Bonding
Princess Celestia was many things to many ponies. Her title was most obvious; A monarch in charge of a country and all ponies and non, living therein. To academics she was known as a scholar, knowing more than most ponies alive and sharing what she knew with those with enough persistence to find the small gaps in her schedule. Though Aegis had not experienced it himself, it was taken as read that in the past she had been a General, a tactician, and a peerless warrior. He quietly mused that she must have been many more things in her lifetime. A friend; A lover; Would she ever have been a mother?
With a violent shake of his head Aegis dislodged the thought threatening to consume his mental faculties and turned his attention back to the place he’d found himself in this morning: the throne room. Celestia’s requests hovered in the back of his mind, but between answering noble’s questions about the Princess’ state and a truly nightmarish amount of logistic paperwork that he hadn’t ever known Celestia dealt with on an almost daily basis, he simply hadn’t been able to find the time to fulfill said requests. It had taken him till the early morning hours to sort through it all, and after a quick catnap he’d set off back on his original quest.
That is, before he was roped into lending credence to that morning’s court. Sunny Scrolls handled most of the actual goings on therein but it was his duty to help make sure daily life in Canterlot proceeded in as normal a manner as it possibly could. A hopeless task by the looks of it. The throne room was packed to the brim with all manner of creatures coming forward with all manner of issues. Most notably, if it could be called notable, was a bright-eyed young stallion who nevertheless brought with him dire news of problems with the construction of the railway to the south because of lack of oversight from the capitol.
For no discernable reason, he felt ill at ease. Ever since the attack, there was an edge to his senses that made the small amount of sleep he got fitful, and had seen him a hair's breadth away from accusing otherwise innocent ponies of crimes against Equestria several times. He tried to calm himself with the knowledge that the castle security had been doubled, and that any possibly assailants would have to go through a whole cadre of guards before they got to the Princess. Even so, especially here, with a large group of ponies he couldn’t immediately place, he found himself constantly looking for any hint or sign that could point to ponies with ill intentions. There had to be more than just the few that had attempted a direct assault. There were too many variables and the would-be assassins had been third-rate to say the least.
Celestia meant different things to him as well. First and foremost, she was his charge. Supposedly. For a time he had thought it preposterous; A mare so powerful that she literally kept the world going was going to be protected by a mere stallion like himself? Romantic chivalrous ideals aside, he’d considered it laughable. Then, it had simply become a matter of course. But before now, he had never honestly considered his guardianship necessary.
That, he thought, was the crux of the issue.
Celestia had always tried to explain her decisions, to get ponies to understand why she made certain choices rather than dismissing their objections or worries out of hoof like so many of the conceited nobles were wont to do. The young filly’s arrival had seemingly changed something in that dynamic. Where Twilight was concerned, she seemed fully committed to continuing her mentoring ways, but did so by setting up problems to solve rather than handing her the answer. On the other hoof, Celestia had seemingly shed some of the leniency she was willing to give those that questioned her, himself included.
With that also came one of the other rarely seen roles Celestia supposedly had: That of a delegator. Even before he was old enough to truly understand what it meant, there had been ponies who called the Princess a control freak. To his shame, he had even believed it in his teenage years. The gossip painted Celestia as a mare who never wanted to let go of any shred of her authority. Some speculated it was for fear of losing control of the country to the nobles, others that it was her only pleasure in life; lording over others, and some of the crazies even dared suggest that she had power only because so many ponies believed she did, and that she might well disappear should ponies stop believing. After becoming a guard but before his promotion to a personal one, he had devoted a lot of his spare time to try and dispel such baseless conjecture, though with the clarity of hindsight he now realised he might only have been making the problem worse.
Which made it all the more remarkable that Celestia had immediately passed over control of the guards. She was weakened because of the attack, to be sure, but the perpetrators would have kept until she had recovered. He caught himself grimacing and with a long since ingrained discipline pulled his face back into the impassive stare that all guards ought to have.
Thinking about the one had invariably brought him to the other one. The big one. The one label he had never thought would apply to his Princess: Vulnerable.
He himself didn’t know if he scanned the room again merely to distract himself and put off thinking about his greatest failure for a few fleeting moments, or if he was genuinely worried that more might be forthcoming. Perhaps it was both. Again, he came up empty. There were a few pegasi that had taken off to try and look over the crowd, but they were already being confronted by the guards stationed around the sides. A minotaur was making quite the scene by dint of his volume alone, but the ‘taur seemed genuinely sorry when somepony pointed it out to him. The one thing that might actually qualify as a potential threat was a small group of ponies -obviously nobles- who were muttering discontentedly on the side, but even they weren’t really a threat in the way Aegis was worried about.
