The world was only warmth and light.
I was floating aimlessly in a neverending sea.
Floating?
We were sitting down, not on our haunches, not at a low table with our hooves in front of ourselves.
…Like minotaurs, rather. Four of us, like minotaurs but not quite. Another species.
No, no, that was the wrong thing.
I folded my wings over my chest, took comfort in the contact of my feathers with my fur.
Like alicorns.
The thought felt clearer than any other before. I clung to it, I felt myself reach for that single idea, while everything else started to fade. There wasn’t any light around me, and the world started to push me down into a mold.
The world was dark and a light weight was draped down on me.
My eyes were closed, as my eyelids were too heavy to be lifted. My ears prickled with the silent movement of air, in and out of somepony’s lungs. My head was lying against the most comfortable thing I had ever touched.
So many parts of me wanted to just ignore whoever was in the room and go back to sweet unconsciousness. Unfortunately, with the fogs of sleep lost, I was remembering the events before my fall into this peaceful darkness.
The Eye of Fire…
I curled up on myself, feeling all too suddenly as vulnerable as a newborn. The sheet over my body seemed like an impregnable shield in the circumstances. Anything, I’d take anything at all that could put even the most meaningless of distances between us. My chest burned in a cross shape where I knew it had opened under the Power displayed. No more… please…
Then, an icy chill suddenly surrounded me as I remembered what I had noticed earlier.
I was not alone.
And it was that fear that forced my eyes open, that allowed me to see the artificial lighting of the room I was in, alongside another alicorn.
A white alicorn, with a mane waving and the sun on her flanks, whose eyes looked at me with a mixture of worry, concern and, deep underneath, suspicion.
I remained silent, my throat and my mouth dry.
“I am glad to see you wake up so soon, Ventus,” Celestia told me with a gentle, soothing voice.
I let out a sigh of pure relief I hadn’t known I had been holding.
Family. Safe. Family. Safe.
Warmth tickled at my fur, as I saw my bed sheet glow under her bright power, and then move to better cover me. Celestia was still smiling.
Her gaze lingered over my neck, before it went to the ceiling. As if answering a question I had yet to ask, she made note of our surroundings. “This is Ponyville’s hospital. Since the stakes have clearly been raised above our previous expectations, I took the liberty of coming here to assess damages and the need for further actions.” Her expression became apologetic. “I am afraid it also means that I have requested to be the first to talk to you once you woke up.”
So this is still Ponyville?
Wait… I thought, looking down to my muzzle, and saw the very much golden fur rather than the much less flamboyant orange.
“Then…” I croaked, then cleared my throat, feeling my chest heat up with an uncomfortable sensation. Not quite pain but…
Celestia spoke softly, as a side-effect of my pitiful state, I suspected. “Everypony involved has been sworn to secrecy. Your presence is kept a state secret for the moment. Nopony in town knows that you are here, save for the select few members of the staff.”
I think this should scare me a little… I had already broken that little promise by making that peace offering to Filthy Rich. Truly, luck had been on my side when he had decided to be so gracious about it.
It took me a moment to process what could have happened had he been as vengeful as me. There could have been so many things going wrong with that scenario, and my arrogant certitude would have caused problems for both me and Tom.
My breath got stuck in my throat. It did not happen. He chose to be the bigger stallion. We’re fine… we’re fine…
Four screams echoed in my ears, one of them shattering that notion to pieces. Panic started to pump in my veins. He had screamed.
Finally, I mustered enough strength to speak, and I did not bother masking my open fear. “Calx?”
Something tugged at the corners of her lips, something I suspected was fondness.
“I’ve sent somepony to go fetch him, which was made difficult considering he wasn’t in your home…” I flinched, accepting the implicit reprimand. “…But luckily Spike had the presence of mind to send me a message personally.”
Spike, huh? I thought with a smile. The little guy was always a smart dragon.
Still, I asked again; I needed to know. “So he’s…?”
“Perfectly fine,” she completed patiently. “He has a small bruise on one leg, but it is already healing.”
It couldn’t have been so simple. With him, it was never that simple. I knew my little brother better than that.
“Did he try-?” The rest was lost in a fit of cough.
I clenched my front legs around my barrel, hoping to lessen the scratching sensation all over my throat. It grew instead, deeper and more painful, until I felt like I was going to lose my lungs this way.
Something floated up to my eye level. Encased in a golden aura, there was a glass of water. For a few more seconds, I just lied in my bed. Then, I stretched across the sheets to take it with grateful word.
While I struggled with the glass, Celestia saw fit to continue her explanation.
“Your brother strongly insisted in being able to visit you.” The words on their own were enough to warm my heart, but, from the unimpressed glare that she directed my way, I knew there was more to come. “He had some peculiar choices of words for the ponies that tried to tell him otherwise, most of them involving violent shoving and places where the light of my sun doesn’t reach.”
I very slowly placed the glass on my bedside table. I could not do it faster, lest I loosen the iron grip I had on my desire to laugh. I knew it was obvious enough. Celestia’s stern glare could compare to Mother’s.
“C-Celly, I’m sorry about that.” I tried to sound like I was sorry. “He didn’t pick it up from me. Promise!”
A healthy amount of skepticism rolled off Celestia’s general direction.
Still struggling against a few rogue giggles, I decided that changing the subject was my only salvation.
“Luna?”
Something ancient passed in Celestia’s eyes, and disappeared very quickly. Against all odds, her tone seemed very casual. “Healed. She suffered from a mild concussion, but she has already left the hospital against all common sense.”
A small grin settled on my lips. That sounded very much like the cousin I knew.
Celestia smiled back, though hers was more reserved, a little less enthusiastic. Under her eyes, I could faintly make out an outline of fatigue.
I felt a lot less like smiling. My tone was sober when I reached out for her. “You?”
This time, her breathing changed. Anypony else wouldn’t have noticed, but that was the one thing that I would always see. And I knew my question had struck a chord in her.
“Through some great stroke of luck,” she said gently, “I was alone in my office at the time. Luna’s guards had quite the fright, but I recovered quickly enough that it could remain unnoticed. There is not even a rumor about it, which, as far as events in my castle go, is quite rare.”
At that, we shared a knowing look. It had not taken long for me to discover that, nor had it taken more than a couple of minutes for ponies to discover what my opinion of that was. Strangely, to think back on it now… it made me angry, yeah, but it wasn’t the same. More of an annoyance, less of an insult worthy of-
My thoughts came to a screeching halt. Is that journalist okay? Celly said they’d gotten a new place to go…
Looking back to her, I saw Celestia waiting patiently, with mayhap a touch of interest. She probably had placed the pieces of the puzzle together. My poker face had more or less shattered since last night; I could not put it back on. It felt too hard when my body seemed so heavy. I was an open book to her.
She was waiting for me to ask the question. We both knew I was delaying having to ask it.
At first, I made only a strangled noise, which forced another coughing fit out of me. In the back of my masochistic mind, I was glad for those few more seconds of respite. But they came to an end all too quickly and I felt no more ready than before.
“The soldiers? Everypony else?” Everypony I don’t know personally. “Did I…?”
I couldn’t… The sheer guilt was making it so hard to speak.
I diverted my gaze, pretending to find my glass of water absolutely fascinating, but I could not hide the way my ears fell down, or the curl of my tail or the fold of my wings. I could only pretend that the idea did not make me cold when it did not even faze me before. “Did I kill somepony?”
