Fallen Sun

by shademaster24601

Cupcakes and Crocodile Teeth

Intrepid. It was such an odd word, but Uriah couldn't find a better word to describe how he felt in the moment. The wind rushing through his mane and under his wings as he sped forward. There was also an unmistakable warmth as Pinkie held tight around his neck. "We still doing okay?"

"Left!" She shouted just in time for him to veer to avoid clipping a roof. "Right! Left again! Do a barrel roll!" It went on like this for a while. Pinkie directed Uriah all over town as he effortlessly weaved over, around, and through any obstacle that came their way.

"Are we sure the blindfold is really necessary?" He asked with a chuckle. "Or, on a practical note, would it have been a safer idea to walk?"

Pinkie giggled and nuzzled his cheek. "Yeah, but this way's more fun." She peered over his shoulder. "Oh, we're almost there. Little more to the right and go for the landing."

"Affirmative." He dove down, rising in one more loop to draw more of that laughter he adored, the gently touched down.

Pinkie hopped off his back and undid his blindfold. "I hope you're ready for a surprise." She did a quick turn to get in front of him for the big reveal. "Ta-da!"

Uriah blinked the sun out of his eyes then smiled at the sight. "A picnic." It was a simple little display. A basket full of goodies, a checkered blanket, napkins, and some scented candles to ward off bugs.

She bashfully rubbed her foreleg. "I just wanted to do a little something special for making you wait. I know, it's silly..."

"It's cute," he placed a reassuring wing over her and gave her a gentle nuzzle. "I can't think of a more perfect way to spend the afternoon."

She hugged him tight. "You're just saying that to be sweet."

"You're sweet." He spun her about and held her tight. "Pinkie, you a certifiably instant good mood." He took a deep breath. "Things have just been very...a lot...lately. Plenty of good things, but there's just so much." He set her down, then proceeded to fall backwards onto the grass. He watched the clouds with thoughtful eyes. "It just feels good to breathe. To just be normal for a little bit and feel like the next step I take isn't going to drastically change the world or break my mind beyond all reason."

An air of concern came over Pinkie's face as she lied down next to him. "Is this about what happened at the Crystal Empire?"

"That's part of it. Here," He used his magic to levitate some treats from the basket to them. "Let me tell you what's been going on." She snuggled into his shoulder, watching him with attentive eyes. Uriah let out a sigh. "After I left the circus, I went to the Crystal Empire to see my cousin, Cadance. I thought she could help me with my...problem." He tapped the side of his head and Pinkie gave a nod. "She took me to this magic mirror room beneath the Crystal Heart..."

"Spooky name?" Pinkie interrupted.

"Spooky name," He affirmed. "So, they take me down there and this room of negatively charged love magic starts reading my thoughts and feelings and essentially sent my hallucinations into overdrive. Except it works a trick, because not only am I seeing them clearly as ponies from my past, but Cadance and Shining Armor were there too to witness. So I didn't feel nearly as deranged as I had been."

Pinkie held his hoof. "How did it feel?"

Uriah took another breath. "It hurt...a lot. Like I was overjoyed to see them again, feel them again, but also very sad, because that meant having to say goodbye. Then it was like all the pent up negative feeling I had about them was sucked out of my body. It was like a forceful dry-heave, very uncomfortable. Then, when we got to the last one, the...root of the problem. Things went wrong. All the pain and hurt built up, but it didn't reveal itself like the others. I ended up going into a frenzy trying to get to her."

"Scarlet?" Pinkie asked in a soft voice. Uriah answered a hesitant nod. "I never heard you talk about her before."

Uriah felt a lump in his throat. "I didn't...I didn't think it was fair. You and I are starting this new and wonderful relationship together. I want you to feel like the most important pony in the world to me, because you are. You saved me, Pinkie, you gave me back my joy. You shouldn't have to compete with a ghost."

He started to choke up and Pinkie took him in a tight hug. "Hey hey, it's okay." She gently stroked his mane as he cried on her shoulder. "You don't need to bottle up your feelings to protect me. I know you love me. I also know you loved Scarlet. You were going to marry her for ponies' sake. I don't want you to just stop caring about her because we're together. That'd make me a big jerk! Just a super colossal meanie sundae with gross black licorice syrup."

