//------------------------------// // A Word of Advice // Story: The Lost Prince of the Sea // by Cursory Note //------------------------------// Luna had decided to let the rulers of the Crystal Empire and the leaders of the changeling refugees work out the details for themselves and only offer her advice if it was absolutely necessary. She smiled as Beguiling Cloak and Optical Illusion finished the plans for the new changeling village with Shining Armor and Cadence. It was to be a small village near the capital with enough room for all of the changelings and one or two officials of the Crystal Empire to act as liaisons and law keepers. For the most part the changelings would govern themselves but they would be subject to the same laws as the Crystal Ponies, and Luna was quite pleased at how cordial Shining Armor had been to the changelings. Finally the plans were complete and Beguiling Cloak stood. “There aren’t words to describe how grateful we are to you, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Prince Shining Armor. We promise we will serve you faithfully and make the Crystal Empire our new Hive.” Cadence and Shining shared an uneasy look before Beguiling Cloak continued “No, no, please don’t misinterpret what we intend, we only mean that the Crystal Empire will be our new home and you will gain our eternal loyalty. Our nymphs will grow up here and know you as their rulers, we will teach them both the language of the Hive and of the ponies, and we will live upon each other once again.” Beguiling Cloak genuinely smiled and Luna saw a little mist in his eyes “You have given us a chance to live real lives in peace and freedom, and for that, we thank you.” He bowed low to the ground and looked towards the ponies happily. Cadence smiled warmly at Beguiling Cloak. “We will make sure that you and your children will always have a home in our Empire. I’m glad that I have gotten to know creatures of a race I once hated better.” Shining nodded and smiled “I am too.” He walked over to the changelings and bowed to Beguiling Cloak. “Welcome to the Crystal Empire.” Optical Illusion laughed in a buzzing way and hugged Beguiling Cloak as they chattered happily with each other. Luna smiled and spoke in a firm but gentle voice. “I must say that I am very pleased with what you have managed to accomplish despite your differences and personal vendettas.” She glanced at Shining Armor. “I believe that my work here is done, I will leave the details to you and return to Canterlot on the morning train.” The changelings exchanged a quick look with light concern on their faces. “Do not worry, Beguiling Cloak, my protection over you and the other changelings will stand even in my absence.” Luna stood and headed for the doors. “Now, I am afraid I must take my leave; the night grows old, and I have work to do.” Cadence smiled warmly as she waved to Luna “I can’t thank you enough for all of your help, Aunt Luna. It was very nice to see you, you should come again sometime.” She stifled a yawn as Shining nodded and Luna chuckled. “I am very tempted, Cadence, but I believe my unusual schedule may upset your time of sleep. Farewell, please do keep me apprised as to how things work out.” Luna walked out and made her way to a balcony where she would begin setting the moon for the night, feeling good about her return to Canterlot and telling Celestia that all had gone well. --- Once again Luna found herself gazing out the window at nothing in particular as the train passed through the dawn-tinted landscape. She had always found it difficult to sleep on trains so the fact that she was utterly exhausted had little to no effect on her. She nodded to the servant that brought her a simple but delicious breakfast of hay browns, mixed fruit, orange juice, and grass pancakes with special Zap Apple Jam from Sweet Apple Acres. As Luna ate she couldn’t help thinking about how much Aecorum would have loved the jam, especially since grass pancakes were one of his favorite things to eat. She smiled as she remembered one morning when he declared “Batter Flip is the finest maker of grass pancakes in all of Creation and shall henceforth be known as Duchess of the Pancake!” and then he laughed so hard the breakfast table shook. Luna loved to hear him laugh, it always made her whole world seem brighter and full of joy. She stopped the fork just in front of her mouth as Celestia’s words came rushing back to her. Her face fell and she rubbed her temple with her hoof, trying to make sense of it all. How could I remember an event so trivial if it was just a fantasy? I know that memory was real and I know Celestia was there. Why does nopony remember except me? Maybe it…But I