Silence.
Elders…
I could feel Celestia’s hesitation without even looking. When she spoke, her tone was sober, as were her words, “The final tally shows that there were a good number of ponies injured, with a variety ranging from bite wounds, burns to frostbite.”
That last word made me tense, made me fear the worse. Tears started to gather in the corner of my eyes already.
“Ventus,” she called as the feathers of her wings fell over me, “there were no casualties last night. In that regard, at least, the mission was a glowing success.”
Nopony… nopony died?
I could have cried. The relief flooded over me, washed away the iron in my limbs, the ice in my veins, and made it all vanish into thin air. It was as if she had unlocked the chains covering me and set me free.
Some of the chains.
“What about… t-that?”
There was no need to explain what that referred to.
For once, Celestia’s smile showed relief. “You need not worry about it. Very few could perceive the truth. For most mortals, it was simply an earthquake.” The smile slipped off her face. “They did not see what happened to the sky.”
To me, I completed the thought.
Her eyes trailed toward my chest, on the heavy bandages wrapped around me. A hint of a frown marred her expression.
“A few governments did send courier to my office, demanding that I share what information I had at my disposal regarding the shift in the higher powers, but those will keep it quiet as well. Everyone understands the need for stability within their realms.”
So balance had yet to be achieved? This time, the threat felt ever more reaching than Sombra could have ever hoped to be. It wouldn’t only be ponies. It would be everyone.
I could hear their voices. Ranges, tones, pitches, they mixed into one another regardless of distance and language. I could not even understand most of the words, but it wasn’t a cacophony, nor a symphony. It just… was. And that was the greatest thing about it.
“Should I…?” I asked Celestia.
“No. Let me take this burden off your shoulders, Ventus. Last night, you helped restore the balance of this world back to its normal state. You have done your share for now, let me take care of the rest.”
It felt so strange to be praised sincerely.
Yeah, okay, I helped restore the big scales. By eating up the windigoes… no, not the windigoes, just the ones that were extensions of myse- of Caelum.
What I had been shown were only what he had seen a thousand years ago. The words were not his, they had been mine all along. Just… influenced by a grudge that destroyed him, by the horrors of a war he proved himself unable to stop.
Not even with…
“I saw it, Celestia,” I said, instantly bringing her guard back, “I saw what made Caelum fall…”
There was a flicker of fire, beneath Celestia’s coat. Her eyes were staring a hole through my skull.
“I saw…” And my gaze was locked with hers. “But I don’t understand why…”
Perhaps she felt it, perhaps she could guess what I meant to say, but she shifted in her place, and I saw her wings tense. There was almost a silent prayer in her demeanor, that I did not voice that thought.
I almost didn’t.
“You…” I felt my breath hitch up, and I had to force myself to ask fully, even knowing it would be painful for her. I needed to understand this. “You were meant to act as a weapon. That was the mission given to you. What he did… was in line with what you should have done.”
Silence followed my declaration. No sound came from her or me, from the waving lengths of her mane and tail, from the dripping water on the side of glass, from the mattress I was on that threatened to creak.
We were looking into each other’s eyes, hers at their most serious since my awakening.
“You are wrong, Ventus.” The words felt like a reprimand. “That moment remains only one of the many deeds for which I will someday be judged on. But I did not forsake my mission. I made the choice that was more in line with the spirit of my task than the letter.”
I was struck by a horrible realization. Wait… what made the Greater Tribunal consider…
“You… Celly, you…”
It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be! The Greater Tribunal was wary of her because–
“I refused him,” Celestia cut through my thoughts, completed them. She was solemn, with hints of sadness behind the reminiscence of this time long gone. “When he came to me, clad in ice and monsters, I refused him. Luna assumed I saw deeper into Caelum than she did. She assumed her past self had been blinded by love, but she is mistaken. I only understood the full truth when he said it to me.”
I knew what was coming. I flattened my ears against the top of my head, bracing myself.
She closed her eyes, steeling her determination. Yet her voice wavered, and I saw a glimpse of the mare behind the royal figure as she said, “Burn them all, Celestia…”
The words hadn’t been hers. They echoed in my mind, stirred at a long gone memory.
I staggered before the intensity of the shout. “IT’S WHAT YOU WERE MEANT TO DO!”
He had been angry, livid even. He had cursed and yelled and thrown his windigoes at her. They had swarmed her in a wave of cold that had shattered the tent into broken shards of razor sharp ice. In the sudden afflux of light, her new prison shone brightly.
It had happened so quickly… As if she had not even thought of fighting against him. She had never thought he would sink so low. Not even for an instant, not even when he had gotten angry. In her then frozen eyes, there had been nothing but the pain of betrayal.
At this moment, I realized that Caelum hadn’t been only a ghost of the past. The First of the Fallen had been part of my cousins’ lives. He had been their friend, even more than that.
Twice! She had been betrayed by those closest to her twice!
I was a living reminder of that. I was… I was almost a clone of him. I had seen him and the resemblance was so obvious as to be painful. What must it be like for those that had known him?
What kind of cruel Power had made me look like him so much?
My breath caught up in my throat. “Celestia…” I whispered weakly, wanting nothing more than the right to comfort her.
She looked at me again, with no trace of doubt or even pain.
“I believed in them,” she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I believed mortals capable of much greater deeds than they were ever suspected. I believed them capable of putting their differences aside and cooperate. In the end, Caelum’s actions proved me right. Mortals did put their differences aside when their existences were at stakes, they did strive to repel the hate that had poisoned their minds. Even the last of his will could not drag them down.”
But I let it sink me into the dark… I’ve summoned him again and poured salt all over your wounds.
I shrunk on myself, willed myself to just disappear and reflect how small I felt for this new mistake in a long line of many. Had I been stronger, my body would have faded into air, hidden me and this shame for some time at least. But I was forced to stay and face it. Though, as I came to understand, not without help.
On the side of my cheek, a gentle warmth spread. The touch was light, kind.
Celestia was smiling, the tip of her wing stretched to comfort me. She was beautiful that way, brimming with the light of an ideal and the youth it represented. This image, more than Caelum’s memories, showed me what Celestia was at her core: a spirit of light.
“Do not be ashamed of weakness, my little pony. Nothing in this world or the next is devoid of flaws. Not even the greatest of all Elders can make such a claim.”
In spite of myself, I grunted something derisive. Yeah, right…
“Do you imagine me to be perfect, Ventus?” The notion seemed to amuse her. “How many times do you think I have stood where you are now, plagued by the guilt of yet another failure? I have ruled for a thousand years, giving me time to deal with more mistakes than any other creature on this world. I’ve simply learned to rise again and fight for my betterment and that of others.”
Her amusement morphed into something fond. Her whole features seemed to suddenly brighten with this new emotion, and it took me a moment to understand.
She was proud of me.
“You have fought your inner demons last night. It is a claim any other would be proud to make.”
My eyes were stinging, and I rubbed my hooves over my face. I did not deserve it; I did not deserve that kind of praise. I…
The dams finally broke. My legs shot up, grabbed her and forced her into a hug. I did not care for the pain stretching across my chest, nor the numbness in my shoulders. I hugged her.
I did not know, I truly had no idea, if I was doing it for myself or for her. I just had to. And the warmth and softness of her contact felt soothing. There was no barrier to be had, no mask at all for just that short instant. I did not hide.
