Tough Love: Luna vs. Celestia
Part 2: Stone and Straw
23 Nights Later…
Celestia bobbed, weaved, and danced about. Holding her wings closed made her a smaller target. Facing Luna directly, rather than walking sideways, made her a smaller target. Lowering her head and leading her shots with her bannering mane kept her guessing as to where she was going. One out of maybe fifty dirt clods hit her anymore. The solar princess had learned about projectiles, how they worked and their weaknesses when it came to one on one combat. Atop that, she’d not budged from the smallest circle in the Training Star all night.
Princess Luna did a slow, walking orbit around her, outside the biggest circle. Mounds of dirt would lift themselves, pressurize into clods, then launch like missiles at Celestia. Luna’s smile had slowly been growing that evening, until finally she stopped altogether. The Princess of the day cocked her head, slowly relaxing and staring at her sister. “Good. Let’s see what you learned these past few weeks, sister.” Her horn ignited with black magics glitters that might be mistaken for stars gathered to her cause, and beams of light went in all directions. The dark alicorn reared up with a cry of conquest.
Celestia’s pupils turned into pinpricks as the beam of black magic lanced at her! A flash of the Changling Queen’s face raced across her mind’s eye. Gritting her teeth, she shifted to an angle, opened her great wings and--!
A new crater blasted itself into the far side of the Midnight Circle, sacred training ground of the Lunar Stallions. Aegis Shield and Stalwart Hide, Luna’s attendants, sat up from their card game with interest. It was all smoke and dust, so they squinted. After a time, the night breeze drifted the cloud away. Celestia stood there, panting, almost completely unscathed. Her left wing had a little burn on it, but she’d only lost a couple of feathers. She’d not left the smallest circle.
“Very, very good.” Princess Luna came forward and embraced her sister in earnest. “You’ve learned your first and most basic lesson of combat.” She smiled grandly, so Celestia allowed herself to smile too. “Don’t stand and take what you can just deflect.” She leaned and pawed lightly at her sister’s wing. Celestia, using a small magical shielding, had turned her wing into an angled shield and sent the beam of black magic not only away—but well off to one side of herself. It had struck the ground at a clumsy angle and done little more than leave a burnt crater in the ground. Celestia? Unharmed. Luna was impressed. Leaning, she kissed her sister’s cheek.
“I did it.” Celestia said uncertainly. “I did it!” she smiled, looking at the smoking crater some yards away. “I could’ve done that with Crysallis and--!”
“H’ohhh no, dear sister.” Luna shook her head with a scowl. “If you’d done that in the throne room of the palace you would’ve brought the whole thing crashing down and killed who knows how many ponies. Deflection is not for enclosed spaces.” She patted her sister’s shoulder a little, for her face had fallen. “But worry not. Simple understanding comes before mastery.” She smiled, turning and making her way to another part of the training ground. “Come! Thy time in that circle is over.”
Celestia smiled, looking about herself. She would miss the Training Star, to be honest. While that was all she had to worry about, her world had felt much smaller. Much safer, and more in her control. The psychology of Luna’s training had taken hold, for the white alicorn sighed when she left her little world for the bigger one. Folding her beautiful wings, she followed her sister. “What’s this bit here?” she asked when they arrived at the next portion the training center. Before the royal sisters was a series of columns and a pit. The bottom of the pit was laced with thick straw, no doubt to cushion ponies from broken bones. The Sun Princess thought she knew where this was going. “Is the next lesson about balance? Sister, we have wings.” She cocked her head, frowning. Suddenly a great steel chain lashed itself over Celestia’s back. Before she could rear up and whinny she was hauled back down and a padlock was forced on her. The Lunar Stallions had appeared like ninjas, tying her wings to her sides.
“Not anymore you don’t.” Luna said, nodding to dismiss her minions.
“But why?” Celestia whined before she could stop herself. “Never has there been a time when I could not fly! No circumstance!”