Celestia was strong. Powerful. Politically, physically, magically. She was quite literally the pony that kept the world turning in more ways than one. For the longest time she had seemed invincible for all intents and purposes, to the point Aegis himself, and he guessed Rook as well, had become lax in their duties. After all, who in their right mind would want to attack the one keeping the sun and moon in check, while also being aware that they would never get away with it even if they managed to do any kind of damage?
Yet they had. Worse, they’d almost succeeded in their task. At the mere thought he felt the clenching of his heart and the constricting of his throat that made it hard to breathe. They had only gotten as close as they did because he hadn’t done his job properly. He should have made a note of the fact that there were ponies besides Twilight and that insufferable colt in that room. It should have alarmed him that he hadn’t been told. He should have insisted on searching them so as to assure himself that they weren’t carrying anything dangerous on them. But he had grown lax. He had allowed himself to believe that he was little more than decoration because nothing could harm Princess Celestia.
A high pitched ‘ding’ startled him out of his ruminations. Sunny Scrolls had told him before court started that she had turned to a sort of gong to quiet the room and mark important proclamations, but it still caught him off guard. “That is all we have time for today, ponies. For those came out to plead their own cases or others’, we thank you. For anyone who hasn’t yet gotten a turn, please be patient, we will resume first thing in the morning.”
Aegis watched ponies file out of the room, and then sighed. There had been a few minor infractions and one major problem which had seen them escort a stallion who appeared quite mad out of the castle, but overall court had been uneventful. As a result he had probably seen more of the inside of his own head than he would have preferred.
“Miss Scrolls,” he said by way of acknowledgement when he arrived back at the bottom of the dais. The recently promoted mare was doing an admirable job as far as he was concerned. She perhaps almost reached the level of Celestia herself when it came to knowledge about the various subjects that were brought up in court, though she lacked the political savvy and had a certain brusqueness about her in her many dealings. None could have done as well as she had, but she looked haggard and as worn out as Aegis felt.
“Aegis,” she replied absently, going through her many stacks of papers that she seemed to carry everywhere these days. It took a few moments before she truly looked at him. When she did so, she opened her mouth in an unasked question but in the end shook her head and said: “You said you had orders from the Princess? You had best get back to them.”
Blinking stupidly, Aegis searched his memory for any orders he might have received. They came to him shortly, the one about finding Twilight and relaying Rook’s promotion to him. It was perhaps a minor oversight on his part, but the simple fact that he had forgotten in the first place worried him greatly.
He pushed the thought aside, telling himself that it was just the lack of sleep and with a barely audible ‘thanks’ set off in search of his companion guard.
“Rook. You’re acting Captain of the Guard, effective as of yesterday.” Aegis began matter-of-factly.
It had taken him the better part of an hour making his way through the castle while dodging nobles to even find Rook. The burly guard was walking in the opposite direction. Oddly the nobles parted for him like ferns, not one bothering him with the question Aegis had been answering the day before.
The reason became clear once Aegis got closer. Rook’s expression was a mixture of exhaustion and barely checked anger, a proverbial thundercloud following in his footsteps. Not as easily cowed as the nobles, Aegis walked beside him for a time, trying both to ensure himself that everything was alright, as well as await an answer.
Rook simply walked on without saying a word.
Aegis knew him to be economical with his words at the best of times. Rook was often terse and sometimes brusque, but never before had he declined to answer. At least, not when Aegis was the one making conversation. With two quick hops and one jump to the side he put himself in Rook’s path, and stopped his longtime colleague and friend with a hoof. “You okay?”
Rook face distorted into a sneer which was quickly suppressed, and Rook made an effort to present his normal stoic facade. “I’m fine. Message received.” A brief silence passed between them before Rook opened his mouth again. “If she gave the order yesterday, why am I only hearing about it now?”
Aegis scratched the back of his neck, looking past Rook at the gaggle of remaining ponies. Most were moving on, likely having somewhere better to be, but there were a few supposedly ‘noble’ ponies that seemed to have nothing better to do than hang around gossiping; though why they’d do that in this particular hallway was a mystery to him. Or perhaps they were hoping for more things to gossip about.
A stinging behind his eyes again reminded him of how tired he was.