Tears dampened her fur and mine. Sobs shook me. Heck, my nose was running a bit, and just like a foal I clung to her as if she was Mother. She was whispering things in my ears, gentle things, sweet things, with a melodious voice that pierced away some shadows.
I have no idea how long we stayed that way. After that experience in the Everfree, after the things Sombra had shown me, I bitterly needed the comfort. She was giving me more than that.
When the contact came to an end, something broken had been mended. I felt… at peace.
“I will return to Canterlot soon,” Celestia then declared with some regrets. “In the meantime, would you care to share your experience in Ponyville so far?”
I could not help but smile bashfully.
“I’d certainly like to do that, Celly.”
And I started spilling my bag. I went for the easy stuff, what she expected. The job, the schoolwork for Tom, the few times we had just trotted around town, our frequent trips to the library.
I mentioned something about still having an interest in Twilight, which made her eyes glint with amusement.
…And… I told her. About Filthy Rich and Diamond Tiara. Elders knew what I was thinking, but when it came to them, when it came to the moment of making up something to hide my fault, there had been a voice at the back of my head telling me not to.
I listened.
She deserved it. She deserved better from me.
Not a lie. Not a deception.
The truth.
When I was finished, when I had explained everything despite her frown, Celly merely sighed.
“There was a reason I asked you to keep your identity as secret as possible, Ventus.”
I looked away, feeling just a little colder, a little worse.
“But,” she added, “in the circumstances, I can only agree that you made good use of that secret to make amends. As such, you will not suffer any retribution on that level, though I ask that you make a more rigorous effort in keeping your disguise convincing.”
“Thanks, Celly,” I said with genuine relief.
For a split second, something in her mask slipped, a hint in her gaze or a twitch close to the corner of her mouth, and I was almost startled by how tired she seemed to be. At that moment, her eyes went to the open window and the sun starting to settle over the horizon.
“Now then.” She stood. “I believe it is more than time for me to stop keeping your company exclusively to myself.”
Gracefully, she turned, not without one last gentle touch over my mane, and started trotting toward the door.
It was only then, as I saw her retreating figure, as I was made aware of that fact that she was leaving, that my thoughts all came crashing down with one desperate idea.
Leaving…
“Wait!” I croaked, my throat on fire.
She came to a halt. Without speaking, she looked at me with some curiosity.
The words didn’t come. There was a cold hand gripping at my heart as scenarios started to spin out of control in my head. It was hard. Harder, much more than it should have been. It certainly was not a matter of irritated throat. I… I was scared to ask. On the off chance that she had an answer.
“Have you found… a w-way?”
It’s what I asked, but somehow, it felt as if I had asked something else. Will you send us away?
“Not yet, Ventus. But I think your actions will make it easier.”
“Oh…”
I can live with that, right? It’s just… well, that’s the thing that shouldn’t be right. I shouldn’t be fine with waiting a little longer…
I shouldn’t…
But while I ruminated those fatalistic thoughts, Celestia had chosen to take this opportunity to give a silent signal of sort. The door creaked open, enough to make me shake my head and see my cousin leave…
Then, to see enter a lavender mare that made my heart skip a beat.
“Twilight!” I said with relief flooding my whole being.
Grinning, she ran up to my bed and stopped just short of it, conscious of my injuries. It did not however stop her from leaning in to nuzzle me. “I’m glad you’re finally awake, Ventus.”
I could hold in a little laugh at that. “Finally? I made you wait, didn’t I?” My hoof rose to stroke the side of her face. “How badly did I disturb your schedule, Twi?”
She gave me a warning look. “Don’t say that,” she protested sourly. “Your health is much more important to me than a checklist. You were unconscious for hours! They had to bring you in with a stretcher because they feared the injury was too severe!”
I blinked. I hadn’t really thought of it from that perspective. I’d just taken it for granted that magic, and then I was in the hospital waiting to recover.
“Sorry,” I whispered.
She seemed mollified, on the surface at least. However, like a foal caught sneaking toward the cookie jar, her ears drooped and she smiled sheepishly. “…And I had already modified my schedule anyway.”
It was so hard not to chuckle, but I managed. My grin was a little wider though. “I’m glad.”
A little stiffly, injuries obliged, I caught the back of her neck and raised my head to catch her lips.
We kissed. And it was different. It was hard to tell how… Twilight wasn’t quite… No, that was…
Just a little less… just a little less open.
Was it the circumstances? I… had I done something wrong? Too soon?
A much more terrible idea struck me. She was there… She saw the windigoes.
My heart leaped in my throat. Please no…
“Twilight…”
I should ask, now. Tell her the whole story, the windigoes, Caelum and this reincarnation business! She’d understand. She would have to!
But a tiny little voice in my head whispered otherwise.
“Y-you’re not injured, are you?” I looked her over. “Everything’s fine, right?”
“I’m fine.” She nodded quickly. “Sombra managed to surprise us, but we repelled him in the end. And before that, my friends protected me from the monsters he had enthralled.”
Pride swelled in my veins, for all I could think of was this darkness trapping me, the strongest fear I had ever felt, and she had triumphed. So I looked at her with quite a fair bit of admiration. “I am proud of you, Twilight. You faced a monster of a pony and defeated him.”
Pleased, she blushed, and started to say, “I was not alo–”
“There you are!”
Together, we turned toward the door, where one fuming little colt had stomped his way in.
Crap… I thought, seeing the snarl on his face.
Twilight chuckled nervously. “I think I should leave you two to this touching reunion.”
“But… you just came here…”
“I’m sorry, but I can see what takes priority. I’ll see you another day,” she said while quickly making her way out.
Then, something happened to keep me from protesting further.
Tom punched me in the chest.
BUCKINGPLOT! I screamed in my head while I gasped in pain on the outside. Oh you little brat!
My wound throbbing, I gritted my teeth hard as I looked down to see that hellion half nestled on the top of my bed, close to the area he had freaking punched. A number of unpleasant thoughts flashed through my head, many of which including the chores he'd be taking care of for a while after this stunt. Hot air was already blowing out of my nostrils as I decided which was the most appropriate punishment, when I noticed him shaking.
"Liar," he muttered into my coat.
...What?
“You said you didn’t want me getting hurt… then you got yourself hurt!” He sniffled, fighting a sob and trying to make himself look bigger. “T-that’s so uncool! Don’t do that!”
My anger popped like a balloon. He had just been worried. Probably annoyed that I kept him away from the action, denied him the chance to show off, then I came back on a stretcher. They said hours… it’s almost sunset…
If it had been him…
I closed my wings over his form, kept him close to me as gently as I could. With a whisper, I gave the little squirt the hug he needed. “It sucks, doesn’t it, lil’ brother?”
“Y-yeah…” he sobbed, and held me tighter.
Through some inequine forces out there, I did not wince in pain as he maltreated me.
“Sorry, Tom,” I said softly while I stroked his mane. “I won’t do it again, promise.”
His horn poked my shoulders as he drove his head further against me, in a vain attempt to hide his tears. “You better…” he hiccupped.
“There, there, lil’ brother. It’s alright… it’s over.”
He did not let go. Neither did I.
When the nurse came to announce the end of the visiting hours, she decided not to disturb us.
--
The two voices – one deep and gentle, the other childish and shaken – stayed with her for a few more instants.
He had asked, maybe he had seen through her already, but even then she had denied. To see him like this had been a cruel reminder. He was already so burdened, so weakened by the injuries he had suffered. It had only seemed cruel to add to his pain. Her own could wait.