Luna scowled at her darkly. “Flying on the moon is a death sentence, sister.” She said quietly, ice in her words. “Gravity is lesser there. To launch into the sky is to chance floating into oblivion for all time.” She put her face very close to her sister’s, and Celestia shuddered. “Thou might think not being able to fly will never happen to you, but guess what? It happened to me. I learned to surpass it and grow stronger.” She leaned and checked the chain while Celestia whimpered and strained against it. She turned her head to look. Oh, of course. Moonsteel. The precise opposite of her solar magic and aura. It would bind her like normal steel bound a mortal pony. “Your wings are a gift, Celestia. If you ever want to use them, you need to learn to do more than take them for granted or flash them at a handsome stallion.” The comment was dirty, but Celestia understood and hung her head a little.
“What do I do here?” The sun Princess asked. “Just go across?” she peered at the pit, then the columns. They were uneven, but rather wide. Wide enough to stand atop like little platforms. She thought she could do it, and smiled a little.
“Well, for now you’re just going to stay here for a bit.” Luna gestured that she go on.
Slowly, Celestia moved and leapt to the first column. Rather gracefully considering her wings were bound, if she did say so herself. Smiling back at her sister, her smile vanished when she saw both Lunar Stallions returning. She’d already come to associate them with something bad about to happen. Both were carrying long poles with them. Bamboo? Something similar? They looked bendy and not very firm. She watched them split up, each standing at one end of the pit. “They’re not going to hit me with those, are they?”
“Don’t get ahead of me, sister.” Luna clucked, smirking. Celestia scowled at her. “For now, just hop about a bit. Get used to the platforms. Their size and stability.” She gestured a little for her sister to try them out.
Cocking her head and eyeing the Lunar Stallions distrustfully, the sun Princess peered over the edge of her little platforms. There couldn’t possibly be enough straw to catch something as heavy as an alicorn down there. She dreaded to know what was under it all. Stone? Gravel? Worse? Frowning, Celestia looked about herself for the nearest platform. Deciding on one, she leapt gracefully to it. “Uh-WAHHH!” it broke under her like chalk and she fell.
Luna squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head when Celestia hit the bottom of the pit with a yelp. “Ohhh…” she winced, peering over the edge at her. “We forgot to mention, not all of them are very strong!” she ignited her horn to repair the column her sister had broken. It looked as good as new, if more instable than before.
Celestia lay in the bottom of the pit, on her back, groaning. She didn’t want to think about the massive bruise that was forming on her right flank. She only hoped her white fur was thick enough to hide it. She lay there for a long time, the Lunar Stallions and her sister looking down at her. She just wanted to lay there and breathe. The impact had taken a lot out of her, and the chain was pinching her poor royal wings. She closed her eyes for a moment, swallowing tiredly.
In her mind’s eye, she saw Twilight Sparkle’s face. The unicorn mare, her most beloved student. She looked terrified. Celestia could see her from below, where she’d been laying on the floor after the Changling Queen had struck her down. Her little pony had never seen her mentor defeated so, and her world was coming apart in her eyes. The sun Princess jerked her eyes open and rolled over onto her belly. Trying to ignore the pain in her flank, she rose slowly to all fours and arched her back. Stretching the screaming muscles, she looked around for a way out of the pit. Sure enough, there was a ramp. Trotting up it and going past her sister without a word, she hopped to the first column in the grouping again. Testing her weight and trying to feel the stability of the stone through her hooves, Celestia bowed her head and closed her eyes for a bit. The breeze kissed her grimy forehead.
“Perhaps you can appreciate your weight more when things break beneath you?” Chirped Luna, smiling darkly.
“Did… did you just call me fat?” Celestia said, turning around slowly. “Was that a fat joke, just now?” the alicorn could not believe her sister would sink so low and say something so hurtful. “Lulu that’s mean!” she said, eyes turning soft.
“Muscle weighs more than fat, Tia.” Keeping her wings closed, the dark alicorn leapt nimbly onto a different column. While Celestia watched, she hopped from one to the next, landing squarely in the center of each platform, no doubt where the stone was the strongest. She held her breath when Luna leapt upon the column she’d broken, but it didn’t break. The Princess of the Night paused there and bowed gently. “Balance, and judgment of pressure and weight on your surroundings.” She told her the true purpose of the pit and columns. “It can be the difference between landing hard,” she paused and looked down at the pit. “And breaking your neck.” She smiled rather nastily, then nodded at the two Lunar Stallions. They approached with their bamboo sticks raised. Celestia moaned, her head hanging low for a moment.
