//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Canterlot Wedding Aftermath Prt 1 // by Lugitorix //------------------------------// “A righteous ending... isn't it, little sister?”, Celestia asked, overlooking from her royal balcony, as the carriage rode away into the night... and the festivities were now just dying away for the night. The princess looked over her shoulder, as Luna stood just behind her. Luna smiled, before yawning softly, “It has...”, she turned around, raising her hooves over the balcony window, “But I fear it is time for us to call it the day... For I grow tired... and thy sun has nearly to rise.”, she spread her wings. “Hm.”, Celestia closed her eyes, smiling softly, “Of course...”, her own voice was so soft... she herself may as well rest for a grand few hours of her day... it had been quite a week. And that cocoon had not been the most enjoyable of experiences... heavens no. “Our fairest goodbyes, sister.”, Luna smiled softly in return, before swiftly entering the sky... into the stars once more... as the night was nearly over... Which left Celestia alone... for now of course. She knew she'd surely be joined by her usual staff soon enough. But she didn't exactly desire company... She stepped back into her grand bedroom... off the balcony, and gazed around, a smile softly spread on her gorgeous head. Her eyes were low, and her mane did not flow with so much prime... she was at ease. Her Bedroom... the main Halls... the foyer of her palace... The library... the Throne room... and eventually... one of the more undesirable places for the while; Where Chrysalis had stayed... disguised as her niece. Celestia would admit openly that she... utterly despised that creature. How dare she nearly ruin both her Niece, and new Nephew's wedding... She walked in through the now clean, standardized room... no longer made personal by Candence, or Chrysalis... it felt so much purer now. It felt right. OH how many obscene memories this room will bring back to her in years time... She stopped when she stood in it's marbled center, gazing around very quietly, very carefree. Until... a glint caught her eye. “Hm?...”, she looked to the large, red sheet bed. A small satchel hung from one of the pillars... must have been missed by the Maidmares. Her horn glowed softly, instantly lifting it from it's hanging place of rest, and floating it toward her. It was definitely... her's. As it was very old looking, and quite... crude. Dark brown threading, and torn... how typical. She sighed softly, her eyes closing, and resting for a moment, as she lifted out whatever was inside. As it was quite... spherical. It happened to be... interesting. A little red orb... a Ruby cut sphere... it wasn't actually spherical, it was cut like say... diamond like... like a Disco ball. Her brow raised, interested as to what Chrysalis may have been doing with such a stone. She examined it very closely... FWANG!! IT seemed to beam against her at her unwanted presence, it dropped out of the air when Celestia lost her magical grip on it's small, delicate form. It whined the entire way down... before it collided with the marble flooring... and ultimately... shattered. “No.”, her eyes were narrowed, as she leaned down to it. What did it do? Why did it... strike out at her? She did not worry above the fact that she was just tad bit interested. But then... something happened that... concerned her. The small bits of ruby were still... active. In fact, they hummed very lightly, flickering, and whining quietly. Thy seemed to be... enchanted. And that they were. Moments after they had died out, a small cloud of red dust appeared... it was tampered with by now, as the object carrying it had been destroyed. “...Canterlot!... A Wedding!... Celestia's Niece!... Chrysalis... FEED...”, the words were a message! A playback device, most likely for Chrysalis to hear... or have heard by now. This was... unexpected. The princess lowered her head down... to hear the last few ramblings of the audio... before it was gone. She soon raised her head... so Chrysalis wasn't just lucky to have the opportunity at hand... she had been told exactly how to execute her plans. Celestia's eyes narrowed, and she soon left the room... at a hasted stroll. She entered the main palace foyer once more... before she stopped as the doors opened. And soon, her beloved apprentice stepped in, followed by her closest friends... all of them chatting, and laughing. But Twilight halted immediately, “Princess Celestia!”, she ran forward, “Isn't it great that everything’s turned out wonderful?”, she asked, smiling. Applejack stepped up, crossing her front hooves, followed by Fluttershy, then Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity... all of them were simply astonished to be in the company of royalty. “We sure as heck are.”, the Cowpony implied, a big smile on her tightly shut eyes. “Best wedding EVER!”, Dash announced, a hoof raised into the air. “Well I feel highly accomplished, I mean did you see the absolutely lovely dress I recreated JUST for Candence? Simply marvelous!”, Rarity pressed a hoof to her chest, excited to have been under such a commission. Fluttershy's eyes were closed in a very content smile. And Pinkie was bouncing up and down, in