The others… they had already talked to her. They had said a number of things and done even more. Yet, the guilt lingered. Why? Why was it that she could not let go of it? After all her friends had already done to help ease her worries and her fears, it should already be gone!
But it wasn’t, and she felt only more ungrateful for it. She avoided eye contact with the members of the hospital’s staff as she passed them by and with patients who seemed fascinated by her presence. In other circumstances, she would have stopped for them, she promised herself that. This time though, she didn’t feel able to.
Her steps carried her all the way to a single hospital chamber, one that had recently gotten a new occupant. Her body was still, stopped before even the doorframe, as she could not bring herself to enter. She did not feel worthy of that.
Twilight Sparkle looked at the zebra mare on the bed and wept.
When the nurse came to announce the end of the visiting hours, she swore to give her news as soon as the patient woke up. It was all that could be said before the poor alicorn could be convinced to leave. Had she been anywhere else, she would have disappeared in a flash of light, but, fearing interference with some of the medical equipment, she took the long way back home.
By the time she had reached the library, the sun had set over the horizons and she headed to bed with a heavy heart.
--
We materialized inside the tree house first thing in the morning, while Celly’s light had only started to peak over the horizon and shine across the lands. In other words, earlier than the time sane ponies woke up. It was the idea, in fact.
However, when my hooves and Calx’s quietly fell onto the wooden floor, I was surprised to notice that there was activity in the library. A faint mechanical whirring served as a background for a boyish humming, while a few fresh perfumes came from the room on the other side of the library.
With his natural lack of subtlety and manners, Calx bolted toward the kitchen.
Biting back a growl, I hurried after him, just in time to see him say, “’Sup Spike?”.
The poor dragon jumped, startled by the unexpected greeting, and almost dropped his spatula. At once, he turned around, half ready to defend himself against the intruders, when his eyes lit up with recognition.
“Oh, it’s you guys,” Spike said with sigh of relief. I almost apologized for the scare right there, but he had already gotten over it and was now looking at my little brother with a grin. “So you weren’t hurt too bad in the end, huh?”
For just a second, Calx blushed under his fur before the ‘I’m-a-badass’ persona took over. With an exaggerated eye roll, he acted as if absolutely nothing had happened and the last few seconds were just a distant dream.
“Me? Hurt?” His blue hoof went to his chest, in a perfect demonstration of ignorance. “Naaaaaaah, like, I don’t get hurt. S’really not my kind of thing.”
“Riiiiiight.” Spike crossed his arms, one eyebrow raised at Calx’s huff.
With a sly grin, I winked at the dragon. He understood with just that. Smart kid.
“Alright, you two, go have some fun quietly and safely – yes, I’m serious, squirt, don’t make that face – while I prepare something for Twilight.”
They both looked at me.
“You’re sure about that, Ventus?” Spike eyed me strangely, in all his apron-wearing glory. Certainly, he sounded hopeful about getting out of a chore, but at the same time, a little wary.
Tom’s exaggerated snickers left an impression.
“Hush,” I growled and pushed him back with my hind leg. “I can cook decently. Enough for a good breakfast.”
“Alright. If you say so.” Spike shrugged. Quickly, his paws went to his back to untie his apron, all the while he listed off a few things. “Twi likes her toasts with melted butter, yogurt, sliced fruits and a little cup of jam on the side – oh and her coffee, black.”
“Thanks, Spike.” I ruffled his head, before gesturing for him to follow the other little boy that was literally on the verge of exploding. Impatience did that to Calx. So, Spike chose wisely and jumped off his stool and ran after my brother.
With that, I had the kitchen to myself.
I also placed a silencing spell around Twilight’s bedroom. It never hurts to be prepared.
For a few minutes, my time was spent levitating ingredients, handling a knife with a breeze, strengthening the aroma, all the while humming to myself. By the time I had started to spread butter on the toasts, an exclamation loud enough to rival the Cutie Mark Crusaders echoed in the library.
“Called it…” I said to myself while putting the finishing touches on the plate. “You okay over there?”
“Yeah!” Calx replied airily.
Satisfied, I gathered Twilight’s breakfast and left the kitchen.
Before I headed to see her, I sent a cautious look over the area they were playing, and what I saw got me to grin. Spike was wearing a superhero cape, Calx was wearing a helmet. Their enemies would obviously rue the day they decided to oppose this new alliteration of the Alicorn Rangers.
Smiling as I went past the two playing boys in the library, I trotted upstairs carefully. The tray was floating in front of me, and only moved when I reached the door to her room. Gently, I knocked twice with one hoof, then listened carefully.
There was a low groan, not unlike somepony that was just waking up.
“Twilight, I’m coming in,” I said, twisting the doorknob with a small burst of magic.
Please be decent, was my first thought. My second one was a puzzled ‘How can naked ponies ever be indecent?’. The third was the answer, making me blush stupidly strongly.
Right before I entered my marefriend’s bedroom. Of course.
Well, I pushed the door open while practicing my poker face to the best of my abilities. Thus, my disappointment did not show, when I realized that I had, in fact, an overacting imagination. Twilight was still in bed, lying on her side with her head against her pillow. Strands of her mane were out of place, wildly, which only served to make her look cuter.
As she heard my hoofsteps, she turned around in bed, blinking slowly. “Ventus?”
“Good morning, Twilight,” I said softly.
“W-what time is it?” she asked, rubbing her eyes and tentatively reaching for her alarm clock.
“Just a little before dawn.” I placed the tray before her on the bed, then gave her a gentle smile. “We woke up early, and I had to talk to you before going to work.”
Her horn lit up as she rose the cup of steaming hot coffee to her lips slowly. Twice, she blew on it, savvy about the heat. She only took a tiny sip at first, preferring to wait until it had cooled down a little. “About what?”
My wings flapped twice. The light dawned on her after that.
“Oh, right, the illusion,” she muttered. “Sure, I’ll get right to it once I’ve eaten and taken a shower.”
I could not help but notice how her eyes flickered downward in disappointment. It did not last, for she took an appreciative bite out of a toast with a generous helping of strawberry jam. Still, I did not put that observation out of my mind.
“Don’t worry, I wanted to come see you anyway.” I sat just next to her bed, as close as I dared to without disturbing her. One of my hooves covered hers. “It makes my day easier to go through.”
She giggled quietly. “Ventus, even I can tell that’s super cheesy.”
I knew that, but, in the end, it was what I wanted to tell her the most. Even if her obvious amusement made me feel a little embarrassed.
“Do you like it?” I asked with a shy smile.
With a playful glint in her eyes, Twilight pretended to consider it. “Yep,” she concluded, picking up a slice of apple with her magic. “Cheesy is within my range of appreciable romance.”
The slice disappeared in her mouth, behind those beautiful lips that glistened with traces of coffee. A swipe of a napkin and that was gone, with a mark on the white sheet that now held the shape of her lips.
Warmth started to spread in my chest. I just… I wanted to…
I leaned forward, moving past that adorable confusion in Twilight’s eyes, and gave her a kiss as tender as my love for her.
It was not forceful, not consuming nor even pressing, but it reaffirmed for us both one thing.
“I love you.”
She was stunned. Without a word, she placed her hoof against her lips. Her face was a darker shade of purple, and there was a twitch on the corner of her mouth. It looked as if she was trying not to smile, bashfully hiding her pleasure behind a more stoic façade. Though, when she looked up and our gazes meet, she did smile and it was beautiful.