couldn’t have just ‘created’ him as a means to escape Nightmare Moon, I remember every…Horrifying moment of that darkness. Luna barely registered a voice addressing her in the train car. There was one moment just before I was completely freed of Nightmare Moon by Twilight Sparkle and her friends that I do not remember but that cannot… “Princess Luna?” She snapped back to reality and saw an olive colored unicorn stallion with a dark brown mane and yellow eyes standing in front of her with a raised eyebrow. “Yes?” She tried to recognize the strange stallion but couldn’t quite place him. “Are you alright? You looked very perturbed just now.” His voice was warm and kind but Luna heard a quiet strength in it as well. She slightly shook her head “I am quite alright, thank you. I am afraid I am not familiar with you, what is your name?” He jumped slightly and smiled, adjusting his glasses. “Oh! Right! I’m sorry, Your Highness, my name is Sound Council. It’s a great honor to meet you.” Luna raised an eyebrow. “I hate to be rude, but why are you here? The guards should have stopped you.” The exhaustion and stress of diplomacy had worn on Luna’s nerves and her patience. “They did, but I saw the look on your face and so I asked if I could just pop in for a second and make sure you were okay.” He smiled “After all, ‘ask not what Equestria can do for you, but what you can do for Equestria.’” Luna allowed a smile to play across her lips “I suppose. But you only could have seen my face if you had been looking through the window and in order for you to have done that you would have had to talk to the guards beforehand.” She raised her eyebrow and Sound Council rubbed the back of his neck with his hoof. “Well, I guess I should explain myself a bit more clearly.” He looked towards a nearby chair. “Do you mind if I…?” Luna waved her hoof and he sat down, smiling kindly at her. “Princess Luna, I am going to be completely honest with you. I knew you were on this train and I wanted to talk to you, so I told the guards that I was sent by Princess Celestia to talk to you as a doctor.” Luna straightened up slightly and frowned. “Is that true?” Sound Council shrugged “It could be. I could also be a loyal citizen who is concerned about the welfare of one of my rulers and knows that sometimes having somepony to talk to makes everything seem just a little bit better.” He adjusted his glasses again and smiled. “So what’s got the Princess of the Night staring out the window with a furrowed brow?” Luna couldn’t help but smile at the easy manner Sound Council conducted himself with, even though she still was a little dubious as to his motivations. “I have gotten myself into a position where every question I ask leads to nothing but more questions.” She sighed very slightly “I just want to know what happened.” Sound Council nodded sympathetically “I’ve had experience with that. I understand how frustrating it can be, especially if it’s something important to you. If you don’t mind me asking, Your Highness, what are you trying to find out? I may be able to offer some help.” There was something about Sound Council that Luna found easy to talk to, and she actually wanted to tell him what was bothering her. Luna forced a small smile. “I doubt that. I have gone to some brilliant ponies and read some of the most comprehensive histories of Equestria. I have even gone to one of my worst enemies, well, former enemy I suppose. And I have found not only nothing to answer my question, but doubts about my own sanity.” “Oh come on, you won’t even give me a chance?” Sound Council smirked jokingly “I’ve been around the block a few times, my dear Princess. Who knows what I might be able to tell you?” Luna chuckled as she looked out the window. “Sound Council, I hardly know you, why would I talk to you about a matter closer to my heart than almost anything?” Sound Council shrugged “You seem like somepony who needs to talk, and I’m the only one here.” He smiled warmly “I won’t judge you, if that’s what you’re worried about. Come on, what’s the matter?” Luna sighed and finally accepted that maybe she should talk to a more impartial pony like Sound Council. “It is…An old friend of mine. At least, I think he was an old friend.” Sound Council nodded and she continued “His name is, or was, Aecorum. I’ve known him as long as I can remember, but ever since Nightmare Moon was defeated and I returned, I have not seen him anywhere, not even in records. Are you familiar with the stained glass depictions of Equestrian history in Canterlot Castle?” “Of course. I’ve only had the honor of seeing them once, but I remember they were spectacular.” “A shame. They are all wrong.” Sound Council raised an