This got a little laugh to break through the crying. "Oh, stars, the food analogies. Scarlet loved those." The pale alicorn conjured a tissue and cleaned his face. "She would have loved you too." He cradled Pinkie close and took a deep breath. "I just want this to work. What do I need to do to make this work for us?"

Pinkie puzzled for a moment, chewing on a marshmallow brownie. Then a little smile marked an idea in her fuzzy pink head. "Tell me a story about Scarlet. Remember a time when she was one hundred percent herself and she just filled up your heart with love and happiness. Maybe if you feel that way again, it'll draw out that last spirit and it'll complete whatever mumbo jumbo the cave was working."

Uriah's eyes widened slightly and he thought it through. "That...might actually work. I was talking about her with Rarity and it actually felt rather nice getting it off my chest." He felt something. He glanced to the right and, just behind a tree down the hill from them, was the shape that had been haunting him. It watched him with those golden eyes and he knew then what he had to do. "Ok. Let's see. There are so many good ones. Scarlet was always getting herself into trouble. Most of the time, it was either her temper, her appetite, or both. Heh, now that I'm thinking about it, there was this one time..."

---

It was a difficult responsibility. To be head chef of the royal kitchen was both a tremendous honor and a terrible burden. Toiling in front of a hot stove, overseeing the toil of others, making sure each member of the cooking staff is in perfect sync with each other, and ensuring every dish is completely satisfying to the unique and demanding tastes of the Equestrian elite were not only expected of Rouladen, but were tasks that he absolutely relished. The stoic stallion, weathered by a long career, patrolled by every station. His keen eyes surveying every dish, from the largest entre to the most delicate Hors D'oeuvre. This was to be an evening where mistakes would not be permitted. He stopped for just a moment to help the potager adjust her stirring speed. That's when he felt it. To the less seasoned, there was nothing to notice beyond the din of a busy kitchen, but Rouladen could not deny the chill up his spine, the ache in his joints, or the twitch of his moustache.

Without warning, he slammed a hoof on the counter, drawing a start from every cook in the room. With a sharp rasp, he bellowed an order to the room. "Everyone stop what you're doing!"

They all complied immediately, but there was some notable confusion. The Entremetier was the first to speak in question. "But, Chef, I just put the stir-fry on. It'll burn."

"Throw it out and start fresh!" Rouladen barked and started pushing an empty serving cart to the door. "We risk losing more than that if we don't hold off what's coming."

The Patissier shivered at the realization and looked in fear at the oven. "My buns...I should have known..."

They could hear it now, the sound of encroaching doom, hoof beats mixed with a distinct clacking. Rouladen braced his makeshift barricade as his staff joined him to fortify with whatever they could. The sound drew closer, and Rouladen raised his spatula, his most prised possession that he carried with him since his humble beginnings working short order. With a mix of fear and determination, the staff prepared for the inevitable.

With a tremendous crash, the hulking figure knocked against the wall as it turned into the corridor. Piercing yellow eyes, a fiery red mane, armor-like scales, and a grinning mouth full of razor sharp teeth. The royal consort was upon them. Scarlet locked eyes with the head chef, looking to break him before she reached the barricade. She ran serpentine trying to confuse them, bounding off of the walls and any container in front of her. When she finally hit them it was like the sound of thunder. First thing she did was try to reach past them. There were only nine of them, a little leverage and she'd bulldoze right through. "Food."

Rouladen saw that clawed hand try to reach past and immediately swatted it with his spatula. "No," he said firmly.

"Yes," She replied, only to be swatted again. "Ow. Rude."

"If I told you once, I've told you a hundred times, you cannot come in here while we are working!" He matched her reflexes perfectly, swatting her three more times as she tried to maneuver around.

Scarlet rolled her eyes at the remark and winced with every swat. "Come on, just a little...ow...taste."

The chef was not deterred, even when she tried to shove through the barricade, he just pushed back in kind with his back and kept swatting. "Except, with you, "just a taste" ends up taking half our order!"

Scarlet gave a deep chuckle and shoved herself against the barricade, causing it and the staff to buckle. "What can I say? I'm a hungry gal," She leaned in and flashed the Patissier a wicked smiled and licked her lips. "Plus I could smell those biscuits baking from across the castle. All fresh and buttery...gettin' me all hot and bothered."

She thought it was enough of a distraction, but Rouladen caught her with three more good smacks on her hand. "You gluttonous leviathan! Stand back!" He punctuated with a good whack right on her nose.