place, “SUPER DUPER wedding Everypony! I can't wait til the NEXT one!”, her eyes went in, crossed, and her hair stuck up in her own wacky sense of fun, and happiness. She snorted, and giggled at the thought. But Celestia could only smile... once, “I am happy you've all had a good night, however-...”, she stopped mid sentence... before silencing herself entirely, clearing her throat, “Well... never mind, my little ponies.”, she smiled once more... she didn't want to ruin there night for now, “It has been quite a long day for me...”, she chuckled. Twilight cocked brow, thy were all quiet, looking up to her, “Well...'alright.”, she smiled, winking, “We'll get out of your mane now.”, she said, as they all turned around, smiling up to their goddess Princess. “Hm...”, Celestia smiled at that, “A good day to you all.” They waved as they were nearly closing the door, “Come on everypony!”, Twilight shouted over them all, “Lets get a good day's nap!”, this was followed by giggles, and laughing... for they were all very tired. They'd wait til the entire activity had been cleaned up before they got on the train back to Ponyville... While they would sleep... the Sun Goddess would read up on a number of things. As the next half hour went by, and she had received her very mild pampering by the servants... to a very quick bath... to she herself brushing her mane... she soon was at the fireplace. Only rather than just sleeping... she had a thin, red book in front of her. A spell book of course. But she wasn't planning on using magic... Floating beside her head, was one of the ruby fragments... she wanted to know how exactly this one was created... a messenger item could be created easily... but one that lashed out at an undesirable eavesdropper was an entirely different story. However, no matter what she read through... she received not answer... nothing above possibly a malfunction in the magic itself. But no... Chrysalis would have been too powerful for that type of mistake... and whoever had given it to her... seemed an unlikely candidate for such folly... well... for all she knew of course. She sighed very softly, closing her eyes once more... but then... a knock at the door, “You may enter.”, she called out, setting the book down, in a closed position... it had nothing of use to her anyway. Neither did the last six books did either. The door opened very abruptly, and soon, three guards entered, “Lady Celestia.”, one acknowledged her. “You may speak, fellow protector...” “We hate to interrupt your personal studies... but we bare news from the surrounding watch towers.”, the tallest, and most broad of them was he who spoke. Stepping forward, he cleared his throat, “All of the towers along the main roads to Canterlot... have all reported sightings of a mysterious Stallion on the run.” “And why is this such a concern?”, Celestia asked politely, raising another book, her eyes very calm. “Well... he seems to be heading directly this way.”, he added, eyes looking all about the room, “We have tried to halt him, but whenever we get close... he seems to just... run faster. Ehm, we've also received a description... whoever chases him seems to experience the ground heating up whenever he got out of their reach... We believe he's trying to get here without distraction.” “And how long until he arrives?...”, she asked softly. The guard captain looked aside, “Well... from what our last report tells us... he was last seen narrowing down to the last twenty miles, my lady.” Celestia sighed, setting her book down again... well... good time to at least dismiss for the rest of the night, “Prepare for his arrival...”, she told them, “If he is harmless... allow him passage.”, of course she expected nothing above harmless... the risk of losing Canterlot was over. What could possibly happen next? “Very well, your majesty...”, they backed out, their golden armor glinting in the small fireplace light. When the door closed, Celestia merely gazed out the window, to the lands surrounding the great capitol... what a week. With soft, delicate exhale, she turned to the fireplace, her horn, glowing, and brimming with magical energy... doused the fire without water... darkening the room. She strolled to her bed slowly... resting atop the soft bed covers. It was time for sleep, in her mind... nothing more, she was so exhausted. But when she rested her head onto the soft pillow beside her... she found it, not impossible... but very difficult to fall asleep tonight. Why... she did not know... but for now... even IN her sleep... the sun would still rise early morning. Transition~ "Chrysalis has sent her message... prepare mine..." "Take it to Canterlot... directly to Princess Celestia... Tell her it from an old... Mmm... well... Very old, friend of her's... from many... many years ago..." "In one week's time, one more... glorious ceremony, regarding the lovely bride, and her new groom... shall take place in Canterlot... That will be our new beginning... For if we can remove even the slightest of problems from our mist... Our success shall be... utmost assured." "If the guard give you any trouble... dispose of them... nothing irrational of course... Can't have a fight breaking out... it would make me look... bad..." "Be as delicate as you can..."