attention. As far as she'd known him Big Macintosh only seemed to make noise when he intended to.
Since she already had something she wanted to say it was all the opening she needed. "You'll make sure to tell Applejack, Rarity and Scootaloo's parents that they've already been spoken to more than once about their behavior. I can't imagine it's fair to have it continuously brought up by different ponies."
"Eeyup," he answered while still looking where his sister and her friends had gone.
Celestia had paused, expecting him to say more but there didn't seem to be anything forthcoming. Not anything too out of the norm, sometimes it seemed like she had to work to warm Big Macintosh up to get the stoic farmer talking. "With the exception of the incident last night I have been very happy to have you as guests. I hope that you've enjoyed being here at Canterlot, Big Macintosh." For a brief split second she'd almost said 'with me' somewhere in those last sentences.
Turning finally, Big Macintosh shrugged nonchalantly and the straw in the corner of his mouth switched to the opposite side. Even after watching that happen so many times it still fascinated her by its deliberateness. "Eeyup, can't say a bad thing about it. You've been a fine host, Princess."
Hm, he'd avoided saying her name once again. Habits apparently died hard, though it was entirely possible that Big Macintosh was simply too polite to drop respect simply because he'd been told it was okay. She still wanted further conversation, though, and now Celestia was curious to get more of an idea of how he'd come to think of the overall week. "You are of course more than welcome to return at any time."
Big Mac raised an eyebrow at that and there was an extended pause before he replied. "That's a kind thing of you to offer, but I reckon the palace here has had all it can take from my sister and her friends for the moment." There was a faint ghost of a smile on his lips that didn't quite reach his eyes.
She smiled wider than he did, accepting the joke as graciously as she could while the faint stirring of a warning was in the back of her mind. It wasn't quite like Big Mac to go and deflect with humor, and his real thoughts were about as shielded from her as they'd ever been. Then again there really was probably no other way to take her offer to return and visit from his point of view. It was important, she reminded herself, that she was committed to slowly walking them into a possible relationship. Big Macintosh had simply taken the 'you' as being collective.
"I'm sure that Princess Luna will appreciate the break, as will the staff." Her own responses were limited, and Big Macintosh nodded in agreement as they continued to share their slight smiles at the general hassle that were the Cutiemark Crusaders.
But still nothing came after, and a decidedly awkward silence descended which Celestia couldn't immediately figure out how to dissipate. If one was forcing conversation along it was often best to end it, but that was exactly what she didn't want to do.
Big Macintosh was looking at her silently, finally coughed and then glanced towards the door. "I best be getting packed, beggin your pardon Princess."
"Oh yes, of course." It came out automatically, even as a tightness gathered in her stomach. Watching him trot out of the chamber did nothing to help her unease. Her eyes lingered there for a long moment, immersed in her own thoughts about what seemed liked a thousand different things.
It wasn't like her to be doubtful of her plans, and the one she'd made last night was a very simple one. Instincts, that 'gut' feeling of warning, simply refused to dissipate regardless of the number of times she reassured herself.
Discord was still watching her from the corner of the room, a literal fly on the wall. No time for reconsideration, there will still work to be done. "It's your turn, Discord." She spoke up aloud, lifting her head to look towards where she'd sensed him skulking.
With a flashing burst of magic Discord was in front of her, an annoying goofy grin on his face. He'd seen the awkward little byplay between her and Big Mac, and now Celestia realized that the entire tone she'd wanted to impart on Discord was lost. Now the Dragonequus was going to harass her ab-
"My my, Celestia, does Applejack know about you two?"
It was tempting to rub at the bridge of her nose, she could feel a headache forming already. That would have given him far too much satisfaction though, and instead she let out a long breath. "I didn't forget your part in last night's events. Did you think it was acceptable to trick my sister into believing she was about to be eaten?" She did her best to lace her words with as much stern seriousness as could be mustered, but she knew the trickster well enough that it was unlikely to have much effect.
Discord waved her off with his claw, though there was perhaps the barest glimmer of guilt. Fluttershy was definitely having an effect on him, good. "It was all in good fun, really. After thousands of years of anticipation I'd think having nothing happen at all would be just a little anti-climactic don't you?"
"You wouldn't have escaped the Twilight either, Discord. You will make a full and sincere apology to my sister or I will have you banished from Equestria." That last threat would be difficult to enforce, but she was prepared to make it. The Cutiemark Crusaders might have been mostly harmless in their escalations, but there could be no allowances for the reality warper to believe malicious pranks like that carried no consequence.