The croc-pony lurched back and tumbled over her tail. She cupped her hands over sore nose and whined. Then her eyes narrowed, her pupils becoming reptilian slits, and she let out a low bellow as she started a slow menacing crawl toward them. "You shouldn't have done that."

Just as the hulking reptile primed herself to lunge with one last hiss of warning, a flash of red light appeared between her and the kitchen. Prince Uriah looked from one side to the other with a stern look. "Ok, I think that's enough."

The kitchen staff breathed a sigh of relief and Chef Rouladen straightened his aching back. "Finally."

Scarlet's expression softened. Her pupils widened to that of a pony and her vicious snarl turned to a sad pout. She trotted up to Uriah and nuzzled him sweetly. "Uriah, Chef's being mean to me. Make him share." The alicorn prince simply gave her a deadpan look and raised and eyebrow. The croc-pony gently took his hoof and pressed it to her cheek. "See what he did to my nose?"

Uriah rubbed his temple. "Scarlet...we've talked about this..."

The prince was cut off by the crash of Chef Rouladen pushing through the barricade. "This can't keep happening! Look at the mess just from holding her back!" The old stallion was fuming and his moustache stood on end.

Uriah nodded as his headache doubled. "I know, I know."

"You know, you know!" The Chef parroted him in an irritated tone. "Every time she barges in here like this, we lose hours of work. Last time she ate the entire buffet for the Celebration of the Arts charity night. I was getting hounded by literal starving artists!"

Scarlet gave a soft giggle, but Uriah stamped and hushed her right up. "I'm sorry. I keep telling her not to bother you..."

Rouladen did a quick hoof motion to stop him. "No, no, no. Not bother. She could never bother me, look at her." The softening of his rant rather surprised Scarlet. The chef approached her calmly as she cautiously backed up with a spooked look in her eyes. "I adore this girl. Anything she wants, I make for her, anytime of day." He gently cupped her chin and she gave him an innocent smile. "To have somepony who loves my cooking as much as she does is what I live for." He suddenly grasped her shoulders firmly. "Yet she keeps breaking my heart with these constant assaults on my art and livelihood!"

Uriah moved to intervene as the Chef started to shake her for emphasis. The prince pried Rouladen lose and that sent Scarlet back to the floor with a thud. "Okay! Okay, I get it, I'm sorry. We both are, right?" He shot Scarlet a scolding glare and croc-pony acknowledged with a shamed nod. "Look, we stopped her getting in this time, right? Let's just all calm down, I'll take her away so you can get back to work, and we can all talk about these clear boundary issues later. Is that acceptable to you, Chef?" The old stallion straightened his hat and gave nod while keeping a stern look on Scarlet. "Scarlet, we're going."

The croc-pony got to her feet with a defeated expression. "But..." Uriah and the chef both shot her a glare that made her shiver. "Okay...I'm sorry, Chef." Her head hung low and her face hidden by her red locks, she turned to leave and that should have been the end of it. That should have been the end of it.

In the mix of groans of annoyance, some lingering argument between the Prince and Chef, and sighs of relief for the saved work, a lone remark was made amongst the din. "Fat beast."

No pony knew the dishwasher. He'd only recently started and had mostly kept to himself. The dead silence was his first warning. The second was when everypony slowly turned to stare daggers at him. Everypony except Scarlet. Scarlet was frozen in place. Then she broke the silence with another bellow, much louder than before. Uriah's ears perked up, but before he could move, Scarlet charged. She crashed into the cart, took it with her, then they both rammed into the dishwasher. If not for that cart, he'd be dead. She hissed and snapped wildly at him with the look of death in her eyes. The stallion was screaming like a frightened child, the metal cart began to bend and buckle, further pinning him to the wall as her teeth drew closer. The enraged croc-pony was moments away from ripping him apart when she suddenly vanished in a flash of red. The glow of Uriah's horn faded as continued to glare in a silent fury that was somehow even more terrifying to the traumatized dishwasher. The Prince simply turned to leave, but made one more remark to the Chef, who was also clearly furious with the whelp. "Get him OUT of my castle."