An instant later however, her horn started glowing with power, the very same that lifted the tray off her person and onto the nearby bedside table. Free, Twilight clumsily got out of bed, still with a very strong blush on her face and a slightly too wide smile. “Well, I’m full. You can meet me downstairs.”
And she was off toward her bathroom.
Keeping my eyes trailing after her, I could not resist saying, “Have a nice shower, Twilight.”
Was I a terrible stallion if I hoped it was a cold one?
--
There he stood, in front of the purple doors with naught but his most simple attire, and yet he still had no idea what had possessed him to come to this spot. Other things required his attention, first and foremost the state of his most important material possession.
Truly, he was well on his way to be corrupted by the few words of that arrogant prince if he believed–
Oh, who was he lying to? Himself? He knew. It was rather simple too. He was in town and he knew that she was as well. It had been an impulse, yes, but at no point had he turned on his hooves to return to his hotel and go back to sleep. Instead, he had started making up arguments in his head, all the while hoping they wouldn’t actually be necessary.
“Craven?” The same taunting voice came, and though he realized that one was only his own imagination, it still made him straighten.
With a twist of his magical field, he opened the door and took the first few steps inside.
“Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic and unique!”, came a well-rehearsed greeting by an accented and feminine voice.
And with an appreciative eye going over the refined decor, Prince Blueblood replied, “It certainly is.”
The white mare froze in place, her pupils shrinking at the sight before her.
Softly, with a hint of disbelief, she only said, “You?”
Blueblood could feel his resolve start to melt, shaken in his conviction by the weight of her gaze.
“May I enter?” he asked as politely as he could. “I would like to speak to you, Miss Rarity.”
Momentarily, she hesitated, her eyes going over anything but him. She bit her lips and stiffened, until finally she relented with a long sigh. “Very well. Follow me.”
With an exquisitely refined gait that betrayed nothing of her inner turmoil, Rarity led him into her modeling room, toward the pair of sofas she kept for her clients. It was, in her humble opinion, the most beautiful ones she owned.
Silently, Blueblood was taking in his surroundings. It was an old habit, one that helped determine the ‘value’ of an acquaintance. He could admit – only to himself, of course – to no small amount of surprise at the quality of the furniture she owned. Not even his own hotel room could compare, and he was paying the highest price for it. It was hard to believe such refinements could be found in Ponyville of all towns.
All of it, from this mare of humble origins…
It suddenly felt harder to speak, with his well thought-out speeches fading into nothing.
“Well…” Rarity’s voice trailed off, as her patience started to grow thin. “Since you have come to do so, speak.”
“How to say…” Think, think, think, think! “I have recently come to the realization that I am not in fact a perfect pony.”
“That must have been quite a shock for one such as you,” she deadpanned.
Barely, he managed not to make a scathing comment.
“...You seem to have hold onto that belief before we met.”
“I dropped it quite quickly as well,” Rarity replied dryly, though the bitter twist of her lips implied she at least acknowledged the point. “A single evening in your company was more than enough to beat that idea out of my head forever.”
It had, admittedly, been the point. His patience had long since ran dry toward the vapid dates he found himself plagued with every time he graced high society with his presence.
Yet he wondered. Was that how most of his would-be dates thought of him now? While the thought didn’t bother him previously, he was surprised to feel a small pang of guilt in his chest now that he could see the genuine sadness he had caused.
His voice was slightly unsteady when he had processed the idea. “You know many of the things I mean to tell you, Lady Rarity.”
“…I do,” she sighed. “I’ve read your letters enough times.”
He swallowed nervously.
Rarity looked at him with pained eyes. “What I don’t understand is why now? Why would you bother to do this now of all times? This incident happened a few years ago, to the point I had almost forgotten it entirely, before…”
Her voice trailed off, as did her gaze, whom he could see had gone to his left. As far as he could tell from the short glimpse of the Boutique he had gotten, the staircase to the upper level was in that direction.
He sighed. “…To tell the truth, I did not see the need to do it until quite recently. I had convinced myself that there was no fault in how I acted toward you.”
He recognized his faux-pas as soon as the words left his mouth.
“Excuse me?!” she hissed, her eyes narrowed.
Quickly, he raised his hooves in front of himself to placate her… and to block a vicious hook if she decided he deserved it. “I now know that it was wrong of me to think that!” he insisted. “I believe I said as much in my letter to you.”
There still lingered traces of her anger in her gaze. She pointedly looked next to him, frowning.
Feeling that the conversation truly wasn’t going his way, Blueblood fought the ingrained reflex to pull rank. It was tempting, very tempting even, but he could not have done a worse thing in the circumstances. Against every one of his instincts, he hung his head in penance. “Forgive me, this is truly not something I am accustomed to, my position being what it is. The number of apologies I’ve recently started giving haven’t quite prepared me for a conversation like this one.”
Slowly, Rarity met his eyes. Conflict passed behind her gaze, though it started to fade. She nodded, graciously giving him at least credibility to his excuses.
A few more moments of silence passed, during which both ponies tried to find the right words to say, to get themselves out of this awkwardness. In the end, it was Rarity’s curiosity that won the battle. “How many of these letters have you sent?”
“Four,” he answered prudently.
For a second, Rarity was nonplussed. The number was unexpectedly small.
But Blueblood, avoiding her silent questioning, grimaced. “I am afraid I’ve forgotten the name of many would-be dates. I couldn’t apologize to them if I wanted to.”
Her jaw dropped in a completely unladylike manner.
And through her mind, she felt a surge of anger! They weren’t being remembered? It was only because she was a recent one, wasn’t it?! Or maybe because she had saved his sorry flank with her role as an Element’s bearer!
But a kinder part of her wondered instead, how many of them were there? Surely, a dream-like bachelor such as Prince Blueblood would be swarmed by admirers wherever he went. He was the ‘crème de la crème’, she was well aware of that. From the gossip in the town alone, she could tell no less than fifteen mares would gladly ditch their lives to pursue him at the slightest sign of interest from his part, and not all of those mares were single.
Bitterly, she forced herself to accept that she might still be one of them, had reality not slapped her in the face. Her dream-like expectations had been dashed mercilessly.
Her dream…
Ponies upon ponies demanding her attention, all wishing to cater to her whims, to please her. And they pushed through the ranks for the chance to gaze upon her and declaim her beauty, her grace, her talent and her generosity!
But… their eyes… they were all focused on the gems, on the silk of her dresses, on the content of her purse. One hollow smile. One fake bout of laughter, when truly the jest had been unremarkable.
Lies.
Fakes.
None of them interested in her. All of them interested solely in what she represented. She was not her own person, not in their eyes. She was a prize to be won, a key to a higher destiny, but she was no pony. Had never been one from the moment she had been born.
Too suddenly, it felt like such a terrible destiny.
There was a pony in this room, which had gone through this, she understood. He was talking to her, asking to be forgiven for rudeness of all things.
And she found it in herself to look at him with sympathy.
With remorse.
For the first time, she reached for him, placed her hoof over his without thinking of the prince before the stallion. “Well, Sir Blueblood, consider your apology officially accepted.”
Under her eyes, his carefully guarded expression fell apart to reveal a most coltish smile underneath.
“Oh?” He sounded cheerful, like a little foal that had been given something he wanted for so long. “Am I to understand that you finally see things from my perspective?”