It did keep him quiet for a few seconds, Discord looking evenly into her stare. He was gauging whether she was serious, and she doubled down on giving him a stern look to confirm that she was. Discord looked away first and sighed heavily. "Well I suppose I have no choice. I would hate to miss one of Fluttershy's tea parties, and all of Equestria would become so very boring without me around to liven things up."
There was definitely no answer to that, and Celestia continued to merely glare at him. It was easier than trying to puzzle out Discord's motivations and interests. About the only consistent one was 'cause chaos' and even then that goal shifted as easily as the breeze.
"That should be all, Discord. I have business to attend." As curt a dismissal as she usually gave, Celestia turned away and began to leave the room. There were more reasons than business, too. She especially did not want to talk to him about-
Discord was floating along her right, languidly suspended sideways in the air. "You know what, Celestia? I just realized something. Your first foal could be named Monarch! Wouldn't that be hilarious?"
Usually when Discord was rambling she had a habit of tuning him out, it wasn't like what he said most of the time was anything more than nonsense. But the last comment caused her to stumble, her lead hoof clipping the floor and bringing her to a dead halt.
Children?!
Celestia scrambled to fight away a blush. "Discord, that isn't funny."
"You're right, what would the other children think? Favoritism to the new royal line simply wouldn't do."
"Discord..." Celestia practically growled out his name. Hopefully none of her staff were nearby to even hear a whisper of this conversation.
She'd been about to walk through the doorway leading out into the hallway. Discord hadn't had the room to move through the opening and instead had phased himself halfway through the stone wall. Of course he hardly paid much attention to that at all, grinning from horn to antler at the successful dig. "And really, it's remarkably egalitarian of you. I can already imagine the scandal and intrigue, why, the paparazzi! will have a field day" Instantly a camera sprouted itself into existence for Discord to aim her way.
That was quite enough already, and even included just a fraction of her apprehensions. Celestia was certainly not about to confide with Discord of all creatures, and this had gone on for too long. But how to get rid of him? Something quickly, or when the first pony came by he'd start to lace every sentence from then on with innuendos to try and fluster her. It'd work too, but what could possibly stop Discord from having his fu-. An idea came, though it'd be annoyingly inelegant
"Discord," she repeated his name, the trickster's attention focusing away from zooming his camera lens in on her face. Her mastery over her expression was being completely put to the test, lest she betray just how annoyed she was. "If this continues the only thing that will happen is the status quo."
Much like deflating a balloon, the change over Discord was near instantaneous. The camera poofed itself out of existence and there was a half glare, half searching and all together annoyed look across the dragonequus' face. Status quo was as near a curse for Discord as anything. The very notion that he might be the cause for something boring to happen could get him to go to avoid just that, she'd found.
"Very well," Discord said in exasperation, folding his arms over one another and turning up his nose. "I'm sure it will be entirely predictable and stale, anyway, as things with you always have a habit of being."
Celestia gave no answer, knowing better than to rise to any sort of bait. Time was on her side with this, and if she just waited a few more seconds Discord would give up and find something else to do.
Out of thin air a clock chimed, despite being at best a quarter past the hour, Discord immediately craning a claw to an ear. "Oh goodness, will you look at the time? I'm afraid I'm going to have to go, dear Celestia, as I have to catch up with a very old friend. A kindred spirit, really, I do hope she remembers me."
Now that she knew he'd be leaving, Celestia allowed a heavy sigh and an answer to send Discord off. "I'm sure she will, but keep your pranks out of this world."
And with that Discord was off in a flash, and Celestia could only hope that he found it entertaining enough to aggravate Ice Giants and Æsir, instead of ponies. Things were quite stressful enough without two incredibly powerful tricksters roaming Equestria, three if you counted Pinkie Pie. But even with the trickster gone and no immediate tasks in front of her, the tension welled inside Celestia refused to dissipate. There was still quite a bit to do this afternoon.
Without another word Celestia left for the gardens. Her thoughts narrowed and focused, future conversations playing themselves out in her mind to assure her that she hadn't missed a thing. Of course she hadn't, today was going very well.
