//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 - A meeting with Celestia // Story: Patches // by Fireydude //------------------------------// 3:00 pm [Throne Room] As the doors opened, Celestia smiled gently as the six ponies and baby dragon, walked into the throne room. "Hello my little ponies.." The majestic white alicorn gracefully walked off the platform the thrones were on, and walked to the seven (eight, if you count a certain invisible "human" boy) ; "It's so good of you to come here, though I apologize that I had to summon you so suddenly..." "S'all right yer highness.." Applejack said as she bowed a bit. "We're sorta used to it by now..." Rainbow said shrugged her shoulders. "So what'dya call us here for? Is it to help out with party decoration designs? I mean, Rarity already told me that wouldn't be the case, and it probably wouldn't be the case, but I just wanna ask ya so-" "N-no, I'm afraid that isn't the case dear.."; Celestia fought the urge to chortle in amusement at the party pony's antics; "However, I will let you know when I need help in that regard, if that's okay.." Pinkie nodded in satisfaction at the answer, while Celestia then cleared her throat as she got down to business; "Now, regarding why I called you here.." The seven stood in attention, especially Spike; "This morning, Luna brought me some.. interesting news.." The sun raising pony blinked as her mind quickly raced to think of how to put her explanation into words; "Apparently, while I slept, she was taking a stroll in the night sky, when she saw something..." "What was it, if I may be so bold to ask?" Rarity asked Celestia. "Well.. It was a comet, but... It wasn't any ordinary one mind you" Celestia said calmly. The ponies, especially Fluttershy, straightened up, as they realized what she was getting at. "For one, this was a comet that was colored exactly like a-a rainbow!" Celestia's voice betrayed a bit of amazement, still apparently not getting over what her sister had told her; "Not only that, when she was within proximity of it, her magic reacted to it by having her horn glow without her meaning to. If I had to guess, I would say this 'comet' had a unique form of magic that nopony in Equestria had ever encountered before, much less the entire world!" Each of the ponies, plus spike, looked at each other in amazement at this. "The last time that Luna saw this magnificent thing, she said it flew in the direction over Ponyville, and since all of you live there, or at least in proximity of it.." Celestia managed to catch herself before she made a blunder, since she took into account that half of the six didn't actually live in the town itself; "I've called you over to see if any of you've seen the comet itself.." The five ponies (plus Spike), looked at Fluttershy, who grew a bit nervous, but was given a nod of encouragement to speak up; "Well.. I saw it fly over my cottage last night, but it was only for a brief moment.." "Thank you for telling me dear Fluttershy.." Celestia's horn gave off a very faint golden glow, one that the ponies would hardly be able to see with the lights in the throne room on; "Now, since you're the one who saw the comet last night out, I'd like to talk to you in private to see if I can learn anything else.." As the rest of the gang exited the room, she interrupted Twilight in mid-step; "Oh, and Twilight?" "Yes Princess Celestia?" Celestia's faithful student asked, her eyebrows raised in puzzlement. "While the cloaking spell is very well cast, could you please make whoever is in the throne room visible?" Celestia calmly requested; "There's no need to keep anything from me.." Twilight, not really shocked that her mentor had managed to detect her spell, given her status as an alicorn and all, couldn't do anything but breath out as she gave Fluttershy an apologetic look. "Better do as she says Twi'..." Spike whispered to his adopted sister; "Besides, I'm pretty sure she won't hurt Alan..." Fluttershy gave a nod of approval at Twilight, letting her know to cancel the spell. Said lavender unicorn's horn immediately gave off a magenta colored glow as she canceled out the spell, after which, Twilight and Spike left the room completely. As a result, the now visible boy was shaking like a bundle of leaves while he was underneath the yellow pegasus's pink mane, "Would you mind telling me who or what is shaking underneath your mane Fluttershy?" Celestia asked her. "Well.. Your highness.." Fluttershy brought her left front leg up to rub the shaking object, getting him to calm down more; "*cough* He's, well.. On the timid side, shy even.. If you want to see him, I suppose you can. He managed to trust my friends well enough.." Fluttershy smiled gently as she whispered to the figure; "Come on down.. You'll be okay, I promise.." Slowly and reluctantly, the overall clad ape-boy slid off of her back, though he was obviously not very interested in taking a look at whoever the princess was, considering that he had grabbed hold