And Rarity could see all too well what meaning was laced within that innocent question.
“It is dreadful form to egg a lady in such a way,” she exclaimed with a benign smile, and her expression morphed into something sweet. “Oh, alright! Do you accept this short-sighted mare’s apology as well?”
In a heartbeat…
“I suppose I will think about it.”
A soft and delicate pillow he had spent some time admiring earlier collided with his face.
She denied any involvement whatsoever.
--
There was a giant grin on my face, and nothing in this world could stop me from feeling like the King today. Not even the same old ungrateful work.
“Alright, Cloud.” The black stallion trotted next to me, his snout in a scroll. “we’ve gotten North-West of Town and Westernmost to do. The standard trifecta. Got it?”
“Yup. Let’s do it, Thunderlane.”
The white vapor gathered beneath my hooves, thick despite its fluffy texture, wide enough to accommodate more than just one pony. Three would be a crowd, barely. We could sit in circle and be fine.
On my left, I heard the flapping of wings and felt the air follow Thunderlane’s trail. I would have to hurry up a bit. The platform was just about right, it just needed a little more substance. There! Done!
I fought the muscles in my wings and ordered them to stay immobile, while I focused power into my horn. The cloud shook under the pressure, but kept together. With just ordinary telekinesis, it lifted in the sky, rather swiftly at that, though my organs luckily hadn’t all been left down there with the ground.
I almost froze mid ascension.
I wasn’t sick. No nausea, no unease rippling through me. The skies weren’t… rejecting me anymore. There was still something alien to the air, to my place in what was essentially my own essence. But the contact had ceased to be painful.
I could imagine a good reason for this.
“Grandfather?”
A shiver went down my spine.
“Cloud, are you coming?” Thunderlane called me from a few meters ahead.
“Y-yeah!” I shook my head, trying to chase off the ghostly figure from my mind. “Sorry.”
My magic seized my cloud platform again. It took a second longer than it should have, truly, but nothing dramatic. Already I was catching up to Thunderlane, as if there was no wind to slow me down. His expression when I came to his level was that of suspicion, eyes narrowed and a slight huff of his chest.
“Ready,” I said while hiding a cocky grin.
Together, we charged into the gathering of clouds and started doing some simple dispersion.
It was just that: simple. Being low levels grunts at most, we had gotten the tasks expected of young adults that had started at most a few years ago. Moving clouds, changing some patterns, gathering moisture, helping evaporation. It was pretty easy, once I figured out the best way to do it without making it obvious I was a bucking alicorn. But even that was a hurdle swiftly overcomed.
So, for the most part, we were just talking, about anything and everything. His wings were feeling a bit sore after the treatment they’d given him, he’d eaten more hospital food than he ever wanted to again and he thanked me again for saving him. That little bit of praise made me sicker than the altitude should have.
I asked him not to mention it. The important thing was that he had recovered and that things were mostly back to normal for him. So, we ended up exchanging some meaningless banter to fill up the silence, about anything and everything, all the while dealing with stray clouds.
Working alongside Thunderlane on this stuff really seemed like the bastion of normalcy in my life.
And, for the love of everything of Order, I could almost kiss him for giving me that!
Which is a thought I will never vocalize.
“Hey, Cloud,” his voice brought me out of my reverie, “wanna take our break now? I see the mares coming this way!”
Blinking, I turned around, just in time to see those grey spots in the sky. From this distance, it did look like two ponies, but I could not guess they were mares without a little extra magical help. Maybe he had planned it this way beforehoof?
Just as I was formulating the thought, the cloud shifted under my hooves, and a glance behind me showed Thunderlane stretching it with his mouth. “Gotta make room,” was all he had to say.
It was also all he had time to say, as the two somewhat familiar mares landed graciously on our cloud.
“Can we join you boys for lunch?” Flitter asked, already sitting by Thunderlane.
He shrugged and agreed, and I imitated him. I didn’t mind. Who could say no to mares like these? To do so was the equivalent of asking them to buck the cloud you were sitting on. I much preferred having something solid under my haunches when I was trying to eat.
So, Cloudkicker dropped herself a few feet in front of me, and started to rummage through her lunch box.
Unexpectedly, I actually felt a little nervous at being in presences of two mares like this. N-not that I thought they were attractive. They were more like strangers, and sharing lunch promised to be awkward.
She caught me staring. “Yes?”
“Oh… sorry…” I flinched. “Girls, I just wanted to say thank you for agreeing to look after my little brother two nights ago.”
“It was our pleasure,” Flitter replied, sending a sultry look in Thunderlane’s direction. “You know I love watching over kids…”
“Oh yeah, being awoken by the guards because the little dragon dude sent the Princess a letter,” Cloudkicker grumbled under her breath. “Sure remember you squeeing in pleasure then, Flitter.”
I fought the urge to cringe.
“Sorry,” I whispered to her, but she waved it off. She apparently didn’t really think it had been a big deal.
“I am used to dealing with kids.” She shrugged, taking out a sandwich out of her saddlebags. “Rumble’s practically family at this point. We’ve taken care of him so often he’s almost started calling us his big sisters.”
“That’s nice,” I said with a grin.
She grunted something unintelligible, halfway into a bite of her sandwich. To my left, I could hear the others doing the same. Or, more accurately, Thunderlane doing the same.
Flitter hadn’t started eating. Rather, she was politely making inquiries about him, his injuries, and how well he was recovering. All the while leaning quite close to him. Not that Thunderlane seemed to mind that much. Between two bites, I could tell he was smiling.
“Say…” I whispered to Cloudkicker. “Are those two…?”
“An item?” she completed my thought with a sly smile. “She wishes.”
Wishing pretty hard, as far as I can tell.
“What’s stopping them?”
“Thunderlane doesn’t think he can date and still take good enough care of Rumble. Plus, he probably thinks Flitter doesn’t want the shackles of a kid in her hooves so early.” It seemed like she was done with, but she added an afterthought, “And I don’t blame him for that.”
I would have asked, carried by the newfound curiosity I had in Flitter’s relationship with Thunderlane and Rumble. Did Cloudkicker doubt her friend’s ability to actually commit herself to the education of a foal? In spite of her friend’s assertions? I would have asked, if I had had the chance.
“What are you two saying over there, hmmmm?” Flitter asked with the tone of somepony that knew we were up to no good.
Cloudkicker took it in strides. Without missing a beat, she declared, “Oh, I was just inviting him to take a drink after work.”
My face exploded with heat. What?!
I was not the only one surprised.
“You want to take him out?” Flitter gave her friend a long hard look.
Bitch, I thought just as Thunderlane made a disapproving noise.
“Oh yes, you know what they say about the shy ones.” Cloudkicker wiggled her eyebrows at me, “I’m always up for testing that theory.”
And she said it with exactly the same teasing tone I sometimes used on my dates. That got alarm bells in my head to start ringing. Loudly.
Discreetly, I used some of my magic to make the cloud bigger. Solely to have the space to back away from the mare that was possibly after my virtue.
I smell danger if I ever get drunk around that mare. And not just for my secret.
“No, guys,” I tried to brush it off, playing up the amount of discomfort caused by Cloudkicker’s proximity. “Seriously… you don’t wanna see me drunk.”
It did not work.
She leaned a little closer, her mouth turned into a confident smirk, and for once, I cursed how well I could feel her breath, across my fur and the tip of my muzzle. “You’re wrong, Cloudy, we do want to see it. It sounds fun.”