eyebrow “Well, not all of them. Just the ones that depict my sister and I are false, to the best of my knowledge. Aecorum was there when Discord was defeated, he was there when I was banished to the moon, and he was on the front lines of the Equestrian Army during the Griffon War, but nopony remembers him, not even Celestia.” Luna sighed again “She says that I created Aecorum during my banishment, and I…I’m not sure anymore whether or not she is right.” Sound Council nodded “I thought I was sure, I thought he would come home, but now…” “That must be difficult. Princess Celestia is sure that Aecorum never existed?” Luna nodded and looked at Sound Council with a weary expression “Yes. She is certain. I know that she would never lie to me; I know that she loves me very much, but I also know that Aecorum was not only my best friend, but hers as well. I don’t know what to do; I’ve exhausted all my options and found nothing.” Sound Council stood up and gently put a hoof on Luna’s shoulder and smiled “Princess Luna, I know we just met, and this may seem presumptuous of me, but I want to help you.” Luna raised an eyebrow “Really, I mean it. You aren’t sure whether or not Aecorum existed, right?” Luna nodded and Sound Council continued “I’m going to help you be sure. The first step, in my opinion,” He settled into the chair again and smiled warmly “Is to talk about him. Tell me about him. I’ll be able to give an impartial opinion, and offer what advice I can.” Luna sighed and thought. Why does this unicorn I have never seen before want so much to hear about Aecorum? Then again, he is right. I do want to talk about it, and he might be able to offer a new perspective. He seems very…Kind and trustworthy. I suppose it can do no harm. She spoke softly “One of my earliest memories is playing Hide and Seek with Celestia and Aecorum. We used to spend entire days in the garden chasing after each other and having the best times. I remember once Celestia and I found a number of beautiful seashells and made them into a necklace for Aecorum, he loved it, in fact he did not take it off for months and my mother…” The train rattled on towards Canterlot as Luna told Sound Council about her best friend and he listened with patience and a smile. --- Celestia sighed as she read the last entry of her old journal again. She couldn’t help but feel that time and time again she had failed to protect her sister, and it was starting to get to her. Celestia put the book down and started thinking about her decision to send Sound Council to Luna as somepony to talk to; she wondered if maybe she was wrong. “What else could I have done? She hasn’t listened to me.” She mused aloud. It was true that Doctor Sound Council was one of the most renowned psychiatrists in all of Equestria, and the youngest pony to receive the Passionate Mind award in over three hundred years, but Celestia was still uncertain if she should have sent him to Luna without her knowledge. She shook her head and gazed out the window. She saw a team of pegasi clearing up the clouds and thought. I know I should have asked her, or at least told her before she left, but she can be so stubborn, I know she wouldn't have let me. Perhaps I am being too hard on myself, or taking this too seriously, what harm could it do for Luna to hold on to this idea? She sighed as she ran her hoof along the pages of the journal. Who am I kidding? This has to stop here, before something far worse comes to light. And yet…There has been something nagging at me for some time, something I have not been able to figure out, maybe Aecorum is… Celestia shook her head a few times. What am I thinking? There has never been an alicorn stallion since Father left, and there has never been anypony named Aecorum. She looked towards the book and sighed again. I have to find a way to help her get through this. She flipped a few pages and absently read a passage when she heard a knock on the door. Celestia straightened up and called “Come in.” A royal guard came in and bowed. “Pardon me, Your Highness but the Minotaurian ambassador’s carriage is almost here.” Celestia nodded “Thank you for telling me, you may go back to your post.” The guard nodded and left the room. Celestia let the journal rest on the desk and as she stood the pages lifted slightly. A cloud that had been blocking the sun was cleared by a pegasus and the noonday light gave the aged parchment a slightly translucent appearance. Part of a phrase just above an entry written by Celestia became almost visible, written in a stronger and more flowing script than either sister. Celestia left the room and just before she closed the door, the words became clear. Today, Tia, Luna, and I…