Hours Later…
“For the last time, watch your hoof work! Hooves closer together means more pressure on a smaller space, things break under you! Spread your weight! Spread your hooves!” Luna shouted from the sidelines. The Lunar Stallions had been chasing Celestia around the column platforms, rather unceremoniously WHACKING her on the butt with their bamboo sticks. It hurt more than just her pride, for soon her backside was pink and irritated. She was sorely tempted to just grab their sticks with magic and break them over their fool heads.
“I can’t!” Celestia said, huffing and puffing as she tried to avoid her assaulters. “I’m being attacked from two sides!” She yipped when one of them swung particularly hard and printed her flank with a red bar bruise. She rubbed at herself with a whimper. Now her cutie mark seemed to say ‘no suns’ to any who looked upon it. She frowned in embarrassment.
“Suppose you had two opponents! Do you just give up?!” Luna roared. “No! You keep moving and make sure they don’t surround you! Their gift is numbers, so yours should be maneuverability!” The dark alicorn never stopped talking for the entire exersize, much to Celestia’s vast annoyance. It was hard to jump from platform to platform, land correctly, ignore one’s own wings, eye the moving stallions chasing her, AND listen to her sibling’s abusive ranting. “Balance! Watch your hooves!” she barked. “Concentrate on yourself, not on them. You’re not here to fight them, just avoid them! As long as you stay ahead, they don’t exist!” Luna’s face was set in an angry scowl while she watched her sister leap back and forth.
Over the course of a few hours, Celestia fell into the pit three more times, and got more than her fair share of pink marks on her haunches and flanks. By the time they called it for the night, she could barely walk. “Ohh-sss. Ohh-sss.” She said as she limped forward. The Lunar Stallions vanished right after Luna had called a halt to the exercise. Though they would never be able to tell anypony about it, it had been pretty funny to spank their Princess with bamboo poles for so long. They snickered, but melted into shadow none the less.
Luna leaned, tapping the padlock of the chains her sister wore with a horn. They broke off and vanished into glittering dust. “There we are.” She nodded her affirmation, smiling. “We shall continue tomorrow night, sister.” She promised.
“You’re enjoying- sss- this, aren’t you Luna?” Celestia said acidly as she made for the path back to the palace. Luna smirked a little, but said nothing. When she was clear of her sister’s sight, the Princess of the Sun lit her horn with magic. Carefully targeting, she vanished with a crack of parted air. She reappeared in the palace in Canterlot, at the Royal Bathhouse. Groaning and walking tenderly along, she peered both ways down the hall. Pushing the door open with magic, she slowly went inside. Calling for an attendant, who stared in shock at her sorry state, she spoke. “Go and fetch Bubble Bath for me.”
“I think he’s asleep, your majesty. It’s five-thirty in the morning.” said the mint green mare. Celestia limped towards the room that contained the springs, and did little more than look over her shoulder at her subject. She gulped, then scurried away. The alicorn felt a pang of guilt, but she was too sore, too tired to chase her with an apology. This training was worse than regional council meetings. Worse than tax law cases. Worse than… than… she didn’t have a comparison, she suddenly saw. She didn’t participate in sports, exercise, or other physical activities with her subjects. Cocking her head, she sighed again and wilted onto a waiting couch.
“Mhhh?” a voice woke her, a wordless male syllable. When had she fallen asleep? It was Bubble Bath, the only stallion to work at the Royal Bathhouse. He said nothing, bowing dutifully and then gesturing towards the bathhouse chambers. Celestia smiled happily at the rather mute stallion. He’d left her asleep, drawn her bath, then came and got her. He hadn’t wandered up like a buffoon, asking what she wanted. She was in the Royal Bathhouse, of course she’d come for a bath. She favored the top of his head with a dainty nuzzle, and let him lead her to said bath.
Bubble Bath had assembled most of the team to help the Princess with her bath. They’d grown to be on high alert lately, for the Princess of the Sun often visited them these days. She would come in with scratches, bruises, off-color and even broken feathers. Always she was talking about different activities. Gardening, cliff-climbing, river-riding. Apparently alicorns didn’t have any particular time of day or night that they needed to sleep, because their Princess must’ve had a new hobby interest every week! It did hurt them to see her so banged up, though. She’d sworn them to silence, and they always worked their magic to make her look presentable for the next Noonday Court. These days, Celestia was spending more time stewing in a hot bath, dozing, than she was in her own bed.