The worst part was the other two nodding in unison in the background. It did nothing to rein Cloudkicker in.
“E-even then,” I almost shouted. “I had something else in mind for tonight.”
Only one of her eyebrow went up.
“Oh really?”
“Yeah…” I grinned nervously. “Since Feather’s been a real lil’ angel about not wrecking everywhere he goes recently, I figured I’d treat him to some stuff he likes this evening. I have to give the little guy something, every so often, you know?”
My explanation was met with… mild… enthusiasm, to say the least. It wasn’t to say Cloudkicker disapprove, unless she hid it well. I just saw the cogs turn behind her eyes and the idea was making its way in her brain. Similarly, I noticed some of the playfulness had slipped from Flitter’s face. It looked a little closer to a frown.
Cloudkicker was onto something, wasn’t she? Maybe, it was just my imagination. Maybe I just rubbed that mare the wrong way all the time. But that didn’t mean my proposition hadn’t gotten a negative response out of her.
Thunderlane, on the other hoof, seemed to be pondering my words the most seriously. His hoof softly tapped his chin, as his eyes went to the upper right corner.
“You know, that’s a pretty good idea.” He nodded. “With my stay in the hospital, Rumble hasn’t been having much fun and I know he was still a little shaken when he went to school today. Maybe we should do this together.”
“Sounds great.” I grinned. “To- Feather will be happy to go out with a pal.”
“Yeah, alright, we’ll tell them when we pick them up after school.” He smiled back, then turned to Cloudkicker and Flitter, the latter of which put a larger smile on her face as quickly as she could.
I could not tell if Thunderlane had noticed.
“Are you coming too, girls?”
The two mares exchanged glances, and before either had the time to speak up, Cloudkicker was already grinning wildly.
“You know what? Yeah, I’m going. I’ve been craving something greasy all week long.” She chuckled and slapped her own flank. “Those hips don’t fill themselves on grass. It’ll be good for my figure.”
Flitter facehoofed while Thunderlane and I joined in the laughing.
“Cloudy, you’re impossible. It was just one week of healthy habits, not a month.”
“Then why do I still have to eat this,” she declared with a disdainful sneer. The feathers of her wings were flicking the top layer of an admittedly very green sandwich. “Guys, I hate you both. I have hayburgers on my mind, and Flitter’s snack in my hooves.”
A cherry collided with her snout.
“Oh just shut up and eat!” Flitter threw her hooves in the air.
Meanwhile, Thunderlane’s gaze met mine and we wisely and very silently agreed to stay out of it.
After that, we fell into a more amicable silence. The girls duked it out for a few more lines, but there were little malice to it. They apparently did this often. The idea of getting me drunk had apparently left their mind as well. They were more interested in filling their stomachs before the end of our lunch break for a few minutes, just in case some freak weather phenomenon required our attention right away. According to Thunderlane, it happened a few times in the last few months.
Not to be outdone, I joined in, finally taking the time to savor the last minute stuff I had put together before. It was certainly nothing special, even a little bland, but, hey, so long as it was filling, it would have to do.
N-not that I regretted the sumptuous cuisine at the castle or anything…
The last bite was a little harder to swallow. A little swing from my water bottle helped with that.
I was in fact the last to finish eating, and I let out a sigh of contentment when I did. “That hit the spot.”
The others made a satisfied noise that could be interpreted as agreement, and once I decided to stretch out my legs, so did I.
Yup, that was the life. A full stomach, an extremely comfortable cloud for a seat, and fresh water to clench one’s thirst. A recipe for a–
“So… you and the princess, huh?”
I could feel the world come to a halt around us. The others were slowly looking up from their lunches, Cloudkicker’s sly grin stretched and stretched further. She wasn’t asking, she already knew.
And, since I had been taken a sip of water at the time, there was only one reasonable response.
Spit take.
“Whoops, didn’t know we had rain scheduled today,” she said in a singsong tone.
“W-what makes you say that?!” I ignored her, speaking through my cough and being unable to keep some of the panic from my tone.
This was bad. This was very bad!
“Oh come now, Cloud, I wasn’t born yesterday.” The mare passed a hoof over my neck and brought me close to her – and I squeezed my wings under the illusion as hard as possible. “You come to my house two days ago to drop your kid brother and Sparkle Princess’ assistant dragon for the night?”
All too suddenly, I could imagine how the entire scenario would unfold. I would not even get to place a word in, edgewise. And it would get increasingly embarrassing.
“That-”
“Yeah, I really can’t imagine why two adults would suddenly want the kids outta the house for an evening. Not to mention two adults I swear are the nerdiest things I’ve met in years. You’re like birds of a feather.”
Called it.
On my left, I heard a low whistle, and through me rose the desire to buck Thunderlane’s face in. “Wow, Cloud, the princess? Didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Well, according to our sources,” Cloudkicker chuckled, “it’s been a while.” She wiggled her eyebrows, and I started to wonder if maybe murder was not the answer. “So I suppose that overrode his natural timidity.”
There were very few words to express the mixture of panic, anger and wild embarrassment going through my mind. I’m rightly bucked… Think of a good lie, think of a good lie!
“It wasn’t like that!” I slipped out of her grasp, putting some distance between myself and the teasing mare. “We… huh… worked. On a weather phenomenon seen in the… err… the…”
I did not say anything else. Just seeing their faces was enough. They could not be convinced. Their opinions were set in stone. And so was my impending doom.
Bracing myself, I closed my eyes and awaited the accusation that would break the silence.
“Whoa, you got guts, stallion!” Cloudkicker laughed. “You heard that that alicorn dude was courting her, didn’t you? And you still went ahead to court her?”
I peeked one eye open, only to see both Cloudkicker and Thunderlane grinning at me.
…Okay, they’re not suspecting the truth at all. Is the illusion that convincing or is it that they just can’t reconcile me as an alicorn and me as this mousy unicorn?
Though, on a second glance, I could question that notion.
Flitter was still staring at me like I had grown a second head. “How…” she stuttered, “I really don’t get how you of all ponies could gather the courage to get her. Love may make somepony blind, but not brainless…”
“W-what makes you think I was the one that-?” Wait, why am I even humoring them?!
Too late. The others had already noticed my mistake. And had more or less chosen to run with it.
“More importantly,” Cloudkicker declared loudly, one hoof around my neck, “how do we help the poor guy when it inevitably comes to a stallion competition between him and a bucking alicorn? Cloud’s like Fluttershy, except less cute. There will be no mercy if he goes after a royal’s mare.”
By this point, the panic had mostly faded away. In fact, it was starting to get hard not to laugh at their wrongful interpretations. I had half a mind to tell them just to see their faces. Nah, that would be really stupid, but the idea was still rather amusing.
Guys, I think that I’m not at risk of punching myself. I don’t feel that schizophrenic yet.
“Ah! If that snooty Prince tries to beat up my pal here, I’ll show him just how far I’ll go for my friends.” Thunderlane puffed out his chest proudly.
“Err… thanks,” I said while rubbing the back of my head. I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that. He had just threatened to beat me up so I wouldn’t beat myself up.
Come to think of it, that sounded like a good friend alright.
Cloudkicker looked at him with a sly grin. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll be able to beat up an alicorn just like that, Thunder.”
“And what are you implying, exactly?” he asked, eyes narrowed.