The new apple trees looked like they'd completely taken to their new home. Celestia marveled at the bright green leaves sprouted among the branches while wandering along the edge of the more wild looking gardens nearby. This new addition much more resembled an orchard, but somehow didn't clash in appearance. It'd likely be another year before any sort of apples grew, from what little she knew of fruit trees. Still, that would pass by in hardly any time at all.
"Oh! Well it's nice to see you again, your highness!" An old creaky voice from out of the woods caught her attention. "Come to admire the new addition to the garden? I have to say you had a good idea in suggesting it." Green Hoof had a hoe strung across a shoulder and trotted slowly out into the open area while approaching her.
She smiled brightly, entirely genuine. "It is very lovely, Green Hoof. You and Big Macintosh did excellent work and the gardens are all the more beautiful because of it. Very soon staff and dignitaries alike will be able to enjoy apples whenever they please."
Her gardener beamed under the praise, and removed his worn straw hat to wipe at some sweat dabbed along his face. He didn't return it to his head, however, and bowed now that he was directly in front of her. "If the critters around here don't get to them first, anyway. Got to say if I was a colt half my age I'd probably have a easier time of it. Not that I'm complaining, your highness, I know a few tricks that'll keep them away." He'd punctuated the last bit with a wink and a grin, a self assured quality born out of decades of experience.
It was exactly the sort of thing to say that Celestia had been looking for. "I have no doubt that you are up to the task, my little pony." Even if he looked quite a bit older than her, her subjects never failed to smile wistfully at the gentle tone that phrase brought. "Though, I did notice that your work went quite a bit faster when a pony who was half your age was there to assist."
Green Hoof blinked for a moment, and then laughed. "You're right about that, your highness! That young fella knew his way around apple trees like nobodies business, even taught me a few things I didn't know. Not always easy to find a pony who can work hard and has a real appreciation for making things grow."
This was going better than she could have hoped, though Celestia cautioned herself to handle it delicately. "We've been doing staff reviews, Green Hoof." Her gardener stilled from his good mood, a touch of wariness at what he must have started to anticipate. "You've been serving here faithfully for longer than most of the other staff in the palace have been alive. I cannot be more thankful for your dedicated service, but I would not want to risk it becoming a risk to your health either."
The earth pony in front of her was quiet for a long moment, working out his feelings on the subject. It was something Celestia was willing to allow for as long as he liked, these sort of choices were never easy to make. She wasn't going to leave it up to any other pony, though, and she made a point to remember her most loyal servants and helpers through her many long years of rule.
Finally Green Hoof let out a long exhale and nodded. "I've been thinking about what I'd do if I ever retired for quite awhile, Princess. Hard to imagine doing anything else, but I probably have more money saved up than I'd even be able to spend, heh." He chuckled a bit, though it was strained.
There were always backups for her plans, and now that Celestia saw just how he'd taken the proposition she adjusted her angle of attack. "Green Hoof, if you were to retire you would not have to leave the palace." That caught his attention, and she could see a bit of relief there as well. "You've more than earned a full pension, and I wouldn't dream of asking you to leave your grounds. You may remain here, and even return, anytime you like. I can imagine that the incoming groundskeeper will need quite a bit of help in learning their position wouldn't you agree?"
There, now there was a far more genuine smile on the stallion's face which set her own worries to rest. "Well I imagine I could show them a thing or two," Green Hoof agreed. "Do you have a pony in mind, your highness? If I had to give one off the top of my head I'd say Big Macintosh, but then again he's already got the farm down in Ponyville."
It was very easy to fake surprise at the given name that had been line with her own thoughts, why she'd come to the gardens in the first place. "What an interesting suggestion, Green Hoof." She cast a look back towards the palace, knowing that the true test of her nerves would be coming very soon. "I'll see what he thinks of it before he heads back home."
"The Elements of Harmony will be arriving to Canterlot in half an hour, your highness." One of her guards had bowed dutifully, and Celestia had only nodded absently at the report.
Everything was going so very slow, the anticipation mounting within her as Celestia did her best to not to stare at a clock in her throne room. There wasn't anywhere else for her to be, and so she simply waited. Without the upcoming...discussion with Big Macintosh it might have been more likely that she'd have met Twilight and her friends at the train station. There were a lot of questions that she wanted to ask for how their adventure in the north had gone. Aspects and key details that would need to be answered to ensure that the brokered peace would stay peaceful.
