Land of Friendship and Magic

by Archmage Ansrit


Somewhere in the Between

(Typhon, Distant Past)

It didn't take long for Whistler to calm down. I was actually kind of impressed; she went from 'Princess Celestia is perfect' to 'princess Celestia is just like us' in less than an hour, with no apparent neuroses!

Well, maybe the seed was already planted after finding out that she didn't like Storm Chaser like that. Or at all.

I had a plan, though. Presenting a better candidate! It was going to be difficult finding somepony that would convince Celestia that she was wro-... no, that approach would not work - if everyone 'knows' that she's always right, then chances are even she will believe it in some level.

No, what she needed was a better choice to replace the old one, one which just so happened to be of Wind Whistler's own choosing.

Alright; if I could control The Breeze in any capacity, then it would be possible to cheat! And that was without taking into account the Alchemiter... I bet I could use it to produce some special gear that would improve the stallion's chances. Not to mention whatever powers these accessories of mine could grant me - or somepony else.

I just hoped we could find one before societal pressure became too bad.

*****

Years in the future (but not many)

Wind Whistler made herself comfortable on her cloud, getting ready for her serenade.

Across from her, on a lump of cloud shaped vaguely like a chair, Windstorm was trying to settle down to play the guitar.

Amazing what could come out of just jabbing a keyboard with a hoof at random.

The mare just giggled at seeing her beloved fighting a cloud and an instrument - and apparently losing. He learned to manipulate air, taught her how to do so, bent the weather to his will, faced the challenges, aced all the tests, and fought society itself (with the occasional monster/intruder on the side), and he was flailing his hooves like a colt after his first crash!

She couldn't help it; she laughed, rolling onto her back and kicking at the air like an upturned tortoise on caffeine; she made Windstorm laugh, too, and the two of them simply laughed almost for a whole minute. Breath training allowed them to do things like that.

After stopping, they didn't move for another minute, simply enjoying each other's presence. She gave him a smile; he smiled back, mouthing 'I love you', and shifted one last time.

He inhaled, and sang one of her favorite songs.

They were born, and that was a good day.

Some day, they would die, and that is a shame.

But, somewhere in the between? They would enjoy themselves. Whoever complained was just bitter, although Storm Chaser wasn't upset that Windstorm had gotten the girl, merely that he had been beaten.

Inconsequential!

She wanted to ask him something actually important... she... she wanted foals.

*****

(Typhon, back at the past)

Wind Whistler had an idea to solve my shelter problem; there was this-

You have been invaded by the Nudist Invader.

The tablet was in my hands by reaction as soon as the message appeared in front of me - I used the Scan Visor on everything in the Metroid Prime games - and snapped a picture of the sword he appeared with, and his bow.

The red spirit of a man wearing nothing but a loincloth was in front of me, and I didn't care. Neither did Whistler - at least, until he drew a second bow, turned around, and ran towards a forest while slapping his rear.

She started to say 'what is that', but I was already running behind him.

Either my sudden age regression didn't negatively impact my physical performance, or those levels I gained were more powerful than I expected, since I was able to keep up with him despite his legs being longer and more muscular - although that could have been his awful running form. Despite not having training, my breathing rhythm was absolutely perfect.

My only problem was that I had no way to stop him. It was painfully obvious - even my ring noticed.

It glowed a couple of times.

I didn't protest, not that I even noticed the moment I had jumped, fist drawn back.

My hand was wreathed in flame, and I executed a textbook-perfect Falcon Punch, with giant fiery bird of death and everything, right to the back of his head. He rolled forward several times, but I knew he wouldn't be out for the count.

The problem being that I was.

My pin glowed, and I knew that doing that without acclimating my body to it, or at least trying to direct it myself, had strained me.

Yeah, see, I could feel the unholy burn and ache of my arm; I didn't need a magic talisman to know that.

"Don't let him get away!" I yelled, panting - curiously, breathing did wonders to diminish the pain.

Wind Whistler was flying overhead, and dove as soon as I spoke. She landed on all four hooves right in between his shoulder blades; the lack of armor meant that my hit and hers were enough to make him vanish. He left a large amount of different types of Grist, mainly Build, Shale, and Tar; due to her position, Wind Whistler touched one, making a message appear to tell me that my allied party member had picked up resources for me.

We both climbed our Echeladders to the Jitterbug Duetists rung, earning more bits. A Final Fantasy Five reference - would the surprises ever end?

I received a bowkind specibus card (basically the ability to wield bows) and some Humanity that was automatically captchalogued in one of my spare cards, although there was a message saying that the incompatibility of the data systems meant that it would have reduced functionality. Or so the system message claimed. I dunno, as long as I could summon white phantoms it was cool; besides, I was not an undead of any kind whatsoever and couldn't use it properly anyways.

Of course, now I had to explain to Wind Whistler what had happened. And that it would likely happen again.

I hate my life.

*****

(Twilight Sparkle, years in the future, but not many)

Her mind was numb, blank, stopped.

Princess Celestia was being so... so... so unlike herself!

The princess had always - always - been strong, confident, sure of herself! She- She...

That... that was the problem, wasn't it? It... well, Twilight didn't think it was fair to blame her; she had done her history homework (with at the least three verified sources).

Equestria a thousand- no, even just 'a few' centuries ago was a tough place to live; many... things roamed the nights, and, while the Unification of the three tribes solved some problems, it made others appear. Ponies were herd creatures; they needed a leader. The individual was smart, but the masses were frightful, prone to panic, and quite frankly more of a danger than most of the things that set them off - the situation with Zecora came to mind. Somepony had to take the metaphorical reins, and hold them tight.

But... it was hard work. Heck, directing Ponyville through Winter-Wrap-Up was hard enough. Everypony had different ideas of what 'leading' meant, or what one needed 'to lead'... why did she ever think it would be different for Equestria as a whole?

Oh, right, princess Celestia. She always looked like she was on top of the game, always sure of herself, always knew what to do, always had an answer - a solution to everything... always lent an ear to her, and soothed her.

She... Twilight learned that friendship was more than just give and take, and right now, Celestia was probably sick of giving, even if she didn't know it herself. As much as... but- no. Princess Celestia had given her so much, and Twilight had just noticed how little she had given back in turn.

Why?

Was it because she didn't feel herself worthy of being in her presence? Because she 'knew' that the princess didn't need her? Because right now princess Celestia was looking rather lonely, and needed somepony. She was always there for ponies when it was needed, but only her sister had been there for her, and, even then, it hadn't been enough. Somewhere in the between, princess Celestia had stopped being a pony in the eyes of the people, but the problem was that she was still very much a mare with needs of her own.

She didn't even notice when she had given the princess a hug.