---

He knew exactly where he sent her. He would have gone after her immediately, but his mother had summoned him for some bureaucratic nonsense that wasted an hour and a half. Uriah made straight for the royal garden, Scarlet's happy place, the one place on the grounds where she could go to be safe and alone. He didn't need a trail, but she left him one. In venting her rage, Scarlet carved a path of destruction Uriah had to mend with his magic as he passed. Claw marks decorated the fountain, shrubs were trampled, and a bird path was smashed with a clear indent of her tail left in the ground. Uriah had to chuckle to himself. The trail wasn't necessary, Uriah knew exactly where she was. He made a b-line to the eastern wall and soon found himself dwarfed by a true natural wonder, the single largest rose bush in Equestria. In her first week at the castle, Scarlet tore up the old rose bush that had been there and planted the new one herself with some seeds she got from the market. No reason or warning, she just decided to start digging and, when the groundskeeper accosted her, she simply smacked him with her tail and told him he didn't do it right.

Uriah marveled at its beauty, then looked to its roots with a smile. A very familiar crocodile tail was sticking out from inside the bush. Uriah gave it a gentle tap, only for Scarlet to pull back in and give a roaring hiss. "Go away!"

The alicorn was unphased by the outburst. "You know I'm not gonna do that." His horn lit up with his magic and the bush started to shake. She went limp to try to make it difficult, but Uriah had no trouble pulling Scarlet out by her tail. She just lied there, chin in the dirt, looking glum. That's what broke Uriah's heart. If she was struggling or swiping at him, at least she'd be working it out. It was like she just gave up. He raised an eyebrow though, when he noticed something hanging out of the side of her mouth. It was long, black, furry, and had a distinct white stripe down the middle. "Uh, you've got a little something just..." He didn't get to this pointing it out before Scarlet slurped in the offending object and gulped it down, still looking bummed out. Uriah shrugged it off with a chuckle. "Well, that's one way to solve a pest problem."

She shrugged. "Well, that's me. Just a gross fat lizard." She let out a depressed snort let her face fall to the dirt.

Uriah laid beside her, inching closer when she tried to move away. "Aw, come on. You're not just those things."

She quickly raised her head and stared daggers at him. Uriah responded by giving her decisive smooch on the lips. Scarlet she partly rolled away from him, blushed and shook her head. "Darn it, Uriah! Stop being cute, I'm trying to be upset."

He just gave her a teasing grin. "Too bad." In her rush to back away, she exposed her underbelly. A moment of weakness Uriah was happy to exploit. He moved swiftly, wings out, and began to tickle her mercilessly.

"N-no!" Scarlet tried to fend him off, but his reach brought his wing tips to her sweet spots before her claws could reach him. "Hehehaha! Darn these stubby arms!" They wrestled a bit, Scarlet implementing a deathroll to try and shake him while keeping him from getting caught in her roses. They were equals in strength, but Uriah was more flexible and knew all of Scarlet's weak points. It became clear, she wasn't gonna lose him and the more natural strength she put in her laugh, the more she didn't want too. Scarlet finally caught him and held him close to her chest. "Okay, okay, I give up. You can stay...please stay with me."

Uriah gave her another kiss and took a moment to enjoy the sound of her heartbeat. "As you wish." She held his back with one hand while gently petting his mane with the other. Uriah felt like he could fall asleep in her embrace. That was their love. No matter how wild their lives became, they made each other feel safe. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get to you. Mother was lecturing me about the banquet tonight."

She blew a stray strand of hair from her face. "Prince stuff?"

"Yup." He closed his eyes and cuddled close to her. "Just a bunch of schmoozing and hobnobbing with dignitaries. Bunch of useless snobs come to stuff their faces with free food as we beg for help with the basilisks."

Scarlet allowed herself a reflexive bellow. She despised those dirt-dwelling jerks. They gave reptiles a bad name. "And it'd be hard to do that if I had destroyed the catering...again."

"Well, you didn't," He firmly answered. "You don't have anything to feel sorry about. You were just being you and I wouldn't want you any other way. I love my hungry girl." He cooed as he gently rubbed her stomach, drawing a smile, blush and purr from the croc-pony. Then there was an audible rumbling, followed by Scarlet burping in his general direction. "Oh, stars, the skunk! Ack!" Uriah coughed through the fumes and rolled off Scarlet less than gracefully. Looking embarrassed, she rolled back onto her stomach and bunched up defensively as he fought to catch his breath again. "No, no don't worry. Hwarf! I'm fine, it doesn't bother me, who needs eyesight?"

She let out a sigh "You don't...need to do that. You don't need to baby me and pretend like I'm perfect."

