//------------------------------// // Midday madness // Story: Birth of the Draconequus // by HareTrinity //------------------------------// The midday sun was shining brightly down upon Canterlot and on one of the castle's balconies an alicorn stared back. With her magic she held a scroll from her protégée and was trying to think the matter over whilst fighting the desperate urge to forget about it entirely. The message's contents deeply troubled her, adding to concerns she'd had for a while. Partly she wanted to reply directly, but even then she was split between either denying all knowledge of the matter or pouring her heart out in the desperate hope that her young student would somehow have the answer that she'd sought for so long... "What is it that troubles thou, dearest sister?" "Luna... What are you doing up at this time?" The dark mare came out onto the balcony, stifling a yawn. She was not used to the sunlight but even though it was she who'd been imprisoned for a thousand years she'd learnt that her sister had also spent much of that time in solitude. Few could handle the sun princess as well as her night sibling and so being apart for so long had left a strain on them both. Having picked up on this Luna had ordered the guards to keep her informed of any strange behaviour, whatever the time, even on sunny days such as this. Her sister was no long accustomed to being spoken to as an equal and the progress on repairing their relationship had been gradual at best. Luna spoke gently, trying not to let her sleepiness show, "Thou hast been here for hours, did thou think that I wouldst not hear of it? I ask again; what troubles thee?" Celestia sighed, moving the scroll so that her fellow alicorn could read it. "...I see... It seems we were right." "We... Can't be sure..." Luna narrowed her eyes, her voice taking on a stern tone, "There remains little room for doubt, sister." "If we just wait a little lon-" The blue mare stamped one hoof, not about to see her older sister dodge this particular responsibility, "We have already waited too long! Surely thou hast not forgotten what happened last time?" "I WILL NEVER FORGET WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME!" "Then thou know what must be done!" Celestia dropped the scroll, lowering her head as tears started to well up in her eyes, soon pouring down her cheeks as she collapsed into sobs. Luna sighed; gentle encouragement had never been her strong point, particularly around sensitive topics. Truly she understood her sister's torn emotions as the situation brought back memories for both of them, but while Celestia seemed to focus on what had been lost Luna felt mostly the regret over what could have been prevented. If she had stood her ground back then, insisted that they were protectors of Equestria first, above all else, would it have made a difference? Maybe, but then again maybe not... The dark mare went to gently nuzzle her celestial sister, "...We can wait a little longer... Give me until night, when I am stronger, and we shall go together. We shall see then what there is to be done." The eldest princess nodded weakly, glancing up to her sun. Until nightfall. She had until then... "Oh my, yes, magnifique!" Rarity gave a little squeal of joy as she eyed over her newest hat range, "Why, if some of the high-ups in Canterlot don't literally come to blows over these...!" The white unicorn had spent a long but productive morning in the zone and was now basking in the glee of knowing she'd achieved exactly the look she'd been after. These hats had long been a work in progress but this morning had been well spent on finishing touches and at last the collection was out on display. Sunlight streamed through the boutique's windows, highlighting the hats' glory as their maker admired them. She made a couple of adjustments to their display positions before finally standing back and murmuring to herself, "Perfect." "Oh, I'm not sure this is a good idea..." somepony mumbled quietly as the door opened. "HI RARITY!" The unicorn turned to see her friends entering the boutique, "Fluttershy dear, and Pinkie Pie, how good of y-EEEEK!" "What's wrong?" asked Pinkie Pie, grinning as she tilted her head, the phoenix-feathered hat gracefully flowing with her movements. "That hat! But I... How??? This is the first time I've brought them out of my private study, how do you have one???" With a loud pop the hat disappeared from Pinkie's head. Rarity's jaw dropped and the pink pony fell into giggles. "The look on your face! You were all like WHAAA? It was just a joke, Rarity!" The fashion designer gave a sigh of relief, "Oh Pinkie dear, that was quite the prank! Even I couldn't tell the difference! However did you get a balloon like that?" "It wasn't a balloon, it's a new trick I learnt! Look!" With another loud pop a muffin appeared balanced on Pinkie's hoof. She ate it proudly, then laughed chunks of it out as Rarity fainted, Fluttershy only just catching her before she hit the floor. "You are silly, Rarity!" Pinkie insisted and bounced over to her friends. Holding out one hoof again she popped a large purple sapphire into existence, causing Rarity to make an instant recovery. "Oh my, that is gorgeous! Where did you find it?" "Dunno! Isn't it neat? Oh, and I can do some crazy faces too, watch this!" "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhahaha, that's... Certainly something... Pinkie dear, why don't you do less of that and more of the friendly magic?" Pinkie popped back to normal, looking a little confused, "What do you mean?" "Well, that face was a little... Outlandish for my tastes, dear, the gems and cakes were so much quainter, don't you think?" The pink pony's ears drooped, "Fluttershy didn't like it much either..." "It's just a bit much, after all, it is quite... Well. Frightening? We love that you're able to find fun everywhere darling, but not all of us can be the Element of Laughter, can we?" Rarity smiled hopefully and Fluttershy, eager to see less of that "funny" face, joined in. Pinkie just sighed... Then suddenly perked up. "Hey, maybe Rainbow Dash'll like it!" The unicorn and pegasus looked at each other. "I guess she might?" Fluttershy whispered nervously. "Oh, but darling, don-" Too late, the earth pony had already sped out the door, no doubt in search of her blue pegasus friend. Rarity turned to Fluttershy, "I've never seen magic like that from an earth pony... Has anyone-" "She said Twilight's already looking into it..." mumbled Fluttershy, still looking at the door. She couldn't deny that the magic was impressive and some of it was definitely quite fun, but her friend did seem to be getting very carried away... Was something actually wrong with her?