He leaned in a little closer, lowering his voice to match: “I got held up. Nosey nobles wanting to know how the Princess was doing. Talking recruit down from self-induced panic. Paperwork. More than I ever thought possible because apparently this entire place stops working if the Princess doesn’t do at least something; and she apparently never took the time to delegate any of it. Not to mention standing guard in court with Miss Scrolls who looks about ready to drop dead herself.”
“And that’s important enough to ignore the Princess’ orders for a day? You could have sent somepony to relay the message.”
“That... hadn’t occurred to me,” Aegis said after trying and failing to come up with a satisfying retort. “Sorry, I’ve not been feeling a hundred percent lately.”
Rook grunted. “Me neither. You feeling hungrier?”
“More tired than hungry.”
They set off again, leaving the more crowded halls of the castle behind. It was three corridors down towards Celestia’s bedroom before Aegis remembered that Celestia had asked one other thing of him. “The Princess also asked me to bring Twilight to her.”
Another noncommittal grunt from Rook.
“I thought she was with you,” Aegis continued, feeling a little miffed himself at having to deal with Rook’s out of sorts temper on top of everything else. “Where is she?”
“I left her with Mead. Said he’d take care of her. He’s welcome to the little pest.” Rook gave a one shouldered shrug. “She’s the last thing the Princess needs right now.”
“And you’re deciding for the Princess now, are you?” Aegis asked, his hackles rising at the notion of disobeying a direct order.
“Our job is to protect the Princess and right now she needs to be protected from herself.”
“She asked me to—”
“Which is as good as a command, is it?” Rook interrupted, stepping up to him. “Ever since that filly arrived things have been changing. Quickly. Too quickly for my liking. And every time she’s involved, the Princess has gotten hurt in some way.”
“She of all ponies knows what she’s doing. If she wants to see Twilight then it’s my— our job to—” Aegis turned away, half-formed plans to go and find the young filly already assembling in his mind.
"You know she can be wrong.” Rook called after him. “She’s not thinking clearly. Especially when it concerns that filly. It’s not happening. Now, as your commanding officer, I order you to stand down and go back to guarding the Princess as is your duty.”
Aegis stopped. Bristling. He turned back. “You know the Princess only made you acting captain because we’re in this mess. You don’t get to pull rank on me.”
The silence that followed lasted too long to be called ‘comfortable’. When Rook spoke next, it was little more than a low growl. “I don’t have to. Standing Orders take precedence, and you know it. And being in the middle of this mess is exactly when we all need to follow orders. Now, follow yours, or I’ll make an example of you.”
“An example—?” Aegis puffed himself up and getting in Rook’s face. “Screw you, Rook. It’s your job as much as it is mine to do what the Princess asks of us to the best of our abilities. We’re not just guards, you and I. We are the ponies she trusts most and we have an obligation to help make sure that everything’s still standing when she recovers. Besides...” He smiled a cocksure smile. “We both know you couldn’t make an example out of me if you wanted to.”
It wasn’t a bluff, or even really a threat. While Rook most definitely beat every other guard when it came to pure stamina, Aegis was simply the more skilled in close quarters combat and they both knew it. That didn’t stop Rook from throwing a punch in his direction though.
The punch was fast, but Aegis was faster; adrenaline burning away the exhaustion he had carried with him throughout the day. He ducked under his opponent’s hoof and retaliated with a headbutt to the chest. It might have done more damage to his head than it did to Rook who, like all guards, wore a protective chest plate, while Aegis had neglected to wear his helmet. It did knock Rook back a ways, however, which helped him gain some distance and get into a proper combat stance.
They started circling one another, trading feints while looking for an opening in the other’s defenses. Aegis spun around and kicked at Rook with his hind legs. There was a strange sort of satisfaction when he felt the blow connect, followed by worry when he heard Rook grunt of exertion. Not because he’d hurt his friend with the blow, but rather because Rook had received it rather than dodging out of the way. He worried that Rook might be planning something, so when he saw something move in the periphery of his vision, he didn’t think. He simply reacted.
He spun and again struck with his hind legs, immediately recoiling in pain. He would have sworn he had tried to knock down one of the castle walls were he not a hundred percent convinced that he and Rook had been in the middle of the hallway. Biting back his pain with a grimace, he turned around and came face to face with an irate Princess who seemed just as immovable, sleek pink hair and all.
“That’s quite enough.” The Princess said coolly. She straightened and turned around on the spot. “Both of you follow me.”
“Princess, I’m—”
A white wing extended in front of him. “I gave you an order, Aegis.”
Both Aegis and Rook fell in line immediately. Their previous animosity extinguished like a candle in a storm. It was almost as if everything had gone back to the way it was supposed to be.
Almost.
