Celestia's Prophet
Part 4: Who is "Shining Armor?"
Foals. Foals with an 's' on the end.
General Night Light was sweating before he even made it to his own street that night. He and his wife lived on Canterlot's cushy upper end, surrounded by perfect parks and clean streets. His rank gave them all the money they could need, and it was a picturesque way of living. Equestria hadn't gone to war in centuries, but it still needed a standing army. Being a general was still a big job, keeping his soldiers not ready for war, but prepared to face it should the horrible day come.
Foals. Foals with an 's' on the end. That's what Celestia's Prophet had said.
Turning the corner in the chilly night, he nodded only briefly to the guard on the corner as he cantered past. Huffing once, then twice more to prepare himself, he unlocked the door and pushed it open. All the scents and sounds of home wafted against him like a breeze of gingerbread-- his wife was cooking. Twilight squealed somewhere in the house, rushing to and fro above his head. General Night Light took off his hat and formal jacket, setting it on its usual hook. He looked to and fro. On the floor was a foam guard's spear, and it certainly wasn't Twilight's. The poor filly had never once in her life rough-housed, much less shown an interest in toy weapons. She was the book-learning sort. And with the magnificant honor of being Celestia's new protege, she was moving up in the world fast. He had no doubt he'd need to beat off any political sniffing once she'd reached the age of majority.
He'll be retiring soon, to spend more time with his wife and family while the foals are still young. More than one foal.
General Night Light only had one daughter. He was dead certain. "Mom!Mooooom!" a colt's voice jerked him to a halt, and his pupils shrank as his eyes widened. "When's dad coming home?! I can't write this report on the Changing of the Guard for school without him checking it over! I don't wanna disappoint him!" It was young, not quite a teenager. Young and virile and striking.
The monster's power had reached into his very home. He listened to the thumpity-thumps of a colt trapsing back and forth on carpet, then on kitchen tile. "He should be here any minute! Just don't tackle him as soon as he comes in the door! He's going to be tired from his long day," his mother said.
Night Light wasn't ready for this. His thundering heart almost kept him from realizing his hoof was moving. He watched it reach into his saddlebag for his military ID wallet. A folded picture floated out, slowly rising to his nose. He looked down at it. Himself. His wife. His daughter... and somepony new. Somepony that didn't belong. His mouth dried as he stared at a stark white colt with an electric blue mane.
There were hoof-steps coming his way. Panicking, he flipped the photo over:
Night Light
Twilight Velvet
Twilight Sparkle, age 8
Shining Armor, age 12
He almost dropped it when a scrappy young colt came tearing around the corner. "Welcome home, Dad!" he belted, school report floating next to him. Night Light blanched at him, sweating. "Wow mom was right, you do look tired," he said. "You okay?" he cocked his head.
"Y-yeah," Night Light said, running a hoof quickly through Shining Armor's mane. He looked pale. Turning with a measured amount of control and grip on himself, he looked for his wife. Twilight Velvet smiled when he peered into the kitchen.
"I know, I know, the whole place smells like gingerbread. I dropped something on one of the burners. But if I'd stopped to clean
dinner wouldn't have been ready when you got in." Twilight Velvet kissed him, nuzzled him twice and then wheeled back around to finish
setting the table. The poor mare was never convinced everypony in her household was eating enough, one of her adorable little quirks.
"I'll get Twilie!" Shining Armor announced, leaving his report on the kitchen counter. Night Light picked it up while he was thundering up the stairs. It was a grade school report on how guards outside the front of the palace changed shifts every eight hours and all the reasons why. All of their little quirks and different rank meanings were in a neat little magic marker chart. Very basic, but he seemed to get the gist of it all.
"You okay, hun?" Twilight Velvet asked softly, coming up to cup his cheek.
"Do you remember when Shining Armor was born?" Night Light asked before he could stop himself.
"Oh yes," Twilight rolled her eyes with a smirk. "I remember the doctor telling me if he'd been much bigger I'd have given birth to a hippo." Her eyes saw the past and she leaned on him. "I'd never seen you so livid, haha! I'm just glad you didn't try to arrest him. He lost his yearling fat, didn't he?"
"Oh erhm... yes, yes he did," Night Light murmured, not meeting her eyes. "I'm just glad he's erm... doing well in school?" it came out like a question.
His wife nodded absently, setting out silverware. "Well with you cracking the whip on his butt its no surprise. He wants to be the general of the army, just like his Dad." she leaned and kissed him again. "I bet you brag every day about that, don't you? Big strong General Nightlight. A daughter as Celestia's protégé a son going into the army just like him."
"Ehh..." Before Night Light could respond there was a stampede down the stairs and into the dining room.
"Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle, reporting for dinner sir!" Shining shouted gaily, sliding his sister off of his back and saluting. Night Light sat hard, staring at Shining Armor. "Uh, Dad?" he said. "Dad? You okay? Equis to Da-ad." he said, waving a little hoof over in front of his face.
Twilight Velvet cocked an eyebrow while Twilight Sparkle did her best to stay quiet while the older ponies were talking.
"Nightie? Honey?" Velvet leaned a little. Her husband looked positively haunted.
"Er, yeah. Yeah I'm fine. Just a... stressful day at work... sport." he said, licking his lips a little. His eyes slid to the pictures on the wall. Himself and the colt at a hoofball game. Himself hugging Twilight and Shining Armor. Himself holding a squealing yearling with an electric blue mane. Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle beaming into a camera that was way too close to their faces. Twilight Velvet and Shining Armor, the colt holding up an all-A's report card.
He was already there. A whole history. A whole life laid out before him, that hadn't existed three hours ago. Night Light gave a nervous smile to his waiting family, reaching for his fork with a lightly trembling hoof.