“Ah, at last… sss!” Celestia tried to lift her hooves over the lip of the bath, but just couldn’t seem to. The muscles had knotted on her, and it brought very real pain to lift them much higher than her chest. “Bubble Bath.” She said whispily, giving him softer eyes. The stallion rushed forward, providing a rock for her Majesty to lean on. The alicorn leaned heavily on him as she forced one, two, three, four hooves over the lip of the bath. He eased her down into the waters, letting the foamy stuff rush up over her chest and then her back. She gritted her teeth, but wouldn’t rise from it for anything. After a few long moments of boiling pain, she finally relaxed and flopped her head down, very un-princess-like.
Bubble Bath murmured quietly, eyeing her bruises as he picked up the scrub brush. He worried over her, gingerly touching one of the bigger ones and getting a hiss of pain from his princess. Her wings spread slowly in response to his poking, but she said nothing. Frowning in frustration, he walked around in front of her and lay on his belly so they could be eye to eye. Questions were in his eyes, though he did not voice them.
“It was… er… base-jumping.” Celestia lied right through her perfect royal teeth at him. He stared at her, cock-eyed and clearly not buying it. “My wings were tied.” She said indignantly, turning her face away.
Bubble Bath stared at her incredulously. She’d jumped off a cliff with her wings tied to her sides and a parachute on her back? He frowned and cocked an eyebrow to show her how very outrageous that sounded. She nodded slowly, masking herself with her usual royal expression of bemused smiling. Base-jumping gave her this assortment of massive bruising? He touched her royal flank with his hoof and she yipped a little in both surprise and pain. He mumbled a wordless apology, avoiding the bruises while he scrubbed her slowly.
“I… landed in a tree. A big one.” Princess Celestia told him, smiling in her usual melodic way. “It hurt.” She gave him soft eyes and he sighed at her, seeming to buy into it. Even though a real base-jumper would never base-jump over an area with trees. ‘Please don’t do it anymore’, Bubble Bath begged her with his soft eyes, gingerly gesturing to the pattern of pain on her body.
“I won’t try it again. I learned my lesson.” Celestia chuckled, then stilled herself when the laughter pained her. “What’s the damage going to be this time?” she said a little playfully.
Bubble Bath silently gestured to the red welt over her cutie mark on one side. The Princess sighed. She would have to sit profile, practically, to avoid having that discovered. That or put a blanket over her lap. The stallion reached and dabbed at it with a warm soapy rag. She hissed and squirmed a little, but brightened when the rest of Bubble Bath’s team arrived with her oils and lotions. Perhaps she would look like a Princess again by the time they were done. She dozed while they stretched her wings out.
Suddenly a blot of blackness appeared before her. “Ah, sister.” Luna said, making Celestia flinch and open her eyes. “I did not expect to find you in the Royal Bathhouse at this hour.” The Sun Princess had to use all her willpower not to scowl at her sister as she walked by, towel and shampoo on her back. She eyed the team working at Celestia’s wings. “I had no idea you had a team to wash you, either.” She nickered, putting a hoof over her mouth. “I’m not sure I would want so many hooves on my body.” She giggled scandalously.
Celestia moaned, then spoke. “Is nothing sacred, sister?” she whispered sorely. She hissed again when one of the mares of the team ran a washcloth over a particularly sensitive bruise.
“I hear the next few nights are sacred to some.” Luna said cryptically. Celestia’s ears lifted. “Perhaps you should rest and relax like a normal pony for once, and soothe thy troubles.” Was she offering her sister a few nights off?! Blessed Faust above, that sounded like the most wonderful--! Wait. No. Almost a month of training with Luna told Celestia her sister was not so kind. This had to be some kind of test.
“There is no rest for the wicked or the weary, Luna.” Celestia said, equally cryptic. Luna smiled wryly, then turned up her nose and wandered to her own bath. The Princess of the sun had seen the split second of rising pride in her sister’s eyes. Was she finally making progress?
End of Part 2