The three made the trek back to Celestia’s bedroom in silence, the only exchange being a pair of glances between Rook and Aegis. The sudden appearance of the Princess had been like a breath of fresh air for the both of them, and neither of them could really explain why they had fought. Though they both knew they would likely be forced to try in the near future.
“Come in.” Celestia’s voice was soft when they arrived at the door that lead to her sanctuary, like all of the anger had drained from her as well. The two of them followed behind her and stood at attention after thirty paces. Celestia sat down on a pillow near the center of the room and fixed them with a piercing look that seemed to go straight through to the deepest reaches of their soul. “You two fought,” she said as though their little tussle was common knowledge espoused by newspapers and town criers everywhere.
“Yes, Princess.” Rook stepped forward before Aegis got the chance to reply. He hung his head low and might have prostrated himself fully had Celestia not put a stop to it with a gesture of her wing. “My deepest apologies, Princess. I am not myself today. Not only did I get into a fight with Aegis, I slept for almost half the day and was remiss in my duties during that time; on top of which I failed to properly supervise Twilight even before that. Please punish me as you see fit.”
“Safe to say you feel much the same, Aegis?” Celestia asked with a sigh.
Aegis quickly nodded. “Not the oversleeping part, but... Yes, Princess.”
“I was afraid of that.” Celestia replied, looking for the first time in a while, like the weight of the world was catching up with her. “This is my fault, after a fashion,” she said after a long pause. “I should have addressed this before it became a problem. My apologies to you both.”
Aegis’ heart climbed to the back of his throat and threatened to jump out. Something he could only avoid by swallowing it back down, though it still hammered like someone had turned it into a drum. Did the Princess know about his feelings? Was she sorry because she was going to dismiss him? Or even both of them? Was one fight really all it took? “P-princess,” he began, stammering and tripping over his words. “I’m truly, truly, sorry for my... for my conduct. I promise I’ll...”
He shut himself up when Celestia raised an eyebrow. She looked away from the pair for the first time and absently licked her lips. “Aegis,” she began “And you too, Rook. Both of you have been outstanding. More so than I would have dared hope when I selected you, and especially in these past few weeks.”
“Princess...” Aegis felt it, and even Rook seemed to be taken aback by Celestia’s praise. It didn’t feel right, especially after what had just happened.
“I should have explained all of this when I chose the two of you, but I was too preoccupied with the passing of your predecessors to give that notion the due thought it required.” Celestia went on, ignoring him. “I’m sure both of you are aware that you two are not like other ponies?”
They nodded in unison. “Hard not to be, Princess. The comparisons to Steel Heart and Bastion are frequent enough as to have become bothersome.” Rook said with a snort that almost resembled a laugh.
Aegis, not to be outdone by his compatriot, added: “The leading theory is specially enchanted armor. That ours is somehow superior to the armor of the other guards. The few that disagree speculate that you take the power from every pony that has ever been your personal guard and pass it on to the next one to earn the position. Then there are the crackpots who talk about dark magicks stolen from ancient gods and eldritch horrors which require virgin sacrifices and the like.”
There was a glimmer of interest in Celestia’s eyes as she said: “Now that would be something indeed. What do the two of you believe?”
Aegis scratched the back of his neck. “I’m not sure what to believe, Princess. After almost twenty years of being a guard, I fear I know less now than I did when I started.” He paused for a moment. “Or perhaps more accurately, I know that there’s a lot I don’t know. But if I had to guess, I would think that you enchanted not the armor as there is no change when I take it off, but us instead?” His uncertainty shone through and he smiled apologetically.
“Rook?”
“I agree with Aegis on this, Your Majesty. All else I’ve heard around the barracks seems way too complicated to actually be viable. Though I don’t recall any intricate enchantment taking place when we swore our oath after...” He petered out and shrugged. “A stab in the dark.”
Celestia smiled, somewhat coldly. “You are not far from the truth,” she replied gravely. “I did bestow power on Steel Heart and Bastion, as I did you two.”
“Princess, permission to speak freely?” Rook asked after a few seconds of silence.
The room fell silent for what felt like an age while Celestia regarded him thoughtfully. “Granted.”
“While I understand that this might be... pleasant for your state of mind... don’t we have more important matters to be worried about? According to what Aegis said, Miss Scrolls is about ready to throw in the towel. Yesterday there were nobles calling for the Duchess’ head; ponies in the streets are worried the dragons will return at any moment. And I half believe Twilight Sparkle might level the entire city to the ground before any of that if she isn't reined in.” He paused for breath and quickly licked his lips to wet them. “We need you back in charge as quickly as possible, Princess, and for that you need to rest. The country might simply collapse if you do not return forthwith.”