Instead she was waiting for them to arrive here in the palace, feeling anxious that she might have missed her guess as to what Big Mac would be doing at this time. He'd want to greet his sister, or at least know when to greet her. This would mean he'd have to come looking for her, or any official who would know. Which meant he'd come to the throne room. Suggesting that he take on a position as a gardener would require a touch of casualness that would be impossible if she just went to find him. But so far he hadn't sought her out, something Celestia was finding to be very frustrating.
A half dozen minutes passed by, and she was now sure that her plan would be for nothing. It was hardly a catastrophe if it was, though certainly disappointing. Celestia would take a long weekend to consider alternative plans, trips to Ponyville could be set that would take her closer to Sweet Apple Acres. She wasn't going to give up that easily.
Of course that was the moment that a side door far on the left of the throne room swung open and Big Macintosh followed through it. He was unaccompanied by the Cutiemark Crusaders, or any other pony in fact. Instead he was dragging a assortment of luggage and placed it discretely off to the side and out of the way. For a moment Celestia thought she saw surprise register when their eyes met. Curious.
The moment had come, though, and Celestia cast away all the fluttering butterflies in her stomach while descending from where she had been sitting. Big Mac bowed when she approached, and then rose up to lift an eyebrow at her approach. The bit of straw in the corner of his mouth remained motionless, which meant he wasn't going to speak first.
"Your sister and her friends will be here very shortly, Big Mac. I hope you understand that there may be a bit of a delay as I'll need to ask them a great many questions." An easy start, nice and official. It occurred to her after a moment that this was the sort of hyper aware, focused attention she used when dealing with master diplomats and villains.
Macintosh gave a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. "Eeyup, take your time."
Hm. Big Mac was apparently still short on words, which would mean she'd have to direct things along a bit more than she'd have liked. "I suppose Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle...?"
"Reckon they're makin' amends with Princess Luna."
Celestia felt tense, could even feel her heart beat quickening in anticipation as they wound through small talk. "Well then good, I imagine my sister will be bringing them then."
The object of her (secret) affection did not even reply with a 'eeyup' at that, but he was observing her quietly all the same. It was a look that she often gave ponies, and being 'under the spotlight' for a change was totally foreign to Celestia. And oh, there were too many guards within earshot for what she wanted to say too. The butterflies were back with a vengeance.
"Ahem, Big Macintosh?" Her throat felt dry as he lifted an eyebrow. "Would you mind speaking with me out in the hallway? I have something I'd like to ask you."
Where that persistent guarded look she'd observed before had been subtle, Big Macintosh looked almost outright alarmed now. "Er, well I suppose that'd be okay..." He drawled, his words coming a beat faster than were usual.
Did he suspect? No, of course he couldn't have. Celestia hadn't figured it out herself until yesterday. The door to the throne room shut behind her, and the two were left in the empty hallway by themselves. Alone.
If Big Macintosh hadn't been forthcoming before he wasn't going to prompt her now. Best to start with the proper tact.
"I had a chance to stroll through the apple trees you planted, Big Macintosh. Your work was excellent, and you went to far greater lengths than you had to."
Big, silent green eyes were watching her closely while she spoke. At last he nodded, still clearly wary. Maybe he did suspect she had something in store after all, she hadn't developed a crush on a pony without intelligence. "It wasn't nothing, really. Glad you like them though."
"Well of course, Big Macintosh. I..." Celestia paused to gather herself, truly not completely sure how to proceed. The warning she'd felt before was blaring now for her to not finish her words. She ignored them, though, having already started this plan she knew she had to see it through. "I saw how able you were while working in the Canterlot Royal Gardens. Green Hoof spoke very highly of your talents as well. Would you possibly be interested in taking his place as groundskeeper when he retired?"
Silence fell, and Big Mac did not visibly react except to look off to the side and away from her. Was that a good or bad sign? Celestia couldn't tell, couldn't even guess. "If you are concerned about the compensation being enough to offset your work in Ponyville I would of course be happy to discuss the exact amount you would be pa-"
"You're offering me this job on account'a you liking me, ain't that right?" Big Macintosh had cut her off neatly, sweeping his gaze back to focus on her. His tone hadn't been even close to happy.
Celestia was left grasping, unsure how to even begin to respond to that. This hadn't been...she hadn't anticipated this at all. "W-well, that is..." An abysmal response that did everything to confirm that he'd been right in his guess.
Big Mac snorted, frowning now. "Then no, I don't want to play at being your stud."