of Fluttershy's left leg and buried his face in the fuzzy yellow appendage. Fluttershy kept her gentle smile in tact as she gently ruffled his hair with her right hoof and looked at Celestia, who was surprised at the reveal of a species she hadn't seen before, even more so at the fact that he was far more afraid of her than a pony would probably be; "This is Alan... Alan Banc. I found him in an area close by the Everfree Forest and brought him into my cottage to recover, since he's just a boy and all. I don't know where his pare-" Celestia smiled as she lifted a hoof up respectfully, to show her understanding. The yellow pegasus reached her head down to nuzzle at the top of the boy's head; "Could you turn around and look at Princess Celestia for me?" Alan slowly did so, though as he opened one of his eyes, he quickly opened his other as he looked up in amazement at the princess of the sun. The princess's height (especially compared to most non-alicorn ponies) allowed her to dwarf the boy easily, making their size difference all the more prominent. This, thankfully, didn't intimidate him too much, as it was overridden by gazing upon her majestic and graceful appearance. Her eyes especially captivated him, as they held an air of authority, but at the same time, they had the same feeling of that of the mother-like figure that she obviously appeared to be. And when combining her white coat, with her stream-lined body and wings, then she may as well've been the spitting image of a swan. "Um, I uh.." Alan shook his head out of his stupor as he looked up at her, and proceeded to bow very low to the ground. Celestia suppressed the urge to giggle as she spoke in a motherly tone; "Relax child.." As she watched the boy stand up straight, she gently placed a hoof on his left shoulder; "I appreciate you acting like a little gentlecolt.. And I realize that this may be your first time meeting or even talking to royalty, but you don't have to act too formal with me. It's something I wish from all of my subjects.." "M- I mean, Princess Celestia?" Alan looked up at the much bigger equine as he put his hands into the pockets of his overalls. "Yes Alan?" Celestia asked as she sat down on her haunches. "I-I saw something on your.. leg.. that looked like a sun.. What is it exactly? I mean, I've seen some pictures on other ponies legs too, and I didn't want to bother Miss Sparkle by asking, so I-" "They're called 'Cutie Marks', dear..." "Oh, well.. What exactly are cutie marks?" Celestia smiled as she reached her front legs to him, and lifted the boy up so their eyes could meet; "Well, that's a very good question Alan. You see-" - 3:50 pm [Outside the throne room] "It's like Spikey said Twilight, the princess won't hurt him, I'm sure Alan's quite safe with her.." Rarity said to Twilight as she placed a hoof on her right shoulder. "I know, it's just..." Twilight sighed; "What does it say about me when I keep something hidden from her? That I can't trust my OWN teacher despite the fact that I've known her since I was a little filly?!" "Hey, cool it there Egghead..." Rainbow responded; "Look, we didn't know how any of the other ponies in town would react to the kid, right?" "Right..." Twilight nodded. "Aaand we didn't really know how Princess Celestia would react.." Pinkie said to her lavender colored friend "Or anypony else in the castle would for that matter.." Spike quickly finished. "Well, yes..." Twilight nodded again; "Bu-" "But nuthin' Twi! While Ah wish we'd come clean to her, we all know there was a good reason t'try an' keep'im under wraps.." Applejack gave her a reassuring smile; "Ev'rypony in Ponyville'll obviously learn about Al sooner or later. But for now, let's just make sure he feels welcome.. Jus' hope his ma an' pa are doin' okay, wherever they are.. Probably lookin' ev'ry where they can for him Ah imagine." Just as they were about to say anymore, the door opened up to reveal Fluttershy smiling brightly as she carried Alan on her back, who waved back towards Celestia from the other side before the door. "So, how'd it go Flutters?" Rainbow Dash asked her fellow pegasus, which was the same question everypony else had. "Oh quite well.." Fluttershy replied; "Celestia liked him, she even told Alan what cutie marks are, and what royalty usually do.. Or at least the basic gist anyway.." "Really?" Spike asked as he looked up at Alan; "It wasn't too boring was it? I mean, royalty's usually all about paperwork, and crud like that.." "No, not too boring, she made it easy to understand.." Alan replied softly; "Though she mentioned... Somepony?" He looked at Twilight, who nodded to show that it was the correct usage of the term; "Yeah, she mentioned somepony named, Luna, who's she?" "Luna's her younger sister.." Spike said to him; "Just as Celestia raises the sun, Luna raises the moon.." "Woah.. Will I get to meet her?" Alan asked. "Maybe, but not right now.. Right now, we have to get back to town for a nice rest until tomorrow.. " Twilight's