“Nothing,” I said quickly, placing myself in-between the two of them. “She’s not implying anything, Thunderlane. Why, I’m sure it’s only her concerns for your health after you just got out of the hospital speaking.”
He scoffed, his fur actually straightening and making him seem more imposing. The air around his feathers was shaking as surely as they were. In my haste to act like my role, I had rubbed it in and provoked him. Great.
Seeing no other recourse, I hung my head low, slumped. “P-please don’t fight o-over me… or my love life…”
Thunderlane was quick to react, but while I flinched at his sudden movement, his hoof felt gentle on my shoulder. “Hey now, no need to act like that, Cloud. We weren’t seriousy going to fight like that.”
“Oh, sorry…” I faked embarrassment, avoiding eyecontact. “I guess I’m a little too sensitive…”
I swear, if any pegasus on the weather patrol doesn’t think I’m a shy little unicorn after this, I will summon a tornado!
Just one more thing to do beforehand.
Scrapping at the cloud beneath us with one hoof, I gave them a timid smile. “Can you… please not tell Miss Dash?”
They tilted their heads. “Rainbow?”
“Yeah…” I said, ears flattening against the top of my skull. “About Twi- Princess Sparkle, I mean. I’m a little more afraid of what the Element of Loyalty would do to me if she knew I was dating her friend…”
Which could lead to her figuring out my disguise, thus screwing up everything.
“Hey, don’t worry.” Thunderlane patted me on the back. “Cloud, my pal, we’re not the kind of pegasi that babble secrets to others. We’re better friends than that.”
The two pegasi mares nodded in approval, even Flitter to my surprise.
After that, the conversation slowly drifted away from that topic, causing me no small amount of relief. Better we bitch about taxes together than slip too close to some of my secrets.
In no time at all, or so it seemed to me, our lunch break was over. A little sluggishly, we rose from our sitting position and stretched. The way my joints popped into place felt just right, as did the others’ with their wings, if I could judge by their satisfied smiles. All three pegasi flapped their wings a few times, tentatively, and apparently deemed themselves ready for flight. Swiftly, Cloudkicker and Flitter took off toward their afternoon duties, not without one last good wish for us.
Thunderlane himself just rolled his shoulders a bit, before turning to me, “Ready, Cloud?”
“As I’ll ever be,” I replied, seizing the cloud platform underneath us. “We’re going West of town, right?”
“Yeah.”
Well, regardless of possible disasters just hanging over my head, there was still half a day of work left to do. Preparing rain clouds.
Joy.
--
Both guards failed to hide their curiosity as she went past them. Her steps were leading her into a lesser known office of hers, in an aisle that was forgotten by most of the staff and nobility. Only her personal soldiers knew of it, and even then, it was only an assignment more boring than most.
In that regard, Princess Celestia could not blame them for their thinly veiled interest. Neither had been informed of what they had been guarding, but they had been pulled away from an emergency shift. Curiosity was only too natural in such an instance.
Her Mother knew how much it gnawed at her mind at the moment. It had not left her since the moment they had discovered him. In fact, there had been plans to do this before going to Ponyville, but she had eventually decided against it. There had been too many important ponies in her life needing her support, and afterward, the diplomats from the surrounding countries had arrived. It had been possible to put off this task for some time. She had done so.
A spark of joy lit in her chest at the simple knowledge that she had managed to put her family first, for once. It felt rather cruel of her to think so, but she could not help herself. Not this time.
Alas, her interlude in Ponyville was over, the meetings with the griffons and minotaurs had been delayed until tomorrow, and this confrontation could not be put off further.
With a flicker of her horn, she closed the door behind her.
Only three strides were necessary for her to reach the center of the small bedroom, and she did so with her horseshoes almost gliding over the red carpet. Now that she was in front of him, Celestia could not help wish to understand the one she had come for.
One young pony – though his youth was more relative in regards to her own age – of brown coat and mane was sitting down on a comfortable cushion, while awaiting her. Of the more remarkable things about him, there was of course the amount of bandages the poor stallion was covered in. Burns, in numerous spots across his body. Yet there were two far more remarkable facts about him.
This stallion was an alicorn. And she had no idea what his name could be.
“Well then, I believe we can get started,” Celestia said as she sat down. “My servants have told me you awakened less than an hour ago.”
“Hmm, y-yeah…” He gulped down, then attempted a nod, but overdid it. “I mean, I don’t really know how long, but it sounds about right.”
He was nervous, she could easily see that, and much more. He shook, trembled, with twitches running up and down his legs, as if he had no idea on how to stand at all. One rogue breeze would have been enough to make him fall flat on his face.
Obviously, this alicorn had not left the astral planes in a very long time, or had not left them at all before. Probably the latter, considering she would not have thought him much older than Ventus.
“Who are you, young one?”
His mouth opened, then closed. No word came out.
He tried again, failed again.
Forcing her frustration back, Celestia levitated two cups of tea between them and started to pour. “I am afraid things cannot proceed if you are unwilling to identify yourself.”
“I-I…. I’m an old friend of Ventus. Thadal Fragor,” he said, shaking, all the while offering a hoof like he would have done for any stranger he met.
But the hoof fell swiftly, before she had a chance to take it. The stallion’s eyes had closed, his face scrunched up as a sudden hiss left his lips. One leg gave the impression of itching upward, toward his abused forehead and horn.
Somehow, the first and foremost impression his sudden reaction brought forth was familiarity.
She had seen this before. From yet another young one, at that.
Her guest did not seem to notice, which seemed understandable if it truly was pain he was feeling. A short moment of silence fell between them. She did not claim the need to speak for now.
Finally, Thadal Fragor looked back with naught but the faintest hint of pain left. Then, with a small ‘sorry’, he raised his hoof again.
For politeness’ sake, she humored him, though not without taking note of the appreciable strength he had put into it. Even then, it was him that gently massaged his hoof to get some blood circulation back.
And while he did, Celestia paused. Her eyes widened slightly in fascination, she realized the previous signs of unease were already gone from his behavior. The young stallion was steady on his hooves, no longer out of balance. He was acting almost relaxed, with so fewer signs of tension in his body. She might have believed it too, if his eyes did not seem to scream in unholy horror.
“I am pleased to meet you, Thadal Fragor, despite the somewhat unfortunate circumstances behind your arrival.”
“L-likewise…”
Hmm, this was actually sincere, she took note with a hint of surprise. To mask the thought, her horn lifted her cup of tea to her lips. The delightful aroma briefly distracted her, as did the taste once the refined liquid came in contact with her tongue. She allowed herself a moment of delight, before putting the beverage to practical use. Her gaze pointedly went to her guest’s own full cup, then to him.
Trying and failing to hide some grim thought, Thadal leaned toward it. He could not ignore the all-but-explicit invitation to partake from her.
He took the cup with his hooves and held it perfectly. There was no clumsiness at play. The cup stayed unflinchingly stable, and the moment he put it to his lips, the steaming hot tea only entered his mouth, as opposed to the very likely burn he might have gotten a minute before.
When he looked up from his cup, Thadal noticed her insistent stare. And thankfully misinterpreted it.
“It’s pretty good…” he whispered with a timid smile.
Celestia reciprocated with a maternal one of her own so similar to those she showed her little ponies. Jokingly, she thought that a fine young stallion that could appreciate tea was nothing but a blessing, but even then, the fantasist thought did not linger.
There was something very unusual at play. She intended to find out.
“Well then, let’s see what we can do with you.”