Celestia shook her head. “I understand what you are saying, and while I agree that those things are important. This is moreso.”
“But, Princess—” Rook didn’t seem to want to give up easily.
“What of the ponies that have seen the two of you fight?” Celestia interrupted him. “What do you think they’ll say?” She punctuated her sentence with a rather uncharacteristic agitated flap of her wings. “What if either of you lost your temper and hit somepony that doesn’t have the training or power to withstand it? Just this...” she made a gesture with her hoof “Is going to spawn rumors. How even the Princess’ guards are at each other's throats because things are so dire.”
Aegis felt the shame up to his ears. He hadn’t thought about what fighting might mean in the long term. He hadn’t thought much of anything at all at the time. But before he could say anything Celestia had already moved on.
“Regardless. Right now, this is most important. Not just for the country, but yourselves as well.” Again she fell silent, looking at the two of them for a time. There was something in her expression, her eyes, that neither of them could grasp.
At last, she spoke again. “Have either of you considered how long you would want to be a guard for?” The question came out of the blue, but both guards replied in an instant.
“My life is yours, Princess.”
“As long as I live, Princess.”
Celestia, however, looked less than thrilled by the answer. She sighed sadly and shook her head. “Neither of you understand what you are saying. How could you? Barely forty cycles...” She got up with a start. “Would your answer be the same if you were to live for two hundred years? Three hundred? Four? A millennium?” She asked, agitation increasing in pace with the rising numbers. She moved suddenly. Walking over to the balcony doors; throwing them open with enough force to shatter the glass in them and stepping outside, leaving the two flabbergasted stallions behind.
With a passing glance at his comrade, Aegis followed the Princess outside. Going by the clopping of hooves on marble, Rook wasn’t far behind. They stopped next to each other much like how they’d stood indoors, a synchronicity born out of familiarity and training.
Aegis tried to piece together what the Princess had said in his head but couldn’t make heads nor tails of it.
The Princess was seated near the railing, looking up at the evening sky when they stepped onto the balcony. The silence again dragged on until Rook finally cleared his throat audibly. “Ahem... Princess?”
“Forgive me, it is painful for me to recall the last time I had this conversation.” the Princess said in a hoarse voice that disappeared once she cleared her throat in turn. “Two decades late, and still it feels like it’s too soon.” She turned around and looked back at them. “The point I was trying to make... and tormenting myself with, is that Steel Heart and Bastion were almost three hundred years old when they died. The point is that both of you could potentially live longer than they did.”
Rook and Aegis reacted according to expectations: bewildered and confused. And why wouldn’t they be? Most ponies got to be anywhere between a hundred and a hundred and twenty, with most of them retiring around ninety. For guards, ninety was already past the point of old. Most guards usually retired around seventy-five years of age when their strength began to fail them, though some extraordinary ones made it a smidge past eighty. Three hundred was so far outside of the realm of ponies' expectations that it must have sounded like pure fantasy.
Aegis wordlessly worked his jaw before finally asking: “But, Princess, how would that even work?”
“You are both aware of the trinary domains that govern pony magical abilities, yes?” Celestia stated more than asked. She knew they knew. What was important was framing their reference point for what came next.
“Magical forces corresponding to a tribe each. Yes, Princess,” Aegis answered for the pair, confused as to why the Princess was asking them about things every foal learned in school.
“A full explanation would take far too long, but in a nutshell: Vitality, virility, and life expectancy, as well as physical strength and resilience fall under the earth pony domain. There was an arduous and complicated ritual I performed in times immemorial which created a bond between me and they whom I choose as my protectors. It’s a little more complicated than that, obviously, but it means that I transfer a miniscule amount of my magical reserves to the two of you to boost that particular domain, with a boost to everything that entails as a consequence. It’s also why you didn’t see any ‘intricate enchantments’ as you put it.”
“So the reason we’re...” Rook made a helpless gesture with a hoof. “Tired and hungry... hungrier than normal, is because... your magic is depleted?”
Celestia shook her head slowly. “Yes and no. I have sufficiently recovered that the flow of magic should have resumed. However, the... unique circumstances of the last couple of weeks with my condition as it was might have caused the connection to be interrupted intermittently, and in turn damaged it.”
“Why us?” Aegis asked, switching tracks completely. “I know for a fact that there were better candidates around back when you chose us.”