=-=-=-=-=
"Would you like to tell me why my must trusted general quit his job yesterday, arranged his military affairs, then turned a mind wipe spell on himself to keep you a secret?" Celestia sat across from Lauren, looking rather cross. "I thought to ask him myself, but all he said was--"
"'Ponies that are in the eye of a storm don't feel its rain until its too late.'" Lauren said, lifting her teacup.
Celestia fixed her with a frown. "Yes, that's right." she said carefully, levitating the tongs to offer her 'guest' another cube of sugar. Lauren nodded and took three, stirring idly. She rang the spoon against the side of the teacup three times before setting it down. "Care to explain yourself?" asked the white alicorn.
"I told you yesterday he would be quitting soon, just not how soon." Lauren smirked just a bit mischievously. "I just didn't say how soon. Like I said, to spend time with his wife and family while the foals are still young."
"You made up another pony. A little colt this time. That's the first child you've ever made... that I know of." Celestia said carefully, lifting her teacup. "Why did you do this? What is your purpose?"
"Purpose?" Lauren looked up at her as though surprised. "I've been here almost six years, and you're just now puzzling that one out? What is your little red-headed monster's purpose?" she sipped her tea twice. "Oooh, this is the Jasmine. Quite good, thank you."
"I prefer 'Prophet.' It's more polite." Celestia parried with narrowed eyes. "I've kept you here to study the limits of your power and to keep you from harming anypony. It's already perfectly clear you could leave if you wanted to," Celestia paused, for Lauren's eyes flicked at her with a flash of... panic? Alarm? It was gone as soon as it came, though, and so she kept speaking. "So I suppose my latest question to you is... if you hate it here, why do you stay?"
"The reason you put me here, is the same reason I stay." Lauren whispered into her teacup, not meeting Celestia's eyes. The alicorn's wings opened, then resettled. One of her impatient body language flags. the cryptic answer hung in the air between them for a long silence. "But more about the general, yes?" the red-maned creature said, setting her teacup down with a little clack. Reaching without permission she stroked Celestia's mane twice before getting the folder on her side of the table. She flipped it open and Celestia opened her mouth to scold her, but stopped. It had merely plucked General Night Light's picture from its paperclip, and dropped the folder itself back to the table. "Here is a military man. Er, stallion." she smiled. "Six years and I still say man, guh..." she shook her head a bit. Celestia had already gathered a small lexicon from their conversations over the years. 'Man' meant stallion. "Here's a military stallion," Lauren tried again. "Cut above the rest. Handsome, powerful, by-the-book. A family stallion, and a good leader. However, at the end of the day he's still military."
"You have a problem with your military caretakers?" Celestia asked. "I could've arranged for something else if you'd liked."
"No, it's not them. Just him," Lauren said. "He's Twilight Sparkle's father, and, left to his own devices, would do anything to protect his little girl." Celestia filled in 'girl' with 'filly'.
"Mhm?" Celestia asked, listening intently.
"You think I couldn't hear him, beyond the wall there?" The creature said, turning the teacup around and around. "He saw me as a great threat to Equestria and all her holdings, whether he voiced it to you or not."
"So do I, but you've not conjured a twelve year-old into my household." Celestia said.
"Yes, but yours is not a military mind. You seek balance, not conquest," it said sagely. She lifted a hand before Celestia could protest. "I'm not saying he's a warmonger, no no. But, given what he thinks of as no choice, he wouldn't hesitate to kill me if it was to protect his family and his country."
"You think he could harm you?" Celestia cocked an eyebrow.
"You've seem me bleed, you know I'm just as mortal as you." Lauren said matter-of-factly. Celestia conceded this. When they'd captured her, she was bleeding from the feet for trying to run across a wide gravel road. She'd fallen with a shard of rock in her sole, the poor naked thing. "General Night Light was getting more and more paranoid that I was going to create an army of griffins, or a natural disaster, or some jail-breaking super-pony," she quoted the stallions own words for her.
"So you got rid of him," Celestia said with a frown.
"In the gentlest way I could. I gave him a son," Lauren paused to say before sipping her tea again. "A very successful son, mind you. Just wait until he grows up and-!"
"I don't want to know," Celestia rose with a rather blatant scowl. "Please, stop pulling at the strings of fate like you are," she begged, putting a diplomatic hoof on her shoulder. "It's only a matter of time before you create something chaotic, or uncontrollable, or evil... I would give you every comfort if only you would stop conjuring ponies and their histories out of thin air. Something will go wrong, at some point. I know it." she said.
Lauren took her massive, gold-shoe'd hoof in both her tender little hands. "It's the nature of the beast, Princess. I can't stop. The best you can hope to do is keep me safe," she patted the hoof twice. "And I'll keep things... well, to a justifiable minimum."
Celestia let the hoof fall, standing slowly and gathering her tea set. "I'll see you again soon, Prophet." she said softly. Lauren sighed, for she knew Celestia refused to use her name as a way of distancing herself.
"Good Night, Princess," Lauren said, standing and watching her go.
"Prophet?" Celestia stopped in the doorway, turning to look at her meaningfully. "Why can only a few tell when you've changed something?"
The monster smiled a little impishly. "Only someone standing next to an artist can see what they're doing on the drawing board," it said cryptically. "The more important question, I think, is: What color is alicorn blood?" she offered a kind, nonthreatening sort of smile.
Celestia sighed at her riddling words, then left with a click of the door. The white alicorn didn't know what upset her more: Losing her favorite general, the monster in the.... Prophet, in the dungeon... or the thought that she didn't know what color alicorn blood was. She would fret over it well into the night.
End of Part 4