He cast a quick cleansing spell for the smell and his burning eyes. "You are to me." He got down next to her again. This time she lifted an arm and let him snuggle close. "Scarlet, what's the matter? I know you got your temper tested, but you're usually better after a good rampage." He gently nudged under her chin. "Talk to me."

Scarlet stared at the ground for a moment. Then she turned to Uriah and, in her odd way of affection, licked his cheek before nuzzling him fiercely. She held him tight, like she was afraid to lose him. "I don't know. That guy...he just really got to me."

"You don't need to worry about him." Uriah's eyes hardened at the thought of him. "Clay told me Chef fired him afterward, very loudly. I went down to check he was still getting raked across the coals while he was cleaning out his locker. From the looks of it, he probably wishes I had just let you eat him."

"I wasn't gonna eat him." She pouted and dragged her tail to one side.

Uriah gave her a coy look. "You were absolutely going to eat him."

Scarlet smiled and rolled her eyes. "Heh, yeah I was." She let out another sigh and started drawing circles in the dirt with her free claw. "I don't care what he said about me. I love me. I just...I feel like I don't belong here."

His eyes widened in concern. "Scarlet..."

She held up her claw. "No. No, it's true. This is the Royal Palace of Canterlot for crying out loud. Everypony and everything here is so high-class, respectable, and delicate, and I'm just lumbering around, breaking stuff, starting fights and terrorizing the staff. Then you..." She gave him a squeeze and a kiss. "Sweet, stupid, wonderful you. You rescue me, bring me into your home, into your bed." She kissed him three more times and ruffled his mane. "You should be with some fairy tale princess instead of the monster that ate her."

Now it was his turn to hold her tight. He wrapped his wings around her as far as he could. "I am the crown prince of Equestria. Do you have even the slightest idea how many mares used to come up and try to win me over? Dozens and dozens of these overly-polite, gussied up, cookie-cutter maidens who all had this same fake personality. There was the one who talks to animals, the one with the fancy shoes, the bookish one, the one with the tiger, the pretty redhead who didn't talk for some reason. I cannot express to you enough how miraculous it was when we started going together and they just stopped." Scarlet laughed her little chirping laugh and Uriah rocked her back and forth. "I would gladly turn back another hundred story-book princesses and the dowery's that come with them just to live happily ever after with the monster I fell in love with." She promptly pushed him to the ground as he laughed like a mad pony.

She gave him a teasing smile, then playfully pounced on him before going in for a big kiss. Scarlet broke it and let out a soft bellow as she pressed her forehead to his. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Always." He gently caressed her scales with his wing as she let him back to his hooves. "Now, if you're still hungry..."

"Always." She cooed with a happy swish of her tail.

Uriah smiled as he led her back to the palace. "Once Chef was done throttling the dishwasher, I may have talked him into making you something special after he's done with the banquet. A certain gumbo recipe from the swamps of home."

The way her face lit up melted his heart on the spot. "Not Bayou Brae's!"

He placed a wing on her shoulder. "We got the best and freshest crawfish, shrimp, blue crab and oysters, a whole big pot, just for you. I even sent out for their signature seasoning. Told them to use that special pepper blend you like, the one with the waiver."

Scarlet shivered a bit as her mouth watered. "When you get back from that party, first I'm gonna destroy that gumbo, then I'm gonna rock your world."

"Oh my." Uriah pretended to swoon and leaned on Scarlet for support. Scarlet responded by swooping under him and lifting him onto her back. They laughed themselves silly and enjoyed the time they had before Uriah was swept away to his royal duties again.

---

Uriah helped himself to another cupcake. "It goes on after that, but it gets kind of saucy and I really don't feel comfortable telling that part."

Pinkie sat with her back to his and drank from a mini carton of chocolate milk. She licked off her milk-moustache before responding. "You two were so cute together and those roses were beautiful. "

He let out a little laugh. "Yeah, Scarlet was really proud of them. There was one time some rogue florist tried to steal some seeds from it so she dragged him through the palace, did a powerslam off a second story balcony and crashed through a fruit stand. Broke every bone in his body. Wait...how would you have seen the..." Uriah puzzled for a moment, but just shook his head. "Never mind." He sighed and leaned into the softness of her curls. "I miss her. Her laugh, her smile, all the cute moments, they're all gone and I don't think I'm ever going to stop missing them." He held her hoof. "But I've got you now. When I look in your eyes, see your smile, or just have moments like this one, it feels...different, but still right. Like I couldn't be anywhere else but with you."