Celestia showed them a hint of a smile. “No there weren’t.” She replied after waving to the passing flock of Pegasi guards. “Stronger ones, perhaps. Arguably more capable ones, though I’m not so sure about that; but even if there were I’d made my choice long before then.”
“You did?” Rook seemed to be losing the struggle against his disbelief, shaking his head. “That can’t be. Princess, you spent the entire day watching all of us go through trial after trial, after trial. It took you more than an hour when we lined up at the end before you chose us. How and when you could possibly have—?”
Celestia waved the question away with a hoof. “Months before? Years? I don’t quite remember. I was mourning your predecessors at the time, if you’ll recall. Yes, I made you two and all of your peers go through such trials even though I needn’t have. I’m sorry to say I wasn’t entirely in the right state of mind at the time.” She sighed and smiled the most genuine smile either of them had seen from her all day. “You haven’t yet given me cause to regret my decision.”
She then turned away from them and looked out over the landscape once more. “You both have a choice to make. One I should have put before you twenty years ago. As it stands, you two will already live far longer than most. To around two-hundred years old at least. Maybe three. If you choose to continue serving as my guards, that number could theoretically keep growing indefinitely. Should you so choose, however, I can also remove the enchantment from you right now, though that will also mean giving up your position. Regardless of your choice, I would ask that neither of you speak of this to anypony else.”
“This changes nothing, Princess,” Aegis said confidently. “I swore to protect you and I will do that for as long as I am able.”
Celestia turned around just in time to see Rook nodding beside his companion. “My life is yours, Princess.” The stoic stallion murmured, repeating his vow from earlier. She sighed in relief from stress she hadn’t known she was suffering under.
She nodded back at the both of them. “Then... I am grateful for your dedication, my friends.” Taking a moment to gather her thoughts, she showed them the most beatific smile she could muster. “Please follow me.” She made her way back inside and the two dutifully followed along, stopping only briefly when Celestia made straight for the bathroom.
Aegis, try though he might, could not keep his eyes off of the tail of his sovereign. It dragged along the ground behind her like a soft, pink, waterfall. Its consistency alone was enough to make him think, but his eyes kept wandering up to where her tail ended and her behind began. Right up to the moment that he noticed a few strands of more sunrise-colored hair that stood out from the rest of it. They softly waved back and forth on an unseen solar wind and looked to Aegis as though it was a wagging finger, admonishing him for his actions. They were not appropriate for a guard. He knew as much, but it still took that little extra push for him to avert his eyes. He looked to his side to see if Rook had noticed any of it, but his companion had his usual stone faced thousand-yard-stare.
Stepping into the bathroom, Celestia made a beeline for a small runed cabinet that Aegis had never seen before. Not that he had seen anything in the Princess’ bathroom before, but the coarse wood of the cabinet felt out of place with the marble and gold that made up the rest of it. She took out several small stones, a crystal, and even some herbs, and then stepped into the bath. Moving forward, she tossed something into the bath every few steps, after which she suddenly vanished into the deep end with a splash. Half in a daze, Aegis was convinced he—they were supposed to follow her and swim to some secret room or some such thing, but before long she resurfaced.
It was like a scene from one of Aegis’ dreams. The ones he didn’t share with Rook. He already considered Celestia to be the most beautiful mare in existence, but right at this moment she looked absolutely divine. He was reminded of the swan comparison he had heard some nobles gossip about. He had thought them rude and idiotic then, but now, witnessing the curve of her neck and the soft feathers on her wings as she broke the water’s surface he felt like they were on to something. Another look to his side revealed that even Rook had moments where he couldn’t help but gawk. That, perhaps more than anything, made Aegis laugh.
It was also where the dream ended and reality reasserted itself. It started with Celestia cursing softly and awkwardly pushing the limp hair that had obscured her face to the side and behind her ears. “Please, both of you, join me,” she said mere moments thereafter, making Aegis unsure if it might not be some weird variation on his dreams.
“I have to refuse, Princess,” Rook replied next to him. “If anypony were to come in...”
Biting his lip hard enough to draw blood, Aegis shot his companion a look of unadulterated fury. Proper or not, Celestia’s invitation truly was like a dream come true. She preempted him doing anything, however, by laughing softly and rolling her eyes.