horn glowed as she once again casted the cloaking spell on Alan; "Besides, you're probably pretty tired.. Why don't you take a nap while you're riding on Fluttershy's back on the way? It'll get pretty dark later on.." The boy yawned; "Sure.." Despite being invisible, it could be seen that he was clearly going underneath Fluttershy's mane. - 7:00 pm [Fluttershy's cottage] Some time after a dinner consisting of milk and lettuce sandwiches had been eaten, Alan was in the bathroom, using a toothbrush (likely designed for adult ponies to hold with their forearms) to clean his teeth. Upon spitting the toothpaste out, he turned the sink on to have the toothpaste go down the drain. As he left the bathroom, Fluttershy walked up to him; "Rarity told me that she'll have some p.js made for you, and some more clothes as well, but it'll take a while until she has them done.. Oh! I think I might have something for you to wear to bed... Just go up to the guest room and get yourself ready, okay?" Alan nodded as he obediently walked up the stairs and to where the guest room was. A little while later, Alan had already untied his shoes and taken them off, unbuttoned his overalls and taken those off, and finally finished taking his shirt off. All of this now leaving him only in his tighty whities (this was a word that Alan told Rarity and Fluttershy that was apparently another word for the type of undergarment he wore) and his socks. Fluttershy soon came in, and helped Alan put a garment on him. As soon as Alan's head went through the top opening, he saw that the garment he was wearing was apparently a sort of nightshirt with couple of patches with flower patterns that were knitted onto the shirt. The nightshirt itself was a tad long for him to wear, as the entire length of it came over his feet, and the sleeves would have to be rolled up in order to see his hands. "I wore this when I was about your age or so.. I was a bit tall for a filly.." Fluttershy giggled as she gently grabbed Alan by the scruff of the nightshirt with her teeth and lifted him up as she carried him over to the bed and placed him on it, releasing her grip as the boy went under the covers, smiling a bit as Fluttershy softly pat him on the head; "I'll be downstairs if you need anything.. Good night, Alan.." "Good night.. Fluttershy.." As soon as the light went off, Alan looked about nervously at the shadows, which to a six year old child, could be something more sinister than what they actually were. The shadow of the tree branches outside could be the clawing hands of a beast, or perhaps there was a monster with a taste for the flesh of children lurking about in the room. These fears were put aside as he felt something smaller than him poke his right shoulder gently. Turning to face who it was, Alan found it was Angel, who'd snuck into the room. The rabbit scrunched his nose up as he looked at the boy with concern, and smirked as he gave small pat on Alan's face, and proceeded to show off his mightiness by flexing his arms/front-legs. Angel curled up on Alan's chest and went to sleep, making sure he'd guard the kid with his life. Those stupid monsters wouldn't dare mess with the might of Angel, the bunny of awesomeness! Alan smiled as his eyes became heavy, and eventually, the boy found himself in dreamland alongside his furry little bodyguard. *** The phone's ringing throughout the Banc household reaches Harold's ears as he holds his son in his arms, rocking him gently as he picks up the phone. "Hello, who is it?" Harold asks as he holds the phone in one hand, and the tiny one year old in another. "Is this the Banc residence?" A woman's voice asks him back, from the other end. "Yes.. I'm Harold Banc.. My wife's out visiting an old friend of hers, so she-" "Mister Banc, it's about your wife.." "Is Daisy all right?.." "Mister Banc.." "Please, tell me if she's okay!" Harold fights the urge to yell at her and keep his patience in tact. "Mister Banc, your wife was in an accident... She was driving on the road back to her friend's house from a drugstore when a truck driver under the influence of alcohol swerved into her lane and accidently pushed the car off the road.." "O-oh mon Dieu.." Harold whispers hoarsely, holding back a choke. "The car.. It.. it crashed into a tree, and it.. It killed her on impact.. I'm.. I'm so sorry I have to tell you this... I wish this was a sick prank that someone put me up to, but it-" "N-no, no.. I understand, you're just doing your job..." Harold shakes his head as his breathing becomes more rapid. "If it helps.. The driver's been found and taken into custody, if you want you can press charges-" "I-I will, but.. I have to hang up now.. Good bye.." *Click* Harold breathes in deeply, and out, tears falling down his cheeks as looks at the phone, than to the baby in his arm. He carries him into the living room, where he holds his son in his arms. As he shuts his eyes, he hugs his tiny boy tightly, doing everything he can to keep him safe.. ***