There'd been acid dripping in his voice, and it torn through her. Her chest squeezed tight, to the point where she hardly felt like she could breath. Tears were already threatening to well up as well in barely constrained emotion at knowing she'd just made an enormous mistake. This was not what was supposed to happen. "I didn't intend-"
"No?" Again, Big Macintosh had cut her off, punctuated with a stamp of a front hoof. "Princess, with all due respect I ain't a dumb farm pony. You been leadin me all around here and there, tryin to butter me up this whole week. The only reason I'm even here is on account of you inviting us. You knew there was gonna be a reason to send my sister and her friends off, and you wanted my other sister and her friends to play with your sister. What am I spose to think about why I'm here, when we go off walking in the woods together on your 'day off'?"
He was terribly, awfully right. So right that Celestia couldn't even begin to form a counter to disprove what he'd said. The only problem was that he had drawn the right conclusion in the worst possible way. What had she done?
Once riled up, Big Mac didn't seem inclined to stop and began to pace back and forth in front of her. It was startling to see just how livid he could become. "So you want to spend time with me, cause you like me for whatever reason. That's fine and all, even if you didn't ask me what I thought or if'n there was somepony else. Was I supposed to just accept working here by day and come visit your bed at night? Right up until I got all used up, worn out or you got bored of me, right? Did you have a plan for that too?"
The accusations were getting off their mark, but still hurt more than she could have ever imagined. All of the positive she'd been building up for the past few days had suddenly turned themselves to dust. Not so much because of what he was saying, but the twist and perspective he'd been applying to her actions. Was that where they would have been heading if he hadn't said anything? It made more sense than Celestia wished. At what point would Big Macintosh have been able to tell her 'no' if he had been uncomfortable?
But still it was terribly unfair, and even as her breath hitched in a choked by sob she did her best to defend herself. "Big Mac, I would have never-"
She was cut off again, not that her words had been anything but half hearted. "You say that, but how much am I suppose to know what you 'would have' done? Everything's planned out by you, ain't it? Maybe cept me telling you this right now. You introduce me to Green Hoof, set me to work so he'd have less of a choice about you firin him. You set it up so that the farm'll get more money even if I'd be gone, and now here you're trying to set me up neat as a bow so you can watch me outta your window. Well I'm never gonna abandon my family, not ever! I ain't my Pa, and I know who I am. Hope you have more luck with the next guard you like, good bye."
Simple as that, Big Macintosh stormed off towards the exit without another word. Celestia wasn't going to follow him, and sat there in her hallway. Somewhere in the middle she'd started to cry and it wasn't going to stop anytime soon. She'd ruined everything now, and the spiral of thoughts threatened to consume her. Worse even than the terrible feeling of rejection was what would have to come after. How could she greet Twilight and the Elements who were about to arrive? How could she return to Ponyville now?
"S-sister?! What is the matter?" Luna was next to her now, she'd come at both the worst and best time. Distantly the figures of the CMC far down the hall registered, hopefully out of hearing.
Celestia couldn't compose herself even when her little sister draped a wing across her back. Nor could she stop herself from keeping the break of emotion out of her voice. "I made a mistake, Luna." It would sound so innocuous from any other pony, but to her it was all she could do not to break down. "I was wrong." She still had duties to perform though, anything to take away the memories of what he'd said. "I'm-I'm sorry, but I've got to-."
It wasn't just Big Mac who was going to interrupt her today, though Luna was far more gentle about it. "No, you don't have to do anything right now big sister. We will intercede with the Elements on your behalf and then return to comfort you. Do not worry about it."
Her sister was right, it would do more harm than good to be seen like this. Questions she would never want to answer from her student, her friends or any other pony who would see her in this state. The embarrassment of even being like this over something so seemingly minor was only serving to mount the self recriminations and doubts she felt. This was why she hadn't wanted to open herself up in the first place, something so tiny could hurt so much and threaten Equestria.
The worst thing of all, beyond all the others, was the look she'd seen on Big Macintosh's face when he'd started to turn away. He hadn't looked entirely angry for one second, he'd looked almost as hurt as she knew she felt. Now she knew what that persistent look on his face every time she'd tried to nudge herself closer to him had meant. There was something there that he must have felt for her, and his angry reaction only confirmed it. If he hadn't had feelings he wouldn't have lashed out at all, and the blame could only be leveled at herself for trying to manipulate him. Like she did with everyone else. Now he was gone and her hopes ruined.
What had she done?