She settled against him and gave a contented sigh. "I feel the same way. Whenever you're not around, I get so worried and my tummy starts doing cartwheels. Then when I see you again, my heart just explodes like a hundred party cannons going off at once and it feels like this huge weight just lifts off me." Pinkie quickly swiveled around and hugged Uriah with all her might. "I love you."

Uriah smiled warmly and gave her a loving nuzzle. "I love you too." His moment of peace was interrupted by a distinct snort and the sound of heavy steps approaching. The alicorn didn't move from his bliss, but turned his red eyes ahead of them. The dark shape that had been haunting him was approaching them. "Not again."

"No...not again..." It was familiar, but distorted by the haze, which gradually lifted. The blurred shadow cleared away as the figure approached. She had a sort of glow about her and her eyes were very tired, but Uriah recognised her instantly. Scarlet smiled warmly. "Hey, love."

Uriah sat up, but almost fell from the weakness in his knees. It was as if he'd walked an entire desert and was seeing water again for the first time. "Scarlet?"

They stared at each other for a moment, then Pinkie curiously joined at Uriah's side. "That's her?" The earth pony was absolutely transfixed on the croc hybrid.

Uriah gave Pinkie a baffled look. "You see her too?"

"That's because you're not crazy." Scarlet came closer, moving with a slight unsteadiness. "It's not an illusion. None of us were."

The alicorn pondered her meaning. "The necropolis...Cadance said they weren't spirits, just echoes projected from the mind..."

Scarlet laughed her chirping laugh that he loved. "For normal folks. You on the other hoof have certain friends overseeing the life hereafter that were willing to tweak that old primordial placebo so you could get the real thing."

Pinkie hushed a giggle. "You were right, she does have an awesome laugh." She took a moment to circle Scarlet and eye her over. "She's so pretty. Oh, I love your hair."

Scarlet smiled, shook her head, and gave Pinkie a side hug. "You're pretty awesome yourself. You smell amazing." She released her and motioned for her to return to Uriah's side. "You hold on to her, Uriah. She's a keeper."

Uriah felt a pain in his chest. "So were you..." His eyes were starting to well up with tears. "Scarlet, I was going to..."

"I know." She dried his eyes, smiling warmly while trying to hide the pain in her own. "Once I died, your mother's spell was broken. We've all been with you."

The pale alicorn felt a lump in his throat. "You know what I've been doing."

Scarlet pressed her forehead to his. "All I'm gonna say is that I'm with you. No matter what happens." Motes of light left her form as she began to vanish. "You saved me and, in doing so, made a monster beautiful to everyone we met."

Uriah began to break. "I didn't do anything Scarlet...you did it all."

She gave him one last kiss. "The great hero...always saving everypony even when they don't think they need it, finding light in the darkest places. You made this world better, and it was my greatest pleasure to love you and to catch the light coming off you while I could." The last of her image faded, as the wisps of light flew off into the sunset.

Uriah, stricken with the most intense pain as the pent up grief and anguish left his body like a burst floodgate, screamed to the heavens and collapsed.

Pinkie was there to catch him.

Author's Note:

Yay! I finally concluded the ghost ark. Thank you all for being patient. I find myself getting pulled into new hobbies and my time being diverted, but I will finish this story!

Okay, I love you, goodbye.

(Edit P.S.)
By the way, if anyone was interested, I think I found the perfect voice for Scarlet.

Comments

[jakuwolf122]

Wait wait wait if that room with the magic mirror under the crystal empire brings back the spirits of the past and they were all dead and Scarlet didn't show up then does that mean she might still be alive?!

[shademaster24601]

11592435
No, baby girl's dead. She just wasn't ready to say goodbye yet.

But don't worry. Like the man said, "no one's ever really gone."

[TheVirtuousOne]

So, I just read through this whole story in one day, and I don't regret it! I'm actually scandalised that your story hasn't gained more traction, it's been a great story so far.

I personally love that Celestia is portrayed as a flawed individual, the duality of her, Uriah and their angst is a really unique subplot that I haven't seen before.

Can't wait to see what you do with our dashing anti-hero next!

[shademaster24601]

11611295
You're the second person to use that exact phrasing. Like it's always been positive, but it's never blown up. But it always ends up on a few new lists every time a chapter goes up.

Thank you and stay tuned, we're approaching the witching hour.