“Wherever your head is at, Rook, I believe it needs a good scrubbing.” She raised one of her hooves out of the water, holding a few strands of pinkish hair. “With the right combination of salts, herbs and an enchanted crystal, the water will act as a catalyst and guide both. It’ll help me locate and inspect the ley-lines in your bodies, which should hopefully lead me to the damaged ones without too much effort on my part. Were I not injured I wouldn’t need to ask, but this sort of delicate operation in particular requires much of me.” Tapping a hoof against her chin, she added: “Because my magic is weakened in the way that it is, I will instead be using the magic in your bodies, guiding and coaxing it to flow to and heal the breakages. It will tire you out completely, but that, too, is crucial.”
“Besides...” she continued with a twinkle in her eyes. “I’ve been told, rather recently at that, that bathing together is one of the ‘funnest’ things one can do.”
Aegis felt torn, but not for the same reasons Rook apparently was. On the one hoof, he could barely follow the magical terms the Princess was using, making him feel like she was a wizened arch-mage that definitely knew what she was talking about. On the other, the way her mane fell over her face, framing her remaining fuchsia eye such that it took his breath away; and the soft giggle he was sure he heard her make... Her playful demeanour was unlike anything he’d ever seen from the creature he knew as Celestia. Part of him wondered if she wasn’t instead a devilish seductress, set on beguiling the two of them.
He wasn’t sure he really cared. What his father had always said was true, a beautiful mare could make any motion seem beguiling; and he was thoroughly beguiled.
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YEY!!!!!
Update? Wait, wha, Okay then. thank you for the update and now to reread this. I have no idea what's going on anymore
It updated!?!?!?!? Aaaaaaaah!!!!! Hugs the ever living floof outta the author!!
Oof...ya I gotta reread it too...been a while. Hehehe. But SO WORTH THE WAIT!!! FRICKEN LOVE THIS STORY!!
It's alive!
Alive!
Alive!
(hug) Poor Celestia.
I am so lost. Proper post once I reread.
Welcome back!
What in Tartarus?! This story lives!!
Holy shit this story lives!
Celestia seducing and potentially clop with her guards... is good to be alive
Wow, such a treat to get another chapter to one of my favorite stories. Many thanks!
What is this?! A wild update has appeared!
Loved the chapter, specially the bath scene.
Happy to see you are back to writing!
World building? Hell yeah! May I have another, please?
Nice to see this back, I should probably reread everything else to remember the wonders of this work :)
*WolfGrin* Nice to see you back!!!!!!
9879680
Yep, same here.
It warms my cold mechanical heart to see old unfinished stories come back from years of inactivity. Thank you.
What? I've caught up? Disaster!
'tis an excellent story you've written here, i look forward to seeing more of it.
Thanks for the update glad this is not dead
Jaw: dropped.
9879063
Yes, this. Yes.
To make matters worse, I haven't read the story in the past.
I definitely had missed out.
Like, Favorite and Watchlist!
Reason: I enjoy lively stories, and this is one of the best examples I have seen so far.
Your Characters are well written and I can basically see them in my mind's eye even though never having seen them before.
And most importantly... you made a dam grown man cry, man! I cried when I read this story, and I am proud of it!
<3
Hey! it's good to see you again. I'll definitely check this new chapter out soon, I just need to get through some actual library books first.
Welcome back, it's good to see this continued
Banziiiiiiiiiiiii
Okay Celestia feels well enough to troll, so she must be fine.
IT'S BACK! MAGNIFICENT!
Aegis, admit it, regardless of what you do, you're doomed.
Hmm. Somepony's a tail male!
Been wondering how long before you slapped the more oblivious readers in the face with what those little hints you've been dropping for the last several chapters meant.
Wonder what Rook actually had planned. Unless it actually was blocking with the Princess, in which case, well done.
Oh man, I'm glad to know this story still has some life in it. I hope this update fortells more to come.
It's neat to finally get a chapter from Aegis's point of view, and with some interesting lore to boot. I wonder if Celestia has this sort of bond magic with anyone else, especially non-earth ponies. Would a pegasus's life be extended similarly?
Happy to see this update. Filly!Twilight is adorable and seeing the palace from her POV always fun.
It's heeeere! I actually clapped irl. Heck ♥
Before this story ends. I WANT to see aegis do one of the following:
A. Kiss celestia.
B. Proclaim his love to her without him knowing shes there listening.
C. accidentally get wing boner because celestia did something alluring to tease him
Also. I am beyond the stars with happiness. Getting to see this update was so worth the wait
Oh wow. Ok all reread and this was a fun chapter. It’s interesting to see what allowed them to keep there crazy schedual qithout having psychotic episodes.
Nice chapter. Interesting to see the tension the Royal Guard are undergoing to see their sovereign in such dire straits.
Will this story finish before the next massive solar storm smashes into the Earth and burns out all modern electronics, thus leading to the total collapse of civilization and the rise of the Crab People?
9925207
Probably not.
9925390 Oh well, I guess I'll have no choice but to serve our new overlords...
CRAAAAAAB people... CRAAAAAAAB people (taste like crab, talk like people) CRAAAAAB people...
9925390
Here’s hope for 2020!!
Thank you for this story.
I’m so glad you did what you did with this chapter and finally getting Aegis’s point of view. I knew those slightly romantic hints you had been dropping the past few chapters weren’t my imagination. Hopefully something comes of his feelings and they get together somehow cuz that would be super cute. A kiss or proclamation of love by Aegis would be cute and funny. I just hope they get together. I love how you write Aegis as well.
Woo it’s been years since I last left a comment on a story but this one I just have to do it.
To make it simple I like this fic I have watched many unfinished stores go just like that unfinished.
Ether the author lost their drive, life got in the way, OR in the most sad of examples is no longer with us.
I would just like to say thank you for still (if not offten) updating this fic for the last 6 years.
10009206
Agree completely. I haven't checked my 'Favorites' in a while, story is not in 'Tracking' so I didn't know about the new one. I was just chillin looking through some oldies, when I noticed a 'unread' in this one. Hope to see more soon!
Any clue when the next chapter is coming out? I'm looking forward to reading more!
Great storyline!
2013 was a long time ago
Before I begin I will like to apologise for any mistake that might make reading this wall of text difficult. English is not my native language, so I’m prone to making mistakes. Meaning that I will understand if you prefer to not waste your time trying to understand my ramblings
.
Now that’s out of the way:
After adding this fic to my favourites (aka, the list of fics I need to read) all the way back in 2019 when the most recent update dropped. I finally found time in March of this year to start reading this fic. And today (well the 3rd of Jun, I wasn’t able to finish writing this until today), 3 months later, I finally finished reading all of it. And I have to say, I dreaded arriving to the last word of the last update ever since I began reading this fic.
The moment I saw this fic in the update section, I knew it was going to be special. Maybe it was the tittle, the cover art, number of upvotes, maybe a combination of everything I mentioned, or none of them. What ever it was, something told me this fic was special, and when I click and saw when the first chapter was published, I knew exactly what. This fic is old, is from back in the day, from 2013, published a little over 10 months after I joined the fandom (don’t let the date of registration of this account, I being part of the MLP fandom since December 2012) and one month before the premiere of season 4.
And you can tell this is an old fic, there’s elements of this story that show how old it is. For example, I’m pretty sure Aegis and Rook are basically your way to give a name and story to the two guards we saw in “A Bird in the Hoof” all the way back in season 1.
And this is something special, it makes the fic fell dated, but in a good way. For me at least, reading every word of this fic transported me back to 2013. When I was barely a teen suffering through puberty, when I began to read fanfic, something that was my biggest priority at times, preferring to read fanfic up until 3:00 am rather than sleep for my classes at 7:00 am. A time when MLP fanfic was, or at least felt, different.
I miss those times, IDK how to describe it, but when reading old fics I get this unique feeling, a sensation that they don’t belong to the present. It might be how at the time to authors were forced to come up with their own world building, that inevitably contradicted what the show showed us in later seasons. Maybe it’s how characters were well... characterise and what their back stories looked like.
Celestia in this fic is the best example of this phenomenon in this fic. The way you write it remains me of how the fandom characterised her in fan works from back in the early days of the community (2011 to 2014).
Now, as I said this “dated-ness” isn’t something bad, if anything it makes it unique. This is the kind of fic that I don’t see the fandom being able to write now a days. However, unlike old fics that have been completed or abandoned, this one is still somewhat ongoing. Now I doubt I will get to see the “Complete” tag on this story anytime soon, however one can always dream :)
Also, please don’t take this as me pressuring you to get a new chapter. I’m a very patient person, meaning I can wait. Besides I have seen what pressuring artist (in this case a fanfic writer) can caused. The quality goes down hill, both author and reader hate it and it results in the project getting abandoned. I don’t want that so please feel free to take as much as you need.
Any way, I hope you can finish the fic one day, in the mean time I will wait and check out your other work. By the way, have a good life and take care, remember there’s always someone who cares for you. Words that I discover, we all need, no matter what
.
Any way, see you around mate ^_^/
Just found this story, and it is one of my favorites. Hope you are able to complete it someday. Awesome work!
Author, if you can hear me, please tell me, will this story continue or will we never know how the little filly lived in the care of the Princess of the sun?